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kenkennyrh
Reviews
Dead in Tombstone (2013)
The Good, The Bad and the Enjoyable
It's strange how the film snobs and elitists crawl out of the woodwork to pan a film that is, essentially, the return of the spaghetti western. Remember the spaghetti western ?? That 60's phenomenon that drew so much praise for daring to do the genre a bit differently. . . . well, that's what this is.
Okay laugh it up but let's concentrate on the positives. First of all it's no worse than many of the spaghetti westerns held in high regard (apart from the Dollars trilogy natch). The plot was bog standard revenge stuff but at least it had one. I found it to be quite stylish with a special mention for the costumes which I thought were quite outstanding.
All the shoot-em-up stuff, which we all love, was decent enough and the main villain eminently boo-able - even if his moniker was pinched from A Few Dollars More. So what's not to like ?? Okay, Danny Trejo can't act worth a crap but that didn't stop Arnie from having a stellar movie career. Mickey Rourke was faxing it in but his role didn't exactly call for Oscar-worthy. The rest of the cast I've never heard of but hey, Twilight anybody ?? Anyway, I enjoyed it and considering some of the overblown eye-wash being made at the moment - yes Pirates, I'm looking at YOU - I wasn't asking for an hour and a half of my life back. Or in the case of the aforementioned TWO and a half hours of my valuable time back.
Go watch it, take it for what it is and come back and report. I trust you'll find it more entertaining than The Lone Ranger which probably cost about 20 times as much to make.
Who was that Masked Man, anyway ??
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Gene Roddenberry would be proud . . . .wow !!!
Let's get this out of the way right off the bat. This is the best film I've seen in 10 years and, yes, I am a Star Trek fan. Does that necessarily make me biased ?? Well . . .no, because this is most definitely Star Trek Mark 2 for those who've never seen an episode of any of the series or one of the other 10 films prior to J.J. Abrams re-working from 4 years ago.
There is a major difference between the Cinema experience and Home Entertainment so if you're waiting for this to come out on BluRay . . .don't. Get out to see it in all its' cinematic glory.
Damien Lindelof did a lot right with his script for Into Darkness. Bringing back Khan as the villain was an inspired choice given that this character was central in one of the most beloved episodes of the original Star Trek TV series and again in, arguably, one of the best movies involving the original crew. I had reservations about Benedict Cumberbatch before seeing this but his performance as "John Harrison"/Khan is permeated with quiet yet forceful menace.
The Spock/Kirk relationship is pitched just right here too after the fraught antagonism of the first Abrams movie. Not sure about the smoochy stuff between Spock and Uhura, though.
I was led to believe that the action in this film was even more energetic and fast-paced than the last and I wasn't disappointed on that score either. And, of course, the brief inclusion of some Klingons was very welcome also.
The two hours and a bit screening time just zipped by in the cinema and, quite honestly, I could have managed another hour. Even the end credits are watchable.
So without going on at length this is, in my humble opinion, the perfect cinema night or day out. It has drama, pathos, loads of action with a credible villain delivered in beautiful tones and backgrounds with solid performances from all the cast.
What more could you want ???
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
1960s plot, 1970s special effects, 1980s acting.
This is my first review and the easiest one I'll ever write.
Three words . . .what a pile !! I had the good fortune to see Star Trek Into Darkness last week and, although there is no direct comparison, as an action movie this sits around 500 rungs below on the entertainment ladder.
I honestly thought I'd been transported back to the 1970s. The dialogue was absolutely abysmal, the so-called action poorly choreographed and the special effects were so cheesy that Stan Winston would be spinning in his grave.
I expected better (a LOT better) from a decent cast list and I could go on for hours about the shortcomings of this movie.
One upside . . .it only ran for an hour and a half - which was an hour too long for me. No, actually it was an hour and a half too long.
Utter tripe. And the only reason I added a spoiler warning was because I'd hate to rob the film industry of a few bob from anyone who actually wants to see this drivel.