Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) review

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

Review by George Elcombe

‘I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle’

I would hope that most people who read this will have seen this amazing film, and hopefully before T3 and T4. I first saw this film when I was about 8 years old (I know, a bit young) sat on a sofa being completely blown away about this film where a boy’s best friend was a robot.

This is one of my favourite movies and I must have seen this film over 50 times, including a showing in a cinema which was truly an experience for the crowd and me. This time I watched the Special Extended Cut on the Skynet Blu Ray edition, which for £7.00 is an amazing package.

So this version was the Extended edition, with 2 additional scenes incorporated, including a dreadful ’30 years later’ ending which I am glad they cut out.

Picture and sound are excellent and youll be glad to hear that the effects have aged well. Three versions of the film and more extras then you can shake a stick at, but lets talk about the film.

Eleven years ago a Terminator (cyborg) was sent back through time to terminate Sarah Conner. A soldier was sent to protect her by her unborn son John Conner, the leader of the resistance against the machines. Now a terminator (good) is sent to protect him from the T1000 (silver puddle robot thing).

The chase sequences are all invigorating, the action scenes are pretty much perfect and the ending can reduce grown men to tears. This film made me want to work in movies, which I have and keep an active interested. For example: how many film reviews do you know who have worked with Steven Speilberg?

This film has heart, moral messages about human nature; what makes us human and our our instincts no more humane than the machines? This is a theme that has appealed to me and is covered in Battlestar Galactica (2004 - 2009) best TV show I’ve seen so far).

Overall this is a classic. One of the best action movies and an overall gem.

10/10

If you like this try:

The Terminator (1984)

Blade Runner (1982)

Oreo Cheesecake recipe

Oreo Cheesecake

This is one of the easiest things to make and tastes absolutely fantastic!

Ingredients:  

3 – 4 packs of Oreos (not double stuffed)

400g cream cheese

300g double cream

Some butter

Caster sugar

Cake tin

Firstly; make the base:

Either stick two packets of Oreo’s in a blender or get a plastic sandwich bag, put the Oreo’s in, wrap it up, then wrap a tea towel around and smash so the Oreo’s are fine (no bigger than 4mm).

Heat up the butter (just a bit, you can add more if needs be) in a non-stick saucepan. Once the butter has melted, add the crushed Oreo’s and stir. The Oreo’s will look melted and shiny. If still dry, add a little bit more butter. Stir for about a minute and add to your cake tin and there’s your base!

Secondly; make the cheese mix:

Get a big mixing bowl, add the cream and whisk so it’s lighter.

Get another mixing bowl, add the cheese and fold in the caster sugar, taste as you go along to get the right sweet / cheesy balance. Also make sure the mixture isn't too soft. 

Get half a pack of Oreos and crush like before but only finer. 

Add the cream, cheese and newly crushed Oreos into a bowl and mix. Taste one last time to see if it needs more sugar or cheese.

Add mix onto the Oreo base. 

Thirdly decorating;

Take the remaining Oreos, twist and split them to decorate, and put the cake in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours. 

You can eat it straight away but the longer in the fridge the better as the cheese mix and base hardens and the Oreos on top soften.

Once again, this dessert is easy to make and munch.

Hello all.

Yes, I have updated this blog and all the posts to remove swearing and some other things.

The Thing (2011) review

The Thing (2011)

Review by George Elcombe

“Maybe it was looking for somewhere warm”

Looking for somewhere warm? Like manure, or afterbirth. This is what this film is. Plot: A UFO crash landed in the Antarctic, the alien got out and froze, some scientists dig it up, it goes around absorbing its victims whilst making perfect copies of them in a gory fashion, the scientists managed to get some flamethrowers.

This is a prequel to John Carpenters 1982 film of the same name, which is a classic. Full of suspense, characters you care about and creature effects which still look amazing today. Seriously, watch that film, it’s great. From the opening with the dog being chased by the crazy Norwegian in the helicopter, to the immortal closing line, that film is great.

This prequel had only one thing to get right. Show why the dog was being chased by the crazy Norwegian in the helicopter, and just like Wolverine (2009) it failed. What bugs me about this film? Characters: flat, stereotypical, even with the intelligent Brit as the bad guy. Mr Eko from lost is in it! And he even sucks. There are plot holes (which I shall address later). But what really done it for me? CGI.

Seriously, the old monster movies you saw got into your head and made you scared as they never gave you a good look of the monster until the end. The 1982 ‘sequel’ to this film is a master class of drip feeding you brief images of it and what it can do, keeping you guessing and reveals itself in a great ‘WTF’ moment when someone looses there head.

Old horror films are scary as your imagination creates what the monster fully looks like in your head. Limp and shiny CGI can’t do that. It completely destroys any chills or tension.

I read about the production and was hoping they would have used more prosthetic effects in this film, which have come leaps and bounds since 1982. But apparently a studio head decided to delay the films release so they could add more CGI. Well done Universal, you made an un-scary and un-necessary horror film.

It’s a trend of remakes / prequels / sequels to classic films that notoriously fail. It’s the same basic story being retold. But where this film also fails is two significant plot holes: 1) Leaving a character alive. They did not turn up in the 1982 version, so was this intentional so that they can team up with the survivors of the latter for a third film? I wouldn’t rule it out. 2) The Norwegian chasing the dog disappears halfway in the film and then jumps onto the chopper with his gun at the end. They had a good look at the grenades that would destroy the chopper later, but didn’t show them being loaded onto the chopper.

This felt like a bad pilot for a cheap television network.

It has a few saving graces but overall they should have done better.

2/10

If you like / watch instead:

The Thing (1982)

The Fly (1986)

District 9 (2009)

Cabin in the Woods (2012) review

Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Review by George Elcombe

"What’s new Scooby Doo"

I love advance screenings. You can get some Gems (Juno) or walk out during the Three Stooges (as my friend did). I was lucky to attend a film that was filmed in 2009 but has sat on a shelf due to MGM’s bankruptcy. When screened at comic book conventions, it received excellent buzz and has a decent score on IMDB, but besides the title I knew little about the film.

Except it is written by Josh Whedon. Enough said.

WARNING

It is best to see this film unspoilt by trailers and my spoiler review below. Save that part for when you have seen the film. 

Spoiler free review:

A bunch of young adults go to a cabin in the woods, some stuff happens but its not what you think at all. Trust me, I can’t and won’t spoilt what awesomeness to come but this is one of the funniest films I’ve seen and is generally scary in parts! It's the best horror comedy since Shaun of the Dead and one of the most entertaining films I've seen! Go and watch it, you'll have a blast as this film is an awesome rollercoaster of awesomeness and very clever! It rocks!

Spoiler review:

My god does this film rock! Ok, the title sequence shows images of human sacrifice to a god, so imagine a department of defence setting up elaborate senarios of sacrifice to keep an angry god at bay. And these kids are playing their game! The drops and payoffs are fantastic. The ending was one of the best and most imaginative massacres put to screen! The characters are stereotypes based on Scooby Doo, but it jumps between them and the control room of this defence centre. The pace is great, the tensions build, the actors can act and the dialogue is great, especially when talking about gardening tools. From when you see the bong coffee cup, you know this will be one silly film, and it rocks!

What I really liked is how this film can explain every single horror film in a realistic light. But (here's the real spoiler) just when you think its about to end, the two survivors make their way to the control centre and let loose every conceivable type of monster you know, and the results are gory and hilarious! 

Spoiler free conclusion.

This film is excellent and one of the most refreshing and entertaining films I have seen in a long time.



9/10


If you like this:

Evil Dead 2 (1987)
Shawn of the Dead (20040
Scream (1996)

So far it's my film of the year! 

Drive (2011) review

Drive (2011)

Review by George Elcombe

“A hero and a human being”

Many journalists and friends called this film their movie of 2011. From the director of Bronson (2008), I was expecting many long, beautifully framed shots and enriching character development. I was also expecting more car chases and violence.

I made the mistake of watching the trailer (which like most trailers spoil the whole film! If I was the editor working on a trailer, I would only use footage from the first 75% of the film, but that’s another rant for another day) in the hope it would give me an idea of what the film was about other than ‘cool’. A nameless driver: mechanic and stunt driver by day, getaway driver by night. He works by his own rules and there is no shadow of a doubt that Ryan Gosling is cool in this film. How? He is the modern day cowboy. Mostly silent, rarely blinking, toothpicks, and although he lives and works in a world of sin; he always endeavours to be on the good side of things. The lone hero.

And then there’s the scorpion jacket (cool), which I’m glad is explained near the end of the film. There has been a lack of big action stars these day, with 300 (2006) restarting the craze for ‘real’ men hacking the crap out of each other in the mist of ‘roid rage’. This was fine for the 80’s, but this is the age where men wear moisturiser, there are stay at home dads and men with feelings and hair products. The Driver incorporates both. He’s caring to strangers and there is a glimmer of hope that he will get the girl. But it seems he doesn’t have a lot in his life and is exploited by his boss and the world but he doesn’t seem to let it get to him. But this is a guy that I would not like to get on the wrong side of. His silence portraits a mix of shyness juxtaposing a brute with little need for words.

One good deed to help out his friend and her son turns his world upside down, but like a man, he sets out to rectify it immediately utilizing all his resources and not wasting a second. He also has a hammer.

The look of the film is fantastic. As predicted; lots of beautifully framed static shots add depth and fear to these scenes. Just like Irreversible (2002), I find that the longer a shot is presented unedited, the more realistic the film can be. There is a lot of slow motion which had me thinking of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (“sometimes episodes ran under, so we used a lot of slow motion. Everything without dialogue was considered for slow motion) but the bit with Christine Hendricks (Mrs Reynolds) made me rewind to appreciate the true impact of that shot.

Which brings me to the violence. I am desensitised to violence on film. When one character dies it in this film, I was not angered or shocked: I was relieved. But judging by the trailer I didn’t find this film too violent at all. What I did find is that this is one of the most suspenseful films I have seen and it is one of those gems which blurs the line between art and film. 

Overall I would recommend this film to everyone. I don’t want to hype it as everyone should have their own interpretation before watching it and I advise people to not watch the trailer.

An engrossing film that all should watch.

9 out of 10.

If you like this try:

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Bronson (2008)

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (2010) review

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (2010)

Review by George Elcombe

‘Level up’

This movie rocks! Oh wait, let's backtrack. A bit about me: I'm a man who's a geek at heart and glad that there is 'geek chic' within society. Star Trek became cool, girls play RPG's, rude boys wear X Men and Iron Man hoodies and Dr Who's bowtie summing it up; ‘I don't care what people think, so it's cool’.

So let's begin at Spaced, the ground breaking show which played homage to / ripped off cult culture. Yes people do rip off other ideas but Spaced was and still is flawless in it's delivery as what I call Avatar syndrome; same shit you've seen a million times before but with a different coat of paint. Mix this with memorable characters and a ‘will they, won’t then’ relationship going on in bags of style. Out of Spaced came Shawn of the Dead and Hot Fuzz; which upon further viewing is such a clever film in terms of story, characters, pacing and relevant to this review action and visual flare.... Director Edgar Wright is quality and a huge geek. Rumour has it he was sent the first volume of S P (not Smashing Pumpkins, but your blind if you don't spot the references) while promoting Fuzz, and started production before the series was complete as the next venture of his career; a graphic novel adaptation mixed with his trademark snap edits and visual style used not to distract but to drive a story. I am excited.

So, I knew this film would look good, and from the 8 bit Universal logo you know this is something familiar but unlike anything you have seen before. Honestly, for the first half an hour it was what I expected yet a bit hyped; looks very good, very strange but not that funny. Basic plot; boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy has to defeat her 7 evil ex's to win her. So far, good, but the moment evil ex 1 Matthew ‘pirate’ Patel turns up the film turns up to 11! The characters, the geekyness, the whole damm lot explodes into something so unique and the most fun I have seen in a film since Kick Ass.

Unique? Yes and no. Its all carefully amalgamate from a collective subconscious raised on the coolness of teenage rebellion, confusion and insecurity, rock music and being in a band, Kung Fu movies and computer games. I cannot express the joygasm I experienced watching people burst into coins upon death just like in No More Heroes (buy this game kids, you can buy the Wii version for less than a pint!) but that game itself is a homage to computer games. The films many references to computer games are vast with highlights being the sound of Sonic collecting a ring and music from Zelda used in a dream sequence. But how can I put this; this is the best computer game movie I have seen (yes, it is based on a comic); boss battles to progress; extra lives ect, its g crazy! Visually this film is so clever, perfecting the depth of single frames from comics onto celluloid, ‘POW’ signs and my favourite, the letter D strumming out of a base guitar. And dragons from a keyboard. Moving on, it is a film about choice and what we are willing to do and sacrifice for what we want, even if we don’t know what it truly is. A girl with a troubled past wanting a new life but coming to terms with the fact you cannot simple run from your past as it will come back and hurt you and the ones you love, you must learn from it, accept what has happened and grow. A young man wanting a girl cooler than himself when he already has it, he just hasn’t realised yet. And learning the importance of self respect which lies within all our hearts (see what I did there?) I thought this film was going to fall into the category of ‘it's different but lots of people like it so it must be cool’. No. Despite my doubt this is how I felt and sums it up:

First 20 minutes: Good, but I’m expecting more.

50 minutes: I am really enjoying this.

70 minutes: F@#king A!!!

90 minutes: This movie rocks!

Firstly; no sequel or spin off! This is a gem that comes full circle and mustn't be Reloaded or Revolutionised. And if anyone tries to copy it then they will only look inferior, so don't even try. It is engrossing, energetic beyond description and is what sums up what I love about cinema: a film which is unafraid to be different and most importantly entertaining. I can't wait to introduce this to friends and family. In conclusion, you have not and hopefully never see another film as visual as this and it is just quality.

An awesome visual experience and great action flick.

9 out of 10.

If you like this, try:

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Kick Ass (2010)