Megamind

The supervillain Megamind finally defeats his nemesis, the superhero Metro Man. But without a hero, he loses all purpose and must find new meaning to his life.

---

This is a great animated film that I find hugely entertaining. The animation is well done, the central characters are interesting and have enough depth to make you care about them, and the plot is good, certainly different from the norm.

Megamind is a fun character, who does a good job of showing what could happen if the bad guy wins, and then he changes and becomes a better person. As always there’s a sidekick, as fun as the her0/anti-hero, and on this occasion a love interest who, thankfully, is more than just an empty-headed looker.

This is not quite as well known as some other animated films, but in my opinion it’s as good as any of them.

Rocky Horror – Let’s Do The Time Warp Again

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Let’s Do The Time Warp Again

For those of you who don’t know the plot to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, here it is

A straitlaced, square couple, seeking shelter from a storm, find themselves in the castle of a transsexual alien mad scientist intent on creating a buff bodybuilder.

---

This has been called a lot of things since it was announced, a remake, an homage, a re-invention, so I’m not really sure what it should be called; all I can tell you is that the plot is the same, the characters from the original are all there, and the setting is the same. There are minor differences but in essence it’s the same film with a different cast and better production values (although that’s debatable at times)

I’m a huge fan of the original with Tim Curry and Richard O’Brien, so I was a little dubious before I watched this; I’m not going to say it’s terrible, as some fans have been doing – they have their right to that opinion – but it does suffer by comparison, and I very much doubt that RHPS would have become the classic it is if this had been the first version.

The songs, for the most part, remain as they were in the original, and that is to the good since they are a large part of what made it so popular, but they don’t seem to be sung with the same enthusiasm and enjoyment as was the case with Tim Curry et al. The only exception to this is Victoria Justice (I confess I may be a little biased here because I think she’s gorgeous) who does seem to enjoy herself to the extreme and to have a lot of fun with the role, which coupled with her being a very good singer makes her the best in this as far as I’m concerned.

I think the biggest misfire for me is Adam Lambert, it isn’t that he’s bad, not at all, it’s just that from what I’ve seen a big thing is made of his being a part of the show but he’s barely in it – he plays Eddie, who *spoiler* is killed shortly after arriving on screen.

Other problems for me are; Tim Curry as the criminologist, I’m pleased that he had a part in this but, and I don’t like to say this, the stroke he had in 2012 means he isn’t able to bring the role to life as he once would have; the overall appearance, the sets and the costumes and the overall production are all decent, but they look too clean, the original had a dirtiness (I’m not sure that’s quite the right word for it) that made everything appear used and lived in, whereas in this version it all looks brand new and therefore a little false.

Overall, I think people who have never seen the original are going to like this more than those who are already fans of RHPS, nonetheless, if you approach this with the right attitude, it’s a fun evening’s entertainment, and you still get to enjoy singing along to the songs.

In case you need an extra reason for watching this here’s Victoria Justice and Ryan McCartan in their underwear.

 

Commando

A retired elite Black Ops Commando launches a one man war against a group of South American criminals who have kidnapped his daughter to blackmail him into starting a revolution and getting an exiled dictator back into power.

---

This is one of the numerous action movies Arnie did in the 80’s, which means it’s short on plot, just look at the synopsis above, and the acting and writing are only average. None of that matter’s though, because you watch it for the action sequences, and it has them in abundance.

Nobody can deny that this is anything other than mindless violence, and it doesn’t pretend to be, it is purely an action movie that intends to entertain, and boy does it do that. The final action sequence following on from when Arnie arrives on the island is lengthy and bloody, with some great improvisation when it comes to weapons, and a load of fun to watch.

If you’re after something clever with top drawer acting, look elsewhere, but if you only want something to entertain you for two hours or less, look no further.

A deadly bath

Among my many, varied interests, is a liking for true crime stories, and tonight, while battling my usual sleep issues, I caught an interesting film from ITV about a British serial killer from the 1940’s.

John George Haigh

(24 July 1909 – 10 August 1949), commonly known as the Acid Bath Murderer, was an English serial killer in the 1940s. He was convicted for the murder of six people, although he claimed to have killed nine. He used acid to dispose of the bodies after battering them to death or shooting them because he believed it was an undetectable method of destroying their remains. Haigh dissolved corpses in concentrated sulphuric acid before forging papers to be able to sell the victims’ possessions and collect substantial sums of money.

During the investigation, it became apparent that Haigh was using the acid to destroy victims’ bodies because he misunderstood the meaning of the term corpus delicti, and mistakenly believed that, if the bodies could not be found, a murder conviction would not be possible. Despite the absence of his victims’ bodies, there was sufficient forensic evidence for him to be convicted for the murders and subsequently executed.

(source – wikipedia)

A is for Acid 

This is a TV movie of better quality than is the average, thanks in large part to a wonderfully subtle performance from Martin Clunes, who plays serial killer John George Haigh with a mixture of polite gentility and almost savage violence that makes it easy to understand how he was able to lure people to their deaths and get away with it for a time.

Having seen Clunes in a number of things over the years I was already aware that he is a good actor, but this is perhaps one of his best performances; he plays Haigh as a softly spoken and polite figure who outwardly gives no sign of the violence that lurks within him.

The writing is decent, as is the period setting, though I can’t speak to the accuracy – my research indicates that few liberties have been taken with events, the problem is mostly that the film is perhaps a little too superficial in some areas, at least for my tastes. I would have liked a bit more time to be taken over the development of the relationships between Haigh and his victims prior to their being killed; these were not sudden murders of brutal violence, but killings that were planned and executed for gain, financial or otherwise.

The cast, like the writing, is good enough for a TV movie, with a nice performance from Keeley Hawes as Haigh’s girlfriend, but it’s Clunes that lifts this and makes it something more than average.

If you like true crime stories, this is one to watch, it’s not fantastic but it is enjoyable.

Forget Twilight; These Are Vampire Films

Since I absolutely love vampire films I have to reblog this, it’s a great list, though there are 2 on it I haven’t seen yet – I have seen the Hollywood remake of Let The Right One In, and that’s another great movie.

1. THE LOST BOYS (1987). A mother and her two teenage boys move to a small town in northern California. The younger (Corey Haim) of the brothers befriends two local geeks working in the comic-book …

Source: Forget Twilight; These Are Vampire Films