Reviews by PvtCaboose91

"I am the president of the United States of America, clothed in immense power! You will procure me those votes!"

A restrained historical drama, 2012's Lincoln is a motion picture that reawakens old-school Steven Spielberg, finding the veteran filmmaker treading similar thematic ground to 1997's Amistad. The movie was actually a long time coming, with Spielberg expressing interest in an Abraham Lincoln feature in the 1990s and with DreamWorks securing the rights to Doris Kearns Goodwin's popular novel Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln in 2001. Working from a script by Munich screenwriter and acclaimed playwright Tony Kushner, Lincoln is a refreshing piece of work, one of the most accessible yet sophisticated political films in recent memory. It's an intimate yet majestic film about the towering historical figure, and it manages to be respectful but not maudlin or adoring. In short, it's a fine film, directed with a sure hand by Spielberg and superbly written by Kushner, and it features Daniel Day-Lewis who's a heroically enthralling Lincoln.

With the tumultuous Civil War raging on throughout America, President Abraham Lincoln (Day-Lewis) seeks to heal the nation and stop the violence. Turning his attention to abolitionism, the President proposes an amendment to the Constitution which would outlaw slavery and thus diminish one of the war's principal motivations. However, with the proposed 13th Amendment stirring up immense controversy in Washington, Lincoln faces an intense political battle to gain the votes he needs in order to get the amendment passed in Congress. Meanwhile, Lincoln's son Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) returns from Harvard with wishes to join the Union Army and serve the nation.

Lincoln is a vehemently adult motion picture. The Civil War material is sidelined, rarely letting us glimpse battlefield violence. The film is mainly chatter in dimly-lit rooms, as the primary narrative emphasis is on Lincoln's political struggles as he works to pass the 13th Amendment. It's a dense picture dedicated to verbiage and drama, necessitating a lenient attention span or else you'll wind up hopelessly lost amid the whirlwind of talk and political machinations. What's interesting about Kushner's screenplay is that, even though it carries the all-encompassing title of Lincoln, it disposes of the typical "greatest hits" biopic structure, instead focusing on one page in the history book. A sprawling biopic might have been interesting to see, but this segment of Lincoln's life is so well-handled and dramatically satisfying that the creative decision works. Bafflingly, though, Kushner ultimately adopts a typical biopic ending, continuing the film past its logical conclusion all the way through to the assassination. It feels forced and obligatory, not to mention the movie starts to feel overlong once the amendment is passed.

As to be expected from Mr. Spielberg, Lincoln is handsomely produced and technically dexterous, stylishly shot by Janusz Kamiński and scored with finesse by the magnificent John Williams. The budget was a rather meagre $65 million, yet the recreation of 19th Century America is spot-on. On top of this, Kamiński shot on 35mm film stock, which affords the picture an old-fashioned aesthetic very befitting of the subject matter. The look of the movie is superb, with naturalistic lighting and several scenes shot in gorgeous outdoor locations. Commendably, Lincoln eschews Spielberg's trademark brand of saccharine-coated emotion; the tone is solemn throughout, and the inevitable conclusion to the story is not played for manipulative tear-wringing. Not everything works here, however, as there's a chintzy transition towards the film's end that feels like something from a television movie.

Liam Neeson was attached to play Lincoln for several years, but was ultimately replaced by Day-Lewis, who's perfect as the iconic President. There's a reason why films starring him are so few and far between - he's a real actor's actor, a man who carefully chooses his projects and disappears into every role he plays. On top of looking remarkably like Lincoln, Day-Lewis captures the President's decency and vulnerability, and the gentle voice he adopts here is apparently closer to the real-life man than something more commanding. Day-Lewis is not stiff and authoritative, but instead soft-spoken and contemplative, yet always engaging. Providing solid support is Sally Field, who was nominated for an Oscar for her exceptional performance as Mary Todd Lincoln. It's a portrayal brimming with passion, and she matches Day-Lewis every step of the movie. Also excellent is Tommy Lee Jones, a colourful scene-stealer as Thaddeus Stevens. Jones earned an Oscar nomination and it's easy to see why. Digging further into the supporting cast, there's David Strathairn, Tim Blake Nelson, Michael Stuhlberg, and even the aforementioned Gordon-Levitt as Robert Lincoln, the family's eldest son. There's not a dud performance in sight.

Lincoln is not always engrossing, and there are bits and pieces that feel overly manufactured (for instance, an opening scene in which Lincoln talks to a black soldier that's too on-the-nose), but the picture works for the most part. It presents a compelling portrait of this great man and chronicles a very important era in American history without descending into tedium. Spielberg maintains a nice sense of humour throughout, and the material feels accessible without being dumbed down. Although it's not as good as Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan, it represents another career high for the veteran filmmaker.

7.9/10

"Throw one at me if you want, hash head. I've got all five senses and I slept last night, that puts me six up on the lot of you."

Brick is an interesting little flick, a motion picture you admire and appreciate for its ambitions rather than conventionally love or enjoy. Independently financed and produced on a paltry budget, the film is the directorial debut of Rian Johnson, who wrote the script in the mid-1990s and spent years trying to raise suitable financing. Ultimately amassing funds from friends and family, he set out to make the movie he wanted to make, and the result is a quality neo-noir thriller that deservedly developed into a cult classic. In essence, Brick is a contemporary film noir inspired by old-timey detective stories and classic films like Chinatown and Miller's Crossing. There's plenty of ingenuity in Johnson's superlative script, which took years to write, but the lack of budget and filmmaking experience somewhat betrays the project's ambitiousness.

In California, high school student Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) receives a distressed phone call from his ex-girlfriend Emily (Emilie de Ravin) asking him for help. Baffled by Emily's call, Brendan sets out to investigate, enlisting the help of his friend The Brain (Matt O'Leary) to find her. But her dead body is soon discovered, prompting Brendan to uncover the full story behind what happened to the only girl he has ever loved. Combing his high school's seedy underbelly, Brendan becomes entangled in a perilous world fraught with drugs, femme fatales, stoners and crime figures, all of whom want to prevent him from finding answers.

Johnson did his homework. Since Brick is an overt homage to film noir, the writer-director read several hardboiled noir novels, most notably the works of Dashiell Hammett, including Red Harvest and The Maltese Falcon. In essence, the gimmick behind Brick is that Johnson transplants the noir clichés of the 1940s to a contemporary high school setting. Despite murder seeming out of place in school, the transplantation is surprisingly effective, incorporating a loner hero, a kingpin figure, a femme fatale with shady loyalties, and so on. Plus, the idea of drugs at school is not unheard of. Johnson's approach is distinctly neo-noir, giving the characters stylised, anachronistic dialogue. Indeed, the high schoolers speak in sophisticated, mannered bursts of verbiage, as if they've stepped right out of a noir from the '40s or '50s. Some compare Brick to Donnie Darko, which is a fair comparison. Like Richard Kelly's breakout feature, Brick is a small independent movie that's refreshing and original, with a conceptual framework more innovative than 99% of Hollywood's output.

Holding Brick back from lofty brilliance is, alas, the filmmaking. Johnson went on to become a remarkable director, yet he was still finding his feet here, and it's obvious. Although the cinematography is often cleverly old-fashioned and evokes the noirs of yesteryear, the pacing is too slow from time to time, and the film carries a rather amateurish glaze. One must imagine what Brick could have been like if it had been as stylishly crafted as something like Shane Black's Kiss Bang Bang. Still, there's a lot to admire about Brick, especially since it was made by a bunch of amateurs and reportedly edited on a home computer. Additionally, the music by Rian's brother Nathan is low-key but effective and stylish, adding a nice degree of atmosphere to the proceedings.

In 2005, mainstream audiences only knew Gordon-Levitt from his appearance on the television show 3rd Rock From the Sun, so Brick presented the rising star with the chance to stretch his acting range. And heavens me, Gordon-Levitt ran with the opportunity. He plays a much darker role here and brings a lot of maturity and density to his performance. Plus, he sounds just right delivering Johnson's unique brand of dialogue. Alongside him is Lukas Haas, who's exceptional as The Pin. Haas plays the role as someone of authority, yet a degree of vulnerability also shows through. Also excellent is Nora Zehetner playing Laura; she's an astoundingly beautiful presence who fits the material perfectly. She's a soft-spoken actress with limited range, yet she's always believable, and it's baffling that the actress has not yet catapulted to big-time stardom. Meanwhile, Aussie native Emilie de Ravin plays Emily here. The Lost actress is remarkable, handling the role's requirements with impressive finesse.

Although it has no mainstream appeal, Brick is a gritty, creative twist on film noir conventions that is enthralling more often than not. Despite its somewhat amateurish construction, it's a must-see for fans of indie films, noir classics and hardboiled detective tales. It's 110 minutes of strange characters, distinctively poetic dialogue, and an unusual, offbeat flavour. If you have the patience to stick with it, the film is well worth checking out.

7.7/10

"All you gotta do is go pick up a kid down in New Jersey, and drive him down to D.C. How hard can that be, huh?"

Live Free or Die Hard was released twelve years after the last outing of John McClane in 1995's Die Hard With a Vengeance, and the hero is a changed man. Trapped in a digitally manipulated cinematic world controlled by a studio motivated by profit rather than integrity, seeing McClane on the big screen again is just not the same. Live Free or Die Hard is Die Hard in name only - the film stars Bruce Willis and has plenty of action, but it is not Die Hard. Rather than visceral thrills, a true sense of danger and pulse-pounding excitement, Live Free is an appallingly generic creation manufactured by a roomful of studio executives whose only concern is to reach the widest demographic, quality be damned. Armed with a goddamn PG-13 rating, it's a crushingly bland, forgettable and inexcusably moronic action film that resembles Michael Bay more than John McTiernan. Then again, at least Bay makes R-rated action films like Bad Boys and The Rock.

A computer mastermind, Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) looks to bring America to its knees by taking control of all computer systems and systematically disabling the country's infrastructure. Now divorced and estranged from his children, John McClane (Bruce Willis) is assigned to travel to Washington, D.C. to pick up computer hacker Matt Farrell (Justin Long), who's wanted by the FBI for questioning in relation to Gabriel's scheme. As it turns out, Farrell inadvertently helped Gabriel achieve his goals and has been targeted for assassination. With armed henchmen looking to kill Farrell, and with all hell breaking loose across the country, McClane pairs up with the frightened young hacker as he sets out to stop Gabriel. However, the mission soon becomes personal when Gabriel kidnaps McClane's daughter, Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).

Willis went into damage control a few months before Live Free polluted cinemas, trawling Ain't It Cool News to assure people that the film will still satisfy despite its PG-13 rating. How wrong he was. It's a far more significant issue than Willis or Fox would like you to believe, as it robs the picture of the immediacy and badass violence that has grown to define the franchise. McClane still shoots the bad guys, but they expire out of frame and refuse to bleed, which actually harms coherence. In an early apartment shootout, for instance, McClane shoots a henchman, but it's unclear exactly where. Hence, when the wounded henchman continues walking and shooting after reacting to being shot, one must wonder where on earth he was hit. Profanity was eliminated from the script, as well, with McClane forbidden from uttering curse words to convey his frustration or spice up his wisecracks. McClane never feels out of his element in Live Free, thus there's no sense of peril. Director Len Wiseman may be able to stage big set pieces, but he cannot create danger or desperation for the life in him. Everything feels so calculated and emotionless, with writer Mark Bomback throwing in an action scene every ten minutes willy-nilly to please the teenagers.

Die Hard was a cinematic godsend in 1988, as it was a grounded action film in a sea of over-the-top action fiestas. On the other hand, Live Free replaces gritty action with the exact type of logic-bending spectacle that the original Die Hard provided sweet relief from. When Gabriel blacks out a tunnel in one scene, the drivers, for some reason, accelerate into the darkness instead of switching on their headlights or, you know, braking. Later, McClane taunts and provokes Gabriel when he's threatening to shoot his daughter in the head. It's empty-headed, gung-ho scripting intended to raise cheers from the teen crowd, but mature Die Hard consumers will realise how dumb it is. And I know henchmen cannot shoot straight, but to this extent is ludicrous, with McClane shooting a fire extinguisher in front of armed guards for 5-10 seconds...but said guards do not even raise their guns. And then there is the infamous jet scene, which is high atop the list of "Stupidest Action Scenes In Film History." Yes, McClane brawled on a plane wing in Die Hard 2 and surfed a truck in Vengeance, but that stuff is at least somewhat believable. This, on the other hand, is moronic in too many conceivable ways. It goes on and on, but suffice it to say, none of the over-the-top action beats, no matter how much money was thrown at them, come close to matching the intensity of the final standoff at the end of the first Die Hard.

To Wiseman's credit, it's admirable to see action scenes lensed with steady photography, free of the shaky cam that plagues modern action films. However, the editing is often shoddy. ADR is painfully obvious at times, close-ups occasionally don't match long shots, and continuity looks messy from time to time. Furthermore, while the surface sheen is enticing for teens, Wiseman is tone-deaf for atmosphere, place and general grittiness. John is thrown through a glass window at one stage but only walks away with a tiny cut when it should have resulted in a gushing wound. Plus, compare the ambience of the police precinct of Vengeance to the glossy, clean-feeling FBI computer centre here. The FBI HQ generally feels like a set created by a production designer beset with "cool" things, while the precinct in Vengeance is simple and believable. Added to this, there's the corny and trite "passing of the torch" material in the script, another PG-13-friendly addition to try and reach the teens. See, McClane shows Matt how to be "that guy." It's sickening and out-of-place in a Die Hard movie. Speaking of the dialogue, it's horrible. Rather than exuberant chatter, everyone talks in clichéd action movie speak, and there are only one or two McClane wisecracks that are worthwhile, none of which are fit to hold a candle to the best quotes from the original Die Hard.

Perhaps Live Free's biggest sin is the way it desecrates the character of John McClane. In Die Hard, he's a potty-mouthed, cigarette-smoking, vulnerable and fully-rounded action hero who worries about his chances of survival and delivers a tearful message for his wife. Here, McClane is an unstoppable terminator who marches onwards, killing effortlessly and tactfully abusing Gabriel even though his daughter is a hostage. And it's a goddamn insult to hear McClane's trademark "Yippi-ki-yay motherfucker" line being cut off by a fucking gunshot. Additionally, Willis looks incredibly bored throughout, as if he had a terrible time on set. Kevin Smith (who has a cameo) famously spoke out about Willis's constant clashes with Fox executives, and it shows in his performance; he looks depressed to be taking part in this PG-13 travesty.

The supporting cast is woeful. The Die Hard trilogy is beset with colourful supporting characters, all of whom have distinguishable personalities and deliver worthwhile dialogue. Live Free comes up short in this respect. Most awful is Timothy Olyphant, a great actor who drops the ball in this crucial role. He needed to be a badass villain able to intimidate and threaten, but he's a complete fail - he looks like a Walmart manager at the end of a long day shift. McClane deserves a far more dangerous and charismatic villain. At one stage, Gabriel even exclaims that it would be preferable for him to mastermind the attack rather than a foreign terrorist who'll do worse things. Even the script is aware that Gabriel is a fucking pussy? Justin Long, meanwhile, is purely insufferable, a whiny sidekick with none of the charm of Samuel L. Jackson or Reginald VelJohnson. Long's chemistry with McClane fizzles when it should soar. The only worthwhile actors here are Cyril Raffaelli and Mary Elizabeth Winstead; the former is a capable acrobat who pulls off some impressive stunts, while Winstead is good eye candy and makes the most of her role.

For 13-year-old boys who enjoy Transformers and other such summer blockbusters, Live Free or Die Hard is for you. Literally, Fox designed the movie specifically for you. Enjoy it. Or maybe you won't, and you'll see this awful movie for the superficial trash that it is and realise that you deserve a lot better. And do not even get me started on the unrated edition, which adds obvious, phoney CGI blood puffs and a few lines of profanity that were clearly dubbed after the fact. Live Free is simply atrocious, an absolute embarrassment to the Die Hard moniker. While watching it, you'll just keep wanting to turn it off and watch the original trilogy instead. Die Hard 2 may get flack, but it's head over heels better than this tosh. With twelve years to make another Die Hard, is this really the best they could come up with?

3.2/10

"It's not of this world. It's Sadako's fury. And she's put a curse on us."

An adaptation of the popular horror potboiler by Kôji Suzuki, 1998's Ringu is a nerve-jangling and atmospheric Japanese horror gem that's destined to get under your skin. Upon its release, the film became the highest-grossing Japanese horror flick in history, and it has gone down in history as an influential production, with sequels and an American franchise being spawned. Such adulation is wholly earned, as director Hideo Nakata has created a haunting motion picture which relies on tension and a pervasive sense of foreboding rather than big special effects or gore. Comparing Ringu to a clichéd teen slasher is like comparing a roast dinner at a five-star restaurant to a McDonalds Happy Meal. The Happy Meal exists for easy consumption and gives you the runs, whereas the stylish roast dinner is one to savour, and it leaves your belly feeling full and satisfied.

In a Japanese community, an urban legend begins to circulate regarding a 'cursed' video cassette which gives the viewer only seven days before they'll be killed under bizarre circumstances. After four local teenagers are found dead, journalist Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima) spearheads an investigation, leading her to an isolated lodge where the teenagers had stayed the week before their death. It's here where Asakawa finds the videotape and watches it, leading to the phone call of doom that confirms her fate has been sealed. With only seven days, Asakawa enlists the help of her ex-husband Ryuji (Sanada Hiroyuki) to try and uncover the origins of the video and hopefully find a way to prevent impending doom before it's too late.

Ringu does not incorporate a lot of the things we normally associate with horror. There is no gore, blood, sex or helpless victims here. Rather, the film is concerned with level-headed characters who feel real and three-dimensional, and the whole thing is drenched in a creepy psychological horror haze that builds anticipation, curiosity and tension. What's fascinating about Ringu is that it's rooted in Japanese folklore, not to mention it melds slow-mixing horror with enough engaging trappings to keep impatient viewers interested. Though it can be slow, the theme of curses and the inclusion of spooky phone calls are mainstream-friendly, not to mention Ringu is devilishly well-made. Beneath everything, however, this is a timeless horror tale attuned for mature audiences. Even though video cassettes have been phased out and replaced with superior formats, the general concept of a cursed video will remain eternally relevant as long as motion pictures exist.

It's Nakata's direction which genuinely elevates Ringu; the filmmaker spins a web of enthralling intensity and intoxicating atmosphere, using a restrained touch to generate the horror. The movie at times takes too long to say very little, but the pacing is most the most part effective. Another enormous asset is Kenji Kawai's subtly enthralling score, the sounds of which will really get under your skin. In fact, the sound design of Ringu as a whole is unbelievably creepy. Whenever the spirit behind the cursed videotape is present, an eerie sound can be heard. It's an exceedingly simple noise, but it will scare your pants off. And the infamous scene of the girl crawling out of the television is innately frightening. The moment has been imitated and parodied, but nothing will match the sheer intensity and horror of the sequence here. The cast deserves praise as well, with Matsushima easily carrying the film, while Hiroyuki stands out as a charming presence.

A genuine cult favourite, Ringu is haunting and unforgettable, and it's likely that even those averse to foreign movies will find themselves enraptured by Nakata's cinematic spell. Yes, the characters speak in Japanese and English speakers will need to read subtitles, but this just compels you to concentrate even more on the movie. Interestingly, the title actually refers to the cyclical nature of the curse surrounding the videotape, whereas the American remake used visual circular rings to earn its title. This is a far subtler use of the label. Do yourself a favour and rent (or buy) Ringu for a night of sombre chills. And just to amplify the effect, watch it late at night with the lights off. It's one hell of an experience.

8.1/10

"Lucas, look at this place. They're so busy in here. You get to go and do something. Go help people. You're good at it."

Due to the efforts of Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay, cinema-goers are accustomed to seeing images of mass disaster, to the point that we have become desensitised to destruction and perceive it as innocuous entertainment. But even for the most desensitised film-goers, director Juan Antonio Bayona's The Impossible will scare the living daylights out of you. A horrifyingly vivid dramatisation of the Boxing Day 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, the movie is a harrowing reminder of the reality of real-life catastrophes. Even though The Impossible is Bayona's second feature film after 2007's The Orphanage, the filmmaker hits it out of the park, working with a perfectly balanced screenplay by Sergio G. Sánchez, based on an extraordinary true-life story of one family who survived the tragedy. It's a tale ripe for motion picture treatment, as it's almost too unbelievable to be true, and it reinforces the determination of the human spirit.

For Christmas vacation, married pair Henry (Ewan McGregor) and Maria (Naomi Watts) take their three children, Lucas (Tom Holland), Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast), to Thailand. Staying at a luxurious beach resort, they enjoy a lovely Christmas together that is free from work interference. As the family enjoy a morning of pool activities on Boxing Day, tragedy strikes, with a massive tsunami hitting the coast that decimates the resort and splits everyone up. In the surging waters, Maria and Lucas find one another, though Maria suffers severe wounds that may prove life-threatening if she does not receive urgent medical treatment. Meanwhile, Henry manages to find Thomas and Simon in the aftermath, and he keeps them safe as he sets out to find his wife and other son.

One of the primary strengths of The Impossible is that the protagonists feel like a genuine family unit. Their conversations and interactions are familiar to everyone who grew up with a family, and the depiction of Christmas morning looks like an authentic slice of life, especially since we view everything through the lens of the family's video camera. Developing credible characters amplifies the story's power, as you will shed endless tears whenever family members reunite or something hard-hitting occurs. Also powerful is the depiction of the overwhelming sense of community and unity in Thailand following the disastrous tsunami. Although the Thai people lost everything they owned, they waded through the flood waters right after the wave to help the tourists. Instead of solely focusing on a Western family working to overcome the odds, the film emphasises the help they received from others, with Thai people driving them to safer places, offering them clothes and nursing their wounds. This overwhelming sense of humanity and heart keeps The Impossible from being a brainless special effects demo reel.

Clint Eastwood staged a depiction of the Boxing Day tsunami in his 2010 endeavour Hereafter, a sequence which earned the picture an Oscar nomination for its CGI. But The Impossible tops Eastwood's efforts in execution and staging. I have no idea how Bayona and his crew pulled it off, but the tsunami looks genuine, and the special effects are seamless. Furthermore, the tsunami scenes are heart-wrenchingly intense - as the wave enters the frame and barrels towards the characters, one has to cover their mouth. And watching the characters wade around in the dangerous waters full of sharp debris is almost unbearably visceral. If you've ever wondered how a tsunami would kill you, The Impossible provides an eye-opening lesson. The scenes of the destructive aftermath are equally phenomenal, looking as convincing as anything you will glimpse in a big-budget blockbuster. Just as impressive is the makeup; the images of wounds and sickness are hauntingly realistic. We've all seen the likes of Saw and Hostel, but the injuries here look horrifying, and amazingly, Bayona gets away with such content within the constraints of a PG-13 rating. Equally miraculous is Bayona's ability to achieve such technical luminosity on a scant $45 million budget. Now watch as Bayona is offered every single disaster and action movie currently in pre-production.

It's impossible to overstate how exceptional the actors are, as they ground the movie in a sense of reality and emotion that is pivotal to the feature's success. Watts earned The Impossible its sole Oscar nomination for her astonishing portrayal of Maria. The British-Australian actress shoulders the most responsibility here, needing to convincingly play a loving mother while also conveying fear, injury and illness. Yet, Watts pulls it off with seemingly little effort. Also remarkable is McGregor, who's hugely charismatic and believable, and who handles the emotional aspects of the role with utmost confidence. It's an amazingly multifaceted performance that never feels false or flat. And then there are the boys - Holland, Joslin, and Pendergast - who look and interact like siblings. Holland gets the most to do, and the young actor does a bravura job with the material. Many of the Thai extras here were reportedly actual survivors from the tsunami, which further amplifies the movie's power.

People may deride The Impossible for using British protagonists when the true-life family was Spanish, and for employing a few Hollywood-ish touches here and there. But to do so would be foolhardy. Besides, Watts' real-life counterpart was involved in every aspect of the production to ensure the movie tells her story correctly. The Impossible is a rare type of motion picture, an Oscar-calibre drama that's not unbearably tedious or dumbed-down. It packs a great deal of emotional power, is overwhelmingly human, and keeps you thoroughly interested from start to end. Most remarkable is that the movie still provides a sense of hope through all the doom and gloom. The Impossible is easily one of 2012's best movies, and the fact that it was not even nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars is genuinely baffling.

9.4/10

"You know, Jack. I got a feeling the next time we run into each other, we gonna have a killin'. Just a feeling."

On top of directing such manly classics as 48 Hrs., The Driver and The Warriors, Walter Hill also helmed the little-known 1987 gem Extreme Prejudice, which deserves far more attention and acclaim. An exceptionally cool neo-Western action-thriller, the film contains an epic cast, including the likes of Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe, Michael Ironside, Rip Torn, William Forsythe and Clancy Brown, all of whom are coated in record amounts of sweat. Add to this an intriguing story and a violent, bullet-ridden climax that pays homage to Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, and you have a testosterone-fuelled '80s action film that is essential viewing for genre aficionados. Beware, though, that the film is so manly that it has been known to make vaginas close up and turn female voices quite husky. Men, meanwhile, suffer a sudden desire to chew on cigars, shoot some liquor, arm wrestle dinosaurs and lift weights after watching Extreme Prejudice.

Texas Ranger Jack Benteen (Nick Nolte) finds himself in a difficult situation when he learns that his former childhood best friend, Cash Bailey (Powers Boothe), is now a major drug trafficker. Although reluctant to draw arms against Cash due to their personal history, Jack becomes determined to bring down his old friend after the local sheriff (Rip Torn) is killed by Cash's men. Meanwhile, a clandestine group of U.S. Army Sergeants known as the Zombie Unit, led by Major Paul Hackett (Michael Ironside), begin a CIA-sanctioned operation to take down Cash's drug operations, looking to strip the drug baron of his funds and retrieve information about his business associates. Complicating matters further is Jack's girlfriend, Sarita (Maria Conchita Alonso), who becomes weary of life with the Texas Ranger and looks to hook up with her former flame, Cash. After learning of Hackett's operation, Jack decides to join the soldiers as they head to Mexico to assassinate Cash and permanently halt his operations.

Extreme Prejudice is laden with manly goodness, from Cash crushing a scorpion with his bare hands to gratuitous female nudity and bloody violence aplenty, not to mention a healthy smattering of quotable one-liners. Written by Deric Washburn (The Deer Hunter, The Border) and Harry Kleiner (Bullitt, Red Heat), from a story by John Milius (Red Dawn, Conan the Barbarian) and Hollywood military advisor Fred Rexer, the script is marvellous, overflowing with tough macho guy speak that keeps the film engaging from start to finish. In the first five minutes, William Forsythe's Sgt. Atwater tells a random woman, "As long as I got a face, you got a place to sit," which immediately sets the tone. For crying out loud, the overzealously masculine Jack and Cash at one stage prepare for a duel, and Cash tells an emotional Sarita, "Show us some tits if you want to be useful, give us some motivation." The title is even derived from the expression "terminate with extreme prejudice." Yeah, the film is named after a fucking kill order. To the credit of the writers, Extreme Prejudice is not just a lazy, straight-ahead action fiesta, as genuine thought is put towards plotting and character development. Plus, there are a handful of compelling plot twists, and the film displays very little sentimentality towards its characters, especially once the climax arrives.

Walter Hill excels as an action director, and Extreme Prejudice significantly benefits from the filmmaker's masterful touch. Shot with gloriously old-fashioned filmmaking sensibilities, the action scenes are fluid, smooth, and always riveting and easy to follow. Extreme Prejudice is also drenched in omnipresent grit, the likes of which we scarcely see in contemporary cinema. We can almost feel the heat of the Texan sun, and there's not an ounce of artificial-looking CGI in sight. Moreover, blood squibs explode all over the place, and action fans will delight in the gratuitous scenes of folks being gunned down. It is awesome. The film's centrepiece is its climax, a magnificent shootout that is exceedingly violent and loud. Indeed, the technical presentation and production values are impressive, with the movie looking competent and slick instead of cheap or chintzy. Also notable is Jerry Goldsmith's remarkably memorable score. The late Goldsmith was a luminary of the action genre, having also scored such movies as First Blood, Total Recall, Air Force One and Deep Rising. His presence here is a considerable asset, and his efforts bestow Extreme Prejudice with a superb coat of polish.

The fact that Jack and Cash are childhood friends gives the story a unique angle, making it more compelling than just another routine "cops vs. drug dealers" action film. The characters are not exactly deep, but the script allows them adequate development, raising the stakes once the climax draws near. It helps that the performances are terrific. Nolte lost weight and worked with a real-life Texas Ranger to get into character...and, my word, it pays off. Nolte is a total badass here, and more movies featuring Jack Benteen would have been welcome. Equally good is Boothe, who chews the scenery as the villain here. Meanwhile, Ironside submits a typical Ironside performance; he never steps out of his comfort zone, but he's a good fit for his gruff role, and he is always committed to the material. Rip Torn also makes a fantastic impression as Benteen's old friend, Sheriff Pearson. Torn is quick-witted and entertaining, and an entire movie could be centred around Nolte and Torn simply interacting and bantering with one another.

Extreme Prejudice is not a film for everyone. It's quite exclusively a boy's movie, intended for consumption by males who enjoy this type of action movie. Girls need not apply unless they enjoy films like The Wild Bunch or The Expendables. Perhaps the storytelling could be tauter, but there is otherwise not much to complain about here. The action is terrific, the dialogue is incredibly entertaining, and the actors are great. What a shame it is so criminally underrated.

8.8/10

"Django. The D is silent."

Django Unchained is one of 2012's best films, a deliriously enjoyable slice of pulpy entertainment finding Quentin Tarantino back at the top of his game...for about seventy minutes. Following the terrific opening act, the film pussyfoots around in pure boredom for the better part of an hour, showing Tarantino at his most undisciplined and, well, unchained. Tarantino's first all-out Western, Django Unchained is actually a close cousin to 2009's Inglourious Basterds. Like that film, Django Unchained takes place in a troubled historical period, features Christoph Waltz, and exhibits the writer-director's strengths and weaknesses in equal measure. While the film has a handful of great set pieces and a marvellous cast, the flashes of brilliance are let down by Tarantino's indulgent tendencies. Glacially paced, the film never quite soars to excellence despite the tremendous screen artistry on display.

In 1858, two years before the American Civil War, dentist-turned-bounty-hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) frees a slave named Django (Jamie Foxx) from his captors. Schultz is on the hunt for a trio of wanted slave traders and needs Django to help him identify them. It quickly becomes apparent that Schultz and Django are an ideal team, and the two enter into an agreement: if Django assists Schultz in collecting bounties, he will reap the financial benefits. Afterwards, the two will set off to retrieve Django's wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), who has been enslaved on a plantation owned by the ruthless Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Django and Schultz travel to Mississippi to meet Candie, hoping to buy Broomhilda from the hedonistic plantation owner.

Inspired by the 1966 Spaghetti Western Django (the lead of which, Franco Nero, cameos here), Django Unchained is Tarantino's most linear film to date - there are no chapters, and the timeline is not fragmented. The ingredients for the film are just right and should make for a dynamite action film, but the execution is slipshod. Since this is an uncomplicated story, there's no earthly reason for it to run nearly three hours. After opening strong, Django Unchained begins losing momentum, with nonsensical bloat causing the film to fizzle out long before the climax. Tarantino loves to hear his characters talk, of course, and such extensive dialogue is almost to be expected, but it doesn't excuse the woeful sense of pacing. The first hour or so is brisk, taut and efficient, but then Tarantino gets carried away with speeches and pointless dialogue, bringing the film to its knees.

Django Unchained works in pieces rather than as a whole. Amid the useless plot digressions, the long-winded monologues and the poor attempts at tension, certain set pieces work beautifully; there are funny scenes, intense scenes and several exhilarating sequences. The cartoonish bloodshed is where the film truly takes off. The scenes of Django and Dr. Schultz collecting bounties are pure dynamite, and a late shootout is one of the most extraordinary set pieces Tarantino has ever put on the screen. The bullet hits are hilariously exaggerated, with blood squibs exploding like landmines, creating utter delirium. The cinematography by Robert Richardson is sublime, and since Tarantino adores film, Django Unchained was shot with 35mm film stock, which gives it a gorgeously cinematic appearance. Tarantino evidently strives to create something aesthetically similar to the films of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah, with old-fashioned opening credits and steady photography.

The highlight of Django Unchained, without a doubt, is Waltz as Dr. King Schultz. He essentially plays the good-guy version of his role from Inglourious Basterds; he's well-spoken and impeccably polite, yet he's also a killer at his core. Waltz is a constant delight, radiating charm and delivering Tarantino's dialogue with utmost assurance. Likewise, Foxx is an excellent fit for Django, soft-spoken and full of gravitas. Will Smith was originally in the running for the role, but he might have slanted the tone too much towards comedy. On the other hand, Foxx keeps the tone grounded, and the film is all the better for it. Meanwhile, in his first non-lead role since the 1990s, DiCaprio clearly has fun playing Calvin Candie. DiCaprio is not always the most interesting speaker, but his performance is committed and gritty. Samuel L. Jackson also puts in an unexpected performance as a close friend of Candie's. Jackson is fantastic - he is both funny and sinister. The supporting cast also includes the likes of Zoe Bell, Don Johnson, James Remar (in two roles), Bruce Dern, and John Jarratt. Even Tarantino himself appears towards the end of the film, though his Australian accent is incredibly questionable.

Django Unchained is perhaps the most frustrating motion picture of 2012. Somewhere within its overstuffed 165-minute runtime is a far superior, snappier 90-minute movie, and it is irksome to see Tarantino wasting so many brilliant film fragments by surrounding them with tedium. Tarantino's earlier efforts sparkle so much due to budget and timing limitations, which forced the filmmaker to show discipline. But armed with a huge budget and with the freedom to do what he wants, he's far less effective.

5.8/10

"You don't run, not when you're with us... You stand your ground and fight!"

On the surface, Green Street Hooligans looks to be a film about football hooliganism and football in general, as it's set in England and concerns avid fans of the sport. However, it's far deeper and more compelling than the premise suggests. Co-written and directed by female German filmmaker Lexi Alexander, Green Street Hooligans is reportedly part autobiographical, which lends a sense of authenticity and grit to the production. Unexpectedly powerful, the movie is predominantly a study of divided loyalties, relationships, friendships and the cost of violence, emerging as far more than just a straightforward story about football.

An intelligent American journalist student, Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) is unfairly expelled from Harvard after his roommate frames him for drug possession. With little options, Matt flies to visit his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani) and her husband Steve (Marc Warren) in England. Steve wants to take Shannon out for a romantic evening, hence he decides to leave Matt in the hands of his brother Pete (Charlie Hunnam). Pete is a full-blooded football hooligan, the full-time leader of a gang. Although reluctant, Pete decides to takes Matt to a match, after which a fight breaks out with a rival football club that hooks Matt into Pete's way of life. Ingratiating himself into Pete's gang, Matt soon earns the respect of the members, who affectionately nickname him "The Yank." However, Matt is a journalist student and an American, two factors of which could stir up turmoil with not only rival football gangs, but his own friends as well.

It's doubtful that many are actually aware of football "firms" in the United Kingdom, let alone the type of activities they are involved in. The presence of Matt therefore gives the film the chance to provide an outsider look into this culture; he is our anchor into the story. Interestingly, for a movie concerned with football clubs, there is only one scene depicting the sport. Green Street Hooligans is more concerned with the gangs and the juvenile way they squabble over their favourite teams. However, the screenplay (by Alexander, Dougie Brimson and Josh Shelov) contains pedestrian elements. Its use of clichés in its narrative structure is forgivable since it all gels quite well, but the dialogue is too cheesy and standard-order at times. For instance, Matt's voiceover that opens the film includes the declaration "What I was about to learn no Ivy League school in the world could teach me." Later, Matt declares that he doesn't know where his home is anymore. It may be easy to feel these sentiments, but they sound too cheesy when vocalised, and such things should be expressed wordlessly through themes and images.

Green Street Hooligans packs one hell of an emotional wallop as it approaches the finish line, leading to an unexpectedly powerful and affecting ending that may have some viewers in tears. In spite of various claims that the film glamorises violence, it does the exact opposite, examining the brutal effects of brawling which do not look fun at all. Director Lexi Alexander is a former kickboxing champion, thus the fight scenes are graphic and well-choreographed, not to mention shot and edited in an effective fashion. Green Street Hooligans looks great as well; scenes were shot in real stadiums, pubs and alleyways, which heightens the production's sense of authenticity. Christopher Franke's musical score is just as impressive.

Wood displayed great emotional depth as Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and he's every bit as good and mature here. People may always associate Wood with Frodo, but the actor has genuine chops, and deserves to emerge as more than just a Hobbit. Wood is the heart of Green Street Hooligans, and he nails the role. Most impressive is the way he sells Matt's transformation from naïve young journalist to a hardened man of depth. Every bit as good, if not better, is Charlie Hunnam as Pete. He initially seems to just be a dumb thug who brawls and belittles, but Hunnam plays the role with great depth and humanity, resulting in a mesmerising performance. The supporting cast is solid all-round, with Claire Forlani submitting her best work in years, and with a hypnotising turn by Marc Warren. The actors all hit their marks; Alexander coaxed some phenomenal performances from the well-chosen selection of actors.

A technically flawless piece of work, Green Street Hooligans tells a great story in a powerful way, with sublime acting and outstanding filmmaking prowess. Perhaps the biggest achievement of the film is that it works as a visceral, macho slice of entertainment, yet it still has thought and depth. And if anyone truly believes that Green Street Hooligans glamorises violence, they completely missed the themes and messages of the movie.

7.9/10

"This spirit is the taker of children..."

In short, The Possession is not bad. It's not a game-changing horror picture, nor is it a particularly remarkable effort. With that said, however, it fulfils its genre requirements in a satisfying fashion, providing a smattering of thrills and chills despite the restraints of its PG-13 rating. Problem is, it takes too long for the good stuff to kick in, leaving about an hour of pure mediocrity and boredom. The Possession carries the proverbial "Based upon true events" caption, as it was inspired by a Los Angeles Times article from 2004 which detailed ominous hauntings connected with an antique box purchased from eBay. It's a fascinating concept, providing ample opportunities for mindless ghost antics, but the end result ultimately falls short of its potential despite promising moments here and there. Surprisingly, The Possession was actually produced by horror maestro Sam Raimi, who was seemingly on autopilot for the duration of the production.

In Upstate New York, recently divorced high school basketball coach Clyde (Watchmen's Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is working to build a stronger relationship with daughters Hannah (Madison Davenport) and Em (Natasha Calis). Moving into a house of his own, Clyde plays it cool with his offspring when they stay for a weekend, buying them junk food and letting them have whatever they want from a yard sale. At said yard sale, Em picks up an ancient wooden box inscribed with Hebrew passages, which she grows obsessed with. As Em is drawn closer and closer to it, her personality alters and her behaviour grows erratic. Upon investigating, Clyde discovers the legend of the Dybbuk Box; a piece of Jewish folklore which unleashes a demonic spirit. Short on options, Clyde turns to a rabbi named Tzadok (Matisyahu) for help.

The Possession's structural building blocks are pure cliché, with a now-divorced father and a set of children who prefer their mother. Oh, and the mother is dating somebody else. It's basically Mrs. Doubtfire, only with more demons. And is it surprising to anyone that there's a subplot about Clyde pursuing a new job that will require him to move? The Judaism angle helps to distinguish The Possession from more generic efforts (exorcism films are more concerned with Roman Catholicism, after all), but this stuff is untouched until the final third, after which screenwriters Juliet Snowden and Stiles White return to screenwriting formula for a standard-issue climax involving chases and exorcisms. The storytelling is fairly sloppy, too, with Clyde's ex-wife Stephanie (Kyra Sedgwick) stubbornly refusing to believe that anything serious is amiss with Emily even when she turns into a snarling, pasty-faced zombie. Furthermore, a major character hastily leaves the film under inconclusive circumstances, never to be seen again.

Although the film is exceedingly mediocre, director Ole Bornedal gets major credit for not making it as a found footage production. (Let's not forget the utter debacle of The Devil Inside.) And at times, Bornedal's handling of the material is truly outstanding, resulting in a few insanely atmospheric and creepy moments, not to mention some expositional scenes that build a nice sense of foreboding. Anchoring the picture is Morgan, submitting an effective performance which paints Clyde as an everyman. Morgan nails the role's vulnerabilities and adds heart, shedding tears multiple times to powerful effect. However, it's the young actresses playing the daughters who run away with the movie. Calis and Davenport look and interact like real sisters, and the girls handle the requirements of their roles with a confidence rarely seen in child actors. Most impressive is Calis, who runs through various personalities and emotions yet never seems faux or contrived. However, The Possession is a PG-13 film, and this is obvious. At times, the film pushes the boundaries of its rating with dark and violent material, but this only serves to show us what we could've been in for if the picture was a hard-R.

In better hands, the same filmmaking ingredients could have yielded an overall superior effort, but the film we have is purely mediocre. Rather than flat-out terrifying and enthrallingly creepy, The Possession springs to life in fits and starts, with Bornedal only sporadically figuring out how to scare us. Otherwise, all we get are jump-scares underscored by commanding musical cues, and a number of scenes of lifeless character interaction. Despite the Jewish flavour, the film is every bit as generic as its title, though horror aficionados may find this to be worthwhile as a rental.

6.1/10

"It's hard to love your job when no one else seems to like you for doing it..."

The marketing campaign for Wreck-It Ralph painted this Disney animated flick as one big party for aging video game nerds, a story brimming with references and inside jokes that outsiders won't understand. Luckily, the resultant picture will appeal to wide audiences, as it strikes a great balance between fan service and highly satisfying moviemaking. The reason why Wreck-It Ralph works is because it's a lively movie which tells a wonderful story with well-realised characters, not because Q*Bert cameos here. What's notable about Wreck-It Ralph is that it may be perceived as just another video game flick, but it's more about the world of video game characters as a whole. And the movie is imbued with so much creativity and visual wit that one could be fooled into believing this to be a Pixar production.

In an old-fashioned video game arcade, behemoth Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) is a character in the Fix-It Felix, Jr. game, spending his days wrecking an apartment building that's subsequently repaired by handyman Felix (Jack McBrayer) with his magical hammer. Once the arcade shuts for the day, the community of characters congregate for conversation and relaxation. After thirty years of the same daily routine, Ralph has grown weary, fed up with his position as the bad guy and tired of being treated like a second-class citizen. Yearning for respect, Ralph sets off to win himself a medal and become the good guy, eventually entering a kart racing game called Sugar Rush that's overseen by the ruthless King Candy (Alan Tudyk). He meets the spunky young Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), an outcast who aspires to be a racer but is forbidden from doing so by Candy. Added to this, Ralph's actions lead to the threat of an outbreak of sinister bugs, and the Fix-It Felix, Jr. game may soon have its plug pulled.

Wreck-It Ralph is often described as the Toy Story of the video game world, and it is reminiscent of Pixar's first feature-length endeavour in the way it introduces the world of arcade game characters who are living, sentient entities who go through the motions for the entertainment of the players. This conceptual framework aside, though, Wreck-It Ralph's closest cinematic cousin is in fact Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, since they both concern misunderstood loners who suffer an existential crisis and set off on an ill-advised vision-quest that takes them to other worlds where they don't belong and threatens the fabric of the universe. What's interesting about Wreck-It Ralph is that there's actually some depth to the picture: The arcade characters being pre-programmed but completely self-aware is a sly metaphor for everyday workers who are stuck in jobs they don't always like. Nevertheless, Wreck-It Ralph lacks the emotional depth and thematic relevance of something like Toy Story. It's an enjoyable ride with a few sly touches, but it doesn't deliver any thoughtful messages, and the movie probably won't wring any tears from you.

Disney managed to secure the rights for so many recognisable faces here, including Pac-Man and his orange nemesis, Bowser from Super Mario Bros., and even the inimitable Sonic the Hedgehog. Gamers will, of course, get the most out of Wreck-It Ralph, as they will pick up on all the cameos and references, but there's enough humour and energy to ensure the uninitiated also have a good time. The opening act is an absolute home run, with director Rich Moore briskly establishing the world inhabited by the arcade characters and taking us through their monotonous daily routines. Once the film settles into Sugar Rush and the plot crises are introduced, however, the pacing unfortunately begins to slow. It's never exactly boring, but Wreck-It Ralph could have used a more judicious editor to give it an added zip. Luckily, the picture is a complete visual knock-out from start to finish, which helps to maintain interest throughout the draggier narrative patches. While not photo-realistic, the animation is succulent and richly detailed, and the character designs are absolutely spot-on.

Reilly has a talent for portraying lonely sad-sacks, making him ideal for the voice of Ralph. His performance is heartfelt and charming, and he's a big reason why the movie works as well as it does. But it's the supporting cast who make the biggest impression. Playing the little Vanellope, Silverman delivers a funny, feisty performance that's also imbued with a sense of humanity. Also excellent is Jane Lynch voicing a tough-as-nails military boilerplate from the arcade game Hero's Duty. Her role is brilliantly written, and Lynch chews the scenery and emanates authority with terrific gusto.

If it's not the greatest animated movie of 2012, Wreck-It Ralph is very near the top of the list. It's a strikingly original piece of work which wonderfully taps into video game culture while also telling an amusing tale supported by a playful sense of humour and beautifully rendered animation. Video game fans will probably have the most fun with the picture as they'll recognise the references and in-jokes, but the unenlightened should still be enraptured by the comedy, the characters and the superlative set-pieces.

8.0/10