Cyrus (2010)

I hope you’ve never heard of the “Mumblecore” film movement and genre of the independent film world or this diatribe will be entirely pointless. Mumblecore is one of the many forms of independent filmmaking, with many directors being acolytes. The first film considered a Mumblecore film was Andrew Bujalski’s Funny Ha Ha. What defines a Mumblecore film is a low budget, use of non-professional actors, although Jay and Mark Duplass (the directors of this review’s subject) use professional actors, and a lot of improvisational acting. The plot and story usually revolve around a post-college relationship between two White (Not always; Medicine for Melancholy used Black protagonists) heterosexuals. Now, that all that copy and paste from Wikipedia is out of the way, let us review Mumblecore comedy-drama, Cyrus.

Limbo (Playstation Network) (2011)

The video game industry is becoming increasingly identical to the film industry, in more ways than one; when something successful comes out, studios will demand something similar in order to cash into the public's admiration for the aforementioned success; however, to find artistic and innovative films/games that take risks, play with the genre and give credence to either industry, there’s the independent, or “indie”, market, that has little to no promotion. And playing Limbo from Playdead help remind me of the necessity and artistic value of the independent market in particular and the video game industry in general.

Flight Control HD (Playstation Network) (2010)

Being a flight controller must feel, in some sense, like being a god; choosing the destiny of hundreds of thousands of lives, whether they live and enjoy paradise or die in a hellish inferno and control where men may fly. If all flight controllers viewed their job as thus, rather than the challenging, demanding, nerve-wrecking occupation where the slightest hiccup can cause massive, irreversible damage that it is, then maybe the suicide rate will drop dramatically. Thankfully, Flight Control HD takes out the months of training, stress and guilt of all the holiday-makers you sent to a slow and melt-y death and trying to use a Arab looking passenger as a scapegoat.

L.A. Noire (Playstation 3) (2011)

Remember when those absolute idiots who probably think the height of comedy is a fart, called Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Horse? Because a game company can only makes one type of game if that game is the only popular one, even though I remember Rockstar releasing a racing game and a puzzle game. It is a stupid assumption, like saying Valve only make First-Person Shooters. But people won’t really be able to “cleverly” nickname L.A. Noire, Grand Theft Noir, because it is a different kettle of fish, while their may be driving in a large, open world, L.A. Noire is more reminiscent of classic Adventure games, with a mixture of Open-World games and a dash of Third-Person Shooters.

Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)

The 1950s should have been a time filled with peace and prosperity, a time where humanity would finally realise their inhumanity to each other and live in brotherly harmony together at last after such a destructive and horrific war. Unfortunately, it was an era of paranoia and fear, especially in America, of the newest "evil": Communism. The paranoia was fuelled by four factors; The Soviet Union’s conquest of Eastern Europe; the spread of Communism in Asia; the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, two American Communists who were convicted as committing espionage and giving information on atomic bombs to the Soviet Union; and the most important element in exploiting the fear of Communism and creating a nation of paranoia was Joseph Raymond “Joe” McCarthy, a US Senator who made the claim that Communists were infiltrating the country and were working in the highest levels of government. Many would not dare criticise McCarthy due to fear of being labelled a Communist by McCarthy, however, one man did stand up against the McCarthy witch hunts, a journalist and broadcaster more famous for his wartime broadcasts from London during the Blitz, Edward R. Murrow. Through the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), he would criticise and fight against McCarthy’s wild accusations and is believed to be instrumental in both the downfall of McCarthy and the rise of television’s responsibility to inform and illuminate the thoughts and minds of people and not hide the uncomfortable and ugly truths. And so, his struggle to do both is presented in the excellent Good Night, and Good Luck.

Black Dynamite (2009)

Spoof films haven‘t exactly been anticipated with admirable gusto from audiences recently, but who can blame them when most Spoof films are made by the sultans of shit, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. That’s right, the fuck-tards who made the Scary Movie series, Date Movie, Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, Meet the Spartans and Vampires Sucks, all of which are about as entertaining as being stabbed with a knife made of salt and hepatitis. Each of their films are just terrible and unfunny; what they think is a clever comedic spoof of something is just a pop culture reference with a dick and/or fart and/or sex and/or MILF joke, also known as ‘unfunny Family Guy sketch’. And because each film made ridiculous amounts of money (some make triple their budget), those two assassins of comedy have a poisonous grip on the Spoof genre, so it is no surprise that most Spoof films just fly under the radar of audiences for fear of being the same as the cinematic abortions of Friedberg and Seltzer. A fact that is a shame for Black Dynamite, because it is a brilliant and funny Spoof film that completely trumps Friedberg and Seltzer’s entire filmography.

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Joel and Ethan Coen, better known as the Coen Brothers, are possibly the masters of the cult film. Every film they have made has never reach a large mainstream success; I could ask anyone in the UK if they ever saw James Cameron’s Avatar and every single one would say “yes“, but only a few would answer in the affirmative to seeing Fargo, Miller’s Crossing or, this review’s subject, The Big Lebowski or to even knowing who the Coen Brothers are. This is a shame because, not to sound disparaging to Avatar or James Cameron, they are brilliant films and filmmakers that trump many over-hyped mainstream films. Especially with The Big Lebowski, a surreal, eccentric and humorous film that has become one of my all time favourite Comedy or Film Noir or Mystery Thriller and one of my all time favourite films.

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)

I absolutely love 1950’s Science Fiction B-movies. I love the corny, cheesy and usually swearword and blasphemy free dialogue, the simplistic plot that’s either about the dangers of nuclear radiation (Them, Tarantula) or how Communist/aliens are invading our wholesome American way of life (Invasion of the Body Snatchers). Some can be intelligent or thought provoking like The Day the Earth Stood Still, but the majority are fun and entertaining popcorn films. Just like Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, a Sci-Fi B-movie I absolutely fucking love.

DEFCON (PC) (2006)

Ever since Osama bin Laden showed he was serious business in 2001, nuclear war has become less a threat to human existence and more a quaint concept from the old days of Commies and big city dividing walls. Although America will continually make us fear every North Korean nuclear weapons test or Iran’s evil scheme of becoming a developed nation through a nuclear power plant program, possibly in the hopes to distract us from the fact that America is the only nation ever to use nuclear weapons against a civilian populace. But Introversion Software, the self proclaimed “last of the bedroom developers”, wanted to return to the fun side of nuclear holocaust with DEFCON, a game where you don’t really win but lose the least and keep score on your perfect genocide.

Superbad (2007)

The early years of the first decade of the 21st century were greatly defined by the films of Judd Apatow. Everyone who lived in those years, almost definitely saw Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Knocked Up and loved them and made Apatow’s name one known in every Hollywood studio. After the hit Knocked Up, he produced a comedy teen film directed by Greg Mottola (Who would later direct and write hit comedy Adventureland), a film that would forever resonate through history with one word; McLovin. Let’s talk about Superbad.

Evil Genius (PC) (2004)

Why is it when we have fantasies of taking over the world, we imagine doing it in the style of a James Bond villain? Sitting in an evil comfy chair in front of an evil world map in an evil secret underground lair surrounded by evil henchmen and honest working minions. The plans concocted are usually too complex and overtly complicated and easily defeatable because it has been explained to a super spy while being strapped to an easily escapable and needless torture device. And the plan is usually hold the world to ransom with an impossible weapon. The only game that allowed you to take over the world, but in a non-Bond villain way, was Sid Meier’s Civilization series. But in 2004, Elixir Studios released Evil Genius, a game similar to the Dungeon Keeper series, in order to gratify your inner Blofeld, but does it succeed? Let’s see:

Postal (2007)

What to say about German director Uwe Boll? Only that he is possibly the worst director of all time and that’s including Ed Wood and Bruno Mattei. Most of his films are based on video games and that should spell it all out since every single FUCKING video game film adaptation has failed…miserably. He also intentionally makes sure his films suck so that he can exercise a German tax law that allows investors to have a tax write-off if a German-owned film lost money. In 2005, that law was changed and that meant that Boll would have to put real effort in his films to get more funding and money, and guess what, his films are still crap. Well, except for one; a film based on a video game directed by Uwe Boll that has become one of my favourite films. I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out.

The King's Speech (2010)

When making a film based on a person in a position of power, like a state head or a leader of a political party, one has to be careful about how they are written or portrayed; if they are seen as flawless or too sympathetic, then you can be accused of idolatry; however, portray them overtly evil or just twisted like a Saturday morning cartoon villain, then you can be accused of bias or just lazy writing. Take, for example Bruno Ganz’s and Robert Carlyle’s portrayal of Hitler in Downfall (Der Untergang) and Hitler: The Rise of Evil respectively; Ganz’s portrayal is of an downtrodden Hitler who has built up a proud nation but due to his arrogance and hatred it is all falling down around him, it’s not a sympathetic performance (which is impossible when the character is Hitler) but it is more realistic, Hitler is a genocidal madman but he is human; however, Carlyle’s portrayal was more cartoonish and was so unsubtle it would be more sublime to have Hitler wearing a top hat and tying Europa to the train tracks of tyranny. Now, I’m not saying you can justify Hitler’s actions, but he wasn’t a demon sent from the very depths of Hell. And now after that long and unrelated diatribe, let’s look at The King’s Speech

Zombie Apocalypse (Playstation Network) (2009)

Gamers have a love for zombies that is so strong, I’m sure there is a secret lab of gamers trying to create a zombie apocalypse to justify their purchase of zombie games to their parents and imaginary girlfriends, and I myself love zombies. I don’t know why, they’re just awesome; if you make a World War II game but replace the Nazis with Nazi zombies, then that’s just awesome; If you take the American wild west and fill it with zombies, then that’s just awesome; even data processing might be awesome if you are fighting zombies at the same time. Consequentially, Nihilistic Software and Konami released Zombie Apocalypse, a top-down shoot ’em up for the PSN and the XBLA.

Shoot 'Em Up (2007)

The shoot ‘em up (or shmup) is one of my favourite genres of video games because of their almost unforgiving arcade challenge and their simplicity. Coincidentally, the Michael Davis film Shoot ‘Em Up has become one of my favourite action films. Why? Because it is just so goddamn insane and tries to be nothing more than a balls-to-the-wall action flick with gun fights that are so erotic, you could call it ‘gunsploitation’.

The Mist (2007)

The Mist is another film adapting itself from a Stephen King novel and….that’s not really that bad since many films based on Stephen King books are good, but it has to fall upon the director to make it good. In this case; it’s Frank Darabont, nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe and known for writing for the 1988 remake of The Blob and The Fly II, but also known for directing the brilliant The Shawshank Redemption and the OK Green Mile. So with good source material and a credible director who works well with that certain source material, how can it fail?

Blade Runner (1982)

Out of all the film genres I enjoy, my most favourite has to be Science Fiction, or Sci-Fi, and its subgenres. I enjoy the classic golden age of cinema Sci-Fi films that either make the year 2000 the most futuristic and technologically advance we will ever get, with hover cars and space travel being similar to a road trip or a B-movie where the aliens are a thin sheeted allegory for "Godless Communists" and I equally enjoy recent Sci-Fi films that are usually bleak and dystopian, where aliens are barely serving our space bars, let alone trying to conquer the Earth. But my most favourite of the Sci-Fi genre has to be the ‘smart Sci-Fi’ film, a visually stunning and entertaining Sci-Fi film that is also intelligent and thought provoking, a film that says to you, “I know you’re intelligent, so I’m not going pander down to you with flashy secial effects like you're some retarded magpie”.
One film that is constantly associated with this subgenre is Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. A smart epic Sci-Fi with an exciting atmosphere, an intelligent premise and the acting talents of Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer all tossed together and it was brilliant.

Analysing Rambo: Representation of Men and Ideologies in the Action Genre

This was my final essay for my Media Studies class, I piece I'm proud of since it gave me a B, amounts of praise from the tutor and my A-Level qualification which is yet to be use in any way. Anyway, take a read, say what you think and give me some constructive criticism (that sings my praise)....

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

How does one define a film like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World? It such a different film, taking on the tried and tested story of love and discovery, and fills it in-between with surreal humour, lovable characters, strange plot, kinetic and impressive fights, wonderful dialogue and everything that every great films do right.
I already had high expectations for this film considering its director, Edgar Wright, is a man whose previous works I have thoroughly enjoyed. But did it live up to those expectations, hypothetical question mark?

Top Thirteen Worst Film Sequels

Sequels are the natural enemy of all fans of originality, only occasionally will they allow one to past but usually a sequel is so fucking heinous or unnecessary to the series that they need to and must tear it apart, which is exactly what I am doing here. Well, that and belittling my previous article/post/random jibber-jabber. And there are so many terrible sequels that I am compelled to show off my manliness and massive balls by counting down the THIRTEEN worst film sequels of all time (or just today), why thirteen? Because I have balls of steel. So let’s venture into this horrible and degenerate land:

Top Ten Film Sequels that are better than the original film

When studio executives say ‘sequel', you hear ‘better start building the coffin’ and when they say ‘straight-to-DVD’ you're at the wake grieving at the loss of a promising or great franchise while also getting drunk and seeing if a combination of alcohol and grief make certain people's pants very easy to get in to. Erm, the point is that sequels are usually just awful for many reasons; different actors, different director, different themes, disregarding continuity and mischaracterisations. But once in a blue moon, a sequel will not only be good but better that the original..... did you hear that? That is the sound of zombies coming into your area because your MIND WAS JUST BLOWN!!! And this countdown is to prove my claim, so let’s begin: