'The Woman In Black' and 'Ironclad'

On Sunday afternoon we went to our local Odeon cinema to see "The Woman in Black", a new film adaptation of the book by Susan Hill. This is the story of a young solicitor, Arthur Kipps (played by Daniel Radcliffe) who is sent to retrieve some legal papers from the house of an old woman who has died. Once he arrives at the large crumbling property, located in the middle of sinister marshland, strange things start to happen....

It was nice to see a modern horror film that was relatively quiet and slow-paced, and that did not depend on lots of over-the-top CGI effects or bombastic mood music. I haven't read the book, but me and Mrs. did watch the 1989 ITV version a few nights before, which we both thought was superior to this new cinema version. Daniel's performance was decent, and he seems to have mastered the tears-standing-in-eyes close up. In all, I think he gave a fairly nuanced performance, especially as hasn't that much to say - this is not a talky film. The picture would have been better without the needless addition of the dead wife story line - in the 1980's version she is very much alive. I also thought the vaguely upbeat ending was a little hokey. But all in all, the film was enjoyable. No big scares, but mild tension throughout. The jump scenes were full-on manipulation with loud bangs in the music, unlike the ITV version which was genuinely creepy, quiet, and had a downbeat tone. Definitely worth seeing though. Also, it was great for us to go with my sister and her husband for an afternoon out at the flicks.
*Thanks to Carla for helping me with this review.

We also watched Ironclad on DVD this week: an extreme action film (British produced) based on the real event of the siege of Rochester Castle in 1215 AD. Here, we have the wonderful Paul Giamatti as the mad King John, attempting to take back his kingdom from the barons of England that forced him to sign the Magna Carta. It also starts James Purefoy as the Templar knight leading the defence of the castle against him - essentially the hero of the piece - and boy, does he have a big sword, as the King's army of Danish ruffians find our to their disadvantage. I have to say I loved this film. True, the story is rather weak (er,..."Defend the castle".) and the production looks as if the film makers could have done with a bit more cash, but what is there is very entertaining, if only for spotting the overt gore and battle violence, and the odd wish-crack from the solid cast. Good to see Derek Jacobi as well, and the CGI landscapes of the castle and its surroundings looked pretty good on the whole. This might make a good double-bill with Black Death, another medieval set film from the recent past, which stars the always watchable Sean Bean.

Rochester is still a castle we haven't visited, so I'm even more excited about going there now! Must re-watch the episode of Castle where Marc Morris discusses the real history of the event. Excellent series.

"Battle: Los Angeles" and comic book DVD watching

We went to the cinema to see "Battle: Los Angeles" on Friday afternoon, while we were on a few days annual leave from work (back to work tomorrow!) The story is about a vast alien force invading the major cities of the world, so they can ultimately gain control of the Earth's water supply. This film concentrates on the fight between the aliens and US marines in downtown Santa Monica and L.A, and stars Aaeron Eckhart. I really liked the frenetic action scenes (the film is basically 1 1/2 hours of urban based battle carnage) which were thrilling, and the design of the aliens and their ships was interesting, as was the way they fought their side of the conflict. The visual effects were very well done and integrated nicely into the live action - great use of CGI. The shaky/naturalistic photography does take some getting used to though; definitely no steadicam on this set. After the first five minutes or so I warmed to this, and thought it actually suited the overall 'front line news report' style of the film. The cast of soldiers are quite stereotypical and the script won't win an Oscar in a million years, and there was one 'noble speech' scene that would have benefited from some editing, but generally I found the film exciting to watch on the big screen. I'll definitely pick this up to go on the shelf next to "District 9", 2009's breakthrough 'alien' film.

Funnily enough, I think this was the first time for a long while I've seen a newly released film on its first day *and* its first screening that day!

<--Here is a picture of the entrance to our local Odeon cinema, taken when we went to see "Battle: LA". As you can see, Odeon have become big fans of George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic visual effects company (ILM)!

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In preparation for some big 'comic book' film releases this summer in the form of "Captain America" and "Thor", we've been watching some related films on DVD recently - "Hulk" last week, and "X-Men" and "X-2" over the weekend just gone. We have "The Incredible Hulk" on the way, and I want to pick up "X-Men: The Last Stand", "Spider-Man 3", "Iron Man" and "Iron Man 2" to plug those gaps in the collection. Most go shopping for some more bargains soon....

The Dark Knight

We went to see "The Dark Knight" yesterday afternoon at our local Odeon cinema, using the 'Orange Wednesdays' offer -- half price tickets -- woohoo! I've been following the amazing box office that the film has generated with interest, so I was really looking forward to it, especially as I enjoyed "Batman Begins" three years ago.

The film follows Batman's (and the Gotham police) continuing fight with organised crime. This time though, Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has to deal with 'The Joker', a mastermind criminal who has a fetish for chaos, played with a aplomb by the late Heath Ledger. The Joker shows insanity on the surface, but is always in complete control over the Mob.

The film features many exciting action scenes, such as the bank raid opener and the truck chase, and has some interesting plot twists. Gary Oldman was his usual dependable self playing Lt. Jim Gordon, and Christian Bale is always good, altough he did chew the furniture a bit with the 'deeeeeep voice' when dressed up as Batman. The dark sombre tone was ok, as it suits the characters.

I had some problems with the film though. I wasn't to happy with the editing in places, and I hated the makeup/CGI effects on Harvey Dent/Two-Face character: it looked too over-the-top, and for me it didn't fit in with the rest of the film's aesthetic as being 'as real as possible'.

Also, the film is too long. I think it could have been tightend and cut by about ten minutes. Some of the end sequence felt drawn out. Maggie Gyllenhall's character was pretty much wasted, and she certainly wasn't as appealing as Gwyneth Paltrow in "Iron Man" (which was a far better film and wow, she looked *great* in those lovely little pencil skirts!!)

Anyway, I enjoyed what was here, particularly Heath Ledger's performance, but it just wasn't the amazing epic I'd hoped for. I think I preferred "Batman Begins" actually. However, I do hope to see a third film, which I'm sure is on the cards from Warner Bros after this film has taken $800,000,000 so far!

Carla's comments can be found here. I love the point about Maggie Gyllenhall's hair!! haha!

A quick comment about "Wall-E"

We went to see "Wall-E" yesterday at our local Odeon (taking advantage of the 'Orange Wednesdays' offer) and it was fantastic! I thought it was a lovely film and wonderful to see on the big screen. What a brilliant character Wall-E is!

Pop over to Carla's blog for a link to a review, or see Joe Sales' comments here.

Thanks Pixar!