Wadrick’s Celluloid Dungeon
Dead Actors Society
Each Oscars ceremony always includes an ‘In Memoriam’ segment, paying tribute to those in the movie world who have passed away in that particular year. Rarely mentioned are those fringe-dwellers, those faces you recognise but can’t put a name to, those people who have never been invited to the world’s largest smugfest…
The Ten Best Films I Saw In 2011
There were some great films released in 2011. Lars VonTrier, despite his Hitler comments at Cannes, produced another great work in Melancholia. Woody Allen served up his best film in years with Midnight In Paris. Kevin Smith tried something different and almost succeeded with his off-beat horror film Red State. Margin Call and The Ides Of March proved that decent drama is not yet dead. The much-maligned Apollo 18 breathed new life into the slowly fading mockumentary sub-genre, much like last years’ The Troll Hunter…
The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why The Adjustment Bureau fails as a film. Based on the Philip K. Dick story “Adjustment Team”, George Nolfi’s adaptation is, from memory, quite faithful to the source material. But like many of the works of author Stephen King that have been translated to the screen, something goes awry. Perhaps it is the simple fact that some novels and short stories are not suited to celluloid treatment. But why is that?…
Bill Hunter – An Oz Icon
To me, Bill will always be the sympathetic Major Barton in the trenches of Peter Weir’s Gallipoli, softly humming to Adagio in G Minor as he writes one final letter to his wife. Despite appearing in more than sixty films, if there is any regret to be had at the passing of Bill Hunter it is that he did not make more films for us to enjoy in perpetuity…
Battle: Los Angeles (2011)
My instinct with Battle: Los Angeles is to drive in the skewer, place it over an open fire and roast it until the skin begins to crackle. But I’m not going to do that. A film with a title of “Battle: Los Angeles” damn well better deliver a battle in Los Angeles. And that’s exactly what this film does. It offers no apologies for its by-the-numbers approach, and as an audience member with popcorn box and coke in hands, it delivers precisely what you’d expect…
RIP Sidney Lumet
Hollywood has lost one of its true filmmaking legends with the passing of director Sidney Lumet at age 86. Although he may not be a household name, Lumet was a giant of American cinema, directing – in his fifty-year film career – some of the most recognised and acclaimed movies the industry has produced…
The Parallax View (1974)
From the records, The Parallax View was a box office success in ’74, but in the years since it has been relegated to the forgotten box of American cinema. Denied a substantial DVD release, the film can now be found (if you’re lucky) for $3 sitting at the bottom of a video store bargain bin, beneath ex-rental copies of Jennifer’s Body and Scary Movie 4…
The Killer Inside Me (2010)
Unlike any number of gratuitously violent films of recent times, The Killer Inside Me treats its violent content as an extension of character, rather than a necessary, exploitative story device. The credit for this could go equally to Affleck, Thompson, or director Michael Winterbottom (Code 46, Welcome To Sarajevo); each has contributed to the pleasantly sour taste that The Killer Inside Me has left in my mouth…
RIP Pete Postlethwaite
It was sad to learn today of the passing of a minor screen legend – English actor Pete Postlethwaite – once described by director Steven Spielberg as the greatest actor in the world. Pete had an entire elocution lesson as a surname, and those unfamiliar with that name would have at least recognised the mans’ face and muttered “Oh, that’s the guy from…”
2010 – The Year In Film
But of all the films I did see in 2010, the clear winner as far as brutal odour was the Brothers Strause’s Skyline. Maybe it’s a case of one brother holding the other back; but whatever the case, Skyline featured half-dimensional characters (yep, not even one-dimensional) and a ridiculous story, and even managed to blatantly steal from at least a half-dozen sci-fi films (probably more, but I lost count together with my interest)…
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