Edge of Darkness

Edge of Darkness" is an emotionally charged thriller set at the intersection of politics and big business. Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) is a veteran homicide detective for the Boston Police Department and a single father. When his only child, twenty-four year-old Emma (Bojana Novakovic), is murdered on the steps of his home, everyone assumes that he was the target. 

It's also good to see Mel Gibson back in front of the camera after directing for a number of years.
It is also great to see the actor take on the slightly lose cannon unhinged roles again, roles that made him famous with the likes of the 'Lethal Weapon' series and the Mad Max series, and this return includes an over the top growling Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness, which is always a treat..
Still the returned vehicle for Gibson is an un involving slow drama, that manages to never gets off first base and has a laboured feel to it, similar to Gibson's other drama 'Ransom' which was intense without the tension. 

A return to form as such for its lead, but a by numbers thriller that never really gets going.

The Box

A small wooden box arrives on the doorstep of a married couple, who know that opening it will grant them a million dollars and kill someone they don't know.

‘The Box’ is a mixture of the weirdness of ‘Donnie Darko’ and the off key story telling of a David Lynch film. The film is full of odd ball characters, which builds to a conclusion which will alienate a number of viewers, but will be oddly satisfying to many.  

On the back of the cult hit ‘Donnie Darko’ It is a nice surprise that director Richard Kelly has not gone straight Hollywood, and has made a mind bending follow up to his previous cult hit with ‘The Box’. The film will split audience but the many ‘ Donnie Darko’ fans will eat it up.

The film was not a massive success at the box office, but lets hope that Kelly will be able to continue to produce interesting movies sure as 'The Box' in the future, and will not be forced to default to the average Hollywood film makers of recent times.

Zombieland

Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has made a habit of running from what scares him. Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) doesn’t have fears. If he did, he’d kick their ever-living ass. In a world overrun by zombies, these two are perfectly evolved survivors. But now, they’re about to stare down the most terrifying prospect of all: each other.

'Zombieland' takes the spirit of the recent horror comedies such as 'Shaun of the Dead', and although not as funny nor as clever as this film is still good fun and original enough all the same.

Woody Harrelson steals the show, as the crazy lone Zombie killer. A performance which is by far the best we have seen from him in any film for years. 

The script is also lively and amusing, and a number of fun set pieces make the film worth the ride, including a great finally in a fairground.

All good fun in the end, and with a short running time you can't really go wrong with Zombie land and with the added bonus of one of the best cameos in years. Enjoy! 

Un prophète

Condemned to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena, part Arab, part Corsican, cannot read or write. Arriving at the jail entirely alone, he appears younger and more fragile than the other convicts. He is 19 years old. Cornered by the leader of the Corsican gang currently ruling the prison, he is given a number of "missions" to carry out, toughening him up and gaining the gang leader's confidence in the process. Malik is a fast learner and rises up the prison ranks, all the while secretly devising his own plans.

The scene that has really had tongues waging is the razor scene. The scene itself and also the build up to the events around the razor are great, and the tension and execution of the scene is never really eclipsed, thoughout the movie.

The visual flourishes including an effect of partial sight, ghost and dream styles that are also well done.

At two and a half hours the story doesn’t have enough expansion to warrant the epic gangster length.
Also a film poster blurb has quoted that the film is 'Scarface' meets 'The Godfather', these blurs are normally just cheap marketing tricks to bring the right audience to watch the film, also as the film is French attempts to bring more people into subtitled films. But that is an issue with 'Un prophete' the film is very similar in it back bone story line and is ultimately the mixture of these two classic gangster films.

Still a good central performance and enough visual flair, makes Un prophète one of the stand out crime dramas of the year.

Talaye sorkh

For Hussein, a pizza delivery driver, the imbalance of the social system is thrown in his face wherever he turns. One day when his friend, Ali, shows him the contents of a lost purse, Hussein discovers a receipt of payment and cannot believe the large sum of money someone spent to purchase an expensive necklace

Talaye Sorkh benefits from a nice central performance from Hossain Emadeddin, who carries the film well, and keeps the interest during the rather slower sections of the film.

The political areas are covered ok, but the twist, which actually opens the film, throws the film off balance, and when the film try’s to run with that central scene and build around the reasons for it, and a political Israel story which although very realistic, does'nt quite all string together.

Where the Wild Things Are

The story follows Max, a young boy who wears his wolf suit, behaves badly and is sent to bed without any supper. Once there, he escapes to a forest where he is joined by the monstrous-yet-cuddly wild things for their wild rumpus. Adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story.

The story is a very short kid’s book which is low on words and big on visuals, a beautiful piece. The problem with the film is yes it does have the escapism of a boy trying to find a voice and discovering adventures which he isn’t getting in the real world, and a lot of heart at its centre, but the film is defaulted to an American drama. The American slacker, everyday characters of  the wild things are odd and in reality nothing happens with regarding plot, which every story needs.

Another gripe for me is the soundtrack which has defaulted to an indie soundtrack which started with the likes of ‘Juno’ and ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ which was perfect for those films but just takes you out of the wonderland, in this movie.

At the end of the day ‘Where the wild things are’ is a nothing film structurally and yes a short story in paper back perfect, hour and a half film not so.

W

Oliver Stone has made Presidential films before ‘Nixon’ and to some extent ‘JFK’ with the assassination of the former president, and has been successful with them, JFK is still his masterpiece.

There are flashes of the old director brillance with W.,  with a number of key scenes, one involving a lunch conversation with the vice president which is a great scene, and a immersive scene in the war room with tense escaladed discussion to invade Iraq.

Still the slightly comic approach to the film is slightly misleading, and despite a great central performance from Josh Bolin and a number of great supporting roles, the film seems rushed the the usual emotional hard noise Oliver Stone films not there. The film also ducks from the political anguish that the director does so well.

W. does not hold up to early Oliver Stone films such ‘Platoon’, Born on the 4^th July and JFK, which are still his best work. 

Still with a massive dip in quality in film making from the likes of  the dire ‘World Trade Centre’ and monster disaster of ‘Alexander’ its nice to see a if only slightly back to form Mr Stone, and lets hope the director can up his game even more for his next film.