Claustrophobic? You Have No Idea....

Have you ever spent 95 minutes trapped in a coffin, underground with only a lighter and a cell phone at your aid? "A cell phone? That's handy... Could just call for help can't ya?" That's what I thought. But what happens when help is useless? When your kidnapper keeps interfering? When air is running out? You end up with suspense. Brilliant suspense that will keep you hanging on every word. It's Buried ladies and gents.

It's not the most original of premises nor is it the most complicated plot but boy does it work. Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is an American contractor working in Iraq. When his truck convoy gets ambushed by kids with stones and a group of Iraqis he gets kidnapped and wakes up in a coffin. The coffin is buried somewhere in a desert in Iraq and isn't much bigger than 7 foot by 4 foot. But it's not all bad. The kidnappers were nice and provided a lighter, a telephone, some glow sticks, a knife and a bit of alcohol. Nice chaps. All they ask in return is £5 million ransom money. Cue lots of phone calls and flicking light.

Hunger was a major issue in the coffin.

Ryan Reynolds, being really the only physical actor in the entire film, throws in a groundbreaking turn. His performance is gripping and believable. Imagine how you'd react when trapped in a box; Reynolds does it. Everything from wild lashing out to erm... Wild lashing out. Seriously though, he creates a believable character and you won't want to look away, and when the whole film is set in a small box, that's an impressive feat.


There is no soundtrack in true suspense style and it's difficult to throw in fancy cinematography when the camera has to stay within the limits of the box. (Though the last shot is top class.) The direction is pure awesome thanks to Rodrigo Cortés. You may think there isn't much to do with a man in a box but there is. The main thing? Timing. When the phone goes off, when the lighter goes out. These sort of things make movies brilliant. Alfred Hitchcock was king of it and I'm sure he would have been proud of Buried.

Ryan's contortionist act was progressing brilliantly

This movie is well worth a watch. Reynolds is great, the suspense is super and the dialogue will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Perhaps avoid if claustrophobic.


Best bit? The bit in the coffin. That was wicked. I jest. Hmmm tricky one. I'll say the introduction. We're introduced into this situation and Reynolds reacts just as you or I would.

It's Satire... Fool.

Too many people take this film seriously. It's satire. One of the best forms of comedy. Because it's clever. It's a horror.. On the surface... But underneath that, at it's heart, it's a mockery of all old school slasher movies. I am talking, of course, about Scream. It's a pity that less people will watch it due to the unnecessary prejudice about horror movies. It's satire.. Fool. I have some good friends who are self proclaimed 'film nerds' and while that's a fair claim, they're unlikely to touch this movie with a barge pole.

It's a shame. It's a really good movie. It may sound familiar. High school girl, home alone, begins to get phone calls from an unknown caller who wants to play a game or the boyfriend tied up on the patio dies. Fairly average? It goes on. More high school murders linked to something that happened a year ago but the killer is too good for the police... Picking off teens one by one.. At parties, their houses or the school. Anywhere. But the difference is, while other slasher movies are bloody, this one is bloody funny. And make no mistake, it's just plain bloody too.

Drew loved singing Tom Jones down the phone to her boyfriend

It diverges from the rest of the genre by taking what is normal for the style and slanting it ever so slightly. There is no calm voice for the telephone threats, if hit, the killer won't somehow develop super strength and throw you back, he will fall down with a loud "OOF." On that note, the victims do fight back, often, and successfully... More or less. Apart from these aspects, the slasher genre rules are all there but in a post modern fashion. By this I mean the characters essentially discuss how to survive; the rules of survival in a horror movie. On numerous occasions, characters refer to their lives being 'like a horror movie.' One brilliant example of these post modern features is the party. Randy (Jamie Kennedy) discusses the rules of survival, "Never have sex" as clips of his two friends dancing the dance of love appear and "Don't say I'll be right back" just before Stu (Matthew Lillard) walks out uttering the phrase.

Performance wise, Drew Barrymore stands out in her short but crucial role to introduce the story but the true star is Matthew Lillard's grinning, comic and also scary Stu. Also worthy of notice are the real life and on screen couple, Courtney Cox and David Arquette, playing Gale Weathers, the bitchy news lady and Deputy Dewy, the love able police deputy.

Hearing Drew's singing made Matthew all bashful

In technical aspects it still manages to mock the genre. The peer-round-the-corner camera shot, the cheesy violin music... It all works with beautiful irony. And why? Director Wes Craven. Since he was one of the few directors that essentially invented the genre it seems fitting that he mocks it. And he has the ability to since he knows every aspect of the horror movie and can twist it successfully without making it look bad like other spoofs. (See Saturday The 14th)

It's a good movie. It's half horror, half comedy. If you expect it to be something, expect funny. If you expect horror, you're likely to be disappointed. I suggest watching it.


Best Bit? There's a lot. I mean a lot. I'm having trouble picking one. Just watch and see.

A One Sided Battle?

When the whole world is prepared to fight, you or I may hide away to keep safe. Not Scott Pilgrim. Nope. He versus the world. The new movie, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, shows us these events. Admittedly, he doesn't really take on the whole world... Just some bad people.

Basically, Scott (Michael Cera) falls for Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) after she appears in his dream. Ditching his 17 year old Chinese girlfriend he opts for the pink haired Ramona instead. This, of course, is before he realises that to win her over he must defeat her evil exes... Her Seven. Evil. Exes. With help from his band, Sex Bob-omb, and his roommate, Wallace, he will fight his way armed with nerdy-ness, a bass guitar and, at times, a flaming sword.

The movie was ruined by some grafitti scrawled on the film

Great performances all round. Of course, this is nerd humour. One of the best types. There's still all types of humour and you will laugh regardless. Kieran Culkin steals the show with his comic timing and brilliant one-liners as Scott's gay roommate, Wallace. But really, this is one of the funniest films in a long time; Kick Ass and Hangover, move over. With a killer soundtrack and some fancy camera tricks this movie notches up to top class. Plus plenty of Zelda, Mario and every other video game ever references. Enjoy them nerds... Enjoy them.

The cute couple being checked out by Young Neil

Hot Fuzz/ Shaun Of The Dead director, Edgar Wright, really pulls of this graphic novel/comic book/ game world and makes it work. No doubt people will attempt to copy this style... And fail. Don't watch the movie expecting it to be like reality. This movie is set like a musical. However, instead of randomly bursting into song and dance, they burst into song and fight. Believe me. Music is a key element. (Though rock music is the main genre here.)


A really really good film. Watch it.

Best bit? The all-too-brief sitcom style scene. Brilliant cross genre work.

Insertion.

Some of you may ponder my title choice today. I shall explain. The opposite of extraction is insertion. So why Christoper Nolan called his movie Inception is a mystery.

If you didn't guess I'm finally getting round to reviewing Inception; an all round excellent movie. It stars some of my favourite actors, (Cillian Murphy, Leanardo DiCaprio, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page) and is directed by the incredible Christopher Nolan. Now, if for some reason you didn't recognise that name, you have issues. Christopher Nolan directed the reboot of the Batman series and has placed The Dark Knight in many people's 'Top Ten' lists. And if you haven't heard of that.. Then I truly feel sorry for you.

With gun and spinning top in hand, Leo can take the dream world.

The plot of the film is complex but please don't let that put you off. Professional 'thief' Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) and his partner, Arthur (Gordon-Levitt,) are offered a job. But instead of the usual job of stealing they must place something. An idea. Yes they work within the subject's dreams instead of their reality; extracting ideas or, in this case, inserting one... Inception. Japanese business man, Saito (Ken Watanabe,) wishes for rival company, Cobol Engineering, to be gone and asks Cobb to place an idea in Robert Fischer's subconscious. The idea? To destroy his fathers company. Cobb gathers a team to place the idea, despite Arthur stating it's impossible.

A film full with awesome action sequences but also a clever plot which contains philosophical underlining. (Don't worry. Those underlinings are just for intelligent people. If you feel you just want to watch an action film this is still for you.) It's nice to see a completely original film in this world of remakes, reboots and sequels. It's not just a unique plot either; the fight sequences and car chases are truly new and fresh, (mainly cause in the world of subconscious you can plow a train down the middle of a street..) The special effects are spellbinding and some of the acting is outstanding (Check Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing the serious character.)

The hype for this film had the actors bouncing of the walls.

There's funny moments and sad moments. There's thrilling moments and calm moments. There's WTF moments and 'Oh I get it' moments. There's basically something for everyone.

Also, here's a fun fact for your amusement: This is the third Christopher Nolan movie in five years in which Cillian Murphy has spent a significant amount of screen time with a cloth bag on his head.

So worth a watch.. In fact a must-see. Don't miss it. You'll regret it.




Best bit? Joseph Gordon-Levitt's fight scene in a spinning hotel corridor. (He did his own stunts that scene don't you know.) Oh and BRITISH DIRECTOR!

The Penultimate Destination (Maybe)

The last chapter in The Final Destination series... No wait... There's still a 5nal one coming. See I found that joke really funny but all you won't. I'm not sure why I bother.

So anyway; Final Destination, otherwise known as The Final Destination. When it was released it was 3D which I assume made the horrid special effects bearable. But I was not watching it in 3D.. My television doesn't do that. Every explosion looked wrong, every flying object looked fake.

An example of one of the less gory deaths.. Just so you know what to expect.

Despite this, my biggest problem was the way in which characters died. If you have not encountered any Final Destination film before, allow me to explain the plot.. Of every film. One teenager has a vision of their friends and themselves dying in a horrible accident and so they stop it happening. Afterwards the teenagers die in extremely odd ways, one by one, in the order they would've died in had they have died in the original accident. Just to give you an idea of how the franchise has spiralled down for this movie, here's a list of the original accidents: FD1: Plane crash, FD2: Car crash, FD3: Roller coaster crash, TFD (FD4): Nascar racers explode as they crash forcing the whole of the stadium to fall to pieces and crush the spectators. Yes.. That is how the movie starts.

The teens were practically lining up for their deaths

So we knew before the film started that there would be a lot of death. But in the previous films the death scenes have (kind of) made sense. Thinking back to all of the death scenes of this movie there's maybe two or 3 that make sense. out of 11. Even in the visions.. One girl gets a foot crushed in an escalator motor and then coughs up blood. Someone explain that biology to me. And have you ever seen a single ember set a whole pile of wood on fire in seconds? Or a doctor just leave an elderly patient in a harness while the bath is running and almost overflowing? Or a pile of sand, yes sand, catch fire.. in the sun? No. It doesn't happen. Admittedly it's unlikely that any of the deaths in previous films will happen... But the science makes more sense (even if it is ridiculous.) Plus there was no cool cliffhanger on this film. Sad stuff.

There is nothing special here in any of the technical departments either. If you like gore and you don't care whether the reason for it makes sense then this film will be a welcome treat. Otherwise you will end up yelling at the stupidity of the characters and the lack of science.

Best bit? The bit where someone dies.. I like that bit. But seriously the best bit is... is... hmmm...

11 Years In Waiting.

Yes. I have been waiting over a decade for this movie. I remember seeing the second film in the cinemas in 1999 very clearly but now, the third film is here. I am, of course, talking about Toy Story 3. I saw it yesterday with the wonderful Kate Pass in stunning 3D. And yes, stunning is the best word to describe this film.

A happy audience waited for Woody's next speech

If you don't know the general plot by now you're weird. But I'll recap it anyway. Buzz, Woody and the remaining toys that Andy has kept over the years are accidently donated to Sunnyside Daycare when Andy leaves for college. But what seems like paridise soon turns ugly.

This is the first animated film I've reviewed I think... Those of us that were around when the first two movies were released will appriciate the film far more than the little kiddie winkles... In fact I think adults in genral will enjoy this more. Why? The jokes are very funny but it's unlikely that the little ones will get all of them. But the animation... Just... Wow. Not only is it just amazing but it also focuses on human aspects of the toys, the emotions. Never did I think I would border on tears from some toys holding hands. PIXAR made it happen.

Woody Jumped onstage to meet his favourite acting group;

They were rather startled.

It's the little things that PIXAR do that make their movies so damn good. All the way through the movie were hints to other things from the world of PIXAR: drawings of Nemo, Boo playing with a toy version of 'kitty' and even Luxo Ball is the credit scenes. But, for me, it was the human characters that made this movie such a success. It was mostly emotions we could relate to: the stress of leaving home, the fear of losing your childhood memories... Even the way they characters interacted. Bonnie, a little girl character, acted like any real toddler would. The characters are real.

If you see this film, splash out and see it in 3D, it's worth every penny. Wait... What do I mean if? When you watch this movie. It's unmissable. A perfect rounding off to the triology.

Best bit? I really don't know... So many bits to choose! Just the whole film. Really.

Updates, News etc.

I hate Justin Bieber. I'm sure he's a nice person.. That produces awful music, sells his soul and ruins Twitter. I hear you shout, "But Phil! This is a movie blog!" And correct you are! Which is why Justin is here. He has just signed a deal to turn his life story, the sixteen years of it, into a film. Now I know plenty of 12 year olds and so on will see this as he is Justin Bieber but surely it's an insult to the biopic film genre?

Anyway, moving on from my extreme anger at this. Woman In Black. One of the most stunning West End plays around. If you haven't seen it, see it. Again, not a film I know but it will be. And Harry Potter is set to star as Arthur Kipps. Good choice? Well we can't judge yet.. But I have my opinions.. Lets hope Daniel Radcliffe proves me wrong.

Finally, Batman 3 update. Just over a month ago, the legendary Christopher Nolan announced that the script was finished and that shooting would start in April 2011. Sounds good right? Though we still know nothing about plot, villains or cast but it looks more and more likely that the brilliant Joseph Gordon-Levitt may be playing the Riddler. I'm totally in favour of this idea as he is an incredible actor. Chris Nolan has also claimed that the Penguin and Mr Freeze would not be in it.

Well that's it. Stick around for reviews on Inception, Shrek 4, 12 Angry Men, District 9 and more.