Ex_Machina (2015)

I really enjoyed this film. I like science fiction films generally and I thought this brought a good story, cast and visual effects together really well. The story is based around the need for a genius programmer to have someone independently verify that he has built a robot that is intelligent and can think and feel for itself. He does this by bringing a gifted worker from his company to his remote home and spend a week with the robot across several daily sessions. The young programmer thinks he has won a competition but the nature of what he will be doing was kept secret from him. The genius has quite a challenging personality compared to the easy going nature of the young worker. There is a latent sense of threat throughout their exchanges that works very well. At the back of your mind during the film it is difficult to reconcile the personality of the genius with the apparent child-like quality of the robot called Ava. It's a great film and very easy to watch. Thoroughly recommend this.

Planet of the apes (2001)

I originally watched this in the cinema at the time it was released and I remember we sat near the back where the speakers were and it was phenomenally loud and I came out with a ringing headache. This time it wasn't so loud and I can actually remember the film. It is the story of a astronaut who is sucked in to a magnetic storm that transfers him to a different version of Earth where apes rule over humans. It is the story of the apes who argue for equal rights and their support for the human astronaut who tries to escape his captivity and return to space. It's a good story and this version isn't a bad one really. It is showing its age a fair amount though, the prosthetics aren't as good as they are today and the later Planet of the apes films have better effects, but saying that it is an entertaining film but the only thing I wasn't keen on was Mark Wahlberg as the main man, I didn't sympathise with his character much at all and ultimately the story depends on this. I think it was down to how he played the part, there was very little chemistry between him and the female characters. General Thade is easily hateful as the mean and vicious general of the apes.

Bridge of Spies (2015)

I enjoyed this cold-war thriller very much when I saw it last weekend during a wet Saturday afternoon, it was a perfect accompaniment to my suffering with a cold! The story is based on a real life story, with the usual Hollywood embellishments that have to accompany a true story to make it entertaining. Not knowing the true story makes it easier to watch I'm sure. Tom Hanks plays the part of a lawyer to represent a man accused of being a Russian spy. I like the way he is portrayed as a normal everyday insurance claim defence lawyer. The actor playing the man accused of being a spy is well acted. There are some nice acting touches where the personality of both of the men shine through during repeated refrains of their dialogue: Tom Hank's character uses the phrase "one one one" several times, which changes to "two two two" at one point and the spy character is asked "do you never worry?" several times to which he replies in a monotone "would it help?". It was only after the film ended that I saw it was directed by Steven Spielberg. I can easily recommend this film to anyone who enjoys thrillers, especially legal and spy oriented ones.

Game of Death (1978)

This film was released five years after Bruce Lee's death in 1973. It features scenes shot by Bruce Lee in 1972 where he fights opponents in the iconic yellow tracksuit. Lee's scenes were shot for a different storyline completely and only 11 minutes of footage from the original film were used in this 1978 version. The original story and the story in this version were very different but somehow I thought the film did hang together just enough to make sense and the score by John Barry was quite good. Despite the difficult challenge of using footage shot for a different film (with same title) and lookalike actors playing Lee's character, this was achieved. The 1978 version of the story is a very simple revenge story, where an actor who is an ex-martial arts fighter is threatened by gangsters led by an old man and he is eventually shot on the set of a film he is making. The gangsters and the girlfriend of the actor all think he is dead, the film even controversially uses actual real footage of Lee's open casket funeral to make this point. But the actor isn't dead, the shot just disfigures his face and he returns to exact his revenge on the gangsters. The last part of the film is the part using the footage shot for the original Game of Death, which was shot in the last surviving wooden pagoda in real life but is supposed to be the upper floors of the Red Pepper Restaurant in this version.
I thought some of the fight scenes were excellent, the original footage is great. The dubbing is not so great and some of the noises are frankly ridiculous but they may be the genuine audio. I didn't like a protracted motorbike scene in a warehouse, I thought it went on far too long and with little point. Other than that I enjoyed it pretty well and would recommend it to fans of Bruce Lee and martial arts films, just remember your not getting Lee's original vision for the story - he would probably hate this version.

Society (1989)

This film became more familiar as I watched it. I remember seeing part of it before but not sure if I have seen all of it in the past. The story follows a well to do society family and in particular the son. His sister's ex-boyfriend tries to tell him something funny is going on with his family but he doesn't believe it. Not until he listens to a tape from a bug planted on his sister. It reveals a secret hidden from him by the people he thought were his family. The society in question are all from rich families and the secret is that they are not human and they do some very strange things with their bodies. It is a body shock horror film and has some sexual overtones. The last part of the film is very strange and will stick in the mind of anyone seeing the film. The special effects are a bit like Spitting Image and not quite good enough to look real. At the time, they might have been OK though. There are some interesting ideas in the film but the casting decisions were a little bit strange.

Containment (2015)

I was very impressed with this small British horror film about the residents of a block of flats who wake one morning up to find themselves quarantined. Their doors and windows have been sealed and won't open. They look through the windows and can see people wearing Hazmat suits and moving in and out of detoxification tents. The guy playing the violent nutcase acts his part very well, it's believable.

Frankenhooker (1990)

I watched this film recently, against my better judgement I should add. While it was awful, I had a certain fondness for the combination of violence and humour found within it. So it isn't all bad. Infact, if you don't expect it to be any good you might even be pleasantly surprised.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

I took my son to the cinema this weekend to watch a film that we've been looking forward to, it's the third film in the Thor series. I have to confess here that although my son has seen the first films, I haven't seen all of them from start to finish.
The film includes a lot of CGI effects and the humour is in the same vein as Guardians of the Galaxy. It's an entertaining romp that delivers everything fans of Marvel would enjoy. Thor's father Odin returns to Norway to die and with that it leaves Thor and Loki to deal with their exiled sister Hela: the Goddess of Death, played by Cate Blanchett. Hela returns to Asgard to take her seat as heir to the throne. She has ambitions for Asgard to conquer the Nine Realms again, like it emerges that she and Odin ruled them through violence and fear in the past. So Thor, Loki and the last surviving Valkyrie (that captured Thor on a planet ruled by the Grandmaster - played by Jeff Goldblum), eventually try to rescue Asgard from Hela.
There is rarely any sense of threat in this film, which is targeted more at the young than the old, there are a few jokes that are intended for adults. I found it entertaining while I was watching it but ultimately, the only thing I will remember is the use of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song during several key battles. It was a good choice of song but unfortunately had the effect on me of making the battles feel like a music video.