AT-AT Reviews

Codename: Yin/Yang (2006 Video)

You should know....

[5/10 · 21 February 2007]

.... that this is a very low budget fan made movie before you sit down and watch it. I suspect it was a first time experience for every participant on this project, because quite frankly; It's horrible. The acting is cramped, the effects are low standard, the editing is very poor, and it looks like it was shot on standard issue family video camera. Which it probably was.

What keeps this movie afloat is the spirit. As I said, it's a fan made movie, and the fun they had making it shines through. The plot ideas are great, and the characters as crazy as can be desired. Dr. Stroh is my personal favorite. And the zombies looks great.

If you like movies like 'Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter' then don't miss out on this one. If you weigh heavily on production matters like effects, stars or some such, then you might want to skip this.

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Simply beautiful...

[10/10 · 29 November 2006]

Following "Fistful" with the vastly more impressive "For A Few Dollar's More" and "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" Leone thought he had left the Western behind and was planning on making the Gangster epic "Once Upon A Time In America". But to get the funding for "America" the studio's asked for another Western. Leone made "Once Upon a Time in the West" and with that ended his 'spaghetti-cooking' career on the highest note possible. OUATITW is in my humble opinion one of the most impressive pieces of film-making ever! A meticulously crafted epic of how that west died. The story is simple. It's a brief glimpse of four obviously eventful lives, a more or less scrupulous railroad baron Mr Morton, his coldblooded henchman Frank, Cheyenne the outlaw and a mysterious gunman called 'Harmonica', as they all become intertwined with the beautiful Jill and the approaching railroad.

Opening with one of the most famous sequences in cinema history as three killers wait at a dust blown railway station for a train to arrive, Leone's masterwork shows the viewer from the start that they are about to witness a very different type of film. This opening, with almost no dialogue, no music and exaggerated natural sounds (dripping water, a fly, a rusty windmill wheel), shows us the normality of these characters lives. Whereas the anonymous 'hired hands' in other Westerns are simply shapes to be shot at, here Leone gives them a brief shot of personality as they wait for their victim. It's symptomatic for this film, that when you try and tell the story, you automatically end up describing a scene. If Leone choreographed a fly or not, doesn't change the fact that every little detail in this scene well thought through, and used optimally. This sequence heralds the arrival of "Harmonica", and it's not the only outstanding introduction of a character. Frank is given a striking introduction as the camera moves around from the back of his head to a close up of his set, tanned face and steely blue eyes following his massacre of a whole family. Cheyenne arrives via a wonderful audio only gunfight outside of a lonesome, dust blown tavern that ends with him coming through the swinging doors, the light hitting his eyes as he glances up. Jill has a magnificently designed and filmed sequence that follows her from the train into the Station Masters Office where the camera stays outside and watches her through the window (as if it were a bystander following her with his eyes) and as she leaves through the front door it moves up the side of the building and over the roof to show the bustling, growing town beyond. All scored to one of Ennio Morricone's most powerful, moving and simply beautiful pieces of music.

Leone uses the more typical Italian Western Spanish locations for most of the film, but for the first time he also uses the legendary 'Monument Valley' with it's awesome landscape of beautifully sculptured red sand stone mountains and rises. It's a landscape that came to represent the American Western due to its appearance in so many of John Ford's classic movies. Leone had dreamed of using this 'home of the Western' and in the brief scenes it appears (mostly Jill's coach ride to her Husband's homestead), due to the lush, wide screen Cinematography that Leone is such a master at using, it adds an authentic atmosphere that is obviously rare in the normal, entirely shot in Spain 'Spaghetti' Westerns. Leone is also a master of composition. Carefully, painstakingly filling the screen with perfectly arranged objects, places and people. The one-on-one finale between 'Harmonica' and Frank is a text book example of choreography, editing, lighting and character placement. As the two enemies move around each other Leone and Delli Colli carefully keep both in frame on the opposite sides of their vast canvas, editing in those trademark close-ups that actors love so much. Add the powerful music and you have one of the most gripping and emotive sequences ever committed to film and it's a sequence that can still raise a chill. Truly wonderful cinema.

The beauty of this film is of course not everything. The characters are colourful and complex, and the acting is impeccable. This was Bronson's first real lead, and it was opposite a stellar cast, but he belongs there. Even though we only get a glimpse of their lives, there is no doubt all of the characters have experienced their fair share of adventures before we meet them. The genius part of this is the story is not "going to end". We only see the end. Jill is the only one that has a story to tell after the movie ends. She is the new age coming, and all the men becomes infatuated by her, and she changes something in them. Morton is not the industrialist he wants to be. He is a dreamer. A crippled dreamer who is, despite his money, dependent on a man like Frank, who is himself a part of a dying era.

The final scene sums up very well what this movie was about. An end of an era. Not just Sergio Leone's western making period, but also the end of one world, as Frank and Cheyenne dies, but also the beginning of a new era as the train (the money, the civilization) rolls in on the newly laid tracks with more workers to keep the train going.

Island of Terror (1966)

Great!

[7/10 · 28 November 2006]

Island of Terror is a great little flick produced by Richard Gordon who also gave us the cult favourite "Fiend Without a Face". Directed with the expertise Hammer director Terence Fisher offers, Gordon has produced a similarly obscure "herd" of creatures to terrorize a high-class cast. The 'Silicates' looks rather silly, like huge turtles with a trunk instead of a head with which they grab their victims, and moves around with the speed of a snail. Like zombies, they are not really a threat when spotted coming, but make up for it with their ability to be anywhere you least expect them. (like up in trees, waiting for passers-by, or underneath cars waiting for someone to enter it). This does get a bit, if not more than a bit, corny, but the ever deadly presence of these creatures, and the nasty way of killing (dissolving the bones, and sucking them out of the body) keeps the fun-bad aspect at bay. There are some great attack sequences at different cast members, and some disgusting slurping when they are "devoured".

The cast is in top form with Cushing in particular giving us a delightful turn as the pathologist with a welcome streak of gentle humour. It's a role that only Cushing could play with this amount of laid back ease and he is a joy to watch. Edward Judd is nicely stoic and handles his scenes with Cushing well, showing he was a much underused actor. Carole Grays character is the only weak link, as she is strictly the cliché woman in peril sort who is given little to do. Thankfully her love interest scenes with Judd are few and short.

The island atmosphere is captured well and Fisher makes what would normally be a tranquil setting a place of lurking menace. He also takes the viewer by surprise with his treatment of some of the characters, never letting his audience get too complacent in the expectations.

Add to all this a lean and never wasted running time, a suitably manic and funky soundtrack composition plus a typically cynical '60s epilogue and you have a film that should be much more widely known and available.

Top Gear (2002–2022)

I'm not really sure why I'm writing this....

[13 November 2006]

...because I'm not really that interested in cars. And I haven't the foggiest when this is showing, but when I accidentally zap by it, you can be quite sure I am staying on the channel. It appears to me, as a 'non car enthusiast', that many of the reviews are opinionated and not very relevant to the average viewer (as are some of the cars they test for us) but it's all done with charisma and that dry British humor. That is a good thing by the way ;)

I guess the reason I'm writing this, is to show that even though you don't feel affectionate about cars, you can still easily enjoy this program. It's just me saying; 'good job BBC'

Wolf Creek (2005)

Sadistic coming-of-age flick?

[8/10 · 11 October 2006]

I was thinking "yeah, sure. Another 'based on true events' bullshit movie" and I am now here to eat my words.

It might be tagged with 'inspired by real events' and you may reasonably ask; "how do they know that?". And perhaps they don't know at all, but as you watch this movie, you will completely forget that tag, because this flick is going to swallow you, and chew you up.

For a good hour this is 'just' a road trip drama. You get to know Liz and Kirsty, two British tourists down under, and Ben, the happy Aussie the two girls team up with for their road trip. And they get to know each other while the open road stretches before them. Some will feel the movie drags out and others will watch as the little drama unfolds, as it is well told and deliciously realistic. But even if you are part of the first group just hang in there, because this movie gets vicious, and thats mainly thanks to the long build up. When characters are made real and likable, its all the more gripping when they go through hell.

The acting is perfect in this flick and that is fortunate indeed, because just one bad performance could have ruined it. Kirsty and Liz are obvious friends and looks out for each other, and Ben is the fun loving Aussie, but still respects the girls hes riding with. These 'kids' genuinely likes each other, and the small slow-moving romance between Ben and Liz makes an air of innocence surround it all.

Then their car breaks down....

And in come the outback weirdo Mick Taylor. To return to my expectations "yeah, sure...". If the first half of the movie hadn't punctured my expectation of this being another mainstream hack like Wrong Turn and TCM remake, Mick Taylor would surely do it. In the aforementioned slashers, you could be quite sure who would die, and who'd just get their t-shirts ripped, but in this one you don't want any harm to come to any of the three. But Mick makes sure there comes plenty to all of them. He is a first grade sadistic psycho and he displays it with such a gleeful joy that you just can't help but believing it. Suddenly the movie turned from road trip drama to borderline exploitation horror. There's a whole change of tone when he comes on screen. In fact from the moment his headlights come on screen. Its dark, it rains, the kids don't know where they are being taken and so on. Suddenly that wide open road that stretched before them seems like a confining obstacle that keeps them in place. The horror that unfolds here must be seen.

Its one of the best back roads horror movies since TCM so get watching it. But don't expect your average slasher. In fact; don't expect average at all, because this flick works so well on every level.

28 Days Later (2002)

Effective and creepy flick

[7/10 · 11 October 2006]

Shooting this on digital video was the best move Danny Boyle made with this violent and quite creepy movie. It gives the movie a look as bleak and oppressive as the story it tells. Its vicious looking, cold and picks up on every detail. It puts the action, and every drop of blood, right in your face, and that sets it apart from (and lifts it above) the standard set by most Hollywood movies in its genre (Dawn of the Dead remake, Land of the Dead). The hand-held 'shaky-cam' makes for an extremely hyper-kinetic cinematography, and that conveys to the attacks by the 'infected' in their unstoppable rage. And to the desperation so well portrayed by the actors both during safety, but also during fights. Selena hacking away at an infected with a machete is particularly nasty.

Personally I have always preferred slow zombies over fast moving like the ones from Nightmare City or the new Dawn remake, as the slow make for more hopeless situation and desperation. (you can run, but you cannot hide) The ability to outrun zombies makes for a perfect sense of safety even though there is none.

Although the 'infected' are not zombies, they are in the same ballpark. In this case their ability to move fast and make chase only help empathize the force that drives them. Pure rage. Any other emotion and self perseverance is completely gone, and that makes for some truly psychotic and terrifying antagonists. Times have changed (unfortunately) and extras aren't a buck a dozen anymore, and due to the films small budget, we never get a massive amount of 'infected' on screen at any one time and that takes away at the apocalyptic feel of the film unfortunately. But the ones that get on screen lifts the action and tension up to whole new highs.

The acting are all you could wish for from Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson and Naomie Harris. Their behavior and choices are well founded, and when in panic, you totally forget to 'know better'. Never did I think "why didn't they do that or this" or "how come..." because the desperation is transferred so well. And heres the exception. The kid actor! How come 9 out of 10 kid actors suck? And how come directors never see it, or do something about it if they do? Megan Burns fortunately has few important scenes, but the ones she has, she sinks with bravura. Everything she says is in a monotone voice and her body language is about as lively as a corpse's. The soldiers roles calls for some depth also. They are stereotyped, somewhat due to their simple dialogue, but also in the role they play in this story. But they do it convincingly enough, and the story will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Overall an effective and creepy flick but remember; movies should be seen on the big screen in the darkness. Especially this one benefits from that.

Domino (2005)

Would anyone even WANT to make sense of this...?!?

[1/10 · 9 October 2006]

This is one messy affair by the less talented Scott brother. It starts out with Domino being interviewed by an FBI agent, and the movie unfolds as her tale goes on. Thats about as much as I cared to follow.

It's one of those movies that has to hide the lack of story behind fancy MTV editing and "cool set-pieces". Like the one where Domino and co are cornered by a bunch of gang bangers, and she saves the day by giving a lap dance. Come on... How lame is that? She'd have to come up with something a lot nastier than a lap dance to get out of that crack-den. Its filled with these "I'd rather make a cool scene than real" set-pieces, and it's just not working. So the story, thin as it is, is crammed in between all this 'coolness', and to add to the confusion, some scenes are rewound and 'voided' apparently when the FBI agent catches Domino in lying.

The characters are thin as cardboard. Even Domino who we are supposed to get to know. Disgruntled teen who's not afraid of anything, and there's really nothing to say about her bounty hunting friends. Kudos to Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green though, playing themselves as wannabe stars.

Stick with True Romance and The Hunger is my advice.

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)

A case study of what a Godzilla flick should be

[7/10 · 8 October 2006]

This is one of the best of the Heisei movies. Unfortunately thats not saying a lot, but this one really is worth every minute. The 'suitmation' is excellent; from the city rampages to the landscape fights on infant island. The models are well made and the destruction is complete. Godzilla is cool as always, Moguera is OK. I'm personally a bit tired of giant robots, and mecha versions of monsters, but on the other hand it's nice to see the humans playing along with the big boys ;) Spacegodzilla on the other hand is a bit of a let down. hard to imagine when he's basically a Godzilla clone huh? But those two crystals on its shoulders looks like two enormous pimples. How about giving it a crystal ridge down its back to resemble Godzilla's fins?!? Now that would have been cool. He's a worthy opponent none the less.

And now for the cheese. There's plenty of bad acting and crazy characters in this one, ridiculous one-liners and if you have the dubbed version, that just add to the fun. Also plot holes are a plenty. Like the explanation on Spacegodzilla's birth. G-cells released by Biollante when it dissolved and went into space and floated around and went through a black hole. If the cells could float around in space and reach a black hole within 4 years, the earth would be in a whole lot more danger than what the intergalactic Godzilla wannabe presented.

A worthy installment in the Godzilla saga.

Gayniggers from Outer Space (1992)

Use it as an intro movie.

[6/10 · 8 October 2006]

This movie is not a revolutionary comedy. The humor is in it's plot and it's editing. It is staged to be such an amateur venture as it seems to be, but it has all been done before. Perhaps not the same extend (of the movies I've seen), but it's nothing revolutionary. With that said, its not too bad either. It's nice to see an actual film on the joke title that is 'Gayniggers from outer space'. And the amateur editing and dialogue are spot on. It's not overdone.

But the real strength of this movie lies in its duration. Just shy of 30 minutes this is a perfect appetizer when your having a movie night with friends. Especially if your having a cult night with Rocky Horror show or some such.

Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)

Watch the first 30-40 minutes just for the laughs.

[3/10 · 7 October 2006]

The worst of the Heisei. Story, plot and dialogue feels as if it's been written by a twelve year old kid with ADD. Japanese military finds G-cells in ground zero area from Godzilla's fight with WeaponX, which is promptly stolen by an evil American military task force. The G-cells are then stolen from them by an even badder terrorist from some make believe middle eastern state who wants to grow self-reproducing wheat cacti! I'm not kidding you. The cells are sought by two different governments and terrorists, and they change hands so many times you give up following them (or stop caring). At some point the cells were in one place long enough for an experiment to go out of hand and, viola, you have the lamest monster in kaiju history; Biollante. A stupid looking monstrous flower. The acting is horrible and add that to god-awful dialogue, you have some seriously painstakingly rubbish characters. And the score! How sad it is to hear them take the easily recognized and very well composed violins, program it into a synthesizer and add a simple beat box tune, so you can play the score using just one finger.

There are a few rampages with Godzilla and it is always nice to see the work thats been put into it. The miniatures and landscapes are always a welcome sight. Unfortunately, as I said, there's only a few. The fight between Godzilla and Biollante is in the water and pretty boring.

If for anything, watch this for the involuntarily fun cheese the first half of the movie is. One-liners like "Kiss, you guys" said very cocky by the terrorist to the whats left of the Americans after he just mowed them down with an ak 47, or when the 'scientist' states very as a matte of factly "thats no ordinary plant" when he first sees Biollante. Or the whole concept of a terrorist organization based in a pseudo Arabic state/emirate/whatever hell bent on cultivating wheat cacti to topple the American monopoly on wheat exports(!)Or when a narrative 20 minutes into the movie tells us, that it's common knowledge that plants have a mental energy, and therefor there is nothing strange about the chick talking to (and petting) her plants in the greenery. Oh yeah, and the (so called) scientist would like to have us believe 'biollante' is from Nordic mythology, a plant inhabited by a living soul. Let me just make it quite clear, for the few who needs telling, that there is no such being in Nordic mythology.

After that first half, the story and dialogue just gets generally crappy and no fun at all. 3 stars for the laughs the first half of the movie offered, and the few well crafted rampages.