Ironclad Movie Review

Is the year 1215 and the rebels barons of England have forced their King John (Paul Giamatti: The Illusionist, Cinderella Man) to put his royal seal to the Magna Carta, a document that upheld the rights of free-men. Yet, within a few months of signing the Magna Carta, the king reneged on his word and backed by the Pope, he assembles a mercenary Danish army led by Tiberius (Vladimir Kulich: The 13th Warrior, Highlander (Director's Cut) on the south coast of England with the intention of bringing the barons and the country back to his tyrannic rule.

Baron Albany (Brian Cox: The Escapist, Zodiac (Widescreen Edition), Marshall, a templar monk (James Purefoy: Rome, George and the Dragon) who has taken vows of chastity and nonviolence and a band of rebels are forced to take Rochester Castle in an attempt to defend the people from their king until reinforcements arrive. During the siege, Marshall's vows are continuously tempted by Lady Isabel (Kate Mara: Transsiberian, Iron Man 2 (Single-Disc Edition) and her heaving bosom.

 Filmmaker Jonathan English deploys robus production values, plunging us into squalid medieval society so effectively that we can feel the mud between our toes. The special effects cleverly extend the images, and an specially strong cast createds shaded characters we can identify with.

'Ironclad' is at its strongest when it comes to the physical side of things. It does not shy away from gory violence. Heads, hands and feet go flying, blood splatters all over the the camera's lens, and there's a particularly nasty bit involving a man and a catapult. The weapons feel like instruments of destruction rather than Medieval-chic accessories, and often succeed in making viewers wince.


The fight choreography is particularly impressive - characters look like soldiers trying to tear each others' hearts out, as opposed to actors trying to high-five each other's swords. The action sacrifices style and appearance for physicality and brutality, which results in a refreshing level of authenticity.

The 13th century England recreated looks good enough to fool anyone but a history buff. It's also a strange mixture of boyish filmmaking excess and messy historical detail.

 All in all, if you like the genre, you won't be dissapointed. The film certainly ticks many of the boxes of an action blockbuster.

                                                         Ironclad Trailer

Drive Angry 3D Movie Review

I am a fan of Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas, Face/Off, City of Angels, Windtalkers, Lord of War, Bangkok Dangerous...). So this past Sunday, after watching the trailer of Drive Angry I've decided to go to the cinema and watch it in 3D. I mean, to me, it had the right ingredients for a good action movie: Nicolas Cage, William Fichtner (Armageddon, Equilibrium, Prison Break ...), Billy Burke and of course, a hot chick: Amber Heard (The Informers, Pineapple Express ). To be honest, I expected the blond chick to be annoying as hell, you know, the sort of annoying like in Resident Evil: Code Veronica X, where you have this girl following you around all the time, but instead of helping is doing nothing else than getting in your way all the time. I have to admit that  this was not the case, and the blond girl wasn't as stupid as they are usually portrayed in American films. However, I was still in for a big disappointment with this movie.

 The plot was stupidly simple: John Milton (Nicolas Cage) is a criminal that has broken out of hell in order to kill Jonah King (Billy Burke), a cult leader that tricked Milton's daughter into joining his followers when Milton died; only to kill her and her husband and steal their baby -Milton's granddaughter- to be sacrificed in a Satanist ritual.

Drive Angry 3D

 Milton drives around interrogating people to find out where and when the ritual is going to take place. He stops at a diner and meets Piper (Amber Head). Soon after this, his car breaks down and he takes Piper with him in his ex-boyfriend's car after beating him up for cheating and beating Piper up. From this point on the movie gets worst and worst; and it seems to have been put together by the same strange threads that put together The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

 All during the ride to location  of the sacrifice, The Accountant (William Fichtner) is following Milton to take him back to hell. Although you don't really know if he is after him or giving him a helping hand.

 The action scenes seemed very repetitive and lack originality. The soundtrack didn't impress me either. And the dialogues were very dull, if you had the movie without them, like in Wallie, you would still have gotten the same results.

All in all, it was a huge waste of time and money. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, "Drive Angry 3D" may look like deranged and depraved exploitation trash and it may sound like deranged and depraved exploitation trash but don't let that fool you--it really is deranged and depraved exploitation trash.

                                                                   Drive Angry 3D

Paul Movie Review: laugh out loud geeky comedy

If you are a geek, like me, you are sure to enjoy the latest comedy of Simon Peg and Nick Frost (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Man Stroke Woman...); both star in the film, but it is also written by them and directed by Greg Mottola. This is a film written by geeks, for geeks, and about geeks.

 The film opens in 1947, a dark night where eerie lights can be seen on the sky. A dog, named Paul, is let outside a house by a little girl and as he is peeking into darkness and alien spaceship crashed on top of him and kills him. The girl rushes to craft and pulls out a surviving alien which she also names Paul. Paul is taken by the Government and held prisoner for sixty years.

 Sixty years later, two British nerds have travelled to America to fulfill their dream to go to Comi-con and to visit all the sites of major extra terrestrial importance. It is during this route, after a freak car accident, that they encounter Paul (voiceover by Seth Rogen), the alien visitor that was held captive for sixty years. They agree to help reach its destination, which is obviously a rendezvous with his people. 

 Along the way, they are forced to take with them a Christian named Ruth (Kristen Wiig), who is convinced that there is nothing else outised Earth and that God created all human beings. That is, until Paul shows her his memories and heals her eye, as she has been blind in it since the age of four.

Throughout the film, there are countless references to Star Wars, Star Trek and the works of Steven Spielberg (specially Close Encounters of the Third Kind which is the subject of several good-natured jokes and one crucial plot point) that will delight people with the same cultural reference points as Pegg and Frost.

 All in all, I was surprised at this amazing comedy when I first walked into the cinema. I've watched the trailer, but honestly I though I was going to be in for a huge dissapointment. Au contraire, mes amis!! I loved this film from the begining to the end, and is set to become a cult movie as soon as it is released on DVD. Don't miss it.

Watch the trailer

Reservoir Dogs movie review

1992 was a particularly controversial year for academics within the industry film due to the release of Tarantino's first film Reservoir Dogs.

Reservoir dogs features an interesting plot where six men are hacked to do the
'perfect job'. But the simple in-an-out jewellery heist turns out to be a bloodbath with some men dead and other wounded; gathering in a warehouse in order to think what the next step will be, and also, who among them is an undercover policeman.

The movie has become a cult icon among classic independent film; thanks mostly to its extraordinary production that combines flick elements from classic oriental movies like, Chinese Ringo Lam's 'City of fire'; and with clear emulation of the extremely long sequences of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Perhaps the most interesting part of the movie is when the cop gives himself up to the thieves in an amazing perpetration of 'nihi' or Japanese code of honour. A word that has not real translation in the western world.

It’s a nonlinear storyline with few but extremely violent moments; it has been filmed in a 'snuff-movie' style that highly impacts the audience because of the credibility given to the scenes. Members of the public have been reportedly seen walking out during the course of a particular and extreme gore scene.

Not to be overlooked are the memorable dialogues with excessive profanity and the pop culture references. Reservoir dogs it’s unique in its class, the first of a series that has led Tarantino to be regarded as one of the best film-makers of the century.

                                           Reservoir Dogs Trailer

RocknRolla Movie Review

Rocknrolla is a definite, must-have, in any collection of films fanatics. -

The once-compared to Scorsese and Tarantino, for movies like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels; British talented writer and director Guy Ritchie, brings us with Rocknrolla a non-stop tornado of entertainment mastered to perfection that delivers everything the fans wanted.

The story is set deep within London’s underground society and the plot is a world of chances where a 7 million euro deal and a stolen painting brings in together a set of well developed and vibrant characters: old school gangsters, a rich Russian business man, junkies, dealers, record producers and accountants; filled with a sub-text of hilarious homo-erotic, typically British, sense of humor.

Overall, the main performance of the characters is great. Credit for the best performers is to be given to Tony Kebells and Mark Strong. One of the best moments of the movie is when junkie rock star Johnny Quid (Tony Kebbells) explains the meaning of life through the medium of a packet of cigarettes.

The camera work is frenetic but perfectly done; and the soundtrack is powerful and engaging. Rocknrolla  also combines excellent dialogues and fantastic sharp pin up conversations with a very high dose of humor.

                                                               RocknRolla Trailer