Friday 29 January
The featured filmmakers for the week is Michael and Peter Spierig. If you have seen their previous film, Undead don’t let that deter you from seeing Daybreakers. I saw Undead and was confused as to how these two were even able to make a film. Then I saw Daybreakers. It is a million times better and I couldn’t believe it was the same filmmakers. Daybreakers is awesome and a refreshing take on vampires.
Daybreakers (2009)
From Michael and Peter Spierig. You must see this one.
30 Days of Night (2007)
Based on a graphic novel, and directed by David Slade whom I am saddened to say is directing the next Twilight feature How he can go from the scariest of scary vampire in 30 Days of Night to sparkly lameo ones in Twilight I’ll never know. Nevertheless, 30 Days of Night is very entertaining and great all around.
Friday 22 January
This week, the featured filmmaker is Joel Schumacher, director of Lost Boys. He gave us a fun take on vampires, and made it entertaining and only slightly frightening.
Director: Brad Silberling
Writer: Chris Henchy and Dennis McNicholas
2009
I’m not surprised this film did poorly at the box office, but I was surprised at how bad (and boy, do I mean bad) it actually is. I expected a whole lot more from Will Ferrell. He’s usually funny and capable of being the lead in a film (see, Anchorman) but for Land of the Lost he fell short. I cannot recommend this film for the following reasons:
- The story was weak and basic. A disgraced professor creates a time portal to prove himself to the world. And the story does not develop any deeper than that. It’s almost as if someone took the tagline for the film and added some dialogue and boom, you have a film.
- It is not funny. Nothing about it is. The script is so poor, not even Will Ferrell can make it remotely chuckleable. The film relies on simplistic and overly sexualized humour that kids might laugh at but will not understand, whereas adults will understand but will sit stonefaced.
- Related to it not being funny is the terrible acting. No one has genuine comedic timing, and they are all very irritating in the film, so much so I wanted to turn the damn thing off, but I never walk out on a film so I grudgingly stuck it out. It goes to show you how much talent an actor must possess to have genuine and natural comedic timing and for that to translate on screen.
Not every single tv show needs to be made into a film. Leave tv shows alone because they don’t all work as films and even if they can work it ruins the nostalgia of the show when it’s butchered into a 90 minute film that it henceforth will become associated with. Goes to show you how untalented and how unoriginal Hollywood truly is. So, Land of the Lost the tv show I would recommend for viewing (yes, I used to watch it and no, I’m not that old) but Land of the Lost the film I cannot and will not recommend for the very horribleness it is.
Example: my sister wanted to see it, thinking it might be funny because Will Ferrell is in it. I had already seen the film, and usually I would say, “sure go ahead and see it, just to see it”. But for Land of the Lost I said “no way. There’s nothing good about this movie. It’s not funny, it’s weak, and generally unpleasant. Don’t waste your time”. Land of the Lost, get lost! Heed my advice.
Director: Jon Favreau
Writer: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum & Matt Holloway
2008
So it took me a while to see this one and I probably should have waited longer (as in not see it at all). Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy action films as much as the next person but when it comes to superhero films some are better off in comic book form. I tried to like this film but it failed to hold my interest and is just another overhyped and overbudgeted film using action in place of development if any kind, be it character or story. Most of the time I was thinking ‘this is lame’ and ‘Robert Downey Jr. is a good actor, why’s he in this?’ So yes, I did not like the film and there isn’t much to the story to explain so I shall not do so here (it hardly deserves explanation anyway). But what I will tell you is the only super thing about Iron Man is, it is super weak.
