velvetcactus Reviews

Unlocked (I) (2017)

Excellent espionage thriller

[8/10 · 8 May 2017]

I came to this movie cold, just knowing it starred Noomi Rapace who is always watchable. Playing an interrogator who has stepped away from the front line following an incident in her past, she is drawn back in when a young courier is seized by the intelligence services. She adopts a different approach to her colleagues and just when you think you know how the film will play out, we learn that not all is as it seems and the film moves up a level.

To say more would be to ruin an interesting journey with a stellar cast on good form including Toni Collette, Michael Douglas & John Malkovich as well as a supporting turn from a recently underused Orlando Bloom. Former Bond director Michael Apted does a good job shooting London in a fresh light.

Don't let the negative reviews put you off seeing this film and you will be in for a twisty-turny treat.

Ringu (1998)

You can feel the tension (Spoilers ahead)

[8/10 · 8 September 2001]

The film builds up slowly from a run of the mill drama story to a wonderful climax as gripping and scary as anything I have seen. on first impression I thought this movie was wonderful but after becoming aware of the ideas "borrowed" from Les Diaboliques (1955) and Rear Window (1954), this greatness has been diluted. One fault I do have with the movie is the white subtitles are often rendered unreadable by the white background.

October Sky (1999)

Like Billy Elliott....but better

[9/10 · 8 September 2001]

I watched this film without knowing anything about it whatsoever and found it similar thematically to Billy Elliott (2000). Both films are based around a troubled father/son relationship. In both films, the son does not want to follow his father down the mines and dreams of a better life away from their home town. Both sons face derision by their classmates and both have a strong female role model who teaches them.

The major difference that I found between the films was that October Sky was an infinitely more interesting and touching film. Laura Dern puts in a moving performance and Chris Cooper plays the disapproving father very well as he went on to do in American Beauty (1999). Joe Johnston surprised me with his subtle directing, very different from his other directorial features such as Jumanji (1995) and Jurassic Park III (2001).

Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000)

More than a one-joke film

[5/10 · 23 April 2000]

Having seen a number of TV spin-off movies, I was a little wary of seeing this film. I expected more of the same humour seen on the TV show but was quite surprised.

The humour, although often little more than schoolboy innuendo and carry-on style antics, picked up pace when the action switched to Ibiza.

Harry Enfield managed to make you feel both sorry for and ashamed of both Kevin & Perry and with the DJ story-line, this film proved itself to be more than a one-joke vehicle.

This is an example to other TV shows on how to make a spin-off film.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Best film ever?

[1/10 · 19 November 1999]

No. It was appalling. The plot premise was so thin that you could see through it. The likelihood of there being one, let alone three Americans that do not have a mobile phone is laughable. The production values are atrocious and the so-called "scary" scenes were about as scary as Scooby-Doo. As for Heather Donahue being nominated for an Oscar, that would make a mockery of the awards. She would be being congratulated for acting when all she was doing was portraying herself as she had no idea what was going on anyway. The only people that deserve awards for this film are the directors who were incredibly successful in utilising the Internet to hype a poor product to the extent that the entire American nation and most of the world have been sucked in.