mrbblee Reviews

Charlie's Angels: Angel with a Broken Wing (2011) Season 1, Episode 1

Lifeless, Souless & Boring

[1/10 · 23 September 2011]

Remember back in the day when all cop shows were either middle age men in raincoats or 20 something males with huge sideburns? Well one show dared to be different: Charlie's Angels.

In a time when the female role in most cop shows was reduced to either a minor role, sidekick or wife of said detective Charlie's Angels took those values and, quite rightly, turned them on their head. However, in this "reboot", all those values, and more, have been thrown out of the window.

Instead of ex-police officers we now have 3 former criminals (4 if you include Bosely...but I'll get to that later) who have very little in the way of personality. Abby, the rich girl turned cat burglar, seems to spend most of her time being hacked off with everybody, Kate, a former dirty cop who has the personality of a plank of wood and, finally, we have Eve a car thief who, I'm pretty sure, is being touted as the "tomboy" by the writers but comes across more like a Barbie doll with schizophrenia.

I fully understand that, when making a reboot, you need to make it differ from the original. But making Bosley a hacker who stole "a penny off each person's Tax Return" just gives you yet another reason to dislike this whole sorry mess.

Believe me, I really wanted to like this show but I found myself not caring about one single thing or warming to any of the characters. Even in a scene where one of the Angels is blown up by a car bomb I found their overall reactions to be both forced and wooden.

Are there any good points about this show? Yes, the plot was a fairly decent, albeit too familiar, story about human trafficking and would have worked had it had better actors in the roles and the level of writing seemed OK compared to some of the other recent reboots we've seen.

In conclusion I'd give it a 1 out of 10 and, I hate to say it, but I honestly don't think this show will make it past it's first season.

Shoot the DJ (2010)

Shoot The Makers

[1/10 · 29 August 2011]

Ever had the feeling you wish you'd done something better with your life? Me too… Especially after I sat through the mess that is "Shoot the DJ".

Made for a modest £5000 this is a poor attempt to create a Guy Ritchie film on a thrift store budget. With cameos from now faded 80's stars and acting that leaves you wishing you'd have watched an episode of The X Factor instead, this movie does nothing to add to the once-proud tradition of British Cinema.

I've seen a great deal of "independent" British movies and, if you were to twist my arm, I'd have to say 70% of them work. This movie, however, does not. It really is that clear cut. So, instead of going into my usual diatribe regarding movies I hate, I'm simply going to list the reasons why this movie is a complete waste of time:

A: The acting is so wooden you'd swear the film was made by Ikea. B:The camera work is so poor it looks like ¾ of the movie was filmed on a mobile phone. C: There is nothing in the way of character development. D: This was meant to be a "life-like" representation of the east end… Seriously, Alan Carr is scarier. E: See A, B, C & D.

OK, look, maybe I'm being a little too hard on this movie. To be fair to the makers you can't perform miracles on a budget of £5000. If it had been my debut though, I'd have looked at the rushes, scrapped the whole thing, re-written the script and waited until I found some investors to help me bring my vision to life. And that's where the director of this film fails with great gusto. I credit him on having the bravado to attempt such a project but seeing as how this movie took three years to make it only enhances the fact that this is nothing more than some mates with a video camera and weak script that produced a result not even worthy of YouTube.

Fright Night (2011)

Once Bitten...

[25 August 2011]

Sometimes I wonder if Dreamworks really is the hit making machine it would like its public to think it is. Why do I ask myself this question? Allow me to answer if you will...

It seems that our friends at DW have their scheduling all messed up. So far this year (in the live action stakes) we've had The Help, Transformers DOM and Cowboys & Aliens yet for some unknown reason this movie was deemed less worthy of a true Summer release than those just mentioned. Maybe it's because, out of the three, this was deemed less of a cash cow. Either way Dreamworks made a BIG mistake.

Had this movie been given a prime release date it could have gone on to make a lot of cash for the studio. But as it stands what we could have here is a disappointing box office return that will only make its money back once it's unleashed on DVD & Blu Ray.

Director Craig Gillespie and writer Marti Noxon have done a fine job in giving us a movie that feels different while staying close to the spirit of the original. With brilliant performances from Tennant (who is woefully under-used) and Farrell this movie is one of those perfect popcorn flicks. It's simply 90 + minutes of scares, great 3D and silliness that won't change the world but will leave you with the feeling that you really did get your money's worth.

My only gripe is that Christopher Mintz-Plasse seems cast to type. I found very little to like about him and his character seemed to be nothing more than a clone of Chris/Red Mist.

In the week or so this movie has been out I've seen a lot of people moaning about the special effects and the overall appearance of the Vampires so I'll close this review with a message for them in the form of a quote by the great Homer Simpson "Lisa, Vampires are make-believe, like Elves, Gremlins, and Eskimos."

Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)

A Great Movie Kept Hidden Until Now...

[10/10 · 17 August 2011]

I was one of the few UK residents fortunate enough to be able to see this movie as it stayed hidden away from the public only popping up at certain festivals and in certain European countries. Now (and thankfully) it's finally getting a release I find myself both over-joyed and a little bit sad.

I'm overjoyed because if any movie deserves to be seen by the WHOLE movie going public then Tucker and Dale is certainly it. But I'm also sad because I found it thrilling that this movie was one of those I could ask friends "Have you seen Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil? No? Oh you REALLY need to see it!!" It felt like it was my job to make the world aware of just how good it really is. So now (and again, I say, quite rightly so) it's getting a release, albeit a limited one, no longer can I act like I discovered this film! The reason I feel the way I do about this film is because it's one of the few movies to come along in the last 5 years that is both well written and well-acted. And as well as those two great points it also has the bonus of being a very clever movie. The title characters are played with such great enthusiasm by Labine and Tudyk that it rubs off on the rest of the cast and you can see everyone is having the time of their lives.

I'll admit that this film won't go down in the halls of fame but it will get Director Eli Craig the recognition he deserves. Now that Edgar Wright seems to have gone quiet it's time for a new kid on the block and Craig could be just that man. His direction is bordering on greatness and, given the opportunity, he could (and should) go on to great things.

If I'm forced to say anything negative about this movie then my only criticism would be that at times some of the gags feel a little forced. Maybe that's down to the script writers or maybe it was down to the delivery by the cast. Either way the plus points of Tucker and Dale more than make up for these little faults.

Please, I beg of you, turn this little underground movie into the sleeper hit it so rightly deserves to be!

The Estate (2011)

Worst British Film For Years.

[1/10 · 15 August 2011]

I really thought that British cinema had reached an all time low when Danny Dyer started pumping out around 300 movies a year... that was until I saw this waste of film.

With virtually no plot, terrible acting and even worse camera work this is a movie that would make even Uwe Boll cringe. Featuring cameos from various true life "gangsters" the story is supposed to focus on Ronnie, a youth who descends in to the seedy world of violence and drugs. However it soon dismisses this plot for a seemingly never-ending stream of swear words (that are supposed to add to the "grittiness" of this movie....Honestly, I've had grittier water) and chest thrusting between rival Hoodie gangs. The phrase "yeah come on then, you want some?" was uttered so many times I honestly felt that was the only thing the script writer actually wrote and, my friends, that sums up this movie in a nutshell. It's an hour and a half of not much at all. In fact, on closer inspection it seems like it's trying to come across as a poor man's "This Is England" only set in modern times.

If you have an hour and a half to spare I suggest you find something else to do because after watching this you'll be tempted to contact the makers and demand those 90 minutes back.