Last nights movies 12-06-13

Righto I actually watched a film and not a whole evening of tales of the unexpected, a bit strange but as I’m now on the final season I’m slowing down I suppose I don’t really want it to end.

So like a fool I picked my movie by the cover and not the time. Going through the to watch pile I decided on Titus (1999). After the first hour I realised that it was a 2h 42m movie.. NEVERMIND! I managed to fit it in AND a few tales of the unexpected!!

It’s a lavish Shakespearian tale, it was one of my more favourites as it has a lot of passion, drama, violence, it’s big and dramatic and damning!! And I didn’t have to study this one at school. It was worth watching merely for the costume and sets.

 

Travelers (2011)

D/W: Kris McManus .1h 24m. UK

Four friends set out on a motorcycle adventure weekend, clocking up miles in an attempt to outrun their urban lifestyles…

Basics is that a  group of arrogant city boys go out camping in the wilderness on their pretty motorbikes, insult some locals about being inbred and attack a caravan which they discover a dead body is inside.. or what they presume is a dead body.. The owners of the caravan (obviously Irish Gypsies) come back and seek their revenge on their home being attacked.. the dead body gets up and it turns out it’s one of the Irish guys girlfriend/sister (probably both, we are talking about the rednecks of the British Isles here) who isn’t best pleased at her home being kicked in but takes mercy on the boys as her bothers/lovers deal out some punishment. The city boys find themselves on the run from the Irish and are being picked off one by one, and also manage to get themselves pulled into the Irish fighting scene as a redemption for their deeds! There is a lot going on in this film!

This movie for what it’s worth could have been an hour shorter. Yeah 24 minutes to tell the story then maybe an hour of real Irish Gypsy fighting! Saying that the fight scenes are pretty ruthless. Okay I’m being a bit harsh, it is a good story.. but I had problems with it..

It’s in the blood.

It’s let down by the lack of acting and dialogue, but the depth of the plot keeps you interested enough to watch it through but afterwards I personally felt a bit cheated. Which is actually how I felt with another of McManus’s movies Dead in France (2012).

In a similar vein as Deliverance (1972) , Pig Hunt (2008) or more accurately Devils Bridge (2010), this movie tells the story of backwoods meets metroman with devastating consequences which in itself is nothing new but this has a slightly different twist on the subject which is inventive but could have been executed a bit better.

The only differences between this and Devils Bridge (2010) is a bit of a Shrooms (style twist to it. In addition to this one of the city boys is from a traveller background so kinda knows all about the life. So if he did know.. why the hell did he want to get back and why didn’t he protect his friends? Douchebag!

It’s just below average, I think with a bit of tweaking and more emphasis on the twist/fighting and maybe some better production this could be an amazing movie. I want to like it but… I do really appreciate lo-fi British movies, there is a lot of creativity going on in this scene, it just needs a gentle push and it could be great again.

R : Knuckle (2011) which is more of a documentary, highly entertaining. Deliverance (1972) , Pig Hunt (2008)

5/10