Judge Dredd (1995)

Director: Danny Cannon.

Starring. Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante, Rob Schneider, Jurgen Prochnow, Max Von Sydow, Diana Lane, Joan Chen. USA/UK. 1h 36m.

Long ago in a not so mega city a wee girl used to spend most of her pocket money  on her comic addiction.. 2000AD used to be the regular poison of choice, and maybe a few things by Dark Horse on special occasions.. The weekly dedication soon turned into two and three magazines a week and specials for Christmas and birthdays at at the height of this the comic boosted that fans were finally going to get a movie! the intensity of this new chapter of comics was a big matter, fan art and letters features in specials, speculations hung alongside with wishes and dreams of the Mega cities coming alive with our most amazing (anti)hero. I was too young to see the film but I saw it anyway, hell it was the Odeon, everyone goes in there under aged.. it’s part of its charm.. as for the film it was a bit of a charmless adventure.

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Quadrophenia (1979)

Director: Franc Roddam.

Starring: Sting, Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Toyah Wilcox, Mark Wingett, Phil Davies, Ray Winstone UK. 2h 0m.

Based heavily on one of the musicals written The Who, this landmark film really captures a slice of British History, albeit a little glamorized and hyped up, it’s a great glance back in time for us youngins. One of the merits of this  “not a musical/musical” is that there is no singing or dancing.. , it’s heavily structured by the Who’s powerful soundtrack but it’s only a part of the film and isn’t too overbearing.

Starting with some ambiguity, the film slowly and passionately details the working man’s life, the working man is Johnny, day to day he’s the mail boy, dealing with post by day and dealing with drugs and parties by night. He makes the schoolboy error of falling in love with a popular girl Lesley Ash (without her trout pout) but she hardly notices him and in turn he totally ignores a chemist who’s besotted with him and keeps him pilled up played by the lovely round faced Toyah Wilcox. Generally the drugs comes from Milky a black two-stone dealer who can be hard to find but the mods like to party and they party a lot, the only thing on their mind (apart from girls) is partying until the big event in Brighton and fighting the Rockers!

On first viewing the film is just another English drama, all about Johnny, getting by in life and living for the big beaches of Brighton where he and his crew are heading for long bank holiday weekend but as the movie progresses, through the bath houses, and greasy spoon cafes of the london street sceen, Johnny is experiencing something a little deeper than his’ peers and family really understand. Johnny is a pure mod, he lives and breathes the movement, and is a pillar of the small community, but his dreams are to be noticed with the big guys in Brighton, especially; Face (Sting) his ultimate hero and he can’t wait to meet him and bask in his company.

The copious amounts of pills and hormones aren’t helping, his head is all over the show, often missing work to spend time working on his bike, his future employment is at risk but he doesn’t care, he doesn’t want the 9-5, he has no aspirations to fit in with society he just wants the mod life, the young hopeful is building himself up to something so great it might not be achievable. His family barely notice that he’s alive, and have no clue what he’s really about, his family are his chosen friends..

The second half of the film things do start to spiral out of control, the group make their way to Brighton, they meet the legends and icons, go dancing and do some fighting, everything they dreamt of, Johnny even gets a bizarre encounter with his beloved up a dodgy alleyway during the fight, this spot is still a mod mecca point which is testament to the everlasting cult behind this film. Sting makes a small appearance at Face, the mod of all mods with the moddest bike on the planet, his character is also the breaking point for little Johnny when the a reality check hits him at a crucial moment and as his life is spiralling out of control, but with his eureka moment it dawns on the viewer that there might be an underlying mental problem here, Johnny is made up of all the characters from the Who, his schizophrenic personality changes in tune with the music… The end of the film is the beginning of the film, leading some to believe that this is a cycle of life that our hero Is trapped in, or it could just be artistic licence…

It’s pretty unmissable and you don’t need to be an acolyte of the scene to appreciate the heart of our lonely hero. It’s easy to identify with Johnny he’s the inner teenager within most of us stumbling over the problems that arise from not wanting to adult.  We all crave some excitement but most of us regain some kind of balance and end up conforming, what happens to Johnny as he walks back from the White Cliffs of Dover might have made a powerful sequel.

 

 

Rating 9/10

R – Northern Soul (2014), One Man Black Metal (2012)

L – Musicals

Last Nights Movies 02.08.2017

Another crazy night but I didn’t have to babysit my sister and got down to some hardcore painting so I didn’t watch anything new but I had to watch a particular movie again, as there was a puzzling element to it but I think I’ve cracked it now, but I won’t reveal that spoiler until the Post Discussion and that will come after the full review.. but for now here’s a mini insight into my second viewing of…

Let Me Make you a Martyr (2016)

Here Alone (2016)

Director : Rod Blackhurst
Starring : Lucy Walters, Gina Piersanti, Adan David Thompson, Shane West  . USA 1h 38m.

Here alone is one of those modern Zombie/Infection films that steers away from showing thousands of scenes of people being attacked and eaten, meelie kills and explosions and focuses on the aftermath of  such a devastating event. Ann (Walters) struggled to survive in the forest after a virus has infected and decimated most of the human population, but her reasoning for forging an existence on the edge of the forest is unusual. it’s not totally unique, there are other films that deal with life in a post apocalyptic future, at all stages, from The Road (2009) Carriers (2009) and to an extent even Mad Max 3 (1985), but the film which has more similarities is The Survivalist (2015) at times in both of these movies it’s hard to believe that the rest of the population had been killed or are roaming around as a mindless body, as they are set in lush edens.

Last Nights Movies 02-08-2017

Quiet Earth (1985) – I love lone man movies, I think we’ve all dreamt of being the only person around, but only for a little while. The fantasy often turns into a horror situation, either there is a threat like Omega Man or something goes terribly wrong as with an episode of  The Twilight Zone where Burgess Meredith gets his dream future of a world alone with his books, only for it to be suddenly taken away by a tragic and simple accident. But in this New Zealand 80’s Sci fi film a scientist finds himself seemingly the last person alive on this planet, searching for survivors and finding nothing he nearly turns to suicide until he stumbles on two more survivors, a ravishing woman and a Maori called Api, the trio team up and roam New Zealand trying to make sense of their situation. It’s one of those post-apocalyptic films that doesn’t fit neatly into the genre, maybe because it’s based on a 1950’s novel and a close contender with The world, the Flesh and the Devil (so close it’s almost a remake).  Rightfully it has cult status as it intelligently probed the drama involved in the situation, it helps having a scientist as the main character rather than a average tough guy, there’s no brute force and ignorance here, it’s all about the science and brilliant ideas, the ending is breath-taking and opens up so many more ideas, not something we see much these days it’s either zombies or zombies 9/10

La Weekend August 1

 

District 9 (2009) – I was flabbergasted when I realised just how much this film was hated, I got my copy for free when I asked if anyone has seen it, people were giving it away.. so I was a bit dubious about watching it, but I was hooked within seconds.. it’s a mockumentary look at a group of alien (workers) who have go stuck in South Africa. The effects are brilliant, both the alien technology and “Prons” design look and “feel” impressive. Obviously the setting is key, the messages are deep an poignant. The film is elevated by the amazing and life changing performance from ?? who plays Vikers he goes through every emotion and reacts in non Hollywood’s way, giving a more interesting and diverse story. Personally I find it so attuned and turned on, I was really hoping for a sequel, but I guess I’ll have to sit quite tight. [REVIEW]10/10

Last Nights Movies 01-08-2017

It was a short night but I just about managed two films

Haunting in Connecticut (2009)

I wasn’t too bothered with this when it was first advertised but then I found out it was based on a true story and ectoplasm was present and I was SOLD! The first time I watched it I did get a few chills, but it seemed to have really pissed over the true story. Generally it’s slated and carries a low rating on rottentomatoes which is a shame, but it could have been shorter and the magic doesn’t happen until you watch the extras, that’s when I turned on the lights. So a family relocates after their son is diagnosed with cancer, they aim to be closer to the hospital but end up moving into an ex funeral home, that was used to séances the house soon starts to show signs of powerful paranormal activity. If you haven’t watched the extras or know much about the real story check it out. But what really grinds my gears is why is ectoplasm left out of movies.. it’s an awesome concept. 6/10 (10/10 for the extras).

Last Nights Movies 27.07.2017

I was whacked last night so back to the golden oldies, I really couldn’t feature trying to get into anything new.. So I started with

The Gift (2015)

This is actually quite a brilliant film for actor turned director, I really didn’t see something this intricate coming from Mr Edgerton, I remember it coming out around the same time as The Visit and I did pass it up as I wanted to see if M Night could pull it back but really this disturbing thriller would have been a better cinema experience. Joel co stars in his feature, playing a weak douchebag who befriends an old school buddy in order to seek revenge in strange and wonderful ways. His appearance is shushed away like the annoying kid at school even in his absence he causes cracks in the relationship and goes beyond what anyone would do for his justice. It’s dark and leads the viewer in different directions, Joel shows a lot of talent with his storytelling and his next feature Boy Erased should be equally stirring 7/10 [REVIEW]

La Weekend July 5

Ghostdog (1999)

One of those life changing movies, and continues to be my go to film from time to time, a small indie movie graced by some impressive names, just because it’s that darn good of a film. Ghostdog is a lonely character, is only friend is a French speaking ice cream seller, his passion is Bushido and his Pigeons. After being saved by a mob boss, his adapted the way of the Samurai and looks upon this man as his master and he is a retainer. The mafia uses his dedication and sends him out to do hits. One goes awry and the mob turn on Ghostdog, but they don’t’ know who they are fucking with. Forest Whittaker plays the main character and he’s perfect, RZA had a hand in it’s production and the soundtrack takes a facet from each style of black music, it almost started a movement, (black) urban samurai 9/10

Last Night’s Movies 18.07.2017

*Hickok (2017) D: Timothy Woodward Jr S: Luke Hemsworth, Tracy Adkins, Kris Kristofferson Western (USA)

Everything about this film is Safe and it’s a the total poor relation to everything that is great about westerns. *sigh* I tried pretty hard to get into it, but it’s charmless, heartless.. pointless… Hemsworth has a lot to live up to and tried way too hard to be and not be his brother, he really needed to make his mind up there, but seeing great names like Bruce Dern and Kris K, I’d have expected the whole bar to have been raised, not just their minute scenes.