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

Run all Night (2015)

Director : Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Holt Mccallany, Joel Kinnaman. USA. 1h 54m

Like his new typecast and career defining tough guy from the Taken series, Liam Neeson has the same set of very particular skills and he unleashes them into a film with a slightly different back story… from the minute he declares “I’ve done terrible things” we know what to expect. The biggest difference is how Jimmy “the gravedigger” Conlon appears for the first half of the movie, a comedy Irish drunk wrestle with the ghosts of his violent past and picking fights as a very dirty Santa. The estranged son Mike (Joel Kinnaman) whose main objective in life is to be the opposite of his father, has become the target of a mob boss Shawn Maguire’s  (Ed Harris) as he in on the vengeful war path after his son is murdered and Mike is suspected.
Once Jimmy realises that his son is in trouble he attempts to help him out, after arriving after a dodgy takeover deal that his son only plays a minor role as a chauffeur he kills his best friends son in order to protect his son. A choice is quickly made, he has to betray the “family” who have employed and looked after him for the family he’s been exiled from. Blood is thicker than water… but the pair now have an entire mob network after them and they have to run all night.

I found it quite bizarre how his character changed within seconds, he went from the bumbling asshole drunk into well.. Brian Mills from Taken without any negative consequences. I think by this time the audience’s adoration for Taken and Neeson it was always just going to be another Takenesque film, and were willing to lap it up at off the big screen, so why pretend that this is going to be anything but another Taken flick. A bulk of the film is Liam punching and shooting people while looking slightly hung over while trying to protect and toughen up his son, their relationship being strained at tested at every point.

After the initial shock that this isn’t all that original and the familiar formula plays out it’s not actually all that bad when it comes to action, there are some brutal beat downs, suspense and great shoot outs. What it lacks in originality it does try to make up for by adding in a few fairly intelligent twists into the plot. It’s watchable if you’re ready to be entertained with the brain switched off and sometimes that’s a bonus.

 

 

Rating  5/10

R – Taken (2008) , Unknown (2011),
L – Films like Taken
5s – Liam Neeson

Seraphim Falls (2006)

A tortuous, violent and heartbreaking revenge film, superbly acted by two of Ireland’s best. This movie was a pivotal point in my life and actually got me watching westerns again.

Starting out in the snowy mountains, Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) is running for his life from a pack of inexperienced bounty hunters headed by the relentless Carver (Liam Neeson). after being shot he evades escape and heads down into the warm valleys while the group are constantly hot on his trails until they encounter a couple of very unusual characters in the hot desert who tempt them into their destruction or salvation. It’s brutal throughout it really doesn’t ever let up the violence apart from some strong dramatic scenes.

Both leads in this film are charismatic in their own rights and seeing them play off powerful emotions was very impressive. Neeson as the quick tempered and domineering Carver was akin to having Captain Ahab on a horse chasing down the one single thing that destroyed his world. in this instance the white whale is a hardened ex soldier, Gideon who got caught up in one mistake and brought down the wrath of Carver. Once you discover the backstory you can understand things from the points of view of both men and it’s a case of righter and wronger neither are right in their actions but both are doing what they feel is right by doing wrong.

The Other Man (2008)*

Director: Richard Eyre
Writer: Richard Eyre, CharlesWood +
Starring: Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas, Laura Linney USA. 1h.28m

Sometimes when you suffer from insomnia you find yourself watching some right out tripe.. but I’m not a huge fan of American romances to be fair and I could see some deadly potential, but sadly this movie takes some incredible actors and kinda washes them out in a dingy tearjerker.

Peter (Liam Neeson), the tame husband of a famous shoe designer named Lisa (Laura Linney) comes to the conclusion that his stunning was wasn’t always faithful to him, so tracks down his wife’s lover and travels to Italy to confront him.

2000AD strips that should make it to the big screen

Right here is a run down of my favourite 2000AD strips/characters that I feel could make great movies. To see details of what has already been made into films check out this post.

Durham Red

Part of the Stontium Dogs, Durham Red eventually got her own strip, as a solo vampire bounty hunter bad ass kinda lass. There was an awesome strip based on a hunter killer game, similar to the tournament and obviously used Michael Wincott’s character from the Crow (1995) as the overlord who organised the tournament. This could be an interesting start to Durham in the Cinema. Sadly I think it would just turn into Underworld (2010). Although I think if there was ever a match, my girl Durham would kick ass.

Button Man

Harry Exton, ex-mercenary, is a “Button Man”, a hired killer pitted against other killers in an underground sport. Each works for a mysterious “Voice”, a rich man of unknown identity. The object of the game is to kill your opponent, or capture him and take his marker – the first two joints of a finger. Button Men who lose three fingers are shot anyway. The “voices” profit from the game by gambling on the outcome, and a ruthless killer like Harry Exton can make a modestly wealthy man extremely rich. Exton decides to quit, only to discover that leaving the Button Man game isn’t so easy. What more needs to be said, it’s another tournament movie and probably a great one for Liam Neeson.

ABC Warriors

The A.B.C. Warriors are a team of war robots designed to withstand ‘Atomic’, ‘Bacterial’ and ‘Chemical’ warfare. They were built to take part in the long-running Volgan War,  Each robot has a distinctive personality – often one programmed by its human creators – but each is more or less able to act with free will. The team is made up of Hammerstein, Deadlock, Joe Pineapples, Blackblood, Mongrel, Steelhorn/the Mess, Mek Quake and Ro Jaws. There have been other members join up now and again over time. But with all of the Transformers movie technology this could be a marvelous film.

Nemesis

Nemesis the warlock was in the very first 2000AD comic I ever brought, drawn by Clint Langley (my all time favourite artist). I guess it was love at first sight. Nemesis is a a fire-breathing demonic alien, fights against the fanatical Torquemada, Grand Master of the Terran Empire in Earth’s distant future, and his attempts to exterminate all alien life. Grotesque, hyperbolic and violent, the series possesses a dark wit and biting satirical intent.

Slaine

Sláine is a barbarian fantasy adventure series based on Celtic myths and storieswhich first appeared in 1983. Sláine’s favourite weapon is an axe called “Brainbiter”. He has the power of the “warp spasm”, based on the ríastrad or body-distorting battle frenzy of the Irish hero Cú Chulainn, in which earth power “warps” through his body, turning him into a terrifying, monstrous figure who knows neither friend nor foe. He is a devotee of the earthgoddess Danu.

Obviously it would be hard for this not to turn into Conan (1984) but is there any hard of having an Irish Conan? NO! It would be amazing to see it embrace the old Celtic myths and I have to admit Ireland/Celtic myths tend to get forgotten by Hollywood, the only recent references I’ve seen to them would be from Hellboy 2 (2008 ) but Del Toro does like a good fable. I’m sure they would like to give the part to Michael Fassbender but I’d pefer to see someone more meaty in the role, is it really time for the New arnie??

Outlaw

He used to be a killer. He used to be the best. Now the past is about to catch up with him. How far is he prepared to go to save everything he hold dear? He is about to find out…

After all of the Django Unchained I feel a bit odd suggesting this! (JOKE) we need more positive black male characters in the movie business.

The story isn’t an easy one from what I remember, it’s actually quite similar to the background story in Tournament (2009) (and yes a thousand other movies)  Where the bad ass has his family killed and goes out for revenge so why not just chuck Ving Rhames in for good measure?

 
Rogue Trooper

Rogue, a G.I. (or Genetic Infantryman, a genetically modified, blue-skinned, manufactured elite soldier) and his three comrades’ search for the Traitor General. His comrades are in the form ofbiochips (onto which a G.I.’s entire personality is downloaded at the time of death for later retrieval) and are named Gunnar (mounted on Rogue’s rifle), Bagman (on hisbackpack) and Helm (on his helmet). He is genetically engineered to be immune to almost all known toxins. He can submerge in strong acid unaffected, and is able to withstand a vacuum in his bare skin.

Strontium Dogs

Now this would rock, after a Strontrium (90?) fall out Britian is left with very few people and then the mutations start.. BRILLIANT! But as this is a cool comic, they don’t turn into X men they aren’t pretty but they have a laugh! There are issues like segregation and the mutants are seen as second class citizens, and congriguate in ghettos in places like Milton Keynes. This is begging to me made a black comedy sci fi britflick? I’d like to see it as a proper doomsday film, with a similar cast actually, the boys did well in Dog Soldiers (2002) too (did anyone notice the cast was almost the same?)

Vector 13

Vector 13 was one of my all time favourite strips as it was a full story in each episode and it played out like the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits and I absolutely adore those shows. It would be a bit crap to draw one of these stories out into a full movie like the box (2009) that movie was a hour longer than it needed to be, wait the original was about right, did it really need to be drawn out into a movie? C’mon! Maybe this could be compiled together like Creepshow (1982) into a series of shorts?

We need some proper sinister MIB with some shocking tales to tell. If your into this kinda thing then I can’t help but shout about my favourite podcast, Mysterious Universe. I’ll add their links soon but in the meantime check them out here http://mysteriousuniverse.org/

Sinister Dexter

This strip started when I was about ready to give up on 2000AD due to costs but I did enjoy the first round. it features the exploits of gun sharks (hitmen) Finnigan “Finny” Sinister and Ramone “Ray” Dexter in the city of Downlode, sprawled across Central Europe “like a hit and run victim” I’ve noticed that the characters started out as the hitmen from Pulp Ficition (1994 ) but slowy turned into a dead clown and wesley snipes in appearance, lets face it, Mr Snipes could do with a bit of cash, so lets get this made and help a brotha out! To be honest I’d prefer to see Danny John Jules play the part.