Welshrogue

From the maker of 300 and Watchmen comes this………

After his father dies, Britt Reid takes over the family newspaper. Feeling as if he needs to do something he, along with his father’s mechanic, Kato, find themselves on a journey to fight crime by pretending to be criminals.

Based upon the original radio show, The Green Hornet, is a different kind of super hero story. Britt Reid is certainly not blessed with any super powers other than being obnoxious. Much like Batman he relies on equipment to help him fit crime. That and his sidekick Kato who is a one man army who can also build anything.

Starring, written and produced by Seth Rogan, the movie is part comedy and part action. With newcomer Jay Chou as Kato and Christoph Waltz (he of Inglorious Bastereds) as the main enemy Chudnofsky, the cast is excellent to watch. Edward James Olmos has a small part that could have been bigger, and Cameron Diaz provides the female part.

There are several nods to Bruce Lee, who played Kato in the original TV show that if you are aware of, are very cool. The effects are not bad and while the Real 3D is used with great effect with the opening and closing credits, the rest of the movie would have been just as good in normal 2D.

Less serious than Batman but more fun than the average Will Ferrell movie. Lots of laughs mixed with cool gear and action. Enjoyable January movie!

Other than the band behind this movie is Angels And Airwaves I can’t tell you much about this movie other than the trailer looks very very interesting. It looks like a combination of the movie Moon with the book Orbit by John J Nance

Three lesbian aliens are sent to Earth. Their mission? To have their hearts broken by earthlings so their overactive emotions won’t destroy the ozone of their planet. As the fetching extraterrestrials search for romance on the New York lesbian dating scene, one finds love with Jane, an eager stationery store clerk who is oblivious to the fact that she’s dating an alien. The other two, discovering the neediness of earthling women, connect with each other as they reflect on the beauty of a cheesecake in a revolving dessert case.

It seems that every year I look ahead to the movies due for release and pick the ones I would like to see. I often only see a few of these as real life gets in the way too much. Since this year is like every other year, I thought I would share my picks for what I would like to see in the coming year.

The first on the list, Apollo 18, is the first of two found footage on the moon movies that are due out soon. Apollo 18 has a release date of March 4. The official website is apollo18movie.net and while there is no trailer currently available, the website does give you an idea of what to expect!

Next on the list, also released on the 4th of March is Adjustment Bureau, starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. This movie appears to have a Dark City feel to it although with a bit more action and not as Gothic. I am unable to find an official website so the trailer will have to suffice!

Next up in a very busy March (11th)is Source Code, directed by Duncan Jones of Moon fame. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Source Code is a movie about trying to stop a bombing by jumping into the body of someone who is about to die on a train from an explosion. The website is www.enterthesourcecode.com and the trailer goes a something like this.

With another March release (again 11th) Battle:Los Angeles appears to be the alien invasion movie of the year, mixed in with some Blackhawk Down. Starring Aaron Eckhart, the battle for Los Angeles could decide the fate of the world! The official website is www.battlela.com and the trailer looks pretty good too!

The last March release that has caught my eye is this one. Released March 18th, Paul is all about an alien who is found by two friends who are traveling around looking at famous UFO sites. Paul is voiced by Seth Rogan and the two friends are played by Shaun of the Dead stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. A host of other names have cameos in what looks to be a very fun movie.

We jump to June 24th now for a prequel to the Planet of the Apes. Rise of the Apes is set in modern day America as experiments on apes lead to the potential extinction of the human race. There is currently no trailer, official webpage or even poster!

The only way this movie can be topped is if someone makes Ninjas vs Pirates! Starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and current IT girl Olivia Wilde, Cowboys and Aliens is released July 29th and is exactly what it says on the box. Set in the late 1800s cowboys mix it up with aliens. Need I say more?

On 14th of October, the prequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing is released. Also entitled The Thing, it portray events before the earlier movie. Starring among others Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Romona Flowers) from Scott Pilgrim. This has the potential to either be very good, or not, as the previous movie is such a classic. There is currently no trailer, website or poster.

It’s the classic story of boy meets strange coloured hair girl, girl likes boy, boy must defeat seven evil exes of the girl. How many times must this story be told?

Based on the original graphic novel by Bryan Lee O’Malley, Scott Pilgrim vs the World is one of those movies that if you like it, you really like it a lot. The story of boy meets girl with a very original twist. Starring a strong cast including Michael Cera as the afore mentioned Scott Pilgrim, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the ever changing hair coloured Ramona Flowers, Kieran Culkin as Scott’s gay roommate Wallace Wells and Anna Kendrick as Scott’s sister Stacey, the movie’s visual style is very clearly heavily influenced by the graphic novel with impacts showing up as words on the screen as well as sound effects.

The movie is full of visual puns, including the ‘Pee bar’, the ’1UP’ that all gamers recognize, and even descriptions on the screen as the main characters are introduced. Edgar Wright, he of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, co-wrote and directs this movie which is a slight departure from his previous work. While still funny, Scott Pilgrim is still a touching movie about love and what it takes. Some of the evil exes have star quality as played by Chris Evans, Brandon Routh and Jason Schwartzman, all adding their own funny twist on their characters.

While some people may be turned off by the ‘young’ appearance of the movie, they shouldn’t be. It is funny, witty, silly, and enjoyable, all without a single ‘f’ word being spoken. While there is plenty of violence, it isn’t likely to offend anyone. This is really a movie that anyone can watch and enjoy!

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20 years ago, Kevin Flynn, game designer extraordinaire disappeared, leaving his 7 year old son orphaned. Today, Sam Flynn drifts without direction until a blast from the past drags him into a world he had only ever heard of, and perhaps one last chance to see his father.

28 years ago, Tron was released to an unsuspecting audience. Computer graphics with a storyline that took the actions into the computer. 28 years later, the sequel, Tron Legacy is released. This time Sam Flynn is the main character who gets pulled into the system and finds himself going head to head with CLU, his father’s creation.

If you are familiar with the original movie, you will understand what and where and how, and if you are not, I won’t bother explaining it here. The online world does look a lot better than the original, as should be expected, with crisp computer graphics taking the place of actors in hockey helmets with lights on.

Sam is played by Garrett Hedlund and that is probably the last I will bother to mention him as he is pretty much instantly both forgettable and replaceable with any number of young male actors. Jeff Bridges plays both Kevin Flynn and his electronic counterpart, CLU. The big thing is that CLU hasn’t aged since being created 20 years ago, while Kevin has, so computer wizardry was used to de-wrinkle Jeff Bridges face, and while it does work, it doesn’t stand up to close scrutiny. Obviously with this being brand new technology, it will only get better and more convincing. Olivia Wilde, 13 from House, plays Quorra, complete with asymmetrical black hair, stunning eyes and a pretty long legs to boot! Hard to keep your eyes off her. Her only other competition for attention is Beau Garrett who plays Gem. Beau recently played a patient of Dr House’s so everything has a connection. Bruce Boxleitner makes a reappearance as Alan Bradley from the original movie.

As previously mentioned, the imagery is instantly familiar to anyone who enjoyed the original, all improved both in quality and design, notably the light cycles. The soundtrack was handled by Daft Punk and is a mixture of orchestra, synths and drums. It is reminiscent of Tangerine Dream, only a lot less laid back than most of their work. It is one of the best parts of the movie, totally adding to each scene.

If you hadn’t watched Tron beforehand you may find Tron Legacy to be a bit much to take in as while it does explain some stuff, it doesn’t really cover everything you should know and you won’t get the obvious nods to the original.

If you are a fan of the original, Tron Legacy will make you smile. Yes it does look like a Mac version of the original, all shiny and glossy with lights. Yes, the lead character is lacking in any kind of charisma but to be fair, he is out acted every time Jeff Bridges is on the screen and ignored anytime Olivia Wilde can be seen.  While the ending may not completely be satisfactory to everyone, this is a very good movie, perhaps not as good as the original, but easier on the eyes than the dated technology of old.

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Another film version of the story set in the United States. I believe that unless the action is set on United States soil, movie companies don’t think movie goers will understand or like the movie. Regardless of the fact that the original story was set in England at the turn of the century, this version has more in common with Orson Welles 1938 radio version than anything other interpretation of the story.

The movie starts with the usual prologue, although it does give an explanation as to why the Martians chose Earth rather than other planets, giving a little description of each. The first projectile arrives without much drama, it starts a small brush fire but nothing to write home about, forestry workers put out the fire and then call in some scientists who happen to be camping nearby. We are introduced, or rather not introduced, just meet Gene Barry‘s character, no name is given.

Within ten minutes we meet the pastor, as well are a very stereotypical Mexican which is offensive to anyone with brains. Ann Robinson‘s character gives us Gene Barry’s name, Clayton Forester. They talk for a while, giving some exposition. Ann Robinson’s character, Syliva Van Buren is the niece of the Pastor. Now we have gotten to know everyone, lets enjoy the story! Dr Forester takes up the offer from the Pastor to stay in town so he can examine the meteor once it cools.

This leads to a folk dance moment that is best forgotten. The three men left to guard the meteor, including Mr Stereotype Mexican, find the cylinder (as if you couldn’t guess what it really was) unscrewing. Just when it gets interesting, we cut back to the folk dance with everyone drinking sarsaparilla’s. Wasn’t that nice, and now the cylinder unscrews and we are back at the put. We see the cobra-like head of a Martian machine appearing for the first time along with a excellent science fiction sound, it’s one of those sounds that you will always remember once you hear it. The three bozos, I mean guards left bit the cylinder decide to show the white flag of truce to show that they mean them no harm. You know this is not going to end with kisses. The red light in the cobra head pulses more and bam, the heat ray leaves three silhouettes on the ground. I should comment on the amazingly cheesy way that the heat ray works, it covers everything, sky, ground, trees, except the three men! Doesn’t look like a green screen at all…………riiiiight!

At the same time, the lights go out in town, but luckily, this being a 1953 American town, they have candles on hand. Then they discover that the phone is dead. And the watches are all stopped! This is getting serious!! It looks like the watches have become magnetized! Wow, we would sell that as a feature, imagine magnetic watches, the perfect Christmas gift! Everyone piles out of the town hall too see a dramatic fire in the hills. Our hero (that’s Clayton Forester) and some town law enforcement arrive at the scene to see the the silhouettes on the ground and the cobra head appearing. It should be said that Gene Barry is not too convincing when he runs.

The second meteor is seen coming to ground.

The national guard appears like a convoy suddenly driving down the road. And we have a radio reporter who provides more exposition as to what is happening around the world as well as a rough guess of what the Martians might look like. A quick look at people around the United States listening to the radio.

Now we have a green glow in the crater, just as a plane flies over to drop a flare over it. Bad idea as the Cobra head takes out the plane as well as sweeping around at anyone who is standing around. More National Guard appear including quite a few tanks. We switch to a fortified bunker where Sylvia is serving tea and coffee. Forester seemingly walks around as the generals plan the attack that has little chance of success. Now the pastor appears because why wouldn’t he? More news about the cylinders around the world. Lots of talking, nothing really exciting goes on, blah blah blah. Then the general says those magic words ‘We’ll move at dawn’. Time to cancel lunch plans!

Next morning, something moving, it looks like something that is on a string, yes you can see the strings of the Martian machine. Strangely enough, it doesn’t distract from the cool design with the glowing green tips. Forester seems way too happy as he looks at it. The pastor decides that talking to the Martians is a good idea, but as the rest of the world can guess, it probably isn’t. He decides to walk towards the Martians and the inevitable happens. Ann Robinson going hysterical! I mean HEAT RAY TIME!

There are now two machines on strings coming towards the humans, no, make that three, that is a lot of strings. The army starts firing, and whats this? The Martians are in what looks like glass domes. That’s not fair, how do the strings work if the dome is there? More humans firing and the Martians, obviously fed up with all this attention use both the heat ray and green things coming from the glowing green tips. The green stuff apparently makes everything disappear except a black smudge! Forester urges the general to run away as it appears useless. Is there nothing that can save us?

Cue the Air Force, jets flying high because that is obviously safer! Forester and Sylvia escape in a light aircraft just as the jets begin to bomb. The plane suddenly crashes into a very fake looking landscape, but our two main characters escape. Cut to the city and the newspapers are all over this invasion, shame no one seems to be taking any notice. Lets have some ink stained retches, newspaper reporters give some more exposition. What is left for us to do? I know, lets drop a nuke on them! Who cares about the future or giant ants growing in the desert, lets nuke them til they glow, wait, they already glow. Dammit!

Let’s show animals running away.

Forester is holding Sylvia in the middle of a field. She is sleeping, or perhaps under the influence of a date rape drug. It’s oh so quiet, he looks at her with fondness and Sylvia wakes up dramatically and hysterically (there seems to be a pattern!). They sneak off to a farm house, and play house, getting the woman to cook eggs and toast. Wow, a big pile of toast! What a cheek, it’s not even their house. Forester takes off his glasses to look more sensitive. Sylvia tells a boring tale about being lost and going to a church to wait to be found (remember this, there might be a test later). Forester starts making moves on her but then a giant green light, I mean a red saucer lands on the house. What are the odds on that?

Suddenly Sylvia has gained her composure and is wiping the fevered brow of the unconscious Forester. He wakes up and here comes a Martian machine, just hanging out besides the farm house. It’s very tense as Forester and Sylvia explore, so tense that they don’t notice the alien probe at first. Looking like a brass roman helmet, the probe, on a rope has a three colour lenses, green, blue and red. It should look scary but with the coloured lens looks more like a a cartoon. It’s tense as they whisper to each other while the probe, erm, probes.

The probe ‘pulls out’ leaving our brave twosome explorring the ruined farm house. Sylvia sees an alien for the first time and makes a wailing noise. As they are looking for a way out the probe returns and obviously scares Sylvia into screaming yet again. Forester attacks the probe, severing the head of the, erm, probe.

They continue to try to find their way out of the farm house only for Sylvia to yet again have a moment when an alien places his hand gently on her shoulder. She, predictably, screams again and we get a good look at this strange looking alien who also has three eyes (red, blue and green). Forester scares it away and they continue to try and escape. Forester discovers that the probe head is bleeding which again sets Sylvia off.

Lots of stock footage of war torn cities as the narrator explains how the whole Earth was getting their butts kicked. Of course, Washington was unaffected by this. A meeting of generals provide more exposition on what the Martians tactics are. And now we finally get someone suggesting we drop the Atom (that’s nuke for most people) bomb on the Martians!

Let’s go to the Pacific Institute of Science and Technology! Forester arrives with Sylvia in-tow and the alien probe head. Luckily with a bunch of scientists are willing to all work together to discover things. For instance, the Martian blood tells them that they are actually very weak. An experiment with the head of the probe shows how Martians see the world. Apparently in greens and purples! It is all very cool and scientific.

Lets have some stock footage of the Flying Wing, a very strange designed plan that is, well a flying wing!  The plane apparently runs on diesel  based on the black smoke exhausted from the engines.

Very dramatic pictures of the head of the military hunkered down waiting for the bomb to drop. Apparently, wearing white suits like they do on CSI, can protect you from the radiation, but not everyone needs to wear them! Everyone wears darkened goggles ready for the flash but yet still look towards it. Very bad imagry of the mushroom cloud. The forward observation post relays that there is something moving in the cloud, something on strings. The military effort are exhausted so it is up to the scientists. That should go well!

Let’s evacuate Los Angeles but make sure that we tell everyone to pack enough food and water and clothes. No panic! In a matter what appears to be moments, everyone is on foot, climbing into the hills. The scientists, being scientists leave it to the very last moment to leave, so when they encounter looters trying to get transportation to leave, the scientists are easy prey. Everyone left in the city apparently are rioting like the Lakers just won the championship.

The world is doomed, all the scientists equipment and vehicles are looted. What are we to do? Forester finds a school bus sign and obviously it is the one that was being driven by Sylvia. The Martians are now in the city attacking water towers for some reason.  Forester refuses to leave when some MP’s offer him the last ride out of dodge. He realizes that Sylvia will be in a church…… there can’t be too many churches in L.A. so this shouldn’t be difficult!

So while the Martians are flying around, shooting up the town, Forester is running from church to church. Suprisingly still untouched, Forester makes it to a third church and what do you think he finds? Yep, Sylvia! Now they have found each other, they can all die in peace!

The church stars to fall down around them just as the Martian machines start to fly wonky and crash. It’s all quiet as all the Martians crash at the same time around the world, apparently.

With everythiong quiet, all the people from the church go outside, perhaps to see if the Martians have stopped for tea. They see the downed Martian machine as a hatch opens up and a Martian aim is seen as it slowly dies. Isn’t it sad!

Now the church bells start ringing as they obviously didn’t have any alcohol to celebrate with. The narrator now explains what has killed the Martians, mad cow disease or avian flu or some such thing! Yay, we’re saved!

Three years after the events of the original District 13, Damien and Leito are reunited to save District 13 from corrupt cops trying to raze the district to the ground for their own profit.

If you saw District 13 you know what to expect. Insane fight scenes, breath-taking parkour, and just a little french humour along the way. Starring Cyril Raffaelli as the cop, Damien and David Belle as Leito, the District 13 resident, the movie has more action than most movies with more than a few amazing shots, such as Leito jumping from one building to another, or Damien fighting a bunch of bad guys while holding a Van Gogh in his hands.

One of the bonuses of the original movie, and again with the sequel, is that on the DVD, there is an in depth making of which revels the hard work and fun that the actors and crew experience when making the movie.

Seriously, if you enjoy high energy movies where the plot can take a back seat to the action, watch this!!

The true life plan to assassinate Hitler by a small group of German officers. As you can probably work out, they are unsuccessful, but here is the story anyway.

While Tom Cruise stars, this is far from a Hollywood movie. Filled with great character actors such as Kenneth Branagh, Terence Stamp, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy and even the ever improving Eddie Izzard. To get around the obvious lack of German speaking, the movie makers pulled the same move as made in The Hunt for Red October, starting off in one language and then fading it out as English begins to be heard. It’s not a great way to do it but I guess Hollywood doesn’t really want to make movies with foreign stars and subtitles.

For a movie that is well, slow in building and without much action to begin with, there are some great lines spoken such as ‘Any problem on Earth can be solved with the careful application of high explosives. The trick is not to be around when they go off.’ which I think I will adopt as my personal motto, and ‘Remember, this is a military operation. Nothing ever goes according to plan.’

It should also be noted that Valkyrie features lots of shots and sounds of the Junkers Ju-52 plane which totally makes my day!

Given the grim story that Valkyrie is about, it isn’t a surprise that the movie is short on laughs and long on drama. It isn’t a date movie or a movie you want to watch on a summers day. Its a movie about soldiers who believed that protecting their country meant removing their leader. If they failed, they would not be simple jailed, they would be killed and yet they still attempted it.

Valkyrie is a good movie if not one that a lot of people would want to see. Growing up in the UK in the 70s, there was always a war film on television, or at the cinema and some of my favorite movies of all time are military movies, such as Kelly’s Heroes and of course Where Eagles Dare so I like Valkyrie. I just don’t think it had enough bang for the average cinema going audience!