DOUBLE THE BILL (A Response to Luke)

Pain & Gain / Spring Breakers

Short Cuts / Magnolia

Videodrome / eXistenZ

Schizopolis / Lost Highway

The New World / Avatar

Psycho / Funny Games

The Girlfriend Experience / Magic Mike

Psycho '98 / Funny Games U.S.

The Matrix Reloaded / The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Sunset Boulevard / Mulholland Drive

The Night of the Hunter / Undertow

The Informant! / Side Effects

Raising Cain / Stoker

Mission to Mars / Prometheus

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AARON DAWSON

2013, The Year of Sleaze :: The Show So Far

After the huge rush of quality films last year, this has been a comparatively sloggish one to put it mildly. Of the following, here is a quick recap of every (U.S. release official) 2013 film I've seen so far as of 18th August.

Side Effects
The Informant!'s serious, sexy alternate. The cinemas will miss you Soderbergh.

To the Wonder
Mleh...

Stoker
I've never seen any of them Giallo films but from what I've read, this was a damn fine cup of blood.

Oz the Great & Powerful
Yeah I think it's brilliant, ya got a problem wid dat? (does futterwacken)

Spring Breakers
This movie is so good it makes you like Skrillix and Britney Spears music.

Trance
I'm a sucker for this kind of music score and soundtrack set on top of these kinds of stories, which Danny Boyle has always been great at.

Oblivion
We may have reached the point where it's getting harder to create a genuinely original sci-fi film without guessing what tropes will fall into play, but at least you can have the chance to do it well which I feel this did.

Pain & Gain
Never in my life would I consider calling a Michael Bay film not just one of the year's best but one of my all time favourites.

The Great Gatsby
Good. Certainly more tolerable than Australia, I can surely say.

Only God Forgives
To those who hate it, I can't argue with your points.

After Earth
Well... I spose after you make The Last Airbender, all you can go is up...

World War Z
I'm very nonchalant with this one. Yep, it exists. Moving on...

Pacific Rim
A giant robot hits a sea monster with a battleship. All arguments past, present and future are invalid.

V/H/S/2
Wrap-around was uninteresting, Clinical Trials had a potential story but not much payoff, Ride in the Park was hilarious and surprisingly moving, Safe Haven was FUCKMETHATWASSCARYDIDYOUGUYSSEETHAT!!!! and Slumber Party Alien Abduction was nihilistic as fuck.

The Conjuring
Now who says you can't make effectively chilling horror movies anymore?

The World's End
Woopsie daisy!

Passion
Classic De Palma, welcome back and all that.

Prince Avalanche
This is not a retreat, it's a step forward.

PRINCE AVALANCHE :: A REVIEW

PAIN & GAIN :: A REVIEW

Michael Bay has been working to make Pain & Gain his entire life and it's taken a lot of shit to get through, dragging us along with him.

When I first heard about the premise, then saw the trailer I got unusually expectations for the film. Now after seeing it, it has met all of them and then some. I was grinning and laughing so much except for when Bay does his usual schtick of mood whiplash where it's generally horrifying/disturbing.

Daniel Lugo is one of the new scariest cinema villains, Dwayne Johnson's performance is great; his character tragically fascinating. The music.... christ, the music... I need to buy that shit.

I guarantee that all of Bay's future work won't even match the brilliance this film has shown. This genre is what he's meant for.

Pain & Gain is one of the best films of the year, and one of my all time favourites.

PASSION :: A REVIEW