leeroy711 Blog

Under discussion:

Green Street Hooligans  (2005)

Directed By: Lexi Alexander
Starring: Elijah Wood, Claire Forlani and Charlie Hunnam
Language: English

Synopsis:
Two months before graduating from Harvard, Matt (Wood) is wrongfully accused of cocaine possession and expelled. He quickly retreats to his sister's (Forlani) home in London where he is introduced to her husband's rambunctious and rowdy brother, Pete. (Hunnam)  Pete, heads up a 'firm' of soccer hooligans called the Green Street Elite. Although apprehensive of the violent nature of his new friends, Matt finds himself quickly turning into something of a local celebrity, being a Yankee in the midst of a true, die-hard football gang.

The good times eventually fade when he finds himself in way over his head with his new found courage and thirsty addiction to the violent brotherhood.

Review:
Overall, this was a pretty well put together film. There were no long slow times in which the plot drug on and the acting, especially by Charlie Hunnam was quite believable. I will say that I found Elijah Wood's portrayal of a Harvard student much more convincing than that of a soccer hooligan. I also found myself not seeming to be able to identify as much with him as the main character as the story unfolded.

I have a feeling most people will like this film much more than I did. Partially because of how many people recommended it to me in the first place. I did get a bit excited about it when I found out what the subject matter was. I have to say that in general it was a good, enjoyable film although I don't think it lived up to it's potential.

Under discussion:

Day Watch  (2006)

***1/2 stars (out of 5)

Directed By: Timur Bekmembetov
Starring: Konstantin Khabensky, Vladamir Menshov & Mariya Porishina
Language: Russian with English subtitles

Synopsis:
Since the dawn of time, vampires, witches, and shape-shifters  (known in this film as "others") have been fighting each other over mankind. The two groups are called the "light others" (the good) and the "dark others" (the evil). It has been some time since the grand finale of the original film.(Night Watch)  Anton continues to fight the forces of Darkness while simultaneously attempting to find and save his son from the clutches of those same forces. But when Dark Others start mysteriously being killed, and Anton is framed for their murders, he must put that goal on hold and try to escape the Day Watch that is looking for his blood..This film is the second part of a trilogy based on Sergei Lukyanenko's best selling novels: Night Watch, Day Watch and Dusk Watch.

Review:
This was one hell of a film. The complexity of the plot continues to grow and become more intriguing. It is not a to be watched casually, you really need to pay attention to follow it.
The character development also continues to grow. The addition of Alisa (Miriya Porishina) to the Day Watch adds to the complexity of the dark others.
Although the filmmakers appear to have abandoned the idea of special effects on the subtitles, the film was full of visual treats that were very well done. The "gloom" scenes in this film were particularly good.

Overall I would recommend this film to anyone who has seen the first one. It's a great accompaniment that could stand on it's own simply on the special effects alone. I would highly recommend Night Watch as a pre-requisite however. You will be sure to get the most out of this film.

Under discussion:

Donnie Darko  (2001)

The Chumscrubber  (2005)

Directed By: Arie Posin
Starring: Jamie Bell, Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close & William Fichtner

Synopsis:
The film begins in modern suburbia when Dean Stiffle, (Jamie Bell) a local teen finds the body of his friend Troy who has just committed suicide. Thinking that nobody would care, he doesn’t even bother to tell anybody. Troy had been the high-schools unofficial "pharmaceutical rep" and he owes some a very determined group of kids a very large stash. After kidnapping Dean’s brother, the group instructs Dean to sneak into Troy's room and use the drugs to ransom his brother. The only problem is they kidnapped the wrong kid.

Review:
I will start by saying one thing; you absolutely cant tell that this is Arie Posin's directorial debut. I think he did an exceptional job with a mediocre script (which he co-wrote). Although there are some lapses in continuity in the film, the overall flow was relatively slow, so you don’t necessarily notice when it lulls.

This was a film that contained some very good performances. Jamie Bell and Ralph Fiennes were particularly good and I also enjoyed William Fichtner as the expert father who is oblivious to his own family. But, overall the flow of the film did not allow the character development to reach its full potential.

I know that it's not exactly in the same genre but, I have officially nicknamed this movie "the poor man's Donnie Darko."

If you are a big film buff who just cant resist a film with a headless teenager on the cover and perhaps the weirdest title ever, you should probably pick this one up. I didn't hate it but I don't think it will make it into my collection. I think I would rather just watch Donnie Darko twice.
Overall I would recommend this film to anyone that happens to be teaching a cinematography class. Everyone else would serve themselves better to simply skip it.