Crimson Peak

This one was tough.. Nothing to do with the movie but the fact that me and my liver weren't getting along and as a result I wasn't firing on all cylinders.. Let's be honest, I had a job starting the engine in the first place..

Anyhoo, back to the film...
In my opinion Guillermo Del Toro is one of the greatest cinema visionaries alive today. His back catalog contains some of my favorites with the likes of Blade 2, Hellboy 1 & 2 and the excellent Pans Labyrinth... I've even forgiven him for Pacific Rim (I ought to watch that again really).. So with this in mind I was looking forward to this one..

Ok, synopsis.. Mia Wasikowska (she of Tracks and The Double) plays Edith Cushing, the daughter of a wealthy business man who "see's ghosts". Along comes Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom 'Loki' Hiddleston) and his sister Lady Lucille Sharpe (Jessica 'Mama' Chastain).  After Tom fails to get funding from Edith's father for a venture he's embarking on back in England, he decides to 'court' Edith.. Anyway, to cut a long story short, they end up getting married and head off to 'Crimson Peak' in England..

A lot of people have complained that this film is not scary enough for a horror.. Actually it's billed as a Gothic Romance so shouldn't be scary anyway. 
I enjoyed it. Guillermo style and attention to detail are what draw you in and the performances are excellent too. There are one or two 'look away' moments which is why people have labeled it 'a horror film' I suppose. But it's a 15 certificate so I was kind of expecting that. 
I loved it. It reminded me of  Francis Ford Coppola's 'Dracula' in a way.

****

Black Mass

Here we have the latest Screen Unseen from Odeon. As you can see I bought this ticket back on the 8th October, such is my confidence in Odeons choice.
This one turned out to be Black Mass.
Johnny Depp plays James 'Whitney' Burger who, in the 1970's and 80's was Bostons most notorious gangster. He, together with the help of life long friend and FBI agent John Connoly (Joel Egerton) managed to murder, extort and generally 'gangster' his way to being almost untouchable..
OK let's start with the good points.. Both Depp and Egerton were excellent. There was also some nice supporting roles from the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Juno Temple and the ever Omnipresent Kevin Bacon amongst others.. Thats probably the ONLY good points to be fair.

My main problem seems to be the huge shadow of "Goodfellas" which hangs over the movie like an annoying teenager constantly pointing out how similar it is.. Goodfellas is 25 years old... 25 YEARS OLD..!?!? And I can still remember Joe Pesci's unhinged performance (and "spoiler" shocking death!) Plus the soundtrack... well mainly the full length version of Eric Claptons 'Layla' in the soundtrack.. And that's the main problem for me.. I CAN remember those aspects of the movie... I doubt I'll remember anything in this film in 25 years.. It was routine... Another 'meh'..
Which is a shame..
***... mainly for the leads performances..

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Sicario

In Newport with eight hours to kill... Ummm what shall I do?

I missed this one on the weekend (it's another 2 hour long movie) so I grabbed a ticket for today's earliest showing.. (12.30?! Yeah, I know..!)

OK, basic synopsis - Emily Blunt plays a FBI hostage negotiator and at the start of the movie she and her team stumble apon a grewsome find during a raid in Arizona.. After this she's offered a chance to join Josh Brown in an 'unknown' organisation whose task is to find the man responsible.. That's the basic jist..

Initially it reminded me of 'Se7en' but as it progressed it morphed into something more in line with 'The Shining' and it's sense of impending doom.. Emily Blunt was... well, Emily Blunt. She can do no wrong in my eyes.. Josh Brown and Benicio DelToro also put in very convincing performances.. The whole tone of the movie was right up my street. The music also helped to create a really foreboding atmosphere.. Overall an excellent movie.
An easy ****.

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The Walk

This one is based on the true story of a French high wire walker who, fastened a rope across the New York twin towers in 1974 and walked across it.

And that's the film basically.  At just over 2 hours its spread pretty thin..
I'm not sure if its Joseph Gordon-Levitt french accent or the (obvious) CGi Twin towers, but I just wasn't engaged with it. The best part is the last 10 mins and prior to that it was just filler..

Overall a fairly pointless **1/2 star movie. 

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The Martian (3D)

I had a ticket to see this on my birthday at an unlimited screening.. But it was not to be.

So, as a result I was chomping at the bit...

It had all the ingredients. 

Ridley Scott

Sci-fi 

... Yeah, that's all the ingredients you need..

OK, let's synopsosis... Mission to Mars goes belly up when a storm cuts it short. Crew take off.. Leave Matt Damon behind..

From the opening shot I was in love with this film.. I saw it in 3D, mainly due to time issues, and like 'Gravity' space looked absolutely gorgeous.. It was like looking out of the window of the Space Station (probably..)

Matt Damon was excellent... and as he was the only character for a large majority of the film he had to be..!

I loved this one.. An easy ****.

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