Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 103: The Girl with all the Gifts (3 STARS)

Another zombie movie, I'm a little bored with zombie movies these days, well never fear in this one they are called "hungries", a fungal infection zombie movie, the story set 20 years after the outbreak on a British outpost manned by military/scientists, experimenting on zombie children who have not yet descended too far into the zombie infection, outpost is then breached, journey to find safety, etc.....

Melanie who is our zombie girl/star and does steal the show ahead of everyone else ( even Gemma Arterton), the movie follows a predictable story line except for certain ideas like our smell (big issue), the fungus and maybe the ending (bloody fungus)......

Paddy Considine plays a world weary British army sergeant..........

Glenn Close plays rabid scientist trying to save humanity......

All in all worth a watch if you like the genre, based on a 2014 book by M.R Carey!

A fungus is a eukaryote that digests food externally and absorbs nutrients directly through its cell walls. Most fungi reproduce by spores and have a body (thallus) composed of microscopic tubular cells called hyphae. Fungi are heterotrophs and, like animals, obtain their carbon and energy from other organisms.

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 102: Wind River 2017 (4 STARS)

"A fantastic movie with a story as bleak as the scenery" The Angry Lurker

Back doing these reasonably honest and short reviews again, a form of therapy and after a few requests, no rhyme or reason to whether it's the latest release or slightly older but my third love after the SWMBO and the wargaming hobby!

An experienced game ranger finds the frozen body native american woman on the Wind River reservation, the FBI send an inexperienced young agent, these will eventually team up to investigate the woman's death........

Excellent piece of cinema, great performances, a slow boil and an epic stand off scene along the way, grim, bleak but a decent ending....... 

Some trivia for you.......

 Jon Bernthal (The Punisher) lost four toenails filming the trailer scene.

It took 40 days for the shoot to complete.

Wind River Indian Reservation is the seventh-largest Indian reservation in the U.S.

The film is based on actual events.

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 101: Kick-Ass 2 (3 STARS)

"If you liked the first one you'll probably like this one"- The Angry Lurker

Kick Ass has inspired lots of people young and old to don their costumes, make up cool names and patrol the streets as vigilantes (some are better than others), Hit Girl now older is having normal teenager problems with high school, foster dad and hormones, Red Mist who is very funny and over the top and is now back with a new name (The Motherfecker and that's the clean version) and a new gang ( ......of who Mother Russia is a member and the highlight of the movie) and an insane need to feck Kick Ass up! There are plenty of famous and not so famous faces to be seen and some quite briefly, some laugh out moments (diarrhea and vomiting at the same time scene is an eye opener and my mate Vinnie nearly choked with laughter, he's such a child), good violence (not too over top or gory (most of the time)........

...............it eventually leads up to a massive confrontation/fight between the Justice Forever superheroes and The Toxic Mega C..... superheroes(I can't print the word but you get the idea I hope or don't) and if you see it at the movies make sure you stay during the credits for another scene!

Worth a watch, pure popcorn...............

Mother Russia, all woman........

Also seen "Only God Forgives" and can't bring myself to review it at the moment........all because of Jim's Fear review and my total opposite view, awful, awful, awful...........awful.......arse water by a long way but maybe it's just me!

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 100: World War Z 2013 (4 STARS).

If you're expecting a good zombie flick then this is your movie........

....but do not expect this!

Now I went to see this movie with no real idea of what I was getting other than it was different from the book in a major way in that the zombie apocalypse was been told from the very beginning rather than the point of view of survivors stories like the book!

So I took the attitude that this would be a big budget zombie apocalypse movie and hopefully it would be good, it was........

It has great set pieces, great "if this was real I would be fecked scenes", loads of zombies, a few scares and the ending which is different from the original (hence the Russian picture at the top), the original ending was considered too bleak? Here's a link if you want to know what the original ending was but should only be read if you've seen the movie. It's a movie about Pitt trying to find an answer to the disease, he travels from South Korea to Israel and finally to Wales but among many highlights is the zombie attack on Jerusalem.......outstanding as seen below!

What this movie shows is a lot of what we know, sound attracts, they're too fast and the virus (Mother Nature) and it's quest to spread it's disease and how if you're not prepared like a Doomsday Prepper or essential to the cause....you're fecked!

It has it's faults, it's a little disjointed, it's not what we expected and all over the place at times, a little implausible but then it's a zombie movie but as entertainment it's bloody good and there's talk of a sequel too!

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 99: Star Trek: Into Darkness 2013 (4 STARS).....

....and Kris is giving away a lot of free stuff over on his blog for hid birthday week!

Not much more to add to what many others have said.........impressive (may contain spoilers).

When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

I enjoyed the first, no real problems, I saw this in 3D and a couple of arrows made me flinch but getting better with 3D entertainment, this is quite an excellent movie from the get go, plenty of action, great effects, a good story with great characters, some humour, could do with more action but that's just me, the main characters are growing and you can see this developing before any 5 year missions.........

We have a new Khan (bloody impressive), old style Klingons (impressive), a Tribble and a Federation that I would have loved a series on, less exploring and more blowing the crap out of things but that's just me, it really is highly entertaining even if not a fan of Star Trek and I may go see it again.....

Also this lady is in it and in this outfit......

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 98: Olympus Has Fallen 2013 (3 STARS).

"I don't mind any flag waving in a movie, if you're proud of your country what's the problem but Independence Day did push the boundaries though!"

A Secret Service agent formerly in the Presidential protection detail but now sits behind a desk in the Treasury gets involved when the White House is breached by North Korean terrorists and the President and most of his cabinet are taken hostage, it's up to our hero (Gerard Butler) to save the day, save the kid and kick ass!

This movie has had several other movies referred to it such as Die Hard in the White House, Under Siege in the White House etc.....and I believe at one stage that Gerard Butler put his own money into the movie as the budget was been slashed as it went on.......

..........now this movie has some great scenes and ideas for wargamers, it's current with North and South Korea being involved, the action is very good, great effects, good cast (Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett, Dylan McDermott, Rick Yune) but it's a little implausible (a few plot holes maybe) with Americas current security standing that the North Korean terrorists would get this far into the heart of America in such numbers (especially a gunship but what do I know), several people have whined about thequality of the Secret Service and the level of patriotism and flag waving, it's an attack on the nation, an attack on the White House what do you expect, it's not that much in your face and I didn't see that much of a problem with any of it......... 

.....what this is is very entertaining, Butler is a ruthless git and goes through the terrorists like faeces through a goose, a popcorn movie of the highest order!

By the way that lunatic great guy and Reject Seb is now on day 4 of his giveaways, go over there and try and win yourself some good free stuff!

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 97: Oblivion 2013 (4 STARS).

"It depends on how you feel about Tom Cruise?"

A gun drone engineer on what remains of Earth after the war maintains the machines whilst battling the remaining invaders and dreams of another time but the discovery of a spacecraft brings everything he thought he knew into question.

I don't mind Cruise in a movie and he's good in this but his role could easily be played by another, maybe younger actor, this movie is about the visuals and the story, the director Joseph Kosinski (he previously did Tron which I wasn't that keen on and he's set to do the Tron sequel I believe) but here it's a stunning visual treat with a quite interesting story which I won't give too much away, it needs to be seen on the big screen to really appreciate it. It does have a few flaws and it does take some of the story from other sci-fi epics but as I said it is visually amazing, great effects and a good ending but also the music score is very effective with creating the visual landscape of a ruined Earth.....and the gun drones are fecking awesome.

Well worth your time depending on your Cruise phobia!

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 96: Trance 2013 (4 STARS).

"Good movie and Rosario Dawson gets naked!"-Angry Lurker

A fine art auctioneer mixed up with a gang joins forces with a hypnotherapist to recover a lost painting. As boundaries between desire, reality and hypnotic suggestion begin to blur the stakes rise faster than anyone could have anticipated.

Didn't expect too much from this movie but quite pleasantly pleased, there's a lot of twist and turns and you will see some of them coming but others not so easy, good action and performances, nudity and ending, it loses something towards the end but still keeps you expecting more. I don't want to go in to much more but it's a movie about amnesia, hypnotherapy, love, fingernail pulling and possibly revenge?

Well worth a watch and did I say Rosario Dawson is naked in this flick.........

.....but then so is James McEvoy!

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 95: G.I Joe Retaliation 2013 (3 STARS).

Framed for crimes against the country, the G.I. Joe team is terminated by the President's order, and the surviving team members face off against Zartan, his accomplices, and the world leaders he has under his influence.

You do sort of need to have seen the first one and technically this is better than the first one but I'm not sure and I'd like to say this was not my first choice of movie when I arrived at the cinema, there's a few missing characters from the first (glossed over), some being played by new people and a returning one killed off quite quickly, the action is quite fast and quick, the acting is not too bad, the Rock (Dwayne Johnson) is perfect in his role, Bruce Willis must have a tax bill to pay and physics and reality gets a real test. Harmless popcorn but maybe wait for DVD.

There are a lot of changes from the comics in these movies and I would have liked to have seen some Red Shadows and a Baron Ironblood in my movies but that's just me, in Britain you would be more familiar with the name Action Force.

I really do like when sports people move over to acting like the Rock, Vinnie Jones and have a little or a lot of success..........

Some of the cast, Jonathan Pryce does look a little bemused but he plays a good role........

Top 10 Movie Countdown Blogfest........

.........Alex.J.Cavanaugh invited other blogs to his blog hop to simply list your 10 favourite movies.....so I did!

In no particular order and a list that might be different next week or even tomorrow but ten movies that I can watch again and again.......

                                                          10. Dead Man's Shoes.

One of the best revenge movies....ever!

9. Lucky Number Slevin.

Another great revenge movie.

8. The Wind and the Lion.

Worth it alone for the scene with the marines....brilliant!

7. Freebie and the Bean.

A great but silly buddy cop movie.

6. Midnight Sting.

The only movie ending that has ever made me cheer!

5. No country for old men.

A bleak look at modern times...........

4. Yojimbo.

Mifune and Kurosawa at their best, remade several times with Clint Eastwood and Bruce Willis playing the Mifune role......

3. Kingdom of Heaven (Directors Cut)

An okay movie until the extra 40 odd minutes were added and then became a brilliant movie.....

2. Judge Dredd.

Not the fecking Stallone one but the Karl Urban one.....

1. I Went Down.

Low budget Irish brilliance..........

Now I've forgotten, Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club, LA Confidential, 

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 94: A Good Day To Die Hard 2013 (3 STARS).

"It wasn't that good a day, luckily Willis was in it!"

Iconoclastic, take-no-prisoners cop John McClane, for the first time, finds himself on foreign soil after travelling to Moscow to help his wayward son Jack - unaware that Jack is really a highly-trained CIA operative out to stop a nuclear weapons heist. With the Russian underworld in pursuit, and battling a countdown to war, the two McClanes discover that their opposing methods make them unstoppable heroes.

This movie had me worried and not just by some reviews but also that the certificate was 12A (anyone under twelve could see this as long as an adult was with them) and this affected the action, language and claret...a lot!

John McClane's son is in trouble in Russia and is up for some serious sentencing, so John whisks over there quite sharpish and within minutes we are up to our necks in explosions, mobsters, car chases, helicopter gunships, backstabbing, uranium, CIA and bullshit!

Now some of the action scenes are quite good, some good father/son one liners and quips but everything is toned down because of the certificate, the script is a little over the fecking top, Willis looks too old for this shit now, some shenanigans and hardly a mark on him, me and I would be in traction for 2 months. The last movie pushed the believability stakes a little but this one kicks them in the crackers.

Entertaining but a popcorn movie without the butter, 3 STARS but by the skin of it's Russian teeth!

Another Reject highlight tomorrow!

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 93: Zero Dark Thirty 2012 (4 STARS)

"A little long but an interesting and tense movie all the same"

Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is..............

There's been mixed reviews for this movie and I must admit I wasn't keen but a chance opened up to see it as a double bill with another movie I thought would be better, apart from the length of the movie this is quite entertaining and tense as you know the result of the hunt, Maya (Jessica Chastain, I only knew her from Lawless and I liked her performance in this movie even if it's a little over the top!).

The movie jumps throughout in great leaps according to breakthroughs and events that shape the story (there's even the attacks in London featured), torture is very evident at the start, bribery, betrayal, guessing, assumptions and a new administrations but Maya is the link and her transformation from inexperienced officer to vengeful and experienced officer is one to behold, there's not a lot of action until the raid on the compound at the end (very well done) and between the indecision and meetings to guess what were the percentages that he was at this compound (60%), it surprises me the mission ever got the go ahead.

All in all I believe it's worth a watch, it's better than The Hurt Locker in my opinion from this director, does it deserve an oscar?, depends on how factual or truthful this movie was, there's several cameos during the movie (James Gandolfini, Mark Strong, John Barrowman.......) but it's the ending and the mistake that led to the compound, SEAL Team 6 are referred to as Canaries because Maya had a whole different plan to deal with the compound (involved a really large bomb!)

Maya's passion rather than performance is the key to this movie if that makes sense?

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 92: Django Unchained 2012 (4 STARS)

"Another movie with Leonardo DiCaprio in it that I like and who the hell was Zoe Bell playing (girl with axe)?"- Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review.

The boy took pity on me last night and took me to the movies with very little notice (41mins), quick rush around Bluewater (Hotel Chocolat for the other half, White Dwarf, Nachos and a drink with 10 mins to spare!).

I remember watching the original Django 1966 movie and sequel with Franco Nero and directed by Sergio Corbucci (banned in the UK until 1993), over the top, very violent and dubbed, Franco Nero does appear briefly in this new movie (nice touch).

This is a bloody entertaining and quite genuinely tense movie, quite bloody, disturbing look at slavery during the time in America's past, never been keen on Foxx but he's fine, DiCaprio is manic and great in his role as a bastard of a human being, Samuel L Jackson is downright creepy as a bastard of a human being, great performances all round (Don Johnson for one....)but Waltz is excellent again as a German bounty hunter who rescues/ buys Django freedom as a black slave two years before the American civil war starts, Django has information he needs and a friendship/partnership develops and an agreement to rescue Django's slave wife who has ended up as the property of DiCaprio and this is where the movie eventually heads for it's dramatic outcome.

The movie does tend to be a little disjointed at times but the real fly in the ointment for me was the scene where Quentin gives acting another go (awful, never been a fan even with From Dusk til Dawn), the time (165 mins did fly by quite well) and the ending while over the top brings matters to a satisfactory conclusion (nearly!)

A lot of laugh out moments, actio and great performances.......

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 91: The Hobbit Part 1 (4 STARS).

"Bilbo Baggins is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost dwarf kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug"

While I was off my mate booked tickets for "The Hobbit" even though I was a little unwell ( I apologise to the other patrons of which there wasn't a lot on a Christmas Saturday afternoon for the occasional sneezing and coughing fits!)

I read The Hobbit a long time in the early days of my security career and remember fecking little except for the dragon, gold and some dwarfs, so I was quite happy to watch it with little idea of a story and after a visual slapping of my eyes and ears I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the movie, great effects, great action, great acting, Martin Freeman played Martin Freeman (never liked him until the new BBC TV series "Sherlock Holmes"), the dwarves were excellent (real good bunch of actors) and Gandalf was "Gandalf".

It's a series of stories as the group of dwarfs, Bilbo and Gandalf head for Erebor with appearances from Galadriel, Elrond, Gollum, the goblins and goblin king are some of the better bad guys and there's a bit of orc bad blood as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and there was no sign of the dreaded numb bum for a long movie (166 mins I believe) but it gets 4 STARS and no more and that's because I don't like to wait for the next fecking instalment, 2 more fecking parts, 2 more fecking years, Peter Jackson is extracting the urine big time. 

I need to read the book again......... 

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 90: Cockneys vs Zombies 2012 (3 STARS).

"The Undead are Brown Bread"....what more can you say?

The term Cockney has geographical, cultural and linguistic associations. Traditionally, it refers to people born within a certain area, that is covered "by the sound of bow bells" (St.Mary-Le-Bow church). Geographically and culturally, it is often used to refer to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East end. Linguistically, it can refer to the accent and English spoken by this group.

A group of slightly inept bank robbers plan a bank robbery to save their grandfathers retirement home but in the meantime a crypt is found in an old graveyard and opened by a construction company and the undead are released. They need to get to the retirement home before the zombies do, cue zombie shenanigans!

This is a low budget, fun zombie movie with good and bad special effects but also good performances from the leads (Alan Ford, Michelle Ryan etc...), over the top at times including the cockney dialogue, well worth a watch though!

The highlight was watching Millwall football zombie supporters attacking West Ham zombie supporters....brilliant! (I hope it was those teams?)

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 89: Skyfall 2012 (3 STARS).

M is in trouble both from within her government and from her past and revenge has reared it's ugly head, Bond is dead and loyalties are tested.

I deliberated on whether this movie warranted 4 STARS or the 3 I gave it, Craig is still great as Bond playing damaged and dangerous with gusto, Mrs Dench is still ruthless, there's new bond girls, a new Q but my main problem was the bad guy (Javier Bardem, great actor especially in No Country for Old Men)) was miscast, not that the last two bond movie bad guys were any better but they belonged or were associated with an organisation that gave them some credence, although the movie does say that the new threat to countries comes from the shadows are are no longer countries(very true).

The plot which is revenge driven (as you know a favourite plot line of mine in any movie) doesn't work for me, overly elaborate and badly executed by the bad guy (unforgivable), M is the main focus of the story and Bond's struggle to protect her and also we get a glimpse into his past and the title of the movie (which is seemingly not based on any of Fleming's work).

It's well worth the watch and maybe I need to see it again, other factors may not have helped like 3rd row from the front of the screen (my retinas were a little blurred by the time the ads and trailers were over), the action was okay but disjointed at times but my main problem was Bardem and the blond hair.

Don't want to give the any more of the plot or ending away but Bond/Craig is as good as ever!  

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 88: Taken 2 ( 3 STARS).

"If you liked the first one you'll like this but........ "Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review.

..........and the but was the major problem because the first movies rating was a 15 and this is a 12A (so kids under 12 can see it but have to be accompanied by an adult), this meant virtually no blood, no sound when necks were twisted the wrong way and their were a few, there was a decent body count as well but it still felt diluted or dumbed down.

The story follows the families of the bad guys from the original movie trying to exact revenge on our hero and his ex-wife (having more marriage problems) and daughter while on holiday in Istanbul, the kidnappings are put in action with Neeson and his ex-wife captured and the daughter on the run, what follows is over the top, a little far fetched but entertaining because Neeson does more of the same again with ruthless efficiency......

.......but the rating issue and subsequent dumbing down of the violence annoyed me but still worth a watch!

A rating system I once heard.....

A 12 certificate : The hero gets the girl.

     A 15 certificate: The bad guy gets the girl.

   A 18 certificate: Everybody gets the girl.

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 87: Looper 2012 (3 STARS)

In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. Someone like Joe, who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by transporting back Joe's future self.

This is a good time travel movie featuring a young assassin/Looper (Levitt who had his appearance altered to look more like a young Willis, freaked me out for a while until I realised) and his older self (Willis, still doing quality work) and their paths cross when the Looper tries to kill his older self but his older self is having none of it and has come back in time to stop a future killer by killing the killer's younger self.

It's a story of the future and past clashing and knowing what's going to happen but still not being able to stop it and the end can only go one way, it's a movie that has you thinking a lot about what will happen, who the target is and what both Loopers will do to change or keep the future the same, good performances from everyone including Emily Blunt and Jeff Daniels but the kid Cid (Pierce Gagnon) was a great find and has a great future in the industry.

Good story, good performances, good action (not a lot of it but that was fine with me for once), well worth a watch!

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 86: Lawless 2012 (3 STARS).

A movie based on a true story about a trio of brothers who sold moonshine in Franklin County, Virginia and their battle against the corrupt authorities during the prohibition period of the United States.

Watched this as part of a double bill of movies I saw on the same day, I sometimes do this when I have a spare day and there's two movies worth seeing! Around the late 20's the Bondurant brothers run moonshine quite successfully during the prohibition period and things are running fine until a corrupt politician wants a share and sends a psychotic special deputy (Guy Pearce playing psycho very well), what follows is a steady rise in intimidation and violence from both sides that heads for a dramatic conclusion and showdown.

Tom Hardy is excellent as Forrest Bondurant, Shia LaBeouf is the young brother with dreams to rival Capone, Gary Oldman has a few brief appearances as a big time villain, in fact all the performances are good, the pace of the movie is quite slow at times and then you're hit with a moment of violence and the pace slows again, not as good as I thought it would be but well worth a watch!

Taking some annual leave and may not be around as much for a week or so!

Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review 85: Dredd 3D 2012 (5 STARS)

"Grim, bleak, depressing......brilliant!"- The Angry Lurker Honest Movie Review.

It's a 4 STAR movie but get's the extra star because I've been a fan of the comic legend for a lot of decades and it erases the disaster that was the 1995 movie!

The future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One - a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called "Judges" who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner. Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge - a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of "Slo-Mo" experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed. During a routine day on the job, Dredd is assigned to train and evaluate Cassandra Anderson, a rookie with powerful psychic abilities thanks to a genetic mutation. A heinous crime calls them to a neighborhood where fellow Judges rarely dare to venture - a 200 story vertical slum controlled by prostitute turned drug lord Ma-Ma and her ruthless clan...

This is basically his expression all movie and the helmet remains on once put on....brilliant!

As I said I have been a fan of Judge Dredd for a long time, possibly the early 80's and I still have original 2000AD (such great stories and characters) comics back in Ireland, I had to see it in 3D because that's all there was and I was a little annoyed as I'm not a big fan of 3D but after a few minutes I didn't notice the glasses again, Karl Urban (Doom, Star Trek, LOTR, RED etc...) as Dredd is such a great actor and perfect for the dour dispenser of Mega City justice, the story is simple, the action is great and the role of Anderson is played well by Olivia Thirlby, the villain Ma-Ma is played by Lena Headey (Game of Thrones, 300 etc...) and is quite the bitch, the effects are well done, sometimes too well done (the human body trauma scenes are sometimes slow motion and eye watering), came out of the cinema with a grin on my face and that doesn't happen often!

My friend Vinnie was so happy I think he had a moment!!!!!!