Author: DJ Speaks Movies

JeruZalem

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Two American girls go on vacation to Israel and end up bumping into a wannabe archaeologist whom they accompany to Jerusalem but their holiday is cut short when they are caught in the middle of a biblical apocalypse. Sounds like a regular B-movie horror film? You would be correct.

It’s good to see a horror coming from beyond the mainstream with this film being made by the Israeli directors Yoav & Doran Paz and the use of the city of Jerusalem as a setting gives some beautiful imagery in the first half of the movie but unfortunately once the ‘action’ kicks off it’s a lot of back alleys and dark buildings which look like they could have been shot anywhere.

With the movie being shot from the Google glass perspective the movie has a first person view which, while original, leads to some extreme shaky cam when the main character is running and this leads to a lot of ‘off screen’ action however this novelty is probably the best feature of the movie and could have been a great premise if done correctly. (Check out the trailer for Hardcore Henry to see what I’m talking about)

The wannabe archaeologist, who turns out to be the expert on the scenario, has only studied the ‘Darknet’ and has sourced all his knowledge from classified websites and blogs, but he turns out to be the link between the girls and outbreak that they are caught up in. However, other than the fact that there is a gate to hell in the city of Jerusalem, as mentioned in the bible, and the fact that the movie is set around Yom Kippur, there seems to be no reason as to why this event occurs at that particular time and while the city is in a state of lock-down there’s never any real sense of mass panic as you would expect from a city being ravaged by demons with little chance of escape.

So the demons suddenly appear and they do look quite look so credit to the make up department where it’s due and there a few shots a shot of a giant, Cloverfield like, monster that is never explored further and Cloverfield is probably a good example of what this movie is trying to achieve but it never quite reaches the same heights so in essence it’s a cliched ‘wrong place, wrong time’ movie with a few jump scares and lots of idiotic decision making by the supposed protagonists.

There’s nothing here to keep your interest unless you’re a die hard horror fan. If you want a good foreign horror movie check out the superb Spanish movie Rec instead, otherwise just watch Cloverfield for a better rounded movie with slightly less shaky cam.

DJ Speaks Rating: 3.5 out of 10

Joy

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Yet another ‘based of a true story’ movie, which seem to be second only to the number of super hero movies at the moment, and yet another collaboration between Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro and director David O.Russell so the bar is set high from the start. Unfortunately while not being a bad movie in itself this lacks the heart of Silver Linings Playbook and the style of American Hustle so it falls a bit flat in comparison.

Lawrence stars as Joy Mangano, a separated mother who struggles to juggle her chaotic home life and work life with the ever growing needs of her family and who’s life seems to be a roller coaster of ups and downs with each down dragging her further into the mire until such time as she manages to invent a ‘wonder mop’ which looks like it’s the answer to all her prayers. Of course it wouldn’t be a Russell movie unless there was a sting in the tale but, one with the promise of a final last chance at self redemption which is grasped with both hands when Joy finally decides to stop listening to the negativity and bad advise which has plagued her life and finally realises who she can turn to.

The cast here does a great job with each family member adding their own quirks which contributes to paint a picture of a completely dysfunctional household. Bradley Cooper is very underutilised but believable as a QVC executive who takes a punt on Joy’s product, De Niro is more central as her cynical father yet plays the role with almost a quiet reluctance which adds character but it’s Lawrence who takes centre stage and, despite playing an older, more mature woman in her role, gives a superbly believable performance through both the highs and lows and steals every scene she is in.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6 out of 10

Concussion

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Entertaining tale, again based on a true story, of a forensic pathologists fight against the might of the NFL to try and highlight the issue of brain damage suffered by professional football players. Along the way he runs into the usual roadblocks of personnel, professional and corporate greed, corruption, intimidation and cynicism all trying to undermine his findings.

What raises this movie to above average levels are the excellent performances by Will Smith, Alec Balwin and Albert Brooks. Smith, in particular, is totally believable in the role of an outsider with no interest in football who just wants to find the root cause of a problem however, he is painted as a little too perfect and although it may be an accurate representation of his character, the fact that he seems to have no flaws does not help you warm to him. Also, too much time is spent on his personal relationship and not enough on the flip side of the issue as it would have been nice to look at the effect on the players a little more as we only see small snippets from their point of view and the fact that these sportsmen, who are idolised during their short careers, often end up with pain and suffering, for varying reasons, later in life, so it felt like a bit of a lost opportunity not to spend more time on this area of the plot.

Overall the movie is one of the better dramas of the last year and I can understand how some people feel that it was a snub for Will Smith not to have received an Oscar nomination but I think they got it spot on.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Regression

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This is a ‘based on a true story’ movie about a detective investigating a possible molestation case who uncovers a hidden satanic group in a small town using, now generally unused, regressive therapy. Heard it all before? Pretty much. Anything new to be found in this movie? Not really.

Making matters worse is that the ending just leaves the rest of the movie being inconsequential so you’ve just wasted your time with the ninety odd minutes that preceded it.

To try and find some positives the movie does have a very Roman Polanski like feel and there are some good eerie moments but it just never seems to take a leap in any direction and plods along until the shocking (and not in a good way) climax. Ethan Hawke does his best to look intense and confused in equal parts and Emma Watson plays the doe eyed victim quite well but in the end all their effort is ruined by the disappointing final fifteen minutes.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4 out of 10

Burnt

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Bradley Cooper does his best Gordon Ramsay impression in this tale of a chef looking for redemption after driving himself to the brink, although the movie hints at his past it never really tells exactly how he came to be in the position he is and as such leaves the characters past somewhat underdeveloped but maybe that’s what the writers were going for as it hints at events rather than use exposition to build a back story.

The acting is okay as best with Emma Thompson being very underutilised despite having one of the more interesting characters in the movie and Daniel Bruhl, who you may remember from his excellent performance as Nikki Lauda in Rush, stealing scenes in his role as maitre d’. Both Cooper and Sienna Miler are passable but I never believed their chemistry was real and their relationship all felt a bit forced.

If you want to watch a behind the scenes version of a Hells Kitchen programme or you just like food porn then check this out otherwise it will probably leave a bad taste in your mouth!

DJ Speaks Rating – 4.5 out of 10

Spotlight

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Well directed, well acted and tastefully told so it doesn’t delve into too much detail for shock value which kept the movie very much focused on the journalistic side of the tale and that served the picture very well. Also, the fact that film didn’t try to portray anyone as heroes was a classy move as there were no winners in this story and it felt like the actors were actually living the part as the rolling stone gathered its moss and the cover up went deeper and deeper which gave it an almost documentary like feel at times.

Great acting all around with Michael Keaton playing a great part as the editor of the investigative team (I still preferred his performance in Birdman) and Liev Schreiber excellent as the papers new editor who first highlights the potential story, but Mark Ruffalo was the standout as the bulldog like Mike Rezendes, though I still can’t see him beating Tom Hardy to the best supporting actor Oscar.

I highly recommend that you watch this film, it’s not the quickest paced and the subject matter is delicate so it may not be for everybody, but it’s a well told story and a must for any movie fan.

DJ Speaks Rating: 7.5 out of 10

The Amazing Spiderman 2

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So, part two of what was supposed to be a five part series of Spiderman movies tying into the Marvel cinematic universe but poor box office performance put an end to that, and it shows as throughout the movie as there are a lot of minimally developed threads such as Peters initial friendship with Harry Osborn and Electro developing into a member of the Sinister Six which gives the whole film a very rushed feel where so much is crammed in but with no substance. To give the movie some small credit it still felt more akin to the comic books than the original trilogy, particularly with the Peter/Gwen relationship tale. Andrew Garfield does give another good portrayal of the webslinger despite the manic script but wasting an actor like Jamie Foxx with the pitiful plot for Electro was hideous to watch. The relationship with Harry Osborn was non existent with the Green Goblin feeling more like a spoiled child rather than some supervillian and what was the point in introducing Rhino as he has almost no screen time so I can only assume these were parts of the story that the next movie was supposed to pick up on but we’ll never know. Wouldn’t recommend this at all unless you’re big into your super hero movies. Perhaps the next re-iteration, currently penciled in for next year, will fare better.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 out of 10

The Amazing Spiderman

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With the plethora of super hero movies coming this year I thought I’d do a bit of catching up with this decent reboot of the Spiderman story. It felt more akin to the comic books than the original trilogy and for me Andrew Garfield was a better Spiderman than Toby Maguire. Peters development felt more realistic in terms of how he learns to deal with his new found power, although both the relationship with Gwen Stacey and the use of Lizard were under used and almost felt like they were tagged on. Better then the original but overshadowed by the Avenger series of movies. Plus did anyone else notice that the movie was directed by Marc Webb…..very apt name!

DJ speaks rating: 5 out of 10

Apollo 18

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Interesting concept based around alleged found footage of the Apollo 18 moon landing which NASA claim never occurred. I hadn’t read up on this particular conspiracy theory before and having done so it seems like it’s a bit far fetched to believe, but then again aren’t most of them. As for the movie it tries to be part Blair Witch, part Alien and part Apollo 13 and ends up as a complete mess. Here’s a hint for movie makers, if you’re doing a found footage movie then make it feel like the quality of picture is from technology of the era….i.e. 1974 and not modern camera equipment!!

If you have an interest in this potential cover up then you may find this movie interesting otherwise don’t bother wasting 90 minutes of your life on this.

DJ Speaks Rating: 3.5 out of 10