6.5/10

What We Do In The Shadows

Posted on by DJ Speaks Movies

After those horrible Twilight movies we finally get a vampire film that entertains and with the directors being stars of the TV show Flight Of The Conchords, as you can probably imagine, this one doesn’t try and take itself too seriously. With a premise best described as a reality TV show about incompatible housemates the jokes start strong and continue all the way through. Is it silly…..yes, but is it funny…..absolutely. This mockumentary hits the right notes despite the small budget the movie was working within.

From trying to get into clubs to meet virgins but failing each time because the bouncers won’t invite them in, to hilarious bat fights and macho hissing, to the extremely politically correct Werewolf gang that the guys keep running into, this behind the scenes look into the world of vampires is full of visual gags & hilarious one liners that you can very easily miss (Leave me to do my dark bidding……on ebay!) as they argue over everyday mundane tasks such as household chores and struggle to come to terms with a modern world.

With a script that is completely tongue in cheek each actor delivers with a dead-pan style that completely suits the tone of the movie and gives each character a sense of depth and history that their hundreds of years on the earth has given them. While this movie may not be for everyone, if you liked the classic This Is Spinal Tap this one will be right up your alley.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Concussion

Posted on by DJ Speaks Movies

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