Cripes, Bigger Better Snipes!

It's always a bit dodgy when a different director takes over a movie franchise, especially when your first installment was handled with the style and flair that Stephen Norrington provided Blade with. Thankfully for Wesley Snipes, the studio New Line hired monster man Guillermo Del Toro to helm the sequel Blade II.

Despite being set in the same universe as Norrington's original, Del Toro makes the sequel his own, not only in look and tone but in mythology too. It's certainly bigger in scale, dealing with a group of military types rather than the lone warrior of the original, making it feel like Aliens was to Alien. The cast is great, especially Ron Perlman's moody badass, Danny John-Jules, the returning Kris Kristofferson and the slinky Leonor Valrela. Luke Goss also impresses as the mutant vampire hybrid who drives the plot which, like Del Toro's Hellboy 2, is about an outcast prince returning to reclaim his empire.

Great action, great humour, great monsters all held together with the ultra-cool of Wesley Snipes at his best. It's a pity writer director had to spoil it for everybody with the follow-up, the mundane Blade Trinity.

Come & Have Have A Go If You Think You're Hard Enough

Ho. Le. Shit! Perhaps because I was bored to death by director Nicholas Winding Refn's Viking drama Valhalla Rising I never got around to watching his earlier drama Bronson. Also, I've never been a great Tom Hardy fan due to his lackluster villain role in Star Trek Nemesis, but he's recently put that behind him following standout roles in Rocknrolla, Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy and Inception have solidified his reputation as a versatile character actor. Shame on me for avoiding Bronson is a flat out classic from Hardy and Winding Refn.

It the autobiographical account of Michael Peterson, aka Charles Bronson, and his life as the 'most violent criminal' in British Prison history. What sets this story apart is the surreal, theatrical nature of the script and direction which has Hardy telling his life story to an enraptured theatre audience or directly into camera, to us the cinema audience. It's larger than life, it's playful, it's dark, twisted and comedic in the blackest sense, and unlike any movie biography I've ever seen.

Some may object to its surreal nature. Others may object to it seemingly glorifying this unrelentingly violent individual. But its a life story as seen through the eyes of the person himself (who utterly revels in his infamy) told in a way that shames the majority of film makers with it's bold deviations from the conventions of mainstream cinema.

And it'll take something earth shattering for Hardy to deliver a performance as daring and unrestrained as he does here. Brilliant.

Always The Bridesmaids, Never The Brides

It seems, no matter the acclaim, recent mainstream Hollywood comedies fail to blow me away. Whether it's The Hangover, Get Him To The Greek, or new release Bridesmaids, I just can't get a reaction bigger than a snigger or chuckle. Where once we had the sillier prospects of Tropic Thunder, Team America, Dodgeball or Borat... it seems that Hollywood has gone all Judd Apatow on us. That means more realism and less surreal nuttiness.

That's not to say that Bridesmaids is bad; far from it. The cast is superb led by a game Kristen Wiig (a major comedy talent to be sure), John(Mad Men)Hamm, Rose Byrne, Matt Lucas and SNL's Maya Rudolph. Stealing the show is Melissa McCarthy (much better in this that the TV series she won an Emmy for this month) as the rather mannish and ignorant member of the mis-matched group of girlies. It's script is well observed, the direction is restrained enough to let the skilled cast improve their socks off and it pushes the boundaries on a couple of occasions to produce a couple of classic scenes.

Good stuff to be sure, but no comedy classic.

A Lonely Place To Go "All Chrstian Bale"

God bless Melissa George. The poor lass seems stuck being this generation's premiere scream queen, but she keeps churning out corkers like The Amityville Horror, Triangle and 30 Days Of Night. You can add A Lonely Place To Die to that list as well as it's a buttock clenching chase movie through the mountains and wilderness of the Scottish Highlands.

It's nicely grounded in much the same way Neil Marshall films his stuff, the cast rise above the usual horror fodder, the locations and situations keep evolving to keep the audience riveted and it's tautly and efficiently told. George is her reliable self being both tough, resilient and vulnerable, Ed Speleers adds some great comic relief and Sean Harris as Mr Kidd has the same chilling intensity that Robert Carlyle once brought to his villains. If I have a gripe it's that the focus on George is lost in the final 10 minutes to wrap things up with the bad guys. Other than that it may not be as great as a Neil Marshall film, but pretty damn good all the same.

Hollywood, We Have A Problem

It seems that found footage movies are all the rage at the moment with hits like The Blair Witch Project, REC, Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity proving to be bloody well made, as well as bloody popular.

Unfortunately not all found footage films can be as good as that exclusive bunch as Apollo 18 proves. It's a great premise as it documents the final American moon mission (that was never made public) from film footage taken by the astronauts themselves, but the script is far too by-the-numbers and the execution too reserved to make any great impact. Also the cast, culled from chisel-jawed, leading man TV land are a bit flat and it's not helped by the fact that astronauts are far too reserved thanks to their extensive training to get that emotional.

A solid sci-fi horror movie that's just a little too formal and up-tight to be truly gripping.

Nocturnal Fright Takes Flight

I was never a great fan of the original Fright Night. Apart from a great 80's electronic score, the cute Amanda Bearse and the legend that is Roddy McDowell, the whole thing was too daft and too attached to the uninspiring tradition of Gothic vampire lore. Fortunately the new revised Fright Night trumps the original in virtually every way.

The cast are suburb from Anton Yelchin's likable everykid, the very lickable Imogen Poots as his girl, Christopher Mint-Plasse's nerdy best mate, Toni Collette's down to earth single Mom, Colin 'F**king' Farrell's shark like Vampire-next-door and David Tennant's arrogant, self obsessed magician.

The tone is far more grounded than the original, the setting (a modern housing estate like that of Poltergeist) far more relatable, the script far more wittier and the subtext (basically a coming of age tale) with hero Charlie choosing what he wants in life all far more compelling that the fluffy 80's version. It's just a shame they couldn't retain that stunning score.

Crimson God Botherers

It's great to see writer/director Kevin Smith try something different with his first foray into horror territory, Red State. It riffs on the cliche of promiscuous teens being lynched, tortured and murdered by unsociable backward rednecks in the deep south of America...the twist this time is that the hillbillies are members of an extremist Christian Church.

It's a very different piece of work for Smith who's better know for his cult rom-coms like Clerks, Zack & Miri and Chasing Amy. It's dark, gritty and very angry, exploring not only the very topical issues of extremist Christians (recalling the very real Westboro Baptist Church in Florida who hang around at dead service men's funerals sporting 'God Hates Fags' billboards) but of corruption, incompetence and apathy in US law enforcement and politics.

Unlike Smith's comedies, where the rambling, witty dialogue is something to savour, the more serious script is less involving and requires editing down. The director also tries to employ a more raw and experimental but like his last film Cop Out, doesn't completely grasp the intricacies of 'visual' cinema. Red State is brave in dealing it's controversial topic, but it's a shame the execution isn't quite as ambitious.