First post of the new direction.

Hey, I'm Jack. Word. So, this is going to be my film review blog. What I'm hoping for, is that this will allow me to vent my spleen on bad films, gush about good ones, and get even angrier at safe ones. It'll probably veer off onto other stuff too, so get used to me talking about Mastodon, or more likely, stop reading.

Right, on with the show.

Okay, so today sees the release of the supposedly Independence Day beating Skyline. Obviously, with Independence Day being a mindless lurch of syrupy Americana, featuring Will Smith at his very worst and some dubious Mac link-ups, it succeeds. Skyline is an enjoyable, decidedly fire and forget, utterly forgettable popcorn flick. Certainly, it has it's fill of totally expendable characters, and enough cheese to give Peter Griffin something more than a stroke, but it achieves what it sets out to do- give the audience their thrills and spills, and leave the mind the moment that Jackass 3 enters the public consciousness. Quick word about Jackass, by the way- see it. Goddamn, that it is a film you need to fucking see.

Also out this week are the shit Due Date and the wonderful another year. Another Year, the story of the middle aged couple Tom and Geri, (they've learned to live with it) is a thoroughly uplifting, insightful, and intelligent study of these two uplifting, insightful and intelligent people, and disruptions in their life, mainly due to their friend Mary, played, in a career defining turn, by Lesley Manville. As a Mike Leigh film, it is understandably not to everybody's tastes, but quite frankly, if you fail to see the beauty in this film, you are a fucking idiot who needs a good shooting. Kind of like that Pope guy.

Unfortunately, this week also gave us Due date. Due Date is a film in which an uptight high flying guy has to hitch a ride back to his hometown with a loveable eccentric who happens to come across him in his time of need. Fuck this unfunny, unoriginal, unpleasant, boring, poorly written, poorly made, SHIT film, and watch Planes Trains and Automobiles. You'll thank me in the long term. And the short term for that matter.

Oh, and now here we come to Let Me In. Whoo, you cannot imagine the anger, cynicism, fear and anger coursing through my veins as prepared to watch this film. The original Let the Right One In was the second best film of 2009, and was quite frankly astonishing. Then I hear that the man who brought us Cloverfield is bringing us a US remake. My blood ran cold. Not even the news that the tremendous Chloe Moretz was to play Eli (needlessly renamed Abby here) could stop the flow of my cynicism. I watched the opening of the film with a heavy heart.

There are a variety of reasons that Let Me In is an excellent film. I could single out each performance, the visuals, the atmosphere, or the fact that it is arguably technically superior to the original. But the thing is, it is, and will always be, totally unnecessary. Taken on it's own merits, the film is superb. But we don't need it. See it, but not before watching the original, and compare the two. They are so similar, Let Me In is arguably a dubbing project with a massive budget. I'm sorry Matt, you did your best, but there's no avoiding- you were doomed to fail.

So yeah. First post. Please come back for more, and comment! I'll definitely reply.