Showing posts with label sci fi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sci fi. Show all posts

Thursday, March 20, 2014

NEVER LET ME GO

I’ve never been a fan of the supernatural but the buzz around this movie back in 2010 intrigued me sufficiently to want to see I would change my mind.  The story from the best selling novel that almost won Kazuo Ishiguro the Booker Prize, is about children who are reared with the sole purpose in their lives of becoming organ donors so that other people can live beyond 100 years old.  More specifically it’s about 3 in particular Kathy, Tommy & Ruth who we first meet as children at a rather austere and scary Boarding School where they are indoctrinated with their predestined futures.  Love is never meant to be part of the ‘plan’ so when Cathy falls in love with Tommy much to the chagrin of Ruth who steals him away to become her boyfriend it throws mire than spanner un the works.

We later meet the three again when they are now grown up and in the process of making their ‘donations’ which will inevitably lea to their deaths, known much nicer as ‘completions’, except for Cathy who has become a ‘carer’ who looks after others like them.  Ruth confesses up about stealing Tommy's affections in the hope that now Cathy and he can be together they can apply for a ‘referral’ which will delay the donations a while so that they can have a life together as lovers.

The first part of this movie dragged at such a slow pace I was bored enough to start imagining Charlotte Rampling, the elderly prim headmistress Miss Emily, as she was back in the 60’s in her scant Nazi uniform in 'The Night Porter'  … but I digress.  But the pace quickened, and so did my interest as the real story unfolded, and by the end I was actually interested on what happened to all three of them.


Two fine Brit actors in the leads helped. Cathy was played by Carey Mulligan who the camera loves as much as me; Tommy by Andrew Garfield (about to hit the big time with the lead in Spiderman).  Ruth was played by my nemesis Keira Knightly who irritates me consistently as much as Catherine Zeta-Jones (yes, that bad!), so the less said about her the better.

Out on DVD at Amazon
★★★★★★★

Monday, April 30, 2012

JUDAS KISS


Only a gay sci-fi movie would feature a plot line where the protagonist has sex with himself!  It’s just one of the hard-to-fathom threads of this well-meaning movie that is all about the whole concept of having a second chance to go back and fix one’s own past.

Zachary is a failed film director who’s rather aimless life is now nothing more than just a series of parties. He reluctantly agrees to fill in as judge at a film completion at his old alma mater.  As bitter and angry as he is, he still manages to pick up the cutest boy on campus that night and they have a wild night of passion together.  Next day he discovers that the same boy is not only a candidate in the completion but his name is Danny Reyes and the movie he has made is called Judas Kiss. This so happens is Zachary’s legal name and the movie that he directed some 20 years previously in school was also called Judas Kiss.  Turns out the boy is literally him, and what is on offer is Zachary’s chance to make this all turn out better than what they actually did when he had messed it all up.

Nice idea, but JP Tepnapa the young filmmaker hasn't quite worked out all the logics of realistically making the ‘fantasy’ convincing, and sadly too all the characters are just a tad too bland.  It seems like every time the plot is in real danger of going to far off the rails, then the characters kiss. Sweet, but not an effective storytelling technique.

That said there is something that refreshing and engaging that still makes this movie fairly watchable when you can ignore the sci-fi aspects.  Having a cast that are both talented actors and great eye candy helps too.  The actor/writer Charlie David ('Mulligans','A Four Letter Word' etc)  plays Zachary, young Richard Harmon (TV's 'The Killing') is a revelation as Danny, and then there is Sean Paul Lockhart as fellow student Chris.  Turns out that young Mr Lockhart is already a big 'movie' star under the name Brent Corrigan, and now he proves he can act with his clothes on too.

★★★★★★

Thursday, January 12, 2012

CODEPENDENT LESBIAN ALIEN SEEKS SAME


As the title suggests this is a very campy take on all those wonderfully dreadful Sci-Fi 'B' Movies.  The Aliens are convinced that their over-active emotions will destroy the ozone of their planet and the only way around this is go to earth and have their hearts broken.   One Alien finds a lesbian stationary clerk who is so out of it she never grasps the fact that she is dating someone from another planet, while another two Aliens realizing how needy earth women are decide to settle with each other and an abundant supply of cheesecake.

It ‘s a great late night movie to watch when you are tucked up in bed (with an earthling) and want to have a good laugh before you nod off.  We previewed this at Sundance 11, and it has finally opened in NY.  It may not end up in your neck of the woods so put it on your Watchlist for when the DVD is released.


★★★★★★