Explanation of Marks

For those of you wondering where I came up with marking films out of 20 it all stems from 4 separate marks of 5 totalling up to 20. The four separate qualities which I divided up are as follows:

1. Technical Achievements, e.g. Direction, Cinematography, Editing and Sound.
2. Acting.
3. Story/Narrative/Screenplay
4. Overall Entertainment Value

So for instances a film may score highly on technical merit (5/5) with above average acting (3/5) where the narrative was intelligent and insightful (4/5) and the overall entertainment of the film is (5/5) the overall score would be 17/20

I may breakdown the score in future to give a better reflection of the review

Thanks for reading

Catfish (2010) with trailer

"...And there are those people who are catfish in life. And they keep you on your toes. They keep you guessing, they keep you thinking, they keep you fresh." A quote from the film which typifies what the documentary is trying to show and say about how life, people and situations can be unexpected and full of surprises. Sometimes you need something out of the ordinary to give you a jolt and spark.

This documentary is a series of footage filmed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost where they spot an opportunity to document a blossoming friendship between Ariel's brother Nev Schulman (a photographer) and an 8 year old prodigy painter Abby....and then her immediate family....

As the documentary proceeds, Nev starts to bond with Abby, their friendship develops over the internet via Facebook. Initially Nev is sent a painting of one of his pictures and he is suitably impressed by the skill and the attention to detail that this eight year girl shows in her work. Eventually he is befriend by her family, first Abby's mother Angela and then Abby's sister Megan. This is where the film takes a turn and Nev develops feelings for Abby's older sister.

This may seem like an exploration about the pitfalls of an online relationship but as it progresses it becomes a lot more dramatic and fascinating as more and more surprising developments occur and unfold before our eyes. With Nev's infatuation over Megan taking over as the main focus we are shown scenes of their first conversation over the phone and messages via the internet. Everything seems too good to be true...

What makes this documentary so intriguing and interesting is how we (and Nev) are so willingly to accept all we are given as the truth and facts that the people we meet online to be real may not be real at all. As the documentors uncover secrets about Abby's family which are so unfathomable and unbelievable you may think the whole thing is a set up. Whether you believe some, all or none of this documentary to be real, it is very well made and handled with great flair and captures the anonymity and the power of the internet.

This doesn't follow the usual routes of documentaries where you'd expect talking heads, archive footage or a topical subject. It's more like a reality thriller (which it has been tagged) and is probably the best way to describe it. You get three acts, first the initial innocent meetings online and development which then leads us the revelations and uncovering of truths and facts, to the last act of confessional character study where we meet Nev's new online friend(s) and their motivations behind all the charade and lies. It is an emotional journey for Nev which ends up showing us a sadder side to humanity with a heartfelt resonance in which you can't help feeling sorry for the family he eventually meets up with. It's compelling and thought provoking.

16/20

The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2010) with trailer

A film about a mad scientist (is there any other kind....?) who goes out to create a new species...the human centipede. As you can imagine, a lot of furore and controversy came about on the eve of the release of this horror flick, though anyone who has seen it would know it really isn't that sick or gruesome. As an ardent horror aficionado it was quite tame to be honest (though it may be due to the fact that I have become pretty desensitized by anything that is truly horrific with the amount of horror films I have seen).


The clichés of your modern horror movie are clear and present from the start. We follow two American tourist in Europe (Germany to be precise) who try to find their way to a trendy nightclub....where (of course!) they become lost and the car they travel in, receive a puncture. So far, so predictable...what's more predictable is their mobiles have no signal and they are stuck in the middle of nowhere (in the woods!). So they decide to venture out and after a couple of minutes they come across our mad surgeons house (where you can probably guess what's about to happen...).



Anyone looking for gross out gore will probably be a tad disappointed. It never reaches the depths of say, the Saw movies in terms of on-screen violence but it's the general idea which I think is suppose to be the sickening aspect of the film. To be honest, most of it is done with a great slab of black humour. To see them trying to work together and walk (maybe that should be crawl....) is actually quite amusing and it isn't because I have a sick sense of humour, though it may help if you wish to watch this film which includes a bowel movement that you may think is particularly in bad taste (pun intended).

The part played by the Dieter Laser (The surgeon Dr Hieter) is acted out extremely well and conveys a sense of controlled madness with his piercing mad wide-eyed stare which is so fitting to the role and adds so much to the film. No explanation is given as to why he is pursuing his quest to create the human centipede expect maybe for the fact he is an expert at separating Siamese twins. The acting by the two American girls (Ashley C Williams and Ashlynn Yennie) are passable but once they are sewn together to the unfortunate (or fortunate if you know what I mean) Japanese captive, they're "acting" becomes muffled screams and hand gestures....

The fact the film claims to be "medical accurate" (who am I to argue, I'm not going to find out either!) just adds to the controversy, but to re-iterate, the film is not at all gruesome and is in fact mildly amusing. It's not laugh out loud mind you, just you can tell the film makers are having fun with their topic subject. There are a few plot holes and some remarkably bad decisions made by the characters in the movie but without them, the narrative wouldn't be able to progress and we wouldn't get to the films U.S.P. which is to see what a human centipede looks like.....right? A tame but intriguing horror where the imagination and your belief in the films plausibility is tested (and maybe your stomach for those of you who are very faint hearted).


12/20

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World with trailer (2010)

An amazing combination of comic-book and video game mould, Scott Pilgrim has successfully pulled off what a lot of video game adaptation fail to do....which is to make a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining feature that has the look and sound of a live video game (with tons of homages) but isn't actually based on a game. Scott Pilgrim is based on the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley, where the plot revolves around our hero who falls for a mysterious girl called Romana, but love does not run so smoothly for our hero. Unfortunately for Scott, he already has a girlfriend (Knives Chau played by Ellen Wong ) who is totally besotted with him and his band Sex Bob-Ombs. With his awkward and nerdy persona, hilarity ensues as Scott tries his hardest not to let either girls find out about each other. Another problem is that there are seven evil exes that he must defeat in order to win her heart.

Edgar Wright has made a film littered with references to the video games ranging from the title sequence 8-bit musical and visual reinterpretation to the odd incidental music thrown in from classic games like Zelda, to Streetfighter intros to every commencing fight, along with Wrights signature quick fire edits and cuts. We are bombarded with so many visual gags and dialogue it can be hard to keep up sometimes (though I'd like to see it as a good excuse to watch it again to pick up on certain elements you may have missed the first time round so it's a win win!)

The film plays out so much like a video game but alongside its simple structure lies a brilliant performance from Michael Cera. He makes you root for the lovable loser/geek who strikes gold when his band (Sex Bob-omb another video game reference) enters a battle of the bands competition who manage to progress but along the way encounters several of Romana exes where Scott has to step up and outwit and dispatch each of the evil exes. Cera who must feel like he is forever destined to play the shy, awkward geek but unluckily for him he just plays the role so well. I can't imagine anyone else suited to this material. I was never a massive fan of Cera's but he did win me over in this film. There's a certain innocent charm about his acting that I feel this film wouldn't have worked as well if someone else played it instead. Let him be forever type casted I say.


The blend of comic-book, video games, music and manga are mixed together and thrown back up into a successful and seamless cohesion that it makes you wonder how so many video game adaptation can get it so wrong. Shame this isn't based on an actually video game.


With so much energy, inventiveness and vibrancy from the acting and directing, it's a crying shame that America didn't actually "get" this film. It didn't set the box office alight when it was initially released and same goes for it's UK release. It's an entertaining and light hearted mix where everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and not taking it too seriously. The film deserves a bigger audience and I wish it all the luck in gaining more than the cult following it has at the moment.

17/20