Mike’s Micro Movie Reviews – Episode 1
This is the first instalment of Mike’s Micro Movie Reviews, brought to you by my good friend Michael Court. Like me, Michael likes to watch as many movies as his busy life will allow. He loves to write up brief and easy to digest ‘micro’ reviews and pass them on to his friends. He has kindly allowed me to post his micro reviews to this site for the benefit of my readers.
Just like me, Michael enjoys many genres but it’s no secret that he is a massive horror fan. Michael enjoys watching the latest movies at the cinema or catching up with films on rental or from an ever growing DVD collection of interesting previously released films. As a result, his Micro Reviews featured on this site will vary from very recent to very old releases. Variety is the spice of life 🙂
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| Boy A |
Boy A
More a feature length drama than a proper film as such, this was screened on Channel 4 in 2008. I bought it on Amazon as I was intrigued to see Andrew Garfield’s performance for which he won a Bafta and became destined for bigger things, and it did not disappoint… One of the most thought provoking, poignant and tragic stories I have ever seen, based on a fictional book by Jonathan Trigell which I also read ages ago. There are clear parallels with the James Bulger case of the 90s (in the UK), but it manages to keep a respectful distance and admirable absence of bias towards any aspect it…. I would highly recommend this.
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| Paranormal Activity 3 |
Paranormal Activity 3
The Hollywood money executives wasted no time in knocking together this third instalment as another ‘prequel’ following the young girls growing up in 1988. More of the same suspense wise, this was watchable but hardly s**t your pants scary stuff, and could have done with far more plot being explained. All we discover is that dear old Grandma is a witch, and some old covenant is being threatened… (That’s not really a spoiler if you haven’t seen it!)
Mike’s Rating: 6/10
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| Bronson with Tom Hardy |
Bronson
Pre Dark Night Rises I was intrigued to see more of Tom Hardy’s work. To be frank this was violently psychotic and brutally uncomfortable to watch! The fact it was based on a true story of one the UKs most notorious prisoners, and played with such ferocious intensity by Hardy really makes an impact… Didn’t particularly like the over theatrical and stylised direction of Danish oddball Nicholas Winding Refn – I am convinced he will never be able to better ‘Drive’ – although having said that he is working with Ryan Gosling on a new project….
Mike’s Rating: 6/10
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| The Darkest Hour |
The Darkest Hour
This was really panned by critics online at Rotten Tomatoes and in the papers I read, but I quite liked it! A rare Moscow snazzy setting for what becomes a sci-fi action borderline apocalyptic horror! Emile Hirsch (who has made some diverse choices since Into the Wild) stars as the sensible one who leads a group of survivors against an alien invasion of virtually invisible electrical impulses… Also with Joel Kinnaman (The Killing US version and future Robocop) as a sleazy Swedish dot com merchant. Predictable but tense moments and good chases. Check it out…
Mike’s Rating: 7/10
Look out for Episode 2 of Mike’s Micro Movie Reviews coming soon.
