Grosse Point Geek – Top Ten Favorite Game Of Thrones Characters

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past few years – Game Of Thrones is THE most popular show on the box – and deservedly so. Now on its seventh season, audiences the world over have been captivated by its inter weaving story of dragons, white walkers, huge battles, ice covered wastes, and the eternal struggle to rule over the fictional land of Westeros.

To say any more would be fruitless but if you like Lord Of The Rings, Excalibur, Conan The Barbarian plus more than a small smattering of Star Wars all topped off with a serious amount of blood letting, decapitations, disemboweling and copious swearing then Game of Thrones is for you. Those with a more sensitive disposition need not bother.

Most of what makes Thrones so good though are its characters, the majority of which start out as utterly despicable or completely lovable and for the most part stay that way – so just for a bit of fun ive complied my top ten favorites – see below

(FYI Spoilers ahead!)

1.Tyrion Lannister (AKA The Imp).

Played by: Peter Dinklage.

Hampered by his somewhat diminutive stature, affection for the demon drink, prostitutes and being loathed by his all powerful and admittedly horrible family, Tyrion is constantly forced to rely on his wits and cunning. You just cant help but love him – brilliantly played by Peter Dinklage, he gets all the best lines and manages to be in just about every episode so far.

Favorite scenes: Delivering a rousing speech just before the Battle of The Blackwater in Season 2 then killing his hideously smug father (Charles Dance – whilst on the toilet) with a crossbow in season 4.

Status: Still alive.

2. Bron Of The Blackwater

Played by: Jerome Flynn (yes him off Robson and Jerome and Soldier Soldier)

A whoring, wine swilling, oik who’s also a dab hand with a sword. Started out as a small supporting character but now a firm fan favorite – mostly due to some very funny if unrepeatable one liners.

Favorite Scene: The loot train battle in S7 – brings down and almost kills Drogon the dragon with a giant crossbow then in the nick of time saves Jamie Lannister from being roasted alive by said beast.

Status: Still alive

3. Tormund Giantsbane

Played by: Kristofer Hivju

One of the so called Wildings from north of the wall. Initially a baddie but after being set free and pardoned by Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) he’s now properly on the side of right. Completely bonkers character, also a bit of a pervert – all flaming hair, huge beard and mad eyes – making him completely brilliant – if a tad insane.

Favorite Scene: The look on his face when he first claps eyes on a very unimpressed Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) and falls madly in love with her, then the utterly hilarious smile he gives her in a later episode that is so funny it has to be seen to be believed

Status: Still alive

4. Ramsay Bolton

Played by: Iwan Rheon

Quite simply – one of the greatest villains in TV history. A psychopath and a sadist of staggering proportions – the list of his evil deeds is legend – skinning enemies alive, stabbing his father to death, castrating Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen), feeding his stepmother and her newborn son to the hounds, torturing Sansa Stark, plus numerous others that dont bear thinking about. Brilliantly played by Iwan Rheon – we will simply never see a baddie like this again and God help us all if we do!

Favorite Scene – all of them – but especially when he gets his comeuppance in s6

Status: Dead – deservedly gets eaten alive by his own dogs but not before being given an utter shoeing by Jon Snow at The Battle of The Bastards.

5. Ser Jorah Mormont

Played by: Iain Glen

Disgraced knight of the realm, initially paid to spy on Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) but then falls in love with her from afar and becomes her most trusted and loyal adviser. A very sympathetic, heroic and rather lovely character, who you just cant help rooting for – played with gusto by the very fruity voiced Iain Glen.

Best scene: S5 – The Dance Of Dragons – fights tooth and nail in a massive gladiatorial battle then saves Daenerys from certain death with a well placed spear.

Status: Dead

6. The Dragons (Rhaegal, Drogon and Viserion)

Played by: CGI creations

I always considered that the best screen dragon of all time was Vermithrax Perjorative in Dragonslayer (if you havent seen it do so asap) that was until i saw these three. Giant fire breathing beasts – last of their kind – the so called “children” of Daenerys Targaryen – all are a wonder of visual effects genius, look completely real and elevate GOT to unlimited heights of brilliance whenever they are on the screen – damn terrifying too.

Best Scene: Hard to pick but for me it was Drogon’s nick of time appearance in S5 Dance of Dragons, then the Loot train battle and the huge fight with the white walker army in s7.

Status: 1 Alive, 2 Dead

7. Sandor Clegane (AKA The Hound)

Played by: Rory Mcgann

Horribly disfigured, foul mouthed and very bad tempered former kings body guard. Clegane goes from being initially a really horrible person who kills without mercy to becoming almost likable and extremely sympathetic. Another interesting, well drawn character, superbly played by Rory Mcgann, with subtle, hidden depths that have been slowly drawn out over the course of 7 seasons.

Best Scene: The massive and very bloody tavern scrap in S3

Status: Dead

8. Joffrey Baratheon

Played by: Jack Gleeson

Teenage king of Westeros and a lying, spoilt, sadistic, cowardly bully. The kind of person that deserved a right kicking from every person he ever wronged. Horrible character in fact – but so brilliantly realized by the very talented Jack Gleeson that one simply cant leave him out of this top ten.

Best Scene: Hard to say – for me it was the wedding feast after he weds Margaery Tyrell – behaves appallingly, humiliating his uncle Tyrion but not before suffering death by poisoning – and God did he deserve it!

Status – Very dead

9. Jamie Lannister

Played by: Nicolai Coster Waldau

A very complex character, who starts out as a total swine, who is having an affair with his sister plus mercilessly cripples young Bran Stark by pushing him out of a window. Then in a stroke of very clever plotting becomes a guy you just cant help rooting for – despite the fact that he’s on the side of the villains.

Best Scene: Saving Brienne of Tarth from the bear pit.

Status: Dead

10. Jon Snow

Played by Kit Harrington

The main GOT character and clearly modeled on Luke Skywalker. Yes i know at times hes a bit bland – but he’s completely fearless, hard as a coffin nail, great in a fight and a total classic hero.

Best Scene: For me its in my two favorite GOT episodes – The Watchers on The Wall (S4) and The Battle of The Bastards (s6). He’s in every scene and kicks so much arse with that sword of his that its a joy to watch.

Status: Still alive

There you go then – my top ten favorite Game of Thrones characters. If you havent watched GOT yet then i implore you to do so -admittedly it took Phil Hobden a great deal of effort to get me to stick at it, but im so glad he did as its now become my favorite TV show ever and i cantrecommend it highly enough.

Valar Morgulis!

Will Strong

The Austin Powers to Phil Hobden’s Dr Evil, it’s fair to say Will spends his life trying to convince Phil that Paul WS Anderson ISNT a bad filmmaker, that The Hobbit movies really are THAT good and, for the most part, Phil is wrong about most things. Which he is.

Grosse Point Geek: The Top Ten Performances That Should Have Been Nominated For An Oscar But Weren’t…

by Will Strong A Blog Grosse Point Geek

I don’t like the Oscars much -the ceremony drags on for hours and is hideously boring, and crammed with cringe worthy speeches (Gwynneth Paltrow and Tom Hanks being some of the worst offenders). Every time the nominations are announced, someone that should have been a shoo in for a nod gets criminally snubbed (the list is endless) , plus invariably they don’t make sense.

Now not every actor can get a nomination for a good performance but there are some that have been so shockingly over looked by the academy that it beggars belief. Therefore having given this a great deal of thought i decided to put together a list of actors that should have been nominated for Oscar but wernt – read on:

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1. Film: Seven (1995)

Should have been nominated for: Best Actor (Brad Pitt).

So brutal in parts its almost a horror and featuring a twist ending that’s never been bettered, Seven will stand the test of time as the greatest serial killer film ever made. Unflinchingly dark, most of the praise went to David Fincher’s brilliant direction and the admittedly outstanding Morgan Freeman – however its Pitt as the arrogant, idealistic Det. David Mills that should have been far more recognized.

Best scene: Ably holding his own against Freeman (no easy feat) witness his gut wrenching transformation in the films climax, from cocksure cop to utterly broken man when he realizes just exactly what’s in the box – outstanding.

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2. Film: Man On Fire (2004)

Should have been nominated for: Best Actor-Denzel Washington.

Denzel Washington is just superb here, as suicidal bodyguard John Creasey in Tony Scott’s cracking action thriller.

Fast, furious and brutal, Man On Fire managed to be a blistering actioner and showcased a fantastic turn from Washington, who manages to pull off a very complex character whilst making him sympathetic even when he’s torturing half the criminals in Mexico.

Best Scene: A roll of duct tape, some eye wateringly placed placed explosive and a bent Mexican cop who desperately wishes “he had more time”.

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3. Film: The Big Lebowski

Should have been nominated for: Best Supporting Actor-John Turturro.

A film that flopped on release but has since passed into legend as one of the funniest and most obscure comedies of all time. The Coen brothers masterpiece features an entire myriad of bonkers characters, from Jeff Bridges as the Dude to Tara Reid as porn star Bunny, all brilliant – but none more so than John Turturro as the bowling ball licking, do-rag wearing pederast, Jesus Quintana.

Of all the directors in Hollywood, only the Coens could make sex offender seem funny, and every time i watch this film ive almost busted a gut laughing at Turturro’s manic performance. Greasy, foul mouthed, pretentious and strutting like a peacock, he’s only in three scenes – and he owns every one of them.

Best Scene: Threatening to shove a gun up John Goodman’s backside until the trigger goes “click”.

* * * * * *

4. Film: True Romance

Should have been nominated for: Best Supporting Actor – Gary Oldman.

In the wake of Reservoir Dogs – studios were in a feeding frenzy for any scripts written by Quentin Tarantino. One of which was True Romance – funny, profane and very violent, its hard to decide which of its cast should have received the most praise. Christian Slater has never been better as the slightly unhinged Clarence, Dennis Hopper is wonderful as Slater’s doomed father, and Brad Pitt (again) is hilarious as the permanently stoned Floyd. However, its Blighty’s own Gary Oldman, appearing in just two scenes as psychopath pimp Drexl who steals the show. One eyed, horribly scarred, with bad teeth, greasy dreadlocks, he is evil incarnate, and Oldman is terrifying in the role – bypassed by the Academy it took them until 2011 to finally reward him with a nomination for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy -how did it take them so long??.

Best Scene: The strip club confrontation- “it aint white boy day is it?”.

* * * * * *

5. Film: Good Will Hunting

Should have been nominated for: Best Supporting actor – Ben Affleck.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck deservedly won Oscars for their self penned screenplay about a violently self destructive maths genius. Featuring some superb performances -Damon, Minnie Driver and Robin Williams all excel, but, in a career best performance, Affleck is just wonderful as Chucky, Will’s fiercely loyal, foul mouthed best friend. Getting all the best lines and being the only one who finally gets Will to realize just how much his genius is a gift from the gods, Affleck has never been better. Damon, Driver and Williams were all nominated for their performances – but if anyone deserved more recognition for their acting in this film it was Big Ben.

Best Scene: The building site lecture – where Chucky tells Will what the best part his day is – wonderful and more than a bit heart breaking to boot.

* * * * * *

6. Film: Rocky Balboa (2006)

Should have been nominated for: Best Actor (Sylvester Stallone)

When it was announced that Rocky would be making a sixth bow on the big screen, the sound of collective groans was almost deafening. Its dreadful predecessor -Rocky V – had effectively killed the franchise, Stallone hadn’t had a hit in years and was stuck making some frankly godawful films (Avenging Angelo being a particular low point). So it was to everyone’s surprise that when Rocky Mark 6 came out, what was expected to be something of a joke turned out to be anything but.

Wisely going back to basics, Sly portrays Rocky as a sad, heart broken widower (Adrian has died), desperate to connect with his yuppie son (Milo Ventimiglia) and pining for the glory days of his former life as a world class boxer. Its brilliant stuff – beautifully photographed, skilfully directed and superbly acted by Stallone, Ventimiglia and Burt Ward as Paulie.

With the obligatory training montage, a fantastic boxing match and the kind of jump for joy feel-good factor rarely seen in films today -this was, without doubt, one of the best nights ive ever had at the cinema – lets just say that grown men were known to cry!

Best Scene – Rocky’s heart rending confession to Paulie how bitter he is about Adrian dying and his struggles with the “beast” inside him.

* * * * * *

7. Film: The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Should have been nominated for: Best Supporting Actor- Sean Astin

Ok ROTK deservedly won just about all its categories at the 2005 Oscars – but, despite this the only actor to ever get a nomination was Ian Mckellan as Gandalf in The Fellowship of The Ring.

With its huge cast its very hard to say who gives the best performance – the likes of Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood and Bernard Hill are all superb, but for me the standout was Sean Astin as Sam.

Now some American actors can do good British accents – but these are the types usually adopted in films like Shakespeare in Love and Gladiator.

Here, however, the very American Sean Astin did the impossible and pulled off an absolutely pitch perfect west country accent, and on top of that turned in a frankly outstanding performance that anchored the entire trilogy.

Best Scene: ROTK – Unable to go any further, and weighed down by the ring, Frodo (Elijah Wood) collapses with exhaustion on the slopes of Mount Doom. Refusing to let him give up, Sam gently tells Frodo about the wonders of the shire, then in one last gasp of strength, painfully hauls his beloved friend over his shoulder and makes his way up the mountain to destroy the one ring.

* * * * * *

8. Tombstone (1994)

Should have been nominated for: Best Supporting Actor: Val Kilmer.

In 1994 there were two adaptations of the story of Wyatt Earp. Lawrence Kasdan and Kevin Costner’s version was a rather bloated and overlong affair, but George P Cosmato’s Tombstone was by far the clear winner.

Ok it isn’t Shakespeare, there are some gaping plot holes, some of the editing is a bit iffy and by all accounts it was a nightmare shoot ( original director Kevin Jarre got the boot early on).

Despite this, it’s a very entertaining film. Kurt Russell is very good as Wyatt Earp , as are Michael Biehn and Powers Boothe as the main villains.

However its Kilmer that shines the most as the Latin spewing, tuberculosis ridden Doc Holliday. Stealing every scene he’s in and walking away with the entire film, this was the role that got Kilmer out from the shadow of Top Gun and showed him as an actor of real range and versatility. Criminally overlooked by the academy, its just a damn shame he never capitalised on his success here and unfortunately is now to be found in various bargain basement DTV efforts.

Best Scene: Ensconced in the local saloon and drunk as a monkey, Holliday slurringly trades insults (in Latin) with Michael Biehn’s Johnny Ringo, who then tries to get one over on him with a macho display of handgun twirling. Not to be outdone, Holliday brings the house down by doing the exact same thing – but with a whiskey cup. A cracking scene that perfectly sets up the story for the bullet riddled action to come.

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9. In The Line Of Fire (1993)

Should have been nominated for: Best Actor: Clint Eastwood

For me Clint Eastwood is an actor that has just got better with everything film he appears in. Now everyone says that his greatest performance was in Unforgiven – and undoubtedly he thoroughly deserved a best actor nomination for his portrayal as the reformed outlaw and mass murderer William Munny.

In my opinion though, the film where he impressed the most was as the aging secret service agent Frank Horrigan in Wolfgang Peterson’s In The Line Of Fire.

Haunted by his past failure to save JFK and desperate to stop John Malkovich’s chameleon alike assassin from killing the current president, Clint has never been better. Deceptively introducing Horrigan as a standard, by the numbers tough guy, Eastwood superbly reveals him as a heartbroken tortured man who just needs that one last chance to redeem himself.

Best Scene: After being told he’s off the President’s security detail, Frank recounts to fellow agent Lily Raines(Rene Russo) what happened on that fateful day in Dallas. This is, without doubt the best acting you will ever see from Eastwood – just incredible.

* * * * * *

10. Twelve Monkeys (1995)

Should have been nominated for: Best actor: Bruce Willis

Recent efforts by Bruce Willis have been utter rubbish – Die Hard 5 and GI Joe 2 were terrible, plus he seems to be starring in more and more DTV films that never see the inside of a cinema.

However in 1996 he gave an absolutely amazing performance as unhinged convict James Cole in Terry Gilliam’s post apocalyptic time travel masterpiece.

Completely shedding his usual smirking tough guy image, Willis effortlessly brings range, depth and subtlety to a highly complex and sympathetic character,– all qualities that he has rarely utilised in future roles he’s played.

Best Scene: In a touching moment, after kidnapping psychiatrist Madeline Stowe, the injured Cole hears music on the radio for the first time and revels in its beauty.

Author: Will Strong

Venom (2018): Review by Motion Picture Maniac

by Motion Picture Maniac A Blog Motion Picture Maniac

OK, this is a weird one, sometimes, having mixed feelings on a film isn’t the surest thing in the world, the answer to the question “what did you think?” simply being “I have mixed feelings” doesn’t feel like it does a rather endearing little film like “Venom” the justice it deserves. Did Venom have bad? Yes, yes it did. Did Venom have good? Also yes, I would be lying through my teeth so hard they would come flying out like bullets if I said I thought it didn’t. Do I feel hesitant to call the overall piece a generally good film? Yeah, I’m afraid so, but why then give it a 6 as opposed to 5? The reason is, when I’m mixed in this particular and oddly specific way, I ask myself the question – would I actively want to see it again? And in the case of Venom; the answer is yes.

Tom “Shut The F*ck Up You C*nt” Hardy plays Eddie Brock, a famous reporter who, through a series of circumstances, finds himself host to a parasitic alien symbiote named Venom, sometimes a disembodied voice in Eddie’s head with some control over Eddie’s body, other times a big black monstrosity with big teeth who likes to bite off people’s heads. Eddie must get over the fact that Venom is here to stay and embarks on a raw meat munching mission, kitted out with quips n’ quotes, to win back his girl and beat the baddie.

The plot is very basic when you think about it afterwards, but is that a bad thing by definition? I’ve seen a lot of people make a comparison between this film and all the Marvel superhero films that predate Iron Man and I think that’s because Venom’s plot is late to the game. It’s as simple as A B C, 1 2 3 and at this point in movie history we’re all used to A 1 B 6 17 C (the same reason some MCU films are feeling familiar in the story department), but again, does that make it bad? Personally I have no idea, I’m disappointed that A B C, 1 2 3 lacks ambition but I also like the aesthetic of the movie ending up that way because it enjoyed watching Tom Hardy go nuts too much for its own good; something I’m not mad about because I too am guilty of doing.

I freaking love Tom Hardy, he’s one of my favourite actors and the primary reason I look forward to films he’s in, films I otherwise wouldn’t think too much about before seeing anyway due to cinematic obsession but I digress. I have read some reviews that call this his worst performance but I couldn’t disagree more, there’s not a moment in the entire movie in which he’s onscreen that I could take my eyes off him, as well as being a much more likeable iteration of the character than what’s found in the source material and the stupid Spiderman 3; he’s like the physical embodiment of a carnival (I’m talking about Eddie Brock and the voice of Venom with that one).

It’s a shame the tone is as inconsistent as it is because when the movie wants to be funny I think it really succeeds, Venom’s quips always had me laughing and big dumb fun action scenes accompany that sort of thing quite well. Unfortunately the jokes are often broken up by evil mad scientist stuff that belongs in a different movie – not badly made, just inconsistent and strange. The directing doesn’t help the tone much since I’m not sure Ruben Fleischer was interested in originality so much as just doing his own version of stuff he liked seeing in other movies, he didn’t bring his own sensibility to the table, Venom doesn’t have an original look or feel of its own, its cinematography is commercial and unremarkable and I think a sequel needs both a different director and an R rating, sorry Ruben but i think this task is better suited to an auteur.

There’s a word I would use to describe Venom, unremarkable, apart from Hardy a lot of it feels just that, even bordering on generic, shoot maybe the story being late to the game is a bad thing after all , the plot, characters and style feel derivative of other works and I, like many others it seems, was hoping for more, in fact I’ll be truthful – I really wanted Venom to be great to spite a critic I can’t stand and who embodies a lot of the arrogance and pretentiousness that has mutilated modern internet film criticism into the popularity contest it is today (no, it’s not Mark Kermode), I mean what is the deal today with judging a film’s quality before it’s even been shot because of, in this guy’s case, the character it’s based on supposedly being overrated and the fanbase is just ill-informed?

No, I’m not grasping at straws in a desperate attempt to say Venom is a good film out of sheer spite and personal resentment towards the current comic book movie critical culture that called it terrible before it was even made, I’m just a bit fed up with movies like Venom doing nothing to help disprove these idiots and falling into status quo’s that make their pompousness predictions look like some kind of prophesising like their smug looks suggest!

All that being said I did enjoy Venom, I enjoyed its action, its cast and performances, its jokes and while the CGI on things like crashing vans and super powered feet leaping from a brick wall wasn’t all that good the CGI on all things symbiote was top notch and impressively detailed, like I said at the beginning, I asked myself if all that is enough to want to see it again and the answer is yes. Venom is a messy, flawed, not sure what it wants to do with itself guilty pleasure that I had fun with during moments of genuine effort such as the action and the dynamic between Eddie and Venom.

Author: Jamie Robinson (Motion Picture Maniac)

★★★★★★★★★★

Grosse Point Geek – Mile 22 (2018)

by Will Strong A Blog Grosse Point Geek The Blogs

Grosse Point Geek casts his critical eye over the latest (some sometimes greatest) releases… this time out: Mile 22

Director: Peter Berg

Principal Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Lauren Cohan, Iko Uwais, Rhonda Rousey, John Malkovich

Plot in a nutshell: A elite US special ops team in Indonesia are tasked with aiding in the escape of a local police officer (Iko Uwais) out of the country in exchange for the location of cache of stolen chemical weapons. Their only problem is that the airport is 22 miles away and the entire Indonesian intelligence agency are hot on their tails.

What worked: The action scenes – gunfights, car chases, explosions, hand to hand combat – all expertly staged, extremely brutal and very exciting -especially those featuring Iko Uwais – who, frankly is a martial arts god. Its also well directed by Berg and zips along at a superb breakneck pace

What could have been better: Wahlberg is annoying and a tad dislikeable as the leader of the special ops team – and seems to play these types of characters in just about every action film he ever appears in. Also director Peter Berg’s quickfire editing needed reigning in a bit, plus sticking a wig on Malkovich was a somewhat catastrophic decision by the wardrobe department.

Best scene: The hospital fight sequence – an enormous bout of fisticuffs featuring the astounding Iko Uwais versus two Indonesian government goons who have been sent to kill him.

Summary Review: Not perfect and Wahlberg badly needs a new MO – but a great action film nonetheless, refreshingly non pc, very violent and really really entertaining.

See it at the Cinema?: Yes

Buy it on Blu Ray/DVD?: Yes

★★★★★★★★★★

Author: Will Strong aka Grosse Point Geek

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The Predator – Motion Picture Maniac

by Motion Picture Maniac A Blog Motion Picture Maniac

★★★★★★★★★★

Shane Black’s The Predator is cringe-inducing miscalculation of tone and narrative pace, a film that doesn’t seem to know why it has been made in the first place; if it were a person it would wonder into your house, curiously stumble about the place with a confused look on its face before realising it’s in the wrong address and leaving before causing any real trouble. The original Predator movie is a classic on all fronts, a very special film to me personally and you know what? I like Predator 2 too, and the Alien VS Predator movies – sue me! This movie, The Predator… oh dear; what the hell happened?

I was literally about to start talking about the story and it has taken me some time to think of a cohesive summary: a predator, I big crab-faced brute that communicates through clicking and ripping people’s spines out, crashes to Earth and screws up a hostage rescue operation that the film forgets about after a minute or two of the interruption. A sniper, played by Boyd Holbrook, encounters the creature, steals some of its equipment and goes on the run, meanwhile Olivia Munn is a biologist who gets picked up by the government agency hell bent on capturing the predators and stealing their technology in order to… give them a hand I guess?

MEANWHILE (again) Holbrook sends the predator equipment he stole to his estranged wife and son by mistake and drops them right in it, MEANWHILE (again, again) a much bigger super predator arrives who is also hunting the regular predator who crashed to Earth, MEANWHILE—OH GOD! How much is going on in this movie? It’s not like I’m just doing a crap job of summarizing it, this film, after a fun opening scene of crashing spaceships and Predator carnage, spends its entire first act jumping around from scene to scene without any sense of narrative necessity, flow or cohesiveness, it just kind of goes along, here’s another character, here’s another one, oh and here’s another one.

It’s the kind of mess that suggests there’s a ton of footage missing, that maybe, once, these scenes did have more to connect them but it’s all been amputated for the sake of… I don’t know, shorter runtime, more room to include stuff the studio wanted for future reference maybe, like sequels and stuff like that? Oh I see, if that’s the case then it doesn’t sound like the studio cared that much about a good movie, sounds like they did what Warner Bros. did to Justice League.

Add that to the rumours of paranoid sounding reshoots (just like Justice League) and you get a scary idea of what this thing is, a corporate product handled the same way a school bully gets the weaker kid to do his homework for him. Helmed by a studio that I’m going to guess didn’t really give a damn about integrity but rather something they could police however they wanted regardless of their hired filmmaker’s vision, “just make us a new predator movie, make it how we want, shut up, no we don’t know anything about narrative or structure but just add what we tell you to because meeting financial guidelines makes movies good by definition, right?”

I know I’m blaming the studio a lot but when you look at these problems as they play in the film they really do feel similar to infamous stories of studio meddling in the past, and not the kind of mistakes I can see a filmmaker like Shane Black make through incompetence. I think what I can blame Shane Black for is his decision to include some of the cringiest and unwarranted comedy EVER! I’m not gonna lie, I did chuckle a few times here and there but for the most part I just had to bury my face in my hands with embarrassment, particularly during the scenes on a bus. There’s a mentally challenged predator dog that shows up here and there to make a fool of itself, there’s a horrendous scene in a hotel room involving a slip up with Tourette’s which I really don’t want to think about too much and the fact that so much of the running time is dedicated to this just boggles my brain.

I was massively disappointed with The Predator, when it’s trying to be funny it makes me want to shoot myself, the action scenes are unmemorable, the CGI could’ve been better, the characters are all just walking talking quirks, the cinematography is alright and the actors seem to be having fun but the film gets surprisingly dull after the first hour or so. Even the predator costume doesn’t live up to the A+ perfection of those worn by Kevin Peter Hall, visible lines and crevices on the face suggest animatronics and the CGI on the creature’s eyes – no, sorry Shane, but no.

Author: Jamie Robinson (Motion Picture Maniac)

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The Krays: Dead Man Walking (2018) EXCLUSIVE Review

by Matt Duddy All Things Film Blog The Blogs

Most films about the notorious twins cover their rise and fall, The Krays: Dead Man Walking solely focuses on a 12 day period in December 1966 in relation to the escape from Dartmoor prison of Frank “The Mad Axeman” Mitchell, a giant of a man with great physical strength and an even shorter fuse.

Once holed up in a dingy London flat, Mitchell (Josh Myers) starts to exhibit the kind of behaviour that saw him sentenced in the first place. Unable to trust or control him, the twins decide that they will give Mitchell a present in the form of a club hostess called Lisa (Eastender’s Rita Simon’s) to keep him “busy”. As Mitchell’s behaviour intensifies, the twins are left with only one bloody decision.

The latest in the Kray’s cannon of films is refreshing in that it solely focuses on just one event in the twin’s life with everything else on the periphery; the audience glimpses the breakdown of Reggie’s marriage to Francis, Lord Boothby’s “friendship” with Ronnie and the dogged detective Nipper Read (played by Leslie Grantham in his last role) while never shying away from the maniacal Mitchell and his penchant for violence. Marc Pickering and Nathan John Carter who play Reggie and Ronnie respectively portray the twins well, Carter, who has been in 2 recent Kray films in supporting roles has now found himself propelled into the shoes of Ronnie and relishes every second.

The film is lean at just 75 minutes but never outstays it’s welcome and leaves you wanting more. For me the only thing that lets the film down is the inclusion of a miscast Darren Day in a throwaway role. Day just doesn’t manage to convince, even with limited screen time.

But minor quibble aside like the twins themselves, this smart, gritty, violent and stylish thriller never outstays its welcome and leaves a lasting impression. Smart, gritty and stylish… The Krays: Dead Man Walking is a vicious and visceral treat

Reviewed by Matt Duddy

The Krays: Dead Man Walking is released on DVD, BluRay and VOD on the xxxxx 2018

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Grosse Pointe Geek: Top Film Actors You Should Know But Can’t Place Them…

by Will Strong A Blog Grosse Point Geek

You know how it goes – there you are, happily watching a film and up pops a familiar actor in some third or fourth supporting role. You’ve definitely seen him before, but no matter what you do, you absolutely cannot remember their name or what they’ve been in.

But fear not friends, where there’s a “Will” there is way – so I present to you the (unlikely to be) definitive list of the top 10 actors you should know but cant place the film you’ve seen them in:

* * * * * *

Cole Hauser.

Hauser (son of DTV “star” Wings) has been around for many years, debuting in School Ties (1992) (alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) and putting in very good performances in the likes of Pitch Black, 2 Fast 2 Furious (as the main bad guy) and Good Will Hunting. Never really a headline star in his own right (he had a go with the very average Paparazzi in 2004) he’s impressed in everything I’ve seen him in – and seems to be particularly good in villainous roles.

Most likely to be remembered for: The drug addicted mercenary Johns in Pitch Black (2000)
Last wide release: Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

* * * * * *

Michael Biehn.

Brilliant in The Terminator, evil in Tombstone, heroic in Aliens and mad as cheese in The Abyss. Biehn was once touted as a major star, sadly some dodgy choices (The Seventh Sign, Navy SEALS to name but two) put the scuppers on that and he has mostly been in DTV nonsense like Omega Code 2 and flops such as Cherry Falls and Grindhouse. A genuinely very good actor – he recently appeared in a smashing post apocalyptic thriller called The Divide, which I would highly recommend and is available now on DVD and Netflix.

Most Likely to be remembered for: Kyle Reece in James Cameron’s The Terminator (1984)
Last wide release: Grindhouse (2007) (The Sherriff in Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror)

* * * * * *

Peter Weller

Best known for playing the cop turned cyborg in Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop (he was also in the godawful sequel), Weller has since made the odd cinematic outing with the likes of Screamers, Naked Lunch, Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite and most recently as the villainous Star Fleet Admiral Marcus in last years Star Trek: Into Darkness. The rest of his output has been DTV and its unlikely that he will ever be remembered for anything other than RoboCop – which is a real shame, as superb performances in the likes of TV’s 24 and the aforementioned Star Trek sequel showed him to be an actor of real range and versatility.

Most Likely to be remembered for: Alex Murphy in RoboCop(1987)
Last Wide Release: Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

* * * * * *

Jeff Fahey

A very prolific actor – usually cast as the principal baddie, but far better in quiet supporting roles, Fahey made early impressions in Lawrence Kasdan’s Silverado and Clint Eastwood’s White Hunter Black Heart.

His most famous role was as Jobe in the Lawnmower Man (1992), on the big screen he was the best thing in Grindhouse (alongside Michael Biehn -Planet Terror chapter) and had a role in 2010’s Machete, you may also have caught him in seasons 4,5 and 6 of Lost and Stephen King’s tv series -Under The Dome . Sadly, like Biehn, Fahey is damn good actor gone to waste in a lot of rubbish that got released straight to disc.

Most Likely to be remembered for: The Lawnmower Man (1992)
Last wide release: Machete (2010) playing ruthless businessman Booth.

* * * * * *

Ron Perlman

Usually to be found under a ton of make up in films like Hellboy 1 +2 , Quest for Fire and Star Trek Nemesis, Perlman regularly works with Guillermo Del Toro, is a big fan favourite and has been fantastic in everything I’ve seen him in – especially the currently very popular TV show -Sons of Anarchy as biker gang leader Clay Morrow, he was also in Blade 2 (as Reinhardt) and the rat eating hunchback monk in the Name of The Rose.

If those don’t ring a bell then some of you may be old enough to remember him as Vincent in the soppy Beauty and Beast series that aired in the late 80’s and early 90’s – but don’t hold that against him.

Most likely to remembered for: Hellboy 1 and 2/Sons of Anarchy
Last wide release: Pacific Rim (2013)

* * * * * *

Eric Roberts

Brother of Julia and Oscar nominee for Runaway Train (1985), able to do comedy, drama and action , he was the best thing about 1994’s The Specialist (as the thoroughly nasty son of Rod Steiger’s Miami drug king) put in a small but memorable performance as Gotham gangster Sal Maroni in The Dark Knight (2008) and was rather good as the main baddie in The Expendables (2010)

Roberts has appeared in vast amounts of films and has over fifty – (yes fifty!) –releases coming out in 2014 alone.

Most Likely to remembered for: The Dark Knight and several appearances in Heroes
Last Wide Release: Lovelace (2014).

* * * * * *

Joel Edgerton

An extremely good Australian actor – Edgerton first came to prominence as the young Owen Lars in Star Wars Episode 2: Attack Of The Clones, since then he was outstanding as the physics teacher turned cage fighter in Warrior (2011), was great in The Thing (also 2011) and appeared in last years The Great Gatsby remake alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. He also played the special forces leader in Zero Dark Thirty and is soon to be seen as Pharaoh in Ridley Scott’s Exodus. One to watch out for – and if you haven’t seen Warrior yet then you should be ashamed!

Most likely to remembered for: Warrior, Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3.
Last Wide Release: The Great Gatsby

* * * * * *

Udo Kier

A veteran of over 200 films – Kier is another fan favourite – especially amongst the horror crowd. An occasional collaborator with the legendarily awful Uwe Boll and controversial director Lars Von Trier, you will know him as the head vampire in Blade (1998) the German scientist who makes Michael Clarke Duncan break down in tears in Armageddon (1998) and the head of a devil worshiping coven in End Of Days (1999).

Always good value , Kier brings quality to everything he appears in.

Most Likely to remembered for: End Of Days and Blade.
Last Wide Release: Nymphomaniac (2014)

* * * * * *

Brad Dourif

Another journeyman actor, Dourif has appeared in everything from One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest to Alien Resurrection. Mostly seen in weirdo or creepy bad guy roles, he is the voice of the demonic doll Chucky in the Child’s Play franchise, played Grima Wormtongue in Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers and The Return Of The King, and made appearances in Dune, Priest and Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake.

For me, though his best part was as racist, wife beating deputy sheriff, Clinton Pell in Alan Parker’s superb Mississippi Burning (1988).

One of the best films of that year, and memorable for superb performances from Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe, Dourif excels as the grinning, smug, murderous small town cop – and I dare anyone not cheer when Hackman’s hard as nails FBI agent finally gives him his long overdue comeuppance near the films climax (“did you smile Pell?!!”).

Most likely to remembered for: The Two Towers and Return of The King (Extended Edition)
Last wide release: Priest (2011)

* * * * * *

Michael Shannon

An established stage and screen actor – some will remember Shannon from early appearances in forgettable guff such as Bad Boys 2, Pearl Harbour and Kangaroo Jack.

However an electrifying performance in 2012’s The Iceman, being one of the best things about last years Man Of Steel, and a series regular on Sky Atlantic’s Boardwalk Empire (as the slightly unhinged FBI agent turned bootlegger Nelson Van Alden) have made Shannon one of the most respected and sought after performers working today. One of those guys who can bring quality to just about anything he appears in (even Pearl Harbour) it’s fair to say Shannon is an actor destined for even more great things to come.

Most likely to be remembered for: Man Of Steel (as General Zod) and Boardwalk Empire.
Last wide release: Man of Steel (2013)

* * * * * *

So that’s it – there are many more fine actors I could have mentioned – however the list could go on forever – but if you can catch any of the above in the films I’ve mentioned they have been in then, you will know what I’m talking about -in addition they can all be found on Wikipedia if you want to know more about their body of work.

As an aside – if you’ve watched an actor in a film that you know you have seen before but cant remember where and its keeping it you up all night in frustration – just send a question in to me on my blog (Grosse Pointe Geek) at ALLTHINGSFILM and I’ll try and give you the answer.

Phil’s Best & Worst 2018 Films.. So Far! 4th Edition (31st August 2018)

by Phil Hobden All Things Film Blog Other Cr*p Year In Review

So this is my semi-regularly updated of the BEST and WORST of the films from 2018 (2018 Films), as well as the best films I missed from last year and the Phil’s Quick Capsule Review Sharknado Award.

All in my very humble opinion…

BEST Films Of 2018… So Far:

Coco
Mission Impossible: Fallout
I, Tonya
Lady Bird
A Quiet Place

Honourable Mentions: Revenge, Mollys Game, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, You Were Never Really Here, The Festival, Calibre, Avengers: Infinity War, Game Night, Black Panther, Ready Player One, 12 Strong, The Post, The Meg, Deadpool 2, Love Simon, Andre The Giant

WORST Films Of 2018… So Far

The Cloverfield Paradox
Annihilation
A Wrinkle In Time
Red Sparrow
Deep Rising 2

Dis-Honourable Mentions: The Commuter, Renegades, Peter Rabbit, Ocean’s 8, Death Wish, Hellraiser: Judgement, Day Of The Dead : Bloodline, Godzilla: Planet Of The Monsters Part 1, Extinction, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Patient Zero, Tremors: A Cold Day In Hell, All The Money In The World, Skyscraper

**The 2018 Sharknado Award for Films So Good (!) They Cant Be Rated:**

The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time

The 2018 Films I just couldn’t Finish…

TBC

Great Films Of 2017 That I saw In 2018:

The Disaster Artist, The Babysitter, Mayhem, Icarus, The Greatest Showman, The Big Sick, LA 92

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Grosse Point Geek: The Marvel MCU Best To Worst (to Ant-Man & The Wasp)

by Will Strong A Blog Grosse Point Geek The Blogs

Phil’s Quick Review’s own master blogger Grosse Point Geek takes a look at the ENTIRE Marvel MCU to rate films os far from BEST to The Incredible Hulk… get ready for a few surprises (Yes he really does rate Iron Man 3 that low!!)

Updated as and when a new film arrives…

Avengers Assemble
Thor Ragnarok
Guardians of The Galaxy
Avengers infinity War
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Thor
Spider-Man homecoming
Iron Man
Captain America: Civil War
Ant man
Thor The Dark World
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
Antman and The Wasp
Captain America
Dr Strange
Iron Man 3
Black Panther
Avengers Age Of Ultron
Iron Man 2
The Incredible Hulk

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Unfriended: Dark Web (2018) – Motion Picture Maniac

by Motion Picture Maniac A Blog Motion Picture Maniac

★★★★★★★★★★

When it comes to my own personal disagreements with Hollywood’s handling of famous tropes, within the context of talking about Unfriended: Dark Web, I must admit that I actually think it is the removal of the human element that makes a home invader or masked killer much more terrifying. It’s often been said that by making the killer more human, more of a character in his own right, he becomes scarier but I don’t think I agree with that, Hannibal Lector is a great character, sinister and creepy but terrifying? I’m not so sure about that.

In fact – do you remember the little French home invasion horror movie Them? Yeah, that scared the ever loving shit out of me if I’m coming clean and that was mostly down to the invaders being kept in the shadows, behind corners, standing ominously on the other end of the hall with their faces covered and without real humanity. They were more of a presence than people, an entity of ghost-like violent intent which is in line with what we imagine home invaders to be like when our mind starts to wonder towards standard fears – the idea of a home invasion is often scarier than witnessing one in a film; Them is the exception.

This is where I think Unfriended: Dark Web got it wrong which is especially a shame because it actually managed to withhold making this mistake for its entire first half. I was surprised at how much I was actually going with this movie while it was taking the time to set everything up, there was an atmosphere to it that was legitimately succeeding in getting under my skin. This young guy has stolen a laptop from where he works because he’s sick of his old computer being too slow for him to really have a conversation with his deaf girlfriend over Skype and during a game of Skype Cards Against Humanity with his circle of dumbass friends the real owner starts sending him threatening messages demanding the computer back.

It’s not long before he starts uncovering hidden files and content that would certainly freak me out if I found them on a computer and it all escalates from there. The first half of this movie functions like a mystery that happens to pertain to the dark side of the internet and I was relishing in it, the movie itself seemed to be enjoying the restrictions brought on by its format, same as the first – taking place entirely on a computer screen; I was even enjoying its move from the supernatural to a more true to life kind of horror. The tone was ominous, creepy and was doing a masterful job of igniting my imagination to do all of the work, I felt afraid to go home to bed once the film was over and wondered what the negative reviews were on about… then the film started showing too much.

All that stuff about getting my imagination to do all the work, presenting the threat in a purely suggestive manor and showing just the right amount of creepy stuff to get the job done via snuff films all gets abandoned once the owner of the computer physically makes an appearance. What was it I said earlier – the idea of a home invasion is scarier than actually seeing one in a film? Yeah, suddenly my imagination stopped being able to conjure more than what the celluloid was capable of, once this guy is revealed to have a voice kitted out with emotions such as anger and even fear he stops being what we perceive such people to be like in the backs of our minds.

It especially doesn’t help that whenever this guy appears on Skype cameras he is accompanied by a wild glitching effect that smothers his form with pixelated mishmash, which you would think would achieve the effect I’m complaining about the film not having, disguising his human shape and making him appear as something more sinister than simply a home invader etc. But the effect is so bombastic and in your face (not to mention the questions it invokes like why is it even happening in a logical sense) that it ends up achieving the opposite result, not scary, just bizarre and over the top – despite effort to continue keeping the threat obscured I don’t think it worked as well as simply suggesting the threat exists and is on to them.

Unfortunately it still has further down hill to go from there, once people start dying it just gets sillier and sillier, characters I thought seemed pretty capable for hapless horror movie victims start making silly mistakes that guarantee certain death if they would JUST NOT DO THAT! The major threat at work also begins to frame our poor victims for its crimes by changing faces in snuff film footage with Photoshop, something the police would be able to determine in a very short amount of time, and they only do it to one frame so I’m not sure what the whole process is supposed to achieve without the context of what the video footage is as a whole because they only Photoshopped ONE SINGLE FRAME!

They trick a police dispatcher using badly stitched together audio that invoked a little bit of laughter because it wouldn’t fool Ralph Wiggum from The Simpsons and the final straw, without spoiling anything, was the revelation of a twist that, while indeed putting things into perspective and explaining why the hell any of this has been happening, doesn’t actually make that much sense because it implies the baddies have been relying one helluva lot of blue moon luck this whole time. It really made me stop and rethink a bunch of stuff that had transpired along the way and if it was intended by the big bad to happen just like then WHAT? Are they magic, did the movie secretly keep the supernatural motif from the first film without telling us? I don’t know, I don’t think it made sense and the film could’ve done without pushing and straining itself that far.

So the movie gets 5/10 for the most obvious reason ever, it’s half a good film, half a bad film, it started strong, made good decisions and showed off some real understanding of how horror works, then it reaches the halfway point and goes completely off the rails, showing the threat too much, adding bombastic effects, characters start making really dumb decisions, the baddies make even DUMBER decisions that somehow WORK all the while relying on the luck of the universe to provide success to their plan and leaves one with a feeing of overall disappointment. I think it’s worth a look but be prepared for some disappointing foolishness as the second half kicks into gear.

Motion Picture Maniac

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Phil’s Best & Worst 2018 Films.. So Far! 4th Edition (31st August 2018)

BEST Films Of 2018… So Far:

WORST Films Of 2018… So Far

**The 2018 Sharknado Award for Films So Good (!) They Cant Be Rated:**

The 2018 Films I just couldn’t Finish…

Great Films Of 2017 That I saw In 2018:

Grosse Point Geek: The Marvel MCU Best To Worst (to Ant-Man & The Wasp)

Unfriended: Dark Web (2018) – Motion Picture Maniac

★★★★★★★★★★