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People reading this blog will know I have a weakness for zombie films, and the [REC] series represent the apec of that weakness.

REC 1 and 2 were amazing, and while REC3 doesn’t really add much to the storyline, it does show us that the shit is going down, and its not just isolated in that one apartment building in Barcelona.

REC3 starts off with a wedding between Koldo and Clara, with the by-now familiar hand-held camera view alternating between amateur cameraman Adrian (Koldo’s cousin) and wedding videographer Atun’s lenses. We’re told early on that Adrian’s uncle was bitten by a rabid dog (alarm bells anyone?), but that he will be alright, and the wedding party starts in earnest.

Woohoo! Together 4Ever!

But we’re all just waiting for the shit to hit the fan, which happens close to 20 minutes in, when the title card finally appears. All hell breaks loose, and the newly married couple gets separated in the ensuing chaos.

Thus begins an arduous journey as we follow each of them in their quest to reunite, in between bashing in the heads of their ex-loved ones.

It should have been a much more interesting study in having to kill a ballroom full of friends and relatives, but not much is explored there that hasn’t already been done in other films or The Walking Dead.

Legs and chainsaw never looked so good

But then again, its a freaking zombie movie. Whoever takes the time to think about their moves, usually don’t move much later on. The film departs from its predecessors in using shaky cam shortly after title card, which i’m actually a little conflicted about. Its also much more comedic than REC 1 and 2.

REC3 is directed by Paco Plaza, one half of the duo who did the previous RECs, while REC4 (which is supposed to cap the series) will be directed by Jaume Balaguero, the other half.

I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Rating: 8/10 

In the hands of another director, say, Michael Bay, the re-telling of the Canadian Caper will no doubt be filled with explosions. But with Ben Affleck taking the helm, a gem of a film appears. I went into the film blind (not watching the trailers) and expected some degree of action ala The Town, and was pleasantly surprised to see nary an action scene, yet a film full of suspense and intrigue.

On November 4th 1979, militants stormed the US embassy in Tehran, and took 50 embassy staff hostage, demanding the return of deposed Shah (King, who was now hiding in US) to answer for his crimes. 6 of them escaped, and went into hiding at the residence of the Canadian Ambassador.

Argo is the story of their escape and extraction from Tehran.

CIA extraction specialist Tony Mendez’s plan, was for him to go under cover as a film producer, scouting Tehran for exotic locations to produce his sci-fi film, Argo, inspired by Battle for the Planet of the Apes.

He would then smuggle in 6 other Canadian passports for the 6 escapees, and posing as a film crew, head out of Tehran together. With such a backdrop, its easy to see how much restraint and integrity Ben has, in order not to infuse the film with any explosions of any kind.

Yet, the film succeeds in investing us in the story, and cheering for their ultimate escape. It has all the elements of a heist film; the plan, the ragtag team (in this instance, the 6 escapees who needs to each put on their role as a Canadian scriptwriter/director/cinematographer etc), the hiccups along the way, and finally, the execution of the plan.

And as the end credits roll, we couldn’t help but be in awe at Ben’s perfectionist streak as we’re shown stills from the film against actual photographs of the Iran hostage crisis. Uncanny likeness.

Definitely a contender for one of the best films of 2012.

Rating: 9/10

Interesting to note how much better Affleck is doing as a director, than just purely as an actor. I read through his Wiki, and saw the title of a student film he’d made called “I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney”. 

What can I say? Awesome name for a film! Would love to watch that!

Looper is set in the future of 2044. Only, for the characters, its the present. Am I confusing you already? HAHA.

Anyway, time-travel won’t be invented for another 30 years (that’s 2074), but it’s immediately outlawed when it does. And only the mafia uses it to dispose of their enemies.

You see, in the future, everyone is tagged with some nanotechnology alarm system, that will notify the police if someone is killed. So, they use the time machine to send their enemies back to 2044 to be killed by Loopers.

Loopers are assassins hired by the mob to do the killing, payment via silver bars strapped to their targets’ backs. Once they receive gold bars, however, it means they have “closed their loop”, essentially killing their future selves.

Young Joe (Joseph Gordon Levitt channeling Bruce Willis with furrowed brows and thick make-up) is a Looper. At designated times, he kills people sent from the future, collects silver bars, and lives the high life (literally, getting high at parties).

Then one day, a man appears, unhooded. Young Joe recognises the man as Old Joe (Bruce Willis), and in hesitation, allows the old man to escape. We already know what happens when Loopers don’t close their loop (nothing good comes out of it). Young Joe must track down old Joe in order to close his loop and collect his retirement paycheck. But old Joe has an agenda of his own.

Oh, also, in the future, telekinesis happens as a mutation in about 10% of the population (and this is important to the plot in the second half of the film).

As a time travel film, I think its pretty decent. I guess the overwhelming reviews sky-rocketed my expectations so much so that I kind of felt that while it was good, it still felt like I’d seen better.

For instance, TimeCrimes (or Los Cronocrímenes), a little spanish flick about time travel, was a much tighter and suspenseful film, delivering way bigger mindfucks all round.

Rating: 6/10

Just a thought – How plausible is it, that when time travel is invented, the mob uses it only to dispose of their enemies, and not to make money? Just think of how inconvenient it will be if just one of them escapes, and then decides to go after the mob when they’re just learning how to walk, or taking a piss in the toilet.

Taken was an action packed film about an enterprising man named Marco from Tropoja, whom, in a bid to provide for his rather large extended family, decided to go into the questionable trade of human trafficking, with his operations headquartered in Europe, specifically Paris.

Unfortunately, one of the merchandise had an overzealous father who happened to be a retired CIA operative with an uncanny sense of timing. Named Bryan, this father went on a murderous rampage of what seemed to be half the male population of the village of Tropoja to save his daughter.

Marco from Tropoja was one of the dead.

Taken 2 is the tale of Marco’s revenge by his father.

She still wouldn’t go out with me. What do I do now? Left knee?

But sometimes, things in life just doesn’t go your way, especially if you’re of a minority race in an American film.

Taken 2 is a by the numbers sequel to taken. More people kidnapped (The last time it was daughter Kim [Maggie Grace], this time it was his wife Lenore and Bryan himself!), more explosions, more car chases, and more dead bodies.

In other words, more of the same.

Rating: 5/10

I have to say though, that the Taken franchise has more realistic depictions of the last boss fight. Usually in movies or games where the protagonist fights his way to the last baddie, he’s often a bad-ass with a hulked out body and awesome Wing Chun skills.

But seriously, look at all the real life big bosses around us? Donald Trump, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg. Other than a shitload of money and being bosses, their only other commonality is their pasty skin and non-athleticism.

So kudos to Luc Besson (Producer and Writer) for giving us realistic and anti-climatic last-boss kills.

Also, given google image search returns for Taken 2, they may as well have named the movie “Taken 2: The One Where Liam Points His Gun Everyfuckingdirection Possible” 

Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking while holding a revolver?
– Bryan Mills, America’s Next Top Violent Model