Friday 13 March 2009

What I've been watching...

I never thought I'd hear myself say this but going to the gym has completely taken over my life just recently, leaving not an awful lot of time for reading and watching movies... I haven't given up just yet though and managed to squeeze in a couple of films over the last week. Here's what I thought...



'Candyman'
'Candyman' was one of those films that playground rumour had built into one of the most scary films ever. You know the ones I mean don't you?

"My brother's best mate saw it last week and he hasn't been able to go to sleep since he watched it!"

"Yeah well, my brother's best mate's sister's friend saw it and said 'Candyman' five times... We haven't seen her since..."

In case you are wondering, this conversation actually happened.
Sue found me a copy of 'Candyman', for Christmas, and I finally got round to watching it the other day. I haven't been able to sleep since and I keep chickening out of saying the final 'Candyman'... Ok, it's not that bad but 'Candyman' is one seriously scary film! 'Candyman' really racked up the tension for me with an air of relentless menace. The villain of the piece didn't even turn up until about halfway through and I was already looking nervously over my shoulder by this point... Tony Todd's Candyman character is compelling, especially as you never really know when he is about to explode with rage. I'm really glad I finally got to watch this film, I reckon I'm going to have to find the two sequels. Has anyone seen them?



'Cloverfield'
Am I always the last person to see last year's big movie? It sure feels like it sometimes... I watched 'Cloverfield' on DVD (you don't need me to tell you the story, you probably knew it before I did!) and my initial thought was that I wish I'd gone to see it in the cinema. Getting straight to the point, it was too dark and the camera wobbled around like no-ones business... I didn't even realise they were in that half collapsed building until one of the group pretty much said, "we're in a half collapsed building..."
The funny thing is though... About half an hour after I'd finished ranting to myself how awful the film was I actually realised that 'Cloverfield' is a pretty good film after all. It's not the films fault that I didn't see it in the cinema!
The bit where they're in the subway and get attacked by the spider creatures, the bit where the guy looks up and the monster is just stood there looking at him... It's all great cinema! I also loved the way that random bits of video footage cut in and out of the main plot, building up a sweet little romantic subplot.
Maybe I should have seen 'Cloverfield' in the cinema, when I had the chance, but I'm glad I saw it in the end...

2 comments:

Todd Newton said...

I loved Cloverfield, it's what Godzilla should have been frankly, but I felt the very beginning spoiled the ending. I wanted the ending to either be more of a surprise or more ambiguous, but you can predict it based on the opening few seconds accurately. Regardless, great movie. I watched it like 6 months ago in HD, so it was okay that I didn't see it in the theater.

Anonymous said...

The memory of Candyman still gives me goosebumps, vaguely recall one of the sequels (think it was the last one) being disappointing, think it delved more into how the candyman became what he was.

Cloverfield was better than people told me it would be, nothing too special but good fun. I should probably rewatch it now I've a bigger tv.