I had most of Saturday to kill and managed to get hold of Tracey who also has a CineWorld card. The next film starting was Shelter so off we went.
Plot-in-a-nutshell: A psychologist encounters a man with multiple personalities, only the number of personalities seems to be increasing… and including people she knows.
I had no preconceptions about Shelter at all as I’d not even seen a trailer as far as I could recall. A quick check on the website said it was a psychological thriller which was fine. As an aside I was ridiculously tired when I went to the cinema so probably wasn’t mentally fired up for watching two hours of film, but never mind. I didn’t realise how tired until Tracey nudged me and said “You were snoring”. Don’t take this as comment on the film which was actually alright.
Julianne Moore plays Cara, a single mother after her husband was killed a year or so earlier. I last saw Moore in the rather enjoyable Chloe and she’s just as good in this although it’s not quite as good a film. Her father introduces her to Adam (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a man who seems to have a fair few identities kicking around in his head.
As she investigates these personalities, she finds there seems to be something linking them – but to tell you more would be spoiling the story.
There’s a bit of a mix of old-style horror, thriller and religious subtexts. Indeed, the film blurb focusses on the religious aspect and this does actually have a bearing on a plot point later on in the story.
While Moore is good, Meyers is excellent given the number of roles he’s actually playing as Adam’s personality expands and fractures over the course of the film.
It does get a little hokey and the very final twist is almost expected rather than being a shock. It’s still creepy though!
The fact that I only nodded off very briefly despite being so exhausted says a lot for Shelter. It isn’t a classic – Silence of the Lambs is a better thriller and Drag Me To Hell a better horror to grasp at two movies along vaguely similar lines. It does run a little too long but it’s entertaining enough and doesn’t labour its points.
A busy day at the cinema today as I played catchup on some films. Four in all – Legion, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Chloe and From Paris With Love. Three more tomorrow if I can fit them all in, too.
Legion
“Don’t be afraid. I just want to play with the baby.”
Plot-in-a-nutshell: God’s a bit bored with humanity so decides to wipe it out – but one angel stands in his way.
Legion is fine a simple B-movie kind of way. Paul Bettany is about as far away from his verbose Chaucer (A Knight’s Tale) as could be while still managing to be cool and rather scary as a fallen Michael.
The entire film, near as dammit, takes place in a diner in the middle of nowhere where a pregnant woman holds the fate of humanity in her womb. Why, we don’t know. Just that if her child survives then God is a bit screwed in his attempts to wipe our humanity.
Actually, virtually nothing is made clear over the length of the film. If God sent a flood the last time he got pissed off, why is he sticking to vulnerable possessed human bodies this time?
Basically, the whole film makes about as much sense as the British legal system. Luckily it manages to be slightly more entertaining. Not bad if you switch your brain into neutral.
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Plot-in-a-nutshell: Mad video cameraman becomes mad artist
Rhys Ifans narrates this rather unusual documentary about a documentary about street art. The central character is one Thierry Guetta – who goes on to become Mr Brainwash, an artist who takes his inspiration from street art and makes a mint. He did the cover art for Madonna’s Great Hits a couple of years ago, doncha know.
Guetta begins as a compulsive cameraman with thousands of hours of footage of street artists at work. This he gains by telling them he’s filming a documentary. Which never existed. Frankly, the guy’s a nutter – but one who takes gambles that seem to pay off.
The film follows his adventures in getting this footage and then his own leap into the world of art.
Star of the show, though, is Banksy who Guetta befriended. As well as being quite a talented and controversial artist, the man has the most perfect comic timing. I think pretty much every one of his lines raised a laugh in the audience.
Not your normal cinema fare, but a very watchable documentary on a fairly contentious subject.
Chloe
Plot-in-a-nutshell: A woman suspects her husband of infidelity and hires a prostitute to see if he really is straying. With disastrous consequences.
I’ve never seen Fatal Attraction but I have a feeling this has pinched a bit from the basic plotline. Catherine (Julianne Moore) has an inkling that that her hubby (Liam Neeson) is cheating on her when he “misses a flight” home from work one weekend. In a bid to test him she hires a prostitute, Chloe (a very hot Amanda Seyfried), to approach him and see if he is prepared to stray.
Of course, it gets complicated.
Now it’s fairly predictable even if the acting’s OK. And the ending is a little bit of an “easy out”. But at least there’s a rather hot sex scene which did keep me awake for a minute or two. Hey, I have two little dogs sleeping in my bedroom at the minute. One of them snores and they both wake up at 6:30am.
This isn’t a classic but I’ve seen worse films of this type.
From Paris With Love
“Now tell me that’s not some impressive ****.”
Plot-in-a-nutshell: government worker gets dragged into “proper” secret agent work with his new less-than-mild-mannered partner.
Remember when you first saw Lethal Weapon? They way your straight-laced police officer partnered so well with a psycho? That magic is actually back (unlike the attempt they made with LW4) with John Travolta‘s latest effort.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers is James Reece, a diplomatic aide with aspirations to become a “proper” agent. His chance comes with the arrival of Wax (Travolta) on the trail of some drug pedlars and terrorists. Oh, and it’s set in Paris hence the title. And the nice scenery. And the excellent car chases.
Yes, I have decided that the best car chase scenes all seem to be in European films. Sure, the American ones are bigger but can you top the class of the likes of The Transporter, Ronin or The Italian Job (original version)? Trust me, you can’t. It’s my blog and I’m right.
Travolta is both utterly mad and incredibly cool. He swears a lot. He fires big guns. A lot. And he kicks much ass. While swearing. Profusely.
From Paris is the best kind of buddy/buddy action film. Utterly over the top, pretty violent, action packed, stereotype bad guys, throwaway lines and cracking dialogue. Oh, and a great reference to Pulp Fiction. Just as an extra.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://i0.wp.com/img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?w=840)
