Antiviral - 2012 ***

Imagine if you were so obsessed with a celebrity that you chose to have a virus that they are suffering from have injected into your body. This film is about just that. A clinic which uses viruses from sick celebrities to inject into crazed fans who are hoping to 'become connected' to their idols. It is of course, quite likely that you will die if the virus is bad enough. The injections and treatments are all performed in a very controlled and serious way, almost as if the idea is normal. This is what makes the film so terrifying. There are also 'butcher' shops that fans can go to to buy meat that is grown from the cells of celebrities. The whole film is really twisted. To be honest, it reminds me a bit of 'Delicatessen' and I will probably think about it for days.
Although the film is meant to shock because of it's plot, I suspect that maybe the director was trying to get across the vast obsession we as as population have with famous people, and how being besotted with these individuals can sometimes damage our health and put our lives at stake.
Quirky and dark, morbidly terrifying and original.

Savage Grace - 2007 **

'Sensual and Decadent' this film has been quoted as. So I must have missed something. Sad really because I was looking forward to seeing this as I had done some research on the case earlier.
There was nothing sensual about this story, and even Julianne Moore could not save the day in her portrayal of the mentally unhinged Barbara Daly Baekland who went down in the annuals of true crime as the murder victim of her schizophrenic son Tony.
The true story is interesting, but the film doesn't appear to cover much about the growing incestuous relationship between Barbara and Tony 9apart from a horrible scene towards the end which we really didn't need to see.) I didn't see much regarding Tony's ever changing mental state which would ultimately be his undoing, more that he was simply sexually provocative.
For information it's best to go online and read up in detail about the story instead of watching this. 

(HORROR) Dark Circles - 2013 **

A bit of a disaster. A new family move to a quiet house in the country to raise their child, but almost immediately find they are seeing apparitions of a bloody woman in rooms, outside and in cupboards. Because of this, sleep becomes a distant memory. This slowly drives a wedge between the couple and they begin to turn on each other, not knowing what is real and what is hallucination.
Sounds like it might be quite good, but actually it has as many holes as a fishing net.

Little Nicky - 2001 ***

'Little Nicky' is a completely radical film. It's really funny, but also edgy and dark. Obviously you can't take it seriously. Adam Sandler is infuriating, but somehow the messed up, half devil half angel character he portrays actually suits him. His father is the devil, busy ruling hell with a fair but firm hand. When Nicky's two brothers escape through hellfire up to earth, it is Nicky's job to capture them and bring them back. His father meanwhile, is losing body parts in rapid time, and will eventually die if his sons are not returned.

Some parts are hilarious (I liked the superbowl scene) and Nicky's pal Beefy, a humorous and sarcastic pug adds other funny segments. 

Tarantino of course is the standout as the blind preacher Deacon who keeps finding himself falling down stairs, knocking himself out on streetlamps and tripping over tramps in an effort to get away from a strange, evil presence that appears frequently. 

The Paperboy - 2012 *****

I would expect anyone with an ounce of a brain to approach this with trepidation after seeing Zac Efron's name on the poster.

Seriously, I haven't seen anything like this ever before, but it was amazing. I really loved it. It sort of reminded me of 'In the Heat of the Night'. In many scenes you can almost feel the heat and sweat dripping off the characters. Nicole Kidman was the standout performance here although I must say (and I'm going to get shot for saying this) but Zac Efron wasn't as bad as I thought he was going to be. The story revolves around John Cusack's character who is languishing in jail after being found guilty of murder. Nicole Kidman is his adoring but spunky pen pal, who, believing that he is innocent, teams up with two reporters to try and investigate the story and ultimately clear his name. 

Kidman's makeup is fantastic, and her character is so gutsy and savvy that she becomes the centre of Efron's infatuation. 

This is a brilliant film. Kudos to director Lee Daniels for coming up with such an excellent end result. 

Betrayed at 17 - 2011 ****

Tragic story about a teenage girl whose life is destroyed after a tape of her having sex with a boy from school is spread around the whole institution. The boy in question films the encounter but is not the one who forwards it to everyone, that person in question has a much darker agenda.
I enjoyed it, but it also genuinely shocked me.

Pain and Gain - 2013 1/2

Pain and Gin more like. Because the only way to get through this horrendous mess is with a heck of a lot of alcohol. I don't think I have seen such a hideously bad film in a long time. Mark Wahlberg needs to stop making films and retreat to a dark corner where no one will see him, and The Rock is a joke as an actor. Added to which, funnily enough this ISN'T a porn film, but you wouldn't know it, with shot after shot of women's breasts and arses with no point or reason whatsoever. It was doing my head on by the end. You can always tell that a film is rubbish if the director has to rely on the degradation of women to make it sell. And that was what happened here. Don't watch this. Even if you are high as a kite.

Sightseers - 2011 ** 1/2

What a peculiar film. I haven't seen Alice Lowe since she was in the brilliant 'My Life in Film' with Andrew Scott. This wasn't brilliant. It was just very strange and very slow.
Lowe and Oram play an unhinged couple who go off on a caravan holiday but end up compiling a large body count of people who get on their nerves. It's very dark, and cannot possibly be described as a 'black comedy' because its just not funny. Most of the time it's awkward and embarrassing.
Strange and creepy in my opinion.

Funny About Love - 1990 ***

Not a bad film. Gene Wilder plays his usual manic self, falling in love with an independent and beautiful woman before finding himself in a quandry after they cannot become pregnant. He doesn't really want a baby of course. So what does he do? Falls into the arms of a younger woman with none of the stress of burden. He then realises that he does want children, but is he too late? A bit of a darker film than others that Wilder has done, but worth a look.

Brothers - 2009 ***

I'm not sure what I thought of this film. It wasn't a particularly original plot ('Pearl Harbor' has to some extent been there and done that) but it was performed quite well with a knockout performance from Tobey Maguire.
Maguire plays a marine named Sam, who is presumed dead when his helicopter crashes over water. Sam's wife Grace (Portman) and his brother Tommy (Gyllenhaal) come together to support Grace and Sam's 2 young girls after hearing the awful news. You need to watch to see whether they actually become lovers or not, but when Sam is found, alive (albeit with hideous emotional scars) he immediately presumes the worst and becomes obsessed with the idea of his wife and brother.
I'm not sure how much of a good representation it is to someone who has been through the horror of war, although Maguire (in particular the kitchen scene) does astoundingly well in my opinion. You can literally see the pain etched into his face.
The other 2 are okay, and Portman makes a fair contribution as Sam's military wife/widow, but I think the 2 young daughters really stand out in their parts a little more than she or Gyllenhaal do.