WADRICK'S THIRTY SECOND FILM REVIEWS

Hancock (2008)
Will Smith, Charlize Theron & Jason Bateman.
Written by Vince Gilligan (& Vincent Ngo).
Directed by Peter Berg.

Hancock is a drunk who also happens to have extraordinary powers. His total disregard for public property means that every time he nabs the bad guys, he creates damage of some magnitude – which hasn’t helped his public image. When he is afforded direction and some decent publicity from Bateman, Hancock attempts to become the hero he was destined to be. The first half of this film is a clever alternate take on the superhero story, but when the film takes a dramatic tone shift in the second half, one is left wondering what the filmmakers’ intentions were. For what could have been an entertaining action comedy quickly becomes a messy hybrid that is ultimately disappointing.

---

Half Nelson (2006)
Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps & Anthony Mackie.
Written by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck.
Directed by Ryan Fleck.

Ryan Gosling is one of the best young actors working today, consistently delivering excellent performances. He was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for Half Nelson, where he portrays a drug-addicted teacher in an inner city school. He is not a miscreant and it is apparent he cares for his charges, taking a particular interest in the plight of one young student (Epps). But when she discovers him in a stoned stupor inside the school locker room, it soon becomes clear that these two people need to help each other. This subtle film is shot in a candid documentary style and unfolds slowly, revealing a depth of character that is rarely seen in a Hollywood film, no matter how ‘independent’.

---

Iron Man (2008)
Robert Downey Jr, Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow & Jeff Bridges.
Written by John August.
Directed by Jon Favreau.

Downey Jr is absolutely perfect as Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist whose weapons have wreaked destruction across the globe. After delivering a weapons presentation to military personnel in Afghanistan, Stark is kidnapped by terrorists and coerced into building them a missile. Instead, he builds an iron suit with which he busts out of his cave prison in spectacular style. When he returns home with an altered mindset towards his work, he incurs the ire of business partner Bridges. This highly entertaining film, based on the Marvel comic, features great performances and some knockout CGI – for once used to enhance the story rather than destroy it. Kudos also go to actor/director Favreau for at last filming some action scenes that we can actually follow (take note Paul Greengrass and Mike Bay).

---

RATINGS CHART...

---

(Wadrick Jones is a freelance writer for GritFX and will post weekly thirty second film reviews on this blog.)

When you have nothing to say - let images do the talking...

It's been a very busy week for most of the GritFX team... and I can't believe that it's almost a week between posts!

Well... Wadrick chose not to work this week - that guy walks to his own beat... but will probably have more film reviews up tomorrow.

Max has been caugth up in the US election - which he chooses not to write about... even though I would consider some political pieces "weird stuff"! There's always something odd around - so I'm sure he'll be posting again soon.

As for me - not much to say other than I've been totally addicted to scanning in old images that date BDC (Before Digital Cameras) and sharing them on facebook.

This first collection "On the Road" is a selection of black & white images taken by myself and Dave on the road in NSW, Australia... Coastal + Country Roads.

Feeling displaced...


Where's Wadrick?


Abandoned train line...


Redundant...


Quiet country road... this is me...


Passenger seat perspective...


Lighting strikes!


Isolation is bliss...


Icy Cold!


Detour...

WADRICK’S THIRTY SECOND FILM REVIEWS

10,000 BC (2008)
Steven Strait, Camilla Belle & Cliff Curtis. Narrated by Omar Sharif.
Written by Roland Emmerich & Harald Kloser.
Directed by Roland Emmerich.

Roland Emmerich is the master of big budget Hollywood garbage and his latest film is no exception - an absurd tale combining woolly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and pyramid building. There are primitive men and women with manicured dreadlocks and immaculate teeth, an extraterrestrial ‘god’ figure and illusions to Atlantis. What Emmerich and his co-writer lack in character development and competent dialogue, they make up for with impressive CGI. But this doesn’t make for an entertaining experience, for what audiences really crave is a damn good story and that is something Emmerich and his cronies never deliver. Watch Quest for Fire instead.

---

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Mary-Louise Parker & Sam Shepard.
Written & Directed by Andrew Dominik.

Australian director Dominik’s second film is an outstanding achievement – a deliberately-paced examination of the cult of celebrity. Detailing the events proceeding the death of Jesse James by the man who claimed to be his biggest fan, Dominik’s film is a class act in every department. Monumental production design and costumes, wonderfully nuanced performances from Pitt, Affleck and the entire cast, and a raw emotive score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. One of the greatest films of this genre ever made, and certainly one of the greatest American films of the last decade.

---

Rendition (2007)
Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard & Meryl Streep.
Written by Kelley Sane.
Directed by Gavin Hood.

When an Egyptian-born American is suspected of having links to a terrorist organisation, he is detained at a US airport and eventually flown to an undisclosed location abroad. There he is put into the hands of a nasty interrogator, overseen by CIA operative Gyllenhaal. Meanwhile, the man’s pregnant wife (Witherspoon) grows increasingly frantic as the search for her missing husband is blocked at every turn. Well-acted drama is a frightening indictment of the abuse of power and the radical degradation of civil liberties due to the so-called ‘War on Terror’.

---

RATINGS CHART...

---

(Wadrick Jones is a freelance writer for GritFX and will post weekly thirty second film reviews on this blog.)

Aurora, Texas (1897)

On April 17th, 1897, in the town of Aurora, Texas, a cigar-shaped craft was supposedly seen in the sky. Shortly thereafter, the object crashed to earth, destroying the windmill on the farm of the local judge. A small humanoid occupant was reportedly ejected, and was buried that same day in the town cemetery.

Newspaper reports at the time described the incident with candour and sincerity. One local newspaper made mention of the peculiar metal that the craft seemed to be constructed from as well as maps and writings found which were a strange type of hieroglyphic. Indeed, reports at the time from all over the country appeared in various publications all describing similar craft seen in the sky prior to and after the Aurora crash.

In the 1970’s, the mystery of the crash gained some recognition in certain circles. Many began to investigate the incident, including author Jim Marrs and aviation writer Bill Case, the latter having followed the incident for many years. But details of the crash and the truth of the matter remained elusive. Local townspeople that were interviewed, who had been alive at the time of the crash, were divided on whether the story was factual or an elaborate hoax. Others knew the story, and many had made judgements on its authenticity based on hearsay of family members.

Yet there were some aspects of the mystery that defied conventional reasoning. Brawley and Etta Oates bought the judges’ farm in 1945, and Etta confessed to the fact that nothing grew for years in the spot were the craft allegedly crashed. They also suffered cysts and goiters – the cause of which, they were told, was from drinking the radioactive water out of the well near where the craft had struck the earth.

The grave where the ‘alien’ was said to have been buried did in fact exist. The grave was smaller than a normal man, and bore a strange headstone. Inscribed on the stone was a “V” lying on it’s side with three circles etched inside it, like portholes. Case, Marrs and others moved to have the body exhumed, but were stopped by the local council. A few days later, the headstone was stolen. Case told Marrs that he had scanned the grave with a metal detector some time before the exhumation request. He found three positions within the grave that showed metal to be present. After the request and the subsequent headstone theft, the metal was gone and Case showed Marrs three small holes in the earth where the metal had obviously been extracted. When Marrs asked Case who he thought had taken the metal, Case replied “The government.”

By Max Drake

(Read: “Alien Agenda” by Jim Marrs; and visit http://www.abovetopsecret.com