Review: Possession (2009)

possessionBuffy (Sarah Michelle) stars in this psycho thriller which presents itself as something of a supernatural horror flick. For most of the film it lives up to these expectations. Only in the end do we realise its just a plain old stalker film.

I don’t think it was a very notable film, in fact in most places I found it very slow and dull. It was however a remotely interesting idea so probably worth putting at the bottom of the pile for a maybe watch at some point.

Essentially two brothers have a car smash and supposedly switch personalities. The wife thinks the brother she used to hate is now the husband. As you might have guessed (as its a remotely interesting idea) this is a remake of the Korean Horror film Addicted. If your up for a few subtitles, I’d go for the original as it was much better though.

Review: Hard Candy (2005)

hard candy
You just had to know something is wrong when these two hook up..

Sweet little Ellen Page of Juno fame is decidedly not sweet in this man-hating symphony of violence and excruciating excess. I should have known that it would not be exactly very nice when I read this was a revenge flick before watching it..

Page hooks up with a man twice her age over the internet (she plays a 14 years old) and agrees to meet him. Now already I was beginning to wonder if this movie was not somewhere amiss at this precise point. Then they go back to his house and alarm bells are still going off for me.

Some drugs in the drinkie poo later and the man is tied to a chair ready to face Page’s vengeance against anyone she deems to be a paedophile.  Alright I will not ruin it for you anymore if you haven’t seen it, but strong stomachs are called for and don’t expect to be left feeling uplifted or improved in anyway – unless you believe paedophile’s deserve to be tortured, in which case you’ll probably love it! Personally its one of those movies I wish I could just un-watch like The Human Centipede and other unnecessary hate-fests.

 

Review: Dracula The Dark Prince (2013)

dracula
A sort of elf who helps protect the magic stick.

Ok for a telemovie this was not nearly as awful as I thought it would be. We follow the fairly standard story as laid out by Bram Stoker with a few interesting variations thrown in for good measure.

Van Helsing makes an appearance with a magic stick that is the only magic stick that can kill Dracula (and theres me thinking any old stake through the heart would do it). We follow the journeys of the stick and the people around it trying to kill Dracula.

Not bad special effects and production values for a TV jobbie, nothing greatly original, but not exactly a waste of a couple of hours.

Review: Donkey Punch (2008)

donkey punch
Bright happy smiles..but not for long!

A rather interesting British film about a group of party-going young Brit girls in Majorca who meet up with a group of equally young guys and go off on a private yacht for some fun.

Lots of drugs and graphic sex takes place until something goes horribly wrong..then Donkey Punch turns into something of a slasher flick with one tense moment after another.

Some very impressive performances by the young cast, in particular Ray Winstone’s daughter Jaime of kidulthood fame for whom this would have been a very early role.

Review: Dead in Tombstone (2013)

Danny-Trejo-in-Dead-in-Tombstone-2013-Movie-Image
Yes he does look pissed off!

If you like westerns with a bit of horror thrown in you’ll like Dead in Tombstone. Mickey Rouke plays a very rotund Devil collecting souls of dead outlaws as they descend to hell, the rest of the cast are fairly inconsequential except for Danny Trejo who gives a reasonable performance.

Essentially a bank robbing gang turn on one of their own and kill him. He makes a deal with the devil and returns to try and kill them all in revenge in one day in exchange for his own soul.

Lots of the usual sort of gunfights ensue and blood and guts fly through the air. The film reminded me somewhat of the 1999 film Purgatory without it quite being as good.

 

Review: Abducted (2013)

abducted-2013-hdrip-xvid-aqosscreen_1Abducted is a very strange film that looks to have been made on a fairly restrictive budget. The plot sort of goes: young couples are being abducted from a particular park and find themselves in dark cells with strange medical experiments being performed on them.

As if this is not bad enough the plot unravels into implications for the very planet earth itself…no not some sex-crazed psychopath collecting them as you might think!

Not exactly the best movie ever made, but then not the worst either.

COUNTRY ARTISTS UNITE FOR NSW BUSHFIRE APPEAL LEE KERNAGHAN RE-RELEASES SPIRIT OF THE BUSH ON I-TUNES

Lee Kernaghan is re-releasing the fund raising hit Spirit Of The Bush on iTunes to support the NSW Bushfire Appeal. The song features vocal performances from Lee, Adam Brand and Steve Forde supported by an all-star lineup of artists featuring  The McClymonts, Sunny Cowgirls, Tania Kernaghan, Nick Kingswell, Travis Collins, Kirsty Lee Akers, Shae Fisher, The Davidson Brothers, Dianna Corcoran, Aleyce Simmonds and Jake Nikolia.

“The song was originally written to raise the hopes of drought stricken communities across Australia during one of the worst droughts in our recent history,” Lee said. “At the time of recording all the artists and the songwriters involved agreed that the song should remain as a fundraiser for rural and regional Australia in perpetuity. Right now there is probably no greater cause than assisting those people in NSW who have lost homes and property in the NSW Bushfires.”

It was agreed by all involved that 100% of the artist royalties, record company income and all music publishing income and royalties would be donated to the cause. The song is available on iTunes. It is $2.19 and the idea is to give people a way to donate that is not expensive, but hopefully large numbers will participate.

Please help promote this great fundraising cause by sharing this information. Spirit Of The Bush is available from the following link:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/spirit-of-the-bush-single/id731858107

 

 

Wagga Wagga Art Gallery Welcomes Australian photographers

Wagga Wagga Art Gallery welcomes the next exciting generation of Australian photographers in Envisage, the sixth graduation exhibition by students from the Bachelor of Arts (Photography) degree at the Wagga Wagga campus of Charles Sturt University. Envisage will be officially launched Saturday, 26 October, at 6pm, by Associate Professor Helen Ennis, Head of Art Theory and Graduate Convenor, Research at the Australian National University School of Art.

Exhibition Opening

When:        Saturday 26 October, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Where:       Links Gallery, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery

Cost:          Free

Exhibition Dates

When:        Friday 25 October – Sunday 18 December

Where:       Links Gallery, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery

 

Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre Riverina Chamber Orchestra performs

On Sunday November 3 The RCO performs Haydn’s Farewell Symphons Mozart L’s Trumpet Concerto, luscious Delius, majestic Janacek and Sculthorpe. Featuring local trumpet virtuoso Justin Lingard.   Twilight Tales

Wagga Wagga Art Gallery

Sunday 3rd November – 5pm

Hearing is believing … Hear the Riverina Chamber Orchestra

 

Review: Parkland (2013)

Parkland was an interesting take on the whole JFK assassination. Not a who dunnit or a Parkland3conspiracy theory flick as you would think, but a film that deals with the impact the shooting had on the people around the events.

The film pretty much says that Lee Harvey Oswald was the only shooter (sorry conspiracy folks) and looks at the medical staff that tried to revive Kennedy, the Secret service that cared for his body and the families of the central characters. Most of the characters are left with their own personal mark by the event and its aftermath.

What could have been a shameless sobfest for American filmgoers is actually a very sensitive piece that even looks at the impact on the Oswald family after the assassination. Note quite the “important” film I think its director would like it to be, but nevertheless an interesting piece of history.