BATTLE: LOS ANGELES (Directed By Jonathan Liesbesan-2011)

Making a film as hysterically overblown as Independence Day look almost unpatriotic and quaint may seem like a difficult task but somehow director Jonathan Liesbesman has achieved just that with his blockbuster explosion of an alien invasion disaster move Battle: Los Angeles. It's fairly obvious from the start that there's nothing particularly daring or original on display here and even the most open minded of cinema goer will be cringing at the film makers apparent lack of knowledge that not only has this idea been approached more than once before but that of course even the toughest and most daring of marine platoons CAN in fact be beaten when placed on the firing line against a ruthless and better equipped alien race. The film's weaknesses and carefree excitement can at times however be it's strengths. It's surprisingly inoffensive and the ever endearing presence of Aaron Eckhart leaves you feeling confident that you're in safe hands for the duration of the film. Such is the power of casting a familiar face in the lead role and the ever so predictable world of Hollywood cinema. It would of course be a pleasant surprise to see the entire cast wiped out and the alien race succeed for once but sadly that's not likely to happen any time soon. As entertaining as they are, films of this ilk never come close to any sense of realism.
The line between cinema and ultra violent home video games has got so thin over recent years that viewing a film such as Battle: Los Angeles can seem so artificial and animated it's easy to drift off and lose interest, especially when the invading alien race looks so bland.
All in all, the premise and plot of Battle: Los Angeles is way too generic to rate as any type of classic, yet it is enjoyable and certainly does achieve what it sets out to do. However, most audiences will find the action sequences fail to live up to the doomsday-esque invasion the poster and title promise and will simply lap it up as a sunday afternoon popcorn film. It has got a bit of a warm hearted edge but ultimately demands nothing from it's viewer.

Nightwatch (Directed By Ole Bornedal 1994)

Dannish writer and director Ole Bornedal's original envisaging of this film is a compelling and potent affair. The director remade it for a British audience a mear three years after the original but this is most definitely the film of the two to go with.
Young law sudent Martin takes a job as a nightwatchman at the local morgue while his college girlfriend studies to be an actress. Besides the hugely creepy and clearly unhinged caretaker who shows Martin the ropes, his tedious job is occasionally interuppted by a police officer intrigued with inspecting the bodies of local prostitutes who are being scalped by an unknown psychopath. All is not well when the body count starts rising and amidst some childish pranks between Martin and his domminant best friend Jens, a run in with a young local prostitute the finger is soon pointing at him as the cause of the murders.
The script and central characters are all utterly convincing and help the claustrophobic atmosphere rise and rise to an almost unbearable level of tension and both Martin (Nikolaj Coster Waldau) and his girlfriend Kalinka (Sofie Grabol) ring every last bit of fear and emotion out of the final scene. Setting the film in the morgue was a stroke of geius on Bornedeal's part and his use of location becomes an integral character in itself. Reigning in the usual blood drenched set pieces for the most part and favouring a refined but ultimately more startling approach, the key to the films slightly surprising climax relies almost entirely on suggestion, and whilst the viewer knows what attrocities are going on, the use of suggestion works wonders in the films favour. The discovery of the real killers identification sets the imagination into overdrive and demands an immediate rewatch so the viewer can tie the films numerous twists together.
Nightwatch is truly inspiring cinema. Highly watchable and eternally doom laden, this is one slice of horror that is due some rediscovery.

Paul (Directed By Greg Mottolo 2011)

A film that should win an award simply for doing exactly what you think it's going to do, Paul is juvenile fun of the highest order and is quite simply a breath of fresh comedic air and one that has already set the standard for the genre pretty high for 2011. After the lacklustre but stylishly executed Hot Fuzz, both Simon Pegg and Nick Frost drifted off into rather boring and uncharacteristically straight film roles but here, accompanied by Superbad Director Greg Mottolo,the guys return very much to form. And it couldn't be a more welcome return. Paul sees the ever watchable duo goofing around as if their late 90's slacker hit TV show Spaced only finished yesterday.
The simple premise finds the very British Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Frost) travelling across America to attend a Comicon convention and stumbling rather fittingly upon Paul (the Alien of the films title voiced by and clearly based on the personality of Seth Rogen). For the past sixty years, Paul has been hiding out at a top secret military base and upon discovering that he's actually been taken prisoner for all this time, he decides to escape the compound and hop on the first vehicle out of town in an attempt to return to his home planet. From here on, a rather slapstick FBI trio consisting of Saturday Night Live stars Bill Hader, Joe Lo Truglio and the ever watchable Jason Bateman set about finding Paul and returning him, whilst under strict command from their headquarters. However, with little persuasion, Graeme and Clive set about trying to return Paul to his mothership before he is discovered. The chemistry between these three is priceless and somehow, amidst coming to terms with the fact the two geeks have an actual real life alien on board their Winnebago they accidently kidnap Ruth (Played fantastically as usual by Kristen Wiig) from her demanding Christian father which sees them get themselves caught up in even more trouble as they race against the federal bigwigs in one hilariously silly road trip.
Jam packed with references to Star Wars (obviously) Alien(Sigouney Weaver plays the hard as nails FBI boss) and numerous other geeky Sci-Fi pleasures such as E.T and Close Encounters, Paul is very hard to not just sit back and enjoy. It's put together with such love and an obvious sense of admiration between the cast and crew members that it almost instantly fells like a bit of a genre classic. Referential and fun films like this can easily miss the mark but when they get it right they can feel timeless. No thanks to Peggs wardrobe and T shirt choices throughout and Mottolo slipping in all the obvious gags from the safely tried and tested road trip film. Numerous fantastic cameos, the odd drug related humour, plenty of harmless but excessive explosions and the expected love story sideline. Luckily this element doesn't weigh the film down at all and instead provides Wiig with some hysterical one liners as she quickly ditches her religious upbringing and starts picking up and misusing a vast array of swear words. Also, and very much a highlight is the brief but very funny chemistry between Wiig and Jane Lynch. These two really should consider doing more films together as their dry and almost sarcastic personalities compliment each other fantastically.
In fact,everyone in this film (and that definitely including Paul himself) plays their parts so naturally and down to earth it's easy to forget this is a big budget Hollywood film. It avoids being too over blown whilst maintaining its integrity and as per usual Frost and Pegg have no trouble playing pretty much themselves. These are the roles they were meant to play. Just wait for the intentionally over dramatic and drawn out climax which boasts a well timed and nicely added touch thanks to Frost's deadpan enthusiasm.

Here's hoping Paul does as well as it deserves. It certainly doesn't need a sequel, prequel or anything else. It's a fun and entertaining hour an a half that should impress anyone who enjoys this sort of thing. Besides, this is hardly high brow entertainment and after seeing the poster, noone is likely to go into this expecting anything too serious and demanding.

Shock Waves (Directed By Ken Wiederhorn 1977)

A visually striking film that, whilst no classic remains a somewhat lost gem for 70's horror fanatics. Perhaps because of the slightly deranged but memorable appearance of Pete Cushing or the rather too brief cameo from John Carradine. More likely though, this films cult status is down to it's completely far fetched idea of an unstoppable race of Nazi zombie stormtroopers living under water. Though the ridiculous sub genre of truly unwatchable Nazi horror films of the time was never going to be the most popular of cinematic avenues, Shock Waves is a much more subtle and subdued affair than one might expect. Relying almost entirely on creepy lingering camera work and a frankly quite unnerving synth score, if it weren't for the atmosphere this film creates it could probably pass for a PG certificate these days.
Director Ken Wiederhorn displays some promising touches here, but after a brief fifteen minutes of fame with The Eyes Of A Stranger he vanished into obscurity with bottom of the barrel trash such as Return Of The Living Dead 2. It seems a shame though as this underwater zombie idea idea contains the potent atmosphere and colourful visuals that nightmares are made of, and whilst it's all in rather bad taste, Wiederhorn treats the subject matter with a almost haunting subtlety. Given the fairly predictable storyline of a group of shipwrecked and stranded twenty somethings being hunted down by the SS undead (and given the fact that the opening credits have already told us who the sole survivor is!)the cast do a fairly good job here, especially Brooke Adams as the leading lady. A lot of the editing is a bit choppy and any form of character development plays second fiddle to the inevitable zombie attack, which, when it finally kicks in isn't anywhere near as menacing as the build up perhaps leads you to believe it will be. However, what Shock Waves does so poetically prove is how in some occasions gore and excessive bloodshed really aren't always necessary. And this is one film that almost works better without any violence.
Shock Waves is an interesting, flawed but genuinely creepy little film that remains virtually unknown. Blue Undergrounds DVD claims the original negative was lost some twenty odd years ago but their 2007 release is a restored special edition. Unfortunately it still looks very grainy and does the soundtrack no favours at all.
Perhaps it never looked pristine to begin with. However, what this DVD edition does present us with is a nice little Directors commentary and a short but sweet interview with star Luke Halpin. (Who has fond memories of the film and strangely looks almost exactly the same now as he did then. Mullet and moustache intact)