Virus (1980)

aka Day of Resurrection

In 1982 a deadly virus wiped out most of humanity, leaving less than 1000 people alive. The search for a cure by the survivors has no single protagonist to lead it, and therefore no principal actor or actress for us to journey with, but the film still manages to ensure we keep what's important fixedly in mind.
The White House scenes aren't anything special. By contrast many of the street scenes manage to be more realistically horrifying than even horror movies get. It's a bleak, powerful drama with some shocking scenes.
Part Japanese and part English language, the 156 minute version (with subs) is the film as it should be seen. The shorter 108 minute version that's more easily found in western territories reportedly cuts out most of the best Japanese actor's scenes, and through truncation drastically changes the ending.

4 flightless birds out of 5

2 GUNS [2013]

Who would have thought that two actors with completely different acting styles, like Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg would have such awesome chemistry?
Apparently director Baltasar Kormákur knew when he cast them in his film adaptation of Steven Grant's graphic novel 2 Guns.
As a brainless buddy crime caper comedy it's a pretty solid effort but generally lacks in anything else original or praise-worthy.  It sticks to the formula to a tee, so if you're adverse to turning your brain off for mind-numbing violence and wise-cracks galore then seek out something else.  If not, then this is a guilt-free action film that is filled with some great laughs and action sequences for the Bad Boys fan in us all.

3 winks out of 5

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998)

There’s a saying that ‘clothes maketh the man’. It’s wishful thinking, but wishful thinking is often the beginnings of storytelling. Imagine if it were true and imagine also that a special kind of suit could grant the heart’s desire of the one that wears it. We’re in Ray Bradbury territory. He wrote the original short it was based on and he wrote the teleplay. That means we get his wonderful language undiluted. It’s a shame then that the film is so cheesy. It’s full of heart and the old-fashioned values that Bradbury is so good at, but those same ideals will be the very thing that puts many people off. I'd recommend it to fans of the author only.

2 pussy magnets out of 5

Gossip (2000)

A slickly presented thriller that explores how quickly a small misdeed on campus can spiral out of control, and the consequences that follow.
It’s aimed squarely at a young adult audience, so the primary objective is to entertain that demographic at the expense of all else. However, the inclusion of Lena Headey keeps it from falling into the hole of 'all tits - no talent' that most of these kind of things stumble head first into.
James Marsden, despite looking and acting like a younger Tom Cruise, wasn't as useless as he usually is. It's entertaining nonsense.

3 endings that take a sharp left turn into disappointment avenue out of 5

BLADE RUNNER [1982]

Film noir usually consists of the cynical detective, the femme fatale, a vast array of deadly thugs, corrupt policemen, endless rain and in Philip K. Dick's Blade Runner, android owls.

On & off director Ridley Scott's brilliant adaptation of the gritty sci-fi noir novel is essential viewing for space nerds and film buffs alike.  Having been tinkered with several times over the past 30 years, Blade Runner is made nearly perfect in every way in The Final Cut.  Sure the characters are still a bit boring but the story, setting, atmosphere, sets and photography make up for it with flying colors.

It's a breathtaking and believable film that still holds up strongly till this day.

5 Eyes Of Providence of 5