Pasha's Film Reviews Etc.

* * * * In this post apocalyptic world the society is divided into 5 factions. 16 year old Beatrice Prior belongs to Obligation - the faction of selfless, and today she has to undergo a test that will forecast her future. It does not go so well. As the test comes back inconclusive she is now a Divergent - someone who does not fully belong to any of the five factions. As Beatrice tries to build her future she is haunted by the fact that someone is killing off the other divergent. Will she become next? DIVERGENT is one of those films that will always be compared to the book it is based on, for it is the book's popularity that made this film possible in the first place. It is hard to stop thinking of chapter-by-chapter comparison, especially because of the book being so cinematic, almost to the point of being a detailed script. While in my opinion the movie has ignored a few very entertaining action pieces from the original novel, it made up for it by adding some excit...

* * * Elliot is jobless and a little bit desperate when he receives a mysterious call proposing him a simple challenge - to kill a fly. Immediately a thousand dollars is transferred to his account. Then a next challenge comes. Elliot needs to complete 13 challenges in total, if he wants to become a millionaire. But as challenges grow darker, how far Elliot will have to go to win the game? There’s one thing going for this little thriller - it’s the story that will not disappoint. There’s plenty of gore and twists on the way. Elliot is an interesting character, and presented to us as a loving son and a father to be. All he seems to care about is his family. All he does is for their sake. There are certain aspects of challenges are even enjoyable for him. He finds a deeper source of strength inside him going through challenges and this same strength helps him to fight back when things get twisted. Director Daniel Stamm, whose previous film THE LAST EXORSISM is a fou...

* * * Camilla was a little girl when her mother was brutally murdered on the opening night of THE HAUNTING OF THE OPERA musical where she played the lead. Now, ten years later, Camilla herself auditions for the role in the student summer camp production. But a killer in Kabuki mask does not want this to happen. Lots of blood, screaming and bad singing insure. FREIGHT NIGHT is not a unique pursuing the idea of a horror musical, but a slasher one is something new. The opening scene will get an immediate attention of any genre aficionado, but it will be another thirty minutes or so before the next bloody moment. Is  it worth the wait ? Hell yeah. There are only a few murders, but they are extremely well shot, inventive and very gory. If musicals horrify you it will add to suspense. If you love them, you will be treated by such songs as 'I am gay, but not that way'. The children in the camp are stupid and annoying. You will want them to die....

* * * * * Peter Parker has sort of pulled his life together, but his on-off relationship with Gwen Stacey are still complicated. As Peter still struggles with many mysteries of his past life the arrival of an old fried can make all the difference. And when Oscorp tries to cover up an accident it gives birth to something more sinister than anyone could imagine - the rise of Electro. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 has a complicated plot, but if you reflect on the previous instalments with Sam Raimi in director’s chair I am surprised how much sense the new story makes. I had always had a problem with the Spider-man universe because too many things were left to chance. At least THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN gives justice to logic. THE RISE OF ELECTRO provides some interesting answers: how did Peter Parker become spider man in the first place and what really happened to his parents? The plane crash opening scene echoes the beginning of The Dark Knight Rises preparing us for some ser...

* *  Alice (Cecille France), a financial trader working in Monaco, is approached by Russian spy agency in order to catch a rogue criminal Ivan Rostovsky (Tim Roth). But Alice is already working for the American CIA with a little different task at hand. Things get even more complicated when she falls in love with Gregory (Jean Dujardin), not knowing that he is a Russian agent. MOBIUS is a spy thriller European style, focused on love story instead of action. Unfortunately the doomed love affair between the leads lacks credibility and the chemistry between Alice and Gregory is non existent. It does not help, unfortunately, that Dujardin, is the worst non Russian playing Russian I have seen on screen. The cinematography is decent, but does not take the most of the fantastic Monaco settings and Moscow, later in the movie, looks dull and uninteresting with mostly interior shots. It’s a shame, but the premise of MOBIUS does not deliver the goods. The story t...