Netflix A-Z: Attack the Block (2011)

We’re back for Round 2 of Netflix A-Z! Are you ready?

Some of you know that I’m part of The Random Chat Show and if you haven’t, well, I am.  You should go check it out over at That Moment In. I have two amazing co-hosts and while we didn’t go into an in-depth conversation about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I did retain one recommendation for a film John Boyega did and that is Attack the Block. And you know what? That is exactly what I’m choosing for the A selection. I need a good movie to start this off and I trust Melissa’s (aka The Creative Fox Den) recommendations.  Especially since it has been on my list for a while and I had wanted to start it up a few times but never got around to it.

Let’s check it out! 🙂

Attack the Block (2011)

Director and writer: Joe Cornish

Cast: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Leeon Jones, Franz Drameh, Luke Treadaway, Nick Frost

A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion.-IMDB

Its always hard to imagine a great recent alien movie nowadays.  You know, one that isn’t too serious but still packs in a lot of fun.  Attack the Block really does have it all.  Its fun and action-packed with great creature design and a nice motive behind the alien invasion.  The movie itself is packed with young actors and the only familiar faces you  might see is Nick Frost and Luke Treadaway.  We’ll take a look at the cast in just a bit.  Attack the Block is around one neighborhood or even just mostly one building.  It follows these young gangs who really aren’t all that dangerous.  They each have a snippet of their families and backgrounds and you can see their personality shine through with their own skills and abilities that makes this group well-rounded.  In between the pretty thrilling adventures packed with a mix of scares and British humor, it even manages to get us to think about the social situation going on.  Plus, the gang turns from a bunch of muggers into the hunted and before long you will start cheering for them, hoping that they’ll manage to get rid of this alien invasion or at least survive it.

I have to say that I went into Attack the Block completely unsure about where and how this was going to go. Just to say, there’s a ton to love about this movie. I’m not big on groups of kids acting tough but these guys and their friendship was put together really well. Each of them have a pretty fun personality that defines who they are and to make me connect and care about them during the movie that I was worried about their survival was a true feat.  John Boyega is definitely a talent here.  He pulls off the leader of the group and you can feel a bit of his character.  The movie never dwells too much on their backgrounds but I think that is okay for its length.  It focuses on the issue on hand and that is the alien invasion.  It is random and came out nowhere.  There are enough questions as they get chased down and the key one is why their little South London block was the main target and why they were the focus and the final big one: how do they stop these raging creatures? If the kids don’t make you feel enough thrills and the occasional laugh, Nick Frost and Luke Treadaway’s characters dialogues will give you the bit of humor to break some of the crazy tension that some scenes do build. Since I’m on that point, Luke Treadaway NEEDS to do more movies.  I really like him a lot! (Have you seen him in Tonight You’re Mine!)

One of the biggest positives of Attack the Block has to be the creatures.  This one proves that creatures don’t need to be complicated.  They go back to a very simple logic of why the creatures landed here.  Its a simple explanation of why they chose the block and its a simple solution (in concept and not so much execution for the characters). Who knew that a set of glowing teeth was all you needed to make a menacing alien, right? Fact is, that is all Attack the Block needed to make the convincing character.  The movement and features was like a few creatures that we know all  meshed together and they way they work turns out to be much more simple than even this group actually thought initially and yet, its super efficient in delivering the tension and the scares.

Overall, Attack the Block is really great. I honestly don’t have much criticism for it.  I like the story, the characters, the length, the balance between the scares, thrills and humor and especially the creature design.  It works really well for me and its exactly how I’d like to start Netflix A-Z for the beginning of the year. Attack the Block deserves a view and I highly recommend it.

Have you seen Attack the Block? Did you like it? 

Any idea what the B selection will be? Hint: Asian Horror

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

I’m not going to lie..I almost forgot about this Snow White adaptation that I had to write up.  I saw it so long ago as I’m writing this that I can’t even remember it all that much.  Well, it wasn’t that long, maybe a month or so.  Regardless, my final Snow White adaptation that I’m writing up and I’ll get the baking part done and we’re on our way to the next movie on the Disney Classics list, Pinocchio. That one is easy because there is no available adaptations for me to watch.  If you have any to suggest, or anything loosely based on it, I’d give it a go to. Not to mention baking for that one is going to be crazily hard.  Anyways, one thing at a time. Let’s finish this Snow White business with Snow White and the Huntsman.  I wasn’t excited to watch it, had low expectations.  Now you know where I stand before I fired up this one.

Let’s check it out!

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

Director: Rupert Sanders

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Sam Spruell, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan, Toby Jones, Brian Gleeson

In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen. – IMDB

The journey of watching Snow White adaptations has been a long one.  There is no doubt that Snow White is one of those very frequently adapted story plots that seem to always be a good way to go.  Whether the movies themselves are of what quality, well, that changes.  Snow White and the Huntsman is one that I mentioned before where I didn’t have a lot of expectations. For one, I’m really not a huge fan of Kristen Stewart and while I love seeing Chris Hemsworth and his handsome body, I’ve learned to also not watch anything in hopes of seeing them take their clothes off.  I really don’t know to say it any other way.  I did that for Clash of the Titans (remake) and it was disappointing along with the fact that it was a terrible movie.  But, that is for another post (which will never happen probably because I refuse to put myself through it again). Except, I like Disney Princesses and while Snow White isn’t my favorite one, there has been okay adaptations of it in some unexpected entertaining pieces and even though its hard to believe but the hopeful part of this is Charlize Theron as the Evil Stepmother.

I ramble a lot when I don’t know how to word my reviews.  I realize that.  I guess the easiest way is to start with what was good. Snow White and the Huntsman is not a great film.  Its a tad boring, a little pointless but there are some good parts.  Its doesn’t really make the film one I’d sit down to watch again which is why I’m writing this on a very vague memory because it simply is forgettable. The first good part is the dark take on the Snow White tale.  The harsh evil from the Stepmother, the dangers and dark environment, the black magic in the air, just how the movie is a lot darker in nature.  Second, it makes Snow White into a warrior, someone who will fight, and not the weak princess cleaning up after the dwarves and waiting for her Prince to save her.  Honestly, the recent take of making out the princesses to be stronger in nature is one I’m enjoying a lot. Even if its Miss Stewart playing the role.  We will discuss her a little later. Three, the dwarves are always chosen and played with such character.  The same goes for here especially when we have some unexpected recognized actors here.  Four, it has to be the outstanding role of The Evil Queen played by Charlize Theron.  She just takes command of her role and every scene she is in make it so much more enjoyable.  Five, the visuals are pretty in this one.  There’s dark tones as I mentioned in point 1 and there are some bright parts of it as well.  The CGI is done very nicely and makes it feel that much more like we are in a fantasy/fictional land.

 That’s a fair bit of positive but you know what. The cons of Snow White and the Huntsman far outweighs those five points above.  For one, the movie was way too long.  It was over 2 hours long.  That is absolutely crazy.  That’s because it had a ton of really pointless scenes.  I felt like it was all added for dramatic value.  Except this leads to my second thing that I didn’t like: Kristen Stewart.  Look, I know its horrible to be ragging on Kristen Stewart and to be honest, it seems she’s gotten better but this was her right out of the Twilight series and her face does not make me feel anything.  Its not happy, always sad, maybe constipated and her as a tough girl doesn’t quite make me feel convinced.  As I watched this, I did think of one thing: how her career might be like Channing Tatum where she was pegged for certain roles and one day, she’ll find that role and break out of her shell and be a better actress.  I’m trying to be positive here.  Oh and I have to hate on Kristen Stewart just a little.  She got to liplock with Chris Hemsworth!

I guess what it all comes down to is that the sum of the positives can’t even outweigh that of the negatives.  Long, boring, convoluted, got lost in itself and I just couldn’t get into it or feel connected to any of the characters.   Sure, the premise was good, the take of this classic tale was good in all its dark glory but it just doesn’t seem to be able to pull itself out of its own mess.  Charlize Theron couldn’t do it.  Chris Hemsworth, huntsman and narrator, didn’t even have the chance.  Snow White and the Huntsman has the right intentions but with a bad script and messy execution, it falls short of what it could be.

Have you seen Snow White and the Huntsman? 

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Because I started the recommendations on the second week of August, I decided to do one more week to make it a solid month of recommendations 🙂 Next up, we have Natasha at Film and Things with her suggestion to see Shaun of the Dead.  I’ve been meaning to see this a long time as I’m a huge fan of zombie movies.

Director:  Edgar Wright

Cast: Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy

Shaun (Simon Pegg) lives with two friends, Pete and Ed (Nick Frost).  Ed doesn’t really do much, doesn’t have a lot of friends and doesn’t get along with Pete and relies heavily on Shaun.  However, Shaun’s girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) doesn’t want her life to continue in the same boring pattern and when he fails to comply, she decides to leave him.  Right at this time, Shaun decides to pick up his life and get back Liz when the world is attacked with a possible zombie apocalypse. He decides its his chance to show that he can make something of himself by saving the day and he proceeds to protect his mom and stepfather (Bill Nighy) and also protect Liz and her two friends,Dianne (Lucy Davis) and David (Dylan Moran).

I’m a huge fan of British horror (or British anything).  However, I did learn that as much as Hot Fuzz was a decent movie, I wasn’t so interested in it so I was a bit reluctant to watch this.  Shaun of the Dead is possibly 1000 times better than Hot Fuzz in my opinion.  Its funny and crazy entertaining.  There was some shots where you can tell they were trying to build a bit of intensity and man, those zombies looked pretty good.  If they didn’t mix in such a good amount of hilarious moments, I’d actually might have been a bit creeped out.

Shaun of the Dead is led by a great cast.  I love Simon Pegg.  His humor is totally out of the world.  In this, he leads some of the best laughs and his bromance sort of relationship with Nick Frost’s Ed is just hilarious.  Plus, he has awesome expressions and reactions.  The dialogue in this was witty and sarcastic at times which really worked for me. Moreover, Bill Nighy is amazing all the time in big or smaller roles and he was in this and I found it funny as always!

Seriously though, do you really need me to tell you how awesome Shaun of the Dead is? I’m pretty sure everyone already knows about it seeing as almost everyone went to see The World’s End this summer.  BUT if you really do, I really recommend it extremely highly.  You should definitely give this original, witty and fun movie a go and I’m pretty sure you will like to some degree.

A huge thanks to Natasha for telling me to watch this because it was totally awesome and she is awesome as she just completed her short film One Bitten, Twice Shy.  You really should check out her fantastic trailer that she put together :). You can check out more info on her short film HERE.

Have you seen this yet? Are you a fan? Did you go see The World’s End? How would you rank Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End?