Coming Soon To A Cinema Near You

I went to the cinema at the weekend to see Daybreakers - it's a film I've posted about a few times in recent months and I was expecting big things.

Was I disappointed - yes, if I'm honest I probably was. Did I enjoy the film? Most definitely.

Bottom line: would I recommend it? Yes I would.

And there's the nub of my post - despite being disappointed and somewhat unsatisfied by the film I'd still recommend going to see it!

I can't really put my finger on exactly why I was disappointed - aside from accepting that sometimes I expect too much from a film or book. I do think the film suffered from trying to fit too much into too little: with a running-time of just over an hour and a half there was an awful lot of back-story, character development and plot progression to cover, perhaps too much.

That said, I'm not convinced simply extending the running-time would have been my answer - and there's the dilemma: I'm not sure what I would have done differently to improve the film. What I do know is that since the weekend I've found myself thinking about this film more than most films I've seen in recent years.

So, I'm passing on a review but committing to revisiting Daybreakers in the not too distant future.

Go and see it, let me know what you thought.


It occurred to me while waiting for the film to start just how many adverts they show at the cinema these days. Of course, there have always been adverts, usually for Kia-Ora and the local Indian restaurant - 'after enjoying tonight's film why not visit The Tandoori Palace on The High Street * ' - if I remember correctly.

Anyway, before the film there must have been fully 10 or 12 adverts for cars, alcohol, travel agents ... certainly no Kia-Ora. I guess now that we all have PVR's and skip through the adverts the advertising agencies have had to look elsewhere for their captive audience and they seem to have found one at the cinema. Still, looking on the positive side, at least those Radio 1 adverts seem to have finished.

But I digress, after the adverts and before the film we were treated to the trailers - an integral part of any cinema visit I'm sure you'll agree. Anyway, two films that I want to briefly mention particularly caught my eye ...

*footnote
If by chance you are the proprietor of The Tandoori Palace located on the High Street and you've seen a rise in customer numbers as a result of this post then I'm happy to discuss sponsorship ...

The Crazies

A husband and wife in a small Midwestern town find themselves battling for survival as their friends and family descend into madness in The Crazies. A mysterious toxin in the water supply turns everyone exposed to it into mindless killers and the authorities leave the uninfected to their certain doom in this terrifying reinvention of the George Romero horror classic.

[Source]

This films looks to have a bit of everything - part thriller, part horror, part supernatural, part conspiracy ... everything that was good about The X-Files in fact.


Starring Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell the film opens on 26 February 2010.

[Official website]

Edge of Darkness

Edge of Darkness stars Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Bojana Novakovic and Shawn Roberts and is written by William Monahan (The Departed) and Andrew Bovell (Lantana), based on the original BBC television series by Troy Kennedy Martin.

[Gibson plays a] homicide detective whose daughter is gunned down on his front steps. When he starts to look into what really happened, he uncovers not only her secret life, but a corporate cover-up and government collusion that attracts an agent tasked with cleaning up the evidence.

[Source]

Collider.com have posted a number of clips from the film



Looks good doesn't it? Edge of Darkness opens on 28 January 2010.

[Official website]