Lifer Movies

Title: The Disappearance of Alice Creed Rating: 3/5 Genre: Crime, Thriller Starring: Gemma Arterton, Eddie Marsan, Martin Compston Director: J Blakeson When trying to compete on Hollywood's level with the budget, you need to build your film from the ground up. It's no use coming up with an elaborate script only to discover you haven't the funds to do it properly, so in these cases, less can most definitely be more. This tale is perfect for such ambitions, involving just three cast members, no extra's, no props that can't be bought from a shopping centre, and only three locations, only one of which really felt like it was used extensively. Sadly, short of telling you that this film involves one wealthy millionaires daughter, Alice Creed, being kidnapped and held for ransom by two men, Vic and Danny, who have meticulously plotted and planned this, elaborating on the plot would be giving away far too much. It constantly twists and turns and yields another point...

Title: The Seventh Seal Rating: 3.5/5 Genre: Philosophical Drama Starring: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot Director: Ingmar Bergman Language: Swedish So you can mock me all you want, but this is my first Bergman film. I know, a self-confessed music fanatic who hasn't seen one of his works, well you can laugh it up but- wait, you haven't heard of him? That wasn't a snort of derision but at the fact he's too 'old' for you? That this '57 classic is somehow not worthy of you? Or that because he's Swedish he's somehow inferior to the Hollywood budgets of today? This is a man that didn't use tricks or effects to make his films, he used ideas, and this one in particular is one that really makes you stand up and pay attention. Hollywood bigwigs, pay attention, this one is ripe for a re-make. Actually, on second thoughts sit back down. You'd only screw it up. When a noble knight, Blok, freshly back from the holy crusades arri...

Title: Mushi-shi Rating: 4/5 Genre: Adventure, Mystery, Supernatural, Anime Starring: Kôjun Itô, Yûto Nakano, Travis Willingham Director: Hiroshi Nagahama Language: Japanese Duration: (25mins, 26 Episodes) Describing what the mushi are – the entities that our protagonist is an expert in – is fairly difficult, just because of the other things that you'll end up associating it with. I call them ghosts, you'll think of horror films. I add a 'friendly' to that, Casper. I mention spirits and you start to think of the souls of the dead, or to the sudden realisation you want another drink, but that's only for the alcoholics amongst us. Colourful creatures that exist in tandem to our world but most don't believe exist? Pandora. Even if I go on to call them the very essence of life itself, naked to the average humans eye and misunderstood almost unanimously; perhaps the most detailed and accurate description I can muster, what does that bring to mind? Scientolog...