Just watched Attack the Block, about eyeless attack dogs from space(?) invading a council estate residential block. It's a good action comedy with the emphasis on "action."
And it's not much more than 90 minutes. Not that brevity is a universal must with movies, but it's almost exactly right for this material. It basically knows that it's a B-movie and moves fast to do its job. If it were a Hollywood movie I imagine it would be a good 40 minutes longer because anything with a theatrical release and a greater-than-Troma budget needs to feel important.
Although we might see Jack Black in the Nick Frost role, so it wouldn't be all bad.
And it's not much more than 90 minutes. Not that brevity is a universal must with movies, but it's almost exactly right for this material. It basically knows that it's a B-movie and moves fast to do its job. If it were a Hollywood movie I imagine it would be a good 40 minutes longer because anything with a theatrical release and a greater-than-Troma budget needs to feel important.
Although we might see Jack Black in the Nick Frost role, so it wouldn't be all bad.
2 comments:
The idea of a bunch of young punks who, instead of causing trouble, get to defend the country against aliens was a good one. I agree the less-than-90 minute running time was perfect because the action was non-stop with no time for peripheral stuff. As for the actors, John Boyega, as the head of the group, was fantastic. And if you hadn't seen her before now you know who Jodie Whittaker is before she takes over as Dr. Who.
While it's no Lavender Hill Mob, I think it was quite good and the thoughtful twist at the end was cleverly done. The aliens were very scary but had their reasons for being upset.
On the subject of horror movies I wonder if you've seen The Host by the S. Korean director, Joon-ho Bong. It was really good too as was Okja, a recent movie he made for Netflix.
Boyega and Whittaker were both very strong. The cast overall was, I think, even the lower level gang members who aren't as likely to be recognized. Including the drug dealer chief, in his unsubtle way.
The aliens were scary, and it was interesting to do some research on the movie afterwards. Stunt people were responsible for how they moved. While there was some digital post work done, the monsters actually did exist in the real world. Not all directors/producers would have done that.
Haven't seen anything by Joon-ho Bong yet. Snowpiercer looks interesting, so I'm likely to see that soon. I'll take note of The Host too.
And long live The Lavender Hill mob.
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