Sunday, 13 March 2011

Trolljegeren


Having the word 'Troll' in the title, we watched this expecting a bunch of amateur crapola that might at the most have unintentional laughter value.
We were very pleasantly surprised.
The film opens with familiar title cards announcing 'the following footage was recovered with no sign of the film crew, blah blah blah true story, real events etc', so far, so Blair Witch. The expected introductions to the crew are dealt with very swiftly as they embark on their pursuit of suspected bear poacher Hans Otto Jespersen. Also of note, is the lovely photography that establishes the Norwegian landscape and natural home of the titular trolls, which immediately lets you know that you are in for something special.
Writer/Director André Øvredal takes the Blair Witch/Cloverfield device and applies it perfectly to Norway's national monster myth. It strikes the balance between imagination and special effects, with some superb set pieces and genuine moments of tension. This is all the more impressive when you consider the outwardly silly image of the monsters themselves when taken out of context.
Imagine one scene in particular featuring three billy goats tied to a bridge as bait, reminiscent of the Tyrannosaur paddock in Jurassic Park, and you get the picture.
10/10

Friday, 28 January 2011

Supernatural

I'm a bit late jumping on board this bandwagon.
I never bothered with Supernatural when it started showing on UK television in the mid noughties. Mainly because it looked like a sub Angel/Buffy clone starring a couple of unknown beefcakes. So it stayed off my screens for several seasons. Then my dearly beloved other half said she'd caught a couple of episodes by chance and suggested we watch the show from the beginning as it appeared to have quite an ongoing storyline.

We gave it a try and chewed through the first couple of episodes. Then a couple more the following evening, and so on, until it became a daily habit.

We're on Season 4 now and I have to say it is as much fun to watch as Moffat's Doctor Who. That is to say; it is well written, true to form, doesn't take itself seriously and hasn't dropped the ball...yet.

It is how it looked; an Angel-type premise with more testosterone and the beefcakes were unknown, at least to me. However, the fun for me comes from the pop culture references in the script. Jensen Ackles Character Dean gets to rattle off the references that would make Lost's Sawyer jealous.