John Carpenter's The Ward

I got really excited when I first read that John Carpenter was returning to the director’s seat to make a horror movie. I think the last thing I saw that Carpenter made before The Ward was his episode(s) of the masters of horror series. We have spent long enough without the coolness that usually surrounds anything that John Carpenter makes, whether it be an iconic anti-hero, A blistering rifftastic score, or simply the material to encourage a good old out and out debate on whether his latest offering is actually any good, where the Carpenter faithful usually manage to find hidden genius in something that others may deem a complete train wreck. I loved Ghosts of Mars, but a lot of people didn’t. I’ve defended that film more often than I can remember, I know it’s not a great film, but it wasn’t as bad as some people try to make out. So, The Ward, is it any good? I think the better question for a fan may be, how John Carpentery is it?

The Way Back

I love Peter Weir, his films always seem to have the most infectious characters, a relatable ‘human’ story, and are usually visually mind blowing. Those people who gave their time to really appreciate the grand scale of master and commander, it’s awesome performances from Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany, and the awe inspiring photography, ‘The Way Back’ could become a really important movie in your life for years to come. With equal quality performances from the whole cast, the named actors Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, and to some extent Colin Farrel and Mark Strong genuinely shine in these roles. It felt effortless to watch them play here, I believe they all had a deep empathy for the real life story and the people involved that they are portraying onscreen. This is an epic movie of huge scale and beauty.

Sniper

Watching Tom Berenger armying around in the jungle really gives me some fond memories. Although Sniper was released only 7 years after platoon, in 1993, I have only just made my way into checking out this movie which as of 2011 has become a 4 film franchise. My expectations were neither high or low with this one, I love war movies and it’d have to be a complete bomb for me to not get at least a couple of enjoyable scenes out of it. The plot while not exactly original was decent enough, straight forward and pretty generic for this kind of thing, but plotting isn’t where I usually put my focus in an action movie, especially one called Sniper starring Tom Berenger and made in 1993. I was expecting Snipery style tension, action, and cool head shots! Did it deliver, it sure did! But what it made up for in decent action it certainly lacked in finesse.