9

Posted on November 6, 2009 by paul

This week I was fortunate enough to get to see a double feature with Mrs Cheesecake. First off, based on the 2005 short film of the same name, 9 is a dark fantasy telling the story of life after humans.

The visual elements of this film are a real treat. Personally I feel sometimes that computer animation can be a bit to crisp but in this case there was a nice grungy quality will still being picture perfect.

Shane Acker directs and the voice cast includes Elijah Wood, John C Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover and Christopher Plummer.

The film nips along at quite a pace and the seventy nine minutes are done before you know it. I, for one, would have liked to have see more.

Perhaps a bit scary for younger children but I think the rating of 12A was a bit extreme.

Till next time

toddle pip

Mr P Cheesecake Esq

The Imaginarium of Doctor Cheesecake

Posted on October 25, 2009 by paul

Terry Gilliam is Marmite. You know what I mean. You either love his work or hate it. I fall squarely into the first camp. I have been a fan since at the tender age of eleven years years old I first saw Brazil. It blew my mind (still does to this day). I spend hours wishing to be Harry Tuttle but end up always being Sam Lowry. The less said about that the better.

Yesterday Mrs Cheesecake and I saw Mr Gilliam’s latest film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. I try, whenever possible, to avoid reviews in advance of going to see a film. Especially when it is a film by a director like Gilliam. Like I said earlier…Marmite. Unfortunately being as exposed to the interwebs as I am some word had managed to sneak through. I had heard words like disjointed and messy.

I’m glad to say that I firmly disagree. Mrs Cheesecake and I enjoyed the film and found it both coherent and thought provoking. Obviously there were changes made due to Heath Ledger’s untimely death but I think they worked. Johnny Deep, Jude Law and Colin Farrell all do good work. The changes to the character’s appearance made sense and I don’t think detracted from the film’s narrative in any way.

I also really enjoyed the performances by Lily Cole and Andrew Garfield. Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits and Verne Troyer were all excellent too. I guess I’m saying that this was really an ensemble piece and everyone brought something to the show.

As expected the film was visually stunning. Gilliam seems to love switching between huge sweeping vistas and small enclosed claustrophobic sets. I guess scope is important when comparing the real world against your own imagination.

I really hope that Mr Gilliam gets the opportunity to make his Don Quixote film. His work deserves a lot more recognition. If you haven’t already seek out Brazil, Time Bandits, The Fisher King, Twelve Monkeys. These films might just blow your mind. They did mine.

TTFN

Mr Cheese

Robin Hood: And you’re a robber too. How long have you been a robber?
Strutter: Four foot one.
Robin Hood: Good lord! Jolly good. Four foot one? Well that-that-that is-is- a long time, isn’t it?

Pablo Cheesecake vs The Undead

Posted on October 11, 2009 by paul

Dead is the new black. Over the last couple of years everyone’s favourite undead shufflers have gone very mainstream. From Shaun of the Dead to Pride, Prejudice and Zombies by way of World War Z and Dead Set. It seems that we all enjoy a bit of zombie chic.

British Zombie Chic Literary Zombie Goodness

Latest entry to the fold is Zombieland. Mrs Cheesecake and I got the chance to see Zombieland recently and I’m pleased to report it is a worthy addition to the deceased cannon. Much like Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland is playing for laughs. Where SOTD has a very British sensibility, Zombieland is all about the US of States. Where we have cricket bats and pool cues our American cousins are all about baseball bats and shotguns.

Undead American Style

The cast are all good. Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin are convincing as survivors of the end of the world. Each of them willing to do whatever it takes in order to ensure that they survive. Jesse’s character Columbus has a series of rules which he follows to the letter. While Emma and Abigail play sisters who above pulling a con to get what they want.

The real star of the show though is Woody Harrelson. Here he plays Tallahassee; a redneck cowboy who has discovered his place in the universe thanks to the end of the world. He plays the character just right. The sort of don’t give a shit attitude Tallahassee exudes adds to his air of cocky bravado.

I read somewhere that Zombieland was originally conceived as a TV show and that the team responsible have got loads of material that could be used in a sequel. I for one will be there.

Till next time remember rule number #1 – Cardio

Cheesecake away.

Pablo Cheesecake vs Pandorum

Posted on October 4, 2009 by paul

This morning I had the opportunity to see a most impressive sci-fi flick. Up till this experience District 9 was dead cert to be crowned 2009 Sci-Fi film of the Year (in my head that is) but Pandorum has snuck in as a late contender.

Pandorum by Christian Alvart is in turns tense, sinister, claustrophobic and action packed. The story unfolds at a perfect pace and the viewer only learns what is going on as the characters discover this for themselves.

Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster make for compelling leads. The atmosphere, set design and effects are grungy as fuck. I thought it was all great.

Without giving too much away I felt there were nods to The Descent, Alien and The Thing. Pandorum is right up there in the nail biting stakes.

I had a look on IMDB turns out the director is the same age as me. Damn him *jealous shake of fist* Seriously though I enjoyed the film immensely and look forward to seeing more of his work.

See you on Tanis

Mr Cheesecake – Flight Crew 5

Pablo Cheesecake – Movie Music Maestro

Posted on September 25, 2009 by paul

For a while I have been collecting assorted musical flotsam and jetsam. I have managed to cobble together around 75 of my favourite movie tracks. iTunes loves me! There is absolutely no criteria to be part of this list. The tracks can be main themes or incidental music. Every single one is a winner in my opinion. You think this list is bad you should see the TV themes track listing it’s about four times as big.

Movie/Track Name	Artist
Austin Powers – Soul Bossa Nova	Quincy Jones
Austin Powers – What the World Needs Now	Burt Bacharach
Beverly Hills Cop – Axel F	Harold Faltermeyer
The Big Lebowski – Hotel California	Gypsy Kings
The Big Lebowski – What Condition My Condition Was In	Kenny Rogers & The First Edition
Big Trouble in Little China	John Carpenter
Blade Runner	Vangelis
Born Free	Matt Monroe
Brazil	Geoff Muldaur
The Breakfast Club	Simple Minds
Buckaroo Banzai	Michael Boddicker
Carlito’s Way – Oye Como Va	Various
Casino Royale (1967)	Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
Casino Royale (2007)	Chris Cornell
Daredevil – Lapdance	NER*D
The Deer Hunter	Various
Deliverance – Duelling Banjos	Various
Diamonds Are Forever	Shirely Bassey
Enter the Dragon	Lalo Schifrin
Enter the Dragon (Ska Cover)	Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Escape From New York	John Carpenter
ET the Extra-Terrestrial	John Williams
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Mr Blue Sky	ELO
Ferris Bueller – Museum	Various
Ferris Bueller – Oh Yeah	Yello
Flash Gordon	Queen
Fletch	Harold Faltermeyer
Get Carter	Roy Budd
Get Carter (Remix)	Various
Ghostbusters	Ray Parker Jnr
The Golden Child	Various
The Goonies	John Williams
Grease	Frankie Valli
The Great Escape	Various
Halloween	John Carpenter
Harry Potter	John Williams
Highlander	Queen
Indiana Jones	John Williams
The Italian Job – Self Preservation Society	Various
Jaws	John Williams
Jurassic Park	John Williams
Kill Bill – Battle Without Honour Or Humanity	Tomoyasu Hotei
Kill Bill – The Lonely Shepherd	Zamfir
Kill Bill – Woo Hoo	The 5,6,7,8s
Krull	London Symphony Orchestra
Lifeforce	Prague Philharmonic
Live And Let Die	Wings
The Long Good Friday	Various
The Man With The Golden Gun	Lulu
Mannequin	Starship
Monsters Inc	Randy Newman
Odeon – I Like It Like That	Pete El Conde’ Rodriguez
OHMSS – We Have All the Time in the World	Louis Amstrong
Pearl and Dean (1st Version)	Various
Pearl and Dean (2nd Version)	Various
Police Academy	Various
Pulp Fiction – Misrolou	Dick Dale
Rambo (First Blood)	Various
Rocky	Various
The Saint	Orbital
Saturday Night Fever	Bee Gees
Saturday Night Fever – A Fifth of Beethoven	Bee Gees
Shaft	Issac Hayes
Spiderman	Danny Elfman
Star Wars	John Williams
Star Wars -The Imperial March	John Williams
Superman	John Williams
Together in Electric Dreams	Phil Oakey
Tristar Pictures 1980’s Ident	Various
A View to a Kill	Duran Duran
Who Dares Wins	Roy Budd
XXX – Feuer Frei	Rammstein
2001 – A Space Odyssey	Various

Pablo Cheesecake : Competition winner

Posted on September 13, 2009 by paul

I won a competition. Little old me. I’ve never won anything in my life ever. I have to admit to being a little taken aback by the while thing. Now at the end of the day it was only a t-shirt but I still won it.

The good people at Last Exit to Nowhere produce the best film related merchandise on the planet. All of their designs are inspired by all the fictional companies and businesses from the movies. I won a quiz they ran on Twitter (@lastexitshirts) and they have let me choose a free t-shirt of my choice. I went for Central Services (the faceless bureaucracy from Terry Gilliam’s epic Brazil). Anyone that knows me will no I am slightly obsessed by this film. I have the theme as the ringtone on my mobile phone.

This is just a little bloggerette as I have three reviews to write for my latest cinema visits. I just want to share my good fortune.

Till later

Smugger than normal

Mr C

Inglorious Cheesecake

Posted on August 29, 2009 by paul

Image via Wikipedia

I do like Quentin Tarantino‘s films. He has an uncanny knack for producing dialogue that is quoteable, stories that watchable and picking just the right music for his soundtracks.

Pulp Fiction, Resevoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill they are all examples of what happens when you let a movie geek make films for other movie geeks to enjoy.

Inglorious Basterds is no different. Set during World War II Mr Tarantino uses uses the same techniques we’ve seen in his other films to blend together two separate narrative strands. The story of the Basterds, out to give every Nazi in occupied France a really hard time. As well as the story of Shoshanna Dreyfus a young Jewish woman hell bent on revenge.

Performances were all good. I particularly enjoyed Christoph Waltz as Col Hans Landa. He brought a nice kind of cheery menace to the role. Eli Roth was also worthy of note. I reckon QT just pointed the camera at him and said “Right Eli in this scene I want to you to go bug nuts insane”. It seems to have worked.

It strikes me that though this a war film Tarantino really does love his Westerns. For example there was a cracking Mexican standoff in a cellar that builds nice and slow but ends in a bloody mess.

Some nice cameos as well. Mike Myers as a British General . Samuel L Jackson and Harvey Kietel though not seen can be heard at a couple of points.

The music, as with all prior films, is as eclectic as ever. Ennio Morricone, Lalo Schfrin and David Bowie to name but a few.

All in all a great film.

Fuck two movie reviews in one day. I need a drink.

Ciao for now

The Time Traveler’s Cheesecake

Posted on August 29, 2009 by paul

No movies this weekend. It’s a bank holiday so other arrangements are a foot. Last week, however, we managed to pull off a double header. I know as usual I have been a trifle remiss in making any sort of post but we’ve been busy in the House of Cheesecake.

We saw The Time Travelers Wife and Inglorious Basterds. I’ll do a separate blog post for Mr Tarantino’s latest mangnum opus. Look out for that soon.

In the meantime lets talk a little bit about The Time Travelers Wife. Based on the book by Audrey Niffenegger this is the story of a man who travels unpredictably in time and the woman who is left behind waiting for him.

Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams do sterling work as the main characters. The story has a nice intimate feeling. As there are so few characters the viewer gets a lot of insight into how the couples life works or, at times, doesn’t.

The only problem I had is I’m a sucker for a happy ending and a think at best the ending of this film can be described as bittersweet. As frequent readers know I ain’t gonna spoil the thing by revealing too much but at the end of the day I felt that all of the characters were a bit hard done by.

On an almost totally unrelated point I was incredibly jealous of the house they ended up living in.

Oh I’ve come over all emotional now. I’m going to go a do something manly. Perhaps my thoughts about Inglorious.

Till some point later in time.

Viva La Cheesecake

GI Joe: Rise of the Cheesecake

Posted on August 15, 2009 by paul

Today Mrs Cheesecake and I went to the cinema as usual. It’s been a while and after a cheeky little breakfast courtesy of Starbucks we decided some big budget nonsense was called for.

Directed by Stephen Sommers, GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra delivered exactly what I expected. I do so enjoy mindless brain candy of the highest order. Lots of explosions and pretty colours. The story was unquestionably stupid but who cares.

Sommers always gives us spectacle and I for one am glad he does. Van Helsing had it’s detractors but damn it’s fun. Have you seen Deep Rising? go on now be honest. Quite possibly the silliest film ever but I think it’s fucking great. The Mummy is all good too.

According to IMDB Mr Sommers is involved in a version of Magic Kingdom for Sale which could be interesting. Big fan of Terry Brooks and as I said earlier Sommers can do epic scale. Not sure about remaking When Worlds Collide though.

In other news Mrs Cheesecake and I are currently debating purchasing IPods. She is keen on a Classic with all of it’s storage capacity while I am more inclined toward the Touch cause I is all about the widgets and fanciness. I think in this instance we will have to agree to disagree. Come back soon and I’m sure you will discover we have probably got one of each.

Software wise I have switched from Digsby to Trillian Alpha. I find it useful to manage all of my IM/Social Networking accounts in one place. I was disturbed to learn that Digsby ad some rather nasty crapware in the new install package and that they have some sneaky things going on in the their licence agreement so it had to go. Trillian seems to be all good so far but I will continue to be vigilant.

Pablo Cheesecake – Installing pointless software so you don’t have to!

Later Peoples

Cheesecake Salvation

Posted on June 7, 2009 by paul

Cover of Clash of the Titans

The weather today was truly fucking atrocious. At one point Mrs Cheesecake and I were in the car and we could hardly see where we were going. Fortunately we go to the flicks so often the car can almost drive itself there. We did get pretty wet and now I’m sniffly but these are the lengths that Team Cheesecake will go to to ensure the films you want to see continue to get watched. I like to think we are providing a public service.

Terminator Salvation is pretty good. Christian Bale is acceptable as John Connor. Anton Yelchin makes for a convincing Kyle Reese and I think Sam Worthington is a name to watch. Role on the Clash of the Titans remake. As frequent readers know (I’m know your out there) I don’t like to delve into plots to much. No spoilers round here Mrs! There are a couple of nice nods to previous Terminator movies. The Govenator does make a guest appearance and I reckon there is a good chance it this makes enough money we will see more of the same.

I’ve heard people say that the films not up to much. McG is not really a massively respected director is he? Probably something to do with dicking around with only one name like Bono or Sting. In saying that I’ve seen worse. The sound in particular was quite something. At one point my whole body was vibrating due to the amount of bass used.

In other news I heard a rumor the other day that Brian Blessed is potentially going to be in the big screen version of Thor. Specifically playing Odin. I for one think this would be just about fucking perfect. Seriously can you imagine him bellowing “THOR’S ALIVE!!!”. Flash Gordon is one of my favorite movies of all time and a lot of that has to do with his work as Prince Vultan.

Well it looks about time for some dinner. I see pizza on the horizon shortly.

Till next time. Dont play with it, it will drop off.

Cheesecake out

Pablo Cheesecake

A Mid-Life Crisis Waiting to Happen…

Category Archives: Cinema

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