I am Ashley Elsdon

someone who's doing some things

Category: Films

I love films although I never seem to get to see all the films I’d like to.

Tron Legacy

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I had to watch this film. There was a sense of inevitability about that, but I put it off for quite a while until recently.

It took me while to work out what it was I actually thought about the film. So here’s what I think.

I don’t think that this film was meant for me. Although I do think it was meant for people who loved the first Tron. This was a film that was made for children and if I was a child again I’m sure I’d have enjoyed it more, but I wanted to enjoy it as an adult and I’d expected it to be a film which worked on more than one level. Sadly it didn’t.

I did enjoy it though, although for me one of the best things about it was the soundtrack, but more about that in another post.

So, in a way I wasn’t disappointed at all. It was what I expected on the whole, but in some ways I think it was a missed opportunity.

The Andromeda Strain

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I hadn’t seen this film in years and years, and yet I think it stands the test of time. For me one of the most significant things about it is it’s soundtrack which is quite unique and in some ways reminds me of the themes in ‘Planet of the Apes’.

Andromeda Strain is a great story although in some ways a very simple story, but executed in this film in a very slow and explanatory fashion which wouldn’t work in a film today, but I think is exactly what it needed to get the message out.

It makes sense although it is very technical at times and has almost no action at all.

It is still a great sci-fi film, of that there’s no doubt.

Battle for the Planet of the Apes

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So I’ve finished watching all the films now. I really enjoyed seeing them all in sequence, that was really good, they make a lot of sense when you take them like that.

My favourite is still ‘Conquest’, and for the most part I’d forgotten ‘Battle’. When it started it came back to me again. It did seem a little half hearted though as an ending to the series of films which was a little bit of a shame.

But I still have the documentary DVD to watch and I might do that over the weekend.

Beneath, Escape, Conquest

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Obviously planet of the apes films! I’m just finishing off conquest, which is my favourite of them all, and it is great to watch them again all in sequence. It really brings the films to life and shows you just what a great concept they were.

Overall I’ve been really impressed with these films. I think they’ve stood the test of time and they still work well together. Of course you couldn’t make films like that now. They are slow, ponderous and thoughtful that I’m not sure they’d work cold for a modern audience. I think that was also shown by the terrible remake that came out.

I’m enjoying these immensely and looking forward to watching the lot and the documentary DVD at the end as well.

Why didn’t Thunderbirds work as a remake?

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As I’m watching this right now I thought I’d share some thoughts on the reasons why it didn’t work as a 21st Century franchise. The original series was brilliant. There’s no doubt about that, and actually the 2004 version had a lot of good points. It had a good cast (Lady Penelope and Parker were brilliant in fact), some great special effects and  the story wasn’t too bad either.

But where they went wrong in my opinion, is in trying to move away from the central thrust of the story. They tried to make the children an integral part of the story instead of it just being about disasters and awesome machines. I think that if they’d stuck to the formula it would have had a much better chance.

It’s a shame really as I think it would have made a good franchise really, but it wasn’t to be.

Inception and the oscars

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Why is it that science fiction films don’t do well with awards? Ok, this year, pretty much everything has gone to the King’s Speech. Fine, it is a landmark film. I get it. But even so, sci-fi films just don’t win so much.

Now I can understand it when it is films where the special effects are more important than the story, but what about films like Inception and District 9? Inception was a great film with great concepts and performances too. As for District 9 it was incredible.

Why I love Bond films and hated the last two

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Over the last couple of nights I’ve been watching old Bond films. When I say old I mean Bond films with Pierce Brosnan rather than Daniel Craig. I have watched the 2 Daniel Craig films and I didn’t like them. I have to admit that I wasn’t a bit shocked when the latest Bond film got cancelled indefinitely.

I think that the latest iteration of James Bond was a huge mistake. Trying to make 007 gritty and real simply goes against the whole spirit of the films and doesn’t work at all. A 007 film has to have a set of core elements without which it can’t be called a Bond film. Here’s what you need.

  • A bad guy. Preferably with a scar and stroking a white cat. They also need to be attempting to take over the world in some despicable manner
  • A base. This can be in a hollowed out volcano or a space station. Ideally with a monorail system inside and the ability to launch either a space craft or something of similar scale
  • Henchmen. This is really important. Henchmen must be in uniform otherwise they don’t count at all.
  • Some form of incredible weapon such as a laser in orbit or something that can cause global disruption

Without these things you can’t really call it a bond film at all. The last couple of films had none of these features at all. In fact in Casino Royale the bad guy was an asthmatic accountant! That’s not right! And if that wasn’t enough there’s a brief shot of 007’s email inbox where you can see he’s sent an email request for stationary! That is so wrong.

Anyway, my point is that the direction for the last 2 films was awful and I’m glad there won’t a 3rd. I hope that in the not too distant future we might see another Brosnan or Connery style 007 return with lots of gadgets and John Cleese back as Q as well.