Then in 2008 came Ironman, directed by actor, writer, director Jon Favreau and staring Downey Jr., along with Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard (who would later be replaced by Don Cheadle, for the sequal, which baffled a lot of people, including Howard, and reasons I can‘t figure out, maybe Cheadles more heroic or something stupid like that) and with the film, Marvels first ever solo outing, set the benchmark for the new wave of Marvel movies.
Ironman 2, although I found it entertaining enough, as a bit of a comic book geek, the inclusion of War Machine, Black Widow, Justin Hammer, Whiplash and S.H.E.I.L.D. appealed to me, the film seems like a bit of a stop gap, enough to keep the character fresh in the public mind, before he appears in the up coming Avengers movie. However the action sequence at Monaco raceway was brilliant comicbook destruction, as well including Favreau as Starks minder, making the scene slightly more impressive as hes directing it while staring, but then again Mel Gibson managed to star in and direct the whole of Braveheart, so maybe its not quite a s impressive as I first thought.
Personally I’m looking forward to the Avengers, a movie master plan from Marvel, which started with the first Ironman movie, and continued with the Edward Norton starring Hulk, with Avenger set ups in both movies, in Ironman with the appearance of Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury, and in Hulk with the cameo of Downey’s Tony Stark. This trend then continued with the discovery of Thor’s hammer, in a post credits Ironman 2, eluding to the next marvel release the Kenneth Branagh helmed Thor.
Thor will no doubt hint at Captain America: The First Avenger, which is set for release sometime after Thor and before The Avengers, which will then feature Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Scarlett Johanson), Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, replacing Edward Norton).
The Avengers is currently being written, and will also be directed by Joss Whedon, the brain behind the sci-fi/fantasy TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Doll house, as well as the Firefly spin off film Serenity. Whedon as also penned a run of the X-men comics, so is no stranger to the world of Marvel.
Lost boys is and will always be one of the greatest 80’s movies and possibly the best vampire movies ever made. So it would stand to reason that one day, Warner Bros would resurrect the format for a potential franchise, and some 20 years later comes Lost Boys: The Tribe, not a patch on the original, but does have 80’s legend Corey Feldman (The Goonies, Stand by me, Gremlins) reprising his role as Edgar Frog, one of the young vampire slayers of the first outing.
The Tribe had its moments, and a number of nods to the original, which for a fan like myself, was pretty cool. As well as the revelation that Edgar’s brother and fellow hunter has been turned into the undead since we last saw him in The Lost Boys. A revelation that isn’t given any thought till the final moments of the film, when we see Alan Frog speeding along in his blacked out car, and Edgar is visited by Corey Haim, reprising his role as Sam Emerson, who has also been turned.
Then we have the third instalment, Lost Boys: The Thirst, which if it had followed on from the set up left at the end of The Tribe, could have been something special, or at least it had me excited. But alas, it was an even more lame effort than The Tribe. Which sees Edgar teaming up with his vampiric bother Alan, to take down DJ X (I know it sounds horrible already, but despite the rubbish name the premise does get better) who his putting on illegal raves and handing out a new designer drug called The Thirst, which is actually vampire blood, with the aim of creating a vampire army.
The Thirst fails on several accounts but the two major ones, the first being Feldman’s performance, where he seems to have become an even bigger characture of the original role. This is highlighted by the second mistake, the inclusions of clips from the original Lost Boys, acting as Feldman’s flashbacks to a better time (not just for him, but for us too) where both his brother and Sam Emerson, where still human, as it also transpires Emerson had not only been turned, but also killed by Edgar Frog. These moments that I can only assume are supposed to be touching, only show how far we have spiralled down from the first film and how ridiculous Feldman’s characterisation has become.
However these flashbacks also provide one of the best moments of The Thirst. Earlier in the film Edgar, who is on the verge of being evicted, sells his collection of comics, all except his issue of Batman no.14, which we are reminded later through flashback forms the first conversation Sam Emerson has with the Frog brothers. Feldman’s character then visit’s the grave of Emerson, where he places the comic at the graveside in tribute. This is not only an emotional moment for Frog, saying goodbye to his lifelong friend, but it also resonates into real life, where Corey Feldman (Frog) and Corey Haim (Emerson) were also lifelong friends, up until Haim’s sudden death before the films production. What we end up with is a life imitating art moment, with Feldman is also paying tribute to his friend.
Burke & hare, a black comedy, is, as the film states from the off ‘..a true story, except for the parts that are not’. Based on the real life serial murders committed by William Burke and William Hare, for the purpose of selling the cadavers to Dr. Robert Knox an anatomy lecturer to dissect for his class of medical students. Featuring Simon Pegg, as Burke, and Andy Serkis, as Hare, with support from Jessica Hynes and Isla Fisher, and appearances from Tom Wilkinson, Tim Curry, and cameos from Christopher Lee, Paul Whitehouse, Stephan Merchant, Bill Bailey, Reece Shearsmith and British comedy legend Ronnie Corbett. I think the stand out performance for me, was from Serkis, you couldn’t help but love is charming confidence man.
The film is directed by John Landis, his first in 12 years, and who is best known for his comedy collaborations with Dan Aykroyd (The Blues Brothers, which he co-wrote with Aykroyd, as well as directed, Trading Places, Spies Like Us and Blue Brothers 2000), Eddie Murphy (Trading Places, Coming to America, and Beverly Hills cop III), and John Belushi (Animal House, The Blues Brothers). As well as comedy horror An American Werewolf in London, which he both wrote and directed, and the video for Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which completely revolutionised both MTV and the music video in general. Burke & Hare follows in the Landis tradition of humour and horrors, the giggles and the grotesque , and like many of the Landis stable the heart lies in the classic buddy movie.
Burke & Hare is also the latest release from the revitalised British film institution that is Ealing Studios, following success with Shaun of the Dead, The Descent, Dorian Gray, and the resurrected St. Trinian’s franchise.
Ealing Studios are best known for films produced between 1947 and 1957 dubbed ‘Ealing comedies’ most notably The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), and the two Alec Guinness starring turns Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), in which Guinness plays eight different members of the same family, and which appears in BFI’s top 100 British Films and voted number seven in Total film’s best British films poll, and The Ladykillers (1955) also starring Peter Sellers.
