Ged Carroll

Category: on the sofa | 影評 | 영화를보고 | 映画レビュー

What does on the sofa mean? So a sofa is a couch in American parlance, or may also be called a settee or chesterfield in other English speaking parts of the world. Its the big chair in the living room that people tend to view their TV set from.

By using on the sofa as a title I wanted to imply content that I had reviewed at home rather than having gone out to watch it at a cinema or attend an event.

I have tended to review material on DVD or Blu-Ray rather than streaming media, usually because I have acquired them with an intent, whereas streaming is more like content grazing, often little more than visual wallpaper for my living room.

This section has been made up of a hodge podge of films, documentaries and anime.

Films that I have seen at festivals or on trips to the cinema are more likely to be in the out and about section. So there isn’t a consistency there in that respect.

I have covered a wide range of content here including

  • Safe House – a surprisingly good Ryan Reynolds film that isn’t a comedy one
  • Bitter Lake – I am a huge Adam Curtis fan and his work is the exception that proves my rule about streaming platforms in this section mainly because I can’t get his documentaries on disk
  • The Raid 2 – which added a bit of storytelling to the mix of The Raid.
  • The Man from Mo’Wax – a documentary about the rise, fall and reinvention of James Lavelle.
  • No blood no tears – An excellent Korean heist drama

  • Safe House

    When I see that name Ryan Reynolds on a poster I cringe. Reynolds has appeared in a number of unintentionally comic roles from the Green Lantern to the truly awful Blade Trinity; or the Marks & Spencers marketing campaign.  So I had my expectations set pretty low for Safe House.

    South Africa

    Safe House is a beautifully shot film based in modern-day South Africa. It is a paranoia-driven thriller a la Three Days of The Condor, but for the war on terror rather than the cold war. Reynolds does a pretty good job of playing a convincing scared novice CIA officer.

    Ensemble cast

    What brings it is the ensemble cast around him like Brendan Gleeson who recently stared in The Guard. Despite being as Irish as a bottle of Club Orange and a bag of Tayto crisps; Gleeson gives a masterful performance of a senior executive at the CIA. Denzel Washington plays the main antagonist Tobin Frost, who is being pursued by an army of private military contractors of an uncertain origin.

    If one had to pick one stand out star in the film, it would have to be its location Cape Town, and the surrounding mountains of The Devil’s Peak and Table Mountain which the film uses to great effect.

    The tension is amped up by some graphic scenes of waterboarding in the film which is a direct reference to the war on terror. And like most similar films nowadays it draws stylistically from the Jason Bourne series of films, particularly in the use of colour.

    The story ends in a bloody Reservoir Dogs-esque climax of betrayal and revenge. Whilst there are no surprises in the film, Safe House takes the audience along for an enjoyable ride.

    The trailer gives a good flavour of the film.

    More related content here.