The 25 Greatest Unscripted Scenes in Films

"Super 8" OST

A cue off Michael Giacchino's fantastic score for Super 8. Taken from it's emotional climax, the similarities to John Williams are completely intentional and help mould some of the magic JJ Abrams was trying to achieve on screen. Some he gets wrong and some he gets right; here is one moment where he gets everything perfect to goosebump effect.

Cowboys & Aliens

Following on from the likes of Snakes on a Plane, Alien Vs. Predator and Ernest Goes to Africa of films that let you know their plot from their title, we have Cowboys & Aliens; a film that does pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. While I am not usually a fan of these titles that do the marketing teams job for them, I have to admit, something about cowboys facing off against aliens intrigued me, as it would the young boy in any cynical, jaded young man. Then it was announced that none other than both Indiana Jones and James Bond would be taking these alien marauders on and I suddenly sat up and took notice - boyhood dreams are made of this. Unfortunately the final product does not wholly deliver on those rabid fanboy expectations. Director Jon Favreau could have had a gleefully wild and fun adventure ride, and instead the film takes itself too seriously, which only ever expands on it's flaws. Not that it isn't a fun night out, rather the film seems tonally unsure of itself and never truly knows in what way to play these two opposing genres off against each other. Despite a stellar line up of talent both in front and behind the camera, it seems that everyone was betting everything on this films title rather than a fully rounded concept. Favreau has himself, promoted the film through old fashioned ways; rather than the film being presented in nice and shiny 3D with a million bells and whistles, Favreau decided to shoot on film and have only his two leading men's star power as being sufficient enough to entice audiences. It worked for me, but there is a whole other generation that doesn't hold Harrison Ford close to their hearts as we do and Daniel Craig hasn't been seen in any (action) roles in three years. Will it be enough? Well the answer is both yes and no. You see while there is a certain amount of nostalgic delight in seeing Ford in a fedora again and extraterrestrial predators falling prey to Indian arrows, there just isn't enough adventure on display to this journey.

Craig plays Jake Lonergan, a wanted criminal who wakes in the middle of the desert, with no recollection of himself or how he got there, with a mysterious clunk of mettle slapped on his wrist. As his townsfolk is suddenly attacked by strange flying shapes in the night sky and family members abducted, Lonergan must join forces with enemy Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) to save the day and find out about his mysterious past. Throughout, Craig is all grimaces and scowls. As The Man With No Past, he says very little and carries a 'don't mess with me vibe' that comes in handy when those aliens show up looking for their bracelet back. He is effective as the lead but doesn't wholly gel with Ford. As much as it pains me to say it, there are times when the once Dr. Jones' performance seems off. He is always value for money, but he fails to carry any sense of conflict either about getting his son back, Craigs loose cannon team mate or this historical first contact with the miners from a different Galaxy. Any initial tension between Lonergan or Dolarhyde quickly seems forgotten and the film never derides any hostility or unease between the two. Olivia Wilde looks misplaced amongst the grit and her character only provokes a million more questions about her past while all Sam Rockwell seems to say is 'they took my wife'. However, it is a good cast. In between Craig and Fords superstardom everyone else is filled up by a nice line of reliable supporting character actors. What carries everything through is that same central idea. While Favreau still seems unsure of how to direct action he delivers the Western side of the genre very well without playing it up or making fun of itself. As a result everything is quite gritty and much more tough than you might expect. The sci-fi side of events unfortunately has more than it's share of plot holes. If it's aliens are so smart and powerful than why don't more of them use their weapons instead of ripping everyones throat out? Why are they really here for? Just where did Olivia Wilde come from? The film never satisfactorily answers these questions, but it is fun and interest in events is maintained. It seems that while the script seems unsure of which way to play things, Favreau was right all along; it was it's cast's mere presence that help sell the action, and it's simple title that would get you into the theatre in the first place.

Verdict 5/10

The film is fun, but never fun enough and has a tonally unsure script to match it's plot holes. However, you gotta love that cast and in it's concept alone, there is plenty to see on screen which hasn't been seen in a while.  The western works just fine, but the sci-fi needed more polish.

"Cowboys & Aliens" Trailer

Super 8

Inevitably and almost unfairly Super 8 has to be able to stand up to some of the greatest films ever made. JJ Abrams certainly has set the bar high for himself. You see, by crafting something as deliciously nostalgic and warm as Super 8, it must first come out out of the shadow of it's forebears and stand on it's own. That shadow is Steven Spielberg, the man who's DNA permeates every frame of Super 8. Abrams has made a film-cum-love letter to the man and for 112 minutes, we are in one epic homage to the legend. Not many filmmakers could stand up to such glaring reverence on screen, but Spielberg has influenced so many directors now, that it seems a film like Super 8 was inevitable. And while the man himself has not made a film since 2008, this is certainly the Summer of Spielberg. He has produced many of the years tent pole releases and the rest owe a great deal to him. The one thing that ties these films (Cowboys & Aliens, Transformers 3) together is extraterrestrials; a genre that has always been synonymous with the man. Here it reaches it's apex in Super 8, a lovingly crafted throwback to simpler times and better movies. So while Spielberg produces, Abrams has taken it upon himself to try and recreate some of the magic the bearded man has put up on screen. As a result, the film is a perfect hybrid of both their styles. Abrams wrote and directed and it is obvious the story is personal to him. What is surprising that for such an 'event' film like this, it is the story and characters we take away from it, rather than it's set pieces. Not that this film doesn't have any 'wow' moments; far from it, but they refreshingly occur at the service of the plot, rather than being for the sake of it just to keep the young 'uns interested.

We all sat up and took notice at that that trailer last year. The teaser with the giant train crash. Abrams immediately courted interest and efficiently drummed up plenty of hype with a simple unannounced and unknown teaser trailer. After that the film was coated in secrecy. No one could tell you a thing about the film and speculation about what had escaped from that destroyed carriage, took root in message boards all over the internet. Not that there was any big secret about the film; rather Abrams simply wanted the audience to walk into the film and not feel like they had already watched the damn thing. Plenty of films this Summer had shown their hand in promotional materials well before their release; Super 8 is notable for the fact that it is the only one we knew quite little about. It's hype came from the not knowing. So what we now know is this: set in 1979, the film centres on a group of young boys that are filming their own super low budget DIY zombie film. Upon filming one night, the boys (and girl) are caught in the midst of a catastrophic derailing of a train and from that wreckage, a mysterious creature emerges and begins to wreck havoc on a small town. In between the vicious alien attacks and frequently stunning (but low key) special effects there is the very simple story of one young boy, Joe (Joel Courtney), struggling to come to terms with his mothers untimely death (the fractured family is a Spielberg mainstay) and reconnect with his workaholic Father (Kyle Chandler) by way of getting the girl and catching the 'evil' monster. Abrams cast the young group impeccably. In a film in which most of the characters are under 15, you better make sure that A) they can act and B) they aren't annoying. While some deliveries and moments of humour are a bit off, they are all wonderful for the most part; impressively cussin' and hollering - reacting as most kids would to the larger than life situations they find themselves in. While the third act of the story doesn't wholly deliver on what had gone before it and raises just a few plot holes, the overall effect is unexpectedly moving and touching. Aided by Michael Giacchino's best John Williams impression, the score is suitably grandiose and intimately heartfelt. Overall this is a very welcome and exciting blockbuster that favours story and character over bombarding it's audience with explosions and violence. And in that train crash we glimpsed in the trailer we have the best action scene of the year; heart stoppingly tense and incredibly executed. As all the hulking shards of metal tumble into each other and collapse over the fleeing group, it is that human element which helps sell the danger - we care about these kids.

Verdict: 7/10
The group of kids (The Goonies) all nail their characters. The emotion (E.T.) is touching. The sci-fi (Close Encounters of the Third Kind) is suitably mysterious and the monster (Jurassic Park) is a ferocious treat. Abrams set out to out-Spielberg Spielberg and while the mans oeuvre is too classic to touch, he still does a pretty decent job. Taken on it's own merits, Super 8 is a wonderfully made and lovingly retro hark back to a long gone era of film making. He also turns in the best blockbuster this Summer so far.

"Super 8" Trailer

Captain America: The First Avenger

Well it's finally happened. Marvel have dropped the ball. In setting all sights on next years epic superhero team-up The Avengers, they have been racing to get all story lines in order before it's release. It was bound to happen really. So far each of the four films in the Marvel Studios Universe (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor) has done their job to the best of their ability in succeeding being stand alone films first and teasers for The Avengers second. But here in Captain America, shows for the first time that they were clearly more preoccupied with getting all those heroes in the one room for next year, than actually developing a decent story for Steve Rogers et al. Director Joe Johnston has made a career out of being a poor man's Spielberg. Long before JJ Abrams came along with the homage to end all homages in Super 8, Johnston was the go-to-guy whenever getting Spielberg was deemed too expensive. As a result, he turned in such efforts as a poor mans Indiana Jones (Hidalgo, The Rocketeer), a poor mans Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park III, Jumanji) alongside Honey, I Shrunk The Kids and last years contender for worst movie of 2010: The Wolfman. Not exactly an impressive track record. And yet Marvel decided he was perfect for Captain America. Each of their choices so far to helm these huge budgeted superhero flicks has been both interesting and fitting. Jon Favreau and Kenneth Branagh both seemed left field choices to take on films of this nature and yet they knocked their efforts out of the park and both Joss Whedon and Shane Black set to continue that trend with their upcoming efforts across the next few years. And yet when Johnston was announced, I didn't think 'how interesting'; rather a sickening groan of 'oh no'. However, while I had my serious doubts about 2011's previous contender Thor, that actually turned out to be surprisingly good fun, so surely the Captain couldn't be as bad as I might have thought? He is after all, one of Marvel's last untouched top shelf superhero's that they have not yet adapted for the screen in their new line. And so I reigned in my doubts for 'Cap'. How wrong I was....

Captain America has a distinction from most other recent superhero films; it is set almost entirely during World War II. We open with a small, skinny and sickly Steve Rogers (Chris Evens) as he repeatedly tries to join the army, to no avail. Here is a man who detests bullies, stands up for what he believes in and has great values of good and justice. It is for this reason, that Rogers is selected by Dr Abraham Erskine, (Stanley Tucci) to be a contender for some sort of super soldier serum. The serum turns Rogers into the all powerful and muscular Captain America. Meanwhile, evil Nazi's dubbed HYDRA (basically even badder Nazi's than usual - hiss!) have set their sights on an all powerful tesseract with the power to win the war and take over the world. Being led by the sinister Red Skull (Hugo Weaving - he looks exactly like he sounds) nothing stands between them and total world domination. That is, apart from Cap and his team. The cast do their best with the lacklustre script yet fail to add much gravitas to any of the action on screen. Weaving snarls and delivers evil one liners with relish but amounts to little much more, while romantic interest Hayley Atwell contributes zilch to proceedings and is obviously shoe-horned in to appeal to the female demographic. Other supporting roles don't fare much better. Not one character makes any impact on proceedings and each one is vastly under developed. Evans works well enough I guess, but can't really do much with a character as bland as the Captain himself. With Thor, everything was played as a fish out of water comedy to balance out it's more fantastical action and help sell the inherent ridiculousness of such a character - a very wise move indeed on Marvel's part. Captain America has always stood as a cheesy, patriotic, flag waving square to everywhere outside of the US and was always going to be a tough character to swallow for most (that the film is merely named The First Avenger in many territories of the world speaks wonders at how unsure Marvel were to sell their brand). However, instead of playing up just how much of a nerd the man is, Johnston fully indulges him. Within him, there is no confliction or darkness, just an over eager appetite to do good no matter what. This shreds the character of any depth or interest he might have had. This might have been easier to overlook if the man was actually truly super. Compared to the Hulk's might, Thor's power and Iron Man's vast gadgets, Cap does.....very little actually. Apart from running faster that is. Even his shield seems more super powered than the man himself. Throughout, I kept on waiting to see him stretch his powers and do something truly incredible but it never came. This almost certainly will see him stick out like a sore thumb along his more fantastical team mates next year. Action sequences are all poorly staged and have no originality to them - most occur for no other reason it seems than someone deciding 'we need an action scene, let's do one here'. Also, despite it's PG rating, the film is by far the most violent Marvel film to date, with deaths well up into the double digits. I guess when it involves Nazi's you can do whatever you want with them and avoid the pesky wrath of the MPAA. The film carries a pleasing retro vibe throughout, which makes things that bit more tolerable and Tommy Lee Jones is his usual craggy, reliable self, but as the film goes on, it sinks further into it's unimaginative stylings. Not that any of those Marvel films so far were high art, far from it in fact - but they were at least fun and entertaining. Captain America had plenty of potential and only a small percentage of which has been delivered on. Some things work along the way and those looking for nothing more than an effects laden action film could do worse but with so much riding on this guys introduction, he should have landed harder. Thor is a missplaced God with Daddy issues, Hulk is a tragic take on Jekyll & Hyde and Iron Man has his egotistical mouth to match his impressive arsenal of weapons - what does Captain America have? A guy who wanted to be strong and now he is so he beats people up if they're bullies? Not exactly the stuff of legend is he?

Verdict: 4/10
Impressive retro stylings and special effects do not mask what is a clunky mishandle of a character that had plenty more to offer than what is seen here. Under developed and poorly written, this Captain would have been better off being kept frozen.

"Captain America: The First Avenger" Trailer

Trailer - "The Sitter"

Initially introduced by an alarmingly thin Jonah Hill, this eventually settles into standard movie trailer territory and actually looks to be very funny stuff indeed. Everybody knows that putting kids into adult situations with bad language always equals comedy gold and this looks set to continue that trend. The film centres around Hill's loser slob, who is forced to babysit local children in an effort to boost cash. Of course things go astray and it is not long before Hill and the kids he is supposed to be minding are led into a night of crime and debauchery. Can he get the kids home unharmed in time? Will he get a tip? How much weight did he have to lose for the upcoming 21 Jump Street to look like that? Anyways, the film looks like a barrel of laughs and will hopefully turn out to be marginally better than director David Gordon Green's last comedy effort from this year; the dodgy Your Highness. And anything in which Sam Rockwell is allowed free reign for his rarely used comedy bone always goes to must see in my book. The Sitter is pencilled in for release on January 12th 2012.

First Look - "The Dark Knight Rises" - Catwoman

I'm sure Christopher Nolan is growing ever more weary of those pesky paparazzi that are flanked outside any locations The Dark Knight Rises is shooting and has decided to pre-empt them by releasing an official pic of Anne Hathaway's 'Catwoman', before they get the chance to leak them. And it is very intriguing indeed; it seems Nolan has gone in a completely different direction than any previous vision of Catwoman has gone before. Gone are the feline ears and mask and in, is a new set of blinky goggles. While I'm sure there will be some who are a bit alarmed at such a change of iconic character design, I am staying in the pro-Nolan side of things. Everything the man does is clearly thought out and elaborately planned before it is executed and I'm sure this costume is no change from that. Also important to note is that nowhere on any official studio statements is Hathaway referred to as Catwoman; rather Selina Kyle. Of course everybody knows it is she who becomes Catwoman, but could Nolan be choosing to forego the name in an effort to distance himself from any expectations the character might have? And just why is she piloting the Bat-Pod - did Batman lend it to her or did she steal it? Unfortunately, Nolan's release of one of the biggest tidbits of the film has led to even more questions, which I am sure is what the man had always planned. The guessing continues until July 20th next year......