Stand by Me

At the moment i just seem to be picking films with a negative ending or tone to them so I'm going to put off Schindlers list for a while.
Stand by Me is the film that made Will Wheaton's name and those of us that have seen his episodes in the big bang theory possibly may have thought that Sheldon's hatred of him was unjust but i don't think so. This film is hugely overrated.
I'm still trying to work out how this film got so much recognition. I look through the cast list and apart from River Phoenix, none of them went on to make anything half decent.

Normally i would comment on the ability to act but i'm not really sure that any of them could. Corey Feldman manages to play the part exactly as he looks.
I guess what is most disappointing is that the Ben E King's Stand by Me is hardly featured in the film.
I am also angry that what is supposed to be a bunch of young kids spend all their time smoking. Surely that's not healthy or legal... unless all the actors were about 5 years older than what they were supposed to be.

What did you think?

Shadowlands

As tribute to Lord Richard Attenborough I borrowed this film from Jojo and watched a magical production of some of the life of C.S Lewis.

Anthony Hopkins is once again both moving and sublime in his performance as Lewis. Opposite Debra Winger (whom i didn't know of until now), the audience is reduced to tears towards the end of the film and are constantly sitting with their fingers in their mouths.
It's wonderful to watch a film about love and not just about sex and lust. Love just as love is powerful and wonderful and this film brings back a reminder about how powerful love is.

This film won the BAFTA for film of the year and it thoroughly deserves the award. Richard Attenborough directs a film that is a reminder of what the film industry really is and what it can be. It has the power to bring about emotion in no other way.

This film is perfect from beginning to end. There are some fantastic moments when i burst out laughing and moments when i wanted to cry. This film has everything in it and most importantly it is a reminder to keep reading C.S. Lewis and not just the Chronicles of Narnia.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

A very unexpected film.
I had always raised my eyebrows to the suggestion that both Emma Watson and Logan Lerman could in fact act. Logan Lerman i know for Percy Jackson and Emma Watson is obviously known for Harry Potter and i was very skeptical of this film.

I loved it. We all feel nervous about going to a new school, making friends and some of us find it harder than others. Ezra Miller is outstanding and his character is genius. The dancing is fantastic and reminds me very much not only of friends when Ross and Monica do the routine but of my own family and our type of dancing.

I'll give it to them. Logan Lerman and Emma Watson are both fantastic in this film. Logan Lerman has really shown the world that he can actually act, even if he chooses to make bad films. Emma Watson has cast off the stereotype that she gained from her role as Hermione Granger and also her part in Ballet Shoes. Showing a nice and rather wonderful side is lovely and makes you smile. I almost forgot that it was Emma Watson in this film as her ability to transform roles is perfect.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower is both lovely and moving at the same time and makes a really easy film to watch that captures you at the right level and in the right way. I wasn't totally absorbed by the film but i could follow it all the way through with no problem. I couldn't predict the end and that makes it even more enjoyable.
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FROM HELL!

From hell is the film that I have always wanted to watch. The hit graphic novel by Alan Moore has to be awesome but weirdly depressing and featuring a lot of death.

Ian Holm stars with Johnny Depp, Robbie Coltrane, Sir Ian Richardson and Heather Graham. If you haven't read the book then you probably should know that this film is about jack the ripper and now you should know everything that you need to know about it.

The filming is top draw, the theme of red and black with the upper class costume is perfect. Depp's east end accent doesn't always hold, in fact we did spend most of the film trying to work out what accent it actually is.

I take my hat off to Ian Holm, his acting is world class and something to be admired. I was stunned by his ability to perform that role.

An Insight into the Freemasons is something wonderful. I never really knew much about them but when you watch Morse, Endeavor and Lewis  you start to get a very brief outline of what this society is like but nothing more. This film is great if you want to learn anything more about them.

Not the most pleasant film and not one to watch if your going to bed but definitely educational.

Rated 18 for a reason, a fair amount of sex and a lot of blood and murder- if you're someone who normally ignores ratings then pay attention to it this time!

X-men: Days of Future Past

The moment I have been waiting for! Now that its Easter break I can have movie days and I have a few films to help fill up my week.

Lets start the day with x-men: Days of future past and of course a special thanks to yo-yo for providing the film and location this time.

Recently Bryan singer has taken to making rubbish films followed by slightly ok films. Nothing has been as good as the first x-men films. This was an ok film, nothing more and nothing less. The inability to connect all the films in a sensible way is not only irritating but very confusing. Sometimes things link and other times they just don't at all.

The most irritating part of all has to be when the writers couldn't manage to look back over the previous scripts and get line of 'go fuck yourself' (the actual line from first class) correct instead of 'fuck off' which is the line they used in this film.

I dislike how high Jackman can hardly feature in these films and keep his clothes on. I disliked that James McAvoy had a beard and no powers... Intact I didn't really like much of it. To many times they have crossed the boundaries in this film, jumped time and space and all that rubbish.

No laughable moments and a few angry moments but nothing that really justifies spending more than about £2 on the film. If you have to wait for a year before you can get it at that price then fine, its not the end of the world and its not worth  paying any more than that for.

OK, but nothing more. A desperate attempt to make up for a lack of toward thinking towards how successful these films were going to be. As the sound of music says:'lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start'. These words should have been taken when they sat down to make the first film years ago. It is much easier to go toward than it is to jump back and forwards all the time.

Bryan singer should know when to quit. Things are going to be very confusing if they keep making more films and they did leave it open to make at least one more.

Watching this film made me feel like I was watching inception again. It was all a dream within a dream until the end became very unclear. Tinker tailor soldier spy was easier to follow than this and so was memento!

We both agreed that at least half of the budget must have been spent on the opening sciency sequence that has nothing to do with the film bit is shot in such a way that you have to sit there and admire it.

The filming was great... Story line was rubbish.

To Kill A Mockingbird

If you haven't read Harper Lee's book then you must before you watch this film!

The Book itself if incredibly moving. A sensitive issue of Race is discussed effectively in this book, drawing attention to the extreme prejudice that we as human beings can develop. I remember reading this book at GCSE level and absolutely loving it. I've never been moved by a book as much as i was by this one and so i had reserved feelings about the film- could it do the same as the book?
Yes.

Gregory Peck is unbelievable in the role of Atticus Finch. The film is almost exactly as i remember the book and in many way is exactly what i expected from reading the book. Helped by the general feeling around the issue that was created by the book, this film is definitely one that you have to watch before you die.

I do think that if you haven't read the book then you probably wont agree with my opinion of this film. You would probably say that it was a mediocre black and white film and nothing more but that is only because you don't truly understand the power of the topic and brilliance of Harper Lee's writing.

READ IT
then WATCH IT.

The Film that all the children were talking about... in 2011

How to Train your Dragon is the film that all the kids were talking about. Book sales must have risen spectacularly thanks to the production of that film. Children would talk dragoneese and class teachers would read it to the children at the end of the day before home time and when i was working in the classroom i had to admit that i had never seen the film and had no idea what they were talking about.

A few years on and i have decided to see what they hype was all about. I have to admit that i loved the film, it had a 'brave' feel to it in more than just the accents. I have to admit that I have a soft spot for toothless, he really won me over.

I actually really enjoyed it. The film flowed a lot more than i have come to expect with animated films and more importantly, it didn't have any songs in it!
I found it easier to watch than Brave, more enjoyable and i would probably say that this film is actually better than Brave but i know that there are so many people out there that would disagree with me, however, it was a really nice way to start the morning off.

They made a sequel to it and part of me is hoping that it will be like despicable me and despicable me 2 which are the only animated films so far that have managed to both be really good and almost on a par with another.

Frost/Nixon

A fascinating insight into the exchanges between tv presenter and entertainment David Frost and President Richard Nixon.
For someone like me that never really knew much about Nixon, this film teaches you a lot. The scandals, the controversy and the truth behind the man that American's voted as their President.
David Frost attempts to extradite the truth behind the biggest scandal of Nixon's presidency, the scandal that triggered his resignation and got millions of American's calling for his trial, a scandal called waters gate.
Frank Langella and his quite amazing voice goes up against Michael Sheen. Frank Langella is someone that i didn't know until this film but Michael Sheen I knew from Underworld, Alice in Wonderland, Tron Legacy and Blood Diamond and I knew that this was going to be an interesting match up. A voice can work wonders in films but then so can versatility.

Supported by Kevin Bacon and Matthew McFaden respectively, it is almost like watching a boxing match with words, going fist to fist and blow to blow- it's awesome.

Yes it's biographical but it's still one of the best films of it's type! Jeremy Paxman should watch this film and learn how to conduct an interview, it might make news round much easier to watch and much more interesting.

The Incredible Hulk

I feel that i should just point out for those loyal followers that I actually watched Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy yesterday and so I haven't actually watched 4 films today- i do have other things to do with my life than just watch films and blog about them.

I turned my eye on The Incredible Hulk to complete the Marvel trilogy of the Avengers. This film was originally done with Eric Banna and it is that version that i had seen. I wanted to see who was better- Ed Norton or Eric Banna. I know that really we are all waiting for them to start making Hulk films with Mark Ruffalo but until they do that then I will just have to review this film.

My siblings aren't huge fans of it. I don't know what their problem with it is. I enjoyed The Incredible Hulk, yes there was this feeling from the start that you could predict what was going to happen at the end and that you could predict most of the story but being predictable isn't always a bad thing- it's how you handle being predictable that makes or breaks a film.
Personally i felt that they had handled it well. I have slightly reserved feelings towards Liv Tyler but I was genuinely impressed with her in this film. I have a tendency to think of her only as the damsel in distress but this was not entirely a role like that for her. Her father is the general and refused to listen to her but she was hardly the damsel, more just a side character that pulled the strings and kept things ticking over nicely.
Edward Norton plays the part well, maybe not as well as Mark Ruffalo but still very well. He doesn't quite look as fierce as Ruffalo but even so, he has more of a doctor look about him. When the film starts he has already had his accident and yet it's hard to believe that someone that skinny can pull off turning into something so huge but even so, the transformation looks fairly realistic even if you never quite see it because they cover the shot with smoke or something of the like.

There's action enough in the film and science enough in the film. I don't know why people don't like it. It's not gripping but it ticks over nicely and explains why it is the Hulk ends up far away and learning to control his anger etc. This film explains enough if you are like me and watched the Avengers Assemble before the Incredible Hulk.

Wolf of Wall Street

I have to be honest- I turned this film off after five minutes. Five minutes told me what this film was going to contain. I don't want to spend my time watching porn and things like that so i will not continue to watch it.

If you have no idea what it is about then read this and don't watch it. Unless you spend your time watching porn , you wont enjoy it and spare yourself the effort.

It starts off introducing Leonardo Di Caprio's character and telling us how he made his money and how he had a perfect life. As we all know, the perfect business life comes with a lot of women, a lot of sex, drugs, alcohol and a lot of money that ultimately ends in a huge downfall.
Given that the name is the wolf of wall street, i think that you can guess what the downfall is in this case.

I hated the film- it is something that i will never ever watch again.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

A star cast to deliver what was voted the best film of the year and many thanks to Jojo for letting me borrow this film and watch it!

So as Gary Oldman lets try to work out who the spy is.
Garry Oldman is phenomenal in his role as George, the man that gets called out of retirement to discover the identity of the spy leaking government secrets to the Russians.

Mark Strong is dazzling as his character keeps you in the dark until the end. Character development is what makes the film and from start to finish the characters are still being developed, especially his.
John Hurt stars as control and plays the commanding role that we have already seen him take on at least once when he stars in V for Vendetta. This time his character is nicer and easier to understand. His screen time may be short but it is vital for the film that those precious minutes were found and produced to perfection the way that only John Hurt knows how to deliver them.
Benedict Cumberbatch also stars throughout the movie and his character is just as clever as the others. Not once do you ever suspect that he could possible ever betray his country and lets be honest, it is nice to see him blond instead of the usual brown hair that we have become accustom to seeing in Sherlock.
Colin Firth also plays a huge part, as does Ciaran Hinds and Toby Jones.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is worth every award that it won, every recommendation that it has been given and every positive review that it earnt.

I don't understand why some people find it so difficult to understand or to follow. If you actually sit down and watch the film instead of talking over it and doing other things as well then it is very self explanatory and not over complicated.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is awesome!

Memento

The most psychologically confuzzaling film that to my knowledge I have ever watched.
Memento is all about a guy that can't remember what he has done after his wife died. He is out for revenge and manages to kill the guy that murdered his wife but the film is shot in bits and pieces, flashing in and out of memories and real life clips to try and piece the puzzle together. This film is not a film that you can watch while multitasking, so if you are going to watch it then make sure that you pay attention to it.

Guy Pierce stars in a film with a very small cast. He is a killer, a profiler and a guy that can't remember most things. His flawless acting never falters in this film. I think that this is only the third film that i have seen him in (The Count of Monte Cristo and Priscilla Queen of the desert being the other two) and although this isn't the one that i enjoyed the most, this is the one that really displays his talent to the world.

I cannot really describe the film so you are going to have to watch it for yourself and see if it has the same effect on your mind as it did on mine.

The Blues Brothers 2000

Dan Akroyd and a host of big names such as BB King, Eric Clapton, Ray Charles and Frank Oz combine together to bring a musical sensation.

If you didn't guess that this was a musical then you need to make sure that you read the title of the film before watching it!
Dan Akroyd surprised me with his singing abilities and his cool, calm manner that was not shown in Ghostbusters. Dressing like something out of Men in Black, or lets get it right- Men in Black probably ripped this film off with the costume design, part of the temptation is to look at the first shot of Akroyd and think that he is trying to portray a mafia boss- he isn't. Akroyd matches a style of Blues, the style that his band pull off which involves dressing smartly and wearing dark glasses.
On the other hand, we have BB King and Eric Clapton that always dress very casually and let their guitar skills do most of the talking.

For the music- this is a brilliant film. For the acting, it's still great. Having Aretha Franklin actually feature in the film and sing RESPECT is totally genius. Stealing a police commanders wallet to buy a car is also another nice touch.

If you're in to musicals and especially in to jazz, blues, soul and R and B then this is a truly awesome musical. If you're not- don't watch it, add it to the list just on top of diamond girls and Ray for musicals to never watch, along with Chicago, High Society and the sound of music.

Who You Gonna Call?

If you haven't already guessed from the title, todays film was Ghostbusters. The film was made in 1981 so i feel like i am progressing through the ranks of the film making industry by advancing 40 years with this film.

Billy Murray is the name that everyone associates with this film and it is his name that appears on the credits first but i will remember more the guy with the really low voice for his voice than Billy Murray. Bill Murray was not the stand out character even though he was obviously the main character. He was ever so slightly outclassed by a deep voice!

Now we come to the graphics and animation- lets face it, it's out dated and not what we have grown accustom to seeing due to things like Inception, Avatar and even (dare i say it) the Matrix which all display amazing filming techniques and in some cases groundbreaking technology. We have to watch the film and laugh at the slightly robotic ghosts that are moving around but that is not a reason to not love the film and enjoy it.

When you're a kid and all you want to do is run around, make things and shoot things then this film should be the film (along with Despicable Me) that encourages you and inspires you to do so. All you need is a degree is science, some weird scientific technology, a fair amount of money and some technical language that to less educated people sounds really smart and you have got everything you need to be a ghost buster.
Kicked out of the university because the university got bored with their running around after hypothetical ghosts, Billy Murray, Dan Akroyd (Ray) and the guy with the really low voice move into the guy with the really low voice's house and kick start the ghostbusters business.
What makes this film so genius is the theme that everyone knows that runs in and out of the movie. Ghostbusters isn't in any way scary, you laugh with it and enjoy it for what it is but most of all you have to love the fact that someone managed to successfully mash up the theme tune with ACDC's Thunderstruck and you can listen for yourself right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiH1wNmZTII

Citizen Khane

The 1941 story about Charles Foster Kane.
Black and White (obviously) and  very much a typical film of that time. Citizen Kane tells about the life of a man who was at one time very much loved in America and thought to have the world at his feet until he did something scandalous and sacrificed it all for someone/something.

I found it a hard film to follow. It was as if i was listening to a news bulletin with little clips of his life in between. I wouldn't call it a film- more of a documentary about his life. If they had 10 o'clock news on BBC back in 1941 then that is what i thought that i was watching as i watched this film last night.

I have to admit that i find black and white movies with talking in much harder to watch than silent movies. In silent movies the acting has to be superb to get the story across to the audience. There are very few films that i have seen in black and white which have made me want to watch them over and over again. There is something missing, i don't know if it is sometimes the genius of someone's facial expressions or the quality of filming but something within the move to colour technology has made it almost impossible to really enjoy black and white movies. The more i watch them, the more i think that the likes of Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom would be well suited to those type of films- films for people who look pretty but can't actually act at all.

If any of you have seen this film then please tell me what you thought of it.

Beowulf

So now we turn towards Danish films. Last year we watched the Swedish the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and now we watch Beowulf.
The special effects to make the characters faces look more comic like and less human like are awesome. I would say that this is a step behind Tintin but it still represents a shift in animation and effects and where they have now come to.
Anthony Hopkins stars in this film and as i have said before-with the exception of Thor 2, he doesn't really make bad films. I love him in everything that i have seen him in and I am hopping that this continues as there are a few other films that i have yet to watch.

I do love how Beowulf sounds really- i want to say East London but i'm going to go more for sounding like Idris Elba than typically Danish. I actually know someone that is Danish so i am not just making it up based on stereotype- these guys couldn't sound more rough English if they tried.
I am wondering how much joy Ray Winstone got out of spending most of his time filming wearing practically nothing (if anything). There are the odd scenes where he just takes off his clothes out of somewhat arrogance.

If i had to rate this film then i would stick it on the once watched don't bother watching again pile. It's a good enough film but it's just not one that is good enough to watch over and over again. There is nothing truly gripping about it and whilst Anthony Hopkins is great in his role as the king (which seems to be becoming a regular role for him in films), his performance alone cannot hold together something that doesn't really have a leg to stand on. There are much worse films and this was certainly not a waste of the two hours that i spent watching it but i wouldn't say that it was the most profitable thing that i have done this week.

Butch Cassidy

Turning back the time from films that have been released in the last few years to a film that was made in 1965.
The poster that used to hang down the corridor of the English corridor in my school was of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. Starring at the poster for years whilst waiting for my lessons gave me a burning desire to watch this film. I have no idea why we didn't put it on the list for the challenge in its first year but at least now i have made sure that I got it on the one for this year.

Robert Redford stars in this cowboy gangster film about Butch Cassidy and his gang and he is fantastic. I particularly liked the scene where Paul Newman is challenged to a knife fight and there are no rules so he kinda makes them up as he goes along.

The scenery is somewhat familiar of Blazing Saddles. Old western films (not that you can really call blazing saddles that) all have the same kind of scenery.
This is a great film. There are no super close ups that was used past the point of obsession in Les Miserables and there are no wayward misc out of focus shots either. Everything fits perfectly and every shot allows the message to be delivered with ease.

See you all next time.

Iron Man 3

I have it on good authority that this film is better than both Captain America 2 and Thor 2, so lets see if he was right!
He was...

Neither of Captain America 2 or Thor 2 are really worth watching. Iron Man three is better than both of them but not as good as Iron Man. This film is desperately trying to end the Iron Man saga whilst connecting Iron Man to Avengers and trying to amend for the second film which was terrible.
I have to give it to Gwyneth Paltrow because she was absolutely superb throughout the film. She is the one person that has really managed to keep in character in every film and has managed to be consistently superb throughout.
There's not much to say about this film. Typical Iron Man has the typical characteristics of the film and Guy Pearce has his typical evil character sneer about him.

I know that this is a short post but if you are an Iron Man fan that you will be able to understand what i mean by saying that it is a typical Iron Man film. The action scenes are the same and Don Cheadle puts in a decent performance but his character has been somewhat subsided since the departure of Terence Howard due to him thinking that he was better than he was.

Not the best film in the marvel marathon but better than Iron Man two and if this is a sign of the future then Thor 3 and Captain America 3 (lets hope that they don't make them) will be better than their predecessors.

Thor 2

So who loved Thor?
Who was expecting Thor 2 to be really good because of Avengers and Captain America etc?
It wasn't.
It was better than Iron Man 2 and Captain America 2 but it really wasn't worth the effort. From the moment that it started i knew that it wasn't going to be worth the effort. Sometimes storylines from the start scream out at you and when it goes on about some ugly looking guy called Malakith i just sighed. This was just another film about revenge that was trying to give Thor his own story away from Avengers but it just didn't really happen.
There wasn't enough drama, enough logic to it, there wasn't anything to give it a boost or a push from the start.
I take my hat off to the performances of each of the cast because in their own way they were all outstanding, it's just that it was the wrong film to do.
I loved everything about Thor, the way that it was filmed and the sound and lighting and that is true of this film, the production team was obviously the same and so the actual filming was perfect.
Often i feel with films of this genre that there isn't enough in them, not enough to keep you on the edge of your seat or even to keep you moving. Sometimes the film just sorta, stands still in next to nothingness and that isn't anything to do with the way that it was shot, it's just to do with the way that the script was written and the film was directed. There is a time for those moments and it's at the end of the film and not really before.

I do apologise because i am not trying to turn this into a rant but i get the feeling that this is what it has turned in to. Thor fans don't be too disheartened by it, the actors are great and there is potential to make more films but having had Thor refuse the throne i'm not sure where they will go. Who knows, it could be an exciting part of Thor history that we are soon about to witness!