Pitch Perfect 2

They're back.
After seeing the first one last year, I became a huge fan of the film and the idea. I started to fall back in love with acapella and it inspired me to actually attempt to pay attention to popular music.

I had seen the adverts so I kinda knew what was going to happen throughout the film but I was slightly upset that they didn't start at the end of the first film as it would've been nice to see them get a few more people before starting off on their journey.

I loved the Fallout Boy song in it and it was an absolutely comical film but needless to say- the first one was better. I knew a lot more of the songs this time but i didn't feel like the quality was there this time. I know that that was the point of the film- that they weren't on their a-game until the end really but even so, for a group that has so much potential it was almost overplayed. When it came together at the end though, i really loved it.

Pitch Perfect is a feel good film with some wonderful moments and the second one is the same. I am really glad that the cinema was mostly empty cos i was waving my arms around and singing a lot!

Rebel Wilson was genius as always and Anna Kendrick was perfect. I'm not sure I liked Elizabeth Banks' hair this time round. I know that she got a budget now that she was directing but i think I preferred her looks in the first film. I also think that she overplayed the hilarious moments that were created by the scripting with that guy John in the first film. His Misogyny was overdone but still funny and there was the odd moment when they were both laughing comically and we were all like 'what the hell?' but nonetheless it's great, easy watching, time well spent.

Over and Out

Rango

So way back in 2011, when i was in my long lasting phase of not going to the cinema, Johnny Depp was in a animated film called Rango. Now those of you that are Johnny Depp fans will realise that Johnny Depp is in something like at least one film per year so at times it can be quite difficult to keep up with his films and watch them all. I think that this was made a year after Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows, so his slightly weird looking and general all-round weird performances were at their peak.

It's good to have children's films on the list for when Horror films and people dying all the time gets too much to bear. I have mostly grown accustom to hearing his Jack Sparrow voice, so this other accent was refreshing and ever reminding of his unquestionable acting talents.
At the start of his career he sorta landed some parts because he was good looking but now he has landed them on pure talent. The ability to change roles in every film is wonderful. Rango is no exception.

With this film i struggled at the start to work out the plot, I was very unsure of where they were going with it and who any of the characters were but after a while i kinda managed to work it out and really kick back and enjoy the film properly. The case presents it to be a really comical film but it wasn't. Yes, there were the odd moments of comedy but mostly it was just a wonderful child's film that was a pleasant way to spend the evening. Sometimes the greatest pleasure comes from watching children's films just because they have a great soundtrack and some kinda cheesy yet happy plots.

Although Depp is the star of the show and I have to admit that I really like him as a lizard, he is supported well by a whole bunch of people that we don't necessarily recognise the names of but we recognise the voice when we are watching it. People like Bill Nighy are wonderful in their role as Rattle Snakes. I was listening out for the Davy Jones accent and in the odd moments managed to find it but mostly I was really impressed by how well he managed to hold his accent without getting a part of any other notable previous accent in.

I guess the part that really sold me was the introduction by the singing animals with guitars and a very Mexican theme going on behind them. I love a great introduction to a film and as shown by films such as Hercules, sometimes it is all you need to get the audience to sit down and think positively about the film.

I wish that I had more children's films on this list because I love them!

Into the Woods

This is another film that I have added on to the blog as I somehow managed to miss it off the list back in December.

Into the woods as a film is fantastic. Anna Kendrick's voice is fantastic, much better than it was in pitch perfect. Her voice has come a long way, its stronger and her range has been shown fantastically in this film.

Lets not run away with praise for Anna Kendrick because the whole cast were fantastic. I take my hat off to Meryl Streep because her voice has come on ten fold since Mama Mia and her confidence has really show in this film. I love her entrances and exits, they made me roar with laughter every time. As the witch she is fantastic, wacky enough to really make a fantastic witch.

Alongside her is James Cordon who surprised us all with his voice. Much better than expected and I loved his character in it. For someone that I have only previously seen on the big fat quiz of the year with Jack Whitehall and at that point didn't like because i don't like Jack Whitehall, James Cordon was absolutely fantastic and very surprising in this film.

Emily Blunt was just as good next to him and all the more praise for making that film while pregnant and catching Meryl Streep in rehearsals when she fell off the table.

Now we welcome back to the scene young mister gavrosh. Daniel Huttlestone is really making a name for himself as a young singer and actor. He was pleasant and wonderful in this film. With a few singing lessons he would be able to hide his accent and would find a whole range of films open to him instead of just the ones that require his accent.

Lets not forget Chris Pine. How could we forget the cocky, arrogant, yet charming personality playing the prince. I loved the agony song. He was another one with a surprising voice but in a way was very much playing himself. The song was slightly comical to watch but it really gave you a feel of how it would have been performed in theatre. 

This was the main thing that made the film so enjoyable. Certain characters like Mr. Depps character was done as if it was in the theatre and not as if it was a film in a studio.

The budget was small for a movie and yet it managed to produce one of the best musicals created in the last decade for film.

I loved it. I cant compare it to the stage because I haven't seen it but I would welcome comments from anyone that has seen both.

Sondheim is wonderful and his works are wonderful.

What did you think?

Seven Samurai

This is a three hour long black and white film about Samurai's fighting to protect the farmers.

I watched it with subtitles and i didn't find it that entertaining. I don't have anything against black and white films, some of them are absolutely incredible but it does lack the beautiful scenery that is so often shown in Japan.

There was a lot of action and i'm sure a very good story line as well but with an action film like that it really needs to be in colour. The different language makes it hard to appreciate the acting and I don't know any of the actors so I can't compare them but I will always take my hat off to the guys for trying to make a martial arts film in black and white when so much of the action and scenery is missing through lack of colour.
The story goes that this village that has been under attack from bandits recruits seven unemployed Samurai to help them out. Unemployed basically means not that great but from watching their sequences, there is no reason as to why they are unemployed based on skill. Either the choreography is terrible- which it really shouldn't be given that these guys had no special effects and had to do everything as well as they could and couldn't add in any defying gravity moments or other such things that directors like to get in to these types of films. A film with a small plot that focuses around the art of Samurai and purely the work of Samurai.
It's definitely harder to sit there and think 'wow' when something spectacular happens because it just doesn't compare with what we are used to seeing but as we have discussed before, we need to sit back and imagine the effect. When this film was made in 1954 it was probably breathtaking, in 1954 Asia was probably still fairly unknown to most people, certainly it wasn't a journey that we would make on holiday and so this type of trade was becoming the popular thing, people wanted to watch films about this different style of fighting that was breathless and totally different from the British boxing and other types of fighting that were on offer.
I said that I didn't particularly enjoy it and I didn't but to a extent you have to make yourself enjoy it and that is the test of a good film- if you can make yourself enjoy it when you're finding it hard.

Unforgiven

Another Clint Eastwood western but at least it's not another horror film.
I said last year after watching Dirty Harry that once you had seen one Clint Eastwood film then you had seen them all.. I then went on to retract this statement after watching Gran Torino but i'm kinda wishing that i hadn't.

Unforgiven, because it is a western, is very typical Clint Eastwood and in some ways similar to Gran Torino. Changing the genre of the film doesn't hide an inability to act so well as it did with Gran Torino. Eastwood always manages to present himself as a kinda 'tough guy' that you wouldn't want to cross and wouldn't bet on to miss a shot but this is exactly how is in all three films that have featured on this blog in the last year or so. A different character but played the same well.

The turning point of this film was that it had Morgan Freeman and as I have said before- he doesn't make bad films and I also haven't yet found a film where i didn't like his performance in it- he is possibly the best actor on the planet at the moment.
His part was masked ever so slightly by being only a guy with a gun and the partner of Clint Eastwood but he was still fantastic nonetheless, it just meant that he was in less of the film which is always a shame.

This also has Richard Harris (RIP) in it! I am a lover of his films- The Count of Monte Cresto was wonderful and Gladiator is breathtaking. I loved his role in it and even have to admit that it wasn't until i examined the front cover and then IMDB'd it to double check that i realised that it was actually him!
I love his speech about the queen in the train scene about midway through.

I am happy to hear your comments, especially if you have a Clint Eastwood film in mind that you think would prove that he can change characters! Post it below and I'll watch it and review it!

The Evil Dead

I have only watched the 1981 original version at the moment and will at a latter date watch the remake as well.

It's another film where i think that you probably have to imagine the effect that it would have had because obviously we can do a lot more to make things more effective and gory. I'm not a huge horror fan (contrary to what you might think based on the recent posts) and this was once again one that i watched whilst multi-tasking.

I don't know any of the stars in this cast and so i cant really comment. I'm sure at some point I will come across another film with them all in and be able to compare them properly.
With films like this what you need is a great soundtrack and it had a good enough one. Just enough suspense to keep me flicking back to it and not really being able to concentrate on anything else properly.
I know that this movie was the start of a big movie franchise and that there are another two films to watch... I hope to watch them at some point and then i will post about them as well.
This is a very well made low-budget film. It looks like a low budget film but as we know in the film industry - money does not compensate true acting ability and you often find some truly talented actors in the smaller films.

I think that this film also served as inspiration for Cabin into the Woods but i haven't actually seen that film so i wouldn't know.

Signing off...

Hopefully no more horror films for a while...

Blade

Sorry it's been so long. I re-discovered the Sims and my social life has stopped and film watching has stopped so that I can play the Sims. There will be more films soon!

Another film about vampires. There have been so many that it is hard to keep up but I think that I am starting to get there.
Wesley Snipes stars as Blade. The really low voice works wonders- it always does. There weren't any classic moments in this film or really any very memorable quotes or one liners but it was a decent film nonetheless. I can't compare his role in this film to anything else as i haven't seen him in anything other than Blade Three. Are there any Wesley Snipes fans reading this?

The woman in this film was absolutely useless until the end of the film. She was pathetic in all fights until the last ten minutes of the film. I know that she is a doctor but she could at least spend her time in the film learning how to fight to some level instead of just screaming and getting captured all the time.

I know that the film was made in 1998 so the opening shot of the film would have been really impressive if it hadn't looked obviously like paint but then maybe it looked really good in 1998 or was trying to be like Tarantino and go for obvious fake blood.

There was a moment at the end of the film when i did wonder if the guy that was spinning his legs around a lot was actually going to make contact with anything of if he really was in fact a street/ break dancer and had started out as an extra in the film until they found out that he could move his legs like that and then wrote him in because as cool as it looks to be able to do all that weird stuff with your feet... he doesn't hit Blade once!

It's got some good fight scenes in it but it's got nothing on any of the films made after the matrix (2000).