Tootsie

This is the film that inspired the very funny, Robin Williams movie 'Mrs. Doubtfire'. Instead of Robin Williams it is Dustin Hoffman and he doesn't do as many voices as Williams but he does cross dress to get work because no one will employ him as an actor and a man because he argues with every director he has ever worked with.

Dustin Hoffman is a seriously underrated actor. For a while now he has been playing supporting roles instead of the lead but when he was younger he was the selling name and he hasn't lost any of his talent through age. Young Dustin Hoffman is the man that young people can look at and find attractive. There is a lot more to this film than the plot that 'The Graduate' had, which is the film that he is really known for.

This film is entirely about him. Not about the soundtrack or about Bill Murray (who is a fantastic character in this film), just about Dustin Hoffman. Bill Murray is probably playing the best character of his career in this film. He has had some great roles but single handedly permitting Michael Dorsey, aka Dorothy Michaels, to stash his female outfit and handle ignoring his girlfriend because he has fallen in love with this actress that he works with. Dorothy is the strong female character that every woman from that era wanted to be, needed to be and couldn't be at that time. It's hilarious and wonderful and everything that a true comedy is. You watch it and you see what he does, how he gets in to character and it is funny without it even really trying to be funny. That kind of commitment is refreshing to see.

Never underestimate a film made in the 80's.

Rebecca

This film was brought to my attention years ago when I was doing A-level literature and studying ' The Bloody Chamber' because of its weird similarity to Rebeca.

This is a Hitchcock movie, one of his first and one that stars Lawrence Olivier. Made or released in 1940, black and white, which is Hitchcock's preferred way of filming and personally, I think that black and white complements the music that always emphasises the suspense of a Hitchcock film. Black and white is the way that he should have gone with for all his films. It helps to make things more scary and harder to predict.

Olivier is much  better than James Stewart because he can actually act and isn't just himself in every film that he has ever been in. Unfortunately for Hitchcock all of his real stars become bigger or make decisions that impact their career and life. Olivier went on to make many other movies and didn't want to keep selling Hitchcock movies, Grace Kelly got married, became Princess of Monaco and wasn't permitted to continue with her acting career and Julie Andrews really made her name from singing and after damaging her voice made the odd appearance and turned to writing children's books and doing voice acting for the Despicable me series of films.

There is more to this film than the similarities towards this famous mistreatment of women. This film is an adaptation of a novel and the novel sold very well. I haven't read the novel but I do know that this film is a strong film. With Olivier holding the lead and giving off probably the most convincing performance in a Hitchock movie (although Carry Grant is close) any woman taking on a new role and trying to make a name for themselves can relax and just play their part because they know that next to one of the all time greats they can play off him.

Tragedy strikes at the end but there is a sense that none of the characters were really wrong or bad. We all think that because this plot is similar to the marquis de sade that Max De Winter (Olivier) is going to miss treat his wife but he's not what we are expecting and that makes for a nice surprise. The ending is always exciting and as someone who owns at least ten Hitchcock films I am very excited to watch the rest of them.

Trolls

This film was one of the Kid's films of the year because of the song 'can't stop the feeling' which earnt Justin Timberlake a lot of hype and nominations for awards.

Anna Kendrick has really made a name for herself. She started out as Scott Pilgrim's sister (at least in my filmography she did) and then moved on to singing in musicals. She has style, sass, attitude and is considered by many to be gorgeous but even more than that, she has serious talent and a great voice. Admittedly this film is a little harder to judge her talent because she is a pink animated character singing, hugging and playing the ukulele.

'Trolls' is aimed at young children and tries to teach the idea that happiness can always be found and status doesn't mean anything. It's a good idea to be teaching to children as it will probably help a little in reducing teenage depression but there is no evidence to suggest such a thing, so please don't take my word for it. Justin Timberlake looks good as a blue animated troll. He makes odd decisions in relation to his film career, some are good decisions and some are stupid decisions which can only end in disaster. This guy has made his name on singing and dancing. That is what he is good at and he can go on making money like that forever because he is Justin Timberlake. Films are a bonus for him so I wish that he would make more good choices like this film. He got to take on the complex character who tried to steal the show, which is a new development for him and a new character for him. It suited him.

Not as good as 'Moanna' but possibly better music (in my opinion). The only other kids film on my blog list this year is 'Sing' and that is the kids film that I am most excited about.

The Hitman's Bodyguard.

This film is genius. This is as good as Kingsman, if not better.

Ryan Reynolds has started to be in films in which the character that he plays also has a serious inability to stop talking. He looks good as a bodyguard, well dressed, well shaven and driving nice cars. If it weren't for the constant talking it is one of the many careers that you could see him moving in to when he stops getting the good characters cast his way. Always slightly arrogant but you can overlook it because it always come back to haunt him and makes him stupid. His character has that heroic feel that you knew it was going to have but there are moments when you see the caring and compassionate side to him.

Unfortunately, no matter how good he is, he just isn't comparable to Samuel L Jackson. This guy has all the language from 'Pulp Fiction', the attitude from 'XXX' and the skills from 'Star Wars'. In short- they told him to be badass and he went for it. This guy owns this film. It's not about Ryan Reynolds, its about Samuel L Jackson and even though it is supposed to be about Reynolds' character Michael, it really is about Darius Kincaid. This film has the feel of any James Bond film but with the comedy to go with it. Watching Jackson in the speed boat was similar to watching Roger Moore in a speed boat during 'The Man With The Golden Gun'. Everything that you remember an action film being- this is it.

There is sentiment in this film and for once they don't focus on the CIA, instead, choosing to go with Interpol instead so as to make all agencies look bad and not just continuously go for the same people. The sentiment comes from Darius Kincaid (Samuel L Jackson) and what he would do for his wife. His wife is strong, controls her audience and teaches you a few things about how to interrogate someone. There are things that you would do for someone that you love. They may be crazy things but you would still do them- as shown in this film. Even Meatloaf couldn't have dreamt up some of these things.

www.ninjabookbox.com

Morgan

Last year on the blog we reviewed a film called 'ex-machina'. A film about robots, experiments and tricking the system. I mention it now because 'Morgan has a similar feel to that film.

What you get from this film is a strong woman, or rather, two strong women and a system that involves programming humans to turn them in to controllable  weapons. Previous films such 'Aeon Flux' and 'Equilibrium, to name a few, have touched upon this subject and the idea that you can develop a human who is controlled and therefore can become the perfect warrior. Morgan takes it a step further and actually shows all the flaws with this idea. The cast are incredible and the lack of emotion displayed by the leads are incredible. Being able to kill without emotion is scary but very hard for anyone to pull off on screen because we are human and compassion and other similar feelings are part of being human. This display is incredible and even though I have probably said it before, thinking back to 'Hitman' when the lead was emotionless and fantastic, this team are taking it all to a different level. 

Morgan has a twist, a set up for a sequel and any sequel made, if kept to the level of this film would be phenomenal. There are times when we j

Sympothised with the character of Morgan and actually wanted her to hurt the person yelling at her because shouting doesn't help anything. Ask any teacher and they will tell you that shouting doesn't make any child more willing to do what you are asking them to do. Kindness and appealing to a child, showing that you are human and getting on a level that they can appreciate is the best way that you can  reach a human and I felt like script writers are still missing a trick because they create these characters who provoke violent reactions and then try to convince the audience that the character didn't deserve what was coming. It is a stereotype of a doctor involved in this type of case that they shout a lot and don't care whereas casting someone as a character who actually believes that what they are doing is helping and will make things better appeals far better to our human nature.

Morgan is like 'The hunger games' crossed with 'Hitman' and a few other films. Morgan is the next step to this idea of human perfection. Every script writers wanting to write something in this field need to watch this film and capture the same characterisation.

Fantastic film.

Beverly Hills Cop

Eddie Murphy is still sort of a new addition to this blog. He's been known as Donkey since Shrek was released but as he is known as a comedian and I don't find him funny I have been really reluctant to let him feature on this blog because of that but 'Trading Places' was a very good film so he has earnt his slot on this blog.

Beverly Hills. Where to begin? I see a lot familiar faces in this film. 'Neil' from 'The Santa Claus' and 'Clifford' from 'Some Kind Of Wonderful' are two cops who team up with Eddie Murphy. One doesn't trust him or like him and the other eats all the food that is offered to him and attempts to have his back. There's comedy in this film but it comes down the same police story I have seen many times. A police officer is disgraced and put on vacation and uses it to get at a criminal in Beverly Hills.

This film is good enough. It's dated and I am struggling to imagine what the real attraction of it would have been because no one in this film was convincing and the only conclusion I can reach is that this film is the basis for 'Rush Hour' but that doesn't help much because I found Chris Tucker so irritating that I didn't enjoy that film. I didn't find it funny and I found everything to be unrealistic but this is a personal opinion. All of them have done better things with their careers and it hasn't stopped anyone in this film carrying on with their careers which is very good. Beverly Hills Cop is the foundation for many other film ideas but it didn't quite come off this time around. Needless to say that I will not be reviewing the sequels.

Jungle Book

No, this is not the Disney animated film because I grew up with that film. This film is the live action movie that made it to cinema last year and kick-started the live action movie fling that is going on with all the Disney movies at the moment.

This film bragged some of the biggest names in film world today such as Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba and Christopher Walken and yet it wasn't talked about in the same way that 'Beauty and the Beast' was. Maybe that is because the later is a magical film for any girl or woman whereas 'The Jungle Book' doesn't have that magic and it never did- it never had the 'Tale as Old as Time' dancing sequence in a fantastic dress that makes every girl want to be a woman and have that moment. Before I actually move on to the names and their performances as live action characters I will look at the scenery. A kid walking through a, well, I don't want to say jungle but river, lake or part of Africa are probably inaccurate as well. The stream running, the rocks, the flowers, there is something special in that scene but I needed more of it to really capture my attention.

As a musician the first thing that I am going to do is complain about the reduction of songs in this film. There are a few songs in this film but not as many as there were in the original film and you should never remake a Disney film and remove the music from it. I liked the music that was in the original film and even if I hadn't liked it there needs to be a constant musical presence in a film like this and there wasn't enough of one to restore the joy that was given in the original film. They remade this film from a Disney film so we are always going to compare it with the original film. So to anyone out there just about to tell me that I can't compare these films then be quiet because I can.

The feedback that I received from this film (from my sister) was that she was disappointed with the casting in that Idris Elba with his east London accent couldn't quite pull off being an evil character but I could hardly notice it and it didn't bother me because Evil doesn't have an accent but we have come to stereotype it over the years with an English accent or a gangster accent. It's not about where you are from, it's about who you are.

Bill Murray surprised me. His voice surprised me when he was singing and I really couldn't recognise his voice without actually seeing him and not a bear. Taking the time and allowing this film to go back to being any other film and to be considered 'old' has allowed me to forget who was in it and watch the film as a film, see what I see, recognise what I see and hear and not know and judge who was in it to start with. I thought that Bill Murray was finished. I thought that his cameo in Ghostbusters was signalling the end of his career because he actually was never that good to start with but he isn't- not based on this performance.

The Jungle Book is not as good as the live action 'Beauty and the Beast' and I haven't seen the live action 'Tarzan' so I can't yet include that one but they are going in the right direction. They are going in the right direction and there have definitely been worse films made in recent years without the live action but it is needed and it does help to bring the Disney movie to life more for the adults who don't want to spend all their time watching Disney animated movies because they feel like they should have moved past that point. Stop stereotyping and just allow yourself to focus on what is in front of you. This remake stays close to the original and does its best.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 2

The final part! Three years and four films before I could write this review. I remember writing that the second film was like the first film and almost made the first film seem pointless because everything that they had worked for, everything that they had achieved was ignored when they had another hunger games. Then the third film was all about getting Peta back after he was captured during the second hunger games and the fourth film was about what the first film was really about- taking down Snow- oh and did I mention... ANOTHER hunger games?!

I have enjoyed these films because Katniss is a strong character but unlike in the 'Divergent' series, which is all about 'Tris', who is pathetic and totally dependent on 'Four', 'Katniss' (Jenifer Lawrence) is strong and not reliant on anyone. You think that she is but she completely fools everyone at the end of the fourth film. Just remember that I haven't read the books so I had no idea what was coming. Now that I have seen the films I will at some point, attempt to read the books.

The music is fantastic in this series and I can't help but love the stand off between Katniss and the character portrayed by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. He watches everything (sounds a little weird) and understands her better than she does but she hasn't actually truly understood just how well everyone around her knows her. The only reason it has taken this long for them to capture Snow is because he knows everything about her. He knows how to get to the people close to her, how to motivate her and how to make things work. She hasn't understood this about herself and she still doesn't by the end of the film.

Each of these characters reach the end of their development. Peta remains as useless as he was to start with and when at first he seemed cool, now he just seems like a less attractive, less useful version of 'Four'. Elizabeth is the one to watch. Her hair is fantastic and it never stops being fantastic. When I see her in 'Pitch Perfect 2' I often think that she only took on the role of director so that she could give herself a hair budget and let's face it- if you could do that, why wouldn't you? If you are a fan of 'The Hunger Games' then each of these films have a reason to watch them and are quite good even if they are infuriating at the plot going round in circles for a while. I understand that they stayed quite close to the books and that the second book was written to be as irritating as the film makes it out to be so I will give it the benefit of the doubt because the next two films, which admittedly would make the book read very well, are very good when you think of them as one book, one plot and leading straight and intentionally into the other without any break. Don't forget that Mockingjay was made into two films to get more of the book, or more action time in to the movies and that they really are just one very long but quite good film.

I can say that I am glad to have finished this series.

Last Action Hero

It has been a while since Schwarzenegger featured on this blog and to quote his famous saying 'I'll be back' and we made sure of it.

Arnold seems to be taking the piss out of himself in this film by going for the same lines and the same stunts that the kid has seen before, meaning that we have seen before because we see it in every movie he has ever been in. I don't like spelling his name so he is going to be known as Arnold on this blog and nothing else. Arnold is partnered up with a kid who manages to have a magic ticket (no, not a golden one) that takes him through the old movie screen and in to Jack Slater 4, becoming Last Action Hero.

The kid is exceptionally irritating. I know that we all think that Jake Lloyd is the most irritating kid to feature on screen but this kid gives him a good run for his money. If you can ignore the kid and just focus on Charles Dance with his ginger hair and spectacular glass eyes, along with Ian McKellen playing death then you have a film worth watching. I think that we all know that Arnie would take down Charles Dance in a fight but I feel like Charles Dance would be a sniper and Arnie wouldn't actually know how to fire a gun- his strong point is with his hands.

The stunts in this film were something that I liked. The idea behind this film is favourable and admittedly, is a bit of a fall back for anyone now writing a film plot after having a mental block for a while but that doesn't matter too much. When you play to your strengths you are likely to create a film that appeals to certain sections of the world and this guy is still favourable because a lot of people are his fans and are action fans. The car chase is a little weird because in today's world we can see that he would have been dead if the shooters had actually aimed. It has to look realistic and then it has to not be  too close for us to worry about Arnold and for the time that this movie  was made it looked good and made it very enjoyable. You can probably imagine being a kid, sitting on the edge of your seat and watching a film like this, the action, the suspense and then being totally in suspense with the action of this film and what is going to happen.

You've got classic lines in this film. Everything that you could love about an action film or about Arnold is in this film. Last action hero really shows what it is like to be a policeman and what it is like to go through a divorce. You're not popular, except to all the people that you put behind bars and your family leave you when other people start leaving their card and gunmen to kill you. Divorce, empty house and not much going there- isn't a life that I want to have.

Much better than I was expecting it to be.