Sin City

We have returned with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino to bring you a film that i am still confused by- it is of course Sin City.
Filmed in black and white with a bit of colour to scream Tarantino, Bruce Willis stars to bring you a typically violent and gory film with a kinda drug feel. I wasn't ever sure if i was following the plot or just hallucinating.
I feel like it's hard to really review it when i haven't really understood it but then i guess that would miss the point of the blog. At least i can say that this film ticks the criteria of films that i would watch again because i need to in order to understand the film.
Not a film that dragged on but then again i guess that Tarantino films don't ever really drag on, you fail to notice the time at all with them.
Weird in places but i'm more interested to know if there is anyone following this blog that can really explain sin city to me?
Feel free to take the reigns on this one!
Leave a comment!

The last Samurai

So for those who have spotted a pattern in my choice of director- yes i did do it intentionally. Blood Diamond and the last samurai are in fact directed by the same man.
Two contrastingly different films which is what i like to see from a director. I remember saying that Blood Diamond was a very good film but not a film that i would watch again. I can't decide if the last samurai is a film that i would watch again but i will say that i probably wouldn't watch it on loop. It is of course a fantastic film and Tom Cruise is perfect in the role of american captain in Japan.
Every quality about good and evil that is essential to make a film better than good and turn it in to truly genius is in this film. The deaths are moving, the character downfalls are surrounded by the rising of other characters and every sad moment is matched by just as strong happy moments.
I said that i wouldn't watch it on loop and some of you may be thinking how that is possible when i have just said all those thins about it so i will explain. It is a long film, 2hrs 27 mins and it feels long. It is not a film that drags on but at the same time there are parts of the film that feel long, it doesn't always flow and that can really be the difference between a short film and a long film. The longer that films drag on for, the harder they are to follow and it is harder to truly appreciate them.

I don't want to take anything away from this film and certainly not from the role of Timothy Spall who was magnificent and his character really swelled as the film developed.
The shots of the blossom on the tree were beautiful and the director did everything right with this film, i can't fault it for anything- it just didn't have the feel of something like bullet proof monk or crouching tiger hidden dragon. The mood was more serious and it was dealing with something more serious and for that i commend it but i think that that was the reason as to why i would not add it to my collection of films. It is a film that you may watch on the odd occasion where you really feel like watching it but i don't think that i will have that desire regularly.

Blood Diamon

A sensitive topic that brought out an exceptionally good film.
Blood Diamonds revitalized Leonardo DiCaprio's career after it had been epic-ly destroyed by Titanic. Yeah i know that this was made in 2006 and so he had made other films by that point but this is a turning point in his career after Titanic- no i've not seen catch me if you can.
Jenifer Connelly who we should all know from the film Labyrinth shows the world of her true abilities by staring as a journalist. Her role is sublime and she draws out the nature of a journalist but also shows the good side to them to.
Djimmon Hounsou is someone that i can't compare because i've not seen another film that he has been in but i can say that he was excellent. The man who has lost his family will do anything to get it back but understands clearly that working for the wrong people will only lead to death. No double crossing, just a desire to get what he wants in the best and most honest way possible. Determination and bravery make him on a level with Don Cheadle in Hotel Rowanda, moving and always swaying the audience.

Not a film that i would watch again but a film that was truly moving and thoroughly deserving of the five academy award nominations that it received.
I think that out of choice I probably wouldn't watch it again but it is a film that everyone should watch. Filmed to perfection with music that complimented it, there is nothing bad about this film.

RED 2

Kicking off the year with a bit of pure comedy.

The first one was on the challenge last year and this year I decided to kick things off with RED 2 to make me laugh.
With the acquisition of Anthony Hopkins, who is of course an acting legend and genius and the rather sad loss of Karl Urban things looked perfectly balanced for another hilarious film. That was what i was expecting and I wasn't let down.
Needless to say, I loved it!
I laughed a lot.
The plot was a little obvious but i guess that's what you expect when you put a bunch of actors such as Helen Mirren, Bruce Willis and John Malkovic together with a somewhat silly plot to work with.

Speed driving and some awesome stunts just reminded me of how things can still be done in film. Not overdone with technology and not loads of prancing and spinning, just pure martial arts and some great driving scenes. It would be far-fetched to state that there was nothing slightly unrealistic about it but everyone knows that with machine guns you just have to take the chance and have overkill on them before anyone gets hit, if anyone gets hit. We'll give them that one as it seems to be a law in film making.
Katherine Zeta Jones stepped up trying to play a russian but that was never really going to work, fortunately for her she wasn't a major role. Likeable and minor enough to pull it off. Of course the show was really stolen by the headlining cast and Mr Hopkins but I will hand it to the latest addition in the cast who was a contract killer. I haven't written his name because I can't spell it and I would love to mention the man that starred in V for Vendetta as Mr Creedy. Although we don't always realise it, films like this are cast full of famous people that we kinder recognise without realising.
Not the film of the year but a lovely one nonetheless and definitely a family film for all.

Lovely way to start off the year.
Back soon!