National Velvet.

Inspired by listening to a Clare Maguire song called 'Elizabeth Taylor' I wikipedia'd her and chose one of her most famous films to watch. Film of choice- National Velvet. Incredibly hard to acquire but worth the troubles.

Elizabeth Taylor is everything you could want from an actress. The Brunette Marilyn Monroe is stunning in this film. Determined and yet sympathetic and understanding at the same time, no one pulls off a character like this as well as she does.

A lot of credit must go to the women that played her mother in the film. A strong woman, which was unusual for the times and at the same time an understanding and loving mother that wants what is best for her daughter but actually understands that she has to let the child follow her heart instead of making her follow a path laid out for her by someone else. I can't remember the last time that I saw a character like this in a film made back in the 40's. I was actually gobsmacked by this character and the freedom that she had over every decision that they made as a family.

The freedom for all characters in this film was something to be marveled. At that time it's simply unthinkable that those characters could do what they did so easily. I'm not saying that entering the Grand National pretending to be a man and then winning it is easy- it isn't and I wouldn't dare to make that suggestion but what I will say is that there was so much freedom in these characters that it must have been a pleasure to play them.

Watch out for currently a film a day on the blog- next up is 'Holiday Inn', followed by 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' and then 'The Expendables 2'.

Batman Forever

Val Kilmer takes over from Michael Keaton as Batman. More convincing and wonderful as Batman and Bruce Wayne. Looking at Val Kilmer, it is easy to see the rich billionaire within him but at the same time putting on the mask and the way that he talks allows batman within him to come out and be as convincing as his portrayal of Bruce Wayne.

Next we welcome Chris O'Donell and isn't he at times vomit inducing and all gangster like but oh well, every hero needs a sidekick and it makes perfect sense for the next installment which was Batman and Robin. Joined to the new guys are two new women in Nicole Kidman and Drew Barrymore. Both are playing sexy blondes and are mesmorising. Drew Barrymore could quite easily play a typical angel associated with evil characters- sexual attractive- more than that- provocative and totally wonderful. Kidman is gorgeous. Everything about her character is gorgeous- the quality of the character, the intelligence and there is nothing naive about her either.

Welcome to Tommy Lee Jones who plays Harvey Two Face. Excuse the makeup which is obviously purple paint and just sit back and enjoy his performance that in some ways was better than Aaron Eckhart. Jones gets more time and more of a character but he gives you the other side to two face that Eckhart does not- the reasonable, slightly more human and less insane side that would have been him before getting burned with acid. The criminal side also comes out but that is the main reason behind his coin- the coin allows both sides of him to come out and it is something that is greatly missed in the newer batman films. Jim Carey comes back to produce his normal Carey characters that are either maniacs or trying too hard to be happy all the time. This character sums up what you should expect from any Jim Carey film and I can't really say anything else other than his costume as Riddler is startling.

As a Batman fan I loved the introduction of Arkham Asylum and I had a burning desire to continue playing lego batman after watching this film- everything from some of the levels that I had been playing now made sense. The Batcave was perfect, almost exactly as it is on the lego games and the methods were perfect. This film is much better than the two that went before it.

The Amazing Spider-man 2

A splash was made by the first one. After the somewhat torturous three films made with Toby Maguire as Peter Parker the world got excited for a man who had made his name in 'The Social Network' and 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' and who was universally acknowledged as someone who could act- Andrew Garfield.

The first film was logical, not too arrogant and much better than any Spider-man film made before. High hopes were set for the sequel and like nearly all sequels they were boundaries that were just too high for the production crew. Within the first twenty minutes the arrogance had crept so far in that without drinking anything we wanted to hit Spider-man. I know that in comparison to most of the other super heroes spider-man is just a kid and with all super heroes comes arrogance to a degree but the first twenty minutes gave a Shia Le Beuf in transformers feel- sweaty, slightly big headed kid that thought more of himself than anyone else did. I expected more from Andrew Garfield. Sometimes it is really nice to see a young man playing a decent guy, not one that plays on his looks or special abilities- not one that is too humble and insecure. I know that it is a minority but it is possible for the lead character to be a decent person in every sense of the word and watching another super hero delve into his arrogance more and more is just irritating and repetitive- show me something different.

Putting all that aside, Andrew Garfield manages to reproduce the performance that captured so much attention in the first film. Now he has his powers and understands how to use them he has to embark on becoming New York City's superhero, keeping everyone safe and everything else that goes with the job description, which he does very well.

Jamie Foxx is the villain this time and like every role that I have seen him take on, I have admired his work and appreciated his efforts. A good and solid choice for a villain and also a great choice of character for him to take on as it is something different to the immediate roles that spring to mind.

Scream

There aren't many horror films on the list this year and I've picked them based on the movie poster quiz's that I do. Scream was one that kept coming up so I put it on the list and decided to split up the many action films with a bit of horror on a beautiful day.

Scream is not scary but I like that. I hate horror films and I liked that this was less horrible than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. There was something logical about this film, nothing was obvious but everything made sense in the end. Nothing was fantasy based, like the ring with the girl in the well- it wasn't supernatural, it was just a couple of psycho school kids out to get a girl and have a bit of fun. Keeping it simple really helped this film, nothing was too complicated and nothing was too ridiculous. When it all came down to it there was logic  and a plot that had clearly been thought out by the directing team.

I am glad that they did not call it 'Scary Movie' which is what it was originally going to be called because it doesn't come close to living up to the name. Scream is a much better name for the film because screaming happens a lot in this film and is something that is always going to happen in a horror film.

The only thing that I didn't fully understand was how the guy that they shot didn't actually die. More importantly how did he managed to get up and run away from the crime scene? This is the only hitch in a otherwise very well thought out film. Scream is a film that you can sit back and enjoy. You don't have to admire the blood, you just have to admire the work that has been done on the film considering that it was made in 1996. Not dated, not obviously fake and equally not so real that it makes you want to vomit- just admirable and quite enjoyable to watch and appreciate.

Footloose 1984

A Young Kevin Bacon in a dirty dancing- esq style film and he can't dance but somehow managed to get away with a dancing double.

This film was not on the list, it was recommended to me by a friend who normally has a very good taste in films. I am glad that someone bothered to recommend me a film for the blog because I love these styles of films. The music is fantastic and even the dance sequences is something to be admired. Young Kevin Bacon looks a lot like young Ewan McGregor and I am a massive fan of young Ewan McGregor.

Watching this film made me desire a friend with a car that could drive me to a diner whilst playing loud classic poison/ blues rock out of the beaten up car. Like Flashdance it made me go out in the dark, put my headphones in and dance around the street without a care in the world. Those moments are moments that change people, encourage and inspire them and because of that this film encourages and inspires people.

It's not particularly a musical, it should fit in the teenage film section of your movie collection alongside 'Dirty Dancing', 'Pretty In Pink', 'Empire Records', 'The Perks of Being A Wallflower' etc and is a film that no one should have missing from their collection. The film both angered me and then made me very happy at the end- everything that a film should do- it should reach you emotionally but make you happy at the end (unless it is a true story in which case it doesn't have to).

Footloose is brilliant. I can't understand why no one mentioned this film to me before!

The Bourne Supremacy.

Jason Bourne and Matt Damon are tonight's feature. I watched the first one years ago (six or seven years ago) and have eventually managed to obtain the 2nd and 3rd films to watch. The ultimate killing machine, the guy that could beat wolverine and Liam Neeson in a fight, Jason Bourne is a character that dominates a film but not through brute strength, more through planning, structure and ability.

I've got a question for all of you out there who actually bother to flick over this- who would win in a fight: Jason Bourne or Jack Reacher?

I remember the first film: The Bourne Identity and I remember liking it a lot but the film left it very open for at least another film. I haven't read the books and I know that there were three books so it makes sense to have three films (I know that there are now 4 films) but sometimes when making three films you can feel like one of the films is not of the same quality as the others or sometimes you feel that the films could have been merged into two films instead of three. This film, the second installment in the Bourne series is just as good as I remember the first one being. Everything about it was perfectly thought out. There were little moments or the odd characters that you could read like an open book but in all spy films there has to be someone like that so that you can keep up with the otherwise, somewhat at times, difficult and congested plot. 

The addition of Julia Stiles was lovely and as always she doesn't disappoint. Her character allowed the character of Bourne to be developed and also created some cheshire cat-like grinning moments to the film. Either the CIA are very stupid in this film or Jason is just cleverer than all of them there because he manages to have a phone conversation with them from the building across the road without any of them successfully managing to locate him. Those moments are wonderful- it makes you laugh and it almost literally is Jason Bourne sticking a finger up at all of them saying- 'let me teach you how to do your jobs'.

Gotta hand it to them- they really did know how to make a sequel.

Mission Impossible 2

Sorry that there wasn't a post yesterday- I was busy taking part in a very brutal Indiana Jones drinking game. Now that I have recovered I could settle down with something not too demanding in the form of Mission Impossible 2 and enjoy the pleasure of a non George Lucas film.

So what can Tom Cruise offer us in one of his most famous roles? 4 years after the first film was released the cast return for the next installment of the american James Bond with the as cool theme tune as John Barry's James Bond theme. I remember laughing at the ridiculous ending to the first film- the helicopter crashing with the train in the tunnel and the news reporter saying that it was an unfortunate training practice but no one was hurt. No one in real life could pass that off so I was dubious about this film and how many stupid things like that it was going to try and get away with but I am pleased to say that there weren't any.

A slight change in personnel with everyone pulling their own weight and a reasonable plot made the sequel to Mission Impossible a decent attempt to continue the franchise. Based on this film there is no reason as to why they shouldn't make a third film. The films aren't absolutely amazing but they are good enough with the right kind of ideas to enable them to become a six film franchise (if they make a sixth film). The stunts were more believable and the fight sequences had been thought out properly but there were moments when either of them fighting could have killed the other and they just didn't want to. Those moments make you want to sigh a little because in most fights your opponent is going to take their shot at you and just hit you or shoot you instead of letting you get back up so that you can win the fight.

In a few months time I'll post up the third film and by the end of the year I might have watched the fourth and fifth films as well but who knows?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away there was a world that had been shown many wonders through the creation of Star Wars episodes 4,5 and 6. This world was also then later corrupted by Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (made good by Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor), Attack of The Clones (Ewan McGegor, Samuel L Jackson and Frank Oz made it okay) and Revenge of The Sith (nothing could make this good).

Now they decided to corrupt Star Wars further by making another three films. I decided not to waste the money on going to see it in cinema for an extortionate amount and I am so grateful that I did because it was shocking. I am not 'a true believer' and I can't see the need for making this film which could not have any kind of plot. Everything about it was awful, or almost everything. BB8 was fantastic but nothing else was okay. There was no enemy, the sith were gone, Luke was the last Jedi and even though Leya had the powers flowing through her she never used them so where did this evil guy train??

His lightsaber was terrible and the weapon that was a deathstar was shocking as well. I skipped scenes that were just pointless and a waste of time. I am trying to find something positive to say about the film but JJ Abrahms just made it almost exactly like what it would have been if George Lucas had directed it- the screen wipes and the same John Williams music with the same rubbish plot and unnecessary need for anything. What was the point in making this film??

The millions of people world wide who loved this film- I can't see why. If I wanted to watch a new hope I would have just watched a new hope and I would have felt a lot better about what I was watching. I loved R2 being brought back to this film and I loved that Anthony Daniels can carry on his legacy of being in all the films but that is kinda where the list of what I like actually stops.

Sorry for upsetting millions of people world wide.

About Time

A film with Donal Gleeson all about a Ginger kid.

There is more to this film than that opening statement. About time is literally about turning back time. Tim can travel in time, he can go backwards and relive the day before going back forwards to where he was before turning time. This means that he can do what we can't but would like to do- correct our mistakes and make different choices.

Previously I have not seen much of Donal Gleeson and I was sceptical of him because he was in Harry Potter and that was what drew attention to him. I was impressed with him, very much so. Normal and in many ways the perfect performance of a slightly shy, awkward guy who doesn't have many friends and has no real experience of women or love. There are some absolutely fantastic moments and some lovely moments in the film. At times I felt like the plot was slightly destroying the point of life but it was good to make a film about something that deep down we all wish for.

Supported by Bill Nighy, who is, of course, absolutely fantastic whatever role he plays, Donal Gleeson and Bill Nighy team up to deliver a fantastic show. Playing the dad that everyone wished that they could have, Nighy shows you exactly what everyone wants from a father and why having one that cares is a real blessing. You may not have friends but sometimes having someone from your family to support you is better than having friends.

I really loved the film. I will watch it over and over again so that I can laugh with it and at times sigh and want to skip a few minutes ahead to avoid the obvious mess taking place. Everyone should watch it.

The Truman Show.

It has to be American. I have never met anyone called Truman before but I am not surprised to find it in a movie, especially one like this movie.

Right from the start, without reading the synopsis or anything I got a ballimorey feel and that told me everything that I needed to know about the film. At no point was it boring because I wanted to see how far Truman would go to find out the truth but realising from so early on just sapped a little bit of the sting out of it from the start and at times did make it harder to stay focused.

Another Jim Carey film and I have to be honest and say that I hadn't realised that he starred in the film otherwise I would not have watched it so close to watching the mask. I have become pleased with his earlier performances. I don't find him comical in anyway and it almost makes me sick when he tries to be funny. Likewise I don't find him particularly serious- there's just something about him that makes him good as the guy that is always trying to be serious but somehow never manages it. Not the heartthrob, not an action hero, not even a romantic comedy kind of guy; just the guy that makes the slightly weird films with a slightly different character and trying to be his natural self on screen works for him- I can't understand why he tried to change it.

I don't really recognise anyone else in the film and I am struggling to think of a standout character. Over the years with TV series we have seen how actors playing characters that are in themselves actors really struggle. Matt Le Blanc really struggled in Friends. After Friends he didn't successfully do anything else without playing an actor- do we ever get to see what he can really do or just what the character can do?

Not my favourite film and not a film that I would search for to add to my collection of films but a good enough film with an interesting plot and theory behind it.

Casino

Robert Di Niro is back staring in a casino gangster film. The prequel to Ocean's Eleven (it's not but it should be) is something to admire. Nothing instructs you on the true running of a Las Vegas casino better than this film.

What I liked about this film was the character development. Di Niro was shown to as a young man who wasn't sure about taking on a casino but eventually agrees to do it on his term. As the film goes on he gets older and his friend gets in to all kinds of trouble that impact Di Niro as he has lost his muscle man due to a ban and being on everyone's most wanted lists.

Of course there is an absolutely gorgeous woman that Di Niro falls in love with, who is, of course, a player of wealthy men. Every man has their downfall, for his partner it was drugs and for him it was this woman. Casino is cleverly done. The film takes you through the way that every casino is run. A lot of films assume that their audience have been to a casino or at least know how the system works but we don't. For those of us that don't live in America and are under 21 we (mostly) know nothing about the running of a casino past what we have seen in Ocean's Eleven. I learnt a lot from this film.

Amelie

Having strayed away from a few of the films on the blog to add a little spice and length to the blog I have taken the bold step to go for a film entirely in French.

No, I don't really understand French, at least, not at the speed needed to translate what is being said. The plot I got from reading about it on Wikipedia and then I treated it like a silent movie but with colour. I sat back in my chair with a hot chocolate and a footstool and just watched the expressions of and body language of the people on the screen and I have to say that I really enjoyed it.

3 years on I am wondering how I have kept it going for so long. The blog doesn't attract more than about 9 views a day when a new post comes out and it is never going to be popular. I spend most of the time writing for myself to read, no one comments and no one contributes to the blog with suggestions. I didn't study film but I have found myself enjoying so many different types of film that I wasn't aware of until I started this blog. I have learnt things along the way about the genres and I hope that as the blog continues I can pick up some more language and start to write some decent reviews of the films that I have seen.

Now I must issue and apology to everyone in this film- I haven't worked out how to do accents on this keyboard and so I am afraid to write the names of the cast because I cannot spell them correctly.
This does not mean that the cast were not good- on the contrary, they were excellent and they really brought the lovely plot of Amelie to life in the way that they each played a character. Well duh, it's acting... that doesn't mean anything. Not all actors can play a character, they can play themselves and sometimes they can play a role but very few manage to bring out what's underneath in the character, bring out that wow factor that makes you at times unsure about the character and at the same time feel like you know the character in the way that Mark Harmon does in NCIS. I watched this as a silent movie and I felt like I understood the characters. The simplicity in the costumes and make up were neither too much nor too little for the characters, it gave each actor the platform that they needed with the room to perform on the highest stage.

Amelie is, entirely, a love story but one that is played out to be not entirely a love story. Hepburn esq feel to it yet there is also something there that changes the feel and leaves you a little uncertain. You cannot predict how the film is going to turn out, you want to predict that love conquers all but until you have seen the entire film you cannot be sure.

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog.

Another one that wasn't on the blog list. I will get back to films that are on the blog but every now and then it is a nice change to watch a few things that were recommended. Not to mention the fact that the list was a lot shorter this year and I am more than a third of the way through it already.

Neil Patrick Harris is stunning in this short film. The cast of Neil Patrick Harris opposite Nathan Fillion, directed by Joss Whedon is just something to admire. This film is Horror picture show esq, without being as scarring and weird at times.We all have a slightly weird imagination that every now and then comes up with some wonderful ideas that we only dream about putting in to practice. This time the cast have put this idea into practice and created a very good musical out of it. Despicable Me would be proud of this creation. I am not sure which one came first but there are parallels between them.

I love the music in it. Actually, I loved everything about it and I am gutted that the friend who recommended it to me wasn't actually here to watch it with me but oh well, we'll meet up and watch it together because it is so enjoyable that I could watch it over and over again until I know all the words to all the songs.

The genius line of "Oh goodness, look at my wrist I must be going" is something to admire. The amount of times we have all wanted to look at our wrists to check the time but we know that we aren't wearing a watch- to actually pull of that line instead of settling for being bored or having to sit through something that we don't want to sit through. Watching Nathan Fillion upset Neil Patrick Harris was wonderful, almost as wonderful as how he was in Firefly.

This is a great film that everyone should watch!
I've included a link to the film just incase. The music is great and the acting is superb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vggbBdAnxhs

Grace Of Monaco

This wasn't on the list but the chance came around to watch and learn something new and I had to take it with open arms.

Nicole Kidman, who is of course very attractive, looked and at a lot of times sounded like Grace Kelly. A solid choice and probably one of the best choices of actresses to play someone as stunning as Princess Grace of Monaco.
Supported by Nicholas Farrell and Derek Jacobi as the best characters in the film, Nicole Kidman produced a truly marvelous display that showed courage and desire. Emotion was pure and something to be admired. This film was serious and the choice of music balanced that by the use of opera and Allegri's- Miserere. Every choice was sublime, perfect and fitting for the film. My only disappointment was that Anthony Hopkins didn't star as Hitchcock.

This film was lovely. I learnt so much about Monaco and about Princess Grace of Monaco. Watching this film makes me certain that I never want to marry royalty, I want a life without everyone condemning me at every turn and for breathing. I don't remember this film coming out but I am sad that I missed it when it did.

Transformers 2

I was a fan of the first film. Shia Le Bouf is constantly a sweaty boy and I am not a fan of his but even so I did like the first film.

It has been years since I watched that film seriously and now turning my eye for the first time to the next in the series I found myself almost repulsed  by the combination of Le Bouf and Megan Fox. Neither of them are in the least way attractive and it just didn't work for me. The thing that the first film swung on was the coolness of the autobots and when they tried to minimilise their roles in the films to an extent it was upsetting.

The first film left space for another film but this film was always going to be typical, predictable and irritating. I have lost count of the amount of times that I have written about producers getting hooked on this idea of having to make another film if the first one does well. When they ended the first one I thought it would be an awesome idea to have a bit of the new autobots coming to earth, get to know a bit about each of the characters and just focus on that, instead they had to go to the same plot that they had already used and killed it. I don't want to see Transformers 3.

Even Hugo Weaving did the voice acting for Megatron in about 2 hours, never actually went to the set or met Michael Bay and said that it meant nothing to him. A guy of that quality and it means nothing to him- that's got to say something about the films. There was so much wasted potential on this film and it does not surprise me that Shia Le Bouf has not done anything else worth mentioning.

I didn't mean to attack the film but it irritated me so much that I ended up doing it anyway. I miss the feeling that I got from the first film. I loved the first film, it gave me a sense of adventure and this one just kinda destroyed it. The cool characters still stayed cool but something was missing from the film.

A Walk among the Tombstones.

Liam Neeson returns in a film that I really wanted to see and never made it to the cinema to see.

I love seeing Liam Neeson with a gun cos I just get that Taken feel every time I see it. When he does action films he becomes Bryan Mills almost all the time but I was curious to see how this film would develop. Could Neeson become a different character to Bryan Mills?

In a way yes and in a way no. Hired by another character who's wife is taken and murdered, Liam Neeson goes to find those that took this person's wife. It's not quite Taken but it is getting there, only this time he has a badge because he's a private investigator.
My personal favourite part was when the ransom guys called up and Liam Neeson didn't play ball with them and basically just told them how to do it all properly. Okay, he didn't get it all his way and the bad guys had to be strong enough to fight him a little but even so, there can only be one winner in this battle.

This story had a better plot that Taken did. Taken is a pure example of why you wouldn't mess with Liam Neeson but A walk among the tombstones is an example of what can happen when a woman is loved by more than one person and I mean loved- not idolised or lusted after.

Watch it, think about it and then tell me what you thought.