Film & Short diary: 2010

"I'll be waiting for you, with my legs open."


Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman
Running time: 118 minutes
Country: USA, Italy


I had high expectations for Nine because it had a great cast, it is very similar to Fellini's 8½ and it is a Rob Marshall musical and his previous musical Chicago was a Best Picture Oscar winner. When I saw Nine, I absolutely loved it!! I am sometimes fussy when it comes to musicals because if there aren't enough songs I dislike it because wouldn't stick to the genre and if there are too many songs then I dislike it because not enough story details. Nine is neither of those which relieved me. This is a very artistic film that doesn't just have beautiful sceneries but when you see the actresses and dancers in lingerie it shows the beauty of women too. In dance scenes, it glues your eyes to the screen especially in the Penelope Cruz song and dance scene. I usually prefer dark musicals over light hearted musicals because stories go into greater depth and also songs are catchier. I hope that this film wins the Best Picture Musical/Comedy and Best Actor Musical/Comedy (Daniel Day-Lewis) Golden Globe Award because it totally deserves it!




I was worried about the singing of the actors within the film. They were all brilliant singers which did surprise me. Daniel Day-Lewis delivers another fantastic performance as Guido ... Guido is a middle aged man who really struggles in this film with his latest film that he has made and also his personal life. He has numerous relationships in the film with his wife Louisa (Marion Cotillard), his mistress Carla (Penelope Cruz), Lilli (Judi Dench), Claudia (Nicole Kidman), Stephanie (Kate Hudson) and his mother. I was impressed by Daniel's Italian accent for an English/Irish man which is another great talent of his. Marion Cotillard's performance as Guido's wife Louisa was absolutely fantastic! It was great to see the two 2007 Best Leading Actor and Actress winners playing man and wife together in a film. I am starting to really like Marion now. She did a great job in her Oscar winning performance in La Vie En Rose in 2007 and then Public Enemies in mid 2009. Penelope Cruz's performance was absolutely fantastic! She has made a name for herself also with her Oscar nominated performance in Volver in 2006 and her Oscar winning performance in Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2008. Carla is like Guido: another married person who is cheating on her spouse. Daniel, Marion and Penelope all deserve Oscar nominations. Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench and Kate Hudson deliver great performances too.




Rob Marshall returns to another musical. His previous musical Chicago won the 2002 Best Picture Academy Award so I hope that Nine becomes as successful as that one. The songs are absolutely brilliant! Every single dancer was absolutely perfect! Rob Marshall is starting to be the best director for musicals. I enjoyed Nine a lot more than Chicago. I have not seen the Broadway musical so I would presume that the script in the film is almost the same as the Broadway musical if not exactly the same. I loved the lyrics in all of the songs. It couldn't have been better written.




Overall, Nine is the best musical I have watched since Sweeney Todd. Without a doubt one of the best of 2009! I hope it wins a few Oscars this year. If you love 8 ½, Moulin Rouge! and especially Chicago, you will love Nine!

"This box is full of stuff that almost kill me."


Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce
Running time: 131 minutes
Country: USA


When it was released in early 2009 it became one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2009 so my expectations were rather high. When I saw it, I thought it was brilliant! This film reminded me a lot of The Kingdom and Black Hawk Down because it is set in a poor environment. Also the plots are quite similar especially between The Kingdom and The Hurt Locker because they are both set in Iraq. There have been a lot of action-war films in the noughties where they have sucked or just been decent either because of weak plot or bad directing. The Hurt Locker became in my opinion the best action-war film of the decade. The plot was very clever and it was quite simple as well. The visual effects, make-up and production design were all absolutely terrific! No doubt it'll be nominated Best Picture so it should but I don't think it totally deserves the Best Picture award.


Jeremy Renner's performance was really good as Sergeant First Class William James. He becomes the team leader of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit replacing Staff Sergeant Thompson, who was killed by a remote-detonated improvised explosive device (IED) in Baghdad. He joins Sergeant J.T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge, whose jobs are to communicate with their team leader via radio inside his bombsuit, and provide him with rifle cover while he examines IEDs. He is a contender to be nominated Best Leading Actor this year but I don't think he should be nominated for it because he just doesn't seem as good as Colin Firth, Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Morgan Freeman and Viggo Mortensen look in their films. Anthony Mackie's performance was great as well. Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce and David Morse give good performances in supporting roles too.


Kathryn Bigelow directed this film brilliantly! Was directed a lot like how Ridley Scott directed Black Hawk Down but better. She has always been an underrated director and The Hurt Locker is her breakthrough film where she could earn Oscar glory. She deserves the Oscar for me if Tarantino doesn't win. Personally, I don't think there could have been a better director for this film. Bigelow really shows the horror of war and what British and American soldiers are going through in Iraq right now. For this reason, The Hurt Locker is a soul catching film that'll keep you on the edge of your seat. The script was absolutely fantastic too.


Overall, The Hurt Locker is a fantastic war film that is definitely one of the best war films of all time. It is a favourite for Best Picture but I think that some other films deserve it more. Highly recommended!!

"Iris, in the movies, we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason, you're behaving like the best friend."


Director: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black
Running time: 138 minutes
Country: USA


The Holiday did look like from the DVD cover and trailer like a typical romantic comedy with obviously romance and comedy but with a predictable story. This one was special because it is a story about differences between men and women. It sends an important message that men have problems with women and women have problems with men. What I love about romantic comedies is that the story/stories within the film are very gripping and you want to know what happens in the end. It was a very emotional film where you can cry of heartbreak for all four characters or can cry with joy. I was touched by this film almost as much as Love Actually. That is my favourite romantic comedy and The Holiday is definitely one of the best.


This film had a great cast!! As predicted, Kate Winslet delivers the best performance out of all four actors within the film. I admit that they all deliver great performances, even Jack Black. Amanda (Cameron Diaz) is a young woman who has just split from her boyfriend after he cheated on her with another woman, Iris (Winslet) is a young woman who is in love with her ex and work colleague. When she finds out that he is engaged to another woman, she decides to go to America to exchange homes with Amanda for a fortnight. Jude Law's performance as Graham was really good. I really like him now! Closer, Cold Mountain, Sherlock Holmes and now The Holiday are all films that make me appreciate him a lot more. Graham is a widower who is Iris's brother and he has two daughters called Sophie and Olivia. He goes to visit Iris in her London cottage but ends up meeting Amanda but one problem at the time in the situation: he was quite drunk. Despite, he was drunk, it was like love at first sight between Graham and Amanda. Jack Black's performance was surprisingly good as Miles. Miles is a man who is a friend of Amanda's who meets Iris accidentally like Graham did with Amanda. He has problems of his own regarding the opposite sex. There are two Americans (Diaz and Black) and two British (Winslet and Law) and one man and one woman from each country fall in love. Despite separate storylines, Iris and Graham know each other because they are siblings and Amanda and Miles know each other because they are friends.


Overall, The Holiday is one of the most delightful films of the noughties. You should definitely see it for its great cast (even for Jack Black). Definitely one of the best romantic comedies I've seen.

"Religion is flawed because man is flawed."


Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgård
Running time: 138 minutes
Country: USA


Three reasons why I gave this film a chance: stars 2nd favourite actor Tom Hanks and another favourite actor of mine: Ewan McGregor and it is a Ron Howard film and he is a good director. I really didn't like The Da Vinci Code so my expectations weren't very high at all. I thought of this pretty much the same as The Da Vinci Code apart from that the story in Angels And Demons wasn't as complex as The Da Vinci Code.


Tom Hanks delivers another unsatisfactory performance as Professor Robert Langdon. Tom Hanks is one of my favourite actors if not my favourite but once again the Robert Langdon character didn't suit Tom at all. There are some characters that Tom has played in the past where you think to yourself "OMG! This is like real!'' but in Angels And Demons, this felt like a film that Tom was forced to be in even though the character doesn't suit him at all. Tom was the right age for the character, just not the right person. Ewan McGregor as a vicar?!?! Are you kidding?! He is Mark Renton (Trainspotting), Obi-Wan (Star Wars prequels), Edward Bloom (Big Fish) and Christian (Moulin Rouge!)!! Playing a vicar is the last thing that I was expecting Ewan to play. I didn't even find the character very interesting. I think the keyword to describe the character is "wooden" because it is dull and stupid!! Despite the fact she is quite attractive, Ayalet Zurer annoyed me in this film for the same reason as Ewan McGregor in this film: dull and stupid.


I have always been a fan of Ron Howard but I think that Angels And Demons as well as The Da Vinci Code are just big mistakes. However, there were some moments of good directing in Angels And Demons. Most of the script was stupid but some but very few ways it was quite good.


Overall, Angels And Demons is a disappointment like The Da Vinci Code but a tiny bit better, though. Hope Ron Howard or Tom Hanks don't star in anymore Dan Brown books. To be honest, I think you'll only really understand both films if you have at least read the books.

"You're one... ugly motherfucker."


Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo, Kevin Peter Hall
Running time: 107 minutes
Country: USA


All this film was being criticised for on the brink of its release was that it is like a possible spoof of the Alien franchise but I must admit that I think the Alien franchise must have led something to make Predator and the rest of the films (aswell as Alien Vs. Predator and its sequel). When I first saw Predator (which was actually only early 2010), I was both horrified and blown away by it and there are many reasons for this! Obviously it was really scary and I feel that it should be known as one of the most spine-chilling thrillers that have ever been made. However, where I was blown away by Predator was that despite that story is obviously rather silly but the story just felt so real from the start to the end. It felt a lot like it was the audience who were the Predator's prey in the film too because we were fooled by a character like we are going to be killed and ripped apart by a random alien.


Despite its real randomness and its main purpose just to entertain, it is perhaps the manliest film one will ever watch as well as a total badass film too like the Alien franchise. I think what is so special about this franchise aswell as the Alien franchise too is that despite how fictional the characters are, it just feels so real and you are journeying alongside the characters in a terrifying ride which certainly does leave you off the edge of your seat as it did to me when I watched it for the first time and every time I watch it now after seeing it once.


The film begins with the arrival of a specialist Army Commando team (led by Alan 'Dutch' Schaeffer) at a US military outpost somewhere non-disclosed in Central America. After a short briefing from the commanding officer there, they learn that they are to rescue a 'Cabinet Minister' whom was in a helicopter that was shot down whilst flying over enemy territory. Accompanied by a CIA operative, they head deep into the jungle; only things are not as they seem. Almost immediately, they find the remnants of another US military team, Green Berets; who have been skinned alive by some unknown enemy. A short while later, they strike the enemy encampment; only to find that they have been set up by the CIA to bring back important military intelligence information, rather than effecting any rescue. But something else is hidden, waiting, watching in the jungle: an immensely advanced and powerful alien that hunts only the most dangerous prey in the universe - the Predator. One after another, the team is picked off as they desperately attempt to escape the jungle by reaching the extraction point as the enemy guerrillas and the Predator close in on their position, can any of them survive this nightmare?


Arnold Schwarzenegger was perhaps one of those actors who were in Hollywood's good books back in the 1980s especially for his roles in The Terminator and Commando but he proves once again in Predator that he is the most badass actor of all time despite that he is the actual prey this time not his enemies in the films he is in. His performance as Dutch was really good and I loved his character because he is the leader of the unit in the journey so it is his responsibility to be there for the rest of the unit. Plus, I admire that when Dutch seems to be the only person left in the jungle, he chooses to stand and fight against the Predator. Kevin Peter Hall was just badass also as the Predator but bloody hell! Just when we thought there wasn't anybody who is bigger in body build aswell as taller than Arnold Schwarzenegger, there happened to be Kevin Peter Hall! What makes the Predator character so great is that he isn't a CGI or modelled character like some characters like him are but because this alien is portrayed by a man, it makes him seem more real and more terrifying to watch especially just when the Predator unmasks. Kevin Peter Hall, may you rest in peace.


The direction from John McTiernan was just fantastic! There were moments where the directing was a bit like films such as Jaws, Alien and even Psycho with the very suspenseful music and the fact that a lot of the violence in the film looked totally real. I would've loved to have seen McTiernan's response when he saw Predator 2 seeing as that one was a massive disappointment to this one.


Overall, Predator is an absolutely fantastic action-science fiction-thriller that is definitely one of the best films of the 1980s. Arnie, you are one badass actor! Predator certainly is the most manly film one will ever seen aswell as one of the most badass films ever. It also deserved its rightful place as one of the best thrillers and science fiction films of all time. Unfortunately, Predator 2 was a huge failure to this one but thankfully, Predators was the sequel that Predator deserved. The film aswell as the Predator certainly is an ugly motherf**ker to watch!

"I'll be a son of a bitch."


Director: Stanley Kramer
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Houghton
Running time: 108 minutes
Country: USA


Stanley Kramer's Guess Who's Coming To Dinner's groundbreaking story deals with interracial marriage. Interracial marriage has been illegal in most of the USA, and was still illegal in seventeen southern American states up until June 12 of the year of the film's release. Because of this, I have been intrigued to see the message the film was going to send. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner is a beautiful, inspiring yet thought-provoking story about two races joining together. It felt like a peace-making kind of situation between the two families by two races trying to get along for their children. This film reminded me a lot of both Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers apart from Guess Who's Coming To Dinner isn't a comedy.




The cast are another thing in this film that I was deeply interested in. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn made their 9th and final on-screen partnership. Spencer Tracy died 17 days after the filming ended. Spencer Tracy's final performance as Matt Drayton was absolutely AMAZING!! This is the first film that I have seen from Tracy but his other films seem hard to overtake Guess Who's Coming To Dinner as his best film. Tracy's performance as Matt Drayton was a lot like Robert De Niro's performance in Meet The Parents. Katharine Hepburn delivers another legendary performance as Christina Drayton. I could see the real emotion in Katharine Hepburn's eyes during this film. In the last scene of the film, she was crying in real life, apparently, because it was going to be her last on-screen partnership with Tracy anyway even though he died. Sidney Poitier's performance was absolutely brilliant! I found it to be a very brave choice to play a character like Dr. John Prentice because Dr. Prentice is a man who has met a young white girl, they're engaged, he has met her parents and they are uneasy of them to marry because of his skin colour. There are families who would feel awkward with this but at the end of the day, they're still a human being. Katharine Houghton delivers a good performance too as Joanna "Joey" Drayton. Houghton is Hepburn's on-screen daughter but is her real-life niece.




Stanley Kramer creates a beautiful, heart-warming and thought-provoking masterpiece that has touched a lot of hearts within everyone who has seen this film. It became a huge effect in USA when the film when it was released back in 1967. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner is one of those rare films where the whole film is set in one day. I absolutely love films like that. They obviously didn't film it all in one day.




Overall, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner is a beautiful, inspiring and thought-provoking film that will touch your heart whatever race you are. Definitely one of my new favourite films!! Recommend it to EVERYONE!

"Memory... Strange that the mind will forget so much of what only this moment has passed, and yet hold clear and bright the memory of what happened years ago; of men and women long since dead."


Director: John Ford
Starring: Walter Pigeon, Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp, Roddy McDowall
Running time: 118 minutes
Country: USA


How Green Was My Valley was a film that both broke and melted my heart. Every single thing about this film was PERFECT!! This is an inspiring classic that in my opinion didn't touch enough hearts as it should have. This is without a doubt the most underrated film of all time. What really annoys me is because it beat the so-called "greatest film of all time" Citizen Kane to Best Picture in 1941, people think that How Green Was My Valley is an embarrassment to beating it. I do love Citizen Kane but I find How Green Was My Valley better than it in almost every aspect. It is more emotional, more interesting story and I personally think it was better filmed. Citizen Kane received too much credit which is why I find it overrated. Back to How Green Was My Valley, it is a film that reminds me a lot of It's A Wonderful Life because it's a beautiful family film that has a soul and captures you all the way through. The sceneries made me feel like saying "I wanna go and live there!" It was the same thing with Salzburg, Austria where The Sound Of Music was made. It is a beautiful film all the way through that meets with a tragic conclusion. Despite that, it has a very heart melting ending.


How Green Was My Valley tells the story of a now middle-aged man called Huw Morgan who is leaving the town of Cwn Rhondda. He is telling his story of when he was a young boy. His middle-aged self is narrating the story. Huw as a young boy is portrayed by Roddy McDowall. His performance was very heartfelt and powerful which wasn't really very common back then. Walter Pigeon, Maureen O'Hara and Donald Crisp all deliver great performances in this film. Donald Crisp won a Best Supporting Actor as Mr. Morgan and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Sara Allgood. What I find quite interesting is we never see the actor who voices middle-aged Huw (Irving Pichel) on the screen so we don't know what his life is like at that point.


John Ford directed this film absolutely perfectly!! William Wyler was the original director for this film but was replaced. Wyler selected McDowall for Huw Morgan and that is almost the only thing he did for that film. John wanted to film How Green Was My Valley in Wales and seeing as it was 1941, in Europe and during World War II, it didn't seem possible. Despite William Wyler is a great director, I don't think that it would have turned out as good if he directed it instead of John Ford. John Ford won an Academy Award for Best Director and it was rightly deserved! The narrating screenplay was very moving!! I found it narrated as beautiful as Forrest Gump, Big Fish and Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. I think it would have made a great Eric Roth script.


Overall, How Green Was My Valley is a CLASSIC MASTERPIECE that I think is the most underrated film of all time! Better than Citizen Kane and deserved every Academy Award it got. A must-see and is the best film I have seen in 2010 so far.

MINI-REVIEW:


This is an underrated film that deserved to be a massive successful film like the remake The Departed turned out to be. I didn?t enjoy it as much as The Departed because I saw that before this one but this original version is awesome! I wouldn?t call it one of the best foreign language films I?ve watched but it is still one that shouldn?t not to be missed.

"Show me your Otik. That's his name, isn't it? Don't worry, i won't eat him."


Director: Jan Svankmajer
Starring: Veronika Zilková, Jan Hartl, Jaroslava Kretschmerová, Pavel Novy
Running time: 132 minutes
Country: Czech Republic, UK, Japan


I had no knowledge at all of this film, the director or the actosr within this film so I had no idea of what to expect. The reason why I watched this was because my tutor at my college wanted us to watch it. It is a mixture of live action and stop-motion animation. It is definitely one of the most psychologically disturbing films I have ever seen. It was deeply interesting to start with but when things started changing, it started going silly, cheesy and, to be honest, predictable.


Jan Hartl's performance as Karel was awesome! Him and his wife Bozena are going through a very difficult time because they cannot have a child. To ease his wife's pain, Karel digs up a massive root from their garden and carvs it into the shape of a human baby. When the root baby was presented to Bozena, she starts treating it like a real baby like feeding it, changing it and everything! Veronika Zilková's performance was for me incredibly disturbing yet psychologically awesome! Her type of character has been used in some films and especially used in TV shows in the past.


This film had great direction with lots of fast moving shots. There was stop-motion involved like Otik as it was crying or screaming. That was obviously cheesy but I don't think they actually wanted actual 3D animation within the film. The film was produced by a studio in Prague where I was going to visit.


Overall, Little Otik is an extremely disturbing fantasy horror film that is very hard to watch. Only flaw is that story goes cheesy at it goes on towards the end. Despite that, it was an enjoyable film to watch.

"Never get behind old people. Their bodies are littered with hidden metal and they never seem to appreciate how little time they have left. Bingo, Asians. They pack light, travel efficiently, and they have a thing for slip on shoes. Gotta love 'em."


Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman
Running time: 109 minutes
Country: USA


I was looking forward to seeing this film ever since I heard it was a close Oscar favourite. Also, I really like Jason Reitman as well. When I saw it at the cinema, I thought it was an absolute masterpiece!! It is a film that is full of laughs but it has its moments of emotional drama that does get depressing as it goes on. What I loved the most about this film is it felt like the viewers of the film are like travelling with Ryan in the film and we understand how he is feeling. Also, it is a beautiful film that I find is a life-teaching lesson for us all. As far as awards are concerned, I feel that Up In The Air as well as Inglourious Basterds and even Avatar deserves Best Picture instead of The Hurt Locker.


George Clooney delivers a performance that surprised me more than expected despite the awards he has been nominated for. Ryan is a man who makes a living by travelling to workplaces all around America who job is to fire employees. When Ryan meets both Alex and Anna, his life changes around completely and he starts to think about whether he wants to change things around in his life. George has always had that talent of playing a humorous character with a charming nature. I was never really a big fan of George Clooney before I saw Up In The Air but I like him more as an actor now. He is my pick for Best Leading Actor this year. Anna Kendrick's performance as Natalie Keener was absolutely amazing!! Natalie is a young and ambitious co-worker of Ryan's. The chemistry is something that could be possible love between the two. I think she rightly deserves a Best Supporting Actress nomination if not a win this year. Vera Farmiga has delivered great performances over the years such as The Departed and The Boy In The Striped Pajamas. Her performance in Up In The Air is her best role of her career so far. Alex is a frequent flyer just like Ryan and when they meet they begin a casual relationship. Both actresses deserve Oscar nominations but Anna delivers the best performance of the two. Just like Doubt, this is the one film of the year where the entire cast delivers Oscar worthy performances.


Jason Reitman is a director who I am really getting into now! First he gave us Juno which was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture back in 2007. Reitman has now created another masterpiece that is once again an Oscar favourite. He did more work on this one this time because he also co-wrote the script and produced it as well as directed it. Reitman is only 32 years old and he is probably the most talented young director of this generation. Reitman rightly deserves Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay which I'm sure he'll get anyway. The script was written beautifully! Definitely the winner for Best Adapted Screenplay for me!


Overall, Up In The Air is definitely one of the best films of 2009 that I would pick for Best Picture over favourite The Hurt Locker. It is both a film that should be taken seriously with top-notch acting, directing, writing etc but also a piece of entertainment that would be good on a weekend.

"Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!"


Director: Peter Weir
Starring: Jim Carrey, Natascha McElhone, Laura Linney, Ed Harris
Running time: 103 minutes
Country: USA



After seeing unique films like Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and Adaptation, my expectations were rather high going into this film. Jim Carrey starring in a drama playing an emotional character was very peculiar so that expressed my interest too. When I watched The Truman Show, it took hold of me and kept my eyes focused to the screen until the film ended. This is a film that I think would make people shed a tear or two as it almost did for me. It felt a bit like a tragic story because a man's life is a TV show. As I've stated, The Truman Show is indeed a tear-jerking film but it also has a few laughs in it to lighten the film up and where Jim is at his very best.



Jim Carrey's performance as Truman Burbank was absolutely phenomenal! How Jim wasn't nominated for a Best Leading Actor Oscar in this film I'll never know! What I loved about Jim in this film was that he was playing a character where Jim woud play his hilarious, wacky self as Truman. On the other hand, Jim delivers something that we hadn't seen from him before. Jim Carrey proves not only that he is the funniest film actor alive but is one of those very rare actors who can deliver great performances in both dramas and comedies. I think it is my favourite Jim Carrey film so far.



Peter Weir did an absolutely fantastic job as director of The Truman Show. This would have been a great film for directors like Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry but I don't think they could've directed it any better than Weir did. Weir gave the audience that feeling like they're viewers of The Truman Show itself in the film. Almost like we are in the film as well. The script was absoolutely awesome! Written almost perfectly and is definitely one of the best original screenplays I've listened to and watched.



Overall, The Truman Show is a fantastic film that was very moving and sad but it also made me chuckle a couple of times due to Carrey. Highly recommended and cannot afford to be missed.

"Shit, I've left Gordon's foot on the coach... sorry mate."


Director: Christopher Smith
Starring: Danny Dyer, Laura Harris, Tim McInnerny, Toby Stephens
Running time: 91 minutes
Country: UK


I had absolutely no desire at all to see this film because it looked a very cheap and rushed film. However, when I randomly watched it my college class, I sort of enjoyed it. It was hilarious to watch but it was also quite hard to watch as well due to the terrifying suspense. I would say Severance is mixed between Scream, Shaun Of The Dead and Lesbian Vampire Killers. The suspense like Scream but the humour like the other two films I mentioned. There was a lot of gruesome violence within this film. There were some laughable violent moments like the bear trap scene. In 2009, the film was revived following the real-life murder of a UK teenager. This 17-year-old boy was killed in same way as one of the seven people in the film were killed. In fact, the killers of this boy were inspired by a death in Severance which lead to the so-called "copy-cat murder".


Severance tells the story of a group of seven people. Their names are Steve, Maggie, Richard, Harris, Gordon, Jill and Billy. When their bus driver leaves them outside a forest, the tables begin to turn. Danny Dyer isn't really an actor of serious characters or films. He is an actor of just entertainment. I didn't like him at all in this film. There were moments in the film where I seriously wanted to slap him across the face! It wasn't so much the character, it was him. Laura Harris' performance as Maggie reminded me a lot of Shelley Duvall's performance in The Shining apart from Laura was A LOT worse!


Christopher Smith directed this film absolutely brilliantly! In fact, he was a great director of choice if not the best. This would have been a good Wes Craven film. Every single shot when it is at night, it makes you sit on the edge of your seat like you are feeling what the characters are feeling. The script wasn't very good but could've been a lot worse.


Overall, Severance is a guilty pleasure of mine that in some ways was absolute crap but in others was absolute brilliance! It is a very underrated British film and I think it is fine as it is. See this if you like violent films and suspenseful thrillers.

"You sure do look pretty, Miss Leslie. Pert nigh good enough to eat!"


Director: George Stevens
Starring: Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Carroll Baker
Running time: 201 minutes
Country: USA


Hmmm... there were a lot of things that I thought were pure genius about this film. However, in other ways, I was quite disappointed. Where I thought Giant was awesome was obviously the fantastic acting and directing. Also, it had absolutely breathtaking art direction and cinematography. On the other hand where I was slightly disappointed was that the scenes and pretty much the whole film was a bit too long. Giant is a 50s epic that I think has been inspired by Baz Luhrmann's Australia in some ways.


Giant tells the story of Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Hudson). He is the head of the rich Benedict ranching family in Texas and goes to Maryland to buy a stud horse, War Winds. While there he meets and courts the socialite Leslie (Taylor), who later becomes his wife. They return to Texas to start their life together on the family ranch. Jett Rinks (Dean) is the family handyman. He is envious of the Benedict wealth and flirts with Leslie much to Bick's dismay. Rock Hudson's performance as "Bick" Benedict was absolutely awesome! Elizabeth Taylor's performance may not be one of her best performances but it certainly is one that cannot be missed. Now onto the main star of the film: the late James Dean. I loved his performance in Giant! Jett is a very typical James Dean character because he is young, amusing and most of all charming. Dean received his second posthumous Oscar nomination. Dean tragically died in a car accident before the film was released. Nick Adams was called into doing some voice-over dubbing for Dean's role. Out of the two leading actors in the film, James Dean was the best. Jett Rink was based on oil tycoon Glenn Herbert McCarthy (1907-1988).


George Stevens couldn't have directed Giant any better. Because of Dean's death in late production of the film, Stevens found himself in a hard situation like Gilliam's situation with Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus. One difference, though: Dean died just when filming pretty much ended, Ledger died just over half way through filming. Stevens originally wanted to cast Alan Ladd as Jett Rink but Ladd's wife was against it so role went to Dean instead. Grace Kelly was offered the role of Leslie before Elizabeth Taylor accepted the role. As I previously said, I feel that Luhrmann used a lot from this film and George Stevens' work in this film. Giant was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 1957 and out of those 10 nominations; it only won one for Best Director for George Stevens. It was also nominated for Best Leading Actor (both Rock Hudson and James Dean), Best Supporting Actress (Mercedes McCambridge), Best Art Direction (Colour), Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture 1956.


Overall, Giant is an enjoyable classic that I perhaps wouldn't watch again. It has its flaws but so do most films. It is an epic that I think any fan of classic films would enjoy.

"Love is like the measles. You only get it once, and the older you are, the harder you take it."


Director: Stanley Donen
Starring: Howard Keel, Jane Powell, Jeff Richards, Matt Mattox
Running time: 102 minutes
Country: USA


Seven Brides For Seven Brothers is a beautiful classic musical that has touched many hearts for many years. It certainly did touch mine and it touched it hard. Everything about this musical was just too beautiful to watch. It is a very underrated musical that I personally think should be treasured and loved as much as Singin' In The Rain. Seven Brides For Seven Brothers has only one slight flaw and that it is a very predictable film. You can notice this only by seeing the film title. Despite that, it didn't affect my liking for the film. It is a film rated 'U' which makes it suitable for the family. I think that this aswell as Singin' In The Rain doesn't quite capture the "family film" so to speak feeling about them. All of the dance sequences were endlessly beautiful to watch especially when six of the seven brothers were fighting over six girls to dance with against six other men who were willing to do the same. Every single song in this film was pure magic but my favourite song has to be Sobbin' Women.



The film tells the story of a backwoodsman named Adam Pontipee and his new bride Milly, who suddenly marries him even though they hardly know each other. In fact, its only been hours seeing they've been acquainted. Just after they've married, Adam takes his new wife to his cabin in the mountains where he lives with his six brothers Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephriam, Frank and Gideon. All of the brothers have red hair and are over six feet tall. They remind me of the Weasley family in the Harry Potter series because they all have red hair. Howard Keel's performance as Adam was awesome! Howard gave Adam a lot of charm which made him a really nice guy but he also gave him a bit of possession which gave Adam a slight dark side because he sort of treats her like a worker in his house to cook and clean for them. Jane Powell was amazing in this film! I am surprised she wasn't a contender for Best Leading Actress in 1954.



Stanley Donen was an excellent director of choice for this film. It wasn't long after he directed Singin' In The Rain alongside Gene Kelly. The directing in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers is another thing that I preferred in this one over Singin' In The Rain. There were a lot of similarities but there were a lot of differences as well. The script of the film is based on the short story called The Sobbin' Women by Stephen Vincent Benét. There was a TV series released with the same name and that was loosely-based on the film. There was also Seven Brides For Seven Brothers the musical which was released in 1979 based on the film. The film won 1 Academy Awards out of 5 nominations. It won Best Music, Scoring Of A Musical Picture and was nominated for Best Cinematography Color, Best Film Editing, Best Screenplay and Best Picture (but lost to On The Waterfront).



Overall, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers is a beautiful, lovely and adventurous musical that I feel everyone would enjoy! I preferred it over the most famous musical of the 50s: Singin' In The Rain. Highly recommended!

"Made it, Ma! Top of the world!"


Director: Raoul Walsh
Starring: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly
Running time: 114 minutes
Country: USA


White Heat was on my "to watch" list for quite a long time. When I finally got round to watching it, I wasn't disappointed with it at all. In all fairness, I wouldn't call myself a big fan of gangster films but this one gripped me from start to finish. Personally, I think that every single gangster film before the release of The Godfather in 1972 is underrated. None of them have received half as what The Godfather has. This is one of those film where you get totally gripped by a powerful introduction where you just can't wait for more and where you just want more at the last scene when the film is finishing.


This film was the very first film I saw with James Cagney. His performance as Cody Jarrett was absolutely FANTASTIC!! Cody Jarrett is the ruthless, deranged leader of a criminal gang. He is married to a young woman called Verna and despite that he is married to her; he is even closer to his mother "Ma" Jarrett. Cody treats his mother not just like his mother but like his best friend so he trusts her more than anybody. She also acts like his boss so he is a bit of a "Mummy's boy" so to speak (like Norman Bates with Mrs. Bates). It is revealed in the film that Jarrett's father died in an insane asylum so we do clearly see that he didn't have an easy upbringing. The Cody Jarrett character was based on New York murderer Francis "Two Gun" Crowley who was executed by electric chair in Sing Sing Correctional Facility on 21st January 1932. His last words were "Send my love to my mother". Arthur Barker (a gangster of the 30s and a son of Ma Barker) might have been another inspiration to the Cody Jarrett character.


Raoul Walsh directed this film brilliantly!! I think the only currently living director who could have pulled off a great remake of this film would be Michael Mann. The screenplay was based on a story by Virginia Kellogg. White Heat was nominated for only 1 Academy Award: Best Writing Screenplay (but lost to The Stratton Story). AFI gave it a lot more credit than the Academy Awards did. They named it the fourth best gangster film and the quote "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" was #18 on AFI's greatest move quotes.


Overall, White Heat is a fantastic gangster film that is extremely underrated! I prefer it over famous gangster films like GoodFellas, Scarface (both remake and original) and most recently Public Enemies. It is without a doubt one of the best crime films of all time but not quite on my favourite films list.

"I swear, if you existed, I'd divorce you."


Director: Mike Nichols
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis
Running time: 131 minutes
Country: USA


God! I was totally blown away by this film! I have wanted to watch this film for ages but the DVD wasn't released until the very end of 2009. It was shocking and intense to watch. I found it moving at a fast pace right the way through. This film reminded me a lot of American Beauty and A Streetcar Named Desire mostly because of the intense chemistry between the two main characters. To be honest, I would call it a black comedy like American Beauty where you unnecessarily laugh. I love films set in one day and this is definitely the best. This film was based on the play of the same name which was premiered in 1962.


Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? tells the story of a middle-aged married couple George and Martha coming home from a party at her father's house. The two of them clearly care deeply for each other, but events have turned their marriage into a nasty battle between two disenchanted, cynical enemies. Even though the pair arrives home at two o'clock in the morning, they are expecting guests: the new math professor and his wife. This is another one of those rare films where every single actor in this film deliver Oscar worthy performances. Elizabeth Taylor's performance as Martha was absolutely fantastic!! Taylor's performance was psychologically disturbing like Annette Bening's as Carolyn Burnham in American Beauty. Taylor's performance has dethroned Vivien Leigh as my favourite performance by an actress in a leading role. Martha is the 52-year-old daughter of the president of New Carthage University. She is married to George, though disappointed with his aborted academic career. She attempts to have an affair with Nick. Richard Burton's performance as George was absolutely FANTASTIC as well! George is a 46-year-old member of the history department at New Carthage University. George is married to Martha, in a once loving relationship now defined by sarcasm and frequent acrimony. George Segal's performance was awesome too! Nick has just become a new member of the biology faculty at New Carthage University. He is 28 years old, good-looking, Midwestern, and clean-cut. He is married to Honey. Sandy Dennis was awesome as Honey. Honey is the petite, bland wife of Nick. She is 26 years old, has a weak stomach, and is not the brightest bulb of the bunch.


Mike Nichols has always been a director of dramas and comedies. Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? was Nichols's feature film debut as director and it is one of the best debuts of all time if not the best. This is another way where Virginia Woolf is similar to American Beauty: top-notch Oscar nominated directing debut like Mendes in 1999 who won Best Director. It received 13 Oscar nominations and it is one of the four films that received that amount of Oscar nominations that was nominated Best Picture but never won it. Others were Mary Poppins, The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. It won 5 out of those 13 nominations. It won Best Leading Actress (Elizabeth Taylor), Best Supporting Actress (Sandy Dennis), Best Art Direction Black-And-White, Best Cinematography Black-And-White and Best Costume Design Black-And-White. It was nominated for Best Leading Actor (Richard Burton), Best Supporting Actor (George Segal), Best Director (Mike Nichols), Best Film Editing, Best Music Original Music Score, Best Picture 1966, Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay.


Overall, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? is an absolutely fantastic drama that was very intense to watch all the way through that has a very emotional climax. An almost PERFECT film and is now one of my favourite films of all time.

"My name is Clareece Precious Jones. I wish I had a light-skinned boyfriend with real nice hair. And I want to be on a cover of a magazine. But first I want to be in one of those BET videos."


Director: Lee Daniels
Starring: Gabourney Sibide, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey
Running time: 110 minutes
Country: USA


Precious is a film that I was really looking forward to due to the reception it received like all the awards and positive reviews it got. Also, the story might've been psychologically disturbing but it certainly was a very powerful film so that expressed my interest a bit more as well. When I watched it at the cinema, it was something that I needed to stick to even though it was quite hard to watch in some moments of the film. Precious is a film about abuse and misery but on the bright side of things, it is a story on love and friendship. It is a very personal film that does adapt together into some things that happen in real life to some young teenagers who have abusive parents or a victim of incest.


Gabourney Sibide's performance as Clareece Precious Jones was absolutely brilliant!! Sibide totally deserved her Oscar nomination but a win for it, however, I don't think she was quite good enough for me to say that she deserves the Best Leading Actress Oscar 2009. Precious is an obese, illiterate, 16-year-old teenager who lives in Harlem with her mother Mary. She has been impregnated twice by her father, Carl. She suffers long term physical, mental and sexual abuse from her mother. While Precious is suffering at home, she goes into an alternative school, she meets friends and they comfort her and help her make the right decision with what to do in her life. Mo'Nique's performance as Mary was mind-blowing. I will be damned if she doesn't win the Oscar this year when she gives a performance that, in my mind, totally deserves it! Mary is abusive towards her daughter and treats her as a slave and like she is absolutely nothing. Mary has a lot of anger and jealousy towards Precious because of the sexual relationship between Precious and her boyfriend Carl (also Precious's father). She hates that he would rather have sex with their daughter than her. All she does with her life is sleep, eat and watch TV. She is the mother that nobody would want to live with and be raised by.


Lee Daniels directed this film to send a powerful and important message to the people of the world. Precious was filmed in various areas of New York City, mostly in Harlem. Precious had, in total, 12 producers: Lee Daniels, Oprha Winfrey, Tom Heller, Tyler Perry, Lisa Cortes, Gary Magness, Valerie Hoffman, Asger Hussain, Mark G. Magges, Berrgen Swanson, Simone Sheffield and Sarah Siegel-Magness. Precious has been nominated for 6 Academy Awards: Best Picture 2010, Best Leading Actress (Sibide), Best Supporting Actress (Mo'Nique), Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing.


Overall, Precious is a very disturbing film that I don't think that many people would like. Doesn't quite deserve the Best Picture, Best Actress or the Best Director Oscar but it deserves every other Oscar it has been nominated for. Definitely one of the best films of 2009.

"You can serve Germany, or the Fuhrer. Not both!"


Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson
Running time: 115 minutes
Country: USA, Germany


My God! What a disappointment! This film was done completely wrong! This is an American film that is meant to be all Germany!! This film should have been a German film with the German language. This didn't even feel like it was a true story at all. To be honest, the only bit of credit I can give this film is that it had great cinematography and art direction.


This is a true story on the 20th July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of Germany. Before the plot, Wehrmacht Colonel Claus Von Straffenberg is severely wounded during a RAF air raid in Tunisia. He looses his left eye, his right hand and two fingers on his left hand. When he returns back to his home in Germany, it isn't long until he is ordered to assassinate both Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler. Now onto the acting; not only was Tom Cruise miscast for this film, he didn't even try to pull off a German accent when he was playing a German. In fact, none of the actors did. One thing, though: Cruise did look like the real Claus Von Straffenberg. One thing I did notice: there were quite a few actors from the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy in this film. They were Bill Nighy, Kevin McNally, David Schofield and Tom Hollander. I thought it was daft that they were all cast together in this film because you think to yourself "Hey, that's blah-blah from Pirates Of The Caribbean!" To be honest, it wasn't just that this film was American that was annoying but the fact that the actors couldn't even try and pull off German accents to make the characters in the film more real, that was bad! The worst thing of all was the Hitler in this film! One: the guy playing him didn't look anything like him except the obvious moustache but the fact he spoke English and didn't have a German accent at all was really bloody annoying!


Bryan Singer, what were you thinking?! I mean, he is the director the first two X-Men's and The Usual Suspects! I thought he was better than this! A German director should have directed this instead. To be honest, Valkyrie was a very bad move for Singer. Not only because the film was shit but also because it was something different than he has ever done before except perhaps Apt Pupil.


Overall, Valkyrie is one of the biggest disappointments of all time. I really disliked this film a lot but the only good things about this film were the cinematography and art direction.

"Ponyo loves Sosuke!"


Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Frankie Jonas, Noah Lindsey Cyrus, Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson
Running time: 101 minutes
Country: Japan


Ponyo caught my attention ever since I heard it was going to be Miyazaki's next film and I like his films. Ponyo reminded me a lot of the Disney classic The Little Mermaid as I was watching it. It is a beautiful film for the family. It is a story on love, bravery and friendship which made it a personal film. Like all Miyazaki animated films, the audience are entering a different world. I mean, Ponyo has its similarities with The Little Mermaid but there are differences as well. For example, it was involving a lonely boy and a fish wanting to be a girl whereas in The Little Mermaid, it involved a mermaid and a prince. Also, Ponyo isn't a musical and it isn't quite as dark as The Little Mermaid. I couldn't believe that this wasn't nominated for Best Animated Picture this year! It wouldn't have beaten Up but it would've given it a tough battle for the award.


Ponyo is a fish-girl who lives in an aquarium in her father Fujimoto's underwater castle with numerous sisters who are fish like herself but smaller. When Fujimoto takes her and her siblings on his submarine, Ponyo swims away. She ends up stranded on the beach of a small town and is rescued by a boy called Sosuke. After this, Ponyo and Sosuke make an odd yet very beautiful and powerful friendship that does start to turn into love. The English version of Ponyo (which I watched) had a great cast with a few of talented and very well-known actors in it. That version starred the voices of Cate Blanchett (as Granmammare, Ponyo's mother), Matt Damon (as Koichi, Sosuke's father) and Liam Neeson (as Fujimoto, Ponyo's father).


It is a simple fact that Hayao Miyazaki is one of the best animated filmmakers that has ever lived and I am proud to say that Ponyo is another masterful creation of his. It's a shame that Miyazaki's films aren't released in Britain until about 1 year after their original release but it is damn sure worth the wait. I mean, yes Miyazaki used a lot from The Little Mermaid but he actually manages to make it better than that one. Miyazaki was involved in the hand-drawn animation in the film. Miyazaki preferred to draw the sea and the waves himself and this level of drawing had 170,000 separate images. That was a record for a Miyazaki film. Miyazaki isn't just a very talented director and animator but he is a great screenwriter as well.


Overall, Ponyo is another Miyazaki masterpiece. It probably isn't as sophisticated as Spirited Away but definitely is one of his best creations and one of the best films of 2009.

"There is no way I'm kissing a frog and eating a bug in the same day."


Director: Ron Clements and John Musker
Starring: Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David, Michael-Leon Wooley
Running time: 97 minutes
Country: USA


I was going into this film with high expectations because it is Disney's first animated musical in a decade (last one was Tarzan) and after reading production diaries and reviews, it is another Disney Renaissance. It was a 2D animation which is tradition Disney animation and is one of the hand-drawn animated films which hasn't been done for many years. I was nervous about it as well because ever since Tarzan, the Disney classics have been either really bad or just disappointments. When I saw The Princess And The Frog, I was in awww just as I was walking out of the cinema and I absolutely loved it! The Princess And The Frog certainly brought back something from Disney that I didn't think we'd ever see again. They bought characters that are full of jokes, which have both adult and child humour involved and most importantly, feeling the magic of the chemistry between the characters and the mesmerising score. The Disney Classics that this reminded me a lot of are Aladdin, Tarzan, The Little Mermaid, Lady And The Tramp and Beauty And The Beast.


Pretty much every single actor who provided their voices in this film I had not been familiar with except John Goodman who played a minor role in the film. The Princess And The Frog tells the story of a young woman called Tiana. She is a waitress and she dreams of owning her very own restaurant. Tiana just wanted her restaurant with a simple name: "Tiana's Place". Prince Naveen arrives in New Orleans where he is turned into a frog by evil voodoo master, Dr. Facilier. To become human again, he must kiss a princess. When he comes across Tiana, thinking she is a princess they share a kiss and Tiana herself turns into a frog. After that one simple kiss, everything starts to change around and in come the new extraordinary characters. Tiana is now one of the 9 Disney Princesses, being the first African-American Disney Princess. When Prince Naveen is a frog, he reminds me a lot of Lumiere from Beauty And The Beast because of his accent and the smile as well when he shows his teeth. Louis the trumpet-playing alligator is like Tantor from Tarzan who has a taste for music as well. Louis is very loosely based on jazz musician Louis Armstrong. Ray the lovesick Cajin Firefly made me laugh in this film too.


Ron Clements and John Musker as directors of this film are another reason why my expectations were pretty high on this film. They both previously directed Disney Classics Basil The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules and Treasure Planet. Together they revived something that I thought I was never going to see again and that I thought was dying: a beautiful, heart melting and smart Disney classic. They will be remembered even more now for reviving Disney animated films again (dropping Pixar aside). 2009 has been a FANTASTIC year for animation so it has been quite hard to decide which animated film is the best. The Princess And The Frog perhaps isn't as good as Up or Ponyo but deserves to be up there with them.


Overall, The Princess And The Frog has revived Disney again and no other animated Disney will replace that. Walt would have been proud! Best Disney Classic since Tarzan.

"When I sit, you sit. When I kneel, you kneel. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!"


Director: Walter Lang
Starring: Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, Rita Moreno, Martin Benson
Running time: 133 minutes
Country: USA


To be honest, I had absolutely no idea of what to expect with this one because I had not seen the animated version as a child and I had not seen the play or read the book. The film is based on the book version called "Anna and the King of Siam" by Margaret Langdon. This musical is a beautiful film that I would call a family film more than 50s musicals like Singin' In The Rain and Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. What I love about musicals is that in almost every song, I am gripped to them and don't want them to end. I love some of the songs that involve dancing. My favourite song from the film is called "Getting To Know You".


Mrs. Anna Leonowens is a widow from Wales who arrives in Bangkok with her young son, Louis, to teach English to the children of the royal household of King Monghut. She is greeted into the palace but is told to live there, although the king promised her a house. The real Anna Leonowens was born on 26th November 1831 and died on 19th January 1915 at 83 years of age. Deborah Kerr strongly deserved her Oscar nomination for her performance in this film and she should've won it! Yul Brynner delivers an almost perfect performance as King Monghut of Siam. Brynner had that bitter and quite strict taste about him which is what I really liked about the character. King Monghut was born on 18th October 1804 and died on 1st October 1868. He reigned for precisely 17 years and 183 days until his death in 1868. He had 15 children living his palace with him and 67 other children who lived elsewhere. The chemistry between Monghut and Anna reminded me a lot of the relationship between Maria and Captain Von Trapp from The Sound Of Music especially of how they each treat the king's children.


Walter Lang directed this one really well! I hadn't heard of him or any of his work until now. I am glad that a director like Stanley Donen wasn't chosen to direct this film because he would have made it too bright like Singin' In The Rain and Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. The film was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and won 5 of those nominations. It won Best Actor (Yul Brynner), Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design (Color), Best Music, Scoring Of A Musical Picture and Best Sound Recording. It was nominated for Best Picture 1956, Best Actress (Deborah Kerr), Best Director (Walter Long) and Best Cinematography (Color).


Overall, The King And I is a classic musical that isn't quite as awesome as I was expecting it to be but it was still very enjoyable.

"Whatever you do don't fall asleep."


Director: Wes Craven
Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Johnny Depp, Nick Corri
Running time: 91 minutes
Country: USA


I have had absolutely no desire to see this film all my life but seeing as I was getting into classic horror films, I decided to watch it and thought to myself "I cannot miss this!" My expectations were pretty high because it is the same director as Scream and I absolutely loved that! When I did see Nightmare On Elm Street, it wasn't as good as Scream but it was an absolutely terrifying, suspenseful and gruesome masterpiece!! What I really do love about this film is that it is one of those films that just play mind games with you. When you watch this film, you will be afraid to go to sleep incase Freddy attacks you in your dreams. That is like Psycho (not wanting to go into a shower in a hotel) and Jaws (not wanting to swim in the sea). The classic horror films are a lot better than the modern day ones because most of them new horrors use way too much violence with very little story. There is a remake of the film coming out in 2010 and I am sort of interested in seeing it.



A Nightmare On Elm Street is set in a suburban street called Elm Street where it falls prey to an old foe. A dead child-molester and killer, Freddy Krueger returns to haunt the dreams of the teenage offspring of those that burned him to death years before. So, Freddy is set out on a deadly revenge. Heather Langenkamp was awesome as Nancy Thompson. She is the main character in the film and she is the main victim of the nightmares and Freddy's mind games. Her character was like Sidney Prescott from Scream and I think that Langenkamp and Neve Campbell who plays Sidney Prescott look a bit like each other. Nancy Thompson is the main victim of the nightmares from Freddy. Freddy Krueger is a disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill children and teenagers in their dreams, which ultimately leads to their deaths in the real world in the film. He is now definitely one of my favourite film characters. Johnny Depp is another main reason why I needed to watch this film. It was his feature film debut and he is quite famous for this film. His performance as Glen Lantz was really awesome so it was a great debut. To be honest, I think it is one of his best films. Glen is a classmate of Nancy's as well as her boyfriend.



Wes Craven is starting to become one of my favourite directors! First he created a masterpiece that blew me away completely: Scream. And now he has done it again! To be honest, I find his suspense almost as good as Hitchcock. Every single second was gripping where you are clued to the film all the way through! It is definitely a terrifying horror film but I have seen scarier horrors but hardly any better horrors than this.



Overall, A Nightmare On Elm Street is a fantastic, terrifying and intense classic that totally deserves to be one of the best horrors and thrillers of all time. Krueger sealed his place as one of the biggest film villains of all time too.

"You cannot run from this- it will follow you. It may lay dormant for years. Something may trigger it to become more active and it may over time reach out to communicate with you."


Director: Oren Peli
Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong
Running time: 86 minutes
Country: USA


Well, first of all, Paranormal Activity shocked and terrified its viewers and did become a success at the box office but as for me regarding both critically and box office takings, why? What was seriously so outstanding about Paranormal Activity? Although, there were literally one or two scenes in the film that could make viewers who are quite bored of it jump but it really was one of the most boring and uninteresting films that I have ever experienced. It just didn't scare me or make me feel sorry for any of the characters in almost no way whatsoever.


Ok, let's face it, how many times have we all heard supernatural films or some other horror films that are supposedly true stories? I am sorry but Paranormal Activity being a true story is absolute bullshit! I mean, if it was such a true story, they wouldn't even make a sequel and a planned third instalment. Plus, the fact that other horror found-footage films that have been made over the years are the supposed true stories and not many things in the film as well as found-footage films in general for that matter are not entirely convincing enough to be true stories. Seriously, why would you still have the camera on and while you're using it still be terrorised by so-called demons within the house? For me, that just totally ruins the reality of it entirely because I just cannot help but think that.


Katie and her boyfriend Micah have been living together for three years and out of the blue, they are haunted by an entity while they are sleeping. Katie discloses to Micah that she has been haunted since she was eight year-old. The skeptical Micah buys a camera to videotape the paranormal activity in their home during the night. Katie calls Fredrichs, to help them, but he explains that he is specialist in ghosts. However he feels the presence of a fiend and advises the couple to call a friend of his.


The so-called acting wasn't entirely convincing in my honest opinion and it was just really dry and plain. I mean, whoop-de-fucking-doo! The actors and characters have the same forenames but that doesn't mean that the acting was good. In fact, not that many people who liked it were, quite frankly, interested in the characters but cared more about the horror within and what their fates were going to be and how scary the film was going to get. So, that was just absolutely ridiculous and in my humble opinion, both of them bought it on themselves. So everything about the actors and characters in Paranormal Activity in a nutshell is basically a couple messing around in a house and being over-obsessive with a camera!


As I said, I have never really been a big fan of found-footage films and I just cannot feel the horror or even believability for that matter in any of the films like that despite people rave about how good some of them are. Oren Peli makes his debut feature film and fails miserably so I think after this one, he isn't in my good books at all for any other film he ever does in the future. Despite the fact that the film is in fact only on for an hour and a half more or less seeing as there are one or two versions of the film, it felt like it was going on forever and it really never got going and caught attention and just got even more boring as it kept on going.


Overall, Paranormal Activity is (and including the sequel and planned third instalment) one of those films that you will either love or hate and I thought the latter after only 10 minutes of watching it. Although many with both agree and disagree with me on this one but Paranormal Activity really is one of the most overrated and overhyped films of all time that is perhaps as overhyped as the Transformers and Twilight franchises. Why there were any Paranormal Activity sequels, I will never understand.

"You still think it's beautiful to die for your country. The first bombardment taught us better. When it comes to dying for country, its better not to die at all."


Director: Lewis Milestone
Starring: Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, John Wray, Arnold Lucy
Running time: 128 minutes
Country: USA


All Quiet On The Western Front has always been a landmark of cinema. It was one of the very first sound films and one of the first Best Picture winners so I couldn't afford to miss this one! When I watched it, I absolutely loved it! It was filmed amazingly for its time and the special effects in the action scenes were awesome too! I mean, compared to action war films nowadays like Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down, the effects are quite cheesy but still very good obviously. I was impressed that they managed to film it because it was only 12 years after World War I and 9 years before World War II. It is a very dark war film that I think I would call a psychological war film because it tells the story of one's struggles in World War I when in combat and when seeing those suffer out of combat.



This is an English language film (made in America) adapted from a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque. The film follows a group of German schoolboys, talked into enlisting at the beginning of World War 1 by their jingoistic teacher. The story is told entirely through the experiences of the young German recruits and highlights the tragedy of war through the eyes of individuals. As the boys witness death and mutilation all around them, any preconceptions about "the enemy" and the "rights and wrongs" of the conflict disappear, leaving them angry and bewildered. This is highlighted in the scene where Paul mortally wounds a French soldier and then weeps bitterly as he fights to save his life while trapped in a shell crater with the body. The film is not about heroism but about drudgery and futility and the gulf between the concept of war and the actuality. Louis Wolheim delivers a great performance as Paul Bäumer.



Lewis Milestone directed this film really well! His work changed the world of cinema. It is probably one of the first action films that have ever been made. Despite Lewis Milestone creating a film that changed cinema, he is nowadays an extremely underrated director!



Overall, All Quiet On The Western Front is a very dark war film that is a landmark of cinema. True accomplishment that became one of the very first sound films ever!

"I was in the blue horizon between heaven and earth. The days were unchanging and every night I dream the same dream. The smell of damp earth. The scream no one heard. The sound of my heart beating like a hammer against cloth and I would hear them calling, the voices of the dead. I wanted to follow them to find a way out but I would always come back to the same door. And I was afraid. I knew if I went in there I would never come out."


Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci
Running time: 135 minutes
Country: USA, UK, New Zealand


After reading mixed reviews of The Lovely Bones, I was expecting it to be either a really good film or a really shit film. I am a massive Peter Jackson fan and love his works on Lord Of The Rings and King Kong so my expectations were high on his work on the film. When I saw it, I actually really enjoyed it!! I mean, yeah, it did sort of drag on a bit towards the actual murder of the girl but it was still a delight to watch. I thought in the first hour of the film, it was like normal, modern life but in the last hour and a half, it felt like that normal, modern life had been split into two different worlds: reality and fiction. It had a lot of very intense suspense in the aftermath of the murder and the effects were visually stunning when Susie was in the in-between world.


The story tells of a young 14 year old girl called Susie Salmon who's life couldn't be better at this point in time. She is in love, had a new film camera and her ambition is to become a photographer and most of all, she has loving parents. One day, she is brutally murdered by her neighbour George Harvey. Then she just enters a world that is neither heaven nor earth so therefore she can still see things from Earth. Because of this, she can help her parents track down the man who killed him. Saoirse Ronan's performance as Susie Salmon was absolutely INCREDIBLE!! Her Oscar nominated performance in Atonement was incredible so my expectations were very high on her performance. Where I think Ronan was probably the best choice for Susie was she showed the true innocence of a little girl and because she has been on top form over the recent years, her performance was very moving and powerful. I think she was robbed of a Best Leading Actress Oscar nomination this year. To be honest, I think she is currently the best child actress of this generation. Stanley Tucci's performance as George Harvey was amazing as well!! He is now an actor to be reckoned with when it comes to playing a character like Harvey. Tucci definitely deserved his Oscar nomination but his chances of winning it instead of Christoph Waltz are very thin! Mark Wahlberg, Susan Sarandon and Rachel Weisz deliver great performances in this film too!


I have waited to see this film for 5 years now ever since King Kong. It is a very different film that Peter Jackson had done since before he did The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Despite that, my expectations were really high! Some things about this film showed that it is old school Peter Jackson but in other ways, it is something new from Peter. Old school ways like dark, disturbing and horrific but in new ways like visual style that is quite different to what he did in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and King Kong.


Overall, The Lovely Bones is a very enjoyable film that brings something that is obviously a myth but a beautiful one. It isn't one of the best films of 2009 but it isn't far off. Doesn't like up to Lord Of The Rings or King Kong but it is still another really good Peter Jackson film.

"I was thinking how a man could spend thirty years in prison, and come out and forgive the men who did it to him..."


Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kroroge, Patrick Mofokeng
Running time: 133 minutes
Country: USA


To start off my Invictus review the first thing I must say is: Why? the? FUCK wasn't this film nominated for Best Picture?!?! Invictus is a film that I have been excited about from the very moment I read that it was going to be Clint Eastwood's next film. It was originally called The Human Factor. The word "Invictus" is Latin for "invincible". A lot of people would call this an underdog sport film like Rocky. When I saw it, it turned out to be a very moving and inspiring story about courage and peace between two races in a country where that seemed impossible. It was like black and white South Africans all joined together to create a breakthrough so to speak for their country. I loved this message Invictus sent because it wasn't only very powerful and thought-provoking but it was very straightforward as well. It was a favourite for Best Picture in early 2009 but it has been robbed a place in that category.


Invictus tells the story of Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa during the 1995 Rugby World Cup. That was 5 years after his release from prison and into his second year as President. I was ever so pleased when Morgan Freeman was confirmed for the role of Mandela but there were a few things that I was worried about. Key points like because Freeman has been in films over the past 15 years which is very well-known for such as The Shawshank Redemption, Bruce Almighty, Seven and The Dark Knight, he was playing a man who is still alive, who changed the world and is still one of the greatest and most respected men that have ever lived. In very little moments of this film, watching Freeman as Mandela was just like Morgan Freeman with an accent. However, in everything else, he played the character perfectly! Morgan Freeman was probably the best choice because I think he is almost the only actor who looks like Mandela and also Freeman being a long time friend of the real Nelson Mandela, Mandela wanted Freeman to play him. Freeman did deserve his Oscar nomination but his chances of getting past Jeff Bridges and George Clooney to win the Best Actor Oscar this year are, in my mind, very thin. Now, Matt Damon absolutely blew me away Francois Pienaar! In every scene, I couldn't believe it was the same actor who plays Jason Bourne! I was unsure what I was going to make of Matt Damon in this film before I saw it so now I realise that I underestimated him. It was weird enough seeing him have blonde hair but it was even weirder seeing him as a rugby player with a South African accent! No, he wasn't like Francois Pienaar like Freeman was like Mandela due to the fact that Matt Damon stands at 5 feet 10 inches and the real Francois Pienaar stands at 6 feet 3 inches. Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman worked really well together to create one of my favourite on-screen partnerships of all time.


I was thrilled when Clint Eastwood was set to direct Invictus. Filming began in March 2009 in Cape Town and the filming ended in May 2009. During the filming, Clint Eastwood started to become a fan of rugby. In fact, while in South Africa, he would watch hours of rugby every night and would talk about the games with the actors in the film every day. Invictus could have turned out like Valkyrie did with American actors and American director set in a foreign country playing foreign people but it didn't fail at all because Freeman and Damon pulled off great South African and delivered outstanding performances and also Clint Eastwood pulled it off amazingly!! When you watch it, you would not believe how a 79 year old man could direct such a film especially in the rugby matches, mainly the World Cup final against New Zealand. Matt Damon's average height was a problem for Eastwood but because of his structuring set-ups and camera angles, he made Damon really look about Pienaar's height.


Overall, Invictus is a very exhilarating, moving and powerful bio-pic with a powerful message and rightfully deserves to be one of the best films of 2009. It is also definitely one of Clint Eastwood's best films but it isn't quite as sophisticated as Mystic River. Loved it!! Highly recommended!!

"I will drop-kick those fuckin' dogs if they come near me."


Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Tom Cruise, John C. Reilly
Running time: 188 minutes
Country: USA


Magnolia didn't really satisfy me when I first saw it but after rewatching it, I loved it! It is a very dark, thought-provoking film that keeps you glued to your TV and chair all the way through the film. It is a film set in one day and I love films like that anyway! I think the main thing I loved about Magnolia is that I saw men and women in almost all categories of struggles in life. Every storyline has its powerful climax where almost all of them join together.



There are a lot of incredibly talented actors in this film! The cast includes John C. Reilly, Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Jeremy Blackman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Melora Walters, Philip Baker Hall, Jason Robards, Felicity Huffman and Alfred Molina. The best performance of the film is definitely Tom Cruise who portrays Frank T.J. Mackey. Frank is a man who is like a guide for men to "tame" women. I'm not really a big fan of Tom Cruise but his performance in this one absolutely blew my mind! I mean, Cruise was probably the best choice because Frank is a slimy character and he's good at playing characters like that but also he surprisingly shows a very heartfelt emotional side to the character. After Cruise, the best performance, in my opinion, was from Julianne Moore as Linda Partridge. Linda is a woman who is trying to deal with her much older husband Earl Partridge's teriminal illness and feeling guilty of adultery. She is also Frank T.J. Mackey's stepmother. Magnolia is up there with The Godfather, Gone With The Wind, Closer, The Dark Knight, Who?s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? and A Fish Called Wanda on the list of best performances from the entire cast.



Paul Thomas Anderson is a director of creating dark films in the modern world. He gave us Boogie Nights and most recently gave us There Will Be Blood. To be honest, I have absolutely no idea how one man can write a script for a film that is over 3 hours long. I mean, that is talent!! He has a great gift as a great director and screenwriter. I just wish he would make more films. The script is a bit like a Quentin Tarantino sort of script but a bit darker. I think the Tarantino film script I would compare with the Magnolia script is Inglourious Basterds. Magnolia earned only 3 Academy Award nominations: Best Supporting Actor (Tom Cruise), Best Original Song ("Save Me") and Best Original Screenplay but didn't win any of them. However, Tom Cruise did win the Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor in 1999.



Overall, Magnolia is a fantastic, extremely underrated and dark drama with a great ensemble cast! Anderson is a genius!

"First rule of battle strategy. Don't ever let your opponent distract you."


Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel
Running time: 118 minutes
Country: Canada, USA


First of all, it is a film from a director who I really admire and it seemed a tad bit different from what he's done previously. I actually enjoyed it which did surprise me. I mean, I really liked how they mixed the modern day era with the Ancient Greek era featuring the mythical creatures and gods. The effects were obviously FANTASTIC especially the snakes on Medusa's head. Percy Jackson is a film that is beautifully entertaining that has its fair share of laughs and its moments of expanding imagination and witnessing mythical creatures and entering different worlds.


Logan Lerman delivers a surprisingly satisfying performance as Percy Jackson. Percy is a demi-god (which is half-god who has one immortal parent and one mortal parent). He is the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea and mortal woman Sally Jackson. Percy is a well-natured, friendly, brave and is often willing to risk his life to save his friends and strangers. However, he is a troubled 12-year-old boy who has been diagnosed with dyslexia and has been kicked out of every school he has attended. Alexandra Daddario was decent as well as Annabeth Chase. She is also a demi-god like Percy apart from her father is mortal and her mother is a goddess. She becomes close friends with Percy in the film but as the film goes on, she becomes his love interest. Brandon T. Jackson was humorous yet quite annoying as Grover Underwood. Grover is Percy's best friend who is a satyr which is half goat and half human (like a Faun in the Narnia books and films). This film has a lot of famous actors in this film to make the cast even better like Sean Bean, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman and Catherine Keener.


Chris Columbus is a director of this generation that I really do admire!! Percy Jackson is another very entertaining film of his that he can add as a success in his career. I was mostly excited about seeing this one because it is from the director of Home Alone 1 and 2, Mrs. Doubtfire and most notably Harry Potter 1 and 2. Despite that it isn't as good as either of them, it is still another good Columbus film. Columbus brings something that we did see in Harry Potter 1 and 2: moments of visual magic and in some scenes: intense action. The script was a bit of a flop on some occasions but I wasn't too fussed about that because, after all, it is just for entertainment.


Overall, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief is a very fun film to watch. 2010 has started well with a fresh action/comedy fantasy film that combines Ancient Greece with modern life.

"I love you, but I should have never married you."


Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray
Running time: 87 minutes
Country: USA, UK


I saw the trailer a couple of times in the cinema last year and I didn't think I would like it. I wasn't ever that fond of the book as a child but what caught my attention to this film was that it received many positive reviews from magazines and websites and it has been a favourite of Best Animated Picture and a few other Oscar categories. Also, it has been called a film that has "revived original stop-motion". So I changed my mind about watching it. However, when I did watch it, I absolutely loved it!! Fantastic Mr. Fox is based on the loved novel with the same name by Roald Dahl. It became the first stop-motion film to be distributed by 20th Century Fox.


Fantastic Mr. Fox had a fantastic cast! It featured the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe and Owen Wilson. Clooney provides the voice of Mr. Fox. He is a sneaky character who just wants to feed his family. He enjoys stealing chickens from the not-so-wise farmers. Meryl Streep is the voice of Mrs. Fox. She is the loving, caring yet very suspicious wife who is, obviously, the wife of Mr. Fox. Cate Blanchett was the originally the voice of Mrs. Fox was was replaced by Meryl Streep.


Wes Anderson has created a film that has revived old traditional stop-motion animation. I have been told that it is a crap film because of its cheesy animated effects and that is basically the point! You know, I don't think it would've been half as good if it was a computer generated film from DreamWorks like Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda or 20th Century Fox like Ice Age and Robots. The development on Fantastic Mr. Fox began in 2004. Henry Selick was going to work with Wes Anderson like in The life Of Steve Zissou but Selick left to direct Coraline instead. I seriously doubt that Fantastic Mr. Fox will win Best Animated Picture instead of Up but out of the other four nominated I would pick Fantastic Mr. Fox as the runner-up.


Overall, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a clever, funny and charming children's film that has proven itself to be one of the best accomplished animated films that have ever been made.

"Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?"


Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway
Running time: 109 minutes
Country: USA


After three years of anticipation ever since I finished watching Sweeney Todd, I couldn't wait to see it! I was obsessed with this film like I was with Sweeney Todd and The Dark Knight. Despite my hype of the film, I was worried that because this film is an extension of the two Lewis Carroll novels Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking-Glass picture, there could be a mess in the plot. To be fair, I didn't find the film a mess at all and I thought the story actually worked out pretty well as the film itself did. It is one of the few films that combines live action and animation together. Obviously, the visual effects were absolutely stunning but I felt that the filming was rushed. No doubt the film'll be a contender for Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Visual Effects in next years Oscars.



This definitely has the best ensemble cast ever in a Tim Burton film! We obviously know that Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter would be in the film being best friend (Depp) and real-life spouse (Bonham Carter) so besides them are Anne Hathaway, Alan Rickman, Crispin Glover, Martin Sheen and Mia Wasikowska as Alice. I was expecting to see a wooden Alice in this one but Wasikowska surprised me. She not only made Alice a hero but an attractive young woman too which is good for the character because she is around that age. This will probably be the one film she'll be best known for. Johnny Depp is making his 7th and latest collaboration with best friend Tim Burton and he once again plays a creepy and crazy character. Johnny's performance as the Mad Hatter was really good but unfortunately he didn't make the Mad Hatter his own character like he did with Captain Jack Sparrow and Willy Wonka. In fact, the Mad Hatter was just a mixed character between them. The Mad Hatter is Johnny Depp's creepiest performance in a Tim Burton film so far. Helena Bonham Carter's performance as the Red Queen sorta disappointed me because I don't think she was as terrifying as I was expecting because the Red Queen is a very threatening character. Supporting characters Anne Hathaway, Matt Lucas and Crispin Glover all deliver good performances with voice roles including Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Martin Sheen and Barbara Windsor.



It is an absolutely typical Tim Burton film that he has crafted from children's novels into something that is his normal style as well as making it a child-friendly film. Also, it is a film from Disney and Disney are normally films that are light-hearted and perfect for the family. Tim Burton previously worked with Disney on The Nightmare Before Christmas back in 1993 and that has been acclaimed by many to be one of the best Disney's. Alice In Wonderland is a children's book but Tim Burton creates something dark to this classic tale like he does in every film he has done.



Overall, Alice In Wonderland is a visually stunning film that must be seen in 3D otherwise you'll be missing a great experience. It is neither one of Tim Burton's best films nor one of his worst either. Same with Johnny Depp. My most anticipating film of 2010 turns out to be a very enjoyable piece of entertaining that does have some disappointing moments.

I'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats."


Director: Cameron Crowe
Starring: Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell
Running time: 136 minutes
Country: USA


Vanilla Sky is a dark psychologically disturbing film that reminds me of films like Eyes Wide Shut, The Fountain, Mulholland Drive and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind but all in different ways. Of the people I have spoken and the reviews I have read about this film, personally I think that Vanilla Sky is a very enjoyable film. I mean, I love psychological films that just get inside your head and you get gripped all the way through. It has a very dark twist and with a shocking and powerful climax which I couldn't believe!


To be fair, I think Tom Cruise was the best choice to be in this film because David Aames is his kind of character especially the way Tom is with women in real life. In fact, this film led to his marriage separation with Nicole Kidman because he had an affair with co-star Penélope Cruz. David Aames is a young man who recently became the owner of his late father's publishing company. One night, David meets a young woman called Sofia Serrano through his best friend Brian Shelby and David's ex girlfriend Juliana Gianni starts to become jealous when she discovers this. After that, the tables begin to turn and it starts to become more personal. Cameron Diaz's performance as Juliana was really awesome too. Diaz did surprise me as Juliana because I don't think she would've been very good at playing a dangerous character but I was wrong, she did a fabulous job! Juliana is a very sexy woman who can pull all the men she wants to but she is a very dangerous woman when it comes to David talking to any other woman. Penélope Cruz was awesome too as Sofia Serrano. Cruz reprised her role as Sofia in Vanilla Sky when she starred in original Spanish version Open Your Eyes so Vanilla Sky is, in fact, a remake of that film. Why Penélope Cruz received a Razzie nomination for her role in Vanilla Sky, I have absolutely no idea!


Cameron Crowe creates something that he did a very good job at but I feel Vanilla Sky would've been a better film from a director like Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, David Lynch or even the late Stanley Kubrick because this film does suit the style of all four of those directors mentioned. Crowe managed to make something disturbing, thought-provoking, shocking and very emotional.


Overall, Vanilla Sky is a very enjoyable psychological thriller that I believe should've earned more credit than it got.

"This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh."


Director: John Huston
Starring: Michael Parks, Ulla Bergryd, Richard Harris, Franco Nero
Running time: 174 minutes
Country: USA


There have been epics in the 50s and 60s that have been absolutely fantastic! I was interested in seeing this one because I did see The Ten Commandments and absolutely loved it so needed to see a biblical film in the 50s or 60s that tells the stories of the Bible in the beginning. When I watched it, The Bible: In The Beginning... turned out to be out of the most disappointing films I have ever seen. It was very dull and after a while, the storylines were getting uninteresting and unrealistic. I mean, they were either too long or not long enough. The film lacked emotion, tension and excitement.


The acting from everyone in the cast was poor except for George C. Scott as Noah. Michael Parks and Ulla Bergryd portrayed Adam and Eve. Where I was disappointed in that storyline was that the creation of the Earth was too long but the parts with the apple and the snake went on too quickly and felt rushed. I was mostly disappointed with the Cain and Abel storyline because I was excited to see that because I didn't really have very much knowledge of that story and the story was very rushed and went WAY too quickly! The only storyline I was satisfied with was the story of Noah. Peter O'Toole stars in another epic film but to be honest his performance in Lawrence Of Arabia is too memorable to make his character believable in this one.


John Huston, what were you thinking?! I mean, the man is the director of The Treasure Of Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen and Prizzi's Honor!! Huston has unfortunately created the first classic that I hated. I think him as well as most of the actors in the film tried to recreate what Cecil B. DeMille and Charlton Heston created in The Ten Commandments and when you try and recreate a classic no matter the cast, it always backfires! I thought it was badly filmed! The picture in it was awful! It was very dark and you could hardly see what was happening. This mostly occurred during the Adam and Eve story. I mean, it made it look like they used a cheap filmmaking camera.


Overall, The Bible: In The Beginning... is a very disappointing biblical film that very plain, boring and dull. Avoid it!

"When I get a hold of the son of a bitch who leaked this, I'm gonna tear his eyeballs out and I'm gonna suck his fucking skull."


Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah, Martin Sheen
Running time: 126 minutes
Country: USA


This was randomly on television one night a few months back and seeing as I hadn't watched it yet and was meaning to watch it anyway, I decided to give it a go and I am certainly glad I did decide that. I wasn't expecting loads from Wall Street like I have done for other films in the past but, quite frankly, I pretty much got everything that I wanted. I think a lot of people who are about to watch this would say that it just looks like another mafia gangster film and yes, it is but it goes deeper than that. It isn't just a film about people getting shot all the time but it is a rather personal film about greed, bravery and commitment.


Bud Fox is a Wall Street stockbroker in early 1980's New York with a strong desire to get to the top. Working for his firm during the day, he spends his spare time working an on angle with the high-powered, extremely successful (but ruthless and greedy) broker Gordon Gekko. Fox finally meets with Gekko, who takes the youth under his wing and explains his philosophy that "Greed is Good". Taking the advice and working closely with Gekko, Fox soon finds himself swept into a world of "yuppies", shady business deals, the "good life", fast money, and fast women; something which is at odds with his family including his estranged father and the blue-collared way Fox was brought up.


Michael Douglas is one fantastic actor and certainly does take after his Dad, Kirk Douglas. His performance as Gordon Gekko is perhaps the best performance he has delivered in his career and probably always will deliver! He certainly proved that by gaining the Best Leading Actor Academy Award in 1988 (as well as earning a shared one in 1975 for being a producer of Milos Forman's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest). Anyway, what I really liked about Gekko was that he was a despicable schemer who is a deep-down psychopath. He rightfully deserved that Academy Award and has shown us one of the most powerful cinema villains of all time. That is normally why I prefer villains over heroes because they are more powerful and have a deeper personality and take things a bit further which makes them more interesting. Charlie Sheen already rose to shine in Oliver Stone's Vietnam war film Platoon and starred alongside a group of fantastic actors but this time, he works alongside another fantastic actor: Michael Douglas who is also the son of a very famous actor (Kirk Douglas) just like Sheen is a son of a famous actor. Anyway, Sheen didn't deliver as spectacular as Douglas did but he certainly wasn't far off from that level of quality acting. It is sometimes hard to fit in two leading characters without making it too much but it worked very well with Douglas and Sheen in their roles. Daryl Hannah was very good as Darien Taylor and Martin Sheen portrays Carl Fox who is Bud's father so it is father and son in both the film and in real life.


Wall Street was one of Oliver Stone's early films but despite that, he still has already earned top Oscar glory not once but twice (Platoon and Born On The Fourth Of July) and it is an extremely underrated work of Stone's that I think deserved more recognition and credit for than some other directors did that year for the films they did. Stone is a director like the late Stanley Kubrick and the great Steven Spielberg in terms of making films that are part of pretty much every single genre there is but Stone is slightly weaker especially from the films that we see of it nowadays in comparison to the films he did earlier in his career. Wall Street was a tribute by Oliver Stone towards his late father Lou Stone who was a stockbroker during the Great Depression in World War II and that made the film rather special but at the same time, quite extraordinary. The script was fantastically written! I have always admired at how people write scripts about this sort of thing about crime, money and gangsters and this is one of the finest screenplays of that genre I have listened to.


Overall, Wall Street is an absolutely brilliant film that should be up there with some of the very best crime and gangster films that have ever been made. It is perhaps a film that I think Martin Scorsese would be proud of and would enjoy watching. I think that they should have left this film alone and not made the sequel even though that was still enjoyable. It's a great film for those who at least like crime films but those who don't, they won't be so lucky with liking this one. Basically, it is a hard film to not like but it is also one of those films that you can't rave about.

"Squeal like a pig. So, Squeal."


Director: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl
Running time: 115 minutes
Country: Sweden


After seeing bad vampire films in the past, I was about to give this one a miss but seeing as it was receiving so many positive reviews and that it, according to many critics is "one of the best films of 2008". When I saw it, I absolutely loved it! Let The Right One In is the perfect example of how vampire films should be made. In the past, there have been bad vampire films that lack focus on story, have bad script/directing/acting or doesn?t involve any drama, tension or horror. Let The Right One In is basically what Twilight and especially New Moon should have been.


Let The Right One In tells the story of a young 12-year-old boy called Oskar who is going through a bad time in his life at the moment due to bullying from his classmates and spending his evenings imagining revenge against them. His life changes around completely when one night he meets a girl called Eli who reveals herself to be a vampire who is centuries older than Oskar. She just looks the same age as him. Their relationship becomes jeopardised due to this. Kåre Hedebrant's performance as Oskar was absolutely awesome! He was an almost perfect match with the character because he was all sweet and innocent but also in some ways psychologically dangerous. Lina Leandersson was FANTASTIC as Eli! She actually was the perfect match for Eli's character because she also was good at playing the sweet and innocent type but a very dangerous individual too especially when things started to change around and become increasingly dangerous for the public. It is a rather cute story as well as disturbing because it is a love story that involves children. It could've really failed by it being too cute or the story going way out of place by this but thankfully it didn't!


Tomas Alfredson did an absolutely fabulous job! He has basically single handedly grabbed the work of Catherine Hardwicke, Chris Weitz and David Slade in The Twilight films by the throat and ripped them apart! The film is extremely underrated mostly because it?s a foreign film. According to magazines and websites, Let The Right One In is the best Swedish film ever. It isn't only a scary film and romantic film but there is a lesson that is being told in this film which is mostly about bullying and that the bullying victims should stand up against them. The film has a lot of key focuses. Examples are bullying, drugs, paedophilia, prostitution and murder.


Let The Right One In is a beautifully disturbing film that will melt your heart due to relationship between the two kids but will break your heart and grip you due to its horror and violence. Without a doubt one of the best films of 2008, one of the best horror films and one of my favourite foreign language films of all time.

"If people die the moment that they graduate, then surely it's the things we do beforehand that count."


Director: Lone Scherfig
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson
Running time: 95 minutes
Country: UK


I was in complete awww with this film all the way through! I think, like most British films that cap off a few Oscar nominations are very underrated even if it gets a Best Picture nomination. An Education is a very beautiful film that is very heartfelt and emotional. The film itself is an educational lesson because it teaches teenagers who are 16-17 to make the most of the rest of their childhood before they grow into adulthood. There were quite a few unexpected twists in this film which I was surprised about from a film like this.



An Education tells the story of a young 16 year old schoolgirl called Jenny. When she meets older Jewish man David, they build a relationship and he tries to take her away from her childhood life to move towards her adult life. Newcomer Carey Mulligan delivers a performance that I think should have got her the Academy Award for Best Leading Actress instead of Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side! Mulligan is 24 years old and she was playing a 16 year old! Watching her as Jenny, she really did look 16. I would say that this is one of the best breakthrough performances that I have seen. Peter Sarsgaard was good as David. It isn't an Oscar worthy performances from him but it certainly was satisfying. Alfred Molina was AWESOME! His performance was very powerful and should've been nominated Best Supporting Actor. He obviously wasn't going to win but still deserved to be one of the 5 actors nominated.



An Education was directed by somebody who has only been involved in directing episodes in the TV so this film was like a breakthrough for Lone Scherfig despite she didn't get a Golden Globe or Oscar Best Director nomination. Now with the film's success, we are only to expect another Oscar worthy film. I guess her breakthrough success was like Jason Reitman when he did Juno and then gave us Up In The Air. The film is based on an autobiographical memoir of the same name written by British journalist Lynn Barber. An Education was nominated for 3 Academy Awards: Best Picture 2009, Best Leading Actress (Carey Mulligan) and Best Adapted Screenplay.



Overall, An Education is a life-teaching lesson for teenagers that is very powerful and emotional to watch. One of the best films of 2009.

''Love sure is a funny thing. Makes you happy, makes you sad, makes you do all sorts of things you never thought you'd do before."


Director: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
Starring: JimCarrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro
Running time: 97 minutes
Country: France, USA


To be honest, I was thinking that this was going to be just another wacky and hilarious Jim Carrey comedy but when I watched it, I was surprised by it. I mean, the film is funny but I wouldn't call a comedy. It is more of a dramatic love story. It will leave you jaw-dropped because of the heartbreaking drama within it plus the heart warming pleasure too. To be fair, this probably isn't as underestimated like Brokeback Mountain and Milk are because it looks like a comedy and it stars two very famous Hollywood actors.


Steven starts off as a happily married police officer who spends his hours off work searching for his biological mother who gave him up as a child. But after a car crash, Steven leaves his life and family behind to go out into the world and be his true self. He moves to Miami and finds a boyfriend and from then on he starts living a gay life as well as being a conman. When his work as a conman catches up with him, he is sent to prison and falls in love with Phillip Morris. After that, Steven and Phillip try and keep their relationship intact but severe consequences lie ahead. I couldn't believe Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor in this film! I mean, them two are a gay couple! When I was watching this, it really did look like they were in love as in real life. They are another two special actors who are straight who portray characters that are gay (Examples: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Sean Penn, James Franco). Jim Carrey's performance as Steven Russell was absolutely fantastic! I Love You Phillip Morris is one of the three films that shows that Carrey can be an actor of drama as well as comedy. The other two I am referring to are Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and The Truman Show. Ewan McGregor was like "My God, Ewan!" because, like Jim, playing a gay character was the last thing I was expecting him to play and what a fine job he did! Together, Jim and Ewan worked together very hard to send the public a very important message. I'll be damned if either one of those two actors aren't nominated for at least a Golden Globe for Best Actor Drama or Best Supporting Actor.


In all honesty, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa together create something that I think everyone would enjoy because of the comedy involved. It perhaps isn't as good as Brokeback Mountain or Milk but it was still awesome! I'll be keeping an eye on those two directors to see what is next on their list.


Overall, I Love You Phillip Morris is a beautiful yet heartbreaking true story that will low you away due to performances from Carrey and McGregor but will make you chuckle on occasions. Jim Carrey's best performance since Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and perhaps Ewan McGregor's most emotional performance so far.

"Everything we know about them is wrong."


Director: Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera
Running time: 98 minutes
Country: USA


In the past 4-5 years, DreamWorks Animation have created films that have been just satisfactory, average or crap but How To Train Your Dragon is the film that needed to be made for them to achieve a breakthrough. To be honest, I was expecting it to be like other DreamWorks animated films like Kung Fu Panda, Over The Hedge, Bee Movie and even Monsters Vs. Aliens: a random piece of entertainment that lacks magic and mature humour. How To Train Your Dragon turned out to be a lovely film with the magic that Pixar would use, really good humour, intense and in a lot of ways grown up and a very personal story. The 3D experience of How To Train Your Dragon was like a roller coaster because there was lots of intense action almost all the way through the film. To be honest, I found How To Train Your Dragon as good in 3D as Avatar.



How To Train Your Dragon tells the story of a young Viking teenager called Hiccup who is intending to follow after his father by becoming a dragon slayer. After he catches his first dragon, he begins to realise that he has no desire to kill it so he befriends it like a pet. Hiccup is a main character DreamWorks Animation needed: a colourful, emotional hero with a big heart. His relationship with mysterious dragon Toothless reminded me a lot of Elliott and E.T. in the Steven Spielberg classic. Gerard Butler (pretty much the only well-known actor in the film) provides the voice of Stoick The Vast who is the father of Hiccup. Butler returns to a character who is like a heroic war leader like he was in 300. I noticed that some of the male Vikings had Scottish accents.



Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders have made a film that is suitable for all ages! I think they have created it for teenagers as well which is something that DreamWorks Animation haven't done for quite a while. I will be really really annoyed if How To Train Your Dragon isn't nominated for Best Animated Picture as well as Toy Story 3!



Overall, How To Train Your Dragon is a fantastic animated film! I have high expectations for DreamWorks animated films now (except the rest of the Shrek films). It is definitely DreamWorks Animations' best film since Wallace And Gromit In The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit and a breakthrough for that studio!

"See you soon then."


Director: Lasse Hollstrom
Starring: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thomas
Running time: 105 minutes
Country: USA


Dear John is something that I didn't think would be THAT good. It just seemed like one of those soppy romantic war films that I would say took a lot from romantic war films like Atonement and Gone With The Wind. When I saw it, it was actually quite a good film. I mean, yeah, it had its soppy, crap moments but the plot was very good and I was taken away by some of the characters especially John's dad. It was a moving film that I would compare to Titanic (not comparing events that happen, mostly on about feelings towards drama). What I mean by this, yeah it is a sad film but not tear-jerking or jaw dropping worthy like Titanic.



Dear John tells the story of John Tyree (Channing Tatum) who is a young soldier from the Army Special Forces who falls in love with Savannah Lynn Curtis (Amanda Seyfried). John lives with his dad who has always been obsessed with his coins and hasn't really been a father to John due to this and Savannah thinks that he might be autistic like her neighbour's young son. Savannah is a college student on spring break. and during this break, she falls in love with John. When they are apart, they decide to exchange letters to each other and because of this, their lives are changed forever. I was thinking that Channing Tatum is a bit like the two dickheads from the Twilight films but his performance in this film as John was actually good and very moving. I really got into the character when I really underestimated him to start off with. Amanda Seyfried made a name of herself in 2008 summer blockbuster Mamma Mia! and now she stars in something different and delivers a very moving performance. E.T. star Henry Thomas was very good as Tim Wheddon.



Lasse Hallstrom has made a couple of great dramas in the past like Chocolat, The Cider House Rules and What's Eating Gilbert Grape? but I have to say that Dear John is another good drama that he has done. Hallstrom perhaps tries to make Dear John like how Joe Wright made Atonement and that cannot be replaced but to be fair, it wasn't a bad effort. The film may not have had been a major success critically but I think it is one that I think people should at least attempt to watch.



Overall, Dear John is a decent romantic war film that I did like. It is nothing major, it does take a lot from other romantic war films. Nevertheless a good piece of entertainment that could melt the hearts of its audiences.

"A dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his."


Director: David Frankel
Starring: Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, Eric Dane, Kathleen Turner
Running time: 115 minutes
Country: USA


I had absolutely no desire to see Marley & Me at all because I can't stand either of the two leading actors in this film but after deciding to watch it with some family, I am really glad I saw it! Marley & Me is a true story that teaches many lessons of how much of a difference pets make in a family particularly the children. Marley & Me has now become one of the very rare films that have literally made me cry. I mean, I hardly ever cry in films but seeing as I despise both Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, I was never expecting up but I was wrong. It wasn't so much for the characters but was more for the dog and what an effect he became.


Marley & Me tells the story of a newlyweds John and Jenny Grogan (Wilson and Aniston) who plan to have babies. Instead, John gives Jenny a puppy. Marley becomes the worlds worst dog but his untameable spirit uplifts the Grogans at difficult moments. Owen Wilson is a pain in the arse actor as far as I am concerned and he was the main reason why I wanted to skip this film to start with but his performance in Marley & Me was satisfactory. To be honest, where is acting was quite flawed was that he didn't really seem like that family man kind of actor. Jennifer Aniston is the second actor in the film that I can't stand but her performance was satisfactory too. She was better than Owen Wilson though seeing as she was a good parent in this film and she isn't a parent in real life at all.


David Frankel has made a film that people would love for its beauty regarding the family and the dog and would make people cry for its tragic ending. However, it isn't the greatest film to watch as far as acting, direction or writing is concerned.


Overall, Marley & Me is a surprisingly brilliant film that broke my heart and made me shed a tear! Perhaps not one of the best films of 2009 but it is the most tear jerking film that I have watched since The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.

"I don't reckon you've got long. Seen that before. Gut wound. The slug's probably tom right through the liver. Mate of mine in Ulster got caught in sniper fire. Bullet blew his inside out. He screamed for a good 10 minutes. We couldn't send a medic in, the section was too hot. So we all took cover... and watched him die. I've never told that... to anyone... you've should've called an ambulance... for the girl..."


Director: Daniel Barber
Starring: Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Charlie Creed-Miles, David Bradley
Running time: 103 minutes
Country: UK


Just by looking at a poster of the film, it looked a lot like Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino with the poster of an old man in a coat holding a gun. When I watched it, I absolutely adored it! Gran Torino wasn't the only film it reminded me of. The other film it reminded me of was the Jodie Foster film The Brave One. Harry Brown is a very powerful British film that is set is modern day England and the film has quite a slow pace but despite that, it was a simple story. It was a very gruesome film with a lot of psychologically disturbing moments involving drugs and sex. To be honest, this film shows the world how weak and vulnerable England has become now.


The film is set in modern day England and tells the story of an old man called Harry Brown. He is a widowed Northern Ireland veteran who is living on an Elephant And Castle housing estate that is rapidly descending youth crime. Harry takes up violence on those youths when a close friend is murdered. Michael Caine's performance was absolutely brilliant! Caine goes old school with his badass style like Clint Eastwood does in Gran Torino. I guess it goes to show that Caine's career isn't over just yet because of his performance in this film. Emily Mortimer has made a name of herself over the past few years with some good performances in great films. Other examples besides Harry Brown are Match Point, Lars And The Real Girl and most recently Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island. Mortimer portrays DI Frampton who is a cop investigating what happened to Harry's friend Leonard who was murdered with her partner DI Hicock. She also begins to work harder by keeping an eye on Harry and looking out for him so to speak because of how devastated he was to find out about Leonard's death and that he might've gone into a mad moment and craved for revenge (which is what he does). Harry Potter star David Bradley portrays Leonard.


Daniel Barber directs this film like Clint Eastwood directs Gran Torino but personally I think Barber's work on Harry Brown was better than Eastwood's. Harry Brown was quite slow paced and it didn't really feel like a very long film. It took like 40 minutes for Harry to start going for revenge on those youths who killed his friend. I like to think that the film is expressing what some neighbourhoods in Britain have become now with teenagers committing awful crimes and being let astray to take the wrong path.


Overall, Harry Brown is an absolutely fantastic film that I loved from start to finish. Michael Caine revives his old style of acting and role choices like back in 1971 when he was in Get Carter. Without a doubt one of the best films of 2009 and the best British film of the year.

"Sy Ableman was a serious man."


Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick
Running time: 106 minutes
Country: USA, UK, France


I had very high expectations for the next Coen Brothers film after their great success with No Country For Old Men and then another great follow-up Burn After Reading but when I watched A Serious Man, I found it to be one of the most disappointing films that I have watched in a while. To be honest, I don't fully know how to explain what my overall thoughts were of the film but the best thing I can say is that the plot became a confusing and chaotic mess and didn't really make any sense as the story carried on and because of this, the plot went flat and when it suddenly ended, I was like "Right? what the f***?" To be honest, I think the only thing that was good in this film was the script from the Coen's and the great performance from Michael Stuhlbarg.


A Serious Man is set in 1967 and tells the story of a Jewish college physics professor called Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg) who lives with his family in suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota. His life is a nightmare during the film as his son Danny secretly smokes marijuana, his daughter Sarah is stealing money from him to get a nose job, his brother Arthur (Kind) has been staying on their couch for months and his wife wants a divorce and a gett so she can be with family friend and widower Sy Ableman. Michael Stuhlbarg's performance as Larry Gopnik was really good! When hard events occur in Larry's life, there are some moments where people would laugh but the film would darkly show its comedy in this sense but I thought there was nothing funny about it but at the same time, I thought there was nothing emotional about it either. I mean, I did like the character to start off with but unfortunately the film was too flat for me to like the character even more as it went on. Richard Kind's performance as Arthur Gopnik was even better than Michael Stuhlbarg's was. Kind was barely in any scenes at the beginning but midway through the film until the end, he was a powerful and effective character who became more important in the film than Larry did.


Like every single film the Coen's have done, they are just totally random with random stories, characters but very similar writing styles except one or two they have done before (No Country For Old Men, for example). The Coen's failed to make this one exciting like they did with their previous two films and I began to feel less and less bothered about what was going to happen. Seeing as the film is a black comedy and I realize that it isn't always a laugh-out-loud comedy with simple humor but I was open minded when watching this film and there was not one moment where I'd chuckle. There wasn't even anything humorous in the story, characters or anything! On the bright side of things, there's no doubt that the Coen's are some of the best script writers of our time in this generation. I would say their writing style is like Quentin Tarantino but unfortunately directing A Serious Man was a mistake.


Overall, A Serious Man is a film that I wouldn't call a bad film but wouldn't call a good film either so it is just an average film. Both Invictus and Nine should have been nominated Best Picture instead of A Serious Man and The Blind Side. Unfortunately, it is the worst film so far from the Coen's and one of the most disappointing films I've seen. Their next film better bring them back on track!

"I'm Julia Child. Bon appetit!"


Director: Nora Ephron
Starring: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina
Running time: 123 minutes
Country: USA


To be honest, I had no idea of what to expect from this film except perhaps a fine performance from Meryl Streep. I really liked Julie & Julia when I saw it! It is a very inspiring, heart-warming film that will delight all hearts who watch it! It is quite a special film because there aren't that many films based on cooking because there aren't many true stories that would be good for a film. Plus, it'll be hard to make a fictional story about cooking. It worked well with Julie & Julia but worked even better with the Pixar animated film Ratatouille. The food looked lovely in the film but the film itself as well as the food consumed you with its charm and beauty.


Julie & Julia tells two stories set in two different generations. The first being set in the 1950s with Julia Child when she is learning French cooking which is the time she achieves a breakthrough in her cooking career. The second story is set in 2002 of a young writer called Julie Powell. She is bored with her career and lives with her husband Eric. To make her life a bit easier and enlighten it, she decides to make an attempt at cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child's cookbook "Mastering The Arts Of French Cooking" in a year. Over the years, Meryl Streep has proven herself to be one of the greatest actresses of all time and her performance as Julia Child is a performance that in my opinion should have earned her third and long overdue Oscar! Streep was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Leading Actress for her performance but lost to Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side. However, she did win the Best Actress Musical/Comedy Golden Globe Award over Sandra Bullock, Marion Cotillard, Julia Roberts as well as a second nomination for herself. Amy Adams was amazing in this film too! It is her second film with Meryl Streep and despite that they don't appear in a single scene together, the chemistry is awesome and there is this inspiring feeling that the audience feel towards both. To be honest, despite Meryl Streep's role is classed as the leading role and Amy Adams's role is classed as supporting, I personally think that the film is more about Julie Powell than Julia Child.


Out of the films that I have heard that director Nora Ephron has done (mostly comedy-dramas), Julie & Julia seems quite typical of Ephron to make. After seeing Julie & Julia, my enthusiasm to watch more films from Nora Ephron has woken up and I intend to watch some more from her especially When Harry Met Sally, Silkwood and Sleepless In Seattle. As far as filming of Julie & Julia is concerned, it seemed like a very hard film to make because it is one film set in two completely different generations as well as two different cities of the world: New York and Paris and needing different backgrounds and different actors from the specific places.


Overall, Julie & Julia is a really good entertaining film based on a theme that we don't see very often. It is perhaps one of the most inspiring films that I have watched in a while. It doesn't quite reach my list of the best films of 2009 but it isn't far off. Damn you, Academy, that Meryl Streep didn't win her 3rd Oscar! Best Meryl Streep performance in a long time!

"I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one."


Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, Don Cheadle
Running time: 124 minutes
Country: USA


Iron Man 2 was something I couldn't wait for but was a bit worried about as well. The reasons why I was worried was because there were a lot of superhero characters involved and that there could be too many stories going on at the same time and would be too much. This kind of thing happened with X-Men III: The Last Stand and Spider-Man 3 but thankfully it didn't with Iron Man 2. The film surpassed the hype and it turned out to be something that I really enjoyed. I am not sure which of the two I liked more but I can say they are both awesome films that I enjoyed equally.


Iron Man 2 begins 6 months after the end of the first Iron Man film where Tony Stark looks like he?s having the time of his life, but secretly he's starting to crack from the strain of a mysterious malady. Meanwhile, deranged Russian Ivan Vanko is plotting to annihilate Tony, in the guise of super-villain Whiplash. Iron Man 2 had the better cast and a wider range of characters than the first film! Robert Downey Jr. Makes another triumph return as Tony Stark/Iron Man and proves once again that Stark is his character! Stark's life goes a bit downfall not only because he's Iron Man but also his relationship with Pepper Potts as well. Don Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard as Lt. Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes who is a good friend of Stark and becomes like another Iron Man known as War Machine. Gwyneth Paltrow in my opinion is totally miscast for both Iron Man films! Unfortunately, her acting was poor and quite soppy. We all knew after the first film that she has feelings for Stark but unfortunately Paltrow didn't show that emotion like I was expecting. Mickey Rourke was FANTASTIC as Ivan Vanko! Rourke suited that character almost perfectly because he was that evil, scheming and pretty damn cool type. One thing, though: Ivan Vanko/Whiplash wasn't involved in the film that much, really. Scarlett Johansson was good as Natalie Rushman/Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow but unfortunately the character wasn't developed enough to get into. I think they could have improvised well if War Machine/James Rhodes wasn't in it but he is a major character to Iron Man. Sam Rockwell was awesome as Justin Hammer because he made Justin seem a pretty serious character but a bit of an idiot at the same time!


Jon Favreau is a director who I am really taking a strong liking to as of late because every time he has released a film, I have been totally entertained! He gave us Zathura and then most notably the first Iron Man. He returns to make a very entertaining sequel that only just managed to not turn out like Spider-Man 3 or X-Men 3: an absolutely chaotic story but with entertaining action! The script was a bit soppy in some scenes of the film but to be honest that is quite typical of a film like this.


Overall, Iron Man 2 is a very entertaining film that I really enjoyed. It may have had a better cast in the sequel than the first film but I thought that the first film had the better plot hence why I think that one is better than the sequel. Other than that, a great start to summer blockbusters 2010.

"You really shouldn't fall asleep in class."


Director: Samuel Bayer
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy
Running time: 95 minutes
Country: USA


Someone please tell me what the purpose was to remake such a classic! In a way, I felt this way going into the cinema but the reason why I saw it was because I wanted to see what it was like seeing as I love the original and to compare them together. Not only was it one of the biggest pieces of crap that I have seen in a long time but it was something that I just laughed at because of how pathetic it was! Despite it having better effects than the original and having seeing the original I knew what was going to happen, there wasn't just any suspenseful moments where I was scared at all.


Well, the acting was the worst thing about so-called "Nightmare On Elm Street"! The entire cast might as well shit on Wes Craven and Robert Englund's laps while they're at it! I had started to like Jackie Earle Haley as an actor like his great performance in Watchmen and he seemed like he was going to be a good Freddy Krueger from the trailer but he was TOTALLY miscast for Freddy! I know that Freddy is quite a hard character to play but he needed to be scary and he didn't need to be annoying which unfortunately turned out to be what Haley was like. Englund was a lot scarier and he made Freddy like a really scary, sinister psycho but Haley made him look like a zombie! His voice was a real pain in the arse too. I bet that Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner and Katie Cassidy who played Nancy, Quentin and Kris aren't even professional actors. They're probably amateurs.


Samuel Bayer, are you fucking mad?! Thinking you was able to make the remake better than the original? Uhh? don't think so!! It was badly filmed with a boring pace that I personally feel didn't have any traditional suspense to it at all! To be honest, it is quite typical that Michael Bay has produced it seeing as he hasn't been in the good books of cinema at the moment with his mega disappointing film Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen. Michael Bay tries too hard and it backfires every time!


Overall, A Nightmare On Elm Street is an absolutely appalling, boring, chaotic disaster that was laughably awful and couldn't have gone any worse! Even the effects didn't save this film! If this doesn't win the Razzie for worst remake/sequel or even Worst Picture, I'll be majorly pissed off! Goddamn you Bayer, Bay and Haley!!

"Rise, and rise again. Until lambs become lions."


Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac
Running time: 140 minutes
<Country: USA, UK


This is now the 12th film adaptation on the heroic high-skilled archer and swordsman known as Robin Hood. Because of the large amount of films made based on him would have made an effect on critics and fans expectations and overall opinions of the 2010 version. I guaranteed that Robin Hood was going to be either as amazing as Gladiator, as good as King Arthur or as shit as Kingdom Of Heaven but it turned out better than King Arthur but nowhere near as good as Gladiator! I think the main flaws were that it did not really feel like a Robin Hood story and it was incredibly slow. It wasn't very epic either like the trailer demonstrated.



Robin Hood is set in late 12th Century England. Robin Longstride is a common archer in the Third Crusade. Following the death of Richard the Lionheart in battle, Robin and three other common soldiers (aka Merry Men) attempt to return to their homeland, having spent ten years fighting abroad. Along the way they come across an ambush of the King's guard by Sir Godfrey, an English Knight with French lineage and allegiance. When King Richard dies, his younger brother John is crowned king. Russell Crowe collaborates for a fifth time with Ridley Scott as Robin. After seeing a couple of still pictures and trailers, I was thinking that there might be a second Maximus on our hands or "Maximus back from the dead" so to speak. It was a good thing that they were different but seeing Crowe as the heroic Robin as a leader during a battle, it bought back old memories of Maximus in Gladiator. Sienna Miller was originally playing Lady Marion but Cate Blanchett took over. To be honest, I am glad that she took over because Marion is the love interest of Robin and it would look better seeing as she is almost the same age as Russell Crowe. Mark Strong is becoming a real Hollywood star as of late starring in a lot of fantastic films such as Stardust, Sherlock Holmes and Kick-Ass. Robin Hood is another fantastic film with him in and now I am beginning to see him as a villain. If he ever plays a heroic character, I would find it quite lame seeing as he is more of the villain type.



Ridley Scott crafts together his third historic epic. His first one was a giant success (Gladiator) and the next one was a real disappointment (Kingdom Of Heaven) but Robin Hood, on the other hand, was a success but doesn't quite live up to Gladiator. This time, 10 years ago, Gladiator was released and Ridley Scott tries to make Robin Hood like "the Gladiator of the 2010s" with obviously a historic plot but with similar production settings, music and costumes. Most of the filming was in Wales for the action scenes but the castles and fields were mostly in Surrey. I think this would've really failed if it was directed by a non-English director or if it wasn't filmed in the UK. Great that it was filmed in Wales as well as England. The script had to be rewritten seeing as Ridley Scott didn't approve of it and that delayed filming even further. I did think the script was pretty good. Quite soppy in some moments but apart from that, awesome!



Overall, Robin Hood is a fairly decent Ridley Scott-Russell Crowe collaboration but did have its disappointments. It is more like King Arthur. Both of them can do so much better!

"I've seen it's power with my own eyes. Releasing the Sand turns back time. Only the holder of the Dagger is aware what's happened."


Director: Mike Newell
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina
Running time: 116 minutes
Country: USA


Despite the fact I had almost no knowledge of the video games that this film is based on, I really wanted to see it! I mean, the games look amazing but the film looks an amazing piece of entertainment and guess what? It was! To be perfectly honest, those who haven't ever played the game, the game doesn't need to be played to see the film because the plot itself is very basic and it resembled other films that I have seen in the past. I think the film that Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time reminded me a lot of was The Lion King which did really surprise me. I like to call it the Disney Indiana Jones that I feel is combined with The Golden Compass, Pirates Of The Caribbean and The Chronicles Of Narnia.


Set in the Persian Empire during the 6th century, Prince Dastan is a street urchin who is adopted by the king as his heir so the king's two sons wouldn't fight over the throne. When the king is murdered and Dastan is accused, he flees but then comes back and teams up with Princess Tamina to stop his uncle Nizam from taking an ancient dagger known as "The Dagger Of Time" which could destroy the world. To be honest, I did think that Jake Gyllenhaal would be a cheesy actor to play Prince Dastan but he delivers a performance that I was surprisingly impressed by! In fact, because he played the part so well, he was probably the best choice for the role. After Quantum Of Solace, Gemma Arterton proves once again that she is one shit actress! I mean, yeah there were a lot of jokes involved in the film and a lot of romance between Princess Tamina and Prince Dastan but she didn't make the Princess very interesting. She was like an absolutely helpless idiot that was just chasing after him! Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina deliver good performances too.


Mike Newell already made a name for himself after directing Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire and I have to say that Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time is another fantastic creation of his! He is a director of dark, intense visual entertainment that will try to make his films for adults as well as kids no matter the plot. The comedy involved was quite cheesy at times but it did make me chuckle. It was that kind of humour where you'd laugh and you'd think "What the hell?" and carry on laughing. I am glad that Disney made something like this because it has its exciting moments, sad moments and magical moments which is something that appears in almost every Disney film. Also, it is like The Lion King and that is one of the ultimates from Disney so I couldn't see them not doing it.


Overall, Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time is an absolutely brilliant entertaining film that I would call a visual masterpiece like Alice In Wonderland but not one of the best films of the year. I wouldn't only call it as the Indy 4 of 2010 but also the Indiana Jones of Disney. I would like to see a trilogy based on the games seeing as the first was awesome! It was surprisingly like The Lion King so if you love that film (which is pretty much everybody), you'd be entertained by Prince Of Persia.

"The thing is, a person's life is like a TV show. I was the star of The Will Show. And The Will Show wasn't an ensemble drama. Guests came and went, but I was the regular. It came down to me and me alone. If Marcus' mum couldn't manage her own show, if her ratings were falling, it was sad, but that was her problem. Ultimately, the whole single mum plotline was a bit complicated for me."


Director: Chris and Paul Weitz
Starring: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Rahchel Weisz
Running time: 101 minutes
Country: UK, USA, France, Germany


Another soppy (not bad) Hugh Grant rom-com was the first thing that came to my mind when I heard of his film and saw a couple of pictures and the poster and this is exactly what I thought of it. It was an enjoyable film that was inspiring, funny and emotional. I don't really know why but it reminded me of Billy Elliot. Also, I have to say that About A Boy is a very predictable film with consequences you sort of knew was going to happen.


About A Boy tells us the story of a young man called Will Freeman (Grant) who lives a happy lifestyle thanks to a successful Christmas song that his father wrote and because of this, Will doesn't need to work. He spends most of his free time smoking, watching television and reading about pop culture. One day, Will meets young boy Marcus (Hoult) who is going hard phases in life and together they create a friendship like father and son who begin to understand each other. After bringing us British romantic comedies like Four Weddings And A Funeral and Notting Hill, there was something that I guaranteed that Grant was either going to fail with About A Boy or once again succeed. Hugh Grant is the one British actor who fits perfectly in romantic comedies! His characters are very similar because they're just idiots and the ways with the women are very similar too. Nicholas Hoult delivers a great performance as Marcus! He did remind me a lot of Jamie Bell in Billy Elliot.


Brothers Chris and Paul Weitz worked well on this film and they have been directors who usually work separately. Chris has bought us American Pie, The Golden Compass and regrettably New Moon. Paul bought In Good Company, American Dreamz, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant and the upcoming Little Fockers.


Overall, About A Boy is an enjoyable romantic comedy that will delight all hearts! Another successful Hugh Grant rom-com!

" This is an occasion for genuinely tiny knickers."


Director: Sharon Maguire
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent
Running time: 97 minutes
Country: UK, Ireland, France


I was going into this film with high expectations because of how good people say it is and how awesome the Bridget Jones character is. However, when I watched it, I was greatly disappointed and found it perhaps one of the soppiest films that I have ever watched! I do seriously not understand why people find this so good and because of this, I find it very overrated. I was really bored almost through the whole film. I enjoyed like the first 15 minutes but after that, I just slowly lost my liking for it.


It tells the story of a young woman called Bridget Jones (Zellweger) in her early 30s, still single and worries about her weight. Her job is at a book publishing company in London where her main focus is fantasizing about her boss Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant). When she meets Mark Darcy (Firth) who is the barrister son of her parents' friends and a love triangle starts to begin for a fight for Bridget's heart. To be honest, I really don't see what was so amazing about Renée Zellweger's performance. She had what the character needs like body but think her acting could've been a lot better. Yes, I realise that she was nominated for an Oscar but I don't think she deserved it. Hugh Grant keeps appearing in romantic comedies and constantly playing the same kind of characters and, to be honest, I am getting a little tired of it. I'm not saying he's a bad actor but like Johnny Depp with weird films and weird characters: there's only a matter of time where people get tired of it and it just dies. Colin Firth, however, was good in this film.


Bridget Jones's Diary is one of the rare films that was directed by a woman. Sharon Maguire has only been known for this film but nothing else. The film was based on the book by a close friend of hers and one of the main characters ? Shazzer ? is in fact based on Maguire.


Overall, Bridget Jones's Diary is a very disappointing, boring and soppy film that I think could've been a lot better all around.

"We deal in lead friend."


Director: John Sturges
Starring: Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, James Coburn
Running time: 123minutes
Country: USA


Back in the 60s, many thought that The Magnificent Seven wasn't a very good idea because of how famous The Seven Samurai so expectations were very high for this film back then and still are now who love The Seven Samurai but haven't seen The Magnificent Seven. After its grand success, it has become one of the best remakes of all time and I have to agree with that! It may have been perhaps clearer and easier to understand than The Seven Samurai but did prefer that one.


Well, I don't really need to explain the plot of the film seeing as it's a remake. The cast in this film was another reason why The Magnificent Seven was a great success! Yul Brynner portrays Chris Adams who is a Cajun and is the leader of the seven gunmen to defend the village. They all wear black, smoke cigars and shoots sharp. Eli Wallach was awesome as Calvera who is the leader of the Mexican bandits. Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn and others deliver great performances as well.


The Magnificent Seven has both its similarities and differences with The Seven Samurai. The most obvious one is that it set in a western background and lifestyle. Other differences are that the villagers in The Seven Samurai are sent to town to hire swordsmen whereas in the remake, the villagers are sent to town to buy guns, In Seven Samurai, the village is fortified to keep the bandits out until the climactic battle. In the remake, Chris states that the new walls were built to trap the bandits inside the village and a couple of others. The Seven Samurai director Akira Kurosawa sort of shocked me when he said he absolutely loved The Magnificent Seven. Now, THAT is saying something! Despite, The Magnificent Seven's critical success, it wasn't so successful regarding awards. The only nominated in earned at the Oscars in 1961 was for Best Original Score.


Overall, The Magnificent Seven is indeed a magnificent remake that has proved itself to be one of the best westerns as one of the best remakes of all time.

" I haven't seen Berlin yet, from the ground or from the air, and I plan on doing both before the war is over."


Director: John Sturges
Starring: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald
Running time: 172 minutes
Country: USA


When I first saw this film which was a couple of years ago, I absolutely loved it but after revisiting it, I still really liked it a lot! It is a very entertaining film that is adventurous, quite funny and very intense especially during the escape attempts and when some of the prisoners become fugitives. There is one minor fault I have with this film was that I think it could have been about 20 minutes shorter.


The plot of The Great Escape isn't that complex at all. It is a very basic plot set in a German Prisoner Of War camp during World War II and tells the story of a mess escape from Stalag Luft III. Steve McQueen has delivered a great performance that was perhaps his most famous role. After the success of The Magnificent Seven, Steve McQueen has showed once again that he works amazingly with John Sturges but even more so this time! James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Donald Pleasance deliver grand performances too.


Once again, John Sturges goes to create a masterpiece but surpasses his last success. I have to say that the music is the best thing about this film! It gives me chills and you can just hum to it. This has been referred by many as an action film but, to be honest, I wouldn't really call it an action film at all. It could be classed as a family film but perhaps its long duration didn't make the film fit into that genre. Despite that, I think it is suitable.


Overall, The Great Escape is an amazing film that I was gripped to almost all the way through it. Could've perhaps been shorter by about 20 minutes but apart from that, a masterpiece of the 60s!

"Where do you want to take the shot? In the hand or in the foot?"


Director: Fernando Meirelles
Starring: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva
Running time: 124 minutes
Country: Brazil, France


Ever since its released in late 2002/early 2003, this film has earned a lot of critical acclaim from film fans and critics all over the world! I was surprised when I noticed that City Of God reached the top 20 on IMDB's top 250 so I really needed to check this out! It has been called "the South American GoodFellas" and "the GoodFellas of the noughties". I mean, I can see why with the crime, deaths and drug deals but I feel that City Of God doesn't quite live up to GoodFellas. Besides GoodFellas, City Of God bought similarities to Slumdog Millionaire. To be honest, I think it is a good film for all people over the world to watch because it just goes to show that we should be grateful for what we've got because the people in City Of God have hardly got anything at all and people get killed a lot in Brazil. Then again, the same thing could be said about pretty much all African countries.


City Of God is set in the 60s and tells the story of two boys who have grown up together in a violent neighbourhood in Rio De Janiero who want to do two different things as part of their future career. One seeks to be a photographer and the other a drug dealer. Alexandre Rodrigues delivered a great performance as Buscapé (firecracker"). He is the main narrator and protagonist. A quiet, honest boy who dreams of becoming a photographer, and the only character who seems to keep from being dragged down into corruption and murder during the gang wars. Leandro Firmino Da Hora and Douglas Silva were awesome as Zé Pequeno aka Li'l Zé/Li'l Dice. He is an ultra-violent, psychopathic drug dealer who goes over dead bodies to fulfill his goals. He is deeply insecure with women. When his only friend Bené is struck by fate, it drives him over the edge.


Fernando Meirelles miraculously makes the film without any disturbance despite what happens within Brazil. He was once warned that because of the dangers that occur, the film would never be made. Because he decided to still go on with it despite the consequences, I really admire and respect him for that already after only watching this. City Of God earned four Academy Award nominations: Best Director (Fernando Meirelles), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography but wasn't quite so lucky at the Golden Globes when it received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film but didn't win.


City Of God is an extremely disturbing, psychological and violent thrill ride that tells people all over the world particularly those in richer countries that life could be worse. Plus, it goes to show that those who live in rough neighbourhoods can at least try to succeed in their lives. One of the most powerful films of the decade.

" Please eat my face last and send my hoofs to my momma!"


Director: Mike Mitchell
Starring: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas
Running time: 93 minutes
Country: USA


After the extremely disappointing Shrek The Third, in all fairness I didn't even want to see another Shrek film. When the trailer of this film was released, it didn't really increase my anticipation so I thought I'd go and see the film anyway because its a Shrek film after all. So, I would say my expectations were quite low. However, when I watched it, I was pleasantly surprised at it. I mean, no the dialogue may not have been as powerful as the first two films but it became surprisingly emotional especially towards the end.


Shrek Forever After starts with Shrek and Fiona as parents to the three Ogre babies and Shrek just can't stand the fact that he can't have as much peace and quiet alone as he used to (like at the start of the film). When he and Fiona have an argument, Shrek is confronted by Rumpelstiltskin and Shrek is tricked into signing a contract to go back to his old ways. In this trick by Rumpelstiltskin, Shrek begins to realise what he has lost and what he needs in his life! Mike Myers proves once again that he has the perfect voice for the Shrek character, Eddie Murphy cracked me up again as Donkey and Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas did well too. I mean, as far as the characters in the fourth film compared to the other three, they look different or slightly act different but they are still the same heroes that we have seen in the others. As far as new villain is concerned Rumpelstiltskin, I thought he was a lame villain to be honest. I mean, yeah he looked scary but didn't seem to be as threatening as I would've expected.


The work from Chris Miller in the third film really needed to be replaced and no, Mike Mitchell didn't seem as much of a top-notch director like Andrew Adamson was for the first two films but it made up for the weak display in the third film. I mean, it turned out quite emotional and became very affectionate for adults so I am pleased that the series has ended satisfyingly.


Overall, Shrek Forever After is a satisfying end to the Shrek series that perhaps could've been better but could've been a lot worse. Enjoyable fun!

"I know the consequences of the choice your making."


Director: David Slade
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Xavier Samuel
Running time: 124 minutes
Country: USA


Now, where do I start in this scathing review? First of all, I only wanted to watch this film to see if it was going to be equally as shit as New Moon even though I was expecting it to be. I didn't even watch the whole film (watched 85 minutes of it) and it was pretty much the same as New Moon! I mean, come on! The whole series has gone out of tone and lost what its trying to create but instead, the target audience get turned on by the actors in the film.


Kristen Stewart is an actress who starred in good films before the Twilight films and now she is an actress who is best known for such pathetic and corny films! I began to strongly dislike Bella in this one because she was like a slut who wanted both Jacob and Edward! I mean, Bella showed us again that nobody cares how she feels about the love triangle and the situation she's in let along what Jacob and Edward feel about it! Robert Pattinson as Edward was once again absolutely DREADFUL! I mean, I began to laugh at his awful acting in the opening scene of the film! The scene where Jacob and Edward confront each other while Bella is there is like the most idiotic, wasteful and cheesy confrontations and arguments I think I have ever seen. Despite, Robert Pattinson DID get a Razzie nomination for New Moon, I bloody hope he wins it this time because it would just be AMAZING if he did as well the film winning Worst Picture! Now, Taylor Lautner is as bad as Robert Pattinson and Edward! For one thing: he absolutely blinds the women who watch the films with his so-called 'six-pack' and his 'hot body' and they get turned on by the actor rather than the character. I mean, since when does a character or even an actor EVER turn on its target audience unless in a sex scene?! All these women screaming in films: 'Phwoar! He's fit!' or 'Mmmmm... I would' which I have heard before and it's a pain in the fucking arse! Not so much Stewart but Pattinson and Taylor, you just need to end your acting career like right now because it's not going to get any better!


To be honest, I did find the director selection quite good seeing as Slade has directed films of pure horror, terror and violence! Due to this, I wanted him to make it a more terrifying film rather than a stupidly soppy film like the previous ones but unfortunately, that didn't work. And now another annoying thing: they're being copycats towards Harry Potter by one book being split into two films so now I just can't wait for them to end! I mean, the series could've been really awesome but unfortunately its the actors and their fake bodies that have made the series a so-called 'success'.


Overall, all though Eclipse wasn't as painful as New Moon, it is still a very corny, laughably bad, stupid, pathetic, needlessly and unnecessarily overhyped film that will turn on more women! Go back and graduate at acting school, Rob and Taylor because you clearly didn't before these films!

" Neither god, nor man... you can change everything..."


Director: Louis Leterrier
Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton
Running time: 87 minutes
Country: UK, USA


Despite having not seen the original before this one, I did think that this looked entertaining and intense. However when I watched it, it was incredibly disappointing! It was boring, slow, story was a mess and acting was poor! I mean, I do realise now that I just don't get along with mythology films or films based on Ancient Greece (except the Disney version of Hercules). When I was watching this, it had the lack of believability about it which led to the bad acting and bad screenplay.


Was this seriously the leading actor in Avatar?! My oh my, Sam, what were you thinking?! I just felt nothing for Perseus at all in this film because we all know Sam from Avatar and Terminator Salvation but despite that, he should've created his own character once again like he did in Avatar but unfortunately that wasn?t the case and he failed! To be honest, it goes to show how much an actor can change after such a success. I thought the exact same thing with Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Usually, they both select great films to star in and deliver grand performances but neither of them managed to do so this time (think it's the first time for Ralph Fiennes of what films I have seen him in)! Gemma Arterton proves once again like in Quantum Of Solace and Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time that she just CANNOT act! I mean, yeah she's hot but got no acting talent whatsoever!


Directed by Louis Leterrier! What has he directed in the past? Well, there's the first two Transporter films and The Incredible Hulk. After reading his filmography after watching the film, I thought "Hmmmm... all action films. Could've worked really well but unfortunately didn't." I mean, some of the action sequences were filmed well but in the normal sequences, it was just flat because you only had to look in the background and you could just tell it felt like it was in a modern era which a film set in the past or a fantasy world should never do otherwise it'll fail. Script was VERY flat and just an absolute mess!


Overall, Clash Of The Titans is a very boring, disappointing film that was only good for the effects and that's about it. Heard rumours of a trilogy coming out! Good luck to the next two films with satisfying me and the many critics who gave this negative reviews!

" It's Good Friday. Have a Bloody Mary."


Director: John MacKenzie
Starring: Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Derek Thompson, Bryan Marshall
Running time: 114 minutes
Country: UK


According to many, The Long Good Friday has been called the best British gangster film of all time as well as one of the best British films! Now after watching it, I am not surprised at all! Every single second was intense, dark and psychologically disturbing. I do have to say that it is a very underrated film that I feel should have earned more credit than it received (not so much the critics but the public worldwide). I do love these kinds of films where people are getting killed and there is a complex mystery going on in the aftermath of the incidents but with a revealed killer behind it all!


The Long Good Friday is set in modern day England and tells the story of Harold Shand, a successful London gangster whose world falls apart over the course of one weekend. Shand controls the London docks and is planning a big real estate deal, financed by money from the American mob and given the okay by the London organization. His world is sweet -- he lives in a fancy penthouse, he owns a yacht, and has a sensitive and intelligent mistress. But suddenly a bomb explodes inside his Rolls Royce, another bomb destroys a pub he owns, and a third is found inside his casino. Shand can't understand who would suddenly want him dead, particularly over the Easter weekend, when representatives from the American mafia are coming into town to discuss investing in Shand's real estate project. Bob Hoskins delivers a great performance in a genre that he works best in! Well, a lot better than Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Hook. Helen Mirren is now 65 years old but she was 35 years old in The Long Good Friday and bloody hell! She was stunning and so was her performance!


It was directed amazingly! I wouldn't be surprise if this film or any of the makers were inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy because I do think that The Long Good Friday was a lot like Frenzy but apart from Frenzy was a bit better. I think this as well as Frenzy was so realistic that it felt like a TV drama or soap opera. Plus, it was set in a very modern era of England (still very similar to what England looks like today). Also, like Frenzy, The Long Good Friday has a very powerful shocking ending. Different ending to Frenzy but still awesome!


Overall, The Long Good Friday is an absolutely awesome, intense and quite psychologically terrifying gangster film that I loved from start to finish and would call one of the greatest gangster films as well as one of the greatest of the Brits!

"Never recreate from your memory. Always imagine new places."


Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard
Running time: 148 minutes
Country: USA, UK


After Nolan's giant success The Dark Knight, I was thrilled to learn that he was doing a sci-fi film with Leonardo DiCaprio as the leading role! However, when the official trailer was released I thought 'this looks about the oddest film I think I'll ever watch but it still looks very interesting.' When I saw this film, I was gripped to it from start to finish and it blew me away completely! Despite it is a sci-fi film, it did in fact tell us some things about dreams that we didn't realise but also some things that we thought 'Ohhhh yeah that's true', you know. I mean, it was bound to be awesome seeing as the ensemble cast is breathtaking as are the special effects and incredible screenplay and direction!


The plot is hard to explain to someone before you've seen the film but when you have seen it, you really understand it. Like the plot reveals itself as you watch it so to speak. Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) doesn't steal things, he steals ideas. By projecting himself deep into the subconscious of his targets, he can glean information that even the best computer hackers can't get to. In the world of corporate espionage, Cobb is the ultimate weapon. But even weapons have their weakness, and when Cobb loses everything, he's forced to embark on one final mission in a desperate quest for redemption. This time, Cobb won't be harvesting an idea, but sowing one. Should he and his team of specialists succeed, they will have discovered a new frontier in the art of psychic espionage. They've planned everything to perfection, and they have all the tools to get the job done. Their mission is complicated, however, by the sudden appearance of a malevolent foe that seems to know exactly what they're up to, and precisely how to stop them. Hmmm... I thought at first 'Leonardo DiCaprio in a sci-fi? Good to see him working with Nolan but not sure whether the science fiction genre suits him' but now I take that back! For the second consecutive time in 2010, DiCaprio has portrayed a messed-up confused character about his wife who he is confused about her existence and that it involves children too (previous film I'm on about is Shutter Island). Also, it was a bit weird seeing him in a summer film seeing as I'd not seen him in a summer blockbuster before. I thought he was amazing as Dom Cobb and I do keep thinking he is getting better and better. After Joseph Gordon-Levitt was successful in 500 Days Of Summer, he goes on to succeed once again but this time not only in a science fiction film but in a supporting role behind a very talented actor! He portrays Arthur who is Cobb's work partner, accomplice, side-kick whatever you want to call him. Marion Cotillard was obviously smoking hot in this film like always but her performance was a lot like Michelle Williams' performance in Shutter Island. Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe and Michael Caine all deliver good performances too.


Nolan does it again! The man is an absolute genius and creates both something new and goes old school with his own original story. I like to think of Nolan's Inception like Kubrick's 2001. Nolan has proved himself once again that he as a director is a powerful force to be reckoned with. The filming was perfect just like The Dark Knight. To be honest, I would say Nolan is the best living British director. It isn't only the filming and production side of things where Nolan is pretty much always successful in his films but also he likes to have an ensemble cast where he picks the right actors for the right characters. Nolan again shows that he just cannot fail because I have seen every film that he has done and I have really enjoyed every single one so far! I will be damned if Inception doesn't win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects let alone get a nomination for Best Picture 2010, Best Leading Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing and Editing, Best Film Editing or Best Art Direction.


Overall, Inception is an absolutely AMAZING film that is definitely one of the best films of 2010! I don't think it is a film that you need to fully understand to enjoy because I think you are just instantly gripped by the effects, music, filming and characters pretty quickly. Nolan strikes again!

" Well, let's find a way off this fucking planet."


Director: Nimród Antal
Starring: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins
Running time: 107 minutes
Country: USA


Well, I wasn't that sure of what to expect from this film seeing as Alien Vs. Predator didn't really succeed, Alien vs. Predator 2 DEFINITELY didn't succeed and the second Predator wasn't a huge success either. The trailer caught my attention because I thought it looked an awesome action film and that is what it was! I mean, what I really liked about this one is that it goes somewhere rather new like we'd not seen before but it also goes old school like back to the 80s and the first Predator film. Admittedly, I did get bored in the first 20 minutes but when the attacks and suspenseful came alive, I really got into it!


Eight Earth people - mostly professional soldiers and criminals - are abducted and parachuted into a jungle on an alien world. As they try to co-operate to ensure their survival, an unseen enemy stalks them for sport. Adrien Brody didn't really seem like the actor for a film like this but I thought he actually did a good job! Then again, Adrien Brody has been in an action-thriller film set in the jungle before and that was King Kong by Peter Jackson in 2005. After his role in blockbuster Spider-Man 3, Topher Grace enters himself in a new film of a franchise but this time a completely different character and a different kind of film.


Nimród Antal perhaps had a lot of pressure when working on this film seeing as the first Predator film is such a classic and it is loved all over the world and Predators is mostly considered as a sequel to the first one (like replacing Predator 2). However, despite that I thought he was a good director choice. It felt quite epic during intense action scenes especially around the end. As far as the screenplay, it was a bit flat to start with but it was good half way through and towards the end.


Overall, Predators is an intense thrill-ride that I thought was almost as good as the first original Predator film! It'd be a great film to select on a Saturday night and definitely one of the most entertaining films of the year!

"You play fair with me, I'll play fair with you."


Director: Adrian Lyne
Starring: Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer, Ellen Hamilton Latzen
Running time: 119 minutes
Country: USA


Wow! Fatal Attraction is indeed a fatal attraction between the actors powerful performances, strong direction and screenplay and the audiences who are watching the film! There were quite a few similarities to this film that I have watched before such as Cape Fear (both original and remake) and the film adaptation of Stephen King's famous novel Misery. It is a story of obsession, desperation and also commitment of how much Dan still wants his family despite the affair and how far Alex is willing to go to get Dan.


Set in New York in the late 1980s. It tells the story of Dan Gallagher who is an attorney for New York who lives with his wife Beth and his six-year-old daughter. Whilst Dan's wife and daughter have gone away for the weekend, he meets Alex Forrest and is almost instantly attracted to her. They begin an affair but when Dan realises that the affair was a mistake, Alex will not be ignored! Not now, not tomorrow, not EVER! So now this is where it becomes dangerous for Dan and his family. How far will Alex go just to be with Dan? Michael Douglas was a fine actor in the 80s! In fact, on the same year of Fatal Attraction's release, he won his first Academy Award but not for this film (was for Wall Street). One thing I must say is when people keep on saying that Alex was the villain all over and attacked the innocent family. I mean, she wouldn't have done what she did in the film if Dan hadn't even begun the affair in the first place so it is partly his fault. Yeah, it was really bad what Alex did and Dan didn't deserve it all but still shouldn't have had the affair with her behind his family's back. Despite the famous films he has been in, I would call Michael Douglas an underrated actor unlike his legendary father Kirk Douglas. Up to 60 actresses were considered for the role of Alex Forrest but Glenn Close was the lucky woman to have won the role (despite without the director's consent). Glenn Close was excellent as Alex Forrest. Her performance in Fatal Attraction did lead to her role as Cruella De Vil in the 101 Dalmatians remake, I believe, seeing as it is that psychotic, stubborn and deadly type! There were some intense moments where Close didn't really scare me or hold tight into my chair but nevertheless she still did a fine job! Yeah, Alex is a villain but I can't believe she is ranked #7 movie villain of all time by the AFI!


Adrian Lyne did direct this film absolutely brilliantly! What I thought of Lyne when he said that Glenn Close was the last person he wanted to play Alex Forrest was 'You fuckin idiot! Goes to show what you know! She was the main reason for the success of the film!' There were 20 directors who were in line to direct Fatal Attractions but all of them passed away from it and let Adrian Lyne direct it instead. It's funny because like the first half of the film, it is like a soppy true love affair but the other half is a psychologically disturbing rollercoaster! It's rare but it still does happen.


Overall, Fatal Attraction is a very powerful, disturbing and intense thriller that gripped me from start to finish and it bound to terrorise audiences worldwide and keep them on the edge of their seats all the way through.

"So long... partner."


Director: Lee Unkrich
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty
Running time: 103 minutes
Country: USA


Back when as a child, I never thought there would be a Toy Story 3 but it was simply thrilling news when pre-production of the film was beginning. However, when pre-production of Toy Story 3 began, this perhaps became the riskiest project of all time especially after almost a decade since the first two Toy Story films were released and how they both turned out. Toy Story 3 is a film for literally every single person to enjoy but I think the most affected by this film are those who are born in the early or mid 1990s because a final film when those in that generation watched the first two films as children and now that a third instalment has come out, those people are now grown up and have got to move on so it became a very important film that does define a generation. Having grown up with Toy Story and Toy Story 2 myself, my excitement was perhaps the highest I have ever felt watching a film but as far as I am concerned, they couldn't have ended the series any better than this.


In terms of dialogue, the way Toy Story 3 is thought-up and crafted together, it does have close similarities with the two predecessors but I personally think that was the best idea for this film to succeed especially when this is almost like a farewell goodbye film. It is a very deep, emotional film that would make you cry and what makes it even more of a stronger film is that it is over plastic toys that a young man used to play with! That is how taken the viewers are by the trilogy. I thought that the film was pretty damn funny especially the model scene with Barbie and Ken and most of all: Spanish Buzz. I, also, happened to notice that there are a few innuendos within the film and it is ironic that it is only when you're an adult or teenager, you notice this in some children's films. The animation was just outstanding and was a lot clearer and even more enchanting than the animation in the first two films. Well, that's obviously because they were made roughly 10 years before the third instalment. I am sure most people saw Toy Story 3 in 3D and they should because it was pleasurable to watch in that experience but the even better experience is watching it on blu-ray! It is extremely important that every Pixar film needs to be owned on blu-ray because you won't ever get a better animated experience than Pixar on blu-ray!


Andy is now 17 and ready to head off to college, leaving Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of the toy-box gang to ponder their uncertain futures. When the toys are accidentally donated to the Sunnyside Daycare center they're initially overjoyed to once again be played with, but their enthusiasm quickly gives way to horror as they discover the true nature of the establishment under the rule of the deceptively welcoming "Lotso" Bear. Now, all of the toys must band together in one final, crazy scheme to escape their confines and return home to Andy.


Once again, we meet new characters (approximately 150 new ones in total) in Toy Story 3 and we experience another point of view of a toy and the innocence of children and we are taken back to our childhoods. As far as I am concerned, teenagers of the late noughties are just like Andy: now grown-up, have to put childhood behind and need to move on and take a new step ahead in life. Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and the rest of the gang go through yet another adventure where they come across new friends and new enemies where they end up separating once again. There are a few toys that were in the predecessors that aren't in Toy Story 3 such as Bo Peep, Wheezy and Etch but it was just great to see Woody, Buzz Lightyear etc return. Tom Hanks needed another breakthrough film in his career seeing as he didn't do all that well in the noughties (except for Cast Away and maybe The Terminal) and he, once again, provides his voice as Woody and goes a great job again! Tim Allen was basically the same, really, and he had almost disappeared from Hollywood throughout the decade and he was great once again as Buzz Lightyear. Other actors Joan Cusack, Wallace Shawn and John Ratzenberger make good returns in their respective roles. New actors that have been joined to the cast such as ... as Slinky Dog (he replaced ... who died in 2000), Ned Beatty as Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear aka Lotso, Michael Keaton as Barbie's counterpart Ken and Timothy Dalton as thespian hedgehog called Mr. Pricklepants.


Lee Unkrich has never directed a Pixar animated film by himself before although he was part of a few in the past. However, his work on Toy Story 3 was simply magnificent and he did as much of a fantastic job with Toy Story 3 as John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and Brad Bird did with the films they did so making the film for 4 years certainly was worth it. Toy Story 3 made history by becoming the 3rd animated film to be nominated for Best Picture (the 1st was Beauty And The Beast in 1991 and fellow Pixar film Up in 2009) but the first and only film in the Toy Story franchise to be nominated in that category.


Overall, Toy Story 3 is an outstanding film that ended the Toy Story series perfectly and would make you shed a tear or two so you need to be emotionally prepared for this one. It is a film that literally has it all and there isn't one weakness that Toy Story 3 has, like at all. It surprisingly became like an loose animated version of The Great Escape and it is definitely one of the most personal films one will ever watch as well as one of the greatest animated films of all time. Please, let there NOT be a Toy Story 4 because this ended perfectly and there doesn't even need to be because their story is completely told now so I think it is now time to leave the series alone.

"You know, I'm gonna be a great big bright, shining star."


Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, John C. Reilly
Running time: 150 minutes
Country: USA


Boogie Nights was made by the same director of Magnolia and it also has a very similar cast. I loved Magnolia so expectations were very high for me to love Boogie Nights. I did love it but didn't like it as much as Magnolia but it was better than There Will Be Blood. I mean, yeah the film is about pornography and adult entertainment but it has a message. And that message is that being a porn star actor is obviously a pleasurable and fun job but it doesn't make you the happiest person alive as one gets older which does happen to Eddie Adams/Dirk Diggler.


Set in Southern California in the late 70s and early 80s during the Golden Age Of Porn. It focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who dropped out of high school and is also a male prostitute. When he is discovered by porn director Jack Horner, his career as a porn actor begins but his addiction to cocaine and his sudden violent attitude begins to make his life a misery. Mark Wahlberg was awesome as Eddie Adams/Dirk Diggler! I can't believe he wasn't even a contender for Best Leading Actor by the Academy, Golden Globes or BAFTA's! Julianne Moore's acting was really good but she really wasn't attractive enough for Amber at all! I mean, if you're gonna have an actress playing a character who is like the leader of porn actresses in the film, at least give it to a middle-aged woman who was really attractive back then! Like Jamie Lee Curtis, Elizabeth Hurley or someone like that. Burt Reynolds was fantastic as well as Jack Horner. He deserved the Oscar nomination and was the best actor out of everyone in this film.


After Boogie Nights, Magnolia and There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson as a great director truly is becoming to be a force to be reckoned with and because of this, he is now becoming one of my favourite directors. What I love about his work on Boogie Nights is that, yeah he has a similar style as Quentin Tarantino does but despite he tries to use that style, he really doesn't fail at what he does. Can't wait to see what he does next! I dislike when people say 'ohhh this is a dirty porno!' No, it isn't a porno but it is just a film about porn. They had to cut 40 seconds of the film to make it a rated R film when it would have been the original NC-17.


Overall, Boogie Nights is an absolutely amazing film that I loved from start to finish. Think it'll entertain people because of the sex involved even though it obviously isn't real sex. One of the best films of the 90s!

"Thank you for coming back to me."


Director: David Lean
Starring: Trevor Howard, Celia Johnson, Cyril Raymond, Stanley Holloway
Running time: 86 minutes
Country: UK


Brief Encounter was made at a dark time (towards the end of WWII in England) and I would've thought that it would have been a risky project back then but obviously not. The war didn't stop them from creating a fine film that is still classed as one of the best romantic films of all time. I suppose adultery teaches the audience of this film that just how easily you can fall in love with someone else despite being married. I mean, no the film isn't very long but it certainly is very gripping from start to finish. You are there with Laura and Alec even before they met.


Middle-class housewife Laura meets Dr. Alec Harvey when she gets grit in the eye at the railway buffet, who skilfully removes the dirt in question only to fill her heart with longing and hope. Gradually they fall in love which culminated in little more than a kiss, though they know that their love, in a middle-class England of strict sensibilities, is impossible. Trevor Howard's performance as Dr. Alec Harvey was good but one problem I do have is that Harvey is meant to be a charming man who would sweep Laura off her feet but I just don't think that Howard did that enough. He felt more like a stalker. Celia Johnson was awesome as Laura! I would say it is one of the best leading female roles of the old generations. I mean, what Laura did was really bad. I thought despite falling in love with Alec 'instantly' when she has already got a respectful and loving husband with a good child. Alec was just as bad cheating on his wife too.


Even though Brief Encounter was released over 10 years before The Bridge On The River Kwai and Lawrence Of Arabia and I have seen those before this film, I just went into Brief Encounter not knowing what to expect. Lean had obviously proved himself as a great director of epic adventure films but Brief Encounter shows that he is a great director of romantic films too. David Lean has always been and always will be one of the directors who have been named as one of the best British film directors of all time (same with Hitchcock, Boyle and Nolan). Anyhow, his work on Brief Encounter was quite extraordinary to me after seeing The Bridge On The River Kwai and Lawrence Of Arabia before it but it was nevertheless excellent.


Overall, Brief Encounter is a brilliant romantic drama that is one of the best films of the 1940s. Perhaps not as much of a breakthrough in Lean's career as The Bridge On The River Kwai but still one never to be forgotten and one that Lean should have been proud of!

"Mickey and Mallory know the difference between right and wrong; they just don't give a damn."


Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee Jones
Running time: 118 minutes
Country: USA


'A very dark and disturbing film' came straight to my mind when I had finished watching it! It is a very powerful, amazingly filmed story that has received lots of complaints, release issues and other problems. I do feel that the film perhaps has inspired more people to commit these crimes like some of the moments of brutality, death and punishment would be demonstrated nowadays. I mean, violence in our world are inspired by violent films unfortunately so got to put up with it. Anyway, Natural Born Killers really took hold of me about half way through and I thought 'this could be another 5-star film' but during the last half of the film, I just lost the grip of it a bit and drifted it down to 4-stars.


It is about the misadventures of Mickey and Mallory: outcasts, lovers, and serial killers. They travel across Route 666 conducting psychedelic mass-slaughters not for money, not for revenge, just for kicks. Glorified by the media, the pair become legendary folk heroes; their story told by the single person they leave alive at the scene of each of their slaughters. Woody Harrelson's performance as Mickey Knox was amazing! The character is based on the infamous real-life spree killer known as Charles Starkweather. As a child, Mickey was abused by both his parents and witnessed his father commit suicide when he was ten. Mickey is shown throughout the movie as an efficient killer, with knowledge of firearms and knife throwing. It is also shown that he knows how to kill with his bare hands such as the time in prison when he demonstrates killing a man by breaking his neck during a yoga session. Juliette Lewis was awesome too as Mallory Knox! After Lewis's breathtaking powerful breakthrough performance in Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear, she once again delivers a performance that is a bit different but shows that she was back in the early 90s a great actress! As a child, Mallory suffered physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of her father. Mallory devotes herself to Mickey, stating he's her one true love. Mallory often tells stories and fantasies about her and Mickey living in paradise. Mickey often quotes, "That is poetry". Out of the two, Mallory seems to be the more aggressive, showing signs of being an uncontrolled psychopath with zero empathy for the people she kills. One example is when she and Mickey kill their last victim, Wayne Gale (Downey Jr.). Mallory continues shooting Gale repeatedly after he is dead. Tom Sizemore, Robert Downey Jr. and Tommy Lee Jones were pretty awesome too!


Unlikely duo Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino have together crafted together something gruesome and something extraordinary. Also, I would say that they have crafted an influence to criminals to commit these kind of crimes seeing as the characters within the film actually enjoyed murdering those people. Quentin has produced a pretty cool story too as well as gruesome obviously.


Overall, Natural Born Killers is a very gruesome, dark, psychologically terrifying film that I perhaps wouldn't watch again but did really enjoy watching.

"Is this your wife? What a lovely throat."


Director: F.W. Marnau
Starring: Max Schreck, Gustav Von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder, Alexander Granach
Running time: 84 minutes
Country: Germany


Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens is one of those horror films that most people will not at least try to watch because it is 'being too old and not scary enough' so-called. I mean, the older horror films are the scariest whereas most of the horror films out today don't feel half as scary and just feel over the top with violence! Nosferatu is the one horror film that just goes to show that horror and suspense comes out amazingly without hardly any violence involved at all. What was so special about this film was that despite it being a silent film and there wasn't any talking involved at all, it was just so scary and tense! Personally, I think the silence (besides the music) made the film even more terrifying.



Count Orloc moves from his ruined castle to the city of Wisborg, after the visit of one Jonathan Harker. Once there he becomes involved with Jonathan's fiancée Nina, who alone holds the power to destroy him. Max Schreck was absolutely AMAZING as Count Orlok! I would say he was almost as creepy as Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Orlok is actually a vampire but poses as a nobleman from the Carpathian Mountains who moves to Wiscom, Germany. He lives in a vast castle high in the mountains, which is badly neglected and has a highly sinister feel to it. Local townsfolk refuse to go anywhere near his castle. Orlok is visited by the film's protagonist, the young Thomas Hutter, the assistant of a Wisborg estate agent, who travels to his castle to show properties for sale in Wisborg. And from then on to the end, it becomes more suspenseful and terrifying than ever. What will the consequences be? What I loved about Schreck's performance in this film was that you only have to look at him to be terrified (like Hopkins in The Silence Of The Lambs). You know what the odd thing is? The Nosferatu character is on screen for only a bit less then 9 minutes out of the 84 minute duration. So that just goes to show that the character may not have appeared that much, it was still a terrifying piece of cinema.



F.W. Maurau has accomplished perhaps his best feature film and one of the best horror films of all time! Maurau gave the audience the option to just switch off the film but I feel and I am sure that many people thought that it was too gripping, tense and just too amazing to turn off! Filming commenced in August 1921 and it ended in October of that same year. Director F.W. Murnau found Max Schreck "strikingly ugly" in real life and decided the vampire makeup would suffice with just pointy ears and false teeth. There is one scene where there is very clearly a Hyena but in the film, it is a werewolf. The music was breathtaking as well. I would say that the music in silent films and old cartoon programmes (like Tom And Jerry) always have the best music within.



Overall, Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens is a terrifying, suspenseful classic that I loved from the start right until the very end! There aren't many films that terrify me now but this one certainly did (in a good way, if you get me). It has now become one of my favourite classics as well as one of my favourite horror/thrillers.

"If I were God, I would have made the world just so and no different. And so I have you... I have you."


Director: John Hillcoat
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall, Charlize Theron
Running time: 111 minutes
Country: USA


The first thing that came straight into my mind about The Road was (perhaps like most people who want to watch it) "the Into The Wild of 2009" but when one watches it, it is pretty easy to figure out that it really wasn't! They are both different films as you watch both of them. I mean, yeah there were similarities like the obvious: living in like the wild and trying to survive but as far as the characters and their pasts etc were totally different! The Road is a very suspenseful thrill-ride surprisingly and the fact that it involved cannibalism and there was a boy involved, it made it pretty damn terrifying to watch on occasions. It was indeed a very emotional story but there are two problems that I had with it and that was nothing really changed in the story. "Stuggling to survive" as said in the synopsis was pretty much the whole film. I mean, anybody can write a novel like that because it is so basic and so simple. The second problem was how did America become like that? Like where is the history of what has been happening? Was mankind on the brink of extinction? Power problems? What? Nevertheless, was still gripping despite that.


Well, the plot is just pretty much this: a man and his young son try to survive in post-apocalyptic America. The acting was just terrific from EVERYBODY in this film! One serious question: why the fuck was Viggo Mortensen not nominated for Best Leading Actor?! He totally deserved it! Should've been him instead of Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker. Obviously, everyone knows him best from the legendary Lord Of The Rings trilogy but The Road is a film from him that should not be missed! Kodi Smit-McPhee made a fantastic debut too as the young son. Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Charlize Theron make great appearances too.


I had not even heard of Australian director John Hillcoat until The Road's release and I must say that he did do a great job! I found the direction very similar to how Alfonso Caurón directed Children Of Men in 2006 like with the post-apocalyptic environment and the violence between everyone. Just like Into The Wild, The Road is another film about survival and adventure that was robbed off Academy Award nominations. It should have been nominated for Best Leading Actor (Viggo Mortensen), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Make-Up but shockingly, it wasn't nominated for any of them! The best it got was a Best Cinematography nomination at the BAFTA's!


Overall, The Road is a heartbreaking but beautifully crafted film that I really enjoyed. It takes you on a road of violence, bravery and love. Recommended!

"They'll talk to ya and talk to ya and talk to ya about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em."


Director: Dennis Hopper
Starring: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Luke Askew
Running time: 92 minutes
Country: USA


Well, there were many things that led me to watch Easy Rider! The main reason was because only a couple of months ago, Dennis Hopper past away and this is supposed to have been his most famous film as a director and maybe even his most famous role as an actor. Also, it was Jack Nicholson's breakthrough film so just couldn't afford to miss this one! However, when I watched it I enjoyed it but I was expecting more so was a very slight disappointment to me. Referred by many as the "original road movie". Yeah, it is perhaps one of the first road films but it is quite far from the best one that I have seen.


Two counter-culture bikers set off from Los Angeles to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, meeting a cross-section of American characters en route. Like pretty much all road films: the stories are straight forward and predictable but some are unpredictable and take drastic twists and turns which is what I like best but unfortunately Easy Rider didn't really do that for me completely, I'm afraid. This was the first film I have seen with Peter Fonda in. His performance was good but I cannot see him being better in any film than how awesome his father Henry Fonda was. The late Dennis Hopper was brilliant too. Now, the main man and best actor of the film Jack Nicholson. No, Easy Rider wasn't his first feature film but it was the film that became a breakthrough for him in his career which lead to his first Academy Award nomination and rightly so!


Dennis Hopper's job as director was impressive despite starring in the film as well. Hopper himself had the original cut of the film at an estimated three hours in length. Upon reviewing it with some of the other key members of the production staff the length was cut down to its current length. Some of the film was shot on 16mm film instead of 35mm. This was demo footage shot a year before production began. Production of the film was incredible but the outcome of the film wasn't so amazing.


Overall, Easy Rider is an enjoyable classic that I thought could have been better.

"I don't rattle, kid. But just for that I'm gonna beat you flat."


Director: Robert Rossen
Starring: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott
Running time: 129 minutes
Country: USA


'Just a classic about pool' was the first thing that came straight into my head about this film before I saw it. When I watched it, I was half wrong. Yeah, it featured pool but it wasn't about pool. It just happened to be of interest to the characters and part of the story but I still wouldn't really call it a sport film. Anyway, my thoughts on the film went beyond my expectations and I absolutely adored it! It surprisingly turned out like an underdog story where Eddie would try and beat the pool legend Minnesota Fats.


"Fast" Eddie Felson is a super-confident gambler who challenges the big boys to a high-stakes match. When he loses he's forced to go on the road with dodgy and dangerous manager Gordon, though he soon realises he'll have to lose his morals to win at this game. As far as I'm concerned, fuck Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke and The Sting! They are all very good films but The Hustler is definitely Paul Newman's masterpiece! Newman's performance is just legendary as Eddie Felson and he proves that he is perhaps the only actor who can play this guy like it is his own character. As the film progresses, Eddie begins to have a change of heart and truly realises what is important. This is mostly lead on by Sarah Packard (portrayed by Piper Laurie). I had not seen any film starring Laurie before and after her great performance in The Hustler it has inspired me to watch some more from her. Sarah Packard is a young woman who is a college girl who used to be an actress (so she says) and has a bit of an alcohol problem. She is looking for a break in her life like meeting Eddie and making the relationship with him last. To start with, it was like they were just in each others company sleeping with each other and that was it but they do gradually fall for each other but prepare for a heartbreaking end. George C. Scott was fantastic as Bert Gordon! Gordon is a professional gambler who is like an accomplice to Eddie on his trip to Louisville but he is really against him by being alongside professional pool player Minnesota Fats. Despite his role was minor, Jackie Gleason was awesome as Minnesota Fats!


Director Robert Rossen may not have made that many films in his career but he certainly knows how to direct great films. I thought he was really creative with The Hustler because you'd only have to read the plot of the film to automatically assume it is a sports film when it actually isn't really. Very creative filming too especially with the pool games and the shots he used. Was pretty good when there were awesome shots when Eddie took good shots into the holes where only a professional would be able to put in. I mean, throughout most of those moments, it really did look like it was Paul Newman taking all of them when most of them where Paul wasn't in the shot was a professional pool player taking the close-up ones. Despite that neither of the screenwriters actually wrote the book, they wrote it pretty well. I have never read the book but I have heard that they are like pretty much the same.


Overall, The Hustler is an amazing classic that I probably could watch repeatedly and not many classics do that for me. It is a very moving, personal and inspiring film that will remain one of the best films of all time for many generations to come.

" He turned the gun sideways! That's a kill shot!"


Director: Shawn Levy
Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Frey, Mark Wahlberg, Taraji P. Henson
Running time: 88 minutes
Country: USA


The trailer of Date Night just looked so daft that it would be so hilarious to watch but unfortunately I hardly found the film funny at all. The only good qualities about this I felt was that it was well filmed. Personally, I don't think that the story went that well and I just felt that it wasn't really very interesting from about half way through till the end. There were a few moments I did like and they were some of the action scenes like with the silver car and the taxi that were stuck together. That made me chuckle a few times.


Claire and Phil Foster (Tina Fey and Steve Carell) are a typical suburban couple whose lives - including their weekly date nights of dinner and a movie - have become routine. To reignite the marital spark, they visit a trendy Manhattan bistro where a case of mistaken identity turns their evening into the ultimate date night-gone-awry. But as Claire and Phil take their unexpected walk on the wild side, they begin to remember what made them so special together. Steve Carell has always been an actor who always goes for the same kind of characters in almost the exact same genre which is what he does best and respect him for. However in this film, I surprisingly didn't quite think he fitted that well in this film. I mean, the name 'Phil' just doesn't suit him at all even as a character. Tina Fey is one lousy actress, enough said! Yeah, she may be quite hot but her acting in this film was just CRAP!


Most people recognize Shawn Levy as director of both Night At The Museum films, the 2006 remake of The Pink Panther and 2003 remake of Cheaper By The Dozen aka as an overall bad director but I have to say despite that Date Night isn't a good film, I don't think Levy did a bad job as director. There were good moments like the action scenes with the cars and the scene in the club but disappointing in other parts of the film.


Overall, Date Night is a mindless film that some would find entertaining. I think it is a Saturday night film but unfortunately didn't satisfy my expectations. Not one of the worst of 2010 but nowhere near one of the best.

" You threaten my son, you threaten me."


Director: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Jae Head
Running time: 129 minutes
Country: USA


Well, I was gob-smacked when it was announced that The Blind Side took a Best Picture nomination instead of Invictus! It just didn't seem like Oscar Best Picture material at all and now after watching it, I just don't see why it was nominated. I mean, it was an enjoyable film but no way did this deserve that much credit especially over a film by Clint Eastwood!! The best credit I can give The Blind Side is that it is an inspiring true story that would have and did turn out a good film. Another slight problem I did have was that the American football game did make enough sense for me to enjoy the games because I just had no clue what was going on. Just by looking at the poster, it is a VERY American film! It seemed like something Disney would make but Disney are better than that!


The Blind Side tells the story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family. Sandra Bullock has been a yo-yo actress her whole career where she would be good and where she would be bad. Now, for her performance in The Blind Side, it was good but how in the flying FUCK did she win Screen Actor Guild Award for Best Leading Actress, Golden Globe for Best Actress Drama and most shockingly the Academy Award for Best Leading Actress?! Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan and even Gabourney Sibide deserved it more than Sandra Bullock especially after she won a Razzie the night before. I mean, yeah they're different films but winning the worst and the best award in 2 nights is just shocking! So, Bullock was good but not brilliant like the others were. I liked Quinton Aaron's performance as Michael Oher. He had that innocence to him but had quite a dark side as well that we do see as the film progresses. I tell you one underrated performance in this film was from Jae Head who plays SJ (the young son of the family). He made me laugh on some occasions and played the character really well. As far as Lilly Collins goes who plays Collins Tuohy, we may not have seen her very much in the film but DAMN she is HOT!


Weird that director John Lee Hancock previously did The Alamo which didn't succeed very well and then does The Blind Side that got a Best Picture nomination (unbeknownst to us). I think if he made it epic and emotional enough for the audience, it would have deserved the Best Picture nomination but it wasn't quite epic or emotional enough. I wouldn't call The Blind Side a family film but I would call it friendly enough for 10+ year old kids to watch.


Overall, The Blind Side is an enjoyable film that is entertaining but unfortunately overhyped by the Academy and robbed Invictus and others. It's not all about the American football like it seems like to be from the poster.

" I keep it in mind."


Director: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan
Running time: 115 minutes
Country: France, USA, Spain, UK


My oh my oh my! When are they going to stop making films about the Iraq war?! As far as I am concerned, none of them are different (except The Hurt Locker). I mean, look at Green Zone in comparison to say... The Kingdom. The plot might be a bit different but because it is in the exact same environment, very similar kinds of characters, they just feel the same. I am not taking away that it was well made and production went well but I just couldn't quite get the hang of this.


The plot unfolds deep in the highest ranks within the Iraqi military, where the country's army General who is hiding in Baghdad talks of an impeding American attack, where he proposes joining them. In the meantime, chief warrant officer Roy Miller (Damon) and his team are busy combing off warehouses in Iraqi they believe hold weapons of Mass destruction to no avail. Miller then goes through a heap of drama which ranges from his top informant being taken into custody by hostile authorities, to realizing that one of the men he is supposed to trust immensely during the exercise is no more than the enemy within, and who happens to be sharing crucial information with the enemy. Miller finds himself on the receiving end when he is kidnapped by Al Rawi's (the Iraqi army commander) men before he kills his captors and then setting out to find the general who has already fled. This is Matt Damon's third collaboration with director Paul Greengrass and I have to say, it wasn't exactly as intense, explosive or exciting as their work together on The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum were.


Paul Greengrass has always been a director of making films with a fast pace, where the camera would move all over the place like it was a documentary and where it would involve action no matter what genre. I mean, yeah it was well filmed but I just thought the camera was too fast-paced and also I don't really think there was enough action as we saw in the trailer.


Overall, Green Zone is a film that I was overall disappointed with but was impressed with as far as production. Let's hope that Damon and Greengrass's next collaboration will be better than this one (hopefully going to be the fourth Bourne film).

" Love is the only shocking act left on the planet."


Director: Garry Marshall
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Patrick Dempsey
Running time: 125 minutes
Country: USA


Well, my first immediate impression of Valentine's Day was 'this looks just like Love Actually. It looks very predictable, acting doesn't look brilliant but it does look like a bit of fun'. Now, that is EXACTLY what it turned out like. It is pretty much the same as Love Actually but is focused on a different occasion. It is a very girly film seeing as it is soppy romance and most girls love Valentine's Day. I mean, I think Valentine's Day is the most pointless occasion ever but the film made Valentine's Day quite a generous and nice occasion so that's the best bit of credit I can give it.


The ensemble cast is one of the largest film ensemble casts in film history. It indeed does feature some great Hollywood actors from the 90s and some of the good ones (but some unnecessarily overrated actors). Set in Los Angeles, florist Reed Bennett (Ashton Kutcher) proposes to his girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba) who accepts, much to the surprise of Reed's closest friends Alphonso (George Lopez) and Julia Fitzpatrick (Jennifer Garner). Julia, an elementary school teacher has fallen in love with Dr. Harrison Copeland (Patrick Dempsey), but does not know that he is married to his wife Pamela (Katherine LaNasa). On an airplane to Los Angeles, Kate Hazeltine (Julia Roberts), a captain in the U.S. Army on a one-day leave, befriends newly single Holden Bristow (Bradley Cooper). One of Julia's students, Edison (Bryce Robinson), orders flowers from Reed, to be sent to his teacher. Edison's babysitter Grace (Emma Roberts) is planning to lose her virginity with her boyfriend Alex (Carter Jenkins). Grace's high-school friends, Willy (Taylor Lautner) and Felicia (Taylor Swift), are experiencing the freshness of new love, and have agreed to wait to have sex. Edison?s grandparents, Edgar (Hector Elizondo) and Estelle (Shirley MacLaine) are facing the troubles of a long marriage. Sean Jackson (Eric Dane), a closeted gay professional football player, is contemplating the end of his career together with his publicist Kara (Jessica Biel) and his agent Paula (Queen Latifah). Liz (Anne Hathaway) who has started dating mailroom clerk Jason (Topher Grace). Jason is first shocked when Liz turns out to be moonlighting as a phone sex operator. So, yeah there are a lot of stories. My favourite one was the story between Reed Bennett, Jessica Alba and Jennifer Garner. So glad that overrated fake Taylor Lautner wasn't in it much so I think that has increased my rating of the film a little bit. Best performance in the film was definitely Jennifer Garner!


Garry Marshall (director of Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride and The Princess Diaries) tried something that I knew wasn't even possible and that was to try and receive a better critical response than Love Actually but it didn't. I would be ashamed of myself if I were him despite it was neither good not bad. Script was alright. Pretty cheesy most of the time but I was sort of expecting that to be honest.


Overall, Valentine's Day is an averagely entertaining film that I think is more for girls. Guys, I would give this one a miss.

" Overkill is underrated."


Director: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton Jackson, Sharlto Copley
Running time: 117 minutes
Country: USA


Having never seen the original series, my expectations were about average. To me, it looked like another action film and that is exactly what it was. I mean, there were moments that were disappointing and they were that it had a kickass opening and kickass ending but pretty flat when around half way through. The action scenes were the only things that I actually liked as far as moments in the film are concerned.


The A-Team tells the story of a group of Iraq War veterans who look to clear their name with the U.S. military, who suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were framed. Liam Neeson in a film about the A-Team was something that I was really NOT expecting but despite having never seen the series, I thought he played Colonel Hannibal Smith quite well. Hannibal is the leader of the group. What I did like about the characters and their moments together was that they are all very different kinds of people but do stick together. We all recently recognize Sharlto Copley in the 2009 sci-fi film District 9 and stars in a blockbuster the next year but something different and did quite a decent job as Captain H.M. Murdock. but still prefer him in District 9. Now, Quinton Jackson as Bosco A. Baracus. Everyone keeps raving that he will be crap compared to when Mr. T played him in the original series but I do sort of agree, to be honest. I don't think Jackson was badass enough for the character. Bradley Cooper was quite flat as Lt. 'Faceman' Peck.


One thing I must point out: who is Joe Carnahan? I mean, if you're going to make a feature film based on a famous TV series at least make the director recognizable! As far as his work on the film, I thought it was good in some of the action scenes but perhaps most people think and I am probably sure that I would think when I watch the series that the film didn't have the charm like the original series did. The script was probably the best thing about the film as far as pre-production is concerned. I did like the humour within especially from Murdock.


Overall, I would say The A-Team was something that miraculously became a success critically and think fans of the series will love it or hate it so seeing as I haven't seen the series can only say it was an overall decent film that I think could have had it's improvements.

"1791 was the year it happened. I was 24, younger than you are now. But times were different then, I was a man at that age: the master of a large plantation just south of New Orleans. I had lost my wife in childbirth, and she and the infant had been buried less than half a year. I would have been happy to join them. I couldn't bear the pain of their loss. I longed to be released from it. I wanted to lose it all... my wealth, my estate, my sanity. Most of all, I longed for death. I know that now. I invited it. A release from the pain of living. My invitation was open to anyone. To the whore at my side. To the pimp that followed. But it was a vampire that accepted it."


Director: Neil Jordan
Starring: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas
Running time: 123 minutes
Country: USA


Over the past few years, I have been begged and begged by friends and family to watch this film and now I finally have and now I can see why they have been begging me to watch it! What a brilliant film it turned out to be with a lot of scares and violence which is, after all, what a vampire film is all about (unlike that stupid crap Twilight series). To be honest, I would say that Interview With The Vampire is one of the very few vampire films where they truly show the horror of vampires and what they do.


A night in San Francisco, during our time: A young journalist follows a man through the streets and they end up in an anonymous room. When the journalist starts to interview the man, the stranger tells him that he is a vampire, being over 200 years old. The journalist doesn't believe him, but after the man proves it's true, he tells his story: His name is Louis and in 18th century New Orleans he was 24, by this time owner of an estate and a widower already. One night, when he once again was destroying himself by drinking and other things, he was found by Lestat, a vampire, who bit him. But even after becoming a vampire, life wasn't fun for Louis until one night he met a little girl, Claudia, who should change his existence forever. The acting was absolutely fantastic from everybody in this film! Tom Cruise was just absolutely amazing as Lestat De Lioncourt! He surprisingly terrified the audiences and made Lestat in Interview With The Vampire one of his best roles as an actor. In fact, I would say that his performance in this film is just as good as his performance was in Magnolia. Brad Pitt was already a role model and had already appeared in Legends Of The Fall the same year Interview With The Vampire was released but this time, Brad goes somewhere a bit darker. Yeah, he is a vampire in this but he's the ''innocent vampire'' so to speak. Kirsten Dunst was just amazing and made a breakthrough in her career just like she did in Jumanji! I would compare Dunst's performance almost as good as Linda Blair's performance in The Exorcist. Despite she got a Golden Globe nomination, she should have earned an Oscar nomination for her role in this film!


Neil Jordan made this film absolutely brilliantly! I mean, most of the time films are set in the Victorian era and just fail but this is a vampire film and it could have been an utter disaster and it really wasn't at all! Only one fault I have with the film was that it seemed like an epic vampire film from the cover and the trailer but it didn't quite feel that way. Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Art Direction and Best Original Score.


Overall, Interview With The Vampire is a terrifying vampire film that was beautifully made and amazingly acted! There needs to be more vampire films like this!!

" And maybe there's no peace in this world, for us or for anyone else, I don't know. But I do know that, as long as we live, we must remain true to ourselves."


Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov
Running time: 195 minutes
Country:


Spartacus was released at a time where epic costume dramas began to take shape and become very popular. I mean, nowadays we see these history costume dramas time and time again but they really don't feel the same or even as realistic as the classic ones do. Obviously, this was in Kubrick's early days of his career and because pretty much all of the films that were released after Spartacus turned out more successful, it became an underrated film.


I must say that the cast is absolutely amazing that has a group of amazing actors of that generation. Kirk Douglas portrays the historical hero Spartacus who is a Thracian slave working in Libya, who is purchased by the lanista Lentulus Batiatus, and trained as a gladiator. He later leads the revolt at the gladiatorial school, which spreads throughout the countryside. Douglas shows us once again in Spartacus like he did in Paths Of Glory that he is a great actor playing a heroic character like this. I wouldn't have been entirely satisfied if Charlton Heston was cast as Spartacus because he's already been in enough historic costume dramas like The Ten Commandments as Moses and Ben-Hur as Judah Ben-Hur.


Laurence Olivier is another legendary Hollywood actor in the film! He portrays Crassus, a patrician with an obsessive love of the city of Rome and its old tradition of patrician rule. As the wealthiest man in Rome, he vies for power in the Roman Senate and thinks little of Spartacus's rebellion. Originally, Olivier wanted Douglas's role of Spartacus much to Douglas's dismay but in the end, Olivier accepted the role of Crassus in a supporting role. I mean, its not really like Olivier playing a character in a supporting role but I think he did a pretty awesome job! Now, before I go onto what Jean Simmons was like in terms of acting, I must admit that she was striking in the film and was absolutely gorgeous! She appeared in Hamlet with Laurence Olivier so she worked pretty well with him as well as Douglas. Her performance as Varinia was brilliant! In pretty much every costume dramas, there's always the fighting, brave and heroic man and then there's the wife who cooks, cleans and looks after the children. Varinia is a slave girl who meets and falls in love with Spartacus. Peter Ustinov, John Gavin (who starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho in the same year) and Tony Curtis delivered awesome performances too.


Stanley Kubrick and Kirk Douglas reunite for a second time in a row after their previous classic World War I film Paths Of Glory and despite that some of Kubrick's films earned Academy Award Best Picture and Director nominations and didn't win, I must say that Spartacus is another one that should have earned that right. I mean, Kubrick wasn't the original director for Spartacus; original director was Anthony Mann. The intimate scenes were filmed in Hollywood, but Kubrick insisted that all battle scenes be filmed on a vast plain outside Madrid. Eight thousand trained soldiers from the Spanish infantry were used to double as the Roman army. Kubrick directed the armies from the top of specially constructed towers. However, he eventually had to cut all but one of the gory battle scenes, due to negative audience reactions at preview screenings.


Spartacus won 4 Academy Awards out of 6 nominations it received. It won Best Supporting Actor (Peter Ustinov), Best Art Direction (Colour), Best Cinematography (Colour) and Best Costume Design (Colour). It was nominated for Best Music Score and Best Film Editing.


Overall, Spartacus is an epic classic that deserves to be one of the best action films and biography/history films ever! I think if you have watched this as well as Ridley Scott's Gladiator, you can easily tell how similar both films really are. I do like Gladiator more but Spartacus had the spirit to feel bit more real. Kubrick, you are a legend and you will never die as one of the best filmmakers of all time!

" Only thing you need to know is the job's real, and the money's real."


Director: Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren
Running time: 103 minutes
Country: USA


The Expendables has been named by many as the ''dream action film that everybody has been waiting for'' and I can see why regarding the action. I mean, yeah it has the ultimate cast in an action film ever and it is most certainly the most explosive (but nowhere near one of the best) action films I think I have ever watched but it did have its flaws. So here are the flaws: the cast is just too good to be true but I am afraid to say that story didn't feel epic enough for the cast and the characters. Also, we didn't really know any of the characters THAT well and the development on the characters really needed improving. Also, story wasn't really that developed enough either.


The story of The Expendables is a team of elite, highly-trained mercenaries known as The Expendables are sent into South America to overthrow a ruthless cold-blooded dictator. But once the mission begins, they discover a plot far more sinister than they were led to believe. With innocent lives in the balance, the Expendables are forced to take on an even more difficult challenge. Sylvester Stallone was absolute badass as Barney Ross. I don't the film went into enough depth to express Barney's character a bit more. Jason Statham has thrilled us all over the years with the two Crank films and Death Race and he does it once again. I mean, no he isn't a brilliant actor but he certainly is an entertaining one which is what I respect about him. Unfortunately, Jet Li wasn't in it very much and neither was Dolph Lundgren but the action scene they had together was breathtaking! Oh and the action scene between Sylvester Stallone and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin was brilliant too! Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger made brilliant cameo appearances too.


I thought despite the film's flaws that The Expendables is one of the best filmed action films that I have seen. There wasn't one moment in an action scene during the whole film where it wasn't overloaded with explosions and lasted too long unlike Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen did. The Expendables itself actually reminded me a lot of Welcome To The Jungle and the dictator within the city where he is cruel to the people who live there. The script was absolute badass!! There were a few quotes that were said within that made me laugh especially with the scene with Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger.


Overall, The Expendables is an action film that I personally found both awesome and disappointing but in two different ways. Obviously, one of the best ensemble cast in history! It is definitely one to get on blu-ray with the explosive action! There won't be any doubt that it'll fight against The A-Team for the action film of the summer.

"In the movies the good guy gets the girl. In real life it's usually the prick."


Director: Miguel Arteta
Starring: Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Jean Smart, Zach Galifianakis
Running time: 89 minutes
Country: USA


Over the years there have been many teen romantic comedies with many predictable consequences and I thought that this was just going to be one of those. I mean, it surprisingly isn't as predictable as the trailer made it look. The film has a bit more depth than just romance between a young man and a young woman but when there are two characters who are really the same person with two different names it is like combining Fight Club with American Pie. That is an odd combination but Youth In Revolt does show that it does work.


While his trailer trash parents teeter on the edge of divorce, Nick Twisp sets his sights on dream girl Sheeni Saunders, hoping that she'll be the one to take away his virginity. When one hears that Michael Cera is once again going to portray another nerdy virginal geek, you sorta feel like rolling your eyes and you just sigh. Yeah, he plays a character that is still a nerdy geek but he plays something in a bit more depth this time (like he did in Juno). His performance was pretty awesome as Nick Twisp but his performance as Francois Dillinger was even better because it was something that we hadn't really seen from Michael Cera before until now. Yeah, he sticks to almost the same kind of character but that is what he does best which is good enough. Portia Doubleday was dead gorgeous in Youth In Revolt and her acting was good as well.


The script was pretty damn ridiculous in most moments of the film but there were some scenes where the script was awesome. One key quote in the film that was awesome which made me laugh like some of the scenes but there were others where I would just hold my head. As far as I am concerned, it is almost like another coming of age teen film.


Overall, Youth In Revolt is another teen coming of age film that perhaps extends slightly on combining two different kinds of films together. I would call it an entertaining film of 2010 but not one of the best.

" You need a mani bad. You should find a Chinese chick to buff your situation."


Director: Karyn Kusama
Starring: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody
Running time: 102 minutes
Country: USA


I decided to watch Jennifer's Body for the same reason as the latest two Twilight films: to just see how awful it could get! People have already said to me 'why watch it if you knew it was going to be awful?' Simple answer: because watching an awful film can be fun so you can just see how pathetic things can go and I just start laughing my head off AT it. This was a 'Ohh f**k it!' film and that's all it really is. Pretty much every single thing in this film was just dreadful! There were quite a lot of 'uhh... what the f**k?' moments that just made me laugh with pity.


Megan Fox stars as a cheerleader who's taken over by a demon and starts eating the local boys. Megan Fox is officially the most overrated woman alive who is like an instant turn-on for its audience (like Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner in New Moon and Eclipse) and she cannot act AT ALL. Now they are the things that those three actors have in common. I mean, a demon who is a cheerleader and only eating boys?! What was the point? If it has showed us anything, it has showed us that Megan is an awful actress who can just play a so-called attractive prostitute which is what she was like in this film! She was just as awful and an instant turn-on like in the two Transformers films. Amanda Seyfried, what were you thinking? I began to grow fond of her until she starred in this film! She didn't even save the film!


My oh my and we thought the directing couldn't have got any worse?! It was like a director like Uwe Boll or Michael Bay had directed it. I mean, Karyn Kusama has already shown after this (and presumably after Aeon Flux) that she is a poor filmmaker and just doesn't catch its audiences attention without turning them on with the leading female actress in the role.


Overall, Jennifer's Body is an absolutely appalling film that I just find an absolute disgrace and embarrassment to the horror genre and to cinema in general.

" I hear you've been naughty."


Director: Susanna White
Starring: Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ewan McGregor, Ralph Fiennes
Running time: 109 minutes
Country: UK, France, USA


I was actually pretty shocked when I found out that a sequel was being planned because I did think at the end of the first film that it didn't really need another film. Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang/Nanny McPhee Returns was as expected entertaining for kids and never seemed to lose it's charm. The one main flaw that this film had like the first one did was that it really didn't seem completely suitable for adults. There was one thing that I feel that this film had but the first film lacked and that was that its realism. I mean, yeah it is obviously a very fictional film that is clearly a Mary Poppins-like attempt of this generation but because the film was set in World War II, there was more drama in it.


Nanny McPhee arrives to help a harried young mother who is trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war, though she uses her magic to teach the woman's children and their two spoiled cousins five new lessons. Emma Thompson pens the screenplay and stars as the eccentric and unique Nanny McPhee. Her performance is good as Nanny McPhee but I do think that she is perhaps a bit too creepy around the children to be an appealing nanny. I mean, there aren't really that many changes to the Nanny McPhee character in the sequel as there was in the first film. Hmmm... I didn't really know what to make of Maggie Gyllenhaal's character and performance. I don't think we really knew her character THAT well and I don't think Maggie suited the film very much unfortunately. Yeah, she is a good actress but I am afraid to say that she was miscast in this film. There were good appearances from Ewan McGregor, Ralph Fiennes and Maggie Smith too.


After having no experience making feature films at all, Susanna White surprisingly did a good job as director. There was its charm and beauty with the children and the settings but I couldn't help but noticed that they involved animals a lot more in this one. Its like they copied a bit off Babe but with good intentions. Emma Thompson has been a screenwriter for over 15 years and hasn't written that many films but she did well in Sense And Sensiblity but she does need a breakthrough script where she'll win another Oscar. Her script in the sequel of Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang was witty and fun so it was almost pretty much the same as the first one. You could easily tell that this is a very British film.


Overall, Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang is perhaps like a sequel to the first one like Home Alone 2: Lost In New York is to Home Alone with pretty much the same dialogue, the same bits of fun and entertainment and similar characters. Decent entertainment but nothing special.

" Dear Mother Earth... I will drink your blue waters... and eat your green skin."


Director: Grant Heslov
Starring: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey
Running time: 94 minutes
Country: USA, UK


The main attraction of this film for me was the cast! Well, I obviously knew that this wasn't going to be a tradition ultimate laugh-out-loud comedy so was going into The Men Who Stare At Goats with an open mind. I am afraid to say that it was a pretty chaotic film that would confuse its audiences. However, there were some moments of chuckles but none at all where you would laugh your head off. I would hardly call The Men Who Stare At Goats a war film as it has been called. There are scenes that feature platoons; drill sergeants etc but the story didn't really make it like a war film. In fact, I would say that this is one of the very rare films that doesn't really have one specific genre.


The story follows a broken-hearted journalist (McGregor) who goes on the job to Iraq to prove to his ex-wife he isn't weak or frail. There, he meets Lyn Cassidy (Clooney) who is a "psychic" soldier for the US government, trained by his hippie instructor Billy (Bridges) to use his mind, peace and love to overcome hairy military situations. The story is the two men's adventure together. The main attraction of this film for me was the cast! Out of the four Hollywood actors, I would say that George Clooney was the best despite all four did pretty well. Despite it has nothing to do with the acting or characters, I could not help but notice how much Kevin Spacey and George Clooney really look like each other especially when they're both in the army.


I mean, there were moments that made me keep thinking whether Grant Heslov was entirely sure what kind of film he was making. I mean, I would say that The Men Who Stare At Goats is a slight miss-fire towards reaching the level of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. Now as far as the script, I think that it bites the bullet at trying to make a Coen-like screenplay but fails at it.


Overall, The Men Who Stared At Goats is a film that I would say is about average seeing as the acting was really good but story was an absolute chaos! It was like it got lost with what it was trying to show. I do think that there could have been a lot more to have been done to make it a lot better.

" Do you poke smot?"


Director: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski
Running time: 120 minutes
Country: USA


Since its release, this film has received huge criticism from reviewers that keep saying that this is 'just another romantic comedy' and, to be honest, I have to agree with them. There were some brilliant moments but there were some others that I just didn't like. For example, the film unfortunately shows that the sex between the two aging people is more important with their personal lives as in like how they feel about the situations they've got themselves into. Also, seeing Alec Baldwin almost completely naked really put me off it as well! (haha). Good qualities, however, were that I think the characters (well of what we knew of them anyway) were good.


When attending their son's college graduation, a couple reignites the spark in their relationship...but the complicated fact is they're divorced and he's remarried and she has another man in her life who wants her. Over the years, Meryl Streep keeps on starring in romantic-comedies and it is always good to see her in one. Where I appreciate her in this genre is that she plays different kinds of characters so brilliantly in different life situations and that is something that you can hardly get with romantic-comedies. I have thought this for a very long time but Meryl Streep really is a very striking woman for her age and I guess Jane's character was made for Streep to portray. I wouldn't really call myself a fan of Alec Baldwin but I wouldn't call him a bad actor either. However, in It's Complicated he plays a character that I hadn't really seen him in before and I don't think it suited him that well because its like he was playing that really charming and seductive kind of character so I just don't think that suited Alec Baldwin at all. Steve Martin plays a serious character? Wow! He actually did a great job. I must admit that the characters do demonstrate quite well of some real-life situations with living separately from someone after being married to them for over a decade. I mean, it is mad to go back with someone after being divorced for 10 years especially when one is already remarried to someone younger!


Nancy Meyers is a director who just sticks to romantic-comedies. I think that most directors of romantic-comedies are like these too seeing as they pretty much always connect. As I said earlier in the review, that Nancy this time focuses on the sex between the couple than how they are feeling and their normal lives. The script is almost like almost the same as every script in romantic-comedy: soppy, sometimes quite cheesy and sometimes very original.


Overall, It's Complicated is just another romantic-comedy that ultimately focuses on the sex rather than the development of the characters and the message it tries to send. It is more for middle-aged people and girls than for men, to be honest.

" You punched me in the boob! Prepare to die obviously!"


Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Keiran Culkin, Anna Kendrick
Running time: 112 minutes
Country: USA


Well, at first before I saw it, I wasn't entirely sure of what to expect going into this but Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World shocked me as it shocked critics and the public all around because it is indeed a film of absolute genius! It is a film adaptation of the comic book series Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley. To be honest, I could see it going two ways: either going to be an epic disaster or an epic surprise and it obviously turned out the latter. It has its original side like the humour between boys and girls and teenage hormones and feelings but now there is something new that Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World has come out with. Everyone who was in the cinema with me laughed their heads off at this so that seems pretty convincing that its a funny film as well as a film of top-notch entertainment.


Scott Pilgrim plays in a band which aspires to success. He dates Knives Chau, a high-school girl five years his junior, and he hasn't recovered from being dumped by his former girlfriend, now a success with her own band. When Scott falls for Ramona Flowers, he has trouble breaking up with Knives and tries to romance Ramona. As if juggling two women wasn't enough, Ramona comes with baggage: seven ex-lovers, with each of whom Scott must do battle to the death in order to win Ramona.


The plot is very simple at first but when you read about it on the internet or in a magazine but as you watch it, it gets deeper and deeper and really surprises you! So the basic way of describing the plot is ''Scott Pilgrim must defeat his new girlfriend's ''seven exes'' to win her heart.'' I mean, Michael Cera in another teen comedy was another reason why I wasn't sure of what to expect but even though this is no ordinary teen-comedy, Cera has FINALLY shown that he is no ordinary actor in just teen comedies. I mean, yeah he plays that kind of character but Scott Pilgrim is a guy with a big heart and is very brave so that is what we see out of Michael Cera that we've not seen before. His best performance so far, I think. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was pretty damn hot in this film but she was pretty damn awesome too! Ramona was (perhaps to most of those around her) a pretty dodgy and odd girl to be friends with at first but when she meets Scott, we see a side to her that changes. We also see a big change in Scott as well when he almost instantly falls in love with her. Good performances from Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick, Ellen Wong and the rest of the cast.


Edgar Wright goes somewhere a tad bit different from his previous and notable works Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead and makes something that is perfect towards its target audience and was just absolute genius all around! In some scenes, Edgar still filmed scenes which'd be like his traditional style such as very fast shots and sharp music. He has always been a director of entertainment obviously but he has always tried to takes things a little step further to make his films blow away the audiences and creates something new every time. I loved it with the original video game key sequences such as the coins/credit when you defeat an opponent, earning an extra life and earning weapons. The script was, admittedly, at times pretty silly but I mean, in a film like this it was bound to be a little. That didn't jeopardise my liking for the film.


Overall, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is a film that I absolutely adored and has deserved its rightful place as one of the best films of 2010. It is like a video game merged with a film and it is a teen comedy that doesn't just overload us with sex innuendos and kinky soppy stuff but we actually have emotion and a soul in this film which makes it a fantastic success to me and probably to most critics out there. It also goes to a whole new level that none of us had seen before. Edgar Wright is a genius!

"I met Death today. We are playing chess."


Director: Ingmar Bergman
Starring: Max Von Sydow, Bengt Ekerot, Gunnar Björnstrand, Nils Poppe
Running time: 92 minutes
Country: Sweden


Seeing as The Seventh Seal became the first film from Ingmar Bergman that I had in my possession and perhaps is his most famous film, I just had absolutely no idea what to expect. I thought it was absolutely brilliant and it kept a firm hold on me from start to finish and I have got to admit that it is an underrated film from an underrated director. It is a very artistic film that reminded me a lot of Nosferatu regarding production. Also, there was surprisingly moments where there would be ornaments used that are told in stories from the Bible such as the crosses.


It is a story set in Sweden of a knight with the name of Antonius Block who returns to Sweden with his squire Jöns, from a Crusade and finds that his home country of Sweden is being ravaged by the plague. To his dismay, Death has come for him, as well. He challenges Death to a chess match. Death agrees to the terms: as long as Block resists, he lives. If he wins, he shall go free. I mean, just by looking at the cover and some of the still pictures and perhaps the dialogue itself, it sort of did look a bit like a horror film but there was nothing horror about it at all. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a thriller either. I mean, surprisingly despite that it involves conflict and death; it manages to get a PG rating and not be completely terrifying. I mean, no it obviously isn't a family-type film but I would say that a kid up to at least 8 years olds could watch this.


If there is anything that The Seventh Seal sends to the audience, it questions us what the meaning of life is, the existence of God, what death is like and whether there is another life after death. Also, regarding the chess game that Death and the knight play, it shows in a dark way that life can be like a game and you have to win to survive so to speak. Obviously, Death bound in human form doesn't exist but in this one, Death isn't just taking lives because he must. He does it because he wants to. I mean, he takes lives of almost every person he sees all in different ways. Max Von Sydow was awesome as the knight Antonius Block but Bengt Ekerot did an ever better job as Death. Despite that Death is a very fictional character; Ekerot makes him quite a terrifying character.


Ingmar Bergman makes The Seventh Seal a bit like a surreal artistic film and he deserves a lot of credit for that. I mean, Bergman made 50+ films in his career and even he has revealed himself that The Seventh Seal is one of his personal favourite films despite its his own. The inspiration for the film was apparently from the period films of Akira Kurosawa. Bergman was a big fan at the time and now a legend is created from another legend.


I loved how the ending climax questioned the audience but it kind of shook them too because I think we all know what happened especially in the scene before and the opening of the film where the knight ends up on the beach and then meets Death is a classic scene and is very artistic despite being in black and white. I think the only problem that I had with this film was that the chess game between the knight and Death wasn't in the film as much as I was expecting hence why I haven't rated it 5-stars.


Overall, The Seventh Seal is a beautifully crafted artistic film that I loved. My first viewing of a Bergman film went off to a flying start and now I intend to watch more of his films! One of the most underrated films and thought-provoking films you'll see and it is perhaps the most famous Swedish film of all time. Bergman, you were a genius!!

" May you never steal, lie, or cheat, but if you must steal, then steal away my sorrows, and if you must lie, lie with me all the nights of my life, and if you must cheat, then please cheat death because I couldn't live a day without you. Cheers!"


Director: Anand Tucker
Starring: Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, Adam Scott, John Lithgow
Running time: 100 minutes
Country: USA, Ireland


Well, I got the instant impression after watching the trailer at the cinema watching another film; this just seemed like another romantic comedy that would end in the same way like most of them do. I surprisingly enjoyed the film but it was obvious how the film was going to end because some of the shots we see in the trailer spoils what is going to happen and makes the audience almost automatically guess correct. I was thinking that this is a take-on of an Audrey Hepburn romantic comedy.


Anna Brady who has an elaborate scheme to propose to her boyfriend on Leap Day, an Irish tradition which occurs every time the date February 29 rolls around, faces a major setback when bad weather threatens to derail her planned trip to Dublin. With the help of an innkeeper, however, her cross-country odyssey just might result in her getting engaged. Amy Adams is a great actress and I thought her performance in Leap Year was average. She was funny in some moments but I think that she could have perhaps been a lot better than she was. The one thing that was bad with her performance was that her Irish accent was pretty crap. To be honest, where I didn't like Anna's character was she felt like a greedy slag. I mean, there was no drama or love regarding the love triangle, it just felt like it was the young woman being greedy. Matthew Goode and Adam Scott were very plain and didn't really have any personalities. They were both just two idiots who were after a greedy slag of a character.


I must admit that the filming was quite good. Obviously, not many critics take into consideration the making in romantic comedies and it was beautifully filmed in Ireland with all of the fields, cliffs etc. For starters, if they're going to say that the characters are in Wales throughout most of the film, at least FILM IT IN WALES! Despite it was beautiful background and sites in Ireland, that didn't really save the film because the film just fell apart.


I can somehow see Leap Year earning a few Razzie awards this year such as Worst Actor (Matthew Goode), Worst Actress (Amy Adams), Worst Supporting Actor (Adam Scott) and Worst Screenplay but perhaps can't see it being nominated for Worst Picture because there are some that deserve it more.


Overall, Leap Year is just another romantic comedy that is as predictable as anything. I mean, yeah as I said the trailer automatically ruined it but even if it didn't, it was obvious that the events that occurred in the film was going to happen. Amy Adams, you can do so much better! Couldn't believe it was the same actress in Enchanted, Doubt and Julie & Julia where she delivered great performances! Maybe a Razzie win would wake her up a bit and make her realise what she was thinking about. I have many films that are worse than this but I have seen ten times more that are better!

" Only the dead have seen the end of war..."


Director: Jim Sheridan
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Clifton Collins Jr.
Running time: 105 minutes
Country: USA


I was almost instantly attracted to this one because I just love films like this! This was like a combination between modern suburban life and modern war that features the current war that is going on right now so what we see in Brothers is an event that occurs and makes one storyline become two. Yeah, this is a remake of the 2004 Danish version but I think that this one could be better. Not only because of the performances from the actors but also the way it was filmed and the fact that the war over there is getting even worse now than it was back in 2004.


The film is based on Susanne Bier's 2004 Danish film Brødre which takes place in Afghanistan and Denmark. Both films take inspiration from Homer's epic poem The Odyssey. Tells the story of a young married couple Sam (Tobey Maguire) and Grace Cahill (Natalie Portman) who live with their two daughters but Sam is a trooper in the war and goes out to fight. After the aircraft crashes, he is presumed dead but he is really captured by terrorists and his family have no idea. On the other side of the story is of Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is Sam's younger brother who has just been released from prison. When Sam goes to war, Tommy comforts Grace and the children but a romance comes between Tommy and Grace and events start changing around. The cast was another reason why I was attracted to this one so quickly. Natalie Portman is the most gorgeous actress ever and one of the best living actresses, Jake Gyllenhaal is an underrated actor who has made a big name for himself over the years and... Well we all know Tobey Maguire played Peter Parker in the Spider-Man trilogy. All of their performances are brilliant! Tobey Maguire was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance (which he happened to be really surprised about) and I think Natalie Portman should have earned one too. Jake Gyllenhaal was pretty awesome too.


I'd not watched a Jim Sheridan film until now. He is perhaps better known for In The Name Of The Father and My Left Foot and his work on Brothers thought was like Joe Wright and Atonement in terms of chemistry between characters but technical production was different.


To be honest, I would say that this is just another demonstration of what life is like for the troops and also for the families of the troops and how they feel about the war. Not that it's a bad thing; just that there are a lot like it and this happens to be another. As far as what the film tries to bring out and give to the audience is that it is a film of self-discovery like when Tommy is released from prison, he becomes a new man and more noble towards his family. Only problem is that the trailer of the film gives too much away. There are certain boundaries where a film would be ruined by the trailer but this just happens to be another.


Overall, Brothers is a very underrated 2009 film that should have been taken into consideration by the Academy such as the performances, cinematography and art direction. Solid underrated performances from the three leads and found really entertaining as well as heartbreaking and inspiring. It is like a tribute to the troops and their families.

" For the first time in my life I can't see my future. Everyday goes by in a haze, but today I have decided will be different."


Director: Tom Ford
Starring: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode
Running time: 99 minutes
Country: USA


For the second year in a row, there has been an Oscar film about a leading middle-aged homosexual who struggles personally with life (other being Milk). I really like the fact that they cast heterosexual actors and actresses to portray homosexuals because straight people demonstrate that there is just nothing wrong with it hence why pretty much all heterosexual actors get Oscar nominations and wins for portraying their opposite sexuality. It is quite an inspiring thing, really, because we all deserve equal rights.


A Single Man is set all in one day and I think one gets the best experience in a film that way. Set in Los Angeles on November 30th 1962 of a middle-aged English professor who is really struggling in his life after his sudden death of his partner Jim after being together for 16 years. He just doesn't know how to deal with it and doesn't know what the meaning of life is anymore. Colin Firth turned down the role in the film at first but then reconsidered and look what he got out of it: an Oscar nomination, Golden Globe nomination and BAFTA win. Despite that I didn't think he would've deserved the Oscar having not seen the film and not being an Oscar-winning performance, I take all that back and he should have won it! He deserved it a lot more than Sean Penn did for Milk. Julianne Moore is sometimes good but sometimes she can be just awful! However, in A Single Man she was absolutely brilliant as Charley (nickname for Charlotte) despite she wasn't in it that long. I mean, she may be an extremely unattractive actress but she did suit the character pretty well. Nicholas Hoult and Matthew Goode did pretty well too.


A Single Man became the first film for Tom Ford as a director and I thought that it was filmed absolutely brilliantly! The filming was so short: 21 days!! I mean, I have never heard any film be completely shot in that short amount of time when the average time usually is about 3-4 months. I guess it depends on the film and what is involved like technically. I mean, if he can film the whole thing that quickly and still make it a successful Oscar film then that is great talent especially for first time! I'll be keeping an eye out for a future Tom Ford film and see whether that'll be as good as A Single Man. The extraordinary thing is that Tom Ford is a fashion designer as well as a film director now. Oh and he is openly gay and made a film about one. I really admire the guy already!


Overall, A Single Man is a beautifully tragic film that I think all would be caught almost weeping at. Despite that The Blind Side and An Education were both good films, I just feel that A Single Man and Invictus deserved those Best Picture nominations instead. One of the best films of 2009.

" I will kill all of you!"


Director: Joe Johnston
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving
Running time: 103 minutes
Country: USA


Well, I knew from the very beginning that The Wolfman was going to be crap! The main reasons for me watching this was almost the same reason for Jennifer's Body: "Ohh f*** it!", wanted to expand on my 2010 in film list and I do enjoy reviewing and watching bad films sometimes. This film was indeed bad as expected but to be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be as slow and as boring as it really was! I mean, the title is 'The Wolfman' and we don't see that happen until like 50 minutes of the film out of its 103 minute duration. Yeah, there's going to be character development and needing to get the story going but seriously, does it really take that long to get the main key of the film going?


The film did have some similarities with Sleepy Hollow but this just felt very unrealistic and quite flat on occasions. However, there were some moments that were quite scary like when the Wolfman or Werewolf attacks. The violence makes it scarier and perhaps adds more horror to make the audience more terrified. I mean, there are some horrors that are really violent that go over-the-top and the film fails but some of the very successful thrillers and horrors aren't really violent at all.


Shooting of The Wolfman began on 3rd March 2008 and commenced on 23rd June 2008. It had been scheduled for release about three separate times and has been postponed 3 times. I think the first time it was scheduled for release was in spring 2009 and then it was around November 2009 and was eventually released in March 2010. It perhaps was trying to decide when it would be a good time to release it so therefore it would make more money and become a blockbuster like Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince did but The Wolfman was a lot more of a failure and didn't make the top box office list.


Set in 1891 or an actor called Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro) returns to the stately home where he grew up after the death of his brother. His brother's fiancée, Gwen (Blunt) and father (Hopkins) await him there ? and something rather furrier and more dangerous besides. I must admit that there are a group of talented actors but despite that I do like most of them, I did sort of know already that they weren't going to deliver brilliant performances. I do like Benicio Del Toro as an actor and has delivered some great performances in the past but The Wolfman was a big mistake on behalf of his career. I hardly felt any sympathy at all for Lawrence unfortunately and the character just felt soulless and empty. Emily Blunt made a name for herself after The Young Victoria but her acting was pretty much the same as what Gemma Arterton was like in Quantum Of Solace and Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time. Anthony Hopkins holds the best leading male performance of all time in my opinion as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence Of The Lambs and after seeing this film, I still can't believe it is still that same person! Even he was as flat and empty as Del Toro and Blunt were. Hugo Weaving, however, did a slightly satisfying job but even he didn't save the acting side of the film.


Joe Johnston; director of Jurassic Park III, Jumanji and The Pagemaster (live-action) really does try to entertain the audiences but sometimes manages to do so but sometimes doesn't. He is also set to direct the upcoming feature film on MARVEL comic book hero Captain America due for release next year. The Wolfman isn't only his first film in 6 years but it's also his first film rated R (USA)/15 (UK)/MA15+ (Australia). So, all I can say is, Joe, is that I think you should just stick to making PG rated family films because this one was just 'no, just no'.


Overall, The Wolfman is a huge disappointment that didn't really surprise me. Great cast and good effects but that is about it. I wouldn't be surprised if this is nominated for a few Razzies such as Worst Remake/Sequel/Rip-Off/Re-boot, Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Actress and Worst Director. I need to check out the original version now to see if there is a massive difference between them (which I hope there is) regarding the tone, pace and character development. It is a failure and unfortunately one of the worst films of 2010 as well as one of the worst remakes.

" All right, Popeye's here! get your hands on your heads, get off the bar, and get on the wall!"


Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
Running time: 104 minutes
Country: USA


My expectations of The French Connection were pretty high because not only did it win Best Picture but it even beat A Clockwork Orange and Stanley Kubrick. It is a very good film that I did really enjoy but it did feel a little bit slow to start off with. I personally think it took about half an hour to get into 'Popeye' Doyle and 'Cloudy' Russo. 1971 was a great year in cinema and did feature a lot of famous films that are part of many genres. I think it had some similarities to Dirty Harry (not just the film itself but the characters too). I think the main key parts of the film when I was stuck to the screen were during the action scenes especially the train and car-chase scene and the scene where Popeye would be chasing after a suspect or fugitive.


Gene Hackman delivers an absolutely brilliant performance as Jimmy 'Popeye' Boyle. He is based on detective Eddie Egan who actually appeared as Boyle's detective supervisor like the real Sonny Grosso is another detective supervisor and Roy Scheider's character Det. Buddy Russo is based on him which does make it a true story. Actors such as James Caan, Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle declined the role of Popeye Boyle and perhaps that was good because it doesn't seem likely that they would've done a better job than Gene Hackman seeing as he won the Best Leading Actor Oscar in 1972. 4 years before Steven Spielberg's breakthrough masterpiece Jaws, Roy Scheider stars in The French Connection in a role that perhaps led him to star in the lead role in Jaws seeing both characters he plays in both films are police officers.


William Friedkin is a director who has received a lot of credit from the Academy for making great films but unfortunately directors like Hitchcock, Kubrick, Bergman, Kurosawa and Fellini never did. Friedkin did do an incredible job directing this especially in the train chase scene where he'd have to cause a lot of traffic because they're shooting the film and that was just beautifully made for its time and I'd even say that it either sums up exactly to how awesome car chase scenes in films are like today or maybe even better because they're full of CGI whereas this one wasn't. It won 5 Oscars out of 8 nominations. It won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Leading Actor (Gene Hackman) and Best Film Editing. It was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Roy Scheider), Best Cinematography and Best Sound.


Overall, The French Connection is a very enjoyable classic that perhaps didn't deserve all of the credit at the Academy Awards as much as Stanley Kubrick, Malcolm McDowell and A Clockwork Orange. Brilliantly acted by Gene Hackman (but still find his performance better in Unforgiven) and well-filmed in the modern day era. It is definitely worth checking out!

"A boy's best friend is his mother."


Director: Gus Van Sant
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen
Running time: 105 minutes
Country:


For years I was always in denial of whether to watch this or not but only a few days ago, I had this random desperate urge to watch it. I was going into this film sort of knowing that it was going to be crap anyway but there were a few key moments where it was just awful and it did step over the line. I shall give you an example: the Norman Bates masturbation scene. What the f**k?! That is insulting to the original film and to call itself a 'remake' is beyond belief! Regrettably, this is more of a rip-off/spoof and awful duplicate of the 1960 version more than a remake and also most of the cast and crew involved in the film hadn't even seen the original version so that is just hopeless and stupid!


Well, I'm gonna keep this short and just say what the film is about because it is exactly the same as the original: a woman runs off with $40,000 from her boss, ends up staying in a motel and gets killed in the shower by a mysterious person. Get it? So, as for the acting in the film that featured the likes of Vince Vaughn as Norman, Anne Heche as Marion, Julianne Moore as Lila, Viggo Mortensen as Sam and William H. Macy as Detective Arbogast. Vince Vaughn was just awful as Norman Bates! I mean, the man didn't even try to bring something different to Norman because not only was he obviously saying the same in the original seeing as the script is the same but because of that, he was trying to copy Anthony Perkins actions as Norman during the scenes as well as how he would speak and that was just epic fail! Must ask this: did Anne Heche even audition for the part of Marion or was she a random woman off the street? Well, I think I am more convinced by the latter because she hadn't even seen the original Hitchcock version nor read the book so goes to show what she knows about the original and the character she is playing. Viggo Mortensen was disappointing as Sam Loomis and Julianne Moore who can be both brilliant and awful in her films but I am afraid to say that she was the wrong choice for Lila Crane! Despite that Lila wasn't the one who was murdered in the shower, she is an iconic character too but I would say that perhaps a more attractive and more talented actress could play her; like someone better should have played Norman and Marion.


Now onto the direction of the film: Gus Van Sant is a director that I did have good respect for; films such as Good Will Hunting and Milk but now after making the Psycho 'remake', that has all gone! I never thought a director who has been nominated for an Oscar would agree to make a film that is copying exactly off Psycho of all films and ultimately failing! I mean, he does show how awesome the original version is because of how awful the 'remake' was by doing exactly the same but nowhere near as good. He even uses the original DVD and plays it during filming of the remake so that makes it worse! I was pretty surprised about Danny Elfman being the composer of the film. Yeah, there's Bernard Hermann's original music of the film but Elfman did adapt it a tiny bit but that didn't even save the film. Well, I'm just gonna say that the script was awesome because it is awesome but I can't give the film any higher rating for that because there was no attempt to make any difference or to improve on it.


I mean, the fact that this was filmed in colour didn't even save the film. I think perhaps the reason for making this was so the new generation especially young teenagers would be persuaded to watch the original version. Now, that is a really bad idea because there is nothing good about this film and there's nothing wrong with the original. It was like a slasher film and since when has Psycho original film and even the book for that matter ever been a slasher film?! This isn't a spoiler so I'm just going to say it: when the ending credits rolled it said 'In Memory Of Alfred Hitchcock' and I paused the film and stared at it! How dare Gus Van Sant say that when he has remade something that is more like a bitch-slap towards Hitchcock, the cast and the rest of the crew in the original film?!


Overall, Psycho is an absolutely disgraceful disaster that can hardly call itself a remake let alone a film! If it shows us anything, it shows us that some films just aren't meant to be remade and it just shows how pointless some remakes really can be! The 'remake' is one of the worst films of all time but the original is one of the best films of all time which is a weird thing to admit despite both films feature the same characters, same shots and camera angles and music. Probably the first film that I would automatically call a 'lazyarse' film because there really is just no effort or even enjoyment for that matter! It was plain awful and just pointless from beginning to end. It should have earned all the Razzie glory because that's what its worth and rightly deserves!

" There are thousands of them and they are pissed!"


Director: Alexandre Aja
Starring: Steven R. McQueen, Elisabeth Shue, Ving Rhames, Richard Dreyfuss
Running time: 88 minutes
Country: USA


Seriously, what was everyone expecting from this film? I think pretty much all the same things! I'll give you a few: women in bikinis, seeing their breasts and asses, gore regarding the piranhas and suspense! And that is exactly what this film got but something a bit more than that. I just had zero interest at all to watch it on the brink of its release but after watching it, I am surprised that I decided not to watch it. I guess it possibly being utter crap and a waste of time put me off the film but when I just suddenly watched it, it surprisingly entertained me throughout the whole time.


This is the second remake of the original 1978 version (first one was a 1995 adaptation of the same name) and now I think that this new one turned out more of a success both critically and box office ratings more than the first remake. I guess, the fact the new one was released in 3D gave it a slight push ahead. I mean, if this remake works in 3D and does a good job, I could see them doing a future 3D remake of something like Anaconda or Lake Placid but not too many because they'll just suck and fail for trying too hard.


There were lots of intense suspense that was a bit like Jaws. Piranha 3D did take a lot from that film regarding that but it wasn't an awful attempt. What I mean by this is we see point-of-view shots of the piranhas when see people's feet, legs or even whole body in the water like the piranhas are going to attack (like we see through the eyes of the shark in Jaws like the classic opening scene and the attack on the beach the next day). The poster is just like the Jaws poster as well. Alexandre Aja (director of 2006 The Hills Have Eyes remake) did a surprisingly brilliant job and filmed it well both underwater and on land. After reading a couple of reviews, critics and fans have said that ''this is what Snakes On A Plane should have been.''


I wasn't familiar with most of the actors involved in this film except three (Richard Dreyfuss (previously starred in Jaws. So many connections Piranha 3D has with that film), Christopher Lloyd and Ving Rhames (starred in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction) but the acting was very good from those who were under attack by the piranhas and the wounded ones but I thought that some of the young people like the two girls on the boat were a bit shit and just lacked character development. I liked Jake's character because he's just another teenager who wants to go out and have fun like most teens do but his mum is the sheriff and has asked him to look after the children but he doesn't want to. Not going to spoil anymore so you'll have to see for yourself.


It is obviously a very cheesy, soppy plot but the suspense and the dark comedy involved did save the film. I suppose you could say that Piranha 3D has the comedy humour and sometimes the unnecessary violence like Shaun Of The Dead. That film did manage to pull something surprisingly smart off and I think that Piranha 3D somehow managed to as well. There are lots and lots of moments where you could just disgustingly laugh at the gore within the film like you could in Shaun Of The Dead. Despite the very basic and simple story, it features a surprisingly shocking twist that would interest the audience a lot more for the upcoming sequel in 2012.


This is perhaps the first gory horror film to be released in 3D and I regrettably never got chance to see it in 3D but the experience in normal 2D was pretty damn terrifying! I think if there perhaps wasn't that much gore at all it would have reached the ultimate fail level in 3D. Seriously now I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been in 3D with a large screen and piranhas and guts popping out the screen! I'm going to definitely be up for that in the sequel. Stepping aside the original 1978 Piranha film, I'd say that Piranha 3D is like Jaws mixed with Shaun Of The Dead. This is what entertainment is all about!

"Who is Salt?"


Director: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, August Diehl
Running time: 95 minutes
Country: USA


For the past few years, we keep on seeing these action films with a slight science fiction dialogue to it. Salt is just another action film that I found almost identical to what some of the moments in the Bourne trilogy were like. It is also another example that tries to reach to that level but fails to do so. I did like the story of the film but the USA vs. Russia dialogue did seem a tad bit unrealistic to me. I realise it's just for entertainment but you always need a film that has a believable story for it to succeed. Think that was the only flaw that this film had.


Well, I think we were expecting from Angelina Jolie like we always expect from her: a very sexy young woman with a 'bad girl' seductive type of woman and we do see that but more of a Jason Bourne-like character. So I would say that she is like the female Jason Bourne. There was one thing that I didn't fully understand about Evelyn Salt's character was if she was really innocent, why was she still performing attacks and why was she still part of Russia when still claiming she is innocent? Another thing which was a bit weird was that she was with the CIA to start off with but 2 minutes later, she was a convict and fugitive. Don't get me wrong, she is a decent enough character but I think there are too many like her.


This is just like a Paul Greengrass kind of style direction with a convicted person on the loose. Directors Terry George, Michael Mann and Peter Berg came close to directing but I am glad none of them did because I think that the film would have been crap and ruin their careers and this wasn't one of those landmark action films. The script was mostly quite flat and silly but I think that is normal of a film like this.


Overall, Salt is a decent piece of entertainment that is nothing special. Just another action thriller for me and that's it. Good film but not one of the best of 2010.

"I wanna talk about how bad you make this room look. I never knew what a dump it was until you came in here."


Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell
Running time: 112 minutes
Country: USA


I wasn't exactly sure of what to make of this film when I first heard about it. I am not really a big fan of music films but this is something even more personal than just music. It is a film of pure beauty but a film of heartbreak as well. Most films about music or involve music are bio-pics but this is something that I would say only involves it and it isn't a bio-pic but it sure would have been a pretty inspiring true story.


I would call this The Wrestler of 2009 because there are just so many similarities between that film and Crazy Heart. For example, both leading male characters are aging veterans who are like living life alone who attempt to go back to something from their pasts, they are both specialists at activities and are famous for it and few others. Also, the critical response and Oscar nominations they both received were similar.


Jeff Bridges' performance was amazing as Bad Blake! I would say that after Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds, it is the performance of the year but it is the best leading male performance of 2009. His performance was just like Mickey Rourke's in The Wrestler and now after Jeff Bridges winning the Oscar, he deserved it but it makes up for Mickey Rourke losing the Oscar to Sean Penn when he was the favourite. Maggie Gyllenhaal delivers the performance of her career thus far but Crazy Heart isn't my favourite film that she has starred in. In fact, there are quite a few that she's been in that I liked more than Crazy Heart but her performance in this one was the best she's delivered so far. She deserved her Oscar nomination but didn't quite deserve to win it. Robert Duvall's supporting performance was brilliant as well. Unfortunately, he's losing tone now as he's got older (well, really, after appearing in the first two Godfather films as Tom Hagen and Apocalypse Now as Lieutenant Colonel William "Bill" Kilgore (all three films are by the same director: Francis Ford Coppola). Colin Farrell's role may have been underrated and perhaps something that not that many were aware of seeing as it was a minor role but he did a good job despite that.


Crazy Heart won 2 Academy Awards out of 3 nominations (won Best Actor (Jeff Bridges) and Best Original Song (''The Weary Kind'') but was nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and it won those two awards at the Golden Globes too and rightly so because they deserve it. For the first time since Adrien Brody won Best Actor in The Pianist back in 2002, I actually agreed that the actor who actually won totally deserved to win and was better than the others.


Overall, Crazy Heart is an underrated film that I really enjoyed. It's perhaps not a Best Picture worthy film but definitely one of the 2009 films that need watching and needn't be missed. If you really like The Wrestler, then you will really like this one. Bravo, Bridges and Gyllenhaal!

Director: Joe Dante
Starring: Chris Massoglia, Haley Bennett, Nathan Gamble, Teri Polo
Running time: 92 minutes
Country: USA


I literally had only one bit of knowledge when I was about to watch it and it is bloody obvious: that it features a hole so I didn't really know what to expect. This surprisingly shook me when I watched it as it did a lot of critics. This just shows what thrillers are all about and how a film can truly succeed without that much violence. This film is very scary but because there was lots of suspense but hardly any violence at all, it was even scarier and it really does show that some films fail because of the lack of suspense and the overloaded amount of gore involved.


Set in modern day America of a single mum with her two sons who move away from their home due to a dark past and move into a new house. One day, the two boys discover a mysterious hole with no bottom but as they seem to find the hole quite interesting to begin with, the tables begin to turn and things start to get scary. Chris Massoglia delivers a performance that I think was actually quite good. I mean, most teenage actors aren't really that notable until a certain film comes out where they either deliver a great performance or the film becomes a success both box office takings and critically. Nathan Gamble's acting was very similar to Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense and Danny Lloyd in The Shining because he was another terrified young boy who was being tormented by things that only he can see. People would almost instantly recognize Teri Polo as Pam from Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers but she stars in something different this time and did a satisfying but not brilliant job. She should just stay with romantic comedies.


There are some awesome gory films but when a film is referred as a thriller, it is better having more suspense than gore because that just ruins it completely! As I said, this is exactly what thrillers are all about. It does have boundaries to scare its audiences but this needs to be a rated R (in US) and 15 (in UK) not PG-13/12! Think they chose it to be that rating instead of R/15 because there is no violence but they cannot say that it wasn't suspenseful and wouldn't scare many people especially when little kids could see this one.


Overall, The Hole 3D is a film that should not be seen by little kids like the certificate its been given suggests. I was in the cinema and saw kids crying because it was so scary so that is a crucial mistake! Well, back to what I think now. I just thought it was an intense, suspenseful, gripping thrill ride that I surprisingly really liked a lot. One of the biggest and best pieces of entertainment one will see all year!

"It won't last forever. Nothing does."


Director: Ryan Murphy
Starring: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Billy Crudup, James Franco
Running time: 140 minutes
Country: USA


Admittedly, this was something that I had quite an interest towards when it was released seeing as it stars the gorgeous Julia Roberts, Oscar winner Javier Bardem, Billy Crudup and James Franco so it was pretty much the whole cast that caught my attention. However, when I watched it, I have not seen a film as empty as this in quite a while. It just had no soul and there was no message or inspiration involved very much at all. We were expecting an adventure of a woman going on a trip to places over the world and experiencing a new life but this was no adventure! This felt more like a woman who just got bored and wanted to go from one country to the next.


Liz Gilbert (Roberts) had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having - a husband, a house, a successful career - yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali. Well, Julia Roberts, you may have looked extremely HOT in Eat Pray Love but what in the hell happened? I just couldn't get into her character very much at all but there were some moments where she was quite good. Javier Bardem was fairly decent, though. It was quite weird seeing him play a gentleman where he is best known playing a murdering psycho (No Country For Old Men).


Ryan Murphy perhaps directed this one like he tried so hard to make a successful film but unfortunately due to some of those flaws especially the film duration, he failed. I do like light-hearted romantic films but this is one of the very few that I have seen where I just couldn't feel any strong chemistry between Liz and any of her partners: neither David nor Felipe. I think the biggest problem I have with Eat Pray Love is that it was WAY too long! It really dragged on and that unfortunately made the script very cheesy throughout pretty much the whole film.


Overall, Eat Pray Love is a poor attempt at trying to make an adventure feel real. Julia Roberts, I adore you and you may have looked really hot in this film but as far as acting goes, she can do so much better. This really is for girls more than boys like pretty much all chick flicks. Guys, avoid this one!

"If I feel anything, if I think anything might happen to her... I'm gonna kill both of ya."


Director: Ben Affleck
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner
Running time: 125 minutes
Country: USA


When I first saw the trailer of The Town, I thought it seemed interesting but I guess there was one slight thing that made me think that it wouldn't be a brilliant film was the fact Ben Affleck was in the leading role. However, I was actually really surprised! It is a psychologically disturbing picture that does have a slightly dumb touch to it regarding the plot. What I mean by this is it perhaps did feel a bit daft when a guy falls in love with a girl who he almost killed with his friends and I guess that made the film predictable. It is indeed a very intense, suspenseful film that was brilliantly made.


It is set in Charlestown, a neighbourhood in Boston, Massachusetts which follows a heist, professional thief Doug MacRay (Affleck) who keeps tabs on bank manager Claire Keesey (Hall), the only witness who could identify MacRay's gang. As the couple slowly fall for each other and FBI agent Adam Frawley (Hamm) closes in on him, McCray begins to question the life he leads. Ben Affleck is usually an actor who gets a lot of negative criticism in his performances but I think for the first time in his career, he actually gave an awesome performance and it is a damn shame he never gave us a performance like this earlier in his career. Rebecca Hall's performance as Claire Keesey was really moving! As far as I'm concerned, she deserves an Oscar nomination because her performance does show what heartbreak does to you and also she expresses how scary the world can be to some people who have been deeply effected by the people in it. Jeremy Renner was awesome too! He really is becoming an actor to be reckoned with. His performance in The Town was, in my opinion, as awesome in The Hurt Locker.


Ben Affleck, you may be an overall crap actor but damn, you are a great director! His previous film as director Gone Baby Gone was pretty good anyway but I do think that The Town surpassed everything that Gone Baby Gone had. Ben, you really have shown us now when you're at the top of your game and you deserve it this time. Despite Ben Affleck is perhaps a very overrated actor, he is an underrated director. I have almost always given full credit to directors who are playing in the leading role as well but Ben Affleck and The Town has been an ultimate surprise to me. The action scenes were brilliantly filmed and it wasn't overloaded with explosions! It was just suspenseful excitement. The screenplay of The Town was by Ben Affleck, Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard and it was awesome! Affleck has earned screenplay glory previously by winning the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award with Matt Damon on Good Will Hunting.


Overall, The Town is an awesome crime drama that is one of the best films of 2010 so far. I like to think of it like a mixed combination of The Dark Knight, Heat and Training Day. Affleck, keep bringing us these films seeing as we finally know when you are at your best. Highly recommended!

"We are going to pull of the TRUE crime of the century... we are going to steal the MOON!"


Director: Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud
Starring: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews
Running time: 95 minutes
Country: USA


The teaser trailer looked really daft with some freaky looking man with his yellow alien workers but the official trailer helped me change my mind about what it could be like. It really did look a lot of fun, family entertainment with lots of hilarious jokes, stunning effects and with a really fun but surprisingly quite personal storyline. This is the sort of animated film that doesn't really need to go over the top with entertaining the audience by overloading the jokes and the effects but it just carried on and in some ways, became one of a kind. I mean, most people perhaps think that Despicable Me wasn't that good in 3D because everything didn't pop out the screen every 2 seconds (I do admit that 3D is getting very overhyped now) but the point of it is that it helps the film feel a bit more real and the audience are on this adventure with the characters.


In a happy suburban neighbourhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbours, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru, planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon. (Yes, the moon!) Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad. The world's greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.


I almost instantly loved Gru's personality because he is one of those characters who think he is really evil but can act like a real muppet at times. He is pretty much like a Dr Evil sort of character and I love Dr Evil. His character does show that there is good and bad within everyone and we all have free will of which we choose to act on. Also, it shows how much a person or some people can change another person or people's lives. The little yellow aliens just cracked me up! They were so funny and there was a lot of development with their personalities which is something that doesn't always happen with supporting characters especially if there's more than one. The three little girls were just adorable especially the little one called Agnes. She brought back memories of Boo from Monsters, Inc..


After watching this, I can really tell that Despicable Me was made by the people of Ice Age seeing as the jokes are very similar, there is some personal emotion involved and there are quite a few action sequences. Despicable Me deserves 2 Oscar nominations: Best Animated Picture (but Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon deserve it more) and Best Original Score.


Overall, Despicable Me is an absolutely awesome film that is one of 2010s most entertaining but not quite one of the best films of the year. It did surprise me a lot and it is definitely great family entertainment that I would highly recommend it to everyone.

"If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook."


Director: David Fincher
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara
Running time: 120 minutes
Country: USA


I think everyone's reaction to a film about Facebook was at first 'What the f***?!' (including mine) but when I found out that David Fincher was directing it, I was even more curious about it and went to see it at the cinema. When I first saw it, I wasn't too keen on it but after a rewatch of it, I really liked it this time. I think the one thing that I appreciate about The Social Network is that Facebook is the center of everything that are in these people's lives and how much a social networking site can effect one's life. I mean, I love going on Facebook and it is taking over everyone's lives but this film does express that it is a good thing that it is a sociable experience that does increase confidence. Stepping aside Facebook here, The Social Network is a film of friendship, betrayal, greed and loyalty.


I think what most people were thinking a film about Facebook was going to be about was a group of nerds acting having conversations, playing games, uploading pictures and posting statuses but as I said, there are some things that are more important than that. It is perhaps a rather extraordinary film but it was a good idea to make. It sort of advertises the website and persuades its audiences to be a member but then again, think most people are anyway. Only flaw it has for me is that it lacked the drama and the possibility of a soul or message.


On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history... but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.


Jesse Eisenberg (a Michael Cera kind of actor) already made a name for himself in comedy horror film Zombieland but his performance was good as Mark Zuckerberg but I think perhaps could have improved on it. Why? Yeah, he is playing a nerd but at the end of the day, he is portraying the creator of a worldwide phenomenal website that has interacted most of the people on Earth together! Even Mark Zuckerberg himself didn't like the film and didn't like Eisenberg's performance very much. Sorry, Jesse, you did a decent job but no Oscar nomination for you, I'm afraid. After hearing that Andrew Garfield was going to be the new Spider-Man/Peter Parker just before I saw The Social Network, I needed to know what kind of actor he is. As for his performance in The Social Network, his performance was absolutely fantastic and he rightly deserves an Oscar nomination (maybe even a win). Wow! I never Justin Timberlake could act! He was pretty good in this film as well but not as good as Andrew Garfield.


I thought at first 'David Fincher as director? What?' seeing as it isn't really something that he has done before but life is full of surprises and he certainly surprised us with this one. He surprised us so much that he could earn himself a Best Director Academy Award for The Social Network. I guess you could say that he had a lot on his shoulders seeing as Facebook is so popular nowadays and people would be expecting something high. He deserves a nomination though. After hearing that The Social Network is in fact based on a novel as well as true story after I saw the film, I thought the screenplay was absolutely incredible! I thought that the script from the novel was awesome anyway but it would take an utter genius to write a script from a true story about a website! This should win Best Adapted Screenplay but will have to battle The King's Speech first.


Overall, The Social Network is an absolutely fantastic film that I needed to rewatch to like. I think it is one of those films that you need to stick with all the way through to understand it. As far as Academy Awards are concerned, no doubt this'll be nominated for Best Picture but I don't think it deserves to win. Think it'll get Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (for Andrew Garfield) nominations. It is probably The Social Network vs. The King's Speech for Best Picture with Inception, Toy Story 3, 127 Hours and Black Swan just behind them. It is definitely one of the best films of 2010 and is sure to please the public and critics worldwide.

"I'm Mr. Bilbo Baggins, I've lost my dwarves, my wizard and my way."


Director: Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin Jr.
Starring: Orson Bean, Richard Boone, Hans Conreid, John Huston
Running time: 90 minutes
Country: USA


I decided to give this a go seeing as I cannot wait to see the upcoming Peter Jackson versions (two films on one book) of the classic novel. Shockingly, I haven't even read the book but I do intend to before seeing the live-action films. Despite it is a film made for TV, expectations were quite high for this. I did enjoy it a lot and I thought that the story was absolutely amazing with lots of adventure but I think the main weakness that this film has is that it lacked a heart so to speak and felt quite empty on occasions and unrealistic. I even think that this perhaps will be understood by viewers easier than Lord Of The Rings because it is actually quite a basic story and is less complex and maybe even more child-friendly.


Hobbits are simple folk. Small people with hairy feet, they are not cut out for adventure and prefer to laze about and eat. A particular hobbit, Bilbo Baggins (Orson Bean), is taken by surprise one morning when the mighty wizard Gandalf (John Huston) knocks at his door. Soon Bilbo finds himself inducted into a party of dwarves bent on reclaiming their mountain from the deadly fire-breathing dragon, Smaug.


That is pretty much the whole film, to be honest, although Bilbo comes across Gollum and finds the Ring. I guess that is what The Hobbit tells us: the finding of the One Ring by Bilbo and how it was just a random magic ring to him to start with. Despite it is animated and in the late 70s, I didn't like how that was done either. It just seemed really cheesy! I mean, Gollum wasn't really very menacing like he normally is and he looked like a giant frog with no eyes. As far as the actors are concerned, I wasn't familiar with any of the actors that provided their voices in this film except John Huston who was the voice of Gandalf the Grey.


Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin Jr did a decent job with this but this will probably be a piece of crap compared to the upcoming Hobbit films. As I said, I wasn't too keen on the animation but I loved the story and the characters so I'd say the production was at least satisfactory. The script was decent but I think that the script by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo Del Toro will totally blow it away like Jackson's, Walsh's and Boyens's scripts in Lord Of The Rings did.


Overall, The Hobbit is a fun piece of entertainment that has increased my enthusiasm even more than there already was for the upcoming two films. No, this animated version isn't a masterpiece but it is something that is a bit of fun that is enjoyable at least. I'm half way through my journey to seeing The Hobbit. This one was better than the animated version of The Lord Of The Rings though. Now, I've got to read the book and then I'll be ready to see The Hobbit: Part I and The Hobbit: Part II.

"The Elder Wand, the most powerful wand ever made. The Resurrection Stone. The Cloak of Invisibility. Together they make the Deathly Hallows. Together, they make one master of Death."


Director: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes
Running time: 146 minutes
Country: UK, USA


Expectations have been rolling high for many years for the final novel from J.K. Rowling but when it was announced that Deathly Hallows was in fact going to be split into two parts, I actually thought it was a really good idea. I suppose on the perspective of the makers of the film they will earn more money from audiences with two films made on separate occasions but on the perspective of the audience, it will increase anticipation (also due to the split when Part I ends) and will perhaps make audiences feel like it is another Toy Story 3. What I mean by this is that the end is here and it might even make audiences cry because their childhood is complete. I am one of those people who thought this with Part I and will think with Part II.


As for my thoughts on the film, I absolutely loved every single second of it and we went on a different adventure than any other Harry Potter film we have seen. It was beautifully made with amazing production, it was incredibly dark, it was really tense, it was shockingly hilarious and most importantly it stayed true to the book. So, for pretty much all of those reasons, it is my favourite Harry Potter film so far (might be replaced by Part II in July. I have read all seven books and I do think that this is the one Harry Potter film that has a lot of events going on that do follow the book whereas in the others, there were a few errors that they did miss out on. It was epic from start to finish with all the drama, great music and character development. There is only one major problem that I do have with it and that is the action scenes weren't filmed very good. The shots seemed too fast and sometimes were like flashes striking our eyes and changing again (especially the chase scene in the woods).


After Dumbledore's death and now the fact that Lord Voldemort has taken over both the Ministry and Hogwarts, Harry starts his quest to finish what Dumbledore started: find the Horcruxes (which are objects that are the secret to Voldemort's immortality). He doesn't do it alone; he has Ron and Hermione to help him. However, for them it isn't that simple to just go cross-country to search for them. They are like fugitives on the run so that makes this film like a cat-and-mouse film too. Together Harry, Ron and Hermione must stand together and destroy all of the Horcruxes to be ready for the ultimate battle and climax against the Dark Lord.


Daniel Radcliffe has grown from a cute, innocent little boy into a grown man. He hasn't been as mind-blowing as Harry as a lot of people think he should have been but I tell you one thing: he improved a lot in this one than he did in Half-Blood Prince (just like Deathly Hallows - Part I itself did). Another reason why we really know for sure Harry has turned from a boy into a man is because there isn't one single scene that features Hogwarts itself or any of the teachers (except Severus Snape) but the only taste of Hogwarts we get is one scene on the train with the Death Eaters searching for Harry. Harry hasn't got anyone to look after him anymore; he's looking after himself and he's almost looking after Ron and Hermione as well. Rupert Grint was awesome as always as Ron. The love between him and Hermione is actually really cute and so was the love between Harry and Ginny. Emma Watson was brilliant again as Hermione. She has always, in my opinion, proved herself to be the best of the three regarding acting. She was more gorgeous than I have ever seen her and can't wait for her to return in Part II. We also went on the personal side of events in this film (such as visiting Godric's Hollow where Harry's parents were murdered and are buried) and learning about the Deathly Hallows shows what Harry must do at all costs to defeat the Dark Lord.


David Yates, you really can be an amazing filmmaker. Two of my favourite Harry Potter films were directed by him (other was Order Of The Phoenix) but the worst one was directed by him also (Half-Blood Prince). One weakness he did have regarding filming in Deathly Hallows: Part I which he didn't in Order Of The Phoenix or Half-Blood Prince: action scenes were more like flashes and it sometimes caused confusion. We know we can see what you're the best at doing so let's hope that Part II will be equally as awesome (well, both parts were filmed together so I am sure it will). After reading some reviews of the film, reviewers have said "it is very rushed". I don't agree with that at all! The pacing of the film wasn't rushed and it wasn't slow either seeing as there was lots of suspense, action, romance and shockingly lots of comedy. I also liked how they involved the unique cartoons when Hermione was reading the story of the Three Brothers with the Deathly Hallows and how they earned the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak Of Invisibility (which Harry happens to own).


Overall, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part I is an absolutely amazing film that is a mind-blowing beginning to the end and is easily the best Harry Potter film so far. There are lots of magic, lots of action, lots of suspense and shockingly lots of comedy so could we have asked for any more than that? I think not. The ending of Part I was so powerful! It made the audience feel teased that they'll have to wait 8 months for Part II. I cannot wait for Part II so I am counting the days for the day of its release!

"Max knew nothing about love. It was as foreign to him as scuba diving."


Director: Adam Elliot
Starring: Toni Collette, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana, Barry Humphries
Running time: 90 minutes
Country: Australia


After reading many fantastic reviews of this film and the fact that Mary And Max still wasn't released in Britain despite it has been released for a year, I just couldn't resist watching it. What I got out of this was 90 minutes of raw emotion, dark comedy and mind-blowing animation. It is an extremely underrated film that should have been nominated for Best Animated Picture to be tough competition against Up but unfortunately another crucial mistake by the Academy.


I was actually really surprised at how emotional it really was. I almost creased in tears when the film ended which doesn't really happen to me but watching it was a massive inspiration to me seeing as I am a strong follower of autism and Asperger's Syndrome seeing as I have a few friends and relatives who suffer from it. The animation was just spectacular! It was quite similar to Henry Selick/Tim Burton-like stop-motion (Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, Corpse Bride merged with Aardman and Nick Park (Wallace And Gromit feature film and the 4 shorts, Chicken Run, Creature Comforts).


In the mid 1970's, a homely, friendless Australian girl of 8 picks a name out of a Manhattan phone book and writes to him; she includes a chocolate bar. She's Mary Dinkle, the only child of an alcoholic mother and a distracted father. He's Max Horowitz, living alone in New York, overweight, subject to anxiety attacks. He writes back, with chocolate. Thus begins a 20-year correspondence, interrupted by a stay in an asylum and a few misunderstandings. Mary falls in love with a neighbour, saves money to have a birthmark removed and deals with loss. Max has a friendship with a neighbour, tries to control his weight, and finally gets the dream job. Will the two ever meet face to face?


There was almost no involvement of the United States, United Kingdom or any other studio from another country. Plus, pretty much the entire cast are Australian (apart from Phillip Seymour Hoffman) so it was pretty much an all-Australian film. It was brilliant because all of the actors and creators within this film have merged together and created something that perhaps does challenge against other animation studios (even Pixar). Phillip Seymour Hoffman's voice acting as Max was pretty awesome. I felt the drama of the character really well and despite that it was mostly a narrated film, the characters were so strong it was just too good to be true. I think that the main message of the film is that you can find soul mates from all over the world and no matter how far one lives, that person can still change one's life around; whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.


The direction from Adam Elliot was incredible! I haven't seen very many Australian films but I have to admit that this is by far the best one I have seen from there. I would say that Mary And Max has some similarities with other animated films like A Scanner Darkly, Waltz with Bashir and Persepolis in terms of theme and image backgrounds but in terms of dialogue, message and characters, it is something totally different than any film that has been released. I was deeply admired how unique the clay-animated background New York City looked like especially the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center twin towers before their collapse. The script was just awesome! Mary And Max is, like most clay-animated films, a film that is actually out of somebody's (or a group of people's) head(s), not based on a novel and to write a script like that without the support of a book, I really admire.


Overall, Mary And Max is an absolutely outstanding film that I adored from the start to the end. I would say it is the most underrated film of all time and when it is released on blu-ray, I will be at the store to buy it within like an hour! It is the first film that I have seen that is about someone with Asperger's Syndrome so that's another reason why I absolutely love it so if you have a friend or relative who suffers from Autism or Asperger's Syndrome then you should check it out! Also, I must say that I think Nick Park reluctantly has an opponent who is good enough to challenge him. One of the best films of 2009 and maybe even one of the best animated films that I think I have watched in a very long time. The whole film in a nutshell: MASTERPIECE!

"Ain't you got no men that can do this?"


Director: Derek Granik
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Kevin Breznahan, Dale Dickey
Running time: 100 minutes
Country: USA


To be honest, at the start I never really knew very much about Winter's Bone apart from it has been receiving a lot of positive reviews that has been named Oscar material and a contender for Best Picture so I couldn't hesitate to watch this and there was high expectations. However when I watched it, I did like it but I wouldn't say that this is worthy of Best Picture. Well, that is what I think anyway. The bits where I really enjoyed it was that the pacing of the film was normal and it didn't drag on and it didn't feel rushed either, there was a lot of suspense and it was a very dark adventure that is beyond any other than I have seen.


With an absent father and a withdrawn and depressed mother, 17 year-old Ree Dolly keeps her family together in a dirt poor rural area. She's taken aback however when the local Sheriff tells her that her father put up their house as collateral for his bail and unless he shows up for his trial in a week's time, they will lose it all. She knows her father is involved in the local drug trade and manufactures crystal meth but anywhere she goes the message is the same: stay out of it and stop poking your nose in other people's business. She refuses to listen, even after her father's brother, Teardrop, tells her he's probably been killed. She pushes on, putting her own life in danger, for the sake of her family until the truth, or enough of it, is revealed.


Jennifer Lawrence's performance as Ree Dolly was just incredible! I would say it is perhaps one of the greatest breakthrough performances of all time and because of this, she rightly deserves a Best Leading Actress Oscar nomination and I'll be damned if she isn't nominated. Then again, she might only just get the nomination like Melissa Leo did for Frozen River two years ago even though she wasn't a strong contender that year.


Debra Granik directed this one in a lot of ways like a road film like The Road and Into The Wild with quite a calm and suspenseful pace at the same time in terms of events happening. She also showed us a beautiful side as well with beautiful landmarks of filming on-set. I mean, yeah it looks pretty rough throughout most of the film but at the same time, it looks beautiful. There were some moments where you could identify Winter's Bone as a horror film due to the suspense and the rough neighbourhoods. It's not for the faint of heart. The script was fantastically written! The character development was about right for me and the pacing was about right also so therefore it was handled really well.


Overall, Winter's Bone is a film that I did really enjoy but don't think quite deserved all the critical acclaim that it got. It is quite a scary tragic tale that was brilliantly written and directed. Jennifer Lawrence needs that Oscar nomination and I'll be angry if she doesn't get it. Not quite one of the best films of 2010 but definitely not one that needn't be missed!

"I don't think you guys should break up."
"No? Why's that?"
"I think you're too old."


Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska
Running time: 106 minutes
Country: USA


Over the past few years there have been romantic-comedies that have proved that they aren't those soppy love stories that we see today but because they received critical acclaim and that they have added something more personal to them to make them more successful (Little Miss Sunshine and Juno are other examples). They all bring out something new that we hadn't seen or experienced before and sends a different message every time. The message that The Kids Are All Right sends out for me is that just because there is a homosexual couple as parents, that doesn't mean they aren't suitable parents! As long as they are there for their children, then that's what counts.


What my thoughts were of The Kids Are All Right is that it isn't your ordinary romantic-comedy that you see on a regular basis and for that reason amongst others, I absolutely loved it! Despite the fact it has been named a romantic-comedy, I would call it more of a romantic-drama seeing as it involves a lesbian couple and children and it takes you onto a personal level that you don't really experience very often. I mean, yeah there have been films about homosexuals portrayed by heterosexual actors but I think this might be the first film I have come across that has involved that and children.


In LA, Nic and Jules are a couple with a daughter, Joni (Nic is biological mother), on her way to college and a son, Laser (Jules is biological mother), at 15 a good athlete but maybe hanging out with the wrong pal. Laser wants Joni, who's now 18, to find out who their biological father is - a sperm donor. Without initially telling their moms, they meet him. He's Paul, a cool guy with a motorcycle, a restaurant, and an organic garden. Although Nic doesn't like the idea, the five of them get together a few times and the kids spend time with Paul. He hires Jules, who's had many brief vocations, to landscape his back yard, and Nic, who's an OB/GYN, decides to be a good sport and get to know Paul better. Can a family add a new member?


An absolutely fantastic cast! I have always admired Annette Bening for her selection of films to be part of and I am really glad she was in this one too. I loved her as Carolyn Burnham in American Beauty 11 years ago and I have to admit, her performance in The Kids Are All Right isn't that far from being as brilliant as American Beauty. I think the main reason why I loved Annette in this film was because I think she showed real determination towards the film and wanted to bring out something to show the world. I mean, most heterosexual actors who portray homosexuals do that but Annette probably did it the best. She needs that Academy Award nomination but she has to battle with favourite to win Natalie Portman in Black Swan. Pretty sure she will win the Golden Globe though. Mark Ruffalo is a very underrated actor for me and I really liked him in this one as Paul so he deserves an Oscar nomination too. I did like Julianne Moore as well but not quite worthy of an Oscar nomination. Two young famous individuals Josh Hutcherson and Mia Wasikowska were pretty awesome as well as Laser and Joni. It should earn young actor awards but not contenders of any of the big awards.


In most romantic-comedies that are Oscar contenders, we usually see a breakthrough or a great debut directorial performance; like Jason Reitman with Juno. Plus, it is another example that goes to show that there are some other fantastic female directors as well, not just the male ones. For me, it should earn 4 Academy Award nominations: Best Picture 2010, Best Leading Actress (Annette Bening), Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo) and Best Original Screenplay (your usual rom-com/drama nominations). It should win Best Picture Musical/Comedy at the Golden Globes too as should Annette Bening for Best Actress Musical/Comedy (probably firm seal for her like Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia last year).


Overall, The Kids Are All Right is an absolutely fantastic film that is more of a drama than a comedy. Fantastic cast, fantastic performance, fantastic directing and fantastic script so deserves all the credit and universal acclaim it got. It is definitely one of the best films of 2010 and would take a damn amazing film to be better than this one.

"You have returned for a reason. Your adventure begins now."


Director: Michael Apted
Starring: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Ben Barnes, Will Poulter
Running time: 115 minutes
Country: USA


After loving The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe and disappointed by Prince Caspian, expectations were both high and low for the third instalment in the Narnia franchise. As stated in the other two reviews of the Narnia films I have done, the two older Pevensie children aren't in it so that is one thing that made it better than the first two films but where I don't think it was better than the first one was because it felt quite rushed. I mean, it perhaps needed to be a bit more precise because this felt rushed and admittedly, its two predecessors were quite slow so all three lose in that case. For the third time in a row, we see another different Narnia where we experience different adventures and meet new characters. Unusually, this didn't feel like Narnia seeing as pretty much every character was human and I think there was only like three Narnian creatures within: the mouse Reepicheep, the minotaur aboard the Dawn Treader and, of course, the great lion and the highest of all the Kings of Narnia: Aslan. The Pevensie's enter Narnia three different times in all three films: through the wardrobe in the spare room and entered a forest in the snow which was optional in The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, the London Underground was collapsing and a train past them and they saw Narnia on a beach in Prince Caspian and through a painting of a ship in a bedroom and each time we experience a different adventure.


Disney not part of it is perhaps the main reason why I wasn't sure what to make of this one because they produced The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian but then again, at least another fantastic studio: 20th Century Fox took their place. Yeah, they made the film more adult but I couldn't quite feel the magic (like I couldn't in Prince Caspian) which is another flaw that this film has. I mean, yeah, I appreciate that the stories take us on different stories about Narnia in different areas but at least make it feel like it is still the same place that we have seen before! As far as the making of Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, it was really well filmed especially the scenes on the Voyage Treader. The effects are absolutely fantastic as predicted! They used the same water tank that was used in Titanic and Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World for filming the Dawn Treader and water scenes. The make-up was splendid also and the art direction was different to what has been seen in the two previous films but still brilliant! The way the Dawn Treader was constructed was just incredible and it did look really good on-set.


With Peter and Susan now too old to enter Narnia and are away elsewhere (Peter is studying with Professor Kirke and Susan is in America with her parents) so it is now the last time we will see Lucy and Edmund Pevensie in Narnia. They aren't alone, however. They are transported into Narnia with their cousin Eustace. Before this happens, Lucy and Edmund are staying with their aunt and uncle Harold and Alberta and cousin Eustace. In the house, Lucy and Edmund notice a painting in Lucy's room and they discuss Narnia but Eustace overhears and starts teasing them about their 'secret country'. They realise that water is leaking out of the painting and as more of the water comes out, it gradually begins to flood the room and out of nowhere, they are underwater in the middle of the ocean. Luckily, they are found by Prince Caspian and his crew and they aboard the Dawn Treader and go on a new but darker adventure.


Georgie Henley was just a little girl in The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, she changed a lot in Prince Caspian but in Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, she is now almost like a grown woman. Her performance as Lucy Pevensie was brilliant once again so that has made is a successful trilogy for her and her character a success. Shame she's not in anymore of the Narnia films that we will see but she's still done very well. Skandar Keynes was great as Edmund Pevensie! Better in this than Prince Caspian but still really like his performance in Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. Shame we won't see him anymore either after this but it has still been an incredible experience watching them both on-screen. Hope they both stick around and be part of more films. Will Poulter actually really surprised me as Eustace! He really made me laugh and his character was actually really strong! At first, Eustace really is one of those kids where you only have to flick on the arm before he cries and where you just want to beat the living hell out of him but after an event that occurs whilst in Narnia, that all changes. I'll be glad to see him return in The Silver Chair. Well, if Poulter is still cast as Eustace anyway. Ben Barnes wasn't that bad this time which really surprised me and he did make Caspian a good king. I think I preferred him this time seeing as he used a British accent than the Spanish accent which was used in Prince Caspian.


Michael Apted become director replacement over Andrew Adamson who directed the first two films so that was another change as well as the studio change. Despite that, he did a good job and in some ways, better than Adamson did; mostly because the action scenes were better filmed in this one than the two predecessors. As stated previously, the filming on the Dawn Treader ship were impressive and was similar to filming from Peter Weir in Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World and Gore Verbinski in the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy. The script was good and I have to say that out of the three Chronicles Of Narnia novels that I have read, this is the film out of three that have been released thus far that stays loyal to the book.


Overall, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader is a good third instalment in the Narnia film franchise that I did enjoy despite the flaws that it had. I preferred this over The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian but didn't like as much as The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. It isn't one of the best films of 2010 but it is one of the most entertaining and one of the best cinema experiences you'll see out of the films released in 2010. I'll be looking forward to The Silver Chair's release.

"On the other side of the screen, it all looks so easy."


Director: Steven Lisberger
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan
Running time: 96 minutes
Country: USA


I almost saw Tron Legacy at the cinema without any knowledge that it was a sequel to this film and that night, I decided to watch it. I did enjoy it but I did not find it amazing. I mean, a lot of people nowadays wouldn't watch it because the effects aren't like Avatar, District 9 or anything else and some would find it cheesy. Me, on the other hand, didn't find it cheesy. I thought the effects were fantastic for its time and they were really good in comparison to films nowadays. It is like a mixture between Fantastic Voyage, Blade Runner and Star Trek: The Motion Picture so clearly there is a lot of action and adventure, stunning effects and also a lot of suspense too. Disney's involvement of this film made it even more magical than it already was and I am glad that they produced the 2010 sequel too.


Hacker/arcade owner Kevin Flynn is digitally broken down into a data stream by a villainous software pirate known as the Master Control and reconstituted into the internal, 3-D graphical world of computers. It is there, in the ultimate blazingly colourful, geometrically intense landscapes of cyberspace, that Flynn joins forces with Tron to outmanoeuvre the Master Control program that holds them captive in the equivalent of a gigantic, infinitely challenging computer game.


Tron was the first film I experienced with a younger Jeff Bridges so was rather weird seeing him younger. As far as his performance as Kevin Flynn/Clu is concerned, it was brilliant! Then again, when is he not brilliant? I'll be looking forward to seeing him in the sequel. I liked Bruce Boxleitner as well as Alan Bradley/Tron and will be looking forward to seeing him in the sequel too.


Steven Lisberger perhaps had a lot on his shoulders as director because many were expecting stunning effects with intense action, solid acting and a good script but I think it was a wise choice to make him director of the film as well as writer. He did a good job and handled the scenes inside the program and outside the program pretty well. In many ways, it takes an absolute genius to write a screenplay alone based on one's own creation, Lisberger can be added to that list because he did a good job of the script and there wasn't really anything cheesy about the way it was written at all. He managed to keep the pace of it at normal so it didn't feel rushed and it wasn't slow so that's good. Tron was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Costume Design and Best Sound but I think it should have won both. Plus, it should have won Best Visual Effects in 1982 over E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, let alone be nominated for it.


Overall, Tron is a fun action-packed thrill ride that I did enjoy and perhaps would watch again in the future. It is an underrated film but not one of the best science-fiction films I have watched. It was still a fun piece of entertainment that was worth watching and that I would recommend to others only for the fun of it.

"I just want to be perfect."


Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey
Running time: 108 minutes
Country: USA


Quite frankly, at first I had no idea what to expect with Black Swan apart from a flawless performance from Natalie Portman and that she is a ballet dancer. After the great critical acclaim it has received by reviews and has by awards so far, I really needed to see this! When I watched it, I was blown away by it completely and I loved literally every second of it. There were some moments that really surprised me and wasn't expecting in the slightest which I won't reveal. Many who would watch Black Swan would say that is partly like a fantasy film but, to be perfectly honest, I really isn't. It's just a psychological thriller that is like a 'mind-fuck film' so to speak and that is exactly what it did to me. Without revealing anything, that is the main thing that surprised me the most; with how disturbing it was but then again, I love disturbing films seeing as they are the most powerful films one could possibly make. The ending was pretty damn powerful as well. I think that this is mildly similar to David Fincher's Fight Club but features women more than men.


As far as production, I was really impressed with the construction of cinematography, art direction, costume design and make-up. The opening segment with the dancing is probably one of the best opening scenes in a film that I think I have ever seen for 3 reasons: Natalie Portman's ballet dancing was awesome, the cinematography was fantastic with flawless lighting and the way the camera was moving around was fantastic too with solid direction. Black Swan needs to earn many Oscar nominations and wins for me but the one that it really needs to win regarding production is Best Cinematography because the cinematography was just magic and my jaws dropped literally.


Nina is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother Erica who exerts a suffocating control over her. When artistic director Thomas Leroy decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily, who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side - a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.


Natalie Portman, you have always given a great performance to me but Black Swan is your absolute BEST and you so greatly deserve an Oscar for it even though you're long over-due for one anyway and should have won for Closer. I will literally hit the roof if she doesn't win the Academy Award for Best Leading Actress. Well, she's the favourite and it is almost like a sealed win for her anyway. I don't only deeply admire Natalie's performance in Black Swan, but I also really admire her preparation for the role. She learned ballet and trained for months with co-star Mila Kunis so inspiring and strong determination for the role regarding training for the character plus a great performance should equal an Academy Award. She goes on my list for Best Female Performances alongside her performance in Closer. I also really liked Vincent Cassel as Thomas Leroy. His penetrating of Nina by seducing her and asking her about her sex life made it even more disturbing and added the innocence to Nina's personality. I am surprised that Cassel isn't a contender for Best Supporting Actor. No, he wasn't quite good enough for a nomination but he wasn't that far off for me. Mila Kunis was brilliant as well as Lily. She is an enemy of Nina's seeing as she is the Black Swan and Lily is the White Swan who works for the same ballet company. They both bond in friendship but there is one scene that features both of them that I really enjoyed but was surprised about. She deserves a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination but perhaps not the favourite to win it.


After watching this, I am not surprised that Darren Aronofsky chose to direct this because it really is his kind of film (excluding the ballet) because it is dark and its psychologically disturbing which is something that is pretty much every single film Aronofsky has ever done (except The Wrestler in 2008). I never was a great admirer of his at the start before Black Swan was made but now I really like him and I hope he continues to make more masterpieces like this. One thing I was pretty damn impressed with was that during the scenes in the studio with Nina dancing and there are the mirrors all around her, I didn't notice one blooper where you could see the reflection of the camera, a crew member, whatever and the camera was moving so quickly! The script was absolutely fantastic! There was some very slight black-comedy added into this film that was quite vulgar sexually but sometimes dark humour like that can be pretty funny at times. Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John J. McLaughlin (don't mistake him for the 9/11 survivor) all merged together to write a script that, in my opinion, deserves to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (after Toy Story 3, of course).


Overall, Black Swan is an absolutely amazing film that I loved from shot #1 to the very last. It is definitely one of the most powerful and psychologically disturbing drama-thrillers that I have ever watched. It is definitely one of the best films of 2010 after Toy Story 3 (which won't be de-throned on that list). Natalie Portman gives the performance that we have all been waiting for like Darren Aronofsky has as well. Well, for me anyway. If you are just expecting Natalie Portman doing ballet dancing, you are blind! This film goes a lot deeper than just ballet dancing! It isn't just a masterpiece in general but it is also a masterpiece of fine art.

"If you're really Santa Claus, you can get it for me. And if you can't, you're only a nice man with a white beard like mother says."


Director: George Seaton
Starring: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Gene Lockhart
Running time: 96 minutes
Country: USA


I have been meaning to see Miracle on 34th Street for a long time but the list of films to see was and still is endless but when I noticed that it was on TV, I decided to watch it especially when it was only a couple of days until Christmas. I realised that I needed to see the original film first seeing as that obviously earned better responses and reviews than the remake did. Plus, I have had friends and family who have recommended it and said that it is a Christmas treasure and it certainly was! This is probably the most underrated Christmas film publically but it rightfully deserved the award nominations it got such as Best Picture 1947 and won Best Supporting Actor (Edmund Gwenn), Best Writing Original Story and Best Writing Screenplay.


There are probably loads of people out there who call Miracle On 34th Street a fantasy film because it involves Santa Claus but I wouldn't call it fantasy because it doesn't involve fictional creatures like in Christmas films like Elf, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Santa Clause trilogy but it just involves an old man in a Santa's outfit who claims to be Santa so there is nothing fantasy about that and there is no involvement of mythical creatures or objects. Despite the fact I really liked Miracle On 34th Street, I did find there was actually one very crucial flaw. No, not what was based within the film but the outcome of how people would think about the film. The film is about Santa Claus and it questions his existence and everyone is doubting it, right? Well, it is a children's film and no normal sane child would grow up believing in Santa Claus as a child so I think if children watched this as a child, it ruins the belief of Santa's existence seeing as the characters in the film speak of Santa doesn't exist and saying that this friendly old man is insane for claiming that he's not Santa and that Santa is just a myth. So it does effect its target audience so, to be honest, I am pretty damn glad I never saw this as a child and didn't see it until Christmas 2010 when I know Santa doesn't exist. Well, I have known that for years anyway.


At the Macy's Department Store Thanksgiving Day parade, the actor playing Santa is discovered to be drunk by a whiskered old man. Doris Walker, the no nonsense special events director, persuades the old man to take his place. The old man proves to be a sensation and is quickly recruited to be the store Santa at the main Macy's outlet. While he is successful, Ms. Walker learns that he calls himself Kris Kringle and he claims to be the actual Santa Claus. Despite reassurances by Kringle's doctor that he is harmless, Doris still has misgivings, especially when she has cynically trained herself, and especially her daughter, Susan, to reject all notions of belief and fantasy. And yet, people, especially Susan, begin to notice there is something special about Kris and his determination to advance the true spirit of Christmas amidst the rampant commercialism around him and succeeding in improbable ways. When a raucous conflict with the store's cruelly incompetent psychologist erupts, Kris finds himself held at Bellevue where, in despair, he deliberates fails a mental examination to ensure his commitment. All seems lost until Doris' friend, Fred Gaily, reassure Kris of his worth and agrees to represent him in the fight to secure his release. To achieve that, Fred arranges a formal hearing in which he argues that Kris is sane because he is in fact Santa Claus. What ensues is a bizarre hearing in which people's beliefs are re-examined and put to the test, but even so, it's going to take a miracle for Kris to win.


Maureen O'Hara was absolutely fantastic as Doris Walker. She is one of those people who will not stand for any of this Santa and excitable children business about Christmas and she fears it'll rot her daughter Susan's mind about believing and getting over-excited about someone who really does not exist. I guess many could say that Doris is to start with like a female Ebenezer Scrooge (leading character in Charles Dickens's classic Christmas novel A Christmas Carol) or another Mr. Potter from It's A Wonderful Life but when Kris begins to slightly prove that he is the real Santa, then she slightly changes her mind about him. O'Hara originally turned down the role as she returned home to Ireland but when she read the script, she immediately changed her mind and went back to America. John Payne was pretty good as Fred Gailey. Fred is the babysitter of Doris's 6-year-old daughter Susan aswell as an attorney and a neighbour of theirs. Edmund Gwenn was absolutely outstanding as Kris Kringle! He really is exactly what kids around the world would imagine Santa to be like regarding both appearance and personality. He totally deserved that Academy Award and I would say that it is perhaps one of my favourite supporting male performances of all time. Natalie Wood was a child star in this before she rose into fame and despite being a child; it is definitely one of the best child performances that I have seen in a long time.


George Seaton wasn't only the director of Miracle On 34th Street but he was also the screenwriter of it too. The remake of this film has the exact same script so I guess, he was part of that remake as well. Anyway, as for how he did in the original version, I think he was a great director and did a great job of it but because of that crucial flaw I mentioned that wasn't in the film but the outcome that might have rocked it a little bit. If not Seaton, I would have liked a director like Frank Capra, Robert Wise or Victor Fleming to have made it instead even though Seaton was a great director choice. His screenplay was touching and despite we obviously know it is a kids film and it is a Christmas film, we can easily feel the magic of the Christmas season.


Overall, Miracle On 34th Street is a fantastic Christmas film that I will watch every year before Christmas (like It's A Wonderful Life, The Nightmare Before Christmas, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Love Actually). Despite that one flaw I mentioned previously in the review, it is something that I did really enjoy and would recommend as a great Christmas film and one of the best films of the 1940s.

"We invite you to ask yourself this one simple question: Do you believe in Santa Claus?"


Director: Les Mayfield
Starring: Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, Mara Wilson, Dylan McDermott
Running time: 114 minutes
Country: USA


I decided to watch this straight after the original version because it is even closer to Christmas and wanted to find out the similarities and differences between both adaptations. Admittedly, most remakes simply do not and, quite frankly; this is another one that doesn't. There was nothing emotionally convincing in this film. I mean, you really do not remake a Christmas film especially when it has the exact same bloody script! I am not criticising the script (the script is fantastic), but there was just nothing new or different about this and the fact that the makers don't even try to.


There are many Christmas films that certainly increase one's excitement and enthusiasm about Christmas but this (unlike the original version) lacked the Christmas spirit which I guess is something that quite a few other Christmas films lack as well. As predicted, the remake perhaps looked more of a fantasy film than the original because it is filmed in colour and there would be better costume design, art direction and cinematography but it is mostly a non-fantasy film and just a drama about Christmas. This lacked a soul and the spirit as I said which is more important in a film than the production side of things. I mean, yeah they are still important but they clearly are not as important.


A little girl discovers dreams do come true if you really believe. Six-year-old Susan has doubts about childhood's most enduring miracle - Santa Claus. Her mother told her the "secret" about Santa a long time ago, so Susan doesn't expect to receive the most important gifts on her Christmas list. But after meeting a special department store Santa who's convinced he's the real thing, Susan is given the most precious gift of all - something to believe in.


Elizabeth Perkins, you out to be ashamed of yourself! Your performance was just lousy and it was like you bitch-slapped Maureen O'Hara right across the face! Richard Attenborough may be a great director and actor and he was good in this as Kris Kringle but I'm afraid, Edmund Gwenn's performance as Kris Kringle is 10 times better! What Attenborough lacked was the friendliness and gentle attitude towards children when as Santa Claus but despite that, he still did a fairly decent job. Mara Wilson rose into fame after Mrs. Doubtfire one year before and she stars in another family film that she is well-known for. I did like her acting as Susan Walker perhaps even more than Natalie Wood in the original version so that is literally the only thing where the remake is better than the original.


Until now, I had not even heard of a director called 'Les Meyfield' and I have seen many many films in my time so that goes to show how great and popular he is.. NOT! This is perhaps something like the Psycho remake because of the same script and all but at least there was a slight change of direction admittedly. Personally, I think the only three differences are different director for this remake, different actors and actresses and filmed in colour. Well, they are actually the three obvious differences, to be honest. As stated in the review of the original film, the screenplay is absolutely amazing! So that is one of two strong points about the Miracle On 34th Street remake.


Overall, Miracle On 34th Street is, in all honesty, a rather weak remake of such a great classic! Admittedly, this film does have some good points but there is nothing majorly special about this and I just cannot find the enthusiasm to watch this during the Christmas season. It is as simple as this: you really don't remake a classic because you will just fail every time! Bottom line.

"You're a bad liar, Dave. That's good."


Director: Jon Turteltaub
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer
Running time: 109 minutes
Country: USA


To be perfectly honest, the trailer looked typical Disney that combines fiction with reality just with live-action, not animation. I am not really a great big fan of live-action Disney films although there have been fantastic Disney live-action films over the years such as Pirates Of The Caribbean, Enchanted, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and few others but I am afraid to say that this is one of their weakest live-action films. Understandably, Disney try to take you to an enchanting world or to mix fiction with reality as I said but this wasn't gripping to hold on to and also it wasn't even fun to watch because the dialogue was so cheesy and unrealistic although the effects were fantastic.


Balthazar Blake is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath. Balthazar can't do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler, a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness. It'll take all the courage Dave can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl as he becomes The Sorcerer's Apprentice.


Jay Baruchel may have played the main character in How To Train Your Dragon but his performance as Dave in The Sorcerer's Apprentice is absolutely appalling! He brought nothing new to a character who has been dragged into magic and his life being changed forever. He was just another hopeless, teenage muppet who has absolutely no character whatsoever. I mean, with that girl that Dave met, I literally thought when they saw each other that she's gonna get herself involved and they're gonna end up kissing and guess what? To my shock horror, they did! The entire film was stupidly predictable! Nicolas Cage hasn't been a fantastic actor for quite a while (only just managed to create his breakthrough in Kick-Ass) but in all fairness to him, I don't think he was that awful in this one than he has been before in the past. Alfred Molina has portrayed a villain in pretty much every fantasy/sci-fi film that he has been involved in (let's not forget his fantastic portrayal of Dr. Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus) and I actually liked him in this one which did surprise me a lot. That is probably the best quality that the film had besides the effects despite the film overall was crap.


Jon Turterltaub, I'll give you credit: you did a decent job with both National Treasure films which are also produced by Disney but I'm sorry but this was just in a word; fail. You really need to wise up and make films that are actually entertaining and are gripping to the audience, not this extremely predictable, soppy and daft shit. I mean, I am usually really into fictional fantasy films that involve magic, magical creatures and objects etc but the characters within this film just didn't work for me at all. The script was crazy! I mean, one minute there is archaeology discussion then there's babbling on about wizards then about teenage lovers at school and so on and the lines that they come out with is like disgustingly hilarious!


Overall, The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a crap film that I really did not like and one that I wouldn't call an example just for entertainment. Nicolas Cage, you can do so much better! The effects were obviously brilliant but pretty much everything else was just shit. One of the worst films of 2010.

"I'm not a pervert! I was just looking for a Turbo Man doll!"


Director: Brian Levant
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rhea Wilson
Running time: 89 minutes
Country: USA


After the strong negative criticism that Jingle All The Way had, I was considering just giving it a miss but when it was Christmas, I changed my mind and decided to at least give it a go (which is something that I always do with almost every film). So, I would say it is a film that I just decided to watch for curious purposes and, quite frankly, I actually enjoyed it. Yes, I enjoyed it. Admittedly, I am a sucker for entertainment but what I really spotted with Jingle All The Way was its incredibly fun side but also its laughably awful side at the same time so I would say it isn't a bad film and it isn't a good film either.


Understandably, most people only watch Christmas films around the Christmas season because it doesn't feel the same when watching one like in the middle of the summer or spring and that doesn't always work with me and can watch Christmas films in the summer despite I love Christmas. However, with Jingle All The Way; it is a film that I would only watch at least once every year when it is near to Christmas to brighten up my Christmas spirit and giving me 80-90 of pure entertainment. Throughout most of the film, I just went 'no, no, no!' in a rather shameful way but others I just chuckled in a 'What the f***?' sort of way. The dialogue is hilarious but daft.


Howard Langston, a salesman for a mattress company is constantly busy at his job, and he also constantly disappoints his son, after he misses his son's karate exposition, he tries hard to come up with a way to make it up to him, this is when his son tells Howard that he wants for Christmas is an action figure of his son's television hero, Turbo Man. Unfortunately for Howard, it is Christmas Eve, and every store is sold out of Turbo Man figures, now Howard must travel all over town and compete with everybody else including a mail man named Myron to find a Turbo Man action figure, and to make it to the Wintertainment parade which will feature Turbo Man.


Arnold Schwarzenegger, surely you must have been stoned in front of the casting director to agree to sign up for this one! I mean, I did like Arnie in this film on occasions but... it is ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER! This is the guy who plays the Terminator, was the leading actor in Predator and has starred in other brutal action films who is like an action rival against Sylvester Stallone. I mean, seeing Arnie play a soft, gentle and emotional character was just weird to see and the fact that he kept getting beaten by other characters both emotionally and physically is just beyond belief! I mean, doing all that for a poxy toy! Come on! I think everybody probably noticed this: the young boy who plays Arnie's son Jake Lloyd played Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. His performance wasn't that bad despite he was only 7 years old at the time and after watching Jingle All The Way, I have absolutely no idea what George Lucas liked and what led Jake to play such a powerful and crucial character like Anakin Skywalker. So I guess you could say that Jingle All The Way has a bit of Terminator and a bit of Star Wars part of it.


I am sorry but I have to admit that the direction was just atrocious! It was rather cheesy and there weren't any unique camera angles. Also, a lot of the chase and some fight scenes were quite rushed and also I think that the way he handled the scenes in the house such as the lighting and other bits was weak as well. I noticed quite a lot of bloopers as well so that is another major weakness. The script was cheesy! I mean, the dialogue in general is daft enough but the screenplay is just laughably awful but in a funny and humorous way which was in a way, a good thing for a film like this with a daft story.


Overall, Jingle All The Way is a Christmas film that is neither good nor bad. I shockingly and surprisingly enjoyed it despite the many flaws that it has. It probably is worth watching at least once a year around the Christmas season but it is one of my biggest guilty pleasures. If they're gonna cast Arnie in this one, they might as well cast Sylvester Stallone in a sequel to this which will be mad! Arnie you can do so much better and there are many Christmas films that are so much better than this. Still a fun film, nothing more.

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."


Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, William Katt
Running time: 98 minutes
Country: USA


For years I have denied about considering watching Carrie and it has been on TV a couple of times over the years and every time I have skipped it but one night, it happened to be on TV so I recorded it and decided to give it a go seeing as I am watching more horror films nowadays and have grown out of that fear now. Plus, I love Stephen King and his works in general so that is another reason why I needed to see this. Carrie was indeed a scary film but not terrifying but it probably was back for its time so I think I found this as scary as A Nightmare On Elm Street which I saw for the first time a couple of months ago. There are moments where it is set in a normal high school but elsewhere there are moments that are Sam Raimi-like moments like from The Evil Dead trilogy, Within The Woods and Drag Me To Hell even though those were released after Carrie.


I must say what really surprised me about Carrie was that it was actually really emotional and rather heartbreaking because of the bullying that goes on within the school and what Carrie goes through at the hands of her abusive mother. The opening scene when Carrie had her first period in the shower was a shocking and powerful scene that ultimately showed Carrie's character and what she goes through and also the other girls within who laughed at her when Carrie thought she was like dying. It is more of a horror-thriller than a drama but I would still call it a drama film as well. It is also quite a twisted film as well because there are some peaceful moments but there are also some pretty damn sick moments too. I mean, the pig's blood scene was so tense and I was like 'Oh for God's sake! Just do it!' It is perhaps a message about bullying and that it shouldn't happen no matter how someone looks or acts.


Carrie White is the outsider of her class. She's a mousy girl, all of her classmates hate her, and her mother is a religious fanatic who walks around in a black cape. After she unexpectedly has her first period, she is teased by the girls more ruthlessly than before. The gym teacher punishes the girls that were involved and one of them, Sue Snell, feels sorry for what she did and asks her boyfriend to take Carrie to the prom instead of her. But another girl that has been banned from the prom, Chris Hargenson, isn't so forgiving and hatches an evil plan with her boyfriend that involves Carrie and a bucket full of pig's blood. But what none of the students realize is that Carrie has the power of telekinesis, the power to move things with your mind, and that when you make her mad, she transforms from an innocent girl to a rage-filled monster. And this is gonna be a prom no one will ever forget.


Sissy Spacek has accomplished a lot in her career but here is what I think she is most famous for. Her performance as Carrie White was just fantastic! I did think it was quite extraordinary how well and how young Spacek looked as Carrie when Carrie is around 17-18 years old and Spacek was 26-27 years old at the time. She rightly deserved her first Oscar nomination for this performance but despite the roles are totally different, I did feel that Faye Dunaway in Network was the rightful winner. Piper Laurie was even better than Sissy Spacek in this one as the psychotic mother of Carrie; Margaret. Now, she creeped me out even more than Carrie did because of her obsession with religion, her possessive and abusive ways with Carrie and also the house that they both live in as well. It just makes it even scarier. One thing that I wasn't aware of until I saw it was that John Travolta had a supporting role in Carrie and this was before Saturday Night Fever and Grease which are his famous roles in his early days of his career. I guess you could compare John Travolta's supporting debut role in Carrie like Johnny Depp's supporting debut role in A Nightmare On Elm Street.


Most of Brian DePalma's famous films aren't really very friendly films so he has usually gone for crime, action or horror films. His work on Carrie was rather impressive and I do think he was robbed of Best Director in 1976. I liked how he mixed the beauty of the film to the horror and, quite frankly, they worked pretty damn well together. The period scene was impressive (no, not just because of a girl having a period) but because it was really well edited and there were some impressive shots and it made it a very genuine and rather heartfelt moment. The script was incredible! I liked how they used some quotes from the Bible especially from Margaret because in a way, it makes it sound like that God has turned her into this mad psycho and has made her be like the way she is.


Overall, Carrie is a classic horror film that is full of fears and tears. There are some stupid teen-horrors nowadays like Jennifer's Body, Twilight (not horror but still involves teenage characters and vampires), most of the films from Uwe Boll (in fact, probably every film from him) and others but this is the Don of all of them! I would say it is like a tragic story as well as a scary one too. It definitely is one of my favourite horror/thrillers so you cannot afford to miss this one!

"There's an old song that says: One white foot buy 'em, two white feet try 'em, three white feet be on the sly, four white feet pass 'em by."


Director: Henry Hathaway
Starring: John Wayne, Glen Campbell, Kim Darby, Jeremy Slater
Running time: 128 minutes
Country: USA


Ok, first of all, I am going to confess that I needed to see this soon because the Coen remake is coming out very soon and I just needed to see the original version first and, quite frankly, I am really glad that I did because I am not entirely sure that I can see the Coen version beating this one (as awesome as they are). I am not really a big fan of western films because I always feel that they are the same with very similar characters, stories and backgrounds with almost no differences but I have to admit that True Grit is perhaps the most basic and straightforward western that I think I have ever watched.


The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy, Mattie Ross, on a mission of "justice", which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, "Rooster" Cogburn, because he has "grit", and a reputation of getting the job done. The two are joined by a Texas Ranger, La Boeuf, who is looking for the same man Tom Chaney for a separate murder in Texas. Their odyssey takes them from Fort Smith, Arkansas, deep into the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) to find their man.


Admittedly, I hadn't been a strong admirer of John Wayne's before I saw this because I had only watched one of his films before this one but now after watching True Grit, I really like him now and seek to watch more at what he does best: as a badass character in westerns. I absolutely loved Rooster Coghurn's character because, yeah he may like a bitter old veteran but he is still a guy with feelings so there is like a clash between a cold-hearted man and a gentle man. When Rooster, Mattie and La Beouf were on their quest to find Tom Chaney, Rooster was almost acting like a father figure towards Mattie which did comfort her and that made the film seem a bit warmer. John Wayne fully deserved his first and only Academy Award in True Grit. I cannot wait to see Jeff Bridges portray Rooster in the Coen Brothers remake. Kim Darby was brilliant as Mattie Ross! I think most of you reading this will laugh at what I am about to say: I actually thought it was a young man when I first saw Kim as Mattie; like a James Dean sort of person. Anyway, her performance was intriguing because we see the innocence and heartbreak of a young girl but at the same time, the viewers watching begin to get this feeling that during her quest to find Chaney, she is slowly being dragged to a low level that will bring out the worst in her. She was robbed of an Academy Award nomination as well but it definitely is a great breakthrough performance from her. Glen Campbell was pretty awesome as La Beouf as well and I was impressed with Robert Duvall's supporting role as Lucky Ned Pepper. A great underrated role before The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, Apocalypse Now amongst others.


Like every single western that I have watched, True Grit was filmed beautifully but Henry Hathaway and other crew members of the film have bought out a western that is obviously a load of fun with lots of gun action scenes and suspense but also some quite psychological segments too. Admittedly, I hadn't seen anything from Henry Hathaway before until now but, just like with John Wayne, I am now going to start to watch more films from Hathaway even though it'll be tough for any of his other films to beat this one for me. After watching the original True Grit, I now realise that this would make a typical Coen film and I can't wait to see that version too especially when that one has earned a stronger response than the original version.


Overall, True Grit is an extremely underrated western that I absolutely loved from start to finish. As I said, it is a very straightforward story but does go quite deep in terms of characters and what is happening or might happen. Despite the remake has had better reviews, it'll have to do really hard to beat this one! I think I am going to have to watch the sequel of this called: Rooster Cogburn starring John Wayne, of course, and the legendary Katherine Hepburn. I would definitely call True Grit one of my favourite westerns of all time. Just brilliant!