The Hunger Game: Mockingjay part 1 2014

Hello!!

Apologises for been away so long but I am back and raring to go. So without further ado lets get on with it shall we.

So just after Christmas I went to see the long awaited Mockingjay Part 1. I was uncertain as to how it was going to be. After reading the books the 3rd was by far the hardest to get into as it went from people been in the hunger games to be a lot more politically orientated. But the film did not disappoint. It kept you entertained and it didn't feel drawn out.

Although Jennifer Lawrence ( Katniss) sometimes comes across as a bit of a wooden actress, it didn't make her performance any less as enjoying to watch as she goes through many emotions throughout the film. There are some brilliant performances from on going people such as, Josh Hutcherson ( Peeta), Woody Harrelson ( Haymitch), Donald Sutherland ( President Snow), Elizabeth Banks ( Effie) and of course the late Philip Seymour Hoffman ( Pultarch). There has also been some very good performances from new comers to the franchise such as Julianne Moore ( President Alma Coin) and Natalie Dormer ( Cressida) whom you may know from the big hit Game of Thrones, in which she plays Margaery Tyrell.

There is one very small thing that annoy me with in the film. That I'm sure most of you will think is so minor that it isn't worth mentioning, but never the less I will anyway. That thing is Prim's cat changes colour. I know it is silly for me to even let such a thing get to me but it really does. I am sorry Francis Lawrence ( Director) but if you are going to use a different cat at least keep it the same colour and breed as the previous one. Just because there is a big gap between when the films come out does not mean you should loose attention to detail. Even though it is set in a time when they have very advanced technology, I'm sure they would not change a cat from black and white to ginger and change the breed at the same time!

Anyway now I have had my little rant about the cat I will wrap this up. If you liked the previous films you won't be disappointed with this addition. It is well written, well preformed and packed with action.

I give this film 4/5    

A long way down 2014

So I have been wanting to write about this film for a while. It isn't very often anymore that I get to revel in British cinema. So when I find a British film that I really enjoy it is hard for me to keep my mouth shut. So here I am letting all you people know about it!

So as you may have guessed already it is a British film, based on the novel written by Nick Hornby. It is a Dark Comedy about four people that meet on New Years Eve, all wanting to commit suicide off the top of the same building. Instead they make a pact that they won't do it until valentines day and so the story goes on.

I'm not going to lie when I first started watching it I was a bit like WTF, but soon got really into it and really enjoyed the premise and the characters. It kept you interested by going through each characters story separately while at the same time keeping the main story moving forward at a reasonable pace.

 As far as comedy is concerned it wasn't the funniest film I have ever seen but it had its moments, mainly coming from the one character Jess played by Imogen Poots. A crazy, roughly 18 year old girl that doesn't think before she speaks and so ends up saying some rather outrageous things. The other characters Martin ( Pierce Brosnan) , Maureen ( Toni Collette) and JJ ( Aaron Paul) all have some great one-liners as well. The acting in general is very good and very well written. Especially Pierce Brosnan's character that keeps you on your toes as to whether you should hate him or sympathise with him. The only writing downfall that I could see was a few plot twists that ended up being very obvious, to me at least but apart from that I couldn't fault it.

With strong acting and strong emotions running throughout, I would definitely recommend this film. Plus it is nice to see Aaron Paul doing a very different character to Jessie from Breaking Bad.        

Last Vegas 2013

So with Last Vegas coming up to dvd release I thought I would do a quick blog just in case you haven't had the chance to see it yet and have been wondering about it.
So it is Directed by Jon Turteltaub, and stars Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline.
The plot line is to be honest pretty close to The Hangover except they are all in there 60's and above. But one of them is getting married, and so they decide that one last blow out in Las Vegas is what they need. So yeah, they get up to mischief and cause problems and it is funny, some places laugh out loud funny but not as many as I would have liked considering the cast they had.
Not to mention it is a very slow moving film to start with but it does pick up and that was when I began to enjoy the movie a lot more.
Unfortunately though I don't feel the writer Dan Fogelman really used the actors that are involved to his advantage when it came to it. There could have been a lot more to it than there was and some of the characters weren't very well developed compared to others. Which made it out that some of them were there just because of who was playing them. Like it was trying to be The expendables only a comedy not a action movie obviously.
The acting is good, from all of them which of course it to be expected from such high flying actors as these four. It is just a shame that the writing wasn't really up to scratch, otherwise it would have been a lot better movie over all, and it would have been a bigger box office hit.

R.I.P Rik Mayall

As most of you that have social media, TV access and actually have social lives, you must have heard that unfortunately this afternoon, Rik Mayall was announced to have past away.
Although I was not a fan personally of Bottom or The Young Ones, I was very fond of Rik Mayall's acting within Blackadder and Drop Dead Fred.
Having seen the responses to the news on twitter, facebook and all over the media it is safe to say that this man made a lot of people laugh. He did so much throughout his life that there is at least one thing he has done that you will love him for, and for that Rik Mayall you have my utmost respect.

My condolences go out to all his friends and family at this time.

Come on guys lets send out a big "WOOF, WOOF"
R.I.P Flashheart/ Rik Mayall you wll be solely missed by many.   

People in the movie business that have died this year.

It is always sad when someone dies and my blog today is going to be in honor of people that have died this year that have either been in films or directed and produced films. So here is some of them...

Eileen Brennan- Clue

Jim Kelly- Enter the dragon

Esther Williams- Dangerous when Wet

Ray Harryhausen- special effects for films like Valley of the Gwangi

Richard Griffiths- Harry Potter, History Boys

Roger Ebert- film critic

Jane Henson- Jim Henson's wife and in charge of henson films such as Mirrormask

David R. Ellis- director of Final Destination and Final Destination 2

Gail Kobe- Peyton Place

Barbara Trentham- Rollerball and she was John Cleese 2nd wife

Margaret Pellegrini- Wizard of Oz

Hiroshi Ogawa- Japanese animator for films such as Lupin 3

Karen Black- Easy Rider, The Great Gatsby

Hagi- Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Jonathan Dawso- Australian film maker and critic

Henry Polic- Batman: The animated series

Every single one of these people brought joy and entertainment to others and there memories will live on with the films and reviews they have written.
I know this was a bit of a depressing and mushy blog but I think we should remember and celebrate their lifes as they brought many of us such joy.
I know I will have failed to mention many other people in this list but unfortunately the list would be to long if I mentioned everyone. But I respect everything they have done as well.

The Worlds End 2013

Hello Everyone,
It has been awhile but I'm back with a review of The Worlds End.
I have always been a big fan of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. My favourite been there TV series spaced. After seeing Paul I must admit that I thought that they might of lost there way abit. It wasn't as funny as their previous films. So I was abit apprehensive about The Worlds End.
It was however alot better than I expected the characters were well protrayed and jokes were many and funny.
I loved the relationship between Simon's character and Nick's I think everyone has that friends that if something really bad happened you still couldn't not be friends. I love that the movie keeps you guessing about the thought process of Simon's character, you feel sorry for him but at the same time you keeps asking yourself why? Why does he what to finnish the golden mile so much that he puts himself and everyone else in danger. You start to question his motives is he insane or is there something deeper.
There were bits where it was hard to see what was going on in some of the fight senes but there was alot going on it such a small space so I can forgive that.
The one bit that really annoyed me was near the end Simon and Nick have this drunken argument with the reason behind why everything was happening. I loved the argument it was well scripted and acted and everything but when the voice they are arguing with just goes fine everyone in the cinema kind of went what? That was way to easy. Is that really it?
All in all the film was good it was funny action packed and kept you entertained. This film proved that the ain't going out on a flop. They have mentioned that this is that last of these types of films by them. And with that I and sad but they have proved to everyone that they have stopped at the right time.
I would like to think they will change there mind but if they don't then fair enough. I can imagine this isn't the last we are going to see of them though.
So to wrap things up I recommend that if you haven't seen it then you should. It is a laugh and if you like their previous films you are sure to like this one.

Spring Breakers 2013

So I saw this 2 weeks ago. I will admit it wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be. For those of you that don't know this is a film about 4 girls that desperately want to go on spring break and will do anything to get there. After ending up in prison someone bails them out and that is when everything starts getting messed up. The film stars James Franco ( Pineapple Express, Knocked Up)  Vanessa Hudgens (High school musical) Selena Gomez (Hannah Montana, Hotel Transylvania) Ashley Benson ( Pretty little liars ) and  Rachel Korine ( The Fourth Dimension). It is directed and written by Harmony Korine and is a rating 18.

    So I will admit that the first 5 mins of the movie was a bit embarrassing for me I was sat with a male friend and the first 5 mins of the movies just consisted of boobs, I mean they were everywhere. Already the film is turning out to be not what I imagined. In the trailer it makes it out to be a crime, thriller type movie and yes it does fit them genres but it is very arty at the same time. And if you are expecting Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens to be sweet ad innocent like we have seen them before for example they were on the disney channel. You don't what to see this movie they are not sweet and definitely not innocent. Granted Selena's character Faith is more innocent then the others but just to warn you there is drug use and a lot of violence which is to be expected in a 18 rated movie. 

James Franco was the big surprise for me, after seeing him mainly in comedy movies acting like a goof. It was a shock to see him play a serious character. He plays a character named Alien that is a drug dealer and is a little bit crazy. He still managed to make me laugh in places I'm not sure weather it was suppose to be serious or not but listening to him playing piano while singing a Britney Spears song was cringe worthy and funny at the same time but believe me that isn't the weirdest thing he does in the movie.  

All in all I am a fan of artistic films and enjoyed the movie but it isn't for everyone ( actually at least 4 people left during the screening) but if you are a fan of artistic films and don't mind things repeating a lot for example the words Spring Break are repeated an awful lot, then give it a go. It wasn't at all what the trailer makes it out to be so don't judge it by that alone. I enjoyed it and give it a 7 out of 10. 

Thank you for reading :)          

The Hobbit

Hello Everyone,

So as I'm sure many of you know, The Hobbit is out in the UK on the 14th Decmeber ( 10 days to go woooo) I am so excited! I have been doing lots of thing to get ready for it, for example re- reading the book which I am sure a lot of you are doing. Also I had a Lord of the Rings marathon ( extended version) which was awesome as you can't beat having a movie marathon to help you relax and get ready for the story that came before it ( plus the films rock).

But the main reason that I am writing this blog is because for those of you that don't no Peter Jackson has been doing Vlogs about the making of The Hobbit which people have been putting on Youtube. I thought you lot would be interested too.

Here is the first one to get you started :)

The Hobbit production diary 


  

Very Bad Things (1998)

Hello everyone,
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but to make it up to you here is my review on Very Bad Things.

So this is classed at a Comedy, Crime, Thriller. To be honest though I didn't find it funny, there were a few moments at the beginning but nothing that would give it a comedy genre. Even looking at the plot that is mentioned in the blurb it doesn't make it seem like it is going to be funny at all. So on to the plot....

Kyle (Jon Favreau) and Laura ( Cameron Diaz ) are getting married and Kyle is going on a bachelor night to Las Vegas. But things suddenly turn bad when a prostitute turns up and is killed, with bodies and pressure starting to building up the friends start to turn on each other. So as you can see doesn't sound to funny.

Kyle is annoying he has no back bone until the end and spend most of his time moaning and crying which is fine up to a certain point. But the character that annoyed me the most was Laura, she was so obsessed with having a wedding ( it was all she ever talked about even when people where dying all around her) and then when she finds out everything and why it has all happened all she has to say is that Kyle is not going to ruin her big day for her and the wedding will go on with or with out him ( which is slightly impossible, unless she has someone on the side) I mean im sorry but I don't know of any one or heard of anyone that obsessed with weddings ( im sure there are people out there) but it just got irritating and seemed to far-fetched.
Christian Slater's character was by far the one that made the movie watching his thought process of everything that was going on and seeing him loose his mind was interesting to watch.

It wasn't an all bad movie it did get you involved in the story and did keep you interested in what was going on but it won't be a movie I will recommend as a good film to watch on a movie night. Or even one that I will watch over and over again.

All in all I give this movie 5/10

Thanks for reading and watch this space :)

Chernobyl Diaries 2012

Urgh typical stupid decisions that people make in these types of films. They are Planning on going to Moscow and at the very last minute, like on the day they are ment to be going they decide to go to Chernobyl with a guy one of them ( Paul) met the night before called Yuri. I mean come on who with common sense would actually do that!!
Ok so when they get their, there is military guys that say there are doing maintenance in Chernobyl, so the tour guide takes them round a back way. Which they all find a little odd and that something isn't quiet right, except one that is like it is going to be fine blah blah blah ( I think he will die first or if not first one of the first to die lets see shall we...)
So Yuri takes them around and obviously knows that there is something about the place that means they should not be there but he carries on. Until they are in the apartments and they hear noises. So I was like finally something big is going to go down it is getting close to dark they have seen a creepy fish and a dead dog. And what is it..... A BEAR OF COURSE urgh what the hell is this....
  HA yet more obvious situations they get back to the van and guess what.... you got it it doesn't start and when they try and get radio contact that doesn't work either. Can anyone else see where this is going. It gets dark they can't go anywhere and they think they can hear a baby cry.... Is this suppose to make me scared....
  So shit goes down and one of them is hurt yay finally but not dead so I'm not happy yet. Further on into the film oh look we found the missing walkie talkie and a path of blood what is the sensible thing to do... oh yh as with all horror films... follow it yay thats a good idea not!!
  So it is near the end of the movie the van they were in is destroyed they find one of them that was in it then she get taken away and zombie/ deformed people chase them. Still not scared by the way the camera work is so shaky you have no idea what is going on, not to mention when anything happens it is dark so that makes it even harder to see.
  So there are 2 left the idiot that got 3 of them to go  in the first place and one of the girls.They keep getting into areas with massive amounts of radiation that is starting to effect them. So yet more fighting the weird people with so much shaky cam it is unreal and and the radiation has made one of them blind. Until he gets shot by a guard hmmm ok...
  The other one gets saved and taken to what she is told is hospital and shoved in a cell with a load of the same creatures. Yh the end....
   So nothing at all was explained as to what the hell was going on. All the "scary" bits were predictable and you couldn't tell what was happening half the time. There was next to nothing character development, plus none of them were very likable. Even Friday the 13th had more character development then this. It was badly put together, badly filmed and crap script and action all in all the worst film i have seen this year so far!!

Red Dwarf X

So it finally happened Red Dwarf is back. I must admit I wasn't sure about it. After season 7 and 8, then Back to Earth which to put it bluntly were crap. They lost there edge and just weren't as funny any more.
Then two days ago the first episode of Season Ten came out.... I was pleasantly surprised, I found it funny, it didn't lose its cheesiness, put cleverly thought out jokes.
  I lot of people have been very picking about the fact that holograms aren't suppose to age. True they aren't but they couldn't really stop Chris Barrie from ageing now could they, get over it, it couldn't be helped, it has been over ten years. Most of the cast has changed Robert Llewellyn is a little chubbier which can be seen through his new costume, Craig Charles look a lot older and slightly rough, and Chris Barrie has aged to well. Danny John Jules on the other hand looks exactly the same and got back into the role of the Cat brilliantly, he was the one I was looking forward to seeing back on the screen the most and he didn't fail to please.
All in all this was a nice surprise, I enjoyed seeing them all back together on the screen and I found it very funny. If you loved Red Dwarf and haven't seen it yet, do give it a go I'm sure you will be happy with what they have done.

Watch this space.    

Lady Vengeance

Hello everyone!

So due to our editing software going tits up we are running late on putting up our first vlog. So I am going to do a review about Lady Vengeance up here :) hope you enjoy.



After thirteen and a half years in prison for kidnapping and murdering a child. The main character Geum-Ja Lee is released and sets out to find the guy that put her in there to seek her revenge.

By the directors of Oldboy, this film is interesting, sinister and in places confusing. You do have to play attention throughout. Which to be honest really doesn't bother me at all but if you are a busy person make sure you do have time to sit down and give it your full attention. It is very artistic in form and if you don't like them kind of films it might not be for you. It is a lot different from Oldboy so don't watch it thinking about comparing it because it would be wrong to try and compare such differently styled films.
      The camera work is lovely, even in places that make you cringe. The writing is brilliant I can't fault it. It is funny and thought provoking. What I will say is in places the action is a bit slow. There are a few places where people just don't seem to do anything and they is no speech for a long time. So you are just sat waiting for something to happen. But when they do start again it is worth the wait. ( Maybe I am just really impatient) But all in all it is well worth a watch at least once. If you love messed up Korean movies.

Watch this space :)     

Going on to youtube!!

Hello everyone!

As the blog is going well me and a friend have decided that it is time that we take to video. So as of tomorrow we will be filming once a week, reviewing past, present and future movies for your enjoyment, via Youtube.
                          We will be doing our first review on Goodfellas and hope you enjoy it. :)
  I will post up a link on here as soon as it is up thank you to everyone for looking at my reviews and we will look forward to bringing you more on our channel.
  I will still be posting here as well on different things that we don't review on youtube so watch this space.

RIP Michael Clarke Duncan

Hello everyone!

Sad news today Michael Clarke Duncan ( the green mile, Armageddon, Planet of the Apes and Kung fu panda plus many many more) Died yesterday in Cedars- Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after having a heart attack.
  He will be sadly missed by many film lovers all over the world. He was a credit to the industry and my thoughts go out to his friends and family at this sad time.

RIP Michael Clarke Duncan 

You where an inspiration to many many people.  

Quadrophenia

Hello Everyone,

Thought i would have a break from new movies and do a review on a old classic. So here it is......




So for those of you that haven't seen this, it is about Jimmy a Mod in 1965. He hates his life most of all his parents and his Job. Only his 'mod' friends make him feel free and accepted. It is based very loosely on The Who musical also with the same name.
     With good music, lots of scooters and appearances from people such as Sting, Toyah Willcox, Ray Winstone and of course Phil Daniels which most of you will know from Blur's song Parklife where he speaks the verses.
        Lots of things happen and it keeps you involved in the story. Which is always a good thing.
 It is an 18 so do expect violence, drugs, nudity and strong language through out, if you are offended by any of these things it might not be for you but it you do like this sort of stuff then go ahead watch it and enjoy :)

Watch this space i will be back soon.
 

21 jump street

Hello everyone

This film is now out on DVD and I have only just got round to watching it due to the fact that i thought it was going to be rubbish I was wrong.....



For those of you that don't know it is about two rubbish cops that get set back to high school in order to find out and send down the person in charge of selling a new synthetic drugs to high school children.

I was actually pleasantly surprised at this film. It was funny, action packed and well acted not to mention a awesome surprise appearance from a very well known actor that put a massive smile on my face. It was well acted and not only been funny it did get across emotions and you felt for the characters. For course though for all the women out there Channing Tatum is as fit as ever and real eye candy, even when he has long hair ( I still thought he was fit). Jonah Hill i was shocked when i saw him on the front cover  but even more in the film. how much weight he had lost and he was looking good.
 The music was awesome and it was a really very enjoyable and entertaining.
So if you want a laugh and you haven't checked it out already give it a go :)

Watch this space    

The Five Year Engagement

Hello Everyone!

I realised the other day that it has been a long long time since I reviewed a Rom-com so I thought it was about time I did, so here it is I hope you enjoy it....



Are two main characters are Tom ( Jason Seagel) and Violet ( Emily Blunt). Who  after a year of knowing each other get engaged. But due to things happening it get harder and harder for them to get down the aisle. Tom a Chef puts his career on the sidelines in order for Violet to fulfil her dream in psychology. He gets a job in a college deli and becomes more and more depressed, while she is worried that she is been selfish.
   I am a fan of Jason Seagel's writing and he hasn't disappointed me the writing gives a believable story line ( but of course some of it goes a little over the top for comedic value) What disappointed me with the film was the bland camera angles they did nothing for the movie. Even in what are supposed to be comedic high points in the movie like Violet get shot in the leg with a cross bow. Just seemed to flat line due to the camera angles with in the scene. There were no real memorable moments in this movie, some occasional laugh out loud moments and just a nice story to sit back and enjoy with a glass of wine.

So there you have it and watch this space :)        
   

Tony Scott RIP

Hello Everyone!
 Sad news today I'm afraid the beloved director Tony Scott committed suicide at 12.03pm yesterday. By jumping off a bridge 56ft hight that was over looking Los Angeles.



For those of you that don't know the name you will surely know the films he directed some of them are, Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop 2, True Romance and Enemy of State plus so many more. He truly was know for his action pictures, and will be truly missed by me and I'm sure many many other people. My thoughts go out to family and friends( I just wish he thought there was another way).

 RIP Tony Scott you were a true inspiration to many and a credit to the film industry.
   

The Watch

Hello everyone!!
So I have finally managed to tear myself away from Breaking Bad and thought I would do a review on The Watch so here it is....

As you can see our four main actors are Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade, and they make the neighbourhood watch. It starts of with Evan ( Stiller) who is a manager at Costco and his night guard is murdered by what the police describe as some kind of beast. Being very pissed off about the whole thing Evan starts a neighbourhood watch, to try and find the murderer. So meet Bob (  Vaughn) a guy just looking for beer buddies, Franklin (  Hill) who failed to get into the police force and Jamarcus ( Ayoade ) who had a fantasy about having sex with an Asian woman because he was part of the neighbourhood watch.  

     This film is a typical lads film, but unfortunately everything was just to obvious and the jokes were just the same kind of thing over and over again ( there are only so many sex and penis jokes one person can handle) they even put in really cheap one when saying the aliens cum is the green slime that appears when they are killed ( desperate or what). 

   There were some amusing bits it in but nothing laugh out loud kind of stuff and every joke just seemed to die. There was no real character development in the movie there pitiful attempt was Evan been sterile so him and he wife couldn't have kids. There was really no need for this it brought nothing to the story at all and was just in my opinion annoying. 

    The thing that kept me watching this movie was the aliens it was interesting to see what they could come up with for a comedy, sci-fi about an alien invasion and the aliens were good, kind of insects crossed with dinosaurs. To be honest over all I was disappointed with the movie, the writing was nothing new, same old lads comedy kind of stuff ( sorry Seth Rogan, Evan Goldberg and Jared Stern) The only thing they brought new was the alien invasion ( which started in a Costco the question is why costco? I guess food and everything they "need" is there) but the comedy behind this was just to put it bluntly rubbish.

    Wish I could say something good about the movie but I just can't sorry people. I give this film a 4/10 

Watch this space I will be back soon.           

Breaking Bad

Hello everyone!



So I have been catching up with Breaking Bad as I hadn't seen season 3 or 4 never mind the beginning of season 5. Omg it is awesome I thought the first two were good they just keep getting better and better. For though of you that don't know what this is about here is a brief summary.
 Walter White is a science teacher and finds out that he is dying of lung cancer, so to make sure his family has another money to survive after he has passed he turns to making the best Crystal Meth around but things soon getting out of hand. When him and his partner Jessie get mixed up with the wrong people.
  This is by far one of my favourite seasons to watch at the moment it is full of drama, and is even funny in places. It is gripping and will get you addicted after the first episode. If you haven't seen this yet seriously give it a shot. If you like gun, explosions, some gore, and good script and story lines then this is the series for you check it out. Here is a trailer for you breaking bad trailer so you can see what you have been missing out on.

Watch this space will be back soon.