"In time, they will join you in the sun. In time you will help them accomplish wonders."

Hello Everyone :-)

You know the cliché 'every girl loves a bad boy'? Yeah, well I’m not a fan of that theory.
For as long as I have been into Superheroes my favourites have been Captain America and Superman (Marvel and DC respectively). These guys often get a lot of flak from fanboys/girls and one of the main arguments held against them is that they’re saps that have no personality. I’m calling that argument out as bullshit.

The reason I love Captain America and Superman so much is because they are inherently good people. You can say what you like about certain episodes of certain comics where they ‘went bad’ or whatever, but at the heart of it, those characters are motivated by a need to do good.

As Michael Green, former Smallville writer and Superman/Batman comic book scripter said “…As opposed to Batman, who runs around, you know, thinking the world is as bad as the Gotham that killed his parents, well Superman runs around thinking the world could be as nice as Smallville.” This is why I love Superman, because despite the ease with which I lean towards negativity, I too (underneath all the bravado and crap I so often spout) am an optimist.

With this in mind I have been really nervous about the outcome of Supe’s most recent cinematic outing ‘Man of Steel’. It’s helmed by Zack Snyder of whose previous films I am not a fan. I can’t bear ‘300’, ‘Watchmen’ shows promise but it’s baggy and over-long and I rank ‘Sucker Punch’ amongst the worst films I have ever seen. However, my love of Kal-El won out and I went to see ‘Man of Steel’ last night.

‘Man of Steel’ is a re-telling of the Superman origin story. We open on Krypton where we discover that the Kryptonians have mined the planet to death and it’s in the process of collapsing in on itself. To save his newborn son from Krypton’s impending destruction, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) sends his baby in a spaceship to Earth where he is discovered by the child-less Martha (Diane Lane) and Jonathan (Kevin Costner) Kent. The pair take in the child, name him Clark and raise him as their own. After struggling throughout his childhood adult Clark (Henry Cavill) tries not to draw attention to himself and holds a series of low-key jobs, however, when he tries to discover his origins rogue Kryptonian General Zod (Michael Shannon) appears forcing Clark to become Superman and fight for the good of mankind.

Those that follow me on Twitter may have already worked this out from my oh-so-subtle tweets but I’m gonna say this straight off… ‘Man of Steel’ is my favourite film of the year so far. If you want to go and you haven’t already seen it, I will forgive you if you forego the rest of this post, go to the cinema and watch it.

I was utterly immersed in the film from the very beginning. The opening scenes of the destruction of Krypton are immense. We spend more time than you might expect on Superman’s home world which is nice. It reminded me a lot of ‘Avatar’ and I don’t mean that in a bad way (I know I’ve expressed my distain for ‘Ava-tart’ in the past but bear with me). It is a huge spectacle in the same way that Pandora is for ‘Avatar’ and I really liked it. That vastness isn’t at odds with the more human (or in this case Kryptonian) moments. It was 15 minutes in and the scene where Lana and Jor-El say goodbye to their son had me silently sobbing.

Speaking of me sobbing (nothing new there) ‘Man of Steel’ is surprisingly tender. I say “surprisingly” because in none of Snyder’s previous films have I seen this kind of emotion; one death scene especially reduced me to a blubbering mess.

There are a series of flashbacks dotted throughout the film one of which is a young Clark at school failing to keep control of his powers and Martha has to come and coax him out of hiding in a broom cupboard. It features in the trailer but you don’t get the true impact of it there. Diane Lane pulls a blinder as Martha, not just in that scene but throughout the film.

One of my favourite things was not just that both of Superman’s Dads are Robin Hood but also that they’re two sides of the same Paternal coin. Russell Crowe as Jor-El tries (through a clever hologram trick from beyond the grave) to encourage his son to be the best that he can be. Kevin Costner makes Jonathan Kent more concerned with concealing his son’s true identity for fear that if the world learnt the truth he would be an outcast. I like them both equally but if I had to choose I’d say Costner wins battle of the Super-Dads purely because of the heart wrenching way his story ties up.

Lois Lane has always been a tricky character to nail down. As much as Margot Kidder is iconic in the role, her journalistic skills left a lot to be desired and as much as Terri Hatcher is the Lois of my childhood it takes AGES for her to work out that the man she sits opposite at work is, in fact, Superman.

The obvious answer to this conundrum is getting Amy Adams to be your Lois. This woman is my absolute hero; she’s a Disney Princess, appears in a Muppets film and now she’s LOIS FREAKING LANE! Her Lois is a smart, headstrong and one step ahead of everyone else all the way through the film. I love the way they get around the awkward moment that happens in so many Superman adaptations when Lois realises the man she’s worked with for however long is a God-like Super-being. I want to be Amy Adams when I grow up, I love her.

Lois isn’t the only well rounded female character either; Antje Traue’s Faora is awesome. As I’ve said before, the Superhero genre is sorely under populated by strong women and Faora is like a breath of fresh air. She’s cool, doesn’t conform to any clichés and kicks some serious arse. She was brilliant.

Michael Shannon is as amazing as ever as General Zod. I loved the idea of the Krypton Genesis thing where everyone that has or will be born on Krypton has a role to fulfil. This is why Zod is such a multi-layered villain; he isn’t trying to enact some petty revenge on the world, this is his M.O. to protect Krypton at all costs, he genuinely doesn’t have a choice in it.
Also, from now on I will be shouting “DEPLOY THE WORLD ENGINE!” at random just because it’s awesome.

Henry Cavill is my favourite Superman to date. I loved watching Clark grow into Superman; the scene where he finally dons the suit and tries to fly for the first time is joyous and had me (yet again) crying. What I like the best is that he totally nails the super-being thing (I mean LOOK AT HIM…) but also the man. He was smart, sweet, and wholesome; everything Clark should be. He’s proof that Kal-El is not just Superman but a super-man.

I thought the action was incredible. One of the early scenes is Clark saving a bunch of people from a burning oil rig and it never really lets up from that point on. In ‘Man of Steel’ we see Superman smash shit up on a scale like which we have not seen before and I loved it.

It’s not as broadly comedic as much of Marvel’s recent cinematic output but it isn’t without humour. I particularly liked Clark’s revenge on a trucker that tips a drink over his head while he’s working as a barman and the quick visual joke on a construction site with Zod during their final face-off. There are quite a few ‘blink and you’ll miss it moments in ‘Man Of Steel’ that I really liked. My favourite was a bit with a satellite where you catch a glimpse of a Wayne Enterprises logo that’s going to send the Justice League fans into melt down…

Part of my previous hang ups about Zach Snyder were to do with his visual style which, prior to ‘Man of Steel’, I absolutely hated. I hated how he was obsessed with costumes rather than the characters that were in them, I hated how he made everything look like a music video and I hated how he used slow motion ALL THE GOD-DAMN TIME.
‘Man of Steel’ has less problematic visuals although I do still have some reservations. There is a hell of a lot of CGI which some people take issue with, I however do not. This is Superman we’re talking about people! He can fly, he has super-human strength and doing some of the things he does as an in-camera effect would not be possible. Also Krypton is almost entirely CGI but, again, I wasn’t bothered. It’s an alien planet; it’s supposed to be grandiose and crazy.
This is possibly one of the nerdiest things I’ve ever committed to text but I like the use of zooms in ‘Man of Steel’. There might be a few too many zooms but, for my money, that motion really helps the film power along. Also it’s something they used a lot on ‘Firefly’ and ‘Firefly’ is my happy place.

For the life of me I cannot understand the bad press that this film is getting. I’ve seen it called an ‘omnishambles’ (which negates any criticism lobbied at it by that person because anyone who seriously uses the word ‘omnishambles’ is a twat), ‘humourless’ and ‘underwhelming’. How these people came to his conclusion I will never know, they were clearly not watching the same film I did. I mean what the hell do you want from the movies if this is not enough?!?!?
I never thought it was going to be as emotionally engaging, funny and ante-upping as it turned out to be. I was ‘jaw on the floor’ stunned by it.

I haven’t come out of a film and been this excited for a really long time. After it had finished I was stood with my friends in the cinema Car Park bouncing on the spot for about 20 minutes just trying to calm myself down. I just felt so enthused by it, like I needed to run up and down every street in my town yelling about how everyone should see it. I wanted to find another screening and watch it immediately; I wanted to watch it on a loop all day. I went to sleep last night listening to the soundtrack with a dopey grin on my face. Even now, I’m writing all these ridiculous things and it doesn’t feel like enough, I genuinely can’t find the words to tell you how much I loved it.

The tagline of the 1978 ‘Superman’ is “You’ll believe a man can fly” well for me ‘Man of Steel’ not only did that, but I found it so exhilarating, it made me feel like I had wings.

Now, if I can calm down a minute I can do some…

Reasons to be Cheerful :-)
1. First off the über awesome looking Lego film! Yes ladies and gentlemen ‘The Lego Movie’ :-) This looks like something I’m going to love!

2. Trailer number 2 is the first-look trailer for Disney’s ‘Frozen’. You can’t tell much from it but it’s sweet and charming and has sparked my interest :-)

3. The next Muppets film has a title! It’ll be called ‘Muppets Most Wanted’! 282 days to go :-)

That’s all I’ve got for you today!

Goodbye till next time :-)
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“That's what normal people do when they love each other, when one of them is acting like a brat. Now would you please stop raining on me?!"

Hello Everyone :-)

You know the saying ‘the best things in life are free’? Well I agree with that statement.

Way back in January I went to see ‘Pitch Perfect’ with my friend from work. We bought our tickets, took our seats and our viewing pleasure was disrupted not once, not twice but three times by power cuts. By way of an apology the lovely staff at Showcase gave us two free cinema tickets!

I decided to let her choose what we went to see for our second ‘date night’ and she chose something I’d never usually pick for myself, ‘Beautiful Creatures’.

‘Beautiful Creatures’ is the story of Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich) from Gatlin, South Carolina. Ethan has a recurring dream that features a girl he doesn't know until one day Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) arrives at his school and appears to be the girl he has been dreaming about. The pair are drawn to each other and embark on a relationship complicated by the fact that Lena possesses magical powers that on her 16^th Birthday will be claimed for good or evil.

I always said that I would go to my grave having never seen a Twilight film. Unfortunately curiosity got the better of me and a couple of months ago my Aunty (a dyed in the wool Twi-hard) lent my Mum and I the entire Twilight Saga and we watched it... all of it...  in the space of a week. I’m glad I did actually because now I can say with the full courage of my convictions that The Twilight Saga is absolutely awful (I  had a bit of a mini break down as a result of my concentrated Twi-exposure which is well documented because I decided to live-tweet the whole god damn thing).

What makes me sad is that, due to the insane popularity of ‘Twilight’, production companies are jumping on teen-fiction book series’ (lest we forget that ‘The Twilight Saga’ started life as a series of appallingly written books) of a similar ilk in order to try and emulate that success. This is disheartening for a number of reasons. Reason 1: in the mad dash to catch the ‘Twi-hards’ as their beloved saga ends there is the potential that some genuinely good stories will be done a disservice by a rush job adaptation. Reason 2: in an attempt to convey our distain at how god awful ‘Twilight’ is, judgemental people like myself will dismiss anything that gets a ‘Twilight’ marketing makeover in order to appeal to that audience. It’s this second point that makes me feel a little bit guilty.

I often tell people that they can’t judge films unless they’ve actually seen them and yet when I first saw the trailer for ‘Beautiful Creatures’ I poo-pooed it as a ‘Twi-wannabe’ franchise rubbish like the massive hypocrite I am. This was a big mistake on my part because when I actually sat and watched the film I really rather enjoyed it.

It’s set in the Deep South and isn’t shy about expressing it’s feelings regarding the judgemental, preachy inhabitants of Gatlin. Ethan wastes no time in telling us that Gatlin has “twelve churches and one library” and this ‘liberal idealist vs. the world’ attitude carries throughout the film. It’s a lot less prude-ish than ‘Twilight’ (at one point Ethan and Lena are having a full-on snog and she unintentionally causes a lightning strike) and generally a lot more honest about the decisions that have to be made in life. There’s a scene where Macon (Jeremy Irons on top brooding form) enchants Ethan and makes him talk about a future that he could be heading for if he doesn’t get out of Gatlin. This scene just adds to the sense that Gatlin is a place that could suffocate you but sacrifices have to be made if you want to get out.

The characters are great. Well rounded, realistic (relatively speaking) and most importantly likable characters. The central pairing of Ehrenreich and Englert is absolutely adorable, funny and they are the lynchpin for the whole drama. I like the inversion of the relationship dynamic; the story is told from Ethan’s point of view (I’m not sure why more films aimed at girls aren’t told from the male point of view) , he is the one that pursues Lena and it’s her that’s been brushed by the supernatural rather than the other way round.

It’s wonderfully picturesque, the Southern States captured in all their humid glory. The historical flashbacks work really nicely, especially the scene where Lena and Ethan go to the cinema; that is done particularly well.

Fans of the book will notice quite a few changes. I read the book after seeing the film and was surprised at the amount of things that were changed; they’ve removed whole characters and scenes. This isn’t really at any detriment to the film because it and the source material are different beasts. There is space in the world for both and, as long as you’re not a purist, I see no reason why fans of the book won’t like this adaptation.

‘Beautiful Creatures’ does peter out instead of end in a full-on show down which is a shame because it could have been brilliant.  Unfortunately the film ends with an obvious open door invitation for a sequel that looks unlikely to be made.

 ‘Beautiful Creatures’ works because of it’s humour and the believable central relationship. I hate to compare it to ‘Twilight’ but where that is sullen and serious  from start to finish ‘Beautiful Creatures’ allows some light heartedness to peak though the gothic, angst ridden teen-romance.  There’s nothing earth shattering here but if you want to watch something romantic of a Friday night, you could do a lot worse than this.

Beautiful Creatures is available on Blu-Ray and DVD from 17^th June.

I think it’s time for…

Reasons to be Cheerful :-)

1. OMG!!! POTENTIAL MUPPET BROADWAY SHOW!!! Nothing is set in stone yet but if this does come to fruition it may well be the best thing that has ever happened. I would move heaven and earth to get tickets.

2. F1 fans rejoice! The Trailer for ‘Rush’ is here. Fast cars, Chris Hemsworth, VROOOOM! Can't wait :-)

3. All the pictures from 'Catching Fire'! I’m so excited about this, all the pictures look brilliant :-) 'Catching Fire' is due for release on 22nd November.

That’s everything I have for today!

Goodbye till next time :-)

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“Your Government thanks you for you for your participation”

Hello Everyone :-)

My relationship with horror is undergoing a bit of a make-over…

After many sleepless night and eventually swearing off horror films for 4 years, in 2012 I dipped my toe back in the water when I went to see ‘The Woman in Black’. Needless to say I was scared shitless for the duration but came out of it relatively unscathed and as a result, decided to fling myself back into the genre.

I’m really glad I did because if I hadn’t I’d have missed out on loads of stuff. For one thing I’ve discovered that I really love Zombies; they’re awesome. I’m watching films about Zombies, reading books about Zombies, watching any TV show that appears to feature Zombies; I’m all over it.

Secondly, I’d have missed LOADS of brilliant films, including one of my favourite films of 2012 ‘The Cabin in the Woods’.

With this mentality of FOMO (fear of missing out) I decided to go with some friends (as much as I’m making strides with Horror I’m still unable to watch scary films on my own because deep down I’ll always be a massive wuss) to see ‘The Purge’.

‘The Purge’ is set in 2022 in the United States which has become "a nation reborn", with crime and unemployment rates at all-time lows. Apparently the reason the US is living in such harmony is because the government has instated an annual 12-hour time period called "The Purge", during which people can let loose as all crime (including murder) becomes legal.

We watch the annual Purge from the point of view of the Sandins. James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) is a successful security system salesman with a beautiful wife (Lena ‘Cersei’ Headey), two children (Max Burkholder and Adelaide Kane) and a super gorgeous home. The family lock up and hunker down behind their flash security system when young Charlie takes pity on a homeless man he sees being chased by a gang of privileged, masked "purgers"  and lets him into the house. We watch as the purgers’ sinister leader (Rhys Wakefield) threatens the Sandins who have to decide whether to give up the defenseless stranger or fight.

You know I said earlier I’m glad I started watching horror films again because if I hadn’t “I’d have missed LOADS of brilliant films”? Yeah… well this ain’t one of them.

To be fair, I have a certain respect for ‘The Purge’. It was made for $3 million, looks really stylish and has made about $43.5 millions to date. Well done ‘The Purge’. However that's where my generous spirit gives out.

The cast are unexceptional. They’re not bad by any stretch of the imagination but only one person really manages to stand out.

Ethan Hawke gives a fairly solid go at being the slimy salesman turned gun-toting action man but it’s nothing that we haven’t seen before. The usually awesome Lena Headey fails to bring her usual energy to proceedings and fades into a squealing, gun-dropping cliché of a character.

Max Burkholder and Adelaide Kane have the thankless tasks of being the Junior Sandins and constantly in peril. I mean seriously… your house has no electricity, is surrounded by a gang that resembles the cast of ‘Made in Chelsea’ if they wore creepy masks and were given access to weapons AND there is a scared, potentially armed stranger trapped in your house… WHY ARE YOU WANDERING OFF ON YOUR OWN?!?!

The one trump card ‘The Purge’ has up its sleeve is Rhys Wakefield as the Leader of the ‘Made in Chelsea Murderers’. He is a vision of privilege and respectability with maniacal, trigger happy tendencies. He’s shades of Alex DeLarge and the moments where he is on screen are when the film sparks into life.

Alas these moments are all too fleeting. What begins as an intriguing concept soon paves way to a by-the-numbers home invasion film with a, quite frankly, stupid ending. The film has quite a lot to say, it’s clearly trying to make a clever comment about the wealth divide between rich and poor but it gets muddled in the dafter aspects of the film.

Like I said, it’s an interesting idea; what would happen if all crime was legal for 12 hours? However in posing this question ‘The Purge’ is ultimately asking you to believe that humans are inherently psychopathic beings that would murder each other the first chance they get. I don’t buy that.

I like to credit people with a dash more perspective than stooping as low as to try and murder someone because they’re jealous of the new extension they’ve just had put on their house. Call me crazy but I don’t think that normal, decent people harbour murderous tendencies… I just don’t. The problem with that is if I don’t believe this is possible, it isn’t scaring me (with the exception of a couple of decent jump-scares).

‘The Purge’ is a little bit like a knitted jumper. It looks good but as soon as you start pulling at a loose thread the whole thing unravels.

Somewhere in there is a decent short film but it gets lost too easily. There’s something to be said for Rhys Wakefield but unfortunately one good performance does not a good film make. If you really must see this I’d wait till it’s out to rent or just do yourself a favour and watch ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ again because it’s bloody brilliant…

The Purge is in Cinemas now.

Right, I definitely need some…

Reasons to be Cheerful :-)

1. Following on for yesterday’s Poster here we have the first teaser trailer for ‘The Hobbit: The desolation of Smaug’. Lots and lots of Evangeline Lily’s Tauriel, a little bit of Luke Evans’s Bard the Bowman and one very familiar face…

2. Trailer madness today :-) This has been out for a while but I felt the need to celebrate its awesomeness. Trailer for ‘The World’s End’ :-) Just in case you want to go into this one relatively cold, steer clear of the international trailer, it gives away far too much of the plot for my liking. ‘The World’s End’ is out on 19^th July.

That’s all for today.

Goodbye till next time :-)

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“There’s a reason why I listen to that album at least once a week and it still makes me tingle.”

Hello Everyone :-)

I’ve spoken in the past about my love of documentary film making and how I’m over the moon that it’s currently having a bit of a renaissance. I think the key to this has been the recent slew of documentaries with super accessible subject matter.
I indulged myself on Saturday and took myself to a mid-afternoon screening of ‘The Stone Roses: Made of Stone’ (just ‘Made of Stone’ from now on) at the always wonderful Electric Cinema in Birmingham.

‘Made of Stone’ charts the reunion of The Stone Roses from 18 October 2011, up to their gigs in Heaton Park on 29–30 June 2012. The documentary follows the band from their reunion press conference, through rehearsals, warm up shows and finally their homecoming gigs in Manchester.

Anyone looking for a hard hitting, 'warts and all' documentary about The Stone Roses should carry on the search. ‘Made of Stone’ is a softer picture that’s as much about one fan’s love of their favourite band as it is about the band itself.

That one fan is director Shane Meadows. I have a massive amount of time for Shane Meadows, I enjoy his feature films and really like the ‘This Is England’ TV series and in ‘Made of Stone’ he endears himself to his audience with his heartfelt sentiments about the band. Out of sheer affection he steers the documentary away from anything too inflammatory, most notably after drummer Remi walks away from a European tour in the lead up to Heaton Park. This, obviously, deflates any kind of tension the film had but part of me thought it was a sweet thing to do, I know if it was me with my favourite band I’d be hesitant to shove a camera in their face in the middle of an argument.

It looks lush. The decision to shoot much of the action in black and white is stylish and makes the move into the full colour of Heaton Park more vivid. Think ‘The Wizard of Oz’…
There are a few nice additions of old news and previously seen interview footage and lots of home video clips of a young Ian Brown riding mopeds. The choice to inter-cut the ill fated ‘Second Coming’ footage with the band’s European bust up is a conscious one but fails to properly draw a parallel because of Meadows’s aforementioned hesitance to get in the thick of any ructions.

The best parts of the film are the bits showing the band doing what they do best; playing music. There is a scene in the middle of the picture when the band does a full rehearsal of ‘Waterfall’ that gave me goosebumps.
The section devoted to the free Warrington Parr Hall gig, however, is what rang most true with me.
I’ve been that girl; queuing with an album clutched in her hands desperate for a precious wristband, running to the front when she’s finally let into the venue, screaming her head off when the band first emerge on stage and forcing her way to the barrier to get as close to every sweat stained note of those songs as she could.
After that scene I just wanted to go home a book tickets to every band I love just to feel that again; there’s nothing else quite like it and seeing fans snaked in lines and plastic cups being flung around a humid venue will strike a chord with any gig-going music fan and, at its heart, I think that’s what ‘Made of Stone’ is about.

In a similar way to 2011’s ‘Senna’; ‘Made of Stone’ gives an unashamed, rose tinted view of its subject matter. If you’re a super-fan there won’t be much here to give you a new insight into The Stone Roses but there is some joy to be had at the sugar coated bliss of it all.
‘Made of Stone' is a love note to the rush of live music and the devotion of it's fans, I really enjoyed it.

'The Stone Roses: Made of Stone' is in cinemas now.

Well that was nice :-) Let’s have some…

Reasons to be Cheerful :-)
1. ‘Man of Steel’ is out on Friday! So excited to see this! This is my favourite trailer for it (I REALLY love the music) hopefully off to see it at the start of next week.

2. The first poster has arrived for 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'. As much as I had mixed feelings about ‘TheHobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ you can’t deny that this poster is lush :-)

3. The brilliant 'In the Flesh' has been picked up for another series! The first series was three episodes of note perfect television. Really loved it, so glad a second series has been commissioned and can't wait to get back into Roarton!

4. Not entirely sure if this is a reason to be cheerful but unless you've been hiding under a rock for weeks you've definitely heard that Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who this Christmas. I have really loved Smith as the Doctor, more than David Tennant in some respects and while I'm sad to see him go my overwhelming emotion is one of serious gratitude. He's done such a good job as one of my favourite ever characters I can do nothing but say 'Thank you' to him... so thank you Mr Smith :-)

That's enough for today.

Goodbye till next time :-)
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