“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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“If you ride like lightning, you're going to crash like thunder.”

Hello Everyone :-)

The hottest property in Hollywood right now is without doubt Ryan Gosling. He's super talented, super gorgeous and everything he touches seems to turns to gold. He’s even got his own Meme and colouring book for Christ’s sake (re the colouring book: it’s my birthday soon. Just sayin’...).
His latest film is his second collaboration with Derek Cianfrance (their previous movie was ‘Blue Valentine’, the brilliant anti-date movie) called ‘The Place Beyond The Pines’.

'The Place Beyond The Pines' has three very clear stories told in three acts. Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling) is a motorcycle stuntman working in a traveling act for state fairs. While in Altamont New York, Glanton visits his old flame Romina (Eva Mendes) and learns that he is the father of her son. Glanton quits his job as a stuntman to stay in town and provide for his child. This triggers a series of events where Glanton's live intersects with Officer Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper) who then gets embroiled with some shady, backhanded police business. The story ultimately involves Cross’s son AJ (Emory Cohen) a 16 year old called Jason (Dane DeHaan).

I knew very little about this film before the screening but I did have quite high hopes due to the strength of the cast and the strength of Cianfrance’s previous work with Gosling (I love ‘Blue Valentine’). I was not disappointed. You have to be prepared to go on a bit of a journey but if you let it, ‘The Place Beyond The Pines’ will reward you for your trouble.

It is the most beautiful film I’ve seen so far this year. Filmed in various towns in and around Schenectady, New York the boundless vistas take your breath away. Tempting as it may be to use the landscape in every shot, Cianfrance also lingers in close up on the faces of his actors to devastating effect. The result is hauntingly beautiful, terribly melancholic and really gets under your skin.

The cast are firing on all cylinders without exception.
Ryan Gosling is the main selling point of the film because (in the words of Mr Mugatu) he’s so hot right now, but in reality he isn't in the film for long. The screen time he does have, however, is never wasted. On paper Glanton is a hard to sympathise with but Gosling is such a talent that your heart aches for him. This is Ryan Gosling is at his charismatic best.
As predicted Bradley Cooper continues his upward career trajectory. Building on his success with 'Silver Linings Playbook' in 'The Place Beyond The Pines' Avery is the most multi-faceted character in the film. His motives are never really clear and his quiet ambition gives way to a grey morality that I loved. Cooper has come a long way in his relatively short career but it seems he’s only just getting started.
My favourite turn was Dane DeHaan as Jason. His character's identity is a third act twist seasoned movie go-ers will have worked out before the film’s conclusion. This, however, doesn’t diminish his character in any way. DeHaan is a truly magnetic screen presence; I felt the same when I saw him in ‘Chronicle’ last year, I find him almost hypnotic to watch.
His section of the film is the least-good (I know ‘least-good’ is terrible English but I don’t want to say ‘weakest’ because no part of this film is weak) but it’s totally bolstered by DeHaan and Emory Cohen.

With all its meandering loveliness some of the film’s momentum does get lost, especially in the second act which is the part of the movie that should feel most like a crime thriller. The relaxed dialogue and easy aesthetic is both a blessing and a hindrance to ‘The Place Beyond The Pines’.

What I love the most is the ambition of the thing. Cianfrance has created something that more closely resembles a Shakespearean tragedy than it does anything else currently in cinemas. It's a complete contradiction of a film: vast but small, huge and minute all at the same time. I love that there are still film makers that dare to pose questions and then credit the audience with enough intelligence to let them ponder them. The film’s conclusion does peter out with a fizzle rather than a bang which is a shame but there is still plenty to love here.

There are no clear heroes and villains in ‘The Place Beyond The Pines’, this is not a film for those that need their conclusions neatly tied up. It is beautifully bold cinema and, even if it leaves a few loose threads, this film is a triumph.
A gorgeous commentary on Fathers, Sons and the legacy that the one leaves for the other, ‘The Place Beyond The Pines’ is a sweeping tragedy that I found utterly captivating.

‘The Place Beyond The Pines’ is still hanging around in cinemas but you need to be quick to catch it!

Well it’s a rainy miserable Tuesday I need some…

Reasons to be Cheerful :-)
1. I heard some tragic news yesterday. The 5^th series of Horrible Histories will be the last one! Gutted! Weep not dear reader, there is a silver lining! Horrible Histories regulars the gorgeous Laurence Rickard and beautiful Ben Willbond have written a film about William Shakespeare!  It’s going to be called ‘Bill’ and should start filming later this year :-)

2. Angelina Jolie has written a wonderful piece in the New York Times about her recent double mastectomy. No matter what you think of her career it must have taken a huge amount of courage to speak as openly as she does about such an emotional procedure. Cancer is a terrible thing but if this article helps one woman get the help she needs then that can only be a good thing. From a woman to a woman, she has my utmost respect.

3. Graffiti puns are hilarious :-) I laughed more than I should have at this.

That’s all for today. More posts on the way!

Goodbye till next time :-)
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"You know who I am. You don't know where I am. And you'll NEVER see me coming."

Hello Everyone :-)

Before we start, I know I am the worst blogger ever. It’s been two whole months since I’ve posted something because I am totally rubbish. I’ll try harder I promise!

Anyway…

‘Iron Man 3’. Let’s do this business.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is living in a post-Avengers world, a world that has been well and truly shaken up. After the events of the Avengers (referred to as ‘what happened in New York’) Tony has been obsessively working on new Iron Man Suits and is using his former bodyguard Happy (Jon Favreau) to spy on his beloved Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) when she’s at work.
Meanwhile a terrorist known as The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) starts making threats to the President and blowing things up on US soil. One of these explosions pushes Tony into declaring war on the Mandarin with disastrous consequences.

‘Iron Man 3’ has some pretty heavy expectations weighing on its red and gold plated shoulders. Not only does it have to make up for the disappointing ‘Iron Man 2’ but it also has to live up to ‘The Avengers’ which, in my opinion, is the new high water mark within the Superhero genre. I’m happy to say it does both these things.

The best thing about the film is its massive sense of fun. There were fears when the trailer came out that ‘Iron Man 3’ was going to be a much darker episode of the series, happily it isn’t that film. It’s more mature than Marvel’s previous output, that’s to be expected, but the Iron Man series is as playful as ever, particularly the dialogue in the second act between Stark and the young boy Harley (snaps for Drew Pearce's script).

Iron Man 3 serves up some good action sequences, there’s a scene where Iron Man has to rescue some people as they are falling from an aeroplane (that scene has a great ‘bait and switch’ finish that I LOVED) which fulfils the ‘thrill’ factor that we’ve come to expect from Marvel. However for me the smaller fight scenes where Tony isn’t in full armour were the more interesting ones. It’s always satisfying to have a massive action set piece but the parts of the film where he had to go all A-Team and make something from the things in a random garage, in my opinion had the bigger pay off.

Shane Black and Robert Downey Jr’s excellent working relationship is evident in ‘Iron Man 3’ where I think RDJ gives his best performance as Tony Stark/Iron Man to date. Throughout the film Stark is clearly traumatised by his experiences in New York and while this never reaches The Dark Knight Rises levels of hero decrepitude but there’s still that shock of seeing your hero with a weakness that's unsettling.
The best thing about the Iron Man films is, was and always will be Tony Stark. Our favourite Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist has more screen time in ‘Iron Man 3’ than in any of the previous pictures in which he’s appeared and the film is better for it. Tony is clever, resourceful and always ready with a witty comeback.

I’d have liked to have seen more of the wonderful Pepper Potts, partly because I love her but also because the banter between Pepper and Tony is always great fun. No spoilers, but, in a genre that is severely under populated by women, I loved where her story arc went.
The real gem is Ben Kingsley. I won’t say anything about his character but the way his character has been handled was a genuine surprise and for someone that sees as many films as I do, true surprises are few and far between. I’m hugely impressed with Marvel and the film’s producers for making the decision to take that character in the direction they do. It was a ballsy move to make and for me the risk paid off.

One thing that this Iron Man outing has remedied is the previous Iron Man films’ relationship to bad guys. In the past, the finale of these films involve someone try to build their own suit and then being taken to the carpet by Iron Man. In theory that set up works but in practise it just come off as a loads of metal-on-metal clunk noises. This final showdown is a lot nearer the mark. I’m still not sold on it (there’s an awful lot of jumping between Iron Man suits that should cause considerable pain to the jumper) but by that point I was invested in the stakes and more than willing to go with it.

The final resolution felt a bit rushed. It’s all very dependent on where they take the character from here but I didn’t feel like they took the right time to tie up all the loose ends and have a fully satisfying conclusion.There is also a certain element of ‘why didn’t you do that in the first place?’ and ‘if you’d have done that an hour ago you wouldn’t be in this mess’ that springs to mind when certain revelations are revealed that I found annoying. These are, however, very minor quibbles in a massively enjoyable film.

Iron Man 3 is everything we’re come to expect from a Marvel film. It’s big and bold but at the same time has great affection for the character of Tony Stark and what he’s done to get to this point. Shane Black is a great influence on the Marvel universe and if he wants to come back and direct future instalments that’s absolutely fine by me. I loved it.

And if anyone can tell me why the hell this film was set at Christmas please tell me because I haven’t got a bloody clue.

Right then, that’s all good, let’s have some…

Reasons to be Cheerful :-)

1. ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’ is out today! Honestly, I’m so excited about this I have to stop myself from doing a happy dance every 5 minutes. This is the international trailer which I’ve been watching repeatedly in preparation to boldly go!

2. Sherlock series 3 has started filming and this is the sum of what’s been released so far. We’ve got a new addition to the cast in the form of Amanda Abbington (Martin Freeman’s real life Girlfriend), we’ve also been given the name of a couple of the episodes but there’s plenty still to work out. I’m excited!

3. Sweet Lincoln's mullet! James Marsden has joined the cast of Anchorman 2!

4. Do you love Garth Marenghi's Darkplace? Of course you do. Everyone should because it’s brilliant. Here are some completely awesome paper versions of Dr. Rick Dagless and co :-)

That’s all for today!
I’ll be back soon. I’ve got a big backlog of blog entries that I need to post.

Goodbye till next time :-)
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“I’m my best self today and I think she’s her best self”

Hello Everyone :-)

The Oscars are coming! Sunday 24^th February will see the red carpet rolled out for the good and great of the western film world at the 85^th Academy Awards. Last time we had a look at ‘Argo’ the brilliant ‘Best Picture’ offering from Ben Affleck. Today we’re going to cast an eye over ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ directed by David O’Russell.

‘Silver Linings Playbook’ follows Pat (Bradley Cooper) who suffers from bipolar disorder. At the beginning of the film Pat is released from a mental health facility into the care of his parents after eight months of treatment following a violent incident brought on by Pat’s discovery of his wife’s affair. During his first few weeks back in society Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) a young widow also suffering from mental health problems and the two come to an arrangement whereby Tiffany will pass letters from Pat to his estranged wife if he agrees to partner Tiffany in an upcoming amateur dance competition. We watch Pat as he tries to work out his commitment to his family, his relationship with his ex-wife and his feelings for Tiffany.

If I was a cynic (which, it will come as no surprise, I can be sometimes) I would say that this kind of film is genetically modified to appeal to Academy voters. It features some big name stars that have been uglied up (relatively speaking… I don’t think Jennifer Lawrence could be ugly if she tried), it deals with big issues (in this case mental health ones) and it ties everything up in a very life affirming sort of way. So far so Academy friendly. What sets ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ apart is its lack of pretension and how it embraces its spiky lead characters.

The key to the film is its two lead characters. Pat and Tiffany are a socially awkward match made in heaven and this film works because you want them to get together.
Cooper gives his best performance to date by some considerable margin. Pat isn’t exactly likeable but he is a compelling character and Cooper gives him a brilliant, frenetic energy. Cooper is nominated for Best Actor at this year’s Oscars and, although I don’t think he’ll win (Daniel Day Lewis is a shoo-in), based on his efforts here things are about to get very interesting for Bradley Cooper.
Jennifer Lawrence makes me sick. The girl is stunningly beautiful, comes across like a really nice person in interviews and is supremely talented. She has impressed me in every film that in which I’ve seen her appear and ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ is no exception. Tiffany is lots of things; awkward, fragile, angry, sweet; I really liked her and that’s entirely down to Lawrence.

One criticism is that I think this film has been mis-sold by the trailer and some of the reviews I’ve read. It is awkwardly funny but not laugh-out-loud hilarious as the trailer suggests, I don’t have a problem with this subtler humor but I thought it was worth pointing out.

The look of the film is nice and simple which is good. It’s quite a wordy film and Pat has a tendency to talk quickly so the fact most scenes take place in the middle of a ridiculously quiet road is pretty helpful.

Some detractors have said that the film writes off various characters’ mental illnesses as simple personality quirks but I don’t think that’s the case. Yes, some of the sufferers have less difficultly with their disorders than others and yes, the characters seem to cope better in the latter stages of the film than in the first, but isn’t that called resolving (or at least partially resolving) the story? At the beginning of ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ Pat’s affliction is seen to be destructive and something from which he wants to get better, definitely not just a little foible of his. Speaking as someone who has known people with mental illnesses I think this is a perfectly fair depiction, sometimes they have good days, sometimes they have bad days, sometimes they get obsessive about things, sometimes they say inappropriate things, sometimes you’re allowed to laugh and other times you’re not; it all chimed with my experiences.

‘Silver Linings Playbook’ is marred slightly in its third act. There is a downright daft plot contrivance which means that all of the characters end up in the same place at the same time and all have reasons to care about the outcome of Pat and Tiffany’s dance competition. It’s also in these scenes that the improvised dialogue becomes clunkier which is a real pet peeve of mine. These, thankfully, are minor things and don’t detract too much from the overarching loveliness of it all.

Maybe you could say that the ‘dance fixes everything’ message is a little bit ridiculous, especially when you’re taking on an issue as complex as mental illness but for me ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ is a sweet story about a family helping each other cope with the hands they’ve been dealt. An uplifting story that’s enhanced by two brilliant lead performances, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ comes highly recommended.

‘Silver Linings Playbook’ is out on Blu-Ray and DVD on 1^st April.

Now lets have some…

Reasons to be Cheerful :-)
1. ‘Man of Steel’ trailer! I’ve been in two minds about this because of the involvement of Zack Snyder of whom I’m not particularly a fan but it doesn’t look too bad! It looks very visually stylish (which is a given for Snyder) and Henry Cavill looks like a perfect physical fit for Superman. What I’m most excited about is the always watchable Michael Shannon as General Zod and my ultimate girl crush Amy Adams playing Lois Lane. While I still have reservations, I’m looking forward to it.

2. Any of you that have been reading my inane ramblings will know that I am a massive fan of the Hunger Games books and really loved the first film. Now we have some set photos from the second film ‘TheHunger Games: Catching Fire’! The inclusion of Philip Seymour Hoffman in the cast is enough to push me over the edge into full on fever pitch so seeing him as Plutarch Heavensbee for the first time is crazy exciting :-)

That’s all I’ve got for you today!

Goodbye till next time :-)
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