Walking the Walk

Hello Everyone :-)

I can’t remember if I’ve even mentioned it before but I’m a big wuss when it comes to Horror.
Have you ever seen the film ‘The Strangers’? It’s a 2008 film about 3 people in masks that terrorise a couple in a house out in the sticks in somewhere in America. I think it got mixed reviews, most people I’ve asked think it was a bit of a ‘meh’ film. Well I went to the pictures to see that film (against my better judgement) and no word of a lie I had to have someone come in the house with me, turn on all the lights, check all the cupboards and thing to make sure there was no one there and even then I couldn’t sleep for weeks, thus is the extent of my intolerance for any kind of horror.

So you may be surprised when I tell you that I’ve been really excited about the arrival of a show to channel 5 called ‘The Walking Dead’, a show all about Zombies!
Zombies are not given special dispensation due to the fact they’re not real and murders in masks unfortunately are, I’m s**t scared of both of them in equal measure but I was really really excited about this because I’d heard good things about it from people whose opinion I trust. Also it stars the velvet voiced Andrew Lincoln who I’ve loved since the days of ‘Teachers’ so I threw a cushion to the wind and decided to watch it.

The first episode was a little bit slow to begin with but I think that’s the case with a lot of programmes of this sort and more to the point it needs a bit of set up. I was a bit concerned about Andrew Lincoln’s accent, he plays Rick Grimes a Police Officer from Kentucky and I was a bit worried that Lincoln adopting a southern drawl might distract me from what was going on. Thankfully I think he pulled it off and it didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the show.

The story starts off not too dissimilar to that of ’28 Days Later’ to which this series is rather obviously compared (note the difference that the things in ‘28 Days later’ are rage infected people not actual Zombies who have died and come back as re-animated corpses… yes I’m aware that I’d a tad pedantic).
So Rick wakes up in hospital after being in a coma for an unspecified length of time to find the world has gone to hell in a handcart and Zombies are lurching around all over the shop with no sign of any other life. The Hospital scenes where he’s walking around trying to find someone properly creeped me out, I don’t know what it was, maybe it’s because I work in a hospital, I don’t know, but I was on edge from that point on.

Rick heads out of the hospital, grabs a bike and goes home to find his wife and child have seemingly up and left. Rick then meets some fellow survivors who explain the unfortunate events that have been happening and the following day they head off to the Police station, tool up, go their separate ways and head out to kick some re-animated ass.

I won’t explain anymore of the plot because you may not have seen it and it wouldn’t be fair. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed what I saw on Sunday night.  

One negative is something a friend of mine picked up on and wrote on Facebook. It’s not until you’re watching something as good as ‘The Walking Dead’ that you realise how intrusive and irritating adverts are.
Ordinarily if you’re watching something that’s a bit of fluff, like ‘The Only way is Essex’ (aka TOWIE), adverts aren’t an issue, in fact they act as a handy break in which you can get yourself another Tea/Coffee/Lambrini (the latter is the tipple of choice for the average star of TOWIE) and as there isn’t any suspense, breaks in the action (I use that word in the loosest sense when referring to TOWIE) are more tolerable, TOWIE doesn’t have anyone stuck to their seats in anticipation as to whether Arg and Lydia will break up or not.
Things like ‘The Walking Dead’ however, rely on a continuing sense of tension that builds throughout the episode, this kind of tension was used to brilliant effect in last years ‘Sherlock’. Thankfully ‘The Walking Dead’ is so good it managed to keep my attention despite the interruptions but I can’t help but think if it’d been shown on the BBC how much scarier it might have been.

Also running time is seriously altered with these adverts. I mean the first episode is an hour and a half with adverts (I’ve been told the subsequent episodes aren’t as long) and I really think it made the show seem a little bit slow. I’ve no doubt that if you took out the adverts you’d have an hour (seriously it must have been half an hours worth of adverts if not more) of excellent television that keeps you thoroughly engaged but the constant breaks made it drag.

All in all I think the first episode was great television hampered by advertisements. I’m thinking about series linking the whole thing and watching it the day after it airs just so I can whiz the adverts. Regardless of that I’m looking forward to seeing episode 2 on whatever day I choose to watch it.

‘The Walking Dead’ is on Sunday at 10.00 on Channel 5.

And now…

Reasons to be Cheerful
1. It’s almost the start of Festival season!!! YAY! My favourite time of year :-) I’m not lucky enough to be going to any festivals this year (save for the Godiva festival at the Coventry memorial park which is free) but the BBC usually have some good coverage of the main stages at Glastonbury, T in the Park and Reading & Leeds so I shall be erecting my tent in the front room and re-living my sunny (and not so sunny) festival days gone by.

2. Thor is out soon! The official release date is the 29^th April but I think there are some advanced screenings. I’m excited because I love superhero films and Chris Hemsworth who plays Thor is bang tidy…

3.  Friendly Fires’ new album is out soon!!!! The first single from the Album ‘Pala’ is ‘Live those days Tonight’ and it’s a 5 minute carnival. If that single is anything to go by their album is going to be the soundtrack to my summer!

And that’s it for today!

Goodbye till next time :-)
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Rachel's Monday Cinema

Hello Everyone :-)

I know I said this was going to be Rachel’s Sunday Cinema but on Saturday when I said I was going to see ‘Source Code’ my Mum said she wanted to go and then my brother said he wanted to go and then my Dad said he wasn’t fussed but we weren’t leaving him in the house on his own. So yesterday we went to the pictures en famille.

I’ve been looking forward to this film for months, when I found out it was happening I was so excited. I’m a huge fan of Duncan Jones’s directorial debut ‘Moon’ which he co-wrote with Nathan Parker. I can’t tell you how much I love ‘Moon’. It’s simple and streamlined without being dumb, emotive without being sentimental and has the most wonderful aesthetic; it looks like it cost five times what it actually did. So you understand my excitement when I found out about ‘Source Code’.

‘Source Code’ follows Captain Colter Stevens, an army helicopter pilot who wakes up on a train headed for Chicago with no memory of how he got there. His reflection is of a different man and his wallet says his name is Sean Fentress. Sitting across from him is a woman called Christina who knows him as Fentress. Before he can understand what is happening, a bomb goes off and destroys the train.

Stevens then awakens inside a chamber, where he is greeted via a computer screen by Captain Colleen Goodwin, an Air Force officer who tells Stevens that he is inside the Source Code, a program that allows him to take over someone's body in the last eight minutes of their life. Stevens' mission is to locate the bomb on the train, discover who put it there and report back to Goodwin before the bomber can detonate a second bomb in downtown Chicago.

I loved it.

Some say Jake Gyllenhaal was an interesting bit of casting and some have said Sam Rockwell could have done a better job. I think that’s doing a disservice to Gyllenhaal’s performance. I think he was great, some of the scenes of him in the Source Code capsule I found made for uncomfortable viewing, I really felt for him and the relationships that develop between him and Christina and him and Goodwin are really nicely done.

Christina is played by Michelle Monaghan who I’ve only ever seen in one thing before (the utterly predictable ‘Eagle Eye’ with the no where near as attractive as Jake Gyllenhaal, charisma vacuum that is Shia LaBeouf) and she never really made a lasting impression on me in that. However in this she shines. She gives Christina real warmth and gets you on side straight away. It’s a weird role because Christina doesn’t really have a lot to say even though she’s pivotal to the story but I think what Monaghan’s been given she works with really well.

There’s also some good turns from Jeffery Wright (aka Peoples) and Vera Farmiga. I’d never seen Vera Farmiga in anything before but I really liked her in this. A vision of restraint struggling with the morals of the ‘Source Code’.

If you’re looking for scientific accuracy, don’t bother. ‘Source Code’ is terribly vague about the science behind the central idea because quite frankly it’s made up. I don't have an issue with that because there’s nothing wrong with making stuff up. That’s what a great deal of films are right? Making stuff up in order to entertain? I love science but I don’t let that interfere with my enjoyment of the film. In the words of good Doctor Kermode ‘It’s only a Movie’.

Considering every train scene starts in exactly the same way the film never feels like it’s repeating itself and the slow reveal is really nice. It’s nice to see something that gives you little titbits and lets you try and work out what’s going on instead of shoving it down your throat. There are some nice nods to ‘Moon’ and although thematically they’re different, both films create the same kind of atmosphere. Obviously ‘Source Code’ had more money to play with but Jones never over complicates the films visuals. It would be so easy to give this to some one like Michael ‘The Anti-Christ’ Bay who would just go crazy with explosions and miss the heart that Duncan Jones has given the film. It has a lovely balance between telling the story and engaging the audience in the action.

Like I said I loved it. I was also really pleased that my family liked it as they’ve never seen ‘Moon’ and I was a bit worried they wouldn;t be able to get their heads around it. There’s a certain amount of brainpower involved in watching this film but as ‘Inception’ proved that’s not a bad thing. Hopefully this foray into the mainstream will cement Duncan Jones as a great Director and not as 'Son of David Bowie'.

Go and see it and pick up a copy of 'Moon' if you haven't already seen it.

Goodbye till next time :-)

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Rachel's Sunday Cinema

Hello Everyone :-)

In a change to the scheduled programme I’m going to talk about a film I’ve been anticipating for quite a while. And don’t worry, this blog is spoiler free.

‘Never let me Go’ is tricky to talk about because it’s better the less you know about it. The film is set in an alternative 20^th century, one in which there were significant scientific advances in the late 1950’s which has led to life expectancies rising to 100 years old. On the simplest level the story is about Kathy, Tommy and Ruth who grow up in the same boarding school and how their lives and relationships change as they grow up.

‘Never let me Go’ was originally a book by Kazuo Ishiguro which I read a few years ago and from then on I’ve counted as one of my favourite novels. I’m not one of those pretentious people that always say “the book is infinitely better than the film” because in some cases that’s not true and adaptations should always be taken on their own merit. In the case of ‘Never let me Go’ it stands on it’s own as a truly breathtaking film.

It looks beautiful. I love that they don’t over complicate it, visually at least. They don’t do a great deal of explaining so you’re left to fill in the blanks yourself which is nice, I like films that don’t treat me like an idiot. I get that some people might have to readjust to this elliptical style of story telling and if you had loud, harsh cinematography along side that I can see it’d turn into a bit of a headache, I’m glad they kept it pared down so it was accessible.

Performance wise the three leads are played by Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley.

Carey Mulligan is Kathy and really, this story is hers. Kathy is a very passive character and I understand that some might get frustrated with her inaction regarding events that unfold around her but you need to remember that these are characters that have been institutionalized and don’t know any better, something Mulligan imbues in Kathy. My heart breaks for her.

We’ll just get something out the way now, I don’t like Keira Knightley, I don’t get what all the fuss is about. That said, as a piece of casting, in this she makes perfect sense. Ruth is a pretty unlikable character and she plays her really well. She’s not totally evil or anything and there’s always an underlying love for the others but Ruth tends to be quite self centered.

The key to the whole story is Tommy. When I read the book Tommy was always my favourite. He’s so innocent and naive you just want to hold him and Andrew Garfield plays him perfectly. Childlike and confused by his own situation, it’s such a touching performance. Andrew Garfield must do something to me because practically everthing I’ve seen him in has made me cry. He was in a channel 4 drama ‘Boy A’ some years ago which I adored and in this he gives an equally, if not more moving performance.

It throws up so many questions about science, morals but at the heart of it the film questions what makes us human. Not to say it’s over sentimental at all because it isn’t, it evokes sympathy without being saccharine.

I’ll be honest, if you think all this sounds a bit sad you’re not wrong. I cried like the girl that I am from fairly early on.  This isn’t to impugn the film at all because as Sally Sparrow said, sad is “happy for deep people”. It’s very reflective, the sort of film that you watch and take stock of the people you have in your life. It’s quietly moving, sad but not depressing and it has some terrific performances. I loved it.

If you’ve been to see the film, leave me a comment and if not please try and see it. It is superb.

Goodbye till next time :-)

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Rachel's Sunday Cinema

Hello Everyone :-)

This week on ‘Rachel’s Sunday Cinema’ I went to see ‘The Fighter’. If you haven’t seen it yet never fear, I’ll endeavour to make this mini review as spoiler free as possible

The premise for the story is two brothers, both boxers, the elder (Dicky) is famous for knocking down ‘Sugar Ray Leonard’ several years previous and is now addicted to crack and the younger (Micky) has a reputation for being a ‘stepping stone’ for other boxers to get on and lives with the constant reminder of Dicky’s one time success. The story is that of Micky’s road from his brother’s shadow to his own limelight.

Kudos has to go to Sheila Jaffe who did the casting for this film. It’s genius. Every member of the cast is great and really inhabit the characters they portray. Christian Bale properly cranks it up to 11 as Dicky Eklund, I hate to use this word but his character goes on a ‘journey’ and Bale gives a performance that takes you on a ride so hectic Alton Towers would be proud to have it in their park. Prior to shooting the role had Matt Damon and Brad Pitt’s names attached to it but when I came out after seeing it I felt like Bale was the only man for the job.

On the flipside of that is Mark ‘The Muscles’ Wahlberg’s performance as Micky Ward. We’ll get the aesthetics out of the way first. He looks AMAZING! I was never one for men with muscles but after seeing this I’ve changed my mind. He’s been training since 2005 for this role which speaks volumes about his dedication to the story. He pushed this project more than anyone else, sending scripts to directors and waving his fee for the film. It’s clearly a project he cares about. His performance is as good as Christian Bale’s but for very different reasons. It's so reined in. Micky’s restrained emotional turmoil is palpable when you’re watching, he’s a man who clearly loves his family but knows they’re holding him back.

Melissa Leo is great as the brother’s Mother and Micky’s manager, Alice. She embodies every reason why families shouldn’t work together.  She and the group of actresses that play the boys 7 sisters make a terrifying team that reminded me of the witches of Eastwick or the Harpies.

The girl of a thousand roles, Amy Adams once again proves how great she is. I’m going to struggle to find a female character in any film this year that I’ll like as much as Charlene. Plus Amy Adams is going to be in the new Muppets film and that pretty much makes it impossible for me not to like her.

Ironically for a boxing film, the actual boxing fight scenes are the least convincing parts of it. Also they did that thing where they show the actual people that the story’s about right at the end in the credits, which kind of spoilt it a little bit for me. Those bits are a bit dodgy but the rest of the film is really well put together.

I liked it very much, it’s totally character driven film that made me care about boxing, which is no mean feat :-)

Hopefully this week I’ll get to see Gnomeo and Juliet which I’ll be honest, I’ve been excited about since I first saw the trailer, mainly to see Ozzy Osbourne do the voice of a ornamental garden deer.

Goodbye till next time :-)
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Telly Addict

Hello :-)

Today I’m in a lovely mood! So I'm going to talk about somehting I love :-)

Last year was a stellar year of telly, the good was really good and the bad… well, the less said about the epic FAIL that was ‘The Song of Lunch’ the better because it’ll ruin my mood.

In January Charlie Brooker brought another series of Newswipe to BBC 4. I’m a fan of Charlie’s articles in the Guardian and I understand some people don’t get it, but his brand of sarcastic, sometimes vitriolic, humour gives a voice to some of the things that I’m just too much of a wussy to say aloud. Brooker’s take on the news is brilliant, his feigned ignorance is always funny and the reviews of rolling news channels like Sky News and BBC News 24 (especially when they’re tackling big news stories such as the Haiti earthquake and not so big news stories such as the snow we’ve been having recently) are spot on. I know he doesn’t appeal to everyone but I, rather selfishly, hope they make another series.

When April came around it brought with it series 5 of Doctor Who and crucially the debut series for Dr Who newbie (Whobie???) Matt Smith. As an optimist I always had faith in Mr Smith, not as much faith as I had in David Tennant before him (because I’d previously seen ‘Casanova’ starring Tennant and it is excellent, find a copy if you can and I’d never seen anything Smith had been in), but still I had faith.

I bought the box set of series 5 at Christmas and it reminded me of just what a punch Matt Smith packs in that series. Amy Pond has cemented herself as my favourite companion with her independence and humour and it’s so nice to have an assistant that doesn’t just moon over the Dr for the whole series (cough…Martha Jones…cough). I also quite like the character of Rory. In the case of Doctor Who, 3 is not always the magic number as it’s almost universally acknowledged that no one liked Mickey when he was tagging along with the Dr and Rose so the introduction of a third character into the Tardis was a risky one. However, the crucial difference between Mickey and Rory is that Rory is involved in the story. His ‘Lone Centurion’ was adorable and brought a tear to my eye.

If I was forced to pick I’d say my favourite Episode is ‘Amy’s Choice’. It’s really inventive and has some of the best lines (Amy: “If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band”). Roll on series 6!

As April brought about the start of a new Doctor it heralded the last hurrah for the Gene Genie. Ashes to Ashes and Life on Mars before it are two amazing series. I’ll be honest I never liked Alex Drake like I did Sam Tyler but that didn’t stop my enjoyment of this series. Gene, Ray, Chris and Shaz were the best characters. I genuinely believed in them and cared about what happened to them. I think the last series was a fitting end for the characters I had bought into so much.

Towards the tail end of July is when Sherlock graced our screens. A series of 3, one and a half hour episodes that made me feel like nothing could top it. Benedict Cumberbatch (BEST NAME IN THE WORLD) was born to play Holmes. That detachment from emotion that Sherlock Holmes is supposed to have is played well, not as much as to render him unlikable but enough to make you think this man is different and really something special. Martin Freeman makes the perfect Watson, the emotional yin to Holmes’s logical yang. It’s through Watson we witness the events that unfold over the series. I’m so excited about the new series and if rumours to be believed I suspect this will be the last one which is fine by me because it’s often true that the brightest flames burn half as long.

September heralded series 4 of Mad Men to BBC 4 (fast becoming my favourite channel). This year the world seemed to go Mad Men crazy, you couldn’t move for features in Cosmo or Glamour telling you how to ‘Get the Mad Men Look’ or interviews with Jon Hamm and suggestions he could be next to take on the caped mantle of Superman. All of this made me want to shout ‘Where the hell have you been?!?!?! It’s the fourth series! It’s been around since March 08!’

Fashion aside (it PAINS me to say that because the clothes are beautiful) Mad Men is one of the best things that’s been on telly in recent years. It’s not fast paced but I don’t think that’s a bad thing and as far as character development, photography, script, plot development and central performances go it's pretty flawless.  Plus Christina Hendricks is gorgeous and I would give my right arm to look like her.

For me 2010 saved the best till last. In November E4 showed Misfits series 2. It's just great. Pitched perfectly (halfway between funny and dark), a great story and some brilliant performances make it the best thing about last year. Series 2 was definitely Simon's series and Simon was played fantastically by Iwan Rheon (Welsh, excellent actor, lovely singer songwriter, he may well be the perfect man). The decidedly un-Christmassy Christmas Special left us on a fantastic cliff hanger and I’m just so excited about where they’re taking it next.

So that was my TV of 2010. Feel free to comment if you think I’ve missed anything.

This year I’m looking forward to 10 o’clock live, the new series of Being Human, Charlie Brooker's How TV Ruined your life and all the new series of Sherlock, Misfits and Doctor Who and I’ll probably blog about those as and when they hit the small screen.

And now…

Today’s reasons to be cheerful

1.       I’m off to see the Kings Speech tomorrow! I’m excited for two reasons. 1) The film looks amazing and Colin Firth is well due some plaudits because I think he’s a brilliant actor and 2) it’ll be my first ever solo cinema trip. I’ve never been to the pictures on my own and I’m actually quite excited about it, hopefully it’ll mean none of my mates asking me ‘who’s he?’ or checking Facebook and blinding me with light pollution halfway through the film.

2.       Nintendo has denied producers the use of the Super Mario theme for the upcoming Justin Bieber film 'Never Say Never'. Yay! Apparently Bieber tweeted ‘Aw C'mon Nintendo! Y won't you let us use the Mario theme for 15 secs in the @JustinBieber movie’. I love how he felt the need to @mention himself in his own tweet. If anyone’s wondering why this qualifies as a reason to be cheerful, well it’s because I love Nintendo and they are denying Justin Bieber (who I can’t stand) something he wants.

3. Anne Hathaway has been announced as playing Catwoman and Tom Hardy (SWOON!) has been announced as playing Bane in the new Batman film. Tom hardy is a brilliant actor and I have loved him since I saw the adaptation of ‘Stuart: a Life backwards’. Most people will know Bane from 'Batman and Robin' where he’s an inarticulate, stupid, thug of a character but those familiar with the comics know that Bane is a much more rounded, intelligent character that’s a victim of a life in the penal system. I think Hardy will carry this off with aplomb, he’s obviously not going to be as hench (yes, i just said hench) as the Batman and Robin abomination (he was played by a wrestler which I think is all that needs to be said on the matter) but I think that’ll work with Christopher Nolan’s current vision of the story. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman is interesting. Not casting wise, she’s my hero, I love her and I’ll watch her in anything but the way it’s been announced is odd. She hasn’t been announced as playing ‘Catwoman’ they announced her as ‘Selina Kyle’, Catwoman's alter ego. It’s either they’re trying to distance themselves from the Razzie laden ‘Catwoman’ starring Hallie Berry OR Anne won’t be donning any PVC for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (if this is true you'll be hearing weaps of sorrow from Batman Fanboys everywhere). Either way I can’t wait.

And that’s it for tonight.

Goodbye till next time :-)

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