Movie Reviews: Solo

Solo: A Star Wars Story is the newest offering from the new batch of Star Wars films. Despite reviewing well, it's not done very well in the cinemas. It had a lot of problems during filming, including the lead actor, Alden Ehrenreich, needing an acting coach due to bad performance. They also changed director half way through filming due to creative differences and loads of it had to be reshot. I think these stories, coupled with The Last Jedi not being very good, and the last Star Wars film only coming out a few months ago put people off going to see it. Or perhaps it's a wider problem with the cinema industry in general. Our cinema has halfed its prices lately to encourage more people to come in. It's great for us, of course, but also a little concerning. All that being said, I did enjoy the film. The acting coach clearly did his job well, and I enjoyed all the performances, especially Donald Glover as young Lando. The story works well for the most part and there are some cool scenes, like a futuristic train heist and the surprise return of an underused character from the prequels. Speaking of underused characters, this film has one too. An underused crime boss centipede lady who's sensitive to sunlight. She was cool, for her minute of screen time. There was also a funny droid, as usual, this one voiced by a woman and very into rights and freedoms for droids. So that's something new. I do feel like the end had too many twists though. One would have been fine, not the six or seven we were thrown. I also think that this film didn't particularly look like a Star Wars film. I suppose it could be argued that this doesn't particularly matter in a wide galaxy, with lots of different things going on. I also wasn't too keen on what they did with the Kessel Run. It just seemed like what they did with it didn't particularly fit with what we already knew about it, and as if they just wanted to include it for the sake of covereing everything we know about Han Solo, rather than because it really fits into the story. But on the whole I enjoyed it and would recommend it. I think it's a shame a lot of the fans didn't come out to watch it.

Movie Reviews: Deadpool 2

I wasn't all that keen on the idea of a Deadpool sequel. I loved the first film. It was funny, filthy, full of great characters, great soundtrack and above all, ORIGINAL. Despite being a part of the Marvel universe, it was genuinely different to the other samey Marvel superhero films. It was a bit of surprise hit, and I was worried that the sequel just wouldn't be as good. I thought someone would realise that they could make money from it, and ruin it by trying to tone it down to appeal to a wider audience and change the feel of it with a big budget and an experienced director.

But I was wrong! It was still rude, crude and hilarious, with another great soundtrack! I think I still prefer the first one, but for a sequel it was great! It introduced some great new characters while being true to the spirit of the first one. The main problem is that very early in the film throws the auidence a massive curve ball that I didn't like. But they fix it at the very end of the film. So that's alright. Mostly. Anyway, good film.

Movie Reviews: Little Shop of Horrors

Why, oh why have I never seen this before? I really enjoyed it. It's a film based on an off-Broadway musical, based on an older film, about a man eating plant from outer space, all wrapped up in 80s gloriousness. It stars Rick Moranis with enjoyable brief appearances from Steve Martin, John Candy, Christopher Guest and Bill Murray. Steve Martin is particularly funny as an evil dentist who has posibly the weirdest death scene I've ever seen! Despite gruesome deaths, swearing, sadism and domestic abuse, the film still somehow manages to be warm and fuzzy. But what really made it for me was the music. I'll be singing "Little shop, little shop of horrors!" for weeks!

Film Reviews: Porco Rosso (Contains Spoilers)

I wouldn't describe myself as an anime fan as such, mostly because I've not really seen much of it and don't know too much about it.   I am, however, a huge Studio Ghibli fan.   Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away are all firm favorites.   Porco Rosso seems to be a lesser known Ghibli film, for some reason.   I really enjoyed it though.

The plot is fairly wacky, even by Ghibli standards.   It's about an anthropomorphic pig called Porco Rosso (red pig in Italian), who was an Italian fighter pilot in WWI.   Since being turned into a pig by a spell he now spends his time living alone on a hidden island, visiting his friend Gina, who is secretly in love with him, and fighting air priates for cash.   He's always careful not to permanently put the air pirates out of action though, in order to ensure himself a continuous supply of work.  Eventually the air pirates get fed up and hire an american pilot, Curtis, to take out Porco for them.   Porco however, has no intention of fighting Curtis.   He tries to fly to Milan for repairs, but Curtis is waiting for him and his plane gets badly damaged.   Porco manages to get it to Milan and a young female engineer, Fio, plans a complete redesign and overhaul.   Porco is impressed, despite his earlier scepticism about her skills.   With repairs complete Porco and Fio set off for Porco's island, but the air pirates are hiding in wait for them.   They threaten to tear up Porco's new plane but Fio gets them to agree to a duel, Porco versus Curtis, instead.   Their dogfight degenerates into a fist fight when both their guns jam.   Porco wins and Curtis has to pay Porco's repair bills.   Just then Gina arrives with the news that the air force is on the way.   Everyone scatters and Fio kisses Porco goodbye.   It's hinted at that this breaks the spell on him and he and Gina live happily ever after.  

I love how light-hearted and care-free this film feels throughout.   Despite the conflict, there aren't really any villains.   Everyone is essentially nice, they just happen to be on different sides.   As usual with a Ghibli film, the animation is gorgeous and the characters are larger than life.   For me this film has a special appeal because it looks so much like home.   The artists have really made an effort to make their landscapes look like Italy, and for certain locations I even have a pretty good idea where their inspiration came from.   The possible exception here is the canal in Milan.   It doesn't look quite right, somehow.   Too wide, perhaps, or too many bridges.   But this aside, there's still plenty to make me feel homesick.   There are also parts of it that feel pretty dated.   It was made in 1992 and I don't think a film could get away with the kind of sexist remarks that crop up in it today.   All in all though, a very enjoyable film.

 

Film Reviews: Star Trek, Into Darkness

I was a huge Star Trek fan when I was younger, but haven't watched the series in years.   The original series is the one I've seen the least of, so I went to see the previous Star Trek film without much idea of what to expect.   I loved it!   It was very different to the Star Trek I remembered, and I loved the new incarnation.   So I was very eager to see this sequel when it came out, and overall I was impressed.   It had the same sort of flavour as the last film, with impressive visuals, spunky characters, great jokes and lots of nods to the original series for the fans.   Like its prequel, it was also a film for everybody, not just one for the fans, which I thought was great.   The plot is slightly on the forgettable side, but the visuals, script and acting more than make up for it.   Again, Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Chekov, Bones and Scotty are brilliant, and Benedict Cumberbatch is, of course great as Khan.   He's everywhere at the moment, isn't he?   And I loved Spock yelling Khan! at the end!   Even someone like me who has never seen Wrath of Khan knows what a famous scene that is and can appreciate what they did with reversing Spock and Kirk's roles.   I do think, though, that it isn't quite as good as its predecessor.   Still great though, and I hope they make lots more!

Film Reviews: The Great Gatsby

Despite what the critics say I really like this film.   I love the colour, I love the over-the-top splendour, hell, I even love Tobey Maguire!   People complain that the film has lost all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's subtlety and poetry and that he's killed the spirit of the book.   But I think that books are open to interpretation and I like this one.   It wouldn't be a Baz Luhrman film if it wasn't a big and bold, dazzling, colourful, loud spectacular.   I think it's possibly even more so that Moulin Rouge.   It's about Gatsby, a wealthy but enigmatic man trying to win back Daisy, the wife of wealthy but nasty Tom Buchanan, in 1920s New York.   It doesn't end well for anyone.   It's told through the eyes of Nick Carraway, Daisy's cousin.   As I said, I love Tobey Maguire as Nick, and usually I don't have a lot of time for him.   I think Tom Buchanan and Jordan Baker (Daisy's friend) were perfect as well.   Exactly how I imagined them.   Contrary to the rest of the world though, I'm actually not that keen on Leonardo diCaprio as Gatsby.   Can't quite put my finger on what I didn't like...   One thing I would say though is that the story is a bit tricky to follow, but well, I suppose it was in the book as well.

  

Film Reviews: Apollo 13

Obviously this is quite an old film, but I only saw it for the first time recently, and I loved it!   Being a nerd it obviously appealed to me in the same way that anything to do with space and NASA does.   It's about the real life Apollo 13 mission that went horribly wrong.  The astronauts barely made it back to Earth.   It's an amazing story of courage and ingenuity made all the better because it's true, though obviously the film makers did use a little dramatic license.  I really enjoyed Tom Hanks's performance as Jim Lovell, the mission commander.   He portrayed him as a really warm and charismatic person, which must be very hard to act.  Well done!   I also loved the historical context.   For most people these days it seems NASA doesn't figure much in their everyday lives, but this film really gives an idea that back then everyone was excited by it.   Apollo 11 had just been to the moon and everyone seemed to be celebrating the amazing achievement.   It looks like it was an exciting time to be alive.   If you haven't seen it, it's well-worth a watch.

   

Film Reviews: Soylent Green

A classic movie that I only just got round to watching.   I really enjoyed this one.   For a start it's got Charlton Heston in it (yum yum).  It's a 70s sci-fi film with a difference.   A lot of sci-fi films from the 70s look unbelievably dated (with the obvious exception of Star Wars, which is still BRILLIANT!), but this one doesn't, mostly owing to the fact that it didn't try to look to look "futuristic" in the first place.   It's about a dectective called Thorn (Heston) who is investigating the murder of a high-ranking official in the Soylent company, which makes processed food from sea algae, which feeds the majority of the population.   The chain of events leads him to a Soylent processing factory where he sees human remains being processed into Soylent Green.   The rumours are true; the oceans are dead and have stopped supporting algae.   The discovery is too much for Thorn's assistant, an old man who remembers what the world used to be like.   He goes to a special clinic to die, and is played music and videos of how the world used to be before it got so hot.   He dies happy.   The film still works today because it's still chilling to watch, as people sleep on the streets and in the stairwells and queue up for water and Soylent Green.   It's poignant in today's world of global warming fears, strained resources and rapid population growth.   Seeing people get excited about luxuries such as a stick of celery and a tomato and air conditioning reminds us of how much we take for granted and what we could lose.   It also, shockingly, has young and beautiful girls in it who are referred to as "furniture" (they come with the key) for rich men.   Horrible.   A good and thought-provoking classic movie, but not exactly a feel-good film.

Film Reviews: Les Misérables

Never having seen Les Mis on stage, I didn't really know what to expect from the film, but I have to say that I really enjoyed it.   It was a big film, with lots of big scenes, big stars and lots of big songs.   I especially enjoyed Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baren Cohen as the nasty innkeepers.   They were hilarious!   Brilliant performances.   But what else could we expect from Helena Bonham Carter?   I enjoyed the little street urchin Gavroche as well.   Real talent there.   Everyone seems to have hated Russell Crowe's singing voice, but I didn't think he was that bad at all!   Not great, but passable.   There have definitely been worse!   Since watching this I've listened to the soundtrack a lot and there are so many brilliant songs in it and most of them really well performed.   My favorites were Eponine's song, On My Own, which is so beautifully sad and poignant, and Do You Hear the People Sing, which is so very stirring.   But there are loads of other good ones besides.   Some of it was a bit over-the-top melodramatic and drawn-out for me, but that's just because the original material is.   Not much the director (who by the way is Tom Hooper who directed one of my all time favorites, The King's Speech) could have done there without changing it dramatically.   And even as a smelly ragged prisoner I still found Hugh Jackman attractive!  

Film Reviews: Origin: Spirits of the Past

I got given this anime film for my birthday and watched it with no idea what to expect.   I have to say that I really enjoyed it.  The story isn't particularly original or entertaining, but it's just all so pretty!   The animation is gorgeous.   And there's so much green everywhere!   It's set in a post-apocalyptic future when genetically engineered trees have rebelled against the humans and taken over the planet.   Now the trees are in charge, controlling the water supply, and the humans live in the ruins of their old civilisation.   One day a young boy discovers a young girl from the past in stasis and wakes her up.   She can't cope with the new reality and sets out to try and defeat the trees and restore the planet to how it was in her time, by using a secret machine that her father built.   In the end, however, she learns a bit more about the world's history and changes her mind.   The humans and the trees make peace. 

My favorite landscape was the human city, with people living in spartan shelters with only the bare necessities on top of ancient ruined sky scrapers.   Such a great looking contrast and worked really well.   I love the man-made all mixed up with the natural, and I love how precarious the humans' existence looks.   The forest looked really good too.   The whole thing is just beautiful and has a very beautiful soundtrack as well that complements the animation perfectly.   The beauty of the film more than makes up for the slightly weak storyline.

Film Reviews: Pitch Perfect

As previously mentioned, I have a serious Pitch Perfect problem.   I must have watched the DVD about 15 times since I bought it.   It's the best film I've seen in ages.   It's about an angsty girl called Becca who goes to college and joins an a capella group, against her better judgement.   The group is set in its ways and afraid of change.   Obviously Becca saves the day and leads them to victory in the national championship.   How original.   Part of the appeal is obviously the brilliant soundtrack.   I really do love the a capella stuff.  It's gorgeous, and hilarious in parts.   But the songs in the film that aren't sung by the cast and are just part of the score were really well chosen too.   Favorites include Punching in a Dream by The Naked and the Famous, Keep you, by Wild Belle and Open Season, by High Highs.   As well as the musical appeal, it's also hilarious.   Most of the comedy comes from Rebel Wilson, who plays Fat Amy, one of Becca's bandmates.   Since seeing the film I have developed a great admiration for Rebel Wilson.   Most of her lines in the film were improvised, and I have wasted a huge amount of time watching interviews with her on youtube.   She's a funny lady!   Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins also deserve special mention for their brilliantly funny lines as the competition commentators.   All the main characters are really well written too.   Great script.   I will admit it is very girly though.   Probably not one for the gentlemen.   But girly in a strong, feminist type way.   Oh, and it does have a very over-the-top unnecessary vomitting scene, but apart from that, couldn't fault it. 

Film Reviews: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Quite a risky film to make, this one.   Tolkien has a huge number of fans, as does the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.   There was always going to be a huge amount of pressure on this movie to be good.   It was also a risky decision to split the film into three.   Was it really necessary?   The film follows Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, who is reluctantly sent off on a quest with 13 dwarves to go and claim back their old kingdom from Smaug the dragon.   They set out, battle trolls and goblins and get help from elves and eagles and wizards.   Personally, I enjoyed the film, but it's far from perfect.   I very much liked the casting choices.   Martin Freeman is a great choice for Bilbo.   He very much looks the part of a hobbit, and is a very believable young version of Ian Holm (Bilbo in the Lord of the Rings).   I liked the dwarves too and how they all have their own distinctive looks and styles.   In the book there wasn't very much character development for them at all.   They were pretty much just The Dwarves.   The film itself looks great too.   Really pretty and detailed, and with some very funny moments.   And i liked the touch of not seeing Smaug in the film.   All we see is one eye.   Keeping what he looks like as a surprise for a later film makes him more scary.   Nice!   I did feel the film was a bit drawn out though.   I could have understood the decision to split the film into two, as so many films seem to be doing, but I think three was a bit much.   There are plenty of bits that could have been cut.   I'm not talking about Radagast the wizard.   I think it was cool how much screen time he got.   I thought Peter Jackson did a really good job of taking a very minor character and really developing him into something the audience could really love.   But there was a lot of time spent messing about in Rivendell with the elves and wizards holding council that was just delaying the story in really getting going.   I doubt the scene would even have been made if the Lord of the Rings hadn't been made first.   Though I must admit it was bloody impressive how they managed to make all the actors look the same age as they did in Lord of the Rings.   I felt there were some really over the top moments as well, like the dwarves throwing plates around Bilbo's kitchen, and somehow I don't think the Great Goblin would be very likely to just say "That'll do it" when someone runs him through with a sword.   Oh, and the Great Goblin's voice just didn't go well with his body either.   No.   Still, despite all this the film works pretty well, and retains a lot of the same magic and magnificence that made us all love the Lord of the Rings films so much, and I remain a big Peter Jackson fan.  

        

Film Reviews: My Fair Lady

I finally got round to watching My Fair Lady recently.   Yes, I know, how on Earth had I gone that long without watching it?   Especially considering how much I like musicals, and Audrey Hepburn, come to that.   Well, I'd seen bits of it before on Youtube, including The Rain in Spain and Wouldn't It Be Loverly, but I'd never bothered to sit down and watch the whole thing.   And I did enjoy it.   Rex Harrison was brilliant, and it was really funny.   Audrey Hepburn as a pretty unconvincing cockney was so annoying though!   I just wanted to slap her whenever she opened her mouth!   My only reaction when she learned the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain was thank fuck for that!   I did enjoy the costumes and the parties though, especially that incredible races hat!

  But the ending is wrong!!   Clearly the right ending is not that she goes back to him, it's that he goes looking for her and apologises!   Silly film makers!   But still, good film.  

Film Reviews: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Before I start I would just like to say that I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter books.  the films, not so much, but, being reasonably impressed with part 1, I thought I may as well watch part 2 too.   I was a little skeptical at first.   After all, in part 1 they'd got all the way up to Lord Voldemort taking the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb.   Beyond that point how much story was left really?   The battle for Hogwarts and that was it.   Was the entire film going to be one long battle scene?   But no!   It was actually really well done.   There was quite a bit of story in it.   Snape's memories take up a fair amount of time and do add a lot of substance to the film.   It's feels like a whole, complete film that you can watch without having to watch part 1 at the same time.   The polyjuice potion scene was really well done too - Helena Bonham Carter acting as Hermione, acting like Bellatrix Lestrange was really odd to watch!   Also interesting to see Crabbe's part in the film being filled by Goyle and Goyle's by Zabini instead.   Apparently Jamie Waylett who played Crabbe got sacked for drugs.   Ah well.   And they kept in Mrs Weasley's line!   She says the B word.   I'm glad they kept it in.   It's a great line.   Predicatably enough they gave it a more Hollywood ending though.   Harry snaps the wand rather than putting it back in the tomb.   I can forgive that, because it's the same outcome really.   Doesn't affect the story.   I wasn't that impressed with the final scene though.   The effort at aging the actors seemed a bit half-hearted.   Though I suppose that witches and wizards do live longer than muggles, so maybe they were purposefully aged accordingly?   But all in all, my favorite of the Harry Potter films, and yes, I did cry like a baby!

Childhood Favorites

Been watching childhood favorites again.   First up, Casper.   When I told a friend I was about to watch it again he advised me not to.   He said that when you watched it again as an adult you realised how bad it was.   But he was wrong!   It was still great!   It was still funny and cool.    An exciting adventure with great comedy elements and cool special effects.   It's about a ghost hunter and his daughter who move into a scary old house to try and evict the ghosts that live there, at the request of the house's vile owner, but end up befriending the ghosts instead.   It's a great little film.   And of course I do <3 Eric Idle.

Next, Hocus Pocus.   Another Halloween film that was much more exciting and fun than creepy.   This one is about some kids who accidently bring three dead witches back to life and they reek havock, and the kids have to sort out all the trouble.   Again this one is very funny, exciting and just plain fun!   Why don't they make movies like this anymore?   And Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker all gave great performances as the three evil witches.       

And now Honey I Blew Up the Kid.   This is the sequel to Honey I Shrunk the Kids.   It's set a few years after the original film, and the family now have a two year old son, Adam.   In an unfortunate accident, Adam starts to grow enormously.   He's soon towering over the city and the family are struggling to control him.   It's all sorted out in the end though, and Adam returns to his normal size.   This is another good one.  It's funny, original and happy.   The third film, though, Honey We Shrunk Ourselves, is awful.   It's not funny, badly written, badly acted and just doesn't have the same feel to it as the first two films.   It gives the distinct impression of being nothing but a money-maker.   Not worth your time.

Films

Another film review post.   I'm going to start off with The English Patient.   As previously mentioned, this is one I'd seen before.   I just wanted to rewatch it now that I'd read the book.   I have to say that being able to compare them now I like the changes the film makers made.   They gave the story a proper ending and took out some of the silly bits.   I love most of the casting as well!   Juliette Binoche was perfect for Hana, and Ralph Fiennes was perfect for the Count (though he ought to be careful; what with this part and Lord Voldemort he's getting to be quite type cast as people with no faces).   I loved Kristin Scott Thomas as Catherine Clifton too.   The only character I thought could have been cast better was Caravaggio.   Willem Dafoe was just a bit too sinister I thought.   But yes, I feel I can now definitively say that The English Patient is both a great film and a great adaptation.

Next, Lost in Tanslation.   One I'd never got round to watching before.   It's pretty good!   It's about an aging movie star, played by Bill Murray,who's in Japan filming adverts and lonely.   He's having problems with his wife and doesn't know anyone in Tokyo.   That's when he meets a lonely young wife (Scarlett Johansson) who's accompanying her husband on a business trip, but he's neglecting her and having fun with his friends.   The two of them strike up a friendship and go around Tokyo together.   It's quite an artsy film.   One you don't watch for the story or the dialogue, but for the shots.   A lot of the time it just seems to be show-casing Tokyo, especially Tokyo night life, and there are long periods with no dialogue at all.   It's very atmospheric and quite melancholy.   I imagine it to be a good film to stick on at the end of a night out, when there are lots of people crowded together in a dark room and it's very late and everyone is quite sleepy and perhaps a little intoxicated.   And they must have worked pretty hard to get Scarlett Johansson to look like a Plain Jane.

            





And finally, Ladies in Lavender.   This was an interesting one.   It's about two elderly sisters played by Maggie Smith and Judi Dench who find a shipwrecked boy washed up on the beach in the 1930s.   They don't have a language in common, but they take care of him and grow to love him.   In fact one of them actually falls in love with him, despite the massive age gap.   In the end he leaves for London without saying anything where he becomes a famous violinist.   This one was also pretty and atmospheric, showing off the English countryside, though I'm not sure about the colour palette they used.   It made the sea look quite odd and unnatural.   And Maggie Smith was brilliant, as always.

  

Films

Time for a review of some of the films I've watched lately.   First up, Letter to Brezhnev.   It's a 1985 film about two young working class women on a night out who meet two Russian sailors.   One of them falls in love, and is determined to see her sailor again after he sails away.   But it's the middle of the Cold War, so she faces lots of obstacles to going to Russia to find him.   The movie ends with her getting on a plane to Russia.   I quite enjoyed this.   I liked the beginning with the two sassy young woman having fun and running wild in Liverpool.   I quite liked how the ending was uncertain, and not a smoochy happily ever after.   The middle was so horrifically cheesy though!   With the two young lovers banging on about stars and destiny.   Ugh.   And the stars looked awful too!   Bad special effects!   But if you don't watch the middle section it's an alright film.   A bit different.

Next, the 1933 black and white live action version of Alice of Wonderland.   I have to say this was almost as bizarre a trip as reading the original book.   Very very odd.   There was a surprising amount of content in it.   As well as using the whole Alice's Adventures in Wonderland "story", they also do Through the Looking Glass, and some other Lewis Carroll elements that had nothing to do with either book, like The Walrus and the Carpenter.   I wonder if this is where Disney got the idea to include it in their version as well.   There are quite a few famous people in this, like Cary Grant, W. C. Fields and Gary Cooper, though sadly none of their perfomances are really note worthy.   I was reasonably impressed by the actress of Alice though.   The special effects, such as Alice growing and shrinking are also pretty good for the time, and I think that on the whole the film captured the madness of Alice in Wonderland pretty well.

And finally, To Rome With Love.   It's another one of those films by Woody Allen set in a European city.   It also has Woody Allen himself in it.   It has several sets of characters and several stories, some in English and some in Italian.   There's a young American tourist who falls in love with an Italian, whose parents are meeting for the first time.   The bride's father (Woody Allen) discovers that the groom's father is an excellent opera singer and is determined to make him a star, however the groom's father and his family are very reluctant.   There's a young newly wed couple arriving in Rome for the first time.   The wife goes to get a haircut, gets lost, and has an adventure.   Meanwhile the husband gets sent a prostitute by mistake and has to spend the day pretending to his family that she's his wife.  The prostitute is played by Penelope Cruz, whose Italian is excellent.   Her performance impressed me.   Then Roberto Benigni plays a nobody who one day wakes up to find he's famous for no reason at all.   Everywhere he goes he has journalists following him and women throwing themselves at him.   At the end of the film everyone forgets about him overnight and his life goes back to normal.   There's no explanation at all given for any of this.   It's a nonsensical little story, but I really liked it.   Whimsical and silly.   And I love Roberto Benigni!   He's so funny.   The last story concerns an American couple studying in Rome.   A friend of the girlfriend's comes to stay and the boyfriend ends up having an affair with her.   In the end the friend leaves him and goes back to America for a film role.   She's played by Ellen Page and the boyfriend is played by Jesse Eisenberg.   Alec Baldwin also plays a role in this story, as a famous architect, the boyfriend's hero.   He spends the story looking over the boyfriend's shoulder and giving him advice.   But I have to say that it's not very clear about whether they ever did meet in real life or not, or whether the boyfriend just imagines him being there from the start.   Bit odd.   I really enjoyed the film though.   It's very funny, and seeing as I love Rome, it's really nice to see it on screen like that.   I thoroughly enjoyed Woody Allen's performance too.   The film is quirky and charming.   Recommended.  

Films

A couple more film reviews for you.   The first is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.   I really enjoyed this.   It's set in India but has a quintessentially British feel to it.   It's about a group of British pensioners who, for various reasons, all decide to go and live in the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in India.   Each character has their own story, but all the stories are interwoven.   Some of them feel right at home in India and others can't cope.   It stars all the people you would expect it to, like Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy.   It's the performances, rather than the story that make the film for me.   Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Celia Imrie were all great, but Dev Patel as Sonny, the eternally optimistic manager of the hotel was especially brilliantly funny.   A funny film that leaves you with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

 



And now, Brave, the latest offering from Pixar.   All of Scotland is going mad for it, because it's set in Scotland, and I must confess I'm no exception.   It makes Scotland look so pretty!   It's about a feisty young princess called Merida who doesn't want to get married, so she turns her mother into a bear.   As you do.   She then spends the rest of the film mending the damage.   Again, there aren't really any surprises in the casting.   Kelly McDonald, Billy Connolly, Robbie Coltrane etc.   It's a great film.   Cute and moving and very funny.   It's also really easy to watch.  I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but it felt like the film doesn't expect too much of the audience.   It makes you feel like you to watch it you don't have to be clever or "normal".   Like being you is fine.   It's a very accepting film.   Yes, I am a weirdo...

And finally, Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate).   It's a very odd, but very good Mexican film.   It's about a young girl called Tita who is forbidden to marry the man she loves.   She starts expressing herself through her cooking, and this has very strange consequences on all those who eat it.   Plenty of magic, plenty of mystery, plenty of Old Mexico and some really excellent performances.   A really unique film!

     

Childhood Favorites

Recently I've been watching kids' films that I used to love but hadn't seen in a while.   I'd like to share my thoughts on them.   First up, The King and I.

This is one of those films that just about everyone watches at school, and then we all have to sing the songs from it.   I hadn't seen it since then.   It's the film version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, which was based on the Margaret Landon novel, Anna and the King of Siam, which in turn was based on Anna Leonowens' memoirs.   The film stars Deborrah Kerr, as Anna Leonowens, the school teacher to the children of the King of Siam, and Yul Brynner as the King.   It's a good musical, the story is interesting and the portrait of the Siamese court is rich but what really made the film for me was Yul Brynner's performance.   His Oscar-winning portrayal of the King is so appealing.   I did find the ending a bit weak though.   Anna is mean to the King so he gets ill and dies, the end.   But a good film, all in all.

Next, Return to Oz.   Weird 80s kids' films are my favorites!   So I was always going to love this.   Rather than being a sequel to the 1939 film, it looks completely different.   It's based on an amalgamation of the later Oz books by L. Frank Baum, of which I was a fan when I was younger.  It sees Dorothy return to the land of Oz but everything has changed.   The Nome king has stolen the ruby slippers, taken over Oz and turned everyone to stone.   Dorothy has to defeat him and the evil witch Mombi and save the day, while making lots of new friends on the way.   It's a very imaginative and well-made film, with some genuinely scary characters and moments.   Love it!

And finally, Honey I Shrunk the Kids.    Is it just me, or were films far more imaginative back in the 80s?   It's about an eccentric inventor whose machine accidently shrinks his children to tiny sizes.   They get swept up and thrown away, and have to make their way back across the garden, dodging all sorts of obstacles that would have presented no problem at all if they were their normal size, such as ants, bees, the lawnmower and very small puddles or water.   The film is very well done and enjoyable and brings back fond memories of playing in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground at the MGM studios in Florida when I was little.  

    

Films and TV

Hello!  Here are some reviews of some of the films and TV shows I've watched lately. 

First up, Shaun of the Dead.   I have mixed feelings about this film.   I really enjoyed this up to a certain point, and then it went downhill for me.   It's a fairly typical zombie movie, with a hilarious Simon Pegg and Nick Frost take on it.   It's silly, quirky and typically British.   But I stopped enjoying after Simon Pegg's character had to shoot his mum.   I know that it wouldn't have been a zombie movie without that moment, but I really hated it.   Apart from the comedy my favorite aspect with this film was the cast, which included so many of my favorites.   As well as Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Bill Nighy, Dylan Moran and Penelope Wilton were in it as well, all of whom I love.   And it made me stupidly happy to see Lucy Davis in it as well.   I loved her as Mariah Lucas in Pride in Prejudice many years ago, and hadn't seen her in anything else since.   But that's probably just me.   But yes, loved it until everyone started dying.

  




Next, the Mighty Boosh.   I watched all three seasons.  Basically I would describe it as "What the hell is this and why can't I stop watching it??".   Quirky doesn't even begin to describe the oddness of this TV show.   It revolves around the lives of Vince Noir and Howard Moon and all the bizarre adventures they have.   The costumes are wacky, the sets are cheap and very homemade looking, the stories are completely bizarre and I'm not even sure what makes it funny.   But somehow it is!   Perhaps it's the comedic genius of Noel Fielding.   Or maybe the songs.   I don't know.   I like it, but I have idea why!  

And finally, Rough Science.   Being a massive nerd, in my opinion this is just about the best TV series ever made!   They take a handful of scientists, drop them somewhere in the middle of nowhere with minimal equipment and get them to use their scientific knowledge to make things and do things.   The experiements don't always work, but I found it truly amazing what people could accomplish and bodge together and invent in just three days, using bits and bobs they found lying around.  Science rules!   The first series saw the team on a mediterranean island doing things like working out where they were, making a compass and building a radio.   The second series was set on a Carribean island doing things like mapping the island, making suncream and insect repellent.   The third took place in New Zealand, with the emphasis being on gold mining.   Using various methods the team eventually collected enough gold to make a gold pendant.   The fourth was space themed and was filmed in Death Valley, California.  The fifth was ocean themed, filmed in Zanzibar and the sixth was filmed in the San Juan mountains of Colarado.   I really enjoyed all six series.   They did some really impressive stuff.   Science at its best!   A really well done series!