Time well spent

Derailed (28/08/10)
Vincent Cassel plays a brilliant bad guy. He really is. I don’t think this film would have been quite as watchable had he not been as good as a villain. It’s a decent enough thriller with a decent enough twist. Nothing really takes it beyond being just good enough. Which isn’t a bad thing. Oh and it had Russel from True Blood in it! Momentarily.
Rating: 3/5

Atonement (29/08/10)
Another DVD that’s been just sitting on my shelf, being unwatched for far too long. Very good film beautifully made. I loved the scene at Dunkirk, on the beach. Just amazing! The ending makes it all worthwhile. Great film.
Rating: 5/5

Sky High (30/08/10)
This film was an accidental watch. It’s a Bank Holiday, you’ve just come back from spending the morning shopping and feeling a little bit tired. Slumped on the sofa, not wanting to do much but watch some mindless TV. This was what was on and it was entertaining enough. Bit more than Derailed – there was a little bit too much typical teen stuff going on for me. Think I’m getting old! Only ‘young’ face I recognised was Mary Elizabeth Winstead! Hello Ramona Flowers! Oh and Bruce Campbell probably gives it one more point than it should do.
Rating: 2/5

I had plans on having a French-ish film weekend. That didn’t quite work – maybe next weekend!

Though talking of French films, I’ve just found out that the French film I saw the other weekend – Pour Elle has been remade as an American film starring Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks and is titled The Next Three Days. I feel like I need to see the remake, just so I can compare.

Read on to see all the movies I’ve seen so far this year.

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[REC] (09/07/10)
I had no expectations of this film other than I could potentially have a jump and it was in another language so I would be reading some subtitles. I sat and watched and got sucked in. Very good horror movie which actually did make me jump a couple of times. For me that’s rare. I liked the fact there they didn’t feel a need to explain things. Things happened and you just get caught up in the events and go along with it like the characters in the film did. Quite like to see the sequel now.
Rating: 4/5

Inception (17/07/10)
Chris Nolan is awesome. He picks the best cast, creates the best films and makes my mind explode and implode. I loved Inception. My brain did hurt a little while watching and after watching. I’m not going to say too much so as not to give too much away but it was awesome. JGL needs to be in more films. Please. And have guns. Also Tom Hardy was a nice surprise, he was very good! And the score was brilliant. LOVED!
Rating: 5/5

Moon (18/07/10)
This was also nothing like i was expecting, though I had very few expectations. Just that I was meant to love this. And I did. Sam Rockwell was brilliant. He carried the film amazingly well.
Rating: 5/5

Read more to see the full list of movies I’ve seen so far this year.

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It’s been a long time since this blog has been updated let alone anymore movies being added. Never mind, playing catch up now!

Underdog May
Just a poor kids movie that I got suckered into watching due to boredom, a heat wave and a cute pup.
Rating: 1/5

Dan in Real Life May
I’m not a fan of Steve Carell. I appreciate that the majority of people find him hilarious, but not me. It’s probably why this film’s been sitting on my Sky box for so long. It’s not Steve Carell as I know him, and for that I was grateful. Very sweet film with some funny moments.
Rating: 3/5

In the Loop May
I wish I could swear like one of the characters out of this film. I didn’t know what was going on for most of the first half of the film, but the swearing was fantastic. I got into it towards the end, and it got a few laughs out of me.
Rating: 3/5

State of Play 19/06/10
Brilliant thriller. Never saw the original BBC drama this was based on but eh. Doesn’t really matter. The film was awesome.
Rating: 4/5

Pride and Glory 19/06/10
This is the kind of film where I think everyone in it is really good but the plot just didn’t grab me. Typical dirty cops kind of film.
Rating: 2/5

The Losers 20/06/10
Fun film to watch on a Sunday afternoon. Very little brain activity needed. Brilliant bits of action – don’t need anything more!
Rating: 3/5

Read more to see the full list of movies I’ve seen so far this year.

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In a very short stretch of time I watched more movies than I have done. Well, since I was ill. Here they are:

Green Zone (11/03/10)
Motivation to watch this movie? Matt Damon + Paul Greengrass. Yeah, I love the Bourne movies. A lot. Even though I was late on the badnwagon, though it was Greengrass’ Ultimatum which ultimately led me to watch Identity. Back to this movie – loved it. A lot of reviews are saying it’s Bourne gone epic, which I almost agree with. Other than the fact that lead character, Roy Miller, played by Matt Damon, is only like Jason Bourne in that he takes action. Oh and the hand held camera feel of the movie. It’s a great political thriller with enough action in it to keep the action fiends happy. Matt Damon was brilliant. I was surprised to see Jason Isaacs in the movie – I didn’t know he was in it and his handlebar ‘tache disguised him pretty damn well!

John Powell’s score was awesome. He’s becoming a bit of a favourite with me now. It was all wrapped up a little too well by the end of the movie, but I’m not too fussed. Everything that went on before the ending was brilliant and the last action scene was just amazing. Loved it.
Rating: 4/5

Whip It (12/03/10)
Brilliant movie. Funny and well acted and very, very good. After it I felt the need to go and either see a Roller Derby or join up somewhere. I want to go rollerskating! Cast were brilliant and the story, while simple, well told. Just a shame it’s taken so long coming out here – the soundtrack sounded a little out of date!
Rating: 4/5

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (12/03/10)
The less I say about this movie the better. Awful. The best bit was over in the beginning of the movie so I had nothing more to look forward to. So so bad. Not even bad good!
Rating: 0/5

Shutter Island (13/03/10)
I was really looking forward to this film. REALLY looking forward to it. The first trailer just looked awesome. A mixture of thriller and scary film, with enough mystery and jumps to keep me entertained with a great leading man. For the most part it did tick those boxes, but I was left feeling a tad disappointed by the end of the movie. It wasn’t an overly long movie, but it felt long. There was a lot of attempts to fool the viewer of what was really going on and for the most part they worked. I picked up a few things and put the clues together. The ‘twist’ disappointed me – had the twist been better I might have been more satisfied. It did look great, Leo was fantastic and it did keep me mostly entertained.
Rating: 3/5

Read more to see the full list of movies I’ve seen so far this year.

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I think this is the highest number of movies I’ve seen in a single week. Or the last couple of weeks. It’s what helps me feel better when I’m not so well. So here’s the last few days worth of movies.

Alice in Wonderland (05/03/10)
I didn’t have the highest of high hopes for this movie. I was going into it expecting some amazing stuff from Tim Burton’s mind, crazy stuff from Johnny Depp’s and general entertainment. That’s roughly what I got. I did go and see the 3D version of the film and, to be honest, the 3D didn’t grab me. As more and more movies try out the 3D I’m finding myself getting more and more jaded by it. Not once did I oo or ahh at the 3D. In fact I was vaguely more impressed by the 3D trailer for Toy Story 3 and the Sky 3D advert! Some people in the cinema ooo’d when a teacup came flying at the screen, but in my mind it wasn’t really coming out of the screen.

Enough poo-pooing 3D, what about the film? I really enjoyed it, as I already said. The couple things I really liked was the vision and the casting. Tim Burton’s mind never fails to give you something that looks amazing. And I wasn’t disappointed at all here. Wonderland looked amazing. All the characters were brilliantly conceived. Just lovely to look at. Then there’s the casting, which in my mind was perfect. Everyone from Mia Wasikowska as Alice to Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. I couldn’t fault any of the cast on their roles. Just perfect casting. And Johnny Depp? Well he plays crazy really well and I thought he was great as the Mad Hatter.

I was slightly disappointed with Danny Eflman’s score. It really wasn’t that memorable. I can’t remember the last score of his where I thought ‘wow’.

It was a nice enough story. Nothing mind blowing and nothing unexpected. Good entertainment in my mind. I think my score might look slightly inflated, but I really loved the look of the movie.
Rating: 4/5

Bolt 06/03/10
Disney’s Bolt – a movie about a girl and her dog. Or just the dog. I’m a bit upset at myself for waiting so long seeing this movie. I’m a dog lover and I lap up anything that involves dogs and Disney. Yes, even Snow Buddies. I loved the film. Much funnier than I was expecting and I warmed to all of the characters more than I thought I would. I even forgot Miley Cyrus was in it! Bolt just reminded me of Axel so much at times! I miss that dog. So I had a fair few tears watching the movie. More than I was expecting. Rhino was hilarious. He really made me laugh. All in all a be-awesome Disney movie!
Rating: 4/5

Gran Torino (06/03/10)
I wasn’t expecting to laugh in this movie. All I knew was that it was Clint Eastwood going all badass on a bunch of neighbourhood thugs. There were quite a few laughs! Just at the bits where Walt is getting to know his neighbours and really getting into the community spirit. Fantastic film. Clint Eastwood was brilliant and I just really enjoyed the whole thing. Not completely what I was expecting, but that was a good thing. And the car? It is a thing of beauty! And here it is!
Rating: 5/5

Franklyn (07/038/10)
Umm, I don’t know what to say about this film. Throughout most of the beginning I was clueless as to what was going on. I thought the two narratives jarred incredibly. I understood how the two narratives were connected, but I just couldn’t buy into it. I was impressed by Ryan Philippe’s English accent! Eva Green was good too. Just couldn’t get behind this film much.
Rating: 2/5

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With yet more recovery and resting at home, a few more movies have been seen:

Flags of Our Fathers (03/03/10)
I like war movies. Not that I like watching wars or anything, but I like the history aspect and there’s something about them. Maybe the depression in them! I liked this movie. It really made war look brutal and harsh. It didn’t glamorise it at all. It did well at creating the sense or camaraderie there is between men at war. The cast were really very good – I kept seeing actors and thinking, ‘Ooo, I recognise him’ throughout the whole movie. Visually the movie was stunning. The war scenes just looked so bleak.
Rating: 4/5

A History of Violence (03/03/10)
What a brutal and depressing movie. Well partly depressing. Very harsh movie. Viggo was fantastic in it and really sold the role he was playing. I really liked Maria Bello in this movie. The only other thing I’ve seen her in was the third Mummy movie where she did her terrible impression of Rachel Weisz. Great movie. Just not something I’d like to see again any time soon, just because it’s quite harsh!
Rating: 4/5

Office Space (04/03/10)
Why has it taken me so long to watch this movie?! It’s been sitting on my Sky Box for more months than I can even think of. I honestly can’t remember when I recorded it but so glad I did. I loved this movie. Really funny. There’s some bits about that office life that I could relate to, to some extent. The characters were hilarious and I just loved the whole movie. Milton made me laugh a lot and then think, ‘Aww bless’. Fantastic movie.
Rating: 5/5

The Eye (04/03/10)
The movie was on and I wasn’t going anywhere, so I sat and watched it. It was OK, as far as adapted horror movies go. I was getting a bit bored part way through the movie because I felt it took far too long to get to the point of the movie and actually go anywhere. I didn’t understand why Sydney kept going back to the doctor, who clearly didn’t care. But then did care. I didn’t jump at all throughout the whole movie. Nothing that unexpected and it was all a rather happy ending. Well, actually, that I wasn’t expecting.
Rating: 2/5

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