'A boys best friend is his mother' - A special review of Bates Motel, Series 1

This is the first and maybe only time we'll do a review of a TV series on our blog, mainly because we usually don't watch any. But back in September, we both agreed we'd give 'Bates Motel' a go, especially since it was a modern day prequel to one of my favourite films and a film Rosie enjoyed, Psycho, and it had a promising cast. So, yeah, we decided to review it after finishing the last episode on Thursday!

Was it an enjoyable series? Yes. Was it anything groundbreaking? No. Could it have been better? Yes. Will I watch the second series? Probably, if anything just out of curiosity. While Bates Motel was mostly honest to the original plot of Psycho, it did stray slightly from the original story in places and the modern yet old setting sometimes came across as confusing. At times it was predictable, at times it was slow moving and at times there were gaping plot holes and unresolved storylines. Credit to the cast, especially Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga as his mother, who performed very well and the main storyline of the series did keep you guessing right to the very quite unsatisfying end. 

Overall its an enjoyable story that doesn't take itself too seriously. The Norman-Norma relationship is unsettling but only in subtle ways in this series. For the second series I would like to see more development between Norman and his mother and more focus on Normans relationships with others rather than other storylines such as the major human trafficking ring story of this series. Series two is currently filming and is scheduled to be broadcast in 2014. I think that the show will improve as the series go on and the characters grow older. Watching this series has made me slightly more inclined to watch Psycho II, III and IV, but, we'll see.

Overall rating: 7/10

Ollie

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Review

Last night Rosie and I went to see the second installment of The Hunger Games series. I read all 3 books and watched the first film almost 2 years ago and was very impressed with the series, however was slightly let down with the first film. It lacked the suspense of the novel, missed out key plot points and felt watered down. Nonetheless, I was hoping that Catching Fire, personally my favourite book, was going to be better and so made Rosie watch the first earlier on in the week. 

Catching Fire is one of, if not the best book to film adaptation I've ever seen. It includes almost every aspect of the book, uses original quotes and really captures the suspense of the novels which the first one failed to do. Casting was brilliant, especially Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss and Donald Sutherland as President Snow. There was also brilliant character development of characters we didn't see as much of in the original film, such as Effie and Gale. 

The story, if you're thinking is just another rip off of the original, involves Katniss and Peeta becoming faces of a rebellion within the districts of Panem and becoming targets of the Capitol in an attempt to stop the rebels. And as the Hunger Games reaches its 75th Year, a Quarter Quell, a special twist is revealed - that the tributes for the 75th Games will be reaped from the existing pool of victors.

While constantly entertaining, even at its run time of 2 hours and 30 minutes, the film touches upon important topics and is far more than just a teenage action film. Catching Fire is a bold and brilliant drama film that other directors need to look at and learn from.

Overall rating: 10/10

(Original film: 7/10)

A weekend of film

I'm not sure if watching 3 films on a Saturday qualifies as a weekend of film, but it's the most we've watched in one day for quite a while. We actually spent 11 hours sat on a sofa (with occasional breaks of course) and  if that's not dedication to film then I don't know what is. This is just a quick little post to keep all you folks up to date.

American History X (oooh), The Departed (oooh), and The Hills Have Eyes II (oooh dear) were the films in question this weekend (we had planned to watch Hunger Games before the release of its successor Catching Fire on the 21st but Ollie's knock off piracy copy wouldn't play...)

The best of the bunch was, unsurprisingly, American History X, followed closely however by The Departed. American History X really was a spectacular piece of film making. We watched The Believer a short while ago starring Ryan Gosling which runs along a similar story line to it, but isn't as good. And The Departed, with an all star cast was brilliant too, but with a slow start. Jack Nicholson was great as always, mixing humor with his characters dark nature. 

Both American History X and The Departed are films that I would recommend, however if you are reading this post and like film even just a little bit, I would bet you've already seen both. So that was a pretty pointless post upon revising.

Rosie

Amour - Review

We were at film club again this week and this time to see the 2012 French drama, 'Amour' (which is French for Love if you're in need of severe help) directed by Michael Haneke. I had high hopes for this as it looked like a nice arty love story that would get us both emotional. Sadly, it was probably one of the films I've least enjoyed at film club.

Although it is a good story and a sad one, it is unnecessarily long. I'm no length snob, but at over 2 hours it is way too long and so much time is taken up by mundane things - staring out a window, making tea, forced pigeon imagery. The problem with Amour is that it didn't try hard enough - it was dull. The story follows an elderly couple who struggle to cope when the wife gets dementia and he has to care for her. The ending, where the husband murders his wife out of pity can be seen a mile off and in my opinion the whole film isn't an accurate representation of dementia and other memory illnesses. It didn't go far enough into emotions of both the couple and those around them and other factors which come in when someone dear is very ill. Sorry about the spoiler just then but you kind of already know from the off what happens because the film begins with the wife dead on her bed.

However I must commend the two lead roles -Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva who were both superb and it was more the screenplay that let the film down and not them at all. Although we were left disappointed, we are looking forward to the next offering, 'Ginger and Rosa' in 2 weeks time. It was also fun to stuff our face with ice cream and make Michael Myers jokes (much to the fury of someone in front of us).

Overall rating: 5/10

Gravity - Review

This was the most anticipated film of the year for myself and Ollie, so we couldn't wait to see it, especially after hearing rave reviews from many film critics. We chose to see it in 3D because even though we don't like it at all (usually its used as a stupid gimmick in films that don't need it and after the film you are left with a headache and wondering why the hell 3D ever became a thing) this film was said to be the best use of 3D in the history of cinema. I have to say the 3D was very effective in this, and I completely agree that it is the best use of it that I have ever seen. However, 3D or not, this film is spectacular.

It's the most tense film I've ever seen, just as you think everything's all ok, you are plunged into the tension again. The film is a 2 man show; Sandra Bullock is absolutely sublime and George Clooney makes a very good support. The cinematography is unbelievable, they spent 4 years creating the film, and had to actually invent the technology to make it, and you can really tell upon watching it, it is something never seen before in cinema.

This is the best film of 2013 for me, and I wouldn't be surprised if it swept up every Academy Award going.

10/10

Ollies decades: the '40s

So I've decided that over the coming months I'm going to post my 5 favourite films from each decade. How fun. I'm a lover of films no matter how old or new they are so I'm starting with the 40's - the decade in which cinema really became a major art form. Here are my favourite five films from the 40's - please take note that this decade is the decade I've watched the least amount of films from so I'm in no way saying these are THE best films of the '40s, just some of my favourites that I've seen.

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

A poor and distant relative of a Duke attempts to murder all those in line the line of succession to the title. This bizarre dark comedy drama should be the definition of dramatic irony and it's way ahead of its time and if this was re-released in colour it would be up to today's standards. Extremely clever yet not too serious, this is 40's film making at its best.


Bicycle Thieves (1949)

This neorealist Italian post war film tells the simple and bleak story of a man searching for a bicycle that is vital for his job. This left me speechless, I was so surprised that such a simple film could leave such an impact.


A Chump at Oxford (1940)

A fine Laurel and Hardy film and probably their last great film as the standard of their films decreased as the 40's began and they moved from Hal Roach to 20th Century Fox. Stan and Ollie both foil a bank robbery and are sent to Oxford University as payment - however their peers meet them with resentment. Another disturbing film from the duo, up there with Oliver the Eighth where Ollie faces death if he falls asleep and The Live Ghost when a mans head is twisted round by a sailor. Not their best film, but extremely good and the best of their '40's films.

Bambi (1942)

One of my favourite classic Disney films follows the story of an orphaned deer growing up in a forest with his friends after his mother is shot dead. This film always scared me as a child - perhaps the darkest and scariest childrens film ever made - and this teaches children a lot about life and death. It's so cute, Thumper is one of the cutest Disney characters and the end is extremely heartwarming. All the good things in a Disney film are in this one, most importantly it has heart.

Rope (1948)

Very different to the previous 3 films discussed, Rope is an intense real time and one shot thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock inspired by the murder of a 14 year old boy by a gay couple. Starring James Stewart,  I reviewed this film the other month in my Hitchcock post and it tolled third in my top 10 Hitchcock films.

France vs Belgium

Ollie is off gallivanting around France and Belgium this week, the lucky sod. So in living memory of him I have decided to review a French film, and a film from Belgium!

First up it's French film The Eighth Day.

I first saw this around 4 years ago with my dad, and have probably watched it at least 3 times since. Made in 1996, this film follows Georges, a man with down-syndrome, and Harry, a successful businessman who loses his wife and children to a divorce. Harry nearly run Georges over after Georges escapes from his mental institution and this is where the life changing friendship begins.

It's a very sad film, with brilliant acting, and displays friendship in a very emotive and intimate way. I am definitely forcing Ollie to watch this when he's back.

Rust and Bone is the film I've chosen for Belgium (it's actually a French-Belgium film, even better). Now I didn't love this film, but I haven't watched many other Belgium films and I thought it would be a nice one to review as I watched it quite recently.

This film is not what I expected it to be. It's a lot less about a woman losing her legs to an accident involving a whale in the Dutch equivalent of Sea world, and a lot more to do with the man she meets and his own troubles. It was a relatively long film and at points I did lose interest. If you don't know the plot, basically a woman loses both of her legs and finds friendship/friends with benefits with a guy who's actually a bit of a dickhead. I'm sure that's not the official plot explanation but it's the best I can come up with. The guy, named Alain, really is not worth the trouble she goes to. He throws his son at a bedside table and earns a living by bare knuckle fighting with gypsies.

If you're looking for a romantic tale, or even something a little bit arty you can do a lot better than this film. I was disappointed after wanting to watch it for a year.

More posts coming soon, click here for a surprise post!