We've been busy...

Hello!
Today we were both busy watching 5 films together and I thought I'd review them because I have quite a few things to say on each.

1. It's A Wonderful Life (1947)
A film I had wanted to watch for a long long time, which many cite as their favourite film of all time. To continue our journey through Christmas film, this James Stewart classic was a heartwarming and adorable story about a man contemplating suicide who is saved by an angel by showing him what life would have been like had he never existed. The biggest surprise for me was the amount of time of film devoted to George's life and the amount of time in his alternate reality - about 1 hour 50 minutes for the first act and 20 minutes for the second. Before viewing, I would have thought this would have been the other way round. However now I think the film works well like this and maybe only 15 minutes should have been taken from the first part of the film and given to the second part where the angel shows George the alternate reality. Brilliant performances from all the cast, even though I felt like James Stewart was too old for the role, especially in the scenes when we saw George in his late teens and 20s. However I also felt this with Stewart's role in Vertigo 11 years later. Extremely uplifting and enjoyable, this is a new potential favourite Christmas film for me and I'm sure I will watch it again next year. I can certainly see why many say this is their favourite film.
8/10

2. Love Actually (2003)
I don't want to write much about this because to be honest it's a load of rubbish. A typical 'lets get loads of famous people on board to hide the fact the script and story is utter shit' film (see Movie 43 and New Years Eve for more details), this film focuses on way too many stories at the same time, so much that hardly any of them develop and everything just seems to end without resolution. If 3 or 4 of the stories had been cut and more focus had been put on some of the stories I preferred (such as Liam Neeson's story and the two office workers who were in love, of which the female had a mentally ill brother), then maybe it would've gained a few more points. But its nothing new, another boring interlinking romcom that middle aged British women lapped up because of Hugh Grant, Colin Firth and the soundtrack. Think of a worse version of Valentines Day, set in England. It gets points for attempting to capture the spirit of Christmas and having certain funny moments, especially with Alan Rickman, Rowan Atkinson and Kris Marshall. If you want to see a good Richard Curtis film, then watch About Time instead.
4/10

3. Stigmata (1999)
This is a film that I bought Rosie for Christmas. We bought each other 4 DVD's, and this 90s horror was one of them. I came across this by accident (on an IMDb list I think) and the plot sounded very interesting. The story involves a priest who is investigating a statue of the Virgin Mary who is bleeding warm tears in Brazil and a girl who begins to show signs of the 'Stigmata' in the USA. After enjoying other religious based horror films such as The Exorcist, The Omen and Rosemary's Baby, I wondered what a more modern take would be.My expectations weren't that high to be frank. However this was surprisingly good. The acting may not be Oscar worthy, nor the directing for that matter, however the story and ideas and overall enjoyment of the film outweighs all of that. This is a horror film with real thought provoking deeper meanings, with ideas and themes of control, worship and the figure of the church.The film almost has an anti-Church message, suggesting that you don't need to worship and attend Church to be a devoted Christian but that Jesus is in all of us and you don't need to necessarily pray. The best thing about this film is that it is able to maintain a good story, at times almost turning into a drama film, while still containing very scary horror sequences. Extremely dated (at times it looked as if we were watching an awful music video from 1991), more so than films I have seen as early as the 50s, overall this was very enjoyable and had a lot more potential and I feel deserves a lot more recognition in a genre where original ideas are hard to find. If anyone reading this ever gets round to watching this by the way, I prefer the theatrical ending rather than the directors alternate ending.
7/10

4. In A Better World (2010)
Definitely the best film we watched all day and the best film we have watched for a while. A Danish film about retaliation, violence, forgiveness and the difficulties in childhood, this powerful drama has two complimenting stories - two children in a town in Denmark, one easily led, and one emotionally angry from the death of his mother, and one of those children's fathers who is working in a refugee camp in civil war torn Sudan. These two tales show the startling similarities between these supposedly different worlds. It's hard to put into words how good this film is and the things it made me consider. At times dark and at times liberating, a great cast and great director won this film countless awards when it was released in 2010. Danish cinema never fails to impress, although I have only seen two or three Danish films, all of them have made an impact on me. Everyone should see this film. My only negative comment may be that the ending was too happy. Some things just don't resolve as easily as that.
9/10

5. All Good Things (2010)
This was a film that was low priority on my Lovefilm account yet for some reason was sent to me last week. Starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst, this is a film that sounds a lot better in the plot description than it actually is. A 'true story' (more on that later), the film follows a married couple who have a relationship breakdown and then the wife goes missing. The first hour of this film was jumbled mess, and while it looked very nice, it didn't explore the relationship deeply enough, and the audience was left to assume that the relationship failed simply because they wanted different things and that the husband had some form of mental health problems. There was little development and the build up to the second half of the film is to be frank, quite boring. The problem with this film is that the story was simply not interesting enough to be made into a full length film. Maybe a short film, or an article in a crime magazine, but it just isn't that interesting. It feels way too long even though it is relatively short at a run time of 90 minutes. Gosling and Dunst do their best with a lousy script but it's not enough to save it. Not awful, it's watchable, but not recommended. The film also annoyed me by showing extreme bias by portraying an innocent man as guilty when he had been found not guilty by the US courts in real life.
5/10

More information on the real life case on which All Good Things is based here.

More information about the Stigmata phenomenon on which the film Stigmata is based here.

#CONTEXT

:)

Ollie x

THE 4TH ROLLIE AWARDS

THE 4TH ROLLIE FILM AWARDS/200TH FILM NIGHT

Last Friday it was time for the event of the season - the Rollie film awards. As always, we marked the milestone of reaching 200 films by celebrating. This time, we celebrated by having a day of baking fudge and cookies for the awards ceremony before exchanging Christmas presents, having an evening meal and watching the 200th and 201st films.

These films were:

200. The Green Mile (1999)

201. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

All the award nominees and winners can be found here. It was extremely hard to pick winners from each category as we have watched such a diverse range of brilliant (and bad) films. We both agreed that film numbers 150-199 have been the best set of films we have watched to date (beating films 50-99). The winner of best film was 'The Hunt', the first film not made in the USA to win the award (Denmark). Other nominees were Memento, Catching Fire and The Help. However we even struggled to narrow the films down to four nominees, with other films such as About Time, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Walkabout, The Place Beyond the Pines, American History X and Gravity all suggested as nominees. 

The two films we watched were brilliant, especially The Green Mile. I would safely assume that at the minute it will definitely be up for Best Film at the next awards. We both cried. A lot. The Grapes of Wrath was also very enjoyable however I feel that it has become slightly overrated over the years and that the novel would be a lot better. Hoever, Fonda was brilliant in his role as Tom Joad.

Here's to the next 50 films! 

Ollie

Coming Soon to Rollie Films

After hitting the big 200 the other day, we have entered another era of films, our fifth collection of films, numbers 200-250.

So, after Christmas has gone and all the Christmas films have been watched, whats next for our film nights? Here are a few titles that I would bet on seeing in the near future.

Ginger and Rosa (2012)
A film me and Rosie were both sorry to miss at Film Club a month or so ago because neither of us had the money to go (help us we're so poor).

Grave Encounters 2 (2012)
Rosie shat her pants at the original and the sequel looks fun too.

Cinema Paradiso (1988)
A film we had planned to watch along with Chocolat and Casino Royale as the final films to watch at our old house but then never got round to. It has since been debated as being either the 150th/151st film or 200th/201st film. I am excited to finally see this supposed classic, which sounds like it appeals especially to film enthusiasts.

Halloween/Halloween II Remakes (2007/2009)
The viewings of Halloween VIII and Halloween III (can't be bothered to explain again why we saw number 3 last) completed our watching of the original Halloween series. We are definitely going to be watching our beloved Michael Myers in the 2 remakes by Rob Zombie.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
A film we taped months and months ago along with films such as 'Silent Souls' and 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark'. This one is like many, one we just haven't got round to yet.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
A film I have already seen as I am studying the play, written by Edward Albee, for my Literature course. I was so impressed with this film and I am definitely going to be showing Rosie it soon.

Lolita (1962)
As above, another coursework text, however I have not seen Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of the classic novel. Charming subject matter (sarcasm).

...and many more I'm sure!

Ps. A blog post on the 200th Film Awards is coming, don't worry (I bet you were)
xxxx

Christmas Special 2013

Hello there!

Today saw Rosie and I host our annual Christmas film special. Obviously, we will watch many more Christmas films over the festive period but today was THE special. Last years special saw us watch The Snowman, Christmas with the Kranks, Four Christmases and Christmas Vacation (The Muppets Christmas Carol, The Polar Express and The Holiday were also watched over the Christmas period) and this years batch of films didn't disappoint at all! 

The films we watched were:

- A Christmas Story (1983)

- Holiday Inn (1942)

- The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

A Christmas Story was an adorable comedy that really got me in a Christmas mood. I felt it captured a typical family Christmas and we both said lots of times that certain parts of the film happened at Christmastime in our households. Very memorable and funny without trying too hard, this is a film I would definitely recommend for a Christmas viewing. At times, it reminded me of a much funnier and classier, and basically better National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

8/10

Surprisingly my favourite film out of the three, this classic musical is a film I have unintentionally seemed to have avoided over the years. Before viewing, I thought it was going to be another slightly boring and drawn out '40s musical. However, it is surprisingly engaging, and the songs are extremely catchy. A heartwarming ending and an interesting concept of the Holiday Inn make this a film I will definitely watch again in Christmases to come. And what's Christmas without a good sing along?

8/10

The Nightmare Before Christmas was the only one of the three that I had seen already. As ever I really enjoyed it. I love the quirkiness, characters, songs and how it still conveys a lovely Christmas message whilst straying away from the conventional Christmas movie as is ever the case when Tim Burton is involved. Ps living in Christmas Town is my dream.

7/10

Overall I really enjoyed all three films and they were a better crop than last years, some of which were a bit trashy (cough Four Christmases). We have other Christmas films lined up to be watched, including Love Actually and It's A Wonderful Life. So we have lots to look forward to!

May all your Christmases be white x

Hello:)

Hello. Just a quick post to let you know that we're alive and well! And to give you an update on whats going on!

Firstly, we have now got another set of 100 films under our belts! Yep, tonight we watched our 199th film, (Arthur Christmas, 2011) and this can only mean one thing... another awards ceremony is just around the corner! The 4th Rollie Awards will be hosted at the end of the week, including film classics The Green Mile and The Grapes of Wrath, so watch out for a mega blog post about that!

This will be followed by our 2013 Christmas Special - as I mentioned above, we have already started watching Christmas films and we shall do so throuhgout the rest of December. However Saturday will be our official Christmas special. Last year we watched The Snowman, Christmas with the Kranks, Four Christmases and Christmas Vacation. I'm sure there will be a blogpost about our festive extravaganza by the end of the week too!

27 films later - it is still happening (just!). We have both been very busy however Christmas is the perfect opportunity to curl up and watch some films! I personally have my next one lined up, letter G, and I am planning to watch it at some point this week when I'm not busy.

Ollie

Music Movies

Over the past year I have watched three music based motion pictures including Mumford and Son's The Road to Red Rocks, Big Easy Express, and Coldplay Live 2012. I'm not even sure if these class as 'films' as such, but I thought I would talk a bit about them today as I wanted to do something a little different than a normal film review or posting.

Big Easy Express won a Grammy last year for Best Long Form Music Video and I think it is very well deserved. This film, consisting of bands Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show, documents their train journey from San Francisco to New Orleans. It is packed full of folk and blues music as well as the musicians in their more relaxed form simply 'jamming' together on the many carriages of the old train. The film is shot beautifully, with a 'ruff around the edges' sort of feel and a look into the calming landscapes which they travel through. Big Easy Express stays true to the musicians and their unique performances captured along the way.

Coldplay Live 2012 was a lot more personal than the others, in the fact that it showed much more of the band behind the scenes and the interviews where a lot richer. However that does not take away from the fact that it used some god awful animation overlays through the WHOLE film.While the band were singing, neon coloured drawings fluctuated the screen taking away from the 'realness' of the live music. It was used to try and enhance the audiences experience but instead just made it look cheap and took away the attention to the music. If you watch it you will see exactly what I mean. 

It was nice that Coldplay captured little snippets from their shows and made a film out of them, and it was nice to turn it up really loud and dance around the living room to Paradise, however the annoying gimmicks over-shone their performance for me.

  

Ollie and I are the biggest fans of Mumford and Sons you could find, literally, and having seen them live twice this film is by far my favourite and the only one out of the three I have watched more than once (probably around 15 times). It is basically just a gig film, with little backstage interaction from the band which is a shame, but again it is beautifully shot, with breaks between songs showing what the band have been up to and the gigs they've hosted over the summer in the USA. It captures their journey to playing at the iconic venue of Red Rocks perfectly and gives Mumford fans, and folk rock fans alike another reason to jump around listening to banjos at full blast.  

Rosie

'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!

Current Trailers - The good, the bad and the downright awful

Hello there, a few days ago I had a spare hour and found myself on the IMDb website browsing through their 'Trailer Gallery'. After watching quite a few I thought to myself, what a brilliant blog post this would make! (fanfare here). So here I am, writing to you my non-existent readers, about some trailers.

The first that really caught my eye was The secret life of Walter Mitty. I don't really like Ben Stiller that much, I think the parts he usually plays just dumb himself down from the actor he could be, given the right movie. Is this that movie? I don't think so, but the trailer was very 'nice'. The cover artwork caught my eye, as it usually does with film, and so I watched the trailer. It looks like quite a cute film, I like the music used in the trailer, and even though the film is a remake it looks quite promising. I get the vibe that its the sort of film you would watch, enjoy, and forget about a fortnight later.

Next up is Under The Skin, starring Scarlett Johansson as an alien seductress who preys upon hitchhikers in Scotland. There is no movie poster as of yet so I will just insert a picture of Scarlett Johansson half naked here (you're welcome):

The trailer for this is actually a 'first look' so it is short and consists of a few weird clips put together. I'm not even sure if the movie is finished yet but the release date is early next year. The film may become quite talked about for the sheer oddity of it and the fact that there looks to be many risque scenes involving Scarlett. This 'first look' trailer has definitely not made me want to watch the film.

What's next I hear you scream? Why it's The Wolf of Wall Street.

Oh look it's yellow, how original.. Any film containing Leo DiCap is going on my 'need to watch multiple times list' so it's really of no surprise that I liked this trailer. However despite the lead actor being in my opinion, brill, the film itself looked very interesting and with Scorsese as the director, what can go wrong? The trailer is very fast paced with a hint of comedy and some smoldering looks from Leo. I may even splash out and go to the cinema to watch this one.

Last and by every means least may I present Escape Plan.

I really actually like the idea of this film; a guy who escapes from prisons for a living being put into a brand new escape-proof state of the art jail. This story line could have been taken down the horror route, being made into something like saw, or could have easily gone down the intelligent and very clever route and turned into something great like Inception or Memento. However this film was taken down the action route. Possibly the worst. Add the should be retired Stallone and Schwarzenegger to an action flick and you've got something almost catastrophic.  The trailer was bad and I'm sure the film will be too. Added to my never ever watch list.

So that was my run down of a few brand new trailers, now you can decide which to spend your hours watching.

By Rosie

Walkabout - Review

Tonight Rosie and I went to the cinema to see a screening of a digitally restored version of the 1971 cult classic film, 'Walkabout'.

After rushing to get there (Rosie literally came straight to the cinema from Finland thousands of miles away) we sat down and I really didn't know what to expect. However I really did enjoy this film, it has everything I love to see in a  film - a good plot and interesting characters, beautiful filming, and something that really makes you think. I also admire the director for exploring a topic and story that is rarely touched upon in cinema.

The plot itself is simple. Two young English children are left stranded in the Australian outback after their father has a mental breakdown and kills himself. They encounter a young Aborigine boy who is performing his coming of age 'walkabout'. I won't give too much away but its a story about a clash of cultures, and lack of respect of different cultures.

Beautiful scenery, shocking, and at times funny, Walkabout is oozing with greatness and this is one of the best films from the 70s I have seen for a good few months. It is a film you won't forget, I doubt you will have seen one like it before, and I doubt you will see one like it again.

Overall rating: 8/10

Making sense of the Halloween films

The other day saw Rosie and I watch the final Michael Myers Halloween film. So here, after 7 films of terror, I attempt to explain what actually happens in the Halloween series, from start to finish, obviously excluding Halloween III, which is the only film not to follow the Michael Myers story.

On Halloween 1963, 4 year old Michael Myers, without reason or remorse, stabs to death his older sister, Judith. After 15 years in a mental institution under the eye of his Doctor, Dr Loomis, he escapes on Halloween night 1978, and stalks Laurie Strode, his younger sister, and her friends. Laurie had her name changed in the sixties after her parents died in an automobile accident and she was put up for adoption. The name change was so she would never realise who her older brother was.

After successfully killing her friends, Michael goes after Laurie, who is babysitting a boy called Tommy Doyle. However Dr Loomis saves her after he shoots Michael off of a balcony. Michael survives the fall and makes off to kill more people whilst Laurie is taken to Haddonfield hospital because of her injuries, and once there begins to have flashbacks about her original family, being adopted by the Strodes and visiting a young boy in a mental institution. Meanwhile, Michael hears on a radio broadcast about Laurie’s whereabouts and goes to the hospital. After killing all the doctors and nurses, Michael attempts to kill Laurie. However Dr Loomis and a sheriff arrive, Loomis fills a room with ether gas and sets it on fire, engulfing both him and Michael in flames. It is unclear until the next film whether or not either survive.

In 1979, soon after her experiences on Halloween, Laurie found she was pregnant. Traumatised, she put the child up for adoption and faked her own death and moved away from Haddonfield. By Halloween 1988, 8 year old Jamie, Laurie’s daughter, is in intense danger after Michael Myers, who has been in a coma since Halloween 1978, awakes whilst being transferred between institutions. He overhears that Jamie is his only surviving relative and sets off to Haddonfield to kill her. After single handedly killing the local police force and plunging Haddonfield into darkness by interfering with an electrical substation, a lynch mob forms in Haddonfield led by Dr Loomis, who also survived the fire 10 years earlier. After Michael enters Jamie and her family’s house, Jamie and her babysitter flee and run Michael over in the process, and after continuously hitting him with their truck, he flies towards an abandoned mine shaft. Jamie touches Michaels hand before the angry mob from Haddonfield shoot Michael into the mine shaft. Later, on returning home, Jamie appears in a clown mask after stabbing her adoptive mother who was running her a bath. The film ends with Dr Loomis and the rest of her family looking at her and screaming.

However Michael doesn’t die in the mine shaft, he falls into a coma and floats down a river and is found by a hermit who lives in a shaft near the river. On Halloween 1989, Michael reawakens, kills the hermit and returns to Haddonfield to kill Jamie, who after Halloween 4 has become mute and admitted to a psychiatric hospital for children. A man in a black cloak also begins to stalk Haddonfield, and appears to be aiding Michael. By the end of the film, after a large chase through the woods and a farm, Michael is arrested and Jamie is safe. However the man in black blows up the police station and Jamie is taken by Michael and the mysterious man and is held hostage in a large abandoned church and impregnated by Michael several years later. 

On Halloween 1995, a nurse helps Jamie escape with her baby and she hides with it in an abandoned bus station. Michael arrives and kills her, and the baby is left in the bus station toilets. Tommy, the boy who Laurie Strode babysat on Halloween in 1978 who has since become obsessed with Michael Myers finds the baby and takes him home. Tommy tells Dr Loomis of his suspicions that Michael has returned to Haddonfield. He then explains to Dr Loomis of his research into the ‘Curse of Thorn’ that Michael has. The curse involves someone having to make a blood sacrifice of their next of kin each Halloween. This also explains why Michael cannot die. Tommy suspects that Jamie’s incestual baby will be Michael’s ‘final sacrifice’, or that Michael has created the ‘definition of evil’ through this baby. Later on Tommy and Loomis are led to an abandoned factory and Michael arrives and attempts to kill them both. They both escape, however Dr Loomis goes back in as ‘he has unfinished business to attend to’. It is the assumed that Michael and Loomis fight, resulting in Dr Loomis’ death.

While all this was happening, Laurie Strode had been living a new life with a new family in Illinois and had become principal of a school there. However on Halloween 1998, Michael finally finds Laurie after 20 years, and attempts to kill her and her son. After a night of bloodshed, Laurie decapitates who she thinks is Michael. However, it is a surgeon who had had his larynx crushed by Michael and had been put in his mask. Because of this, Laurie is put in a mental institution. On Halloween 2001, Michael finds Laurie and successfully kills her. Her son had been relocated because of a witness protection programme.

A year later, Michael returns to Haddonfield to kill a group of teenagers who are filming a tv show in his old family home. The film ends with Michael being killed with a spear. However on a slab in the mortuary, Michael’s eyes open and he awakes once again. It is never revealed what happened to Jamie and Michael’s baby.

The Hunt - Review

Captivating, thrilling and amazing. A Danish Masterpiece.

We saw The Hunt (or Jagten, its official title) on Monday at our local Film Club and it was the film that we were both looking forward to the most out of all the Film Club listings. After watching it, I have to say it has become one of my favourite films of all time. It was beautiful, yet so sad and made me so angry in parts and wanting to cry in others.

The story follows Lucas who works at a local Kindergarten. He gets accused of sexually abusing a child, which turns into many more accusations from the other parents. I wont go too much into the plot as I don't wish to spoil it, but you have to make a decision of believing a cute, seemingly innocent little girl or a kind man, who has a teenage son. We watch as Lucas' world get ripped apart right in front of him and it made me so angry that I was sat there in the cinema completely helpless. I know that sounds very dramatic but it literally was like that. I saw the sea of old pensioners shaking their heads in disbelief at some points, it was just so unbelievable and so scary to think that this could so easily happen in our society today. Every single actor was more than superb and I simply can not fault this film whatsoever. 

Overall rating 10/10

About Time - Review

Earlier this week we went to see About Time at our local cinema with some 2 for 1 tickets we had. The romance genre isn't one we tend to watch on film nights at all, but we were both looking forward to seeing it, especially as it was half price. Having seen the trailer we both thought it was a rip off of the 2009 Time Traveler's Wife, which also had Rachel McAdams in and was about time travel. However after about a week of 'About Time' being in the cinema's is was getting good praise in the twitter-sphere with many comments on how it would 'change your perception of life'. Having now seen it I completely agree.

It was a beautiful story about a young couple growing up, mixed in with a bit of time travel and family loss. I have to say I think even though Rachel McAdams was very good, i do feel she was miss-cast. It felt like a very British film, with a lot of it set in Cornwall and she just didn't really fit and make the story believable for me. Her part wasn't a hard part to play and i think it could have been just as good with a  young British actress, perhaps Emma Watson. Having said that I still loved the film and cried secretly quite a lot at the end. Domhnall Gleeson was excellent as lead Tim, as was Bill Nighy who played his dad. A film I will definitely be buying on DVD when it comes out!

Overall rating: 9/10

Insidious 2 - The perfect sequel

Now it is rare that i will shout about a horror film from the roof tops and it is impossible to find a sequel to a horror which is as good as the first film. But Insidious 2, my my how good it is.

Insidious was my favourite horror of all time, creepy, jumpy, scary, it had it all and I gave it a 9/10. So naturally i was excited and nervous upon hearing a sequel was being released. 'It can not be as good as the first can it?'. After waiting for a week after its release we finally decided to go and see it and put our minds at rest. 

The trailer looked promising. I have to say it was a very clever, very scary, masterpiece of horror. Everything fitted into the first film perfectly and was very cleverly done. There were several points where we were like 'omg so thats why that happened in the first film!'. I do have to say however you must watch the first before the second! The scare factor was a good 9/10, I was nearly crying in parts - the tension was just too much to handle! Similar creepy music was used just like in the first film, that alone was enough to make you scream. A good horror is a rarity so well done James Wan for this superb sequel. 

Overall rating: 9/10

Random Review - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

So if you don't know what this Random Review thing is about then read Rosie's post below first.

The random number generator generated number 70 for me! A much better film than Rosie's 49 but still an incredibly hard film to review because I love it so so much!

Rosie and I watched this in February after a period of average films starting at number 63 (Ghost Ship, Stay, Tell No One, We Need to Talk About Kevin) so it was refreshing to see an amazing film! It's such an emotional yet funny film, all done with taste, and the film has great messages and values. Every single character is interesting and all the cast are amazing and this film was a worthy winner of the 5 Academy Awards it won. I fought long and hard for this film to win Best Film at the 100th film Awards but that award went to Django Unchained, however this one won Best Story. The ending had me speechless. I cannot fault this film whatsoever.

Random Review - The Unborn

The idea of this 'Random Review' is that myself and Ollie both get a film to review by putting its number into a random number generator.

Uh oh, what a bad film for a random number generator to generate.
So i now have to review The Unborn, here we go...

We saw this quite a while ago, film number 49 to be precise, and it was one of those 'oh lets get a  film from the film cupboard' which we do when we cant be bothered/don't have time to plan a film night. We actually watched this so we could have our 50th Rollie film awards; it was a 'filler film'. The Unborn is a typical what myself and Ollie call a 'bullshit horror' (excuse my language). Basically we watch them for the scare and nothing else. And I suppose this did give us a scare, and definitely nothing else. The little boy who appears as 'the unborn' twin is creepy. I really don't have that much to say about this film, as you can probably see. It has an unusual story which is nice from a horror flick, but has very average acting.

Overall rating: 4/10

The Trouble with Rollie

(A review of 9 Hitchcock films by moi)

Hello! After seeing 'Vertigo' on Monday for the first time, I thought I'd review all the Hitchcock films I've seen, and rank them! We've only ever watched 2 Hitchcock films on film nights but he is one of my favourite directors and a couple of his films are some of my all time favourites! Without further ado...

9. A Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Most disappointing Hitchcock film to date, unengaging and drawn out. The story revolves around an uncle who comes to visit his niece, who begins to suspect he has committed murder. The whole film is boring up until the end sequence, which you can see coming a mile off.

8. Rebecca (1940)

Another one that falls a bit flat but it's hard to see why. There's too many irrelevant scenes and too little of the really effective hauntingly beautiful/scary scenes of Rebecca/the previous wife in the mansion. Rebecca's psychotic maid really is a scary character and there are many disturbing things about this film, but sadly, although an odd film, isn't one of Hitchcock's best.

7. Rear Window (1954)

Hitchcock's supposed masterpiece - for me, disappointing. It's look into human privacy is interesting but the film itself is boring and the romance is unnecessary. Thrilling, but not that thrilling.

6. The Birds (1963)

Typical Hitchcock and one of his few films (perhaps as well as Psycho) that can be actually considered a horror film. Terror left and right and the film provides no explanation which makes it even more terrifying. The story is about a woman who follows an attractive man to a small town, but this subplot is soon forgotten when birds attack the town, killing the residents. Very suspenseful, so many times you think something scary is about to happen, but it never does, which actually improves the films quality.

5. Veritgo (1958)

A private detective spies on his friends wife who he says is becoming possessed by an old family spirit. My latest viewing and a mixed bag - the first half of the film is great, a brilliant story, well filmed and a great score too. Something very different too, especially the dream sequences and clever ghost story. However the second half of the film feels sloppy and is slightly boring. I just really didn't like the ending. Overall though, quite enjoyable but quite overrated.

4. The Trouble with Harry (1955)

The only trouble with this film is that Harry is dead - but seriously, there's not much wrong with this film, one of Hitchcock's few dark comedies. In a small town, Harry is found dead, and somehow everyone in the town thinks that they killed him...Very funny, quick paced and mysterious, this comedy surpasses a lot of Hitchcock's more serious films for me.

3. Rope (1948)

A very short film, made to look like it was shot in completely one shot and also filmed in real time. It's about two friends who kill their college classmate and their attempts to 'perfect' the crime by having people round for tea with the body hidden in the dining room. With lots of hidden symbolism and motifs and a homosexual undercurrent, Rope is both extremely enjoyable but also very clever.

2. Dial 'M' for Murder (1954)

The story of a man who hires a hitman to kill his wife who has to come up with a Plan B when the murder goes wrong. Grace Kelly are brilliant in this brilliant dramatic thriller, so intriguing and engaging, every little detail you're listening to, and its just so unbelievably clever. A clever twist on a whodunnit story, it's almost reversed. An extremely memorable film and one of my favourite films.

1. Psycho (1960)

A young girl travels to a motel. I think most people know the rest and I think you knew this would be my number 1! Just everything about it I love, Marion and Norman are such interesting and amazing characters, the screeching score, the set, the story, the lines and subplot, the twist, even little scenes such as Marion seeing her boss as she's fleeing town and giving him a terrified embarrassed smile make the film. My favourite film, probably ever.

Ollie x

A Film Club Experience

Last night we ventured to the cinema to go to Louth Film Club's screening of 'Vertigo' by the great Alfred Hitchcock. And we loved it, not so much the film, but the whole Film Club feeling. There is a little rating system after each film and a poster created to show the average score out of 5. At the start of the film a man made a speech and I was very surprised as to how many people were there; the busiest I have ever seen the cinema in fact! It was so quaint to be a part of, sat in a sea of mostly over 60's, and we are definitely going to start going more.

So now onto Vertigo. We were both expecting a lot from this film, its a classic and has recently made it to the top of a list of the best films ever made or something. I was very let down by the film however. I do understand that it was probably the first of its kind and that's why its so highly regarded, but i think if the director was unknown it wouldn't be as highly placed as it is today. I felt it went on so long. The first half was good but after about 1hr 20mins there were several parts where i thought 'oh good its finished' but then another scene came up, and another. This could be due to the extreme heat in the cinema which i wanted to get out of, or the uncomfortable seats, but I think mostly the film itself was to blame. I would rather watch Psycho for the third time then ever see that again. Ollie did enjoy it a little more, I rated 3/5, he 4/5 on the cinemas scoring system.

Overall a very nice night and something we will be doing again in 2 weeks time.

By Rosie.

Rosie's Top 5 Comedies!

Seeing as Ollie is away for 5 days (cry) I've decided to do a post of my 5 favourite comedy films. We dont watch many comedies as part of Rollie so I thought it might be a nice different thing to see on the blog (and it gladly takes up 10 minutes of my time during my boring day). So without further ado, and in no particular order..

1. Shaun of The Dead 

The film i have probably watched the most out of every film I've ever seen. I love this film and (as you may be able to tell from number 2) I love the Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Nick Frost films, although the last in the trilogy left me a little dissapointed. I also love zombies, so this is just perfect for me and if you havent seen it you should be hung.

2. Hot Fuzz

Ahh, Hot Fuzz, how I love you. Incredibly funny and the friendship between Simon and Nick is purely heartwarming. Give this a watch if you haven't already.

3. The Hangover

The first of the 3 Hangover films, and by far the best. I believe they should have never made a sequel. Story is funny, actors are funny, whole film is funny.

4. Inbetweeners movie

Now I don't like the movie as much as the Inbetweeners series- the movie is very predictable, however it is still hilarious, although its only funny the first time you watch it, not like Shaun of the Dead which i can, and have, watched over and over again. Anything with Will, Jay, Neil and Simon in is hilarious.

5. Mean Girls

Classic film and one of my favourites. Im pretty sure everyone on earth has seen this, unless you're a middle aged guy, but it is brilliant and shaped the careers of Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried, whatever happened to Gretchen? A must see.

So there you have it, I'm sure you were waiting on bated breath for that blog post..
ttyl x