Editor’s Pick – Page 4

Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead Poster

Director: Edgar Wright
Writers: Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg
Released: April 2004
Starring: Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Nick Frost, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton
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The best black comedy of all time.

I have a weakness for zombie apocalypse movies anyway. However, this film has taken every zombie cliche` in the book and ends up pointing fun at themselves, which is hilarious!

The creators called it a “Rom Zom Com” aka a “Romantic Zombie Comedy” and the “perfect date film” because it has a heart line of a romantic comedy that happens to be set in a time where zombies are attacking the world.

It starts out with Shaun (Simon Pegg) and Shaun’s girlfriend Lizz (Kate Ashfield) at a bar on yet another date at the Winchester Pub, as Lizz bickers about how they never do anything different. The shot slowly widens to show, Lizz’s friends David and Di (Dylan Moran and Lucy Davis) and Shaun’s foul-mouthed best friend, Ed (Nick Frost). Of course, what better to change the monotonous situation than have their lives bombarded with the living dead!?

That’s what I like about the Wright-Pegg-Frost trio. Their ideas are crazy!
Yet they always work.

These zombies are the classic, lazy walker-types where unless you got trapped or are a really slow walker, you would probably not get caught, unlike the kind that is on the TV series The Walking Dead where they run when they are desperate. But these zombies imitate the world we live in – we wake up, go to work, come home again, miserable. So it does have a bit of a wake-up call feeling to it.

Edgar Wright’s signature fast pans, quick cuts and cut always were present which definitely suited the shocking humour and gruesome occurrences.

Another of my favourite things about this film is the parallels between the start and the ending. Such as the trolley boy collecting stray trolleys in the car park of a shopping centre with little enthusiasm. By the end, the remaining zombies are trained and take over the chore in an equally unenthusiastic way… I don’t know. I just find it amusing…

This is the best black comedy because, unlike some others I’ve seen of the same genre *cough* Zombieland *cough*, the comedy element runs through the entire film, not just random crucial parts. Shaun of the Dead make fun of the terrifying situation at every turn.

This is a must-have item in every film-watcher’s collection.

Jodie’s rating: 8/10

Up in the Air

Director: Jason Reitman
Writer: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (based on novel by Walter Kirn)
Released: December 2009
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
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At face value, this may seem like just another shallow idea with a typical love story. But this is far from it.

It’s an incredible story that has a very serious undertone, indeed. It is actually documenting the effects of the start of the financial downfall that we are now experiencing globally.

The movie is not told from the perspective of an employee being let go and the inevitable family and financial problems that would accompany it, but from the point of view of the man that is hired by the boss to tell their employers they no longer have a job.

This is a song that a man named Kevin Renick wrote after losing his job. He sent it to Jason Reitman after hearing about the film and the song is played on the credits. Shows how real this film is, I think.

It’s a fantastic – yet heartbreaking – perspective, because we also see how technology is ruining human connection. For example, it is proposed that instead of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) flying from city to city letting these people go face to face, that he could actually tell them online via a camera which would be more ‘efficient’, but obviously much less personal. This proposition doesn’t work for Bingham whatsoever. Let alone the people getting told they’re losing a job.

It’s a sad story of how people’s worlds collapse, how in many respects the odds are against us and that people can no longer rely on each other since it is predominately all about profit. It addresses how we have stopped being personal, only professional, and how a job can become somebody’s life. How it can be their only reliable thing.

Of course, being the director of Juno, Jason Reitman has created another fantastic comedy with very quirky lines. I love this kind of humour, particularly in the scene showed in the photo above.

Ryan: I’m not a shrink, Bob. I’m a wake-up call. You know why kids love athletes?
Bob (JK Simmons): I don’t know. Cause they screw lingerie models?
Ryan: No, that’s why we love athletes. Kids love athletes because they follow their dreams… Your resume` says that you minored in French culinary arts. Most students, they work on the fryer at KFC, but you bussed tables at Il Picador to support yourself. Then you get out of college and then you come and you work here. How much did they first pay you to give up on your dreams?
Bob: 27 grand a year.
Ryan: And when were you going to stop and come back and do what makes you happy?
Bob: Good point.

My favourite part is when George Clooney’s character is deliberating which line to join for security screening in an airport:

This fantastic film is pretty much about all the different ways somebody can feel ‘up in the air’ with little substance and solidarity in their life.

It is a sad film if you look beyond its face value, with not much of a happy ending which I think is very appropriate since we are not quite out of the dark yet. However, it’s strong, underlying current of humour keeps us afloat and captured throughout the whole film.

Jodie’s rating: 9/10

Good Will Hunting

Director: Gus Van Sant
Writers: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon
Released: December 1997
Starring: Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck and Minnie Driver
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This film is fantastic because it achieves thought provoking material without loosing the audience in a deep, meaningful and philosophical black hole. The film is able to do this by keeping the humour, which seems loyal to the culture that the story is based around.

Mathematical Genius

Chuckie (Ben Affleck): You’re sitting on a winning lottery ticket, but too much of a pussy to cash it in

I love these kinds of films. The protagonist, Will (Matt Damon), at face value is a screwed up kid worthy of little sympathy. Yet, his mathematical intelligence is beyond compare, even though he refuses to acknowledge it. Through countless councillors, he finally finds somebody Sean (Robin Williams) who can do more than scratch the surface of his dark past.

Sean: [during a therapy session] You’re not perfect, sport, and let me save you the suspense: this girl you’ve met, she’s not perfect either. But the question is whether or not you’re perfect for each other.

The only way you could tell this film was made on a tighter budget was the repeated songs and the slightly over and under-exposed shots. However, depending on the experience and reputation of the director, this will either be classed as a ‘mistake’ or as ‘art’.

The movie is perfectly cast. Their performances are so totally real and credible that you become immune to the repetitive swearing, which stutters the overall flow of the film until you get to know the characters. I also have a new found respect for Affleck and Damon who wrote the script. Incredible.

Skylar (Driver) Good Will Hunting

This film will either leave you contented with life and excited about your prospects for the future, or, leave you feeling hopeless that you don’t have an obvious talent that could give you a secure future.

But for the most part, you will realise that the script is about how, despite society’s expectations and despite everybody having baggage and fears, everyone has a choice to start again, if only they have the courage to do so. Also, despite all of this we all have the same shot of achieving happiness.

A tremendous film that you can really read into. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters telling their stories too.

Jodie’s rating: 8/10

The Actors

Director: Conor McPherson
Writer: Neil Jordan
Released: 2003
Starring: Michael Caine, Dylan Moran, Lena Headey, Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Michael McElhatton, Abigail Iversen, Aisling O’Sullivan, Ben Miller, Simon Delaney, Alvaro Lucchesi
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The funniest movie I have seen in a very long time.

It’s intelligent-funny… Not happy-clappy, seen it before, recycled Hollywood shizz. With Dylan Moran playing the protagonist and the supporting act being Michael Caine, this concoction of pure awesome is sure to be a pleaser.

Surprisingly, this film is not well-known. But it is a film everybody would enjoy with its ironic plot line and an under-lying love story, which I am happy to say doesn’t take centre-stage regularly. Dylan Moran’s character, Thomas Quirk, is indeed a quirky guy who loosely calls himself an actor working in play with a fellow actor, Anthony O’Malley (Caine).

Dylan Moran undercover

O’Malley soon hears about a scheme going down in the local bar where
“a certain somebody owes money to another certain somebody, but they have never met”. He decides that Quirk does need to practice his acting skills and convinces Thomas to be the collecter whom the debtor has never met. Of course, how could something like that ever be as straight forward as it sounds!?

Dylan Moran’s disguises throughout this scheme are hilarious and you will be sure to be repeating and imitating the characters after! This script is so funny and its catch-phrases remind me of the film Juno.

The Actors Caine

Despite being an up-beat comedy, the camera work (particularly lighting) in many scenes are spot-on and very well done, so is the music. Now I really want to buy the soundtrack! The songs and compositions by Michael Nyman are spectacularly emotional and support the visuals very well.

It’s a film that merges the stage actors and improvisation actors which I thought was really clever and it gave the film a really unique twist.

I can’t believe the negative reviews I have found on this film… How? o.O I thought it was HILARIOUS and I watch it regularly.

Jodie’s rating: 8/10

I can’t find a trailer, so here’s a pretty funny scene where Dylan Moran is playing Thomas Quirk who is undercover as “Barreller”. Barreller accidentally gave the money to Quirk earlier on. Now, Quirk is pretending to be Barreller, confronting “Jock” who the money was supposed to go to… Ugh, don’t worry, it makes more sense in the film.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Director: Michel Gondry
Writers: Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth
Released: March 2004
Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Tom Wilkinson
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My Valentine’s Day post. Why? Because of this line that Joel delivers in the film about Valentine’s Day:

Joel: Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap.

Which I found amusing.

It’s still one of my favourite movies after multiple viewings. I discovered this film in English class at high school and (admittedly not actually getting it the first time I watched it) I have loved it ever since!

Believe you me, the people who said they got it after the first viewing were either lying or they read the plot on Wikipedia.

It explores the idea of erasing painful memories and the implications of this. Imagine being able to erase the memory of an embarrassing moment. More seriously, imagine being so distraught with losing a loved one that you choose to erase the memory of them ever existing.

Mary (Kirsten Dunst): Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders.

But is erasing difficult memories enabling one to make the same mistakes again? Is never meeting a true love better than enduring the loss?

It follows two main characters Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) whose difficult relationship leads them down the road of removing the memory of each other. They are polar opposite. It shows how two people can complete each other, but also how much they can clash.

Clementine: This is it, Joel. It’s going to be gone soon.
Joel: I know.
Clementine: What do we do?
Joel: Enjoy it.

I love how the story explores relationships. How sometimes the things you love about someone becomes the very reason you fall out of love with them.

Joel: [on tape recording] And the whole thing with the hair – it’s all bullshit.
Joel: I really like your hair.
Clementine: Thank you.

Clementine

(Cleverly, Clementine has ever-changing hair, which helps viewers keep track of the order of the plot, which jumps between past and present.)

The actors appear to be playing the opposite of the sort of characters they’ve been typecast to play. Winslet and Carrey both nail it though.

Joel Barish

This film is thought provoking to say the least. Mind boggling too. But it’s ultimately about accepting that pain is part of growing, and loss is a part of life.

Joel: I can’t see anything that I don’t like about you.
Clementine: But you will! But you will. You know, you will think of things. And I’ll get bored with you and feel trapped because that’s what happens with me.
Joel: Okay.
Clementine: [pauses] Okay.

It’s sort of like Inception meets The Matrix, but that’s just because it’s the exploration of a different perspective of life.
At the end of The Matrix we all asked ourselves ‘is this world virtual?’.
At the end of Inception we all asked ourselves ‘am I in a dream?’.
At the end of Eternal Sunshine, you’ll ask yourselves ‘have I done this before?’.

You’ll be sure to pick up a few funny sayings and dwell over the small touches that you would never notice the first three times of watching this layered film.

Clementine: You’re not a stalker, or anything, right?
Joel: I’m not a stalker. YOU’RE the one that talked to me, remember?
Clementine: That is the oldest trick in the stalker book.
Joel: Really? There’s a stalker book? Great, I gotta read that one.

This is an absolutely awesome film that will have you thinking for hours. I thoroughly enjoyed it as it is a fantastic break from the monotonous love stories out there. The technology used and tricks done on set by the camera and the actors is old school, but very cool.

Eternal Sunshine

Eternal Sunshine is a film that not everybody could relate to or fully appreciate. I think it is because this is not a spoon-fed love story Fedexed from Hollywood to a cinema near you!

Jodie’s rating: 8.5/10

This trailer really makes this film very light and fluffy… Which isn’t accurate.

The Boat that Rocked

Director: Richard Curtis
Writers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Hilary Bevan Jones
Released: 2009
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson
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If you love groovylicious music and cool fashion from the 1960s, then you are going to LOVE this film!

It’s a film about the pirate radio stars during the sixties who played rockin’ music, whilst trying to keep the government off their backs who didn’t like the kind of influence the radio stations had.

It’s the kind of film where its characters are used to target the typical main-stream movie audience who are in their twenties, but it’s ‘historical’ enough to capture the reminiscing kids of the sixties, yet, unique enough to entice the indie teens, and overall AWESOMENESS to be absolutely: Way. Cool.

It’s an exciting film about each radio host’s personal triumphs as well as the overall capturing story of essentially giving the middle finger to society. The contrast between the conservative government workers versus the wild rock and roll supporters from the boats in the North Sea was drawn which was great to see two sides.

You can also see the same sort of contrast being drawn between the children and their parents. The children being the rebellious worshippers of the DJs who hide radios in their bedrooms, and the parents being the BBC listeners who frown upon the culture of pop and rock and roll music.

The humour was a bit hit-and-miss for me occasionally, but that’s probably because I have a dry sense of humour… As in, I find Napoleon Dynamite hilarious. The majority of the audience would enjoy it very much, I’m sure.

Fantastic music OBVIOUSLY, which compelled me to buy the double-disc album which was incredible! Think of your favourite artist from the sixties, and it’ll be on there… Except for The Beatles… That was a bit of a disappointment, actually…

A loud, crazy, colourful and hilarious depiction of the sixties’ uprising which was almost successful. I felt quite upset at the end when I saw the ship sink and I went into a deep daydream of how the Government should have let the ships be, how it could have been, how they should never have made laws against them and how spectacular the sixties was… and the WAY COOL music… The ending was a bit of a downer, but accurate nevertheless. (Reinforcing my ‘Golden Age Thinking’ as explained in Midnight in Paris)

The Boat That Rocked is an entertaining film where anybody could pick out a favourite bit, moment or character, making it a movie that’s easy to talk about. It is a perfectly orchestrated story with fewer stereotypes than I expected.

The wardrobe was absolutely stupendous (I wish there was a “The Boat That Rocked Shop”) and the cut-aways to the everyday listeners was probably one of my favourite bits, because it gave you a huge scope of the world they lived in – since it could have been very isolated to the life on the boat.

This isn’t just a film worth watching, this is a film worth buying and then replaying. You will finish watching the film and feel an urge to carry a stereo around with you, liberating the boring and monotonous people of the 2000s with epic sounds of the sixties.

You will feel the need to stick it to the man and be rebellious… But you’ll probably just put the film on repeat instead, and that’s cool too.

If American Graffiti represents America in the 60s, The Boat that Rocked represents the UK in the 60s.

Jodie’s rating: 8/10

Back to the Future III

Back-to-the-Future-Part-III Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
Released: 1990
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson, Lea Thompson
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Awesome – as per usual.

In this epic finale, we are thrown back to the old west! 1885 to be exact, where Doc is now trapped but “happy”. However, since receiving this letter (which was handed down through the postal service for many years) Marty had found Doc’s (of 1885) grave – he was shot by Biff’s great grandfather only six days after writing the letter. So he goes back to save him.

tumblr_m8ql4bRZGJ1qgpa6xo1_1280 — Meeting the ancestors. Looking familiar..?

Wow! Another complex storyline, is it not? In a totally awesome way of course!! This is the crazy world of the 1800s – every man for himself – Marty turns up, meets his ancestors and hitches a ride to the local town where he finds Doc as a blacksmith and explains to him of his untimely death.

The sets are fantastic! With beautiful horses and incredible stunts, too. This is a romantic tale with a rough exterior where we try to get back to the future with Doc – with some help of a train. Although, of course, not everything quite goes to plan…

09_bttf-3

I really enjoyed the final of the series because it was back in the past which is always more accurate and a plot is much more easily structured upon real events creating the humour of certain minor changes in American history.

I never doubted Robert Zemeckis’ films, and I never thought he would make terrible sequels which is usually what happens or is expected. This is another exciting journey with a satisfying ending to the fantastical trilogy.

Jodie’s rating: 8/10
Check out my review of the sequels: Back to the Future I and Back to the Future II

Back to the Future II

Back to the FUture II

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
Released: 1989
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson
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Well, we went to the recent past of 1985 in the last movie so it’s only logical to go to the future of 1985 in the sequel! We go to 2015 where the cars are flying and instead of skateboards, we have hover boards… Doesn’t seem quite so realistic now that 2015 is just around the corner! You scientist better get on to it. We’re going to be disappointed if we don’t have our flying cars and hover boards by 2015…

back_to_the_future_part_2_1989_685x385 “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads….” We go to the future with Marty (Micheal J. Fox), Doc (Christopher Lloyd) and Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer (Elizabeth Shue) because Doc is concerned that their son will be framed by the grandson of Biff (Thomas F. Wilson), Marty’s high school bully.

back-to-the-future-2_b — Recognise a certain somebody from *Titanic*? Billy Zane’s (front left) first job was playing one of the bullies in *Back to the Future*!

Whilst there, Marty buys a magazine that recorded the results of every major sport of 1985 making betting a breeze. Unfortunately, he leaves it laying around for it to land in the wrong hands – Biff’s – who steals the time machine and creates an alternate 2015! So Doc and Marty have to save the McFlys as well as going back to 1955 to prevent Biff giving the magazine to his younger self who would create the evil alternate era!! Pheph! This is a much more scary and shocking film than the more lighthearted last, but still very exciting.

BTTF2 This dark film exposes the full extent of the dangers of time travel as Marty finds his father’s grave and his mother married to Biff in the alternate 1985. There’s a lot of gun action and accurately predicts the rise of corporations ruling the world (Biff’s company owning the police force) and everybody’s infatuation with money. It’s a massive flip-side to the innocent times of the previous film which is unexpected.

I preferred the colourful times of 1955 of Back to the Future I. However, this is still a very enjoyable film! Particularly the epic music by Alan Silvestri – equally as great as the previous film.

Jodie’s rating: 7.5/10
Check out my review of the sequels: Back to the Future I and Back to the Future III

Back to the Future I

back-future

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writer: Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
Released: 1985
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
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The first of the Back to the Future trilogy is a mind-blowing and exciting science fiction adventure. About 17 year-old Marty McFly (convincingly played by a 24 year old Michael J. Fox) who finds himself in ‘Doc’s’ (Christopher Lloyd) unreliable Delorean time machine and is whizzed back to the year 1955, unable to return.

I loved how you really had to think about where you were and who certain people were in relation to Marty’s life back in 1985 – such as meeting his Uncle “Jailbird Joey” who never seems to want to leave the bars of his play pen, when in the future, he never seems to get out of jail!

Unfortunately, Marty makes too much of an impression in 1955 and accidentally attracts a little too much attention from his future mother, Lorraine Baines, (Lea Thompson) – endangering his very existence!

Back-to-the-Future-One-of-the-best-movie-series-of-all-time-michael-j-fox-21003788-1280-688 As we are trapped in the fifties, we see the repetitive nature of the McFlys and how each generation get bullied by the same family of Marty’s bully as well as the lack of self-confidence carried from father to son in the McFly family. This structured life brings out the irony and humour of the story.

marty.doc02 So while he is stuck in the fifties he finds the Doc from that era to help try find another fuel to get the usually nuclear-run time machine back to the eighties! All at the same time, trying to get his future parents to meet and fall in love whilst trying to get back to the future! It’s such an exciting and fun film which looks very well made for its time.

The music is probably my favourite aspect of the film – simply because I’m a sucker for 50s music and that era. The best version I’ve heard of “Earth Angel” (originally released by The Penguins) was in this film sung by Marvin Berry and the Starlighters – it was way cool! But not as cool as Marty’s rocking version of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode”! Music really sets each time era and helps you keep track of where the characters are from and where they are now.

THIS FOLLOWING CLIP MAY BE A SPOILER
Do not watch this following clip if you have not seen the film before.

I love Robert Zemeckis’ movies from Forrest Gump to the Polar Express and A Christmas Carol and the Back to the Future trilogy is way up there too! He has always made meaningful and incredible films which always show off his talent.

back-to-the-future

If you love timetravel or great music, this fun and easy-to-watch classic will never get old!
Look out for the sequel!!

Jodie’s rating: 8.5/10
Check out my review of the sequels: Back to the Future ll and Back to the Future lll

Juno

Director: Jason Reitman
Writer: Diablo Cody
Released: December 2007
Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J. K. Simmons
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Holy crap, if you haven’t seen this, you are seriously deprived of life. Likewise, if you saw it and didn’t like it, you have been shunned.

juno-bleeker-juno-2098226-1024-576 However, I saw it. Then I saw it again. Then I purchased the DVD with my hard-earned pennies and enjoyed it a whole lot more. Juno is more than just a “comedy drama” as Wikipedia so conservatively stated. It is the hilarious and refreshing story of a typical teenager, Juno McGuff (Ellen Page), and her slight mishap of falling pregnant by the introverted and slightly cheesy Paulie Bleaker (Michael Cera).

It is a movie like no other… It may be distantly related humour-wise to the likes of Little Miss Sunshine (another film dear to me), but its use of language and musty image wreaks of painfully ordinary and very relatable environments.

juno bren mac Juno is a fantastic movie because it has a serious undertone blended with the raw and in-your-face snarky remarks of the teen characters. It’s a story of family, essentially. The relationship between parents and children, divorce and innocence, as well as the relationship – or lack of – between generations. Juno’s love of rock n roll and horrors from the 70s, and the longing for youth that some of the adult characters experience.

The humour is split down the middle; the adults of the audience will laugh at the parent’s reactions and the teens of the audience will be quoting McGuff for the next few months. It’s not a vile rom-com or on par with “Knocked Up”, it’s emotionally deeper than those one-hit-wonders.

The writer, Diablo Cody, was a blogger, that’s how she was approached by a film producer and asked to write a script. She came up with Juno. The shocking dialogue sometimes provokes nervous laughter, or may be tear jerking or blatant Laugh-Out-Loud material! It’s quite an intricate script which essentially follows the awkward storyline of Juno McGuff as well as the adoptive parents that “June-Bug” picks out (who’s marriage is subsequently on the rocks).

The first thing I had to do after seeing this film was to buy the DVD. The second thing I had to do was buy the soundtrack. The tracks are just as quirky as the film, particularly Kimya Dawson’s many songs and instrumentals that made the final cut. They go very well with the feel of Juno, particularly the bluntness of the protagonist.

Reitman’s dedication and patience is obvious when you see the clearly painstakingly long time it would have taken to create the intro – it was worked on from the beginning of the shoot to the very first viewing, nevertheless, worthwhile. The shots are mostly static.

ellen-page-j-k-simmons-fox-searchlights-juno-970464168 It’s all in the lighting and seventies colour scheme of clashing reds, oranges and browns with knitted-looking clothing and dated throws on furniture. Reitman’s work reminds me of Edgar Wright’s (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz…) approach to filming. You can tell it’s an off-beat approach somehow, yet refreshingly upbeat and incredibly honest.

It’s not a fast-paced movie anyway, but I think the montage scene I found on the DVD extras was something that would have kept up the pace… Although it may have detracted from the overall emotion of the film, so in the end the scene’s absence was a blessing in disguise, even if it did tie a ball and chain to the overall pace.

Still one of my favourite films even after all these years.

Jodie’s rating: 8.5/10

The King’s Speech

Director: Tom Hooper
Writer: David Seidler
Released: January 2011
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Timothy Spall, Derek Jacobi, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Gambon
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Nominated for 14 BAFTAs and the winner of 12 Academy Awards, this incredibly triumphing story of King George VI (Colin Firth) has earned every award it has been given hands down.

the-kings-speech The King’s Speech is the account of King George VI, who is forced to overcome his debilitating speech impediment to reach his full potential as a strong ruler which he becomes by default due to his Father’s death, King George V (Sir Michael John Gambon) and the resignation of his brother, King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce). Despite the premise of this film sounding as if it may become a repetitive and stationary story of pure frustration and despair, The King’s Speech was actually an incredible journey of expectation, victory and unity.

The-Kings-Speech After countless ‘royalty approved’ doctors, they were about to give up when Queen Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) found Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). This begins the strong friendship created between the King and his unlikely acquaintance as well as the trust that has to be built between patient and doctor. The humourous, innovative methods and remarkable outcomes of the pair are inspirational and uplifting.

thekingsspeechhigh-res1 The cast for this movie was not short of perfect. Colin Firth is the protagonist who became the stuttering King George VI convincingly. He shows that he is a versatile actor who is capable of mastering any genre – from Bridget Jones’ Diary to The King’s Speech.
Queen Elizabeth is played by the eccentric and off-beat actress Helena Bonham-Carter who pulls off the composed and stately Queen (very unsurprisingly) faultlessly.

The award-winning Timothy Spall portrays Winston Churchill exactly how I would expect him to play any of his characters; with skill and completely believably.
The hero of the film is Lionel Logue, an “average Joe” in comparison to his patient of Royalty. Logue is played by Geoffrey Rush who surprises the King by his informal approach to speech exercises. Yet, after much deliberation from the King, he creates the casual and relaxed environment for the stuttering King to learn in without feeling superior.

kings-speech-trailer Tom Hooper shows himself to be quite a genius director. The composition of each shot supports the feelings of the King. With the claustrophobic feel of the environment when he is unable to communicate what he needs to say as well as the unsupportive feel of large and empty rooms. Warm and quality lighting creates the atmosphere of being in the presence of Royalty, contrasting the cold, dim, dark glow of the London streets.

kings-speech-movie This is wonderfully layered film which allows viewers to look into it as deep as they like. Therefore, the second and third viewing is as enjoyable as the first. The King’s Speech is a fantastically made film with every shot perfectly composed and every scene well constructed – this really is a motion picture suitable for anybody old enough to appreciate it.

There is no action or speed chases, but the inclination of tension and nerves kept me in the moment. This narrows the audience that this film may appeal to. However, I think that anybody who has the capability to appreciate triumph and success from shear hard work and determination will value this historical journey. I can guarantee that anyone who sees The King’s Speech will be able to take something away from it.

Jodie’s rating: 9/10

Inception

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Released: 2010
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine
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Wow! If you liked the Matrix you’ll like this!

A mind-twisting film which demands the full attention of viewers as it’s not an ‘easy watch’. By that, I mean that a passive audience is not going to be handed the complex idea of dream inception and deep characters on a platter.

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the primary dreamer or extractor hired by a corporation-owner, Mr Saito (Ken Watanabe) to plant a lucrative idea into Robert Michael Fischer’s (Cillian Murphey) mind via a dream. This is to encourage him to decide to break up the energy conglomerate which he recently inherited to make way for Saito’s company.

inception_luciddreaming

Despite this not being an easy task. But to add to the challenge, Cobb’s late wife invades the dreams, potentially sabotaging the entire job and putting the dreamers (including Joseph Gordan-Levitt and Ellen Page) in fatal danger. This is because dying in a “dream within a dream” will not wake them up, but send them into limbo which is basically no-man’s land for what seems like an eternity.

That was a mouthful!

This epic film is a James Bond action meets Matrix science fiction meets a totally unique twist of a psychological thriller, which incorporates the modern fear of privacy invasion and increasing reality that companies have the most power.

With so much going on and so much to think about during the movie, the two and a half hours whizz by.

My favourite scene would have to be the parallel storyline of the van that is driving the unconscious dreamers, with the storyline of the conscious dreamers within somebody else’s dream. (Yes, it’s difficult to explain).

It’s the fast-paced dream versus the slow motion van that explains the time difference between dreaming and real life.

The count-down begins as the slow motion van is driven off of the bridge and the dreamers need to accomplish the mission and wake up before their physical selves drown in the van. It’s so intense!

The cliff-hanger ending leaves much debate between viewers – so after much philosophical thinking, logical analysis and heated debates with friends, you would be back in the cinema for a second viewing or buying the special edition DVD from the nearest store.

The devoted and flabbergasted viewers will find themselves questioning how they come to certain decisions (are we in a dream?) in the same way the Matrix promoted questions of fiction and reality (is this world physically real?). In the same way as Sims players question if somebody is playing our lives out.

Of course, different people take away very different things from this movie. The most popular comment being “I don’t get it.”

INCEPTION. With a stream of shallow chick flicks and rom-coms, Inception was a breath of fresh air for those who enjoy a bit of an “epic”.

Of course, the film and talented cast is not all that creates such a movie – Hans Zimmer’s haunting scores were essentially what gives you chills!

Not forgetting the song that was the cue for the dreamers to wake up in the film (and is everybody’s alarm clock sound now) – Non, Je Ne Regrette Rein sung by Edith Piaf. It stirs emotions of apprehension and nostalgia in the audience which is parallel with the characters’.

I’m sure you can tell that I am an Inception fan, but I have to say that such a long and complicated film has less entertainment value by the third or fourth viewing.

However, it’s a “must have” for all dedicated DVD collectors or movie-making enthusiasts.

Even if it is a DVD that is not watched frequently, it’s a film that will always spark conversation and is kept handy for casual social viewing for a wide audience.

Jodie’s rating: 8.5/10