sci-fi – Page 2 – NZ Film Freak

The Matrix

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Directors: Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski
Writers: Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski
Released: 1999
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves
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Despite The Matrix being 13-years-old, it still has a high following and huge fan base. Often referenced and compared to modern films such as Inception and In Time. It explores an alternate universe – a different perspective of how we live today. That we are in a virtual world run by robots and machinery of the past.

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The Matrix is taught in universities and high schools as an example of gender roles. Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) is an the ‘ideal’ strong and independent female lead. She is androgynous and avoids stereotypes. Although I would love to be Trinity, she is not my favourite character.

Matrix_113Pyxurz

One of the tech guys named Tank (Marcus Chong) is probably my favourite character because he is the most enthusiastic and positive guy who shows you how the Matrix is a marvellous place, despite its gloomy, dangerous and simplistic aesthetic. You’ll realise what a likeable guy he is when he first introduces himself to Neo.

The Matrix is obviously a mind-bending concept, but once you have got the hang of it you realise that it is an entertaining idea to consider as plausible. On a less serious note, it is a fun reason behind experiencing deja-vu and the moments that fly by versus when time feels like it’s standing still. It’s all just a glitch in the Matrix!

My favourite scene – The Oracle:

This is one of the best sci-fi movies. It involves trippy concepts, awesome lines and a load of martial art action. Fantastic! I’ve always been in two minds about whether or not I like Keanu Reeves who plays the protagonist, Neo, but he’s pretty great in The Matrix.

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If you listen to the script, it could be applied in a very positive way in regards to how we live our lives. Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) always has the best lines.

Morpheus: You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Morpheus: Don’t think you are, know you are. Come on. Stop trying to hit me and hit me.” In other words, stop thinking in the future and think in the present. Don’t become something, be something.

*Gasp* – it’s so deep and meaningful!

I’m sure the majority of people have watched this movie and have loved it. But if you haven’t seen it, you should, and if you didn’t like it, then watch it until you do like it.

It is a pretty deep movie, but try to understand it and apply it to real life – it is a pretty intense perspective for sure! In fact, scientists have tried to prove that we are living in a virtual world, and some believe that it could be theoretically possible.

An amazing action/sci-fi film with an incredible script!
However, the sequels get increasingly complex with more action and a lot less story.

Jodie’s rating: 8/10

Looper

Director: Rian Johnson
Writer: Rian Johnson
Released: September 2012
Starring: Joseph Gordan-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Paul Dano and Emily Blunt
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Updated: March 2018

I love time travelling films! I was in love with this film the moment it began as it explained the world of looping, the jargon used and the dangers of it. It was so awesome!

The first time I watch Looper, I was disappointed because I had a different storyline in mind. But I keep coming back to this movie and appreciating it more for what it is.

Looper is set in the year 2044, where 30 years into the future (2074), time-travel has been invented. Badass rich people send back the people that need ‘taking care of’, meaning the body will never be discovered in the year 2074.

This is the loopers’ job. They kill the people of 2074 in return for silver – giving them the life of drugs, sex and rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a business where Loopers ‘take out the trash’ for the criminals of the future.

So that’s a pretty inventive setting, and the first 40 minutes or so where they explain the loopers’ occupation and what happens if they fail to do their job is very cool indeed.

When a looper is no longer needed, the criminals of the future send the looper’s future self back to the looper of 2044 to be unknowingly killed. This is called ‘closing the loop’.

However, looper Joe (Joseph Gordan-Levitt) hesitates when he recognises the target is his future self (Bruce Willis), accidentally allowing him to escape. Joe attempts to kill Old Joe and fulfil his contract, but he is too late. Old Joe is on a mission to get his life in 2074 back, and Young Joe is on a mission to kill his future self to ensure the next 30 years of his life is a comfortable one.

Old Joe is on the hunt for a child who grows up to be the baddie of the future, who is ‘closing all the loops’. He hopes that if he kills this kid, then his loop would not be closed in the future and he can stay in his happy 2074 life. Somehow.

This links into that age-old question, ‘if you could, would you kill Baby Hitler to ensure the Holocaust never happens?’. A true Stephen King thriller right there.

Hopefully this makes sense – time travel stories are always flawed and complicated. Just how I like ’em!

Just like in Total Recall, they threw in a hovering vehicle to remind the audience that they are in the future. Thanks, Hollywood.

There are some parts where you think they’ve gone a bit too far, making it a tad comical. Including Joseph Gordan-Levitt’s ‘young Bruce Willis’ face, and a kid whose tantrums cause what appear to be nuclear explosions.

Nevertheless, worth a look-see if you love time travel, gun fights or a simplified, PG version of Inception. But it is a very random kind of film.

Jodie’s rating: 7/10

PS: Paul Dano from Little Miss Sunshine is in Looper! He plays Seth… His storyline is so intense!!

Total Recall

Director: Len Wiseman
Writers: Ronald Shusett, Dan O’Bannon, Jon Povill and Kurt Wimmer
Released: 2012
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So, it was between watching Total Recall or Bourne Legacy. I am not a fan of action so after watching the trailers I decided on Total Recall based solely on the fact that it mentioned dreams. Due to being an Inception fanatic, I decided that this action film would be the best choice.

It was alright. Not great. But not unbearable either.

The overall exterior urban sets were pretty much Blade Runner – a futuristic Asian city with bright lights and pouring rain. Just to make sure that you knew that it was set in the future, they threw in a few flying cars… Just in case you weren’t sure. My friend said he was surprised there were no laser guns to further reinforce the time era.

There were a few cool things though, like the plate in some of their hands that was a tracker/phone and when their hand was placed on a piece of glass, the image of the caller was projected onto the glass.

I think that the two main women characters should have been made to look a little more different… Two tall long-haired brunettes running around begin to look like the same one after a while.

I suppose I wasn’t really emotionally invested in it so I didn’t get worried when the protagonist was in a spot of bother, nor did I feel a relief when he got himself out of a sticky situation. Perhaps this was because I didn’t see the original film with Arnold Schwarzenegger in it, or because I’m not a fan of the genre. However, I think a vital issue was that it was so predictable. It was the standard stereotypical structure of an action film which left nothing to the imagination.

A few typical characteristics of action films (including Total Recall) were:

Despite the amount of bullets being shot, nobody ever seemed to get hit.

When one character got knocked out in a crash landing of a hover car, she had a full recovery within hours with nothing but a 2 centimetre blemish to prove she was previously unconscious. (Don’t want the main characters to be unattractive)
When the ‘baddie’ had the protagonist trapped, she gave a monologue so the ‘good guy’ had the chance to kill her.
The ‘baddie’ always makes a come-back before the end. (The fatal finale)

There is a big question at the end, of course. Was it a dream all along? But due to the lack of ‘minor details’ to back up either theory, I found that it really did not matter either way. Unlike Inception where the end was debatable with lots of nit-picky bits to back yourself up. (“The spinning top was tipping at the end” or “the memory was identical to ‘real life'” etcetera… ).

If you’re in to a bit of action and a bit of sci-fi, or you enjoyed the original, I’m sure you will like this film…

But it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Jodie’s rating: 5/10

PS: Bill Nighy was epic as usual! Pretty decent American accent too.

Zombieland

Director: Ruben Fleischer
Writer: Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese
Released: 2009
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So this is pretty much the American version of Shaun of the Dead, except they adopted the typical chick-flick style of the unlikely love interest blah blah blah… That was sort of disappointing because the balance was a bit off in regards to the romance, comedy and horror ratio. (A Rom-Com-Zom film)

But I did like it enough to buy the DVD, I’m not going to lie I do love Zombie films, so Zombieland was a must for my collection. The best part of this film is definitely the ‘rules’ that the main character, Columbus (Jese Eisenberg) basis his survival on during the zombie apocalypse.
He “always follows the rules” in his life, and during the apocalypse, these were some of the rules he mentioned:

Cardio
Beware of Bathrooms
Wear Seat Belts
Travel Light
Get a Kick Ass Partner
Always carry a change of underwear
Opportunity Knocks
Don’t be a hero (later crossed out to be a hero)
Limber Up
It’s a marathon, not a sprint, unless it’s a sprint, then sprint
When in doubt Know your way out
Zipplock
A little sun screen never hurt anybody
Double-Knot your Shoes
Pack your stain stick
Check the back seat
Enjoy the little things

I was disappointed when I realised that Abigail Breslin played Little Rock (sister of Wichita/Krista (Emma Stone) because I totally didn’t even recognise her! I wanted Breslin to stay Olive Hoover from Little Miss Sunshine forever…

Overall, this film is pretty random. Like, they spend a while hanging out with Bill Murray, and the main character’s ‘side kick’ Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) has a Twinkie obsession and spends most of the film hunting down Twinkies…

So, this is an entertaining film for everybody to enjoy. Yet… Not as funny as the unbeatable Shaun of the Dead… Nor is the storyline as intricate… But it is a great film nevertheless.
The rule of thumb is to watch Zombieland before watching Shaun of the Dead. That way you can appreciate Zombieland more, rather than comparing them all the time.

It was a worth while purchase, but I did wait until it went on sale. I don’t think it’s worth paying the full price of when it was first released.

Jodie’s rating: 7/10

The Lost Boys

Director: Joel T. Schumacher
Writers: Janice Fischer, James Jeremias and Jeffery Boam
Released: 1987
Starring: Corey Feldman, Jami Gertz, Corey Haim, Edward Herrmann, Barnard Hughes, Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Dianne Wiest
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Want to see a real vampire film? This ain’t no glitter-in-the-sunshine crapola! This is the real deal of blood-sucking beasts who aren’t bad on the eye and have traditional vampire qualities.

It isn’t a full-out horror though. More of a black comedy similar to Shaun of the Dead in style. It includes the good lookin’ Kiefer Sutherland in his younger days (if you don’t like vampires, you will after seeing Kiefer). Plus my favourite Dianne Weist who plays the mother of a comic book enthusiast (turned vampire hunter), and his brother (turned vampire). Talk about family feuds!

I have to mention Nanook – he’s the Huskie and I have loved that name ever since I watched this film. Apparently the dog was inspired by Nana in Peter Pan.

So it goes through all of the stereotypical vampire qualities, but it’s funny because they make you aware of the stereotypes. Intolerance to garlic, growth of fangs, demon dogs to guard the vampires during the day, motorbikes and, of course, being unable to tolerate sunlight. Or they’ll burn (not sparkle).

I love the characters. Michael Emerson (Jason Patric) as the protagonist who gets caught up with the “wrong crowd” in their new neighbourhood. Plus, his brother Sam (the late Corey Haim) who makes friends with brothers Edgar and Alan Frog (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander) who chase down the vampires using their extensive knowledge of comic book characters as a guide.

lost-boys-frog-brothers — The vampire hunters! Armed with comic book knowledge.

I love the soundtrack! I mean, it’s certainly eighties music but it’s pretty powerful with chilling songs that I really enjoy – even for a devoted sixties fan.

A fantastic film! A classic. Not too gory or scary, not too light hearted and shallow. A fun film for a wide audience, even if it’s just for the hard-core 80’s permed hair.

I’m not planning on ruining my love of The Lost Boys by watching the sequel…

Jodie’s rating: 7/10

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

Love Will Tear Us Apart, Again – Broken Social Scene

If you’ve watched The Time Traveler’s Wife, you would have heard this song.

I love this cover of Joy Division’s original song. It’s so relaxing, yet this is another emotional song that makes you feel almost sad as soon as you hear the first three piano chords.

I couldn’t help but learn the chords on the piano after hearing this. It’s quite a simple song, but it’s still so enjoyable. The guitar is quite quick paced, where as the vocals and piano are slow and prolonged, and by these two speeds playing at the same time, it tells a story within itself.

Jodie.

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.

Avatar

Director: James Cameron
Writer: James Cameron
Released: 2009
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver
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When I watched this film in 3D, my review would have been very different to what this review of my second watch is. At first, I would have said that it’s a storyline we’ve seen before, that the characters were typical and that it was all about the technology.

However, this is not exactly what I think now.

Having seen the first hour of Avatar on TV recently, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it compared to how I felt about it roughly two years earlier. After the adverts interrupting my good time a few too many times, I just had to get the DVD. Which I did. And here’s my verdict:

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and I think it is mostly because it is very easy – too easy – to compare what happened to Pandora to what is happening everyday on Earth. At least in New Zealand, we’re struggling to prevent businesses fracking the rocks below the surface to collect gas/oil which has massive effects on the environment and the people living nearby.

James Cameron made this before there was the amount of struggle between the value of the environment versus the financial value of the environment, that there is today. So Avatar hit home pretty hard the more realistic the story became.

Beyond the deep and meaningful, the technological advances of this film are at a level that will take a long time for anybody to measure up to. It’s all motion capture – so that’s all green screens and dots – but you would never be able to tell that the actors have no Pandora environments to work with.

The designs of the people (Na’vi) and the intrepid creatures that roam the strange planet and how they all share a similar colour palette to show the interdependence between the environment and it’s inhabitants. With the main message being that it is all about balance.

It is a film of action, adventure, fantasy and science-fiction. It’s kind of like exploring Wonderland, but Wonderland from the future. So it’s not at all boring for a second. Which is why after buying the DVD (and finding it had no special features -_- not cool James, not cool) I had to go back out and buy the 3-disc version to get the ins and outs of the story.

It’s got everything that would make you wish that you were there. Riding on flying dragons, galloping through the jungle on six-legged horses, exploring a land rich in life and colour. Pandora is the land you’ll soon want to exist.

Because although it is a ridiculously long film (although it is actually a lot easier to handle than any of Peter Jacksons epically exhausting creations) I found there was still a lot I wanted to know about Pandora and the tribe of Na’vi. Plus, Jake Sully’s (Sam Worthington) back story is quite an eventful one.

I mean, come on, this is James Cameron we’re talking about. The writer and director of Titanic! So of course this is a film worth watching. In fact, I think Cameron should be famous for his writing more than his directing.

I think this film is one of very few that is very beneficial in 3D! The landscape designs look idyllic and the creatures are so intriguing. I am weary of the sequels, however, that are meant to be on its way…

So depending on what ‘filter’ you’re going to watch this film through, whether it’s from a political point of view, an environmental or religious point of view or, just watching it for plain entertainment, you will find something to take away from Avatar. It’s all about values, balance, the circle of life and appreciation.

Jodie’s delayed rating of: 7/10

In Time

Director: Andrew Niccol
Writer: Andrew Niccol
Released: 2011
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried
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I think this is going to be a short entry today. Because I’ve been mulling this film over and over in my head for a good few months since I watched it.

It’s a film about how in the future everybody would be paid in time. With a count-down timer on our arm (which would make a pretty cool tattoo) we have to use that time to pay for things we need such as bus rides and food.

This film does have some powerful points, such as the rich getting richer while the poor get poorer. It does make a stand how unfair it is that the few wealthy and powerful people in the world have total control over 99% of the planet’s population. It’s a film about greed which is parallel to real life.

Unfortunately, this become secondary to the romance, which dilutes the impact of the potentially strong and shocking political statement trying to be made.

Quite simply, this thought-provoking Matrix/Inception–like film could have been a decent action/thriller if it wasn’t for the following three things:

NUMBER 1: If the story line wasn’t so obviously and devoted to the old-age tale of Robin Hood. Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Justin Timberlake wasn’t a bad actor, but his character was too unrealistic. Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) was a worker with just enough income to survive, until a ‘rich’ man donates all of his time to him. Sales then gets into top security places and eventually steels most of the money to donate to the poor sections of the world which he continues to do until every body is equally rich.

Not very original, is it, if you replace the guns with bow and arrows and the city with a forrest.

NUMBER 2: This turned into a romance. Like, I would say that this film was not a “Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy” (according to Rotten Tomatoes), but a Romance/Action. How the love interest (Amanda Seyfried) could run in those six-inch heels and still rob banks… I do not know.

NUMBER 3: It is quite simply too far-fetched. They should have stuck to developing the lifestyle and internal struggles of watching our life tick away from you. I think that would have been way more interesting…

Intime Arm Count down

I was pretty disappointed with this one, actually… But perhaps I was wanting to see a deep and meaningful movie when In Time was essentially a chick-flick disguised as a sci-fi/action in the trailer.

Jodie’s Rating: 5/10

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Director: David Yates
Writer: J.K Rowling
Released: 2010
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Richard Griffiths, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis, Julie Walters
—

What a fantastic film! But of course I would say that; it’s based around time travel. So if you enjoyed the Prisoner of Azkaban, you’ll enjoy this.

Every Potter film before this has been increasingly dark – this is no exception – it is evil and horrific as we continue our ten year journey with Harry potter in order to defeat Lord Voldemort and we are almost at the final fight.

Harry-Potter-and-the-Deathly-Hallows-a

This film is getting closer and closer to the muggle world as the famous three have more dealings with people outside of Hogworts. Despite it’s scary themes and shocking circumstances, it certainly doesn’t lack its tension-diffusing humour.

Particularly within the first chapter where everybody who’s helping to protect Harry takes Polyjuice potion enabling everyone in the room to look identical to Harry – a very clever and interesting behind-the-scenes piece regarding how they did this scene on the double disc version.

There are sudden deaths which may be disappointing for some fans, but the challenges and interdependence you discover between the main characters makes the story deeper and less about Harry. It’s a journey of discovery in more ways than geographically. As we flit from place to place we meet more and more people, unable of who to trust.

Ron-and-Hermione-Deathly-Hallows-Part1-romione-15280646-1350-939 I’m still not convinced about the unorthodox chemistry between Harry and Ron’s sister, Ginny. No matter how many movies, it just doesn’t work for me… However, Ron and Hermione have a more realistic relationship including somewhat hilarious disagreements.

Not long ago I reminisced and watched the first Potter film. It was then that I realised how far we had come technology-wise and this series has documented it.

HarryPotter_DH_Animated_Scene Deathly Hallows has spectacular audio and music as well as flawlessly creepy flashbacks. My favourite scene is when Hermione tells the story of the Deathly Hallows and the relevance of the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone and Invisibility Cloak. It is so cool – like you’re in the room listening to harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-1-373-8756 it, it’s the atmosphere of the film that makes it so real.

This is my favourite film of the series. By far. It is the mystery and the huge journey we go on emotionally and geographically, yet somehow it doesn’t seem so far fetched. A very exciting, yet occasionally humourous watch!

Jodie’s rating: 9/10

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
—

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

Timetravel

I swear I was supposed to be born in the late forties to enjoy the 60s music, fashion, uprisings and a more simple life… I was born too late, you see. Mailed to the wrong address, if you like.

Perhaps wanting to live in the past is a popular notion because it’s a solid lifestyle – it means that you’ll know exactly what will happen because you’ll be writing the already-written history books… Tracing an already drawn picture… Colouring a colour-by-numbers… If you get my drift. Perhaps that is what we all want to an extent, predictability.

Mum is reading a time-travelling book by Stephen King. I haven’t read it. But it explores the notion of traveling back in time to change a major point in history, such as an assination. However, the twist being that history does not want to be changed, and everything is preventing the protagonist in succeeding in saving somebody such as catching a sudden illness or getting caught in traffic jams. This goes against every other time-traveling story I’ve heard of such as on Dr. Who (David Tennant all the way) and the Back to the Future trilogy where changing the future is very easy to do and can have dire consequences.

I’ll be sure to make very good friends with a physicist in the near future – after all, according to the wonders of physics, time travel is possible! Perhaps NASA has already mastered the art of time travel and is using it to their advantage but keeping it a secret along with the proof of alien existence… Yeah. That’s what they’ve done.

Otherwise, if you see a blue phone box spin over your house in a couple of years time, it may well be me.

If all goes to plan, goodbye 2012! See you when I’m in my sixties. *fist pump!*

Jodie.

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