Tuesday, 28 February 2012

The Artist

I love silent films. The love the look, the music, the acting, everything about them is magical. My all time favourite would have to be Flesh and the Devil starring the one and only Greta Garbo, in my opinion her best performance. I will do a review of that film in due time.

So, naturally, when I first heard about the silent phenomenon that is the Artist, I became extremely excited and couldn't wait for it to come out in cinemas.



Director:Michael Hazanavicius
Producer: Thomas Langmann
Writer: Michael Hazanavicius

Jean Dujardin as George Valentin
Berenice Bejo as Peppy Miller
John Goodman as Al Zimmer
James Cromwell as Clifton

The first thing that I loved about this film was when I was sitting in the theatre I forgot it was 2012... And began to imagine myself in 1929... Ugh It was bliss! Im so in love with the eras what were in the 20th century, particularly the 20's through 50's. That atmosphere is such a hard thing so come by these days.



The film portrays the beginning of the end for silent films, and the introduction of talkies, which put a lot of silent film actors out of work. George Valentin is one of those actors, follows the demise of his once flourishing career. On the opposite, Peppy Millers rise to fame is quick and lucrative, which is mostly owed to Valentine. Dujardin  and Bejo have a chemistry that grasps you the very second you see them in screen together. They recreate the acting techniques and looks of that era perfectly. I also loved the cameo appearance of Malcolm McDowell, one of my favourite actors. The little dog was freakin adorable!! I'm not going to say to much on this, dear readers, I believe you should see that cuteness for yourself.  At 100 minutes in length, some people might be a little sceptical as to the "draw and hold" effect, (A film that draws you in and holds you there until the end credits) considering most people are not accustomed  to silent films, do not worry people, this film is a beautiful story that will keep your eyes glued to the screen the entire time, there is no time to be bored, you will be mesmerised!


Another thing that I was a little worried about was.. I was a little scared that the acting would seem that of a parody, its so easy to make fun of the acting in that time, There was no sense of over-the-top mimicry here. The acting, while affective, was still subtle enough not to look ridiculous.

The lovely climax of the movie showed Dujardin and Bejo's undeniable talent, a  beautiful and lively charleston-esque dance scene, Brilliant!! I'm so glad the film won the oscars it did, Dujardin is brilliant at his craft, it's lovely to that acknowledged. Please readers, I beg you, SEE THIS FILM!!!

I'm giving this film the 5 stars it deserves.



Monday, 27 February 2012

Zombie Wars



I love Zombie movies, I really do. It must be a primal fear that lay in us all, I'm not exactly sure what that fear is exactly, maybe it's a fear of swarms or a fear of disease but It brings itself to a head in Zombie films, us Humans love em.

Director and Writer: David Prior
Genre: Horror/Slasher

Adam Mayfield as David
Alissa Loenig as Star
Jim Hazleton as Brian
Kristi Pearce as General
Jonathan Badeen as Sliver


Zombie Wars is set in a post-apocalypic world were groups of humans live in fear of the dead that completely surround them. The zombies are smart, they breed and keep humans until they are old enough to eat (I didn't realise that we humans had an age in which we 'ripen'). The Zombie's camp reminds me of the world war II concentration camps, humans are put as workers on the 'farm', tending to the gardens (what Zombies need gardens for, I will never know). As a viewer, I was not able to identify or feel empathy for any of the characters within this film. There is not a lot of substantial character development, and the very little there is doesn't seem to come from a true place. Due to the low budget of this film, most of the scenes occur in woodlands, which isn't very damaging to the plot but it's pretty unrealistic, If that really happened, people would find a large building and completely corner themselves off, not unlike "Dawn of the Dead".



This film was extremely disappointing. The plot was completely unrealistic and the writing was abysmal. The film is plagued by silly cliche lines that fall into the "I'll be back" category. I found myself rolling my eyes at some of those ridiculous lines, which the actors deliver poorly. The zombies were another let down. They seemed to have emotions and thought processes, which is stupid considering the world wide zombie stereotype is that they are braindead! What makes Zombies scary is that fact that they are unable to be reasoned with, and all they think about is hunting you down and digesting your entrails, the fact that these Zombies had a hierarchy and a political system make them look ridiculous and not scary at all. I do see what the film makers tried to do, they tried to be unique. But, in my opinion, it failed to make a mark.


Speaking of the actors, I don't think there was one character who I truly felt was scared, they seemed very cavalier. The characters didn't seem scared at all, Which is outrageous, considering there are killers out there who want and need to kill you and eat you.  Jonathan Badeen, who plays Sliver, was particularly second-rate, he looked very awkward in front of the camera.

It's not all bad though, don't get me wrong. There are some very satisfying gore scenes, which included disembowelment and a stake being shoved into a "Pus heads" (a name the humans call the zombies) skull.

I believe Zombie Wars simply takes itself too seriously. I believe this movie would have been more successful if they tweaked it a little and turned it into a horror/comedy, I've given it one star.


My Week With Marilyn

For my first movie review, I will be reviewing a recent cinematic masterpiece which I immediately fell in love with.... My Week With Marilyn.




Director: Simon Curtis
Producers: David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein
Writer: Adrian Hodges

Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe
Eddie Redmayne as Colin Clark
Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier




Let me just begin by saying that Michelle Williams was superb... stunning!!! All throughout the movie I kept visualising Marilyn and Michelle head the nail on the head, She embodied Marilyn, she WAS Marilyn. It was almost as though her spirit possessed Williams throughout the shooting process. In my opinion.... Miss Williams was robbed of that oscar....

My Week with Marilyn chronicles the events told in the books "The Prince, The Showgirl and Me" and "My Week With Marilyn" written by Colin Clark. Set in the early summer of 1956, during the filming of "The Prince and the Showgirl" which was originally titled "The Sleeping Prince". Clark is working as a 3rd assistant director underneath Laurence Olivier, who becomes regularly frustrated with Marilyn's lack of punctuality and inability to remember lines and complete scenes when requested. Clark eclipses Monroe with the wonder and frivolity of England while her husband, Arthur Miller, is away. While the film is anchored around Monroe, the narrator is 23 year old Clark. It's very interesting to see Marilyn's life through the eyes of another, and leaves you with your own inner debate as to what she was really like... was she a master manipulator or simply a lost little girl? The film lets you decide for yourself.



The acting is brilliant from all parties, in particular Williams and Branagh. As I am such a huge fan of Monroe, I was very eager to see this film and I was a little worried I would be disappointed. Emma Watson makes a small appearance as Clarks original love interest.... which I do admit was a little lost on me, there seemed no real point to that storyline, more depth was needed, more time developing the friction.

Nevertheless, My Week with Marilyn was a brilliantly written film with everything that makes a great film great. It's a real shame that Williams and Branagh didn't win the Oscars they were nominated for, lord knows they deserve them. 




Sunday, 26 February 2012

Salutations, Dear Readers

Let me start my  blog with a quote; "It's funny how the colours of the real world only seem real when we viddy them on the screen" - Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange.

Nothing could possibly be more true. I don't really know anyone who doesn't love movies. Whether they making you laugh or cry, or terrify you to the bone. I'm sitting here right now trying to find a way to describe to you, dear reader, how the beauty of film makes me feel inside. Truth is, there are no words for that feeling. That feeling of wonder and amazement when you're transported to a different world. A world where anything is possible. Anything.

What I will be writing in this blog will be reviewing and evaluating all the different films I come across, in other words putting my otherwise useless yet vast knowledge of the big screen to a better use than just festering in my grey matter, ranking them with a 5 star system, 5 stars being fantastic and 1 star being........not so fantastic.

The first film I remember watching and really loving was Fantasia (1940) which is the third film in the Disney theatrical animated features canon, Produced by Walt Disney. I was 5 years old and I remember being completely mesmerised by the sights and sounds of the stunning animation. Although, as my mother tells me, she had to skip past a character I apparently called "Jerry the Gobler"..... He must have been quite frightening to me..... even though I have no recollection of this.




Since that first experience, in 1995, I have devoted a lot of time (and a lot of pennies!) to the film industry, and I've never looked back.

Film is a dream, A dream that we all want to be a part of. I know I've seen a great film when I walk out of the cinema and I don't speak....I don't think anything except... wow, how did they do that? No form of art touch us as a whole society like Films do, they touch us deep down into our souls.

Please feel free to add your own reviews and opinions in the comment section of each post, Opinions are an important thing to have and I welcome them with open arms.