New Blog!!

To anyone who has stumbled across this blog recently and wants to see more I have moved to a new blog.

https://filmsandmusicaccordingtome.wordpress.com

It is more of the same mostly film and music related and it would be great if you checked it out!

Last Summer Trilogy and NEDs

It has officially come to my attention that since starting university I have become a fair weather blogger. It is therefore my intention to be good and aim to post once a week. Now I am aware I have made this resolution before but at the moment I am becoming increasingly bored and lazy so I feel I should fill my free hours with something more productive whilst avoiding the ever multiplying pile of washing up at the same time! I also have been watching a huge amount of films recently (good and bad) and with award season upon us and the Oscars just around the corner I am for once by no means short of things to write about.

At the weekend, I re-watched the teen slasher classic I Know What You Did Last Summer. To say the least it wasn't quite as scary as I remember it but it was okay. It does what it says on the tin, so to speak. However, for some reason, blame what you will, tiredness from the early hours of the morning or maybe even just the obsessive compulsive in me needing to finish the story, I then went on to watch the whole trilogy. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was to be perfectly honest not that bad, relatively speaking of course! Set in the Bahamas, co-starring Brandy and Mekhi Phifer and featuring a cameo from Jack Black as the stoner pool guy it was cheesy horror at its best. But the fun well and truly ended with the third and final film I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. The barrel had clearly been well and truly scraped not just for the story line, but for actors, special effects, just everything really. It was absolutely atrocious and that doesn't even begin to really describe how bad it was! Almost two hours of my life completely wasted which I will never be able to get back!

On a more positive not, although I'm not quite sure positive is the right word to describe this film, this week I also watched Peter Mullan's NEDs (Non Educated Delinquents) It follows the life of a young boy, John McGill growing up in 1970s Glasgow. At the start of the film John is full of academic promise and wants to escape the life he currently knows, with a drunk, abusive father (played by Peter Mullan himself) and a violent brother who is constantly in trouble with the police. But, as John moves up to secondary school his whole world changes and he soon finds himself falling into the exact life he was trying to escape. With an outstanding performance from Conor McCarron as John it was one of the most moving films I have seen in a long time.

Great Expectations and Treasure Island

With Christmas always come yet more TV adaptations of classic stories and this year there were two which stood out for one reason or another.

Firstly the BBC did Great Expectations. Now everyone loves a bit of Dickens at Christmas and I am definitely one of those people. However, having just studied this particular novel for my English A-Level I wasn't exactly thrilled by the prospect of reliving all those painful hours of revision, but nonetheless it was Christmas, it was Dickens and it starred Ray Winstone as Magwitch, what could possibly go wrong? Turns out actually not much.

Generally, I really liked it. Douglas Booth, formerly a model for Burberry and Boy George in the BBC Worried about the Boy, was an excellent Pip as was Vanessa Kirby's Estella and Winstone's performance really was incredible. There was, however, for me one weakness, Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham. For some reason I just didn't like her and I can't quite pinpoint why. Hopefully the upcoming film will have a much better Miss Havisham as she is to be played by Helena Bonham Carter, which some have described as the role she's been destined to play for all her life. Apart from her though, and the omission of Biddy, it was very enjoyable.

The second big adaptation of the holidays was Treasure Island on Sky 1. Now, everyone knows the story we've heard it hundreds of times seen countless versions and we all have our favourites, for me its a no brainer, The Muppets Treasure Island starring a young Kevin Bishop wins every time. But boasting perhaps a more high calibre cast was this latest edition. Once again for the most part I really liked it. The look of the two part series itself really was beautiful. The richness of the scenery and the cultural diversity of the pirates shown through their costumes really created a magical world in which the story fitted perfectly.

There was the introduction of new talent with Toby Regbo, also seen recently in One Day and as the young Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, playing the anti-stereotypical action hero Jim Hawkins. The good guys really were just that, even if only in their acting abilities, Rupert Penry-Jones as Squire Trelawney, Daniel Mays as Dr. Livesey and Philip Glenister as Captain Smollett all brought something very original to the roles. The pirates too all had their unique personalities within the crew and each one stood out. Elijah Wood was stunning as Ben Gunn and his mad man act was brilliant.

However, much like Great Expectations there was one flaw, and that flaw happened to come in the shape of Eddie Izzard as Long John Silver. Now don't get me wrong I am a huge Izzard fan and I love him but for me he wasn't right. It wasn't even that he was bad because he wasn't; he just wasn't Long John Silver. Despite this though it didn't by any stretch of the imagination ruin the programme which in general I really liked.

Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock

What with coursework, revision and the glorious Christmas holidays it has been almost two months since I last posted and for once I am spoilt for choice with topics to write about. So, as I did my only exam this morning I now have a whole week ahead of doing not very much at all and I intend to fill the week mostly with blogging and once again part of my New Year's resolution is to blog more regularly, we'll see how that goes. Now the question is which idea to start with? Naturally with it just being Christmas, I, like most people, spent a great deal of time in front of the TV so there is no lack of subject matter there. However, I want to start with my most recent cinema visit which was to see Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

Many 'Holmes purists' would say that the Guy Richie adaptations of the legendary stories are nothing more than over the top action films which have been created to get bums on seats. And to some extent this could be true. There are big names, lots of action scenes, laughs and of course the obligatory glimpse of Robert Downey Junior's torso, all of which are naturally crowd pleasers and of course this is what they do. It is this the combination of factors, the whole package of the films which I think is the reason for their success.

The second film in the series, A Game of Shadows adds a new collection of names to the cast. Noomi Repace adds a more exotic element as the mysterious traveller Madame Simza but the two main new additions are the two Ms, Sherlock nemesis Professor James Moriarty played by Jared Harris and his brother Mycroft played by Stephen Fry. I loved both of them and although there has been much discussion as to whether Fry's performance as Mycroft added too much of a camp element to the film I thought that the nickname given to Sherlock, Shirley and the scene in which Stephen Fry appeared completely naked were amongst the funniest moments of the film.

Most of the humour of course came from the man himself, Robert Downey Junior. Not only with his constant wit, just as Holmes should be, but the scene in which he disguised himself as a woman was very funny, although not by far his best disguise! In my opinion Robert Downey Junior is a very could Sherlock and the relationship between him and his Watson, Jude Law does work well. Despite my fairly low opinion of Jude Law I can actually just about get through his performances as Watson without wanting to punch him in the face. (although his recent appearance on The Graham Norton show in a beanie hat soon rectified this!)

Now a very different Sherlock and one which seems to be receiving a lot more praise than the film is the BBC recreation and I too can say that I prefer it a great deal. I absolutely love Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock and also Martin Freeman's Watson. The latest episode, The Hounds of Baskerville was a very interesting take on the classic story. With Baskerville taking the shape of a highly secret animal testing centre hidden on the moor which created a drug, the 'Hound' which caused terrifying and life like hallucinations. It co-starred a confused and scared Russell Tovy and was as ever both witty and extremely entertaining.

Jurassic Park, other 'boys films' and my brother

It is widely known among my friends that, when it comes down to it, I am, to say the least, a bit of a geek. You need only to glance through some of my previous posts to notice that a high percentage of the films I watch are probably not considered typical for a girl, but the truth is I love sci-fi films, always have and always will.

Yesterday, I re-watched for the first time in ages, Jurassic Park, and I had forgotten how awesome it is. As cliché and corny as it might sound it completely took me back to my childhood (even though I am aware that wasn't that long ago) and brought back memories of hiding terrified behind the sofa. Also it reminded me of the countless dinosaur based activities - I know you're thinking there can't be that many. Trust me there are! - I had to endure as a child because of my brother's obsession with all things paleontological.

I used to be able to cope with the herbivore parts of Walking with Dinosaurs and could just about deal with The Land Before Time but I remember one occasion which I think is possibly one of the most terrifying moments of my entire life. We went to, what I suppose you'd call, an exhibition of dinosaurs and I had only gone with the promise that none of them would move and none would make any noise, a phrase I kept repeating over and over all day. Now, the 'tour' started of much like that in the film Jurassic Park itself, not a lot happened. There were models of triceratops, brachiosaurus and stegosaurus and everything seemed quite nice. Then when we entered the next room everything suddenly seemed darker and already I was a bit scared. Then out of nowhere, as I was continuing asking my mum to confirm that nothing would move or 'talk', the loudest noise I've ever heard broke out across the room and a light revealed a massive looming tyrannosaurus rex complete with blood and a dead dinosaur writhing in its mouth. Obviously, I responded with much crying and screaming whilst my brother lapped up every minute. It was terrifying and took me a long time to trust anything I was told for a while as I had been assured nothing would move or make a noise and that was obviously the biggest lie known to mankind!

Trauma aside sci-fi has otherwise been kind to me. It also served as a way of bonding initially with my brother (although I could never really accept his love of dinosaurs) but it was also something we could then share with my younger sister when she was old enough; we are quite a sci-fi heavy family. Naturally, as I have talked about before (Goodbye Harry and Deathly Hallows Part Two) I am a huge Harry Potter fan and I think it helps that I am at the perfect age for matching the characters in the films as they were released. My dad read the first few books to me and my brother, as he was too little (and probably too lazy as well!) to read them himself. It was so exciting and sometimes torturous to have to stop and go to bed. I would relish weekends and holidays when we could hear more than usual of the stories. I love everything about Harry Potter and am now extremely happy to be studying at the same university as its creator, although I have yet to visit the pub on which the Leaky Cauldron is based! However, I will leave the world of Potter as so frequently is it mentioned, even by me.

Another big one for me is Lord of the Rings. I wouldn't go so far as to say I am an obsessive but it's pretty close. My love for Lord of the Rings is again linked to my brother as he was at one point obsessed with everything about it. However, I used to joke about how he could quote large sections of the films by heart and knew the back story of most of the characters, but know I am now pretty much in the same boat! I just love it. The world is amazing and the sheer detail from Tolkein is incredible. Although I certainly cannot claim to be at the same level of Lord of the Rings fan as my brother I do think I have, shall we say, an above average love for it. Having listened to all the commentaries on the extended copies and thus being able to point out things you otherwise wouldn't know qualifies me in that category, I think.

Then of course we have Star Wars - cult classic sci-fi. There isn't, in my opinion, an awful lot to be said about it other than the fact that it is undoubtedly complete and utter genius. It's just awesome in every way possible. I even love the new ones which are obviously terrible, the Phantom Menace is up there with the Philosopher's Stone for films I saw the most amount of times in the cinema, and all in all it is terrible. However, I literally cannot wait for it to be released in cinemas in 3D I am too excited for words!

So basically I am a geek I could go on about all the terrible films on the sci-fi channel or documentaries about the aforementioned films I have watched, including a five hour one about Star Wars, and I haven't even mentioned Doctor Who yet! I don't really understand why people still think it weird that girls like sci-fi and 'boys films'. I for one love them and can't wait to go home at Christmas to watch all three Lord of the Rings films back to back and more than enough Star Wars and Harry Potter as well with my brother (and sister if she can stick it out!)

Wow

The title of this post reflects my reaction when I realised that it has been, wait for it, over a month since I last posted. I mean even for me that is terrible. I have also realised it has meant my steady and fairly regular (albeit very small) page views have waned to almost negligible figures. Its not that I haven't wanted to post or even, as I feared, due to a lack of content but perhaps more sadly a lack of time.

The fact of the matter is university is pretty full on. I'm constantly being ask to write something or research something else and I've had so much paper thrust under my nose to read since I arrived I'm beginning to wonder how many trees can possibly be left in the Amazon rainforest! When I'm not reading endless extracts on French film theory or discovering who invented the fondant chocolate cake there's always something else to do, be that a social or a Rubix Cube party! So my blogging has taken a bit of a back seat of late but I am determined to get back into the habit of writing starting... well right now I guess.

I don't really have one topic as such though but firstly I will say that I did go and see the Lion King 3D a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing. It is probably one of my favourite films of all time anyway and to see it in 3D was awesome. It was incredible to me how many jokes I missed when I was younger and the script is very witty indeed. It was hilarious and also just as sad as I remember it being. The scene where Mufasa dies was heartbreaking and my eyes welled up at the end too; it was very emotional! I thought that the transference into 3D was also very successful, I had wondered whether it was just a lot of trouble for nothing but as it turned out it made it all the more beautiful. (I hope this is also the case for the soon to be released Phantom Menace in 3D!)

The main thing I want to talk about is the concept of the 'indie kid'. This is a little off the kinds of posts I usually write but after receiving a comment from one of my friends about some recent purchases (brown patent brogues, grey military boots, grey skinny jeans and a maroon Ramones T-shirt) that after going away to uni I am 'slipping back into all that weird indie stuff you used to wear in like year 11' I began to wonder what that actually meant. Now I didn't really know what to say to this. Should I have been offended? I have decided no but it got me thinking about why people insist on categorising others because of what they wear and the music they listen too.

I'm not particularly adventurous with what I wear or anything but I would say I definitely have my own style. I also rarely wear big label clothes - not that this is a bad thing necessarily - and I have yet to succumb to the ever increasing evil power that is Jack Wills! I think that this is probably the evidence upon which my friend was making her assessment. Also it may have something to do with the fact that, for God knows what reason, I occasionally like to listen to music that involves some sort of talent and actually has substance even though its 'like well old' so anything from over 10 years ago!

One of the definitions of an indie kid on Urban Dictionary is that "all indie kids do is try to be cooler than other people..." This is the kind of stereotype which seems to have developed amongst people today. When really what being indie is about is the music. It is essentially and anti mainstream movement if you can even call it a movement at all. Basically its a bunch of kids who were annoyed by all the drivle in the charts so looked elsewhere for their music and really isn't that just what the majority of teenagers go through at some point. Especially today with shows like the X-Factor churning out manufactured record after record. I know its all been said before that our generation have no 'real' music scene and we're led completely by what's in the charts but sadly it seems to be the case.

So what is the point of all this? Well I recently went home and visited the shop Rise (with shops in Bristol, Cheltenham and Worcester) who were voted the UK's best independent record shop and it was like a showcase of all the music which everyone should be discovering too and should be in the charts. So what if I listen to this type of music? Its good and I like it so call me indie if you want but I'm pretty sure that doesn't really mean anything. I don't think a pair of coloured skinny jeans ever really hurt anyone.

Freshers

Well, it truly has been such a long time since I last posted and for once I have a genuine reason for my lack of blogging. Last Sunday, I, along with many other students across the country, made the move to university. Yes that's right I am now a proper grown up living alone and I have already encountered several disasters including breaking my electric, making a huge mess washing up and of course, discovered that I am incapable of doing the age old favourite pastime of separating laundry!

These minor issues aside, as well as the ever increasing credit card debt, so far it has been amazing and I know its clichéd and everybody says it but Freshers was one of the best weeks of my life! Obviously I went out every single night and the earliest I got in was about 3am! It was an awesome week with geek nights and beach trips and to be honest it hasn't really stopped yet as we still seem to be going out an awful lot! I started lectures and classes this week and despite having a lovely Monday off I am finding it hard. There is a lot to do what with signing up to societies, preparing for lectures, homework, food shopping, washing and going out; its never ending but so worth it!

The move has, however one downside. Due to a very hectic schedule and the fact I can't afford a TV licence my material for my blog is severely lacking! I've dramatically fallen behind in all TV and haven't watched a new film for ages and I feel this is a trend that will inevitably continue. Having said that the ingenious invention of of iPlayer, ITV player, 4OD and Sky Player are doing much to remedy this and I can watch some things online.

Currently showing on BBC iPlayer is Kidulthood, Noel Clarke's debut film. The film follows the lives of a group of 15 year olds and their, to say the least, less than perfect lives. To say it is a mix of emotions is an understatement, its both funny and hard hitting a combination which is without a doubt difficult to achieve but something that Clarke does well in all of his films. It, a cheesy as it sounds, does make you think; it is enjoyable yet powerful and I would definitely recommend it.

One Day

Probably for many people One Day is one of the most long awaited films of the year. The book by David Nicholls has become a cult classic and the population has been divided into those who have read it and those who haven't. Behind the recognisable orange cover is a story of two people's relationship over twenty years. Nicholls shows Emma and Dexter on the same day (July 15th) every year, revealing the changes in their lives and the ups and downs of their relationship. When I read the book I completely fell in love with it and its characters and it is most certainly amongst my favourites, so naturally like fellow fans of the novel I was both excited and wary of a cinematic adaptation.

Director Lone Scherfig came under fire before the film was even released due to a somewhat unusual casting choice. The role of the dowdy yet beautiful, sarcastic and witty, working class Yorkshire girl, Emma was to be played by an American and none other the Anne Hathaway. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by Hathaway's take on the role. She played it well, was believable and likeable. But the one massive problem for me of the entire film was her accent. In places the Yorkshire came out but she varied from clipped upper class, to cockney, to even in places having an Irish lilt. Unfortunately for me it was hard to look past but luckily the film had many redeeming qualities.

Jim Sturgess's Dexter was perfect. He was arrogant, self-destructive, pathetic and irritating, yet charming, kind, funny and in the end loveable; the perfect character development. His public school boy act was faultless and he couldn't have been better. I now can't see anyone else playing Dex, which is in the end what every fan of a book wants when they see their favourite novel on screen.

There were also great performances from the rest of the cast. Dexter's parents played by Patricia Clarkson and Ken Stott captured the agony of the family relationship and the despair for Dexter. Romola Garai who played Dexter's wife, Sylvie was also very good and perfect for the character. Also the considerably smaller roles of Suki, played by Georgia King and Tilly, played by Jodie Whittaker provided much humour, particularly from Jodie Whittaker in one scene where Tilly serenades her new husband at her wedding. But for me the stand out performance (along with that of Jim Sturgess) was Rafe Spall's Ian, a failing stand up comedian and boyfriend of Emma. I have been a fan of Rafe Spall for ages but this performance was, not only arguably his most noteworthy to date, but in my opinion his best. Pathetic but loveable, Ian is the sweet but rubbish boyfriend of Emma who is, of course, always second best to Dexter. Rafe Spall made the character both funny and touching and was in my opinion exceptional.

The overall way the film was made excellently and Scherfig very cleverly approached the great task at hand. The characters really feel like they are changing over the course of twenty years, something which is very hard to convey on camera and the story was of course touching. The film was beautiful in its own right even if it can't ever compare to the book.

New York, I Love You

Paris, je t'aime is one of my favourite French films yet it is one which is quite different and many people find it weird and difficult to understand. The idea behind the film is to show a short film in each of the arrondissements of Paris and how people fall in love both with and in the city. Every short film has a different director and the film has a cast of many famous and highly acclaimed actors from around the world.

After I first watched the film I heard rumours of a second film in the Cities of Love franchise from producer Emmanuel Benbihy set in New York. New York, I Love You takes a similar format to the first film, a collection of shorts, some of which intertwine, tell the story of different forms of love. Both the films show the diversity in these iconic cities whilst showcasing much of the talent the respective countries.

There are ten stories in this film and among my favourites are the story of a composer played by Orlando Bloom and the girl who helps him finish his work played by Christina Ricci and also the story of a boy who goes to prom with a girl in a wheelchair which is really funny and sweet.

There were, as in Paris, je t'aime, a few stories which I didn't like or get but I think this is partly why the film is good. There is something for everyone as it covers so many bases.

Inbetweeners

This week has been quite eventful to say the least. As most people across the country will know, yesterday was A-level results day. I was fortunate to do well and will soon be leaving to study French at Exeter. So last night naturally was a big one and most of my year went out. It was an amazing night but I am well and truly paying the price today.

On Wednesday I went to see The Inbetweeners Movie. I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was and because I love the programme so much I was ready to be disappointed but it was amazing. I spent all of Tuesday watching all three series' and was definitely in the mood for some more hair raising comedy!

Instead of being set in the usual confines of suburbia the film follows the four characters, Simon, Will, Jay and Neil, on a lads holiday to Malia before they all leave. The film shows not only what happens on the trip and all its disasters from start, ending up staying in an appallingly disgusting hotel, to finish, finding holiday romances and finally having a good time, but there is also much more character development. I think the characters had to be given more depth for the film in order to keep the audience invested for a longer amount of time. A serious downfall could have been for the writers Iain Morris and Damon Beesley to literally elongate an episode but I think that would've become boring quite quickly.

Also the characters really excel themselves in the film and all of them are the funniest they've ever been. There are touching moments too, from Jay when he realises he's not going to see his best friend Simon everyday anymore and with the budding romances of the four the Inbetweeners show that they have a sensitive side!

Most criticism of the film before it was even released came from the fact the film was a fifteen. The majority of people thought they would lose some of the crudeness of the series to fit the big screen and appeal to a wider demographic but this was by no means the case. The painful humour remained with plenty of cringe worthy sex and nudity scenes, the usual disgusting sick and of course Jay's very creative use of expletives, but the dancing is something which stood out as something else!

Although many people will compare it to the series in order to find fault in the film I think it should be viewed in its own right. It was probably the funniest film I've seen in a long time and properly laugh out loud funny too. Although its sad to say goodbye to the Inbetweeners they couldn't have

done it in a better way.

Albufeira and The Big Chill

It seems like ages since I last wrote anything, as the last two weeks have been extremely busy and I've had no access to a computer! I have however had what have been the best weeks of my life.

 Two weeks ago I embarked on my first holiday without the rents! I know risky and you would expect that what will now follow to be a list of disastrous events and tales of what went wrong. However, surprising as it may seem, everything ran smoothly! Me and four of my friends went to Albufeira in Portugal and had an absolutely incredible week. We had a apartment with stunning views and access to a massive pool. After going for a wander on the first night merely to see where everything was, we managed to stay out until two in the morning due to most bars offering free shots with every five euro cocktail! So this continued to be a pattern of the holiday, out every night till five, up at midday for a full English breakfast, then lie next to the pool until it was time to go out again. Now, I am making this sound like a bunch of hateful binge drinking teenagers on holiday for the first time, but we did visit the beach, the old town and do souvenir shopping as well not just consume a ridiculous amount of alcohol! We made lots of friends too and as we became regulars in the one bar we got around eight free shots on the last night! Not bad I'd say! So all in all it was an amazing week full of countless glasses of sangria and tonnes tequila shots!

Now that would've been enough to keep me happy for the rest of the year but the day after we got back it was The Big Chill. It has been dubbed the original boutique festival and it just so happens to be round the corner from my house. After the start of the first day I just wanted to come home. Putting up a six man tent in heavy rain is never fun, but after I'd dried off and had a few drinks I was very excited for the weekend ahead. Many fellow big chillers have, in my opinion, been unfairly critical of the Chill this year accusing it of selling out and becoming too commercial. I do think it has changed, maybe to appeal to a wider market but the relaxing, family values of the original Chill remain, especially with the hillside hammocks and enchanted garden. The atmosphere was unchanged and although there were bigger acts this year, I'm not complaining as everyone I saw was incredible.

Friday: I managed to see one of my favourite bands ever on the first day. None of my friends really liked them and they're not exactly massively well known but Empire of The Sun were amazing. The show they put on was mind blowingly good as were their costumes and their dancers. After that I saw Friday headliners, The Chemical Brothers. They were absolutely amazing and again although most of my friends gave up after half an hour, I stayed for the full set and it was incredible. Despite missing Aloe Blacc because of them I managed to catch the end of Chipmunk's set and actually he was really good! His covers of Beautiful People by Chris Brown and Fix Up, Look Sharp by Dizzee Rascal were highlights as was his closing number Champion. The last act I saw on Friday night was Plastician who was amazing. By the time his set finished at two in the morning though I was pretty much ready for bed!

Saturday: Christened the day with all the acts, I was up at eleven to take my younger sister to see Dionne Bromfield, Amy Winehouse's goddaughter. She was so good. Her voice was incredible for a girl of fifteen and the similarities to Amy's voice were striking. She was clearly emotional about the death of her godmother when singing Mama Said but when she closed her short set with Love Is A Losing Game in tribute to the star her sadness was evident and she couldn't sing the last line because she broke down in tears. It was actually really moving. After a couple of hours midday rest we were back again to see The Midnight Beast who were absolutely hilarious! Their parody of ET was so funny but the TicToc parody for which they are probably most famous was amazing! Then on the way back to the tent we stopped to watch a bit of Janelle Monae who looked beautiful in her trademark tuxedo! Then the first 'big act' of the evening was Katy B who was way better than I could've ever imagined. After that I saw Jessie J dressed in a leopard catsuit, cat hat and purple hair. She was amazing and I couldn't get over how incredible her voice was. She was also just really sweet and kept chatting to the crowd describing herself as a wailing cat! Later that night after the headliner, who I will get to in a moment, I saw Calvin Harris who was also really good.

So yeah, the big man himself, Mr Kanye West. Now we all know his an arrogant 'insert appropriate expletive here', but lets be fair to the guy he's also Kanye West. Obviously he came on three quarters of an hour late, but we all expected it. Also his entrance made up for it. He was on top of the VIP tower singing Higher, clever right? Then he made his way on stage to join his amazing dancers who really were incredible! And aside from this slight divaish performance and the hour long speech about how everyone gives him such a bad press, in which he did compare himself to Hitler (admittedly that was probably too far!), he was awesome. There is no denying it he put on a show which was undoubtedly the best thing I have ever seen! I may be a bit bias in that I knew every word to every song but all his classics like Stronger, Good Life, Touch The Sky and Gold Digger and Diamonds from Sierra Leone were so good its ridiculous. I mean he's Kanye West and I'm sorry to conform or whatever but he was awesome!

Sunday: The final day now what could compare to the night before. There were a few bands that I had heard of (and Robert Plant!) but none that I really wanted to go out of my way to see. Like I said what could compare to the night before. This was the opinion of most of the people I was with as well so we decided it would be better just to get drunk and find a random tent with good music which is what we did and it was really good! I did stop in and see Annie Nightingale for a while who was still excellent!

In general the weekend was amazing and despite having to be lifted over the railing by the main stage after nearly getting crushed it was so good and I loved it! All in all an amazing two weeks in what is sadly my final summer at home as I move into the real world in September! Everything seems to be moving rather fast with results in less than a week so I'm going to carry on enjoying the summer, however I'm not sure how I'm ever going to top Kanye West!

Deathly Hallows Part Two

I thought I'd published this and it should have been posted two weeks ago but for some reason I didn't! Anyway I have seen it! It is something which is dividing the world into two different sections, those who haven't and those who have. I apologise for my Harry heavy posting at the moment but it is undeniably extremely important, so I will say my piece about the film and then leave it at that, most likely forever.

The Deathly Hallows Part Two was the perfect way to finish the series and I was even able to look past the omissions from the book as I loved it so much. There were, of course, as with all the Harry Potter films, startling problems. I was particularly disappointed with some of the deaths and felt that the death of Fred Weasley, which for me was a crucial moment in the book that had me in floods of tears, was skimmed over and not given enough attention. Also the flash forward scene was in my opinion not done well at all and huge chunks were again missed out and characters were not quite fulfilled. However, I think that the final battle sequence surpassed itself and was done very well. Despite the tense and at times fairly scary scenes the comfortable humour of the Potter franchise wasn't lost and neither were its characters. This was especially seen with Neville Longbottom and I think that Matthew Lewis gave his best performance yet, and potentially the best of the film. I also was pleased Snape's death and 'revelation' worked so well and it was very effective and genuinely moving.

Despite all these flaws though I thoroughly enjoyed the film. As ever the sets were incredible and I thought that the 3D was used very well. The series truly went out with a bang and I will certainly, along with many others miss what has been a large part of my life!

Goodbye Harry!

This week across the world we are all witnessing cinematic history. Described as an end of an era, with the premiere last week, the final film of JK Rowling's phenomenon opens this Friday and as part of the generation who have grown up with her novels and with Harry Potter playing a huge part in their lives, I thought now was as good a time as any to address the world which has been present throughout my childhood.

Emma Watson is quoted saying that she can't remember much of her life without Harry Potter and this is something I can definitely relate to. I have read all the books countless times, seen all the films even more times and for a large part of my life hoarded everything to do with Harry and his world. I took every chance to clutter my room with posters, magazine specials and all things Potter. I even still have a pull-out from the Times magazine special of the first film (I also of course still have the magazine) which is an advert for something in the shape of the Hogwarts letter Harry receives in the first novel complete with his cupboard under the stairs address and it even opens! I am sure that I also have all if not most of the cinema tickets from every film. But of course it started with the books, I am that child who queued at midnight for the release of the new books and on twice I even won prizes, a mug and a glow in the dark muggle T-shirt, both of which I obviously still have! I've not only played countless games revolving around this world, I've had Harry Potter parties and I even wrote my own Harry Potter play, which my friends and I performed in one of our Primary School assemblies, in which I played the Boy Who Lived himself, complete with glasses, a lipstick scar and hair in a bun!

So what is it about the books that makes them so popular? The world Rowling creates is almost Tolkien in its detail, although not quite so boring in their description. Her novels are overflowing with countless exciting, interesting, weird and wonderful characters all of which are extremely memorable. The world itself is also so important in Rowling's novels, the incredible locations and situations are mind blowing to a young child and the magic is what shapes this amazing world. It is a world that you want to be a part of and the characters are people you want to meet and be friends with. This is yet another reason for the books popularity, the friendships. Harry, Ron and Hermione are the perfect protagonists for all children none of them are the classic popular pretty kid, although each of them are perfect in every way for their readers (and nowadays there is no denying that Emma Watson is incredibly beautiful!) The growth of these characters and the relationships between them is what makes the novels so special and essentially, despite the magic and adventure, it is what the novels are centered around, childhood friendship and growing up.

Being about the same age as the three main characters when the first film came out (well at least the age they are supposed to be) I have grown up with them. I am truly part of the Harry Potter generation and it is something that we share, we can discuss it, its our generation's common ground. Now, having just turned eighteen, as the characters will in the final part of the Deathly Hallows, the end of an era has truly come and it is, despite this sounding pathetic, sad. Arguably the biggest part of my childhood is soon to be over, I will never again feel that same excitement of the next Harry Potter book or film coming out. Never again I fear will I feel the need to devour a book so quickly yet at the same time savour every page. As I myself now have to grow up, leaving my school which I have attended for seven years, move out of the house I have lived in for eleven years and move into the real world by starting university in a new city all on my own, I also feel like with the closing of this incredible story I will be officially letting go of my childhood. Although with the release of the new Pottermore website, the total relinquishing may have to wait a while!

X-Men First Class

Yesterday I went to see X-Men First Class and it was amazing! I spent the day before re-watching all the films and forgot how good they are, even though they're not exactly cinematic masterpieces! The film is a prequel to the X-Men series and tells the story of how they formed and it was actually one of the best films I've seen in a while.

Despite a terrible script in places and some dodgy accents, I genuinely enjoyed the storyline and at a healthy 132 minutes there were no places were I felt it dragged. There was a good balance between action and actually interesting parts of the story, something which is often missed in big budget action films such as this. The characters themselves were well played and had depth too something else which is often absent from this genre of film. James McAvoy as a young Charles Xavier and Micheal Fassbender as Erik Lehnscherr (Magneto) appeared together for the first time since the both starred in Band of Brothers at the start of their careers and they worked very well together. Both gave what were, in my opinion, very good performances and their on screen chemistry was also very believable. The appearance of some familiar faces of the mutant variety were also mostly good. I especially liked Nicholas Hoult's Beast and equally enjoyed the familiar faces of Emma Frost and Raven/Mystique and a thirty second cameo from one Hugh Jackman (Logan/Wolverine) was really funny!

Also the scenes at Charles' mansion where the mutants were learning to control their powers were very funny. With Havok, Banshee and Beast as the ringleaders of the comedy throughout the film this section showed it at its peak.

There were places however, which I found occasionally almost excruciatingly cringey such as the whole setting of the Cold War and clips of JFK addressing the world which didn't quite look right. Also there were some terrible moments of dialogue such as jokes about Professor X losing his hair and the mutants always being ... X-Men. But then these films have never been known for their outstanding writing with gems like "What happens to a toad when it gets struck by lightning? ... The same thing that happens to everything else!" so lines like these can be, in my opinion, forgiven and forgotten.

Generally though it was very enjoyable and possibly the best superhero movie I have seen in a while. It certainly seems a lot more polished and just much better overall than the Ryan Reynolds' new film The Green Lantern. However, I can't wait for the new Captain America film The First Avenger which looks really good!

Long Time No Post!

Well it really has been a long time since I last posted. The last few weeks of my life have been, to say the least, mental. I have a tonne of films to discuss, but before I do I will give you a quick update of what has been going on in my life! Since the last time I posted I have completed all of my A-levels, officially finished college and, most importantly, turned eighteen! Unfortunately, however I have not been able to enjoy the privileges that come with being an adult because I have been so busy with exams, but as I now have a whole summer ahead of me, I will be enjoying them asap! I have also booked a holiday away with my friends to Portugal which I'm so excited for and as of next week I will have Big Chill to look forward to too and despite many negative comments about a too commercial line up, which I can see, who wouldn't jump at the chance to see Kanye West live?

I'm not entirely sure where to begin with films. It feels like I've watched hundreds over the last weeks as my revision has regularly deteriorated into just watching one so my life has been dotted with films. Firstly, for my birthday my friends bought me Gnomeo and Juliet, which I have wanted to see since I first saw the trailer. I wasn't disappointed! It was funny, cute and a sweet film in general. With the talents of many of the country's best actors it was hard to hear any unrecognisable voices. From the two main characters, James McAvoy and Emily Blunt to hilarious performances from Ashley Jensen, Matt Lucas, Stephen Merchant and particularly Ozzy Osbourne. The soundtrack was also excellent, naturally, it being by Elton John, with a new song featuring Lady Gaga which I love. I would definitely recommend it and it certainly goes in the collection of children's films that adults love just as much.

Also, I recently watched another film starring Emily Blunt, Wild Target, with Bill Nighy, Rupert Grint, Martin Freeman and Rupert Everett. Its about an assassin who falls in love with his target. It was okay, not anything special but watchable and funny in places. What I also liked about it was it didn't try to be anything that it wasn't and generally was average yet enjoyable.

Killers, however was a film I found to be the exact opposite. It fitted the classic awful Hollywood rom com role completely and relied far to heavy on the main character's attractiveness rather than the plot or in fact the acting. Katherine Heigl and Aston Kutcher although never exceptional in the acting ability usually are relatively self aware but in this they seemed to take it with the same seriousness as someone performing at the globe. The plot just became ever more ridiculous as the film went on and tried to be similar to films such as Mr and Mrs Smith (which I also re-watched and it is still excellent) and couldn't compare. Aside from a mildly amusing appearance from Alex Borstein there was little in this film which I liked.

At the moment, although I am planning to watch Glastonbury for most of the weekend, the next couple of films I will be watching are Letters to Juliet and Salt because they are the ones on Sky Anytime at the moment. Watch this space for those and maybe some more too as I can blog much more now due to the fact I have nothing to do until September.

Little White Lies

As I haven't written for a while I took advantage of the long bus journey up to Manchester's Old Trafford to start this post. It was slightly difficult though what with the loud football chants and sambuca shots (started at 10am). However, I had an amazing day watching United lift the cup for the 19th time after a pretty decent game of football on none other than what would have been George Best's birthday. The atmosphere was of course incredible and I did love Wayne Rooney helping his son Kai to score a goal!

Saturday night I went to a friends house for a film night which failed slightly as we only ended up watching two films, Step Up 3 and White Chicks. The former I will not dwell on much as it was one of the worst films I've seen in a while despite the amazing dancing. However, the latter was hilarious as usual and even though I have watched it countless times it was nice to re-watch as I had forgotten just how funny it was!

The film I wanted to talk about was the last I saw in the cinema, Les Petits Mouchoirs aka Little White Lies. The french film directed by Guillaume Canet was amazing. The film follows a group of friends who go on holiday every year together but this year one of their friends has been in an accident leaving him in hospital.

Very funny moments involving weasels and general holiday stress from Francois Cluzet and other more touching moments from the rest of the cast filled the film with warmth and gave it a real quality that so many other comedies in this genre lack. However the one stand out performance for me was that of Marion Cotillard. Not only was she stunning throughout her character was very well played making her believable and likeable. It was also one of the few three hour films I've seen in ages which didn't drag at all and I didn't notice the length. Generally, it was a heartfelt and warm film which I would certainly recommend to everyone!

This post is also slightly lacking in length because of the huge amount of exams I have coming up soon. However, I am going to hopefully be seeing the Hangover Part Two on Friday so I inevitabley will be writing something about that soon!

Scre4m - What's your favourite scary movie?!

I definitely felt the horror genre yesterday as my day started with Sweeny Todd and ended with Scre4m. The demon barber musical directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp was very good and fulfilled all of its gory expectations but it is the fourth in Wes Craven's legendary psycho slasher movies that I want to talk about.

To be perfectly honest I wasn't expecting much. Most of the reviews I had read weren't great and I had already been quite disappointed by the second and third in the series. However, I was actually very good and I don't regret seeing it at all.

The film started very cleverly with a stabbing which turned out to be a film followed by another which also turned out to be a film. After this film inside a film opener it also set out a kind of feeling that it wasn't going to take itself to seriously but was at the same time going to stay true to the genre and the Scream brand. Almost a celebration of the corniness but also brilliance of these slasher movies! I was also quite pleased with the ending and despite guessing all the way through different murderers I was nowhere close to predicting the actual conclusion and it was a good one too!

The performances in the film were also good especially from the likes of Emma Roberts and Hayden Panettierre. I also liked the fact there were the original members of the cast and the return of Sydney Prescott played by Neve Campbell, Gale played by Courtney Cox and Dewey played by David Arquette, although they had all clearly aged and Courtney Cox has certainly been hitting the botox, it was a nice reference back to the original story which worked well with the new decade new rules horror remake idea!

The amount of gore was good too as usually 15 certificate films shy away from showing much of the gruesome stuff but this most definitely wasn't the case especially not in one scene with a murdered girl with her intestines spilling out from her stomach!

It was a really good film and although not totally scary and funny in places because if its stupidity, it did make me jump in places. Also there was enough gore and iconic Ghostface phone calls and attacks to make the film very enjoyable and actually pretty good! My friends and I have also decided to do a Scre4m style Stabathon with all the Scream films followed by all the Scary Movies! So I leave you with the slogan of the film, "What's your favourite scary movie?!"

Easter Holidays

The Easter Holidays seem to have brought with them a somewhat ample amount of material for me to post about. This is most likely because instead of tackling the mountain of homework and revision for my ever closer looming A- levels I have been spending the majority of my time watching films! I therefore have many which I could discuss and don’t really know where to begin so I shall give a sort of brief overview of each one I have watched so far!

Firstly, I have been to the cinema once as I took advantage of the KidsAM offer at vue where you can see a film for one pound and took my sister with my friend and her little sister to see Tangled. The twist on the traditional Rapunzel fairy tale was actually very enjoyable and it was nice to have an original Disney Princess classic once again. The animation was stunning especially the scene with all the floating lanterns. It really was beautiful and I felt myself along with all the younger children in the cinema gaping in awe at the screen! Tangled also appealed to the more modern audience in a manner possibly quite similar to that done by Shrek by lacing a traditional fairy tale with humour which to be fair many films fail at but this attempt was in my opinion very successful.

I have also recently taken great advantage of Sky Anytime using it to watch both Whip It! and Cemetery Junction. Neither was spectacular but they were both watchable and fairly enjoyable. Both debuts of supposed new directorial talent Whip It seeing Drew Barrymore’s first attempt and Cemetery Junction that of Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant. Whip It follows the story of a teenager who discovers her talent for roller derby. Starring Ellen Page it most definitely falls into the same genre of indie retro films as Juno or Adventureland and has a look and soundtrack to back this up. It was pretty good though, funny in places and easy to watch – just a nice and quite fun film! Also I was surprised by Cemetery Junction, although I am not a fan of Ricky Gervais and didn’t understand really what the need for his small cameo role was, but I found the film itself reasonably funny and just a sweet story too which I didn’t think Gervais would be capable of. The 70s setting came across well and the sets and costumes were very well chosen. I also thought that the acting was good and that the three main characters especially Christian Cooke were particularly good. So generally I was pleasantly surprised!

Also I have finally had the opportunity to read and watch The Time Traveler’s Wife. The book was absolutely amazing, I loved it and it has definitely become one of my favourites. Also despite the film not living up to the book as so many adaptations don’t I did like it and this was probably partially down to Erica Bana and Rachel MacAdams who were very good. It wasn’t how I had imagined the book but good as the same.

Then the final film which I watched just this morning is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time which I loved! It was a proper action adventure film like Indiana Jones or even the Mummy which we haven’t seen for a long time! It was really good and Jake Gyenhaall and Gemma Arterton were brilliant and I was very impressed by Gyenhaall’s English accent. However the actor who stole the show was Alfred Molina whose tax dodging ostrich race organiser was really very funny. It was just generally a very well made film and I enjoyed the adventure film nature of it.

Hopefully I will get round to doing some work this holiday but I am also looking forward to a week of more film watching ahead, especially a cinema trip to see Scre4m which I can’t wait for!

Brighton Rock

This week I went to see Brighton Rock with a few friends. I am a huge fan of the book and studied it last year at AS level so I was really looking forward to seeing what this new adaptation was like. I had only read bad reviews of the film and so wasn’t expecting much but was still excited to see the film and actually I was generally pleased with most of it.

I thought that the choice to set the classic gangster novel in 1960’s Brighton was genius and the mods and rockers riots worked really well with the violent nature of the story. The cinematography and the look of the film were really good and I thought that the film really looked like it was filmed in the sixties and some of the shots were beautiful. I also really liked the fact that the gruesome and violent parts of the story were stuck to and Pinkie’s death was really effective. The burning of his skin with acid was horrible but amazing and the final shot of him as a crumpled mess at the bottom of the cliff was both disturbing and powerful.

Sam Riley was a very good Pinkie and really captured the confusion of the angry young man and there were very strong moments of him revealing the disturbed psychotic nature of the character’s personality. However, I thought that Pinkie disgust towards Rose wasn’t focused on enough but aside from that he was very well played.

Rose was equally good and I thought Andrea Riseborough really captured her blinding love for Pinkie. Also, I thought her look was very effective; she did come across as the slightly dowdy and dishevelled woman and Riseborough was particularly good at showing her naivety and youth in a way which highlighted Pinkie’s too.

Unfortunately for me the character of Ida wasn’t brilliant though. Helen Mirren is obviously an amazing actress and an icon but maybe this is why she didn’t work as Ida for me. In my head she is the slightly drunk, cheerful motherly figure for Hale and for me this just didn’t come across but it didn’t really take that much away from the film which was good. Also, I wasn’t too sure about Andy Serkis’s Colleoni and felt perhaps he wasn’t as gangstery or powerful as he could’ve been. However, I do think that maybe the period it was set in meant some of these almost stereotypical characters wouldn’t have fitted in that well so I do understand some of the toning down of their characteristics.

I also did like the other members of Pinkie’s mob though and thought that Spicer, Dallow and Cubitt all held their parts well and each added something to the screen be it humour, tension or whatever else.

So all in all it had been a really good film and stuck fairly close to the book but had enough effective alterations to make it something in its own right but for me it all came down to how Rowan Joffe dealt with the iconic ending. The ending of the novel is probably one of my favourite ends to a novel ever when Rose goes off to listen to the record and will inevitably find out the truth about what Pinkie thought of her and the first time I read it, it gave me a kind of sick and at the same time spine chilling feeling. Then, the original film changed the ending to Rose not finding out because the record skips and Rose only hears Pinkie say ‘I love you’ and I understand why they did it in the 1947 version to give a happy ending because it was right for the time. However, when it got to the final scene of this edition I was so disappointed they did the same thing. It actually made me quite angry and I couldn’t believe that this film which up to then had been one which had so much potential for me to be one of the best films I’d seen in ages ruined it by not taking advantage of the amazing ending in the novel.

However, apart from that it was a brilliantly made film and I would recommend it and was most certainly not a waste of time or money which I think is always a plus point to a film!