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.