Birdman 0r (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)-Film review

birdman

Birdman is a poetic tale about fictional movie star Riggan Thomson who, as he is only famous for his role as superhero Birdman in the 90s blockbusters of the same name, is trying to recreate his image as a true “artist” by writing, directing and starring in a Broadway play. The film follows Riggan as the stress and pressure from the play and everyone around him cause him to steadily lose his sanity. The film questions what the difference between is between commercial fame and successes and true art, whether success means how popular you are or how respected you are, and just how far someone can go for there image. It is a spectacle and a best picture winner, a masterful film. It is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and stars Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Emma Stone, Amy Ryan and Naomi Watts.
Continue reading “Birdman 0r (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)-Film review”

Blade (1998)-Film review 

Blade_movie

Blade, staring Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson and N’Bushe Wright, is one of the first successful super hero films of this generation since the Superman and Batman films of the 1980s. It is, along with X-men and Sam Rami’s Spider-Man, is probably one of the reasons we have so many other super hero films as this was an example that it could work. This one is a bit forgotten about though which is a shame as I found this to be one of the best! It is a really good comic book film, and shames a lot of the current MCU and DCU films as it wasn’t afraid to be adult and it had a leading hero that was black, which the current ones have yet to do. Blade is, simply put, about a half-vampire vampire slayer, and is a great early super hero film!
Continue reading “Blade (1998)-Film review “

World War Z (2013)- Film review 

World_War_Z_poster

I’ve been reading the novel World War Z (which I will do a review of when I’ve finished, I’m not far from the end) so that’s why I’ve been in a zombie mood the last few days. I heard that the film World War Z has absolutely nothing to do with the book at all so that’s why I didn’t mind watching it before I finish reading it. It really doesn’t, it doesn’t even feel like it’s set in the same world as the book, because the zombies run in the film a which they don’t in the book. The film is its own story so if you like the film, go read the book because it’s completely different and awesome, and if you hate the film, go read the book because it’s completely different and awesome! It’s not the same characters or story or style or anything, the film is its own separate thing. Any way I’ll stop talking about the book and save that for my review, and I will ignore my opinions on the book for the bulk of this review, which is very easy to do because, like I said, they are completely separate. The film stars Brad Pitt and is directed by Marc Foster.  Continue reading “World War Z (2013)- Film review “

The Naked Gun (1988)- Film review 

naked gun

The Naked Gun is a police spoof comedy from the creators of Airplane and Top Secret. Directed by David Zucker and staring Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin, an incompetent cop who has to try and save Queen Elizabeth II from an assassination attempt. The creators of these spoof films (the Zuckers and Abrahams) are legends in the spoof comedy genre, with very over the top comedy with ridiculous gags mixed in with some surprisingly clever satire of the genres they are trying to spoof, whether it be disaster movies with Airplane, spy movies with Top Secret, or cop movies with The Naked Gun. While most people believe Airplane to be their best, I find it a little too messy; The Naked Gun is there best film in my opinion, it is absolutely hilarious and definitely a must see. Continue reading “The Naked Gun (1988)- Film review “

28 Weeks Later (2007)- Film review

28 weeks later

28 Weeks Later is the squeal to 28 Days Later and is set 28 weeks after the zombie virus outbreak that happens in 28 Days Later. The rage infected humans have starved to death and the US military has sectioned off a section of London to begin bringing back English refugees. The film follows some children who find there mother in an abandoned section of London and she seems to have an immunity to the disease. It’s not as simple as that though and the action continues from there. Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and staring Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Robert Carlyle, Harold Perrineau and Idris Elba, the film wasn’t well received, which I think is a shame because I think this is a really good sequel to 28 Days Later and if your enjoyed that film and want to know more about what happened to the world created you should check this out.  Continue reading “28 Weeks Later (2007)- Film review”

28 Days Later (2002)- Film review

28days

Directed by Danny Boyle and starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson and Christopher Ecclestone, 28 Days Later is one of the must see zombie films and one of the best horror films of the early 2000s. Set in England, the plot follows Jim (Murphy) as he wakes up from a coma 28 days after Monkeys infected with “Rage” escape from a testing facility. The Zombies aren’t the slow undead type of zombies, but are instead living people infected with a kind of intense rabies that passes through blood and saliva. They can run an are just as strong and fast as people jacked up on adrenaline, and so are very vicious and threatening. It is an intense film with a lot of harsh moments and a modern classic of a horror film. Continue reading “28 Days Later (2002)- Film review”

Chicken Run (2000)- Film review

chicken run

Chicken Run was a film I grew up loving, so when I saw it on Netflix I thought I’d see if it is still any good. Happily it is, it is still one of my favourite kids films, not without it’s flaws, for a number of reasons. It is created by Aardman Animations, the genius stop-motion studio behind Wallace and Gromit, and staring Julia Sawalha and Mel gibson. The film follows the Chicken Ginger (Sawalha) and the other Chickens of the Tweedy’s egg farm in Yorkshire as they try to escape. The farm is styled more like a prison camp and the chickens are treated like prisoners of war, and eventually executed when they fail to meet there egg quota by Mrs Tweedy (Miranda Richardson), a greedy and abusive woman, and her simple husband Mr Tweedy, who is obsessed with the chickens, believing they’re organised despite Mrs Tweedy telling him it’s all in his head. All seems hopless for the Chickens after many failed escape attempts, until Rocky (Mel Gibson), a flying Rooster, crashes into the farm and brakes his wing, and promises to try and teach the Chickens to fly so they can escape over the fence. The film is a lot of fun and amazingly created, the stop-motion is very well done, I feel it’s much more personal than computer animated films as you can see the work gone into creating it and you are actually looking at something someone created! The review may have some small spoilers but nothing too much. Continue reading “Chicken Run (2000)- Film review”

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)- Film review

images

I rewatched this classic comedy today and felt like talking about it. The Holy Grail is the first feature length film the Monty Python crew made (not including And Now For Something Completly Different as it’s just a film lenght collection of sketches) and obviously is made by and stars the 6 Pythons: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. It is an amazing and influential comedy so if you’ve not seen it you really should go back and give it a go. Continue reading “Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)- Film review”

Ready Player One (Ernest Cline)- Book Review 

ready player one

Ready Player One is Sci-Fi Novel written by Ernest Cline. Set in the year 2045, Society is crumbling after multiple catastrophies and worldwide neglect as almost everyone in the planet choses to spend all their time in the virtual reality “OASIS,” a massive, no, epic online multiplayer game, like World of Warcraft or Runescape but multiplied by a million! The games creator, James Halliday, was absolutly obbsessed with 80s onward pop culture, as it was the period he grew up in, and so fills his game with countless references from everything from movies, video games, tv shows, music, books and much much more! When he dies in 2040 he leaves a will that says his now multi-billion dollar fortune, and control of his game, are hidden inside his game as an Easter egg, and the player who finds the 3 keys and gates first will find the egg and inherit Hallidays immense fortune. Egg Hunters, know as “Gunters,” have been searching for the egg for 5 years without any luck, until 18 year old Gunter Wade Watts, and his avatar Parsivel, finds the first key, and the story progresses from there. It is a story of absolutly epic proportions set in both a harsh depressing future and the worlds best video game imaginable at the same time. It is very well written and I found it impossible to put down, best book I’ve read in a long time! Continue reading “Ready Player One (Ernest Cline)- Book Review “

The Voices (2014)- Film review 

The voices

So after seeing Deadpool and absolutely loving Ryan Reynolds in that I thought I’d give him another shot and see some of his films that I’d skipped previously, as after Green Lantern and X-men Origins Wolverine I’ve not been a fan of his, One of my friends recommended the Voices so i thought I’d start with that and I must say my opinion on Ryan Reynolds has completely changed for the better.  Continue reading “The Voices (2014)- Film review “