Room (2015)-Film review

room-poster

Room is directed by Lenny Abrahamson and stars Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay as a mother and her 5 year old son who are being held in a tiny room and have been since before the boy was born. The film is very small and personal and has a very upsetting premise, but an overall feeling of hope and love in dark times. It is sweet and heartwarming while simultaneously being tragic and soul crushing. I don’t want to spoil anything from this film so my review might be a bit vague, but that is because I knew very little about this film when I went to see it, and that made this film an amazing experience.
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Grimsby (2016)- Film review

Grimsby

Grimsby is a new comedy by Sacha Baron Cohen, star of Borat, and is directed by Louis Leterrier and staring Sacha Baron Cohen and Mark Strong. The film is about two brothers, one an international super spy (Strong), the other an idiotic football fan from Grimsby London (Cohen), who must team up to stop an Eco-terrorist group. I can’t really say I was disappointed by the film because I wasn’t expecting much, but I’m sad to say that this film was a disaster!
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Spotlight (2015)- Film review

spotlight

Spotlight is directed by Tom McCarthy and stars Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Brian d’Arcy James, John Slattery, Liev Schreiber and Stanley Tucci. It is a biographical film about the Spotlight reporters for the Boston Globe who uncovered the child molestation scandal within the Catholic Church. This horrible discovery in recent history is harrowingly presented in this film; it is tough to experience, but that’s what makes the film great. It doesn’t dumb down the events or over dramatise them, but instead presents them with terrifying truth, Spotlight is really brilliant.

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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.
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Blade (1998)-Film review 

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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!
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World War Z (2013)- Film review 

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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

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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”