Films

I have recently signed up for a service called 'Netfilx'. That's actually not the service,its the name of the company, but it describes the service. You pay a monthly subscription and they send you DVDs based on the list of desired DVDs you provide for them. My room mate got me into it, but she is on a slightly more expensive package then I am so she gets 3 at a time while I get 1. At least 2 of my immediate family are very much into films, and I assume a lot of others are too as it seems to be quite a lucrative industry, so I thought I would just give a quick list of what I have seen so far and maybe a wee comment and leave the rest open for discussion.

in chronological order;

Beowulf:Directors Cut.

I really like Beowulf. It was just up my street as I actually quite like fantasy if its done well (eg Lord of the Rings). I also liked that Beowulf wasn't just a hero, but he was flawed and messed up. I thought it was quite powerful but many, many would disagree...

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

I've obviously seen this several times before but got it to educate my American friends. I love it, and with a bit of translation it went down well.

28 Days later

Now then, I loved this. So exciting and one of those films where you can't help put yourself in the shoes of the lead character, and ask yourself what YOU would do in every situation. I think that's a good sign in a movie. Like Beowulf though, it had a kind of semi and probably very realistic twist which made it so good. Was a little out of breath when it was finished although It did leave me with some unanswered zombie related questions. NOT just another horror film.

28 Weeks later

The natural next film. Same theme but different characters from 28 days later. Still good though with a fantastic 'Zombie theme' which is so subtle, think of that Mike Oldfield song from Exorcist. Fantastic scene at start. Maybe not quite as good as the original.

The Jerk

A film I'd always wanted to see, but there have always been higher priority ones available. With my new service though I could be extravagant. Pretty entertaining but not 'laugh a minute'. It still had some hilarious and obviously classic scenes in it. I also really like Steve Martin which helped.

Navin - ''You look so beautiful and peaceful, you almost look dead. And I'm glad, because there's something I want to say that's always been very difficult for me to say. I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit." There. I've never been relaxed enough around anyone to say that.''

Brilliant, i nearly died.

Princess Bride

I had the same reaction from everyone when they heard that I'd never seen this, the same reaction, bizarrely, most people give when finding out someone has never seen 'Star Wars' or 'Back to the Future'. It is true that the people offering this reaction were all female, and generally all under 13, but i was assured I'd like it. When I saw it had Cary Elwes in it, who arguably has the best comedy face ever, I had to see it. I enjoyed it and even laughed in numerous places. Well done girls, you got one right.

I'm just going to pause here to say that 'Poison' by The Prodigy has just come on my iPod, sandwiched in between James Blunt and Justin Timberlake on shuffle. Oh my goodness what a song that is (Poison)! Never forget people, and if you have that song readily accessible, go put it on. If you're American, then I'm so so sorry you didn't have that song growing up.

Moving on..

American Gangster

Now we get serious. This had great reviews and may even have been up for an Oscar of two, but didn't really offer anything new. I liked it, and enjoyed watching it but it just seemed like they got two really good actors and some guns and drugs and then just laughed all the way to the bank. Like I say though, still good so I guess that makes my previous comment invalid.

Juno

Again, a big player in movie land. Not really what I expected but really enjoyable. It was quirky which always helps and was not dissimilar to 'Napoleon Dynamite' in its presentation which, ironically, made it different. I don't know what else to say about it which is why I will never be a movie reviewer/critic. It was an original plot though, and had a good soundtrack.

Narnia

One I had been looking forward to for ages. It was terrible, so bad. What a waste of time. From start to finish I got exponentially more irritated by every one of the four children. How can you have such snotty and bland kids as the lead characters?!!! Was that the point? did I just not get that? I know we're not supposed to like Edmond, but the others? The movie was also filled with an infinite number of events that just would simply not happen and were totally unrealistic. Now I know what you're thinking, but I am not talking about a wardrobe that leads to a new world, talking beavers or spontaneous Turkish delight. I am talking about simple things which were important to the flow of the movie, they way the children acted, or the things they said and mostly, the decisions they made. Compare that to 'Lord of the Rings' for example, in that movie I thought all the characters behaved realistically relative to their situation. I think on meeting a white Witch for the first time and for only a few minutes, I personally would not want to join her CLEARLY evil empire simply on the promise of some sweets. I just think individual scenes of importance or even otherwise could have been done so much better. Finally, one of the main reasons I was so excited about this disaster was the promise of an exciting end battle to rival Lord of the Rings in terms of fantasy and action. The prospect of Cheetahs going into battle against Polar Bears sounded like one of the most thrilling things in cinema (for me anyways...). What we did have though was a couple of public school boys totally untrained for combat, running around patting vastly superior fighters on the head with a sword and having them collapse. If this is how easy it was to win back Narnia, I'm not sure it was worth it. I must now concede I have not read the books, but If this film is remotely representative, then they are some of the worst books ever written. I have been assured though that they are not. Long Live the BBC.

The Other Boleyn Girl

Very good and I surprised myself how much I enjoyed. As far as I know, a lot of 'artistic license' was used, as there is no historical information on the 'other' sister, but this didn't seem to matter. I always find it fascinating to watch films on how life used to be, 'artistic' or otherwise and I usually want to go buy a history book afterwards. I also must admit I needed help in understating what was going on in this relatively straightforward film. I did feel that is lacked a good battle, but since by the end of the film King Henry and completely cut his ties with Europe and the Catholic Church over a fling, I'm guessing one wasn't long in coming after the credits and gone up. One other pretentious observation I would make is on the strength and resilience of the 'other' Boleyn girl, Mary. Despite a ridiculous traumatic life, she remained pretty cool about things, which is a little too Hollywood but I guess its no different from every other film.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Great stuff. I actually watched this before 'The Other Boleyn Girl' and I preferred it. I'd heard things before about this particular English victory, and it was nice to see it in context with other events. Naturally I read up a bit on the background on Wikipedia afterwards and got a bit more educated. It seems that Elizabeth was quite lucky in her reign, but that itself all the more to a good film, which it was. I liked how powerful the Queen was, in spite of her personal turmoil, and the final scene of her on the cliff overseeing the battle was cool. I think Clive picked the right one though...

The Holiday

Utter crap.

That is my list. If you've made it this far well done. It actually took me until 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' to realise that to write a review you have to say WHY you like it, but oh well.

I'll try and keep it updated, if you care...