Trailers!! Lots of Trailers (Well 2 But VERY Exciting Ones)

Ok i've only been home about 5 days and i'm already a tiny bit bored :P I've already done an essay and a half and i cant do the other half until i can get to the university library so i'm giving up on that cos i'm a good student =D Anyway so thought i better get back to this old thing to give me something to do. And tbf theres only one place i can really start and thats with two pretty impressive trailers that have been released in the past few days. So Cronilogical order then shall we:

The Dark Knight Rises

Director Christopher Nolan

Possibily the most annticpated film of the year finally has a full trailer! Theres barely anywhere movie related you can't go at the moment without hereing about Nolan's final installment in his Batman series and although it won't be the end of Batman it feels like Christian Bale's Batman is going out with a bang. The main selling pint of this film has to be the amazing cast that Nolan has put toghether, combianing stars of his series (Bale, Caine, Oldman and Freeman) with what seems to be half his Ineption cast (Hardy, Gordon-Levitt and Cotillard) plus Anne Hathaway. It seems a winning combination that should hopefully pay off and be a suitable follow up to possibly the greatest superhero film of all time. For me the most intrigging (terrible spelling i no) is Gordon-Levitts involvment which seems from the trailer to be minimal but nothing is ever as it seems in Nolan's films and there might be alot more in store in terms of suprises.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Director Peter Jackson



Now from the very first moments of this trailer i was immediatly taken back to my childhood. I was 9 when the first Lord of the Rings film was released and from the looks of the trailer nothing much has changed in terms of the landscape and beuaty provided by the New Zeland shoot. In many ways the polar opposite of the marketing campaign then Dark Kinght Rises with bearly any infomation leaked and little known about what the film will entale (unless you've read the book). Jackson seems to have stuck with his LotR's casting method by not casting massive stars for the roles but has rather taken two of British TV for the two major new casting additions, Martin Freeman as a younger version of Ian Holm's Bilbo (although its nice to see older Bilbo back again) and Richard Armatage as the drawf Thorin. The rest of the cast follow similar previous roles but it will also be nice to see some of the orgional cast back with Holm, Elijah Wood, Cate Blancett, Oralndo Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving and of course Sir Ian McKellen reprising their roles from the first 3 films. And as the trailer showed we also get to meet Andy Serkis as Gollum again. Something tells me this may be the film of 2011 or at least one of the top 3!!

Review: 127 Hours

127 Hours (2011)
Director Danny Boyle

Now as we have come to expect from any Danny Boyle film the direction in 127 Hours is the main attraction. The film is full of the livelyness that Boyle brings to his films with a particually good soundtrack for a film where all the main action takes place in a gorge in the middle of nowwhere!! The camera style bares Boyles signiture style with much successful use of the handheld camera that puts the audience in the place of truely believing that they are with Aron Ralston (The story and events are based on real events) throughout his hideous idea. But due to the nature of the story the film couldn't survive just on Boyles style it needed a strong central performance from James Franco (Spiderman, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) who delievers a good if not quite great performance. Franco looks certain to be about to break into the serious big time after this career making turn and hopefully Boyle will be making more great films for years to come. The rock in this film could of done with more charcter devolpment though ...

7 out of 10

New Little Fun Fact

Now i'm pretty sure none of you will be aware that my blogger count was orginoally made for us on my A2 Media coursework. Well with my last post i have just surpassed the amount of post made on that blog on this blog ... In less then 1 month!! Oh dear i come to uni and i start blogging - i hope your happy about this Mr Gates!! Yes i'm talking to you - actually i'm talking to you via two formats right now :P Well i think this proves i dont have a life but still i didnt anyway and at least now i have a place to rant and share mindless reivews and trivia!! I hope noone is actually reading this cos i must se...

SQUIRREL!! sorry i had the random erge to quote Up!! That reminds me after Christmas i may do a special post dedicated to Pixar cos you no i have 6 weeks off and nothing to do :P So just rambeling now ... Any Glee fans? Just wondering am i the only one who thinks Sugar Motta is strangly hot? Don't worry MG i'll put a picture up for you - you can pretend shes just a normal girl whos not in Glee, although she cant sing and i'm pretty sure thats the part of Glee you dont like so maybe you'll like her ;) I will get you to watch it one day!! Anyway Timothy needs his beuaty sleep so no more blogging tonight!!

Yes I Did Go To See The Saturdays Live DEAL WITH IT!!

First of all i will explain that i've bearly told any of my friends back home about this because they ridicule me enough for my style in music, even though most of them just listen to people screaming about ... well i don't know what they scream about but try listening to something happy for a change!! Its the main point of music for me. Anyway i'm rambling but if any of said friends find their way onto this blog and find this post yes i did and i'm proud of it!! I'm not even sure why i'm posting this, probably cos its one in the morning i'm bored and not tired cos i'm like that :P Time for a picture me thinks

Right so the reason i went to see them, if your interested it was in Newcastle on Saturday 10th December 2011 as part of the All Fired Up Tour, is mainly becuase lets face it they are 5 pretty amazing looking girls who sing happy feel good songs. For me thats the perfect mixture. Ok so i was wasnt a big fan of their new album and did go into the concert wondering if it would be any good, I booked the tickets ages ago before the album in case your wondering, also it seemed pretty unlikely the show would be improved by the fact that one of the members is about 6 months pregnant. So all in all not a great combination i think you'd agree. Another picture time methinks p.s. qualitys not great and considered nicking fan photos of facebook but i think this is more personal.

But within minutes of there rather extravogant entrance (see top picture) all was forgotten and the concert turned out to be the perfect mix of the old classics (not sure if you can really call them classics yet cos lets face it the band aint that old and aint that popular but i love em!) and their new stuff which was translated into a live setting better then expected and probably translated even better then some of the old stuff, although there is no greater feel good song then Higher <3

Overall despite my worries before hand i loved the experience and will most probably be one of those people who says yeah i've seen them once i dont have to see them again, but then if or when they do a next tour i'll be right there booking my tickets. And lets face it if Una can be amazing that pregnant imagine what she would be like not pregenant. I'll leave you with an actual good quality picture now cos i think you deserve it =)

Review: Up In The Air

Up In The Air (2010)

Director Jason Reitman

When you have been waiting to watch a film and finally get around to watching it, i had this film recorded on Sky+ for at least 6 months and never watched it, a film will either fail your expectations or beat them. And Up In The Air did that very rare thing and managed to beat my expectations. For me i'm often surprised at some films i like especially when looking at the plot and this film would be one of those moments, yet I found the story compelling and one that in one part in particular nearly left me with a tear in my eye, and i dont often cry unless its at Armagedon i no i'm strange. At the heart of the film is George Clooney's (ER, Batman and Robin) performance which is the glue that holds the rest of the superb cast together. Credit must also be given to the break out star who managed to get away from the series that must not be named Anna Kendwick (Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, Twilight ...) who more then makes up for her minor part in the most evil of films to walk this earth. Ok this is just turning into a rant about the Twilight Sage now!! So i will say that although not a perfect film Up In The Air is certainly one which i could watch several times.

8 out of 10

Review: The Beaver

The Beaver (2011)

Director Jodie Foster

In cinema sometimes the craziest ideas are the best and most loved. For example a walking carpet in Star Wars has turned into one of the film worlds most recognizable figures. So really it should be know suprise that a film about a man who recovers out of his mid-life depression by speaking through a beaver puppet. This is of course the Mel Gibson (Braveheart, Signs) show with a superb performance, infact for me one of the best performances i've seen all year and manages to captivate certainly through the first 2 thirds of the film. Thats the problem that the last third seems to take the story too far and your left wishing that they had left this as an hour long TV special. Also the sub plot, involving two of the best young actors around Anton Yelchin (Star Trek, Terminator Salavation) and Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone, X-Men First Class) for me just dosnt fit in well enough with the overall story and even left me wishing for Mel Gibson and his beaver to return and retake the film. Although don't get me wrong i'm still in love with Jennifer Lawrence!!

7 Out of 10

Christmas Is Coming

Right so Christmas is almost here again, you may have noticed if you've been into any shop recently and heard the noise of Christmas music been blasted out 24/7. Now for me Christmas is all about food but seen as you probably would't want to here a run down of my favorite christmas food (for anyone who's interested it's pigs wrapped in blankets which is why theres a picture of them) so i thought i'd do a list of my 5 favorite Christmas films.

5. The Snowman (1982)

Director Dianne Jackson

How can you not love the snow man. To me everything about it screams Christmas. It dosn't help that its my mums favorite Christmas film and for every year of my life i've watched it at least 5 times. My mum even has it on repeat when shes wrapping presents. What makes the Snowman so wonderful? Its got good source material for the basics but in essence its just a wonderfully basic plot. The tale of a boy who builds a snowman it comes to life at night and they have adventures is like any little boys dreams come true and its a feeling that still brings a feeling of happyness when i hear "We're walking in the air" been sung in a weirdly high pitched voice :P Alot of Christmas is about these sorts of memories and dreams remembering what it used to be like when you weren't worried about burning turkey or nobody coming to lunch cos of the snow.

4. Home Alone (1990)

Director Chris Columbus

Lets face it when you grow up Christmas is madness. My advice for anyone is stay out of our kitchen on 25th December unless you want my mother to shout at you to get out or even worse force you to cook!! But throughout the madness Christmas is always fun - something Home Alone and its director Chris Columbus is very good at portraying. Starring Macaulay Culkin (Erm ... Home Alone 2) and before the madness of ever growing worse sequels there was a basic story of a boy left home alone at Christmas. The house to himself and evil crooks trying to rob the place, it even has a creepy old gardener =O Although wholey unbelievable (although slihtly more believable then a virgin given birth to the son of God) the boy sets up a series of basic but sucessful traps to keep out the baddies, an experience that all somehow makes his family all closer. Now isnt that the Christmas spirit?

3.Love Actually (2003)

Director Richard Curtis

Now to me Richard Curtis is probably the best comedic writter in Britian and Love Actually although not his finest work, see his sitcoms Blackadder or Vicar of Dibley! Love Actually is still one of the best British Christmas or Romance films of the modern era. Starring an all star cast, which grows even more inpressive when you see that almost all of the actors who were perhaps not big names at the origonal release have all gone on to be hugely sucessful. Christmas is at the heart of the story or the many stories that take place within the film, think Inception was complicated try working out how these stories intertwin in one watch!! There are highlights of course central Liam Neeson (Shindler's List, Star Wars) relationship with his step-son and Rowan Atkinsons (Blackadder, Johnny English) cameo been particularlly stand out and the American bar scene is possibly one of the best British comedic scenes of all time!!

2. White Christmas (1954)

Director Michael Curtiz

Now as a film student it's probably very bad to admit that i'm not a lover of old classic cinema, i can appreciate it but very rarely enjoy it but White Christmas is my classic. I have special centimental reasons for this, mostly when we put up and decorate our Christmas Tree we have to have this film on no matter how long it takes, its the rules!! The cast of the film are now forever etched in my mind but i can only name Bing Crosby, for the song of course, and recently found out one of the women is Rosemary Clooney who is the aunt to a certain Geroge Clooney who is apparently kinda a big star, must be cos his middles name is Timothy!! The films plot line is a lovely one although i still begin to get confussed towards the end of the film but thats the 50s for you eye. Overall Christmas in 120 minutes (thats an hour in normal speak)

1. Gremlins (1984)
Director Chris Columbus
So i've just been going on about how wonderfully Christmasy White Christmas is and now i throw this at you as number 1, i know i'm a weird one - i also prefer Gremlins 2 but beggers cant be choosers and this is the one that is set at Christmas. Chris Columbus is the master of Christmas magic and mayhem and Gremlins is a superb example of this. Who dosnt love to watch a christmas film were little monsters rip up and entire town and then watch Snow White and the Severn Dwarfs? Its the little details like that, that help me to love the film so much. I'm one who loves little odd traits characters have and well thought through comedy, espessially the black comedy that this film provides. A bit darker then its sequal but still set at Christmas which for me makes it a Christmas film, Gremlins still has its laugh out louad moments after several viewings plus who can resist this little fella:

Review: Rio

Rio (2011)

Directed by Carlo Saldanha

I must say before reviewing Rio that i am mortally afraid of Parrots, don't no why just always have been always will be - its my thing. So for me to sit through never mind enjoy a film about a parrot was a big big ask (even if they are animated!) But i found myself pleasntly suprised by Rio, mainly thanks to the voice of Jessie Esienberg (Zombieland, The Social Network) who brings his character Blue to life with the charm that he seems to with most of his other characters. The film is full of vibrant animal characters and has a chilling performance from Jermaine Clement (Flight of the Comcords and soon to be seen in Men In Black III) as the villian of the peice. There is a classic samba feel to the film brought through by the films soundtrack but the problem with the film is you feel they've just taken the stand out moments from other animated films and plonked them in Rio which is fine but leaves the film lacking in the creativity and orginality we have come to expect from Animated features.
6 out of 10

Michael Bay Back For Tranformers 4?

Prepare for more groans from film academics, Michael Bay is on the verge of returning to the Transformers Franchise after previously stating Dark Side of the Moon would be his and Shia La Boufs final instalment. Now the Transformers films seem to be the most hated blockbusters around at the moment with Bay taking most of the critism. Don't think that just because i'm a film student i'm going to go on about them because if i'm honest i'm quite parshal to a good blockbuster to relax and you've got to admit that the Transformers trilogy is quite an enjoyable watching experience if you ignore character or script or any other usually meaninful part of the film. The only bit of this news i'm unhappy about is that it sums up modern Hollywood and that Bay has seeminly sold himself out for more money!! There was always going to be a Transformers 4 - especially considering that the last film made over a billion dollars worldwide and is currently 2nd only to Harry Potter in the box office charts for 2011 but i felt it was a good ending for Bay and La bouf (hopefully he wont be back) who could finally of let someone else take control. All i hope is that Christopher Nolan has more backbone when it comes to the Batman Franchise!! Oh and please no Rose Huntingham this time :/

December: The End Of Cimema's Hibination?

Warning before reading i've had several problems with this post due to the layout so please accept my appolgies

Now it seems to me that cinema has been in somewhat of a lull since i came to University in mid September. Since then i have been three times to see Johnny English Reborn, Paranormal Activity 3 and The Adventures of TinTin and neither seemed to set the world on fire :/ There has of course been Twilight the only film to break into the worldwide top 10 ... oh dear!! But Demcember seems to be about to give British cinema goers something to look forward too so heres my brief preview:

 

Happy Feet 2 (2nd December)

Director George Miller

Havn't seen the first film but you surely can't beat dancing Penguins for a bit of Christmas joy can you?

 

 

Hugo (2nd December)

Director Martin Scorsese

Ok just look up at the name of the director and you'll see why :) Also a very impressive cast

New Years Eve (8th December)

Director Gary Marshall

Talking about impressive casts, the follow up to Valentines Day and in a similar vein to Love Actually it seems every Hollywood star is in this one film!

Puss In Boots (9th December)

Director Chris Miller

Ok one warning, Shrek 3 Director :/ However the Shrek spin-off will hopefully do a bit of justice to the series but please leave it be after this!!

 

 

Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (16th December)

Director Guy Ritchie

The 1st film was pretty good and thankfully the director and cast are back for a 2nd outing adding exciting talent like Stephen Fry and Natilee Rapice. Dare i say has the potential to be a good sequel?

 

 

 

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (26th December)

Director David Fincher

Fincher is here for his entry this year and lets hope it lives up to the hype, the desicson to make it an 18 or an R should make a good transition from book to film to another film ... Suprisingly no Brad Pitt...

 

 

Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Director Brad Bird

Not my favorite action franchise but should provide a bit of boom to the post Christmas period. If Simon Peggs in a film i'll go see it end off :)

Super Malaury Martin

Right i know almost no one will of heard of him but he's a Middlesbrough player, signed after been released by Blackpool after one season there and as you may geuss from the name he's French, but he has after yesterday scored 2 goals for us both wonder goals!! His first can be seen here:

And his second was this last minute wonder goal yesterday:

At 23 he still has alot ahead of him and has alot to improve in his overall game but at one point he was captaining the French youth side so he cant be bad so lets get hoping that Magic Mowbray and get the most out of him and we are seeing stuff like this for years to come.

Review: Se7en

Se7en (1995)

Director David Fincher

David Fincher is one of the biggest and best directors around and Se7en was his first feature film other then the disasterous Alien³ and its certainly a case of starting as you mean to go on. The film is a master peice of suspence even though i unfortunatly knew the ending after reading an article of shocking film endings. Enough said. Se7en sees the start of Finchers work with leading man Brad Pitt (Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as well as having two superb performances from two of the best actors around Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Knight) and Kevin Spacey (American Beauty, Horrible Bosses). The film keeps you enthalled in the storyline and mystery plot although Gwenyth Paltrow (Iron Man, Glee) could have had some more screentime. The fact the film is so thrilling was made worse for me watching on the LOVEfilm website which kept freezing, if your going to watch watch propery! Overall a superb start to the carear of Fincher infact i think this may be my favorite of his films i've seen! (yes including the overrated Fight Club)

8 out of 10

Harry Potter: A Tribute

Now in 1997 a book was released. A book that had been bounced around most of the major book publishers and was finally taken on by Bloomsbury, who thanks to this book are now a household name, the books author had never published anything before and had been suffering from depression in recent years and this books name was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (and if any American tries to tell me its the Soccer's Stone i'll set my Blast-Ended Scrout on you!!). Fastforward 14 years, 6 books, 400 million copies, 8 films, almost $8 million at the box office and the grand honour of been made into a Lego video game! Things are very different now Harry, his friends, his enemies and his snowy White Owl are now arguably the most famous fictional characters on the planet and with the release of the final film of an 8 piece franchise released on home video its time for me, yes thats right me!! to pay homage to the specticle wearing young wizard who has been a part in so many peoples lives for the best part of 15 years!! Now where to begin?

I think thats a good start =) Anyway smutty jokes aside you can't deny that Mr Potter has style (and lots and lots of money). The story is a simple one of a orphan boy who lives with his evil step parents until a half giant knows down his door and tells him he's a wizard and he has to go and live in an old castle, where he will befriend some ginger kid and a nerd as well as having a rather nasty relationship with a blond boy and and a teacher who seems to hate him but was actually in secretly in love Harry's mother, Also Harry must be the one who has to kill the most evil wizard of all time, although he dosnt have to worry about that until the end of book 4 when 'he must not be named' comes back from the dead but after he does that he can live happily ever after with his best friends sister!! Got it?

Now for my tritube i shall only be properly looking at the film series, although i do believe the books to be better and you should really read them!!, mainly because i dont have time to review the books as much as i'd love too!! I think we all know that this won't really be the end of Harry and that in 10, 25, and even 50 years we'll still be getting anniversary box sets of the films and reminessing about the old days when life was much simpler!! Infact for me the joy of the future of Harry Potter is been able to tell the stories to my future kids or if i dont have kids simply borrowing one of my friends to share the wonders of Hogwarts and the rest of the magical world with =D

Right well i think the obvious place to start would be by reviewing the first film but first a bit of context and history for you. In 1998 Warner Brothers bought the rights to the first four books in the series for a reported £1 million, i think we all know that ended up been a clever investment!! One demand was that the cast of the film be kept British except where character required a European Actor or Actress - can i get a cheer? No oh well then - i'm sure as good as Steven Speilbergs reported animated Harry Potter would have been it would have completely lost the essence of the book!! Right so the busy people at Warner went around casting and hiring and other what nots you have to do when making a film. By the time Harry Potter and the PHILOSOPHERS Stone was released, the UK had already read the first 4 chapters in the life of Harry Potter and thus the reviews begin:

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (2001)
Director Chris Columbus

Christopher Columbus was handed the unevieable task of kick starting the whole Harry Potter movie franchise. Typical of us Brits ey let the American start things off so if it all goes tits up we can blame them. Well i think as you can probably tell the tits stayed down and the Harry Potter Franchise was born!! Looking back now the 1st film is far from perfect but it does a pretty good job of starting the legacy of Mr Potter. There was always going to be the problem that the 3 prinipal charcters would be portrayed by child actors, a dangerous pitfall espescally when those child actors would be needed to perform for at the least the next 7 years if things went to plan. Although their performances are occasionally rather wooden, you can't blame them for that their kids!! Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson all show glimmers of potential in the film. Thankfully though the casting directors had a rather cunning back up plan, hire everything single British actor whos rather good and stuff them in the film so's the main focus is never completely on the kids. I mean just look at the names involved in this film; Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, John Hurt, Warrick Davies, Julie Walters, and series standout Alan Rickman all make their debuts in this film. Christ it even has John Cleese in it!!!!! The stars were always the Potter films greatest assest and there would be more to come but we'll leave that till later. This book is probably the book that along with the 2nd book lend themselves most easily into becoming a film, yet there are still several sections of the book cut out although its not the end of the world, all the important stuffs there and it succeeds in introducing the wizarding world to the world of film. Good start all around boys and who could ever forget that first magical introdction to Hogwarts??
8 out of 10


Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secret (2002)
Director Chris Columbus

3 days after the release of the first Harry Potter film and production had started on the 2nd instalment of the series Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. All the main players were back and just in case you needed a bit more star power Kennegh Brannah was brought in to play exentric Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher Proffessor Lockhart, who turns out to be one of the best transitions from page to screen of the entire series!! Also joining the cast was Mark Williams as Ron's Dad Arthur Weasley who for me is one of the best characters in the films. Now as far as the source material goes Chamber was my least favorite book, i still loved it but thats not the point! Which is why i was plesently suprised by the film adaptation, and also suprised that out of the early films it is the one which has best stood up to the test of time. That is in no small means down to the character of animated charcter Dobby, one of only two films the mischievus fans favorite apears in, It was a small disaster when Dobby was left cut out of the 4th,5th and 6th films in their transformation from books. The action special effects of Chamber are an impressive improvement from the already flawless example set by the first film and from here they could still only go up. Yeah Harry, Ron and Hermoine are still sqeaky voiced annoying teenagers but they've grown up slightly from the last film and seemed just about ready to show the world what they've got!! The final grace of the film was to add a sequence absent from the book and make it into a series highlight as Harry and Ron desperatly attempt to get out of the way of the Hogwarts Express ... in a flying car!!!!!!
8 out of 10



Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Director Alfredo Cuaron

A whole year and a half later and since the film release of Chamber of Secrets fans had been exposed to the fifth Potter book and were now eagerly awaiting the release of the thrid film, which featured several differences from the opening 2 films which would unltimately see a much needed darkening of the tone of the films. The first changed was inforced after the tragic death of Richard Harris, the films Dumbledore which saw the role recast with Irish actor Michael Gambon who preceeded to make the role his own. The other major change saw Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron take the main seat for Prisoner, which would turn out to be his only outing in the series. As always with Potter films more great casting addition occured with British icons Gary Oldman, Devid Threlis and Timothy Spall taking the roles of James Potters 3 best friends. As a film, the third instalment marks the difference in the stories of Potter series producing darker characters and the addition of the spine-chilling Dementors who sucessfully manage to bring the sense of fear that they did in the books. The film even includes a werewolf transformation showcasing the great visual effects available to the producers. The problem with the film is the principal cast still struggle to show muturity as actors, although that was about to change. In many ways this is one of the film with some of the most memorable scenes although who will ever forget the chilling moment we first meet the prison guards of Azkaban.
8 out of 10



Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Director Mike Newel




A year to remember for Potter fans, 2005 saw them not only get a new book but a new film to match as Goblet of Fire made its transition to the screen. In many ways this is the proper game changer in terms of the story of Harry Potter in terms of the films narrative and it seems that the producers were ready to show that by adding masses of talent to the cast with future Doctor Who David Tennant, future teen heartthrob Robert Pattinson, Irish star Brendan Gleeson, Blackadder's Miranda Richardson, Vicar of Dibley legends Dawn French and Roger Loyyd Pack aswell as a host of Europeon stars as foreign students and staff and off course the stand out villian of the films Ralph Finnes as the reborn Lord Voldemort. Mike Newel directs Goblet of Fire, which although having several stand out moments and cast that ouses talent, with the main trio finally living up to their potential, disappoints me as a fan of the books the most as it skips huge chunks of the story as well as cutting Dobby out of the film completely. Knowing the books story so well makes the film disfuntional and jumpy. However its still a Potter film and manages to keep the magic alive and for me shows how the series has grown up with a tear jerking scene as Harry arrives back at Hogwarts with the series first major casulty, a scene made even more ponienent by a fantastic score!!
7 out of 10



Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix (2007)
Director David Yates



And so the war begins!! Order of the Pheonix was released to the UK audience just 10 days before the release of the final book, so all in all a good month for Potter fans. David Yates took charge for the first time in a move which would see him regain control for the final installments of the series and in the end see him as directing half the series. As you may expect this film is darker still as Harry waits for the Wizarding World to discover that Voldemort is in fact back. DA DA DA!! Despite been past the half way stage there was still room for more recruits YIPEE mostly villianous characters with Imedla Staunton and Helena Bonham Carter joining an already full to breaking point cast, yet the best casting comes in the form of unknown actress Evanna Lynch who brings to life the 'excentrict' character of Luna Lovegood perfectly. You'd have though that the longest book would be the most difficult to adapt, yet it makes the transition from page to screen pretty well with alot of the more tidious extracts of the book removed making the overall tone alot faster paced and more enjoyable as a whole. And finally the young cast seem to have made the step up to actual actors, at least in most parts of the film. And the film provides probably the best action sequence (apart from Deathly Hallows Part 2) of the entire series as 2 of the greatest wizards of the age, Albus Dumbledore and Tom Riddle face of in the Minestry of Magic.
8 out of 10



Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2009)
Director David Yates



The opening sequence of the film tells you that the world has changed. As a London Bridge is destroyed you no that everyone is in danger and the tone is set for the sixth tale in the Potter series. Yates is back in charge and seems to want to up the anti in the Half Blood Prince with bigger action sequences and the greatest sense of threat yet as Voldemort moves out into the open and Dumbledore prepares Harry for his fate. By this point finding a British actor that wasnt already in the films must of been hard but the casting directors managed to bring Jim Broadbent in for the film as new potions teacher Proffesor Slughorn, however this gives the existing cast time to shine, unfortunatly the film is not long enough to give everyone their moment in the sun before the final showdown!! The scenes between Gambon and Radcliffe give you a sense of how far the story and the young actors have come since the start. The film also starts to give the sense of the importance of Alan Rickman's Snape, who is probably the most successful character of the series who keeps you geussing right to the end. The films final scenes change the course of the plot for good and give the that the end is coming as Harry, Ron and Hermoine leave Hogwarts for the last time, almost.
8 out of 10



Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010)
Director David Yates


The initally unpopular choice to split the final book into 2 films actually provides fans of the books what they've always wanted, pretty much everything in the book makes it on to the screen. Although some have said that this makes the first part boring and slow for me it makes in into a sucessful road money were the central 3 characters get their chance to shine before their final bow. Despite the film focuing mainly on the main 3 characters 2 more British greats became the final major additions to the cast with Bill Nighy and Rhys Iffans playing small but important parts in the penultimate chapter of the film series. The problem with Part 1 is that it dosn't quite feel like a Potter Film with most of the supporting cast absent or roles kept to a minimum. Probably the most important absense is Hogwarts itself which dosnt even feature an interior shot of the castle my generation  has growen up watching. You cant quite escape the fact that this film is constantly building up to the final chapter and even seeming to keep the real emotinal stuff to that film as Mad-Eye Moody and even Hedwigs deaths are quickly swept behind over the course of the story allowing little time to grieve. However the film is likely to leave any emotional Potter fan in tears as the brutalness of Rowlings writing is revealed as fans favorite Dobby dies a heros death at the hands of Bellatrix Lestange, who had already took one favorite in the form of Sirius Black.
9 out of 10


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)
Director David Yates

The end is finally upon us! After 10 years of going to the cinema to see the most famous boy wizard of all time Deathly Hallows Part 2 sends us out with a bang and this time it was in 3D. The final film is essentially a war film as Voldemort sends his forces to once and for all take Hogwarts and the Wizarding World. Before all this we are reminded of the losses already substained in terms of the beautiful opening shot of Dobby's grave and then its stright into the action as the trio break into Grimgotts and then proceed to Hogwarts were the film really kickstarts and the battle we've been waiting for arrives. Once again its the cast that makes the film, although the special effects of the place we know and love been destroyed come pretty close, but it seems everybody returns (even half of those that have already said goodbye to life) but really three characters steal the spot light: Maggie Smith's Proffesor McGonagal turns bad ass, as does Matthew Lewis's Neville Longbottom who shows you can defeat evil wizards when wearing a cardigan and of course Alan Rickman gets his final moments of brilliance as he reveals his true colours once and for all. There are problems with the film, the deaths of Lupin, Tonks and Fred's deaths are barely given any screen time and the final fights fail to live up to their descriptions in the books, although thankfully the best line of series "Not my daughter you BITCH" gets its moment. But the film superbly ends the series in style and provides my favorite scene of all 8 film as Harry prepares for his death and finally gets to speak to his parents. LONG LIVE HARRY POTTER!! (i seriously didnt just say that did i :/)
10 out of 10

Review: The Lion King

The Lion King (1994)
Directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff

One of the all time classic Disney films which has recently been re-released in 3D so i thought it was about time i watched the film for the first time in what feels like a decade. In fact the last time i sat down to watch the story was when i went to see the hugely successful stage show that has almost taken over the West End. The film like most Disney films is still standing the test of time even on a laptop screen with the drawings litually coming to life with the help of a fabulous voice cast including Darth Vader himself James Earl Jones and Rowan Atkinson (Blackadder, Johnny English). But at the heart of the Lion King is what is at the heart of most Disney films, its a story about growing up and is still an uplifting story 17 years on!! Of course the music is a main part of the films sucess with massive classics such as Circle of Life, I Just Can't Wait To Be King and Can You Feel The Life Tonight and they still manage to move and uplift the audience which is what should be expected from any family film.

9 out of 10 

So The First Manager Is Gone

So it took to the end of December for the first Premiership club to sack there manager! Thats a long time in football talk especically considering it seems like Blackburn fans seem to have been protesting against Steve Kean for months and months. And the lucky man .... Steve Bruce of Sunderland. One of the premierleagues most experienced managers is out of the job. It's really no suprise given that he spent big this summer and the club is still in 16th place in the table with 11 points from 13 games. For me Bruce was always a shock choice for the job given that he was born and raised as a Newcastle United fan even saying "I have always been a Newcastle lad and when I was a kid, I crawled under the turnstiles to get in to try and save a bob or whatever it was. They were my team, I went to support them as a boy and being a Geordie it's in-bred, you follow the club still the same today" I'm sure all Sunderland fans would of been thrilled with this but still he's a good manager and has kept the club relativly safe over the past few years.

Natually the talk now turns to who will be Bruce's successor with there been 2 clear front runners, Mark Hughes and Martin O'Neil both of whoem with a good track record in the premierleague and who will be linked to just about every job that comes available until they both have a new job. I would favor O'Neil if i were a Sunderland fan (I'm a Middlesbrough fan so i'm definatly not) he took Aston Villa from a similar position that Sunderland are in now and turned them to a top 6 club, although Hughes did a similar job with Blackburn and i'm sure with time could of done it with Fulham. The problem is that Sunderland, and the North East in particular is very hard sell to a manager or player when there will surely be more exciting jobs available soon. O'Neil rejected both Middlesbrough and Newcastle the summer he took over Villa suggesting that Sunderland may also not be a great destination for him. We'll just have to wait and see.