Review: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)
Director John Madden

Britain does have some golden old actors, and it seems that they all decided it was time to stay at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It's also fair to say that this is a perfectly harmless film which will leave you cheerful but unfortunatly dosnt quite fully entertain you, at least if your under (or at least act under) 50. One of the main problems with the film is the marketing which has seen the trailer attached to almost every film of recent months, a good thing to get noticed, but the problem is that the trailer features most of the films comic moments meaning that when it comes to watching the film the main comic moments are lost. Theres no doubt the cast is great but the stand out happens to be the youngest member Dev Patel (Skins, Slumdog Millionaire). The other characters are perfectly likable and believable with probably the most touching story going to Tom Wilkinson's (Batman Begins, The Green Hornet) character. Its hard to be negative about the film but if your going for the laughs then just watch the trailer.

6 out of 10

Review: The Woman In Black

The Woman In Black (2012)

Director James Watkins

You have to feel sorry for Daniel Radcliffe (hmm whats he been in?), if you ignore the fact he must have a heck of a lot of money, as everything he will do in the forseeable future will surely be seen as Harry Potter and the ... but lets give The Woman in Black a chance. Based on the novel and play of the same name theres no doubting that the film is certainly creepy if not quite scary. Don't get me wrong if you go to see it you will probably jump more than once but it seems to me that it would work better as a play. Also the problem is Radcliffe, he can't really act, but then you ask the question would the film be as big without him? Infact the star is a fellow Potter cast member Ciaran Hinds (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy) who has the most to do of the supporting cast. The problems i have is that it shows too much of what is happening, where the stage show must have the advantage, and the very end scene goes too far, don't want to spoil anything though.

6 out of 10

Oscar Time YAY

Well it's the Oscars on Sunday night and its true to say that often people don't agree and suprisenly i don't, sorry Acadamy. So i'm bored and thought that i would go through and see what films i would have given Oscars too over the last few years (not always my favorite film of the year btw) Remember i'm only young so i havn't seen all of the films or even most from lots of the last few years.

1993 - Jurassic Park

1994 - Forrest Gump

1995 - Toy Story

1996 - Scream (Really not much i've seen)

1997 - Titanic

1998 - Saving Private Ryan

1999 - American Beauty

2000 - X-Men

2001 - Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

2002 - Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

2003 - Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

2004 - Shaun of the Dead

2005 - Batman Begins

2006 - Little Miss Sunshine

2007 - Stardust

2008 - Let The Right One In

2009 - (500) Days of Summer

2010 - The Social Network

2011 - Drive

Football Updates

Reading though my recent blog posts it seems all i've been concerned about has been films and a little bit of TV, so i thought i'd have a little look at some of the recent big football stories that have annoyed or caught my attention recently

• Carlos is back, oh great. It seems to have been going on for months and just when we finally thought we were never going to see him again Carlos Tevez has decided to come back to Manchester City. Personally i'm fed up with hearing about his pety behaviour and wish he would just leave and stop complaining. Manchester City have so far handled this situation admillary but letting him back seems a big mistake to me, theres no doubt the lad has talent but City have Ballotelli to be an ego and theres only room for one of them in Manchester.
 

 
• Adminsistration seems to be back in fasion as two British clubs have gone into it in 5 days. First Rangers provided Celtic with a lovely Valentines day gift by effectivly handing them the title by going into admin (can't be bothered to say the whole word) and today it has emerged that Portsmouth have gone in for the 2nd time in 2 years. Two very different stories hear but both linked by a points deduction, It seems a sad state for Scottish Football if Rangers are going under and there has to be worries about the game there as a whole. Portsmouth on the other hand have been in and out more times then anyone recently and surely it seems only a matter of time before the club sercome sad but realistic. On this note has anyone heard anything about Darlington?
 

 
• Since i last spoke theres been several sackings that i've disagreed with, ironically one from each of the top 3 divisions. First of all the most anticipated was Mick McCarthy been sacked from Wolves after this weekends 5-1 defeat against West Brom, from the moment i heard the result i knew Mick was a goner but there no deniing he's done a great job there and surely must be remembered for giving the club a three year stay in the Premier League. Next and the first of the sackings was Simon Grayson who was sacked on February 1st having not been given a penny to spend in the transfer market and with Leeds in mid table. Grayson has taken the club up and seemed to be well on his way to bringing prosperity back to the sleeping giant, for whoem its now 8 years since they were relegated from the top flight. Finally and most shockingly Lee Clark was sacked by Huddersfield despite the club been 4th in League 1 and Clark having made them one of the forces to reckon with in the divison. How anyone can sack their manager 4th in the league, even if they have lost 3 in a row, just baffles me but probably just proved how fickle football can be these days.
 

 
• And now to my (2nd) favorite club to make fun at, Newcastle United, only for once i'm actually going to be sticking up for their fans, add shocked faces here. As annonoced a few months ago St James Park is been renamed to some stupid corporate name and in the last few days the famous St James Park letters have been removied. Now there no denying that Mike Ashley has never been the most popular man on tyneside but it seemed he was maybe just going to be making peace with the fans and now this... Oh dear, its not only angered most of the Geordie world but also most of the football world as one of the most famous names in English football disappears, it's fine new stadiums like the Emirates or even when the Riverside was the cellnet but not an old famous name like this. It's a disgrace and like most of the other things i have talked about is further proof that money is ruining the game most of us love.
 

 

 

 

Review: The Muppets

The Muppets (2012)
Director James Bobin

Too old for The Muppets? I think not. Ok it's only mid February but i feel that the feel good film of the year has arrived, even though it was released in America in November. Too young to remember The Muppets i've grown up with a reasonably Muppet free life but thats all changed now as Kermit and co team up with feel good (yes i'll keep using that phrase until i make a point) dream pair Jason Segal (How I Met Your Mother, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Amy Adams (Enchanted, The Fighter) who are great but the real star of the film are the Muppets themselves, who adapt suprisinly well to modern day cinema and all have their moment in their spotlight. Another highlight is the cameos, with Big Bang Theory's Jim Parson's been a stand out. I would advise not going to see this film if your worried about your dignity because it's almost impossible to not come out singing with some lovely songs. I'm sure anyone will fall in love with the film, unless you have a heart of stone. One for the kids, adults and maybe even the family pet =D

8 out of 10

Review: The Grey

The Grey (2012)
Director Joe Carnahan

Like so many of the films around award season The Grey is built around one man and one performance, in this case Liam Neeson (Star Wars Episode 1: The Phanton Menace, Taken) who continues the latest stage of his career as an ageing action star and reteams with A-Team director Joe Carnahan. Unfortunatly that led to me constantly comparing the Grey to the pairs last film, one of my favorite action films. In many ways thats an unfair comparrison to make but thats how my head works sorry. The main failure of The Grey is that there is no likable characters in the film, several days later no characters come to my mind as memorable other than Neesons and i can't even remember his name. This means that its very difficult to fell shock or horror when most the charcters are killed off. Of  course this is in Neeson favor as everything about the film is about him, its not his greatest performance but its still a pretty good one. The thing about the film is its almost impossible to place into a genre, although the ending of the film is refresing if it is actually an action film.

4 out of 10



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Vaughn Signs For X-Men First Class 2 =D

Now i was already a reasonable fan of the X-Men films before this summer and then along came X-Men First Class, which immediatly became my favorite installment in the series which had been going astray. The cast were brilliant and one of my favorite directors, Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Kick-Ass), was at the helm. The film didnt make last years top 10 box office takings but did enough to recieve a sequel that was annonced late in 2011. Ever since then i have been reserving judgment on this desicsion until the director was annonced and now Vaughn is back, what everyone who loved the film must have been hoping for, it seems the sequel will soon be entering production. Of course it wont be complete until Vaughn's team is confirmed but it seems that will happy soon.

The only problem that can be seen is that the cast have exploaded since the release of the first film. Michael Fassbender has been all over the place and achieving large critical praise and earned a place in Ridley Scott's Prometheus and a place in the new Robo-cop movie, Rose Byrne is now hot property after summer hit Bridesmaids, Nicholas Hoult looks set for leading man status after teaming up with X-Men producer Bryan Singer for Jack the Giant Killer and is still slated to be appearing in a Skins movie and Jennifer Lawrence has the small matter of The Hunger Games triology to keep her busy (Did i mention i'm excited about that?). So obviously getting the cast together at one time may prove a little bit tricky but their all signed on so all the characters should be returning. Theres one thing that needs to be done and quick, find a decent name so that we don't have to keep calling it X-Men: First Class 2  although we can all guess the actual title will be something imaginative like X-Men: Second Class.

Review: The Artist

The Artist (2011)
Director Michel Hazanavicius

Ok first things first, the film has no sound get over it!! The Artist is an incrediable homage to the cinema of old and the 1920's. The narrative features two films stars of yesteryear after they work on one picture toghether and then their carears head off in two very different directions as the movie industry moves into making "talkies" rather then the silent films that the film is recreating. The two main actors are superb and look like they have stepped right out the silent period and stright into the film putting in incrediable physical performance. But the main star of the film is Uggie the dog, who as one person in the cinema rightfully said "deserves an oscar for his performance", well maybe not quite an oscar but like many classic animated animal characters steals the show. Interestinly the film is as funny as most of this years comedies despite lack of dialouge and is full of nostagure for the romance of old cinema. A perfect film for any lover of film!!

8 out of 10

OK, I Need To Talk About Skins

Now i'd suggest anyone who didn't watch this weeks episode of Skins (Series 6, Episode 2) which was Rich's episode i suggest you look away now cos there are SPOILERS AHEAD (hehe always wanted to do that)

Right, first off i thought that the episode was one of the best of the current generations episodes, nowhere near as good as any of the previous 1st generations episodes and on a parr with some of the worse 2nd gen episodes, but did show signs that it might actually be the same TV show that was such a success just a few years ago. Basically my problem with it is that they killed off, seriousley look away now if you dont know, Grace. She was one of the few likable characters of this generation and shes been killed off so early in the sixth series. Yeah someone had to die but if your going to kill someone this early in the series at least make it someone the show would actually be better without. It also makes the whole theme of the series pretty predicatable (although i may be wrong) as the characters come to terms with Grace's death. We can only hope that the new character been introduced next week may be a chip of the old block rather then one of the blank squibs that most of this group seem to be. R.I.P Skins

Review: Drive

Drive (2011)
Director Nicolas Winding Refn

Drive has been hailed as the best film of 2011 in so many publications that i feared it may be overhyped. Well for me it's not film of the year, but it comes damn close to been. It's stylish and about cars and violence, pretty much the perfect lads night in film. Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine, The Idles of March) pretty much ruled 2011 and is THE rising star of the moment and you only need to watch this film to see why. He'll be devestated that he missed out on winning my best actor award because i watched Drive a few weeks too late, damn me!! It's not the sort of film that you'd expect Cary Mulligan (An Education, Never Let Me Go) to co star in but she plays her role well and allows Ryan Gosling's nameless driver to play off her perfectly. The other stand out of the film is the soundtrack, which is tone perfect and compliments the visuals superbly. As said earlier Drive is perfect for a lads night in and one of the stand outs of 2011.

8 out of 10

Review: Tangled

Tangled (2011)
Directors Nathen Greno and Bryon Howard

Now as i've mentioned before i'm a sucker for animated kids films, so it'll come as no suprise that i kinda fell in love with Tangled. Now i will say it's not Disneys finest picture but then again that is an incredably hard feet to achieve, for me the best has to be The Lion King but that was the film i grew up watching so it'll depend on your childhood which is yours but i'm sure for this generation of youths Tangled will be up there. This story chooses to add a twist to the classic tale of rapunzel and natually features some great musical numbers, although i can't see any becoming as iconic as classics such as Under the Sea or Hakuna Matata. But the real standout of the film for me were two characters that didnt say a word throughout the film, the two animals, which steal the show despite been supporting characters a event that occurs in most animated films. Overall Tangled is a lovely family film perfect for kids, and probably most adults!!

7 out 10

Review: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Director Thomas Alfredson

From the outlook everything about Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (the only time i will use its full name as it's a bit of a mouthful) looked very promising indeed. Of course the film is built around a superb cast with Gary Oldman (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Dark Knight) in the centre putting in a great performance. The problem is the rest of the cast barring, Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, War Horse), Just coast through the film without really shinning like they should. The film looks incrediable, but i'd have expected nothing less from Thomas Alfredson, director of the incrediable Sweedish horror Let the Right One In. The problem is the plot, which failed to grip me the least you'd expect from a mystery drama, and leaves me wondering what the film could have been with a more gripping story and if some of the other actors could have been at their best. I can see the film as growing on you the more you watch it and i may need to view it again to fully understand it but for now it's only an average film in my view.

5 out of 10