Film Guide

Oh my gosh! Where do I start with this? How about “I loved it!” or “It was amazingly, gut-wrenchingly good?” or “Why have I never seen this musical before now?”. In short, I absolutely loved this film. I could barely fault it; not on the performances, the costumes, nor the script…which by the way was kept, as far as I know, in tact from the original musical.
So the question I’ve given you at the moment is why? Why did I fall absolutely in love with this film so much that I plan on watching it again and again?

Well, I’ll start with the cast. Because I swear, you need a strong and talented cast to pull off what this film did. It’s the first of it’s kind to film the singing live on set, while filming. Now you may think “why is this such a big deal?”. Its a big deal because usually they rehearse record music numbers in the studio, till its perfect and then just mouth it on set. These actors had to get it pitch perfect whilst filming. And it made it so real! It felt anything but over rehearsed. The actors emotions came through in their singing it made it so believable. You’ll see what I mean when you see Eponine singing On my Own. That performance alone had me near tears.

Hugh Jackman was fantastic. Knowing he’d had Broadway experience with Boy from Oz I thought, “Yeah, ok, could be good”. I didn’t expect him to carry the film so amazingly. Absolute stand out performance as our convict turned redeemed father figure, Jean Valjean. Anne Hathaway’s commitment to her role as the starving prostitute Fantine was almost obsessive but brought a convincing character to life. She did this supposedly by eating two oatmeal paste crackers a day for two weeks or something and under medical supervision. Not that I’m recommending this I just admire her commitment to the role, And I loved her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream. Cosette was played by Amanda Seyfried. Pretty voice, and the caliber of songs, a step up from Mamma Mia for her. Speaking of which. Russel Crowe as Joubert…Great acting, so much passion. Unfortunately every time he sang I was reminded of Peirce Brosnan’s attempts to warble in the ABBA film. Not exactly a thought you want going through your head during a dramatic scene. Read the rest of this entry »

70 years after a horrific alien war, an unusually gifted child is sent to an advanced military school in space to prepare for a future invasion.

Angela Vidal the young television reporter who entered the building with the fireman, manages to make it out alive. But what the soldiers don’t know is that she carries the seed of the strange infection.

[REC] 4 Apocalypse is directed by Spanish horror filmmaker Jaume Balagueró, who co-wrote & co-directed the original films [REC] and [REC] 2 before breaking out to make the horror Sleep Tight on his own. He’s now returning to the franchise to finish the story, along with producer Julio Fernández. [REC] was made by Balagueró and Paco Plaza.

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End Of Watch is a gritty, action packed cop buddy film from the writer of Training Day and director of Street Kings, focussing again on the LAPD, but this time, on a couple of good honest cops. To get us up close and personal however, writer/director David Ayer has taken a leaf out of the much overused horror genre technique – that of the found footage. Though to be honest he mixes the found footage with some standard third-person filming similar to what happened with the 3rd [REC] film.

The result is a hard edged film that mixes visceral violence with buddy cop sarcasm and some hearty family moments. Mixing the various callouts with the personal family stuff does make End Of Watch run the risk of feeling disjointed, but for me it just added to the slow build up, as the cops go from dealing with small time drug dealers to pissing off a Mexican drug cartel, keeping you on your toes, with the knowledge (from watching the trailer) that the shit is going to hit the fan, but never quite sure when things will go South, or how fast.

Can’t really say too much more without spoiling some of the finer moments of the film, or giving away too much of the plot, but I can say that it’s probably my favourite cop movie, certainly the most originally filmed, at least for it’s genre.  Read the rest of this entry »

A child sent to Earth from a dying planet is adopted by a couple in rural Kansas. Posing as a journalist, he uses his extraordinary powers to protect his new home from an insidious evil.

In Columbia Pictures’ White House Down, Capitol Policeman John Cale (Channing Tatum) has just been denied his dream job with the Secret Service of protecting President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group. Now, with the nation’s government falling into chaos and time running out, it’s up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country.

Skip and Brad talk, amongst other things, about the new Star Trek film.

Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern-day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world, he will face a host of unexpected and deadly opponents in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality. Story by Christopher McQuarrie.

All Our Desires is an interesting French film about deciding what;s important in life. The story focusses on Claire, a young judge who is compelled by the struggles of Celine who has found herself indebted to the shady world of the French banking system. It’s a cause she decides is the most important thing in her life, more important than her husband or her recently diagnosed terminal brain cancer, which she neglects to inform her husband of and goes out of town for treatment and pain killers.

She does how ever enlist the help of an older male work colleague who eventually finds out that she has brain cancer, and forms an awkwardly close relationship with her, but seems to be the only one who realises that she deserves to live the rest of her life the way she sees fit.

It’s a great mix of social justice, romance and loss that is carried by the brilliant performance of Marie Gillain as the lead character Claire.  Read the rest of this entry »