Fab 5's - WIN stuff!

Apologies for the lack of posts of late, time has run away with me!

I thought I'd start a series of quick posts entitled Fab 5's.  It'll have a different theme each time and I'll give you five of my favourite films in that category or genre and you can tell me if you agree, think they are rubbish or have any better recommendations!

And to get things started I'm going to giveaway a little prize!! 'Oooh' I hear you say!  

So as it is wedding season (although I only have one wedding to go to this year) I thought we'd kick off with.....

Fab 5.... Wedding Movies

1. Wedding Crashers - First rule of wedding crashing, never leave a fellow crasher behind

2. My Best Friend's Wedding - I was visiting Dionne War Wick

3. Muriel's Wedding - 'You're terrible Muriel'

4. Bridesmaids - 'I'm not even confident which end that came from'

5. Four Weddings and a Funeral - Hugh Grant in all his floppy haired glory

Now I'm thinking of them there is confetti flying everywhere in the film world - The Wedding Date, 27 Dresses (I'm almost catching her up with my bridesmaids dresses!), The Wedding Planner, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Mama Mia to name but a few!

So what's the prize and how do you win it??  

The prize is (drumroll) a copy of Muriel's Wedding on DVD (region 2)!

To win it all you need to do is leave your comment and name in the box below (you can say what you like but preferably something to do with this post would be nice!) and then I'll put all the names into a hat a draw a winner at the end of the month (31st July).

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 in 3D

My work colleagues and I decided to have a little school trip out the other week to the cinema. It was after work by the way, just in case my employers are reading.

We packed up and headed off the Vue in Shepherds Bush to see the latest installment of the Pirates if the Caribbean franchise - Pirates of the Caribbean 4 – On Stranger Tides. We picked up our 3D glasses and popcorn and settled into our seats.

The 4th film sees a few new faces as well as some of the old ones, but a few of the original main characters don't appear in this one, namely Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly. Keira Knightly I didn't miss at all (its safe to say I'm not here greatest fan) and Penelope Cruz as Angelica Malon, a love interest from Jack’s past, was a welcome addition.  It was nice to see Keith Richards making another brief appearance too.

The film is about a search for the legendary Fountain of Youth and revenge.  Jack is lured aboard Blackbeard’s (Ian McShane) ship; the Queen Anne’s Revenge, by Angelica (Blackbeard’s daughter) and forced to help them navigate to the Fountain of Youth.  Jack’s rival, Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), has team up with King George II under the pretence of beating the Spanish to the Fountain of Youth, but really only wants to get revenge on Blackbeard for stealing the Black Pearl and forcing him to amputate his own leg in order to escape.  Jack and Barbossa work together to deceive Blackbeard.  Blackbeard wants use the Fountains properties to evade his fated death by a one legged man (hmm who do we know with one leg?) and the Spanish want to destroy the Fountain as they believe it is evil in the eyes of God.



The Pirates franchise are all watchable swashbuckling fun, not too taxing on the brain but filled with a bit of action, a bit of adventure and of course a lot of Captain Jack Sparrow (I never really thought pirates were my type but it seems Johnny Depp makes a very attractive one!).

I think Captain Jack is my favourite Johnny Depp character. He plays it with just the right amount of humour and kookiness, without being too weird like his Willy Wonka and Mad Hatter roles or too odd like his Edward Scissorhands character. 

The film is in 3D. I like to think I'm quite up to date on my technology but I still understand why you need to buy a 3D tv if you still have to wear the glasses?? Answers on a postcard/in the comments box. Anyway back to the point, the film is in 3D which makes the visual effects even better. It helps the imagination transport you into those turquoise Caribbean waters or rolling around the ship deck amidst a tropical storm.  There wasn't as much jumping out of the screen action as I'd thought (maybe I'm just remembering the roller coaster and balloons from the Alton Towers 3D cinemas?!?) but I imagine if it was happening all the time, in every scene, it may become too much?

All in all this is an entertaining and easy to watch installment to accompany the previous 3 films. 

I'm going to give this film 4 pieces of gold out of 5.

P.s there is an extra bit after the credits, right at the very end!

The Hangover 2

This weekend saw the much awaited trip to see The Hangover 2! So after a couple a drinks in the beer garden, we headed off down to the Vue cinema to settle into our VIP seats and watch the ‘more shocking’ and ‘even funnier’ film (as it was billed).

After taking out a small mortgage to pay for the food (we only had a hotdog and a drink!) we were finally in.
As many of you will know The Hangover is one of my most favourite films, so when I heard they were making a second one I was initially very excited. I soon quashed the excitement and set myself low expectations for the film.  That way the film will at least meet my expectations and best case scenario it will surpass them.  Slightly pessimistic view I know but my theory has worked in the past.

Based on this I did enjoy the film.  It is basically the same format as the first except it is set in Bangkok at Stu's wedding.  Doug is safely stationed at the wedding hotel complex (rather than the roof) while Stu, Phil and Alan, who are joined once again by Mr Chow, have this time managed to lose Stu's fiancees' 16 year old brother, Teddy. Oops.

The film starts with the same 'We f****d up' call from Phil to Tracy and proceeds to rewind to show the guys waking up in a grim Bangkok hotel room. I do love the way they make them all look so rough - they have either all been out and actually got horribly drunk the night before filming or the make-up folks have done a great job!

Phil, again, seems to be the one that ends up in a hospital for some reason or another and Stu's, seemingly, secret liking for strippers goes that one step further!

Alan feels a bit put out by Teddy joining the group - I mean he isn't one of the wolfpack is he! So his plan to drug Teddy so he has to go to bed backfires somewhat.

In this film the baby has been replaced by a drug dealing monkey in a jacket, Mr Chow gets set up and arrested by the feds, they steal a monk instead of a tiger and Mike Tyson returns as a wedding gift from Alan to Stu.



As far as sequels go I did enjoy this one (whether its because my expectations were low I'm not sure) but although not as standout and funny as the first, the format was consistent, they still got up to some 'crazy sh*t' and there were some funny one liners and little touches. Some of my favs:

(In Alan's impromptu post wedding speech) "Nobody knows Stu like me ....this is not his first wedding, he married a whore in Vegas..."

(Who's having the worst day??)
Mr Chow to Phil: "Oh, you are having a bad day. Did you die?”

Stu: You see, I have a demon in me!
Alan: Stu, you mean semen.
Stu: No, I meant demon.
Alan: But you also had semen, remember.

This film will still make you wince, cringe and laugh out loud so I'm going to give it a 3 1/2 drug laced marshmallows out of 5.

The wolfpack is back.....almost

Monsters on Sky Box Office

I think Sky Box Office should offer a money back guarantee on their films (this is a suggestion rather than a complaint – in case any Sky employees are reading – I am a fan of Sky Box Office!).

We bought Monsters the other night and settled down ready for some sci-fi action. The action never came. 

The story (albeit a brief story) is about a photo journalist who had to escort his boss' daughter back to America from Mexico. Mexico has been battling for years with some squid-like aliens who landed on the planet, leaving a large part of Northern Mexico as an 'infected zone'. With the last ferry back to America gone, the pair are left with no choice but the cross the 'infected zone' by land.

We thought that once they got into the 'infected zone' it might get a bit more exciting. But no, not really.

They finally reach 'the wall' (a very big wall the US had built along the border to keep the aliens/monsters out) but it seems the big squid monsters hadn't just come to Earth for Mexico's burritos.

There were some really nice location shots but apart from that this film didn't really ever get going. It was very slow and even the occasional 'tense' moment didn't really keep me gripped.

I believe this was a low budget film (around $500,000) but low budget doesn’t have to mean low quality – look at The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, even Mad Max had less budget than this film and they were much more exciting.

On the bright side, at least I didn’t pay to go to the cinema to watch it! 

I’m going to give Monsters a 1.5 alien squid legs out of 5

P.s I've put the link to the DVD below in case you do actually want to order it - you could always wedge it under the leg of that wobbly patio table or use it as a door stop

Fright Fest Favourites

Yesterday Lauren, my friend at work, and I were talking about scary movies, which got me to thinking about what some of my favourite fright fest films are.  And as it is Friday 13^th it seems an appropriate day to write a post about some of the scariest and most sweaty palm making horror films I’ve seen.

Horror is one of my favourite film genres (there is obviously some psychological reason why we get pleasure from scaring ourselves witless) and I’m usually quite good at watching them through without breaking out in a nervous sweat.  However, there are a few films that I find myself reaching for a cushion to hide behind - because obviously if something were to be ‘coming to get me’ a cushion would be my best protection!

I do enjoy (and I use the term ‘enjoy’ lightly) the gruesome and sadistic films like Saw, Hostel and The Hills Have Eyes and the old classics are great too - think Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, The Exorcist. I am partial to a bit of Japanese horror (I went through of phase or ordering lots of the Japanese originals on Amazon) – The Ring, Dark Water.  They are usually quite psychological and have a tendency to feature freaky Japanese children who do weird things (freaky children are generally just scary).

Probably most of my scare sessions involve either teen American slasher flicks – Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, thriller horrors (the sort that you believe have the potential to actually happen in real life), such as Paranormal Activity,  or based on ‘true events’ type frighteners like  Wolf Creek and Adrift.  
  
Five Fright Fest Films:  
  
Last House on the Left – sort of a remake of the 60/70’s version, although not half as violent and sadistic as the originals, it still has a few scenes that are quite disturbing but the storyline is great and it is full of ‘will she won’t she’ type tension and suspense 

The Strangers – this has a lot of the things that scare me the most – strange noises from outside, looking out of windows at night, house in the middle of nowhere, creaks and jumps and provokes the ‘it could actually happen’ thought 

 The Grudge - the original Japanese version is much more freaky than the US remake with Sarah Michelle Geller but both are good cover-your-eyes watches 

The Blair Witch Project – genius when it first came out (even if the shakey handcam style made me feel slightly motion sick), mostly due to the great PR and marketing campaign surrounding it

Paranormal Activity 2 – better than the 1^st I think with lots of sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for ‘something’ pop out and make you jump moments

These are just a selection of my favourites and even though we probably spend most of the time being too scared to leave the lounge, shouting ‘you fool’ or ‘why did you do that?’ at the characters who have either opted to grab the worst weapon ever or have decided to leave the safety of the group and wander off into the dark woods on their own to ‘explore’ I am sure that jumpy, gruesome horror films will stay a regular feature in our house.  

I’m looking forward to seeing the new Scream 4 and also Insidious soon too!

Anyone got any good recommendations of horror films I could scare myself senseless with??? Post them below so I can add them to my LOVEFiLM list!  

Horror DVD

The Book of Eli on DVD (Blu-ray)

One of my LOVEFiLM installments this week was The Book of Eli with Denzel Washington.

Set in post-apocalyptic America it follows one man's path to protect a sacred book which will save mankind.
We learn that a voice had told Eli to head westward with the sacred book, which he had been doing for thirty years, and hijackers and cannibals who try to stand in his way are taken out with precision.

The fight scenes are really good and done with a certain Denzel ‘coolness’.

He arrives in a town where the leader, Carnegie (played by Gary Oldman), is searching for a copy of the Bible as he believes this will give him further power.  After discovering that Eli is in possession of a King James Bible he sets about taking it from Eli.  After a shoot out, a pursuit, a standoff and another shoot out, Carnegie eventually get the book only to discover it is written in Braille.

A wounded Eli still makes his way westward, with the help of his new companion Solara (played by Mila Kunis), and they finally arrive at Alcatraz.  In Alcatraz, Lombardi (played by Malcolm McDowell) and is collecting things from the pre-war civilation – books, music, art etc – so that they are one day able to try and rebuild society.
Eli announces that he has a copy of the bible (which they don’t have and we know that Carnegie has taken from Eli) and asks Lombardi to get a pen and paper.  Eli then begins to recite the Bible word for word from memory (unfortunately poor Lombardi has to write the whole thing out).

There are religious and political messages behind the film and showing how religion can be used for power in both good and bad ways.  However, when Eli is at Alcatraz they focus in on his eyes and I wasn’t sure whether we were supposed to believe that Eli was (warning potential plot spoiler) blind? There were a few comments throughout the film that looking back seemed to make more sense if he was but also some parts that would make it not very believable???

But anyway I liked this film and thought it looked great on blu-ray. 

I'm going to give The Book of Eli 3.5 hijackers out of 5.

The Family Stone on DVD

The latest film from LOVEFiLM was The Family Stone.  I’d probably class this as a romcom with a bit of drama.  It’s about a guy that brings his uptight city girlfriend home to his slightly unconventional and whacky family for their annual Christmas celebration.

I feel like I may have missed something at the beginning (but I was watching it from the start) because the family all seemed to really dislike Meredith (the city girlfriend) before she even arrived.  The film then goes through some really awkward moments mixed in with some quite funny bits and also a few sad parts – so really one to get all the emotions going!

Meredith (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) tries to fit in with the family, not to much avail, as they set her up and generally give her a hard time before she gets her sister, Julie, down for support.  This in itself opens up more complications as the family seem to love her instantly and even the affections of Meredith’s boyfriend, Everett (played by Dermont Mulroney) start to sway towards Julie (played by Clare Danes).

Meredith ends up spending the evening in a bar with Everett’s brother Ben (played by Luke Wilson) and then thinks she’s slept with him, which along with the fact that she can tell Everett’s affections are moving to her sister (Julie gets the engagement ring stuck on her finger as Everett was asking her to ‘try it on’) makes her think about her relationship.

The film finishes with the family the following year where Meredith is with Ben (the brother), Everett is with Julie and the mother, Sybil (played by Diane Keaton), has passed away.  At least it looks like everyone is friends at the end!

There were lots of well known names in this film – SJP, Dermot Mulroney, Clare Danes, Diane Keaton, Luke Wilson, Amy McAdams and Craig T Neslon - who played a random array of characters but all it a good share of comedy and drama, not sure there was that much romance though?!

It was nice easy film to watch that kept us entertained while leaving us feeling like we weren’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

I’m going to give this a 3.5 brothers and sisters out of 5

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Ben 10: Ultimate Alien on DVD

Now I’ll admit I am partial to watching a few random cartoons every now and then (usually in the company of my friends and families’ young children) but when I was offered this DVD to review I thought maybe not for me…… but I know someone who would like it.  My 6 year old godson and Ben 10 fanatic, Euan – he’ll love this.  So this is my first guest blogger (with a little bit of help from me).

Ben Tennyson (aka Ben 10) is, in general, an ordinary 10 year old boy but with his special Omnitrix watch he can change into an alien – well 10 different aliens in fact.  He uses his power mostly for good but every now and again he does get up to a bit of super hero mischief!

(c) 2011 Cartoon Network

This DVD (Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Vol: Escape From Aggregor) sees Ben as a 16 year old and features 10 different episodes.

Me: So what does Ben 10 get up to in this DVD Euan?

Euan: He has a got a new watch thing called the Ultimatrix. Its bit like his other one but it means he can change into super aliens that are really strong – lots stronger and better than the normal ones.  Everyone finds out that he is a super hero and he gets really famous.

Me: Which was your favourite episode?

Euan: I liked the third one the best.  The one where all his enemies are trying to get his mum and dad.

Me: Is Ben 10 more sensible now that has grown up and is 16 years old?

Euan:  (laughs) No he is still a bit naughty!

Me: So did you like this DVD?

Euan: Yeah it was dead good.  I’m going to watch it again!

Me: How many stars out of 5 are you going to give it?

Euan: Erm…I think… 4!

So there you have it straight from the mouth of a 6 year old this is a good DVD.  It’s out on Monday (18th) so might help keep the kids amused over the Easter holidays!

Jaws at Victoria Baths courtesy of Curiously Cinnema

Yesterday I jumped on a train to Manchester. The first good thing about this was that I didn't miss the train! The tube I am fine with but 'big' trains not so good.

Anyway I headed off to Manchester for a Curiously Cinnema event. My team at work run the events for Curiously Cinnamon and the idea is that we show 'great films in unusual places.'

We've already done The Shinning at Wollaton Hall in Nottingham and Goal at St James' Park in Newcastle. Last night was Manchester's turn. The film was Jaws (a classic) and the venue was Victoria Baths. Very fitting.

Victoria Baths was the winner of the BBC's Restoration programme and has been restored to almost it's original state. Although they still have work to do it is an amazing building and has so far been restored beautifully. They use the venue for events like ours which helps bring in the money to continue the restoration work.

So, we were in the ladies pool and we were literally in the pool! Thankfully there was no water in the pool but instead a large cinema screen and about 100 guests ready to enjoy the world's most famous great white bring chaos to Amity Island.

Instead of popcorn, Curiously Cinnema provided 'curious popcorn' of the cereal Curiously Cinnamon, which is actually strangely addictive!

There was also a photo booth and a queue of people lined up to get in the shark costume for their memento photo's.

I haven't seen Jaws for ages but it is still a great film and watching it while sitting in an empty Edwardian swimming was definitely an interesting way to see the film again, albeit a tad on the chilly side. These Edwardian heating systems are not what they used to be!

I know I am biased because I worked on the event but the round of applause at the end of the film and the great comments on the Curiously Cinnamon Facebook page are a good sign that people enjoyed themselves.

I'm looking forward to some more events and finding some more weird and wonderful venues!