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Reviews
Thirteen (2003)
One of my favourite films!
Well as i said in the summary, one of my favourite films! Its absolutely brilliant! Its very hard hitting but at the same time incredibly realistic. It epitomises just the very lengths that young people will go to in order to fit in.
Although my teenage years weren't like this I can quite believe that many young people's lives have been (it was based on Nikki Sandersons teenage experiences). Its actually quite frightening just how rapidly a young life can spiral out of control...and how much hard work it is for the family to pick up the bits.
It was extremely well written and very cleverly directed and avoided the normal Hollywood schmaltz of what teenage life is like! If you've lived through your teenage years you'll shudder at some of the memories it'll evoke! If you're still in your teenage years, use this film as a guide as to what NOT to do!
The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Entertaining? Yes. Scary? No
Well its a bit of a mixed bag this one. On the one hand its original and does keep you guessing a lot of the way through, i did wonder if it was gonna have a kind of hostel like twist to it (it didn't).
I must admit my heart sank when it transpired that zombies were gonna be the enemy! Honestly i am soooooooooo sick of zombie movies now, its like everybody is obsessed with them at the moment! Its been so overdone now and if i've seen one zombie movie, i've seen them all! In my opinion zombies aren't even that scary! Anyway, i digress! So the bits right up to the zombies were quite enjoyable, my trouble is i can't get my head around films that are both realistic and fantasy all at the same time. If its obvious from the start that its a fantasy that i'm cool with that. But not once did anybody utter the words "but this is ridiculous, zombies, witches and werewolves don't exist", unless they lived in a world where, zombies, witches werewolves did exist and everybody knew about it but got on with their daily lives regardless, in which case the film writers should have made it more obvious.
I was a bit confused as to who the cabin belonged to. It was supposed to be one of the group's cousin, so does this mean the cousin was in on it too? If so what was his motive for wanting to kill off a member of his family. If the cousin wasn't in on it then that just doesn't seem feasible that some random corporate company could build a forcefield around your property, fill it with camera and bury some zombies in the ground without the owner being a little bit suspicious.
I liked it for its originality, but i wouldn't watch it again anytime soon
Chernobyl Diaries (2012)
It had so much potential : (
The whole history behind Chernobyl is unsettling to say the very least. A whole community has about five minutes to flee their homes and businesses before radioactivity come sin and kicks some ass. The place hasn't changed much since it was left, building, some furnishings, even a playground remain, but not a soul has lived there since.
you hear a summary like that and you find yourself thinking "hello, hello. Got ourselves a potentially very interesting and chilling film here". Alas it is not to be! OK, i'm being harsh. The film was actually quite entertaining right the way up until matey boy gets attacked and so the others decide to go and investigate (as if you would for goodness sake! "oooh one of our friends has been viciously attacked by an unknown being/animal and apparently there are loads of them! Lets go take a look!"
The filmmakers have fallen into the same trap that the standard modern day American horror film makers have fallen into. 1.Not really spending the time to make the audience warm to the characters (as it was i couldn't have given a hoot who lived and who died
2.Absolutely ridiculous decision making made by the victims. I'm sure the film makers think this makes it more "edge of the seat" but all it does is make the film and the characters seem even more unrealistic and makes the viewer feel even more detached from the situation. You don't really find yourself thinking "oh my goodness, there is no way out of this, what the heck would i do in this situation?"...all of which a good horror film should make you feel.
The ending did not make any sense whatsoever! So we're left with tow remaining survivors, a girl and a guy, when the army turn up! At this point both the survivors are suffering radiation poisoning and have witnessed things that would make your teeth itch and which would put the government in some hot water if the story got out. So whats the solution!? Shoot the guy there and then on the spot, then get suited up in radioactive suits, pop the girl in an ambulance, take her to a hospital and then throw her in a dark room (they don't want her talking to outside parties about what she's seen) and leave her there, where she soon becomes attacked by other 'monsters' who just so happen to be hanging out in there. This leaves me with 2 questions
1. If they wanted her dead, why not just shoot her along with the other guy? Why take her all the way to the hospital just to kill her there?
2.Why the heck was there a room full of radioactive mutant monsters in a cupboard at the hospital?
To summarise: a film that potentially could have been mind blowing but thanks to the unimaginative scriptwriters it was lacklustre. I suspect they were trying to achieve the Blair witch project status of "its what you don't see that scares you" however, unlike the Blair witch lot, Chernobyl diaries failed miserably.
Life of Pi (2012)
well worth a watch
Well what can i say? This film was absolutely breathtaking!I went to see it in 3d, i'm not normally a fan of 3d but in certain scenes it just absolutely took my breath away! It was one of those films where i didn't want it to end! The film went into a lot of detail into the main characters childhood which although interesting and definitely tantamount to the story, i did feel a bit impatient to get to the 'good bits'! take a hankie though, its a bit of a tearjerker in places! All in all a very enjoyable film and it will definitely be added to my DVD collection!
I do recommend seeing it in 3d, even if you're not normally a 3d fan, as it will certainly add to your viewing pleasure!
The Last Exorcism (2010)
Really enjoyable film!
I enjoy horror films that have a paranormal storyline to them so i was pretty sure id enjoy this film, and i wasn't mistaken! I found cotton and his gang likable characters straight away and the film didn't waste much time in getting going! I was absorbed as soon as it started! The acting is brilliant and doesn't go over the top in the typical hapless victims screaming and making ridiculous decisions. Ashley Bell who plays Nell does the part so well, she manages to be both endearing and fearsome all at the same time! When we fist meet her she is such a little sweetheart that its hard to believe she could play a more sinister role...but my goodness she manages it!Full credit goes to the actor who plays her brother too, when we first meet him he himself is quite intimidating and it really gets you wondering what direction the film is gonna go.
The ending leaves a few questions unanswered, but thats not always a bad thing
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
Utterly ridiculous!
*sigh* not sure where to start with this one! We went from the subtle atmospheric genius of the first and second one, to the downright ostentatiousness of this one! Its like the scriptwriters didn't even watch the first two films! OK, so in the first one you'll remember that Katy explains to Micah that growing up she and her sister were regularly visited by an entity which stood at the foot of Katy's bed and used to terrify her and her sister? Thats pretty much all she tells Michah,which tbh is unsettling enough a thing to happen to anybody, so far so good. And the first half hour or so it does stick to what Katy has told Micah, but then trouble really starts a brewing. Basically the entity then goes on to threaten Katie unless the younger sister , Kristi, does what he says. There is also levitating bodies and right at the end a whole room full of demonic looking women, not to mention people being thrown down the stairs etc! Yet Katy doesn't think to mention ANY of this to Micah!!! To be honest this film has just got 'cash cow' written all over it! There is barely any relevance between this film and its two predecessors. Are you honestly telling me that Katy would tell Micah about a ghost standing at the foot of her bed but negate to to tell him any of the other ridiculous over the top goings on that happened!? I mean how are Katy and her sister not scarred for life if all of that really had happened? Paranormal activity 1,2 and 4 were excellent films providing the right amount of atmosphere and jumpy bits that you come to expect from the PA writers, PA 3 just lets them down, they should have binned this one and gone on straight to number 4
End of Watch (2012)
Jake Gyllenhaal doesn't disappoint
I originally went to see this film mainly cos I'm a big fan of Jake! And he didn't let me down, both he and Pena were brilliant, i forgot i was watching two actors and almost started to believe they were real cops!
I liked this film as it wasn't the usual Hollywood glitz and glam portrayal of the police force that you normally get from our friends over the pond. It felt very real, very hard hitting and often had me at the edge of my seat.
The negatives would be the hand held camera style that seems so popular at the moment. It made me feel a bit sick and dizzy in places, especially during the first ten minutes.I'm not sure whether its all hand held to make the movie seem more realistic (tbh the storyline and acting is that good that they could have got away with not using it) or whether its just because that seems to be the craze at the moment....in which case the novelty is starting to wear off. It was great in the Blair witch project, but that was 13 years ago so its not really a novelty anymore! (hey at least they didn't do it 3d though!)
The other negative point would be the character of Janet played by Anna Kendrick. I'm assuming the scriptwriters were trying to make her as likable and perfect as possible but she just came across as a bit too sugary sweet and downright annoying. Anna Kendricks acting ability didn't really match Jake and Michaels standard either so the bits with her in it made it feel more like a movie with actors and less like its actually happening there in front of you.
All in all though a very good film and a lot more realistic than the police films the Americans normally churn out
Snow White (1987)
A magical tale that is wonderfully nostalgic!
I first saw this film when i was a 7 year old, i've always been a huge fan of the tale of snow white and i got this on VHS as a birthday present. It didn't disappoint! It was wonderful, from when the wonderfully slightly haunting music plays at the beginning right the way through to the end! Even watching it as an adult i love it, the simplicity of going back to the days before everything was cgi or 3d! When they actually built all the props! Its such a wonderful, wonderful adaptation! Sure the songs are a bit cheesy (this was the eighties though don;t forget) but it all adds to it! Sarah Patterson plays the part of snow white well, alluring yet innocent, really pretty without being overly provocative. The dwarfs are fab especially billy Barty who appears in pretty much every cannon movie tale film! I cannot rave about this enough! If you wanna go back to good old fairy tales without the cgi rubbish and the over acting then i highly recommend you check this out! I'm a big lover of all the cannon movie tales! If you watch and like snow white then be sure to check out Hansel and Gretel!
Marie Antoinette (2006)
Enjoyable if you can get past the inaccuracies
So this film got absolutely slammed by the critics, and although i enjoyed the film i can see why it got slammed.
It seemed very odd that most of the cast at least adopted the accents of the country they were living in, even of they weren't speaking the language. Marie Antionette and Lois were speaking in out and out American accents! It just seemed a bit odd, either have everybody adopting accents or nobody adopting accents, but to mix it up just seems a bit odd.
saying that it was still an entertaining film in my opinion, the costumes were nothing short of breathtaking and despite the foolishness of Marie Antionettes actions, you do end up feeling sorry for her toward the end.You'll enjoy this film providing you don't take it to seriously
Robin Hood (2010)
zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Saints preserve us this was a boring film! There were four of us watching it, ages ranging from 28 to 55 and all of us agreed that it was a very tedious film to watch!
Even though we all know the story of Robin Hood like the back of our hands we all thought it was really difficult to follow, the plot was all over the place! It wasn't even clear for a long time who was who! (with the exception of Robin Hood and Maid Marian). I was just willing this film to end...and it felt like it never would! I am soooo glad i didn't pay to see this at the cinema!
I was really, really quite bored!
Wolf Creek (2005)
very unnerving!
I watched this when myself and my boyfriend at the time had gone for a weeks holiday in the city of York. (i recommend york btw, beautiful city!) We were in our hotel room searching for something to watch before going to bed and stumbled across Wolf Creek, neither if us had even heard of it before and we didn't even read what it was about, we just saw it was under the genre of horror and thought "yep,that'll do us just nicely", i was even more pleased when it said it was based on a true story.
So we settled down and watched it, i liked it from the word go, the three 'goodies' if you will, were very likable and I soon became engrossed! Then it all started going downhill for the backpackers, i found myself yelling at the screen "nooo, don't follow him" (i don't think they heard me!) Although i knew what was coming i was still shocked when you first realise that trouble is afoot. I just thought to myself what on earth would i do in that situation? Jarretts laugh will haunt me to this very day! Its a really jarring film (i've only watched it the once, still plucking up the courage to view it a second time) they don't go over the top like most slasher movies and unlike other horror films where the good guys are there purely for the entertainment of being 'dealt with', you'll find yourself really, really gunning for these guys to get away! Its an incredibly well made movie and they keep the gore and the storyline realistic which in turn draws you in and almost makes you forget that its just a movie. (thers nothing i can't stand more than a villain who is seemingly bullet proof, cop proof and can move form one place to another in a split second!) Very enjoyable, but it'll put the chills up you!
Project X (2012)
Quite entertaining!
Twas a rainy Monday afternoon and my friend and i were rather bored so decided to check this film out.
I actually really enjoyed it (although by all accounts the guy who the story is based on is a real c**K!) i was thoroughly entertained and there were a lot of "OH MY GOD!" moments! All i can say is....if that were me, my parents would have absolutely killed me!
Well worth a watch my dears if you want a film that is entertaining but doesn't require you to pay a lot of attention then this is the film for you! It was just so easy to watch! Would def watch again. DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
I enjoyed it, but i can see why others may not have
Prior to seeing this i'd heard quite a few bad reviews about The Hobbit, the main problem being that it was 'boring' and nothing much happening in it.
Me being a huuuuge fan of LOTR decided to go and see it and find out for myself. I personally enjoyed it although i can see why others didn't. This is very much all about setting the scene (in fact its about an hour before we even leave Bilbo's house). The book certainly doesn't spend long focusing on the conversations between the dwarfs, Gandalf and Bilbo however being as this is gonna be three films i guess they wanted to pad it out as long as possible. As enjoyable as the film is its certainly nowhere near as dramatic as LOTR nor is their as much suspense. There is a good dose of humour though and it is good to see Sir Ian Mckellen back as Gandaf the gray, not to mention Christopher Lee playing a good Sarumon!
Curse of the Blair Witch (1999)
Really, really enjoyable
CONTAINS SPOILER Well firstly I'm a massive fan of the film Blair Witch project, i first saw it when it was out at the cinema and i thought it was excllent, really scary and to this day i don't think any other horror film has come close to being as cleverly done ( the marketing was genius!) I first saw the curse of the Blair witch on the bonus footage of the DVD of the Blair witch.I was utterly gripped! It was so incredibly eerie it really put the jitters up me (i might add i'm not easily spooked and i was watching it in broad daylight too!).
Even from the opening sequence i got chills up my spine, everything about this documentary is spot on for me, even down to the female narrators voice.
I thought it very clever how they continued with the whole "this is a true story" angle. I enjoyed the back stories of Eileen Treacle who was dragged into the river by an unseen entity and the letters to the sheriff who supposedly refused to believe there were paranormal reasons behind the students disappearance.
I actually found this documentary scarier than the film itself. An absolute must see for Blair witch fans! 13 years after the film was made and i still get shivers down my spine!