Boondock Saints

Boondock Saints

Never before have I read the back of a DVD box before and been so thoroughly wrong about it. The back of the box seems violent and very aggressive in it's nature, but the film itself is of a very different nature. It is far funnier and softer than I would have imagined.

It tells the story of two brothers who feel they are on a crusade from God to kill the criminals of New York. Humorous and Brilliant, this film is fantastic. Thoroughly surprised by it and for me, it is now one of the gems of my collection. Slick and stylish and also has a brilliant cameo from Billy Connelly.

This film was a real surprise, as I really didn't expect to find it so funny and yet at the same time engaging and action packed. Great film, with a great story...

★★★★★

Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down

An all-star cast lead this unhappy and real-life tale of war. Although there is nothing happy about this, it is a fantastically written film. Dark and brooding, it does not shy away from the gruesome nature of war and if I am honest it is a good thing. Horrible it may be, but that is what war is truly like. There are many deaths and there is no happy ending, no that isn't a spoiler as if you had read your newspapers a few years back you would know this.

The thing that gets me most is the dark and sad tale, if anything it is depressing that it is so true to life, but again I say it is a good thing. If Ridley Scott had created a film that glorified war then I would have been up in arms, the fact that it is so realistic is a catch 22 for me. The film is brilliant, there is no doubt about that but it troubles me that a film like this has to be made.

Films are meant to be entertaining, unless I am mistaken, to take you away from the humdrum of normal life. Does this film do it, yes, but in a bizarre and twisted way. You forget your life because you are drawn into the lives of the soldiers. So caught up into the death, it is so sad.

This film is wonderful and amazing, but a film that leaves you with such a sad heart can hardly be a good thing. So this is why although the film is a 5 star for me...the feelings it leaves me with draws it back to...

★★★☆☆

The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski

I remember dearly loving this film, finding it exciting thrilling, and rewatching it now has reignited my passion. It is a film noir for the modern age that is marvellousy written. The Coen brothers have a real gift for storytelling and this film is simply another notch on a very impressive list of films.

I simply cannot praise this film enough, the characters are deep rich and complex, the plot is twisting intelligent and devious and the acting is sublime. Each act of the film flows wonderfully into the other, it is almost organic in it's construction. Yes that may seem over the top in it's phrasing but that is how I feel about it. So expressive visually. It's brilliant. So enough of my praising time for a rating...you will no doubt be unsurprised to see this...

★★★★★

Big Fish

Big Fish

A wonderfully stylish and slick Tim Burton film, one that I simply adore. It is not as macabre and dark as some of his works, but it is simply magnificent. Laura did not agree with me on this view and found it slightly tiresome, but it is a marvellous story. It takes you on weird and wonderful adventures that films these days don't often do.

Each of the characters are excellent, from Ewan McGregor's Young Ed Bloom, to Albert Finney's older version, Alison Lohman's young Sandra Bloom to Jessica Lange's older version. Lots of different characters which are all wonderfully written.

It melds the bizarreness of Burton with a touching family drama. All in all a fantastic film, which leads me to give it...

★★★★☆

Big

Big

So here goes new style...The film stars Tom Hanks, and that is really the only actor of any note now. This is a seminal film for me, one that has lots of memories and I still love it. It is one of those films I start to watch and think, Oh no not this again, but then when I get into it I love it and thoroughly enjoy it.

It has some cinematic gold in this film, for instance Josh (Hanks) and his boss playing on a floor piano in the middle of a store for all the world to see. It is a piece of genius and is such a memorable scene. This film for me has it all, it's funny, heart-warming and shows one of the many brilliant acting sides of Tom Hanks. In our collection we have a set of Tom Hanks films, Laura bought it last year, and the first one in that set to come up will be Castaway, and I have to say watching a whole load of classic Tom Hanks films is something that I am thoroughly looking forward to.

The wit of the script is what carries this film and I utterly love it. If only there were more gems of this calibre that came out of the 80's.

★★★★★

Alterations and Changes

I have just been reading the blog of an American friend, http://little-round-mirrors.blogspot.com/, and have realised that I need to update and modernise my blog so it has the feel of a new decade. In doing this I will cut out the extra baggage of the plots and will also cut down on the amount of actors i name, which although was useful is highly time consuming! So new year...new style...here we go!

Bicentennial Man

Bicentennial Man (1999) starring Robin Williams, Embeth Davidtz, Sam Neill, and Oliver Platt.

Before...I can't remember my exact feelings when I first watched this film but I am pretty sure they would be something close to excitement. A film based around Isaac Asimov's Robert laws...surely that is exciting...well maybe just for a geek like me...ah well. So excitement was up there...I watched and was disappointed...lets see if my views have changed years later.

This film follows the 'life' and times of the lead character, an android (Williams) who is purchased as a household robot programmed to perform menial tasks. Within a few days the Martin family (Davidtz, Neill) realizes that they don't have an ordinary droid as Andrew begins to experience emotions and creative thought with the help of an inventor (Platt). In a story that spans two centuries, Andrew learns the intricacies of humanity while trying to stop those who created him from destroying him.

My wife's view..."too long ago to remember, it wasn't as bad as we were expecting★★★☆☆"

Where to start...first thing that both my wife and I were surprised at was the length of the film...it's only just over 2hours and yet we thought it was nearer to 3. This is not a good thing. To have the feeling that a film is over an hour longer than it actually is means that it drags and it has no oomph or pizazz to keep your attention.

The special effects on this film are impressive, but that is about all I can say about it, it is neither clever nor dramatic enough to keep me all teared up when it should do. It is over emotional and all a bit sappy for my liking. All in all thoroughly unimpressed with this film, so little to say about it too...which leads me to give this film...

★★☆☆☆