Review: Water for Elephants

I don't know what took me so long to watch Water for Elephants, aside from perhaps the idea of suffering through a Robert Pattinson movie. Which is odd, because while I wasn't a giant fan of Twilight, I didn't find them as repugnant as many people. In fact, if you look hard on the Interwebs, you will find a photograph of me and Shaina preparing t-shirts for the new movie in Cheongju. I found the movies enjoyable, and I am one of those die-hard HP fans who remembers that Twilight was not Pattinson's first big role (if you can call the role of Cedric Diggory big, which I do).

And yet, it was on a Saturday night when I had nothing much else to do that I decided to finally watch it for the first time. It has been sitting there, gathering dust so to speak, waiting for me to watch for years, and it took a lack of anything better to do for me to decide that it was worth switching on. And, from minutes into the movie, I was utterly hooked.

The trailer, the beginning scenes and the general tone of the movie reminded me a lot of Big Fish, one of my favourite Tim Burtons, and though the story was very different, it didn't disappoint in the slightest. The story is of a young man in the 1930's whose life is changed forever by a tragic accident. One exam short of a vetinary degree and without a cent to his name, he wanders down a set of train tracks and decides to take a chance when he sees a train approaching in the horizon. And so, he finds himself becoming a part of the famous Benzini Bros. circus. It's the story about his time there, and the love that he finds there.

The movie is shot beautifully, giving a real sense of the Big Top and the time. The actors are great with Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon pulling out all stops. And the story, well the story is beautiful and tragic, making me laugh and cry at times, but leaving me with a smile and a lasting memory.

So if you are looking for a good romantic drama, I would highly recommend watching this one. I can't recommend it enough. Just watch it!

Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

There are thousands of movies that come out every year, and it is amazing how many of them just seem to slip through the cracks to become forgotten and how many of them end up on the big screen only to be absolutely god-awful.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of those that seems to have slipped through the cracks.

I don't know how it was that I found out about it, but I found it online in a random list, possibly on IMDB, and decided that I had to see it. Mostly because of Emma Watson, because of my dire need to see her in something that wasn't Harry Potter, to see her grown up and acting in something older, something mature, something different.

So, when I was sitting at home on a Monday night with nothing to do, I decided to give it a try. And from the first scene, I was hooked to it. Something about the main character spoke to me - the social awkwardness, the affinity with music and the deep, passionate love of writing that takes over his life and that he uses to tell his story.

Bring to him friends who are even more socially unaccepted than he is, but have found acceptance with each other, and you have the group that I spent time with in high school. Without the drugs, of course, but the basic dynamic is just about right.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a romance, it is a drama, it is a mystery and it is, at times, a comedy. It is something that melds together the music and dress sense of the early 90s to provide a testament to the time period and a beautiful story of love and coming of age.

I would highly recommend the movie to anyone who was born in the 80s and who has a love of the music from the 90s, who grew up in the 90s and anyone who found their first love in high school, unrequited or otherwise. To be perfectly honest though, I would recommend this movie to absolutely anyone because I just adored it.

Movie Review: One Day

I have been wanting to watch One Day for quite awhile now, since seeing it advertised on DSTV's Box-Office. I love Anne Hathaway and enjoy most of the movies that I have seen her in, and this one was no exception.

Based on a book by David Nicholls (which I am now going to have to find) One Day is the story of two people, Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess). The two meet at university and the movie shows how each of their lives progress, dropping in on them both each year after their initial meeting. Some years they are together, some they are apart, but they are always thinking of each other in some way or another on the day. We watch them grow up, grow together, grow apart and grow wiser. We witness joys, pains and everything in between.

I thought that the storyline of the movie was very good. It was an intriguing concept to pop in each year and see how one night can change two people's leaves for the better and for the worse. I thought that the acting was brilliant on both parts and I thought that it was a wonderful movie overall. It had funny moments, mostly at the hands of Sturgess whose character was a bit of a wild child when compared to Hathaway's straight-arrow. Not that Hathaway's character doesn't face struggles of her own, but she tends to deal with them more serenely than Sturgess deals with his difficulties, which on reflection are a lot more life-altering.

I wouldn't call One Day a comedy though, despite some comedic relief on occasion. It is a romance and it is a drama, but the issues that come up throughout the movie can certainly not be called comedy. If you are looking or a good romance to watch, I would highly recommend this one, and would certainly recommend it above some of the others making the rounds at the moment including The Vow and Like Crazy (I never did review that one... perhaps a task for another time). Overall, I would give it a 5/5 because I honestly can't think of anything that I would criticise.

Review: Adventureland

Hey all

It has been awhile since I last posted, but I have spent a day in bed thanks to pain and sinuses and watched a lot of movies, so you can expect to see a lot of reviews. The first is for a movie called Adventureland starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart.

The story revolves around James (Jesse Eisenberg), who has just graduated from university and finds out, on his graduation day, that his plans for a trip to Europe over the summer and his plans for grad school in New York have fallen through thanks to his dad losing his job. Instead of travelling, he is forced to find a job back home where the skills he has learned from his degrees will not come in any use at all. He manages to find a job at a local carnival and, despite the lacklustre work, he makes some good friends and has some great experiences, one of which being falling in love with Em (Kristen Stewart). Of course, he has no idea what he is getting himself into, as Em is complicated and currently having an affair with a married man (Ryan Reynolds) and so James finds himself stuck in a complicated situation.

I thought that the movie was pretty good. The story line wasn't exactly thrilling and was predictable, but the acting was decent enough. Kristen Stewart surprised me a little as I was expecting something more along the lines of her role in Twilight and thought that she pulled off the character quite well. The character is still a bit of a mopey, depressed, oh woe is me type, kinda like Bella Swan, but I thought that she pulled herself off better in this movie. I haven't seen Jesse Eisenberg in anything else as yet (I am one of the few people who haven't seen The Social Network) but I thought that his acting was pretty decent as well. Ryan Reynolds was very much a sideline character and acted as one - nothing special from him in this unfortunately. I got the sense that the cinematography was very artsy, very indie and the movie reminded me of a mix between the styles of Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist and Juno, both of which I felt pulled the style off better.

All in all, I would give Adventureland a 3/5 rating. I thought that the movie was decent enough and I do not regret watching it, but it could also have been better. The storyline was a little bit shallow and very predictable and the acting was fairly average. If you have some time on your hands and are looking for a bit of a fun, but not particularly funny, rom com, I would go for this.

Descending into Boredom

I don't know why I ever trust the people who choose Oscar nominations. They are so narrow-minded to begin with, looking for a particular type of movie to fit in with their categories. But it's not just that they close themselves off to the awesomeness of certain types of movies that gets me. It is the movies that end up being picked, even often end up winning the Oscars that truly blow my mind (in a bad way).

Take, for example, The Descendants. You can't really say that it had a great cast. Yes, there was George Clooney, who is a stud and is awesome. I am not denying that fact. But he was expected to carry the show on his name alone, and he actually didn't pull off a great performance. I thought that the girl who played the older daughter was halfway decent, but I found Clooney to be, frankly, flat. His character was supposed to be dull, work obsessed, I get that. But when he finds out that plot to the entire story, it should kind of shake things up a little. Which he tries to do. And fails. His character never seems to move out of first gear and it makes the show painful to watch.

Then there comes the story. The story which does seem to get into second gear with a lot of effort and then still goes absolutely nowhere. For those who do not know what the movie is about, I will tell you no more than what you see in the trailer. It is about a man (Clooney)  whose wife ends up on life support in a hospital when she gets into a boating accident. He is left to look after the two children while he tries to sort out his life, his wife's affairs and sell a large piece of land that he and his family have inherited through the generations. Oh, and he finds out that his wife has been cheating on him. This is all in the trailer, as I said, so I have given absolutely nothing away there. And the sad thing is, there is nothing more to give away. That is the entirety of the movie, squashed into a 3 minute trailer that was far more entertaining than the two and a half hour show. It suggests interesting topics, but the interest never materialises.

Of course, taking  place in Hawaii, you always knew that it was going to be a visual movie, a movie filled with timelapses and beautiful scenery. Which it was, to some extent. But I could appreciate the vastness of the land and the beauty of it more when it was integrated into the story. Like when Clooney and his daughters are  looking over the land that belongs to them, contemplating what selling it would mean, and the camera pans over the land numerous times - you can see why it would be something difficult to let go of, and you can see why the land should be treasured. You can't see that so much when the scene changes randomly to clouds floating over the ocean or over the shoreline. A lot of the most beautiful, most visual scenes are completely separated from the narrative, and it feels like they have just been put there to be pretty. Beauty is one thing, but it should add to the movie rather than be placed there for beauty's sake.

As you can tell, The Descendants did not meet my expectations. And that is the problem with the movies that are chosen for the Oscars. They are chosen for reasons that we are not aware of, and they raise your expectations for the films. Expectations that are often not met. Perhaps they should have a category for dull artsy movies that make you think twice about life. I would certainly put this and Never Let Me Go into that category.

Movie Review: The Princess Bride

I have always loved Princess Bride. I cannot remember the first time I saw it, probably because I was too young to remember, but it stuck in my mind for years afterwards and I have watched it many times in the last few years.

So why do I love it so much? Well, it has everything that you need in a movie – romance, comedy, action and adventure – and it does them all so well. Even though it was made in the 80s and the effects are absolutely terrible, the storyline makes up for it.

The movie starts off with a young boy sick at home playing videogames. His grandfather comes to pay him a visit and brings with a book (The Princess Bride) that his father used to read to him when he was sick. Begrudgingly the boy agrees to listen, complaining at points about how it sounds like just a gushy romance. But before long, the boy is captivated by the story and so is the audience. The story is about a beautiful woman and the farmboy who she falls in love with. The farmboy, Wesley, leaves to find his fortune early on and is kidnapped and killed by the dread pirate Roberts. The woman, Buttercup, pines over him for five years before agreeing to marry the prince of the country, Prince Humperdink. A few days before the wedding, she is kidnapped by a group of ruffians who want to start a war between two countries. What they don’t realise is that the dread pirate Roberts is on their tail and wants Buttercup for himself.

A few weeks ago we realised that two of our friends (Mike and Vicky) had never seen the movie, and so we invited them and Tom and Danika around to watch. Being the adults that we all are, we also decided to make the movie a little more fun by adding a drinking game to it. The rules of the game (similar to the rules of any other movie drinking game) are that when a character in the movie says a specific line, you need to drink. Some of the lines for Princess Bride include (but are not limited to) the following:

Buttercup
Farmboy
As you wish
Humperdink (the prince)
Boo
Inconceivable
Man in Black
My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
True Love
Rodents of Unusual Size

You will find yourself drinking a lot in the beginning and at certain points throughout the movie (at some point, a witch says boo something like 15 times in quick succession). Of course, it’s up to you how much you drink and when, but these are just some guidelines if you feel like watching the movie with a group of friends and playing along.

Either way, drunk or sober, I give the Princess Bride 5/5 as a movie. It has got everything that you need and, even though it is a little bit dated, it is still a lot of fun to watch.

Man or Muppet?

I think I am a big kid at heart, especially when it comes to the movies that I watch. Every animation that comes out, I have to watch! It's like I never grew out of the phase, and luckily Grant is exactly the same. Only, while I grew up watching Kideo and Disney movies, Grant grew up five years earlier with the Muppets.

It's not that I didn't grow up knowing about the Muppets. I knew of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy and I'm pretty sure that I watched movies like The Muppets in Space and Muppet Treasure Island, but I was always one who was more into watching Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast hundreds of times over rather than watching live action. But, dating Grant, it was slightly hard to avoid the Muppet mania. It just pops up every now and then, like when I was introduced to the Manamana song, which got stuck in my head for months on end and is likely to get stuck there again now that I have even mentioned it. Or, when Grant rediscovered The Muppet Christmas Carol and we watched that a couple of times.

So it should come as no surprise then, that we have been in Muppet mania over the last few months, ever since we heard about the Muppet movie. Even I couldn't resist the hype. The advertising campaign was amazing, with them running ads for the movie based on trailers for various other movies. Confused? Try watching the trailer entitled The Pig With The Froggy Tattoo or Being Green. You'll see what I'm talking about. Oh, and did I mention that the movie stars How I Met Your Mother actor Jason Segel and Enchanted actress Amy Adams? What about special guest appearances from Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris and Jim Parsons (Sheldon from Big Bang Theory)? Mix that with the rave reviews that it was getting and Grant and I were practically jumping off our seats dying to see the movie.

We eventually managed to get a copy of it, and I suppose the real question is going to be, "Were we disappointed?" The answer is a resounding NO! Let me make something clear right now - the movie is a kid's movie. But it is a kid's movie that speaks to an older generation of kids. It is a musical straight from the 70's with the choreography and goofy moments that you have come to expect from a typical Muppets movie. And that is what it is - a typical Muppets movie in typical Muppets fashion, presented to today's children. Which they should be thrilled about! I don't know if they are going to be, but they should be.

The humour was great with moments of laughing out loud and moments of cringing, but not in the dodgy way that most comedies lead to these days. The songs themselves were hilarious and wonderfully done. The storyline is a little weak, but entertaining nonetheless. Basically it is about a guy named Gary and his girlfriend, Mary, who decide to take a trip to LA and bring Gary's little brother, Walter, along. Walter feels like he never fits in, which is not surprising considering that he is a muppet without actually realising it. Anyway, he loves the Muppets and they decide to visit the old Muppet theatre in LA only to find out that it is derelict and about to be torn down by an oil-digging Texan tycoon. So, of course, they go off and try to get the Muppets back together to save the theatre.

Who would I recommend this movie to? Anyone who loved the Muppets as a kid and is ready to see them with a slight (very slight) modern twist but with an old school feel. Also, anyone who is in the mood for a good clean laugh and anyone who has kids. Not Rudi. He apparently hated it. *Shrug* Anyway! 5/5 from me!

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Movie)

A few months ago, I wrote a review on the book Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Follow the link to see my review of the book, if you dare. It wasn't a great review, because I didn't particularly enjoy the book. But, nonetheless, I found myself going to the movie. And I have to say, I found it far better.

What bugged me a lot about the book was the way it was written, paying attention to silly details and skimming over important ones. The movie gets going very quickly where the book was slow to start with. There is no time spared on unimportant details like computer brands (though there is definitely a lot of product placement). The mystery aspect of the book is also good from the get go. There is less family history explained in the movie and more focus on the matter at hand, which is what is most important.

I must say though, that sensitive viewers are not likely to enjoy parts of the movie at least. There are some very gruesome scenes, a lot of explicit behaviour and a lot of nudity. There is also a violent rape scene which many have condemned. It is horrifying, of course, but, in my mind, partly necessary. It is a movie that does not hold back. It takes the best, most interesting, most horrifying, most exciting parts of the book and it stitches them together into something that makes sense.

As always, there are some things that are left out of the movie and some things that are changed, but for the most part I found that the things that were left out benefitted the movie rather than detracted from it, and the things that were changed were done so that the storyline made sense. Nothing UBER important was missing and that is the important thing.

Overall, where I would have given the book perhaps a 5/10, I would give the movie a 7/10. I certainly thought that it was an improvement, which is saying quite something since it is usually the other way around when it comes to movies.

Movie Review: Easy A

So while I have much to do (packing, working, etc) and much to write (6k, come on!) I thought I would quickly write up one of those reviews that I promised. There are so many things that I want to review lately, since I have been reading awesome books, listening to awesome music and watching awesome movies and series, I figured that I should start with one that I watched awhile ago and work my way forward. So I figure that I will start with the movie that we watched at the last Ladies Night.

It was a difficult to choose a movie that none of us had seen, but there was one movie that ended up being agreed upon. Even though a couple of the people had watched it before, they said that it was well worth re-watching. And that movie was Easy A.

Now, you may think that Easy A is your typical Rom Com, and you wouldn't be completely wrong. It definitely is a comedy and there is a romantic aspect to it, but the romantic aspect is kind of drowned out by the comedy aspect, and to me it seemed like more of a Com than a Rom. The movie is set at a high school (typical) and follows a high school girl who is not particularly popular (typical) but becomes the talk of the school when she tells a friend that she slept with a college guy. Only, she was lying. And suddenly she finds herself getting a lot of attention from the boys and girls of the school, some good and some bad. The school is rather religious and Olive (Emma Stone) finds herself getting judged by the popular kids, all of whom are perfect Christian teens, led by Marianne (Amanda Bynes). Of course, she is not the only one being judged, and her gay best friend, Brandon (Dan Byrd), begs her to spread the rumour that she slept with him to avoid the mocking and judgement that he has been received for his sexual orientation. Quickly she becomes the go-to person for help in the sex department, even though she is still a virgin, and a chaotic but hilarious story ensues.

So, what makes this movie so great? Well, a good cast for one. Olive is spunky, intelligent and a good role model for young girls considering that she stands her own even when false rumours are being spread about her. It is all in the name of helping people out, and she does take it slightly overboard, but she is a good person overall and Emma Stone worked the role well. Her family are also really well cast with Stanley Tucci as the dad and Patricia Clarkson as the mom that every teenager wish they had. But the storyline is also just awesome in the way that it progresses into chaos, and the morals that make up the story are great ones - don't lie, don't be self-righteous and all actions (even made up ones) have consequences.

Overall, I think this is an awesome, hilarious movie that I would want my kid to see one day, and one that I think both men and women would enjoy. There is no explicit sex (though hints of sex are obviously mentioned throughout the movie) and no moments that will make you want to look away from the screen, unless you are the kind who gets embarrassed for the characters and cannot bear to watch them doing things that you know are just going to lead to trouble (hey, I used to be that person, okay!)

Watch Easy A. Male, female, young, old. Just watch it, okay?

Bridesmaids Review

When Bridesmaids first came out, I heard really good things about it. I heard that it was like the female version of The Hangover, and having loved that movie, the idea of a female version thoroughly appealed to me. I finally got hold of a copy this week and decided to watch it on Wednesday night.

For those of you who may not have heard about Bridesmaids, I will offer a quick explanation of what the movie is about. A single woman, reeling from a recent breakup and the collapse of her business, is invited to be the maid of honour for her best friend's wedding. The two have been friends since they were little, and so she naturally is thrilled at the honour. She then finds out that the friend is marrying into quite a wealthy family and a wealthy society and that all of the bridesmaids are part of this society. She therefore needs to help plan a wedding that involves a lot of expenses to herself including bachelorette parties, bridesmaid dresses and general wedding-like expenses, all while being surrounded by women who are far wealthier and are all in supposedly healthy, happy relationships.

It sounds like a typical rom com, right? It sounds like it has potential. However, the movie ended up being a rollercoaster ride of emotions from awkward to hilarious to disgusting and heart-touching with many stops in between. There were moments that I loved about the movie, but there were also moments that I hated. There tend to be parts in movies where I cringe because I am so embarassed for the protagonist, usually because I can put myself in their shoes and just know that this is not going to work out the way that they have imagined it in their heads. I have what I like to think of as foresight. In any case, during this movie, there were moments where I cringed in that way, but there were also moments where I was just plain tempted to turn the movie off and stop right there.

I will explain in slightly further detail one of these moments, and I apologise for any spoilers that this may provide. However, I take it that if this specific scene puts you off, you probably wouldn't have enjoyed watching it anyway. There is a moment in the movie where the protagonist in an attempt to impress the other bridesmaids without spending a vast fortune decides to take the girls to a genuine Brazilian restaurant that she has found before they go for dress fittings. The place looks like a dump, but the food is supposed to be amazing. So they go to the restaurant and have a lovely lunch which they all enjoy and then they make their way to the dress fitting. While trying on ridiculously expensive dresses, each and every one of them suddenly comes down with a bad case of food poisoning and there is rushing for the toilets in every direction. By the time this hits the bride, there are no bathrooms left, and she is in a ridiculously expensive wedding dress. She therefore makes a run for the place across the road that does have a bathroom and can't make it, therefore falling down in the middle of the road in a wedding dress and... well... you can guess from there I am sure.

As I said before, there were horrendous moments, but there were also sweet ones, and it's one of those situations where your sense of humour will decide for you whether you go to watch the movie or not. All I can say is that it certainly was no female version of The Hangover, and the humour in it was not up to the same standard in my opinion.

Lesbian Vampire Killers Review

When I see a movie entitled Lesbian Vampire Killers, I do not hold much hope for the kind of movie that it will be. Other similar titles leap to mind, titles like Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter and Zombie Strippers. It makes me think of a combination of porn and terrible horror, the kind of movie that Paris Hilton might star in. And yet, somehow, I had only ever heard how good the movie was. And this wasn't only from men who might be oggling the girls with fangs making out. This was from some of my female friends as well!

And so, last night, I decided to give it a go. I put the movie onto a flash stick and prepared to be horrified. And then the movie started, and from about two minutes in, I was getting stitches from laughing so hard. I'd had the best intentions going into the movie, preparing to find it crude and revolting and just completely over the top, but I actually thought that it was pretty damn good, and certainly better than the title could ever have led me to imagine.

The movie starts off around 200 years in the past when the Queen of the vampires, Camilla, is killed by a Baron. Just before he manages to off her, she puts a curse on him and the town, the basis of which is that every girl who turns 18 will become a vampire. *GASP* And not just any vampire either. No. A lesbian vampire!! *DOUBLE GASP* This curse will continue until one of the Baron's relatives returns to the town. Then she will rise again, with the aid of a virgin's blood. It then jumps to the present day when two friends are leading equally dull lives and decide to go on a hiking trip. Arriving in the vampire ridden town (in daylight) they are directed to a local inn to stay the night, an inn where the vampires feast on unsuspecting visitors.

The style of the movie is great, reminding us of the older horror movies like Rocky Horror Picture Show, but the humour is fairly modern. It can get a little crude at times, and there is some minor nudity involved, but overall, I found the movie to be funnier than it was gross, and not particularly off-putting despite the occasional obvious play on the sex theme. I had expected a lot worse considering the title, and the most that is seen are occasional breasts through transparent clothing or through cracked windows.

There are no well-known actors in the movie, but I thought that the main characters were great, particularly the chubby and, for the most part unlikeable, Jimmy. Despite his supposedly being the secondary character in the story rather than the hero, I felt that he took over the role of hero while Fletch kind of sat on the sidelines being all quiet and moody and stuff. The one thing that did annoy me slightly were some of the accents that were portrayed. I cannot tell you what they were supposed to be. That is how bad they were.

Overall, I would suggest this movie to anyone who enjoyed movies like Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, and anyone who enjoyed some of the older horror movies. I would describe this one as a horror comedy, and I think that anyone who watches it with an open mind may find themselves enjoying it more than they thought.

Saints or Sinners?

In the beginning, I was confused. Confused and, if I am being honest, a little bored. Boondock Saints wasn’t my choice of movie, though I had heard for years how amazing it was, and the opening scenes didn’t excite me too much. I had no idea what was going on, and that was probably partly because I wasn’t really concentrating too much on the movie. I was more preoccupied with keeping myself warm in my icy lounge.

And then something happened. Somehow I jumped from bored to intrigued. I think it was at the point where the detective, played by Willem Dafoe, suggested that someone in the apartment building next to the first murder scene would be complaining about a leak. A leak? I thought to myself. How the hell would he know? And lo and behold, someone complained of a leak. There was more confusion, but it was of a good kind. It was the kind of confusion that leads to you wanting to know more rather than the kind that leads to you wanting to turn the movie off and go to bed.

The movie never stopped being confusing. My friend and I were constantly turning to each other, asking what was going on, hoping that the one had seen something that the other had missed. But it was also fairly enjoyable – there were moments when we were laughing so loudly that my housemate would come downstairs to see what on earth was going on. There were also moments where we (or I) hid under the covers because we knew that something gruesome was about to happen.

For those of you who have never heard of the movie, I will offer a brief explanation. It is about two religious brothers who somehow find themselves getting chased by two Russian hit men. The brothers manage to kill the hit men with a lot of luck and a little skill, hand themselves in to the police for the crime and are let off because it was clearly self-defence. They decide that their release is a sign that they are meant to be killing bad people, and go on a vigilante killing spree of various people related to the Russian and Italian mobs, with Dafoe hot on their heels.

I am not a fan of gore. I am not a fan of unnecessary violence. I am certainly not a fan of cats being shot (the one scene in the movie that I was most horrified by – forget all the men that these two brothers killed, that kitty cat did NOT deserve to die!). I think that the gore and violence that the movie revolved around is what stopped me from actually loving this movie. I did like it, however. I enjoyed it for the most part. For some reason, though there were many, many scenes that I didn’t enjoy, the movie overall was a good one.

Still, I don’t think that I am going to be finding myself rewatching Boondock Saints anytime soon. While I can admit that it was a good movie, even that I enjoyed myself during parts of it, it is not something that I can see again. I say this because I know myself – if I watched it again, I would likely be focussing more on the horrifying aspects than I would on the humorous and clever ones.

After the movie, clips were shown from interviews with people on the streets asking what they thought about the Boondock Saints and about vigilante killings in general. There were a number of responses ranging from support to disgust.

So my question for you today is this: Should people ever take justice into their own hands?

Prestigious

So I am sick. It is one of the things that I hate most in the world, and something that tends to happen to me often. But, I decided that since I am relegated to the bed, I might as well take this opportunity to write a blogpost. There was one that I had in mind since this weekend, and it is another movie review. But don't worry, it's a goodie this time.

I am a big fan of Hugh Jackman, but for the most part it's just because he is very nice to look at. Sure, he was fun as Wolverine in the X-men trilogy; sure he can play the romantic lead in movies like Kate and Leopold and Someone Like You. But I do not really know him for his serious roles. I somehow missed out of Australia and The Fountain. But one of his serious movies that I did not miss out on was The Prestige.

The Prestige did not do very well at the box office. In fact, I am not sure that it came out on the circuit at all, and though I had heard of it purely because it starred Hugh Jackman, it wasn't until it came out on DSTV that I actually got to see it. I remember that at the time it was being compared to another movie, The Illusionist starring Edward Norton, that had come out at the same time and had also been buried. I saw The Illusionist first, and seem to recall quite enjoying it, but my impression of that movie has been blown away by my memories of The Prestige.

I quite enjoyed The Prestige the first time I watched it. Enough so to recommend it to Grant when he came to visit me in Korea and we turned on the TV to find it playing one night. I loved it the second time I watched it. Enough to not object to watching it a third time this weekend when some friends came over for a movie night. I think this is the kind of movie that I cannot get enough of - I could just keep watching it over and over again and learn something new every time,

I will try not to give away too much of the storyline (it is quite an intricate one), but I do want to give you a hint as to what the movie is about. The title, The Prestige, comes from the theory expressed in the beginning of the movie that there are three stages to every trick: the pledge, where you are shown a normal object like a bird in a cage; the turn, where you make the bird disappear; and the prestige, which is the best part of the trick - making it come back. The movie follows two main characters: Robert Angier, also known as "The Great D'Anton" and Alfred "Freddie" Bordon. The two start off working together as stage hands during magic shows along with Angier's wife who is the magician's apprentice or assistant. There is an accident and Angier's wife dies. Angier blame Bordon, who cannot remember if the accident was his fault or not, and a dangerous rivalry develops between the two of them as they each try to undercut and hurt the other.

I am not really going to go any deeper into it than that, as I woudn't want to ruin the numerous twists that occur throughout the movie, but I would highly, HIGHLY recommend watching it, It is definitely one of my favourite of this kind of semi-thriller genre.

Chasing Meaning

A couple of months ago, I came across a list. This list was in honour of Miramax closing down and listed the best movies that had come from the company in the last few decades. Of course, when I hear "best movies", I think that they are going to be good, and so I found a couple of them and have been watching them over the course of the last few months.

Now, to be fair, I haven't watched most of these movies and a lot of them, though I have heard that they are good, just don't appeal to me. But the few that I have watched I haven't been particularly impressed with. Today I am going to look at one of these movies, and that is Chasing Amy.

I have never been a huge fan of Ben Affleck, and him being in a movie is not a particular draw to me. In fact, I was quite surprised that a movie with him as the lead character was in the list of top 15. It's not that he is a BAD actor per se. I have just never seen him as a serious actor. He is in romantic comedies and dramas, but serious and him just don't gel well in my books. Anyway, I figured that I would give the movie a chance regardless.

The movie was a little predictable from the start - man (Holden) falls in love with woman (Alyssa), woman rejects him, woman comes to accept him, best friend (Banky) tries to come between them, yada yada yada. Not what you would call new ideas. There was a little twist though in the fact that Ben Affleck's love interest prefers women. That throws a bit of a spanner in the works, but not too much of one as she realises that, by limiting herself to falling in love with women, she is closing herself to the opportunity of falling in love with a man. And closing herself off to the opportunity of love is the last thing that she wants to do. And so, they get together, and things are hunky dory for awhile until, predictably, the best friend and business partner steps in and messes things up by dredging up her past, making Ben not trust her anymore. This is where the concept of Chasing Amy comes into play, with an appearance from Jay and an uncharacteristically Unsilent Bob, who explains the concept of losing a girl because of judging her on her past. One thing that I did find to be a little unpredictable was that, after this talk, the movie does not come to a happy ending, but ends with Holden having a deep conversation with Alyssa and Banky and suggesting that the only way to fix their problems is for the three of them to sleep together. That's right. The solution to relationship problems that involve your best friend is to have a threesome. This idea ends his relationship with Alyssa and his friendship with Banky, and that is that.

I didn't hate this movie. I was surprised that I didn't hate it considering the explicit sex talk and the impromptu dialogues that are supposed to be soul revealing but end up making me want to smack the actors in the face because they just don't fit in with the rest of the movie. No, I didn't hate it. I didn't particularly enjoy it though. I have very neutral feelings about it, and though it doesn't feel like I wasted my time watching it, it doesn't leave me with a sense of fulfilment or enjoyment or anything else. It just leaves me empty and not knowing what to do with myself. Should I laugh? Should I cry? No. I should just walk away and forget that I ever watched it as the movie slips into the back of my mind along with the other droll that I have watched over the years.

Overall, I would have given the movie a 3 out of 10. It isn't low enough to hate it, but it isn't high enough to recommend to friends as anything - not a fun movie, not a serious movie, just nothing. I cannot for the life of me understand why IMDB has it listed as a 7.5 out of 10. It wasn't terrible, but it certainly isn't something that I would watch again, certainly isn't a 7.5 in my books and certainly shouldn't be listed under the top 15 of Miramax's achievements. Then again, neither should Heavenly Creatures. But that's a story for another time.

Love as a Drug

Romantic comedies - I can never seem to get enough of them. No matter how lame or stupid or overly cutesy they are, I will always come back for more, and when I hear about a new romantic comedy that has come out, I always tend to be one of the first in line to see it. When I heard about Love and Other Drugs a couple of months ago, I knew that I wanted to see it. Sure, there was bound to be a fair amount of drama in it - the movie is about a woman with early-onset Parkinsons after all - but I could also see where the comedy came into the mix - her getting into a relationship with a sex-obsessed Viagra-dealing drug rep. The fact that the movie starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway only strengthened my resolve that I had to see it. And so, on one rather boring Sunday afternoon, I went to the CGV (yes, this was when I was back in Korea - the idea to review the movie for my blog only hit me now) with Jess and (I believe) Shaina and we sat down and prepared ourselves for a giggle- and sob-fest. We weren't disappointed.

From the moment that Jamie (Jake) meets Maggie (Anne) while pretending to be a doctor, you know that they are going to hook up, but you have no idea how since Maggie almost instantly realises the truth and seems repulsed by Jamie's audacity. And yet, even after Maggie practically beats him to within an inch of his life (OK, so I'm exaggerating, but only by a little), he still perseveres and they quickly end up together in a relationship based on lust and fueled by Maggie's scramble to live life to the fullest while she can.

The first half of the film is packed with one-liners that got me every time and had me in stitches for a large part of the movie. I thought that the writers were absolutely brilliant and played on the fragility and fun of the relationship very well. The fact that the movie had a large amount of nudity did surprise me quite a lot, as I had never really pictured Anne Hathaway as the type to go full-frontal for the camera, but as long as you go in there expecting it, it tends to add to the hilarity rather than take away from it, and the fact that a large part of the movie revolves around sex (what with Jamie's job being to sell Viagra and Maggie stipulating that their relationship should remain purely physical), it seems kind of appropriate. My favourite part of the movie was the list of puns that Maggie comes up with when Jake comes home to tell her about the new product that he is selling (Viagra). I wish that I could find a quote for this on the internet, but for some reason or another, there seems to be no account of it anywhere, If you watch the movie though, you will know exactly which part I am referring to.

The seriousness of the movie starts to set in around the halfway mark when Maggie's condition starts to deteriorate and their relationship starts becoming more serious, which is exactly what Maggie was trying to avoid. As she is forced to come to terms with the idea of living with Parkinsons and the idea of having to rely on someone else for the rest of her life, Jamie steps up to the plate and offers himself to her, just about giving up his job in order to help her find some kind of cure or preventative measure. This leads to their relationship falling to pieces, something that Maggie had predicted from the start. Of course, no romantic comedy would be complete without a happy ending, and this one is no exception. The happy ending is, in fact, what I believe keeps this movie classified as a romantic comedy, as without it, I think the movie could only be defined as a romance or a drama despite the comedic relief throughout the first half of the film.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Love and Other Drugs and would certainly recommend it as a girls-night or a couples movie, as there is something in it for everyone. As I said earlier, do be prepared for a large amount of nudity (I, personally, had no issue with oggling a naked Jake Gyllenhaal and I am sure many men will say the same of Anne Hathaway) and a fair amount of crude humour, but also be prepared for a fun-filled movie with a large splash of drama spread throughout.

My question for today (just for fun): Which actor/actress would you want to see doing a nude scene?

Please Let Me Go!!

Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield on the movie poster for Never Let Me Go.

I love Keira Knightley. She is beautiful (albeit a little cringeworthingly skinny) and an amazing actress to boot. Whether she is portraying a swashbuckling pirate or an outspoken but downtrodden lady, I find her highly entertaining to watch. I think it speaks a great deal to her character that she chooses good movies to do, and it has gotten to the point where I always know that a movie she is in is one that I should see. That is why, upon hearing that she was in it, I felt that I had to see Never Let Me Go.

For those of you who have not seen the movie or have some kind of inkling to watch it, I suggest you skip the next paragraph, as I am about to go into a little detail as to what the movie is about.

The storyline for the movie sounded intriguing enough - it revolves around clones who are born and bred to be donors for their "human" counterparts ensuring that said counterparts can live a longer, happier life. The movie follows the lives of three of these clones from their boarding school days where they are forbidden to leave the premises of the school and eventually discover their lot in life; to their post-school days of living together under one roof and attempting to find meaning for themselves; and finally to their first, second and third donations until they finally reach "completion".

Now, I won't lie, I can see how that plotline could be exciting. I am picturing it in my mind and thinking to myself: Why didn't I like it again? Oh, that's right - It was completely and utterly boring. There were a number of times during the movie when I just about fell asleep. After our own "completion" of the movie, my friend and I looked at each other and were in complete agreement. Jess was the first to say it aloud.
"I want a clone just so that I can get those two hours of my life back!"

I cannot say that I completely blame Knightley for choosing to act in the film - as I said earlier, the plotline sounded so promising! The book was a bestseller! Who was to know that the movie was going to be an utter flop? Well, a flop in my opinion anyway - critics seem to love it and it received a rating of 7.3 on IMDB. But apparently Knightley seems to agree with my assertion - if you look at the cast, it would seem that she is removed from the initial list despite being one of the three main characters of the movie, certainly far more important than the unnamed Doctor who is prominently listed. I cannot imagine any reason why a popular actress like Knightley, certainly the star of the show which included a largely unknown (at least to me) cast headed by Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan, wouldn't be at the top of the list of cast members, unless she insisted on being removed or placed in a far less prominent position (19th on the list, below Delivery Men 1 and 2). What reason could she have for doing this other than being embarrassed to have acted in such a dull, wrist-slittingly boring effort of a movie?

In any case, the fact that she chose to act in such a movie does not diminish my love for her. Everyone makes mistakes at one point or another. I just hope she doesn't make a mistake of this magnitude again any time soon.

Sting or Stink?

“What about How Do You Know?”
“It's already started.”
“Morning Glory?”
“You've already seen it.”
“I know,” I say, shifting around uncomfortably, “but I wouldn't mind seeing it again.”
I wouldn't mind seeing anything but this, I think to myself, but know better than to say it aloud.
“Nope, Green Hornet it is!”
I let out an audible sigh and step up to the counter to pay R65 for a movie that I don't particularly want to see.
Like throwing money down the toilet.

We all get our tickets and make our way up the final escalator at Cavendish Square, arriving at the top of the shopping centre, and stand in another busy line for popcorn and drinks. I'm going to need something to distract me from the boredom, and food seems like the only option. After paying another R35 for snacks, rounding off the outing to R100 spent, we make our way into the theatre with it's armchair-like seats and I prepare myself for the ordeal.

The trailers start and Natasha and I chat loudly about which movies we want to see and those that we don't.
“This is a horror movie,” Natasha whispers as the preview for Never Say Never flashes across the screen, leading to uncontrollable giggling that doesn't stop until the movie is about to start.
Here it goes, I tell myself. No turning back now!

It starts off much the same as any other super-hero movie with a flashback to the past of the main character, some traumatic event that occurred to turn him into the person he is today. Typical. And then you catch a glimpse of the hero that he has become – the handsome, dashing, debonair, amaz... what a minute. Was that Seth Rogen? What's he doing there?

Before I knew it, what I had thought was an action movie has been turned into an action-comedy, a parody of the typical super-hero movies that I had come to fear, with a villainous hero, a far more super side-kick and a leading lady who is hardly wooed by either of the heroes and, in truth, hardly seen throughout the movie. What convinced Cameron Diaz to take on the role, I will never know, aside from her probably being paid a bundle of cash for a grand total of about 20 minutes on the screen.

Overall, the movie was hardly what I had expected. There were some genuinely entertaining bits spread amongst the tongue-in-cheek humour that just made me roll my eyes more than laugh out loud, but I enjoyed it in general. That isn't to say that I would pay to see it again, but I certainly felt like my money had been fished out of the toilet and put to a more deserving use – perhaps given to a car guard who would then go and spend it on some alcohol?