Film #29: The Cat Returns (2002)

Directed by: Hiroyuki Morita

Starring: Chizuru Ikewaki, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Tetsu Watanabe, Tetsuro Tamba

This film is awesome. Studio Ghibli has never been one to let me down and I hope they never will be.

If you are unfamiliar with Studio Ghibli I should give you a slap in the face, however, I will let you off this time; they basically make the best films ever.

This film is a sort of sequel to A Whisper of the Heart. I say sort of because instead of featuring the main cast, it follows the characters in a story that someone is writing.

Haru (Ikewaki-san) is a school girl who doesn't lead a very exciting life. One day, she sees a cat with a present in it's mouth try to cross a road. She notices that a truck is coming and runs out to save the cat.

Once saved, the cat stands on it's hind legs and thanks her for her help and runs off.

Later that night, Haru is visited by lots of cats and the Cat King (Tamba-san) who tells her that she has saved his son, Prince Lune, and is to be repayed greatly.

Things start to get weird when she finds mass amounts of catnip in her bag, cat-tail grass in her garden and mice in her school locker. The king's messenger catches up with her and tells her that she is to be married to the Prince and they will come for her later that night.

Haru tries to escape this fate when she hears a voice telling her to go to the Cat Bureau and that the fat white cat will take her there.

She finds the cat, who is called Muta (Watanabe-san), and he takes her to the Bureau. Once there, she meets the Baron (Hakamada-san) and they try to work out how to stop the cats.

The cats find her and take her to the cat kingdom. Muta and the Baron follow and try to save her.

She now must escape the kingdom before she turns into a cat and is married to the prince.

The film's plot may be a bit kooky but it isn't that weird compared to other things I've seen (My Neighbour Totoro, Porco Rosso etc).

The animation is very good and the characters are very detailed and are all extremely likeable.

I'm undecided as to if this film is better than Kiki's Delivery Service or Howl's Moving Castle (those being my favourite Studio Ghibli films) so I'll score it around what I would score those.

96%

Film #28: Double Jeopardy (1999)

Directed by: Bruce Beresford

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Ashley Judd

If there's one thing which games have taught me (they have taught me loads so this is an example) that one thing is the rule of double jeopardy and the game was Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations (Play it now!!!).

Double jeopardy is when you've been given a verdict on a crime and you can't be proven guilty again because the previous verdict still applies. This only works if the case is very specific. For example, in PW, Ron Delite is found not guilty of being a theif (Mask De Masque) and so is under suspicion of murder as we have proved that there was only one place he could be; in the room with the victim. We then find the real killer and put him behind bars, but where was Ron Delite? He was the thief of course! But we can't prove him guilty because he's already been proven innocent! (This example was a tad complicated).

In this film, a woman is accused of killing her husband and is proven guilty. She is then set free but finds out that he is still alive. She learns about double jeopardy and sets out to kill him.

Tommy Lee Jones is her parole officer and tries to keep track of her everytime she escapes to kill her hubby.

This film can get slightly boring in places but is overall a good film.

I'm sure some lawyer-type will pick it apart and find something awfully wrong with the law system while watching it. If you are one of those people then direct your own law movie about objections and cross examinations and shit!

85%

Film #27: Pretty Woman (1990)

Directed by: Garry Marshall

Starring: Julia Roberts, Richard Gere

This was the only film on that night! Don't blame me, blame the TV!!!

I did enjoy it though.

80%

Film #26: Casper (1995)

Directed by: Brad Silberling

Starring: Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman, Malachi Pearson

I would've watched another film earlier but I wanted to watch Superbad again. So I ended up watching this film.

I remember watching this film when I was little, I absolutely loved it. It made me laugh, it made me scared and it even made me sad.

Basically, some rich woman gets an old house in her dad's will but it's haunted by three unfriendly ghosts (stretch, stinky and fatso) and a friendly one (casper). She employs Dr. Harvey (Pullman) to get rid of the ghosts. So he and his daughter Kat (Played by the hot alien Christina Ricci) move into Whipstaff manor and are greeted by the ghosts.

The story unravels about Casper's death and the treasure hidden in the manor whilst giving us humour and some drama.

When I first watched this film (about 12 years ago), I thought it was funny but I had no idea of the world around me so did not see the adult humour and parody within it. For example, Dan Akroyd comes running out of the manor saying "Who you gonna call? Someone else!" and the priest who's head spins round and is thrown up on a la the Exorcist.

The film's humour is a load of parodies put together using ghosts to pull it off.

I don't think that there are many family films out there that deal with death (one off the top of my head is Ghost Dad) and this one does it quite well although there is a slightly sad scene towards the end.

This is one of my favourite childhood films and I'll leave it at that.

90%

Film #25: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Gary Oldman, Michael Gambon

The third book-turned-film in the series, this one follows Harry in his third year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry when something goes terribly wrong (again!). This time, Sirius Black has escaped from the wizard prison, Azkaban, and is apparently after Harry Potter.

The prison guards are some weird creatures called Dementors and they suck all the happiness out of the inmates. They have come out of the prison to look for the escapee.

Lots of stuff happens and I'm sure everyone has either read the books, seen the films or are not bothered in the least so I won't go into all the details.

When I saw this film at the cinema, I felt as if it was better directed than the previous two (possibly due to the new director) and that it had a much darker feel to it. This is the pivotal film/book where we find out that Harry and his friends are growing up and finding out that Voldemort is the shit. (Although we never see Voldemort in any form in this film which is weird since he is in the rest).

This time, Harry and his friends (ginger Ron and hot Hermione) deal with Hippogriffs, Werewolves and Time-travel (Doctor Who has his lawyers on the phone).

It's a good film and good book, better than the previous two but not as good as it's successors.

90%

Film #24: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

Directed by: Adam McKay

Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen

I got slightly bored throughout Anchorman, the first film in the Mediocre American Man trilogy, so I was skeptical when I approached this film (the second in that trilogy).

I actually enjoyed it though. The film follows Ricky Bobby (obviously), a NASCAR driver who always wins thanks to his arrogance and his best friend Cal (Reilly) who helps him out and always turns up in second place. One day, he is approached by Jean Girard (Cohen), a French "Formoola Un!" driver who wants to beat Ricky on the race track. His first scene actually had me in stitches ("Why did you stop my jazz music?") where Girard ends up breaking Ricky's arm when he doesn't admit that he loves crepes.

RB tries his best to beat him but ends up crashing and tarnishing his career. He is then fired, loses his wife and his house to his best friend Cal.

Afraid to drive again, RB gets therapy and eventually finds his drunken, pot-dealing dad who helps him get back on the race track.

Whilst the film is telling this weird and unlikely story, it has plenty of laughs. My favourite scenes include the one where Jean Girard comes into the bar, the one in the hospital and RB thinks he's paralyzed and tries to prove it by stabbing himself in the leg ("I know how to get it out! We put this other knife in and wiggle it about to pull the other one out!") and the final race. In fact, most of the film is funny, over-the-top humour.

I'll try watching Anchorman again after realizing how good this was, hopefully I won't fall asleep next time.

85%

Film #23: Bean (1997)

Directed by: Mel Smith

Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Peter Nacnicol, Burt Reynolds, Whistler's Mother

I started watching this on the TV because it was on but I only got to see it halfway through so I decided to watch the first half on DVD. But, instead of using a normal DVD player like everyone else, I decided to take my 360 for a whirl. It's almost as easy as using a remote and less frustrating.

Anyway, Bean is a film about Mr. Bean on a trip to America. If you don't know who Mr. Bean is then I would suggest suicide is the only answer for you. Bean works at an art museum with Dot Cotton from EastEnders and his employers have to send someone to give a presentation on a painting. They decide to pick the most incompetent guy ever; Mr. Bean.

He knows nothing about art and is sent to America to stay with a family until his presentation. Things go horribly wrong all the time, exactly like all the other Bean features.

From the start, where he shaves his tongue and mixes coffee grains, boiling water and milk in his mouth because his mug breaks, to the end, where a Kerry King lookalike swears at him and he thinks it normal so does it to everyone, it's a nonstop laugh.

I loved watching Mr. Bean as a kid and I loved this film when it came out.

Rowan Atkinson plays an excellent part as Bean and, being the intelligent man that he is, it must have been fun playing a complete idiot.

I love it and you should too. There is something wrong with the world if someone dislikes Bean.

95%

Film #22: Little Man (2006)

Directed by: Keenen Ivory Wayans

Starring: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Kerry Washington, Tracy Morgan

The latest film from the Wayans brothers, this film is about a dwarf theif and a childless family. Darryl (Shawn) and his wife have been trying to conceive a baby but cannot, the first parts of the film are about them and their stuff. Calvin the theif, meanwhile, (Marlon) steals a diamond and accidentally loses it when he puts it in a woman's purse to hide it. Coincidentally, the woman is the wife of Darryl and so Calvin dresses up as a baby to infiltrate their household and get the diamond back.

The film does have a few funny scenes but may not be as funny as White Chicks was. The effects were pretty good seeing as they had to blue-screen a midget's head and transfer Marlon Wayans' head onto it.

It's a pretty decent film. Not much else to put really..

70%

Film #21: Superbad (2007)

Directed by: Greg Mottola

Starring: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Chris Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen

Let me just start by saying that this film is awesome. It is possibly one of the funniest films I have ever seen possibly the best last year (apart from Die Hard 4.0).

It's a typical teen comedy; teenage geeks try to get laid before they graduate, but this one has a little twist. Written when they were about 13, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg decided to emphasize their life. The film follows Seth and Evan, best friends, who try to get some booze for a party so that they can get laid with their childhood crushes. Their other friend Fogell, meanwhile gets a fake ID. Get this: He's a 25 year old Hawaiin organ donor called...McLovin.

His excuse for the rubbish name is that "it was either that or Mohommed". It makes you wonder what would have happened if that primary school teacher would have called her bear McLovin instead.

Anyway, McLovin tries to get booze with his fake ID and gets attacked by a mugger and is taken under the wing of two of the most awesome cops ever (played by Seth Rogen and Bill Hader). The cops love his name and take him everywhere with them.

Seth and Evan only meet up with Fogell before the party, but before that they have had a wild ride; getting hit by a crazy guy, going to a crack party and getting 'perioded' on.

Don't even get me started on the five minutes of penis drawings. This film is hilarious from start to finish and if you don't laugh, not once, (not even at the extras on the DVD) then you are heartless and have no sense of humour.

Funniest.Movie.Ever!

98%

Film #20: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

Directed by: Jay Roach

Starring: Mike Myers, Mike Myers, Mike Myers, Heather Graham

We kind of picked a random DVD yesterday and got out Austin Powers 2. It's the follow-on from the previous film (obviously) where Austin Powers (Mike Myers), who was cryogenically frozen in the 60's and unfrozen in the 90's, fights his arch-nemesis Dr. Evil (also played by Myers), who had the same treatment.

This time, Dr. Evil goes back in time to steal Powers' mojo and hold the world at ransom for...ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS!!

Heather Graham stars as Powers' love interest in this film, Felicity Shagwell, like Pussy Galore was to James Bond.The excellent script and continuity make this film a big hit. It's an extremely funny film.

I don't think I know a single person who hasn't seen an Austin Powers movie and enjoyed it, if you haven't seen one or you have and just didn't enjoy it then there is seriously something wrong with you.

Watch it. Enjoy it. Watch it again. If you don't enjoy it then Fat Bastard will beat you down.

90%

Film #19: Red Dragon (2002)

Directed by: Brett Ratner

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes

This blog should have been up ages ago but things got on top of me and it got delayed. I'm sure no one really cares anyway.
So, Red Dragon is one of the Hannibal Lecter films which hardly has any Hannibal in it at all. It's about a guy going around killing people for what seems like fun to him. He shoots the family and inserts shards of mirror into their eye sockets so that when he rapes the wife/mom, it looks like he has an audience. Sick isn't really the word.
This guy, Francis Dolarhyde played by Ralph Fiennes, (nicknamed the tooth fairy) has a split personality and likes to be called the Red Dragon as he has a fascination with the Red Dragon painting and has a large tattoo going down his back.
It's up to retired FBI agent Will Graham (Norton) to track down this guy. But Graham needs help, so he turns to Hannibal Lecter who, only a few months previously, had tried to kill and eat him.
The blood and gore in this film look extremely real. So real, in fact, that it's sickening. It's hard to look at the screen sometimes when you see a bleeding women with mirror in her eyes looking at you.
Ralph Fiennes (who played Voldemort in Harry Potter and Victor Quartermaine in Wallace and Gromit) does an outstanding job playing this psycho-freak. In fact, all the actors are excellent, it's a shame that there wasn't enough acting for Anthony Hopkins to do.
It's a great film, but only watch it if you can stomach blood and gore.

85%

Film #18: Harold and Kumar Get the Munchies (2004)

Directed by: Danny Leiner

Starring: John Cho, Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris, racist cops, 'extreme' guys, a stoned cheetah

I absolutely love this film and seeing as I saw it on last night, I decided to watch it for the millionth time.

The story revolves around the two title characters, Harold and Kumar, getting stoned one night and getting the munchies for White Castle burgers. Then after finding out that their local White Castle has been closed down, they decide to travel halfway across America in search of these burgers. On their way they are attacked by a raccoon, escape from a foursome with a sexy lady and her freakshow husband, get their car stolen by Neil Patrick Harris and get a cheetah stoned.

It's incredibly funny and insane.

Cho and Penn work excellently together and play their characters pretty damn well.

This film is just so awesome and I'm so glad that they're making a sequel which is out this year.

90%

Film #17: Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Directed by: Terry George

Starring: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte

In General RE we were learning about human rights and stuff and got onto the subject of genocide. Our teacher then decided that we should watch this film about the genocide that happened in Rwanda in the 90's.

It starts with the Hutus and Tutsis who are groups of people (I didn't really pay attention to that part) and they kind of hate each other.

Meanwhile, Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle), the manager of Hotel Des Milles Collines (the best hotel in the country), and his family are leading a good life. The hotel is owned by the Belgian SABENE company (Belgian = tutsi, French = hutu) which makes it Belgian property and a safehouse if anything should happen.

Something does happen, the hutu president is killed to be exact, and the hutus go crazy and start murdering all the tutsis they can, backed by the hutu military.

Hundreds of refugees run towards the hotel, looking for a safe place to stay. Paul can't turn them away so allows them to stay. The UN sends a few officers (Nick Nolte) to guard the place and keep the peace but unfortunately, the UN do not help the african residents and only get the white people out.

It's up to Paul to keep his hotel running and try to get his family, and hopefully everyone else, out of this mess.

The brilliant actors in this film make it great. I'm actually surprised that the actors did not win any awards for their performance.

Remember: this is a sad film about a real situation that actually happened so only watch it if you're not affected too much by this kind of thing (if you've seen Passion of teh Christ then you should be fine).

96%

Film #16: Predator 2 (1990)

Directed by: Stephen Hopkins

Starring: Danny Glover, Not Mel Gibson, Kevin Peter Hall

Following Alien on Film Four was Predator 2. I watched it because I hadn't done so before. People told me that it was crap but I liked it.

There's no Arnie in this one (he was filming Terminator 2) but there's Danny Glover instead which is still nice.

The sequel features a different predator (seeing as the other one died in the first one) and this time...HE'S IN LA!

At first I thought Predator was being racist as he just killed black people but then Glover revealed that he only kills people if they are armed which made more sense..

So, Predator just likes to kill people to prove that he's great (which he is) and takes their skulls for trophies. The cops try to track down the killer of all these people and finally find the Predator. Unfortunately, nearly all of the cops are killed by predator except for two; Glover and a woman who Predator sees is pregnant so leaves her alone (aww, he's a good guy really).

I think this film may surpass the last in special effects and storyline as it actually gives us a better hint at what the predator wants. We see more weaponry and more technology which the Yautja uses (I done my research on predator aswell 'cause he's pure awesome with dreadlocks).

Sadly, the first half of the film lets it down as it is slightly boring and the predator doesn't do much but once it reaches the ending, it gets awesome as Glover chases predator through the streets, using it's weaponry to fight it (and eventually killing it).

I'm still not quite sure whether this is better than the first or not. I'll go with a draw for now.

92%

Film #15: Alien (1979)

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Bilbo Baggins, one Alien

I've never seen an Alien film before so I thought it would be a great time to start seeing as Film Four had a special Alien and Predator thing going on (they even showed the first 5 minutes of the new AVP film).

I found this film quite funny. Don't get me worng; the special effects were great at the time when it came out but at the present day, it's slightly funny to look at.

Anyway, it's set about 150 years in the future where the Nostromo ship is floating through space when they hear a distress call. They follow it and check it out. One of the guys gets his face raped by a giant spider thing which impregnates him with a small alien (which looks like a penis with teeth). The toothed-penis explodes out of the guys chest, gives a little squeal (which made me laugh) and flew off out of the room.

It then changes into a big xenomorph (I do my research xD) and hunts down the rest of the crew.

Everything looks great, especially the small facehuggers and chestpoppers. The blood and the acid also look pretty good but the only problems I have with the effects are the explosions which look slightly crappy and overdone and the Xenomorph costume at the end of the film. From the time when Ripley (Weaver) turned the steam on the Alien and it screamed to when it was hanging onto the outside of the ship, I was laughing my head off.

Speaking of Sigourney Weaver, by the way, this was her first motion picture film and I thought she acted excellently. Not many people start off this great (George Clooney - Return of the Killer Tomatoes, anyone?)

Good film anyway, watch for laughs.

75%

Film #14: Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Directed by: Edgar Wright

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Bill Nighy, Zombies

This post is actually quite late. I did watch the film on Sunday, it was on the TV and I just carried on watching as I forgot how good it actually is. Anyway, it's Monday's film (it still counts, the rules never said I had to watch one film every day, it just said that I have to watch 366 in a year).

So, some sort of genetic crop thing starts affecting people's health and they eventually turn into zombies; eating flesh, moaning and decaying. Shaun (Pegg) and his best friend Ed (Frost) try to find a way to survive with as many people as possible. Their plan is to go to the Winchester pub and wait til the whole thing blows over (things never work out though, do they?).

The hilarious script and graphic scenes make this film great. It's either a joke or lots of blood, you can't really argue can you?

Although some parts are technically not explained, such as why people are turned into zombies*, it's fine the way it is.

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this film when I first watched it because the story is funny yet scary and sad at the same time, but, seeing it again, it's actually really good.

I've heard it's kind of a cult film (which means not many have seen it yet they have only praise for it) which makes me think that there are probably some people reading this who haven't seen it. Watch it as soon as you can!

"But Joe," I hear you say "I don't like scary zombie films!" Well neither do I but this isn't like the others; it's funny and although the zombies don't mess about (ripping that guy's stomach open anyone?), they are made fun of and are not seen for half of the movie (out of sight, out of mind).

Anyway, watch it if you haven't, and if you have then watch it again.

92%

Film #13: West Side Story (1961)

Directed by: Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise

Starring: Richard Beymer, Natalie Wood

What the hell?!!?!

Seriously!

This is basically a Romeo and Juliet rip-off with more singing and with less plagues aboth people's houses.

Kind of crappy really, they kind of fought but through interpretive dance. Like this:

Sure, someone out there likes it but I didn't.
I'm off to go and dance now...

30%

Film #12: The Early Bird (1965)

Directed by: Robert Asher

Starring: Norman Wisdom, Edward Chapman, Jerry Desmonde

Yes! It's the weekend again. That means that I went to my dad's house today. I was planning on watching a film at home later on and revise for my Geography exam (which is on Monday) but he put this film on and it distracted me because it was hilarious.

Norman Wisdom (I'm guessing the people reading this did not live through the 60's and have only watched a few films from that decade) was a comedian through the 50's and 60's who went on to do films and music. He looks kind of like Lee Evans and acts a bit like him too (maybe that's where Lee Evans got it from).

Anyway, this film is about Wisdom who plays a milkman working for Grimsdale dairy. He finds out one day that Consolidate Dairy (a large corporation) are smashing his bottles and putting theirs there instead.

Hilarity ensues when he tries to speak to the General of the company and settle it out. After flying around a garden for five minutes hanging onto a lawn mower he hastily leaves, leaving the general angry and upset. Consolidate go out of their way to put Grimsdale out of business via a number of strategies such as poisoning their horse and smashing their hand-cart.

This film is probably one of the funniest I have ever seen (on par with Superbad and a few others). If you're a fan of old slapstick comedy then get this film (or at least rent it) now.

From the start, where he makes a cup of tea half-asleep, to the end, where he steals the fire chief's clothes and runs amok with a hose, this film is non-stop laugh. I don't think there is even a minute where it wasn't funny.

I read somewhere that Norman Wisdom used to do all his own stunts, which is actually quite amazing considering the amount of times he fell down the stairs.

Great film.

95%

Film #11: 48 Hrs (1982)

Directed by: Walter Hill

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, James Remar

I was planning to watch Saw II or Rush Hour last night but seeing as my mom didn't want to watch Saw and I've seen Rush Hour before (and I'll wait for the trilogy), I opted for 48 Hrs; a black guy meets white guy action/ comedy.

I think that most film that came out in the 80's were black guy/cop meets white guy/cop action comedies. If you have never heard of that genre before then let me enlighten you: White guy is all angry and has to catch a guy that has either stolen something or murdered his wife and for unseen reasons, gets the help of a guy he has just met who is black. These two don't get on throughout the film which leads to comedy. The white guy learns from the black guy and visa versa, then a story evolves about the black guy how his wife hates him or he's broke and has no job and the audience feels for him. They then find out where the bad guy is (in a warehouse, where else?) and go after him. One of them gets shot in the arm or ass but the other gets the bad guy, most likely killing him. They are then best friends and the white guy is doing something like listening to rap music or something. (Maddox gives a better description).

Anyway, basic plot is similar to above except cop Nick Nolte gets the help of convict Eddie Murphy to catch a murderer.

This is actually Murphy's first film and a good one to start with; he steals most of the scenes with his fast-talking antics.

Nolte is a good actor but seems to over-act in this film, he tries to be too badass and angry. Just like this:

When drawing that all I could think of was Nick Nolte shouting that in a Shrek accent.

So, back to the film... It was ok. Storyline was a bit weak and some things were a bit pointless but all in all, a good film.

70%

Film #10: Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Directed by: Marc Forster

Starring: Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah

I wanted to see this film at the cinema when it came out because the trailer intrigued me but things got in the way.

I finally got to see it last night on Sky Premiere and it was pretty good.

Harold Crick, a tax man, leads a boring life until a voice starts narrating his life. He tries to ignore it but can't when it reveals that life is about to end. His life then gets a little more interesting; he meets a girl and lives his life the way he likes; not counting how many times he brushes his teeth and not wearing a necktie is a start.

Getting the help of Professor Hilbert (Hoffman) they try to track down the author who is narrating his life and try to stop her from ending the book and his life.

Meanwhile, Karen Eiffel (Thompson) is the author and is struggling from writer's block about how to kill off Harold (not knowing that Harold Crick is a real person).

From then on, it's a touching story and has a few laughs in between.

I'm glad to see Will Ferrell play a serious role for once, showing that he has a range in his acting career.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Harold's love Ana Pascal, a baker who is being audited by him. I just want to say that it's nice to see that more of the Gyllenhaal family have some acting talent and while the girls have been drooling over Jake for years, the men finally have Maggie to look at.

With a great storyline and some superb actors, this film should be a classic but why isn't it I hear you ask. It's because of the ending.

We already know that Harold's supposed to die when it's revealed 10 minutes into the film but it all becomes a bit too predictable when Karen struggles to write the ending and knows that this is a real person she's dealing with. Can she really be that heartless for literature?

Apart from that, it's a great film. Watch it if you see it on the TV.

79%

Film #9: Sky High (2005)

Directed by: Mike Mitchell

Starring: Michael Angarano, Kurt Russell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lynda Carter.

I finally got some sleep last night! For about 8 days, I couldn't sleep and I finally did...until half three in the afternoon.
Anyway, today's film was Sky High a film about superheroes. The super-strong Commander Strongehold (Kurt Russell) and his wife Jetstream (Kelly Preston), the greatest superheroes in the world, decide that it's time that their son go to Sky High, a school for superheroes.
Once theere, Will (Michael Angarano) finds out that he doesn't actually have powers and is put in the sidekick class rather than the hero one (but he doesn't tell his dad this as it would break him).
All his friends are sidekicks and have slightly lame powers (glowing in the dark, melting, turning into a guinea pig etc) and they are bullied by the heroes because of this.
After fighting his dad's archenemy's son, he discovers that he has super-strength and is then put in the heroes class.
This film then turns into one of Disney's formulae; the guy gets popular and ditches his friends then realises who his friends are and seizes the day.
Put aside the crappy storyline and what you find is a good film. Obviously it not a classic and isn't that memorable but it's still worth a watch.
The special effects (especially the pyrotechnics) are quite good. Not ground-breaking stuff but still great.
At first, I approached this film thinking that it would be crap; like a straight to DVD Disney film. But I was wrong, this film is actually good and shouldn't be overlooked.
It does have some humour in there aswell, always poking fun at the superhero genre and the cliches. At one point the Principal (played by Lynda Carter, Wonderwoman) is dealing with too many problems and says "I'm not Wonderwoman, ya know!" which made me laugh.
Don't overlook this film because it looks cheesy and crap, watch it and do it as soon as you can (It might be on Sky Family sometime this week).

80%

Film #8: Scarface (1983)

Directed by: Brian De Palma

Starring: Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer

A film that my cousin has recommended to me for ages. Fortunately, it was on TV last night and seeing as I didn't have school the next day, I watch it.

What this 3-hour classic is basically about is the rise and fall of a Cuban drug lord.

Al Pacino plays a Cuban refugee who goes to Florida in the 1980's due to some trouble with Fidel Castro and is then caught up in drug dealing and the life of a gangster.

Starting off as a dish-washer in a restuarant, Tony Montana (Pacino) is then offered a job by some men to work for a gangster.

He works his way up and eventually takes over his boss (by killing him), earning all his money and becoming a powerful drug-lord.

From then on, things go downhill for him. I won't ruin the end part for you though.

To be honest, even though this is a great film, I couldn't understand most of it. It was partly the cuban accent and partly because it was on at 11 and finished at 2 and I slept for 4 hours the previous night.

I did, however, enjoyed the film and payed attention to it intently.

I think this film may hold the record for using the F-word (this is a family blog) the most times ever. If you've seen a film that says it more times then tell me (I'll find time to watch it).

Great acting from Pacino. Some of the best I've seen, infact. He plays a drunken guy very well and can look sloppy and down if he wants to.

It's a classic film and everyone should see this but remember; it's 3 hours long and can get slightly confusing.

Oh, and this film delivers one of the greatest lines ever: "Say hello to my little friend!" It's a shame it's right at the end though.

88%

Film #7: Predator (1987)

Directed by: John McTiernan

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Kevin Peter Halls.

Viva Pinata is one of the most addictive games ever! That's why I didn't watch a film all day. The time passed by and before I knew it, it was eleven O' Clock.

Luckily, the nice people at ITV put Predator on at that time. I was grateful because a) I could now watch a film and b) It's awesome.

In this film, an alien comes to Earth (for reasons unknown) and hunts down humans and soldiers. Arney and his team are sent to the jungle to find out what happened to their missing men and are automatically dragged into a game of cat and mouse but with a badass alien and some soldiers.

Obviously, this film coming out 20 years ago, the special-effects are a bit dated but at the time, they were state of the art. Having read some background info on the film (I was curious as to what the predator wanted from Earth) I found out about the effects and that they had to use some kind of red screen instead of green or blue because of the jungle setting. They also had to make it look like the predator was actually swinging from tree to tree whilst invisible.

The make-up is what is actually amazing; the blood effects, the skinned bodies, the fatal wounds and the predator's face.

The action is great and fast paced but while everyone is caught up in it, we forget what might be important; what does the predator want? What does it do with the bodies? Why is it even killing people? and why Earth?

If you don't think about it much, the film is great but if you are one to ponder upon things then don't bother.

This film is amazing and it's a shame that Alien Vs Predator didn't have the action that this did (not zoomed in and not dark).

92%

Film #6: Gladiator (2000)

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Oliver Reed, Connie Nielson, Richard Harris

I didn't really get a chance to watch a film today so my last chance to get one in was to watch Gladiator which was just on TV.
The basic plot is that an army general is promised to become the future Roman Emperor by the present one. The old Emperor's son is not happy so kills his father, claims the kingdom and has General Maximus killed by his men.
Maximus escapes and is later captured by slave traders who sell him to become a gladiator. Meanwhile the new Emperor kills Maximus' family.
Maximus must get revenge but in the mean-time, he fights in the Colosseum.
Rome is really brought to life and the ruins that should be the Colosseum is newly built and being used for gladiatorial tournaments.
The fight scenes are the highlights of this film; there's plenty of blood and some excellent choreography performed by the gladiators and their foes.
Obviously, not every minute is a fight (which is a shame), so in-between we have a good storyline which may seem a little stretched and weird (the Emperor Commodus desires his own sister).
Every detailed film about war should have a good length to it but they should also have a storyline that keeps the audience aware and awake at all times.
All the actors are very good at their job (especially Joaquin Phoenix; Emperor Commodus) but I can't quite help but think that everyone in Rome would speak with a posh English accent.
This is a great film but only watch it when you have loads of time on your hands or you want to go to sleep.

83%

Film #5: Christmas Do-Over

Directed by: Catherine Cyran

Starring: Jay Mohr, Daphne Zuniga, David Millbern, Tim Thomerson.

Every weekend, I go to see my dad at his house. Today was no exception so I told my dad about the challenge and looked through his DVDs for the cheesiest crap ever.

I found Christmas D0-Over, a film that 'borrows' it's storyline from Groundhog Day.

Basically, Kevin (Jay Mohr) spends his Christmas day with his son, ex-wife (Daphne Zuniga), her parents and her new boyfriend (David Millbern). He tries to be the most cynical guy in the world...but fails.

Either Jay Mohr has acting problems or the script sucked bad (I think both) but something stops the audience from actually warming to the character that he portrays.

After having a crappy Christmas due to a boulder blocking the only way out of town, his son wishes that every day could be Christmas (just like the Wizzard song). A sudden (and crappy) gust of wind blows and his wish comes true.

You would think that this is where the humour starts but the humour never really kicks in. There are occasionally funny parts but they are not side-splittingly funny. I think the funniest part is when Kevin picks a fight with Santa, then Jesus joins in. Every good Christmas film should have a fight with Santa, Jingle All The Way had one (with hundreds of Santas) and that is one of my favourite Christmas films. However, this bad excuse for a fight does not make the film any better. It still has crummy actors, cheesy songs and bad humour. It doesn't have snow. What kind of Christmas film has no snow? The only snow we see is some digitalized white fluff that falls for a few seconds.

Only watch this film if you enjoy cheesy films. Otherwise, avoid this film.

45%

Film #4: Die Hard 4.0 (2007)

Directed by: Len Wiseman

Starring: Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Q, Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Possibly the best film of last year (compared to the crap that was Transformers, Pirates 3 and Spidey 3).

I first saw this film in the cinema but couldn't really get into the plot because of a friend who had to moan about everything he didn't agree with but I got the whole quadrilogy (£25 from Play) and watched it earlier. It's even better.

I just want to get one thing straight first; I don't class this film as a sequel to Die Hard 3 but as a different film all together (Kind of like how the DS is not an updated GBA). Most of the original Die Hard elements are not in this film (the vest for one. How could they not have the vest in it?!!) but it has it's own set of elements.

The film starts with a group of hackers sending some information to an organization of sorts and then each one of them dying in an explosion caused by the same organization.

We then see Bruce Willis watching over his daughter (he and his wife are now divorced and his daughter prefers to be called Gennero) who then gets a call to investigate some hacker guy in Washington.

This hacker, Matthew Farrell (Justin Long), sent information to the organization and is to be assassinated using a bomb placed in his computer.

Willis saves Matthew from death and then has to fight off a few henchmen when the bomb doesn't set off.

Obviously, this being the 21st century, the special effects are excellent and this film being a 12, their is hardly any gory action. Even when a guy falls into a shredder, there is no blood at all.

McClane finds out some info on the bad guy from the FBI and other hackers. The guy's name is Thomas Gabriel, an ex-FBI agent who was fired for talking out about a 'fire-sale' where a terrorist could power down the whole country.

Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) uses the fire-sale to prove that he is right and in the process get himself some money by manipulating the stock markets.

After some excellent scenes such as the whole tunnel scene, where hundreds of cars head for McClane from each end of a tunnel in pitch darkness before McClane sends a car crashing through the bad guy's chopper, the film comes to a close with Gabriel retreating to a warehouse with McClane's captured daughter and Matt. McClane loses all logic and shoots himself in the shoulder so that the bullet goes through him and into Gabriel (slightly exaggerated but it makes for great action).

The whole story is believable on paper but not much when you see it.

89%

Film #3: Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995)

Directed by: John McTiernan

Starring: Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L Jackson, Larry Bryggman, Graham Greene.

This is my favourite Die Hard film and possibly my favourite action film.

This time around, John McClane is actually on-duty rather than on his holidays like the previous installments.

The bad guy is Simon Gruber, brother to Hans Gruber from the first film, and at first the police believe that he is looking for vengeance for his brother.

Simon, using the old game of simon says, blows up various buildings and gets McClane to do random 'jobs' for him or else he'll let off another bomb.

The first 'job' is for McClane to walk around Harlem wearing a sign with the words 'I hate niggers' written on it. When a gang of black youths start to threaten him a local shopkeeper by the name of Zeus Carver (Samuel L Jackson) intervenes not out of concern but because he thinks all of the white cop's collegues will come and hunt down thousands of black people.

Simon then insists that Zeus become part of the game whether he likes it or not.

After solving many riddles, the true nature of Gruber's plan comes out when a young boy tells them that with all the police searching for the bombs, someone could 'steal city hall'.

Finding Gruber stealling all the gold and filling several dump trucks with it, they try to stop him. Many action scenes follow. Just like the previous films, the stunts and special effects are terrific and the storyline has a few twists.

This Die Hard has lots of comedy aswell as action because of the amazing Samuel L Jackson.

This film would have been near perfect if not for the length of it. You think the ending is in clear site then there is a plot twist and the ending furthers away.

96%

Film #2: Die Hard 2 (1990)

Directed by: Renny Harlin


Starring: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton, William Sadler.


Carrying on with the Die Hard Quadrilogy; Die Hard 2: Die Harder is the next film that I am to
watch and review.
Taking place exactly two years after the events of Die Hard, John McClane waits at Dulles International Airport for his wife, Holly, to arrive back from California.
After seeing a guy exercise naked and tearing my eyes out, we find out that terrorists are hatching evil plots again. But this time in the airport.
Many people say that the sequels aren't as good as the first and this one is no exception, however, it is an extremely good sequel but just not on par with the first.
The bad guy this time is Colonel Stuart and holds the airplanes, their passengers, crew and the airport hostage. The terrorists have come to rescue a drug lord from justice.
The stunts in this film are even better than the last; Willis runs about the whole airport in a snowstorm, the amazing fight scenes and the part where he hangs off the wing of an airplane (Wikipedia tells me it's a 747).
Beyond the stunts and special effects is a great storyline. Throughout the film there are plot twists and about up until two thirds of the way through the film, you won't know who is a good guy and who is bad.
Willis once again delivers a perfect role as McClane from the start where he argues with the traffic cop to the end when he delivers his immortal catchphrase "Yippee-Ki-Yay!" before throwing a match at the leacking airplane which then blows up.
A great film but still the weakest one in the quadrilogy.


80%

Film #1: Die Hard (1988)

Directed by: John McTiernan

Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia.

First review of the year and I thought I should start it with a big bang. Die Hard is one of the best action films ever and stars a young Bruce Willis as John McClane, a New York cop who goes to Los Angeles to fix things up with his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia). Once inside the Nakatomi building (Holly's workplace) he finds himself involved in a hostage situation.
Terrorists, led by Hans Gruber (the excellent actor Alan Rickman), take over the building and tell everyone that they want fellow terrorists released or else.
It's up to John McClane to save the day...
After killing a few terrorists, McClane finds out that they're actually just theives trying to get the millions of dollars worth of bearer bonds.
All the actions scenes are very well directed and the dialogue between the terrorists and the hostages is well thought out.
The acting throughout the film is constantly excellent, especially when Hans Gruber is caught by McClane and changes his accent to American, pretending to be a hostage.
This is an English guy playing a German terrorist doing an American accent. That's talent.
The special effects in the film are great. The explosions are constant and the blood effects are great. For it's time, this film was awesome and it still is.

This classic should be how all action movies should be.

92%

Film that are planned for 2008

Die Hard Quadrilogy - first few days
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Star Wars (original trilogy)
Howl's Moving Castle
Kiki's Delivery Service
Spirited Away
Pom Poko
My Neighbour Totoro
The Princess Mononoke
Laputa
Grave of the Fireflies
The Cat Returns
Nausicaa
Ocean Waves
Only Yesterday
Porco Rosso
Whisper of the Heart
Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story
Ah! My Goddess: The Movie
The Simpsons Movie
Snakes on a Plane
Tenacious D: POD
Crocodile Hunter
King Kong

That's January...

I'll add more to the list later.

During holidays, I will watch special themed films such as:
Winter-Een-Mas - Game films (or in other words: crap films): Mario Bros, Street Fighter, Tomb Raider, etc
Halloween - Horror films (I'll be messing myself throughout October): Resident Evil, Dawn of the Dead etc and probably comedy horrors such as Black Sheep, Shaun of the Dead and From Dusk Til Dawn.
Christmas - Home Alone (1 +2, not the crap ones), Jingle All The Way, Xmas films...

Give me suggestions if you want, they'll be appreciated (unless they're crap).

The Challenge

This idea was 'stolen' from someone from the nintendo mag forums (Chris Scullion, Staff Writer for the magazine):
A challenge has been picked up by my ears (or rather eyes). Can I watch 366 films in 366 days? That's one film per day (seeing as 2008 is a leap year).I already have quite a few films which should keep me going for the first few months but I'll have to get lots more for the rest of the year.To make it more challenging, I have to write a short review for each film after watching it.Seeing as we are already 4 days into the new year, you would think that I am already behind on the challenge (I only found out about the challenge today).Luckily, I watched the Die Hard quadrilogy over the last few days so all I have to do is write up four small reviews (which should be up later).So, a film a day...It's going to be hard fitting it into my daily routine; school, homework, dinner, video-games, social life... etc. Let's say that each film is around 1.85 hours then I would be spending about one month watching films in the year.