EPIC

 

Thanks to MSN Entertainment  I had the utter privilige to see the newest Blue Sky animation EPIC this evening.

As a huge fan of all things magical and all things tiny, a film about the magical adventure of a girl, MK (Amanda Seyfried), who is shrunk so that she can enter (and help to save) an enchanting World of the miniature society that inhabits a forest was definitely right up my street!

Beautiful Aesthetics

The setting is absolutely stunning and the 3D is simply breathtaking - from the moment the opening scene appeared onscreen a resounding 'wow' echoed around the cinema and the audience were noticeably taken in by the utter beauty of the film throughout.

Although animated films are always technically 'children's films' i found that Epic was a true delight for children and grown ups alike! The characters are diverse and well-rounded, not the simplified kiddy characters that you might find in some children's films, and the humour was clever and at times laugh-out-loud funny. It has one of the best voiceover casts that i have ever seen; Josh Hutcherson, Colin Farrell and Christoph Waltz gave stellar, meaningful performances alongside Amanda Seyfried as the lead cast whereas Chris O'Dowd and Aziz Ansari provided great comic relief as the snail/slug duo Mub and Grub. Music artists Beyonce, Pitbull and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith shined as the supporting cast and the whole team seemed to fit together flawlessly.

Obviously as a children's film it is not without its flaws, but in this case the flaws are mostly down to plotholes i.e. the distorted notion of time in order to convenience the plot, but this is a magical world that we are talking about and my suspension of disbelief can be extended to something as mundane as a time scale. Other than that i have no complaints - it moved at exactly the right pace to keep you interested and the bright, colourful, beautiful scenes were perfectly juxtaposed with the drab, decaying scenes that showed us where the bad guys inhabited. Before the three World's (the real world, the 'good' magical world and the 'bad' magical world) are linked together i found that the narrative flowed effortlessly between them; making the audience familiar with each aspect of the film before the time came for the Worlds to merge. This was not what i expected - from viewing the trailer i thought that we would be following MK and our first introduction to the magical Worlds would be once she has shrunk and been forced to enter them; seeing all three from the get-go was definitely the better option! There wasn't one moment of the film where i was bored or clock-watching or waiting for a scene to end, and i think that is all down to the charming cast, fast-paced narrative and, of course, the breathtaking aesthetics.

Epic Pug

AND if that wasn't enough, there is an adorable chubby three-legged pug. A misfit animated pug in 3D - What more can you ask for than that?!

One thing that i will say is that i found certain scenes with the 'baddies' a little bit creepy when thinking of it in the eyes of a younger child; there are parts where they appear from the bark in the trees and jump out to the camera and this might be a little bit scary for more sensitive children.

All in all i award Epic ★★★★★ and thoroughly recommend it to both adults and children; a cinema trip for all of the family!

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you fancy it :)

Love,

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS

Walking The White Carpet

A couple of weeks ago i got an invite to the Star Trek: Into Darkness World premiere and when i saw this invite sitting comfortably in my inbox i literally choked on my drink from the excitement and very promptly RSVP'd with a BIG. FAT. 'YES!'

In all honesty, i am by no means a 'trekkie'. I'm not into Sci-Fi or Space. I hadn't seen the first Star Trek or Star Wars... I can't even sit through an episode of Big Bang Theory. The most i knew about Star Trek was all learnt from the incredible West End show Loserville. So, why was i so excited to be attending the World premiere of a franchise i have no real interest in? Okay, well it might have something to do with my love for the film's director JJ Abrams and it definitely had something to do with all of the hype surrounding the film, even if it wasn't a genre that i normally gravitated towards I was eager to get a sneak peak at what was sure to be one of the biggest films of the year.

Anyways, on Thursday morning i recieved my ticket and waited excitedly all day until the time came

My Ticket

to walk the white carpet. The amount of hardcore Star Trek fans (admittedly alongside the masses of hardcore Benedict Cumberbatch fans) that had waited all day at the premiere barriers in order to be a part of this event was absolutely mind blowing. Leicester Square was literally filled to the brim as hundreds of people hoped to catch a glimpse of the stars who had promised to make this installment of one of the World's most succesful franchises even better than the last.

JJ Abrams Introducing The Film

The Cast Join Abrams On Stage

Once everybody was seated and Alex Zane had interviewed all of the key cast and crew on the huge white stage outside, the audience were treated to an appearance from JJ Abrams himself as he introduced the film and called  down all of the stars to join him on the stage.The warm, loving relationship between Abrams and the cast was obvious to all as the group laughed and joked, excited to finally unleash their new film onto the World.

As you all probably know, this film is 3D. I don't usually watch 3D films as they normally make me feel a little queasy and when i have a choice i always see a made-for-3D film in 2D. So as you can imagine the 3D in itself was a big treat for me! I would definitely recommend trying to see the 3D screening, even though i know it costs a couple of pounds extra. The setting of Space just makes parts of it really beautiful and this beauty is so much more intensified through the lenses of 3D glasses and on top of that the schrapnel and characters flying towards the screen during inevitable fight scenes adds so much to the already high-tension scenes.

As soon as the film started, all of the worries i had about not being a 'trekkie' and not loving this genre of film just evaporated away. I was a little concerned that as a newbie to the whole franchise i wouldn't understand anything that is going on because i half expected Abrams to just assume that the audience know the back story so not include the relevant information in this film. I was completely wrong; all of the characters are introduced in a subtle but useful way, Captain Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Scotty... All of their relationships with eachother and their tasks within the enterprise were clearly explained but in a way that is not patronizing or too time-consuming for your hardcore Star Trek fans. Everybody was accounted for. I'm not going to lie; there were a couple of incidents where some parts of the audience laughed or applauded for reasons that weren't too clear, so i'm sure that Abrams included some in-jokes especially for the Trekkies and although they obviously went right over my head, i appreciate the touch and even though i didn't understand the references, they did not interfere with the overall story arc throughout the film.

I surprised myself with how involved i got with the film, i have to say that there was a lack of character development at the beginning of the film, obviously because these are all well established characters within film culture but this meant that as a newbie i did struggle a little bit in connecting with  Captain Kirk to start with. He is just a little obnoxious and seemed pretty unlikeable as a character but as time went on i did really grow to love him and was on the edge of my seat vouching for him to win.  All of the performances were faultless, an absolutely perfect cast overall; Zachary Quinto was incredible as Spock and i found myself looking forward to his next scene when his last one finished - i think for me personally he stole the show. Simon Pegg as Scotty was a flawless choice; a choice i had originally doubted when  i first heard that he was cast (How could Shaun of the Dead possibly fit comfortably within the Star Trek enterprise?!) A friend of mine mentioned Anton Yelchin before i saw the film, so i was on the lookout for his performance as Pavel and although it is a relatively small role he is simply adorable in it and i just wanted to cuddle him and tell him how cute he is.

Hmmm, now... Am i possibly forgetting someone?! Have i not mentioned the man who stole the premiere's thunder? The man whose name evoked the most incredible response whenever it was mentioned to the hundreds of people outside of the cinema, craning to get a glimpse of him? The man who i actually knew nothing about before Thursday but have since learned that the Sherlock fandom is pretty much out of this World?! Ah yes... That's the one, the only: Benedict Cumberbatch. Playing myserious, sinister John Harrison. Creepy, creepy Harrison with his creepy, creepy voice and terrifying death stare. Another incredible performance from a very talented actor but is Harrison actually so bad?! You might have to watch to find out! For all the 'Cumberbitches' (really??), i think  you are most definitely in for a treat. He really does you, and the role, proud and will really mess with your head as you try to work out whether or not you can believe a word that he says.

The storyline itself is very engrossing. It isn't as simple as the enterprise having to catch the bad guy or bad things will happen and there are so many twists and turns it is guaranteed to keep you hooked and, most importantly, keep you guessing. There is a lot of action and once one high-drama, high-tension sub plot comes to its natural end, there is another to take over your interest. The film is over two hours long but the time really did fly by, and when it did end i could have happily kept watching for another hour or so. I often find myself clock-watching after about an hour and a half's worth of film watching but this one felt like i had blinked and it was over. There was just never a dull moment and that is pretty unique for a film of it's stance.

Once again let me say: I am not a Star Trek fan. I am not an action fan. I am not a sci-fi fan. This is not conventionally my cup of tea. So to anybody who is trying to urge their boyfriend/girlfriend/brother/sister/dog to see this film and they are moaning that they won't like it and it isn't their kind of thing - this is the review for them. You don't have to be a lifelong fan to enjoy this film, you will be kept entertained throughout, you will become involved with the story and when it ends you will be hoping for more. This is definitely one for you all to watch and it is one for the big screen and 3D glasses too - it is out on the 9th May, so make a date!

JJ Abrams and his flawless cast and crew have made something to be hugely proud of and i applaud the effort that has gone into creating this great piece of cinema.

Losing one star for the slight lack of character establishment and another point that i can't make as it is a pretty huge spoiler, i award Star Trek: Into Darkness with: ★★★★☆

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you fancy it :)

Love,

P.S. Special thanks to the lovely Jonathan Ross and Union J boys for being so nice and friendly :)

With Union J

With Jonathan Ross

BILLY AND ME

I know that Giovanna Fletcher's debut novel Billy and Me is most definitely not a film, so it may look a little out of place on my otherwise film-orientated blog but let's just ignore that. The book is about a normal girl, Sophie May and her relationship with Hollywood heart-throb Billy Buskin so that's enough of a connection to make it film-relevant... Right?

Anyways, when i received an advanced copy of Billy and Me in the post i literally squealed with excitement. The worst part of my daily life is the near three hours i spend on trains, tubes and buses each day as i commute to my job in Camden so new and exciting reading material is always a sure way to make those commutes a little less boring and i just knew that this book in particular would be something special.

I am not usually a chick-lit kind of gal, my all time favourite book is The Perks of Being a Wallflower (of which i have 5 copies of, including one sent to me by the phenomenal Stephen Chbosky with a beautiful message to me inside... And of course i have the DVD... And it's soundtrack... Plus a tote bag. Okay and maybe a notebook.. Shhh, we're getting off topic!) and although i love those rom-com films i never really felt the urge to divulge in romantic novels, Billy and Me definitely popped my chick-lit cherry and i'm sure the question on everybody's lips is was it good for you?

To which my response is: Yes. And a smiley face :)

Giovanna has this incredible ability to connect the reader to the story in ways i did not think possible. I felt like Sophie was my friend; having read the book on my way home, each time i walked through my front door i felt the urge to tell my mum about what my friend Sophie has been up to and you wouldn't believe what Billy did and did you see Billy and Sophie at the BAFTAs??? But then i would have to harshly remind myself of the fact that these people aren't actually real and are most certainly not my friends.

The plot itself is heartfelt and as a reader you feel a true emotional involvement. It isn't just a typical light and fluffy love story with perfect characters and happy ever afters. Each character has their flaws and this makes them so much more human and thus so much more relatable. I love realism in books and films, i love seeing characters respond to things in a way that i can understand and relate to. One of my biggest pet peeves when gorging on a work of fiction is when something so implausible happens that you are quickly swept back into reality and lose all ability to get lost in that particular fictional world ever again. Sophie and Billy and all the other wonderful (and not so wonderful) characters that we meet are real, and that makes you, as a reader, instantly connect with them. The story line itself isn't just mushy conventions; there's some real heartache and pain hidden beneath the surface and i will warn you from now that Chapter 23 in particular is very emotional and highly charged so maybe have some tissues at the ready for that one; the last thing i want is for you all to be blubbing on the tube during rush hour like i was (Cheers for that, Gi!) 

Read with caution!

Of course it's not all realistic doom and gloom because at the end of the day that isn't what we sign up for when reading romantic novels, is it? The ongoing essence of Billy and Me is ultimately heartwarming and feel-good. As a reader you can live vicariously through Sophie May as she fulfills every hot-blooded woman's dream of dating a sexy, rich and famous Hollywood actor. Even if it might not be all it is cracked up to be. I may have shed a few tears when reading and although some were sad tears, there were definitely some happy tears thrown into the mix, as well as a few laughs and a constant, beaming smile and thirst to read on.

Billy and Me is one of those painstakingly annoying and conflicting books that you want to read as much as possible because you can't find out fast enough what is going to happen next, but at the same time you want to read really, really slowly so that you can savour every lasting moment and put off the unwelcome but inevitable fact that it will actually have to end at some point. I don't think i could have dragged out reading those last few pages for any longer if i tried. I was reading and then re-reading paragraphs as i felt the lessening amount of pages i had left to read and when i did finally read the last word on the last page i felt that really heavy, lost emotion that you always feel when you come to the end of a great piece of fiction - whether it is a book or a film or a play, you know that it was good when that post-fiction hangover comes along!

Once you read Giovanna Fletcher's Billy and Me i think that it will become clear to all that Giovanna is 'not just' Tom from McFly's wife, 'not just' Mario from TOWIE's sister, 'not just' the pretty lady singing on YouTube with a beautifully vintage voice... She is Giovanna Fletcher; an incredibly talented author who is carving her own path as she prepares to take the literary world by storm.

One day Eddie, one day.

Billy and Me is a brilliant debut from a brilliant author, it entertained me, it emotionally drained me (cheeky rhyme - nice!), it kept me busy on the otherwise boring commutes and distracted me from the vast amount of nose-picking business men i normally see on a daily basis... And, most importantly, it gave me a little insight of what to expect when Eddie Redmayne finally realises his undying love for me and asks me to be his wife!

...Well... I can dream, right???

All in all I award Billy and Me: ★★★★★




Due for release on the 23rd May, you can pre-order your own copy here

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you fancy it :)

Love,

Author Giovanna Fletcher, Emma Willis and Me

PAN'S LABYRINTH

 

I'm not too keen on fantasy films. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia... Nopes, just don't like them. I love fairies and goblins and magic and wonder to look at but as far as the narrative goes the only fantasy film i love, and i mean love, is my childhood favourite Peter Pan.

I hate the Disney version of the story but from Peter Pan the book, to Hook, Finding Neverland and the 2003 live action adaptation that had pre-teen girls everywhere falling in love with Jeremy Sumpter, that fantastical story held me captivated throughout childhood and even to this day every time i open the book or put on one of the films i get swept back to my childhood, where evil pirates, mischevious fairies and beautiful mermaids ruled my imagination.

Peter Pan (2003)

  I did enjoy fantasy films when i was younger but as i grew up i found this genre particularly unappealing and aside from Peter Pan and other nostalgic films from my childhood, i've found that fantasy films just aren't able to maintain my interest and i've generally avoided them.

Pan's Labyrinth was different though. I've mentioned my love of Guillermo Del Toro previously and it is this love and this faith i have in him as a director that finally convinced me to give this film a chance. I knew it was very highly regarded and i also knew that Del Toro dabbles in the darker side of fantasy, making his very own, unique fantasy-horror hybrid that i found appealing. The beautiful aesthetics of a fantasy film combined with the darkness of a horror mixed in with the emotive narrative's that Del Toro is also reknowned for made me think i would actually be in for a cinematic treat.

I am pleased to say that i was right.

Pan's Labyrinth is set in fascist Spain during 1944 and Ofelia, an 11-year-old girl played by the wonderful Ivana Baquero, is sent with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather - the evil captain of the Spanish army. One night Ofelia meets a fairy who takes her to a secret labyrinth where she meets a faun who tells her that she is really the princess of the fantastical underworld but to prove herself and to gain entrance to this World she must complete three tasks before the next full moon.

Although the main concept of the film is fantasy and the beautiful aesthetics throughout really reinforce that, i feel the reality side of things; the brutality of the Spanish cival war and the cold blooded nature of Ofelia's stepfather, are a perfect juxtaposition that makes the fantasy all the more magical. It isn't a film that follows true fantasy conventions; the fairies aren't pretty, floaty Tinkerbell's and the Faun looks more like a villain than a saviour and i could never quite tell if he was actually nice or really just a calculating chancer who was using Ofelia to complete tasks for his own gain. The tasks that Ofelia is given are gruesome and in some instances terrifying and in addition to this there are quite a few scenes of graphic violence that had me grimacing.

The real world was scary and violent and traumatic but the fantasy world wasn't much better, something that most definitely sets Pan's Labyrinth apart from other such films. And, just as i suspected, there was your fair share of heartache as Del Toro stuck to his usual style of creating a strong emotional bond between the protagonists and the audience before putting his protagonist through a heartbreaking trauma. As well as scares and grimaces there were plenty of opportunities for tears too.

I enjoyed this film because fantasy wasn't it's focus; it wasn't the be all and end all of the film  and the main essence actually ran a lot deeper than great CGI and make-up. It is a heart-warming, heart-breaking, bittersweet story of a young girl living through the true horror of war. There was also an air of mystery surrounding the film - i couldn't guess what the next task would be, what would happen next or even if the faun was good or bad. I could never tell what was around the corner and that is a rare feat in film nowadays and i think that is why it managed to captivate me in such a way; the film doesn't patronize the audience and i like that.

There was one aspect of the film that did lose me a little bit and up until this point i was thinking 'Wow this is amazing' and following this particular scene the thought process got downgraded to a simple 'Wow, this is pretty good'. As i am not giving away spoilers on this blog, i will say for those who have seen it that the temptation during the second task and Ofelia's reaction to it did make me lose a bit of the love that i had for her as a character. It just seemed too unnecessary and i know originally Ofelia was going to be an 8-year-old girl and maybe in that sense it would have been more understandable but as the film stands, with Ofelia as 11, it just seemed like unjustified stupidity on her part.

Other than that, Pan's Labyrinth is a great film and i do recommend you watch it. Guillermo Del Toro is fast becoming one of my favourite directors.

All in all Pan's Labyrinth loses a star for the second task, so i award it: ★★★★☆

Stay tuned for more things film and follow me on Twitter if you fancy it :) 

Love,

My Favourite Thing About Summer:

                                                                CAR BOOT SALES! :)


I got all of these incredible DVDs (and the book) for £11!!!!! Bringing my DVD collection tantalizingly close to an even 300 (5 more to go).

Controversial but i didn't love Inception when i saw it in the cinema, which was massively disappointing as Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Leonardo Dicaprio are two of my favourite actors and i have loved every single film of theirs; you'd have thought the combination of two fave actors in the same film would have been heavenly but something about it just didn't really work.

I think the biggest factor as to why i didn't like it is because i think it is painstakingly obvious that the dradel was going to fall over at the end - in the dreams it didn't even wobble.

I wasn't a fan of The Prestige either for similar reasons - it was made out that 'the twist' was some huge, shocking reveal but i had kind of assumed what turned out to be the twist to be what was happening as fact about an hour earlier in the film. Also i like magic and this was more sci-fi...

I don't know, they are both films that tried too hard to be clever and i think it's actually kind of patronizing to the audience as both so called 'twists' or 'cliffhangers' were glaringly obvious. To me anyways.

I bought Inception as i had been meaning to give it another chance because i really do want to like it and for £1 i couldn't really go wrong, i bought The Prestige for my sister because she loves the film for some reason.

Anyways this is all stuff for another blog post, all i wanted to say is that car boot sales are awesome.

Stay tuned for more things film and follow me on Twitter if you fancy it :)

Love,

ARGO

 

Over this awards season i have really grown to love Ben Affleck and his scraggly beard. Sure, before i had always kind of liked the guy - after all we do have him and Matt Damon to thank for one of the greatest film's of all time: Good Will Hunting - and he seemed decent enough as a person but not many of his films really struck me as anything special so i never had a real passion for him. However, seeing his reaction to winning the prestigious Best Director BAFTA combined with his beautiful wife Jennifer Garner's reaction as she practically burst with pride as her hubby took to the stage with his acceptance speech...It made it hard not to fall in love with them as a couple and want him to succeed even more so that we could be treated to some more adorable displays of pride and affection. 

Jennifer Garner after husband Ben Affleck is announced as the Best Director winner

So when the Oscar's came around i had everything crossed that Ben Affleck and Argo would win big and was probably almost as proud as Jen was when Argo was announced as 2013's Best Picture.

(Oh, to be clear as a sidenote i hadn't actually seen Argo by this point, this is a minor factor.)

I've never really held the Oscar's decisions in high regard. After the monstrosity of 1999 where Shakespeare in Love beat Life is Beautiful to the Best Picture Oscar whilst American History X wasn't even nominated... I kind of just gave up on the award nonsense then. I already knew that the 2013 Oscar's weren't doing much better than 1999 with awarding the most deserving nominee after Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook over the absolutely incredible, out of this World performance from six-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild. I get angry about this particular injustice every day and with such examples i ironically didn't have heightened expectations of Argo, despite it's Oscar win.

I finally got round to watching Argo last week and even though i wasn't expecting anything terrific i was still slightly disappointed. Ben's scraggly beard had let me down and i really wasn't prepared for that! Don't get me wrong, the most frustrating thing about Argo is that it isn't bad... It just isn't... good. As the true life story of how America rescued a group of hostages from Iran by pretending they are filming a Hollywood movie, Argo,... I kind of expected a bit more action? As i said in my last post, i am not the kind of person who needs big explosions and drama to enjoy a film but not a lot really seemed to happen in Argo. A basic plot summary would be:

1. The hostages are captured
2. The CIA wonder how they can free them
3. Ben Affleck suggests the fake movie
4. They get to work on the fake movie
5. Ben Affleck goes to Iran 
6. Ben Affleck frees the hostages
7. A bit of drama at the airport
8. The hostages arrive home and are safe

I don't know about you but i just expected a little more action inbetween points 5 and 6, it all seemed way too easy. The scenes towards the end of the film where they are in the airport trying to get through security without being identified as the hostages were great, i will hand Affleck that. They were really high tension, even if they weren't high drama and the tension is more than satisfactory for a film of this stance but twenty minutes of tension from a two hour film is most definitely not satisfactory for the film as a whole and nowhere near enough to carry the rest of the boring film.

I know this was based on a true story and for all i know maybe they did get the hostages that easily, with that little drama or confrontation. But since when has Hollywood been wary of dramatizing and exaggerating true stories?! Argo has already faced criticism from Canada and Iran for it's distortion of the truth so it isn't as though they were desperate to maintain complete accuracy... There just could have been something more.

It was well directed though. The story was boring but the direction can't be faulted i guess.

I award Argo  ★★★☆☆  because, as i said, it wasn't bad. It just wasn't good.

Stay tuned for more things film and follow me on Twitter if you fancy it :)

Love,

LITTLE CHILDREN

My favourite kind of film tends to be those 'slice of life' films. I know in my last post i said that i love horror films but trust me, if i love horror films i am pretty much married to 'slice of life'. You know the ones - a little two hour snippet of what appears to be the completely plausible, normal, everyday lives and the darkness that consequently lies behind those perfect suburban doors. Think Revolutionary Road or Closer or Magnolia or Lost in Translation (Which, ironically, i hate). My all time favourite 'slice of life' film is Another Happy Day, which is also one of my all time favourite films and stars one of the greatest young actors of this generation (Ezra Miller).

Little Children is exactly one of those kind of films, it's an insight into the four seemingly normal lives of your average, every day people; a married man and a married woman, a disgraced police officer and a man who has recently been released from prison after exposing himself to a minor. Four lives that are interconnected in ways that will become clear and four lives that are actually a lot more sinister once you scratch the surface.

Now let me get something clear - this isn't a very dramatic film. Not too much happens and compared to a film like American Beauty it might just fall a bit flat but the concept behind it is very relatable and fascinating to watch; but as these kinds of films are my favourite there is a chance that i am being a little biased. But what does happen to a perfect neighbourhood when, well, a paedophile is back on the streets? What does happen when you fall for somebody who isn't your spouse? How do you deal with the gossip surrounding your affair? It is a simple film but it is so beautifully acted and beautifully composed that i think the simpleness of the narrative  adds to the overall essence rather than have any kind of negative impact.

I have to warn you that i you are the kind of person that needs action, explosions, guns and shouting to make it through a film then it may not be for you but if you prefer exploring the complexities of life and relationships then sit back and enjoy, you are in for a treat!

Also bare in mind that as this is a Kate Winslet film there is, needless to say, a lot of nudity. Alongside some pretty graphic sex scenes so maybe don't watch this one with the 'rents.

All in all, i award Little Children ★★★☆☆

Stay tuned for more things film and follow me on Twitter if you fancy it :) 

Love,