Now i haven't really liked director John Lee Hancocks previous works. None of them really clicked with me and though the bright side was OK it didn't deserve Oscar nominations for gods sake.
But I am only too happy to say that his new film Saving Mr Banks is fantastic and not only the best film he has ever made but is one of my favorites of the year (A list of my favorites will be out January some time). The film follows the story of how Walt Disney (played Perfectly by Tom Hanks) managed to secure the film rights to the book Marry Poppins from it author Mrs Travers (Played in an award worthy performance by the allays great Emma Thompson). On the way to giving the film rights to Disney we meet the films song writers the Sherman brothers, the films script writer Don Dagradi and Mrs Travers friendly driver (played by Paul Giamatti)
What u liked especially about this film is the performances. Every single person in this movie brings the absolute best and its hard to single out a specific person who was the best as everyone is do great. Of course Emma Thomson is great, she does a great job with what could be considered at first as a two dimensional character and makes P L Travers understandable but most importantly very entertaining. Tom hanks though he is just being Tom Hanks is great as Walt bringing a sense of realism and compassion to him. The three who play the Films song writers and script author all do a great job too. But the two actors who i feel are getting the least amount of attention from critics are Colin Farrel and Paul Giamatti. Both are fantastic providing more realistic less larger than life characters and there amazing, Especially Paul Giamatti who i would love to see get some awards buzz for his role as he is genuinely flawless as the down to earth Driver who just wants to see the good in everything.
My only criticism is if you don't like Marry Poppins (which i do) i don't think you will enjoy this movie as much as i did. Over than that i cant see anything else that i didn't at least like in this film.
Its a genuine shame that this film isn't getting any awards buzz as it totally deserves it .
Saving Mr Banks is a 10/10
Tuesday 24 December 2013
Tuesday 26 March 2013
Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle Week)
Slumdog Millionaire is the story about a boy from the slums in india who some how through a lang chain of events ends up winning a large amount of money on an Indian quiz show.
This movie won 8 academy awards including best picture, best director and best adapted screen play one and is one of only 7 films to win those three awards as the Oscars Bafta's, directors guild awards and the golden globes.
This film is the best "best picture" winner we have had for years and years it is a story about almost everything movies should be about its about love its about growing up, coming of age, violence, struggle and most importantly its about humanity.
Even the child actors are great this film this film is as close to perfect as a film like this can be it shows the poverty of the slums and the power of the rich in an non-biased way. i love this film its got everything going for it the only problem is if you don't like subtitles your going to have a bad time as about 2/3 of the film are in Hindi NOT English. But i don't mind that i think its fantastic
This film is the definition of a 10/10
This movie won 8 academy awards including best picture, best director and best adapted screen play one and is one of only 7 films to win those three awards as the Oscars Bafta's, directors guild awards and the golden globes.
This film is the best "best picture" winner we have had for years and years it is a story about almost everything movies should be about its about love its about growing up, coming of age, violence, struggle and most importantly its about humanity.
Even the child actors are great this film this film is as close to perfect as a film like this can be it shows the poverty of the slums and the power of the rich in an non-biased way. i love this film its got everything going for it the only problem is if you don't like subtitles your going to have a bad time as about 2/3 of the film are in Hindi NOT English. But i don't mind that i think its fantastic
This film is the definition of a 10/10
Sunday 24 March 2013
Sunshine Review (Danny Boyle week)
To honer the new Danny Boyle Film coming out this week i am going to celebrate this by only reveiwing his films all week
As you could see from the title this i about his 2007 sci-fi movie "sunshine"
Set in the future sunshine is about a spaceship and its crew flying to the sun in order the deliver a nuclear pay load to restart the heart of the sun as they get closer and closer to the sun they find the remains of the lost ship that tried to make the journey to sun before them. They realize the whole crew is dead and they soon find out why as they get closer to the sun.
This film is FANTASTIC as a fan of science fiction films i thought i would like this movie but i was wrong i loved this film every single thing i liked especially the acting special effects and the musical score.
The Acting from Cillian murphy and the rest of the crew is spot on in both showing the hopelessness and wonder of the mission the crew have been given there is a great performance from a pre-captin america Chris Evans Cillian Murphy is amazing. this coupled with the special effects of the film leave you sat there open mouthed as you hope beyond hope the at the pay load will be delivered into the sun. the score only adds to the experience and it helps create moments of wonder and peril and is possibly the best score i have ever heard in a motion picture
This film is amazing and is one of boyles best the flaw in it is it takes a while to get into but the moment it passes the half an hour mark you cant stop watching it
I will give this film a 9/10
As you could see from the title this i about his 2007 sci-fi movie "sunshine"
Set in the future sunshine is about a spaceship and its crew flying to the sun in order the deliver a nuclear pay load to restart the heart of the sun as they get closer and closer to the sun they find the remains of the lost ship that tried to make the journey to sun before them. They realize the whole crew is dead and they soon find out why as they get closer to the sun.
This film is FANTASTIC as a fan of science fiction films i thought i would like this movie but i was wrong i loved this film every single thing i liked especially the acting special effects and the musical score.
The Acting from Cillian murphy and the rest of the crew is spot on in both showing the hopelessness and wonder of the mission the crew have been given there is a great performance from a pre-captin america Chris Evans Cillian Murphy is amazing. this coupled with the special effects of the film leave you sat there open mouthed as you hope beyond hope the at the pay load will be delivered into the sun. the score only adds to the experience and it helps create moments of wonder and peril and is possibly the best score i have ever heard in a motion picture
This film is amazing and is one of boyles best the flaw in it is it takes a while to get into but the moment it passes the half an hour mark you cant stop watching it
I will give this film a 9/10
Tuesday 22 January 2013
Beasts Of The Southern Wild (Oscar Reviews)
Beasts of the southern wild is the first movie directed by Benh Zeitlin and stars the child actress
Quvenzhané Wallis.
The film takes place in a fictional island of the south coast of america. we follow a young girl and see he life with an ill farther floods and the freeing of mythical beasts. we see it as her, her farther and the rest of her shanty town community survive the floods all caused by global warming.
This film is quite odd, but in a very charming way. this is probably helped by the amazing talent that child star
Quvenzhané Wallis has she owns this movie and has a serious career a head of her.
The directing is average but it was a nice chose to shoot this film on 35mm film not a digital recording as it helps the films charm over all and reflects the not so high quality life the characters in the film have film also seems a lot more rich that digital ever can.
The fact the film is so does also let it down though as it means the story meanders and doesn't feel coherent also the characters over all are very shallow and you hardly know anything about them.
But this coupled with a Very strange story and a quirky sounding soundtrack create a very charming movie thst gives you a great feel good feeling when the films ends.
I give this movie 7/10
Quvenzhané Wallis.
The film takes place in a fictional island of the south coast of america. we follow a young girl and see he life with an ill farther floods and the freeing of mythical beasts. we see it as her, her farther and the rest of her shanty town community survive the floods all caused by global warming.
This film is quite odd, but in a very charming way. this is probably helped by the amazing talent that child star
Quvenzhané Wallis has she owns this movie and has a serious career a head of her.
The directing is average but it was a nice chose to shoot this film on 35mm film not a digital recording as it helps the films charm over all and reflects the not so high quality life the characters in the film have film also seems a lot more rich that digital ever can.
The fact the film is so does also let it down though as it means the story meanders and doesn't feel coherent also the characters over all are very shallow and you hardly know anything about them.
But this coupled with a Very strange story and a quirky sounding soundtrack create a very charming movie thst gives you a great feel good feeling when the films ends.
I give this movie 7/10
Monday 21 January 2013
Life Of Pi (Oscar Reviews)
life of pi is the latest movie from award winning director Ang Li and very bravly contains no film stars and is made in India in an attempt to be loyal to the book.
The plot to life of pi is very simple a boy whole family owns a zoo gets stranded at sea in a life boat with an adult Bengal tiger and there tale of both of there struggle to survive.
Life of pi was one word for me Disappointing i did try to like it but this movie is a classic case of style over substance yes sometimes this isn't a bad thing, but in the case of life of pi it is a very basic story and it cant sustain a two hour film.
The acting is ok as far as the supporting cast go but the lead (played by Suraj Sharma) has things ahead of him he is very good at holding the whole movie on his shoulders, The CGI is also fantastic and the film does contain some of the best direction of the year and is visually flawless.
I just couldn't get past the very basic story that failed to enthrall me emotionally.
And Because of that i will give Life Of Pi 6/10
The plot to life of pi is very simple a boy whole family owns a zoo gets stranded at sea in a life boat with an adult Bengal tiger and there tale of both of there struggle to survive.
Life of pi was one word for me Disappointing i did try to like it but this movie is a classic case of style over substance yes sometimes this isn't a bad thing, but in the case of life of pi it is a very basic story and it cant sustain a two hour film.
The acting is ok as far as the supporting cast go but the lead (played by Suraj Sharma) has things ahead of him he is very good at holding the whole movie on his shoulders, The CGI is also fantastic and the film does contain some of the best direction of the year and is visually flawless.
I just couldn't get past the very basic story that failed to enthrall me emotionally.
And Because of that i will give Life Of Pi 6/10
Sunday 20 January 2013
Skyfall (Oscar reviews)
Skyfall is the latest installment of the James Bond franchise. It is Masterfully directed by Sam Mendez and stars Danial Creig as the super spy himself.
The film starts off with a computers hard drive being stolen and it is later reveled to have every NATO secret agent true and false identity's on it. As a mysterious villain starts uploading the agents true names on the internet James Bond is sent to eliminate a target who is the suspected thief of the hard drive. while bond is away an attack on M's life (played by Judy Dench) puts even more pressure on an aging bond to find catch and kill the thief known only as "silver" (played amazing by Javier Bardem)
I am going to go out and say it this is the best bond film of all time. It has everything you want in a bond movie spectacular action a great villain and great sweeping shots of exotic locations, it even has the classy score to boot.
Danial Crieg shows us once again that he is the best bond of all time and both Javier Bardem and Judy Dench give amazing performances as the surprisingly deep characters of M and Silver
The only problem i had with the film was when the ending came you didn't want it to stop despite the film having a two and three quarter hour length.
This film is action packed surprisingly deep but still most importantly fun. This film proves you dont have to create a grim dark look at the James bond universe but still somehow marries the tone of casino royal and the older films into one near perfect movie.
I will give Skyfall a 10/10
The film starts off with a computers hard drive being stolen and it is later reveled to have every NATO secret agent true and false identity's on it. As a mysterious villain starts uploading the agents true names on the internet James Bond is sent to eliminate a target who is the suspected thief of the hard drive. while bond is away an attack on M's life (played by Judy Dench) puts even more pressure on an aging bond to find catch and kill the thief known only as "silver" (played amazing by Javier Bardem)
I am going to go out and say it this is the best bond film of all time. It has everything you want in a bond movie spectacular action a great villain and great sweeping shots of exotic locations, it even has the classy score to boot.
Danial Crieg shows us once again that he is the best bond of all time and both Javier Bardem and Judy Dench give amazing performances as the surprisingly deep characters of M and Silver
The only problem i had with the film was when the ending came you didn't want it to stop despite the film having a two and three quarter hour length.
This film is action packed surprisingly deep but still most importantly fun. This film proves you dont have to create a grim dark look at the James bond universe but still somehow marries the tone of casino royal and the older films into one near perfect movie.
I will give Skyfall a 10/10
Saturday 19 January 2013
Lincoln (Oscar reviews)
Lincoln is the latest movie bye legendary director Steven Spielberg and is about the 16th president of the united states of america Abraham Lincoln.
The film is about the passing of the thirteenth amendment the amendment that would make every man and woman no mater what race equals in the eyes of the law. the movie focuses in Extreme detail how Lincoln got the bill passed and how people were opposed to it.
This movie is fantastic. It gives a fair in depth look at how Lincoln passed one of the most controversial amendments in the USA's history it shows Lincoln not as this invincible figure of history but as a real person. A person with a family and with problems, it doesn't show him as this perfect man but as a real person.
Danial Day Lewis's performance in this movie is un-real its fantastic and is probably the best performance of the year and i hope he gets many accolades for this performances as it is truly fantastic.
The only problem had with the film was as a non-american some of the politics was a little confusion like how they had to have a two thirds majority not just a normal majority. It is also a little long in the middle of the film especially as it focuses on how Linocln's son want to join the army as the constant on screen armaments between the farther and son got a little repetitive after a while.
Despite its minor problems this film is still a perfect example of historic film making at its finest with great performances and realizing this period of history which over wise could seem alien and unreal.
I give Lincoln a 8/10
The film is about the passing of the thirteenth amendment the amendment that would make every man and woman no mater what race equals in the eyes of the law. the movie focuses in Extreme detail how Lincoln got the bill passed and how people were opposed to it.
This movie is fantastic. It gives a fair in depth look at how Lincoln passed one of the most controversial amendments in the USA's history it shows Lincoln not as this invincible figure of history but as a real person. A person with a family and with problems, it doesn't show him as this perfect man but as a real person.
Danial Day Lewis's performance in this movie is un-real its fantastic and is probably the best performance of the year and i hope he gets many accolades for this performances as it is truly fantastic.
The only problem had with the film was as a non-american some of the politics was a little confusion like how they had to have a two thirds majority not just a normal majority. It is also a little long in the middle of the film especially as it focuses on how Linocln's son want to join the army as the constant on screen armaments between the farther and son got a little repetitive after a while.
Despite its minor problems this film is still a perfect example of historic film making at its finest with great performances and realizing this period of history which over wise could seem alien and unreal.
I give Lincoln a 8/10
Friday 18 January 2013
Django Unchained (Oscar Reviews)
Django Unchained is the latest film from director Quentin Tarantino. Also written by him this film has slick and cool dialog as you would expect from a Tarantino film. this film is Great.
Django Unchained tells the story of a black slave called Django (played by Jaime fox) who is set free by a German bounty hunter Dr King ( played by Christoph Waltz) who is looking for three criminals of which he needs to kill to colect his bounty. After we have done that he promises to help django get his wife back from a plantation owner (played by Leonardo DiCaprio)
As i said in the intro this film is really good and has two outstanding performances from DiCaprio as an insane plantation owner Waltz as the very cool Bounty Hunter. I would also like to say Jaime Foxes performances is great too but unfortunately when ever he is in a scene with DeCaprio or Waltze he Never seems to shine he too is really cool though. I really can see people in the future going to dressing up parts as django and dr king as they always look incredibly cool when on screen together.
The only thing holding this film back is it two and three quarters of an hour length as at some points (especially towards the end) it really feels like it should have ended twenty minutes ago. It is Actually very sad as your overall impression of the film is "it was too long" were there is an amazing two hours of film in there but its spoiled by an extra unneeded forty minutes of film in there.
But overall this film is great with very good performances all round a great spaghetti western style soundtrack and is loaded with he usual swearing and violence that Tarantino is famous for.
Once again this is a cool but not perfect movie 8/10 Still a fantastic film
In the words of Django himself remember " The D Is Silent"
Thursday 17 January 2013
Argo (Oscar Reviews)
Argo Is the latest film directed by Ben Aflec it is the third film he was directed and i have to say for someone who before he started directing was in films like "daredevil" Argo is something like a miracle
The story is based on the true story of the Iranian hostage crisis that happens during 1980. It tells the story of Tony Mendez a CIA agent who has been put in charge of getting 6 american embassy workers out of the now USA hostile Ira,n After the USA's embassy was mobbed and all other workers at the embassy were taken hostage by Iranian extremists. To get the Americans out of Iran Alfcs character comes up with an idea to create a fake movie, fly to Iran then pretend that he and the Embassy workers are a Canadian film crew scouting for locations to shoot the fake movie "Argo.
I am going to start out and say this film was one of the best films of last year it has amazing performances from Brian Cranston, Alan Arkin and providing some genuinely funny comedy john Goodman. Though Aflecs acing may not be as great as the supporting cast were he really shines is behind the camera his directing in this is Exquisite and you can tell he knows a lot and really cares about the true story they are telling.
The last half an hour of this movie is one of the most tence scenes i saw all year last year and there was only one shot fired
I have no bad things to say about this movie only a few gripes like possibly a bit more cherector development for the hostages but other than that this movie is flawless.
A Modern great 10/10
The story is based on the true story of the Iranian hostage crisis that happens during 1980. It tells the story of Tony Mendez a CIA agent who has been put in charge of getting 6 american embassy workers out of the now USA hostile Ira,n After the USA's embassy was mobbed and all other workers at the embassy were taken hostage by Iranian extremists. To get the Americans out of Iran Alfcs character comes up with an idea to create a fake movie, fly to Iran then pretend that he and the Embassy workers are a Canadian film crew scouting for locations to shoot the fake movie "Argo.
I am going to start out and say this film was one of the best films of last year it has amazing performances from Brian Cranston, Alan Arkin and providing some genuinely funny comedy john Goodman. Though Aflecs acing may not be as great as the supporting cast were he really shines is behind the camera his directing in this is Exquisite and you can tell he knows a lot and really cares about the true story they are telling.
The last half an hour of this movie is one of the most tence scenes i saw all year last year and there was only one shot fired
I have no bad things to say about this movie only a few gripes like possibly a bit more cherector development for the hostages but other than that this movie is flawless.
A Modern great 10/10
Wednesday 16 January 2013
Silver Linings Playbook (Oscar Reviews)
Silver Lineings Playbook Is the latest film from David O.Russle who directed the fighter last year (a good solid film)
In this film we see the story of pat (played by bradly cooper) a recently released from a mental institution because of his strange ways of coping with his bi-polar. After being released he instantly wants to re-discover his relationship with his wife who since the incident has put a restraining order on him. On his journey to try and get back with his wife he comes across Tiffany (played by Jenifer Lawrence) who also has had minor mental problems since the death of her husband who says she can help him get back with his wife.
I am going to go out and say i really liked this film. it was Very well acted especially by lawrence and cooper who in the case of cooper give a performance that has changed my opinion of him and makes me with he wasn't wasting his time with crap like the hangover. of course Jenifer Lawrence is great and Robert De Nero gives in a terrific performance as Bradly Coopers dad.
In fact the only bad thing i have to say about this film is it does seem to be a little long but wiredly not at the end as it slows right down in the middle of the film which hurts as the rest of the film is flawless.
The final thing i liked about this film was it didnt have the generic point at the end of the second act of the film were one of the characters falls out with the rest as we have seen it one million times and all it does for me is get me down. And its absence was very much appreciated.
I'm going to give this film 9/10 a definite watch.
In this film we see the story of pat (played by bradly cooper) a recently released from a mental institution because of his strange ways of coping with his bi-polar. After being released he instantly wants to re-discover his relationship with his wife who since the incident has put a restraining order on him. On his journey to try and get back with his wife he comes across Tiffany (played by Jenifer Lawrence) who also has had minor mental problems since the death of her husband who says she can help him get back with his wife.
I am going to go out and say i really liked this film. it was Very well acted especially by lawrence and cooper who in the case of cooper give a performance that has changed my opinion of him and makes me with he wasn't wasting his time with crap like the hangover. of course Jenifer Lawrence is great and Robert De Nero gives in a terrific performance as Bradly Coopers dad.
In fact the only bad thing i have to say about this film is it does seem to be a little long but wiredly not at the end as it slows right down in the middle of the film which hurts as the rest of the film is flawless.
The final thing i liked about this film was it didnt have the generic point at the end of the second act of the film were one of the characters falls out with the rest as we have seen it one million times and all it does for me is get me down. And its absence was very much appreciated.
I'm going to give this film 9/10 a definite watch.
Lets Get Started
Hi Dylan Here
I am a normal guy with a pasion for film (good) TV and Comics And Music.
I am starting this blog so i can upload a review of one of the above everyday.
It will be my choice what i review But i would love requests (would make me feel usefull)
I will be trying to see all the movies nominated for a academy award in the major category's those being
Dylan
I am starting this blog so i can upload a review of one of the above everyday.
It will be my choice what i review But i would love requests (would make me feel usefull)
I will be trying to see all the movies nominated for a academy award in the major category's those being
- Best Motion Picture
- Best Actor/ Supporting Actor
- Best Actress/ Supporting Actress
- Best Director
- Best Screenplay Adapted/Original
- Best Cinematography
Dylan
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