Other Films Watched in February

The Wind That Shakes The Barley (Ken Loach, 2006)- Very Good

Riff Raff (Ken Loach, 1991)- Okay

The Long Good Friday (John Mackenzie, 1980)- Good

Planet 51 (Jorge Blanco, 2009)- Good

Avatar (James Cameron, 2009)- Excellent

Manchurian Candidate (Jonathan Demme, 2004)- Okay

Vera Drake (Mike Leigh, 2004)- Good

The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements and John Musker, 2009)- Good

Fridge (Short Movie)

Panic Room (David Fincher, 2001)

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Jodie Foster, Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, Patrick Bauchau

Summary: A divorced woman and her diabetic daughter take refuge in their newly-purchased house's safe room, when three men break-in, searching for a missing fortune.

Genre: Thriller

This is definitely one of my favourite films.
I love how the first 15 maybe 20 minutes of the film are used to introduce us to not only Meg and Sarah Altman (Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart), but also house where all the action takes place.

I think this is an absolutely brilliant idea for a story. It definitely makes you think about what you would do in that situation; or what would you do if you have no panic room, where would you hide, how would you escape?
You always think that home is where you're safest but sometimes home can be the worst place to be.

Although I do have a slight obsession with Kristen Stewart, I have to say that I fell in love with the intruders Burnham (Forest Whitaker), Junior (Jared Leto) and Raoul (Dwight Yoakam).
I love the interaction between them and how mismatched they are. They’re so completely different from each other and they clearly don’t get along which makes watching them much more entertaining, especially as none of them know what the others are going to do.

I'm also quite a fan of Jodie Foster and I think that for me as much as I'm obsessed with Kristen Stewart and as much as I like the three men, Foster does the best job out of everybody and she makes me want to watch the film again and again.
My two favourite scenes have to be the three guys trying to get into the panic room from below and with the gas and the last few scenes where Jodie Foster shows them why you should never mess with a mother or her child.

My Rating: 10/10
One Final Word: One of the Best

The Break-Up (Peyton Reed, 2006)

Cast: Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Vincent D’onofrio, Jon Favreau, Justin Long, Jason Bateman

Summary: In a bid to keep their luxurious condo from their significant other, a couple’s break-up proceeds to get uglier and nastier by the moment

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama

Despite not being a fan of romantic comedies I thought I’d give this film a watch after my bought me the DVD. Now I’m just not a fan of the typical rom-com structure which is a strange considering that I love romance books.
I found this article that talks about the Structure of Notting Hill that talks about the 8 plot points which make up the majority if not all rom-coms.

Now before I make you think that I hated the film because I don't like romantic comedies, I will tell you that I was actually impressed when I saw this film. This film is one of the few that deviates from this 'typical' structure and although it doesn’t deviate completely it does manage to throw the structure slightly off balance.
It still has a typical introduction to the characters where Gary (Vince Vaughn) and Brooke (Jennifer Aniston) bump into each other at a baseball game and soon after begin a relationship, one that eventually begins to show cracks when the couple move in together. This is where traditional rom-com structure ends.

In order to keep their condo for themselves the couple resorts to coming up with ways to get the other to move out. It starts off as funny but somewhere along the lines it becomes uncomfortable to watch the two, particularly Vaughn continuously find ways to hurt Brooke.
With all this intense chemistry and emotion between these two characters/actors (actors who were reportedly dating at the time) with each upping the ante, it was easy to forget that it was also meant to be a comedy.

The ending for me is just perfect, how I wish a lot of my romance books ended but hey-ho you can't win them all.
Definitely worth a watch.

My Rating: 7/10
One Final Word: Quite Good

Sherlock Holmes (Guy Ritchie, 2009)

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan, Kelly Reilly

Summary: Detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn against a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime

Let's start off by saying that I absolutely loved this film. I don't know the ins and outs of the character Sherlock Holmes and I've never read any books, I do enjoy watching the TV show The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes so I knew I would definitely like this film.

I thought that the roles of Sherlock and Watson were played incredibly well by Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law. The chemistry between them is totally believable, to me they come across as brothers rather then just colleagues or friends.

My absolute favourite scenes are the two where Sherlock is shown fighting an opponent in slow motion while he explains what he is going to do and what the damage will be, before the scene goes back to the beginning and we're shown the fight in full speed.

My Rating: 10/10
One Final Word: EXCELLENT

Sunshine Cleaning (Christine Jeffs, 2008)

Cast: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Cliff Collins Jr, Steve Zahn, Eric Christian Olsen

Summary: In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school, a mom starts an unusual business -- a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service -- with her unreliable sister.

Genre: Drama, Comedy

I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect when I started watching this film but I actually ended up enjoying it.

I love how the film deals with serious issues like death and suicide and I like how the film doesn’t just focus solely on Rose (Amy Adams) but also on her sister Norah (Emily Blunt), as well as seeing how other people such as their father, Mac and Winston affect their lives. The film really shows Rose and Norah’s struggle to reconnect and come to terms with that have and are happening in their lives.

I wasn’t prepared for how sad the film would make me feel and I’m not embarrassed to admit that I cried, especially in the scene where Rose meets Mrs Davis. I think Amy Adams and Emily Blunt are both brilliant in their roles, although I’m not entirely sure who I prefer as there are parts of both characters that I don’t really like.
My favourite scenes are definitely all the ones with both Adams and Cliff Collins Jr, purely because I like the possibility of a relationship between them and I love him.

The story does fall flat in some places but it still deserves a watch.

My Rating: 7/10
Perfect For: Family Drama lovers
One Final Word: Good

The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)

Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman

Summary: When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, the caped crusader must come to terms with one of the greatest psychological tests of his ability to fight injustice.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Action

To be perfectly honest I wasn’t actually interested in watching Batman, mostly because I’m not really a fan of Christian Bale; but after the tragedy of Heath Ledger’s death I kept hearing things about the film and how this was his best ever performance.

I definitely have to say that I am glad that I decided to watch it after all because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Christian Bale wasn't as bad as I thought he was and Heath Ledger's performance certainly was amazing, and personally I think the best thing about the film was The Joker.

It did get a bit boring in parts for me but overall I really enjoyed it.

My Rating: 7/10
One Final Word: Very Good

The Magdalene Sisters (Peter Mullan, 2002)

Cast: Geraldine McEwan, Anne-Marie Duff, Nora-Jane Noone, Eileen Walsh, Dorothy Duffy and Eamonn Owens

Summary: Three young Irish women struggle to maintain their spirits while they endure dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a Magdalene Sisters Asylum.

Genre: Drama

Like most people I find myself very angry after watching certain films. Any kind of film whether its based on a true story or not where characters are put through awful ordeals really get me going, and this film was definitely one of those films.

Before I watched this film I had no idea what it was about and I certainly had no idea about Magdalene Asylums.
These Asylums or Laundries were institutions that were used to home women who were classed as being fallen by both society and their families. This soon came to include women with mental illnesses, unmarried mothers and those who were considered to be promiscuous.

I thought this film was a truly brilliant film but there were definitely parts that I found hard to watch and the abuse that they were exposed to is definitely not something I would wish on anybody.
I would love to write more about what happens in the film but I don't want to spoil it for you because it is definitely one that I think everybody should see at one point in their life

If you want to do some more reading here's a couple of interesting articles I found on the Daily Mail site: here and here.

My Rating: 10/10
Perfect for: Everybody (when old enough)
One Final Word: Brilliant

The Lovely Bones (Peter Jackson, 2009)

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Surandon, Stanley Tucci, Rose McIver

Summary: A 14-year-old girl from suburban Pennsylvania is raped and murdered. She tells her story as she watches over her family - and her killer - from purgatory. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.

Genre: Drama

This film doesn't start like your typical Hollywood film where you're given a bit of time to get used to the characters before everything gets going, instead you're sucked into the story as soon as the film starts when you listen to Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) tell you that she has been raped and murdered.

I hadn't read the book (not that I knew there was one) so I didn't really know what to expect, but I thought this film was incredible. It truly makes you feel every emotion from love in the scene where Jack (Mark Wahlberg) shares his love of making ships in bottles with Susie, to sadness and anger.

The scenes of Susie’s rape and murder aren’t actually shown which I think is a very good thing, one because I know I wouldn't have been able to watch a scene like that and secondly just the thought of knowing what’s happening in that room is effective enough.

The acting in this film for me was truly astounding, watching the Jack and Abigail's (Rachel Weisz) individual breakdowns in the struggle to come to terms with the loss of their child and then the breakdown of heir marriage and family parent’s breakdown was truly heartbreaking. I've always found Wahlberg's acting skills to be a bit hit and miss (although he is brilliant in Four Brothers), but here I was thoroughly impressed especially at the start of his breakdown where he detroys his ships in bottles.
And Stanley Tucci (who plays George Harvey) hands down one of the best performances I've seen.

The cinematography and digital effects are absolutely stunning. This film I have to say is another one of the best films I have ever seen, but I did find it extremely emotional, so I have vowed that when I get the DVD I will only watch the film once more before putting it away for a long time.


Edit- I bought the dvd sometime in the summer of 2010 or 2011 and left it unopened on my shelf for 8 months before deciding to watch it the same time it was being shown on tv. But not again for a good few years, that's for sure.

My Rating: 10/10
One Final Word: One of the Best