Other Films Watched in March

My Name is Joe (Ken Loach, 1998)- Good

Them (Gordan Douglas, 1954)- Okay

The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)- Excellent

The Spy Next Door (Brian Levant, 2010)- Good

Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005)- Very Good

GI Joe: Rise of The Cobra (Stephen Sommers, 2009)- Good

Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008)- Good

Gossip (Davis Guggenheim, 2000)- Excellent

The Crying Game (Neil Jordan, 1992)

Cast: Forest Whitaker, Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Miranda Richardson

Summary: A British soldier is kidnapped by IRA terrorists where he befriends one of his captors, who is drawn into the soldiers world after an escape plan goes wrong.

Genre: Romance, Crime, Drama

To be honest there’s not much I can say about this film except that it truly gave me the shock of my life.

This is another film that was given to me by one of my media teachers when they heard that I had given myself a goal to watch 100 films in a year, and I’m convinced he gave it to me because he knew it would shock me.

The story was a little confusing at first but by the time it ended I quite enjoyed it. Even though I ended up liking the film I struggle to find what to say about it because for me the shock takes over everything else.

Have you seen The Crying Game? What did you think?

My Rating: 6/10
One Final Word: Good

2012 (Roland Emmerich, 2009)

Cast: John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, Oliver Platt

Summary: A frustrated writer struggles to keep his family alive when a series of global catastrophes threatens to annihilate mankind.

Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Drama

I really, really like this film. I’m actually quite a fan of disaster movies in general but I also love Emmerich’s Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow is one of my all-time favourite films.

Although I love this film the story is actually pretty rubbish.
We've all heard about the Mayan's and their calendar and how they 'predicted' the world would end on December 21, 2012, which clearly that didn’t happen and 2012 is meant to be about that prediction coming true but after a while you kind of forget that the film actually has anything to do that.

At times I thought some of the acting wasn't that great, the characters Yuri, Sasha and Tamara were the most distracting but I did really enjoy Chiwetel's performance. Having only seen him in Four Brothers (2005) and Children of Men (2006), it was good to see him play a completely different character.

But I have to say that the best part for me was the special effects. Roland Emmerich and his disaster movies are always full of goodness and this one certainly doesn't disappoint!! Absolutely brilliant stuff.

This film is another one of my un-guilty guilty pleasures.

My Rating- 7/10
Perfect for- Everyone
One Final Word- Very Good

Also for anyone that's interested here's an article by NASA on Why the World Didn't End.

The Hangover (Todd Philips, 2009)

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham and Ken Jeoung

Summary: Three groomsmen lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken misadventures on a stag-do in Las Vegas and they must retrace their steps in order to find him before his wedding.

Genre: Comedy

Not the most original of movie ideas but The Hangover does the whole bachelor party gone wrong incredibly well.

I love the fact that the film doesn't start off by introducing us to the characters or just as the group wake up from their night out, but instead it starts hours after they've woken up and find themselves having to tell Doug’s (Justin Bartha) fiancée that they've lost him and don't know where he is.

Personally I think one of the things that makes the film so brilliant is the fact that what actually happens on the night is never actually shown, so when the trio wake up the next morning like them you have no idea what's happened.
Everything really gets going when the trio wake up in their hotel room after from their night of mischief with Mike Tyson's tiger in the bathroom, an abandoned baby in the closet and a missing groom. With little to go on; including a missing tooth, the trio attempt to retrace their steps in order to find out exactly what happened and more importantly find Doug before his wedding. The three guys have great chemistry together which makes everything seem just the little bit more believable.

The laughs really do keep on coming with this film, especially in the final scenes when the gang discover a camera from their trip to Vegas.

I remember talking to my sister after we'd seen this saying can you imagine being offered a main role in a film but then being told don't get too excited you're only in it for maybe 20 minutes.

My Rating: 9/10

Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)

Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky

Summary: A man suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

I think this film is absolutely brilliant, very confusing but brilliant.

The film opens with a Polaroid photograph of a dead man and plays in reverse taking us to before the man is killed. This is the beginning of the confusion.

Now this film is presented in two alternating timelines, one in colour and the other in black and white. The black and white sequences are shown in chronological order while the colour sequences, although shown playing forward they are actually ordered in reverse.

Are you still with me?
Now if you’ve not seen the film this sounds quite confusing; actually even after you see the film you’ll probably still be confused.

After studying this film as part of my A Level Film Studies I feel like I understand the structure a little bit more (after watching it multiple times) and it totally makes you question everything you thought you knew about the characters.

I would definitely recommend doing some reading up about the film’s structure to get a better understanding of what's actually going on. Personally I think this Memento Analysis is pretty good.

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