I Sat Through Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Gather round ladies and gentleman, it’s story time. I come from a movie-loving family, as you well know by now. I grew up watching National Lampoon’s Vacation every Bank Holiday. Nowadays, every Sunday the talk over the dinner table is usually themed around what movies we’ve seen that week, and once every couple of months we all get together on a Friday night for a family movie night which involves take out, and far too many pause breaks.

Our Whatsapp group will ping like crazy before these nights, with suggestions thrown in for which movie we should see. Our audience ranges from very young (under 10) to very old (sorry Grampy) with all ages in between, so finding the perfect choice is difficult. But you can guarantee every time, my Dad will suggest Lawrence of Arabia. Why? It’s his favourite movie, apparently! For years we’ve put up with this, and in turn he’s had to put up with us laughing at him. It was his birthday on 1st November though, and I suggested that we all give in and watch it together for his birthday. So we did!

Suddenly, one part of the family were ‘busy’ so our numbers were diminished. This might have had something to do with the fact my Dad announced he had a remastered version on DVD which included an interlude, bringing the runtime to just under 4 hours. Good Lord! Nonetheless, pizza was ordered, and we started the movie. Well, we started Disc 1 of the movie, because the thing is so big it won’t fit onto one disc.

Oh, were you expecting an actual movie review here? No, sorry, that’s literally impossible for me. I don't know how to review this I’m afraid. I will announce a spoiler alert from here on out however, because I truly don’t know what can be considered a spoiler in the tale of Lawrence of Arabia.

We start out with a message from the composer, who said something about his music being so bloody fantastic that any visuals would distract us, so we were greeted with a black screen and almost 10 minutes of music before we even started. Following that, confusion as we see Lawrence get his motorcycle gear on and go out for a ride. We were fairly sure a desert was involved in this movie. After that? Um. Well. He died! I mean, spoiler alert movie, GAWD.

To begin with, we all got quite invested in the story. Lawrence was a bit of a full of himself guy, but we liked his spirit and we look a liking to the guide that was with him in the desert. I think we were gearing ourselves up for a road-trip-buddy kind of movie, but then the guide got killed and we all felt a bit sad for him for a while. Who knew wells were so important in the desert? We mourned the guide collectively until we came across the two young lads that eventually worked for Lawrence. Our favourite moment was when one pompous guy shooed the pair away, and they retaliated by shoving their stick up his camel’s butt. That moment killed me!

So, some more things happened, lots of talking, some war, and the oldest of my two little brothers announced we were well over half way though the movie. Great, we thought! This hasn’t seemed so long after all. Then approximately thirty minutes later, the screen went black and asked us to insert Disc 2 to commence the interlude and the second half. WHAT. At this point our enthusiasm was shattered, my youngest brother fell asleep, and we sat quietly through the rest of the story. Even the dog had enough at that point. Let me tell you, much rejoicing was done when the credits finally rolled.

On a more serious note, the story of Lawrence of Arabia is quite fascinating, as we learnt that the whole time he was just being used by both sides, his passion taken full advantage of. The music was beautiful, and fit the moods perfectly. The visuals were a sight to behold (my youngest brother shouted out ‘hashtag silhouette goals’ so you know these visuals are on point). It was just at least 2 hours too long for me, for any of us, other than my Dad of course.

Our next family movie night is in 2 weeks time, and my Dad has stayed unusually quiet in the Whatsapp group. We’re all on the edge of our seats waiting to find out what his next suggestion might be.

So, to finally finish, I do recommend Lawrence of Arabia, but watch it over a couple of days.

Review: Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

At this point, I’m pretty sure Meryl Streep could walk on set, say a few lines (whether they’re from an actual script or not), go home and we’d all still be singing her praises. I really like her of course, but I don’t worship her like a lot of movie fans do. Perhaps I just need to see more of her work! My point anyway is that she’s not one of the actresses I would see absolutely anything for. My first impression of the trailer for Florence Foster Jenkins was a cross between a laugh and a sneer, I think.

Florence Foster Jenkins is the story of a wealthy heiress living in New York who dreams of becoming an opera singer and performing in Carnegie Hall. The catch is that she can’t sing to save her life, but her devoted husband (Hugh Grant) can’t bring himself to tell her the truth, and instead hires a singing coach and pianist (Simon Helberg) to not only coach her, but remind her how wonderful she is.

The real stand out part of the movie is the wonderful performances by all 3 leads, Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant and Simon Helberg. Streep is exactly how you would expect her to be, powerful yet effortless. Her awful singing may be difficult to listen to at times, but I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for someone with amazing singing talent to actually sing badly. I’d experiment to see for myself, but you know, I can’t sing anyway. Hugh Grant is possibly at a higher level than I’ve seen him before, mastering that charm like he always has but with a surprising amount of heart.

However, the show stealer is Helberg. Better known as the awkward and often inappropriate Howard in the Big Bang Theory, this is a completely different role for him, and after watching him, I can’t actually picture anyone else doing that character justice. It’s like that saying ‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it’, Helberg shines for his mannerisms more than anything else. His body language and facial expressions bring a lot of the humour this movie has.

As for the rest of the movie...I’m still not convinced. It’s just not the kind of story that normally interests me. The tone shifted about quite harshly in places, so whilst I was laughing at a clever one-liner, something quite moving would happen and I wasn’t really sure how to feel. That’s the only real thing I can fault though, so I’m just not sure why I only liked Florence Foster Jenkins, rather than loved it.

Still, I’m glad I gave it a watch, and I would definitely recommend it to you all. What did you think, if you’ve seen it?

Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)

UPDATED with Jenna's review: Tina Fey is my spirit animal. I absolutely love her. Currently, I’m binge watching 30 Rock like there’s no tomorrow, knowing the end is in sight and not wanting it all to be over whilst saying to myself ‘just one more episode’. So I knew as soon as Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) came out, I was going to have to see it asap. I’d just come back off honeymoon and knew I needed something funny to pick me up, so this was perfect.  I am not such a Tina Fey fan, I don't dislike her at all (loved her in Sisters) but I don't actively watch things because she is in it, I can find her irritating so I have to limit my intake.

The movie is based on memoir of real-life reporter Kim Barker, titled ‘The Taliban Shuffle’, recounting her experiences with reporting on the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Kim, played by Tina Fey, had no experience in this field what-so-ever, but being unmarried without children was enough.

Maybe I should have worked this out on my own, but from the trailer I was expecting a bit of a parody, something to keep me laughing throughout. Don’t get me wrong, some moments are absolutely hilarious, for example, when Kim first arrived in Afghanistan a lady shouts abuse at her for not having her hair covered, and Kim’s local guide and translator Fahim (Christopher Abbott) tells her she is simply welcoming her to the country. Then there’s a moment where Kim describes the local women as ‘walking Ikea bags’ or something like that, which had me in tears!  Yeah I completely suprised by this, I was expected and full on 'Tina Fey' comedy and got nothing of the sort.  It had funny moments as Allie said but nothing that would make it a comedy, it is much more of a drama.  Luckily, as a drama it was very good so I didn't feel entirely cheated by the trailer.

Mostly though, the movie is a drama that hit me harder than I thought it would. I don’t watch a lot of war movies anyway, but the ones I have seen have focussed on the action, and the soldiers fighting these wars. They’re exciting, and fuelled with adrenaline. This is much different from that. Maybe it’s because I was seeing the war through the eyes of someone inexperienced to it all, someone who reacts the way I imagine I might have done.  It terrified me, I kept imagining what I would have done if I was in Kim's shoes and I just got all sweaty and anxious.  It really does show a whole new side to the war in Afghanistan!

There’s a great cast here. I’ve already mentioned Fahim, whose politeness when translating gets a lot of laughs, but I liked Tanya (Margot Robbie) more than I thought I would too. She’s a reporter too, and has been out there longer than Kim, but shows her the ropes and explains concepts such as ‘being an American 4 makes you a 10 out here’, making Tanya herself a 15. Obviously. General Hollanek’s (Billy Bob Thornton) bluntness caught me off guard several times. And then we have Martin Freeman as Iain, doing a brilliant Scottish accent, although the last time I saw him he was trying an American one in Civil War which was awful, so maybe my radar is off-balance. Honestly, it’s worth watching just to hear Martin Freeman drop the ‘c-bomb’ so frequently!  Not sure I was as impressed with Freeman's Scottish accent but maybe I'm still reeling from Captain America: Civil War. but yes the C-bomb ultimately made his character for me - you know I love a good swear!!

I’m realising now that I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I did. It was definitely mis-marketed, and the tone shifts quite sharply every now and again which throws you off balance, but it’s a war movie that I’m recommending left, right and centre, and I don’t think that’s happened before. Give it a try!

I can't even explain how I felt about this film, one minute I was laughing, the next I was hugging a cushion, thankful that I was in the safety of my little house.  That being said, I was completely hooked!!

Review: Black Mass (2015)

I’d put off watching Black Mass for a while, despite wanting to see Johnny Depp’s performance, only because gangster movies aren’t my usual go-to movie. I tend to get confused with who’s on what side, and who’s killing who - it’s a mess inside my head sometimes. Anyway, after enjoying Tom Hardy’s Legend, I thought it was about time I gave this a go, too.

Black Mass (2015) is the true story of James “Whitey” Bulger (Johnny Depp), the brother of State Senator Billy Bulger (Benedict Cumberbatch) and leader of the Irish Mob. It covers three periods (1975, 1981 and 1985) with flash-forwards to the present day, where various members of Whitey’s gang recount the stories of his rise and eventual fall.

For the first time ever, I watched The Godfather a few months ago, and whilst I thoroughly enjoyed it, I felt like I wasn’t quite switched on enough to understand everything that was going on. Since watched Legend, and now Black Mass, I realise that’s just the way gangster movies are. It also doesn’t help that I am completely ignorant to history and world affairs, and didn’t know anything about James Bulger until seeing this!

Despite that, I really did enjoy Black Mass. It was so nice to see Johnny Depp play a serious character without a full face of makeup and acting either drunk or high. There’s an amazing actor after all! It made me want to check out some more of Johnny Depp’s older work actually. It was also wonderful to see my Benedict Cumberbatch again, although I don’t think I listened to a single line of dialogue from him as I was too fascinated by his accent!

There are some great names in the cast list but my favourite character was without a doubt John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), the FBI Agent and close friend of James Bulger. I don’t even know what it was about him, but he had a real sense of power about him which turned to despair as the movie went on.

I haven’t seen enough movies similar to Black Mass to give an informed opinion, but one thing I will say is that it was brutal, without the need for glorified violence. It’s very heavy on character development and dialogue which might turn some viewers off, but it’s a fascinating story at the very least.

Review: Testament of Youth (2014)

It's taken me a really long time to write this post, it turns out I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started this movie on my own on a Sunday night.  I had no idea this was a true story until is started watching it and it really struck a cord with me, so I've had to wait a while to write the review so i didn't sob all over my computer!!

Based on the book of the same name by Vera Brittain, Alicia Vikander plays a young Vera during some of the brightest and darkest parts of her life through World War 1.  Vera a strong willed woman determined to do everything people tell her she can't from going to Oxford, to becoming a Nurse and a writer.

This film was truly heartbreaking and the thought that its a true story just chokes me up even more.  Vera was an unbelievably strong woman for what she went through at such a young and just continues to push forward.  It almost made me feel ashamed for worrying over petty issues and not trying to do more than what people expect of you.

I loved Vikander in Ex-Machina and she didn't disappoint, she was amazing at Brittain and made every emotion so raw I was a sobbing snotty mess in the first half an hour.  Another star in the making is Taron Egerton playing Vera's much loved brother Edward, who for me steals every scene he was in (we all knew it was possible after still standing out next to Colin Firth in Kingsman).  I was a little disappointed with Kit Harrington as love interest Roland but I haven't seen him shine in anything outside of Game of Thrones so its not a surprise.

I am fully aware that I haven't really reviewed the film but if I think too much about the plot I'm going to be a blubbering wreck again!

Jenna I want you to know that I really, really tried to watch and enjoy this for you. There are only 2 types of movies I struggle with, War and Period Dramas, and this was just too much for me! I appreciated the performances by the cast, but I just couldn't deal with the story...I think I started to tidy and clean the living room for something more interesting to do...

Review: Experimenter (2015)

When I was in college, I studied Psychology for a year. I’d have gone on to do a second, but I failed quite spectacularly in the exams. My written work in class was excellent, but for some reason I just blew it in exams. Regardless, I loved my psychology class. I’m fascinated by how the mind works, and I still remember a lot about all the studies I learnt about, although names and dates have been discarded to my memory dump.

That said, when I stumbled across a movie called Experimenter, a Biography about social psychologist Stanley Milgram and his obedience studies, I knew I had to watch it!

In 1961, Stanley Milgram (Peter Sarsgaard) designs a psychology experiment to see how people react when acting as a teacher, giving electric shocks to a learner to teach them memory techniques. Each time the learner got a word pair wrong, the teacher would give them an electric shock, with the voltage going up each time. The voltage of the shocks went up to deadly levels. The twist on the experiment was that the learner was a part of Milgram’s team, and wasn’t actually receiving shocks.

Milgram was shocked to find that 65% of his subjects went all the way with the experiment, and despite showing their discomfort with the situation, when told by an authoritative figure to continue, they did. 

Let me get back to the movie, as I’ve already learnt I have no talent in psychology essay writing. The format of the movie is a documentary, but a little different. Stanley Milgram himself tells us his story, and the movie itself is shot to look like it was filmed in the 60s or 70s too, with terrible green screens. I’m not sure I enjoyed that element, I’d have prefered some sort of narrator, but it was something different, at least.

One element I really enjoyed was the story of how Stanley Milgram met his wife, Sasha (Winona Ryder), and how she became fascinated with his work. Having only learnt about his work, it was interesting to hear more about the man himself.

If you have an interest in the subject anyway, Experimenter will be a fascinating watch for you. I wouldn’t describe it as entertaining per se, but it was a compelling watch for me, and reignited that interest I had years ago. 

Review: Spotlight (2015)

This is the one I’ve been waiting for! I haven’t been enjoying the Oscar movies as much as I hoped I would this year, but every time I’ve gone to the cinema I’ve gotten a little more excited for Spotlight. We’ve had to wait for it for so long in the UK! I wasn't even remotely looking forward to this for two reasons, I had a feeling the story was going to stay with me for a while (I wasn't wrong!) and it seemed very talky, I wasn't convinced it was going to hold my attention.

Spotlight is the retelling of the true story of how the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team uncovered the horrendous scandal of child molestation within the Catholic churches, and the cover ups that came with it. It’s one of those movies, just like The Big Short, that covers a real life story that I’m aware of, yet know very little about, which is what made both so appealing to me.

I’m writing this the day after watching Spotlight, and I honestly don’t know where to start. I didn’t sleep well, it played on my mind that much. I’m growing a bit of a fascination with journalistic movies, having watched Zodiac and Nightcrawler most recently, so this was right up my street. I was enthralled within the first 10 minutes, the big offices of the Boston Globe reminded me of somewhere I used to work, and the leaving speech just brought back happy, but cringey memories.

I think what helped was the casting choices for the main Spotlight team. They’re all such likeable characters, with genuine chemistry, and it honestly felt like I was watching a documentary about a team that had been working with each other for years, rather than a movie. Each of the characters begins their year-long investigation with professional courtesy, but as the story unfolds and the scandal grows, you can see it affect each of them on a personal level, and it’s in the second half when the tensions are running higher that you see just how well they can all act.

I really loved the fact that you bought in to every single character without having to spend ages delving into their personal lives, there was the odd passing comment about their lives here and there, Mikes marriage problems for example.  The film was completely focused on the investigation and the victims, this made it all the more difficult to watch for me, normally when a film is unsettling, I will focus on the other mini stories that are running through it.  This didn't have that option so you had no choice but to concentrate on the traumatic experiences of these victims.

Behind my awe however, lay an unsettling feeling of sorts. It’s so uncomfortable to listen to the stories of the survivors and victims of abuse. It’s one thing to read about it, but to hear someone say it out loud, it made me feel nauseous. There’s one scene in particular where Sacha (Rachel McAdams) is talking with a survivor as they walk through the town, straight past a huge church, with a children’s playground right in front of it. That’s an image I won’t be forgetting for a while.

Although it was already in the trailer, so I'd heard it before, there was a line of Michael Keaton’s that just stood out for me from everything else. “We got two stories here: a story about degenerate clergy, and a story about a bunch of lawyers turning child abuse into a cottage industry. Which story do you want us to write? Because we're writing one of them.” That was such a turning point!  There were some great lines in this film that really drew an impact but for me it was all about Mark Ruffalo, I can see why he is up for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars.  The way he delivered each and every line showed every inch of emotion that the real Mike Rezendes must have felt.  This one stood out for me "It's time! They knew and they let it happen! To KIDS! Okay? It could have been you, it could have been me, it could have been any of us. We gotta nail these scumbags! We gotta show people that nobody can get away with this; Not a priest, or a cardinal or a freaking pope!"

Just over 2 hours passed, and as the final words came onto the screen, I felt a rush of different emotions. Disappointment, firstly, that this movie was over already. I didn’t know where the time had gone. Then came anger and disgust at the reality of the story, that lingered with me as I went to bed. Then, the morning after, or now, as I type this, amazement at just how brilliant this movie is.  Those final words on the screen literally broke my heart, it was horrifying to think of how many people were effected by the church and the subsequent cover ups.

Jobs Vs Steve Jobs

Strangely enough even though Job and Steve Jobs came out months apart, I watched them both within the space of a week which actually worked really well and they focused on slightly different aspects of Steve Jobs life.  Firstly, I enjoyed both of these movies, I don’t mind a TV movie as long as its not too cheesy and this one certainly wasn’t that.  

Jobs, with Ashton Kutcher in the title role, starts from his days at Reed College (where he technically wasn’t a student at the time) and focuses more on his business in his parents garage, the Apple 1 development and the relationships he built there and up to the release of the ipod.  Steve Jobs, Michael Fassbender’s version, starts at the release of the Macintosh and ends on the launch date of the iMac.

Jobs delves into Steve’s behaviour within work situations and he aggressive nature towards employees, colleagues and particularly people he considers friends.  It really highlights he want for success and how no relationship or person will stand in his way, including his pregnant girlfriend who he swiftly ditches upon finding out she was pregnant.  The film appears to draw attention to the key points in Apple’s history, rather than Steve Jobs as a person.  It skims over his relationships with his ex-girlfriend, his daughter, Steve Wozniak for example instead choosing to follow the timeline and build up of Apple the company.

Steve Jobs however, does have more insight into Steve as a person, mostly due to the interactions between him and xxx (Kate Winslet), his long serving colleague.  Bringing this character in has opened up a whole new level to the film which Jobs lacks, what Steve Jobs was like behind closed doors.  This version is also structured really interestingly, with 3 parts all taking place at product launches the Macintosh in 1984, the NeXT computer in 1988 and and iMac 1998.  He comes across much more aggressive and egotistical in this one, which from what I have read is closer to the real Jobs but some of his real life colleagues have noted that he did become softer in later life and that wasn’t depicted in the film.  Strangely enough, this movie is only set in work environments and yet appears to cover more of Steve's personal life than the previous version.

Both films include Steve Wozniak as a key player in Jobs life and career, however both seem to skim over the ins and outs of what happened with him.  In Steve Jobs there is countless arguments over mentioning the Apple II team but no indication of what caused this rift between them in the first place.  Kutcher played a good role as the lead character but Michael Fassbender nailed it, I found myself completely engrossed and forgetting that it wasn’t really Jobs.

I’m not going to lie, having read this back its all a bit messy to read because I have just thrown my thoughts on paper and it could probably do with structuring more like an essay to compare the two BUT this is a blog not University so this is what you get!! :-)

Review: The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

I’ve had a real hankering for feel-good movies recently whilst I’ve been feeling a bit down in the dumps, so when I spotted The Pursuit of Happyness in our draft list I tracked it down without giving it another thought. I remembered that Will Smith was in it, and I assumed with a title like that, it was bound to make me feel fuzzy inside. Perhaps I was expecting something more like Hector and the Search for Happiness…

The Pursuit of Happyness is based on the real life story of Chris Gardner (Will Smith) who invested heavily in a large supply of Bone Density Scanning machines. Unfortunately he’s had great difficulty in selling them, as they are only marginally better than existing equipment, at double the price. As Chris and his wife Linda (Thandie Newton) spiral into debt, tensions rise and Linda leaves, although Chris demands that their son Christopher (Jaden Smith) stays with him.

This is one of those films where just when you think things couldn’t get any worse, they do. Then they get even worse than that. It might just be the most depressing film I’ve ever seen. The scene in the subway bathroom broke my heart into a million pieces, and it’s without a doubt the best performance I’ve ever seen from Will Smith.  I cried the first time I saw that scene, it was just so heartbreaking.  I was just screaming at the screen for life to give him a break and let him succeed.  The fact that its based on a true story, just made it so much more emotional and it stuck with me for months after I first watched it.  I did however do some googling and Chris Gardner is extremely successful now as a motivational speaker!

Despite the gloom, it did make me laugh several times. If you’ve seen it, do you remember the scene in the elevator at the Stockbroker’s after Chris takes the intern exam? He tells a colleague how much he struggled with the essay question on the back of the exam, and the intern panics and runs back to the exam room. I still can’t work out if Chris was teasing and the essay never existed! I assumed it did exist, it just proved that Chris was so far ahead of everyone else he did it all and still finished early....

One thing I wanted to know was why 'happyness' was spelled the way it was. I thought the answer was simply because of the graffiti on the wall that featured quite heavily throughout the film, but there's a much deeper explanation to do with an essay written in 1776 that I just can't wrap my head around right now!  I assumed it was because of the graffiti as well, I might have to have a look into this further....

The Pursuit of Happyness is one of those rare films that I loved, but would never want to watch again. Maybe if I was in the right kind of mood, but I don’t think I would call this a ‘feel-good film’. That’s not a criticism by any means!  I watched this for the second time a few weeks ago, the first time I watched it was when it was released, it took me that long to forget how heartbreaking it was.  Once I started it again, I quickly remembered why I didn't watch it again!!

Review: Everest (2015)

We managed to get together the other Friday night for an actual night out! These nights are very rare, in fact the last proper night out we had might have been just before Christmas last year. With bellies full of amazing American-style food and cocktails at Birmingham’s Smoke Rubhouse (my cocktail was far from amazing, it has the taste and consistency of vomit...yak!!), and 2 hours spent watching the harrowing movie Everest, we ended our night curled on the sofa watching Family Guy! Real party animals, we are! You're lucky I made it to the cinema after that cocktail!

Everest was Jenna’s most anticipated movie for September and although I’d heard little about it the cast and the real-life story was enough to sell it to me. Plus, we got to see it in IMAX which is always a bonus!  I have now seen this twice (my Dad was desperate to see it and I couldn't let him go alone) and I thought I might be bored the second time but far from it!

It’s based on the real life story of the expedition teams climbing Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth in 1996. on May 10th, the teams start their final ascent to the summit, after finding a window of opportunity in between the bad weather. A horrendous storm approaches the climbers without warning, and their expedition rapidly turns into a fight for survival as the conditions get worse.

My first thought whilst watching Everest was how quickly it got into gear. There was a brief introduction to the main characters, and very soon after we were already in Nepal at Base Camp, and found out more about each character as they went on with their trek. Too often I find myself bored with the introductions so this was perfect for me, especially with such a large cast. There are some brilliant names here, Jason Clarke, Emily Watson, Sam Worthington, Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal and Keira Knightley to name just a few!  My biggest criticism of this film (and personally I found it hard to find any) was the fact that is was ensemble, I wanted to get to know the characters and their relationships more, especially as it was a true story.  There just wasn't enough time to delve into each character and tell the story it was trying to tell.

The IMAX was just the icing on the cake of Everest. I’m sure there’s an icing joke to be made here, but my funny bone just isn’t tingling right now - argh I can't think of anything clever!!. When the storm hit, I could literally feel it through the power of sound. How weird is that? It’s not that it was overly loud or anything, it just felt like the air around us vibrated in some way. This is definitely the way to experience this film, I just don’t think it would translate as well on your home TV.

I can't really explain my feelings towards this film, I want to say I loved it because I was completely engrossed throughout but I feel like saying you love something that was so devastating and true feels a bit off.  I think the story was told well (I may change this statement when I've read 60 different books on the subject!).  The whole thing really stuck with me after it finished, I couldn't forget about the characters nor the sheer determination and pain it takes to summit Everest, I don't think I ever really thought about it before!!

The IMAX, what can I say about that, I don't think you can truly experience this film without IMAX.  The ladder scene where Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin) topples and is hanging precariously over a terrifying chasm, the camera shoots downwards and its terrifying, I was on the edge of my seat!  The sheer volume and giant screen make you feel like you are there (all they need is a good snow machine and aircon and it could be 4D!).

I knew nothing about the real life story, neither have I read Into Thin Air, so I had no idea what would happen, and if you haven’t either, I won’t ruin anything explicitly for you, but you might want to skip the rest of this paragraph. There’s definitely a sense of ‘real life’ to Everest in the sense that it was entirely realistic. That sounds stupid I know, of course it’s realistic, but in the movies the characters always seem to defy all odds and even in worst case scenarios there’s some sort of happy outcome, which just wasn’t the case.  I have since downloaded every book I can find on this disaster because I just want to know more about these people, who they were and what happened on the mountain.  It's fair to say that I can get a little obsessive over some things and this is one of them, I can't stop thinking about the film and I'm desperate to know more.

Everest was exhausting and mind-blowing at the same time, and I’m really glad Jenna chose it for us to watch!

I watched the whole film tensed upright in my seat and I found myself exactly the same the second time round.  If you don't care about the story, go and see it for the visuals, they are truly stunning!

Review: American Sniper (2015)

One of my favourite things about going to the cinema is watching the trailers. Does that sound silly? I know I can easily watch as many as I like on IMDB, but it’s kind of a game trying to guess which trailers will have been picked for a particular audience. There’s one trailer from the end of last year that I’ll never forget, mainly because I genuinely forgot to breathe whilst watching it!

American Sniper is the real-life story of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) who was a legendary sniper in the war in Iraq. Chris was nothing more than a ‘wannabe’ cowboy until he reached his thirties, when he decided he should do something to express his talent, and help his country which he loved so much. That’s when he joined the SEALs as a sniper and began his first tour in Iraq. Once home, he struggled with normal life and the weight of his conscious.

I hope I can do this film justice with this post, but I have to admit I’m completely out of my depth here. I recall Chris Kyle’s name being in the news and the reason why, but that’s as much as I know. War films have never interested me either, but as I said, the trailer took my breath away, and I’ve been dying to see more of Bradley Cooper since seeing him in Silver Linings Playbook.

American Sniper had me gripped from start to finish. I quickly realised the trailer I remembered so well was simply 2 minutes of footage from the start of the film, and so I was going in blind for the rest of the duration. Good lord, I could barely recognise Bradley Cooper at first, he really beefed up for that role! I just read he had to eat 8,000 calories a day (and work out of course) to prepare, and that made me feel a little ill. He really is on top form in this film, in every single way!

There were plenty more heart stopping moments, the sniping scenes especially, and I thought there was a perfect balance between the scenes at war and the scenes at home. Can I be ‘that guy’ for a minute though? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a faker baby in a film before, seriously! Although, I read that they used a real baby to begin with which was sick on someone, so I might just forgive it for that right there.

All in all, I’m so glad I watched American Sniper. It was a breathtaking and heartwarming film, and it’s opened my eyes to what really goes on behind the news reports I read.

Review: The Theory of Everything (2014)

I have been waiting for this film since I first heard it was coming out, I had a feeling Eddie Redmayne would do a good job and I was not disappointed!

The Theory of Everything is based on the book 'Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen' written by Stephen Hawking's first wife Jane Hawking.  The film starts with Hawking's (Eddie Redmayne) life at Cambridge through to his he first marriage to Jane (Felicity Jones) and publication of A Brief History of Time all while dealing with his on-going battle with Motor Neuron Disease.   

I would have liked to have seen more about Hawking's childhood, the time before he was diagnosed, however after finding out it was based on the book by Jane Hawking, it stands to reason why it only starts when he meets her.  I also would have liked more content on his work in developing theory as it all seemed a little skimmed over, but I suppose from his partners perspective, she wouldn't necessarily have known the full ins and outs of what he did.

I know very little about Stephen Hawking, but I too would have liked to know more about his life when he was younger, but I do understand that it's a book adaptation.

None of this however, took away from the film.  I was fully engrossed from beginning to end, I knew Redmayne would do a good job but he just blew me away, at more than one point during the movie, I forgot it was Redmayne and actually thought it was Stephen Hawking.  He really captured the twinkle in his eye that Hawking always seems to have, if I ever see an interview or cameo from Hawking he shows such a cheeky sense of humour and that was really captured in the film.  I've never been a massive fan of Felicity Jones but she captured this part so well, personally not 'Oscar worthy' well but a stellar performance and the chemistry between the two leads is perfect.

I doubt it was intentional, but Felicity Jones' character kind of irritated me a little. I don't really know why, I have no idea how difficult her life must have been, but still. Sorry.

Although, I very much enjoyed the film and it was good to learn more about Hawking's personal life rather than his work, I don't think it is Oscar worthy.  Redmayne's performance however, is without a doubt 'Best Actor' material, if he doesn't win the Oscar after than performance I will be writing a strongly worded letter to the Academy Awards Board!!!!

Brilliant film, avoids being too soppy and keeps the pace with light-hearted humour and cheekiness while still defining the enormity of both Hawking's work and illness.

It was a lovely film, but it didn't blow me away. Eddie Redmayne however was brilliant, and as much as I would love Birdman to win everything, Eddie does deserve an Oscar for this performance. In fact, if it wasn't for Eddie, I doubt I would have enjoyed it.