Review: Arrival (2016)

Oh boy. I know this year has been a bit of a stinker for blockbusters, but overall I personally think it’s been a fantastic year, and now a new movie has rocked up threatening to become my favourite of the whole year. November, you are awesome. This also means that I’ve been to the cinema two weeks in a row, which is honestly the first time that’s happened all year. Two Amy Adams movies in a row, too!

Arrival is directed by Denis Villeneuve, the master behind Sicario, Prisoners, Enemy and Incendies. He’s currently working on Blade Runner 2049. This man is fantastic, I can’t emphasise that enough. I haven’t watched a movie of his yet that hasn’t wowed me, and Arrival is no exception. The UK has been marketing the hell out of this flick, in fact last time I was at the cinema, during the trailers we were shown 2 different Arrival trailers in a row. It was starting to get on my nerves a tad, but only because I didn’t want to know so much before going in.

First and foremost, this isn’t a Sci-Fi in the typical sense. It’s an alien invasion, for sure, but if you’re expecting Independence Day then this isn’t the movie for you. The world is most definitely at risk here, but there’s no room-shaking action sequences or alien punching of any kind. Our main character is Louise (Amy Adams), an expert linguist recruited to work with scientist Ian (Jeremy Renner) to learn from the aliens what their purpose on Earth is. Twelve pods have descended in seemingly random locations around the world, and they don’t seem intent to blow us into smithereens. 

I never excelled in science, and I can’t speak a second language, so I was grateful for the fact that I could easily understand what was happening during the movie, and actually found myself completely in awe of the linguistic work that Louise was doing. It’s fascinating stuff! How she went about teaching the aliens (heptapods, if you’ll excuse my most likely bad spelling) simple vocabulary, to lead up to actually asking a question was something that seemed impossible at first, but when broken down into stages, actually made a lot of sense.

Louise herself is a captivating character. We are drawn to her instantly and warm to her within the first few scenes when we’re shown a tragic moment in her life. She feels so real, and relatable. I’m pretty sure if we were sent up into a pod to talk with an alien we would freak out as much as she did, rather than staying cool and calm, with our hair and make-up perfectly in tact. But I’m getting off topic now.

I’m almost trying not to talk about the movie to be honest, because I want to be really careful about what I say. The less you know, the better, because the final 20 minutes of Arrival was one of my favourite movie experiences ever. That feeling in your mind of everything clicking into place is just amazing. 

Safe to say, my husband fully forgave me for scaring the crap out of him last week when we saw Nocturnal Animals, and he’s even gone so far as to say this might be his favourite movie of all time! It’s definitely threatening to become my favourite of the year.

Review: Star Trek Beyond (2016)

My husband (awww!!) and I made right fools of ourselves at the cinema. It’s not very often that we see a movie in 3D, but we thought we’d make an exception for Star Trek Beyond. It looked stunning in the trailers, after all. We scoffed some dinner after work, I grabbed our 3D glasses out of the cupboard, and we raced off to the cinema (to catch a few Pokemon before the trailers of course). Mistake number 1. I’d stuffed our 3D glasses into my handbag. My very lovely Loungefly Stormtrooper handbag. Mistake number 2. My husband was wearing his favourite Darth Vader shirt. Mistake number 3. Those 3D glasses? They’re special edition Star Wars ones. I swear, the staff didn’t know whether we were being trolls or just plain stupid. Haha!! Star Wars junkies turning up to see Star Trek...why don't I know this story! We didn't look very cool taking those glasses to see Suicide Squad either...

Anyway, Star Trek Beyond is the third installment of the rebooted franchise, and in this movie we find the Enterprise’s crew 3 years into their 5 year mission. Captain James Kirk (Chris Pine) is questioning his commitment, and Spock (Zachary Quinto) is also considering leaving for personal reasons. The two agree to talk just before a distress call comes in, which turns out to be a trap.

Oh boy. That alien attack on the Enterprise inside the nebula was absolutely stunning. It honestly felt like the finale to the movie rather than the introduction. That was the moment I was glad to have shelled out for 3D. That scene was my favourite from the whole movie, actually. You know how it goes in these flicks, the heroes are facing certain doom but you just know they’ll make it out okay in the end. I was honestly fearing for everyone’s lives at that point, it was so well written, acted and shot. The sight of the Enterprise hurtling through space to crash was so sad.  I loved this scene and it did feel like the end of the movie, I am glad however that I didn't watch it in 3D...my god...I thought  I was going to spew countless times.  The spinning, oh god the spinning - I felt actual nausea....urgh!  Had i seen it in 3D I would not have gotten through it without being reintroduced to my earlier Nandos! You went to Nandos without me?! I'm hurt.

Speaking of sad, there I was clutching my pack of tissues ready for Chekov’s (Anton Yelchin) scenes, when I forgot all about Leonard Nemoy! There were a few touching tributes to him, both in the movie itself and the credits. I wasn’t expecting Chekov to have such a big role in this movie, which was bittersweet in a way. As much as I wanted to see him, I couldn’t help but feel a bit gutted. I don’t know if it was done deliberately (I don’t know how if it was) but there’s a bit right at the end when a toast is made to ‘friends no longer with us’ and I swear the camera was focused on Chekov. Sob… It actually did and I think it was done on purpose, that what I read anyway, it was on the internet so it must be true...right?!

I was fully prepared to be all emotional, I shed a few tears at both the tributes to Leonard Nemoy and Anton Yelchin but I waited for the credits and that got me!  I was blubbing like a baby, oh man!  My Dad was seriously embarrassed to be seen with me!

Cool action and touching tributes aside, I didn’t enjoy Star Trek Beyond as much as I hoped I would. It was a solid movie, but I loved the other 2 so much it would take nothing short of perfection for me to gush about this installment. It was just lacking something, and I’m not sure what. I didn’t understand the lead villain Krall (Idris Elba) very well for a start. It’s only in the final action sequence that you learn who he really is, and at that point I’d kind of stopped caring. That sounds harsher than I mean it to, actually. He was no Khan, let’s face it!  You were never going to like any bad guy as much as Khan, you are a biased source!!  I actually liked Krall as a bad guy and loved the story behind his bad-guy-ness!! My biggest issue is that I hadn't done much research into the cast beforehand and spent most of the film trying to work out who the bloody actor was! 

When I found out Justin Lin was taking over the director role and after I saw the trailer, I was genuinely concerned that it would be all action and fire power and no story.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The story was great and there was just the right amount of action, I loved the hints of comedy that we have come to love from this franchise.  

The Spock and Bones (Karl Urban) team up was a great choice, I could listen to the two of them bicker at each other for ages, but they were the only ones providing the laughs this time. That said, I really enjoyed the new character, Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) and her appreciation for loud music. A solid movie all round, but just not quite as good as I was hoping. The 3D was definitely worth it!

This didn't quite match up to the first two but it was entertaining enough to stop me fidgeting and there was a good mix of comedy, action and sentimentality.

Review: Circle (2015)

I’m back with another Grampy suggestion special! I’ve had to take them with a pinch of salt lately after one fateful movie night where he shunned Everest in favour of The Last Witch Hunter...but I couldn’t resist the sound of this latest suggestion.

Circle (2015) is a small, low budget movie which opens with 50 strangers awakening to find themselves all stood on circles, forming a large circle, in an even larger circular room. Notice the theme? Every 1-2 minutes, someone in the circle is executed by an electrical surge from the centre of the room. It seemingly chooses its victims at random, but the group soon realise that they have the power to choose who is sent to their death, by voting in secret.

From there, the movie descends into chaos as leaders attempt to emerge to decide who in the group should die first. Within the group are people from all ages, races, religions, classes, professions, and it doesn’t take long before personal prejudices come into play. Attempts to not vote at all fail, attempts to all vote one person to the left or right fail, and so the group are forced to make terrible decisions. It really does make you wonder what you would do in that situation yourself. Honestly, as much as I’d like to think I’d be a brave soul who would keep a level head, I would probably hop off my circle and end it all on my own terms! That’s a bit dark when I think about it, ha.

This movie is definitely not for everyone, I accept that. As I said, it’s a small budget kind of movie. There are no faces here I recognised from other movies, and the entirety of the movie takes place within the circular room. It’s very narrative-driven, which admittedly is something I would normally struggle with, but I was so drawn into the conversation, wondering who was going to go next, who was going to survive at the end, how this group of people got here in the first place, and what on earth would happen when just one person was left. Circle is a short movie anyway with a runtime of 87 minutes, but the time flew by much quicker.

It’s not a perfect movie by any means. You have to question how level headed some of the characters actually are. They freak out to begin with, but stay quite calm for the rest of the time. It definitely needed a few characters having a panic attack or simply sat in their circle sobbing relentlessly to feel slightly more real. The reveal of who/what is behind the whole situation also felt a bit short, and didn’t have much of a ‘wow’ factor. I can forgive that though, because the whole focus of the movie is the characters, and how they make these decisions. 

If I could describe it in simpler terms, I’d say that Circle is like 12 Angry Men on crack. The movie 12 Angry Men that is, not 12 actual men who are angry and...you get what I mean. Sorry to compare it to such a legendary movie, but that’s honestly the first thing that came into my head. All I can say is, if Circle sounds like something you think you’d enjoy, give it a try! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Christmas in July Blogathon: The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

The wonderful Drew at Drew's Movie Reviews is running his Christmas in July Blogathon right now. How has it been a whole year since Drew’s last Christmas in July Blogathon?! I honestly remember writing last year’s post as if it were yesterday. Anyway, I’m so glad it’s back, because I need the outlet - Christmas is my favourite time of the year but no one will let me talk about it until December. Last Christmas was an amazing time for me as a movie fan as I delved into the Star Wars movies before watching The Force Awakens, and shocked myself with how much I fell in love with it.

Imagine my surprise then when I discover that in 1978, a Star Wars Holiday Special was broadcast on TV! Okay, so general consensus seemed to be that it was the worst TV movie ever made, but I couldn’t help but feel that watching it was a rite of passage for Star Wars fans. Or maybe I just like to torture myself and watch terrible movies. Who knows! I read the reviews, I read the quotes from the cast saying they wish they could forget it was ever made, and all I could think was, surely it can’t be that bad? I mean, the entire main original cast is here. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, even James Earl Jones! 

Oh, I was so wrong…

So, the gist of the story is this. It’s Life Day, a holiday celebrated by Wookiees, and Han Solo is desperately trying to get Chewie home to his family in time for the celebrations. That’s right, Chewie has a family! Specifically, a father called Itchy, a wife called Malla and a son called...Lumpy. Who names their kid Lumpy? I sure hope that’s a nickname. Anyway, Malla is getting impatient and puts in a few video-calls to some friends to find out where her beloved Chewie is. One of those calls goes to Luke Skywalker himself, wearing more make-up than I do on a night out, but he knows nothing. A local trader and friend by the name of Saun Dann tries to ease Malla’s worries, and later turns up at the house (that was fast) with gifts for everyone.

At this point I should probably point out that over 50% of this movie’s dialogue is spoken in Wookiee, with no subtitles, so you kind of have to guess what’s going on. I was at least grateful for the lack of translation when Itchy was gifted with some bizarre adult-fantasy video…thing. That was disturbing. I need to try and forget that moment, erase it from my memory somehow.

I mean, on the surface of it, The Star Wars Holiday Special is like any other Christmas movie. The father of the family is late coming home, leaving a disappointed child. The family are being inappropriate and no help to anyone, and the cooking turns out to be a disaster. That part at least was actually funny, watching Malla try and follow a cooking program to cook a stew. Turns out, it’s really difficult to mix, whisk and beat a mixture when you only have 2 arms. Who’da thunk it?

Then come the Imperial Officers, flanked by 2 Stormtroopers, here to search the property. Doesn’t anyone get a day off work on Life Day? Poor Lumpy is told to watch his cartoons and stay out of the way. Somehow, Lumpy’s cartoon happens to explain what exactly is holding Han Solo and Chewie up. It’s all a rouse played out by Boba Fett and Darth Vader! Bah humbug, guys!

Honestly, at this point the rest is a blur. I made myself a drink during the first 10 minutes, knowing I was going to need it to watch anymore, and I got through a lot of drinks very quickly. A lot like Christmas I guess! All I know is that it was happily ever after, and there was a musical interlude by the Cantina band somewhere in the mix.

So, lesson learnt. This really was a monstrosity. But did you know this was Boba Fett’s very first introduction? Gotta give the movie a point for that. And another for Malla’s cooking attempts. That’s all I can face giving out, though.

In true Christmas in July fashion, Drew is forming a star-studded Christmas party, and we’re all allowed to invite our favourite celebrity in the hopes we’ll catch them under the mistletoe. I feel like I should stick with the Star Wars theme, and as much as I’d like to catch Kylo Ren and warm up that icy heart of his, I worry he’ll throw one of those tempers and wreck the party. With that in mind, I certainly wouldn’t mind bumping into the best pilot in the galaxy, Poe Dameron, AKA Oscar Isaac! Swoon…

Review: Ghostbusters (2016)

Oh boy. I don’t think I’ve been this nervous about writing a review since, well ever actually. Let’s start a few months ago, when the first bits of news came out that Ghostbusters was getting an all-female remake. I’ve never seen any of the original movies (gasp!) and even as a woman myself couldn’t see the need for an all-female team, and the trailers that eventually came out had me feeling pretty ‘meh’ about the whole thing. We’ve had a fair number of reboots over the last few years, and the lucky few have had mediocre reviews.  I am still horrified that you haven't seen the original Ghostbusters!!

Of course, a few days before the release, IMDB and Letterboxd users rated the movie as low as possible, before they could even have a chance to watch the movie, which honestly winds me up more than is rational. I try not to judge a book by it’s cover, but I use sites like those to get a rough idea, and on the UK release day Ghostbusters had an abysmal score of 3.7 on IMDB. With a rare Monday night free and cheaper tickets at my local cinema, I thought ‘screw it’ and went to see it on the opening night.  Now I had seen the opposite, I hadn't looked as early as Allie so the annoying pre-reviewers had been overpowered by an array of positive reviews.  This unfortunately led to countless people coming out of the woodwork to state that Sony clearly had brought their reviews!! argh - why are people so annoying?!

Out of the Ghostbuster ladies, I’m only really familiar with two of them, Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, who were brilliant together in Bridesmaids (2011), so I had a little hope. I know Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones are from Saturday Night Live, but we don’t get that show here in the UK, although something clicked half way through the movie when I recognised Leslie Jones as the technician who shouted at Kylo Ren in the Undercover Boss sketch, which led to me laughing out loud during a non-funny part of the movie.

Um, I gotta say as well, it certainly is something spectacular when Chris Hemsworth isn’t the hottest blonde in the room. Where has Kate McKinnon been my whole life? I had such a lady boner crush on her the whole time. She’s aloof, gorgeous, and fierce, and everything I want to be!  You may have to fight me for her, she was amazing!!

Anyway, I’m going off topic now. I think what I’m really trying to do is stall, because what I need to say is I really, really enjoyed watching Ghostbusters. Maybe it’s because I’ve never seen the original, maybe it’s because I was expecting something even worse than Independence Day: Resurgence, but it doesn’t matter because I had a blast. The jokes were funny, the special effects were hella-cool, and those ladies kicked ass. 

I have to disagree with Allie, it can't be because she hasn't seen the original because I have seen, and loved the original Ghostbusters and I still loved this.  It was a film of it's own, it wasn't a carbon copy of the originals but had enough easter eggs to keep me happy!  I feel like Allie needs to go and watch the originals and then watch the new one again and it will be like a whole new movie for her!

Chris Hemsworth playing a goofy receptionist was an absolute stroke of genius. He got guaranteed laughs every time he was on screen, but nothing was funnier than his interview for the job. I really don’t want to ruin the joke but I’m laughing just thinking about it. I wish I could get away with being as bad at my job as he is, though. Admittedly, I’ve pretended there’s a really bad line on the phone and hung up when someone on the other end is making absolutely no sense.   This was the first gag I mentioned to Allie when I had seen the film and spent Saturday evening (a bit tipsy) repeating it over and over while laughing hysterically.  I wish I could tell the joke because at this point this whole paragraph is a bit vague!

Look, I’m off topic again! I don’t know what else to say other than I hope people at least give this a chance. I’ll give the original Ghostbusters movies a watch at some point so I have some kind of comparison, and maybe that’ll change my mind, I definitely saw Jurassic World in a different light after finally watching Jurassic Park. And if you hate the cast, hate the new effects, maybe it’s worth watching for some pretty awesome cameos? I didn’t get them all of course, but I could make a pretty good guess when one showed up by everyone else’s reactions. Wait, what am I even talking about? Forget those guys, the best cameo (which isn’t even a cameo, it’s a small role) is DOPINDER. Dopinder, guys!!  This is where Allie lost me, the cameos throughout the whole film made me squeal and whack my Dad in the arm, I didn't even realise that Dopinder was Dopinder until Allie told me afterwards!!

I have to repeat that I loved this entirely as a movie of it's own.  The action was great and the comedy was really. At one point I laughed so much that I had tears in my eyes and missed about 3 other gags that followed.  Chris Hemsworth and Kate McKinnon were by far the highlights, I was a bit disappointed that they didn't utilise Melissa McCarthy's comedy genius more but she can't always be the centre of attention! Honestly I'm glad for that, she's driving me crazy lately and I was worried she'd be as annoying in this as she was in The Boss. She makes such a great supporting cast member, it's when she's the lead that it all goes wrong for me.

Oh, and stay till the end of the credits! Not just for the dancing, I promise, there’s actually a proper scene right at the end.

Review: Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Happy Independence Day, folks! There have been jokes made here in the UK about there being a huge rise in popularity for Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) after we voted to leave the EU. I don’t really know how to feel about contributing to that one...as both Jenna and I watched it at the cinema last week! So, if another sequel gets green-lit because of demand, I sincerely apologise. I’m not even sure if I’m apologising on behalf of Flick Chicks or the whole of the UK itself… both!

It’s been 20 years since the events that occurred in 1996, some people (including Former President Whitmore) are having odd dream visions about a circle, the lights have suddenly switched on in a crashed alien ship, and oddly, the Death Star/Pac Man is approaching the moon, where Liam Hemsworth and co have just avoided a mechanical disaster in a heroic scene not dissimilar to Captain America holding down a helicopter with his bare hands. Yeah, stupid and shit! Government are tougher this time, and order an attack on this intruding, spherical ship, which proves successful.

At this point, I’m calling a spoiler alert. There’s no way that we can try and seriously review this movie...all we can try and do is make sense of what actually happened.

I rewatched the original Independence Day the night before seeing this, and I genuinely didn’t remember it being so cheesy, and SO LONG. Although in the movie’s defense, I realise now I watched the extended cut. Still, it was good fun, and I mean, Will Smith punches an alien in the face, so there’s that.  This is one of my top films ever, I really do love it so I went into this one hopeful but realistic that it was not going to live up to the original.  I literally could not have been more right if I tried....

What I remember next is marvelling at just how far technology seems to have advanced in just 20 years. Flying vehicles was one thing, and okay, maybe we got the technology plans from the alien ships in the 90’s, but wait a second. Did Liam Hemsworth just fly that ship-with-arms from the Moon to Earth to pick up Jeff Goldblum, and then take him back to the Moon in about 20 minutes? I’m no astronaut but doesn’t it take a couple of days at least for a one way trip? This whole film was one day...ONE DAY!!!  I looked at Allie completely flabbergasted when the sun was setting at the end of the LONGEST DAY IN HUMAN HISTORY!!!  Bearing in mind, the countless trips to the moon, Africa and what I thought was Bolivia but turned out to the salt flats in Nevada!!  The freaking moon people!

I have to mention this because it has been driving me bonkers, when the film started there was a female voice over describing what the world was like 20 years on from the 1996 attacks.  I thought some of things she said were really odd, such as 'we can now travel really fast....' It seems that entire voice-over was  justification for all the random shit they were about to play out in their movie - 'Hey, we have alien technology so we can live on the moon now!'  AND how did we afford all this stuff, how can we suddenly afford to live on the moon, is it a shared cost now that all the countries are friends and there is no war.  Is the money allocated for defense against other countries now going towards defense against aliens?!  

So, most of the original cast is back (which I gotta admit, is pretty darn cool) apart from Will Smith, because of the salary he demanded. I guess the team took it to heart and decided to kill Earth’s best pilot in a test flight...which is kind of a lame way to go. Instead we get Jessie T. Usher, playing his Son, giving us the ultimate bro combo. Or not. Because Hemsworth tried to kill him. Not cool. Also not cool? Getting punched in the face in the middle of a cafeteria whilst your buddy steals your Moon Milk.  Moon Milk, fecking Moon Milk - that actually happened?!  This was my turn to laugh until I cried which in turn became just plain crying!

I'm still annoyed that they didn't use the original actors to play Dillon and Patty when they scraped the barrel for Vivica A. Fox for a 2 minutes cameo.  I remember watching the original Independence day and really buying into the characters, willing them to survive and even crying when they didn't.  At countless points in this one, I was willing them to be killed so I didn't have to listen to anymore awful one-liners.

After this I kind of just zoned out and had a bit of fun noticing all of the iconic scenes from the original which were basically copied for the sake of nostalgia. Morale boosting speech? Check. Alien choke slam into a foggy window? Check. The President deciding ‘f this’ and getting into a jet to save the day? Check. And then Liam Hemsworth punched an alien in the face and I lost it. I didn’t even see what happened next, I was crying.

Why did they try to recreate iconic scenes from the first one and recreate them badly.  One of the most remembered scenes from the original was the blue light shining down on the White House and kaboom!  In this one they decided to turn the whole of London upside down, they went bigger but not better!

Then of course we have the final scene, Earth’s last ditch attempt at saving itself from extinction, which of course fails, because inside that Queen ship is an alien the size of a skyscraper, inside another alien body, with it’s own shield. Oh snap. Fear not, the boys are here to save the day, whilst the two Levinson’s are navigating a school bus full of kids around the alien's legs and HOLD UP. Was that a Jurassic Park reference with the side mirror right there?!  This was the best scene of the whole film.

You’ve at least got to give the movie points for the visuals though, because they were pretty amazing. I’d like to know what this would have been like in IMAX, but I’m not sure I’ll ever want to see it again. It’s amazing how a movie like this can actually be quite boring in places. It falls just too far on the bad side to be classed as a ‘so bad it’s good’ movie for me, which is a shame. My only regret is that Jenna and I saw this at the cinema, so had to mock it in whispers rather than just screaming at the TV and inadvertently throwing Chinese food around the living room.

This really was a 'from the makers of Sharknado' situation where we just wanted to whinge and moan about the whole thing to try and make it enjoyable.  For me it was a collection of poor and cheesy one-liners put together to create something horrific!  I read something in another review which rang so true, this film is like a collection of scenes from action movie trailers put together.  The only thing I liked about this was Jeff Goldblum.

Review: Captain America: Civil War (2016)

The year is 2016. We are neck deep in Superhero Movie era at this point. I have neither the patience nor the will to count just how many bad guys have been taken down so far, but it’s obviously a lot, because our heroes have resorted to fighting each other. In this epic Marvel showdown, it’s safe to say that Jenna and I are #TeamCap, (agreed) so let’s get down to business, reporting live from:

What was the deal with those giant location titles, anyway? It felt like a music video, and all it really did was make me jealous of all the amazing travelling the cast and crew got to do. Although, they will be mighty useful when my Dad gets around to watching it, because my Mum spends too much time reading out the little location reminders to him during movies. This was probably the only thing I didn't like about this movie, I remember hating it but I had forgotten, so if my score is affected, Allie is to blame!

So, to set the scene, bad guy Crossbones (Frank Grillo) is up to no good in LAGOS. Sorry, it’s the giant titles making me want to shout the locations. Captain America (Chris Evans) and the gang manage to stop him, but Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) isn’t able to contain an explosion well enough using her abilities, which leads to the destruction of a nearby hotel, and the many deaths of innocent bystanders. This is the final straw that leads the powers that be to put into force legislation that controls the extent to which The Avengers may get involved in times of crisis, which in turn is what fuels the divide between Captain America and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr).

I need to throw in a little rant here...so I get that the movie concept is pulled from a comic not from thin air BUT surely the Avengers saved more innocent bystanders than they actually hurt.  Did no one think to say "fine we won't save the world anymore" wait for the next bad guy to attack, watch millions of innocent people die and then say "that would have only been 12 if we have been involved" surely that would have shut everyone up and they could have gone about with their business - Is this just me?!

With the inclusion of so many Marvel heroes, this could have easily turned into another Avengers movie, but rest assured this is most definitely still Captain America’s time to shine. His plot line with trying to save Bucky (Sebastian Stan) from the control of Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) still stands at the forefront. As well as some of our favourites returning (no Thor though, sob!) we also get introduced to 2 new heroes. Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), a personal favourite of mine from the cartoons, and the newest Spider-Man (Tom Holland) who is most likely going to be the best yet! He’s also the youngest we’ve had, which is definitely a better fit from the comics.  I thought I was going to hate another new Spiderman after loving Andrew Garfield but he my be the best yet, I think he is going to continue to surprise us.

Which brings us swiftly on to the scene we were all waiting for, the ultimate battle at the airport in BERLIN (sorry). This scene is honestly so perfect I don’t even know what to say. It’s intense, made more so by the fact that these guys were once good friends, but it’s also one of the funniest Marvel movie scenes ever. Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) just kills it here! The way he uses his abilities are just hilarious! ‘Sh*t! I thought that was a water truck. My bad!’. I’m honestly laughing just typing this.  This is going to be a very boring review because I basically agree with everything Allie is saying, it's much more fun when we heckle each other!  This scene was the best, I flipped back and forth from tense to laughing, I didn't know what to expect next and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Of course, just like when we were all kids play fighting on the playground, someone takes it too far, and the mood does a full 180 instantly, bringing us back to reality. Obviously I won’t say any more about that here. 

Maybe it’s because I still have the taste of Batman v Superman in my mouth, but I thought the ending to the conflict between Cap and Iron Man was done so well, better than I had imagined it would go. There’s no ‘Oh hey our Mum’s have the same name’ moment here, (damn spoiler alert haha! You have access to the internet, don't tell me you haven't seen 1,000,000 memes about this yet!) the issues are real, and they cut deep, and this isn’t something that can simply end by shaking on it.

That said, as much as I loved this, I do have just a couple of gripes. I know that it’s important for the movie, and it’s only because there are so many superhero movies out there now that this is even an issue, but all the political debates about collateral damage and vigilantes just makes me want to go ‘UGHHHHH’. We knowwww, we know! Oh, and I was so happy to see Martin Freeman pop up in this, but dude what was with that accent? The worst part is, we already know he can do an American accent, so what went wrong here? I’d have preferred him to go full on Fargo than whatever that was.  Argh I had forgotten about the accent, another point deducted thanks to Allie's photographic memory!

Considering I said earlier that the locations were the only thing I didn't like about this movie, I have yet another gripe!!  It was made very clear why the lead characters took the stand they did but the background heroes just seemed to pick a side at random - particularly Clint, I thought he retired to be with his family but now he's willing to fight outside the law and risk going to prison and leaving them?! 

No more issues, regardless of moans, I really did love this and can't wait to watch it again and again when it is out of DVD.

Decades Blogathon: The Fountain (2006)

Originally posted on Three Rows Back and Digital Shortbread as part of the 2016 Decades Blogathon. To see the original announcement post, click here. To see this post in it's original form as part of the Blogathon, click here.

I was a spectator for last year’s Decades Blogathon, so I am absolutely delighted to make the cut to take part this year! As someone with a worryingly long ‘must watch’ list, this was the perfect chance to tick off a movie that I’ve been putting off for a while. The Fountain has been on my list for a while now, I can’t remember exactly what first brought my attention to it, but I was fascinated by the mixed opinions on it. Simply look at the chart on Letterboxd here to see what I mean. There aren’t many ratings charts that look like that.

The Fountain (2006) is an incredibly artistic and complex movie, but in it’s most simplest form, it is the story of a scientist named Tommy (Hugh Jackman), desperately trying to find a cancer cure for his dying wife, Izzi (Rachel Weisz).

It is, of course, much more than that. There are actually 3 separate stories here, all woven intricately within each other. For the first half of the movie, it’s incredibly easy to get confused with the stories, and the timeline itself. There are so many perplexing details that the movie focuses on, that it’s hard to switch off and simply enjoy the story for what it is. Rest assured, all those questions you build up get answered in a drip feed as the time goes by.

In fact, it’s incredibly rewarding to see such tiny details explained such a long time afterwards. It’s really one of those rare movies where nothing is shown or said without a purpose, and I like that. My one piece of advice actually would be to stick with this if you find it getting a bit too much. If it wasn’t for the fact I was watching this for the Decades Blogathon, I can’t confidently say I would have watched the whole thing.

What lies beneath these intricate tales is one of the most heartbreaking yet beautiful love stories I’ve ever seen. It’s a real testament to both Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz for their amazing acting skills and natural chemistry together. Izzi’s battle with cancer is all too familiar any Tommy’s refusal to accept the reality in front of him was so difficult to watch. The name of the movie comes from the book that Izzi has been writing as she documents her journey, and the scene in which she asks Tommy to complete final chapter for her, because he ‘knows how it ends’ is a very memorable one. 

My only real complaint is that the spiritual elements of the movie just get too complicated for me to understand.  Second viewing might aid this, as I literally went in blind, whereas knowing even just the blurb on IMDB would have probably helped me greatly. That said, anyone who is naturally interested in spirituality will have an amazing experience with this. It’s so well done, and considering the fact that it’s 10 years old now, it hasn’t aged at all. If it weren’t for the famous faces in the lead roles, this could easily be mistaken for a current release.

With a runtime of a little over an hour and a half, this movie whizzes by, and the ending comes all too soon. That said, I think if this was any longer some might give up before the end, when all their questions are finally answered. I highly recommend The Fountain, but I accept that it isn’t one for everyday viewing.

Review: Midnight Special (2016)

Date night! This might be the first movie Jenna and I actually watched together at the cinema THIS YEAR. Is that right? What did we actually watch together last?  Urm I think you might be right, I don't actually remember the last time we went!

Anyway, I do love our cinema trips. They almost always involve a cheeky Nandos, and I get a free ticket thanks to those delightful meerkats and Jenna’s Cineworld card. I did not approve of the life size, all too real Idris Elba cutout in the foyer that terrified me every time I looked it. So mesmerising at the same time, though… This feels like the ideal time to mentions Allie's joke about Idris' elbow....you may have had to be there! Did you actually hear that? I can't help calling him Idris Elbow but I thought I only got halfway through that sentence before the cardboard version of him terrified me!

On to the movie! I don’t want to tell you too much about the plot of Midnight Special, because it’s one of those that’s better the less you know, but this is what I could tell from the trailer and the summary on IMDB. A young boy named Alton with mysterious, special powers (Jaeden Lieberher) is on the run from the government with his father (Michael Shannon). That really is all you need to know. That, and the fact that this is a Sci-Fi movie.

It’s got one of the greatest openings to a movie I’ve seen for a long time. The logos of the production companies are still being played, but you can hear a news report in the background giving an amber warning for a missing child, kidnapped by a man named Roy (Shannon). Quickly we realise we’re in the motel room occupied by Roy, Alton and a friend of Roy’s, Lucas (Joel Edgerton). In the middle of the night, the three leave their room and drive at speed through the night. 

Right from the outset, my mind had questions floating around. Who is Lucas? Why are they on the run? Where has Alton been kidnapped from? As the movie creeps along, most questions get answered, but more crop up constantly, and that’s one of the greatest things about Midnight Special. It leads you on at a relatively slow pace, but keeps you guessing throughout. Just when your mind has caught up, it picks up pace again and gives you a fresh batch of thoughts. It also made me jump pretty badly, twice! I’d actually only started trusting the movie again when it got me the second time.  

I am struggling to put together any kind of coherent review for this film.  One thing I will say is that I'm glad I completely forgot the trailer, going into this with an open mind is kind of the only way to watch it.  It's a slow burner that's for sure, refusing to give away anything but the bear minimum of information and building on that.  I think it was nearly 30 minutes before they confirmed that one of the men 'kidnapping' this boy, was actually his father. Had they have provided all the information as we went along I don't think I would have been as engrossed as I was, i was constantly waiting for the answer to a question which inevitably posed a new question!

The performances are great all round. I only really discovered Joel Edgerton last year in The Gift, and his role here was completely different. I’m looking forward to seeing more of his movies. Michael Shannon is an actor I’ve seen very little of also, and he was the star in this one, saying more with his expressions and body language than he did with actual words. I felt Kirsten Dunst was a bit wasted, personally, but maybe that’s because I wanted to know more about her past, and didn’t. Adam Driver was everything I wanted him to be, playing a more serious role than I’m used to seeing him in, but with the right amount of awkwardness for it to still be him.

I was really impressed with Shannon (i'd expect nothing less), Edgerton (no idea what to expect) and Driver (if I said I didn't like him Allie would cut me out of her wedding!). Lieberher did a really good job of playing someone smarter than all the adults around him but still providing a vulnerability that made you want to just hug him.  Don't get me started on Dunst, I don't like her, this had not made me like her anymore.  In fact, I think the whole film could have been just as good without that character entirely.

I want to keep this spoiler free, so I won’t discuss the ending, but afterwards, Jenna and I both agreed we needed to sleep on this one before we knew how to feel. I thought about it the whole drive home, stayed up far too late reading into it, and spent my break at work telling a colleague about it. I love movies that do this to me! When I started writing this, I’d told myself I was giving Midnight Special an 8, but actually putting my thoughts into words has made me realise I enjoyed this more than I thought I did.

It took me four days to work out how I felt about this and how to put that into words.  It's slow paced, providing enough tension to keep me on the edge of my seat without having to resort to excess CGI and huge set pieces.