Attack of the Sequels! Blogathon

A fellow blogger, Rhys at Feeling Fuzzier is hosting a blogathon over the next couple of weeks all about sequels - ones that haven't happened and that we think should. I've been really thinking hard about this one!

 

Here are the rules, taken from the original post:



1. Pick up to 5 films that you enjoyed, but never got a follow-up film. You can include films that are already sequels (e.g. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army). Doesn't matter how ridiculous it may sound.

2. Talk about why you'd like to see a sequel to those movies, and where said sequels would take the story.

3. Please include the blogathon banner (above) somewhere in your post. 

4. The deadline is August 7th - but I'm sure I'll go easy on any late submissions ;)

 

And so, whilst Jenna is still on holiday, here are my choices, in no particular order...

 

#1 - Green Lantern (2011)

It seems I'm doomed to forever talk about Green Lantern. I'm really sorry Rhys, I know you picked this too, but this is literally the first film that came to my head when I saw your announcement. For all of it's flaws, you only have to look through the Green Lantern comics to understand that a far more awesome story could be told in a sequel. I'd love to see a sequel, or even a re-make that tells the story of the Sinestro Corps.

 



#2 - Zombieland (2009)

I think a 'sort-of' sequel might have been made for Zombieland in the form of a terrible TV Show, but I would love to see a real sequel. I don't know whether I'd like it to pick up from where the first ended at the theme park, or perhaps follow a different set of survivors. All I know is it would be epic.

 

#3 - Chronicle (2012)

I had to watch Chronicle twice before I really appreciated it, but it's a really clever concept and Dane DeHaan did a fantastic job I thought. Chronicle didn't really have a fully closed ending, and so I think there's a sequel in there somewhere, about what Andrew does when he gets to the monastery. Does he learn to control his powers, or do they get the best of him again?

 

#4 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

 

Only recently did I watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but it reminded me in some ways of Office Space, and then I thought, how cool would a sequel be of a grown up Ferris deciding to take a day off work? Throw in a couple of cameos of the original cast? Why hasn't this been done yet?!

 

#5 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

I actually don't know what happened here. I read every book in the Series of Unfortunate Events when I was younger and loved them. Then they made a film out of the first book, and I loved it. So what happened to the others? So okay, there's a few dark themes in here, but it had so much potential, and Jim Carrey was just born for the role Count Olaf.

Top 10 Guilty Pleasures (Allie)

Following my Thursday's Thought: Ignorance is Bliss post, Jenna decided that we needed to do a Top 10 Guilty Pleasures list. Can you hear me sighing through these words? We spent a whole 25 minute car journey and nearly an hour in Nandos arguing over this. How do you define guilty pleasure? What should we include? What I really should have done is let Jenna write my list for me...

I think it's fair to say that a guilty pleasure film is a film that you really love, but that you're a little embarrassed to admit to. Therefore Jenna, Love Actually and Jingle All The Way will not be in this list! I thought we officially defined it as 3 stars or less in Total Film review?!  Don't go changing the rules at the last second woman! See? Still arguing!

This is going to be in no order, because I don't want to start a debate as to whether we list them by how much we love them, or how embarrassing they are...

Green Lantern (2011)

Do I really need to explain this? I think by now you should already know my reasons for loving this film, and we've definitely heard enough from Jenna on the subject! Pahaha I knew you would have to include this a)because it's Ryan b)because it IS a guilty pleasure!!!

Bubble Boy (2001)

I'll forgive you if you've never heard of this. I bought it on VHS as part of my Jake Gyllenhaal craze. It has the weirdest plot ever but I absolutely love it, and will happily watch it again and again.  I LOVE this film, I had completely forgotten about it, might have to borrow the VHS off you (not that I have a VHS player anymore!)

Foolproof (2003)



Ah, if you've watched White Collar or anything similar you'll understand how awful this film is. But it has the Ryan Reynolds charm in it, and like a total fool, I didn't see the plot twist coming so that's why I love it.  Not even heard of this so I can't comment.

Blade Trinity (2004)

 

Sorry Ryan but I'm including another of your films here. Although I have seen all of them, so there's bound to be a few bad eggs! I actually really love Blade Trinity though just for his character, Hannibal King. Every line just cracks me up and come on, who doesn't love that topless scene?

Chicken Little (2003)

You know, I haven't seen this film for about 10 years, but every now and again I'll start singing 'It's the End of the World as we Know It' and I'll think about this film and how much I loved it when it came out. I also only just realised that Zach Braff voices Chicken Little!  I'd like to see this, might have to give it a go, see if it is guilty pleasure worthy!

Daredevil (2003)

I found  Daredevil on DVD in CEX for £1, and I'm pretty sure even the staff mocked me for buying it. I love Ben Affleck though and I'm a sucker for hot guys! The soundtrack really was awesome though and I still play it in my car to work every now and again.  This film bored the socks off me, I couldn't get into it, I didn't like Ben Affleck and I liked Jennifer Garner even less!

High School Musical (2006)

What team?! I'd like to redeem myself here by saying I didn't enjoy the sequel much, and I've never seen the third one. I could love High School Musical just for the soundtrack though, and it's what got me into watching Glee, which is probably something I shouldn't admit.  LOVE IT!!

Miss Congeniality (2000)

I almost didn't include this. I mean come on, it's Sandra Bullock! As Raj from Big Bang Theory says, she can do no wrong! This should actually be a guilty pleasure on behalf of my other half, because he loves this film, and even watched the sequel with me.  This is awesome, is it a guilty pleasure?!  I don't know anyone who doesn't like this film, it think my Dad even likes it!

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

Ah, it doesn't get more embarrassing than this, does it? Sorry, but Twilight is a massive guilty pleasure of mine. It's the perfect film series to put on after a bad day, in your pjs and with a massive tub of ice cream. Team Edward, baby! Agreed!  I hate admitting it but I do like the Twilight films - I can't help it!

Just Married (2003)

Just Married might be my most watched film of all time. I used to watch it nearly every week in High School when my friend stayed over. We watched it together a couple of weeks ago, pretty much 10 years later, and I was chuffed that we both still love it now! Amazing film, I still howl with laughter at this film.  I love it when she throws the ashtray at his head and when they pick up their car, cue quote:  'I *am* flooring it! If I pushed any harder, my foot would blow through the floor and we would be Flintstone-ing our asses there!'

So there you go, you know my deepest, darkest, film secrets. Mock away. You can bet Jenna will. It's okay though, she hasn't done her list yet, so I'll get my own back on her. I can't help but notice that 4 of my 10 films are from 2003, was that just a really bad year for films?  I think I restrained myself quite well ;-)

I hope this has got you thinking about your own guilty pleasure films...because we may have an announcement to make very, very soon!

Thursday's Thought: Ignorance is Bliss

Sometimes I feel like a bit of a cheat, co-running a film blog. I only really got into films in the last few years, and there's a whole ton of films that are considered 'must watch' that I haven't seen, or even heard of. Then I think to myself, well that's the reason this blog is so enjoyable. I get to discover great films I've never heard of, watch them, and then share my thoughts with like-minded people.

I'm also fairly easily amused by many films, and struggle to understand heavy plots (hello, Inception), which does lead to my more 'hardcode' film fan friends to poke fun at me. What I think though, is that ignorance is bliss.

The idea for this post came to me whilst driving to work this morning listening to Busted (don't ask) and Thunderbirds Are Go came on (Love it!). It reminded me of when the film came out, how it was the first time I ever even heard of the Thunderbirds, and how much I loved the film at the time, even though it felt like the rest of the world hated it. So today, I want to talk briefly about Thunderbirds and two other films I really enjoyed.

Thunderbirds (2004)

This is quite fitting, as it's been 10 years since this film came out! Me and my friends went to see this for the sole reason that Busted provided the song, Thunderbirds Are Go. I didn't know anything about the Thunderbirds and I fell in love with it! My email address contained Virgil Tracy for about 8 years before I finally changed it. I still have the DVD and I would love to watch it again soon to see if I still enjoy it; I'll review it on this blog too.
In this case, I was completely ignorant to the horrific reviews but that year, I watched some of the original TV Show episodes, and my parents got me some of the old school toys from eBay too.  I too only watched this because of the Busted song and I was really disappointed when it was only played at the end.  I don't actually hate this film, I found it rather entertaining, maybe a bit too cheesy and certainly not enough of the other Tracy brothers (Scott was always my favourite in the original series).  I have watched it a few times since and still the credits (with the Busted song) are still the best part overall!!

Green Lantern (2011)

Jenna's going to rib me for this, I know. In fact, even now I'll happily file this under 'Guilty Pleasure', but before I saw this, the only comic book film I'd seen was Thor, which I loved, and so I was happily dragged to another comic book film. Again, I had no knowledge of who the Green Lantern was or what made him special, and so the origin story was awesome for me. It spurred on my love of comic books (and Ryan Reynolds) and after collecting loads of graphic novels, I see now that although the film certainly wasn't bad, it could have been a hell of a lot better.
But still, if this film brought on an appreciation of comic books, and the films, it can't be a bad thing, right? You justify this however you need to haha!!  If I'm going to be honest the first time is saw this I didn't completely hate it but then I watched it again and I DID completely hate it.  Some of the graphics used are great, Ryan Reynolds suit is awesome but the story lacks and I didn't find myself caring whether Hal Jordan survived or not! Sorry Allie!!

Robocop (2014)

Can you see the pattern emerging here? I've never seen the original Robocop, whatever it was. I don't even know if it started as a film, TV show or comic. My guy friends are fans though, and so after I had seen the Robocop film I happily struck up the conversation. "Hey guys, I saw Robocop last night, what did you guys think?" Which was followed by groans and then ten minutes of getting my ear chewed off about how his accident was lame, and something about the giant robot things. Oh. I actually really enjoyed it. Sure, it took half the film before the action really kicked in, but that's not always a bad thing!
I'm probably going to watch the original Robocop now, in whatever form it may have. I'll have to write up a review of the new version first before I end up hating it!

I hope I haven't rambled too much but these things play on my mind every now and again. I'd love to know, is there a film you love that everyone ribs you for?