Review: Nocturnal Animals (2016)

I don’t remember ever going into the cinema as blind as I did last week for Nocturnal Animals. I’d heard a lot of buzz surrounding the name, I’d watched the trailer (once) which didn’t give much away at all, and I knew Jake Gyllenhaal was in it. That was enough for me, and I somehow convinced my husband to come along too. I don’t know how I did it, but I have a feeling it may have been something to do with the ever beautiful Amy Adams.

Before I go into an actual review, I have to share a funny moment with you. Tuesday and Wednesday showings have a silly amount of adverts before the movie, because of the wildly popular ‘Meerkat Movies’ 2-4-1 deal. This poor couple in front of us were already there when we arrived, sat through the whole slog of ads, the 5 trailers (although we were shown the Arrival trailer twice in a row, odd) and when the BBFC ratings screen came on with ‘Nocturnal Animals’ emblazoned on the left hand side, they realised they were in the wrong screen. I hope they didn’t miss too much of Doctor Strange, because that opening scene was awesome.

Anyway! Nocturnal Animals is a dark movie split into two narratives. First we have Susan (Amy Adams), an art gallery owner living a seemingly-perfect life in her mansion of a house adorned with staff, and a husband who sadly, is hardly ever at home. One morning she receives a parcel from her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal), a manuscript for a book he’s written that he wants her thoughts on. The book turns out to be dedicated to Susan, but is a dark and twisted story, which haunts her.

Whenever Susan starts reading the book, we get to see it played out, by Jake Gyllenhaal himself and his book-wife (Isla Fisher). Their story isn’t for the feint-hearted, it’s a cruel and violent tale. Some scenes are particularly difficult to watch, and I get the feeling they were deliberately made as long as possible to make the audience uncomfortable. If that is the case, it definitely worked on me. I kept thinking to myself ‘Oh that won’t actually happen though, they wouldn’t show us that’ and then they did! I’m getting the shivers just thinking about it.

So, whilst we see Edward’s story played out in snippets, we also go back to Susan often to learn more about her, and more importantly, what happened all those years ago between her and Edward. There’s a theme of revenge here for sure, and we know that Susan left him, but not why, or under what circumstances. It’s really well edited in these sections, the way something happens in the book that then takes us back to real life, and editing isn’t something that I normally take notice of.

Of course, I won’t give anything away, but I love an ambiguous ending. One that’s satisfying enough when taken at face value, but when you start to analyse every little detail, you begin to come up with different theories about certain elements. 

I really loved this movie, but I will NOT forgive that jump scare. You can witness it for yourself, I’m not going to warn you, but it scared the crap out of the entire screen. Then I had to watch the next ten minutes from the corner of my eye in case something else happens. My poor nervous wreck of a husband now labels Nocturnal Animals as ‘that piece of sh*t movie that scared me’. He liked it of course, but he’s a bigger scaredy cat than me!

So yes, big seal of approval from me. Just...skip the opening credits if you can...trust me.

Looking Forward to Seeing at the Cinema: November 2016

As always, I'm writing this post a little earlier than 1st November, so it's absolutely terrifying for me to be thinking about movies coming out in November when I haven't even started my Christmas shopping yet! For the record, by the time you're reading this, I'll have already had the annual 'Christmas Planning Meeting' with the Husband, probably over breakfast at one of our favourite American Diners. Spoiler alert for any friends and family reading this: you're all getting movies!

Enough of that though. This post is a little different this month, because there are a ridiculous amount of movies coming out that I want to see. It saddens me knowing that I won't make it to the cinema for them all, but hey, at least I'll look forward to seeing them on DVD next year. No, this month, there is a movie out every single week that I want to see!

I don't know much about Nocturnal Animals, I've tried to shy away as much as possible, because honestly, with Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal as leads in a Thriller/Drama, that's all I need to get me excited. It looks dark, gritty, and I think there are going to be a few twists and turns as the story unfolds.

Nocturnal Animals will be released in UK cinemas on 4th November 2016.

Amy Adams is killing it this year! Just 1 week later she's starring in a Drama/Mystery/Sci-Fi alongside Jeremy Renner called Arrival. Again, I've tried not to dig to much into the plot of this one, but it's the Director that's really selling it to me. Dennis Villeneuve has directed some of my favourite movies, Sicario, Enemy, Prisoners and Incendies to name a few. This guy is hella talented, and I can't wait to see Arrival.

Arrival will be released in UK cinemas on 10th November 2016.

If you know me at all, you'll know how much I love Harry Potter. I started reading the books when I was just a kid, I attended midnight openings for the last 3 in the series, and if I really don't know what to watch, I'll stick on a Harry Potter movie. It's obvious that I'm looking forward to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Is the news about it being a 5 movie series true? I actually hope not, I'd rather have movies that explore other areas of the wizarding world, but I'll see them nonetheless.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them will be released in UK cinemas on 18th November 2016.

Shameless choice alert! It's been nearly a whole year since my Adam Driver obsession started (blame Benedict Cumberbatch for going quiet for so long) and so I'm desperate to see him in something new. He's been the only shining star in too many terrible movies, so I'm not sure where to set my expectations for Paterson. I also don't know how to convince the husband to see this with me. Perhaps Jenna will be free...she saw Midnight Special with me...

Paterson will be released in UK cinemas on 25th November 2016.

Review: Demolition (2016)

After completely getting the release date wrong for this as well as double booking the same night for a work event, I was not doing too well in the planning of seeing this film (I think as I plan for a living, I apparently don’t like to do it well outside of work!).  Anyway, when it finally was released and I managed to plan a date night with Lou without double booking it, off we went armed with enough Nachos to feed a small army to see it.

This movie starts as with the trailer with Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal) writing a letter to the vending machine company to complain about the fact he lost a dollar in one of their machines and that he was upset because at that point his wife had just died.  The rest of the film is how Davis deals with losing his wife including destroying everything he owns to find out what the problem with it might be.

That might be the worst summary I have ever written for any film ever.  I have tried but I don’t want to give anything away that isn’t I the trailer because it is definitely one you need to see for yourself.  I am still trying to work out how to review this because I can’t decide if I even liked it, loved it or hated it.  That’s probably a bit extreme, I certainly didn’t hate it!  I was not bored at any point during the film, I was content for the whole thing however I’m not sure whether it was supposed to be a comedy or a drama, I suppose they were going for this modern dramedy genre, making uncomfortable situations bearable with comedy.  I do like this idea because as Allie and any of my friends will tell you, I love to make a joke in a sad situation, I also laugh about things I probably shouldn’t.

In fact, as I have been typing about how I don’t know if I like this film, I have actually decided that I like it because it’s real.  Admittedly, not many people demolish everything they own (including their house) but people do respond to things like death in different ways.  Not everyone cries, people laugh, people go a little but crazy and people behave in the complete opposite way to how everyone would expect.  I love that.  I love that this has considered the idea that not everyone who losing someone is distraught and just because someone dies, you don’t need to put them on a pedestal. 

Also, there are some great supporting cast, Sam Shepherd as the grieving father and Naomi Watts as the pot head love interest trying to help Davis.  A massive shout out has to go to Judah Lewis, playing Karens’s troubled son, he absolutely stole the show in every scene he was in.  I’m looking forward to seeing him in more in the future.

Thursday Movie Picks: Movies Adapted from Movies of a Different Language

It's Thursday! Time for Movie Picks. I'm so gutted I missed last week's theme, especially as I had only recently watched Flightplan! Anyway, Thursday Movie Picks is a fantastic series hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves, where each week she picks a theme and we all choose 3 movies that we feel fit.

I really love taking part in this series, but every now and again there will be a theme that just sits right outside of my comfort zone, and I back out. This week’s theme in Movies Adapted from Movies of a Different Language. This is well out of my comfort zone. Firstly, I can count on one hand the number of foreign language movies I’ve seen, and I don’t need to use many fingers, either.

In fact, there are only 3 movies I can think of that I’ve seen that were adapted from a movie in another language, so this is not a ‘best of’ or a ‘hidden gem’ list in the slightest! They’re also all English language movies. So, please forgive me this week, but I’m looking forward to learning a lot from everyone else taking part.

Brothers (2009) is adapted from the Danish-language movie, Brødre (2004). It’s actually a fantastic movie in my opinion, but hard to watch for sure. Jake Gyllenhaal’s character is left to comfort his brother’s sister after he goes missing at war in Afghanistan. This is heartbreaking enough, but when his brother, played by Tobey Maguire, is found and returned home, tensions run high.

Delivery Man (2013) is adapted from the French-Canadian movie, Starbuck (2011). I’m a big fan of Vince Vaughn, but this was a bit of a let down. I didn’t actually realise until this week that it was a remake, and I’m curious to see the original now. Surely it wouldn’t have been re-made if it was terrible? Anyway, Delivery Man is based on a real-life situation where a man in the US came to realise that due to his donations, he was the father of 150 children.

And now I’m breaking an unspoken rule by picking a movie I’ve already chosen for another theme. Sorry! The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) is adapted from the Swedish-language movie, Män som hatar kvinnor (2009). Now say that 5 times quick. This is also based on a book of the same name, which I’m sure you knew already. It’s a great read, if you’re on the hunt for something new to start. It’s the story of a journalist who hunts down a woman who has been missing for over 40 years, with the help of a young computer hacker. It’s compelling, and gritty, and I highly recommend it!

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!

Thursday Movie Picks: Journalists/Reporters for Print/TV

Happy Thursday everyone! Did you know that there’s only 99 days to go until Christmas? Sorry. 

In a week where politics seems to have taken over the radio and TV in the UK, I’m more than happy to switch off and  immerse myself into movies, and what better way than with Wanderer’s Thursday Movie Picks? This week we’re looking at Journalists/Reporters for Print/TV, and here are my picks:

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013) is a British to the bone Comedy about a chain of events which sees DJ Presenter/Reporter Alan Partridge’s radio station being taken over by a group of corporate big-wigs. The situation worsens when Alan (Steve Coogan) upsets a colleague who then decides to hold everyone hostage. In a crazy turn of events, Alan becomes a hostage negotiator between them and the Scotland Yard. I was dragged kicking and screaming into the cinema for this, but it was actually a lot funnier than I expected. Complete silliness of course, but good fun!

One of my favourite films of last year, Nightcrawler (2014) is the story of Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), a desperate man trying to get into the world of crime journalism. As he becomes more and more successful, his morality blurs into the point of darkness. I initially overlooked this film completely but I’m so glad I gave it a go in the end, it really left me cold by the time the credits rolled. Our full review is here.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) is a movie based on the book of the same name by Stieg Larsson, in which a journalist seeks the help of a female hacker to find a woman who has been missing for forty years. This is the only version I’ve seen, I’m yet to watch the Daniel Craig version, but I just loved how gritty this was and how true it stayed to my vision of the book. The book is definitely worth a read, too!

Thursday Movie Picks: Train Movies

It’s Thursday again! Time for another round of Thursday Movie Picks hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves. 

This week, it feels like Autumn is well and truly on it’s way, and it won’t be long before the work commuters will be hearing the dreaded ‘...delayed due to leaves on the line’ whilst they wait for their busy train to work. I’ve been there! So, without further ado, here are my train related picks this week.

"Tickets and passes please...tickets and passes..."

Probably one of the most obvious choices, but absolutely one of my favourites, Source Code (2011) is a cracking thriller in which Jake Gyllenhaal discovers he is part of an experimental government program in which he needs to find out who the bomber of a commuter train is. He has only 8 minutes to find his target, or the train will blow up and he’ll have to start all over again. I thought it would be a little stale with the repeated scenes, but it’s actually one of my favourite movies ever.

It’s only September, I know, but we’re talking about trains, and how can I not mention one of my favourite Christmas movies, The Polar Express (2004)? A magical movie in which Tom Hanks plays over 50% of the entire cast, Santa’s elves not included, and I can’t believe that it’s 11 years old now. Since starting to blog I’ve come to realise not many out there like The Polar Express much, but the songs in it give me festive goosebumps!

The only reason I watched Unstoppable (2010) a couple of years ago was for Chris Pine, and I fully expected it to be a bore-fest. How interesting could a movie be about a freight train out of control? Very, it turns out, and I was sat on the edge of my seat for quite some time. It had a great mix of action scenes and drama, and I was really proved wrong.

I want to put out an honourable mention to Snowpiercer which I would have included, but I’ve picked it for a different theme already. 

Review: Enemy (2013)

One of the things I personally have really enjoyed about getting into the movie blogging community is the discovery of films I would have never come across before. The last film I saw thanks to this was Snowpiercer, which I loved, and another film I saw a lot of reviews come in for was Enemy, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. How did one of his films pass my radar? I love this guy.

The film itself is about Adam (Gyllenhaal), a quiet lecturer. One day, a colleague of his recommends him a film, and on a whim, Adam rents it from his local film rental store. When he watches it that night, he is shocked to see an actor that looks exactly like him. He then becomes hell-bent on tracking this man down to meet him, which causes confusion for himself and all he meets.

Within the first 5 minutes of Enemy, I knew this was a very creative film. I actually wondered for a moment whether I had put the right film on, especially as I’d already looked up the synopsis. There’s a lot of metaphors, and spiders! There’s definitely a sense of things not being as they seem throughout the whole film, which leaves you questioning everything. One thing I loved was that everything in the film has a purpose, there isn't a spoken line that has no meaning.

Jake Gyllenhaal was fantastic in this, playing two characters with distinct personalities, from Anthony who is confident and cocky, and Adam who is quite the introvert. I think it’s the type of role he was born to play to be honest, he does it so well. 

The ending to Enemy will stay in my mind forever. I wasn’t expecting to jump out of my skin, and I didn’t sleep well at all that night! I tweeted about it straight away and I think it was Rhys at Feeling Fuzzier who shared the same feelings as I did. After getting over the shock though, my next thought was ‘what?!’. It was the first time since Inception that I had to spend the next hour on the web looking into an explanation of what had just happened. After reading up on it though, I was amazed. It’s just that clever.

I want to give Enemy a hugely high score just for the sheer complexity and Jake Gyllenhaal’s acting, but the only thing that let the film down for me were the huge periods of time where virtually nothing happened. My need to work out what was going on kept me watching, but some parts were sadly plain boring.

Mini Reviews: Brothers (2009), Taken 3 (2014) & Delivery Man (2013)

I watched Brothers as part of my crusade to watch every Jake Gyllenhaal film out there. Brothers is actually a remake of a Danish film of almost the same name, back in 2004. It’s a powerful drama that begins with Capt. Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) being presumed dead in Afghanistan. The main focus of the story is how his wife Grace (Natalie Portman) and brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) cope with his disappearance. 

Although slow paced at times, I was glued to the screen the whole time and was fascinated by the events on screen. It’s some of the best acting I’ve ever seen from Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire. The ending in particular stuck with me all night, and as much as I could praise this film, it’s not one you would happily re-watch on a Saturday afternoon. One thing I’ll say is that if you fancy watching this, don’t watch a trailer! It gives away the whole film.

This is what I dream of every time I hear the doorbell ring...

My ultimate guilty pleasure, Liam Neeson. To be honest, even I can say now that the guy really needs to play a different character soon. Although admittedly, I’ll still go and watch whatever film he’s in! Taken 3 is...exactly what you expect. Although, no ones been taken this time. Unless you want to be poetic and say Bryan’s ex-wife’s life was taken away. Boo. Now Bryan is on the run trying to find her killers.

Taken 3 wasn’t as bad as I was gearing myself up for, but it certainly wasn’t a masterpiece either. Still, it was miles better than Taken 2. There was a twist I guessed a mere milisecond before it happened, but most people probably would have guessed it ages before. This really needs to be the end of it though now, I won’t support any more Taken films. I just get too much stick. Oh, who am I kidding…

I can’t believe Delivery Man was out two years ago. Wow! I was a huge Vince Vaughn fan a few years ago and I try to make an effort to watch his comedies when they come out. Delivery Man tells the story of David (Vince Vaughn), who discovers that after his many fertility clinic donations he is the father of over 500 children, and now a large quantity of them are trying to oppose the anonymity rules.

Although this isn’t my favourite of his films, I did enjoy Delivery Man. It’s a silly premise, but fairly unique (to me at least!) but I can’t help but think it would have worked better as a drama?! One with dark humour of course. It just felt like the jokes weren’t funny enough, but there were some touching moments and I had a little cry at the end. Worth a watch for sure, but don’t rush!

Review: Nightcrawler (2014)

Somehow, Nightcrawler just fell under my radar when it came out last year. I tend to avoid the cinema during October, I’m not a horror fan at all and if the screens aren’t full of horror films, they’re playing horror trailers! I’m just like ‘I came to watch Horrible Bosses 2*, why am I seeing trailers for Annabelle**?!. By the time I’d heard of Nightcrawler and knew what it was about, it had finished at the cinema. Pants! Thankfully, I got my hands on a copy in time for Jenna staying over for film night! I totally missed this at the cinema, I saw it on the side of a bus in December and got all excited until I noticed that it said October waaah!!

In Nightcrawler, a shockingly thin Jake Gyllenhaal plays the role of Lou Bloom, a guy desperate for a job who finds himself making a living out of filming horrific car crashes and crimes and then selling the footage to the news. Lou hires himself an apprentice, Rick (Riz Ahmed) to listen to the police radio and give directions to Lou. What starts out as already unsettling takes continuous turns for the worst as Lou’s greed for money grows.

I would blindly follow Jake Gyllenhaal into any film he made, but I would have watched this no matter who was the lead actor. The plot just sounded that good. In the beginning I felt sort of sorry for Lou, despite his joblessness he had the drive and the cheeky charisma to succeed, but it’s certainly unsettling to realise that this world that Lou finds himself in happens all the time in the real world.  The thought of this is terrifying, excuse me while I go and lock my front door!!

This is the kind of role that Jake Gyllenhaal just owns. He was brilliant in Donnie Darko, and I’ll happily watch any kind of thriller if he’s involved. Lou’s relationship with Rick was fascinating to watch as Lou would make a transition from Rick’s friendly and enthusiastic mentor to just completely losing it within a heartbeat. He was truly scary!  This is probably one of the best roles I have seen JG in, he owned it completely.  It was one of those roles where you forget who the actor is because you are just totally sold on the character.  Rene Russo really shone to me as well, the scenes of those two together were electric!

I found myself completely hooked and on edge throughout the whole film, as Lou crossed the line between a morally grey area to downright wrong. There’s a shot of Lou right at the very end of the film, and I won’t spoil it for you, but there’s something you spot that was in another scene ages before, and it suddenly dawns on you that even though you’ve seen Lou do some terrible things, there was so much more that he did that we as the audience never got to see.

I found this really entertaining (even if I have a few naps throughout oops!) and scary to be fair, I found some of the scenes quite disturbing and uncomfortable, was that just me?  The fact that people out there actually do this and potentially set up these situations and cause serious accidents and even deaths.  

My face at the very end was a mixture of shock and a grin at how awesome the whole thing was. There were a few quiet moments where not much happened but other than that, this would have been in my Top 2014 films for sure! Those moments were the odd ones where I had a little doze! ;-)

I don't think I thought as much as this as Allie (maybe because of my mini-naps!!) but I definitely enjoyed it and Gyllenhaal was at his best.

*It probably wasn’t Horrible Bosses

**Also probably not Annabelle. More likely the goat in the shower mobile phone advert. Was it EE or 3?

10 Actors I Would Watch in Almost Anything (Allie)

Forgive me if I get this wrong, but I think this theme started with Abbi at Where the Wild Things Are. I love the idea, list 10 actors that you would watch in almost anything, and then another list of 10 actresses. These are 10 guys who could sell a film to me just by being in it.

Why: When I was younger, every Saturday meant another Jim Carrey film. I was so excited the night before Bruce Almighty came out that I could barely sleep, and my brother and I still quote his character from Liar Liar on a regular basis.

Best Role: Bruce Almighty

The one even he couldn’t convince me to see: I Love You Phillip Morris This is a great film, you must see it!

Why: This is probably the most simplest of all the actors in my list. I simply have never seen a bad Tom Hanks movie, and so I'm not sure I could ever refuse to see something that he’s in.

Best Role: Forrest Gump

The one even he couldn’t convince me to see: Larry Crowne

Why: I’m sorry, I was about to type and then I got lost in those eyes. Can that count as my reason? No? Ok. I just think he’s incredibly charming, and just the right kind of cocky. Oh, and those eyes...

Best Role: Star Trek

The one even he couldn’t convince me to see: Blind Dating

Why: He’s the most bad-ass guy I know. Not personally of course, but he’s bad-ass nonetheless. I actually really need to see some of his older work to see another side of him, but I would be first in line for Taken 9.

Best Role: Taken

The one even he couldn’t convince me to see: Battleship

Why: I haven’t seen a comedy of Steve Carell’s that I haven’t found hilarious. I first saw him in The 40 Year Old Virgin and he’s just the master of awkward comedy. That’s not all though because I love his serious roles too.

Best Role: Crazy Stupid Love

The one even he couldn’t convince me to see: Bewitched

Why: This man is an absolute legend. I love his acting work of course, but I just love how he has so much fun in anything he does. Not that I’ve met him, but he seems so great with his fans and he just oozes charm.

Best Role: The Avengers

The one even he couldn’t convince me to see: The Deep Blue Sea

Why: He’s the first actor I ever became fascinated with; I have fond memories of tracking down some VHS tapes on Amazon when I was still in High School. I used to quote Bubble Boy on a regular basis.

Best Role: Donnie Darko

The one even he couldn’t convince me to see: Rendition

Why: I don’t think I’ve ever loved an actor as much as Ryan Reynolds. His dry, witty humour is my absolute favourite, and I could watch any of his movies time and time again!

Best Role: The Proposal

The one even he couldn’t convince me to see: None, I have actually seen everything he’s been in! So far at least.

Why: This guy makes me smile without even doing or saying anything. He’s just an incredibly likeable actor, and he deserved to be in any of my top 10 lists for the three flavours cornetto trilogy alone.

Best Role: Shaun of the Dead

The one even he couldn’t convince me to see: A Fantastic Fear of Everything

Why: Benedict is my current obsession, thanks to Sherlock. I had to forcibly made to watch it in the first place, but I fell in love with his acting skills (and then just him!) soon after. He’s just incredible, and perfects whatever role he plays.

Best Role: Star Trek Into Darkness

The one even he couldn’t convince me to see: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (I really did try)