Thursday Movie Picks: Movies Based on a Graphic Novel/Comic (Non-Superhero)

This week’s theme has really got me thinking. If you’re not familiar with the Thursday Movie Picks, it’s an amazing thing hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Each week brings a new theme, and all you need to do is pick 3 movies that fit the bill to discuss. This week is movies based on a graphic novel or comic book. Easy, right? Think again. They can't be superhero-related!

300 (2006) is the story of King Leonidas and his 300 men, fighting the Persians at Thermopylae many, many years ago. It’s also a series of comic books from back in 1998, written by Frank Miller! I can’t quite believe the movie is 9 years old now, I remember seeing it at the cinemas with my College buddies like it was only yesterday. Does that make me sound old? The sequel was okay, but 300 is a movie everyone should experience at least once!

R.I.P.D. (2013) is a quirky tale of a recently deceased cop who joins the Rest In Peace Department, and tries to find the man who murdered him. The movie is based on a Dark Horse comic by the same name. Sadly, the movie sort of bombed at the box office. I thought it was okay, my opinion is obviously biased but I understood people’s problems with it. Problem is, it’s a very little known comic in the first place and easily comparable to Men in Black.

Snowpiercer (2013) is a crazy story set in the future after a climate-change experiment went terribly wrong, and the planet’s only survivors are living on a train with a strict and harsh class system. The movie is based on a French graphic novel called Le Transperceneige, first published in 1982, although an English translation was released last year. Snowpiercer is a confusing yet brilliant movie, and I would urge anyone to give it a go if they haven’t already.

Review: How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008)

Just a couple of weeks ago, me and the other half were talking about The Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy and it reminded me of how much I actually love Simon Pegg as an actor. I sort of forget about him and then when I see him in something, I'm reminded of how great he is. It's now turned into a bit of a game to try and watch all of his films. So, we sat down last weekend and watched How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People is based on a memoir written by Toby Young. The film tells the story of Sidney Young (Simon Pegg), who runs an alternative magazine in Britain called Post Modern Review. It pokes fun at celebrities who are media obsessed, and strays away from trends. One morning Sidney gets a call from the editor of Sharps magazine (Jeff Bridges), possibly Post Modern Review's biggest threat. Sidney is offered a job there and he leaps at the opportunity, leaving his old life behind and starting fresh in New York. When he arrives he meets Alison (Kirsten Dunst) and the rest, well, you'll have to watch it to find out.

I was a little apprehensive about this film at first, I mean, Simon Pegg as the lead role in a romantic comedy?  It didn't really make much sense. However, that crazy opening scene with him, James Corden and Chris O'Dowd just dissolved those thoughts instantly. It just gave me that warm, British comedy fuzzy feeling!

However, once it all moved to New York, I really felt that the film lost its charm a bit. I wish I could elaborate further on this, but honestly it was just a weird vibe I got. It might have had something to do with Megan Fox's character, who irritated me immensely. I could never call myself a fan of Megan Fox anyway, but honestly I wanted to scream at the TV whenever Sidney showed any kind of interest towards her.

Again, I'm not a massive Kirsten Dunst fan either, but I liked her in this and I rooted for her to the bitter end. Jeff Bridges was brilliant, as always. I actually refused to believe that it was him when I saw his character, because I don't think I've ever seen him without a beard! Another acting highlight for me was Gillian Anderson, who admittedly I have only ever seen in the BBC show The Fall. She really stole the limelight in her scenes and was a truly interesting character to watch.

Simon Pegg was the ultimate highlight though, who completely proved me wrong and absolutely nailed his part. His character really developed throughout the film, and although he made some terrible choices that you wanted to shout at him for, he learnt his lesson and got everything that he deserved, both good and bad.

So in conclusion, this was an interesting but totally obvious story. It would have been a really forgettable film if it weren't for the cast, who were excellent minus Megan Fox. In fact, without her, it may have even been a great film. Sorry Megan.

Review: The Big Lebowski (1998)

To celebrate Flick Chicks receiving 10,000 page views, we wanted to do something fun and a little different to celebrate, so we asked you all to suggest a film (or a few!) for us to watch at our next movie night. Thanks to everyone who made some suggestions, there were more than a fair few that we hadn’t seen before! We chose one at random, which turned out to be The Big Lebowski, suggested by John at Hitchcock’s World. Thanks John! I have been meaning to watch this for a long time so I'm glad it got picked :-)

How can anyone really explain the plot to The Big Lebowski? It’s a crazy film! Here’s my best attempt. ‘The Dude’ Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) lives a simple life, and is part of a bowling team with his friends Walter (John Goodman) and Donnie (Steve Buscemi). One dreadful day, three guys break into his apartment demanding money owed to them. It’s a case of mistaken identity, but in their anger one of them urinates on The Dude’s rug. Walter convinces The Dude to go to The Big Lebowski to demand compensation.  Nailed it!

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group of friends quite like it before. In fact, group isn’t the right word because any time Donnie tries to say anything, he is told quite rudely to shut up., meaning most of the film concentrates on The Dude and Walter, who lands The Dude in an amazing amount of trouble, but is faithfully loyal at least. I really enjoyed John Goodman in this, I think it’s the type of role he is born to play. Another favourite of mine is Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character, the bumbling assistant, who had a brilliant flair of humour.

I actually have to admit, I found John Goodman's character a little irritating, I kind of got tot he point where I thought, why would anyone be friends with this douchebag!  However, this does show his great acting skills because usually I love him.   I did feel better knowing the point of this meme:

The Big Lebowski is without a doubt one of the craziest films I’ve watched. I like to think that the perfect film is realistic with a touch of fantasy, and although this sits well outside that spectrum, it’s still brilliant, and I think that’s what makes it stand out so well. From throwing a bag of dirty underwear from the window of a moving car for a group of kidnappers to surreal dreams that make you feel high, there are very little ‘normal’ moments!  I have to agree, this film is insane and completely loses the plot at some points, but it remains entertaining all the way through, so even though the plot line is completely shot you're still interested.

This is one of those films (essentially a Coen Brothers film) where you have no idea what's coming next, you cannot predict this film with any certainty, nor would you want to.   The story is not that interesting to be fair but the characters more than make up for it with sharp dialogue and quirky drug induced fantasies.

There are a few people I know that haven’t seen this yet, but no one I’ve mentioned the film to has responded with ‘what?’. It’s just one of those films that everyone knows, I think because there’s nothing else out there like it. Other than Dude Where’s My Car perhaps which I’m getting the strong feeling is actually a spoof of The Big Lebowski. How I didn’t pick up on this before is beyond me!  I couldn't believe how much of this film was taken to Dude, Where's my car?  I kind of wish I had seen them in the right order now.  The moment when they walked out of the bowling alley and said 'Dude where's my car' me and Allie just looked at each other and burst out laughing.  Nice to know we are getting to the point where we have seen enough films to spot references and nods to other films :-)

I watched The Big Lebowski for the first time about 4 years ago, when I was forced by my now fiance, telling me it was the best film in the world. It’s his all-time favourite and I can see why. I’m really glad to have had an excuse to see it again and I urge anyone who hasn’t already seen it to give it a try!

I've never been a huge Coen Brothers fan (more because I have never liked the look of their films than from critical perspective) but I think I am coming round since this and Fargo, so I may have to keep on watching.  Just shows, you can't judge a DVD by it's cover ;-)