Ip Man

Ip Man
The blurb: A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the successful martial arts master who taught the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun to the world.
My rating: 4/5
Tagged: action, biography, drama
Date I watched this movie 03/04/2016

What did I think?I really wasn’t sure what I was going to think about this. Martial Arts movies, although I do karate, have never really appealed to me, but I agreed to let Faisal pick a movie and this is what he chose!

I will still say that this is definitely a slow starter, you have to wait a bit before you really get into it and you have to overlook the bad acting at the beginning. Once the movie kicks in, literally, then you really begin to appreciate it.

I think it tells a decent story of the life of Ip Man and the occupation of China by the Japanese at that time. Obviously I’m not sure how true to real life the movie is because I’m not familiar with the time period but it does add background to the character of Ip Man, so the movie wasn’t just about kicking ass and taking names.

As far as the fighting scenes are concerned, Donnie Yen does do his art justice. I just loved the way the story make him seem invincible and you root for him when he fights the baddie who beats all the other masters.

Surprisingly good and I’m actually looking forward to seeing the rest of the series

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
The blurb: When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a procedure to have each other erased from their memories. But it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.
My rating: 4/5
Tagged: drama, romance, science-fiction
Date I watched this movie 21/02/2016

What did I think?I watched this movie with my dad and Jimmy – my Dad’s a big Jim Carrey film and I’d never heard of this movie until now.

The movie basically tells the story of Joel and Clementine, they had a relationship that did not end well, luckily for both, there is a doctor who offers an alternative to suffering from heart breaking: erase all the memories related to a person. While the premise sounds a little too weird, it establishes a very interesting possibility, what if you could do this? It makes you think about it for a while; yes, we do all have memories we would wish to go away, but would we do it? Is it better to forget than to face and learn from the experience? The `memory deleting’ situation is definitely one of the best moments of the film.

And it is because in Joel’s `memory deleting’ process (which takes the most part of the film), we get to see all their memories together… tender moments that make you realize what a wonderful relationship they had. It is in this moment in which Joel faces that he may not want to delete Clementine from his head. There are other subplots related to the characters who do the `memory deleting’ which are ok but do not add anything of value to the central story of Joel and Clementine.

While it has some funny moments the movie is not a comedy, actually Carrey’s acting is superb in his character of quiet and indecisive Joel, Kate Winslet performs great as supporting Clementine in Joel’s brain while his memories are being deleted.

Do not be fooled by the premise of the film, it is a very serious movie about relationships and what we learn from them.

How To Be Single

How To Be Single
The blurb: New York City is full of lonely hearts seeking the right match, and what Alice, Robin, Lucy, Meg, Tom and David all have in common is the need to learn how to be single in a world filled with ever-evolving definitions of love.
My rating: 2.5/5
Tagged: comedy, romance
Date I watched this movie 19/02/2016

What did I think?At first I thought I was going to really hate this movie. It starts out force feeding us these opinions on what it means to be single and the dialog that the actors spit out is just so dry and formulated that I just wanted to shoot myself.

Luckily, I didn’t because the film took the turn for the OK, as we get to know the characters a little bit better. Give it up for some good acting and decent character development that causes you to feel something for everyone in the movie. Even the smallest character had a story to tell, some were interesting and others were touching and well done.

It’s a strange movie about letting relationships take their course without showing all that stuff, because the main story is about the relationship you have with yourself.

It wasn’t a brilliant movie, it wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be but overall it was just a good film to sit through

Carrie (2013)

Carrie (2013)
The blurb: A reimagining of the classic horror tale about Carrie White, a shy girl outcast by her peers and sheltered by her deeply religious mother, who unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom.
My rating: 3/5
Tagged: drama, horror
Date I watched this movie 14/02/2016

What did I think?Carrie White is regarded as a loser, a loner, a social outcast. She is the daughter of an obsessively religious & overbearing mother. She also possesses the ability of telekinesis, and when Carrie gets upset or angry things around her tend to break, smash or get damaged, so when some vicious school bullies cross the line with their “fun”, Carrie can’t help but get a little angry. This causes Carrie to unleash her full fury at anyone who gets in her way.

Filmmakers can obviously achieve a certain level of effects now that they couldn’t way back in 1976, and there are some pretty impressive effects here. It’s not an effects-laden extravaganza and quite rightly it shouldn’t be as Carrie is story-pushed and not effects-pushed, but some of the effects in the movie are well done and pretty cool to watch.

Chloë Grace Moretz does a really good job of playing Carrie bringing her own believability to the character, and Julianne Moore performs equally as good as Margaret White, Carrie’s mother. The members who played the bullies – especially Portia Doubleday as Chris Hargensen – were also believable in their parts, and when it came to their time I had absolutely no sympathy. I cheered inside when they really got what they deserved.

Deadpool

Deadpool
The blurb: A former Special Forces operative turned mercenary is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopting the alter ego Deadpool.
My rating: 4/5
Tagged: action, adventure, fantasy
Date I watched this movie 13/02/2016

What did I think?I thought this was an 18 and I was going to have to try to sneak in but it was a 15 so I was all good and legal in attendance!

This movie is completely mad. Thanks to the brilliantly funny, no-holds-barred brand of comedy that is absolutely everywhere from start to finish, Deadpool is a consistently hilarious comedy, made even better by a very well-written plot, excellent performances, and amazingly directed action.

Deadpool is a movie made for the fans. In comic book lore, he’s the ultimate foul-mouthed, wise-cracking rogue superhero, and the movie takes that character and places him on-screen in exactly the same form. Therefore, rather than the more family friendly, action-oriented superhero movies that dominate the box office nowadays, prepare for something completely different.

Although the story and action are great, it’s the humour that’s the real stand-out of this movie. There’s so much bad language, and so much adult humour, but in this movie, it works like magic.

I didn’t think Deadpool was the funniest movie ever, but I was laughing on a consistent basis right the way through this movie. The shock value of the swearing, extreme violence, self-referential humour and countless fourth wall breaks didn’t wear off at all, which is testament to just how brilliant a script this film has. Even if you’re not into the world of superheroes, Deadpool can still be a fantastically enjoyable movie just because it’s so funny.

But don’t think that this is just a comedy, because it does shine on the story and action front too. Whilst tying into the X-Men Universe, Deadpool is a very unique superhero movie. It’s not all about saving the world, it’s just a story of a guy who wants to get revenge on a man who completely ruined his life. And because of that, you can actually relate to this guy more so than any other big blockbuster superhero because his determination is so simple and real.

As well as revenge story, Deadpool is also a bit of a love story. It’s the revenge that drives the film, but the relationship between Wade Wilson and his old girlfriend is a genuinely believable one (helped by the fact that Reynolds and Morena Baccarin work so well together), and is yet another brilliantly-written plot point that allows you to get more invested in what is a hugely entertaining film.

Beastly

Beastly
The blurb: A modern-day take on the “Beauty and the Beast” tale where a New York teen is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love.
My rating: 3.5/5
Tagged: drama, fantasy, romance
Date I watched this movie 07/02/2016

What did I think?So this movie received mostly bad reviews, but who were these reviews written by? Adults. Who is this movie aimed at? Teens. So it’s not wonder it was so critically received, and let’s be honest, most teen movies are, but if all the reviews are written by adults, is this really fair? Yes, usually the standard of acting is not as good, and the plot lines are either cheesy or predictable (or both), but the people who it is aimed at are young people who will watch just about anything for a laugh and won’t read into the deeper meaning of things. I don’t think that these reviews are fair, and the same goes for this movie.

Beastly is a modern retelling of ‘Beauty and the Beast’, and is a film adaption of the book written by Alex Finn. Now with two pieces that are distinctly Disney playing major roles in this movie (‘BATB’ and Vanessa Hudgens), I was concerned that perhaps this movie would appear too… well.. Disney.

This movie will definitely appeal to teenage girls who like cute, romance movies, probably not so much to boys or adults. So, being as it’s a modern adaption of Beauty and the Beast, everybody should know how the story’s going to go… give or take an arrogant, loaded, bastard, and a drug-abusers daughter… So I guess the story of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ doesn’t really fit into the modern world, but who cares? It’s a movie. F-I-C-T-I-O-N. So apparently the acting wasn’t too good, but personally, I didn’t really notice this. I thought that this was a good movie, with an important moral message, that is important is this day and age: look aren’t everything. By retelling this Disney classic that everybody knows the story of in modern times could help us to relate to it and to release the message behind the story.

Goosebumps
The blurb: A teenager teams up with the daughter of young adult horror author R. L. Stine after the writer’s imaginary demons are set free on the town of Madison, Delaware.
My rating: 3/5
Tagged: adventure, comedy, fantasy
Date I watched this movie 05/02/2016

What did I think?I loved reading the Goosebumps books when I was a kid and this film really reminded me of them – it had the same comical and familiar feel to it.

It had a little something I wasn’t expecting and had been directed in a clever and funny way. Although it had monsters and other scary creatures in it, the movie plays this down to make it ideal for kids to watch while adding humour which kids would understand and laugh at. The acting was reasonable and Jack Black (R.L Stine) brought something else to the table, which for me made it more enjoyable with his usual goofy and wacky personality.

There’s nothing really to bash or praise, and it’s not going to win any awards but it was fun and I enjoyed it

Room

Room
The blurb:
After five-year-old Jack and his mother escape from the enclosed surroundings that Jack has known his entire life, the boy makes a thrilling discovery.

My rating: 4/5
Tagged: drama
Date I watched this movie 29/01/2016

What did I think?I found “Room” to be a wonderful movie. It’s the typical story of the teenager who gets kidnapped on the way home from school and spends years locked in a room by her captor. During those years she gets pregnant of her captor and gives birth to a child that becomes her reason to survive. Up to this point it’s a story that has already been told a million times, but, here comes the spark of this movie, this one is told from the child’s (born in captivity) point of view.

From the first scene on, the director takes us on trip inside this little 5 year old kid. How he structures his word, his conception of what the word is, and isn’t. What is real, what is imagination, what is TV, and so. On the side we see an extremely strong Mom who somehow managed to make of that terrible reality a happy one for her child.

And then they finally get out and the movie starts… A wonderful movie indeed. I strongly recommend this movie to all psychology students or those who are interested in such topics. An already told story from a whole different point of view. Totally worth watching!

Alien

Alien
The blurb:The commercial vessel Nostromo receives a distress call from an unexplored planet. After searching for survivors, the crew heads home only to realize that a deadly bioform has joined them.

My rating: 4/5
Tagged: horror, science-fiction
Date I watched this movie 24/01/2016

What did I think?‘Alien’ set the bar for sci-fi and even horror films long after it was released. It’s always remained a very popular film which is quite unusual for movies in general to still be considered excellent over three decades since its release.

Ridley Scott’s direction of this film is excellent of course. The atmosphere built up during the events in this film are great, the acting works very well too, Sigourney Weaver doesn’t have a great presence in the film until the second half but she really makes up for it during the last hour. Other performances such as that of Veronica Cartwright are good but you can’t help but wonder why their character is included in the story at all.

The story is very interesting, when you first watch this film it can really shock you and can certainly make you jump on more than one occasion. However, because ‘Alien’ is so well-known and famous now, it will be difficult for someone not to have an idea about what it consists of so I guess not many people will find it as shocking as it was 30 years ago.

Nevertheless ‘Alien’ is still a very good film, it’s still scary in some parts and is considered to be an excellent film regardless of its now out-dated technology used.

Overall, I would highly recommend this film to anyone, if you’re a fan of science fiction or horror you should have already seen this film anyway but if you haven’t, watch it.

Add some terrific battle sequences, and you get a very welcome return to the greatness of Star Wars. Go and see it (but you already know you will). Take a friend or a family member. You’ll have a great time. Because that’s what these films are about when it comes down to it.

Overall, Force Awakens shows off some snazzy visual effects combined with a compelling story and great characters. It won’t disappoint.

The 5th Wave

The 5th Wave
The blurb:Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most of Earth decimated. Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother.

My rating: 3/5
Tagged: action, adventure, science fiction
Date I watched this movie 22/01/2016

What did I think?Even though I’m reading the book and I pretty much knew what was going to happen the whole time, I couldn’t stop watching it or awing and gawking at the two hunks (Evan and Ben) who reminded me very much of Jacob and Edward from The Twilight Saga Film series.

The lack of action in this movie is what made me rate the way that I did. Going into this movie you expect to see the 5 waves in full action, but instead they limit what they want you to see making it almost a downer. Instead this movie focuses mostly on Cassie and her long mile hike to this army base to rescue her brother from aliens, all the while running into different obstacles which eventually shape her into this strong, surviving, attractive young girl.

Will I continue to watch this trilogy? Of course, in hopes of a little more action. But even with Hunger Games there was minimal action up until the end. Be prepared to run into clichés but also a simple satisfaction that at least there are other sequels that hopefully bring good recognition to the novel.