Film Vlog

Hi, I have started a film vlog on YouTube. Feel free to watch by clicking here.

12 Years A Slave (2013) - Steve McQueen

There are some fine actors in this film, Chiwetel Ejiofor carrying the movie along brilliantly. I don't think it's as good as most critics are reviewing it, but it is worth seeing nonetheless. It really hits on a few nerves and that alone is worth the ticket price. Brad Pitt producing plays the only nice white man. Well done him.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

SPOILERS American Hustle (2013) - David O. Russell SPOILERS

This was a lovely film. On first look, it has everything in it any film fan could want: a great cast, a tap-along soundtrack, and an auteur director.
The only problem I had with it, was the completely irrelevant and random kiss between Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence, justified to me by friends as just a moment of complete madness and passion. Also, I felt a tad bad for Bradley Cooper's character, because he seemed to get chastised the most at the end, when he'd only been doing his duty and was in the right the whole time.
Also, nice cameo by Robert De Niro. De Niro seems to want to be in as many films as possible these days, maybe due in part to his age, and knowing he hasn't got long left. He's an actor, who truly loves the craft.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Last Vegas (2013) - Jon Turteltaub

First trip to the cinema of 2014, and off to a cracking start. I do love a bit of Robert DeNiro as does everyone, and this film was a doozie. It wasn't like all the other bachelor party Las Vegas combo films that one finds. It was a film that shows no matter your age, with good friends, you can have a good film. Kevin Kline shined the brightest with the best lines, but his cohorts were not left behind. Excellent acting from the care home's finest, and timing was perfect for every joke.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Steven Spielberg

Classic. Instant classic. I watched this in a film studies class, and it has long been one of my favourites. A great start to the franchise. Harrison Ford is spectacular, as he always is, and the supporting characters are well rounded and the villains delightfully evil.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

PS Thank God it wasn't Temple of Doom, I was sat next to a guy who looks the spit of Short Round, and I never could have kept a straight face.

Fight Club (1999) - David Fincher

I had to write an essay on a film, taking into account the Joseph Campbell book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and so I chose Fight Club, because I know it very well, and could write a bit about it. I've been suffering from Writer's Block recently though, so it was more difficult than I had anticipated. I even watched the film with commentary on, whilst struggling for ideas. The commentary was interesting, but a lot of what Helena Bonham Carter was saying didn't seem to fit with the film that was on screen, it was poorly edited into the parts with the boys talking, and that was a real shame, because she made some very good points.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The Mighty Ducks (1992) - Stephen Herek

Utter shit. I'm not even going to review the other two films that I was forced by my flatmates to watch in a double bill, because they were equally poor: D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994) - Sam Weisman or D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996) - Robert Lieberman. This was awful. Just so awful.