Life of Pi

REVIEW BY NATALIE WARWICK

Life of Pi is a visual masterpiece. The special affects and cinematography are fabulous. The colours and the vibrancy are so stunning and the beauty of the animals in particular, are captured amazingly well. In 3D you feel as thgough they could jump out of the screen. It truly encapsulates an amazing cinema experience.

Not only is it a feast for the eyes and an epic adventure it is brimming with metaphores concerning the big questions in life, such as: the meaning of life? does God exist? What is true faith? and so on and so forth. It tells the story of Pi and of his extrordinary journey when a cargo ship transporting his family from India to Canada sinks leaving him shipwrecked with Richard Parker, the friendly Bengal Tiger!!

The movie experience is thoroughly entertaining and awe inspiring, However I felt that something may have been lost in translation from the book. I felt there was a core density to the story which wasn't coming through as well as it should have on screen. Don't get me wrong it's fabulous and deserves all the awards people want to throw at it but I think I'm going to read the book to fill in the gaps.

Year: 2012
Length: 127 mins
Classification: 12
More info on the IMDb
 

Django Unchained

REVIEW BY NATALIE WARWICK

Django Unchained is pure Tarantino, gory, uncomfortable viewing at times, gory, uber violent and... funny? Tarantino has this knack of making the most gruesome scene overflow with slapstick and satire. For example in Django Unchained somebody gets shot, blood splatters everywhere. What follows is a crowd of people screaming in synchronicity and then run away; complete with crippled show girl hobbling away. It's really very clever how he can use grotesque violence and then flip it around 180 to get the audience howling in their seats. He's been able to achieve this since Pulp Fiction. Like Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and the rest Tarantino has once again hit the nail on the head with his 8th film. It's insanely dark, tongue-in-cheek and brilliant. If your a fan of his work then I promise you will not be disappointed with Django Unchained.

Set in 1858, two years before the Civil war in the deep south. A German bounty hunter Dr King Shultz enlists the help of slave Django and in doing so frees him and trains him up as his protege. Django, however has a quest of his own - to save his wife from the notorious Candy Land plantation.

Aswell as a killer script, cult classic style and fabulous pace, Django unchained has a stellar cast. Jamie Foxx plays it cool as Django, The slave turned bounty hunter, who slowly grows in confidence as he comes to terms with freedom. Christolph Waltz triumphs as the German bounty hunter. His characterisation is second to none. He is my favourite character and a real joy to watch. I also loved watching Leonardo Di Caprio nail yet another diverse and interesting role. He plays the villain Calvin Candie, a man who talks of superiority of caucasian men but is almost comically ignorant and misinformed. Samuel L Jackson's performance was excellent as the nasty crippled and aged butler of Candie Land.

Again I cannot rave about this film enough. Fans of dark comedy and Tarantino films watch this ASAP. If your not affiliated with Tarantino movies approach with caution. If your easily offended or don't enjoy unadulterated violence, cruelty and strong language avoid. For me, I found Django Unchained a hell of a ride. I can't wait to watch it again! One word: Epic!

Classification: 18
Length: 165 mins
Year: 2012
More info at IMDb

 

Skyfall

REVIEW BY NATALIE WARWICK

Celebrating 50 years of the James Bond franchise, skyfall, the 23rd film and Daniel Craig's 3rd outing as the 00 himself, finally hit cinemas last November. I went with one question on my mind: Will it be as good as Casino Royale?

As soon as Craig's Bond didn't give a damn whether his martini was shaken or stirred we all knew that the new bond movies weren't going to follow the same mould as the rest. And Skyfall, in particular, doesn't follow the same course as any other Bond movie. Sure it keeps some vital bond ingredients, but then it goes off on its own and throws the blueprint in the bin.

This Bond movie is much more sentimental than the rest. Despite having lots of references to the bond franchise as a whole and being tongue in cheek with it, Skyfall, at its heart, is a much bleaker insight: Showing the MI6 and its agents being hunted down by an old adversary leading them into Bond's past.

At times Skyfall is more Home Alone than James Bond but an enjoyable experience all the same. It made me laugh, cry and route for their triumph. Dame Judy Dench's performance, like always, was excellent and Daniel Craig's Bond has always been great. Although, in my estimation, it wasn't as enjoyable a ride as Casino Royale, it is a good film in its own right. I can't wait for the next one!!

Year: 2012
Classification: 12A
Duration: 143 minutes
More info at IMDB

 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

REVIEW BY NATALIE WARWICK

Finally the first instalment of the hobbit has been released. The eagerly awaited prequel story to The Lord of the Ring trilogy (TLOTR) has arrived... but what of it? Is it as gripping, epic or absorbing as TLOTR? When talking to Tom about my initial reactions to the film there were alot of "in the book it happended like this, or like that" but for this review I'm going to stick to the film as a seperate entity. I hope this review will be a quick, light and easy not a bogged down thesis on Peter Jackson and his reimaging of J.R Tolkien's The Hobbit and it's translation onto screen (Great dissertation title though even if I do say so myself). I will discuss the film in relation to TLOTR and there may be spoilers concerning those films but not The Hobbit, so rest easy Tom.

Peter Jackson takes us back to middle earth and back to before The Lord of Rings started by telling us Bilbo Baggings story and how he came to own the one ring. Gandalf is also back in the form of guide to 13 Dwarfs and one hobbit as they go on an unexpected journey back to the Dwarfs home, 'the Lonely mountain', to reclaim it dot dot, dot...

Overall the film has the same feel to it as TLOTR, the same types of wide pan shots of the party, epic cinematography, amazing special affects, and quite a few of the same well loved and highly familiarised characters... the same, as if you never left them.Where The Hobbit differs is that it seems to be more tongue in cheek, the characters and the story overall feels lighter and brighter. The characters much less burdoned. Although there is a looming evil (we all know what that is kids don't we??) which appears to deepen the further into the movie you get.

Other than delving further into the storyline or mentioning 'the book' I will end this by saying that: if you love TLOTR trilogy you will enjoy catching up with the younger selves of some of your best loved characters. It's a fantastical and sometimes enchanting tale highlighting the might of the little, overlooked, man who can beat the odds and achieve amazing things and become the heo they never thought possible. I'm a fan, a big thumbs up from me, I going to the cinema to watch this again soon.

Year: 2012
Certificate: 12A
Length: 169mins
More at: IMDb



The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn Part 2



REVIEW BY NATALIE WARWICK

Here's to an end of an era - Twilight film 5 has been released and the franchise is now left to box set sales the world over and to be watched by Twihards at sleepovers. I am a big fan of the books (well the first 3) and three years ago I read all four books in record time, counting the hours until New Moon was to be released...and trawled 4 cinemas, as 3 were fully booked, on opening night to watch it. At that point in time I couldn't get enough of Twilight. Now 3 years on I lack the enthusiasm and in a bid to avoid the 'full to the brink' showings and gaggles of wolf whistles and boos and yay's at every turn I decided to go and see the final instalment a few weeks after release.

In truth I always disliked Breaking Dawn. I felt that the Twilight series would have done better finishing with Eclipse in relation to it being an epic love story. Sorry, nowhere in Romeo and Juliet or Wuthering Heights (on which New Moon and Eclipse were based on) did they get married and go on a honey moon and have children...zzzzzzzzz. Ok ok Romeo and Juliet got married but you get my drift. I was also not expecting much from this film as, in the book, nothing dramatically really happens.

This is where the film has merit over the book. We see a whole new scene unravel which doesn't happen. I remember watching in suspense and confusion; desperately racking my brain to see if I had got it wrong and misremebered the ending. But alas I hadn't - this scene was obviously put in to give the film substance so hooray for that. I half thought aswell that they had changed the ending too.

On its own merit the film follows the same flow as the rest of the franchise. And is quite an enjoyable ride and a fitting final conclusion. I prefer Bella as a vampire. It's the first time she is portrayed as a strong and self assured woman. By this film, long gone is the teenage anx riddled scenes and we're left with a more mature story. I imagine watching all 5 films in order would see a great development in her character. I actually liked to see the new editions to the cast come to life, on screen, and I think they did Enesme (Bella and Edwards daughter) really well.

My favourite part of the film was the end where they did a montage of all the films, showing all the key parts to Edward and Bella's relationship, all along to the original soundtrack. I actually shed a tear or two because it took me back to when I first read the books and watched Twilight over and over again. At that point I could not getting enough of the story of forbidden love and teenage anx. I found it very fitting and emotional on how it relit these memories and bought back to the foreground what Twilight was always really about. (As Breaking Dawn Part 2 doesn't really delve into) And that is.. in the words of Carrie Bradshaw (ala Sex and The City)... love, real love, ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can't live without each other love.

Year: 2012
Classification: 12A
Duration: 115 mins
More info to be found on IMDb

The Amazing Spider-Man

REVIEW BY NATALIE WARWICK

The Amazing Spider-Man is exactly that - Amazing!!! 136 minutes flew by in a haze of high action, stunning cinematography and awesome special affects. The scenes where Spider Man scales the city are spectacular. We saw this in 3D and you felt it. I was ducking and diving all over the place as parts of buildings etc. fell from the sky. It really was an absorbing experience. I strongly feel its well worth spending the extra dollar for 3D and I am slightly gutted that time constraints meant we couldn't experience this on the IMAX screen, because wow!! These high action, fast pased movies are what the cinema is all about and if possible I would reccomend you don't wait for blu-ray -see this on the big screen.

The Amazing Spider-Man is a rebranding of the 2002-07 trilogy Spider-Man featuring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker and Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane. This time around Andrew Garfield takes the lead and Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacey, as the love interest instead. I must say they are very good in these roles and their chemistry was great. I hear they're an item in real life so it stands to reason. Garfield's Peter Parker presents as much cooler, though, and, infact, the film over all is much cooler, but is also much darker. This one is also classified as a thriller and the dark moments definitely elevates the experience further.

If your familiar with the spiderman storyline you already know the drill and are aware of the tragedy that occurs. I did and so it was heart wrenching watching them unfold on screen, knowing he should do things differently but was powerless to stop it. This film really takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions, I was near to tears, laughing, in awe, willing him to succeed. Most the time I found myself with goose pimples all over my arms as I was absorbed further and further into the movie.

Please see this if you love superhero movies...or like films and the cinema experience period. Let's hope we're seeing our next avenger take flight.. I can't wait for a sequel.

Year: 2012
Classification: 12A
Running time: 136 mins
check out IMDb

Snow White and the Huntsman

REVIEW BY TOM WORFOLK

Now I must start off by saying that I am not the biggest Kristen Stewart fan in the world or even in the room I am writing this in - currently there are only two people in this room and the other person I don't really know but I am sure they have a better opinion of Kristen - in fact I just asked her and her opinion is that Kristen is OK and that is infinitesimally better than my opinion. That being said I will try and not let that influence my review of this film and keep this as objective as possible - lets give it a go... let me know how I do...

Snow white has been done over and over again and then to get two films in the matter of a few weeks in the cinema is quite .... cool I think. Both films are based on Snow White, both films have a great cast, both films being based on snow white have similar story lines but both films have a completely different visual style to them. Snow White and then Huntsman is a very gritty, very "real" portrayal of the Grimm story and actually it is not that bad.

I am not going to go into a plot summary due to that fact that if you are over the age of 2 you should know the story of Snow White very well. For those that really do need reminding of the story, there is an evil queen, a poisoned apple, 7 dwarfs, a mirror and of course the fairest of them all... catch up. Kristen Stewart plays Snow, Chris Hemsworth  (Thor and Kirk's Dad) plays The Huntsman, The Evil Witch is played by Charlize Theron and then the dwarfs are played by Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost to name but a few.

Whilst watching this film there are moments when you think you are watching Robin Hood or Braveheart. The dwarfs add a comedic respite to what is really a dark film. The evil queen is played brilliantly and credit should go to Charlize for it. Also credit should go to the queen's costume and makeup - it is quite amazing at times.

Unfortunately, as with Twilight and the Hunger Games, the makers of Snow White and the Huntsman seem to have added the Huntsman simply to incorporate a love triangle into what could have been an awesome film. This may be what the 14 to 18 year old girls really want to see but I just feel that this could have been left out, get rid of the huntsman and concentrate on a gritty, epic fantasy version of the fairy tale. I thought this was gong to to be a contender up there with the Hobbit later this year but I don't see this film ever being compared to any of Peter Jackson's films.

Overall the film is good. It tells the story in way that has not been told before, you start to feel what it must be like to be Snow White but the film could have done with some tweaks. No Huntsman, more time with the Dwarfs, different main actress (sorry!) and you could have had a real winning combination. As it stands, the film is 2 hours of enjoyable watching and the film is one of those that you would happily watch once and leave it on your shelf to gather dust for years.

You tell me what you think...

Year: 2012
Classification: 12A
Duration: 127 mins
More info to be found on IMDb

The Pirates! An Adventure with Scientists

REVIEW BY NATALIE WARWICK

Also titled: The Pirates! A band of misfits (in 3D)

The Pirates is a fun little story made by Aardman Animations, the same studio which made Wallace and Gromit. Set during the reign of Queen Victoria, It tells the story of The Captain Pirate (Hugh Grant) and his "band of misfits" as he attempts to win the much lusted after 'Pirate of the Year' award. Along the way we meet a whole host of famous faces to help, or hinder, The Pirate Captain on his quest.

It mixes together well the key ingredients of a fun family film: lots of slap stick, a touch of adult humour, lots of bright and colourful action scenes and at its heart: lots of sentimentality and the importance of friendship. The jokes and little touches which are aimed at the adults are definately on key and I did find myself chuckling through out most of it. The blue Peter badge on one of the pirate's hats was a nice touch also. Just thought I'd throw it in there...

Unfortunately I felt that the film definitely lagged around the half way mark and I found myself getting quite impatient for it to end. I wondered, at the time, how it would keep the attention of the children it is primarily aimed at. I appreciate that it is a well written film, a great animation and a fun adventure but it just didn't grab me as mcu as I would have liked it to.

Take the children along, by all means, but dad may fall asleep in his chair.

Year - 2012

Running Time - 88 minutes

Classification - U

for more info see the IMDb website

Avengers Assemble

REVIEW BY TOM WORFOLK


I will try to keep this as spoiler free as possible as I HATE spoilers with a passion but if the occasional one slips in then it will only be minor and I promise it will not spoil your viewing pleasure.



For those of you that may have been living with your head in the sand for the last five years then Avengers Assemble (The Avengers in other parts of the world) is the highly anticipated film from Marvel studios which sees Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Bruce Banner/Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) all coming together to work as one unit for S.H.I.E.L.D under the watchful eye of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).

The team are brought together to fight Thor's evil brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) as he trys to unleash a powerful evil on the planet via the use of the all powerful cosmic-cube. However, in order to fight as a team they must become a team and as the Heroes are are all very large personalities used to working solo it takes a bit of time to build a mutual respect for one another.

Marvel have done it again and this time not only have they hit it out of the stadium the ball has left the universe. This film is awesome. I watched it in 3D at an IMAX screen at the Cineworld cinema in Crawley and it was breathtaking. The 3D effects were amazing and the sound blew you away. It was a completely immersive experience and I think I actually forgot to breath in the first 10 minutes of the film.

The film is action from start to end, it doesn't drop the pace at all and it doesn't drag either (even with its runtime of 2 hours and 20mins). The fight scenes are awesome as well - kudos to the special effects guys at Marvel as they always seem to do a great job. All of the characters are played well but me and Natalie both agree that Tony Stark just manages to draw the attention of the audience more than the others heroes. That isn't to say that's a bad thing as Stark is probably the character I would most like to be out of all of them.

This film is a roller coaster of entertainment and whether you are into your comic books (and there are lots of excellent "geek" references which I picked up) or whether you just want to see an action flick that will leave you breathless this is the one to watch.

In my opinion it is going to take an awful lot to top this one for film of the year 2012.

As a side note prior to the film there was a trailer for the final Batman film and it too looks AMAZING!!!

Year: 2012

running time: 142 minutes

classification: 12A

For more info look on the imdb website

Captain America: The First Avenger

REVIEW BY NATALIE WARWICK
I saw this again last week on DVD and again pretty damn enjoyed it! Set in 1941 It tells the story of skinny, short guy Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) who keeps being rejected from the army. Still determined to fight, his courage and strength of character captures the attention of a scientist who deems to transform him into a super soldier. 

In turn he fights Red Skull who has been corrupted by an ancient power. The scenery is pretty spectacular and there are very tongue in cheek moments which pay homage to the comic book theme (like names of cities on warheads). Although it is an easy watch with a perfect mix of action, drama and sentimentality. This film, more than the other Avenger films (Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk), definitely homes into the fact that The Avengers is the second part of Captain America's story... I guess the clues in the title.

on a slightly different note: I watched this film, originally, in 3D and it was actually the first film in a very long time that I felt like I was having a 3D experience. I don't know if 3D technology has improved dramatically  but it definately improved the cinema experience for me that time around any way. Sidestepping slightly again, a bit girly this time too, I was sidetracked a few times by Peggy Carter's makeup (played by Hayley Atwell) and thinking ways in which I could replicate the 1940's look ;-).

To conclude, if you are a superhero movie lover please watch this. It continues to be as enjoyable and fun every time I watch it. It ticks all the action, adventure boxes.. and is a real route for the little guy.. the moral of the story: its not super strength or speed or the gadgets that make you a superhero its your heart and courage and strength of mind. Love it.

Year: 2011

Running Time: 124 minutes

Classification: 12A

for more info check out the IMDB website 

X-Men: First Class

REVIEW BY NATALIE WARWICK
X-Men: First Class was my favourite film of 2011. My quick advice is: IT IS AWESOME, please watch it immediately.

I'm a fan of the X-Men franchise anyway and superhero movies are always high action and colourful so they are easy films to get absorbed into. X-Men: first class excels on these points but the film goes so much further than that...

X-Men: First Class is a prequel to the original trilogy and tells the story of the beginnings of Charles Xavier (Professor X, played by James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Magneto, played by Michael Fassbender) and of the first X-Men Mission. We get to understand perhaps the later motives of the characters via great acting performances, a well written script and awesome special effects. These special affects are so awesome I was left with jaw ache as I hung my mouth open in astonishment and awe as Magneto wraps a huge anchor chain around a yacht...

The film has a very human element to it as well and shows young people trying to come to terms with their assumed misgivings and shows their struggle to create identities for themselves and try and take the side =which is true to them.

In conclusion: I cannot rave about this film enough. If your not really a film person, and have stumbled upon this site by mistake, please see this one I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Year: 2011

Running Time: 132 minutes

Classification: 12A

For more info check out the IMDB website