December 23rd:
Morning: Home Alone (1990)
Afternoon: Miracle On 34th Street (1947)
Evening: Black Christmas (1974)
December 24th (Christmas Eve):
Morning: A Muppets Christmas Carol (1992)
Afternoon: It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
Evening: Die Hard (1988)
This would normally be my plan, had to change it around because I’m working tomorrow. Enjoy.
The First Movie I Ever Saw:
Right, this has got to be one of two Disney films, I can remember watching the whole Disney back catalog as a child, but the two that i remember are Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Lion King. Snow white i had on an old battered VHS that i watched again and again, i can vividly remember the opening with the slow zoom in on the castle, and getting excited as a child. I loved the characters and the adventure, and watched it again and again as a child. If we are talking about the first film i actually watched in the cinema it has to be the Lion King. I can always remember going to McDonalds before and getting some cheaply made Simba happy meal toy, and holding it tightly the whole way through the film. I also remember getting a Lion King colouring book and making Rafiki look like he had been involved in a colour explosion, because at that time i thought it looked amazing, on reflection it looked terrible.
The Movie all Kids Should See at School:
This is a bit harder, for primary school i think something like Star Wars Episode IV, just for the simple fact it is absolutely brilliant. I watched this in primary school and i still remember playing ‘Star Wars’ on the field, pretending to do flips and forward rolls so i felt like a Jedi. For secondary school defiantly American Pie because it taught me everything i had to know about the opposite sex and how much fun your teenage years can be. It’s sad to think now that that time of my life is over, and unfortunately i am now in the 6th spin off of my life: American Pie: Beta House. Not as fun, and quite boring.
The Movie i Love But No One’s Heard Of:
A little thriller Called Fracture staring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. It is a brilliant film and has amazing performances from both lead actors. I’s a shame its not more celebrated because it is fantastic, i have no idea how i acquired it on DVD but since then i have never seen it anywhere else, either for sale or on TV. This makes me sad when Sex and the City 2 had huge campaigns and it was everywhere for many months, and films like this are becoming Obsolete.
The Movie That Always Makes Me Cry:
It dosn’t matter where or what time of the day i watch Castaway it makes me cry like a baby. The whole film i think is brilliant, and must have been a very daunting task for Tom Hanks who is on screen a good 75% of the time alone, but i believe this is his greatest performance by far. The bit that makes me cry is the the end when Chuck Noland goes to see Kelly after around 5 years, and as he drives away she runs in the rain back to him, he reverses and they are reunited, only to decide that too much time has passed, utterly heartbreaking.
The Movie I’d Love To See Remade:
Hmm, this is very hard, because of late the remakes have destroyed the original and there are so many in the pipeline at the moment. I would probably have to say Double Indemnity but update the plot, the characters and the setting, i think that would be a very interesting film to watch. However good it might sound, i hope they don’t just because i would hate to see the original tarnished in any way, but yeah, would be interesting if it had to be done.
The Movie I’d Take To A Desert Island:
It would definitely have to be American Beauty which is my favourite film of all time. I could watch it a million times over and over. I have watched it again after finishing it numerous times and i think it gets better every time. If i could take two, i would also take Castaway because i would like to know what to do if i was deserted, i would hate to be left with the feeling ‘should have watched more Bear Grylls.’
Movie Everyone Loves But I Hate:
Tron Legacy, don’t get me wrong it is visually stunning, but in my opinion it was over-hyped by movie magazines and the storyline was a very boring and monotonous one, i didn’t enjoy it as much as everyone else seems to have done. A few good points like Daft Punk doing the soundtrack but overall a very disappointing film.
Movie I Love But Everyone Hates:
I am going to get destroyed for saying this but i love Batman Forever. I think the Gotham created in that film was stunning, and i love Jim Carrey as the riddler, a stroke of genius on the casting department there, and Nicole Kidman is stunning, wow. Val Kilmer as Batman is not the best idea ever (I mean how obvious is it that he is Batman with those lips?!) but it works, and i enjoy watching it, maybe more than the dark films created by Burton, Please forward your hate mail to my Uni address.
I enjoyed that.
I knew it wouldn’t be long before the leaked trailer of ‘The Amazing Spiderman’ came out in HD, and this morning it was posted for real! Cant explain how amazing this looks, but just under a year to wait guys, next summer is going to be insane. Need to get a job just to pay for all the amazing films! Here’s the trailer guys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ktw5lLCqe4&feature=player_embedded
After my last post, i was having a quick look around the internet at the latest movie news, and stumbled upon a teaser trailer for The Amazing Spiderman. This week is going down as the best in comic book adaptation history! This is less of a teaser, more of a trailer with awesome footage, a nice soundtrack, and an absolutely awesome POV shot that is enough to make your mouth water. Again, same as the avengers trailer, the quality is poor, but keep a look out because the HD version should be online soon. Sony Pictures have unfortunately been able to remove most of the leaked trailer’s online, but i think i have managed to find one for your enjoyment! What do you think?
A week like this comes once in a very blue moon, where a few films you have been watching, reading about, waiting for the latest news on all come together in a couple of breathe taking days. First we got the last ever instalment of Harry Potter, breaking box office records in the very first night. For the midnight showing of thursday night/friday morning free limited edition 3D glasses were given away to make the night that bit more magical. The reviews i have read and things people have said have made me rather excited to see it, im trying to hold off so that the rush dies down. A record breaking film is always something to put in your calander, and i think ill always remember where i was when HP7PT2 was released. Today at work i heard the best rumour i have heard for awhile. Joe Johnston, the directer of the upcoming Captain America film, has apparently been in talks with George Lucas (We are not worthy) to create a Star Wars spin-off film on, get ready, BOBA FETT. 
Weather this will happen or not is yet to be seen, but according to a few different sources Lucas has been presented with a few storyboards and concept drawings, he has been involved with some of the previous star wars films, so maybe this is every Star Wars fan’s unsung hero’s chance to shine! Talking of Captain America… A trailer for the highly anticipated ‘The Avengers’ was leaked onto the internet, showing Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and Hawkeye amongst others. The quality is abit dodgy, but the fact it is filmed in a cinema makes it even more exciting due to the woops and shouts of pleasure from the audience (http://gizmodo.com/5822377/the-avengers-trailer-leaked-and-its-rad). Surely this would be enough for one week? WRONG. First pictures of Andrew Garfield in the Spiderman costume was released, and after being very sceptical of the change in personal on the film, i think that maybe this is for the best. It looks to be alot more centred around the comic books, which is better for a superfan such as myself, for example the web that shoots from his wrists are actually made by Parker instead of being inherited from the spider that bit him, have a look for yourself! (http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0„20483133_20510114_20988715,00.html). Last but not least, my week, month, year was made complete due to Christopher Nolan’s latest, and last, Batman film teaser trailer coming online. The Dark Knight Rises is still just over a year away (20th July 2012)but the trailer has given fans enough to keep them at bay for a short time. We see Commissioner Gordon in hospital, a short glimpse of Tom Hardy’s Bane, and Batman being advanced on. 
I forone can’t wait for this epic conclusion, and will be buying my midnight preview tickets the moment they are released. Maybe this time next year i will write my blog on how The Dark Knight Rises smashed box-office records! Let’s bloody hope so.
Recently this question has come up alot in conversations and lectures, is there such a thing as a bad film? I don’t mean is every film worth 5 star reviews, because to be honest i think the 5 star reviews are starting to become too frequent. What i mean is that people nowadays are getting bombarded with what other people think, and making decisions on films they have never seen. The amount of times i have mentioned a film for someone to reply with ‘I’ve heard it’s crap’ are too many to count. Let’s not forget that film’s main aim is to entertain the audience, and make an overall enjoyable experience. Let’s go back to the 1960’s where B-Movies were at there height. These films are, production wise, crap. For example The Raven (1963) was filmed in just 12 days, it’s budget was $200,000 which is peanuts compared to another big release of 1963: Cleopatra. Cleopatra had an estimated budget of $44 million. So we can instantly tell the differences between these films will be huge. What i want to argue however, is not which is the greatest visual experience, but which is the most enjoyable. The Raven runs for just 86 minutes, enough time to keep the viewer entertained and comfortable, where as Cleopatra runs for a total of 243 minutes. I must have to say that the most enjoyable of the two is ‘The Raven’, just for the now cheesey special effects and the over the top camp acting by screen legend Vincent Price. Sometimes the worst, slated by critics, movies will be the most enjoyable. For example a few months ago me and a few mates decided to watch Wild Wild West (1999), which is just an awful film in critic terms, but for us it was highly enjoyable. We laughed at the cheesy lines and discussed ways it could be made better, but i will always remember it for this reason. Going back to the primary focus of film-makers, which is to entertain the audience, i would argue that if one person enjoys a film this makes it a ‘good’ movie. We can’t argue with this because we all have different tastes and ideas about what makes a good film. Now i try to save reading reviews til after i have seen the film, and i think this is the way we should all do it, i like to see if i agree with ‘Empire’ or ‘Total Film’ in what they thought about the latest release. More often than not we hear the phrase ‘It’s so bad, it’s quite good’, which is possibly the way to look at any ‘piece of crap’ film, not by the amount of good reviews or awards it has received. Don’t even get me started on the Oscars…
Horror Films are made to scare and shock the audience, but of late where have they all gone? When we look back at the classic Horror films of the past 100 years they still scare audiences of our time, but will ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘Piranha 3D’ really be classed as classical horror’s in 2050? I doubt it. Lets go back 70 years to Universal’s classical horror period. Some of the most defining horror films originate from this period, think about it, Frankenstein (1931), Dracula (1931), The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Mummy (1932) we still get the same shocked and engaging feeling that i feel the cinema goers of the 1920’s/1930’s got. These films have now become cinematic history, and unmissable if you haven’t seen them. Lets fast forward like 30 years, Psycho (1960), The Exorcist (1973) and to a HUGE extent The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). These had audiences running out of cinema’s, people fainting and sometimes banned. WHY? Because they are incredibly scary, nothing can equal the ending of Psycho, or the visual aspects of The Exorcist or the shock factor’s of T.C.S.M. These are horror milestone’s in cinema due to these factor’s and they will remain this way because audience’s will never get over the original shock of watching it for the first time. Right. So horror from the past have scared and gripped audiences for years. Horror’s of today have got a lot to live up to, and i have only mentioned seven films. Don’t get me wrong, we still have some credible Horror’s of the past 15 years, The Sixth Sense (1999) and Scream (1996) to name but a few. If you ask me the ’Horror Franchise’ died when SAW hit our screens in 2003. It was stunning at the time and a great ending to top it off. Since then i have had the feeling that everything has been done. And recent cinema has backed me up on this point. The endless remakes, the unwanted sequels and the same old story-lines. It’s a sad time because i doubt that anything could come along that would be original, scary and keep audiences coming back for more. I want to be proven wrong, i do, but i doubt i will anytime soon. The one saving grace is that these films will be new to audiences and they will be watching this and be experiencing the joy we all did the first time we watched them. So is the end of horror? Oh no, just stick Frankenstein from 1931 on, and watch a classical horror. Enjoy!
1900’s - Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1903) - One of the first full length films made, at 13 minutes long. Based on the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, this film used white actor’s in black face, quite controversial for a film about slavery. Pretty amazing stuff for 1903.
1910’s - L’Inferno (1911) - Based on ‘The Divine Comedy’, and at 68 minutes long, this is a visual stunning film, apparently the first film to show male front nudity. A strange fact, but still movie history.
1920’s - The Kid (1921) - Charlie Chaplin’s masterpiece. Seriously, a must see film. Filled with comedy, emotion and a brilliant performance from Chaplin. Amazing.
1930’s - The Public Enemy (1931) - James Cagney’s performance as Tom Powers is ‘classical Hollywood’. Making him a star, and showing the world how good the ‘talkies’ could be.
1940’s - Casablanca (1941) - The most romantic movie ever made. Humphrey Bogart is stunning, and has the best ending ever in cinema.
1950’s - Some Like It Hot (1959) - Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon give amazing performances in this funny Billy Wilder film, Oh and also Marilyn Monroe… ‘Nuff said.
1960’s - Psycho (1960) - Alfred Hitchcock’s Stunner that didn’t win an Oscar, a movie that once again defined the horror genre. Incredible movie making skills and another incredible ending. WATCH IT.
1970’s - Rocky (1976) - The ultimate all time feel good film. Sylvester Stallone’s writing and acting skills make this unmissable.
1980’s - Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - Possibly one of the only times that a sequel is better than the original. Just remember the immortal line: “Luke, I Am Your Father.”
1990’s - American Beauty (1999) - My all time favourite film. Kevin Spacey’s Oscar winning performance, and a gripping story line, best film ever?
2000’s - The Dark Knight (2008) - A comic book movie that made the performance of Heath Ledger unmissable. Oh and Nolan’s direction is beautiful.
2010’s - Toy Story 3 (2010) -A fitting ending, to a great movie franchise. If it doesn’t win an Oscar it will be a travesty. Best. Animated. Film.
Our list starts at:
10. I Love You Phillip Morris - Overly Gay, no need.
9. Death of Leslie Nielsen - Another true great missed.
8. Twilight continues - Getting more and more fan girls, annoying.
7. Blu-Ray releasing awful films - I.E Hitman, Eight Below amongst others.
6. This is England ‘86 comes to an end - Brilliant follow up to a great film.
5. Anthony Hopkins in ‘The Wolfman’ - Awful, awful performance.
4. Avatar - released on DVD with NO special features, then again in the cinema, then as a special edition DVD. Well played Cameron, well played.
3. P.O.T.C 4 Trailer - Another Pirates film? Why?
2. The hype around Tron - No matter how good the film would be, and it isn’t as good as it could have, it could never live up to the hype.
1. The Death Of Tony Curtis - A legend, and my favourite actor, sadly missed.
