Songs I Like: Waiting On The World To Change January 7, 2009

If you asked me to name my favourite band/musician I would really struggle, but John Mayer would definitely be up there as a possible choice. Very rarely do I enjoy a whole album by somebody, but I love all three that I own of his. His lyrics are strong but light hearted and the music is very easy to listen to. 

This song is the opening track on his latest album and the message is a strong anti-war one. It was written in 2006 but it seems to have a renewed relevance with Obama’s election. So, here it is people – enjoy. Tell me what you think!

 

Twilight January 5, 2009

The publicity for this movie has been Potter-esque, and it may suprise you that the film only just came out over here, despite the posters apperaring what feels like 6 months ago. 

It’s hard to not suggest any Buffy rip-off when the storyline is described as ‘girl falls in love with a vampire’, but actually it does well to keep away from the familiarity of ‘nice vampire/evil vampire’. Edward is no Angel – he admits to wanting to have Bella’s blood the moment he saw her. Instead though, him and his family call themselves ‘vegetarians’, choosing to only eat animals instead. This provides tension whenever they are with Bella, knowing that their instinct would be to attack her. Another difference is what vampires are in this movie. No more ’sunlight burns them’, instead we find out that sunlight makes their skin sparkle, immediately revealing them as ‘unhuman’, and each individual has different abilities. This was a very good way of making it more than a generic vampire film.

The two leads are very good and the chemistry is very believable. However, there were a few things that I hope get sorted out for the second film. Firstly, the script feels clunky. At times it doesn’t seem to make sense and feels like large chunks have been missed out. Secondly, the tense action at the end is very short, mainly due to the first half of the movie being over full of long stares and silences between the two leads. We understand they love each other, we don’t need 5 minutes of close ups to convince us! 

However, I was pleasantly suprised by this film and really did enjoy it. I find myself looking forward to the sequel and it may find itself in my DVD collection.

Yes Man January 2, 2009

Danny Wallace’s book ‘Yes Man’ changed my life – ask me about it one day. 

However, since the movie is only based on the premise (a man has to say yes to everything), not on the story of the book, this meant that I did not go with any expectations based on my love of the films inspiration. 

Three things I immediately noticed about this movie:

1. Jim Carrey is finally looking his age – especially since everyone else in this movie looks about 25
2. There is a lot of swearing in this film, which is a shame because it stops it being the family movie it should have been
3. Murray from Flight of the Conchords will always be Murray from Flight of the Conchords, whatever else he may be in.

Anyway, the movie is a bit like Liar Liar in the way that ‘Jim Carrey gets in funny situations because he has to do something (tell the truth/say yes)’. Sometimes Carrey’s comedy seems to over-dominate the story (such as the very over long drunk bar fight scene) but there are too many belly laugh moments to complain really. The romance part works (although I love Zooey Deschanel so I’m a it bias) and it’s fun to see how all the things he says yes to work out for good. It’s one of the funnier comedies I’ve seen in the cinema for a while and made me feel good.

I must warn you before seeing this movie though… you will have a weird feeling of spontaneity afterwards. Make sure you don’t do anything too rash. Thankfully, all I did was buy a spatular and go into a random antique book shop.

Movie Singalong Scenes October 24, 2008

Inspired by Burt Bacharach on BBCs Electric Proms (seriously, watch the legend that he is on I-Player) I was reminiscing about the movie ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ and how I think that film set the standard for singalong scenes in movies ever since. Who doesn’t want to burst into ‘I Say A Little Prayer’ in a Seafood restaurant?

And so, below I present my favourite singalong scenes - 

My Best Friends Wedding

27 Dresses (this is for you Erin!) 

I can’t help but love this song

And finally, Anchorman (yes, I know I slated it’s place in the top 500 – I stil think it’s a funny film!)

Final Empire Top 500 rant…. (i’m bored of it now) October 24, 2008

And so, having moaned regarding what movies shouldn’t be on this list, I thought I’d comment on some of the movies I’m glad on there (a number of them will probably turn up in a ‘movies i like’ blog some time soon) but deserve to be so much higher.

 

500 – Oceans Eleven

Let’s just put this in perspective. This film was ranked at the bottom of the list, lower than Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Superman Returns, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and 300. This is one of the first DVDs I ever bought and I have happily watched it at least 15 times. Sharp script, killer cast (even Don Cheadle is forgivable for his Burt-from-Mary-Poppins-esque ‘English’ accent) and very clever story telling. 

463 – Juno

This film definitely makes it into my top 10 ever. More than just a ‘cute little indie flick’, the script and cast outshine so many of the crappy blockbusters that have been put above it. 

406 – Iron Man

How is this summer blockbuster almost 100 places lower than Transformers? Downey Jnr rocked this role and it was nice to see it not take itself too seriously.

328 – The Truman Show

Another top 10 film for me, and it’s under 2 hours long – a rarity amongst all these films!

122 – The Princess Bride

This was 10 places lower than Anchorman. I have nothing more to say.

To finish on a positive note though:

8 – Singing In The Rain

Well, I’m actually pleasantly surprised to see this movie so high, with it being my number 1 movie of all time. It’s also the highest ranking musical by about 120 places. So… they got one thing slightly right.

Empire’s 500 Greatest Movies of All Time?!?! Rant Part 2 October 16, 2008

So, here is just a small reflection on some of the many movies that should not be in this top 500, or at least as high as they are - 

475. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Surely the inclusion of this movie negates the entire poll? How can Empire count the votes of those who included this movie in their ‘top films of all time’??? At least it wasn’t the third one, but…. seriously? I can cope with Curse of the Black Pearl being included – Disney struck gold with the combination of Orlando Bloom, Johnny Depp and Pirates. But the second one saw Depp become a parody of himself, and any storyline that might have existed overshadowed by ‘comedy’ sketches. 

urgh

453. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Oh dear. Shoddy script, hiding in a fridge, swinging on vines with monkeys and aliens…. yup, this all adds up to the 453rd greatest movie ever. 

337. 300

I refuse to comment.

330. Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith

Sorry Ben (seriously, don’t hate me), but how on earth this can be here? Episode 1 was bearable: Ewan McGregor was cute without all the facial hair he appeared to be attacked by in the last two… 

Only positive thing about seeing this movie was the looks on the faces of the fanboys in the row infront when Chelle cried ‘oh it’s him‘ when Darth was finally revealed at the end. 

128. Lost in Translation

I don’t like this movie. It is pretentious and boring.

113. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

I nearly cried when seeing this so high up the list. It may be Will Ferrel’s finest, but not worthy of a place so close to the top 100. 

 

Please comment! Disagree with my opinions, or feel I’ve missed some seriously overrated film?

Empire’s 500 greatest movies….OF ALL TIME?!?! Rant Part 1 October 14, 2008

Movie polls never tend to work for me. I’m rubbish at making my own (I love too many and too wide a variety I think) and those that get put together by ‘experts’ seem too ‘poncey’ (yup, I said it) and over look the films I love and enjoy. So, when Empire compiled it’s list of the 500 greatest movies ever (voted for by readers, critics and some mysterious movie people) I immediately approached with a sense of cynicism and, having now assessed it, I think quite rightfully. 

Admittedly, readers of a movie magazine are a good place to assess public opinion on the best films out there, but it’s a pretty specific group of people. And, how exactly do you judge what makes the greatest movie ever in the history of the world? I wrote about this a little while ago – how can we all agree what makes a film great? Judging a badly made movie can be agreeable – bad acting, bad script, rubbish camera work etc etc. However, I could quite happily admit to High School Musical having all those things, but I’ll still sit and watch it because I enjoy it.

And so, judging film by ‘quality’ vs ‘entertainment and enjoyment’ (which is essentially what film is… taking away all theory and analysis) immediately makes for opposite opinions. 

It is no suprise that Godfather is no.1 on the list. I know this film is a good film – but, do I enjoy it? No. Nor do I enjoy Goodfellas (no.6), any Tarantino films (no.9, 97, 325 and 423) or horror movies (i.e. Sixth Sense no.332 or Dawn of the Dead no.415). 

Considering this is about the top movies of ALL TIME, is it right that out of 500 movies, 85 of them were released in the past 8 years?

5 were made this year

• Dark Knight (no.15)
• Wall-E (no.373)
• Cloverfield (no.394)
• Iron Man (no.408)
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (no.453)

15 were made last year, and this includes:

• Hot Fuzz (no.374)
• Transformers (no.309)
• The Bourne Ultimatum (no.234)
• Superbad (no.487)
• Juno (no.463)

and then - 

• 11 were released in 2006
• 11 in 2005
• 17 in 2004 (who knew 2004 was so good for movies!?!)
• 8 in 2003
• and 9 in both 2002 and 2001.

These movies are fresh in the mind of the people voting, and are also more likely to have been seen by those voting, rather than perhaps more obscure older movies. This poll doesn’t represent ‘the greatest movies’ but instead may be a good reflection on what are the most watched movies. Yeah, Dark Knight was good – but is it seriously the 15th best movie ever made?

 

Coming up – movies that shouldn’t be there/so high up. 

Tune in tomorrow

Movies I like: Galaxy Quest September 30, 2008

I wrote recently about my Sci-Fi obsession and this movie is perhaps a true testament to that. You need to ‘know’ sci-fi to get this loving parody to this genre.

Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen at his finest) is still living off of his success as commander Peter Quincy Taggart in a successful 1970’s Sci-Fi show (not too dissimilar – i joke, it’s a complete rip off – from Star Trek) and now spends his career, along with his co-stars, signing photos and appearing at conventions. One day he is picked up by aliens who, having seen the ‘historical documents’ of his previous wars against many enemies, ask him and his ‘crew’ to help them defeat the evil Sarris. 

I can not help but smile even just thinking about this film, and there are too many quotes to mention. It does no harm that I have a slight Alan Rickman obsession, and Sam Rockwell is genius as ‘the unnamed crewman’, convinced he will die any minute because that’s all his character ever did…. brilliant.

 

As an added bonus, in honor of all things Star Trek, here is a video of William Shatner being…. himself. Good to see George Lucas getting owned!

Songs I like: Call Me Al September 29, 2008

I first heard Paul Simon’s Graceland album when I watched a video of his historic Zimbabwe concert (which I would give up a limb to be able to go to) in a music lesson at school. I immediately fell in love with what I was hearing, and then discovered my Uncle owned the album and so sat in his living room listening to the whole thing. 

Some more of the songs from that CD may appear on this blog at some point, but Call Me Al is essentially the one I love the most. Add to it the simple but brilliant video (Paul Simon’s the short one by the way…) and I dare you not to smile…

BONUS piece of trivia – the bass solo is actually made up of a riff played forwards and then reversed.

The sign of a good movie… July 18, 2008

I’ve just been wondering what people use to judge the ‘quality’ of a movie? 

I love film but I’ve always hoped that I would never allow my ‘appreciation of the art’ take over from the simple act of enjoying a movie and I reckon my love of High School Musical et al is proof that it hasn’t happened. 

For me, it’s three things - 

It makes me smile:

Examples include Juno, High School Musical 1+2, Princess Bride, Galaxy Quest, Hairspray, Napoleon Dynamite

Symptoms are pretty self explanatory – smiling….lots. The whole of Juno saw me grin like an idiot throughout.

 

It makes me sit back and think ‘wow’

Examples include LOTRx3, Matrix, Donnie Darko, Iron Man

Symptoms i.e. the first time I saw Fellowship of the Ring I just thought ‘This is an amazing movie’. During Iron Man I actually uttered the phrase ‘awww yeah!’ in the cinema….

 

I immediately want to see it again

Examples include Singing in the Rain, West Side Story, Stardust, The Holy Grail, Little Shop of Horrors

Symptoms: Singing in the Rain is possibly my favorite movie ever, and the reason I know this is because even after seeing it the 40th time I still feel like I need to see it again.