Reviews by SJMJ91

After finding Rocky a successful franchise until Rocky IV and reading about the negative criticism that the fifth instalment received even more than the fourth film, I didn't have very high expectations for this one. After watching it, I understandably realise why people hate but despite it had its bad and cheesy moments, I don't really see what is so awful about Rocky V. I think where it really went out of proportion was the fact it was more of a drama about family than a drama involving boxing like all of the other Rocky films were. I mean, although most people didn't like it or even find it necessary, I rather enjoyed the street fight and that is pretty much the only physical time we get of Rocky.


Rocky Balboa is forced to retire after having permanent damage inflicted on him in the ring by the Russian boxer Ivan Drago. Returning home after the Drago bout, Balboa discovers that the fortune that he had acquired as heavyweight champ has been stolen and lost on the stockmarket by his accountant. His boxing days over, Rocky begins to coach an up-and-coming fighter named Tommy Gunn. Rocky cannot compete, however, with the high salaries and glittering prizes being offered to Gunn by other managers in town.


Sylvester Stallone, what are you playing at?! Once you were an actor who portrayed Rocky Balboa with strong passion and made him a rather badass character but I think the fact that he was in the Rambo series and his acting in that was pretty crap, that made it worse for him and he earned his second Razzie nomination for playing Rocky. What bewilders me is that he earns an Oscar nomination for playing Rocky in the first Rocky and then earns a Razzie nomination in Rocky IV and then another for Rocky V! I wasn't that fond of the Rocky Balboa character in this one at all especially the fact that Rocky wasn't even in the ring at all due to retirement and brain damage he received fighting Ivan Drago really made me feel put off by it when that scene came along as I was watching it. This is the last time we see Talia Shire in the franchise as Adrian Balboa. In a way, thank God because her character pretty much died after Rocky III. I liked how Sylvester Stallone's real-life son Sage Stallone portrayed his son in this film although his acting on occasions wasn't great. Shockingly, I found the acting atrocious in this film overall; even from Burt Young who is my favourite actor and delivered the best performance in the entire franchise and he wasn't very good in this either.


John G. Avildsen returns to the Rocky franchise but unfortunately it had to be for this one! It is hard to believe that this was directed by the same guy who directed the first Rocky! John, if you were actually planning on coming back to direct another Rocky film, I would have recommended any of the six except IV and V. I mean, after such a successful first film that he directed, how could he have not noticed the fact that Rocky V is more of a drama than a boxing film? I am going to state the same thing in this review as I did in my review for Rocky IV: what a cheesy script! And that is all I have to say about that.


Overall, Rocky V is a bad film that I didn't find entirely awful like Rocky IV almost was so that doesn't make Rocky V the worst in the franchise. This as well as the fourth film will most likely either become a guilty pleasure to other viewers or just a bad film. The Rocky franchise was almost dead but thank God that the franchise didn't end with this and ended with a much better sixth installment.

For me, the Rocky franchise was on a great role with 3 successful films that I did really enjoy. However, that role ended with Rocky IV and there are many reasons for this. Mostly, because I didn't really like the story and I thought the characters were just appalling! The final fight was so predictable although there were one or two unexpected moments, Rocky IV felt more like a desperate grasp at money and went out of hand so it lost taste and originality. On many occasions, it felt like a revenge film more than a boxing drama like all of the others are. One bit of credit I will give Rocky IV is that it really did show the real dangers of boxing itself and what damage can be occurred in the ring no matter how big, small, heavy, light, tall or short one is.


Heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Balboa accompanies his friend Apollo Creed, who will be in a match against Ivan Drago, a Russian boxer who has been scientifically trained, using high tech equipment. When Drago kills Apollo in the match, Rocky blames himself for Apollo's death, and promises to get revenge on Drago in the ring, in the name of Apollo and the United States. Against the wishes of his wife Adrian, Rocky is off to the USSR to take on Drago, and hires Apollo's former manager Duke to help him prepare for the fight. While Drago enhances his amazing punching power using high-tech equipment, Rocky toughens up under the guidance of Duke in a compound in the frozen Soviet countryside, with his mind set on destroying Drago.


Sylvester Stallone has made two performances by the same actor of the same character earn one Academy Award Best Actor nomination and a Golden Raspberry Award Worst Actor nomination possible and I didn't really think that after he earned the Academy Award nomination, he could sink down this low as Rocky Balboa but unfortunately he really did with this fourth instalment. The Rocky character in this fourth film made the entire film cheesy and that only took one guy. I mean, his pride felt empty after Mickey and when Apollo took over. To be honest, I thought that Rocky IV was more about Apollo than Rocky himself. It's like Rocky and Apollo switched places from the third film until a tragedy occurs. However, that tragedy was too much like the one in the third film and what Rocky did afterwards. As the films carry on, Rocky's opponents get rougher and harder to beat but as far as the opponents with strong character, it goes slightly downfall after the second one. What a lame boxing opponent Ivan Drago really was! For one thing, he barely said a single word and he just stood and that was it. He literally had no personality apart from the words "I… will… break… you" and that was it. I mean, just because one guy has a bigger build and is taller than his opponent, that doesn't make him completely a better fighter in terms of game play and tactics during a fight. Admittedly, I do find Dolph Lungdren a great action hero but was an idiot in the fourth Rocky. I'll tell you who he reminded me of in this film: Herr Stamper in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies apart from Stamper had a personality and had character whereas Ivan Drago didn't. Talia Shire was quite weak in this one too as Adrian Balboa but Burt Young was pretty good as always as Paulie.


Sly, what in the hell happened here?! I'm sorry to have to say this but you were an absolute lazy arse with this one and didn't really read into it very much especially the script and the development of the characters. Now, this is where Sylvester Stallone is a bad director; even in the boxing scenes and we have seen him impress us with solid directing in those scenes in the other Rocky films except the first and fifth one. What a cheesy script! I mean, in the first three, Rocky was a determined winner but then there were people saying ''If he dies, then he dies''. I mean, what the f***?!


Overall, Rocky IV is a major disappointment to the franchise which, for me, makes it the only bad Rocky film. It went out of proportion most of the time and went really cheesy. Admittedly, there are some that are bound to find either the fourth or fifth Rocky film a guilty pleasure. As for me, I only find Rocky V a guilty pleasure, Rocky IV was just shit. I absolutely loved the series until this one came out. Rocky IV was like a big push backwards against the other three films but it is a good job that Rocky V was better even though that wasn't brilliant either and Rocky Balboa aka Rocky VI.

In many ways, I really wasn't sure what to expect out of this third Rocky film seeing as the first one is an absolute masterpiece and the sequel is almost as outstanding as its predecessor. However, even though I do think that the series should have ended at the end of the second film, I did really like this one. I mean, at the start of the film, this could have perhaps just ended as a trilogy but unfortunately as the ending of it progressed, it ended like there was going to be another sequel to this one. I think the main flaw that Rocky III has is that the dialogue could have actually made two films so it sort of felt crammed and rushed and the dialogue of Rocky IV could have been half of the dialogue in this one instead.


Boxer Rocky Balboa enjoys the wealth he has as world-champion. He only fights against opponents "hand-picked" by his manager Mickey Goldmill. Then he is challenged by the arrogant Clubber Lang. Rocky accepts the challenge to prove once more that there is only one world-champion. But Lang wins and becomes the new champion. Nobody believes in Rocky anymore, except for one man: former world-champion Apollo Creed. As Creed tries to stimulate his fighting spirit and get Rocky back in top-form, it is now up to Rocky to get his edge back. Will he win?


For the third time, Sylvester Stallone plays the infamous boxing champion Rocky Balboa but this time, he has an enemy who is rougher and tougher than he is. As far as the performance from Sylvester Stallone is concerned, he didn't really impress me as much as the first two films as Rocky this time although he was still decent. In terms of how the character was in the film in the ring, Rocky took some wise strategies in this one and shows that it isn't all about the fast punches like you want to get a quick knockout. Talia Shire didn't greatly impress me either as Adrian Balboa although throughout most of the scenes she was in, she was either comforting Rocky or tending to their son. Burt Young was great again as Paulie and I liked Carl Weathers too as Apollo Creed who becomes a companion and friend to Rocky despite they have fought against each other twice but think it is mostly because they both hate arrogant boxer Clubber Lang. Lawrence Tureaud aka Mr. T as Clubber Lang was absolutely badass! I loved his character and he is a strong character like Rocky is. I really liked the appearance of former WWE/WWF wrestling legend Terry Gene Bollea aka Hulk Hogan as Thunderlips. Up until I watched Rocky III and watched the WWF/WWE as a kid, I forgot how huge Hulk Hogan really is especially next to Sylvester Stallone and he is quite a big guy himself.


Sylvester Stallone, you really can direct a boxing film well when it is in the ring but outside the ring, I have to admit that you really need to work harder on that. It is still quite impressive how a guy can be both director and leading actor at the same time. Oh and screenwriter so I guess I cannot be too harsh on him. The screenplay was pretty cool, to be fair, but there wasn't really anything new in changes of the series such as plot twists or gob-smackers so to speak. It was decent enough, though, overall.


Overall, Rocky III is another great film where the great Rocky films end from here until Rocky Balboa aka Rocky VI 24 years later. I didn't quite love this one as much as the first two films but I was pleasantly surprised with how good this one really turned out to be. Although a lot of people perhaps won't agree with me saying but I think it is another really good film in the franchise that does have its flaws but deserves its rightful place as a film that needn't be missed.

I have heard from friends and family and read from other reviewers that the rest of the Rocky films after the first one are absolutely irrelevant and almost served no purpose in the slightest. However, when I saw the sequel to Rocky, I absolutely loved it and I can't understand why people didn't give this one as much credit as the first film. It was epic, emotional and quite intense throughout the entire film which is almost exactly what a boxing film is all about. The boxing fights kept me off the edge of my seat especially this one and the first film. However, one weakness that the Rocky series has up until Rocky VI is that every time there is a new Rocky film, they end and begin almost the exact same way. However, they all begin straight after the previous film (only II, III, IV and V do that anyway).


After Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed fought each other in the ring, they were rushed to the hospital. After both were released, Rocky moved on and lives up to his newfound fortune and his marriage to Adrian. After failed attempts at making commercials, and being laid off at a local meat company, Rocky decides to go back to being a boxer, but Adrian disapproves Rocky's decision as she is concerned for his well-being, and it effects his training, even though his trainer, Mickey Goodmill now wants him to fight right-handed. Meanwhile, Apollo became exceedingly angry at the rude and nasty comments on his fight with Rocky, eager for a rematch with him, Apollo even went public about it then, Adrian fell into a coma after delivering her and Rocky's baby, after a few days, she awakens and was given the baby, which was named Rocky Jr. Then, Rocky continues his training, and then the fight begins, Apollo is still angry, but Rocky is more determined than ever to win.


Sylvester Stallone, why did you not ever give any other great performances in your career like you did with the first three and the sixth Rocky films? It isn't a performance that was Oscar worthy like the first film but he wasn't that far off from that level again. We see a slightly softer Rocky than what we saw in the first film and in my honest opinion; he was a stronger and more powerful character in the sequel than the first one. Talia Shire was great once again as Adrian. She became a whole new woman in the sequel than she did in the first one seeing as she broke out of her shy ways and became a lot more confident in herself and the fact she was the girlfriend and then wife of one of the most popular boxers around that time helped her as well. Carl Weathers was great once again as Apollo Creed (boxing enemy of Rocky's) who became even more of an enemy to Rocky than in the first film so therefore that made the final rematch even more exciting and tense than the one in the first film.


After John G. Avildsen's successful direction due to winning the Academy Award for Best Director, Sylvester Stallone himself decided to step up as director as well as playing the leading role and writer of the film. He did a great job with this one especially in the fast moving boxing scenes where Stallone is controlling behind the camera as well as in front of it. That is quite a tough challenge for a scene where shots will be changing almost every second. I have always thought that Sylvester Stallone is decent director but can't really write scripts very well (except for the first three and last Rocky film which he did well in).


Overall, Rocky II is in my opinion, one of the best sequels of all time! It certainly did live up to the greatness of its predecessor but I did think that the Rocky series should have ended after the second one when Rocky was on top of the world and hadn't and wouldn't have felt any better but I did like Rocky III. From the third one onwards perhaps made the series a money-grubbing series that became quite irrelevant and didn't really need to be made (almost like the Star Wars prequel trilogy even though I really like those). Great sequel that needn't be missed!

Ok, I am going to begin this review by saying that when I first saw Rocky a few years back, I didn't really appreciate it for what it was and what it was trying to show to the viewers worldwide but now after re-watching it (as well as the rest of the sequels back-to-back which I hadn't seen before until just after I watched this one again), my eyes were opened to how awesome Rocky really is. I will also admit that at first I didn't really have and excitement to see the rest of the films (apart from Rocky Balboa/Rocky VI) which I actually saw before the first one at the cinema. Time and time again, I have heard from many people that this is the 'underdog story' and the most inspiring film of all time but I think, despite that it is indeed an underdog story and is inspiring, I have watched more inspiring underdog stories in my time.


Rocky Balboa is a small-time boxer who lives in an apartment in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and his career has so far not gotten off the canvas. Rocky earns a living by collecting debts for a loan shark named Gazzo, but Gazzo doesn't think Rocky has the viciousness it takes to beat up deadbeats. Rocky still boxes every once in a while to keep his boxing skills sharp, and his ex-trainer, Mickey, believes he could've made it to the top if he was willing to work for it. Rocky, goes to a pet store that sells pet supplies, and this is where he meets a young woman named Adrian, who is extremely shy, with no ability to talk to men. Rocky befriends her. Adrian later surprised Rocky with a dog from the pet shop that Rocky had befriended. Adrian's brother Paulie, who works for a meat packing company, is thrilled that someone has become interested in Adrian, and Adrian spends Thanksgiving with Rocky. Later, they go to Rocky's apartment, where Adrian explains that she has never been in a man's apartment before. Rocky sets her mind at ease, and they become lovers. Current world heavyweight boxing champion Apollo Creed comes up with the idea of giving an unknown a shot at the title. Apollo checks out the Philadelphia boxing scene, and chooses Rocky. Fight promoter Jergens gets things in gear, and Rocky starts training with Mickey. After a lot of training, Rocky is ready for the match, and he wants to prove that he can go the distance with Apollo.


Sylvester Stallone has always been an actor who cannot give awesome performances and has been voted by many as the worst actor of the 20th century but his debut performance as Rocky Balboa was absolutely magnificent and he rightfully deserved his Oscar nomination. He shows only this one time (and perhaps in Rocky II) that he really can be a great actor but unfortunately didn't express that enough. Talia Shire who made a big name for herself playing Connie Corleone in The Godfather (4 years before Rocky) and in The Godfather: Part II (2 years before Rocky) both directed by her brother Francis Ford Coppola, stars in another franchise set in a similar era but she is in more of a leading role in Rocky. Anyway, her performance was fantastic! What I loved about Adrian's character particularly this one is that when she met Rocky, she was probably the shyest woman in that neighbourhood but as their relationship got better and when they got to know more about each other, she broke out of that! There are a lot of supporting actors in this series and most of them appear in all six (Burt Young is in all six) and I think he is the best supporting actor. Burgess Mederith and Carl Weathers gave awesome performances as well.


John G. Avildsen is a director who is perhaps only best known for directing this film, Rocky V and The Karate Kid original trilogy especially when he won the Academy Award for Best Director when he did Rocky. I do respect a lot of directors who direct films based on someone else's work which they have written and are starring in so in this one, Avildsen is basically directing Stallone in Stallone's own creation. Despite this, he did an absolutely fantastic job! This was a worldwide success seeing as this became not only the first major boxing film but maybe even the first breakthrough sports film too. I also must admit, what a fantastic script! Stallone writing a solid script is almost bewildering especially after his later works weren't so successful.


Overall, Rocky is a great underdog story that does take its rightful place as a fine example of inspiration and courage. It also showed to follow your heart and to take a stand at where you're at or want to get at. Despite that Rocky won Best Picture in 1976 and as awesome as it is, I really don't understand how it beat other nominees Taxi Driver and especially Network. As I predicted from the very start, it is easily the best film of the Rocky franchise and I am pretty sure that everybody thinks the exact same thing. Good one, Stallone!

You want to know what my first immediate impressions were of Knight And Day were before I saw it? It is something that perhaps everybody thought at first: just another money-grubbing, action-comedy blockbuster that has a rather lame dialogue and annoying characters but with good action and that is Knight And Day in a nutshell. As predicted there was a lot of impressive action scenes that were a lot of fun to watch but even the intense action in the film didn't save the film. Over the years, we have seen films like Knight And Day that tries to charm the viewers by giving us lots of action but this was just so predictable and I was almost certain of what was going to happen after about 30 minutes during the film.


June has a garage in Boston. At an airport heading home, a man bumps into her a few times and tries to keep her off the plane. He's under FBI surveillance; they wonder if he and she are working together, so they let both on a flight full of armed men wanting to arrest the stranger. He's Roy, he shoots his way out of trouble and tells her she's in danger. She's home the next day, miraculously, when agents pick her up; Roy saves her again, and a transcontinental chase ensues with Roy convincing her that he's the good guy, protecting an energy source that a rogue agent wants to sell on the black market. Can she trust Roy, and will trust matter when the bullets start flying?


Admittedly, I find both Cruise and Diaz overrated even though I did like them in Vanilla Sky together but they reunite for a second time. However, this time, the chemistry between both characters was just annoying as hell! Tom Cruise is one of those actors who try to play a kind of hero that we have seen time and time again but he really doesn't catch the audience's attention in this film at all. I mean, it's like one minute he is fighting for June and defending her, then he is fighting against her and then defending her and so forth so became quite annoying and a rather messed-up and chaotic character. Cameron Diaz may have been incredibly hot as June Havens but her performance as June Havens was one of those performances where you find the character incredibly annoying. I mean, Tom Cruise playing a guy called Roy and Cameron Diaz playing a woman called June! They are the oldest fashioned and elderly names anyone could possibly come up with and they really don't suit actors like Cruise and Diaz. Peter Sarsgaard is just another actor playing a cob looking for someone. There was nothing new added to that character kind at all, really. I liked Paul Dano's mild appearance and performance which makes him the best actor in the film.


James Mangold certainly knows how to direct a film brilliantly in the action scenes but elsewhere such as developing the characters and the non-action scenes, he just cannot do it and it just didn't work that out for him and I couldn't see it, really. I think the best action scene throughout the entire film has got to go to the aeroplane scene where they need to land the plane. Now, that was pretty impressive. Apart from that, it was just a director who tried but failed.


Overall, Knight And Day is just another action-comedy that does have its obviously fun moment but has its very flawed and rather crap ones at the same time. It is nothing special but it isn't one of the worst films that I have watched.

My first impression of The Happening was just another film about a place where the people living there are being terrorised by a natural cause and/or a group of aliens so basically, I thought this looked like a cheesier version of War Of The Worlds. I was going to skip it but it was on DVD that a relative of mine had and I decided to watch it out of boredom and now I really wish I hadn't watched it at all now. There was nothing realistic about this film at all especially the fact that this airborne virus so to speak makes people commit suicide! That is quite possibly one of the dumbest ideas I have even heard of in my entire life!


After its very negative critical response and after its Golden Raspberry Award nominations, I really can understand why it was nominated for those awards. Despite, I haven't seen it yet, I can see Skyline receiving the same fate as The Happening did in terms of critical response, reviews and comments. I think the only way where people could like this film is the effects and the settings, not for the making of the film, the writing and definitely not the acting and unfortunately there are a lot of people who care more about how a film looks more than what it tries to bring out and express to the viewers and I'm afraid I can't give the makers credit for that.


Elliot Moore is a high school science teacher who quizzes his class one day about an article in the New York Times. It's about the sudden, mysterious disappearance of bees. Yet again Nature is doing something inexplicable, and whatever science has to say about it will be, in the end, only a theory. Scientists will bring out more theories, but no explanations, when a more urgent dilemma hits the planet. It begins in Central Park. Suddenly and inexplicably, the behaviour of everyone in the park changes in a most bizarre and horrible way. Soon, the strange behaviour spreads throughout the city and beyond. Elliot, his wife, Alma, and Jess, the young daughter of a friend, will only have theories to guide them where to run and where to hide. But theories may not be enough.


Mark Wahlberg, what in the hell has happened to you?! I thought you were an actor of selecting great films but obviously I was wrong. First you chose Max Payne which I let you off on but then you be part of a film that is even worse than that! You deserved that Razzie nomination and probably should have won it. That was more like a kick up the backside to open his eyes to be part of real films, not stupid crappy ones like this! I'm sorry but Mark Wahlberg as a science teacher? Just didn't work in the slightest. I did find Zooey Deschanel an underrated and quite talented actress until now. No, she isn't a serious actress like Mark Wahlberg is (well, actor) but it is common sense when a performer decides to be part of something that is actually interesting and took a lot of hard work. I do like John Leguizamo as the voice of Sid in the Ice Age trilogy but as far as acting goes in live-action films, he doesn't greatly satisfy especially in this one so he didn't exactly help the reputation of the film.


I'm sorry but Shyamalan really needs to wake up and make films that are actually tense and catches the audience's attention from start to finish, not boring them and making them fall asleep like he was achieving with The Happening and most recently did with The Last Airbender. I mean, for all we know, this could have been a dream that M. Night Shyamalan randomly had one night and decided to write a script for. Yes, there are some directors who do experience that but at least they actually make great films out of dreams they have. Examples are Tim Burton and Edward Scissorhands, James Cameron and Avatar and a few others. When I first read about the film, I instantly thought that the title 'The Happening' was absolutely dreadful and that made the film even more dreadful than it already is. The script was incredibly dull and it makes its mark as one of the cheesiest and most lame screenplays that I have listened to while watching a film.


Overall, The Happening is an absolutely shit film that Shyamalan can mark as another disappointment on his filmography. He's on a role at being a failure and, as I said, continued with The Last Airbender so lets hope that whatever project he will do next, he will show us what he really is great at (like another film as good as The Sixth Sense).

In many ways, I was expecting something that is just ingenious and a masterpiece but in other ways, I was expecting it to be an utter piece of crap that was just trying to be shit. However, despite my expectations for Four Lions were mixed, I thought it was absolutely brilliant! To be honest, it is a typical project for the British to make seeing as there is this war going on right now and they are almost like taking the piss out of terrorists (as are British Muslims involved in the film). The British are the best at making black comedies and they certainly prove that once again with Four Lions.


Sure, this film is bound to offend some viewers watching this but the director and screenwriters have as much right to make this film as Sacha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles did with Borat in 2006 and Bruno in 2009 but I am sorry to say this but if you found this an offensive film, you have no sense of humour. Admittedly, there are moments where I guess one could feel offended but there are others that are just absolutely hilarious! Also, Four Lions perhaps gives out a strong message not just to the people of Britain but around the world that Al Qaeda are a very sneaky organization and nowhere is safe and for the poor civilians, it will all depend on where they are and when they are there.


In a British city, four men have a secret plan. Omar is disillusioned about the treatment of Muslims around the world and is determined to become a soldier. This is the most exciting idea Waj has ever heard. Better still it's a no brainer because Omar does his thinking for him. Opposed to Omar and everyone else on earth is the white Islamic convert Barry. He'd realize he joined the cell to channel his nihilism - If he had half the self knowledge of a duck. Faisal is the odd man out. He can make a bomb - but he can't blow himself up just now coz his sick dad has "started eating newspaper". Instead he's training crows to fly bombs through windows. This is what Omar has to deal with. They must strike a decisive blow on their own turf but can any of them strike a match without punching himself in the face?


Well, I find that writing about the actors and characters in this film will be quite difficult but here goes. I thought the bond between all of the characters was just brilliant! I have to say that it is rather brave of those actors to play characters who are ripping off some of the people of their own race as nothing more than scumbag terrorists. The actors with these performances and strong commitment to the project showed that there are a lot of good Muslims in the world, not just members of Al Qaeda. I also loved how they try to terrorise a particular place and every time they mess it up and the fact that the characters try and fail, just really made me laugh during the entire film.


Chris Morris is a guy who is in his late 40s and has only just began his filmmaking directing career and what a great debut it was! The filming was brilliantly handled especially in the scenes where they are trying to act like terrorists in the flat in front of a camera and also when they are in Pakistan aswell. It was just brilliantly filmed all the way through it. Four Lions really is one of those films where the script must be read first by an actor or anybody who is going to be part of the film because you could just read the synopsis and automatically think 'this group of guys are just going to take the absolute piss and will cause a major fiasco'. Morris and fellow screenwriters Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain joined together and wrote this script that I think deserved more recognition and awards to win. Four Lions was robbed of a Best Picture Musical/Comedy nomination just like Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World were aswell but I hope that this will win the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Director like it rightly should.


Overall, Four Lions is an absolutely hilarious black comedy that can be marked as another great British film. It perhaps is the most underrated film of 2010 and I wish it earned more critical acclaim than it did. This is ultimately a bitch-slap to Al Qaeda and Osama Bin-Laden and for that; you are a group of Gods! If you are up for a good laugh, this is the one to choose!

A few years back when I was picky with film selections of which to watch and which not to watch, I had heard of Titanic films called Titanic but I hadn't heard of this one until I decided to do some research on the films based on the sinking of the ship. I am a huge fan of the American epic romantic-drama by James Cameron and after realising that this isn't only based on history regarding the sinking of the ship, but it goes into a deeper story than that and the main characters involved were real-life people (both survivors and ones who perished in the disaster) and that made the film even more interesting.


What I really liked with how well this film was handled was that it had almost precise historical facts about what really happened, who was on the ship etc which is something that the James Cameron version lacked. However, in small doses, that one had a few more precise key moments than A Night To Remember did. There were a few faults that I spotted in this film and they were the Titanic didn't sink the original way. It split in half and the back of the ship tilted upwards and sank in a vertical angle whereas in this, the front of the ship went down and then the back just followed it. Also, it took too long for it to sink. I mean, in James Cameron's film, the ship was sinking rather fast despite it being a much longer film than A Night To Remember but it just lacked the fast pacing of the water and we were just stuck to the passengers in the lifeboats.


It is 1912, and the White Star Line's new ship - the 'unsinkable' Titanic - is making its maiden voyage across the Atlantic from Southampton to New York City. Unfortunately, the night of April 14-15, 1912 proves to be a night in which man's arrogant overconfidence in his technological creations was shaken to its core, as the legendary ship collides with an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The much-touted watertight compartment system that supposedly rendered it 'unsinkable' was never designed to cope with such extensive damage, and the Titanic is doomed. Focusing on the accounts of most of the real people who sailed on the ship, it centres largely on the experiences of the ship's 2nd officer, C.H. Lightoller. With these accounts come frightening revelations about the ship - not only are there way too few lifeboats, but people are loaded into them according to their class - first before Steerage.


I haven't seen Kenneth More in a leading role before until A Night To Remember although I saw him in Scrooge as the Ghost of Christmas Present. I did like his acting as Second Officer; Charles Lightoller. However, there was one minor fault that I didn't really like was after the ship sank completely, there is almost no fear, heartbreak or tension on his face or anybody else for that matter but the solid direction, screenplay and great music saved the film from a bad ending. Just like in the 1997 film, there are other real life characters in A Night To Remember such as Captain Edward J. Smith, Thomas Andrews, First Officer; William Murdoch, J. Bruce Ismay and a few others. Aside from the characters on the Titanic, we see and meet characters on Carpathia and ship which was near the Titanic (about 10 miles away but could see it) when it struck the iceberg and did nothing about it so we learned more historical facts in this one.


I was thinking that this could be a pretty damn cheesy film in comparison to the films made nowadays but I think despite it was made in the late 1950s, I thought the filming was incredible and the effects were awesome! I was also impressed with how well it was edited for its time. The best filming moment was obviously when the back of the Titanic was being hoisted upwards and people are falling downwards of the top of the back. I also was impressed with how real Titanic looked when it was a long shot as it was slowly sinking diagonally into the Atlantic. Making it black and white than colour was just brilliant because of the real pictures of the Titanic itself that we have seen, it makes it look more believable like it is the real Titanic in the film. The script was adapted from the book of the same name by Walter Lord so that was a helping hand to write a solid script but it still takes someone with real talent to write a solid script, especially in a film like this where there is a lot of actions involved.


Overall, A Night To Remember is an absolutely fantastic film based on the sinking of the RMS Titanic that is, despite its flaws, one of the most underrated films of all time and one of the best British films ever so it is definitely a must-see for everyone! It makes its clear mark as perhaps the most precisely historic Titanic film yet (I guess I will have to wait until I see the 1943 and 1953 version whether to know for sure). I do prefer the James Cameron version but this almost reaches up to that high level of masterful filmmaking that is almost beyond believe where we are on this tragic adventure. In a word; fantastic!

I first saw the trailer of The Last Airbender in 3D when I saw Toy Story 3 in 3D and, quite frankly, I thought it looked quite good and a load of fun but after the very negative criticism it received, I put it aside and decided not to see it until the DVD release. However, when it was nominated for Worst Picture and is the probable favourite to win the top awards at the Razzies, I did decide to check out whether it really is that bad but bloody hell! It really is one bad film! It is based on the first season of the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. I mean, there are many films like this that have succeeded admirably but this was just an absolute failure in almost every way. What I truly hate about some films like this is that the budget is really high so the films are simply overloaded with effects but there is just no solid direction, script, character development or acting and now that this is the era of 3D effects that'll pop the audience's eyes, we see that almost every single month for at least one film.


There are many ways where this could have been great. Why the hell was this adapted into a live-action CGI film when it originally is an anime series?! I mean, that’s like making a Star Wars animated film (well, they did that and look how that turned out), the legendary anime series Pokémon into a live-action CGI adaptation, a Toy Story live-action CGI film and even Lord Of The Rings or Harry Potter into animation! The director choice was totally wrong as well and if they had experienced screenwriters who have written scripts for fantasy films before and have succeeded well. I mean, now that this is the first of a planned trilogy and received such a negative reception, it doesn't deserve to be made into a franchise so they should work on the Northern Lights trilogy where they started off with The Golden Compass and how the sequels were somehow abandoned.


The world is divided into four kingdoms, each represented by the element they harness, and peace has lasted throughout the realms of Water, Air, Earth, and Fire under the supervision of the Avatar, a link to the spirit world and the only being capable of mastering the use of all four elements. When young Avatar Aang disappears, the Fire Nation launches an attack to eradicate all members of the Air Nomads to prevent interference in their future plans for world domination. 100 years pass and current Fire Lord Ozai continues to conquer and imprison anyone with elemental "bending" abilities in the Earth and Water Kingdoms, while siblings Katara and Sokka from a Southern Water Tribe find a mysterious boy trapped beneath the ice outside their village. Upon rescuing him, he reveals himself to be Aang, Avatar and last of the Air Nomads. Swearing to protect the Avatar, Katara and Sokka journey with him to the Northern Water Kingdom in his quest to master "Waterbending" and eventually fulfill his destiny of once again restoring peace to the world. But as they inch nearer to their goal, the group must evade Prince Zuko, the exiled son of Lord Ozai, Commander Zhao, the Fire Nation's military leader, and the tyrannical onslaught of the evil Fire Lord himself.


The acting was just appalling! Noah Ringer must have been a young man who had to perform oral sex on Shyamalan to cast him in the leading role and he just didn't bring us anything new that we hadn't seen time and time again with other films over the years. Dev Patel, I am almost disgusted with you! You go from giving a great leading performance in a Best Picture Academy Award winning film Slumdog Millionaire and goes to do something as bad as this where his acting was just nowhere and played a pretty lousy villain and he showed us his worst. I don't know what he thought of the film during filming or when he watched it at the premiere, at home on DVD or anything but I am pretty sure he didn't think it was a masterpiece because there's nothing masterful about this at all. The rest of the cast did a pretty shit job at 'acting' aswell and they all deserve Razzie nominations to open their eyes (if they have any).


I need to ask this question, personally, to M. Night Shyamalan unless he will read or is reading this review: are you seriously trying to be a bad filmmaker on purpose? Although, I will give you credit for The Sixth Sense because I loved that film! For future references, anybody who considers hiring M. Night Shyamalan as director, producer and/or writer, they are creating a great risk and would probably want to slap themselves in the face for choosing him. I mean, they might as well make Michael Bay or someone as bad as Uwe Boll as the director for the sequel if they decide to make one. Shyamalan really can be such a great director as he proved with The Sixth Sense but he just chooses to write and direct the wrong films.


Overall, The Last Airbender is an absolutely atrocious film that could have been great in a lot of ways but decided to stick with the peasants and weaklings of cinema so chose live-action CGI over its original type of film: anime. If they are planning on the rest of the trilogy, there are three things that need adjusting: director selection, actor selection and most importantly: make it an anime film, not live-action CGI because we see too much of that! It is the front-runner for the Razzies with The Twilight Saga: Eclipse so is almost guaranteed to sweep through those awards and win at being failures.