Reviews by SJMJ91

Before I saw this, I wasn't entirely sure of what to expect out of Inglourious Basterds with no official plot synopsis revealed and the filming was pretty rushed (think it was about 3-4 months which isn't that long for a feature film) but the fact it involved Brad Pitt in the leading role and directed and written by Quentin Tarantino, expectations were high. Admittedly, there was no open plot in the trailers so I guess that the plot unveiled itself as the audience watches it (Pulp Fiction was like that as well. Well, it was for me but don't know about anyone else). I absolutely loved it when I watched it and there were flawless moments for me and it was something that was just so cool which isn't naturally normal for a film set during World War II when it is taken seriously.


There is usually lots of violence in war films but Quentin Tarantino uses his own old-school violence like the scalping of the Nazis, a guy getting beaten to death with a baseball bat and carving the Nazi sign onto a person's forehead so in some ways the violence is quite unnecessary but it makes the film even cooler and it suits the director's style. I think the main thing that surprised me about Inglourious Basterds was the fact that there was so much suspense! It is like Tarantino stretched the suspense and then it all exploded and then stopped quite quickly onto either another scene or just carried on and builds the suspense again (such as the opening scene in the dairy farm house and in the bar in Paris).


A group of hardened Nazi killers stalk their prey in Nazi-occupied France as a Jewish cinema owner plots to take down top-ranking SS officers during the official premiere of a high-profile German propaganda film. As far as Lt. Aldo Raine aka "Aldo the Apache" is concerned, the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi. Raine's mission is to strike fear into the heart of Adolf Hitler by brutally murdering as many goose-steppers as possible, or die trying. In order to accomplish that goal, Lt. Raine recruits a ruthless team of cold-blooded killers known as "The Basterds" which includes baseball-bat-wielding Bostonian Sgt. Donny Donowitz aka "The Bear Jew" and steely psychopath Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz among others. When the Basterds' secret rendezvous with turncoat German actress Bridget von Hammersmark goes awry, they learn that the Nazis will be staging the French premiere of "The Nation's Pride," a rousing propaganda film based on the exploits of German hero Fredrick Zoller, at a modest theatre owned by Jewish cinephile Shoshanna Dreyfuss, posing as a Gentile after the brutal murder of her family by the ruthless Col. Hans Landa aka "The Jew Hunter". As the Basterds hatch an explosive plan to take out as many Nazis as possible at the premiere, they remain completely oblivious to the fact that Shoshanna, too, longs to bring the Third Reich to its knees, and that she's willing to sacrifice her beloved theatre in the process.


Brad Pitt already was already in my good books at the time with his amazing performance in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button but his performance as Lieutenant Aldo Raine was absolutely fantastic! I think he could have possibly been the only actor to have portrayed a character like that. Despite Raine is the leader of the group known as the Basterds, he literally is a bastard towards the Nazis and those around him despite that the Nazis deserved all that they got in this film. Raine does have his moments of slight comedy even though he does sometimes literally mean it like it is something rather serious and his awful act as an Italian with the awful accent was quite funny and how merciless he really is towards pretty much everyone in the German Reich. Christoph Waltz blew me away as Colonel Hans Landa! He proves that he is his own character by receiving lots of awards for his performance including the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award which he rightly deserved and was easily going to win anyway. Landa is quite a penetrating character especially around those insecure characters like Monsieur LaPadite at the beginning, Shosanna/Emmanuelle in the restaurant and Bridget Von Hammersmark at the premiere. It was like he was the main leader of the Nazis more than Hitler was despite Hitler has involved within the film but he is more of a supporting character. Mélanie Laurent did a fantastic job as Shosanna Dreyfuss/Emmanuelle Mimeux. She demonstrates the heartbreak, the courage and bravery and the vengeance of how a Jew must have felt during World War II. She was robbed of an Oscar nomination as was Diane Kruger despite her appearance in Inglourious Basterds wasn't as big as Laurent's appearance was. I liked Mike Myers's cameo appearance and Samuel L. Jackson's narration during the film.


Quentin Tarantino has been planning on filming this ever since 1998 after the release of Jackie Brown. The reason why he didn't film it back then was because the story that he came up with would have been more like a mini-series than a film and came up with a new story after the releases of Kill Bill and Death Proof. I really admire how short the filming of Inglourious Basterds really was and yet how amazingly filmed it was with solid acting and incredible settings. Tarantino goes old school with the violence and the 'cool' script and storylines that are spread out but then start to merge together as the film progresses (Pulp Fiction he did the exact same thing for) but he goes somewhere totally different more than anyone has ever done before. What I mean by this is that he uses the real-life event that was World War II and the war between the Jews and Nazis and visualises it as his own way of ending World War II and because the film was such a huge success, I think that it is absolute genius! It is also like Tarantino's version of revenge from the Jews to the Nazis. I couldn't get over the script. Not only is it one of the best screenplays I have ever listened to and read but I couldn't get over how Quentin managed to write the entire film all by himself. It is a Pulp Fiction kind of style screenplay with its cool, stretching suspense, quite funny and babbling bullshit segments. How The Hurt Locker won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar over Quentin Tarantino and Inglourious Basterds, I have no idea! That is a massive flaw from the Academy.


Overall, Inglourious Basterds is an almost flawless piece of cinema that shows how one individual person can become such an iconic filmmaker and shows Tarantino is a genius once again. To me, this was totally robbed of Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards by The Hurt Locker but at least Tarantino and the film itself were nominated. If there is going to be a prequel of Inglourious Basterds whether it is before or after Kill Bill: Vol. 3, I am going to be there at the cinema seeing it on the day it comes out. Tarantino, you legend!

So, the two predecessors of Return Of The Jedi were giant successes and this was being released around the time where threequals were being released and were failing to reach up to the satisfying standard of the two predecessors in a trilogy, there was perhaps like lots on the makers of Return Of The Jedi's shoulders. This was as much of a success as the first two (better than A New Hope but doesn't beat The Empire Strikes Back).


There have been quite a few trilogies that have ended badly but there are some that have ended amazingly that did live up to the predecessors like Return Of The Jedi did (Back To The Future: Part III, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith and The Bourne Ultimatum are other examples. This was perhaps the most emotional of the original trilogy and most thought-provoking too. It is like stuck in the middle between quite a slightly light-hearted film (A New Hope) and quite a dark film (The Empire Strikes Back.


Darth Vader and the Empire are building a new, indestructible Death Star. Meanwhile, Han Solo has been imprisoned, and Luke Skywalker has sent R2-D2 and C-3PO to try and free him. Princess Leia - disguised as a bounty hunter - and Chewbacca go along as well. After this, Luke discovers that Darth Vader really is his father and that rocks his decision whether to fight him again and kill him. The final battle takes place on the moon of Endor, with its natural inhabitants, the Ewoks, lending a hand to the rebels. Will Darth Vader and the dark side overcome the rebels and take over the galaxy or will Luke redeem his father and become the good Jedi Knight that he once was?


Mark Hamill shows once again that he is Luke Skywalker! I mean, could've slightly improved on emotion and having the courage to step up to Vader and the Emperor but still did a good job. Harrison Ford was again amazing as Han Solo. Despite this was made after Raiders Of The Lost Ark, I do think that the Indiana Jones character came from Ford's portrayal of Han Solo so there'd be no Ford-Indy without Ford-Solo just like there'd be no Indiana Jones franchise without Star Wars seeing as they were both created by the same guy: George Lucas. Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia wasn't only awesome acting but made her even more sexually attractive that she already is especially in that slave outfit she was in during the time they all have with Jabba at the beginning parts of this film. Ian McDiarmid was awesome as the Emperor! Weird because he is 20 years younger here than in the prequels and his character in the originals is older than in the prequels but in the prequels, McDiarmid is 20 years older but his character is 20 years younger than the originals. He delivers great performance from him in this one and awesome from him in the prequels too.


I somehow find it ironic and quite unusual that Star Wars is a George Lucas franchise but my favourite Star Wars films aren't even directed or written by George Lucas. Richard Marquand is probably only known for this like Irvin Kershner is for The Empire Strikes Back and despite they're both not very well-known directors except for these two Star Wars films, they are both a lot better directors than George Lucas is. Kershner may have The Empire Strikes Back more epic but Marquand made Return Of The Jedi more emotional so they're about even on terms of who directed better.


Overall, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi is an absolutely brilliant science fiction film that is a great end to a legendary franchise! Well, end regarding episode and timeline order but not the end of Star Wars. There were the prequels but only Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith turned out a success critically. It is my second favourite Star Wars film after The Empire Strikes Back.

After the first Star Wars film was such a huge success, a sequel was a bit of a gamble seeing as sequels aren't usually better than their predecessors. In this case, I found The Empire Strikes Back a lot better than A New Hope. I guess this one opened up Star Wars as a saga not an individual film like A New Hope did especially learning more about the Force, the history of the Jedi Knights and the Sith Lords and a shocking twist that becomes the purpose of the prequel trilogy. It is quite hard to explain what I mean by this but The Empire Strikes Back is almost like a road-space film seeing as most of the characters involved are fugitives for the Empire.


This didn't earn as much glory regarding awards like A New Hope did but The Empire Strikes Back is perhaps even more famous than that one seeing as it, as I said, changed the entire series around completely which led to more films and more success hence why it is my favourite Star Wars film. The pace of it was pretty intense the whole way through because the Rebel Alliance are on the brink of capture at the hands of the Empire but they have plans of their own to get away and fight back against them. This was perhaps more adult than A New Hope too seeing as it was a lot darker and there was more of a stronger two-sided story to it than just a group who go onto this sphere-shaped space station.


Fleeing the evil Galactic Empire, the rebels abandon their new base on Hoth. Princess Leia, Han Solo and the droids R2-D2 and C-3P0 escape in the damaged Millenium Falcon, but are later captured by Lord Darth Vader on Bespin. Skywalker, meanwhile, follows Ben Kenobi's posthumous command and receives Jedi training by Yoda on Dagobah. Will Skywalker manage to rescue his friends from the Sith Lord?


Mark Hamill's performance as Luke improved a lot and his character and what he goes through in this film makes it seem a bit like an underdog story seeing as Yoda is old now, Obi-Wan has died and he is now their only hope to defeat Darth Vader (and the Emperor in Return Of The Jedi). However, his determination to do that or not is rocked by a shocking revelation that would leave you thinking 'What?!' (Most of you probably know anyway). Harrison Ford has always been a favourite actor of mine but he shows especially in this one that he is the true hero in the original trilogy. Han and Leia are at each other's throats at the start of this film but the love between them begins to build during their time on the Falcon while fugitives from the Empire. Carrie Fisher was amazing and gorgeous once again as Princess Leia and I really liked Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian although his role wasn't as involved as it was in Return Of The Jedi seeing as he first appears just over half way through the film.


Back then, George Lucas not being director was perhaps a bad idea seeing as A New Hope was such a huge success but Irvin Kershner surprised us all with a brilliant sci-fi action thrill-ride that lived up to its predecessor and, in my opinion, far surpassed it. George may not have directed, produced (executive producer though) or written it but obviously was his story. I guess that shows that George is not a good director or writer (except Episode III and IV) but he is a genius at creating stories and expanding on the audience's imagination. Despite it not being their story, Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan wrote it amazingly and, to be perfectly honest, it couldn't have been written any better than this.


Overall, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back is a masterpiece of the fantasy/science-fiction genre and has proved itself to be one of the most famous and successful sequels ever made. In fact, for me it is the best sequel of all time. It is also my favourite Star Wars film and my favourite science-fiction film as well. This should have earned all the Oscar nominations over A New Hope despite that film deserved them too. Unforgettable classic.

I decided to give this a go seeing as I cannot wait to see the upcoming Peter Jackson versions (two films on one book) of the classic novel. Shockingly, I haven't even read the book but I do intend to before seeing the live-action films. Despite it is a film made for TV, expectations were quite high for this. I did enjoy it a lot and I thought that the story was absolutely amazing with lots of adventure but I think the main weakness that this film has is that it lacked a heart so to speak and felt quite empty on occasions and unrealistic. I even think that this perhaps will be understood by viewers easier than Lord Of The Rings because it is actually quite a basic story and is less complex and maybe even more child-friendly.


Hobbits are simple folk. Small people with hairy feet, they are not cut out for adventure and prefer to laze about and eat. A particular hobbit, Bilbo Baggins (Orson Bean), is taken by surprise one morning when the mighty wizard Gandalf (John Huston) knocks at his door. Soon Bilbo finds himself inducted into a party of dwarves bent on reclaiming their mountain from the deadly fire-breathing dragon, Smaug.


That is pretty much the whole film, to be honest, although Bilbo comes across Gollum and finds the Ring. I guess that is what The Hobbit tells us: the finding of the One Ring by Bilbo and how it was just a random magic ring to him to start with. Despite it is animated and in the late 70s, I didn't like how that was done either. It just seemed really cheesy! I mean, Gollum wasn't really very menacing like he normally is and he looked like a giant frog with no eyes. As far as the actors are concerned, I wasn't familiar with any of the actors that provided their voices in this film except John Huston who was the voice of Gandalf the Grey.


Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin Jr did a decent job with this but this will probably be a piece of crap compared to the upcoming Hobbit films. As I said, I wasn't too keen on the animation but I loved the story and the characters so I'd say the production was at least satisfactory. The script was decent but I think that the script by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo Del Toro will totally blow it away like Jackson's, Walsh's and Boyens's scripts in Lord Of The Rings did.


Overall, The Hobbit is a fun piece of entertainment that has increased my enthusiasm even more than there already was for the upcoming two films. No, this animated version isn't a masterpiece but it is something that is a bit of fun that is enjoyable at least. I'm half way through my journey to seeing The Hobbit. This one was better than the animated version of The Lord Of The Rings though. Now, I've got to read the book and then I'll be ready to see The Hobbit: Part I and The Hobbit: Part II.

After Fellowship Of The Ring and The Two Towers were huge successes and became almost instant landmarks of cinema, expectations were incredibly high for Return Of The King. The final film in the trilogy isn't only the best of the three but it's the most emotional, suspenseful, intense and even the most explosive. I mean, I thought that Fellowship Of The Ring and The Two Towers were perfect enough? They've saved the best till last and this became the most perfect film of all time in my opinion. I think the one thing that I appreciate the most about the whole trilogy (especially this one) is that despite that it is all fantasy and we all know it is not real but Peter Jackson and co have made it feel so real like we are in that war with Frodo, Gandalf, Sam, Aragorn etc.


I am going to admit that I can understand why some people dislike the franchise for them being too long but they should at least admit that it changed cinema, was filmed amazingly and the acting was top-notch. This may sound quite shocking but I am going to say it anyway because I just love the trilogy so much: I don't even think the extended versions are long enough! Then again, it is saying that or that there should be more Lord Of The Rings films but we do have the two Hobbit films (prequels to the trilogy) coming in 2012 and 2013 so still a bit more upcoming from Middle-Earth.


Sauron's forces have laid siege to Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor, in their efforts to eliminate the race of men. The once-great kingdom, watched over by a fading steward, has never been in more desperate need of its king. But can Aragorn answer the call of his heritage and become what he was born to be? In no small measure, the fate of Middle-earth rests on his broad shoulders. With the final battle joined and the legions of darkness gathering, Gandalf urgently tries to rally Gondor's broken army to action. He is aided by Rohan's King Theoden, who unites his warriors for history's biggest test. Yet even with their courage and passionate loyalty, the forces of men--with Eowyn and Merry hidden among them--is no match for the enemies swarming against Gondor. Still, in the face of great losses, they charge forward into the battle of their lifetimes, tied together by their singular goal to keep Sauron distracted and give the Ring Bearer a chance to complete his quest. Their hopes rest with Frodo, a tiny but determined hobbit making a perilous trip across treacherous enemy lands to cast the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom. The closer Frodo gets to his final destination, the heavier his burden becomes and the more he must rely on Samwise Gamgee. Gollum--and the Ring itself--will test Frodo's allegiances and, ultimately, his humanity.


The acting from Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins was really good but not one of the best from the actors in the series. His acting was just like Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy. We journey with Frodo and the pain he suffers from the Ring and how easily led on he is by Gollum and we just think 'No! No! No, Frodo!' but I think the main character of that side of the story that goes through the most pain, has the most courage and in my opinion, is a stronger character: Samwise Gamgee. Sean Astin was certainly robbed of an Academy Award nomination for his outstanding performance! He perhaps didn't earn as much credit like some of the other actors did. Ian McKellen is obviously one of Britain's best actors but he shows once again that he is just perfect for Gandalf! He is definitely the best actor in the series and I can't wait to see him return as Gandalf for The Hobbit: Part I and The Hobbit: Part II. Andy Serkis was just amazing once again as Sméagol/Gollum. Andy and Ian were the best actors in the whole trilogy and I can't wait to see them both return again in the two Hobbit films.


Peter Jackson, you legend! Not only did he surprise us all with these landmarks of cinema but he also showed that just because it is fantasy, that doesn't mean it doesn't feel real as you watch it. I think this (and perhaps Star Wars) is the only franchise where I have felt the wrath of realism from film. Yeah, I did notice one or two bloopers but I still found it perfect! You deserved that Best Director Oscar more than any of the other directors nominated despite they did great jobs too. I just love the scripts for the whole trilogy anyway but this one especially was really special because on a lot of occasions, the scenes were almost like written in riddles and poems and it still wasn't flawed in the slightest.


Overall, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King is an absolutely perfect film that I love in every single way. It was the best film of the 00s as well as, in my opinion, the best film of all time. I cannot wait for Peter Jackson to return to Middle-Earth with The Hobbit: Part I and The Hobbit: Part II (prequels to the trilogy) to bring us some more genius pieces of art, magic, entertainment and excitement.

Expectations have been rolling high for many years for the final novel from J.K. Rowling but when it was announced that Deathly Hallows was in fact going to be split into two parts, I actually thought it was a really good idea. I suppose on the perspective of the makers of the film they will earn more money from audiences with two films made on separate occasions but on the perspective of the audience, it will increase anticipation (also due to the split when Part I ends) and will perhaps make audiences feel like it is another Toy Story 3. What I mean by this is that the end is here and it might even make audiences cry because their childhood is complete. I am one of those people who thought this with Part I and will think with Part II.


As for my thoughts on the film, I absolutely loved every single second of it and we went on a different adventure than any other Harry Potter film we have seen. It was beautifully made with amazing production, it was incredibly dark, it was really tense, it was shockingly hilarious and most importantly it stayed true to the book. So, for pretty much all of those reasons, it is my favourite Harry Potter film so far (might be replaced by Part II in July. I have read all seven books and I do think that this is the one Harry Potter film that has a lot of events going on that do follow the book whereas in the others, there were a few errors that they did miss out on. It was epic from start to finish with all the drama, great music and character development. There is only one major problem that I do have with it and that is the action scenes weren't filmed very good. The shots seemed too fast and sometimes were like flashes striking our eyes and changing again (especially the chase scene in the woods).


After Dumbledore's death and now the fact that Lord Voldemort has taken over both the Ministry and Hogwarts, Harry starts his quest to finish what Dumbledore started: find the Horcruxes (which are objects that are the secret to Voldemort's immortality). He doesn't do it alone; he has Ron and Hermione to help him. However, for them it isn't that simple to just go cross-country to search for them. They are like fugitives on the run so that makes this film like a cat-and-mouse film too. Together Harry, Ron and Hermione must stand together and destroy all of the Horcruxes to be ready for the ultimate battle and climax against the Dark Lord.


Daniel Radcliffe has grown from a cute, innocent little boy into a grown man. He hasn't been as mind-blowing as Harry as a lot of people think he should have been but I tell you one thing: he improved a lot in this one than he did in Half-Blood Prince (just like Deathly Hallows – Part I itself did). Another reason why we really know for sure Harry has turned from a boy into a man is because there isn't one single scene that features Hogwarts itself or any of the teachers (except Severus Snape) but the only taste of Hogwarts we get is one scene on the train with the Death Eaters searching for Harry. Harry hasn't got anyone to look after him anymore; he's looking after himself and he's almost looking after Ron and Hermione as well. Rupert Grint was awesome as always as Ron. The love between him and Hermione is actually really cute and so was the love between Harry and Ginny. Emma Watson was brilliant again as Hermione. She has always, in my opinion, proved herself to be the best of the three regarding acting. She was more gorgeous than I have ever seen her and can't wait for her to return in Part II. We also went on the personal side of events in this film (such as visiting Godric's Hollow where Harry's parents were murdered and are buried) and learning about the Deathly Hallows shows what Harry must do at all costs to defeat the Dark Lord.


David Yates, you really can be an amazing filmmaker. Two of my favourite Harry Potter films were directed by him (other was Order Of The Phoenix) but the worst one was directed by him also (Half-Blood Prince). One weakness he did have regarding filming in Deathly Hallows: Part I which he didn't in Order Of The Phoenix or Half-Blood Prince: action scenes were more like flashes and it sometimes caused confusion. We know we can see what you're the best at doing so let's hope that Part II will be equally as awesome (well, both parts were filmed together so I am sure it will). After reading some reviews of the film, reviewers have said "it is very rushed". I don't agree with that at all! The pacing of the film wasn't rushed and it wasn't slow either seeing as there was lots of suspense, action, romance and shockingly lots of comedy. I also liked how they involved the unique cartoons when Hermione was reading the story of the Three Brothers with the Deathly Hallows and how they earned the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak Of Invisibility (which Harry happens to own).


Overall, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part I is an absolutely amazing film that is a mind-blowing beginning to the end and is easily the best Harry Potter film so far. There are lots of magic, lots of action, lots of suspense and shockingly lots of comedy so could we have asked for any more than that? I think not. The ending of Part I was so powerful! It made the audience feel teased that they'll have to wait 8 months for Part II. I cannot wait for Part II so I am counting the days for the day of its release!

Star Wars as it was originally called is a film that I didn't really grow up with like I did the other five films in the series. I think that might have been because I found it quite cheesy compared to the others but I still really liked it. During my teen years, I re-watched it again and loved it and appreciated it a lot more. This might sound a bit weird but I have only watched this Star Wars film about 3 times whereas I have watched the others about 20-30 times! This is the one film that defined a generation and was the first film from the first blockbuster franchise so therefore this changed cinema forever and I guess one could say that this was the dawning of the word 'geek' which did lead to geeky science fiction franchises Star Trek and Doctor Who (that came before Star Wars but Doctor Who became more geeky after the release of Star Wars.


Set "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away", the film follows a group of freedom fighters known as the Rebel Alliance as they plot to destroy the powerful Death Star space station, a devastating weapon created by the evil Galactic Empire. This conflict disrupts the isolated life of farm-boy Luke Skywalker when he inadvertently acquires the droids carrying the stolen plans to the Death Star. After the Empire begins a cruel and destructive search for the droids, Skywalker decides to accompany Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi on a daring mission to rescue the owner of the droids, rebel leader Princess Leia Organa, and save the galaxy.


The acting from the entire cast was really good. After recently thinking about it, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker is perhaps what Elijah Wood was like in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy: very good acting and made the character realistic but slightly lacked the emotion and pain they feel in the trilogies. A New Hope and Fellowship Of The Ring do, in a lot of ways, have similarities. Harrison Ford as Han Solo was just amazing! For me, he is the true hero of the original trilogy over Luke because he has a stronger personality; I like the chemistry he has with Leia, with Chewbacca, with Obi-Wan 'Ben' Kenobi and even with C-3PO. Carrie Fisher is obviously gorgeous as Princess Leia and we learn more about her as a woman not just a princess in Episode V and Episode VI. Sir Alec Guinness reportedly hated working on this film so much that he threw away all Star Wars-related fan mail without even reading it. To be fair, I can understand where he's coming from. He has won Oscars and done really well for himself in the past and the fact people will know him best for a sci-fi film? Despite it is Star Wars, fair play to him, to be honest. I appreciate his acting in this film despite he hated it so much because he still tried his best and still gave us an incredible performance. He was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar (he probably would've rejected it if he won it) so gotta give him credit doing well in something he hated.


George Lucas earned good acclaim earlier in this career before Star Wars when he made American Graffiti which is something totally different. I guess, one could say that Lucas merged the Star Wars series like the earlier days of Doctor Who mixed with Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. This was at the start just an ordinary science fiction film but when Empire Strikes Back was released, it became a franchise with raw emotion and moments of tear-jerking and shocking twists and turns (hence why that is my favourite Star Wars film and perhaps the most famous) and showed that it is quite a personal franchise. The script was quite cheesy at times but I think he did do a good job writing it but its too bad that George didn't direct or write the prequels (specifically The Phantom Menace and Attack Of The Clones very good) like he did with the original trilogy and Revenge Of The Sith.


Overall, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope is an absolutely amazing classic that became the start of such a legendary franchise. Prefer Empire Strikes Back, Return Of The Jedi and Revenge Of The Sith over this but better than Phantom Menace and DEFINITELY better than Attack Of The Clones. George, you have created a landmark of cinema but Episode I and Episode II should have been like this.

The teaser trailer looked really daft with some freaky looking man with his yellow alien workers but the official trailer helped me change my mind about what it could be like. It really did look a lot of fun, family entertainment with lots of hilarious jokes, stunning effects and with a really fun but surprisingly quite personal storyline. This is the sort of animated film that doesn't really need to go over the top with entertaining the audience by overloading the jokes and the effects but it just carried on and in some ways, became one of a kind. I mean, most people perhaps think that Despicable Me wasn't that good in 3D because everything didn't pop out the screen every 2 seconds (I do admit that 3D is getting very overhyped now) but the point of it is that it helps the film feel a bit more real and the audience are on this adventure with the characters.


In a happy suburban neighbourhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbours, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru, planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon. (Yes, the moon!) Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad. The world's greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.


I almost instantly loved Gru's personality because he is one of those characters who think he is really evil but can act like a real muppet at times. He is pretty much like a Dr Evil sort of character and I love Dr Evil. His character does show that there is good and bad within everyone and we all have free will of which we choose to act on. Also, it shows how much a person or some people can change another person or people's lives. The little yellow aliens just cracked me up! They were so funny and there was a lot of development with their personalities which is something that doesn't always happen with supporting characters especially if there's more than one. The three little girls were just adorable especially the little one called Agnes. She brought back memories of Boo from Monsters, Inc..


After watching this, I can really tell that Despicable Me was made by the people of Ice Age seeing as the jokes are very similar, there is some personal emotion involved and there are quite a few action sequences. Despicable Me deserves 2 Oscar nominations: Best Animated Picture (but Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon deserve it more) and Best Original Score.


Overall, Despicable Me is an absolutely awesome film that is one of 2010s most entertaining but not quite one of the best films of the year. It did surprise me a lot and it is definitely great family entertainment that I would highly recommend it to everyone.

When I first saw the trailer of The Town, I thought it seemed interesting but I guess there was one slight thing that made me think that it wouldn't be a brilliant film was the fact Ben Affleck was in the leading role. However, I was actually really surprised! It is a psychologically disturbing picture that does have a slightly dumb touch to it regarding the plot. What I mean by this is it perhaps did feel a bit daft when a guy falls in love with a girl who he almost killed with his friends and I guess that made the film predictable. It is indeed a very intense, suspenseful film that was brilliantly made.


It is set in Charlestown, a neighbourhood in Boston, Massachusetts which follows a heist, professional thief Doug MacRay (Affleck) who keeps tabs on bank manager Claire Keesey (Hall), the only witness who could identify MacRay’s gang. As the couple slowly fall for each other and FBI agent Adam Frawley (Hamm) closes in on him, McCray begins to question the life he leads. Ben Affleck is usually an actor who gets a lot of negative criticism in his performances but I think for the first time in his career, he actually gave an awesome performance and it is a damn shame he never gave us a performance like this earlier in his career. Rebecca Hall's performance as Claire Keesey was really moving! As far as I'm concerned, she deserves an Oscar nomination because her performance does show what heartbreak does to you and also she expresses how scary the world can be to some people who have been deeply effected by the people in it. Jeremy Renner was awesome too! He really is becoming an actor to be reckoned with. His performance in The Town was, in my opinion, as awesome in The Hurt Locker.


Ben Affleck, you may be an overall crap actor but damn, you are a great director! His previous film as director Gone Baby Gone was pretty good anyway but I do think that The Town surpassed everything that Gone Baby Gone had. Ben, you really have shown us now when you're at the top of your game and you deserve it this time. Despite Ben Affleck is perhaps a very overrated actor, he is an underrated director. I have almost always given full credit to directors who are playing in the leading role as well but Ben Affleck and The Town has been an ultimate surprise to me. The action scenes were brilliantly filmed and it wasn't overloaded with explosions! It was just suspenseful excitement. The screenplay of The Town was by Ben Affleck, Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard and it was awesome! Affleck has earned screenplay glory previously by winning the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award with Matt Damon on Good Will Hunting.


Overall, The Town is an awesome crime drama that is one of the best films of 2010 so far. I like to think of it like a mixed combination of The Dark Knight, Heat and Training Day. Affleck, keep bringing us these films seeing as we finally know when you are at your best. Highly recommended!

Admittedly, this was something that I had quite an interest towards when it was released seeing as it stars the gorgeous Julia Roberts, Oscar winner Javier Bardem, Billy Crudup and James Franco so it was pretty much the whole cast that caught my attention. However, when I watched it, I have not seen a film as empty as this in quite a while. It just had no soul and there was no message or inspiration involved very much at all. We were expecting an adventure of a woman going on a trip to places over the world and experiencing a new life but this was no adventure! This felt more like a woman who just got bored and wanted to go from one country to the next.


Liz Gilbert (Roberts) had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having - a husband, a house, a successful career - yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali. Well, Julia Roberts, you may have looked extremely HOT in Eat Pray Love but what in the hell happened? I just couldn't get into her character very much at all but there were some moments where she was quite good. Javier Bardem was fairly decent, though. It was quite weird seeing him play a gentleman where he is best known playing a murdering psycho (No Country For Old Men).


Ryan Murphy perhaps directed this one like he tried so hard to make a successful film but unfortunately due to some of those flaws especially the film duration, he failed. I do like light-hearted romantic films but this is one of the very few that I have seen where I just couldn't feel any strong chemistry between Liz and any of her partners: neither David nor Felipe. I think the biggest problem I have with Eat Pray Love is that it was WAY too long! It really dragged on and that unfortunately made the script very cheesy throughout pretty much the whole film.


Overall, Eat Pray Love is a poor attempt at trying to make an adventure feel real. Julia Roberts, I adore you and you may have looked really hot in this film but as far as acting goes, she can do so much better. This really is for girls more than boys like pretty much all chick flicks. Guys, avoid this one!