Rob at the Movies- True Grit and Paul

Rob at the Movies!

Latest Movies- Feb 2011!

Hey all! Welcome to this week’s blog, a bit later than usual... things just get busy, it’s life and that’s the funky cookie. Anyway, what’s been happening... well still trying to get the right amount of money from the Jobcentre, hopefully that’ll be sorted soon. Of course, have been watching a few good films, but there’ll be more on that soon. One of the great things has been just how much top notch TV has been on, and is still ongoing. Sky Atlantic is the main culprit for this, but there’s plenty of goodness flowing from E4, FX, and the BBC.

Top amongst pleasures at the moment is the glorious second series of camp yet whip-smart high school musical satire Glee, which bounces into my life on Monday nights at 9pm on E4. A blizzard of musical energy, crackingly dry and sharp dialogue (mainly courtesy of the sublime Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester or Heather Morris as Brittany) and some great characters. It’ll always have its detractors, but I guess it’s not for everyone... one thing that always tickles me is the view that it’s for kids, going from the current series, I would say in no way I’d show it to a kid, it’s been way too raunchy... but that’s fine, it’s a show for teens and fun loving adults and it balances fine on that level.

   

I don’t want to go on for ages, mainly because the blog isn’t about Glee; it’s about True Grit and Paul (which features Jane Lynch- link pointer-outers!) so I’ll just say it’s a humongous burst of energy into my life each week, making me laugh out loud at some priceless zingers and sing along to every covered song, unlike most, I don’t really care if it’s a good or bad version, it’s just fun and the plot of the show is a music class covering songs so why shouldn’t they? And as with Rocky Horror the other week, its boosted sales of the original versions, with Rocky Horror sailing up the Play.com charts after the episode aired two weeks ago! If you’re not watching, then that’s what you’re missing on Glee!

Sky Atlantic as I mentioned is well responsible at the moment though for some of the best TV around, from the Scorcese-produced gangster period epic Boardwalk Empire (truly sublime with a back on form Steve Buscemi) via the hysterically inappropriate Curb Your Enthusiasm (starting from the first series, it’s basically like my life in sitcom form, though I wouldn’t say half the things he does, just get into the embarrassing situations!) and The Sopranos from the beginning too (pretty good so far) as well as shows like Big Love and Treme which I haven’t watched yet, but hear brilliant things! Also brightening up my week is of course True Blood (the dark and gripping Vampire drama, way too adult for some but far too exciting and with great writing and characters throughout) and my new favourite show How I Met Your Mother, which since I bought the every series boxset at Christmas, I am discovering back from the beginning! Think of it as the new Friends, but so much better, mainly because the cast already have careers before and after!

Also this week, had a great fellowship meal at Ben Cockayne’s house for cell on Wednesday along with Ben Houghton (some may know him as care bear, but that’s growing a bit old now) and Richard Edwards, top guys all three! We had the most yummy Meat and Potato Pie and then a lovely cake, Ben C undersold it way too much it was great! Then we watched footy, Two and a Half Men and South Park, good times! We also just had another cell meeting last night (Wed Feb 23) again at Ben’s; this was a fantastic night full of yum yum snacks and great talk and prayer, plus a cracking warm fire. Cell is usually the highlight of my week, also great this week was going back to Deans gate in Manchester to see Sir Daleo Brooks and seeing Paul (more on that in a minute!), top times!

In this week’s blog, I’m simply going to plough throw the great films I’ve seen recently, these two especially....

True Grit (15) (In Cinemas Now!)

One of the big Oscar contenders, yet the one most likely to walk away empty-handed, not because it’s the least; in fact it’s my favourite film of the year so far, but the hype surrounding it doesn’t really eclipse Black Swan, King’s Speech or Social Network (which I will admit is the best film of the bunch, but it was 2010). The Coen brother’s new take on the classic western that sees young Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hire disorderly marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track down Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) the man who killed her father, was first adapted into the 1960’s John Wayne epic, is absolutely fantastic from start to finish. With great shootouts, a stellar cast and sumptuous vistas all alongside some fantastic dialogue, this is a real cinematic treat and well worth checking out. Here’s exactly how the west was won...

Acting (9/10) – Out of the acting talent on display here only Jeff and Hailee have been nominated, which is great in a way but it overshadows the fantastic turns by both Josh Brolin and Matt Damon as Sheriff La Beouf, who tags along with Mattie and Rooster along the way, as they would both benefit from some recognition. Jeff Bridges is of course, brilliant as Cogburn, both very shambling and sometimes quite drunk, but always fierce and determined and still very handy when needed, it’s a straight forward turn by Bridges but still a great one... probably the best role in this is Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie, a really level headed and determined young woman who won’t take no for an answer and is determined to the last, Hailee is absolutely fantastic, a force of determined energy and also touches of naive innocence in the mix, it would be great to see her grab an award, but it’s sadly unlikely.

Brolin is great in his limited screen time as Chaney, both very disturbed and clearly with some learning difficulty, but also displaying a fierce and rough side that makes him dangerous, you feel slightly sympathetic but never too much, and if Judi Dench can nab some Oscar recognition for her average turn in Shakespeare in Love then surely Brolin deserves some for making a fantastic job out of a very small amount of screen time but a pivotal character. There are other small roles like Barry Pepper, suitably nasty as Cogburn’s nemesis Ned Pepper, whose gang Chaney joins, as well as a few other nice support characters, but lastly it’s Matt Damon as La Beouf who is suitably fantastic, at turns a real annoyance of a authority figure but then someone to root for alongside Cogburn, he seems very brash at first but he slowly settles into a great sidekick character, and as much as I love Damon, he’s been rarely better!

Writing/ Direction (9/10) – It’s essentially based on the original novel by Charles Portis, so that is the source for much of the dialogue and writing... but the Coen’s have probably twisted it enough and meshed it some of their own material to make it indelibly their own. Some fantastic one-liners and really great dialogue match up to the usual fantastic writing you can expect from the Coen Brothers previous work.

Tone (9/10) – Think of any western and you can imagine some of the stuff going on here, you have the gruff conversations and banter, the shootouts on cliffs, and sieges on huts. Plus there are grim scenes in both the trees and the forests, and a deadly pursuit of outlaws on the run from justice. This is a brisk and very enjoyable tale, with fantastic characters and a lot of tense action and drama.

Look (10/10) – As with most westerns, the look of this film is absolutely stunning, from breathtaking western vistas to the tone and look of the characters through to the sweeping scale of the movie’s action. It would be superb to see this movie walk away with an Oscar for its cinematography and it is pretty much note perfect and beautiful.

Truly a great film, a great western, a great action film and a great drama... this is my favourite of this year’s films so far... and as you’ve seen from previous blogs it’s been a fantastic year already so far! The cast are uniformly fantastic and it’s superbly enjoyable and thrilling... check it out now!

Rating- 10/10

Paul (15) (In Cinemas Now!)

They’ve encountered zombies in Shaun of the Dead (2004), blown the neighbourhood up in Hot Fuzz (2007)... and now they’re headed for America as two sci-fi comic book geeks who stumble upon a foul mouthed Alien and have to help him get home, whilst avoiding various authority types and picking up a young woman named Ruth (Kristen Wiig). Yep it’s time for some more Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, in their first film without director Edgar Wright (was busy making the amazing Scott Pilgrim vs. the World but will re join the duo on World’s End, the third in the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy with Fuzz and Shaun) and whilst lacking some of the nuance and warmth of the other two movies, this is still a hugely fun film with great gags and references throughout, plus some great dialogue and memorable characters plus some cracking cameos. Hugely inspired by Spielberg in particular and science fiction in general, it’s a love letter to the genre and its greatest and most popular movies, read on to discover what makes it tick...

Acting (7/10) – If you’ve seen Shaun and Fuzz and anything else they’re in, you know what to expect from Pegg and Frost and they’re as charming, bumbling and funny as ever. Wiig in particular is very charming as the young woman they pick up, whose whole world is shattered upon meeting Paul, and the consequences of that are very funny indeed. Main source of joy though is the various federal agents, chief amongst played by Jason Bateman with superb deadpan glee and the best character name of the year surely? Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio are also extremely funny as the two bungling sidekick agents. There are plenty of cameos I won’t spoil here; needless to say they’re all very funny in their own ways. There is nothing of Oscar worthy acclaim, but a great and very enjoyable cast of familiar faces.

Writing/ Direction (8/10) – Though Pegg and Frost are lacking the support and direction of collaborator Edgar Wright this time around, the dialogue and story are still very witty and funny and fast paced, courtesy of Superbad/ Adventureland director Greg Mottola. The dialogue is great and hugely memorable, a lot of the time riffing on classic sci-fi quotes and names.

Tone (9/10) – Hugely fun from start to finish, whether it’s the various funny cameos or the endless nods and references to sci-fi classics such as Back to the Future, the Alien franchise, the Star Wars and Star Trek series, and very much in particular, Steven Spielberg’s E.T. It’s hugely entertaining and very good fun, and as such, the tone is more or less fantastic!

Look (7/10) – Nothing to write home about, but nothing wrong with it either... it’s not really a film that needs to thrive on its look, but the various US vistas are perfectly lovely though, and Paul is a great CG creation.

It’s fantastic fun from start to finish, a great cast of characters and familiar faces, plenty of great gags and dialogue, and one heck of a fun movie. Get straight to your nearest cinema now, and get beamed up!

Rating- 8/10

Also Seen

Never Let Me Go (12)

A simply beautiful futuristic (yet not quite) drama, to talk too much about the plot would spoil some of the plot nuances, but all three of the main cast excel, most notably Keira Knightley in what could be her best turn yet. Truly tragic, yet beautiful and very moving

8/10

Sanctum 3D (15)

I guess the 3D isn’t really necessary but it also doesn’t hurt in this underground and underwater epic with the lovely tag ‘James Cameron presents’, meaning he helped somewhere along the way. Plot wise or acting or dialogue wise, it isn’t special but it’s suitably tense and gripping throughout and really keeps chugging along until it slightly stumbles towards the end... well worth checking out in the cinema if anything

7/10

Valentine’s Day (12)

A really cheesy but extremely enjoyable romantic comedy set around the most lovable of days, featuring a cast of literally thousands from Ashton Kutcher through Jessica’s Biel and Alba plus Patrick Dempsey, Emma Roberts, Jennifer Garner, Shirley MacLaine, Jamie Foxx, Queen Latifah, Anne Hathaway and more... it’s delightfully charming, pretty funny, sweet and really enjoyable. A true guilty pleasure film, it’s just so lovely

8/10

The Bodyguard (15)

One of the many movies of the 90’s that most people remember for its chart busting power ballad (see Prince of Thieves, Armageddon, maybe even Titanic but surely it wasn’t Celine Dion that made it the biggest (till Avatar) of all time?) This is fairly generic stuff, but passes the time... strangely Kevin Costner doesn’t act at all (Whitney is ok), he’s fairly plank like yet his character is decent and grips... in fact the best person in the whole thing is Ossie Davis in his (too brief) screen time. It’s fairly generic silly stuff, but I guess there’s a love story somewhere... even if the film ends in such a way that makes you wonder exactly why they didn’t end up with each other? Answers on a postcard!!!

7/10

Armored (12)

A very straight forward B-movie that covers the usual tropes and clichés, rookie cop on his first day stumbles upon something, rag tag band of misfits trying something which goes wrong, plus a cast that includes B-list regulars Fred Ward, Larry Fishburne, Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, and even Skeet Ulrich (not seen much since the late 90’s)... basically Columbus Short’s rookie armored car driver is let in on a heist plan by his buddies (inc Larry, Matt, Skeet and Jean plus Sucre from Prison Break) where they plan to rob one of the armored cars they’re driving, but everything goes wrong when Columbus locks himself in the van and doesn’t want to help... then a cop appears. It’s terrifically enjoyable, and terribly predictable but great undemanding fun.

7/10

Sleeper (PG)

A truly tripped out and surreal futuristic comedy by Woody Allen, truly genius and truly mad... and truly hilarious, mixing political allegory with superb silent slapstick sequences of giant fruit and more... it’s truly hard to sum it up but basically Woody Allen wakes up in the future and goes on the run to infiltrate an underground movement. Other than that, I was never 100% sure what was going on, but that’s the hysterical joy I guess sometimes... it’s truly witty and inspired and truly insane, great stuff!

8/10

The Crazies (15)

Only just finished this one, and my goodness... what a corker! It’s both truly terrifying and an action-packed thriller. Basically, the government accidentally unleashes a deadly virus in a peaceful town, and everyone goes mental and starts killing people... like zombies, but alive and more deadly! Timothy Olyphant has always been a legend and he’s truly great here, a great leading man plus Radha Mitchell is also cracking as the leading lady. Switching between great action scenes and nasty inventive shocks, it’s a truly cracking little (or big) horror movie with an explosive finale!

8/10

So that’s this week’s blog, the reviews may seem a bit shorter at points but I think they get the job done, then again some may say they’re too long! Who knows what the next week will bring, a job? Some actual money from the Jobcentre? (They’re not doing great at making the right decision for my allowance at the moment, read the paperwork I’m sending!!) But hopefully some really great times none the less, already there’s I Am Number Four, Rango, Drive Angry 3D and The Adjustment Bureau on the way to name a few, plus more cell group, a party, and of course, The Oscars... very late night on Sunday but it’s going to be great... can’t wait to see what Franco and Hathaway bring to the table on the night, can’t wait!!

Until next time

You stay classy.... Planet Earth! X

Two Great Movies!

Rob at the Movies!

Two Great Favourite Movie Recommendations

Hey everyone, it’s time for this week’s blog. I’m not going to go on and on in detail about a number of film’s or a specific subject this week. I’m simply going to talk about two films that mean a great deal to me and I couldn’t recommend more. There’s so many great films I love and you’ll probably here about some of them in future blogs on a similar topic... for example, the lovely chap below...

So, what’s been going on in my world this week? Well not loads of really exciting things but a pretty decent spread nonetheless, the ups and downs as you have it. Still waiting to sort out what’s happening with my benefit, I got some through but it still doesn’t seem they’ve got the facts I sent them to calculate it on right just yet. But I’ve got enough to manage for a bit, it just seems cuckoo!

Ah well. In other news, there was a rather interesting evening last night at St Marks where I helped with the visuals whilst sound expert Ben H did a cracking job as always... it was an evening hosted by Open Doors, a really fascinating charity that helps persecuted Christians in foreign countries, I won’t go on in great detail but it was rather a stunning evening as you can imagine. There was around 4 or 5 DVD’s showing what is happening in these countries, as well as prayer stations with facts and details to pray for and some testimonies from the Open Doors representatives. 

It’s a real eye opener to see what is happening and it just makes you realise how fortunate you are to be able to worship and pray without the persecution over here... and it’s definitely that requires as much prayer and help as possible for those people, and if you can afford to donate some money to it... I’d really recommend helping in every way you can. That was in place of our cell group, though we were mostly all there and chatted and met up still.

Other than that, just been chilling at home, looking for work and watching a fair few movies on the TV from Sky plus, such as the rather good From Hell with Johnny Depp as a unorthodox detective trailing Jack the Ripper... it’s rather daft but also rather gripping and Depp is no less than superb. 

Also watched the daft but rather rubbish Ninja Assassin, which made no sense and was just gory without half the fun, as well as Did You Hear about the Morgans? Which was passable rom com fare with a bit of action thrown in, rather average bar the always loveable Hugh Grant and the ever cool moustache of Sam Elliot... I’m talking about the dude! 

 

Also started watching the very fantastic Boardwalk Empire, a prohibition (banning of Alcohol) era TV drama from Martin Scorsese that is absolutely terrific as well as the welcome return of Dr House, and a cracking return it was too, both very funny and very moving as always.

I also saw a preview of Never Let Me Go at the excellent Liverpool One Odeon on Monday... such a downbeat but superb movie with three fantastic performances from Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and (surprisingly) Keira Knightley, who my mother so correctly observed, doesn’t usually act very good. Don’t want to say too much, because it’s a film to discover as the plot moves on, but it’s devastatingly sad towards the end and very bittersweet but is a film not to be missed. 

That’s out now, and I’m very looking forward to seeing two films in the next week.... Jeff Bridges playing Rooster Cogburn in The Coen Brother’s True Grit remake and Pegg and Frost in Paul... two very different films, but both look absolutely terrific.

Time for the movie recommendations, two really great films that I couldn’t recommend any higher. Firstly, don’t forget your booties because it’s cold out there today....

Groundhog Day

Easily my favourite comedy movie of all time, and as close to perfection as I feel a comedy can get... far too clever and far too brilliantly written. The plot has become a well-worn trope by now, reliving something over and over and over, but this is the movie that started that trend as weatherman Phil Connors, played by a (I think) career best Bill Murray and that’s saying something from one of my all time favourite actors, goes off to Punxsutawney to cover the annual Groundhog Day festival... where they bring out the Groundhog to tell how long Winter will last from thereon in.

Phil is the usual curmudgeonly Murray character and hates having to cover this festival, so he’s thrilled when he can leave... until that is, a blizzard that he had reported would not be hitting actually does and he has to stay the night. Needless to say, when he wakes up... it’s Groundhog Day all over again, and if he ever wants to escape this mad time loop, he may just have to change his lives and etc and etc... But not without having a bit of fun with it first.

An easy way to explain just what I love so much about this film, and why I consider it so perfect, funny, charming and clever is to break it down into likes and even, dum dum dum, dislikes if there are any...

What I Love about it:

- Bill Murray. Normally that would enough, and in most ways it is. But as you’ll see there’s much more than the leading man to enjoy here, but what a leading man... doing his usual sarcastic shtick with aplomb, whilst also unveiling a sympathetic and touching side too as he becomes affected by his ‘special condition’ and learns to help more.... it’s a great performance, at times very very funny, with some great dialogue and also very touching and strangely romantic towards the end. I’ll always say Jim Carrey missed out big time when the academy snubbed him for Truman Show, here’s another unjustly ignored performance that surely warranted a nomination.

- The timeframe.... never does the movie ever explain just how long he goes through the ‘day after day’ symptom, but it could be anything from years to decades or maybe months... and I’ve always found that intriguing. Just how many of the things he learns to do day after day, from helping people to knowing everyone to romancing Rita (Andie MacDowell) to a fault. Its mind bogglingly clever just how day after day you could do so much, and how long does he do it for?

- Using the timeframe to his advantage. Yet another example of how clever and witty it is, there is a whole range of ways he manipulates the timeframe he finds himself in. Whether it be going on a drink drive rampage, being arrested and then waking up in his hotel Scott free; killing himself a whole number of times in elaborate ways; timing a bank truck delivery of money perfectly to simply waltz past and grab the cash in cinema’s easiest and best bank heist; or perfecting the art of a romantic dinner conversation with Rita about toasts and the best drink order. Every single time you watch it, you never fail to be impressed by the precise comic timing of these scenes and the subtle cleverness with which they’re concocted.

- Ned! Cinema’s most annoying person you can’t help but love, Ned Ryerson (Stephen Toblowsky) is the old bud from high school Phil doesn’t recall but who bumps into him every morning on the way to the festival, this is abused lovingly in a collection of different variations on the meet; from lovingly embracing him to an uncomfortable level, to guessing everything he’s going to say, through to simply (and hilariously) knocking his lights out in cinema’s funniest punch. A classic character for the ages, and cinema’s most ridiculous laugh... I got that one, raaaawlll!

- Just sublime, I could go on for hours and hours about how much I love this film... but I’m not going to. It’s brilliantly witty and funny, has a huge charm towards the end that I don’t want to spoil for those unfortunates who have yet to relive this film over and over and over and over... just watch out for that first step, it’s a doozy!

Any weak spots?

- To be fair, Andie MacDowell isn’t the greatest actress in the world. She does her part perfectly fair here, and having seen the film so many times it’s hard to imagine someone else doing it. But a truly great supporting actress to Bill would have been superb... perhaps Emma Thompson or even Lea Thompson, so underrated in Back to the Future and not seen in much else, except very sadly Howard the Duck, a career nadir for anyone.

- The same could be said of Chris Elliot, hardly a bad comic foil to Murray in some scenes but no great actor, but to be honest though he’s perfectly fine, and his auction scene is priceless.

Though are very brief niggles to a fantastic film that sits very high with my very favourite films ever, a clever and touching and funny movie that deserves to be seen over and over and over.... again x

High Fidelity

Music and love, they go together like cakes and cream. And those two ingredients is essentially what this film can boil down to, as John Cusack takes up through his past failed and success in relationships and love, all the while a soundtrack of absolutely fantastic music plays out for Cusack’s character Rob (great name!) is a music geek, working at a cool record shop and is busy sorting his collection out into alphabetical order whilst he narrates the movie. Alongside this, he has just broken up with long time partner Laura (Iben Hijele, so great here yet unseen much since) and is wondering where she will fit into the pantheon of what he deems his Top 5 Relationships.

This is a film that really means a great deal to me, as it not only started a small fascination with lists and countdowns, which many of you may know I do a fair few of... but it really genuinely kick started a deep love of Music, not least Mr Bossman Bruce Springsteen who an absolutely genius cameo here. 

Mixing his advice on relationships with the best of music and displaying an absolute love of music, it just made me appreciate and love music that much more, this being when I first saw it at the cinema, probably being around 14. It’s just a sublime movie, at points very funny and witty and at others really sad, poignant and heart warming... a really great movie and probably one of the best ever made about relationships, a love story (like 500 Days of summer) that doesn’t gloss over the faults that lie in the road to love.

Oh and it’s also the start of the rise of Jack Black, so you’ll either love it or hate it for that... but considering just how good he is here, I don’t mind at all, and from School of Rock through to Kung Fu Panda he’s done enough right, not to mention The D to win me over again and again. But this isn’t about him, its Rob’s story, and in that weird sentence lies an unsubtle irony, it’s a really human story and could apply to anyone hence its wide appeal x

What I Love about it:

- The music. From some Springsteen through to Katrina and the Waves via The Beta Band, you can tell this is a movie with immense respect and passion for music from the sublime soundtrack that permeates throughout. It’s a film about music, with music about people who sell music and live music and it seriously shows, from the main tracks through to the incidental stuff heard in the backdrop in many scenes. And is that Peter Frampton? Seriously, go buy this soundtrack!

- John Cusack. Ever the everyman, he anchors the film throughout with a great mix of charm, weakness, arrogance, humanity, humour, anger, and lots more besides... and he’s work it in all into a sympathetic everyman who makes mistakes but that’s life. As with Groundhog Day, this is I think Cusack’s finest hour, well very closely tied with Grosse Pointe Blank (which I’ll talk about in another blog at some point) and he’s fantastic throughout and really holds the film together from start to finish, a greatly engaging presence.

- Jack Black. You either love him or hate him, and this was his first big role that really showed him off to the world. Playing Rob’s loud and obnoxious employee but not without his usual charm, he’s a tour de force of energy from his morning tapes to crooning Marvin Gaye at the end and showing his surprising softer side. A true example of great scene stealing.

- The supporting cast. From sidekicks Black (already mentioned) and the lovingly geeky Todd Louiso through to on and off screen sister Joan Cusack (in greatly shouty yet loveable form)... as well as the camederie of great turns from all of Cusack’s exes, special mentions to Catherine Zeta Jones in one of her earlier Hollywood turns who is charming and feisty as well as a nice turn by the utterly lovely Lili Taylor (making up for The Haunting a year earlier). 

There’s also a sweet turn by Lisa Bonet as an up and coming singer who befriends Rob, and she is at turns utterly gorgeous and really sweet. It’s a great backdrop cast that really compliments the events and story. Look out also for Drake Bell (sans Josh) as a young Rob.

- Tim Robbins as Ian! Always a great presence in movies, Robbins is on delightfully snide and slimy form as Ian, the grey ponytailed creep whom Rob’s ex Laura is currently dating... best of all though are the fantasy scenes in which Rob and his music buddies wreak revenge on him in many crazy and hilarious ways!

Any weak spots?

- It’s pretty hard to be fair to pick out much really, and to be honest I’m not going to because at this moment I can’t think of what I don’t like about this film.

Simply put, it’s a truly great film that holds a special slot in my heart. From its great cast and great music through to its heartfelt and true story and heart... it’s a brilliant film through and through, and one that deserves to be thrown on the player every now and then for a spin. Did you really just ask for I Just Called to Say I Love You? x

And that’s it for this week’s blog, I’m off tonight for a lovely meal for my brother Matt’s birthday... we’re going to Old Orleans at The Printworks and it looks absolutely tops! Also there’s going to a epic service at church on Sunday no doubt so always looking forward to that, plus the usual ups and downs a week can provide. 

Best of all I’m going to see Paul on Thursday at AMC with my great cinema pal Dale Brooks, so that’ll be ace and the rest, and that segues nicely into... the Next Blog where I’ll be looking at Paul, which is the new film from Nick Frost and Simon Pegg as well as looking at their other films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz as well as a quick review of True Grit, with Jeff Bridges taking on the John Wayne role of Rooster Cogburn. Until then, I hope you all have a really great week and most of all....

You stay classy.... Planet Earth! X

Rob at the Movies! Disney Special

Disney- Their Latest and their Greatest

Hey everyone, and welcome to my second blog. Consider it the difficult second album, or the sequel that tries to live up to its predecessor. In life and all that stuff, it’s just been the normal... some great times at cell group hanging out with some really great people getting deeper into friendship and been reading my bible more every day (dropped a bit the last few days but it happens, and they have been busy days) but loving each Psalm that I come across. Plus I got to hang out with my great friend Dale, who lives in Manchester, who I worked with at St Mary’s and is a fellow film fan and all round cool guy and graphics guru. We went to see The Mechanic, starring The Stath (Jason Statham) as a hitman with a conscience, its typical stuff but manages to balance some great action at the end with some proper drama, a surprisingly good film.

Also we saw it at the AMC Great Northern, which is a cool cinema from the US chain AMC, so the cinema is a bit American-ish and has loads of screens and loads of great upcoming film posters that you wouldn’t see most places just yet (like Scream 4, Cars 2, Winnie the Pooh and A Turtle’s Tale, notable for the epic tagline 'He’s Turtly amazing!’) and it also has huge hot dogs. Anyway that was a fun evening, plus I saw Russell Howard live last night at the M.E.N Arena, which was hysterically funny and a great evening too. 

 

Also there’s the usual job seeking and stuff (annoyed a bit because I might be getting less money from Jobcentre but whatever) and seen some more good stuff on the TV (True Blood, How I Met Your Mother, 10 0’Clock Live and Glee tops of them all) but yeah usual fun in life, plus a special mention to Mr Ben Houghton, who is just back from a snowboarding holiday, just because he’s that cool that it’s good to have him back, he kinda’ exudes ‘chilled out’ ness. Anyway onto the blog after much rambling, and it’s time to visit the Magic Kingdom!

Disney’s 50 Animation- Tangled: The Verdict!

Disney have created a lot of films over their lifetime, from their Pixar collaborations that range from the sublime Up, The Incredibles and Toy Story through to the still pretty decent Cars; their live action efforts like Flubber, George of the Jungle and The Santa Clause and some LA/ Animation mixes like the masterpieces Mary Poppins and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?... but mainly they will always be known for their 2D animated classics from Snow White through to The Princess and the Frog. After this main bit, I am going to countdown my fifteen favourite of those, but now Disney have released their 50^th animation, a CGI 3D effort called Tangled and it’s every bit as fun, romantic, adventurous, gorgeous and delightful as most of their previous output, it may not reach the heights of say Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin or Jungle Book but it’s still an absolute cracker of a movie.

Plot- A brand new spin on the classic fairytale of Rapunzel. Born to the king and queen of a magical kingdom, baby Rapunzel is born with magical hair that grows and grows, an evil crone named Mother Gothel discovers this and kidnaps the baby princess into a tower, so she can keep her youth eternally. Living there for years under the belief that Gothel is her mother, she is forbidden to leave the tower. On her 18^th birthday, with Gothel away on a trip, she is visited by Flynn Rider; a thief on the run who definitely hid in the wrong tower!

Voicework (9/10) - Mandy Moore is a delight playing Rapunzel, a mixture of life and vigour and a tragic innocence but mixed with a steel and determinedness that you wouldn’t mess with her. It’s the same great sort of voiceover that brought previous classic heroines to life such as Belle and Ariel. Zachary Levi (as to be excepted, after all he’s always such a laconic delight in Chuck) is cracking as Rider, providing smooth and charming narration with a small bit of insecurity, he’s a totally charming lead. Completing the main trio, Donna Murphy is superb as Gothel, a really evil yet snidely charming villain who slowly shows her spots, one of Disney’s best villains in some time (bar Frog’s Dr Facilier) there’s also a great support from such familiar faces as Jeffrey Tambor, Ron Perlman and even Jaws himself, Richard Kiel as the various thugs and thiefs.

Writing/ Direction (9/10) – It’s hard to judge the direction of an animated movie, but it’s generally the way the animation and the characters and the music and the drama works together, and here it gels beautifully. It’s clearly directed with a superb flair, and the dialogue is brilliant throughout, both charming and on a lot of occasions, very very funny!

Tone (10/10) – What needs to be said? This is one of the funnest movies I have seen in a long time, and that in a nutshell is the magic of Disney. No matter how old you are, it will captivate your heart, make you laugh out loud endlessly, sing along, warm loads to the characters and cheer and boo at the right moments. It’s terrific fun, utterly lovely and very very funny and as such, the tone is pitched perfectly.

Look (10/10) – Put simply, it’s a Disney movie... they always look so great but this kinda’ hits another level and it’s very great to see a CGI movie look so indebted to 2D animation whilst carving a niche of its own, the fairytale atmosphere coupled with the CGI making it breath that little bit more, and if you choose to add the 3D it works that bit more brilliantly. The lantern scene alone helps the score hit that perfect 10, with the beautiful sight of the lanterns floating around as beautiful in 2D as it is breathtaking in the sublime 3D. Gorgeous!

Music (8/10) – Disney movies always have great music (though some have drifted to their detriment, Atlantis?) and this is no exception, none of the songs are up there with ‘Wanna Be Like You’ ‘Be Our Guest’ ‘Friend like Me’ ‘Heigh Ho’ ‘Colours of the Wind’ or even Hunchback’s ‘Out There’ or ‘Hellfire’ but there are still a lot of great tunes here; from the rowdy ‘What’s Your Dream’ performed by the thugs and bandits through to ‘Mother Knows Best’ by Gothel and ‘Finally see the Light’ which is the film’s beautiful love theme. Cracking tunes if probably not the best of the best.

Verdict- Easily put a huge delight from start to finish. Witty, charming, heart warming, exciting, hilarious and huge fun! A great slice of Disney magic for everyone of every age x

10/10

The Top 15 Favourite Disney Animation Movies

15) Robin Hood (1973)

Disney’s animal interpretation of the classic Sherwood tale, which may still be most people’s favourite has the outlaw as a Fox and the King John character as a tiger amongst others... hugely charming and fun, it’s a lovely little romp.

14) Mulan (1998)

A underrated late 90’s animation from Disney, taken from an old Chinese tale about a young woman who decides to take her father’s place in battle to save his life and goes undercover as a male solider. A different sort of story for Disney but one done with usual flair, great characters (Eddie Murphy’s Mushu is a top highlight, and for me is even better than Donkey from Shrek) and sumptuous animation and battle scenes. Very thrilling and sweeping stuff.

13) Fantasia (1942)

Disney’s now-classic experimental musical masterpiece, which fuses together classical pieces of music with dynamic animation segments. Most famous for the Mickey Mouse and broom-starring The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, also great are the absolutely terrifying and beautiful Night on Bald Mountain, the Nutcracker suite with the dancing mushrooms, the Pastoral symphony with the cute unicorns and gods and valleys which is gorgeous, plus the very bizarre segment with the dancing hippos and crocodiles set to Dance of the Hours. A delightfully intriguing part of animation history. This manages to be both beautiful and dynamic.

12) Oliver and Company (1988)

Taking the tale of Oliver Twist, and not only updating the setting but also changing the characters into cats and dogs... this late 80’s animated musical is very very underrated and is also a heap of fun. Featuring Billy Joel as head dog Dodger (very artful!) and casting Oliver as an orphan kitty lost in New York, this is cute and fun and charming in equal measure, with hints of darkness towards the end. An utterly charming tale.

11) Fantasia 2000 (2000)

Disney returned to the musical animation experimental phase 60 years later with this update of the format, which while not for most people, is superior for me... mainly for the Rhapsody in Blue and Pomp and Circumstance segments, the latter segment beautifully animated with Donald and Daisy duck trying to board Noah’s Ark and set it off, a beautiful piece of animation. Whilst the flying whale and the nature segments also take the breath away. Simply magical x

10) Hercules (1997)

Taking the Aladdin approach to the Greek myth, and going all wacky humour, Disney also changed their animated style with the help of Gerald Scarfe (you may know his work from Pink Floyd’s The Wall) and it works in spades... keeping the cracking Disney traditions of crazy humour, heart, great music and a great voice cast but turning it all on its head a bit (including a stunning CGI assisted fight with the Hydra).. a sadly underrated Disney classic that I loved tons as a kid and is still way too much fun

9) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938)

Disney’s first ever animated classic is still a masterpiece of movie-making, ranging from cutesy animated animals through to deadly dark forests straight out of Evil Dead and terrifying evil queens turning to sinister hags... it’s a great blend of the dark and the light, that still has the power to captivate literally anyone. Classic songs, classic characters (Dopey!) and beautiful animation. A masterpiece in every sense of the word

8) The Rescuers down Under (1990)

Probably one of the most underrated pieces of animation ever released by the Disney studio, this simply breathtaking adventure set in the wild outback starts off epic and never lets go... as mice duo Bernard and Bianca set off to Australia to rescue a small boy from a poacher out to catch a golden eagle. From blistering action sequences to simply gob-smacking animation of the outback, canyons and stunning sequences of flight on the eagle’s back that equal everything in How to Train Your Dragon ten years later. Simply epic in every sense

7) The Emperor’s New Groove (2001)

Simply manic and crazy in every sense, I guess a kind of nod to the Bugs Bunny style of cartoon... Disney’s Inca adventure from the early noughties started off a more serious movie before evolving into this madcap adventure, as a disgruntled assistant to the Emperor schemes to steal the throne by killing off the selfish and arrogant Emperor, but due to the daft machinations of her sidekick Kronk (stealing the whole film!) he gets turned into a Llama and goes on the run, teaming up with lowly Pacha to get back and re claim his throne. Simply hilarious in every sense from the wacky animation to the various animal transformations and antics through to the delightful chemistry between the two lead characters... a simply charming and hysterical film that couldn’t be more genius ally daft if it tried... squeaky squeaken?

6) The Jungle Book (1967)

One of Disney’s most beloved animated classics, a swinging musical take of Rudyard Kipling’s tale is an absolute joy from start to finish, with classic characters like Baloo, Shere Khan and the fantastic King Louie. Masterpiece tunes, great characters, brilliant dialogue and a cracking beat throughout, what needs to be said? It’s fab!

5) The Little Mermaid (1989)

The movie that started off Disney’s rise back to the top during the 1990’s and late 80’s, this musical take on the Hans Christian Andersen tale is simply divine from start to finish, with some of the most delightful characters you’ll see like Ariel, Sebastian and the sinister Ursula, fantastic tunes like Under the Sea, Poor Unfortunate Souls and Part of your World plus lovely animation and a heart warming story. A true delight in every way

4) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

A much darkest and more gothic effort than people were used to at the time (coming after Lion King and Pocahontas) Disney’s adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel is epic and powerful and charming in equal measure, striking a great story and great characters with a real heart and a real sense of darkness and power. Dealing with themes such as loneliness, religion, sin, temptation and cruelty... it’s a truly dynamic effort from Disney that makes you wonder why so many others don’t have quite as much power and ambition to be a bit more adult. Plus Kevin Kline’s dashing knight Phoebus is my animated doppelganger which helps!

3) Aladdin (1992)

One of the first Disney movies I saw, and still one of the most purely enjoyable. It’s the film that saw the ‘star factor’ step in, with Robin Williams stealing the whole show as the Genie, who is hilarious in every way and a truly brilliant character, as well as other great characters like the sinister villain Jafar and the scene stealing sidekicks like Carpet, Abu and Iago. Truly brilliant animation, fantastic songs and a rollicking pace make this a truly enjoyably fun piece of animated joy, a true diamond in the rough

2) Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Disney’s most successful and most enchanting and epic movie, the first to be nominated for a Best Picture at the Oscars, still holds the power to enchant and enthral. With award winning songs, some of the best ever produced by Disney, some superb characters like Belle, Gaston, Lumiere, Mrs Potts, Cogsworth, Chip, and of course the Beast... as well as sumptuous animation, a truly beautiful score and the most beautiful love story of all time. This movie has it all, what’s to say that hasn’t been said, be their guest! x

1) The Lion King (1994)

Always having been one of my all time favourite movies, it’s no surprise that this masterpiece wound up being my all time favourite Disney animation. An epic and bravado movie on all counts, from the majestic score by Elton John and Tim Rice plus the unforgettable songs they created such as Circle of Life, Can You Feel the Love Tonight? As well as songs like Hakuna Matata, Be Prepared and Just Can’t Wait to be King... through to the fantastic voice cast including Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Rowan Atkinson and Nathan Lane, the fantastic characters like Scar, Simba, Timon and Pumbaa, Zazu, Nala, Mufasa, and of course the delightful Rafiki... it’s a timeless tale that has enchanted thousands and will count to do so for as long as time allows. A truly original story with truly breathtaking content and scope makes one for the ages x

That’s it for this trip to the Magic Kingdom, sadly I won’t be visiting Epcot next week but will simply be laying down the knowhow on two absolute must see movies from the past that I highly recommend, both with one or two things in common. Enjoy your weeks, your food, your fun times, and stay safe and most of all....

You stay classy.... Planet Earth! X