Requested Review: My Top 10 Sports Films

Sport has always been a hard genre to master. The combination of knowing the history of the sport you're focusing on, making it look genuine and entertaining is key to making this genre successful.

A lot of favorites of mine sadly have been missed out, but I know these 10 deserve to be in this list. There are many that missed out that I would love to talk about. But a few that I must give an honorable mention is The Legend Of Bagger Vance. A superb masterpiece of showing the mental side of Golf. With some terrific performances by Will Smith, Matt Damon and Charlize Theron, this film is not just about the game of Golf, but about a man's emotions under pressure.

Another is Rush. Director Ron Howard gets right back on form after his portrayal of the rivalry between Formula 1 drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda.
When a sports film appeals to both fans and non-fans, you know it just works.
Some great performances by Chris Hemsworth and especially Daniel Bruhl.
This exhilarating thrill-ride really shows the danger of the sport and two very interesting characters at eh forefront.

Next, there is TT: Closer To The Edge.  It is an unbelievably thrilling film documentary about the historic Isle Of Man TT races.
It has that great mix of it appealing to fans and non-fans. From the exhilarating racing content, to the powerful mythology of this event and what it means to people.
A must watch for anyone.

Finally, we have Warrior. A truly visceral experience that perfectly portrays the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.
Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton play brothers that see their paths collide in a Las Vegas tournament.
This makes all the Rocky films feel like a mild slap.

Here is my top 10 Sports films:

10) Any Given Sunday - It may be a bit 'in your face', but this portrayal of a dis-functional American Football team, had me and a lot of people enjoying it even more.

An almost endless list of top actors/actresses including Al Pacino, which I think this was the first film I saw of him.

9) Million Dollar Baby - Before seeing this, I was surprised this got Best Picture in 2005, but now I can see why.

I still don't think it deserved to win Best Picture, but this was extremely well presented film on Boxing and life after it.

This is probably Hilary Swank's best performance and with the aid of director Clint Eastwood, this movie shows where hard work can get you.

8) Miracle - A truly inspiring film, based on real events on the most well-known story in Ice Hockey.

Lead by Kurt Russell playing coach Herb Brooks and how his team created the 'Miracle On Ice' in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

7) Moneyball - This is a wonderful character-driven piece that can attract anyone into loving Baseball. Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill are the stars of the film as they play the General Manager and the Assistant GM of the Oakland Athletics. After a successful season, Pitt and his team lose valuable players and are looking to bring in new ones with a small budget.
After hiring Hill's character to be his assistant, they manage to re-define a sport that is over a century old.
It has great story-telling, brilliantly shot by Wally Pfister, the best cinematographer in the business and makes you see the mythology in sport and how it is ran as a business.

6) Olympia Part One: Festival Of The Nations - fficially a Nazi propaganda film. But amazingly, it's done in the best taste possible.

Director Leni Riefenstahl and her team broke several new grounds in the way sport is presented.

It's astonishing camerawork and editing really shows its celebration for sport and appreciate the athletes hard work. But there will always be that bitter taste in the mouth watching it, given who is overseeing everything in the stadium.

5) Olympia Part Two: Festival Of Beauty - Part two of Leni Riefestahl's look of the 1936 Olympics.

The imagery remains groundbreaking for its time. However, concentrating on the beauty of sport and how an athlete moves gives this the edge over its predecessor.

If you want to know how sport events are filmed in the way they are, it is clear to see that these two documentaries laid the foundations.

4) The Greatest Game Ever Played - Based on the 1913 U.S Open, this gripping and visually entertaining film will light the heart of any person.

Disney know a good movie when they see one, and they definitely found the perfect movie for the sporting family.

3) Remember The Titans - The film I always watched at University the night before playing in a big match.

This true story, touched mine and many others hearts. Lead by Denzel Washington and many new faces to the big screen, everything in this movie just makes you want to smile.
It is also a well told story on the racism movement within America in the 1970's.

2) Chariots Of Fire - Winner of the Best Picture in 1981, this dramatic piece of cinema will have you in amazement on how the best athletes of yesteryear trained and were treated.

It also shows a terrific story on what it takes to be the best.

Also, keep an ear out for the almost haunting soundtrack, written by the genius that is Vangelis.

1) Field Of Dreams - Definitely not your usual sports film, but this heart-warming story had me in amazement.

It sends out so many messages that you could watch it whatever emotion you are in at that time. Some bits may be confusing if you don't know the sport of Baseball, but there is enough moments in the movie to make you fall in love with it.

NEW TRAILER! - The Wolverine

Hugh Jackman is back as the face of the X-Men, Wolverine. This time he will be testing his immortality to the limits as he travels to Japan.
The X-Men franchise has always been solid in my opinion and contains what I think is the best of the Marvel films, X-Men: First Class, where Jackman himself makes one of my favorites cameo in film history.

The trailer looks solid enough, but I don't think it is attracting me enough to watch at the cinema. It seems one to buy on DVD instead. This is mainly because, the trailer had a feeling of just a decent superhero action film and nothing more.

If anyone would like me to review this film when it is released in cinemas, plead your case, and I hope you will change my mind about not going to see it on the big screen.

Requested Nostalgic Review: Prometheus

I have never been so excited to see a film than Prometheus.
The first I time saw it was also the first time I have been to a midnight screening at a cinema. I usually try and see the first screening of a new movie, but I was so excited that I was willing to go to this special midnight screening of it.

With it being a distant prequel to the Alien franchise, I shall give my view of that first. I had known about the Alien franchise for ages, but only seen the first one just over a year ago and absolutely loved it. The whole style was just just so unique and I have watched it many times since. Then I suddenly found a new favorite in Aliens, which I think is fractionally better than Alien, but still think both are two of the best movies I've ever seen. Alien3 was solid, but nothing like the first two but still decent. Alien: Resurrection felt a bit pointless in my opinion. It was well made, but the plot seemed weak and I don't know why they made it in the first place. Won't mention the AVP franchise as that was a waste of time I thought. Anyway, onto the review.

In a nutshell, I enjoyed it. But I know it took a lot of bad criticism which I can understand. It was a good film that should have been a great film. I think with it being related to Alien, people were expecting it to be directly like the Alien films. But that was being said from the general fans, the hardcore fans understood what we were in for. It was within the Alien universe, but not a direct prequel, more like a spin-off. The closest comparison I would mention, it would be, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.

I know that is a horrible film to compare it with, but I think it is the best one. We have already been told about a sequel and I think we will be expecting another one that then makes 'Alien' the next in timeline, just like the Star Wars prequels.

Back to the film, you can tell Ridley Scott was back to his roots. The build-up on the ship was good, the introduction to the characters, the visual effects and the terrific music made it a promising start. The set designs were as great as Alien was, mainly because they used the same ideas from the same artists from Alien. Then as soon as we get into the second act, things started to be a bit disappointing. Some of the action scenes could have been better constructed and one bit at the end was awfully done in my opinion.

The big question was, who was under that suit from Alien, known as the 'Space Jockey'. We did find out, and I thought it made sense. I know some people were expecting something different, but I think it was fine. It made sense to the story.

As to the performances, a lot of them were solid. But the best one was by far Michael Fassbender, who is slowly becoming my favorite actor at the moment. His role as the android, David, was very creepy and definitely was up there Ian Holm in Alien and Lance Henriksen in Aliens. Noomi Rapace as the Sigourney Weaver-esque role was pretty good and she was in my favorite scene of the film.

Some of the other roles played by Charlize Theron, Logan Marshall Green, Idris Elba and Guy Pearce were o.k, but I know they could have been better. The other characters felt non-existent to me, which was a disappointment. This is because, in Alien and Aliens there was a lot of development in the minor characters and you cared about them, whereas in this, you don't.

The whole thing just felt like it was a safe version of it. Ridley Scott is known for making Director's Cut's of his films and he did make one, but sadly not for DVD, and I don't have a Blu-Ray player. I personally think, the distributors with their sticks were poking Scott too much to make sure it got a high box office rather than explaining all the loose bits of the film.

However, I still enjoyed it. There were bits that I loved, but there were disappointing bits. I loved the ending and hint for a sequel. It open a lot of new questions and I can't wait for them to be asked in the next one or maybe two.

Rating: 7/10

Requested Review: My Top 10 Western Films

Western films these days are a dying breed and rarely talked about by the younger generation. It was at its peak around the 1950's and 60's where you could virtually see a new one each week. It is a genre that revolves around stories mainly set in the late 19th century in the Old West. Most Westerns are set between the American Civil War (1865) and the early 1900's. The most common theme within Westerns usually include: the conquest of the wild west, the cultural separation of the East and the West, the West's resistance to change into modern ways, the conflict between Cowboys and Indians, outlaws, and hunting for treasure. Western's usually revolve around a hero and emphasizes the importance of honor and sacrifice.

Other styles of Westerns:

Contemporary Western - This is a sub-genre that reflects the themes of classic Westerns, yet is set in contemporary America. These films are usually still set in the west. Contemporary Westerns often explore the "classic cowboy" look, struggling in the modern world. These films not only examine an individual in these settings, but also the way the West has changed since the 1800's.

Revisionist Western - Beginning in the 1960's as a response to the more classic Westerns. These films took a different look at the West, often incorporating the Indians as more than just savages. Revisionist Westerns called the audience to examine whether the use of violence is moral.

Science-Fiction Western - A bit of an odd genre in my opinion that incorporates elements of Sci-Fi into the Western genre. It is often not seen, but future technology is used to transport the characters into the Wild West. These films tend to have a lighter tone and less violence than the traditional Westerns.

Spaghetti Western - My favorite of the Western sub-genres. They were developed in the 1960's and 70's, tended to be low budget and were often shot on location in a desert. Spaghetti Westerns introduced a lot more violence into the larger Western genre.

My top 10 Westerns:

10) High Noon - Another ground-breaking presentation of showing the Old West. The cinematography was like no-one had ever seen.

The story of how a Marshall faces an old enemy without the help of his town, had people talking about this film for years.

9) Stagecoach - A pretty simple plot, and that therefore gives you time to appreciate the ground-breaking cinematography and visuals.

Set in 1939, the year that most people see as the most successful year in film, this iconic western is also the birth of the most famous actor in westerns, John Wayne.

It's full of great action and is a timeless classic.

8) Destry Rides Again - Released in 1939, the supposedly greatest year in film history.

With amazing performances by James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich, this western encompasses everything you want.

It's feel-good nature will make any movie fan smile throughout its running time.

7) Django Unchained - Known as the master of the modern Spaghetti Western, Quentin Tarantino finally sets one of his features in the Old West.

There are several terrific performances and it is vintage Tarantino.




6) For A Few Dollars More - Leone's second feature of the Spaghetti Westerns that shows the continuing adventures of 'The Man With No Name' as he forms an unlikely friendship with a fellow bounty hunter to track-down a dangerous outlaw.

5) A Fistful Of Dollars - Sergio Leone's ground-breaking first chapter on the Western genre. It revolutionised the style of presenting the Old West and reached a new audience that made this genre a cool one to watch. This film also witness the birth of Clint Eastwood in what I think is his most iconic role as 'The Man With No Name'.

4) Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid - The story of the West's two most famous train/bank robbers and their tales of escaping from the law. Lead by the terrific duo of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, this classic adventure will never leave your memories.






3) Once Upon A Time In The West - Only recently seen this and instantly fell in love with it. Leone's final Spaghetti Western and ground-breaking in so many ways. Everything from the performances, to the music and the cinematography.
I cannot see this style of film-making being matched ever again.

2) The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - The third and final chapter of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy and the best of the three in my opinion. It is a classic tale of three guys each pursuing buried gold.

The tension is turned up another level to the previous two. There is constant back-stabbing. It is on a grander scale as these three get caught up in the Civil War. The music is thrilling and the landscape is breath-taking.

1) Dances With Wolves - Such an emotional and brilliant tale of how a Civil War soldier creates a friendship with an Indian tribe.

It was well deserving of its 7 Oscars including Best Picture, and there is a certain scene towards the end that has me shedding a tear every-time.

Requested Review: Top 10 Car Related Movies

Great movies, mainly action ones, always have to have cars involved. There have been some moments in film history involving cars. So here is my top 10 movies that have cars as an important element of the film. It may not necessarily involve chases, but just the sight of some classic motors.

If there are any in this top ten that you believe should be in there. I will check if I have seen it, if not, then I will give it a go.

10) Paper Moon - An absolute gem of a film from the 1970's. Pictured here is the Packard Standard Eight, but there is a whole host of cars that this film conjures up.

Set during the Great Depression, a con man and a little girl that may not may not be his daughter form an unlikely partnership on go on a grand journey whilst stealing cars in the process.

9) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - This epic musical creates one of the most recognisable cars in movie history.

It's the about the adventures of an inventor, his kids and a businessman's daughter in this vintage racing car. Along the way, you notice a lot of other vintage cars, and it just a small element of this terrific family film.

8) Goldeneye - My favorite Bond film from the Pierce Brosnan era and like all Bond films, they have terrific cars involved. One scene pictured here is a clash of old and new as Bond's Aston Martin DB5 has an impromptu chase with a Ferrari F355 driven by the dangerous Xenia Onatopp. There are a few more terrific motors, and it is one of the better Bond films in my opinion.





7) The Italian Job - When you think of car movies, The Italian Job is always high up in people's lists. This heist movie set in Turin made the Mini cool and become an all-time classic. You see a lot of chase scenes and well choreographed scenes using the Mini and that alone is worth watching.

6) The Graduate - This 60's classic not only kick-started the career of Dustin Hoffman, but also features a lovely looking Alfa Spider in one the most iconic final scenes in movie history.

5) Gran Torino - Usually a film lead by Clint Eastwood, he usually dominates the screen. But his characters 1972 Gran Torino makes a valuable contribution to this moving drama.

4) Back To The Future Part II - Like the first one, there is a huge amount of cars involved, but this time, from the future.

Pictured is some of the futuristic cars used when the Delorean travels to the year 2015.

Biff Tannen's 1946 Ford Convertible also makes a re-appearance in a terrific car chase that shows what a terrific piece of machinery it is.

3) Back To The Future - One of the most popular trilogies of all-time also has a never-ending list of classic cars from different eras in time.

Pictured is a 1946 Ford Convertible driven by Biff Tannen, but that is only a small bit of the amount of great cars involved, including the famous Delorean.

2) Casino Royale - In my opinion, the best Bond movie, not just with Daniel Craig, but of all-time. As usual, there is a lot of chasing scenes with various vehicles including a world record setting Aston Martin DBS (pictured).

This classy modern car managed to make the most barrel rolls in history as it made seven complete rolls.

1) The Dark Knight - This groundbreaking re-boot of the Batman series also features probably the most dangerous Batmobile of all-time. Known as 'the Tumbler', this bad-ass vehicle looks pretty much unstoppable. But this film shows how the evil Joker manages to put a dent in it works.

Requested Review: Mike Bassett: England Manager

It has been a while since I have seen Mike Bassett: England Manager, but I do remember laughing a lot. It has a mocumentary feel about it, and I felt the general execution was spot on for what it is.

There are some solid Football films out there, but not enough great ones. Others that I enjoyed were Escape To Victory, The Damned United, Mean Machine and maybe Goal!.

There are loads of funny moments that appeal to fans of British films and obviously Football. Lead by Ricky Tomlinson, who brilliantly plays the England manager that is just a regular working class football fan that viewers can easily relate to. We see all the things that really happen to England managers but exaggerated for the comedy element that works terrifically and that end with hilarious consequences. 

Despite the laughter, there is a good amount of emotional moments that appeals to other viewers and it makes you smile at the end. This will always cheer you up and it should be on every football fan's DVD shelf at home.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Django Unchained

Another terrific film to the start of 2013. Everything just oozed Tarantino and that is always a good thing. The vintage soundtracks of a Spaghetti Western was terrific and the general camera angles just reminded of watching the Dollars trilogy.

All the main performances were terrific. Jamie Foxx was an absolute bad-ass playing Django. Leonardo DiCaprio was a hell of a presence as the evil Mr. Candie. Christoph Waltz seems to have found his genre as his performance was very similar to his in Inglourious Basterds, which will surely win him another Oscar. But amazingly, the star of the show was Samuel L. Jackson as Mr. Candie faithful servant. He was funny at times, but also extremely creepy and you knew something bad was going to happen when you saw him.

The only bad point I would make was the duration. It shouldn't have been just under 3 hours and the scene before the finale could have easily been taken out and it still would have been great. There is a scene where for me it just changed the flow completely for me. If it wasn't for that, then I think it would have been my new favorite Tarantino film.

Despite that, I still love it. This will definitely win some Oscars and will remain an absolute classic for years to come.

Rating: 9/10

Review: Les Miserables

My first film of 2013 (even though it is officially a 2012 film) and what a film it was. I had never seen it on stage or seen any of many previous versions of it, but I knew this was a big deal to a lot of people. Another thing that tempted me was the director being Tom Hooper who did the brilliant 'The King's Speech'. 
I thought it was the best musical film I've seen since The Lion King and that shows how good it was. I wasn't expecting it to be singing throughout, so that's your warning if you don't like constant singing. The only film I have seen do that was Joel Schumacher's 'The Phantom Of The Opera' which was also great. 

Anne Hathaway was obviously the star of the show and should win the Oscar for best supporting actress. Hugh Jackman was terrific and should at least get an Oscar nomination. Sacha Baren Cohen was a great scene stealer and gave the film a nice bit of comedy too avoid making it too serious. I know a lot of people did not like Russell Crowe's singing, but what were you expecting? I wasn't expecting much from him, and I thought he was better then I expected and I thought he contributed well to the film. 

From the powerful opening scene to the up-lifting final song, the whole thing was a complete 'tour de-force' and was a joy to watch. Tom Hooper has become to a terrific director and I am glad he is British. It is the first film I would consider a definite Oscar contender and it is even great hope for 2013 already.

Rating: 9/10

Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

A film I had huge expectations for sa I consider The Lord Of The Rings as the perfect trilogy. Peter Jackson was back directing, so I was expecting another 3 hour epic. 
One thing that did worry me was that the book was pretty short and there were going to be 3 films. So it seemed for all three to be a success, Jackson would drag this out in the style Jackson is well known for pulling off. 

Thankfully, I absolutely loved it. It was great coming back to Middle Earth, but it was more light-hearted which is not necessarily a bad thing. The book is supposed to be aimed for kids, so we were supposed to be expecting more laughs then bloody battles and a lot of dark moments. 

The performances were top notch. Martin Freeman was a great addition as the younger Bilbo Baggins. The returning cast were as great as they were in LOTR. I was impressed by Richard Armitage as Thorin. I forgot how great his voice is and it was a hell of a presence. 
Technically, it was superb and they will surely get some Oscar nominations and maybe win some. One thing I absolutely adored was the theme in the end credits. Such a beautiful song that I will never get bored with. 

Overall, it was a terrific film that was well paced and was another rip-roaring success by Peter Jackson. It showed us another side of Middle Earth. Andy Serkis stole the show for me, even though he wasn't in it for very long. He is someone who should deserve more success then he already has for his performances. The only thing that is worrying me is where the film stopped in comparison to the book. It is going to be interesting to see how Jackson makes two more films out of the rest of the book.

Rating: 9/10

Review: Skyfall

Only the second Bond film I have seen on the big screen. The first was actually the first film I saw at my now current local cinema. Unfortunately, it was Die Another Day which I thought was o.k, but nothing special even by Bond standards. 

Going into this, I was hoping for a good Bond as it was celebrating its 50th anniversary. So the pressure was certainly on for it to be a success, or else the franchise could slowly lose touch with a new generation of film goers. Thankfully, it didn't. A great opening sequence that will get everyone's attention and the brilliant opening titles to the theme by Adele. 

I liked the idea that had with Bond in the film with very clever references to the older films. This is probably the mos character study we have seen in a Bond film. For the ending, at first it started to feel like Home Alone. But I still got why they went there and it was still enjoyable. But I expected something better. 

What I really liked was the characters. Daniel Craig was great as usual, Judi Dench was the star of the show for me and Javier Bardem was an interesting villain that seemed to pull it off. 
Overall, there was a hint of the Christopher Nolan style of movie-making which I think these days work. It was definitely one of the better Bonds and yet it had the feel of the old Bond's. It was action packed, it had a lot of laughs and the storyline was fitting for how Bond should be nowadays. Everyone should see it and I am glad Bond is back being cool after the disappointment of Quantum Of Solace.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Looper

Did not even consider this to be one of my films to watch this year. But after seeing the reviews and trailers, I gave it a chance and boy was I glad I went to see it. 

Rian Johnson should definitely stick with sci-fi/action films as he delivered in this fresh, out of the blue, futuristic modern classic. 
The adverts said "This decades Matrix", but I saw more Terminator than Matrix in this. Most of the movie was pretty solid and everyone was performing well. Then when Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character met the villain, everything went a little sinister and dark which was great to watch. 
The ending reminded of the scene in X-Men: The Last Stand and it was getting quite intense. 

The best and cleverest bit of the movie I thought was the way they used the time travel elements of the movie and what their depiction of the future is. It is certainly one I have not seen before.
In the end, I was pleased to have given this a chance and I hope this gets recognized and wins a few awards. Maybe not Oscars, but awards that are worth mentioning.

Rating: 8/10

Review: The Bourne Legacy

I am a big fan of the Bourne serie,s as it was one of the action films that does not overuse CGI to make their films more spectacular. 

The story is a solid one that keeps a nice flow from the Matt Damon days into the new Jeremy Renner ones. Everyone's performances seemed to make you believe them and the plot as a whole. I liked the idea that there were going for. It made sense, it was developed nicely and the pay-off was an enjoyable one.

It was not a classic, but it delivered. You won't be disappointed, but not talking about for months to come. It did what it did and I think it will be an established addition to the Bourne collection but not be as good as the Matt Damon ones. Can't wait for the next one (if there is one).

Rating: 7/10

Review: Brave

Amazingly this is only the third Disney Pixar film I have seen at the cinema. The others were Toy Story on my 7th birthday which was also my first ever film to see at a cinema, and the other was The Incredibles. Despite that, I have many in my top 100 films of all-time and had high hopes for this one as I have never been disappointed with Pixar. 

Overall, I was not disappointed. I was very satisfied with it, but it was one of the few Pixar films that lacked that bit of sparkle that touched so many hearts with others such as the Toy Story trilogy, Wall.E, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and many more. But don't worry, I am not saying it was bad because I liked it, had fun with it and will happily buy it on DVD. It just did not give the impact that it with some of the others. The only other Pixar that I got a worse feeling from Brave was Cars 2. 

The digital artwork looked great and I hope that promotes the country of Scotland a lot over the next year as I am sure tourist numbers will rise because of this. I enjoyed the top voice-overs by numerous Scottish and British actors and actresses. I loved the magic involved and at times was creepy. One thing that I was feeling disappointed with, was the lack of laughs and the hidden jokes for the adults to enjoy which you usually get from Pixar. But I hope they did that on purpose to make sure they keep with the main theme, which if that was the case was a decent move as the moments with the main characters was quite touching especially at the ending. 

Compared to many other animated family films, this is one of the better ones, and I hope Pixar will be the frontier of animated family films for years to come. They already have announced plans for 6 more films up to 2017 that include a prequel to Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo 2. So it looks like we can be in store for a few more Pixar classics. 
Oh and I have to mention the usual short film before the main feature film that Pixar do. It was absolutely brilliant, very clever and touching. Keep 'em coming.

Rating: 7/10

Review: The Dark Knight Rises

Director Christopher Nolan is back for the final part to a franchise that is breaking records within its genre.

After The Dark Knight being labelled by as the greatest film of the 21st century, this was always going to be tough in even come close to it. This was getting the same amount of ridiculous hype as Prometheus did earlier in the year. But unlike Ridley Scott, Nolan delivered.

Is it not as good as The Dark Knight, no. But Nolan has still managed to give us a fantastic send off to the greatest trilogy since The Lord Of The Rings in my opinion.

Everything is coming to a conclusion and the way everything was rounded off was like you expect with any Nolan film. It is ideas driven, the characters are well-rounded, the story development continues to be terrific and the action scenes are probably the best constructed out of the entire trilogy.
The story in the second half particularly reminded me the events in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 weirdly. I hope others can make that comparison.

It was not just the movie that was near impossible to better, the performance of Heath Ledger as The Joker was always going to be a tough task to emulate.
In Rises, we have rising star Tom Hardy who is portraying the formidable Bane. A great casting choice as Hardy is more about the physical part of his performance. However, his voice is hard to pick up throughout the film. You definitely have to tune your ear at first. Thankfully, I got the majority of what his character was saying. But I think some will struggle and feel annoyed when trying to enjoy the film.
Like with The Dark Knight, there are two villains involved. The second is probably the most famous antagonist outside of The Joker, and that is Catwoman. Played by Anne Hathaway, this was a brave choice I felt as it was something outside of her usual territory. But it seemed a Nolan film works for her. She portrayed both Catwoman and Selina Kyle quite well. Her puzzling allegiance was great to attempt work out. But no-one can touch Michelle Pfeiffer, as I feel she is still Catwoman. She was much more terrifying and believable.

We also saw a couple of actors from Inception get introduced. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Blake, the heroic hot-headed cop was a supportive protagonist that we can all root for. It was great to see Marion Cotillard get cast as I am a big fan of hers and her characters ends up getting heavily involved towards the end which was fun to watch.

As for the usual line-up. Bale gives another great performance as the Batman and Bruce Wayne, Michael Caine probably saved his best for last as Alfred and Gary Oldman continues to shine in under-stated role of Commissioner Gordon. It was also nice to see some cameos from some characters that featured heavily in Batman Begins.

The cinematography by Wally Pfister continues to show why he is most sought after cinematographer. Hans Zimmer's score might be seen as a slight re-hash, but it is great to hear it again.

I had to be picky, some of sub-plot strands felt a bit forced and rushed to make sure every open plot hole gets shut. That does happen mainly in final scene. But it still intrigued me, and like I said, it's nit-picking.

Overall, I thought it was a terrific film and the trilogy is probably the best vision of Batman that anyone could have asked. I still love the Burton versions. But I think the awe inspiring scenes of clashing these characters in real life situations made Nolan's so watchable and deserve a higher praise. Whereas Burton had a look of the comic books to it.
I won't mention the awful versions made by Joel Schumacher as they don't deserve recognition. But I will say that Nolan keeps showing that he is a terrific director and I can't wait for his involvement in Man Of Steel. The action sequences were top notch as usual, the visual effects were a joy to watch and they should be in the running for some Oscar nominations in terms of Sound or Visual Effects.

Also, the plot was great as I was really happy to see they went back to elements from Batman Begins to make that first of the three seem more important. The Dark Knight is still my favourite of the trilogy. But Rises was not far off.

Rating: 9/10

Review: Avengers Assemble

An absolute geek-fest! Everything was good about this film and it will remain in the cinemas for a long time this year. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to see Thor or Captain America but thankfully there was nothing in it that made me feel that I've missed something.
 I was dreading it could be the Iron Man show. But thankfully everyone was given a chance to show their abilities and everyone contributed beautifully. Thor and Hulk definitely stole the show for me. There was obvious over-the-top action, but it is always expected from a comic-book film. The 3D was absolutely perfect, especially in the final battle scene and is definitely up there with the likes of Hugo and Avatar. There were some great cinematography moments. But I think it will be the visual effects that is there best chance of an Oscar, and I will be surprised if they don’t get nominated. If Transformers can, then the Avengers certainly will. Finally, there is not one, but two scenes during the credits. The first one will blow minds of all hardcore Marvel Comic fans, and is a great start to discussing the sequel. The one post-credits scene was strange, but still funny as connected to a moment in the film. Overall, it is a fantastic film and definitely for me one of only two Marvel films that has surpassed my expectations. The only other one was X-Men: First Class, which I still think is the best Marvel film. This could stay in cinemas well into the summer months and is fantastic for a night out whether you like comics or not. Rating: 8/10

Review: Wrath Of The Titans

A decent film to watch, but not the most brilliant one to start my 2012 cinema viewing. At first, I thought it was just a bit better then the first one. But now I still prefer Clash. I’m always a suck for Greek mythology and I will give it a decent review. 

The CGI was the top point of this film which I was not expecting. I think everyone performed solidly apart from Rosamund Pike who played Andromeda, who seems to have been delivered completely wrong by the director and looked non-existent. Bill Nighy’s character was a bit of a weird one. Seeing how Liam Neeson’s character ended up made me interested to see how the third one would go (if it is made). 

It’s certainly able to make another one, and I hope someone can make a really good Greek mythology film as I still think the 1980’s version and others such as Jason And The Argonauts are still the best.

Rating: 6/10

Review Requests

I will be begin reviewing films. I am planning to review the films I have seen in the cinema this year, but I am happy to review any films that people request. It doesn't matter if I have seen it before or not, I am happy to give my opinion of the movie.
Also your requests don't have to be about a certain movie. It could about a particular genre, actor/actress, moment in film history or anything else related to the movies.

I hope you can put me to the test.

What has happened since my love for movie watching

Like I said in my previous post, I have always loved movies. But for just over the last year now, I have been watching A LOT of movies. I reckon I have watched over 1,000 movies for the first time ever. I mainly watch movies that are schedule to go out on TV, but I do occasionally go out and buy DVD's. I am mainly buying DVD's of films that I have seen and love, because I have wanted to own my favorite films and now that I can always count on them whenever I'm bored. I am also a big fan of lists and stats, so it was only a matter of time before I make a list of films that I consider to be the best and worst I have ever seen. When rating a movie, I know some people's favorite movies are ones they can watch again and again. Some of my favorites are ones I can watch again and again, but I just look for a film that amazes me, not just in presentation of the film, but also the technical merit, the dialogue and the music which I have a big love for. Since doing these lists, I have looked at movies in a different way. At times, I feel more critical, but I also respect people within the movie business a lot more. I have been more adventurous in exploring different types of films and found some absolute gems that are now high up in my top-100 of all-time. One great example is a Japanese company called Studio Ghibli and director Hayao Miyazaki. This director does animated films and it is one of the few foreign movie companies that has been greatly appreciated in the western world. So much so, that Disney endorsed these films and made dubbed versions of them to make more appealing to places like America and Great Britain. I have experienced the Western genre, because I was never brought up by them as they were never popular compared to the 1950's and 60's. I have caught up on a lot of black & white films, and I have encountered many actors and actresses that were at their peak back in the day such as Charlton Heston, John Wayne, Yul Brynner, Humphrey Bogart and my new favorite actress of all-time, Katharine Hepburn. I hope to continue finding more masterpieces and experiences some wonders this world has created.

Introduction

Greetings. My name is David Grice, I'm a 23 year-old unemployed graduate. Since graduating from Staffordshire University from studying Sports Journalism, I have had a hard time getting an interview, let alone a full-time job. Whilst trying to get myself noticed in the sport journalism world, I have found a love for movies, and when I mean movies I mean any movie. I've always loved movies, but never pushed myself to watching as many as possible. I also noticed that there no critics in Southport doing reviews. So I plan to become Southport's only film critic.
Since then, I have discovered many new treasures, different genres I have never encountered and new favorite actors/actresses. I have also gone back in time to classics to see what all the fuss is about. I have realised why people love movies like Citizen Kane, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ben-Hur, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and many many more. Like most people, there are still some supposedly fantastic movies I have never seen yet such as 12 Angry Men, Once Upon A Time In The West, City Of God and The Usual Suspects. I currently have an IMDB.com (International Movie Database) account (http://www.imdb.com/user/ur19860411/) where I have rated over 1,600 movies and made several lists such as my top 10 films of each decade from 1930's to now, my top 10 worst films I've ever seen and my top 100 films I've ever seen. Like all movie-lovers, I always enjoy paying a visit to the cinema. I usually go about once or twice a month, but it's really when I want to see a movie that appeals to me. I also sometimes review movies on my Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/david.john.grice) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/DJGrice) pages. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this blog and give me lots of feedback (good or bad) as I want to learn about being a movie critic. Enjoy!