Hugo

I can hardly think of a better way to start the New Year in film than by watching a Scorsese piece.

Recently orphaned Hugo Cabaret was the son of a clockmaker, his father (Jude Law) dies quite suddenly one day at work and the only thing that Hugo has left to hold on to from him is a broken automaton. His father found the machine in the attic of the the museum he worked at. Bent on fixing what he and his father started, on way or another Hugo knows that he will never truly have an answer unless he finds the wind up key the mechanism needs in order to fully function.

With no parents Hugo is left to a drunken uncle that runs the clocks at the station, when her one day doesn't comeback after a drunken night out Hugo continues his work. Seemingly easy enough, he has to do it around the Orphan hating station conductor Inspector Gustav (Sacha Baron Cohen). It's a lot for a young boy who has been put in an undeserving circumstance to handle alone; fixing what he and his father started, and trying to find the key to make it run all the whilst dancing around the Inspector. But what he uncovers is more than he and new friend Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz) could have ever imagined

The only criticism I have is that though the film is meant to be set in Paris, no one was French, no signs were in French, in fact the only thing that did scream France was the glimpses of the Eiffel Tower we got to view every now and then. As well as this I thought the big mystery behind the adventure was a little to grown-up for a children's movie, though I may have found it it interesting I think the under 11s in the audience seemed a little disappointed considering its huge promise. 

Arthur Christmas

What better way to get family and friends into the Christmas spirit. With a superbly cast voice ensemble, this fun and spirited number will put any Scrooge in the festive mood.

Arthur, voiced by James McAvoy is the clumsy, good hearted and over eager son of Santa Claus who wants nothing more than to make every child feel as happy at Christmas as he does. Due to his, forgetfulness and tenancy to get in the way, he has his own office where he answers letters to kids who have written to his father, helping to keep the faith and belief alive.

His father Santa Claus (Jim Broadbent), is close to retirement and the reins....so to speak are to be handed over to his oldest son Steve (Hugh Laurie) who currently just manages the Christmas night operation to make sure that everything runs smoothly; No one gets seen, No one gets left behind and every child gets their present from Santa. Tonight, one of these goes wrong and it's up to Arthur with the help of his grand Santa, a wrapping elf a Reindeer (that thinks he's a dog) and armed his a zeal to do the right thing to set things right before Christmas morning.

I have to admit that I was sceptical about going to see this film, assuming that it would just be another cheesy Christmas movie with a light and fluffy plot and a predictable ending. I was right of course, but I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, laced with subtle but terribly funny jokes and antics this movie will leave you in a good mood and have you quoting lines in no time, just in time for Another Christmas.

Another Earth

Third Showroom Watch.

Elated to have finished highschool and be on the way to MIT, Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling) makes a thoughtless decision to drive home in her drunken state after a celebration party. Though a stupid plan through and through, Rhoda might have made the journey home in one piece. An announcement on the radio that made sure otherwise, as she gazed up dreamily into the stars whilst driving her car ploughs at full speed into another vehicle carrying a man, his pregnant wife and young son.

Four years later and 21 year old Rhoda is leading a completely different life, having just been released from prison she's quiet, reserved and wants to make amends for the night that put her in prison. Meaning only to apologise to the only survivor of the accident she cause, she looses her confidence and instead through a series of event becomes their silent house cleaner.

Events in her new life unfold around a time when the world is marvelling at the wonders of a new planet that is getting closer. Every person has their own view on the phenomenon; to some its a monstrosity, others a scientific break through and the rest just don't know what to make of it. To Rhoda it's a chance for escape, redemption and to start afresh.

The concept of the possibility of a new planet is one that has always fascinated me, I was at first worried that this would be a saner, but ripped off Melancholia type movie. I was happily wrong and instead was greeted with a comforting, calm and level headed film that had the right amount of tension and intrigue to keep you satisfied.

New Years Eve

Clichés are just something that we expect at certain times in the year, Valentines Day being one, Christmas being another and New Years Eve being the final, so i expected nothing but eye rolls at the mush and palm to forehead slaps at the obvious, and I am glad to say that I wasn't wrong and my head was sore by the end of the movie.

An all star cast of the old and the new; Jon Bon Jovi, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ashton Kutcher, Abigail Breslin and Jake T. Austin to name a few, all leant a helping hand in helping to portray a range of perceptions of the meaning of New Years in one of the most celebrating cities, New York.

Claire Morgan (Hilary Swank) is in charge of making sure the Ball Drops as they enter the New Year but it's one problem after another and as she worries that she might loose her job and be one of the most hated people in the city if everything doesn't go to plan. As well as this she also has personal plans for the already hectic day, but one must be completed be fore the other and times running out.

Courier Paul (Zac Efron) despite his best friends bitter attitude towards the celebartary season is filled with optimsm and stumbles upon the opportunity to get free tickets to the exclusive Masquerade Ball ???? The catch? Helping Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer) complete a series of tasks before the day is through. The list seems impossible but Paul is filled with creativity and charm and knows the City like the back of his hand.

The list of stories for the night goes one and on and all in all I have seen better and I have seen worse, but I am a sucker for intertwining storylines and lives and was glad to see a few unsuspecting twists and almosts. Though I can only Imagine what they have in store for us next time round and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed it won't be an Easter or Summer Vacation special as there are only a few Clichés that we lay down for.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

You don't need a recap from me about this Human/Vampire/Werewolf phenomenon, no matter if your a lover or a hater you know the deal when it comes to this romantic comedy teen fiction drama. I know they say that the first year of marriage is hard, but even I had to feel a little sorry for Edwella.

Lets go back first, as we're all cordially invited to the wedding of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullun (Robert Pattinson), and a wedding can't be a wedding without a few opposing parties. Enter Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) and his puppy dog crush, who probably didn't think twice about the laminated invitation he threw into the rain in rage as he proceeded to rip off his shirt....and wolf out. Cause you know, they don't make him take it off for no reason. Bella's dad Charlie (Billy Burke) though I always felt he had something against Edward, apart from the whole protective father thing, looked like he just couldn't quite figure out those last two numbers in a game of sudoku.

Bella, though known as the clumsy out of place uncomfortable in my own body kind of gal, adapted quickly, and though we saw that she felt a little awkward in her gown and her after dress. It worked really well and lead in perfectly for when things got a little raunchy when it came to the eagerly anticipated sex scene. If she had just jumped from that awkward teen to that ready for anything porn star then it wouldn't have set right. The happiness didn't last long, as soon enough Edward had on his signature Not quite looking you in the eyes, something smells really bad, I'm trying not to jizz look which is a shame because I think he's a better actor character when he smiles, or at least tries on another emotion for more than a fifth of the movie.

Things got a little jumpy as we skipped between Jacob and his problems with the wolf pack, and general authority. Though I have to admit this was most likely my favourite scene of the movie. Charlie and his new female friend, which I thought was nice but at the same time it made you just shake you head in confusion as if you were so wrapped up with everything else you didn't see it coming. Finally with Bella and her anorexia, which really wasn't anorexia, but the change in her appearance was convincing but almost too dramatic.

I enjoyed the little set-ups that book readers would have picked up i.e.; The chess scene, and also felt the movie most definitely had its subtle comedic moments, whether it be words or actions which I felt was an important balance with the desolate storyline. Though I was originally opposed to the movie being in two parts, essentially thinking that they we're copying the Harry Potter franchise and trying to make as much money as possible. Which I still have no doubt about - I think the pace of the movie worked really well as usually Stephanie Meyer takes an age to get to the point of  the story, and that this first half will be nicely juxtaposed with the upcoming drama.
I guess you'll just have to wait a year for my breaking down part 2 of the twilight saga.

Immortals

As an all round lover of all things Greek Mythology and having anticipated this movies coming out for roughly about four months, (Round about the time I started The Tudors) I was giddy and hyped up on my way to the cinema. Its just a shame I didn't leave in the same way.

Theseus (Henry Cavill) is a young man with a kind heart who lives with his mother in a small village, where they are treated as lepers because of the circumstances of his birth. The only close friend of theirs, and mentor to Theseus is an elderly man, referred to by Theseus as Old Man (John Hurt). Old Man has been preening him from a young age to be a good fighter and a better person, but this ageless man has an untold secret. 

The movies antagonist is King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) who after begging for help from the Gods to save his family to no avail -surprise surprise- takes it into his own hands to find a way to destroy the Gods themselves. Releasing the dreaded Titans. Naturally their whereabouts is no secret, but he does need a special weapon to release them, the Epirus Bow created by the God of War himself. In order to find it he also needs the help of Oracle Priestess Phaedra (Freida Pinto).

The lives of our villain and hero get tangled when the things get personal and the King slays the only person Theseus holds close. You'd think that after the tragedy that was inflicted on him he would try and prevent everyone from going through the same thing but then I suppose this would be a very different kind of movie.

Like every great unexpected leader, as things get climactic and the soldiers are on the verge of whimping out Theseus gives a kicking speech. The speech received a gratifying manly rhythmic response, and this I think is what I would choose as my favourite scene as I literally got chills listening to it. 

There were some classic fighting moments that followed that made me wish it would have taken up a larger chunk of the movie as I felt there were moments spent walking and talking that could have been better spent fighting for their lives. Its Greek Mythology times, that's all anyone should ever be doing. The costumes I loved, especially those of the Gods, and the general effects and colour pallet worked really well for the film.

Sadly overall I was disappointed with this movie. The characters themselves here fantastic both in terms of acting and stylistically, the concept was mildly agreeable but lacked real depth and the anticipation of a great scene was a lot more satisfying that the main event. Perhaps if all the trailers and clips hadn't shown so many fighting sequences then I wouldn't have been so sorely disappointed with the middle two quarters of the film.

I also saw the movie in 3D (my very first 3D movie) and wish I had saved the extra £3 for a Happy Meal but the ending did make for a very good lead up to a sequel, which looked a whole lot better than the original, though I'm going to try not to Immortalise it in my head quite yet.

The Ides Of March

My second Showroom Watch is a subject and genre that I don't usually dabble in, but when your lead roles are cast by two such extraordinary people how could I resist? This political drama thriller stars George Clooney and Ryan Gosling, and this smooth scripting will leave you voting Democratic.

Junior campaign manager Gosling plays Stephen Meyer the puppeteer behind the success of Democratic presidential candidate Mike Morris (Clooney). As with every drama we need a love interest for our protagonist, in this case her name is Molly (Evan Rachel Wood). Sadly this is also a political drama so their relationship doesn't remain a bed of roses for long. A slip up on Molly's part leaves the whole campaign at risk with Stephen taking it upon himself to make sure they all have jobs in the morning.
As if Stephen doesn't have enough on his plate, campaign competitor Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) is trying to play Stephens boss, Senior Campaign Manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) off against him. Paul is all about loyalty, but one mans version of loyalty is another mans version of betrayal.

As things suddenly go pear shaped for a man that's only doing his job, it doesn't take him long to opt to use information that could potentially ruin the whole electoral campaign for his own benefit. Though he initially starts out trying to right a wrong, his good nature slowly chips away as he realises where his new position of power could take him.

Though this movie is wrapped around politics, politicians and their philosophies there's enough to make it classed under "Political Drama" but it's not over bearing in the sense that you get lost in the jargon.
The movie I felt was the right length and got all of its points across yet, at the same time to me it ended to abruptly, leaving you with the feeling that there was more to come, but not in a sequel.

In Time

One can never get enough of Justin Timberlake and this new futuristic sci-fi drama movie was a chance to view him in a new light. He did wonders with his role and gave a realistic portrayal of an interesting concept of life in a world where time is money and time is power.

Already the idea of substituting the power that money has on our lives into the power that time literally has on our lives had me engrossed. After a tragic incident and being fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time our protagonist Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) finds himself with a lot of time on his hands. Though sadly a lot of people think that the amount of time he now holds has been wrongfully entrusted as both Minutemen and Time Keeper alike are out to find him for one reason or another. Will, has other plans in mind.

I thoroughly enjoyed having Cillian Murphy play the role of the time keeper, though I would have liked to either have a lot more background knowledge of him or nothing at all, as the snippit they gave us felt underdeveloped and borderline unnecessary.
The character of Sylvia Weis, our second "protangonist" was far to archetypal. Her hair style was bizarre, her personality was boring and her background was bland. As well as this I don't believe having Amanda Seyfried portray her helped in anyway.

Despite all the criticism I really enjoyed the film though I'm wondering if it was due more to the brilliant concept of it than because of the acting and slightly questionable storyline. The ending was left wide open, but I was left wondering how much they could actually do with these characters whose goals seemed to have already been achieved, I guess only time will tell.

Real Steel

Hugh Jackman plays an unreliable unwilling father in this slightly future forward and a little backward tale about robot wars and family in an attempt to show the world that it doesn't matter what you're made of, you should never go down without a fight.

The movie gets into the swing of things -pun not intended- pretty quickly which I was quite happy about, as Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) finds out that his ex-girlfriend has passed away and he is now left with a son that he doesn't want. Happy to take him off his hands is his late ex-girlfriends sister, but her husband has another plan in mind. Offering Charlie $100,000 to keep son Max (Dakota Goyo) with him for the summer so that him and his wife can enjoy a pre planned European trip.

Bargaining half now and half later, Charlie excepts and so begins a summer of unwilling bonding between father and son. Luckily one thing they do have in common is their love for Robot Boxing.

Max finds an old sparring bot who he names Atom and with the help of his dad, an old boxing champion they begin training him up and slowly gain attention from the media. Way over his head and caught up in the moment of what his robot has managed to achieve thus far Max challenges the reining World Robot Champion Boxer Zeus (and his wealthy sponsor and designer) to a fight.

I didn't watch this film out of choice and I should have kept to my original intuition, as I felt the father son relationship was predictable, the only differentiation from any other dysfunctional family problems was that it involved robots. Though the actors managed to make their roles look convincing, I couldn't quite place what year they were supposed to be in because though these robots were pretty technical, I saw no flying cars or particularly amazing new age cities. It lacked real steal in developing what kind of world we would be living in at a point where we can have 10 foot robot toys to play with.

The Three Musketeers

As with most of the movies I end up going to see, if it's not because of the interesting plot then it's because of a choice actor or actress, in this case his name in Matthew Mcfayden. Pride and Prejudice being on of my favourite movies and that voice just being so hypnotic, I was just also fortunate enough to have him star in one of my favourite stories. The Three Musketeers.

The movie starts out with a smooth introduction of our protagonists, Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Porthos (Ray Stevenson) and Aramis (Luke Evans), as they are right in the middle of a mission for their beloved France. Sadly all to soon before they can fully complete their task they are betrayed and humiliated by someone close.

Time goes by and we are introduced to a young and agile D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman) who after being trained by his father, an ex-musketeer, looks to France to be recruited by those he has held as an Idol for so long.

On arrival he finds that the men he has heard so much about in stories seem nothing like he was led to believe, but who other than a strong willed young man is best to bring back up the trios spirit to once again fight for what they once believed in.

Milla Jovovich plays femme fatale Milady de Winter the object of more than one of our characters hearts, though who her heart truly belongs to we never really know as she does a good job of keeping us on our toes throughout the movie. Definitely one not to be mistaken for a damsel in distress.

This revamp of a classic tale that has been told many times before and this is another good remake, though at times the plot seems rushed and the goal a bit bland, it was comical and well casted. Though one thing I would have liked to see more of was the epic sword fighting scenes that the musketeers are know so aptly for. Maybe next time as the movie left us with a very open ended scene that hinted heavily towards a sequel.

Melancholia

My First Showroom watch.

Its been a while since we've seen Kirsten Dunst on the big screen, but she's back with her natural hair colour playing a woman whose progressive depression coincides with the possible end of the world in this post apocalyptic drama. First shown at the 64th Cannes Film Festival where it received a lot of praise, and I can see why.

The start of the movie is like a prophetic dream sequence where we are introduced to some of the prominent characters of the movie, and feel almost a sense of confusion and connection to the beautiful events that unfold before our eyes.

The movie is then split in to two parts, the first one titled Justine. Where we are introduced to happy couple
Justine (Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgård) on the way to their wedding reception. But as the night

goes on Justine finds it harder and harder to keep up the façade of false pretences. Thus we begin to feel the night from her point of view; It drags and we're surrounded by the same unnamed faces, longing to have some alone time. It's with Justine that we are first made aware of trouble in the stars.

The second part titled Claire is shown from Justine's sisters point of view, in this part we learn more about the planet Melancholia that has been hiding behind the sun and is said to 'Fly By' the Earth in the near future. This part deals with how the characters cope with the approaching 'Super Earth'. Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is fearful and relies on husband and astrologer John (Kiefer Sutherland), to convince her that they're all safe.
In this part we also see a role reversal between the two sisters which I felt was both subtle and effective as it danced well with the themes of the movie.

The casting was wonderfully done as the sisters especially we're believable and relate-able to as a family. The cinematography itself deserves it's own standing ovation as it it put you into the movie itself at times, pulling on your emotions until you were in the same position as the characters on screen. At times i caught myself and other around me starring up with mouths open as certain shots and sequences literally took your breath away.

Don't let the melancholic plot of this movie stop you from seeing it. Truly beautiful.  

Abduction

I honestly went and saw this movie as a joke. That and to see just how well this generations up and coming actor can adapt to playing a whole new character, as Taylor Lautner leaves the pack behind and plays a boy whose entire life is literally a lie. Psh, original. Take a number buddy. 

Steve Harper (Lautner) is your average teenager, he stays out all night getting drunk with friends and gets grounded for it. He is also seeing psychiatrist Dr Geraldine Bennett (Sigourney Weaver) for a recurring dream he has that involves an unknown woman.
Like a formation of domino's, one normal day Steve's life falls apart whilst doing a school project on missing kids when he finds a photo of himself as a child on a database.
Less than 24hours after he confronts his parents about the photo and the information on the website things get interesting as his world is literally blown apart and he is left wondering if anyone has ever once told him the truth. Not sure who to trust, Steve and project partner and girl next door Karen (Lilly Collins) embark on a journey to discover the truth about Steve's birth and why all of a sudden three different people are after him.

This movie was filled with almosts and halfways,  the plot had potential but lacked depth and detail to make it substantial enough to satisfy me. As for the performance, heck we can't all just blame Lautner, we have to equally blame whoever cast him. Although I do give him credit for trying, as there were a few choice moments where you actually believed he was Steve Harper.

However you look at it, the movie was background television at best and the jokes on me because regardless of this starting out as a joke I still paid £5.95 for 106 minutes of my life that was Abducted from me and I'll never see again.

Friends With Benefits

Any opportunity to see Justin Timberlake especially on the big screen is a chance I'll take, so it wasn't hard to get me to buy a ticket for this; "He's Just Not That In to You" styled Romcom. His co-star is one Mila Kunis who looks a lot more fun and less fiendish than when I last saw her on Black Swan.... Well mainly less fiendish.

This film needs no tagline as the title is essentially the plot.
Mila Kunis plays wide eyed Jamie (Pun intended), a Executive Recruiter who is recruited to recruit Art Directer Dylan (Timberlake). Dylan currently works for a small internet company but the people at GQ want him to come and work for them and its Jamies job to convince him its the right move to make. If he's successful he will have to up and relocate from Los Angles to New York, it must not be much of a choice cause he soon relents to the move on a trail basis.

Time goes on and as Jamie just so happens to be the only person Dylan knows after a few weeks in a city filled with roughly 8million people.... one thing leads to another. A semi drunk evening as friends leads to an evening of being naked friends doing naked things. Suffice to say its an awkward morning after as Jamie and Dylan do the avoiding dance with each other. They soon however talk it out and decide to let it happen again, so naturally it happens again. If it didn't the movie would have to be called "One Night Stand"

Throw in a bit of family drama on both sides, neither of which is necessarily believable or sympathetic but without them they'd have to cut the word "Friends" from the title. This movie was a comic relief from from all the serious movies that are out right now.
The nudity wasn't over the top - but I still wouldn't see it with anyone other than a close friend - and the jokes we're memorable enough for you to laugh all over again when discussing it.
I guess all that's left to say is that every movie has it's benefits and for me in this case it was Timberlake all.....all of Timberlake.