h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Saw Avatar in 2D and really liked it a lot. Very exciting and visually amazing film. (I didn't quite like it as much as Titanic or Lord of the Rings, but that is neither here nor there.) I thought the acting was mostly very good. A lot of powerful images that have stuck with me since I saw it.

The John Lennon biopic, one for the fans I think, it was difficult to appreciate if you weren't a fan. The story covers John from age 15-17 and up to the birth of The Beatles, although it doesn't mention them by name as it's not about The Beatles. I was happy to learn more about the man/boy before he was *The* John Lennon, stuff I didn't know, and probably coloured his whole (short) life.

We went to see Avatar yesterday.

1. The 3d effects are really very good. I wore the glasses over my normal glasses with no problem.
2. The scenery, CGI etc was fantastic. A very well-realised world which didn't look fake apart from a couple of moments (CGI *still* hasn't got to grips with fire, has it?).
3. The story: well, that was mediocre. Quite 2-dimensional - all the good guys were good, all the bad guys were bad, no real subtlety.

One more thing on the 3d: we'll know when it has really arrived and been taken for granted when directors stop trying to show things in very close foreground, often going out of their way with a shot angle that seems unnatural, just to show how clever they're being. The 3d works, guys...stop showing off.

Overall, 3.5/5

RF

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

Imagine the first chipmunks film mixed up with High School Musical.

Exactly.

Plus points:

We turned up 15 minutes late and took our seats *exactly* as the film was starting, thus avoiding 13 minutes of my son asking "When is it going to start?"

The children really enjoyed it.

Minus points:

The children really enjoyed it ... and want to see it again

Mol

Where the wild things are

I took the children to see it. I'm not sure what they thought of it; the 5 year old said he wanted to see it again and the 9 year old initially said it was boring but then said he did like it.
I enjoyed it, but it was a bit of a tear jerker. The monsters were done very well and the scenery and constructions were great. But as the story is about a world that a lonely, petulant 12 year old constructs it did feel lonely and petulant. That can be a good thing and a bad thing.

I would recommend going to see it unless you have had enough of petulant children.

2012

Loved it! Yeah there were some stupid parts and unbelievable parts, but hey, it's a rip-roaring big fat disaster movie! The Biggest Fattest disaster movie of them all! Effects were brilliant, the little details that went into it I was very impressed with.

Definitely a big screen movie, if you've not seen it at the flicks yet, do try to catch it.

Don't go in expecting it to be amazing, you're always going to be disappointed if going into a movie with expectations.
Just go in for a fun movie and detach your head from reality for a while.

I can't go to see a disaster movie about the UK hosting the Olympics. It's just too close to reality for me.
(It is about that, isn't it? I'll just go and check IMDB).

I've seen Where The Wild Things Are. I* enjoyed it, as did my 7yo, my 14yo and my 15yo. I did need tissues at the end.


*I'm 44

Went to see the new St Trinians film and seriously wished I hadn't.
Terrible terrible film if you're an adult.
The audience was predominantly pre-teen girls but there were very few laughs
to be heard.

In complete contrast, watched the Ip Man which was really enjoyable.
The story of Bruce Lee's mentor so it had depth as well as some
great fight scenes. (even allowing for the usual Kung-fu hokum)

Funny how opinions can be different - Mr Vip and I saw the St Trinians film, and we thought, aside from the opening quater of a hour, was pretty good. But then, we loved the first one. It's a certain type of humour, and I can understand people not liking it.

Oh dear, I had a conversation yesterday and realised I've become
one of those people who drone on about how good the originals were.
Ok, new year's resolution; keep mouth shut until the count of five.

Last night I watched 'The Room.' IT is truly one of the most remarkable pieces of film making I have ever seen. There are no superlatives to do it justice.

I cannot recommend it highly enough.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368226/

I watched Goya's Ghosts on DVD last night. Unsurprisingly, it's a film about Goya. It stars Javier Bardem, before he got famous.

Unfortunately, it's rather pedestrian. A film to watch once only.

RF

My son has given me a promise of a visit to his local cinema (which shows off-beat films and lots of original sound track films) and I've looked at their programme and decided to go and see "Sherlock Holmes" which comes out at the end of January here (Germany).

It's already out in the UK and USA - anyone seen it?

Over the Christmas holiday we watched "The Machine Girl", a fun Japanese revenge action flick, and "Gomorra", a film about Italian gangsters.

I'd rate "The Machine Girl" 3.5 out of 5. It was good, cheesy fun.

"Gomorra" deserves at least 4 out of 5. I recommend it, though I caution anyone who has problems with depictions of violence. It's unrated in the US, but would most likely be rated at least PG-13 (13+) if not R (17+).

The weekend's viewing activity:

The Hurt Locker, on DVD: follows the lives of three members of the US Army's Explosive Ordinance Disposal teams in Iraq. There isn't really a story as such, just a series of incidents which illustrate the characters. A lot of hand-held documentary-style camera work. Pretty well executed, and you feel for the characters. The ending is, ultimately, unsurprising.

Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll: a film about some of Ian Dury's life. It really only goes up to 1982, with flashes back to his childhood, including catching polio and the "special needs" schooling he received. Dury isn't a lovable character, but he's well-portrayed. All the songs are performed live (and the music actually played by the remaining Blockheads, although obviously not acted by them), and the way the gigs are filmed is very effective. Dury's relationships with his family and musicians form an important part of the film. Definitely the best film I've seen at the cinema so far this year...OK, it's the only film I've seen at the cinema this year (Avatar was last year), but it sets a high standard for others to beat.

RF

Watched a great film yesterday called Stranger Than Fiction. It stars Will Ferrell, which belies the intelligence of the content. An anal IRS agent discovers that his life is being narrated to him by an author (Emma Thompson) who plans his death, via his attraction to a bakery owner (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The narrative voice in his head drives him to seek out a literary expert (Dustin Hoffmann) and pursue the writer that has plotted his demise. For delivery, 3/5. For design, 5/5.

Nine. WOW!!! Daniel Day-Lewis as post war Italian film director Guido Contini.* A musical.

The theme is Men rule the world, Women rule men. Maestro Contini is losing his creative force.

After Penelope Cruz' fantasy number I had a wet spot......on my shirt. I realized my mouth had been hanging open and I was ing

*Is this a real person?

Quantum of Solace - which I didn't have amazingly high hopes for due to the 'bad' reviews: Too Bourney and dodgy camera work...darn excellent film - camera was fine (saying something from me)


*SPOILER* MINOR ONE RE: the 'villian' of the on going story arc.










and the emergence of 'spectre' and MI6 not knowing who they are and the power they have is fascinating as we obviously know how powerful the organisation becomes.







*END OF SPOILER*