Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Newest Marvel film

★★★★☆

5 word summary:
You can't trust anyone, ever.

5 sentence review:

Probably the best Marvel Studio film that I've seen, although I do say that as someone who isn't very interested in any of the Avengers (prefer X-Men or Spiderman).

When I came home I explained it to my parents as a Marvel film with much more focus on the plot than simply 'look how cool superheroes are!' (Although there was also so many great fight sequences and general inner-5-year-old wonderment).

We are given a little more about a lot of the characters, from Nick Fury to Black Widow, and everyone (even Captain America) comes across as more human, showing tears and flaws rather than being excessively bad-ass all the time.

The film does have a slight feeling of being a filler film, it sets up a lot and helps to introduce/develop characters for future events; of course all these films are interconnected so there is filler/linkage in all of them, but sometimes I felt it quite strongly in this one (possibly because it's the one directly before the big one, The Avengers).

The two end of credit scenes were really interested and worth waiting for, I'm so excited to see how Winter Soldier's character develop and hope that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver will be as good a villains as Winter Soldier was.

5 good things:
1. The cast (especially the new-comers).
2. The fight sequences.
3. The Winter Soldier = awesome.
4. Explosions!!
5. Abed?!

5 bad things:
1. So many bullets and yet so few people actually hit (why does no one shoot at Captain America's legs? The shield doesn't cover his entire body).
2. Some of the dialogue was very cheesy (which is ok for the Captain, but not for Natasha).
3. Why is Black Widow in every other film but still not her own?
4. Why is there always a black side-kick but not a black superhero with their own film?
5. Some scenes felt unnecessary.

Leon: The Professional - Film starring Jean Reno, Gary Oldman and Natalie Portman

★★★★★

5 word summary:
Amazing but odd assassin film.

5 sentence review:
After a little girl's (Mathilda played by Natalie Portman) family is killed she is taken in by an assassin (Leon played by Jean Reno) who she convinces to train her in his trade; a lovely (if sometimes twisted) relationship is formed between he two.

The cast and characters are wonderful ad unique, from the overtly mature but also vulnerable Mathilda to Leon the heartless but caring and Gary Oldman's bad of crazy character Stansfield, everyone is so interesting and well created.

It's a film to be enjoyed for the acting and the plot but it can also be put on mute and looked at as a work of art because it's so beautiful.

The plot draws you in and you spiral with the characters and, although the ending could be predicted, you are never really sure where everything is going to end up (which is always the best way for a film to be).

I can't really adequately express how much I enjoyed this film without explaining that I normally watch films at home while scrolling through tumblr, when watching Leon I actually put my laptop down; I need you to understand that this is a very important symbol of how engaging this film is.

5 good things:
1. Everyone's acting.
2. Especially Jean Reno.
3. Characterisation.
4. Mathilda shooting people with a paintball(?) gun.
5. Subverting the assassin film while maintaining some themes.

5 bad things:
1. Mathilda and Leon's relationship...sometimes...
2. Mathilda could have been a little older to make me feel more comfortable with her character.
3. Unexplained obsession with milk.
4. The fact that there isn't a sequel (although that could also ruin how good it is as a stand alone film).
5. The fact I can't work out how to put an accent onto Leon's name.

The Grand Budapest Hotel - Film directed by Wes Anderson

★★★★★

5 word summary:
Wonderfully quirky and quite genius.

5 sentence review:
This film tells a story within a story within a story about M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) when he is embroiled in a murderous tussle to inherit a ex-lovers fortune; he is helped by his lobby boy, Zero, (Tony Revolori) and a few other interesting figures.

When we left the cinema my Dad (who I saw it with) happily stated that it was nice to see a film that was made to be looked at, and that describes this film quite well, because it was beautiful (as all Wes Anderson films are) with bright colours, amazing costuming and perfectly symmetry throughout.

Ralph Fiennes character is delightful, it is the perfect word to describe him, and quite a step away from a lot of the other roles that I've seen him do; along with Fiennes I want to give a special mention to Edward Norton, whose character should have been given more screen time, and Adrien Brody, one of my favourites who was styled particularly well.

It followed a fairly basic plot, with people squabbling over a fortune, but Anderson managed to make it extraordinary because of the excessive of unique touches, like casually mentioning The Society of the Crossed Keys or giving Saoirse Ronan an unexplained and unquestioned birthmark on her cheek.

This is one of those films that leaves you smiling when you walk out of the cinema, although when you think about it after, there are a huge number of potential questions that could be raised which is indicative of Wes's style. 

5 good things:
1. The cast (and how much fun they seemed to be having).
2. Costuming.
3. The obsession with moustaches.
4. The fact that no one changed their accents.
5. Willem Dafoe.

5 bad things:
1. Three of the female characters died, another three were 'comically' ugly and the final one was servile.
2. Some of the fantastic roles were too small.
3. I can't go to this hotel.
4. I can't eat the Mendl's pastries.
5. The cat was killed.

Despicable Me 2 (2013) – Sequel starring Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig

★★★★☆

5 word summary:

So silly but very enjoyable.

5 sentence review:

Gru's next step on his road from evil is to get a love interest and she comes in the quirky secret agent played by Kristen Wiig, the two get into a few scraped while trying to discover who stole a dangerous chemical.

There is a lot of charm in this franchise, from the cute little girls to the oddly loveable minions, and this film adds to the charm by affirming the themes of family and unity that were present in the first film.

Aside from the deeper aspect of this film, the humour is also enjoyable, although quite heavily dependant on slapstick (which is forgiveable because the film is aimed for a younger audience).

The new characters, like Lucy and El Macho, are good additions who managed to hold their own in amongst the already assembled kooky collection of characters.

It's an enjoyable and well made sequel that builds on its original rather than simply trying to replicate it (which in my opinion is the downfall of any sequel).

5 good things:

1. The heart-warming moments.

2. The soundtrack (I have to admit that I've listened to Happy too many times).

3. The humour.

4. The guacamole hat.

5. The minions' musical number.

5 bad things:

1. The girls haven't' seemed to have aged enough, I wish they were older.

2. They obviously focused a lot on the minions, who are funny but not really important.

3. No one noticed that minions were going missing.

4. The minion with sirens on his head was only in one scene.

5. Gru wasn't dressed as a fairy for the whole film.

Season by Season Review - Breaking Bad

Season Review no. 4: Season 4

★★★★☆

5 word summary:

Shit’s starting to get real.

5 sentence review:

I have a confession to make, and this may account for the slightly lower mark for this season than that last…I watch breaking bad while either scrolling through Tumblr or playing random apps on my phone.

This season had a lot of talking, serious talking, a lot of which was also in unsubtitled Spanish (which is probably because I’m not watching this on DVD or TV…) but with such intense conversations either being incomprehensible to this monolingual girl or requiring my full attention, I didn’t get a lot of what was going on.

This season decided to focus on a lot of plotting, it seemed every character was scheming, even Skyler was getting in on the action, and this was enjoyable however it was also confusing because sometimes I didn’t know how much I was meant to know and whether I was only confused because I hadn’t been listening properly.

Everything seemed more devoted to tension and increasing the danger for these characters (which worries me because only one season to go and I’m expecting a lot of deaths) but I miss the old ‘funner’ days with Walt and Jesse, I’m sure this is an intentional affect, because they want the audience to realise that the two have gotten in over their heads, but that doesn’t mean that I still want it to go back to the original set-up.

Another unfortunate thing is that I knew what was going to be the climax of this season, which meant that I was just waiting for it to happen and was not overly interested in anything else going on in the episode because I knew where everything was leading too, this is the main problem with watching an incredibly popular show after it has finished – spoilers everywhere!

5 good things:

1. Jesse being paternal.

2. The final episode (although not a surprise).

3. Skyler being really intelligent and helpful.

4. Hank getting so close to the truth.

5. Giving Gus more of a back story.

5 bad thing:

1. Trying to drag up interest in Marie by having her nick things again.

2. Ted being annoying and Skyler falling for it.

3. Walter Jr. having all sorts of car troubles.

4. Walt sabotaging Hank’s investigations (let the poor guy do his job).

5. A lot of the scenes being in Spanish and yet none of them subtitled (my fault but still annoying).

Kill Your Darlings (2014) – Film starring Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan

★★★☆☆

5 word summary:

Another pretentious Beat poet film.

5 sentence review:

This film tells about Allen Ginsberg’s first years in university, and his encountering the soon-to-be murderer Lucien Carr. Carr and Ginsberg’s relationship becomes strained by Carr’s older lover. We see how Ginsberg struggles with his admiration of Carr while other characters and circumstances get in his way.

I can’t say that I am a fan of the genre of film (such as On The Road) which just present the way these guys lives and worked as mesmerising, which I’m sure it was, because these men are incredibly talented and interesting, but not for a modern cinema audience, because unfortunately we need more than just well read poetry to draw our attention now-a-days.

Another thing I dislike about this type of film is that it is ‘based’ on real events but this begs the question…how much of this is true and how much is just artist licence? Coming from this film I think I know more about Kerouac and Ginsberg and this is now all that I really know about Lucien Carr and this seems slightly unfair to their memories because a lot of this is probably not true, even if the barebones of the story is.

The assembled cast was good, Dane DeHaan is phenomenal (I’m very excited to see him in a big-budget film like Spiderman) although I would like to see him doing a role that isn’t essentially evil, and even Daniel Radcliffe wasn’t as bad as he is in everything else.

The film looked good, Radcliffe’s glasses and hair were a particular highlight, and the way it was filmed drew you into the actors, which makes sense because this is a biopic, you could enjoy their performances without being too distracted with the 1940s regalia (this could be because they couldn’t afford to fill a scene with authentic 1940 scenery).

5 good things:

1. The acting standard was generally high.

2. Costuming.

3. How pretty but gritty the 1940s looked.

4. If you are a Harry/Malfoy shipper then Radcliffe has a slightly graphic sex scene with a blond gentleman.

5. I finally saw a film with Elizabeth Olsen in (although she wasn’t in a lot of it).

5 bad things:

1. How many times Dane DeHaan hanged himself.

2. Not knowing how true anything is.

3. The fact you don’t meet people this passionate in university.

4. The odd scene where Ginsberg is on drugs but thinks he has stopped time in a bar (not sure if I explained that well).

5. Michael C. Hall wasn’t very effective.

Just 5 quick thoughts on 2014 Oscars:

1.       Although I haven’t seen 12 Years a Slave, from what I’ve been hearing it was the best of the rest. I will now be rushing out to watch it ASAP.

2.       I’m very happy Jared Leto and Lupita Nyong'o won for their best supporting roles.

3.       Evilly I am equally pleased that American Hustle won absolutely nothing because I didn’t feel it deserved nominations anyway, it was a very bland film with a very big cast.

 

4.       I don’t think that Her should have won Best Original Screenplay, because I hated the way it was written, I thought it was clichéd and quite boring.

5.       It’s not a surprise but Gravity definitely deserved all its cinematography, editing and visual effects awards.