It's A Wonderful Life

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/

 

As many of you know, the reason I became such a huge movie lover is because my brother is one. He used to take me to the cinema when I was too young to go by myself, and he introduced me to a lot of movies that have become some of my absolute favourites, Edward Scissorhands, The Princess Bride, True Romance to name but a few. As you can see, just from those few films, my love of movies is not limited to one genre. And neither is his. 

 

I always remember that when I was too young to appreciate that black and white movies were just as good as colour ones, that one of my brother's favourite films was It's A Wonderful Life. For the longest time I had only ever seen parts of it, and although I understood that it was a classic, I wasn't ever really all that keen to see it all the way through. But it's a Christmas movie, and inevitably, one year, I ended up sitting down with the family and watching it all the way through.

 

This year it had a one day re-release at my local cinema, and when my cinema buddy told me he'd never seen it, I insisted we go.

 

For those who don't know (and shame on you!), It's A Wonderful Life is all about George Bailey (Stewart), a hard working, thoughtful young man, who for no fault of his own, ended up staying in the small town of Bedford Falls that he grew up in, instead of following his dreams to travel the world. George takes over his late father's role in the Bailey Brothers Buildings and Loan and almost goes bankrupt when the old miser of Bedford Falls, Mr Potter (Barrymore), tries to shut them down. On Christmas eve, George's uncle goes to bank the money from the Buildings and Loan when he runs into Mr Potter, and accidentally hands the money to him instead. Mr Potter deceitfully holds onto the cash, in order to get the Buildings and Loan to foreclose, and he hopes to see George in jail just in time for Christmas. With law enforcement waiting at home, George heads to the Bedford Falls Bridge, intending to take his life, but unbeknownst to George, an angel called Clarence (Travers) is looking out for him, and he's about to show George exactly what would have happened to those he loves if he'd never been born.

 

I am not too proud to admit that I spent pretty much the entire length of the movie in tears. I'm a strange creature, and if you read my review for Frozen, you'll know that I tend to take that as a good sign. You see, It's A Wonderful Life is a movie that grabs hold of your emotions from the start, gives them a right good roller coaster of a ride and then leaves you on a high.

 

Stewart and Reed are both tremendous, and as old Potter, Barrymore is so mean that you want to boo him every time he's on screen. Yes, it is sad, but only because of the fantastic writing and acting that makes you care so very much about these characters. And if the end doesn't have you weeping with joy, you must have a heart as cold as Potter. 

 

One of the best Christmas movies, and one which re-affirms the basic goodness of mankind. 10 out of 10.

 



 



Viewing Date - 19th December 2013

Original Release Date - 20th December 1946

 

Cast Overview:

George Bailey ~ James Stewart

Mary Hatch ~ Donna Reed

Henry F Potter ~ Lional Barrymore

Uncle Billy Bailey ~ Thomas Mitchell

Clarence ~ Henry Travers

Ma Bailey ~ Beulah Bondi

Ernie Bishop ~ Frank Faylen

Bert ~ Ward Bond

Violet Bick ~ Gloria Grahame

Mr Gower ~ H B Warner

Harry Bailey ~ Todd Karns

Peter Bailey ~ Samuel S Hinds

Sam Wainwright ~ Frank Albertson

Guiseppe Martini ~ Bill Edmunds

 

Director ~ Frank Capra

Writer(s) ~ Frances Goodrich (Screenplay), Albert Hackett (Screenplay), Frank Capra (Screenplay) and Philip Van Doren Stern (Story). Additional scenes by Jo Swerling. Contributor to screenplay - Michael Wilson.

 

At this time of year, and especially when I am facing personal challenges, I find Clarence's final words to George particularly poignent.

 

It's so true. So to each of my friends, who are worth their weight in gold, Merry Christmas and here's to many more reviews next year!

Frozen

http://movies.disney.com/frozen

 

Disney have had a pretty good run recently, what with Tangled and Wreck It Ralph, as well as co-producing Monsters University and Brave with their colleagues over at Pixar. So when I learned (rather late) of Frozen's imminent release, I wanted to see it straight away, not even bothering to wait until the pandemonium of kids had calmed down. It's Christmassy too, what with all the snow, so best to see it now I thought.

 

Frozen tells the tale of two princesses, Anna and Elsa. Elsa discovers from a young age that she can magically create and manipulate snow and ice. Something her younger sister Anna uses to her advantage, waking her sister in the middle of the night to build snowmen with her, at all times of the year. However, when Anna is injured during playtime in the snow, the king and queen erase all memory of Elsa's power from her mind, and Elsa retreats into her room, and into herself. She locks herself away for fear of hurting her sister, and only friend, Anna. It's only when Elsa is to be crowned queen that she finally opens the doors, not only of her room but of the kingdom too. She soon discovers that letting her sister and the townspeople in is not easy, but keeping her secret is much harder still.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed Frozen, although as with many 3D movies recently, I didn't think there was a huge benefit to the 3D. If you are a large family going to see this, especially with small children, I would recommend the 2D version over the 3D as I don't think it will be that noticable to the kids and will be a LOT cheaper in 2D.

 

As with any Disney movie, the animation and voice work is stunning, especially in the case of the two sisters. The 'fun' characters for the kids, Olaf the snowman and Sven the raindeer, are two of Disney's more endearing 'fun' characters, as these are usually a bit on the annoying side for adults.

 

It's a well made animation, for kids and adults alike and has a good story at it's heart, but it didn't connect with me as well as some other Disney stories. I can't quite put my finger on why, as it was as good as Tangled, if not better, but there was some personal element missing. I always cry at Disney movies and I didn't with Frozen. I'm not saying I have to cry for it to be good, but I associate the tears with an emotional connection, and if I didn't cry I can only assume that connection wasn't there.

 

It's still a fantastic film and one for all the family to enjoy, just make sure you go 2D so you've got money for popcorn too! 7 out of 10.

 

 

Viewing Date - 8th December 2013

UK Release Date - 6th December 2013

 

Cast Overview:

(If you don't like knowing who the voices are DONT SCROLL DOWN! ;0)

Anna ~ Kristen Bell

Elsa ~ Idina Menzel

Kristoff ~ Jonathan Groff

Olaf ~ Josh Gad

Hans ~ Santino Fontana

Duke ~ Alan Tudyk

 

Director(s) ~ Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee

Writer(s) ~ Jennifer Lee (Screenplay and Story), Chris Buck (Story), Shane Morris (Story) and Hans Christian Andersen (Inspired by his story The Snow Queen)

Saving Mr. Banks

http://movies.disney.com/saving-mr-banks

Those who know me well might be very surprised to see that I saw Saving Mr. Banks, especially if you know what the movie is about. You see I have a hatred for Mary Poppins, and other musicals of that ilk are the reason I have labelled myself as a hater of all things musical for so long.

Of course, I am not immune to the power of a good musical and have since found myself to be quite the fan of musicals when they are done well, or of a subject matter that I can appreciate. But Mary Poppins will always be on my (s)hit list. 

So why did I see a movie about the making of Mary Poppins I hear you cry? Well, after Captain Phillips I was intrigued to see if Tom Hanks could endear me again, but mostly, I just liked the idea of there being a story behind the film and I wanted to see what that was.

The story centers on the negotiations for the film rights for Mary Poppins, between the book's writer P.L. Travers (Thompson) and Walt Disney (Hanks). The film also shows us Travers' young life in flashbacks, living in Queensland, Australia in 1906, as she watches her father sink deeper into alcoholism. The arrival of her Aunt Ellie is what inspired her to write about a nanny that saved the Banks family in her book. As the characters of Mary Poppins and the Banks are so close to Travers (she goes so far as to call them family), she is reluctant to let the rights go, especially to a man like Disney, who's films are bright and gaudy and rarely show things as they are. Can Walt convince Mrs Travers to let go of her book and allow him to create an unforgettable movie?

Well of course he can or I would not have been forced to endure Mary Poppins on every bank holiday as a child! Despite my loathing of Poppins, I did enjoy Saving Mr. Banks. I thought Thompson and Hanks were both excellent, although I wish the character of Mrs Travers had been a little more accessible. She's the central character and for most of the film she's quite unlikable. You know she must have pain in her past, but I don't think it makes her behavior forgivable. And I would have liked for her to be someone the audience could connect with, which I didn't feel she was. It's still an exceptional performance from Thompson that she makes you feel this way, but I like Emma, and so I would have liked to have liked Mrs Travers too, and I didn't until the last couple of scenes.

It did give me a better understanding of Mary Poppins, and although it's not made me want to see that movie again, I did enjoy the scenes with the Sherman brothers creating all of the songs for the movie. I may have even tapped my feet at that point (and if you see Saving Mr. Banks you will understand that a foot tap is quite significant). 

A good effort by all involved, it just needed Mrs Travers to be a bit less cold in order for me to love it. 7 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 7th December 2013

UK Release Date - 29th November 2013

Cast Overview:

P.L. Travers ~ Emma Thompson

Walt Disney ~ Tom Hanks

Ginty ~ Annie Rose Buckley

Travers Goff ~ Colin Farrell

Margaret Goff ~ Ruth Wilson

Ralph ~ Paul Giamatti

Don DaGradi ~ Bradley Whitford

Robert Sherman ~ B.J. Novak

Richard Sherman ~ Jason Schwartzman

Tommie ~ Kathy Baker

Aunt Ellie ~ Rachel Griffiths

Director ~ John Lee Hancock

Writer(s) ~ Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith

Gravity

http://gravitymovie.warnerbros.com/

Regular readers of my reviews will know that I am a long time fan of Sandra Bullock, and as most people were, I was intrigued by the idea of her in a more serious role, set on a space shuttle with only George Clooney for company.

The film follows Sandra's character Dr Ryan Stone, a medical engineer on her first mission on the space shuttle Explorer. She is carrying out routine repairs on the Hubble telescope when her fellow astronauts, including George's Matt Kowalski, on his last mission, are informed of an incoming amount of space debris from a Russian missile strike on an old satellite. Dr Stone is propelled away from the telescope by the debris and with little oxygen left and no way to right herself, Kowalski, who had been floating around using a jet pack, goes in search of her. But will he get to her in time?

Although I knew I would undoubtedly see Gravity, I ended up seeing it rather late in it's release because most people I knew had seen it when I was busy. As a result, I had a lot of other people's opinions of the movie to contend with before I made my own mind up. I wasn't worried that this would sway my eventual opinion of the film, but I was expecting something rather spectacular.

I was told the film was really good, and the 3D absolutely stunning. Sadly, I found neither of these to be true. I thought the film was distinctly average. If you took away the space setting this would be a very boring film. And I don't think it's because there is only one person on screen most of the time. This film made me think of Moon quite a lot, the one man movie with Sam Rockwell set on the moon. That film is similar in many ways as it's set in space and predominantly only features one man on screen. But I liked Moon, I didn't really like Gravity. And I also don't think it is because Sandra Bullock was the one woman on display here. As I previously stated, I love Sandra Bullock, and I love when she puts in gutsy serious performances that show how great an actress she really is. 

*Spoiler Alert (although it is mentioned in the trailer)* No, for me, I think the thing that failed Gravity is the lack of character development. Quite early on the audience is let in on the secret that Dr Stone has recently lost her child. It's very sad and it's dredged up constantly from that point on. But for me, that's not enough. I need to know who Dr Stone is, I need more than her loss in order to feel something for her. *End Spoiler Alert*  And we never really get to know anything else about her, what her motivations are, other than her wanting to get as far away from earth as possible. Which she achieves obviously, but is then terrified of being in space. 

As if that wasn't bad enough, poor George has even less of a role than Ms Bullock, with only around half an hour of screen time. He is his usual charming self during this time, and as such, it was no surprise to me that the original Matt Kowalski was supposed to be non other than Robert Downey Jr (until he passed on the role). Downey Jr is a similarly charming, mid-40s chap who I have no doubt would have been as capable as Clooney as Kowalski, but I just wish he'd had more screen time. His character was a lot more interesting.

The end result is all just a bit of a wishy-washy mish-mash for me. And to top it all, the spectacular 3D didn't seem all that spectacular. I've always thought 3D was overrated but when it's done well, like in Hugo for example, it has the power to make me eat my words. Here, I could have taken or left having to wear two pairs of glasses into the cinema. 

A distinctly lacklustre effort but a solid turn by Bullock. I just wish she'd had more to play with. 6 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 24th November 2013

UK Release Date - 7th November 2013

Cast Overview:

Ryan Stone ~ Sandra Bullock

Matt Kowalski ~ George Clooney

Mission Control (voice) ~ Ed Harris

Director ~ Alfonso Cuarón

Writer(s) ~ Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón 

with additional collaboration from George Clooney (uncredited)

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

http://www.thehungergamesexplorer.com/us/epk/catching-fire/

After I was somewhat underwhelmed by the first Hunger Games movie (see review here), I was actually really pleased when a member of my book club suggested it as our next read. I was curious if it was just the movie I was less than enamoured with, or if it was the story and characters in general.

After reading the book, and loving it so much that I immediately made Catching Fire my next book club choice, I re-watched The Hunger Games and found that I enjoyed it more. It gave me a greater understanding of certain elements of the story that are only really explained fully in the book, and a deeper insight into the characters. With my preparation over, it was time to see the sequel.

Catching Fire is set a short while after the events of the 74th Hunger Games, at the end of which Katniss (Lawrence) and Peeta (Hutchinson) were crowned joint victors after forcing the hand of the games makers. Katniss and Peeta are now living in the 'Victors Village' in District 12, a special part of their home town which only contains three previous Hunger Games winners (and their families). Yet despite the small number of people, and despite the show they put on during the games, Katniss and Peeta now barely speak to one another. But their victory tour of the districts is about to begin, so they need to mend their difficulties, if just for the cameras, until the tour is over. When Katniss receives an unwelcome visit from President Snow (Sutherland) prior to the tour, she is taken aback by how direct he is when he tells her that her 'performance' on the tour is going to mean the difference between life and death to those she loves, because if she convinces the world that her insubordinate behaviour was as a result of her love for Peeta, it could stop the uprising the President is fearing from the districts against the Capitol. Sadly Katniss' performance fails to stop the spark she started in the games, so President Snow is forced to amend the rules for the 75th games - the Quarter Quell that happens every 25 years - and this means that Katniss is going back into the arena.

I had started reading Catching Fire before the film was released but sadly, I did not manage to finish the book before I saw the movie. Having said that, as with the first book/film, I think the additional information gained from what I had read helped my overall impression of the second film. 

I felt that although parts were missing, what was present stuck very closely to the book, and worked very well. I was unsure about the casting going in as I had heard that a lot of fans were less than pleased about Jena Malone being cast as Johanna Mason. I have always enjoyed Jena's performances so I was less worried about her, and more unsure if Sam Claflin would pull off playing Finnick, as I have previously found his characters a little insipid. I am happy to report that both Malone and Claflin did a great job of instilling their characters with the same qualities as their written counterparts.

The movie very much felt like a middle film, a point which has been echoed by a few of my friends, but it was also follow-able to another of my friends who had not seen the first movie, so that is in no way a bad thing. My only criticism would be that the ending is very abrupt, but then so is the ending in the book, so again, I can't really fault it. 

An improvement on The Hunger Games in terms of character development and an exciting installment in the grand scheme of the story arc. 8 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 21st November 2013

UK Release Date - 21st November 2013

Cast Overview:

Jennifer Lawrence ~ Katniss Everdeen 

Josh Hutcherson ~ Peeta Mellark 

Liam Hemsworth ~ Gale Hawthorne 

Woody Harrelson ~ Haymitch Abernathy 

Elizabeth Banks ~ Effie Trinket 

Lenny Kravitz ~ Cinna 

Philip Seymour Hoffman ~ Plutarch Heavensbee

Jeffrey Wright ~ Beetee Latier 

Stanley Tucci ~ Caesar Flickerman 

Toby Jones ~ Claudius Templesmith 

Sam Claflin ~ Finnick Odair

Jena Malone ~ Johanna Mason

Lynn Cohen ~ Mags

Amanda Plummer ~ Wiress

Willow Shields ~ Primrose "Prim" Everdeen

Donald Sutherland ~ President Coriolanus Snow 

Director ~ Francis Lawrence 

Writer(s) ~ Simon Beaufoy (Screenplay), Michael Arndt (deBruyn) (Screenplay) and Suzanne Collins (novel Catching Fire)

Captain Phillips

http://www.captainphillipsmovie.com/site/

I will admit that I was somewhat late in seeing Captain Phillips. I had intended to see it on opening weekend but when I got to the cinema I found it had sold out. That's usually a sign of a good film and so I was determined to see it at some point, but then with the arrival of Thor and my busy schedule over Halloween, Captain Phillips got pushed to the back of the priority list. 

One evening, after spending the day shopping with my friend, we decided, completely unplanned to continue our day with a trip to the cinema. With no idea if there was any film going to be starting within the next half an hour we turned up and decided on Captain Phillips, which was the next film to start. We had also both wanted to see it and not had chance up to then, and we figured that as it was likely to finish before films like Gravity, we would see it.

It was surprisingly busy for a film that had been out for a few weeks but we took our seats and immersed ourselves in the world of a freight ship Captain. The Captain in question, Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), says goodbye to his wife and embarks on a journey from Oman to Mombasa on the container ship MV Maersk Alabama. He is conscious of pirate activity in Somalia, which they are passing though, and orders a ship-wide safety drill in case they are boarded. The crew thinks this is paranoia until sure enough, pirates appear, but the prepared Captain and crew manage to evade the men and alert the authorities to the situation. Their luck runs out the following day when the pirates return with a faster skiff and a longer ladder and board the ship. The Captain does everything in his power to remove the threat from his ship and crew but is taken hostage and used by the pirates in a demand for ransom. 

Let me start by saying that this is one of the tensest movies I have seen since Argo, only instead of having tense moments like that movie did, you are pretty much tense from the moment Tom Hanks steps on board that ship to when the end credits roll. I attribute this to the accomplished direction by Paul Greengrass (who is known for his direction of two of the Bourne movies), and to Tom Hanks fantastic performance. 

Although I have often appreciated Tom Hanks' movies, I have never really connected to his characters emotionally, within those movies. It's never really detracted to my enjoyment of the films, it just means that he's never been a favourite actor of mine. However, in Captain Phillips he really captured my attention, and my emotions, and held them with him for the entire film. I was in bits at the end, and I know my friend was too. What a performance. Just give him the oscar now.

I was also impressed by the performances of the four pirates. Especially considering none of them had acted before. They were convincing and terrifying in equal measure. 

If it's still on at a cinema near you, I urge you to see Captain Phillips before it finishes it's run. I promise you it's worth all the hype. If you've missed it on the big screen then add it to your love film/netflix list, you won't regret it. 9 out of 10. 

Viewing Date - 9th November 2013

UK Release Date - 9th October 2013

Cast Overview:

Captain Richard Phillips ~ Tom Hanks

Muse ~ Barkhad Abdi

Bilal ~ Barkhad Abdirahman

Najee ~ Faysal Ahmed 

Elmi ~ Mahat M Ali

Shane Murphy ~ Michael Chernus

Andrea Phillips ~ Catherine Keener

Mike Perry ~ David Warshofsky

Ken Quinn ~ Corey Johnson

John Cronan ~ Chris Mulkey

Captain Frank Castellano ~ Yul Vasquez

SEAL Commander ~ Max Martini

Director ~ Paul Greengrass

Writer ~ Billy Ray (Screenplay), Richard Phillips and Stephan Talty (based on their book "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea")

A Nightmare On Elm Street

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087800/

The first time I saw A Nightmare On Elm Street was around Christmas time. I remember this because I have a really vivid memory of watching it with the lights off as my mum hung Christmas decorations around the living room of our old house. 

I must have been about 16 or so. I wasn't scared, in fact I found most of the sequences laughable, but I loved it. And so when I saw that my local Cineworld was showing a one off screening of the film on Halloween, I simply had to be there! 

For those who are not familiar with the story of the dream killer with razors on his fingers, allow me to initiate you. School friends, Nancy, Tina, Rod and Glen discover that they keep having nightmares about the same scarred man with a razor glove. After Tina is killed by the man during a particularly violent dream, and her boyfriend is accused of her murder, things start to take a disturbing turn for the remaining three teens. When Nancy discovers that the man in her nightmares was not only real, but known to her parents as child killer Fred Krueger, she starts to do some investigation into his death, and how he could be attacking a new generation of children from within their dreams. 

If you are going to watch Nightmare for the first time there are a couple of things you'll need to know. First is that all of the 'kids' look about 30. There is one scene in particular where Nancy comments that she looks "20 years old", you could probably double that. The second thing to bear in mind is that the acting is terrible. Nancy's mom got a lot of laughs in the screening I saw. 

But, if you put those things aside and consider that this movie is nearly 30 years old, you can better appreciate how ground breaking it was at the time. The make up effects alone are still tremendous to this day. And after one of my friends dressed as Freddy for Halloween, I'm sure she now has a better understanding for how long those make up effects took and how much more impressive they are for not being done in CGI. I know I certainly have a greater appreciation for it just from seeing it done. 

One of my favourite parts of the movie is towards the end when Nancy is trying to set booby traps for Freddy. I just love the set up of all the traps and the fact that she supposedly did that in under 10 minutes. So unrealistic but so much fun. 

It's kinda silly, parts of it make no sense at all, but it's a fun horror that will have you laughing as well as jumping. A horror classic, just don't expect to be terrified. 8 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 31st October 2013

Original Release Date - 16th November 1984 

(USA - couldn't find a UK release date)

Cast Overview:

Lt Donald Thompson ~ John Saxon

Marge Thompson ~ Ronee Blakley

Nancy Thompson ~ Heather Langenkamp

Christina 'Tina' Gray ~ Amanda Wyss

Rod Lane ~ Nick Corri

Glen Lantz ~ Johnny Depp

Fred Krueger ~ Robert Englund

Director/Writer ~ Wes Craven

Thor: The Dark World

http://marvel.com/thor

Thanks to the geniuses at Marvel, the detailed teachings of my nephew, and the welcome into the Marvel fandom I have received through my blog, I have become a huge fan of the Marvel movies. As such, when I heard that my local cinema was showing not only a midnight screening of Thor: The Dark World, but also showing Thor beforehand, I had to go and be part of that. However, I then heard that another cinema a little further away was showing Thor AND Avengers Assemble before a midnight screening of Thor: The Dark World, and I knew that was the one for me. I convinced my Avengers midnight screening buddies to come along too and before you can say 'For Asgard', we were on our way to a 7 hour Thor-a-thon. You can read my previous reviews for Thor and Avengers Assemble by clicking the respective links.

Firstly allow me to say how great it was to see Thor in 3D IMAX, which I did not when it first came out. Wow. It looked great, it was funny, Asgard looked more shiny and sumptuous than ever. And then Avengers. You can't top it. Or can you?

Thor: The Dark World opens by telling the tale of the dark elves, lead by Malekith (Eccleston). His goal is to destroy the universe by unleashing a powerful weapon known as the Aether. In the tale, Malekith and the dark elves are faught to extinction by Odin's (Hopkins) father Bor, and the Aether is moved to a safe place, far from the reach of those who might mis-use it's dark power. We move forward to present day London where we find Jane Foster (Portman) and Darcy Lewis (Dennings) discovering strange goings on in an abandoned warehouse; trucks that can be flipped in mid air by the lightest of touches, items disappearing and reappearing when dropped down a stairwell. In the midst of all these strange goings on Jane disappears into one of these voids and finds herself in another dimension, face to face with the Aether. As Heimdall (Elba) is unable to 'see' Jane in the other dimension, Thor (Hemsworth) makes the decision to return to earth to find Jane. But he takes on more than he bargained for when the dark elves return, forcing Thor to join forces with his imprisoned brother Loki (Hiddleston), in order to defeat them and return the Aether to safe hands.

I enjoyed Thor: The Dark World greatly, but sadly, not as much as I liked the first Thor. I wasn't keen on the villain this time around, I just found him to be rather lacking in charisma, and as you never really know his motivation for wanting to destroy the universe, it's hard to ever really see things from his perspective. Plus the name for the race, the dark elves, I'm sorry but I just couldn't take that seriously. I can't find elves something to be feared, no matter how 'dark' they are.

Having said that, I enjoyed the humour of the movie and I particularly enjoyed Loki's scenes this time around. Bearing in mind that this is the third outing for Tom Hiddleston's Loki, this is the first time in three movies that I have had any empathy for him, and this time I found that I was actually rooting for him a lot of the time. You can tell that Hiddleston relishes this role and has a lot of love for the character and I think this really comes across in this movie. The scene in Loki's cell with Frigga was just heart wrenching, while Loki's scenes with Thor are filled with enjoyable banter. 

In terms of the Marvel universe and the continuation of things from Thor and Avengers, Thor: The Dark World does not disappoint. Asgard still looks sumptuous and spectacular, while the scenes on earth have moved to London as the main setting. I for one really enjoyed seeing the UK play such a big part in a movie as mainstream as this, and especially as superhero movies tend to always take place in America, with very little mention of the world outside of that. Little touches such as the digestives on the breakfast table, and the ITV news story made me smile and I hope that the US audiences enjoyed it as much as I did. 

I must also give praise to the artists who's work is featured in the end credits of the film as it really is quite stunning. If you don't want to stay for the mid credits or post credits sequences I would at least recommend staying until the artwork has finished being showcased. Another great edition to the Marvel movie universe, just don't expect it to surpass Thor. 8 out of 10. 

Viewing Date - 29th October 2013 (Midnight)

UK Release Date - 30th October 2013

Cast Overview:

Thor ~ Chris Hemsworth

Jane Foster ~ Natalie Portman

Loki ~ Tom Hiddleston

Odin ~ Anthony Hopkins

Malekith ~ Christopher Eccleston

Sif ~ Jaimie Alexander

Fandral ~ Zachary Levi

Volstagg ~ Ray Stevenson

Hogun ~ Tadanobu Asano

Heimdall ~ Idris Elba

Frigga ~ Rene Russo

Darcy ~ Kat Dennings

Erik ~ Stellan Skarsgård

Director ~ Alan Taylor

Writer ~ Christopher Yost (Screenplay), Christopher Markus (Screenplay), Stephen McFeely (Screenplay), Don Payne (Story) and Robert Rodat (Story)

Based on the comic books by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby

Thor: The Dark World Premiere

As many of my regular readers will know, I do enjoy going to the occasional film premiere, especially if it's a movie I am interested in, or a movie featuring one of my favourite stars. However, as I already managed to obtain the signature of Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, at the Avengers premiere last year, I almost didn't go to the Thor: The Dark World premiere at all.

My main reason for not going was that my usual premiere companion and cinema buddy, was not able to take the day off work and accompany me. Without his camaraderie, home made sandwiches and photography skills, I just didn't think it would be worth it. But as soon as I got to work on the morning of the premiere I knew I had made a grave mistake. Firstly because it was not raining, as the weather woman (Carol on BBC Breakfast) had predicted. Secondly, as I was present at the Avengers and Iron Man 3 Premiere (and did Iron Man 3 stag), it just felt wrong that I wasn't there.

So I made a snap decision to take the afternoon off work and go to the premiere. I will admit that it was not the best idea I've ever had, because as an experienced premiere goer, I know full well that the best thing to do is go up to London early to get a good spot. I arrived in London at around 3pm, which meant that all of the enclosed pens where the fans are held, were all full. So the queue of people I was with were diverted into the center part of Leicester Square. Regrettably, despite there being poster covered banners and red carpet here, this was not an area the stars walked down as this was where the general public were being ushered in. I did however have a good view of the stage from where I was, just a far away view.

The first part of the premiere involved a vote for the 'Thor with the most Phwoar', a line up of Thor look-a-likes who were all vying for the public to vote for them.

After this we saw a precession of Lookie-Loki's, who were going to be judged by none other than Tom Hiddleston upon his arrival at the premiere. My personal favourite of the Lookie-Loki's was this person, who did a fantastic job on their costume...

I managed to take a video of Mr Hiddleston being interviewed and judging the contest. If you can hear over the fangirls he comes across very well, but I always think this of Mr Hiddleston, having seen him be interviewed a number of times. Apologies for the screaming, it wasn't by me for once!

As I was too far away from the action, with only my iPhone to rely on, I decided it would be better for me to video the main interviews rather than trying to take pictures. The best I did, picture wise, was when I took these images of the main screen as Kat Dennings arrived:

But as you can see, they're not great. The next person to be interviewed was Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth.

Followed by unexpected guest, and head honcho of assembling the Avengers, Joss Whedon. *I love that someone says "oh no" when Joss says he can't say anything about Avengers: Age of Ultron, come on lady, you really thought he would?

That brings me to the end of my premiere adventures. Next time I will make my mind up earlier, be more prepared and hopefully get some signatures. But until then, here is a giant Mjolnir in the middle of Leicester Square...

How I Live Now

http://www.magpictures.com/howilivenow/

My cinema buddy asked my opinion as to what his 1000th cinema experience should be. The choice was this, or Sunshine on Leith. I suggested this but on reflection I think he maybe should have gone with a film with Sunshine in the title.

How I Live Now tells the story of what happens to a group of kids, who are left to fend for themselves after a nuclear attack. New Yorker Daisy (Ronan), is sent to visit her cousins in the English countryside by her father, who clearly isn't going to win any Dad of the year awards. From the moment Daisy hits UK soil, it's immediately clear that the world is on the brink of World War 3. Daisy's Aunt Penn (Chancellor - who has an unspecified government position), is working hard on a peace process, and leaves the kids for a day while she goes to Geneva for talks. As the oldest child is Edmond (MacKay), at 16, Aunt Penn arranges for a neighbour to come check on the children in her absence. When a nuclear explosion rocks London, the neighbour never comes and the aunt is feared dead. The kids look out for each other, with Daisy and Eddie taking care of the younger siblings, and during this time, Daisy and Eddie fall in love. All is well in their little safe haven until the military comb the area for survivors and force the two girls to leave the boys for a "safe house", where they are forced to work but looked after by a somewhat deluded couple. Will Daisy and Piper ever make it back to Eddie and Isaac?

Although How I Live Now is a very realistic and relevant film (and book), it's not the most cheery of topics. Not all films are, and I appreciate the dark as well as the light, but there really is not an awful lot of light in this film, figuratively speaking. Daisy is a very hard character to like. I don't know how she comes across in the book as I haven't read it, but in the film she's just really quite mean and spiteful for the early part and you're never really sure what her motivation is for that. Her cousins, especially Isaac and Piper, are very accommodating to this American brat who has been thrust upon them, and for the most part she just comes across as ungrateful. 

I found this made it even harder to understand why Eddie fell in love with her, I mean first she's his cousin, so that's just all wrong to me. And second, she's not very nice. So their relationship just seemed off to me the whole time. And as that is a massive factor in the movie, her whole motivation to get away from the safe house and back home is to get back to Eddie, I just found the whole movie to be a bit of a bitter pill to swallow.

The actors involved were all very convincing in their roles, especially as they are all very young, and most unknown. But their characters just didn't really have a lot of depth. I would therefore only recommend How I Live Now to fans of the book, as I think only those people will understand the characters fully. 5.5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 6th October 2013

UK Release Date - 4th October 2013

Cast Overview:

Daisy ~ Saoirse Ronan

Edmond ~ George MacKay

Isaac ~ Tom Holland

Piper ~ Harley Bird

Aunt Penn ~ Anna Chancellor

Director ~ Kevin Macdonald

Writer(s) ~ Jeremy Brock, Tony Grisoni, Penelope Skinner, Meg Rosoff (Novel)