Tuesday 27 March 2012

Broken Hearts

IT IS FINALLY HERE! My short film which I have been working on for a while now is here. The moment you have all been waiting for (possibly)! The description of my film goes like this: An anti-romance short film that documents the relationship between a young couple and the tragic car accident that ends it. The music was made by myself on Garage Band and the rest was by a band called John Badger and The Moustache Riders of Doom, here is their website: http://johnbadger.bandcamp.com/
And here is the film:

You can also watch it on Vimeo here: http://vimeo.com/39279380
And subscribe to the blog's channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexMovieBlog?feature=mhee
Will hopefully be more video goodies here in the near future!
I would love some feedback so please leave a comment! Thanks for reading and watching!

Saturday 24 March 2012

The Hunger Games Review

Ok so if you have read any of my early posts you will know that I have been looking forward to this film for a while after having my mind blown by the books. I booked tickets as soon as I could after recent hype suggests this could be massive! Well... It did not disappoint!

I thank the director Gary Ross for not making this 'the next twilight' as it has been wrongly accused of being. This was a sophisticated film that had it's own unique style that pulled it apart from any other film I have seen before. I'm sure there will be some who join the 'Team Peeta' and 'Team Gale' groups but for me, I'm more 'Team Katniss'!

Jeniffer Lawrence is Katniss Everdeen. She truly does take over the role and holds the film throughout, even against the acting legends such as Donald Sutherland, Stanely Tucci and Woody Harrelson. The world will definitely be watching her then! If you are unsure of plot (where have you been?) then here it is: 'Set in a future where the Capitol selects a boy and girl from the twelve districts to fight to the death on live television, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister's place for the latest match.' This may sound cheesy but it is far from it!

The films cinematography is superb and it visually looks incredible. The camerawork is mainly handheld and shaky which gives it it's own style though sometimes is overused and can confuse the scene ans starts to make you dizzy. The visual effects are great and The Capitol personally reminds me of the planet Naboo in Star Wars. The 'girl on fire dress' which fans of the book have been eagerly waiting to see is the only down point of the film as it does not look brilliant but then again imagination is each to their own.

The music contributes to the emotion of the film even when it is not present. With the ambient music and unique cinematography the film feels like it should be an indie and not the big blockbuster I am sure it will become.

This though is not a film for kids, not because of the graphic content, (which there is enough for us older teens to enjoy!) but because it is quite slow paced and dramatic which is not bad at all for us movie buffs out there! It really is emotional and I felt myself getting goosebumps and welling up at numerous scenes from the very start! Some bits in the film I felt more emotionally connected to the characters then I did when I was reading the book!

But I am not saying it is better then the book, because it is not. The books go more in depth about certain situations and you can understand the characters motives more. Though there are some bits of the film that I thought were better then the book and better then I imagined them to be! The film even adds stuff in that was not in the book, which really work as we are no longer watching just from Katniss's point of view like the books, but we see outside the games, including one very emotional and powerful riot scene which was actually one of my highlights of the film!

Overall a very good and faithful adaption that leaves you hungry for more. Though I do worry for the sequels as the first film has raised a very high bar. I am not afraid to admit that this is one of the best films I have seen and definitely the best film of 2012 so far! Bring on The Avengers!

Thanks for reading!

Team Katniss!

 

Monday 12 March 2012

Broken Hearts Poster!

Here you go readers, the exclusive poster for my short film 'Broken Hearts' which should be online next week (hopefully)! You may have read about this before in previous blog posts but if not the plot goes like this: An anti-romance film, based on a couple whose relationship ends in tragedy. Take a look at the poster below!



Feel free to let me know what you think!

In other news; The other day I watched the film 'Take Shelter'. Here is my short review of the film:

Take Shelter has had great review from critics and mainly positive feedback from audiences online. After doing well in Sundance last year and containing the brilliant Michael Shannon, this was a film I have been eager to watch for a long time. The plot goes like this; Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself. The film is surprisingly scary in places and (Boardwalk Empire) Michael Shannon's performance is brilliant in the film as the husband. The visual effects are very good and Jessica Chastain's performance is one that is rather heart warming. The only flaws are the great yet underused sub plot of the couple's daughter being deaf. Although it is handled well it would have been better if it had more purpose in the movie. Also the ending leaves you wanting more, but not as in 'this needs a sequel' but as in 'give me 10 more minutes of footage please!' But overall a very good film and another great performance that was snubbed at this years Oscars!


Thanks for reading!

Follow me on twitter @SuperAlexMan

Tuesday 6 March 2012

What Would Travis Bickle Do?

The other day I was riding my bike to my girlfriends house. I was riding up a street, same as usual but there were two people standing on the pavement. A boy and a girl. As I rode past the boy spat at me and the girl called me a t**t. For no reason whatsoever! I did nothing, I just rode past. Secretly I wished I had worn my Spider-Man costume underneath my clothes so I could avenge myself. But unfortunately I didn't. Instead I was left angry and thinking, what would Travis Bickle do?

Martin Scorsese's big breakthrough character, Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. In my eyes Travis Bickle was Scorsese's version of Batman. The most realistic version of Batman there could be, even more then Christopher Nolan's version. His aim: To wipe the scum off the street of New York. Imagine if he was real. Imagine if he was today.

He would be disgusted and he would be angry, imagine what he would do to the two people who spat and swore at me? - Only imaginable in Martin Scorsese's mind! But what if he wasn't alone? What if he was with another American psycho Patrick Bateman.Only he is more messed up about wiping the scum off the street, or anyone in that case. But unlike Travis Bickle he has money. This is team up that can only be made in dreams. But if The Avengers movie is anything to go by studios may think up some pretty awesome team ups!?

Our society nowadays has become more and more divided economically and with the increase of superhero films it won't be long till some messed up person takes a stand against the higher powers or the people who need to be taught a lesson, like the two people I met!

Secretly I think everyone wants to take a stand but maybe not in the way Travis and Patrick did!

Sunday 4 March 2012

The Muppets Movie

Yesterday I saw the latest movie from the Muppets. Apart from a couple of television films this is actually the first time they have been on the big screen in 13 years! As they refer to in the film, times have moved on and kids no longer believe in the loveable muppets. Which is why this is a film for adults rather then their kids.

My parents, my dad especially, were mad on the muppets and throughout my childhood have brought me up on them also. Which is why I was just as excited as them to see there comeback to the big screen. There comeback has been written by Jason Segal, who also stars in the film as Gary. You can't help thinking that this is an over fantasised version of Jason Segal's life, being a self confessed muppets fan himself. The plot goes like this; with the help of three fans, The Muppets must reunite to save their old theatre from a greedy oil tycoon. Simple yet very effective!

The script brings back all the magic from classic muppets films and updates it for new viewers as well. The gags are very silly but very funny at the same time. The fart shoe jokes probably make adults laugh more then kids which is just brilliant to see!

The film is full of the new, oscar winning, muppety, feel good songs! The songs, written by Bret Mckenzie sound amazing and full of charm! I was smiling throughout them all, apart from the sad ones which almost had me in tears. It definitely got the little girl behind me crying! Man or Muppet is the highlight though and proves to the audience that it deserved its oscar win!

Overall a great film with a great cast and loads of celebrity cameos! A must see film for all the family, and parents, if your kids don't like it, then disown them.

In other news, there is a new Avengers (Assemble) trailer! If you haven't seen it (why not?!) then here it is!
Instead of rambling on about (which I can easily do!) I shall describe it in one word...

MINDBLOWING!

Thanks for reading!