Come up with your own witty title!

It's been a strange couple of days. I'm back and work.....it sucks! Totally lost all motivation to do anything. Writing, editing, filming, at the moment can't do any of them. All I've done is waste my time watching old episodes of Scrubs on E4 and playing stupid games on Facebook. I have, however, managed to squeeze in a movie. Here's number twelve!

12. Wall-E
Watched on :- BBC 1 HD

Wall-E is an animated movie from Pixar. It's set in the future where mankind has abandoned earth mainly due to the vast amounts of rubbish we've created clogging everything up. So onto the spaceships we go and head out into space leaving the robots to clean it all up. Problem is they have all broken down over the past seven hundred years and only one little robot is left. Wall-E spends his days doing just what he was programmed to do, cleaning up. He's also started collecting little bits and bobs. Then one day Eva arrives on earth and Wall-E's life is turned upside down! ( typical! A woman turns up and changes everything!)

This is a truly beautiful film both in how it looks and in the storyline. The character of Wall-E is just so cute you can't help care about him and what happens to him. This is something that Pixar excel at. Making characters believable and likeable. Whether it's Woody and Buzz in Toy Story or Mike and Sully in monsters Inc their characters all have that important thing that makes you care what happens to them. I like Pixar movies and this is one of my favourites without a doubt. It's cute, charming, heart warming stuff. Schmaltzy maybe but never overly so. It's so beautifully shot or animated. The space dance scene with Wall-E and Eva is absolutely stunning! If you haven't seen this movie then stop whatever your doing and go find a copy of it now!
Definitely 5/5!
Quick movie trivia, the voice of the computer on the spaceship is done by Sigourney Weaver! wouldn't it have been great if as the autopilot took a hold of Eva the computer said " stay away from her you bitch!"

That's all for now but I'll have two more tomorrow. A Whooping Goldberg film and one from the brothers Coen. Who knows, might even squeeze in an independent film about time travel! Til then, cya later! :)

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God does dry cleaning

First let me get this one out the way

10. The world is not enough
Watched on :- television (itv 2)

Going to rush this one so here goes.
Plot:- James bond saves the world while sleeping with Sophie Marceau and Denise richards though not at the same time. John Cleese is in it too

My thoughts on it :- meh

Rating : 2.5 / 5 ( something new I thought I'd add to this. I'll put up the ratings for the other ones later)

Whenever I get the chance I'll go and see a film at the cinema that I know nothing about. It's always a risk because if I don't know anything about it it's either because it's a hidden indie film gem or something the studios want to bury and forget about. It usually works out ok. One thing I've never done before though is buy a DVD I've never heard of. Until today. I had a couple of spare quod rolling about burning a hole in my pocket so with the prices of DVDs I thought I'd buy something. What I did was I looked for a DVD I'd never heard of, I didn't read the back only looked at the front cover, and then bought one that I fancied! So for the princely sum of two quid here is my next film!

11. Rocket Science

Hal Hefner is a teenage boy growing up in jersey. He's a quiet boy, his parents have just separated and his older brother is a kleptomaniac with an agenda! The only thing that makes him stand out is he has a really bad stammer. So he joins the school debating team! Why does he do this? Simple, he does it for love. "or is it revenge? It's one of those two"

This is a great find. Brilliant little independent film with a relatively unknown cast. The writer and director is Jeffrey Blitz. The back cover, which I've read now that I've watched it, says he directed " Spellbound". Sounds kinda familiar but not too sure I've seen it. I know your thinking this is one of those sugary American teenage love conquers all films but it's not. This is such a well written movie. It stays away from the conventional film of that you'd expect and instead tells a great little story about a boys struggle to basically be himself. The script is brilliant with some really cracking quotable lines. " god is dry cleaning and he's wearing a smock" "There's a cello in your house now" " THROW THE CELLO" yeah I liked this movie. It does have it's flaws but it's a nice watchable movie that only cost me two quid. Money well spent! :)
Rating: 4/5

Cya later :)

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death by man flu!

So I've had a couple of days off work after the new year and, as any sane person would do at this time of year, my good wife and i decided it would be a good idea to go to the beach... its minus two outside and we went to the beach. It seemed to make sense at the time but for the life of me I don't know why! It ended up being a good news bad news situation. Good news i got to fly my new two and a half metre span power kite which was fantastic! Bad news I caught a cold. No not the cold, man flu. the deadly man flu! OK, maybe not deadly but it was bloody awful! so with my nose turning into a one man snot factory, my throat doing its best impression of sandpaper it could do all i could do was sit on the couch and watch a couple of movies! So, here they are:-

7. Omen III: The Final Conflict
Watched on:- Television ( Film 4)

The third and final Omen film. Damian Thorne is now a man and running Thorn industries. He has fully embraced the fact that he is the son of Satan, the Antichrist and has full control over his power. Now he faces the biggest challenge, the second coming of Christ. His plan is simple, find the children born on the specified day and kill them all. It falls to a small group of priests to use the seven daggers ot stop Damian and put an end to his reign on this earth.
Sam Neil plays Damian in this, his first role in a Hollywood film. it would be so easy to go over the top with this kind of character but he manages to keep it just on the right side of madness without pushing it too far. of the three original Omen films I think this is the weakest of them all. It's OK but its not brilliant. It does bring the trilogy to a reasonable conclusion though after three films you'd expect a bit more of a fight at the end! Still, its not bad and doesn't have that freaky scary kid from Omen II in it! (he is EEEVVIIILLL)

So where do you go after watching a serious dram/thriller about the Antichrist....well

8. Lesbian Vampire Killers
watched on: itunes (free download)

Plot ( yes there is one, almost) Centuries ago Baron wolfgang  MacLaren rid the little town of Cragwich of the evil vampire queen Camilla. But, just before he chopped her head off he stopped for a bit and gave her time to place a curse on the village that on their eighteenth birthday every girl born in the village would turn into a Lesbian Vampire. Present day and Fletch (James Corben) and Jimmy (Mathew Horne) are down on their luck. Fletch has lost his job as a clown for punching a kid at a birthday party and Jimmy MacLaren (guess who he's descended from) has been dumped by his girlfriend...again. Bored and skint they decide to go hiking so throw a dart at a map of the UK and head to where it lands. Cragwich.

First, let me start by saying I got this film for free a year ago through the 12 days of christmas app on my wife's iphone and its taken me a year to actually watch it.What can i say about this film.....its shit! Mind you what do you really expect from a film where the writers were challenged to come up with the dumbest yet most commercial title they could think of then write a script based on it! Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, its not completely shit there are some good bits about it like the bit where... nah it's shit!  I think its just trying too hard to be funny and failing. Mind you I'm not a huge fan of James Corben so maybe if you like him you'll like it, but for me I'd rather they just ran the stake through my eyes than made me watch this film again!

9.  Goldeneye
watched on:- Television (ITV2)

When a secret russian base is destroyed from orbit and the key to the weapon stolen, James Bond  teams up with the only survivor a female russian programmer, to get the key back and find out who is behind its theft. Little does he know that the person behind it is a face from his past...

This was Pierce Brosnan's first film as James Bond. There's actually a lot of firsts in this film. The first James Bond film to use CGI for the opening gun shot sequence. The first official James Bond film to not be directed by a British director. The first James Bond film to actually film in Russia.
I love James Bond movies. Always have. I remember watching all of the old ones with Sean Connery and Roger Moore on TV when i was little. loved them! I also had a toy Aston Martin complete with ejector seat and a wee blue man to eject from it! Course I lost the little guy pretty quickly after ejecting him out the window in my bedroom. Still, the car was cool! If only i could get a full size one now. Maybe one day ;)
I liked Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Better than Timothy Dalton i reckon and on par with Roger Moore. Timothy Dalton's Bond was too serious for me. Just didn't seem like a Bond film without the wisecracks etc and that's something they brought back with Pierce Brosnan which is probably why i like this movie so much. It's a cracking theme song as well and a lot more recognisable than some of the dross they've been using lately for Bond films. Can anyone sing the tune from Casino Royale or even remember who sang it? nah, me neither. Little bit of trivia, the Rolling Stones were asked to sing the theme tune to this film but turned it down so Bono and the Edge, who wrote the song, went to their next door neighbour, Tina Turner and played it to her on her piano! I know, useless bit of trivia but I like it.
So, there you go, three films in one day. Do I watch way too many movies? Probably, but I'm back at work tomorrow so it'll probably start slowing down now. Having said that the DVD of my favourite movie arrived today. Had to buy a new copy after I lost the original one I had and I've got another film downloaded that I've never seen before so could be another night of movie watching for me :)
Cya later!

"if they were alive today, they'd be spinning in their graves"

When it comes down to choosing a movie to watch it's usually dictated by the mood I'm in. If I'm feeling down watching a damn good comedy will cheer me up. Thoughtful then it's a drama. But every once in a while fate steps in a chooses for me, like it did today. Whenever a great actor like Pete Postlethwaite passes away I show my respects by watching one of their films.

6. Brassed Off
Watched on :- DVD projector

Brassed Off is the story of the members of Grimley Colliery band and their band leader Danny played by Pete Postlethwaite. As Danny fights to keep the band going the miners are fighting to keep their mine open. Both seem to be fighting a losing battle.
If you've never seen this film them stop reading this and go get a copy of it now! Its simply fantastic. You've heard the expression it'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry loads of times but it really does apply here. One minute your laughing your head off next the drama hits and it's reach for the hanky time. Pete Postlethwaite is at his best in this film. The relationship built between Danny and Phil played by Stephen Tomlinson is spot on. Both are tragic characters. Danny covering up his illness from working down the mines so long, Philip struggling to keep his family together and the loan sharks off his back. Of course there's the romantic interest played by Ewan MacGregor and Tara Fitzgerald ( second film I've seen her in this week). It's a brilliant film which sadly doesn't get the recognition it deserves. It's a fine example of British film making and always worth watching and one I can recommend enough.
Pete Postlethwaite was a fantastic actor. He always seemed to be at home playing what ever part he was given. I reckon you could term him as a character actor with parts ranging from band leader to dinosaur hunter and not forgetting advisor to kaiser soze in usual suspects. He will be missed but he's left behind loads of great films for us to watch and no doubt will pop up in a few of the other movies I'll be watching this year. Rest in peace.

That's all for now so, cya later

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Eeeeeeviiiiiillllll

There are some films that always stick with you no matter what. Film number five of my one hundred is one of those films for me.

5. Omen ll
Watched on:- television (film four)

This is the second in the omen trilogy and for me the scariest of them all. I'm not going to say too much about this film because it scares the shit out of me! Probably because i was only about sixteen when i first saw it. That scene in the lift still makes me cringe today :/ I can watch pretty much anything but there are two films that I find difficult to watch and this is one of them. The other one is Jeepers Creepers. I can tell you now that one won't be in this list! It creeps me out!! I'll be back later with a Pete Postlethwaite classic. He'll be missed. Another great actor gone too soon.
Cya later.
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"how high is our mountain?"

Two days into 2011, and now four films down.

4. The Englishman who went up a hill but came down a mountain
Watched on:- television ( film 4)

This is a film about the fictional ffynnon garw mountain in Wales. The film is set in 1917 and is based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Monger.
The of revolves around two englishmen played by Hugh Grant and Ian McNiece who are sent to Wales to measure the height of the mountains for the ordanance survey maps. They start with fynnon garw, which the local village claim is the first mountain in Wales. In order to qualify as a mountain it has to be over one thousand feet so when Anson and Garrad first measure the mountain as nine hundred and eighty four feet its declared a hill! So the local pub owner Morgan, played by Colm Meaney, comes up with a plan to do something about that ;)

I hadn't seen this film in a long time and I really enjoyed it. It's classed as a romantic comedy because of the plot line between Anson ( Hugh Grant) and Betty ( Tara Fitzgerald) but it's more than that. Its really the tale of the whole village. For me Colm Meaney Is the star on the film playing Morgan the Goat with just the right touch of mischief and likability. As it's on film four it's probably going to be repeated so if it is I'd recommend catching it. It's a lovely little film. It's does have another little known claim to fame. It's gives me the only phrase I can say that sounds remotely welsh "how high is our mountain?" ;)

You know doing this makes me realise just how many films I watch. Four is two days? If I keep this up I'll have one hundred done by Mid April! Maybe I should up it a bit. What do you think? Cya later!

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Film 3

You know the best thing about the new year? The amount of films the TV channels put on to fill the schedule. Films that haven't been on TV for ages get dragged out to fill a couple of hours during the holiday time. My V+ box is filling up with movies every day! some favourites, some I've never seen, some I've not seen in a long time. The third movie of my hopeful one hundred falls into the third of those.

3. Private Benjamin
Watched on:- Television ITV3 ( i think! Certainly had those annoying 118 ads at the breaks so must have been one of the ITV channels!)

This film stars Goldie Hawn as Judy Benjamin who, after her husband dies of a heart attack on their wedding night does what every grieving widow does. She joins the army! Course she soon realises its not what she thought it would be.
You know this film was voted one of the 50 greatest comedies by Premier in 2006. Certainly I remember watching it years ago and thinking it was really funny but it just doesn't stand the test of time. It's not funny anymore! Probably because the idea has been done so many times now its just lost its appeal. OK, back in 1980 when it was released there weren't as many of those types of films out, but now its just really dated. I enjoyed watching it but I'm not in a rush to watch it again.  I suppose you cant win them all.

OK I'm off to pick movie number four. Cya later :)

Film 2

Just managed to squeeze another film in before I head to bed. So here it is.

2. Conan the Destroyer
Seen on:- Television itv

So Conan the destroyer is the sequel to Conan the babarian. The plot is pretty simple. An evil queen tells Conan if he takes a young girl off to collect a treasure she'll bring back his dead love. Obviously being an evil queen she's lying and sends her elite guards to follow him and kill him when he's done.
Simple plot, simple film. There's nothing to tax the brain in this one it's a straight forward fantasy action adventure. Made in 1984 to follow on from the success of Conan the barbarian it didn't really do as well as the first film. To be honest there's not really much to say about it. It's alright, not rotten but not fantastic. It's fantasy film by the book. Wizards, sword fights, and monsters. Arnie stars in the lead role again and plays it as arnie does. If it's on and you want to kill a couple of hours then it's worth a watch but I wouldnt rush out to buy it.
So, two film down and another ninety eight to go! See ya later!

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First film...

So as I said on my last post, the goal is to watch one hundred movies over the next year and write about them here. Well it's 1/1/11 and here's film one :)

1. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull
Watched on : Televison bbc1 HD

The film is the fourth in the Indiana Jones films and once again sees Harrison Ford playing Dr Indiana Jones who this time, along with Mutt, played by Shia LaBeouf, Is off on a quest for the mysterious Crystal Skull.
A lot of people hate this movie, particularly Indy fans. They say Harrison Ford is too old, they don't like Shia LaBeouf, but mainly it's the ending that really gets them building Lucas and speilberg effigies and setting fire to their lucasarts merchandise. They say it's not a proper Indiana jones plot. I disagree. The first three films were set in the thirties and forties and were films of that time. The biggest threat was Nazi Germany so naturally the bad guys were Nazis. But there is no way they could keep the fourth film in that time. It's been twenty years or so since the last one and it would have been stupid to try and make Harrison Ford play Indy at the same age as before. So they make Indy older, bring in a young sidekick and set it in the fifties. Just like the films before it crystal skull is a film of the time it's set in. Russians are the bad guys and aliens are the mystery. It makes sense to me. Look at the culture of that time. Scifi movies, comics, and books were popular. The car chases and action sequences are bang on and fit nicely in the genre. So I like Indiana jones and the crystal skull and Enjoyed watching it. If you didn't like it hopefully you'll like one of the other 99 films I'll be writing about this year ;)

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