Anna Karenina

Mini Blog

http://www.annakareninamovie.co.uk/

I saw the trailer for Anna Karenina when I was at the cinema with my friend who is a big fan of period dramas. We'd previously seen The Young Victoria and The Duchess together and loved both of those movies more than either of us would have guessed. Therefore as soon as we saw the trailer for Anna we knew we wanted to see it.

Unfortunately the film did not live up to the expectations. It was unnecessarily long with some sequences seeming as though they'd been included just for the sake of showing off the staging. I also felt that the film being set in a theatre didn't really work in it's favour. I felt like the actors should have burst into spontanious song, and if I'm honest I was disappointed that they didn't. As a person who dislikes musicals at the best of times I'm sure this speaks volumes about how dull the whole thing was that I felt making it a musical would liven up proceedings.

Finally to the actors. Knightley was her usual pouty self, despite re-assurances from director Joe Wright that he'd put a stop to that. She's great in some scenes but her character has a tendency to be whiny and needy which is not a great combination. The usually charasmatic Law is faced with the task of making an emotionally detached character likeable, and while you do feel sorry for him, you never really warm to him. Finally, Taylor-Johnson just feels too young to be in the role of Count Vronsky and nowhere near charming enough to win over the affections of a married noble lady.

I found the secondary stories involving Levin and Kitty and Oblonsky and Dolly held my interest a lot better than the main love triangle (if you can call it that), and especially thought that Domhnall Gleeson is one to watch.

All in all it was too long and too boring and I couldn't wait for it to end. Which incidently felt like it should have done long before the credits rolled. A disappointing 5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 20th September 2012

UK Release Date - 7th September 2012

Cast Overview:

Keira Knightley ~ Anna Karenina

Aaron Taylor-Johnson ~ Count Vronsky

Jude Law ~ Alexei Karenin

Kelly MacDonald ~ Dolly

Matthew MacFadyen ~ Oblonsky

Emily Watson ~ Countess Lydia

Olivia Williams ~ Countess Vronsky

Domhnall Gleeson ~ Levin

Alicia Vikander ~ Kitty

Director ~ Joe Wright 

Writer(s) ~ Tom Stoppard (Screenplay) and Leo Tolstoy (Novel)

The Watch

Mini Blog

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1298649/

As I just explained in a personal blog, I have been rather busy recently and haven't actually been to the cinema that often in the last two months. But as promised, I will be attempting to keep on top of my reviews, although some, like this one, will unfortunately come after the film has left cinemas. Just means you'll have more films to add to your netflix/love film lists.

I wasn't familiar with The Watch until my cinema buddy pointed it out to me. I saw the trailer and thought it looked okay. I'm not a particular fan of anyone involved but then if I only saw films of people I was a fan of I wouldn't be a very unbiased reviewer now would I?

I'm also not a huge fan of comedies. Mainly because I find they don't really make me laugh all that much. Whilst The Watch didn't have me rolling around on the floor I did walk out of the cinema saying how pleasantly surprised I was by it. The cast gelled really well, each having time to shine. And even Vince Vaughn, who I have a tendency to find annoying and over the top, was enjoyable. 

The film has a good mix of sci-fi, jumpy horror moments, comedy and drama to keep the most complex film fan happy and was generally an easy to follow, fun film. A surprisingly good 8 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 7th September 2012 

UK Release Date - 24th August 2012 

Cast Overview: 

Ben Stiller ~ Evan

Vince Vaughn ~ Bob

Jonah Hill ~ Franklin

Richard Ayoade ~ Jamarcus

Rosemarie DeWitt ~ Abby

Will Forde ~ Sgt Bressman

Director ~ Akiva Schaffer

Writer(s) ~ Jared Stern, Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg

Busy Bee

I've been a bit lax recently with both my film watching and timely reviews. I can only apologise for that and trust that my loyal readers will know that this can only mean one thing. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am writing again. 

Followers of my personal blog will have seen that I recently wrote a short story. After saying I wouldn't write another, I did just that. I have submitted this to a trusted friend for approval before I put this on the blog but suffice to say that there are plenty more in the works. 

Unfortunately, this means the film reviews will have to take a back seat for a while as I simply don't have the time to do my full time job, see films, write reviews and dedicate enough time to my story writing too. So while I'm inspired I'm going to take full advantage of that. 

I will still be reviewing but it probably won't be as frequent and the reviews won't be as lengthy. I hope you'll stick with me through this time and that you'll get some enjoyment from whatever I'm updating my other blogs with. 

In the mean time, if there is something I haven't reviewed that you're contemplating seeing, feel free to turn your attention to Dan The Man's Movie Reviews here, which I always find entertaining and insightful, or my good friend Mrs Bass' blog here which does occasional, and I would go so far as to say highly reliable, reviews. 

As ever, thanks a million for your continued love and support of my writing and my blogs. Updates will be forthcoming.

Much love, Lady K

Total Recall

Mini Review

http://www.welcometorecall.com/

As I understand it, Total Recall (2012) is based on the 1990 movie of the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. I have never seen that movie so can neither confirm nor deny that fact. So I will instead tell you that the 2012 remake tells the story of Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), who decides to spend an evening of recreation at a company called Rekall. They implant their clients with fake memories of a life they would like to have led, as a "crime fighter, world class athlete or a secret agent". But things take a turn for the worse for Douglas when he finds himself in trouble for a crime he didn't commit. Is he still in the chair at Rekall, all this playing out in his mind, or was he living a lie all along?

As I mentioned above I haven't seen the 1990 movie on which this is supposedly a remake. However, the two people that I saw this version with both said that it bore little resemblance to that movie, and that it really was very different. As I haven't seen the original I am only able to review this movie on it's own merits. And as such I thought it was an okay film. 

It has a lot of futuristic action, hover car chases etc. Lots of running around. Some nice mind trip moments when you don't know what's real and what's not. Fine performances from the cast but the material they're working with isn't great, and with that many scriptwriters you would hope it would be - but I guess the old saying 'too many cooks spoil the broth' is true here. The film is stylish and watchable but just doesn't stand out. 

If you're a fan of the original I don't know that there are enough homages to it for you to find this version worth watching or enjoyable. And if you're not a fan of the original or have never seen it I'm still not sure that I would advise you to go out of your way to watch the remake.

Colin is handsome, the women are beauties alright and they do have a few girl on girl fights (and let's face it, everyone loves a chick fight) but it's just not enough. A disappointing 6 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 28th August 2012

UK Release Date - 29th August 2012

Cast Overview:

Colin Farrell ~ Douglas Quaid / Carl Hauser

Kate Beckinsale ~ Lori Quaid

Jessica Biel ~ Melina

Bryan Cranston ~ Cohaagen

Bokeem Woodbine ~ Harry

Bill Nighy ~ Mattias

John Cho ~ McClane

Director ~ Len Wiseman

Writer(s) ~ Kurt Wimmer (Screenplay and Screen Story), Mark Bomback (Screenplay), Ronald Shusett (Screen Story), Dan O'Bannon (Screen Story), Jon Povill (Screen Story) and Philip K Dick (Inspired by his Short Story 'We Can Remember It For You Wholesale')

Ted

Mini Blog

http://www.tedisreal.com/

From the first time I saw the trailer for Ted it was not a film I wanted to see. And I was quite convinced I wouldn't see it. That was until several of my friends saw it and liked it. 

Now normally this alone would not be enough to sway me. I do after all have different tastes to my friends and there are occasions we don't agree on what makes a good film. It was when my cinema buddy told me he liked it that I really started to re-assess. My cinema buddy and I have very similar tastes in comedies and so I started to wonder if Ted might be worth a watch after all.

I might have caved and agreed to watch the DVD when it came out, had it not been for one of my friends who hadn't yet gotten around to seeing Ted but wanted to. So being the kind friend that I am, I agreed to see it with her on the recent bank holiday as it still had quite a few screenings at our local Cineworld.

I am always happy to admit when a film pleasantly surprises me, and Ted did just that. Yes he was a foul mouthed bear who simply got in the way of Mark Wahlberg's character growing up and being a man, but you can't help but love him. *Spoiler* Even I ultimately was a little sad when I thought the little guy had perished.*End Spoiler*

There are enough film references here to keep the most avid film fan happy. I think that's ultimately what got me on Ted's side (the movie not the character). So I think if you're an 80s film fan like me you'll find enough to like in this film. There's also a really cool cameo that I'm not going to spoil. I was impressed that they kept it out of the trailers as I think it helped the film to have an ace up it's sleeve. 

A film with some laugh out loud funny moments, not all the best bits are in the trailer like most films of this type, and there's a heart somewhere under all that fur and stuffing. So even if the thunder song wasn't your kind of funny, don't write Ted off until you've seen it. 7.5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 27th August 2012

UK Release Date - 1st August 2012

Cast Overview:

Mark Wahlberg ~ John Bennett

Mila Kunis ~ Lori Collins

Seth MacFarlane ~ Ted (Voice)

Joel McHale ~ Rex

Giovanni Ribisi ~ Donny

Director ~ Seth MacFarlane

Writer(s) ~ Seth MacFarlane (Screenplay and Story), Alec Sulkin (Screenplay) and Wellesley Wild (Screenplay)

The Wedding Video

Mini Review

http://www.timelessfilms.co.uk/films/the-wedding-video

The Wedding Video tells the story of Raif (Rufus Hound), who has decided to make a video of his brother Tim's wedding as his wedding gift to Tim (Robert Webb) and the bride Saskia (Lucy Punch). What could possibly go wrong with that idea?

Well being that this is a British comedy, a lot could go wrong! Namely the fact that it's not funny. This is not one of those films where all the funny bits are in the trailer, this just doesn't have any really funny bits. Sure it made me smile on more than one occasion but it never made me laugh. So either I have no funny bone or this just isn't funny. I'm going to go with the latter.

As one of my friends pointed out, it's also not very well acted and has possibly every wedding cliche in the book, such as *Spoilers* the stag do stripper who's not very good at her job, the overbearing mother of the bride, the bride getting cold feet and running off with the best man, need I go on? I think not.

If there really is nothing better on I still wouldn't advise spending money on seeing The Wedding Video. Hire or buy something funnier with what you would have spent on your cinema ticket. You'll thank me for it! 3.5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 26th August 2012

UK Release Date - 17th August 2012

Cast Overview:

Rufus Hound ~ Raif

Lucy Punch ~ Saskia

Robert Webb ~ Tim

Harriet Walter ~ Alex

Miriam Margolyes ~ Patricia

Michelle Gomez ~ Wedding Planner

Kevin Eldon ~ Wine Merchant

Director ~ Nigel Cole

Writer ~ Tim Firth (Screenplay)

New York Adventure – Day 5

Day 5 has now been uploaded onto my exclusively NY blog, D&Ks NY Experience. For the full blog and all the photos please click: http://dknyexperience.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/new-york-adventure-day-5-conquering-fear.html

Day 5 was a big day for D and I, in more ways than one. We literally had to conquer our fear of heights and D's vertigo in one day! Below are some photos from Day 5 that you won't find in the D&Ks NY Experience blog along with some more movie related locations...

Starting with the Top Of The Rock

And as it looked in The Adjustment Bureau:

Next we saw the Flatiron Building

And here's how it looked in Spider-Man:

The movie locations continued as we visited 8 Hook and Ladder

Otherwise known as the Ghostbusters fire house

Our next stop was at Ground Zero where we saw the building of Freedom Tower

D tells me she did see a shot of this in The Amazing Spider-Man but there are yet to be any screencaps of this as the movie has only been released in cinemas. In the mean time lets look at the very pretty Andrew Garfield looking down on New York City.

Whilst at Ground Zero we visited St Paul's Chapel, if you don't know anything about St Paul's you can find out more here. It's not been in any movies but it was a very special place that D and I felt privileged  to be able to visit.

Next up we headed on over to Brooklyn to grab an ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory which sits under the Brooklyn Bridge.

After our indulgence we decided it would be a good idea to walk back to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge to burn off those calories. Here's a nice photo of the Brooklyn Bridge from on the bridge

And here is virtually the same shot in the Sex And The City Movie

Our final stop of the day was to visit The Empire State Building. The lift ride took it out of poor D and she barely got to see the Observation Deck but here's some of the photos I took

And here's how it looks in Sleepless In Seatle

And there you have Day 5. Remember for the full blog and more photos visit my D&Ks NY Experience Blog using this link http://dknyexperience.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/new-york-adventure-day-5-conquering-fear.html

And many thanks again to onthesetofnewyork for the use of their screencaps. All screencaps courtesy of http://www.onthesetofnewyork.com/

The Expendables 2

Mini Review

http://www.theexpendables2film.com/

Anyone out there not seen The Expendables? Well it's a lot like The Expendables 2 so don't worry, it won't take long to catch you up! Sylvester Stallone plays Barney Ross, the leader of a team of mercenaries with special skills who frequently get hired to take out the bad guy, rescue someone or blow stuff up. In this second installment they rescue Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and then are hired by Church (Bruce Willis) to retrieve a load of buried Plutonium before it falls into the wrong hands of Vilian* (Jean-Claude Van Damme).

As you might expect there are a lot of explosions, people being shot at, car chases, escapes, and some more people being shot at. The times when the film tries to be anything more than this, for example when the team experience the loss of a comrade, are laughable, and not in a good way. These guys know how to look pumped but they've all forgotten how to act. There is more cheese here than in dairy isle at your local supermarket!

I did enjoy Chuck Norris' cameo and was glad they didn't overuse him. Bruce Willis and Arnie certainly had more to do this time around too which was nice. I just don't really know what else to say about Expendables 2 as I don't honestly know how they could have made it better. I guess it was enjoyable for what it was but unless you're looking for a cheesy all action, no brains type film, stay away. 5 out of 10.

*IMDb are spelling this Villain, Wikipedia Vilain and the official Expendables 2 website are spelling it Vilian so this is what I've gone with. If anyone goes to see the film after reading my review can you please let me know how it's spelt in the end credits and I will change accordingly. Thanks!

Viewing Date - 26th August 2012
UK Release Date - 16th August 2012

Cast Overview:

Sylvester Stallone ~ Barney Ross

Jason Statham ~ Lee Christmas

Jet Li ~ Yin Yang

Dolph Lundgren ~ Gunner Jensen

Chuck Norris ~ Booker

Jean-Claude Van Damme ~ Vilian

Bruce Willis ~ Church

Arnold Schwarzenegger ~ Trench

Terry Crews ~ Hale Caesar

Randy Couture ~ Toll Road

Liam Hemsworth ~ Billy The Kid

Scott Adkins ~ Hector

Nan Yu ~ Maggie

Director ~ Simon West

Writer(s) ~ Richard Wenk (Screenplay and Story), Sylvester Stallone (Screenplay), Ken Kaufman (Story), David Agosto (Story) and David Callaham (Characters)