Monsters University

http://monstersuniversity.com/edu/

I might've mentioned my love of Disney movies, and that in recent years, this love has only grown with the addition of Pixar to the Disney family.

As I confessed in my recent Monsters Inc. review, that movie is my favourite Pixar movie. Without doubt. Only challenged by Wall•e, which I love, but which only manages second place to the tale of Sully, Mike and Boo. So of course, when Monsters University was announced 10 years after Monsters Inc. I was thrilled. But could it live up to it's predecessor?

Monsters University starts by showing us a snippet of the young life of Michael Wazowski, a small monster with big dreams. He's never found his place in the world until he visits Monsters Incorporated on a school trip. He is immediately drawn into the world of the amazing scarers and decides there and then that he must become one. He works hard at school and makes it all the way to Monsters University, which is where he meets James P Sullivan, or Sully as he's known to his friends. Despite the knowledge we have of what great friends they become later in life, they do not see eye to eye at first. But in entering the Scare Games with a group of misfit monsters, they must work together to make their team good enough to make the grade.

I picked Monsters University as my birthday movie this year. I'm not sure if that put more pressure on it or whether I still would have had high expectations due to my love of the first movie. Either way, sadly, Monsters University did not surpass the high bar set by Monsters Inc.

It was still a brilliant sequel/prequel to the first film, and it was fascinating to see how our well loved monsters started out in life, but without Boo the film did feel like it was lacking something. As far as kids are concerned I have no doubt that Monsters University will go down a storm. There just aren't many jokes for the adults to enjoy. 

As ever with Pixar, the animation is superb. They've really shown off their talents with some of the new monsters, there's a lot of detail so let your eyes just feast on it all. And at the end of the movie, if you don't come away with just a little bit more respect for these cute, err I mean terrifying little guys, I'd say you've missed the point. 7 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 26th July 2013

UK Release Date - 12th July 2013

Cast Overview:

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

Billy Crystal ~ Mike

John Goodman ~ Sully

Steve Buscemi ~ Randy

Helen Mirren ~ Dean Hardscrabble

Peter Sohn ~ Squishy

Joel Murray ~ Don

Sean Hayes ~ Terri

Dave Foley ~ Terry

Charlie Day ~ Art

Alfred Molina ~ Professor Knight

Nathan Fillion ~ Johnny Worthington

Director ~ Dan Scanlon

Writer(s) ~ Dan Scanlon (Screenplay and Story), Daniel Gerson (Screenplay and Story) and Robert L Baird (Screenplay and Story)

Say Anything

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098258/

I don't remember the first time I saw Say Anything. But I do remember that it was entirely down to my brother, as most of my well informed movie choices were around that time. 

I wonder if he showed it to me because it's leading man, John Cusack, had a small supporting role in one of my favourite movies, Stand By Me? Or maybe it was because it was a little off the beaten track when it comes to Rom-Coms, and he thought I'd like that? Who knows. But the point is that he did show it to me and I did love it. But more of that later.

For those uninitiated with the 80s movie that put declaring your love with a boombox on the map, allow me to tell you a little about Say Anything. Here we have a movie about your average high school student Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack). He's nothing special, except that he is nothing like any other guy in the world. He's had a thing about the high school brain, Diane Court (Ione Skye), for years, and he decides to ask her to the graduation party to end all parties. She's been awarded a scholarship in England so it's now or never. No-one expects Diane to say yes, least of all Lloyd, heck, least of all Diane. But she does, and what follows is the account of the early days of their relationship, the ups, the downs and all of the family dramas in between.

This is what makes Say Anything one of the best 80s movies ever made. Not just the family drama, which happens to be an amazingly acted, moving and realistic account of lives being ripped apart. No, not just that. The whole shebang is what makes this movie great. I love the fact that Lloyd's two best friends are women. That he's responsible for being the key master at the party, rather than being the typical drunk guy, in fact, I love that he's not a "guy" as his friends Corey and DC tell him, "don't be a guy, be a man." I love that he doesn't know what he wants to do with his life, but he knows that he doesn't know! Say Anything isn't an underdog story, someone always believes in the underdog, no-one believes in Lloyd, not even Diane, and he proves them all wrong!

It's funny, it's heartbreakingly sad, it's quotable, it's 80s, it has Joan and John Cusack playing brother and sister, it has a great soundtrack, there are 2 out of 3 Heathers in it! FYI if you don't know what that means see Heathers immediately, then see Say Anything. You absolutely will not regret it. 10 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 23rd July 2013

Original US Release Date (as I couldn't find the UK Release Date anywhere) - 14th April 1989

Cast Overview:

John Cusack ~ Lloyd Dobler

Ione ~ Diane Court

John Mahoney ~ James Court

Lili Taylor ~ Corey Flood

Amy Brooks ~ D.C

Loren Dean ~ Joe

Joan Cusack ~ Constance Dobler

Glenn Walker Harris Jr ~ Jason Dobler

Jeremy Piven ~ Mark

Bebe Neuwirth ~ Mrs Evans

Eric Stoltz ~ Vahlere

Kim Walker ~ Sheila

Chynna Phillips ~ Mimi

Lisanne Falk ~ Sandra

Philip Baker Hall ~ IRS Boss

Director/Writer ~ Cameron Crowe

Pacific Rim

http://www.pacificrimmovie.net/

What to say about this tale of Godzilla vs Transformers? As that's kinda what this movie is, although the Transformers in question are controlled by humans. Well there is a LOT of action. But unlike most films of this nature which tend to be light on plot, this has one at least. Although it's not a very complex one. 

In the present day the earth is attacked by the Kaiju, a Godzilla-esq giant dinosaur/sea monster type thing that has come to earth from an alternate dimension, like you do. It was able to do this by way of coming through a portal, the entrance/exit of which is a crack under the pacific ocean sea bed, caused by an earthquake. Following so far? Good. The Kaiju is eventually killed by the military but it takes a lot of time and causes a lot of destruction while they're trying to kill it. When another Kaiju comes through the crack, and a third and more, world leaders come up with a plan to defeat them quicker and easier; they will build giant robots, called 'Jaegers', to fight the Kaiju. Each Jaeger is piloted by two humans, one uses their left brain to operate and the other uses their right. When the two pilots are connected they can see each other's memories and feel the other's emotions. The connection between the pilots is called the drift. The 'drift compatibility' of the two pilots is determined by how similar they fight, their reactions to anger and emotion, etc.

If you've followed all that and it sounds interesting then maybe you should head to the cinema and catch Pacific Rim before it leaves theaters. I myself had heard several different views on the film before I went to see it. One friend said she nearly fell asleep 5 times, another said she thought it was amazing and felt there was a good underlying theme of family beneath the action, which she said 'on its own is GORGEOUSLY done and epic and breath taking', meanwhile another friend said it was the worst film she'd ever seen. I therefore decided I would see it, but would do what I did with After Earth, which is to go with incredibly low expectations. And while I wasn't disappointed, I can tell you that I have seen films with much better acting. 

I will agree that the action is something we haven't necessarily seen before. Although by the last fight I did feel like I'd seen enough Kaiju Vs Jaeger fights to last me a lifetime. The 'drift' between the pilots was definitely the most unique aspect of the film and the thing I enjoyed the most, I just wish they'd had better actors to display the kind of emotions that would surface from experiencing such a connection. And ultimately I wish they'd explored that more. The side story featuring the two science guys was also rather slow, and maddeningly, the British actor Burn Gorman (you may recognise him from Torchwood) not only had the most annoying and unlikable character to portray, he also had the most fake sounding British accent I think I've ever heard. Ironic as his is one of the few real accents in the movie?! These scenes were only saved by Charlie Day who essentially played the same nervous geek he always plays, but he does it with such charm you can't help but like him. 

Definitely one for fans of action, with plot lines you actually have to think about, but if you're easily bored maybe give it a miss. 6 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 22nd July 2013

UK Release Date - 12th July 2013

Cast Overview:

Charlie Hunnam ~ Raleigh Becket

Diego Klattenhoff ~ Yancy Becket

Idris Elba ~ Stacker Pentecost

Rinko Kikuchi ~ Mako Mori

Charlie Day ~ Dr Newton Geiszler

Burn Gorman ~ Gottlieb

Max Martini ~ Herc Hansen

Robert Kazinsky ~ Chuck Hensen

Clifton Collins Jr ~ Ops Tendo Choi

Ron Perlman ~ Hannibal Chau

Director ~ Guillermo del Toro

Writer(s) ~ Guillermo del Toro (Screenplay) and Travis Beacham (Screenplay and Story)