The Age of Adaline (2015)

Pleasantly surprised by its IMDb rating of 7.3, I can’t say I felt the same for the film’s plot. The story played out pretty much exactly as I’d expected but then again I don’t think it really pretends to be the movie that Inceptions you or pulls a Shawshank Redemption at the very end.

I personally love movies that remind us of the preciousness of time – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Click, About Time (one of my all-time favourite time travel movies). What I liked in particular about this one was the way in which they brought that message home – reminding us of our inevitable doom by showing us the complete opposite – Adaline Bowman, the girl who lived (and lived, and lived..)

‘Interstellar’: Finally a Nolan film worth the hype. *Spoilers*

This film really blew my mind. It was so much better than the ‘Dark Knight’ films and much better executed than ‘Inception’ (2010). There were definitely elements of ‘Inception’ scattered throughout the film but with Interstellar, Nolan seemed to have redefined those elements from being a cinematic novelty few have seen before to an interesting concept that fits seamlessly into the story line yet still stands out as a defining feature.

‘The One I Love’: A must-see of 2014

If you haven’t watched ‘The One I Love’ then do it. This is one movie that you really do have to see for yourself.

Highly imaginative and quirky, the film seems to be a weird mixing pot of genres from Drama to Comedy, to Romance with a hint of Mystery. And because it doesn’t appear to belong to any clear-cut genre you really have no clue what Director, Charlie McDowell, is going to throw at you next.

It’s no ordinary feat these days for a film to completely capture the audience’s attention, and perhaps more impressive is that this film maintains that level of intrigue right up until the rolling of the film credits. … But how?

Boyhood (2014) – Bold in spirit but somewhat lacking in heart

When you first hear that Boyhood was 12 years in the making, it seems only natural that people (critics included) would be raving about this movie. Jen and I both came into this with quite high expectations and while it had its moments, I found it a little lacking in the emotional department.

Boyhood is a true coming-of-age story that follows Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from the age of 5 to 18. Through him we also come to meet his sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), his divorced parents (Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke) and various other family and friends.

*TBT* A Walk to Remember (2002) and The Notebook (2004)

In light of the recent news that Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes are expecting their first child I thought I’d write about these two Nicholas Sparks favourites of my teenage years.

A Walk to Remember appears to be a typical teenage angst movie about a boy and a girl from two very different backgrounds falling in love against the odds. In fact it is quite predictable for the most part (in fact I re-watched this with someone lately and he guessed exactly like EXACTLY what would happen from the opening scene where Landon Carter (Shane West) gets in trouble from a dare gone wrong and ends up in community service with “bible-hugging”, goody-too-shoes, Jamie Sullivan (Mandy Moore)).
What sets this movie apart is that it doesn’t try too hard to set itself apart. It does what it is meant to do really well and has real heart. It explores belonging, change and love; themes common to films of this genre and even goes deeper into religion and death but does so in a digestible way, unlike the recent The Fault in Our Stars where death analogies are shoved down our throats at every opportunity.

 

10 Things I Learnt from Maleficent (2014) *spoilers*

#10 General Life Advice (Part I)

What do you do when your baby girl is cursed to fall into a coma on her sixteenth birthday? Send her off to a cottage that’s so far in the middle of nowhere that you’ll never spend a day with her until the very day she’s supposed to fall into a lifeless coma.

#9 Breathtaking visuals

The Director, Robert Stromberg previously specialised in Visual Effects with quite an impressive C.V. including Avatar, The Hunger Games, Life of Pi, Alice in Wonderland, Pan’s Labyrinth and even a few episodes of Game of Thrones. With a couple of Oscars under his belt for Art Direction, Stromberg is certainly no stranger to the art of creating a magical alternate universe in which  the viewer can fully immerse their senses, which in this case is a world full of mud-slinging trolls, talking and walking trees, fairies and other winged creatures.

#8 All faults with the script may be forgiven as long as you have Angelina Jolie to carry the film along

The Fault in Our Stars *Spoiler Alert*

So we’ve all heard the synopsis and have become well aware of  The Fault in Our Stars’ tear-jerking potential and some of us may even be aware of it’s 8.6 rating on IMDb so it’s pretty clear that The Fault in Our Stars is a deep and meaningful film liked by a wide range of demographics, right? Wrong. *Warning* Stop here if you really liked the movie and/or book.

*TBT* The Imposter (2012)

One of the most intriguing documentaries I’ve seen to date. The film follows quite an unusual form for a doco as it takes you on a roller coaster of twists and turns as you would expect from a thriller but the best and most chilling part is that it’s all true – not based on a true story where they hire Brad Pitt to play someone who looks nothing like Brad Pitt – but an actual snapshot of an extraordinary event in these people’s lives.

Nicholas Barclay, a 13 year old from San Antonio in Texas had been pronounced missing for three years when an anonymous phone call alerts the authorities that he has been found in Spain with claims that he had been kidnapped and tortured. While we as the audience are aware of Frenchman Frederic Bourdin’s deception, the film digs deeper as more and more questions are raised about the incredibly bizarre situation.

5 Stars for ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’

From the first few minutes of the film, Wes Anderson keeps us guessing.

Just as we begin to wrap our heads around one scene, this layer is immediately peeled back to reveal another equally perplexing one. The story in a nutshell centres around M. Gustave, a renowned concierge who prides himself on his impeccable service, and his unlikely friendship with Zero Moustafa, a bell boy at the establishment, as they try to reclaim what was rightfully theirs with the help of a mish mash of random characters and Agatha and her sweet delicious cakes from Mendl’s.

Divergent – just another Hunger Games?

For those who haven’t read the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, you might be wondering about all the similarities between this film and The Hunger Games – both set in a dystopian future with a very powerful ‘state’ controlling every aspect of life, society divided up into a number of classes and a fearless lead female who’s willing to fight and take on the State. Well, you would have wondered right. But having said that, The Hunger Games turned into a massive box office success for a reason and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it right?

I found the concept quite fascinating – society is divided into 5 different factions based on their personality traits. But, as expected with teenage fiction, it was a little too oversimplified for my liking. Another issue I had with the faction system was the overlap between Abnegation and Amity, as they both value kindness, peacefulness and forgiveness as their core life principles. So isn’t Amity just a less extreme version of Abnegation, disguised as a bunch of barefoot hippies?