Big Eyes and a Streetcar

- On Tuesday something magical happened. The Young Vic's production of A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Gillian Anderson and Ben Foster, got streamed live to cinema's all over the country as part of the National Theatre Live programme.
- As soon as I heard about the production I wanted to go and see it, but it sold out nearly instantly. I was randomly checking cinema listings on Saturday night when I saw it was screening at my local cinema, my excitement got broadcast all over Twitter and Tumblr.
- The show was absolutely incredible and Gillian Anderson was perfection as Blanche. Her's is quite possibly the best stage performance I've ever seen, she was simply mesmerising. The woman can currently do no wrong for me and I'm so, so happy that I happened to see the listing for this play on that saturday night.

- The trailer for Tim Burton's new film Big Eyes appeared on my Tumblr dash last night. Dare I say that the old Burton we all once loved has returned? It certainly seems so.
- Over the past few years I, like many of you I'm sure, have approached anything touched by Burton with hesitation. If this film turns out to be as good as it looks I really hope it's a success and pushes him back in the direction of his earlier work.
- To be honest I'm just happy to see him working with actors other than Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter finally. Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz are fantastic replacements for Burton's regulars.

- I haven't spoken at all about The Hunger Games: Mockingjay on here, but with the newest trailer appearing I figured I should probably discuss a few thoughts I have on it.
- The trailers haven't really got me very excited. Catching Fire was a huge step up from the first film and raised my expectations for the franchise, but these trailers aren't really keeping up those expectations.
- What I have really enjoyed is the films posters. I've seen a lot of people whining on Tumblr that Katniss recieved basically no facetime on the posters until recently. They're moaning about how she is the face of the franchise but hasn't been used at all.
- Can we just take a moment to appreciate what a brilliant marketing move that is. Obviously it's based around the knowledge that the franchise will now do brilliantly without relying on Lawrence's face, but it has also given them the chance to bring attention to the huge cast, many of whom are a much bigger draw for me than Lawrence ever could be, and then build anticipation for her eventual reveal.
- The first wave of more 'artsy' posters were all fantastic, and I was impressed with the two waves that followed. Funnily enough the latest posters that actually feature Katniss are the weakest, but we all know that will have no effect at all on people going to see it.

- Gone Girl is having advanced screenings at my local cinema from the September 30th. I'm not sure if I'll definitely be going but hopefully I can as this wait is killing me now that I no longer have the novel to keep me going.
- The trailer for A Most Violent Year looks interesting. I hadn't heard anything about it until now but Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac is a winning combination for me.

As always, you can find my Tumblr here and my Pinterest here.

(88) Very Good Girls

I've given in to the fact that I probably won't find the time to finish up every review for the films I watched during the June 100 earlier this year. Instead I'm just going to go ahead and publish the reviews that I did finish over the next few weeks. If a film I review is from the 100, I'll put the number it placed in the title of the post. Very Good Girls was the 88th film I watched for the challenge.

Very Good Girls
Naomi Foner // 2013 // 91 mins

Hooked on Amazing Amy

It's been too long since I last did a weekly round-up post. I have been putting together reviews and other posts, I've just been struggling with some kind of restless writers bock where I can't spend too long on the same topic. It's extremely frustrating and I'm trying my best to get stuff finished to a decent quality.

- On Monday I bought Gone Girl on a whim after seeing so much hype surrounding the adaptation recently. I got hooked and binged on the novel, finishing it this morning. I absolutely loved it, such a fantastic book.
- It took me a little bit to warm to the ending, but once I did I realised how perfect of an ending it is. I can understand peoples frustrations with the out come but there really wasn't any other way it could have ended.
- I'm really excited to see what David Fincher has done with the story, he's a perfect match for the novel. I was actually under the impression that the film didn't come out until the very end of the year, but when I checked IMDb today I found out that it's less than a month.
- The casting is all pretty perfect and I'm so happy that Rosamund Pike will finally be getting the attention she deserves. She is a perfect, perfect Amy and probably the most exciting element of the film for me.
- It's the first time in a good while that I've read the book before seeing the film and I'm enjoying how excited it has gotten me for the film.

- While I haven't been churning out reviews as quickly as I'd like to, I have been putting together loads of photosets that I post on my Tumblr, so here is where I shamelessly advertise those: you can find them all here.

- With Joan Rivers we lost yet another icon last week. I was such a huge fan of the woman and her comedy. The reaction from many online was pretty disgusting. I don't want to dwell on it too much, but I have to say that I don't really understand how people can so nonchalantly celebrate the death of another human being. Yes, her humour and opinions were controversial but she was hardly the monster she has been painted as by many.

- So I finally saw Guardians of the Galaxy this week! It was great and did not dissappoint. I was worried that all the hype would have a negative effect but I was enjoyed every minute of it. And that soundtrack!!
- I actually got a 40% off voucher for all cinema tickets that I can use as often as I like until the 16th of October, so prepare for reviews of actual new releases soon, once I shake this writers block.

As ever, you can find my Tumblr here and my Pinterest here.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller // 2014 // 102 mins

The Fault in Our Stars

In January of 2012 a novel was released that took it's young-adult audience by storm. Written by John Green, the book focused on the tragic romance between two teenagers suffering from cancer, and less than a month after its release the rights to an adaptation were being optioned and the process of bringing the story from the page to the screen was already beginning.

The Fault in Our Stars
Josh Boone // 2014 // 126 mins

What I Watched in August '14

20 films in total.

8 of these films were re-watches.