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.

The June 100: Films 11-15

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Who is Adelle Nazeem & other post-Oscar thoughts

    

The Oscars have left us for another year. Last night was extremely predictable, but lots of fun and I had a great time staying up for it even though it did mean going to bed at 5am.

- I predicted 18 of the 24 winners correctly, and of the six I got wrong four were my alternate choices for the winner so I think I did pretty well. The predictability of it all worked in my favour.
- Gravity rightly swept up all of the technical awards, and it was great to see Alfonso Cuar ón get Best Director.
- Steve McQueen's excitement and jumping around was adorable, it's great to see the winners show genuine surprise//appreciation when they get acknowledged.
- Lupita winning was the best, I'm so happy for her and she was as wonderfully gracious and beautiful as expected. Her dress was also gorgeous.
- Right up until the last moment I was terrified it was going to be Jennifer Lawrence's, so I let out a pretty big squeal when Lupita's name got called.

- Ellen was hilarious. She maybe wasn't as great as I was hoping for but she was still excellent and provided so many great moments. The way she got everyone in the audience involved and her banter with so many of the stars was tons of fun.
- Getting pizza for everybody and that instantly infamous selfie were huge highlights. Apparently she broke twitter with that, but mine carried on fine. What a way for Meryl Streep to lose her twitter virginity.

- The man candy collection was incredible, with presenters including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Chris Hemsworth, Zac Efron, Channing Tatum and Chris Evans.
- I was surprised at how many of the presenters stuffed up their lines actually, and only Charlize Theron managed to work the falter very well, she was cute as hell.
- I'm also not sure why exactly Will Smith, who was in one of the worst films of 2013, got to announce the film that won Best Film. I think it'd be nice if they did something similar to the acting presenters in having the previous years winner hand over the award.
- And then this happened….

- SERIOUSLY!? This man just needs to stop. How can you stuff up the one tiny job that you have to do. It's not even like Idina Menzel is that hard to say, but if you know you have to introduce somebody you'd practice even if their name was John Smith.

- It did lead to a great slurry of tweets from celebrities though trying to decode what the hell Travolta actually said, I think the general consensus landed on Adelle Nazeem. 

- Thankfully Menzel killed it singing Let It Go. 

- Seeing all of the Best Original Song nominees performing made the snub of Lana Del Rey hurt all the more. I still stand firm that that award was hers. 

- P!nk also amazed me performing Somewhere Over The Rainbow. She was an unusual choice for sure but she was great. 

- My biggest surprise of the night was Spike Jonze getting the award for Original Screenplay. The only other awards show I managed to watch this season was the Bafta's so I was all prepared for the insufferable David O. Russel getting the statue.

- Her was my favourite nominee so it was great to see it getting some love. I didn't think it had a chance of getting anything so I was very pleasantly surprised. 

I'd like to finish off this post by addressing the greatest, most perfect-wonderful-magnificent  achievement of the night. The Academy didn't give a single fucking thing to American Hustle, and I love love love them for it. Suck it O. Russell!

My Oscar Predictions

Better late than never, here are my predictions for who will come out on top tomorrow night. 

Last year we had an Oscars event at our Uni house and everybody got a voting sheet to predict who they thought would win. I actually guessed the most correctly and won (which I was extremely smug about), so here's hoping I do as well this year even though I'm not really competing with anybody this time around.

It should go without saying that in quite a few cases these are educated guesses rather than a representation of who I would actually like to win.

2014 Oscar Predictions

Gremlins and Other Worlds

I'm going to see Bastille in Manchester tonight!!!

(I'm very excited!)

- Did everybody see my boyf on the cover of Empire this week?! This is seriously one of the best covers that magazine has ever had and it's all for my most anticipated film of the summer.
- Speaking of the giant-radioactive beastie, he got an incredible new trailer. The voice-over dialogue from Bryan Cranston is just incredible and is making me so so so excited for this to come out. Plus, we get a good ol' look at his mug at the end of the trailer and he's looking awesome! May cannot come soon enough.
- The trailer has also managed to become the subject of my absolute favourite cross-over photo set on Tumblr right now. This shit is hilarious and brilliant.
- I'm now on season 4 of Breaking Bad, I'm absolutely hooked and getting anxious that there's not actually much left before I've finished it for good.
- I've finally watched every film up for Best Picture on Sunday. It's taken me far too long to get around to it, and I'm worried I won't have chance to get them all reviewed before I start forgetting everything I want to say about each of them, but I've at least seen them all.
- Lupita absolutely killed me in 12 Years A Slave. If JLaw wins over her for Supporting Actress I'm going to rage.


You can find my Tumblr here and my Pinterest here.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Catching Fire
Francis Lawrence // 2013 // 146 mins

American Hustle

American Hustle

David O. Russell // 2013 // 138 mins

Thoughts On Them Nominees

So the nominees for this years Oscars got announced yesterday and brought with them the usual mix of surprises and WTF moments. I've still got to work my way through a lot of the nominated films but here are a few of my initial thoughts:

- I obviously missed something when I watched American Hustle. It was good but nowhere near deserving of all this praise.
- The fact that it's up for Best Editing is a joke, the pacing was all off and left it feeling very sluggish.
- While J-Law was entertaining in it, if she wins this award I'm going to smack someone. Yeah, she's talented but I'm getting tired of the boner everyone is carrying for her.
- Even though I haven't seen it, I'm shocked by the lack of attention Inside Llewyn Davis is getting.
- Just as neglected is Before Midnight, which kills me inside.
- Lana Del Rey not getting a nomination for Original Song is a travesty.
- Sally Hawkins up for Supporting Actress is awesome, and very well deserved.
- Bradley Cooper over Jeremy Renner for supporting actor just pisses me off.
- I love that Jonah Hill got himself a nomination, and I love how pissed off people are getting even more.
-LEO!!!!

I'll be putting up an Oscars page soon which I'll update with my predictions for the winners as I see more of the films. Last year I did pretty well so hopefully I do again.

Let me know what you think of the nominations, if you share my opinions or disagree.

You can find my Tumblr here and my Pinterest here.

Divorce and Vigilantes

X-Men: First Class

Matthew Vaughn // 2012 // 12A // 132 mins

On the heels of Kick Ass, director Matthew Vaughn proves he is greatly adept at constructing a solid Superhero film, this time presenting the early history of Marvel's primary comic team the X-Men. The story covers the origins of the franchises two lead figures, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), from their childhoods to their first meeting, through their formation of a team of powerful mutants and to the conflict that drove them in opposite directions. The performances are all solid with not a single weak link amongst the cast, which features the likes of Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne and January Jones, while McAvoy and Fassbender best the lot with highly emotional and refreshing representations of familiar characters. The only drawbacks are a lack of focus in the first third of the film as it covers the times periods and multiple locations necessary to set up the complex world that has been created here and the distracting nature of an often Irish Magneto and completely un-Scottish Moira due to the lack of enforced accents within the cast. Aside from such minor complaints the film features fantastic action and effects, well placed humour, complex characters and plot as well as a perfect cameo from Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and an even more brilliantly placed one from Rebecca Romijn. Overall the film is an exciting exploration of the infamous superhero team's origins, with entertaining allusions to the characters and stories of the earlier films and the ability to re-launch the franchise.

Celeste and Jesse Forever
Lee Toland Krieger // 2012 // 15 // 92 mins

Jesse (Andy Samberg) and Celeste (Rashida Jones) are best friends. They share crude jokes, mutual friends, an address, and did share a marriage that has now been over for six months. When Jesse begins dating again tensions rise between the pair and they part ways, which is made even more problematic when Celeste's feelings for Jesse begin to resurface. The most important element for the success of a romantic comedy is the chemistry between the leads, and Samberg and Jones have chemistry galore, elevating simple jokes to a greater comedic status and making heightening the viewers emotional engagement with their relationship. Jones gives a strong performance, delivering well on both the humour and the drama of the character, with an emotional speech at her friend's wedding being the most effective display of her abilities within the role. A sub-plot, featuring Emma Roberts as a trashy teen pop star under Celeste's company label, helps show another aspect of the lead character but often feels like a needless distraction to flesh out the run time, while Elijah Wood as Celeste's gay best friend and business partner becomes increasingly more ridiculous throughout the film. Rather than providing a satirical commentary on the stereotypes of the genre simply perpetuates them further, which is disappointing as most everything else at play here seems to work perfectly in making this a distinct and enjoyable film.

Watchmen
Zack Snyder // 2009 // 18 // 162 mins

In 1985, after the death of a retired superhero, the remaining members of his vigilante team return to their costumed alter-ego's in order to prevent a plot to change the balance of power in a world edging dangerously close to nuclear war. Viewer's witness events through the eyes of the cynical Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), the all-knowing and seeing Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) and the humble, retired Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), as devious plans are revealed and dark past's revisited.The film sets a strong visual standard early on and is often stunning, with both costume and settings providing a great depth and attention to detail that harkens back to the films roots as a graphic novel. The opening credits display this aspect in all it's glory and is easily one of the films finest moments, also displaying the brilliant soundtrack that is present throughout the film. The ensemble cast deliver fine performances, with Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Carla Gugino the most captivating and only Matthew Goode and Malin Åkerman struggling as poor, one-note characters, which is as much a fault of the script as theirs. At times the film feels episodic, focusing on single characters for prolonged periods, however the story covers such a vast time period and cast of characters that this is inevitable if each aspect of the narrative is to be explored in any depth. This is fast-paced violent action and a helluva lot of fun to watch.

Pitch Perfect
Jason Moore // 2012 // 12A // 112 mins

When Beca (Anna Kendrick) reluctantly enrols at the college where her dad works, she makes a deal with him to join a club and make some friends, if she fails to enjoy her first year he will let her pursue her dream of making music in LA. She is coaxed into joining the Barden Bella's, one of four competitive a cappella groups on campus and attracts the attentions of Jesse (Skylar Astin), a member of fellow group The Treblemakers, who are strictly off limits to the Bella's. The film repeatedly satirises and pokes fun at the likes of Glee with numerous jokes and set pieces that would fall flat if it wasn't for the conviction of the brilliant cast. Rebel Wilson dominates every one of her scenes, carefully treading the line of a caricature and always delivering on the laughs, securing her place at the forefront of current comedy. The rest of the cast are equally successful and provide a great variety of comedic styles and performances, from the subtle (Brittany Snow) to the ridiculously bizarre (Hana Mae Lee). However the biggest surprise of the film is the truly laugh-out-loud dialogue between Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins as the contest commentators, which is dry, cringe-worthy and consistently funny. The songs are all well chosen and the mash-ups fantastic, and while the plot hits all of the notes expected of the genre the characters are engaging enough to keep it from ever feeling derivative. This film is a rare beast: a genuinely funny and entertaining teen movie, and you can be sure that it's a ca-awesome!