The boy next door (2015)

This is one of the most unsatisfying films I have seen in a long time. Usually my judgement of what films looks watch-able is right, the film that comes close to this is Transcendence which I saw last year, but I didn't choose to see this, my mother did, probably because Jennifer Lopez was in it, ah the sweet sell of celebrity endorsement. Jennifer, plays mother Claire, who generically is on a break from her husband after he cheated on her. Coincidently, Claire gets a new neighbour, nineteen year old Noah who seems genuinely caring at first. Claire is a school teacher, and after a brief romantic encounter with Noah, he forges an email from her to the principal asking to enrol him in her class. Son Kevin obviously becomes good friends with Noah thus playing into Noah's manipulative plans.

Things I liked:

Ryan Guzman (Noah) actually played the role of a stalker very well, his pure rage and convincing anger and posture was great, however unfortunately the plot let him down, not his fault though.

Some nice camera shots and settings. Especially the scene where Noah kidnaps a character in her own home, the camera focuses on him and excruciatingly  slowly, it tracks backwards until we are shown who he is talking to, the character in focus tied up in a chair. 

Things I disliked:

Weak characters: Apart from Noah, the rest of the characters were not developed enough for my liking, it was rushed.

Weak story-lines: It relied too heavily on cliché and generic thriller moments, oh I'm just going to sneak into your house while your on your way home, oh the tempo goes up, oh its a race against time, oh build up again, oh I just turned around and shockingly it wasn't you, but moments later when the tempo dies down, you appear again... thrilling.

Absolutely shocking ending: I was actually taken a back, the ending was appalling, and sorry spoiler alert Noah is killed at the end, but then it finishes, literally he dies, they go off in an ambulance and it bloody ends, its not only unsatisfying, it's so lazy, and I feel quite cheated after paying to see a movie which doesn't offer anything at the end, I have paid an extortionate fee to see some generic thriller moments, with a cliché ending, only to find out there's nothing more to it.  

The deaths in the film were not tied up, oh just kill a character and leave her there, this is what I mean about laziness, you get no feedback from Claire's family about what Noah did, what happened after the event, what happened to the principal, what happened to Noah's granddad he was looking after, what happened to the evidence in Noah's creepy stalker basement? No question from the police, or the school.

Although I like Jenny, and I have seen her in a few of her films, I didn't like the character. Yes at the right moment she played the terrified woman great, she was shocked at the right times and was acceptable, but other times it was a bit bland, I think she was trying to hard but just came off as generic, I wanted to see more emotive projections, but I suppose she can't wholly be blamed for the terrible script. Her character's son too, he over played it too with the 'tantrums' and if you were so close to your mother, wouldn't you be more clued up. He wasn't consistent with the hating his dad either, but hey, crap script.

The connection between Noah and Claire was confusing, first she's peaking through the blinds looking at him, then sleeping with him and then he's full on stalking her straight away, it just doesn't set well, it's not believable. 

Overall, I am very disappointed, not wonder it scored a 4.3 on IMDB, I would give it a 4 out of 10 too.

The first two months of 2015.

I'm going to try and document my year, starting with the first two months of 2015. I like the idea of documenting my well exciting life (haha). So at the start of January, I volunteered at a charity shop located in Summertown,Oxford. This charity shop was a vintage branch of the Blue Cross Animal charity, and I thought well that's pretty perfect since I have always been very fond of most animals, expect insects, obviously, spider phobia duh. Anyway, I had a great month there, and met some nice people who I worked with briefly. I had a range of responsibilities, from cleaning to till work, sorting and pricing and even steaming the clothes. that was a killer on the arms. I was surprised that I fitted in so well, after my 5 days work experience in Oxfam back when it had been compulsory to have a short work placement, probably 2011 or something, I seemed to remember how charity shops in general functioned, and I even remembered how to use the pricing gun.

February brought back the start of University. New semester, four new modules.
Creating and editing text for publication.
Creative Writing.
Understanding Culture.
Understanding Communication.

So far its been good, although its just been the end of the second week out of eleven, plenty more time for it to all go to poop. It was nice seeing my friends again, although we are only in one module all together,

This is not all in order of occurrence (note to self).

My favourite shop Evolution closed, I love it because it was full of great little items, stuff for a desk, just little knick knacks which I have a weakness for. I managed to grab a large clock, which was Paris themed, after my holiday there last year, and some little drawers to keep bits in.

Went to Blenheim Palace with my friend, walked around the grounds and took quite a few good pictures, including this one taken by Mphotostory.

I also received audience tickets for Britain's Got talents audition in London, located at the Dominion Theatre, so I took two university friends with me. It was an evening showing, I had been to the auditions last year as well, for an afternoon showing, which had better content to be honest; But it was a nice day, walked up and down Oxford Street countless times, ate at Pizza Hut and lined up outside the Theatre. The show started around 9pm until around 11.30, so it was a late night for me, getting home around 2am, but still it was nice to see the production side to it again. And we got good seats this time too.  There is probably more, but this can be updated. 

Big Hero 6

This film was just so adorable, Baymax and Hiro's relationship was so sweet, its always the case where the human starts out weary when confronted with a robot who just wants to please your medical needs, but it doesn't last long which I liked, because Baymax is just what Hiro needed in the mist of his grief. Can I just say, you don't see many supportive sibling characters like Tadashi and Hiro, it was a very encouraging and loving relationship. His death wasn't portrayed great, it was a bit cliched and wasn't too impacting, but I'm glad they followed Hiro through his stages of grief, because that's what connects  with an audience. I also liked how it wasn't revealed straight away that his aunt looked after him, I had just assumed it was his mother, but it was a nice reveal to see that it wasn't the typically family set up, and she was supporting and loving as any mother would look like. 

The villains were pretty weak, I suppose the moralistic side of the film was meant to out weigh any real danger, it was about friendship and support, which was what I took from it. I just think overall it was a great film which displayed relevant messages and comforting entertainment, of course the whole 'I'm going to quickly design something amazing in two minutes' is not realistic, but its an animated kids film, it has to be extra cool and fun, pair that with likeable characters and relationships it all worked out in the end.

Go and see this film if you like the following:

1. Cute and adorable characters like Baymax.
2. Adorably unaware characters like Baymax.
3. A giant marshmallow robot like Baymax.
4. Cool interesting female characters who are not in romantic relationships.
5. Super hero fun.
6.  Funny banter with the protagonist and robot.
7. Cute supportive brotherly relationship.

I really enjoyed watching it, great for escapism, even if I am in my late teens. 
8/10 and remember- Balalalala 

The return of - How to get away with murder

Finally! How to get away with murder, has returned after its mid season winter finale, where spoiler alert we saw delightfully how Annalise was there when Wes returned to check on her husbands body. The tenth episode was a great as ever, great flashback scenes to incorporate new found evidence and knowledge that builds up the Lila Stangard case, it also laid out many character weaknesses, especially in the form of Connor and Michaela who desperately wanted this over with. Laurel was as detached as ever, and I wonder if we will see any true emotion from her as the season progresses, but she's head strong which is nice I suppose. I haven't really connected with Rebecca's character, and I don't think I will to be hones. It was also nice to see Wes provide some emotion as to what is going on, and its still unclear to me whether or not Annalise truly cares for her students or not. Now Annalise is a fantastic character, loads of light and shade, she's hard and strong and can be obviosuly vulnerable at times too. She's amazing and powerful in her work environment and can switch it up outside of it too, Viola Davis is amazing. Frank makes me uneasy, I don't know why he's bitching at Laurel for not spilling the beans, get over yourself, and it surprised me that Annalise told him the information, or did she?

Overall, it was a great return to the series, which I'm sure will bring lots more delicious twists and turns.

The imitation game

I thought I needed to see this movie before it started going out of the cinema, so that is what I did. I love historical films, true stories and biographical films and the story of Alan Turing was an extraordinary one to say the least, even if one of my favourite actors was not playing Turing, I still would have gone to see it. 

This film was so beautiful and heartbreaking, I appreciated it greatly. Alan Turing was a great man, it pains me to think of what he went through in his personal life regarding his sexuality, and I just wonder now if someone were to travel back in time and give him an ounce of reassurance that the world now is a lot more accepting and loving in comparison. Would that have changed his death? I believe not, from what I gathered from his personality he was a very vulnerable man, the fact that in a time where he would not live until, to see acceptance would still solidify how unhappy he was with his life. The despicable act of administrating hormonal treatment to cure someone's sexuality is absurd, and its so sad to think of all the people who went through it, because its not fictional. 

This film has made me appreciate Turing and the work he and his team achieved. I had heard of the word 'enigma' before but not in the sense it was portrayed in the film, but the literary sense, an enigma code being a plot device, meaning something puzzling/mysterious. Breaking the enigma code looked astonishing though, even if it was a bit too complicated for me to understand fully, but I got the gist of it. 

Moments I enjoyed:

• The relationship between Turing and Joan was sweet, a true friendship, an accepting one as well. I'm glad they didn't try and produce a romantic relationship between them, not even a kiss which was nice to see. Although at times her straightforward acceptance of him was mismatched with the realities of what was happening back then, but I'm glad she was very supportive of him, and seemed to understand how his brain worked. 
• Joan- Was a lovely character, funny, defiant and smart, I'm glad we had that seen at the initiation where she comes in late, it truly breaks down sexism in the workplace for a moment, a moment where brains truly are more important. 
• Alex Lawther- (Young Alan Turing) deserves some sort of award, I found his performances so moving, he perfected the look of vulnerability and strength, you could see young Alan's shields that he built up, and why they were there, you could truly feel his emotions and coupled with Benedict's own mannerisms of Turing, this coupled display really shone through.
• Benedict really is a flawless actor, no matter what high profile role he is in, e.g. Sherlock, he always produces a completely outstanding performance making you believe he is not anything other than the role he is currently playing. Everything from the body language, the pure real emotion and determination was perfect, I am so in love with his performance in this film, it is exceptional and if  he doesn't receive at least one award for this film, I will be very angry. He's a talented rarity.
• That they didn't show his death, that's not how he should be remembered and it had more of an impact in the film like that.

Moments which I did not like:

• I felt something was off with the colouring, it seemed a little too vibrant for this particular era, maybe its just me, but it felt slightly modern in a way for some reason.
• John the soviet spy- Didn't like his character for obvious reasons.The police officers- Might be a bit biased since they were homophobic.

Overall I truly did enjoy this film piece, it highlighted an extraordinary historic hero and gave me more of an insight into the life of Alan Turing thanks to some amazing performances.
10/10.

Into the woods

I watched this movie yesterday night on release day and wow was it worth the price of my cinema ticket and more. Fairytale movies and adaptations have always been a key area of interest, ever since I divulged into studying them for my dissertation at school. I've always liked the re-occurring nature of such stories, and it intrigues me to know that hundreds of years on these stories still are adapted and retold through many mediums, not just films,most notably the 'Land of Stories' books by Chris Colfer, a notable example. A downside of the fairy tales are there stereotypical nature, reoccurring character types and 'happy ever after ending', and some adaptations have been so awful and not worth anyone's time, but this film, by far is not one of them, its extraordinary. 

Combining these classic tales within the musical genre was amazing. I am a sucker for musicals, those like Les Miserables, Mamma Mia and basically anything similar so this film was right up my street.

The music was so great, all of the cast could sing amazingly, especially since I didn't realise some of them could. There was a perfect balance of themes, love, longing, despair, comical, mystery intertwined within the lyrics. The prologue was great, I loved how throughout the film its seemliness, crossing over with the different character arcs, and how the music combined the storyline into one ongoing one. 'Hello little girl' performed by Depp and Crawford was creepy with Depp continuously drawling 'hellooooo little girl'. 'Agony' performed by Pine and Magnussen was jokes, it had the whole cinema chuckling because it was just so egotistical and cheesy.  Blunt and Corden performing 'It takes two' was so cute, their chemistry within the film was so great, they were forgiving and in to in love to be mad at each other for more than a minute, wonderful pairing, and cute song. Meryl Streep... yesssssssssss, 'Stay with me' and all her amazing powerful and emotional songs were magical, I just love her voice, so powerful and soft. Kendrick was fabulous too, perfect role for her, 'one the steps of the palace' was great to showcase her high pitch. Blunt's last few songs especially 'moments in the woods' was epic, reminded me a lot of Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables. The scene of blame, 'Your fault' was a great analogy of what had happened in the story so far, it was a fast and jam packed analysis of who was to blame for the giant coming down. 'No one is alone' was also truly beautiful. I also liked the 'children will listen' notion. 'The last midnight' aswell, yesss Meryl (sorry). Congratulations Stephen Sondheim on an array of fantastic scores, give him an Oscar. 

As I said I loved how the stories intertwined with each other and how the music flowed and stopped suddenly, and how the camera shots only revealed a snippet of a certain scene, especially the baker's wife's death, only the hand in the shot, and the audience can just infer she is going to die, coupled with the music slowing. The actors all had great chemistry and played their roles well.The younger actors were great and I recognised Huttlestone who played Jack from Les Mis. And I liked how they subverted the fact that these characters did not get their desired and planned happy ending, the typical ending, Prince charming and Cinderella, etc, but they created a new one. And I liked how we didn't see how their lives panned out, it was left open for our interpretation, and just panned out into the woods.

10/10

Appreciation

This post is dedicated to those people who are amazing at what they do in their own craft. The people who inspire me when I watch or read their work, whether it be in one scene, one line. The moments that stand out to me, and the things that leave an impression on me. It will be continued whenever this happens.

Misha Collins

Misha recently won a People's choice award this month for 'Favourite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor' at it was long overdue. Not without mentioning the writers who created and still write for his character Castiel on Supernatural, Misha clearly made it his own. That's what I love about roles which are renewed year after year, the longevity of a role produces a naturalness and ease to what we see in Castiel today. To see the progression of the character and sub characters Castiel became, especially 'leviathan' and 'human' Castiel was extraordinary, to watch an actor switch it up but still play the role believably. The work Misha does for charity with Gishwhes proves too he is a humble person, and for that makes me appreciate his work for others even more.

TBC