5 Films To Look Forward To In September 2014

And now for this month...

1) The Giver

In another movie based on another book written for teenagers, this one is basically about a bunch of people who have choice and emotion taken away, and what happens when one boy is given all of these things back.

2) Wish I Was Here

In the much anticipated sequel to 'Garden State' and a movie that caused a lot of commotion due to its use of a kickstarter campaign to get funded, Zach Braff's character is at a point in his life where he must choose whether to continue down the same road, or pick a path that is different.

3) The Riot Club

Based on the 2010 play 'Posh', this film tells the story of two Oxford University freshers who join the infamous Riot Club.

4) What We Did On Our Holiday

From the creators of 'Outnumbered' comes a stereotypical British movie. Light hearted, funny and heart-warming with a story of two parents trying to keep their divorce from their children as they go on holiday.

5) A Walk Among The Tombstones

If the movie industry is anything to go by, don't go anywhere near Liam Neeson or you will be kidnapped. In the latest version of Neeson being an action hero, he is an ex-NYPD policeman turned private detective who gets more than he bargained for when he is hired to find a client's missing wife.

5 Films You Should've Seen in August 2014

Let's start with an apology. Sorry for not writing anything for the last few months but various travel experiences took priority I'm afraid. Anyway, let's look at the films of last month and see what you probably should've gone to see...

1) The Inbetweeners 2

In the sequel of the hit British TV series, many claim that this was even funnier than the first and is a must see for any fans of the show.

2) God's Pocket

In one of Philip Seymour Hoffman's final films it follows a man and the death of his son in an 'accident' he tries to cover up.

3) Million Dollar Arm

Every few years, Disney decide to release an 'uplifting' and 'hopeful' sports story. This year is no exception with a movie about a bunch of Indian cricketers trying to be baseball stars.

4) Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For

It's just as strange as the first one.

5) Lucy

Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman star in a film that is essentially the female 'Limitless' but that takes it to a whole different level (and there's more guns and death).

Maleficent (2014)

Right let's see if I remember how to do this...

 The new live action movie from the Disney studios is 'Maleficent', the retelling of the Disney animated classic 'Sleeping Beauty' told from the point of view of one of the most recognisable villains of all time. It gives back story to the reasoning behind Maleficent's evil curse placed upon the kings daughter, a wider look into the world in which the story is set and gives us the supposed 'truth' about what actually happened to Maleficent, Aurora and all of the other characters children grow to know and love.

 I went to see this a few weeks ago with one of my oldest friends who I have known since we were children and she is, to put it mildly, obsessed with Disney. One particular film stands out for her and I'll give you three guesses as to which one that would be. She had, of course, already seen it and told me beforehand that it was amazing, therefore sky-rocketing my expectations. Unfortunately, this film fell well and truly flat for me.

 Before I start with my reasons why, I should just state that this is not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. The special effects are phenomenal and really create a fantastic world in front of your eyes for this story to be set in. However, the true reason why this film is not a flop is because of Angelina Jolie. If ever someone was born to play a role, this was hers. Aesthetically, physically and emotionally, Jolie comprehensively completes this role giving an engaging, varied and layered performance (she also looks weirdly like Madonna in the poster above). To be completely honest with you, she's the only reason I really went to see the film, and in terms of her performance, you can't be disappointed.

 To move onto why the movie isn't so great, let's just deal with a few of the smaller issues. For one, the actress portraying Aurora (Elle Fanning) is not right. There's just something about her performance that seems so focused on playing the completely happy aspect of the character that any other emotion just doesn't really exist or comes across as kind of blank and hollow. Also the storyline of the king is a pain in the arse. I will get onto the real reason behind this in a second but the storyline allows for nothing better than a mediocre performance from Sharlto Copley (most notably, he was in District 9) and I don't think it even reached mediocre levels.

 The reason for this, and the reason why this film just didn't work for me, is because when Disney have said "it's a re-imagining of the story of 'Sleeping Beauty' from the villains perspective and tells the true version of events" what they actually mean is we are going to completely change the entire storyline that you have grown up with, change the characters and their personalities and basically tell a completely different story. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression Sleeping Beauty slept for a hundred years, was awoken by the kiss of a prince who has to fight through an ivy ridden city and battle a dragon before he got to her. In this 're-imagined' version, Aurora should be renamed the napping beauty as she's barely asleep for 10 minutes, she's awoken by Maleficent's kiss because throughout Aurora's teenage years they have become best chums and the King goes absolutely bat-shit crazy with paranoia. Now I get they needed to change it up a bit to get some back story and what not, but this is just a bit too much for my liking. I suppose there is an element of Disney's recent trend to make true love be something other than a Prince and a Princess ('Frozen' and 'Brave' being a couple of examples) and I appreciate the effort to do this, but don't mess with a classic fairy-tale story. They could've made a much better film and Angelina Jolie could've given an equally as good performance with the original ideas and plot lines from the original 1959 movie.

Overall, as long as you don't go into this movie expecting the storyline of 'Sleeping Beauty' then you won't be disappointed.

5 Films To Look Forward To In July 2014

1) Guardians of the Galaxy

In the newest addition to the Marvel franchise of movies, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) finds himself the focus of an intergalactic bounty hunt after stealing an artefact from one of the Universe's greatest villains.

2) Transformers: Age of Extinction

It seems to me that every year brings another Transformers movie, but maybe now that they have gotten rid of Shia LeBeouf and replaced him with a proper action actor (Mark Wahlberg) this sequel might not be as horrifically abysmal.

3) Begin Again

This comedy follows a singer songwriter (Keira Knightley) and a disgraced record label executive (Mark Ruffalo) team up to make an album in the streets of New York.

4) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

There's an ape riding a horse on the poster. I think that pretty much sums up my expectations for this film.

5) Earth to Echo

Seen as the school holidays are coming up, here's one to take the kids to. A bunch of kids discover a small alien who has fallen to Earth and help him find his way home.

5 Films To Look Forward To In June 2014

1) 22 Jump Street

The sequel to '21 Jump Street', this creatively named film graduates the undercover cops up to College and their partnership is tested to it's limits.

2) The Fault In Our Stars

Based on the book by John Green, two young teenagers battle with cancer and discover each other in the process.

3) Jersey Boys

Based on the hit musical using the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, this chronicles their story from singing on a street corner to becoming the musical legends they are.

4) Fruitvale Station

Its taken a while for this one to cross the pond but it is worth the wait. Featuring up and coming actor Michael B. Jordan and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer it tells the true story of Oscar Grant, a young dad who was shot by the police in cold blood and its impact on his neighbourhood and his family.

5) Cold In July

Starring Michael C. Hall (Dexter) as Richard who is considered a hero when he kills a burglar to protect his family, but things soon begin to unravel when the burglars father arrives to seek revenge.

So there aren't many good films out this month but these are the best ones available (and have a very red theme to their posters). Just as a quick note as well, I have been quite busy the last few months and will be for the next few so I apologise in advance if there isn't much activity on this page.

5 Films To Look Forward To In May 2014

1) X-Men: Days of Future Past

A strange concoction of prequel and sequel that is bound to please the many fans of this superhero series.

2) Neighbours

From the creators of 'This Is The End' comes a comedy about a young family who have a college fraternity move in next door and cause havoc.

3) Godzilla

Not entirely convinced this is a film worth remaking but oh well, at least we get to see Walter White with hair again.

4) Maleficent 

The back story of one of Disney's most infamous villains is told in this re-imagining of Sleeping Beauty starring Angelina Jolie in the title role.

5) Enemy

Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this doppelgänger thriller that provides the storyline with a new psychological edge.

The Bridge (2006)

 I love a good documentary and with a recent subscription to Netflix coming in to my life, let's just say that more of my life is being wasted on them than before (as well as a wide variety of American television). One that I happened to stumble across when browsing for something to watch was a documentary called 'The Bridge'. Rather stupidly I just clicked 'watch' without reading what it was about. The poster (as you can see) is a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco so I assumed, rather naively, that it would be something about the city and its culture or, at worst, a film about the bridge itself and those who made it (I was quite bored at this point and needed something different to watch as I had seen more episodes of American Horror Story that I care to admit). It was only after watching it and having a bit of a Google did I realise that what I had actually watched was a highly controversial and hard hitting documentary on a very sensitive.

 To cut a long story short, this film is about suicide. The Golden Gate Bridge is the second most used suicide site on the planet only losing out (if that's the appropriate phrase) to a bridge in China crossing the Yangtze River. In 2013, 46 people chose to end their lives by jumping off the iconic bridge and after a fall of about 4 seconds and a maximum velocity of around 75 mph, 98% of jumpers will die. The majority pass away immediately from the impact with around 5% surviving that but later dying from drowning or hypothermia from the water's freezing temperatures. I realise by this point most of you are probably thinking "What the fuck?! Why is there a documentary about this and why on Earth did you sit down and actually watch it?" Well partly, as I explained earlier, I had a very different idea of what this documentary was actually about when I began watching it. There's also the fact that I recently graduated as a Psychology student so themes of mental health issues and peoples personalities interest me. I certainly didn't watch it because I have a morbid fascination with death or I want to watch footage of people committing suicide (of which there is a lot). That didn't come in to it all and to be quite frank is slightly disturbing. The fact of the matter is that the film is incredibly interesting and revealing about this little known aspect of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

 Filmed by Eric Steele over the course of 2004, he captured on film 23 of the 24 suicide jumps that year and footage of these jumps are shown throughout intersected with interviews with friends and family members of those who jumped. It's not all sadness and death though. There are several examples of people being saved by passers-by or the bridge guards as well as an interview with one man who jumped and survived after realising halfway down that he didn't actually want to die. One specific individual's story is a running thread through the film. Eugene Sprague's story is told from beginning to end by his friends and family and the film constantly cuts back to footage of his final few hours on the bridge. It's not morbid, it's not insensitive , and it's certainly not a clinical examination of suicide. It is just the story of people's struggles in life.

 More than anything this film is a commentary on us as humans and what it can take to push us over that final breaking point. For some it is a split decision and for others it is a long thought out process. This film isn't about the death that occurs on that bridge but the lives that have brought them to that point. It is thought provoking, brutally honest and shows humanity at its rawest. This may just be me, but rather than finishing the film and feeling sad and distressed, it made me feel grateful. Thankful that I am not in that situation, thankful the some people will help even when you are at your lowest low and grateful that at the very least, these tortured individuals had people who cared about them.