Dirty Pretty Things (2002)

This is an odd one, if you told me before watching this film that this film is about two illegal immigrants living in London and experiencing the darker side of the city, I would probably be pretty "meh" over the idea, but I was wrong. Dirty pretty things is an epic film which is far fetched in any euphemistic term, yet truly brilliant. The film is about illegal immigrant, Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the start of the film is basically a montage of his life living in London, at day he is a taxi driver, and by night he is a receptionist. At first it almost seems like a documentary with the detail to his personal life, yet the film begins to get interesting when we find out he lives in an apartment with one of the cleaning maids from the hotel and fellow illegal immigrant Senay Gelik (Audrey Tautou). This film highlights there fight to live in the country as they are constant pressures by immigration officers and it soon becomes evident how far people will go to live in Britain. We are known from the start that Okwe is a doctor, yet at the end of the film we only find out why he fled his country for London, he was a Nigerian doctor who was asked by the government to clear away a wrongly killed victim, after he set against the idea, they burnt down his home, killing his wife in the process. This is important in the film as we later discover that there is a large kidney market on the black market in London and the owner of the hotel Juan (Sergei Lopez) is actually conducting such operations on illegal immigrants so that they can access fake passports. As the pressure of immigration is starting to get too much for Okwe and Senay, Senay decides to give Juan a kidney, Okwe was asked previously to become his right hand doctor for such operations yet set against it, but for the woman he loves, he would rather do the operation himself, them someone else, so when they set up the table for the operation, Juan is made an assistant in the operation, what happens is, Okwe gives Juan a beer to show how shaky his hands are, yet in the beer is a sedative and Juan is put to sleep, the film concludes with Juan's kidney being taken and Okwe and Senay running for the border, Senay had dreams of going to America and wanted Okwe to go with her, he can not though as he still has family in Nigeria, the film ends with the two departing in the airport.

I do like this film, its really far fetched yet it does have a great story line to it, really interesting and i say must watch . 7/10

The Bodyguard (1992)

I'm sorry, I tried not to do this, but it was valentines day and this film was on the T.V, so I though it ll keep the girlfriend happy for a while if we watched the romantic 1992 film, The Bodyguard.  Now I know it looks as if I have caught the Whitney Houston fever after the sad passing of the hit singer, yet I am going to be honest and tell yous all that I love this film, I love it love it love it. It has a cheesy narrative, countless flours in continuity and some laughable stunts by good old Kevin Costner, if you've seen this film you will realise that Mr Costner is able to out run a jeep, run at the speed of a bullet, and leap through locked windows. .

Yet despite all the early 90s mistakes, I cant help but love this film. The film is about singer Rachel Marron, (Whitney) and how her entourage  hire a new bodyguard, Frank Farmer, ( Kevin Costner), Simple right ? well the reason why they hired hi is over the fact that Rachel has been sent countless death threats by a mysterious person and Franks job is to protect her at all cost, at first his methods are questioned, my favourite scene in the film is where Frank and the other bodyguard,  Tony ( Mike Starr)  have a fight as Tony attacks Frank for him leaving him at one of Rachel's public appearances as Frank ushers Rachel out instantly after crowd trouble. It is just how smooth Frank is in the film which is just brilliant, far fetched yes, but golden moment, truly. So as the film progresses, it must be known that Rachel's sister, Nicki (Michele Lamar Richards) is also living with Rachel and as the film concludes, it is evident that Nicki hired a hit man to kill Rachel as she was jealous of the attention Rachel gets, almost momentarily after that, Nicki is show dead by the hit man and he escapes the scene, as the film ends,  it is apparent that the hit man was in fact Franks colleague from previous work, Portman, now, the reason why i didn't mention him before hand is simply because he has no real importance in the film too the end of the film, he is seen in a previous scene attempting to make love with Rachel as she pushes him away, he retreats without confrontation so for the majority of the film, there is no clues to who is the hit man.In conclusion, I love it, it has an in debt open insight to the superstar world and the back scene entourages and how they play a vital role, the narrative, although really really cheesy with Whitney running off the plane in the end of the film and runs into his "arm" (all will be revealed)  it catches me and i a gripped by it, if there was ever a film to celebrate a life of Whitney, i would have to say the bodyguard does this, I perfect the fact that they made fictional names for the cast as it just represents that the film is not all about the fame of Whitney to sell the film, there also trying to sell you the romance and love. 8/10, easily.

The Wrestler (2008)

I feel like I have to do this, one thing you must know about me is that wrestling is my love, it truly is, ever since I was a child, from the days of stone cold Steve Austin and the heart break kid Shawn Michaels, to the modern day legends such as Cm Punk, John Cena and Sheamus. But this story isn't about the global superstars of WWE and WCW, this is the story of Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke), a down and out professional wrestler, once redeemed as a great, yet a faded career led to him constantly popping in and out of independent wrestling productions and odd matches. Mickey Rourkes performance in this film is epic, could easily be mistaken for an old wrestler himself, the way he conducts himself in the ring is amazing, he sells moves better than some of the jobbers in the WWE. As the film progresses, it is evident that he has lost everything, his daughters love, every valuable and friends, his only friend is Cassidy ( Marisa Tomei) a stripper in the local men's club who all in all, is only friends with him the sense that he is nothing more than a client. Randy is happy with the way his life is, until a heart attack forces him to retire and makes him re-asses his values in life, he attempts to salvage a relationship with his daughter and attempt to begin a relationship with Cassidy. Previous to the heart attack, Randy is asked to face a rematch with fellow wrestler, "The Ayatollah" (Ernest Miller), who Randy previously wrestler twenty years ago. Due to the heart attack, he has to cancel the match, yet after failing to connect with his daughter, and being reminded that his is "only a customer" to Cassidy, so he decides to risk his life and put the fight back on. **Spoiler Alert ** as Randy is waiting in the wings for the match, Cassidy runs backstage to try and plead with him to stop the fight, he doesn't listen and goes to the ring anyway, he then talks to the crowd saying that they are his only family he's ever had, this seems to be try in the life of a professional wrestler as they amount of time they spend on the road, they hardly see their family and friends, their only friends are the fans who cheer and boo them. as the match begins, it is evident that the heart attack is taking its toll on Randy, he constantly stops and clutches his chest, as the match is about to end, he goes to the top rope to land his finisher, the ram jam, he looks up to the curtain to see if Cassidy is there, and then he jumps. End of film. I must say, I love the ending, it leaves you in the question, does he live or die, yet if he does or doesn't it doesn't really matter as in truth, wrestling is his life and if he cant wrestle he might as well be dead, so i love the cliffhanger at the end, you can give your own opinion on if he lives or dies, yet i don't feel like it ended because of that. Special features I like about this film is the one the Cameo appearance of WWE superstar R-Truth (Ron Killings)  and the fact that WXW, CZW and ROH are all real wrestling productions which is pretty cool and realistic. I don't particularly like the amount of scenes in the strip club, yeah it identifies hugely the life of a messed up wrestler, yet I almost felt uncomfortable watching this as it evades the narrative of a professional wrestler, finding a relationship.

In conclusion, great great film, I feel that this film reflects a wrestler in particular named Jake "the snake" Roberts as he has had similar problems with families and has found himself in the independent circle, yet you don't have to be a wrestling fan boy, or even know what it is to understand and enjoy this film, its truly a film on how if you believe in something for your whole life, why would you ever give it up, under any circumstances. 8/10