Spider-Man (2002)

Spider-man, spider-man, does what ever a spider can ? I have to admit, i'm immature, im a 17 year old baby, so when I decided to create this blog,.

Spider- man was constantly looming on my mind as one of the first reviews I would of done, so here is the first mildstone, my 5th review, Spider-manDo I really need to explain the synopsis of this film, the story of college nerd Peter Parker, ( Toby Maguire) is biitten by a generically enhanced spider and then all of a sudden... he's Spider-man !
Whilst fighting the bad guys and trying to impress the love of his life, Mary Jane, played by Kirsten Dunsten, he manages to engages into an epic bettle with the green goblin. I must say, Williem Dafoes performance in this film was just epic, your blood just bubbles listening to his scheming plans to capture spider- man.
I love spider-man, its fun and adventerous, its a reall underdog feel good story which captures my mind and im spinning a web of thoughts(no pun intended) in how what it would feel like if i had them powers, what would I do and how would I do it ? one aspect in this film I love in this film is the cameo apperance from Randy 'The Macho Man' Savage, as the wreslter, bonesaw, "OHHHHH YEAHHHHH !" (wrestling fans will know). All in all, when ever im feeling a bit adventourus and happy ill watch this film countless times, i never get bored of this film and with the amazing spider- man coming out this year, you bet ill be first in the que to watch the epic saga continue, or ironically restart as the film is suggested to be a re- write of the very film i have just review, its a funny old life eh ? 7/10 !!!

Tsotsi- "Thug" (2005)

INTERNATIONAL FILM -SOUTH AFRICAN. I love foreign film. I do, I really really do, so its all well and good making reviews about Hollywood blockbusters, but why wouldn't I make reviews on some of the greatest independent films of all time. So I've took it upon myself to watch the South African film Tsotsi
Tsotsi, played by an actor named Presley Chweneyagae, is the story of a 19 year old man who **Spoiler alert ** who accidentally kidnap a young child whilst taking place in an armed robbery of a car. The film, set in the shanty towns in Johannesburg symbolises the difficulty faced by the many black South Africans in life. The opening sequence is the most important aspect of the film as Tsotsi and his gang, Aap, Boston and Butcher are involved in the murder of a man on a train, Boston, being the educated on in the film questions Tsotsi on the murder of the man and why did he do it, " Decency" is the recurring message by Boston in the film which symbolises the dog eat dog style of life in South Africa as Tsotsi is unfazed by this and eventually beats Boston up for his constant arguing.
As the film progresses and the kidnapping takes place, it becomes evident that Tsotsi is attempting to look after the child in any way he can, so he meets a young woman in the shanty town and orders her to feed and bath the child, he then vows to look after the child any means necessary, this includes the murder of his friend Butcher and the robbery of a car to pay for the child's necessities.
The use of Kwaito music shapes the film ion a particular Way- it reflects the harsh urban environment in many ways. More traditional South African music then creates almost spiritual sens of thing at particular times in the film as Tsotsi goes onto a redemption run.
I really don't want to ruin this film you all as its a must watch so I'm not going to give away the ending, so all I can say from here is, this is a real cut throat film, harsh in reality of life in South Africa but could be said that the film does include an ending which can provide hope and faith for a nation at large, on a lighter note I have been in hysterics on certain aspects of this film, my favorite character in this whole film is Aap, his simple minded ways would make you chuckle and when he constantly quotes the word, "s'good s'good", you will be honestly crossing your legs in laughter. On the whole I would happily give this film a 7/10.

Chariots of fire (1981)

So its a Tuesday morning and I'm sat in my college canteen, still sore from last night's Jujitsu lesson and surrounded by a bunch of wannabes and the socially rejected.
So I've decided to review another recent film I've watched and that is the Oscars best picture in 1981- chariots of fire. Not usually a film I'd hold dear in my heart and I was rather jaded in watching this feature, oh how wrong could I have been.
Based on the 1924 Olympics in France, the story is about two British athletes... Eric Liddell, played by Ian  Charleson and Harold Abraham, played by Ben Cross. It must be noted that this film isn't about running, but about representing who they are as a person to the world, Abraham was a proud British Jew who faced anti- Semitism whilst studying in Cambridge, Eric on the other hand was a proud Scott but above that... A proud Christian, his beliefs included not playing sports or training on the Sabbath, which became a huge problem when **spoiler alert** his heat for the 200m dash was on a Sunday. To solve his problem, he ended up taking Lord Lindsay's (Nigel Havers) place in the 400m event on the Thursday. In the end they end up both winning gold in their respective events and were held as Olympic greats.

One known fact about this film is that the Chariots of Fire by Vangelis was specifically composed for this film and the most iconic scene in the film has been re-enacted multiple times in other films and even T.V commercials (the Sun newspaper in the UK especially), we all know it, as we watch the British Olympic team run along the beach in an all white sport kit cover in mud... The nostalgic " do do do do dooo dooo do do do do dooooo" is heard... Bring a tear to any patriotic fan of this film when ever it is heard.
In conclusion, yeah its an alright film.... Its rather long and repetitive, and could be said to be outdated by now, with it being almost 31 years old now but the plot is good and the execution of the characters performance could be highly regarded as great, in truth I am baffled how it won an Oscar in 81' yet Americans (no disrespect) love traditional British tales of power and glory. I would put this film as a low 7/10, maybe a film if you have a lot of time on your hands and feeling all sporty because of the 2012 London Olympics.

Se7en "Seven"- (1995)

Oh i just had to, how could i be established as a film blogger if i didn't review the modern classic, Se7en. The 1995 David  Fincher film put him on the map as an all time great. The basic plot of the film is the story of two detectives, a Rookie ( Brad Pitt) Detective Mills and a soon to retire Detective Somerset ( Morgan Freeman). Freeman's performance in the film was simply iconic, he comes across as a wise resilient old man who had seen his fair share of crime and criminals, unfortunately, Pitts performance could not be so highly praised,** Spoiler Alert**  in particular one scene were he finds out the murder of his wife, his performance could resemble someone who needs to sneeze rather than be in deep shock, it's quiet humorous to see the crocodile tears pushed out so vigorously by Mills in the film but on the flip of the coin, he is the rookie in the film ( ha ha ha -_-). The two detectives are on the hunt for a serial killer who's motive represent following the acts of the seven deadly sins, the murderer, John Doe would brutally commit acts of murder on civilians who are most viable to committing the seven sins, of: Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, Wrath, Pride and Lust. Kevin spacey an utter all time great and his performance in this as John Doe was simply up there with one of his best works when he says, " Wanting people to listen, you can't just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them with a sledgehammer, and then you'll notice you've got their strict attention" the hairs begin to stand on the back of your neck. One important aspect of the film is that there is no known location, or time, or date, only the day of the week is known to the audience which could simply symbolise the thought that these sins taken place in any city any town and any country which has human inhabitant and how we too are committing these sins. ** Spoiler Alert**  towards the end of the

film they arrest John Doe as he walks right into the police station and gives himself up, he confesses that there are still two bodies to be discovered and that he will only go with Detective Mills and Somerset. As they arrived in a deserted desert land, they discover a van in the distance coming towards the three characters, as Somerset drives ahead to check on the van, he discovers that it is a delivery van with a package for Detective Mills, Somerset opens the box to discover that it is the head of Mill's wife. when Mills finds out, John explains that he killed her as he was the one committing the sixth sin of envy, he was envy of the life Mill's lived, the young high school sweetheart he grew up to marry and a baby on the way, that is all that Doe wanted was a simple life. Due to the knowledge that Doe had killed Mill's wife he decides to shoot him repeatedly in anger, committing the seventh sin of Wrath.
. One unknown fact about this film is that the producers of the film wanted to created a more (family friendly) ending to the film so they wanted Mills and Somerset to find John Doe in the Mill's house just about to murder his wife, then they managed to arrest him and they all lived happily ever after. Fincher and Pitt especially were outraged by the though so they threatened to pull the film at the last minute if they didn't get the intended ending, so they ended up with the go ahead.
To conclude, Se7en is an amazing amazing film, it is rather depressing yet a must watch for every film head out there, its smart and cunning in its greatest gloryand has the potential to be known for a long time to come, an unbiased reviewer as myself would give this film a firm 9/10 almost pushing a 10, Instant classic.

Veronica Guerin (2003)

For my first review on my blog (so excited !), I've decided to review a personal favourite of mine, Veronica Guerin. The film is based on the true story of an Irish journalist (Veronica), who was assassinated trying to expose the drug barons and dealers which reeked havoc in Dublin in the 1990s, her assassination lead to further action being taken place in preventing the smuggling of drugs into Ireland, she is now more considered as a saintin the Republic.Now that's the plot over I can't help but praise this Joel Schumacher production (oh by the way he also directed Batman forever, the phantom of the opera and phone booth in case his name rang a bell), the film instantly gripped me from the beginning as **Spoiler alert** the first scene we see is the assassination, its interesting why a non- linear structure was formed for this film but I Rather think it was a nice touch to the film. Veronica is played by Cate Blanchett, its a far cry from the Lord of the rings and the curious case of Benjamin Button but I must compliment her on their versatility in this film, her cockiness portrays the image of Veronica and leaves you in suspense with her subtle but controversial words. In truth the film can be quiet tedium, so you need a lot of self discipline whilst watching, but my main analysis has to be on the last 10 minutes of the film.

Now i was watching this film with my girlfriend at the time and half way through the film we managed to go off course into pointless conversation, as soon as a repeat of the first scene begin, we were in stunned silence as she is shot, fields of athenry is heard and the start of a montage begins, the flick through of the change and impact Veronica's death had Ireland, for the patriotic audience it would leave a tear in you're eye "everyone in the Republic remembers where they were when they herd about the assassination of Veronica Guerin" is the lasting quote which i can remember in the film as the film takes a celtic, old Irish style as the film ends, connotations to this could easily be identified as the  efforts that she had done to create a better Ireland and this film could easily be placed in a modern Republic film.
My Verdict. After watching film now to the point where i have lost count, i have to be baised and say that i love this film, if your in an adventerous educated mind, watch this film, its hard to sink you're teeth into if your not paying full atention so id advise that if your in a happy quicky mood, this is a no no, the ending is rather depressing yet you feel better about yourself, knowing that you have learnt such a complicated story, i would rate the film a 9/10

** This is my first review guys so if its shocking im sorry but if its any good leave a comment and thanks for taking the time to read it !**