Maleficent

Maleficent (2014)
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning
Director: Robert Stromberg

Angelina Jolie, actress, humanitarian, mother, wife to Brad Pitt and now the person that puts Disney villains up on a pedestal and sets their stories straight. Well that's how I see it anyway.

This movie sets about digging into the emotion behind the villain in Sleeping Beauty and giving the magnificent Maleficent a fairy tale of her own.

When we first meet Maleficent, she is a young girl, full of curiosity and fieriness, living a peaceful life in the enchanted forest kingdom of The Moors. The young actress that plays her is fantastic and never misses a beat. When an intruder comes into her forest in the form of a young farm boy trying to steal something, a friendship begins that lays the mortar for Maleficents story.

Some years down the track, we see Angelina in all her glory as the adult Maleficent, fighting to save her kingdom from King Henry's greed and ignorance. Upon proving herself to be the fierce protector of The Moors, she retreats back into the forest, hoping that King Henry will leave her world alone. But when she meets up with her childhood friend, now a squire to the King, she believes that their relationship can continue, but his heart has other ideas.

 I saw this just after watching Disneys Sleeping Beauty and was so impressed with how well she had researched a two dimensional cartoon villain, bringing her to life in full colour and malevolence.
The combination of make up and computer graphics is well done, even though the computer graphics far outweigh everything else, it is still no-less a magical 97 minute ride.
Elle Fanning was a bit of a let down, and probably not my first choice for Aurora, but she was ok. The movie is about Maleficent after all, not Aurora.

Also impressing, was Sam Riley, as Diaval, the ordinary raven called into service by Maleficent after she is betrayed.

I won't give anything away, as I think this is just one of those movies that should be enjoyed, not spoilt. It is light hearted, and should be taken as such. Removal of brain so as to cease over thinking is probably a must.

Dallas Buyers Club

 Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner
Director: Jean Marc Valee

Ron Woodroff, (an emaciated McConaughey) is a Dallas Rodeo cowboy who lives a life of excess. If he can drink it, snort it, smoke it, inject it or screw it, he will. Set in 1985 at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Woodroff learns that he has contracted the disease through unprotected sex with prostitutes. 

A typical cowboy attitude leads him to believe that only homosexuals can get AIDS and after he collapses and is brought to hospital, the gravity of his situation starts to sink in when he is told he only has 30 days to live.
Hours of research and conversations with a doctor at the hospital (played by Jennifer Garner), lead him to Mexico where he is able to get his hands on AZT,  a non FDA approved drug that helps those with the disease. He soon ends up in a partnership with a transgender woman by the name of Rayon (Jared Leto), and begin to bring the drug into the US illegally, selling memberships to the Dallas Buyers Club. As they are not allowed to sell the drug, they give it away with a hefty membership fee.
But their activity is being monitored and the FDA soon swoop in and do what they can to interrupt Ron and Rayons business dealings.

This movie was always going to cause controversy and divided opinion due to the subject matter and the fact that it's lead, Matthew McConaughey went to dramatic lengths to play the main character. McConaughey lost over 20 kilograms to play the role of real life AIDS victim Woodroff. Matthew ended up winning the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role and after watching this movie, it was well deserved.

I'm a huge Jared Leto fan, have been for quite some time. He is an amazing songwriter,  musician and an underrated actor, until now.  Jared plays a transgender woman called Rayon who is HIV positive and enters into a business deal with Ron to supply as many people as possible with the drugs they need to treat their disease. While Rayon was not a real person, Jared went to incredible lengths to transform himself into Rayon and the results are spectacular. His performance is moving, sassy and incredibly powerful. Jared also won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

This is not a movie for everyone and Ron Woodroff himself was certainly not a nice person by any means, but this is one of those stories that hits you hard and makes you feel for anyone who contracted the disease at a time when it was, (and still is to a certain extent) so misunderstood. 

There's a hole in the world that can't be filled.........

Robin Williams

When I was younger, around 1980, my mother took me to watch Popeye at the State Theatre. It was the first movie I saw with Robin Williams in it. I loved it. I didn't realise at the time that this amazing man was the same person I had laughed at and loved as Mork in one of my favourite television shows Mork and Mindy.

Going through our movie cabinet, I can count 19 of his movies among our collection, my favourites being Patch Adams and Dead Poets Society.

Dead Poets Society affected me more than I thought a movie could and my English teacher, Mr Pattinson, even wrote in my autograph book at the end of Year 12 "Remember the night at Dead Poets Society, and stick to the principles of being true to yourself." I came out of that movie bawling my eyes out and have watched it so many times since.

In Patch Adams, Robin played Hunter S. Adams, a doctor who used laughter as medicine and pushed the idea of a free clinic and treating the patient, not the disease. Another amazing movie that had me not only in tears, but in stitches as well.

Everything I saw him on left me with either tears of joy or tears of sorrow streaming down my face. One of my favourite interviews was with Rove, just hilarious.

What he hid from many was the struggle with himself on a daily basis. Sometimes the people that give us the most joy, are the ones that fight the hardest demons without ever letting on. 

I can't believe he's gone, and I don't want to believe he's gone. I think this week will be filled with Robin Williams DVD's because I need to remember what he left behind. 

Rest in Peace Mork

47 Ronin

47 Ronin (2013)
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano
Director: Carl Rinsch

Keanu Reeves is looking mighty fine for a man who is 50 years of age! But sadly, his acting skills have not improved, but that doesn't stop this from being a decent movie.

I found this to be a cross between Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and The Last Samurai. It had all the fantasy elements of Crouching Tiger and a similar storyline to The Last Samurai but without the intensity.

Keanu plays Kai, a half breed living in ancient Japan when mythical creatures roamed the islands, the Shoguns ruled and Witchcraft was rife. The story centers on the village of Ako and it's leader Lord Asano whose beautiful daughter is in love with the outcast Kai who lives on the outskirts of the village but is loyal to Lord Asano and his Samurai. When the Shogun descends on the village with Lord Kira and his witch Concubine, life takes a turn for the worse for Lord Asano and his Samurai.

Based on the story of 18th century Samurai who avenge their Lord, this film is beautifully shot and the costumes are stunning. While not a particularly powerful film, I did enjoy it for it's scenery and cultural detail.

This rates a 7 out of 10 for me, definitely worth a look.

Vampire Academy

Vampire Academy (2014)
Starring: Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky, Gabriel Byrne
Director: Mark Waters

Anyone that knows me, knows how much I love to read and the type of books I love to read as well. Since I was about 12, I have been fascinated by the mythos of the vampire and devoured every book and movie I could get my hands on and continue to do so now.

However, gone are the days of the classic Christopher Lee style Dracula, replaced by sulky teenage vampires who act like spoilt brats and seem to be able to hide among us mere mortals with ease. Oh how I miss Christopher Lee! To say that the cinema popularity of the vampire has exploded is probably an understatement. It has exploded, and then been devoured and vomited back up again.......graphic description I know, but that's how I feel about it.

I read the Twilight books before the movie came out and I did enjoy them and while I did like the movie, it wasn't amazing. I have also read a little series called Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead and thoroughly enjoyed them as well and was very excited to hear that it would be turned into a movie. That was until I saw the casting and began to see the posters. This was marketed terribly and the main character is the worst piece of miscasting since Kevin Costner was cast as Robin Hood.

Rose and Lissa are best friends, but more than that, they are linked through a special bond, formed when Lissa used her powers to save Roses life after a car accident. On the run from their school for a year, the girls are found and dragged back to continue their lives at St Vladimirs, also known as Vampire Academy. Lissa is a Moroi, royal blooded vampires who often wield the power of Fire, Air or Water. Rose is a Dhampir, a blend of human and Moroi who are not vampires but are raised to be the guardians of the Moroi and Dimitri is a Dhampir who trains young guardians to protect Moroi from the Strigoi. What are Strigoi you may ask? Well Strigoi are the bad vampires who kill to eat and have no feelings or cares. With me so far? Ok, so Lissa ends up falling for a Moroi whose parents became Strigoi and were killed, but weird stuff starts to happen to Lissa leaving Rose and their friend Natalie trying to get to the bottom of it all. That's the basic premise of the first book.

After the shocking trailers for this, I was really skeptical about seeing it and skipped seeing it at the movies all together. This could have been a good movie if it weren't for the B-grade acting and the John Hughes wannabe feel to it. I did like the guy they cast as Dimitri so is meant to be tall, handsome, Russian and totally hot, but Rose they just didn't get right for me. She is way too petite in this movie and I always pictured her as a Lara Croft type character who could totally kick your arse with one look.

The locations were pretty good and while they have hinted at a second movie, I'm not sure it will get financial backing after being a massive flop at the box office.

So after all that, what would I rate it? Probably a 5 out of 10. It was better than I had expected, but by no means was it good, it was mediocre and severely lacking in a lot of areas. Give this one a miss entirely and maybe read the books instead.

Frozen

Frozen (2013)
Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Alan Tudyk.
Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

So if you haven't already seen the latest offering from Disney either at the cinemas or on DVD/BluRay, why not??!!

Once again I admit to being skeptical about this Disney release but we were all pleasantly surprised. Our 9 year old daughter was really excited about this and at first we went along begrudgingly. We walked out singing, smiling and laughing.

Supposedly based on Hans Christian Andersons "The Snow Queen", this very family friendly, icy story centers around Anna and her sister Elsa who happen to be the daughters of the King and Queen of Arendelle, a Scandinavian kingdom nestled at the base of rolling green hills.

Since Elsa was young she has been able to manipulate water, freezing it at will, but as she gets older, her powers become unpredictable and when she hurts Anna and their parents die in a ship wreck, Elsa becomes withdrawn and shuts herself away from the world.

When Elsa ascends is due to ascend to the throne, the doors of the castle are thrown open and a ball is to be held for Elsas coronation, but things go wrong and Elsa flees Arendelle in the hopes of never hurting anyone again. But her powers leave the kingdom trapped in an icy winter that only she can reverse.

The songs are very catchy, the sidekicks are funny and cute and the handsome heroes are, well....handsome.

This has all the hallmarks of a classic Disney movie that has every little girl wanting to dress up like Elsa or Anna and many a household across the world echoing with the strains of "Let it Go" and "Do You Want to build a Snowman".

Very likable and thoroughly entertaining.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder..............

After a long absence from updating this page regularly, I thought it was time I get back into it and hopefully hone my writing skills somewhat rather than letting them dwindle away to nothingness.

A few movies have missed out on being reviewed in the last few months, but I will endevour to catch up on a few that made an impression on me.

So what am I looking forward to? Here's a few that I know of.

Guardians of the Galaxy - I must admit to not knowing anything about this Marvel Group at all but the trailers certainly make it appealing.

The Boxtrolls - This just looks way too cute for words, very original and lots of fun. 

Hunger Games: Mockingjay - I am tiring slightly of the franchises like this, but I did enjoy the last one. It will be interesting to see how they deal with Phillip Seymour Hoffmans passing before filming concluded. 

Dracula Untold - Another Dracula remake? Will see this because I LOVE vampire movies and am incredibly curious, but I don't hold much hope for it sadly.












Paddington - Something I loved as a kid. With Colin Firth dropping out as the voice of Paddington, whoever they get to replace him will make or break this.