War Horse

“War horse, there he is, a strange beast you’ve become.” Nice quote? Yeah, I agree, bloody good film as well. War Horse is an adventure film directed by the one and only Steven Spielberg, just from that, the film is already epic. The cast of the film include Jeremy Irvine taking on the main human role of Albert. You also have Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Tom Hiddleston, Toby Kebbell and Matt Milne, no majorly famous faces, but you’ll recognise them when you see them. The film is set during WWI and the majority of the film is in France.

Albert is a young boy and his father goes out and buys a horse, but he buys a thoroughbred instead of the plough horse that the family needs, so Albert takes it upon himself to train the horse, who he names Joey. When torrential rain ruins the family’s chances of getting a good harvest, Albert’s father sells Joey to the British Cavalry. This film is based around Joey and Albert’s relationship and mainly follows Joey and he changes owner.

This set design for this film was extraordinary. Less and less films are war dramas and even if they are, they aren’t usually based on the First World War. This film portrayed it so well though, the sets were perfect, the costumes were amazing, especially in love with the uniforms. The locations that were chosen were wise choices. No Man’s land was shown brilliantly, I was genuinely astounded by the quality.

The best part of the film for me was in No Man’s Land, where our Geordie soldier Colin and Peter, the German soldier, come together to save Joey and then flip a coin to decide who gets the horse. It was brilliant, just casually showing towards the end of the film that the simplest of things can bring enemies together for one cause.

This film is an emotional rollercoaster; it’s happy, sad and everything in between. It is a story about a friendship that literally goes through war and still remains intact. If you liked E.T. and Lassie, this is definitely a film you’ll enjoy. I wouldn’t say that this is a kid’s film, because I genuinely enjoyed it, and I can guarantee that I’m not seven years old, so yes, I’m vouching for this film and saying go out of your way to watch it.

Contagion

Contagion is a drama that was released in 2011, directed by Steven Soderbergh, it included many big stars, including Laurence Fishburne, who took the leading role of Dr Ellis Cheevers; Jude Law who played the role of a conspiring freelance journalist, the cast also included Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon. This film was set across the globe, but was mainly kept to the United States.

The film is based around the idea of a deadly disease that is very quickly spreading across the world; it follows the doctors trying to find a vaccine as well as a freelance journalist that believes there is a simple cure to it that the government isn’t telling the general public about, in order to save their own skin. It shows the attempts by the government to keep social order, and their miserable failure in this mission.

The acting in this film was amazing, as would be expected with such a high end cast, they definitely delivered. I think that everyone played their own roles remarkably well. I, personally, don’t like child actors, but even they performed very well. I think the best matched role was Kate Winslet to her character of Dr Erin Mears, she suited the role very well and I think it was bettered by the fact that she is British, but that is just my own personal opinion.

The editing of the film was pretty mint. I mean, the film flowed really well for the pace it was going at. Honestly, I thought the film started off really slowly, and it stayed like that for probably the first hour. When it started to get faster and more interesting though, the editing followed suit very well, the ideas that were portrayed were shown well and the editor did a great job, I was impressed.

The film was pretty good, for what it was. It had a slow start, but when it sped up I enjoyed it a lot more. There were many different ideas flying around throughout the film. When I saw the mass graves, I thought that they were reminiscent of WWII, and I found this to be a good, if not slightly depressing, reference. The film isn’t particularly gruesome, and the only scenes where I felt remotely sickened were those with the dead monkeys and Kate Winslet in a bag. My favourite part of the film was the last ten minutes, I thought Matt Damon was such a sweetie, and when they show the development of the disease the only thought that went across my mind was ‘YES!’.

I’d recommend this film to anyone that has a genuine interest in well made films, as for genre I’d say it was a medical drama, so maybe the kind of film for the people who watch House, and programmes alike. Also if you enjoyed 28 Days Later, this is definitely a must see film for you.

Avengers Assemble

This film is going to be BAD ASS! You know it is, without watching the trailer and without reading a synopsis, you know that this will be good. Do you know why? Cause superhero films are the one! As you can tell, I'm a bit of a Marvel nerd, but seriously, this will be the film of the year, 2012's version of Toy Story 3.
This film has loads of big names, it has great writers, and a typical Marvel plot. Normally I'd complain about something that didn't change the story at all, in this case though, I figure, why mess with perfection.
Marvel films are always received well and always bring in a ranged audience, from young kids, to middle-aged film nerds.
So, basically, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) assembles a team of superheroes, including Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and others to help defeat a load of villains that are led by Loki (Tom Hiddleston)
I am, without a doubt, going to the cinema to see this, them I'm buying it on DVD and adding it to my collection of superhero film. I CAN'T WAIT!

The Cabin in the Woods

Have Americans not yet realised that going on a holiday in the middle of nowhere will do nothing but get you killed?! There's minimal in this film that even makes it look remotely good. It has no big names  - which usually doesn't bother me, but for a film that looks this shit it would be helpful. It has a typical horror film plot, the only thing that is different is the whole science idea behind it, which is a great thought, but I honestly don't think that it will save the film.
If you like typical American horror films, then for you this will be a must see, but there's too many ideas that are being thrown around ('Ancient Ones', rituals, science, exploding tunnels etc.) and they haven't focused on one thing in particular, which means that the film has no full focus, it could be amazing, but it probably won't be. The idea of a controlled experiment has been used repeatedly, in different ways though, but from the trailer, this film looks like it could use a writer with a bit more creativity.
I'm not going to lie, I am curious, and I probably will watch it, but I'm definitely not going to the cinema and spending a ridiculous amount of money, just not worth it.

Lola Versus

"I think men are always looking for someone better and women are just looking for whatever works". This quote is pure truth, and because of that this film is definitely a must see. The film hasn't got any big names in it, but it is from a great studio. It's a film about what every woman goes through, losing the love of her life and then going through a series of adventures (for lack of a better word) and trying to find herself again. This film is all about discovery.
Lola gets dumped by her fiancé three weeks before their wedding and feels lost, and you can't really blame her, she is coming up to thirty which is the age that most women see as being the point at which they should be all settled down and whatnot, so she goes on a trip of self discovery, travelling through a series of people and talking to friends about every aspect of her life. I like the look of it, but I'm not gonna lie, it does look like a woman's film. I don't think men would understand it, whereas women could watch this film and relate to at least a half of the shit that she goes through, I know that I can.
Probably going to buy it on DVD though, so it can be watched on repeat after break ups, which is what it looks best for.
Defo the 2012 version of 500 Days of Summer!

Ted

Creative. I liked the look of this film. It is an idea that hasn't been done before, but can it work? I mean, surely it should be the kind of film that you would take a young child to watch, right? Wrong! It is a film about growing up, changing and drifting away from people that you once couldn't live without. The trailer is well made, and the cast is pretty high end, you've got Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and the amazing Seth MacFarlane, who was also a writer and the director. It is his first motion feature and looks to be quite a success. Honestly, the main demographic will probably be late teens and stoners, very similar to the audience of MacFarlane's earlier work such as Family Guy and American Dad.

The film is based around two best friends and one of them just happens to be a teddy bear. You see, when John (Mark Wahlberg) was younger, he made a wish to be able to talk to his teddy bear, and it came true. He grew up and got a great best friend, but now Lori (Mila Kunis) wants to get John to kick Ted out. This film is definitely a film worth watching. Something new and innovative has finally hit up the cinemas and I, for one, can't wait to watch it.

Sucker Punch

I remember seeing the advertisements for this, and thinking that the film was a total enigma, and I was right. There are more adverts on for its première on Sky, and I still have no idea what it's about, but surely this makes a film look more appealing...right?
So, I decided to look it up, and of course, the first place that I went was IMDb. Turns out this film should actually be amazing, I'm definitely going to go out and buy it. It's about a girl getting institutionalised by her abusive step father, and then she thinks up an alternative reality as her coping mechanism, sounds pretty good to be fair.
It sounds like a film that you can watch with mates, family, or even your boy/girl friend.
I'm very glad that I saw the adverts on Sky, cause this film looks AWESOME!

The Vow

Another romantic comedy, perfect for those you have just got into a relationship that, honestly, probably won't last. I know I probably sound bitter, but fuck me! I AM BORED SHITLESS of crappy films with the same story just different characters. Writers need to get creative, and I think most people would agree, but for those of you who don't, just wait until you break up with your current boy/girlfriend, then you'll understand how repetitive and boring these films are getting...NEW IDEAS MAN!

The Hunger Games

This film looked shit when I saw the advertisements, then I watched the trailers and changed my mind, only slightly though, kind of pushed me to find out the story though, so I went and looked at the whole film synopsis. WOW. I completely changed my mind and expected great things from this film, and that is exactly what I got, it had action, romance - but in a kind of twisted way, which is better that a soppy love story thing, so yeah I really didn't regret going to the cinema to see it, until the ending. Poor is the only word I can use to describe it, it had no substance whatsoever, just shitty, didn't really give the film an actual ending just kind of put it on pause. So, does this mean that there'll be a sequel...I hope so, because it could be great!