Movie 12-The Princess Diaries 2

The Princess Diaries 2:
Starring:Julie Andrews,Anne Hathaway,Dir:Garry Marshall
Released:August 2004, Running time 114 minutes


I was forced to watch this by my cousin who rented the DVD and wanted to watch it so told me to join her. I thought what the hell as I was bored and decided if I got bored I would just read the paper sat neatly on the table not too far from the seats. The story revolves around the new princess who is forced to find a man to marry so she can become Queen as her grandmother is abdicating.

An alright film.Nothing too special but by no means as bad as I thought it would be.The acting is for the most part good but the inclusion of the girl from the Raven series was wrong in my opinion.I don't rate her at all and her appearance annoyed me.The story is very predictable but for kids it is actually pretty good.

Not one for guys really or people in their teens it is mainly aimed at younger audiences. I don't think it is REALLY bad but there is a lot out there which is better

5 out of 10

Movie 11-The Nutty Professor

The Nutty Professor

Starring:Eddie Murphy,Jade Pinkett Smith Dir:Tom Shadyac

Released:June 1996,Running time:96 minutes

Eddie Murphy in a fat suit. It doesn't actually sound funny at all does it? Eddie Murphys films for me are hit and miss.Some are fantastic others are so boring you just want to rip your eyes and ears off your head to not suffer having to watch and listen to them. This however is one of the former.Set in America(unsuprisingly) it revolves around Sherman Klump who comes from a loving family (who are all played by Murphy except the young boy). He then meets a woman who he falls for and believes he needs to lose weigh in order to get her so comes up with a formula that helps him however this formula creates an arrogant alter ego who creates a lot of trouble however Sherman is too low on self confidence to stop taking this formula and desires not to hurt the woman he loves so continues using it.

To be honest I absolutely enjoyed this film.From start to finish it really had a story that was funny and moving. The scenes which were meant to be funny were funny and it had some of the saddest lines in a film(though this may be because at times I have felt the way the character feels so relate more). Eddie Murphy does every role brilliantly especially Grandma Klump who will have you laughing with her constant attacks on Cletus and frequent sexual references and innuendo. The script is a brilliant one and really it is a film that anybody could enjoy

9 out of 10

Movie 10-Titanic

Titanic
Starring:Leonardo DiCaprio,Kate Winslet,Dir:James Cameron
Released:January 1998,Running Time:194 minutes

Take her to sea Mr Murdoch. The biggest film of 2007 and the highest grossing film of all time is the tenth movie I watched this year. From my rather large collection I decided that I wanted something a bit different and something to keep me occupied until the footy and I noticed the special edition of this film just sitting there waiting for me to watch it so I did. Set on Titanic it follows the romance of Jack and Rose two people from very different social classes who meet and fall in love(despite the fact Rose is engaged to be married to a millionaire and Jack has no money). The story follows them as they struggle and then give into their emotions but then takes a much darker more serious turn about half way through when Titanic hits the iceberg and they are forced to battle for their lives as water rushes into the ship and starts to cause it to sink.


Many would be suprised this is in my collection and that I actually watched it and liked it.As time has gone on it has come to be seen as a girly flick and opinion is fairly negative however I loved it.The story is actually pretty decent and the acting even moreso. Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio are great in their lead roles and the other actors are brilliant too creating an epic movie. Another film that made me cry and another film that genuinely I found amazing. This is one of my favourite films of ALL time.

9 out of 10

Movie 9-The Lion King

The Lion King
Starring:Matthew Broderick,Jeremy Irons ,Dir:Roger Allers
Released:June 1994,Running time:88 minutes

An all star cast including Jonathan Taylor Thomas,Matthew Broderick,Whoopi Goldberg,Jeremy Irons,James Earl Jones and Nathan Lane come together in what I think is the best Disney movie ever. Set in the pridelands it revolves around Lion cub Simba born to Mufasa and Sarabi who is next in line to the throne much to the annoyance of his uncle Scar. Scar then plots to kill Mufasa and get rid of Simba for good so he can become King. Killing Mufasa he blames poor Simba and tells him to flee which Simba does. The film then revolves around Simba in his new life with Timon and Pumbaa.

Another film that made me cry. This film is just the best film out there in cartoon form and I don't care what anyone says my opinion has not changed on that since I first saw it years ago. The characters are brillaint and the story is the best to come out of Disney for a long long time. The songs are catchy and if you know them you will sing along and the music in general is just so moving and brilliant. This is the perfect film for families and even adults on their own! but be warned if you are even a little sensitive you will be moved by this(I am a guy and I was in floods of tears at loads of bits in this film!).An enjoyable experience from start to finish.

9 out of 10

Movie 8-What dreams may come

What Dreams May Come
Starring:Robin Williams Cuba Gooding Jr,Dir:Vincent Ward
Release date:October 1998,Running time:116 minutes

I am a HUGE Robin Williams fan and basically own all of his DVDs. I got bored and decided to watch a film and noticed that I hadn't watched this one and I thought how is this possible?.I decided to take it out popped it into my PS3 and sat down coke in one hand and some Tesco popcorn in the other. I sat back and watched. The film basically revolves around a family. Robin Williams character and his wife have two children and they are a really happy family however tragically the two children die in a car accident followed soon after by the death of Robins character. The film then begins to revolve around Robin in his version of heaven which is basically just him living in a world created by his wife through her paintings(she is an artist) and it also follows his struggles to come to terms with the death of his children and the torture of his wife suffering alone with nobody there to support her. The story is a love story that follows the two characters attempts at life(one in real life one in heaven).Tragically Anna(his wife) kills herself and is sent to hell and Robins character must battle through heaven and hell to save his beloved

This film genuinely made me cry. the acting is so amazing and the story so clever and engrossing I couldn't help but be moved. Be careful though the story can be very confusing and it is very easy to get lost.

The characters are genuinely likeable and as you go through more is revealed about them and their lives and it really is moving stuff.This is one of Williams best films and is relatively unknown which is a tragedy in itself.

9 out of 10

Movie 7-the Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption
Starring:Tim Robbins,Morgan Freeman,Dir:Frank Dabont
Release date:September 1994,Running time:142 minutes

Andy Dusfrene is accused of murder and found guilty and is sent to Shawshank prison as punishment for his crimes. There he lives out his life quitely and eventually meets another inmate Red(played by the magnificent Morgan Freeman).The two become good friends and the film shows their lives as they battle through their time at Shawshank prison and follows the exploits of these two as well as a group of their friends.

This film is perfect. The acting is incredible and the cast just amazing(Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins are the leads). The story is deliberately slow but this doesn't make the film bad in fact it enhances the experience. The story will genuinely make you happy and make you cry unless you are made of stone and to be honest the ending is one of the best I have seen for reasons I can't go into in case I spoil it. Though it sounds like it would be pretty boring it actually provides so much entertainment and the 2 hours of so fly by and you don't even notice. This film is what God himself watches in heaven

10 out of 10

Movie 6 Epic Movie

Epic Movie
Starring:Kal Penn,Jennifer Coolidge, Dir:Jason Friedberg
Release date:Jan 2007, Running time:89 minutes

Well here we have a movie from the creators of the Scary Movie franchise and the really really dire Date movie. I didn't have any hopes that this would be good given the fact that most of the films created by these clowns resulted in laughter but not laughter at what was going on and the jokes but laughter as a result of not wanting to cry during this ordeal. It is basically a parody of loads of different films strung together with a flimsy plot.

All 60 minutes of this film are torture. The people writing 24 shouldn't have Jack torture people with drugs and cuts etc make them watch this and they'll talk. The acting is laughable,the story even moreso and the jokes aren't even funny. It is more childish than Thomas the Tank Engine (and the jokes if you can call them that reflect this). What a waste of 60 minutes of my life.I'd rather bash my head against a brick wall than have to sit through this crap again.

1 out of 10 and thats being generous

Movie 5-The Island

The Island
Starring:Ewan McGegor,Scarlett Johansson,Dir:Michael Bay
Release date:July 2005,Running time:127 minutes

I had high hopes for this film.Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johanson in a big budget film and the plot seemed like an interesting one so I thought why not when someone brought round the dvd. The plot is basically In 2019, when most of the outside world has been contaminated, a community of people, rescued from the toxic environment, live by Utopian standards in an isolated colony. The rules of living are selected for them; clothing, meals, leisure, and jobs are all structured and controlled. Everyone in the community anticipates a special event - the lottery - in which one person wins a chance to move to a tropical paradise, the only uncontaminated area left on Earth, known as "The Island".(copied from Wikipedia as they explained it better than I could :D)

I sat down and watched this and was bored.The plot was really bad,the writing just terrible and it was so predictable. The acting was hardly anything to write home about and the general film was just well poor.It didn't flow at all and seemed like a badly put together combination of different stories. I had to hit myself to keep myself awake and actually make myself realise I was watching a movie this bad. When the end credits rolled I actually cheered. What a waste of time this film really was.

3 out of 10

Movie 4-Mambo Italiano

Mambo Italiano
Starring:Luke Kirby,Paul Sorvino, Dir: Émile Gaudreault
Release date:September 2003, Running time:115 minutes


What would you get if you took My Big Fat Greek Wedding,made it gay and turned the cast Italian?Well you will find out if you watch this film.Set in Little Italy it revolves around Angelo and Nico who are school friends who in later life find they are attracted to eachother and begin a secret relationship behind the backs of their families. As Angelo says 'there is no fate worse than being gay and Italian'. Angelo and Nico decide to move out of their family home and live together(though they tell their families they are friends nad go on arranged dates to keep up the pretence) much to the disgust of their families because as an Italian rule you only leave home once you are married or dead.

This film is well written and acted.The cast is superb and I absolutely love the fact it plays on so many Italian stereotypes which are true.I watched some of this and said yeah my family are like that and I couldn't help but laugh(I am Italian by the way). It really made me laugh so much however although the comedy is brilliant there are some serious scenes which actually made me sad given it is so well written you actually begin to like the characters.

A great film to watch and definetly a great comedy.

8 out of 10

Movie 3-Scream 3

Scream 3
Starring:Neve Campbell,Courtney Cox, Dir:Wes Craven
Release Date:February 2000,Running time:117 minutes

Rather predictably I have gone with Scream 3 as my next choice of film to watch. This film though contains less of Sidney(Neve Campbell had other things so was limited to 20 days so there is a lot less of her than there was in the first two). This film as you can probably predict starts with the death of a couple and creates another cat and mouse adventure with Sidney(who is now in hiding). Though less 'fun' than the previous two I actually rather enjoyed this film. The addition of focus on the stab movie(in this the film trilogy is now on Stab 3). The films story is interesting because it not only has the new elements of the story created in the third film but goes back to the first to create a backstory etc so you can understand a few questions left unanswered in the first two films.

The deaths in this film aren't that brilliant and although done well just didn't have the wow factor of 1 and 2. The films plot is the standard one and though it is good it doesn't play on the fact it is a film as much and becomes more of a standard slasher flick and loses the mocking tone of the first two(which provided genuine laughs). A good film and recommended if you liked the first two but it isn't as brilliant as it could have been

7 out of 10

Movie 2-Scream 2

Scream 2
Starring:Neve Campbell,Courtney Cox, Dir:Wes Craven
Release Date:December 1997, Running Time:120 minutes

This movie starts in a similar way to the first film. A young couple brutally murdered by someone in black wearing a ghostface mask. We also find out that there is a film being made about the events in the first movie called 'Stab'.Sidney returns and is now at college with a couple of new friends. After the initial murders she receives a call from the murderer telling her she will die and thus begins another slasher film. However don't be put off by that and the fact it is a sequel it is still a brilliant film and even perhaps equal to the first. It again plays on the fact it is a movie and constantly references and makes jokes about it.Again the killer uses phone calls to scare the victims before striking.

Again some brilliant acting and a great script make a great film to watch. Though there is less blood in this film but the deaths are as usual brilliantly staged and executed.

A great film

8 out of 10

Movie 1-Scream 1

Scream
Starring:Neve Campbell,Courtney Cox, Dir: Wes Craven
Release Date:December 1996, Running time:111 minutes

I start my film adventure with Scream.To me this is one of the best 'horror'(some may not call it horrow) series out there. Scream 1 starts in Woodsboro a fictional town in America. A young girl receives a chilling call(the killer calls before he strikes and usually plays with the victim and threatens them using a voice changer.It's a brilliant addition in my opinion because it adds suspense to it) and has to endure this call,watch her boyfriend get stabbed to death before ultimately being killed herself. That sets it all up for a high school slasher flick with teen Sid Prescott(Neve Campbell) and her friends all having to endure the horror of living through this ordeal. She is also haunted by the rape and murder of her mother not too long before and pushy reporter Gale Weathers(Courtney Cox) trying to engineer the release of the man on trial for the murder because she believes he is innocent.




To be honest I had reservations about this film thinking it may be just another teen slasher flick HOWEVER it is actually fantastic viewing. The murders are well thought out and executed and I also like the whole who is the murderer thing(which wasn't used for a while before Scream). Also the acting is brilliant from Neve Campbell to Courtney Cox(who proves she is brilliant at serious roles). Another brilliant thing about the film is it knows it is a film.It constantly makes references to it being a film and plays on that. One character says the whole thing is a film and one character also discusses the 'rules' of horror movies believing these rules have to be adhered to in order to engineer their survival. It is really clever and if you recognise some references(there are numerous references to Friends,Jennifer Aniston and other roles of Neve Campbell David Arquette and also references to films by Wes Craven who directs Scream). If you are a keen fan of horror too you will notice deliberate attempts to 'copy' ideas and scenarios from them as a sort of tribute I guess.

8 out of 10


PS. Look out for Henry Winkler(Fonzy from Happy Days)