Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Chris Columbus, 2001) Review

It all starts here. It's finally time that we take a look at one of the biggest film franchises of all time. Not big as in that it's long (it's only 8 films long) but that's insanely popular. It lasted exactly 10 years (2001-2011) so there is quite a lot of ground to cover...okay, this review will be as long as any other one but I was just trying to make things special. So, has this giant film franchise aged well...after 11 years (does anything even age after that long?). Let's find out!

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is an 11 year old boy who is stuck with his horrible Uncle Vernon (Richard Griffiths) and Aunt Petunia (Fiona Shaw). Harry discovers that he is actually a young wizard and is sent invitations to attend Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Vernon tries his best to get the letters away from Harry but the groundskeepers of Hogwarts, Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), is sent to retirieve Harry and the two of them depart to Hogwarts. After making new friends, Ron Wealsey (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), Harry discovers that a villain named Voldemort is out to get revenge on Harry for something Harry doesn't even remember. Now Harry and his friends must surive their first year at Hogwarts and stop Voldemort from returning.

We all know this film. If you haven't heard of Harry Potter...I don't think even living under a rock would suffice. Everyone has. It's impossible not to have. Does that mean it instantly has to be good. No, of course not. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone earns it's goodness. It introduces us into an amazing world with lots of great magic and creatures that are seen. Hogwarts is an amazing place and the use of special effects and some amazing sets and make up really help bring the world of Harry Potter alive. The characters also help this as they fit in with the world. The headmaster, Dumbledore (Richard Harris), looks like a wizard should and Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) looks like a witch should (you know, a witch that isn't an ugly hag). It's so cliché that it's not cliché (yeah, that's not totally confusing at all).

Normally when you have child actors who haven't really that much experience they are really, really annoying...or bad. This is not the case here. The three stars are excellent, especially Daniel Radcliffe who clearly was into the role (and who wouldn't be!) especially in the climax. I was surprised at how good this film was when I went back and watched it, especially with the child actors. Whoever the casting director was, you done good. Congratulations.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a great introduction to the Harry Potter franchise. It's full of so many good things such as the magic aspect and the actors that protray some very iconic characters. Harry Potter has become one of the biggest franchises of all time (books and films included) and this film does the source material justice. If you haven't seen this film yet...what the hell?

Verdict:
8.5/10
A great start to one of the biggest film franchises of all time. The actors are great and the magic that is shown is juts wonderful.

WALL·E (Andrew Stanton, 2008) Review

Ehh, Boxing Day. Christmas has come and gone and I hope you enjoyed it (I certainly did) but it's now time to unwind and relax. I was originally going to review The Fighter for boxing day but I realised that I haven't actually seen it. Maybe next year. So what other bad pun could I do? How about a film about a box. That was terrible, I apologise. Anyway, let's get on with WALL·E (Yes, I managed to get the dot).

In the distant future, Earth has been evacuated and there is no life left. Earth is full of garbage and a robot called WALL·E (Ben Burtt) who was designed to clean up the rubbish. WALL·E is facinated by objects from our time such as lighters, rubix cubes and, his favourite, a VHS of Hello Dolly. One day, another robot called EVE (Elissa Knight) is sent to Earth in order to find signs of life and WALL·E falls in love with her. WALL·E finds a plant and gives it to EVE but EVE is then transported to a ship called the Axiom with WALL·E in pursuit. The Axiom is home to the humans who are now obese as a result of easy living and no need to move. EVE has to get the plant to the Captain (Jeff Garlin) but the ships auto pilot, AUTO (Macintalk), has other plans.

Other than the Toy Story trilogy, WALL·E is probably my favourite Pixar film...well...was. I went back and re watched it recently and it wasn't as good as I remember it. The first half hour set on Earth is really, really good. We get to see Earth in the future and there is little to no talking and leaves it up to the visuals. Things get a bit worse when WALL·E and EVE get taken to the Axiom as it gets pretty boring which is ironic considering they're on a space ship. While characters like the Captain, AUTO and MO (Ben Burtt) are good, everything else falls flat.

That's it for the bad stuff, the rest is good. The story is great and it is good to see the contrast of the future of Earth and the Axiom as well as bringing in the idea of what would realistically happen to humans in the future. All the characters have great personality and are likeable (especially WALL·E and MO) and AUTO may be cool, in terms of villains, it's a bit boring. The rest is good though

WALL·E features lots of things that are really good but also a lot of bad things too. It's sad because this was my favourite Pixar film but...not any more  So to those you think this is the best Pixar film...err... re watch it. It's nowhere near the worst, probably in the top five but it's not the best. Join me next time where we dive into a VERY popular film franchise.

Verdict: 

8/10

A little bit worse tan I remember but still a great film. One of Pixar's best...not the best but ONE of the best.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (Brian Henson, 1992) Review

Well, It's Christmas Eve (and for those who don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays!) so I thought I would share you the definitive film that I watch every Christmas Eve night...followed by the Blackadder Christmas Special, just because. Now I know what you're thinking, "The Muppets...doing A Christmas Carol?". I'm sure you think it's stupid and that it could no way be a Christmas classic. Well, is it or isn't it? Let's find out!

In Victorian London, Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine) is a hated man by all the people in town because of his cheap and cruel personality. One night, he is visited by the ghosts of his business partners Jacob and Robert Marley (Waldorf and Statler) who warn Scrooge about three more ghosts who will visit him in on Christmas Eve night. He is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Jessica Fox), Present (Don Austen) and Future (I...don't even know?). Scrooge must learn about the spirit of Christmas and try to change his life for the better.

To me, this is the film that just SCREAMS Christmas. I love this film and watch it every year. Michael Caine is one of the best Scrooge's to hit the screen and strangely works well along side the Muppets. Kermit the Frog acts as Bob Cratchit with Miss Piggy as his wife. It surprisingly works and, while this film does contain typical Muppets humour mostly supplied by Gonzo and Rizzo being the narrators, is surprisingly touching. I guess it's par for the course when people adapt 'A Christmas Carol'. This is a good film to bring the family together.

If there were any problems, I guess it's more for other people than me. I for one love The Muppets but those who don't will probably not like this film. They'll like some of it (Michael Caine as Scrooge for example) but there are a lot of Muppets in this film. But on the plus side there is...a lot on the plus side. I mentioned the themes and characters but there are other great things like the musical numbers, which are memorable and catchy, and the original characters.

The Muppet Christmas Carol is easily my favourite Christmas film and also my favourite Christmas Carol adaptation. While it isn't the most accurate version of A Christmas Carol, there's still alot of great moments in this film that will easily wash over the flaws of the film and is surprisingly heart-warming  Do yourself a favour and watch this film this Christmas.

Verdict:
9/10
The best version of 'A Christmas Carol' though not the most accurate (for obvious reasons) and if very heart-warming

2012 (Roland Emmerich, 2009) Review

GET IT! BECAUSE IT'S A THING! END OF THE WORLD IS A THING SO IT'S THEREFORE RELEVANT! Don't worry, my caps lock isn't stuck, I'm just emphasising the point as to why I am reviewing this film. Because on this very day, we are all supposed to die but I cannot confirm this considering, you know, It kind of hasn't happened yet but hopefully by the time you read this, you'll know,. Because...you'll either be alive or dead...screw it IS THIS A GOOD FILM OR NOT?! Let's find out!

Dr. Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) has found that unpredictable solar storms are on the way which is causing the Earth's core to heat up. Helmsley warns the US President (Danny Glover) about the oncoming disaster and that they need to make preparation or else everyone will be killed in the disaster. Writer Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) learns about the news and that arks are being made to keep select humans safe. Jackson manages to convince his ex-wife (Amanda Peet), her boyfriend (Thomas McCarthy) and his kids to join him as he tries to escape across the world.

Well, guess what. It sucks. Yeeaahhh, this films REALLY sucks. Now I'm sure you all think it looks cool and, yeah, it does look pretty cool but that means nothing when the rest of the film is just bad. There are only a few engaging characters, it's predictable (what do you think happens to half of the characters. Go ahead, guess!) and was just use as paranoia fuel for people. The characters wouldn't be such a problem if they didn't focus on the one character who lacks any personality and the rest of the film just comes off as generic.

...any good points? Errrr, it looks good? Well, okay, I did say there were some characters I did like such as Jackson's ex-wife's boyfriend, Gordon, and Woody Harrelson's role...even though he was wasted on this film. Come on, this is the same guy that was in No Country For Old Men. That film was amazing and then we get...this film. Not a good step. Did I mention that I hate this film?

2012 is just a stupid film. The writing is crap and based on an uninspired event (THEY DIDN'T EVEN COME UP WITH ANYTHING!!!), the characters, for the most part, are generic and lack personality and the film is very predictable. Do yourself a favour and spend your supposed last day (which I still call 'bulls**t' on") watching a much better film. What film? ANY FILM!!!

Verdict:
2/10
A crap film. Predictable, poorly written, uninspired and full of underdeveloped characters. Sure, it looks cool but looks aren't everything if everything else is...you know, bad.


The world better not end. Why?
BECAUSE WE JUST HIT 20,000 PAGE VIEWS!

I just wanted to say thanks and I hope we're not dead....doesn't seem like it so far though so....yeah....

Love Actually (Richard Curtis, 2003) Review

We had a bad Christmas film, an American Christmas film so I think it's time to look at a British Christmas film. There were many I could pick but I decided to go with this one. This is going to be a rather obscure review as the plot synopsis is going to be a bit weird. Anyone who's seen this film would know why and, for those who haven't, this is why. The film is telling multiple stories that are connected through the relationships of the characters so...errr...let's go?...Ok...

So these stories are simultaneous and are as brief as I can get them:
1) The new Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) has officially started his work in 10 Downing Street and meets the people who will work for him. Among them is Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) who the Prime Minister is quickly smitten for her.
2) Harry (Alan Rickman) is an office manager who manages to catch the attention of his employee, Mia (Heike Makatsch), who begins to fall for him. Harry's Wife, Karen (Emma Thompson), begins to grow suspicious and fears the worst for their relationship.
3) Karen's friend, Daniel (Liam Neeson) has just lost his wife and his step son, Sam (Thomas Sangster), is feeling depressed. Daniel learns that Sam is in love with one of his class mates (Olivia Olsen) and the two band together to try and win her over.
4) Ageing pop star, Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) is trying to get his song 'Christmas is all around' to be Christmas Number 1 despite not giving to craps about the song (he did it for the money).
5) After his girlfriend cheats on him, Jaime (Colin Firth) leaves England to live in France so he can continue his writing. He is introduced to his Portuguese housekeeper, Aurélia (Lúcia Moniz), and, despite not speaking the same languages, the relationship between the two grows stronger.
And many, many more...

Well that was a mouthful. Anyway, one thing you may have noticed is the amazing cast. All the stories have at least one famous actor and they are all great. It's also good to see actors not being type cast such as Alan Rickman who is surprisingly a torching character and this film has one of my favourite Liam Neeson roles. This film makes me appreciate the tremendous British cast as well as the genius of Richard Curtis. He managed to create some great characters as well as balance the multiple stories at the same time. Truly a great feat.

It is a Christmas film so it's a good film to watch on the build up to Christmas as this film takes place over the five weeks before Christmas. I'm not spoiling anything by saying that Rowan Atkinson's role as Rufus was originally supposed to be a Christmas angel and I wish they went with that idea as it really pushed the Christmas message. Well, despite that idea cut out, it's still a heart-warming film that is a great family film. Seeing all the different families and the way they celebrate Christmas is a great thing.

Love Actually may not be an original idea since I'm sure the idea of having multiple stories isn't entirely new but it's mastered here. The amazing cast only furthers improve the film and leads to a great climax, especially in Daniel's story. Well, that's Love Actually and there is one more Christmas film left for this year and that will be on Christmas Eve. What film is on Friday then? Look at the date, I'm pretty sure it's obvious.

Verdict:
9/10
Does the 'multiple story' idea well and is one of the most heart-warming films I've ever seen. One hell of a cast, too.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Peter Jackson, 2012) Review

I knew it was a good idea to watch The Lord of the Rings trilogy this year. I knew that my friends wanted to see this film so I thought "eh, might as well catch up" and, in case you missed my reviews, I loved the trilogy. Now it's time to go back 60 years before the events of the trilogy because...it was a book, I guess. Better than forcing sequels I guess. Anyway, is this one as good as the rest of the series? Let's find out.

So 60 years before the events of Lord of the Rings, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) is greeted by Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) who wishes to find someone to help the Dwarves reclaim their land from Smaug the Terrible who is...a giant dragon. Kind of hard to fight off. That night, a group of Dwarves enter Bilbo's home and are joined by Gandalf. They try to convince Bilbo to join them but is reluctant until he finally agrees and the group go off to fight Smaug. On their journey, they have to face the Orc army who are out to stop them. Now Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves must make it to Erebor in one piece so they can reclaim their land.

Now I know that the Tolkien fan boys will love this film and think it'll be the best film of the year. Yeaaah...nooo...maybe? I went in wanting to see certain things and, while I got what I wanted, there were a few things that left be thinking "Oh...that's a bit stupid". Certain character such as Radagast the Brown (Slyvester McCoy) were just annoying and it does start off too slowly and drags a bit but once they get to Rivendell, things REALLY pick up!

I make it sound like it's a bad film. NO! No, of course not. It's a great film. Martin Freeman is great as the new (er...old?) Bilbo Baggins and it was nice to see old Bilbo (Ian Holm) in the prologue. Gandalf is my favourite character in this film because we get to see more of him here than we do in the first trilogy which means he gets some really amazing moments. Speaking of amazing moments, this film has them. Two of my favourite scenes are the 'Riddles in the Dark' scene with Bilbo and Gollum (Andy Serkis) and the EPIC ROCK GIANT FIGHT!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a good film but it's a little bit underwhelming at times. I think there have been better films this year such as Skyfall and Looper but this is still a good watch. If you haven't seen it, I would recommend it but it's not a must see. It's just a good time. Now, how far should I run to escape the Tolkien fan boys because I'm sure they'll be mad that I didn't give this the utmost praise? I'm sure I'll be around to review another Christmas film for you.

Verdict:
8.5/10
A LITTLE bit underwhelming but the rest was exactly what I wanted to see. Martin Freeman is great as the lead and the things seen on the journey are pretty damn amazing.

The Polar Express (Robert Zemeckis, 2004) Review

More Christmas. It's always a good thing, right? So anyway we have The Polar Express which was a film that was made during Robert Zemeckis' obsession of using motion capture suits in order to make his films as opposed to using real actors...kind of. Well, It's time to take a look at another Christmas film that I watch every year. Does that mean It's a good thing? Let's find out!

On the night of Christmas Eve, a young boy (Daryl Sabara) is woken up in the night by a train that stops right out side of his house. He is greeted by the train conductor (Tom Hanks) and is told that the train comes to those who doubt in the existence of Santa Claus (Tom Hanks) and are taken to the North Pole to meet him. The boy decides to go on the train to see if Santa is really real or not. He is joined by a young girl (Nona Gaye) and a nerdy kid (Eddie Deezen) who also have their doubts about Santa and from there, the journey to the North Pole begins.

This is Tom Hanks the movie. Why? Because Tom Hanks plays the majority of the characters in the film. He plays the conductor, Santa, the hobo on the train, the boy's dad and so on and so forth. I have no idea why but he is his good old self and therefore is pretty good. The other actors are alright. Eddie Deezen brings his usual nerdy self (you might know him as Mandark in Dexter's Laboratory) but the other kids are...tolerable...just.

Sure, it looks amazing and there are some great looking scenes but this film has some problems. The first two thirds of the film are really good (well, except the spontaneous and pointless musical number) but once it hits the last third, things really slow down and start to drag...and it's stupid because elves are introduced. Oh god do I hate elves but these ones are especially bad. It's a shame too because normally the climax is the best part of a film...not this time.

The Polar Express is an amazing looking film and the idea of children's faith in Santa is actually quite a good idea although it's not exactly an original idea. Tom Hanks is clearly having fun with the role and there are some memorable characters. There are problems with the film that do almost kill it but there is more good than bad. I watch this every year just because of how great it looks! I would recommend that you watch this at least once.

Verdict:
7/10
An interesting film that, while has some stupid moments, looks amazing and has more Tom Hanks than you can handle!