So, last night went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4.....On Stranger Tides with Husband and Daughter. It was a jolly good frolic through London and then back to the Islands we all know so well now. It did suffer from not having the crew from the other 3 films we have come to know and love (except for Gibbs and Barbosa) but the new mateys were quite good. It was obviously a vehicle for all things Cap'n Jack, and though the plot line was a tad flimsy, it was still a good 2 hours worth of entertainment.
Ian McShane was wonderful as Blackbeard, and there is a very funny cameo from Dame Judi Dench in the London episode. Johnny Depp was, as always, wonderful and it was nice to see Keith Richards in his pirate get up again. Then we come to Penelope Cruz. She was obviously picked because she looked the part, however her acting left something to be desired. She did not bring an awful lot to the film, and there was far too much talking about the relationship between her and Jack from before. I had an awful time reconciling her character with her actions and a lot of her angsting about her supposed deflowering by Jack didn't come across as believable.
The special effects with the mermaids were excellent and the fountain of youth was very well designed. I just didn't have the emotional tie that I had with the other characters in the previous films......ok, I admit I just missed Orlando Bloom ;-/
Anyway, it's a great film to take the kids to see.
Tomorrow night I am off to see X Men First Class with Daughter and Daughters Boyfriend. It looks good, lots of eye candy for moi even though it doesn't have Captain Slaphead and Gandalf.....(I love Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen) and should be good fun.
And it has KEVIN BACON!!!.....*bows down*
Tuesday 31 May 2011
Thursday 19 May 2011
Insidious
So, went to see Insidious with Daughter last night. Scariest. Film. Ever. No doubt about it, it had me shaking in ma boots! Daughter was scared silly too and disappeared into her hoody further and further as the film went on. At one point I had to let go of her hand as I didn't want to be responsible for breaking any bones!
SPOILERS!
The plotline is basically Poltergeist, new house, nice family (two young boys and one baby girl) strange goings on ect. One of the boys (Dalton) complains to Mum that he doesn't like his new room, that he is scared. She tells him that it just because it is new. He goes exploring one night and sees something scary in the attic. The next day he doesn't wake up. Doctors tell Mum and Dad that he is in some sort of coma that they cannot explain. Cut to 3 months later, Dalton is still comatose but is now being cared for at home.
Then the fun begins. Really scary things start to happen and the family decide to move as the Mum believes the house is haunted, however the scary stuff just gets worse. It's not the house that is haunted, but the boy himself.
It turns out that the boy is 'Astral projecting' and has become stuck in 'The Further'. How do we find this out? Turns out that Dad's Mum went through the same thing with Dad when he was small. Wanting to help she calls in an old friend who helped back then. Cue psychic lady and two investigators who come into the house with all their instruments. Dalton is being held captive by a demon in The Further, so the demon can take over his body. But it is not just the demon that wants Dalton's body, it is lots more ghosts, all of them hanging round the boy waiting for their chance.
Psychic lady explains about the astral projecting, goes into the boys room, sees the demon and describes him to her assistant who draws him. Dad is then told he has to go into The Further to save his sons soul and bring him back to his body.
The scares are amazingly staged. The director James Wan (Saw) seems to have taken on board every scary film and Internet scare from the last ten years, thought about them, sifted through them and then used the most terrifying in the film. His direct cuts to scary bits had us all on the edge from about a quarter of the way through the film. The demon is very well designed, as are the other ghosts and the scares that their appearances cause is heart thumping. The audience, which had been quite rowdy at the start, soon settled down after the first few scares when it became apparent that this was not 'just another scary movie'. People actually screamed (Daughter and I included!) and everyone was deathly silent as we all waited for the next scary bit to come along. By the end of the film, palms were sweaty, hearts were racing and everyone had had enough.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes scary movies, it is well written, very well acted and very atmospheric. The rating is PG13, there is no gore involved, just lots and lots of scary bits! (such scary bits that I waited till the cold light of day to write this) and yes, I did have a disturbed night ;-/
SPOILERS!
The plotline is basically Poltergeist, new house, nice family (two young boys and one baby girl) strange goings on ect. One of the boys (Dalton) complains to Mum that he doesn't like his new room, that he is scared. She tells him that it just because it is new. He goes exploring one night and sees something scary in the attic. The next day he doesn't wake up. Doctors tell Mum and Dad that he is in some sort of coma that they cannot explain. Cut to 3 months later, Dalton is still comatose but is now being cared for at home.
Then the fun begins. Really scary things start to happen and the family decide to move as the Mum believes the house is haunted, however the scary stuff just gets worse. It's not the house that is haunted, but the boy himself.
It turns out that the boy is 'Astral projecting' and has become stuck in 'The Further'. How do we find this out? Turns out that Dad's Mum went through the same thing with Dad when he was small. Wanting to help she calls in an old friend who helped back then. Cue psychic lady and two investigators who come into the house with all their instruments. Dalton is being held captive by a demon in The Further, so the demon can take over his body. But it is not just the demon that wants Dalton's body, it is lots more ghosts, all of them hanging round the boy waiting for their chance.
Psychic lady explains about the astral projecting, goes into the boys room, sees the demon and describes him to her assistant who draws him. Dad is then told he has to go into The Further to save his sons soul and bring him back to his body.
The scares are amazingly staged. The director James Wan (Saw) seems to have taken on board every scary film and Internet scare from the last ten years, thought about them, sifted through them and then used the most terrifying in the film. His direct cuts to scary bits had us all on the edge from about a quarter of the way through the film. The demon is very well designed, as are the other ghosts and the scares that their appearances cause is heart thumping. The audience, which had been quite rowdy at the start, soon settled down after the first few scares when it became apparent that this was not 'just another scary movie'. People actually screamed (Daughter and I included!) and everyone was deathly silent as we all waited for the next scary bit to come along. By the end of the film, palms were sweaty, hearts were racing and everyone had had enough.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes scary movies, it is well written, very well acted and very atmospheric. The rating is PG13, there is no gore involved, just lots and lots of scary bits! (such scary bits that I waited till the cold light of day to write this) and yes, I did have a disturbed night ;-/
Friday 13 May 2011
Films I have seen recently.
Films. One of my absolute favourite ways of wasting a couple of hours:-) Went to see Thor with Daughter and Daughter's Boyfriend a couple of weeks ago. Great fun! It was completely over the top for the first half hour spent in Asgard (as it should have been, it is the home of GODS after all) and very entertaining from then on in. Thor was wonderfully played by Chris Hemsworth, he does the 'fish out of water' thing so well when he gets expelled to Earth. Some truly funny moments, especially the pet shop scene! It was good that they had a great supporting cast (Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, Anthony Hopkins) as it needed that bit of style to keep it from becoming a complete fanboy fantasy, though I did think that Rene Russo as Thors Mum was woefully under used. Fanboys were kept very happy though. There was the usual stay till the end to see the teaser bit and a small glimpse of Hawkeye in the middle, AND the usual cameo from Stan Lee and also one from J. Micheal Straczynski. Daughters Boyfriend was very pleased :-)
Then my copy of The Kings Speech dropped onto the mat. An amazing film, well deserving of all the accolades, so much more poignant because of it being a true story. Colin Firth was, as usual, fantastic as was Helena Bonham Carter but I feel that the best performance belonged to Geoffrey Rush. His complete immersion into the part was wonderful to behold and an amazing piece of acting. I would recommend this film to everyone. Everything was perfect, the writing, scenery, costumes, all of it was perfect.
This Wednesday night I am going to see Insidious with Daughter. The trailer looks creepy, no shaky camera work to make me feel ill, and enough shocks to keep me awake all night. Can't wait ;-)
Then my copy of The Kings Speech dropped onto the mat. An amazing film, well deserving of all the accolades, so much more poignant because of it being a true story. Colin Firth was, as usual, fantastic as was Helena Bonham Carter but I feel that the best performance belonged to Geoffrey Rush. His complete immersion into the part was wonderful to behold and an amazing piece of acting. I would recommend this film to everyone. Everything was perfect, the writing, scenery, costumes, all of it was perfect.
This Wednesday night I am going to see Insidious with Daughter. The trailer looks creepy, no shaky camera work to make me feel ill, and enough shocks to keep me awake all night. Can't wait ;-)
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Parents
Have spent the day at my parents house. All the cliches about your parents turning into your kids hold true. But the most distressing thing about your parents getting older is that you have such great memories of them when you were growing up. They seemed so strong, vibrant, full of life and love for you and each other. The love is still there (even stronger sometimes) but memories are failing and they falter.
All you want is to go back to that time when they seemed indestructable. But it cannot be and you have to accept that it is now your time to look after them with the love and devotion that they had for you when you were little. They may not remember, but you can remember for them.
All you want is to go back to that time when they seemed indestructable. But it cannot be and you have to accept that it is now your time to look after them with the love and devotion that they had for you when you were little. They may not remember, but you can remember for them.
Monday 2 May 2011
My First Blog
Hello out there.
This is the first time I have 'blogged' and will probably use it to review films, books and wine. It is very unusual out here in Internetland, sometimes scary, always interesting. I use it mainly to keep in touch with my Daughter who is at Uni and other friends and family. I read lots of fanfiction, mainly Stagate SG1, but also use the internet to find out stuff (what did we do before Google?) If you feel like sitting down with a glass of something for a good natter, feel free to join me :-)
This is the first time I have 'blogged' and will probably use it to review films, books and wine. It is very unusual out here in Internetland, sometimes scary, always interesting. I use it mainly to keep in touch with my Daughter who is at Uni and other friends and family. I read lots of fanfiction, mainly Stagate SG1, but also use the internet to find out stuff (what did we do before Google?) If you feel like sitting down with a glass of something for a good natter, feel free to join me :-)
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