2015 Catch up Part 2

Based on the successful and, what I gather, excellent Hitman video game franchise this second attempt at adapting the game into movie format is even drabber and more boring than the previous film made back in 2007. In this adaptation, an organisation known as The Syndicate wish to restart the abandoned Agent program but first they must find the creator and persuade him to reveal how the deadly agents where created.

Southpaw

Billy Hope is the undefeated light-heavyweight World Champion, however his life is thrown into chaos when his wife, Maureen (Rachael McAdams), is shot in a scuffle in a hotel lobby. He begins a downward spiral where his house and entire relationship with his daughter is under threat.

2015 Catch Up

In the 1960s CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavil) successfully helps Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander) defect to West Germany despite opposition from the KGB's top agent, Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). Later Napoleon, Illya and Gaby and the secret agencies of Russia and America find themselves working together in a mission to stop a criminal organization from using Gaby's father's scientific expertise to construct their own nuclear bomb. 

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two

Mockingjay Part Two starts off where Part One left off with Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) recovering from an attack from a possessed Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). With almost everyone she knows and loves dying around her, the only way to end this suffocating drama is to kill President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Meanwhile the twelve districts are rebelling agaist The Capital.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Three decades on from events in The Return of the Jedi the legecy of those events still litter the landscape with the wreckage of Imperial Star Cruisers left abandoned on many planets across the Galaxy, including the planet Jakku where we find a lonely Ray (Daisy Ridley) whose life is about to change forever. It's thirty years on and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) has vanished, he becomes one of the most sought after men of galaxy with both the First Order and the Rebels trying to locate him. Ray is thrown into the midst of this war when she stumbles across a droid that contains a missing part of the map that will reveal Luke's location.

Bridge of Spies

During the Cold War, an American lawyer, James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks), is hired to defend an arrested Soviet spy (Mark Rylance) in court. He is then asked by the CIA to help them facilitate an exchange of the spy for Francis Gary Powers, a pilot captured by the Soviets.

Crimson Peak

A young girl (Mia Wasikowska) suffers a nightmare where the ghost of her mother warns her of the dangers of Crimson Peak, a decade or so on the same young woman is won over by a devilishly handsome and charming Englishman (Tom Hiddlestone). She marries him and moves to England where she begins to experience some ghostly going ons.

Spectre

A message from Bond's past leads him to the top secret terrorist organisation known as Spectre (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion). As Bond reveals the many levels of Spectre, he meets Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) and the pair encounter Spectre's infamous leader. Meanwhile, in London, M (Ralph Fiennes) finds himself in a power battle with C (Andrew Scott) over a joint intelligence co-operation agreement between nine countries. 

2015 Mini Reviews

Recently there has been a trend where writers modernise old fairy tales but screenwriter Chris Weitz stuck rather rigidly to the source material and it's rather refreshing that he did. You all know the basics of the Cinderella story, after both her parents die, Ella(Lilly James) is raised by her evil stepmother Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett) however a chance encounter with the Prince (Richard Madden) has the potential to change Ella's life forever. 

Sicario

When drug violence worsens on the US-Mexico border, the FBI sends an idealistic agent, Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) on a mission to eradicate a drug cartel responsible for a bomb that had killed members of her team during a raid. Kate, however, find herself an outsider to the the members of the team and out of the know about what is really happening. 

Legend

I recently just started a new job in London so I had to move to a new house which didn't have any internet until yesterday. That explains my absence and the abandoning of 31 Days of Horror project.

There's a cheap knock off version of the film Legend where the Kray brothers aren't even played by identical twins or even by the same actor, luckily such stupidly isn't in the Brain Helgeland film Legend as, with the help of computer wizardy, Tom Hardy plays both Kray brothers as they rise to the top of the London criminal underworld. Reginald's relationship with his wife also plays a strong factor in the story as the two brothers try to gain control of London's criminal underworld.

31 Days of Horror: Day Nine - Evilspeak

Evilspeak stars Clint Howard (Ron Howard's younger brother) as a bullied student at a strict military academy, he tormentors bully him so much so he uses a computer to raise an beast of unquestionable evil and decapitates his classmates in a gory finale.

31 Days of Horror: Day Eight - Thursday Movie Picks #65: Halloween Edition - Villainous Children (Suggested by Wendell)

Kids in horror movies are creepy at the best of times, some of these kids are literally the spawn of Satan. Here are three movies with villainous children that are selected for week's spooky offering of Thursday Movie Picks. These are the type of kids that make you cry out for that clown from I.T.

31 Days of Horror: Day Seven - Storage 24

I was rather surprised to find that on IMDB this entertaining Sci-fi horror was rated a lowly 4.4, normally a rating that low is only reserved for some true dross. That considered some pretty decent horror films have such a staggeringly low rating one wonders how many non genre fans actually watched them thus skewering the validity of such a rating for horror fans. Anywho, this fun horror/sc-fi flick is set in storage house where an alien life form is running amok following a plane crash where it was the cargo. Inside are a group of survivors trying to avoid the creature that's hell bent on killing them.

The Martian

Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is part of six manned mission to Mars that is hit by a sudden and intense storm, during this storm Mark is hit by flying debris and presumed dead. However, he is very much alive and finds himself truly alone as the only living thing on an entire planet. He must survive and to do that he must grow food on a planet where nothing grows, but as fate has it he is the best botanist on the planet, he is also the worst botanist on the planet, Mark is in fact the only botanist on the planet.

31 Days of Horror: Day Six - A Bay of Blood

John Carpenter's Halloween is often credited as the film that created the slasher genre when what it actually did was made it popular. Sometimes Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is credited for inventing the slasher genre but that's a thriller film that just happened to have a knife as a murder weapon (an often used weapon in slasher films). The blue print for all slasher films to follow was created by Mario Bava in The Bay of Blood, if it did not invent the genre, it's certainly an important film that clearly influenced the slasher genre for many years to come.

31 Days of Horror: Day Five- Wind Walkers

Note that there are potential spoilers for the PS4 game Until Dawn in the second paragraph so don't read it unless you've already completed the game or have zero interest in playing computer games and thus have no intention of playing it.

A U.S. solider returns home from captivity to find that his best friend and fellow former POW has gone AWOL. While out on an annual hunting trip with his friend's father and some extended family, their group comes under attack by an ancient Native American curse that has mysterious connections to his best friend's heritage and the prison in which they were once held captive - from IMDB.

31 Days of Horror: Day Four - The Entity

The Entity isn't one of the most popular horror films of the 80s especially among the likes of The Thing, Poltergeist and Nightmare on Elm Street which all came out within a similar time frame. However, with legendary director Martin Scorsese naming The Entity among his top 10 scariest films of all time it will bring attention to a horror film that is amongst the most deeply unsettling of the decade.

31 Days of Horror: Day Three - Rogue

Rogue is the third film to feature in this year's 31 Days of Horror and it's about a group of tourists who find their river cruise under threat from a giant crocodile.

31 Days of Horror: Day Two - Pod

Pod is another film that was screened at 2015's London Frightfest, the film is about two siblings who go to visit their brother in a secluded lake house after fearing for his personal wellbeing. This sibling, Martin (Brian Morvant), has had a history of mental illness and so his story of experimental testing and something lurking in the basement is hard to believe.

31 Days of Horror: Day One - Lovely Molly

 Like many other bloggers I will be doing a 31 Days of Horror. Over the course of these 31 Days I will watch and review a horror film. Note that all these horror films will be the first viewing so don't except to see The Exorcist, Alien, The Thing or any other classic horror movie as I've most likely already seen them. Note that I have no schedule set, I just watch whatever I want to. 

I will try to publish something everyday, but in the past week I officially lost my job, but got a new job literally the next working day, which I start on October 12th. This means I have to move to London (where the new job is based) so I might get too busy to publish something on the odd day. We'll have to see.

Everest

Based on the true story of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, Everest starts Jason Clarke as Rob Hall an expedition group leader who takes a group of adventures to the very top of the world. However, a storm is approaching and many of the climbers find themselves in very dangerous situations.

Thursday Movie Picks #62: Journalists/Reporters for Print/TV

New week, new Thursday Movie Picks. This week it is Journalists/Reporters for Print/TV such as Lois Lane. Check out - http://wanderingthroughtheshelves.blogspot.co.uk/

Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation

I completely forgot about this review, and thus it has been sitting in my documents and folders for a while now. For this season I have also completely forgotten what the film about so here's the IMDB plot synopsis:

Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate - an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF. 

Thursday Movie Picks #61: Train Movies

I've missed several weeks for three main reasons - laziness, lack of motivation and being legitimately busy, but I am back for this week's Thursday Movie Picks about Trains. Please visit http://wanderingthroughtheshelves.blogspot.co.uk/

Frighfest Reviews

As it was my first time attending Frightfest I thought it was best to only attend for two days rather than go the full hog and do the whole four day festival. I chose not to bring my laptop simply because I knew that by 1.30am (the time I got home both nights) the last thing I would want to do is type out half a dozen reviews so this is all done by memory.

Origins of an auteur - Wes Craven

John Hitchcock (Hitchcock's World) came with an idea a blogothon that analysed and compared the first film of a director's career to discuss whether the director in question is an Auteur. In a nut shell an Auteur is theory that the director is a the author of their film. I can't fully recommended John Hitchcock's blog enough, a lot of his work is very focused on female representation in cinema, plus there loads of interesting other essays that are certainly worth reading and he hates the films of Jean Luc Godard.

Edit: Just a week after I published this article, Wes Craven sadly died from brain cancer, he will be sorely missed but his legendary legacy will live on.

Rules

1. Pick one director and identify his or her first feature film. It must be the first feature film (i.e. over one hour runtime) listed in her/his filmography.
2. While you will be primarily discussing that one film, you should have an understanding at least some of the director's later films, enough to be able to recognize his or her style.
3. Analyze your chosen film in relation to the director's later projects. What elements of his or her style do you see here?
4. Keep in mind that this blogathon is based on critical thinking and analysis, not simply on whether you liked the film. Your post should not be so much on the film itself as what it says about the director.
5. Repeats (i.e. two people writing about the same director and film) are acceptable, but discouraged. If you do choose a topic someone else is writing about, try to find something different to say on the subject.
6. Include a banner and a link back to this post. There are several banners to choose from below, and you are permitted to create your own provided they fit the blogathon's themes.

2015 Horror Double Bill

A young, newlywed couple (played by Andy Ostroff and Heather Adair) find their lives thrown into chaos when their eight year old daughter, Imogen (Alyssa Koerner), begins to shows signs of distinctly odd behaviour.

Seventh Son

Many decades ago Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) imprisons the evil Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore) for eternity, however Malkin escapes and when Master Gregory and his apprentice (Kit Harington) attempt to recapture her, Gregory's apprentice is killed in action. Master Gregory needs a new apprentice and quickly finds Tom Ward (Ben Barnes), a seventh son of a seventh son. The two embark on an adventure to stop Mother Malkin destroying the world. 

Inside Out

It is without doubt that on any given day you have looked at someone and thought 'what's going on inside their head'? I too have thought such a thing, and I even thought that about my own head and have gotten no closer to finding an answer. Inside Out looks into the mind of young child, Riley (Kaityln Dias), who quite recently has moved from Minnesota to San Francisco leaving her friends, hockey team and life behind whilst inside her mind both Joy (Amy Poehler) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) are sucked out of the main central complex leaving Riley grumpy and depressed.

Ant-Man

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has just finished serving his prison term, he wants to see his daughter but his estranged ex-wife demands that he first finds a stable job and an apartment, however finding a job is difficult because of his criminal record. So he agrees to do one last job to raise the cash, and on this job Scott finds a suit that allows the wearer to become a tiny version of himself. The suit is owned by a Dr Pym (Michael Douglas) who recruits, trains and prepares Scott to fight against his protégé, Darren Cross (Corey Stroll), who also has created a suit with similar powers, and Pym fears that no good will come of this.

2015 Catch Up Part 1

Sonny Kapoo (Dev Petal) has dreams of expanding his business and opening up the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, but first he must impress a mystery reviewer whose recommendation will decide whether Sonny's expansion plans are to go ahead. 

Thursday Movie Picks #53: Science Fiction Movies (No Space/Aliens)

I missed last week's Thursday Movie Picks because I went on a road trip of my own. Due to a train driver strike I was forced to catch the bus to get to a small town in Gloucestershire instead of using the train. I left the house at 8.30 am and didn't get back to 10pm so I had no time to write or publish my three favourite Road Movies. Anywho I am back this week. The instigator of Thursday Movie Picks can be found here - http://wanderingthroughtheshelves.blogspot.co.uk/

Terminator Genisys

It is 2027 and the humans, led by John Connor (Jason Clarke), have beaten Skynet in a long and bitter war. However, Skynet have sent a T800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) before she can give birth to the resistance leader, John Connor. In response John Connor sends Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back in time to 1982 to save Sarah Connor. If it sounds familiar it is because it's what happened in The Terminator, however, things have changed and Kyle is sent to an alternate 1982 - a 1982 where Sarah Connor is already prepared for such an attack and with her own T800 (also played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) Sarah tries to stop Judgement Day from ever happening.    

Frightfest 2015

Hello chaps. This year I will be attending Frightfest, the UK's biggest horror film festival, for the first time. The festival will feature 19 World, 16 European and 24 UK premieres so expect to see some early reviews of the most recent, upcoming horror films.

Thursday Movie Picks #51: Adaptations of Classic Literature (No Poems or Plays)

It's Thursday so that means it's time for Thursday Movie Picks. This week it is movie adaptations of classic Literature but poems and plays can't be picked. 

Make sure you check out - http://wanderingthroughtheshelves.blogspot.co.uk/

The young ghosts in Out of the Dark have Unfinished Business whilst teenagers invent a time machine in Project Almanac

 

A family of three move from England to Colombia so that Sarah Harriman (Julia Styles) can become the new manager at the local paper mill. However, the blissful surroundings are not matched by the couples' (Styles and Scott Speedman) experiences as it turns out their new home is haunted. The trouble really begins when the couples' young daughter is kidnapped.  

Clouds of Sils Maria

Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is a world famous leading actress who was made known throughout the world by starring in both the play and film versions of Maloja Snake by Wilhelm Melchior, a recently departed Swiss playwright. Maria is offered a role in the play once again, however, instead of playing Sigrid twenty years on Maria is now set to play Helena, the women who is driven to suicide by Sigrid. The film follows Maria and her American assistant, Valentine (Kirsten Stewart), as they prepare for the role.

Thursday Movie Picks #50: All in the Family Edition: Sibling Relationships (Biologically Related)

When I walked out of the screening for Jurassic World I said to my younger brother (who'd accompanied me) that if we were at Jurassic World and the dinosaurs escaped it would be every man for himself. He agreed and then told me a story about how he was watching this review for a gun and the reviewer said the gun saved him from a bear with just a single shot. What happened was he was walking through the woods with his girlfriend when a bear suddenly appeared. What he did was shoot his girlfriend in the leg and run away as fast as he could thus saving him from the bear with just a single shot. Check out the instigator of this meme- http://wanderingthroughtheshelves.blogspot.co.uk/

It Follows

Jay Height (Maikia Monroe) is a young, pretty college girl on a second date with this guy called Hugh (Jake Weary). The couple have sex but something is passed to Jay and the only way to rid herself of the curse is to have sex with somebody else. Easy enough, especially if you're as pretty as Maikia Monroe's Jay. In fact even if you're a guy as ugly as sin it's easy as you could fork out a bit of money and hire an escort. However, passing on the curse doesn't rid you entirely of it. If the person you passed the curse on to dies, you are target of evil entity and process will commence once again.  

Mr Holmes

Mr Holmes is based on the 2005 novel A Slight Trick of the Mind (the film's original and more interesting title) by Mitch Cullin. It's about an elderly and ill Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen - reuniting with Gods and Monsters director Bill Condon) reflecting upon his life and his final case which Watson's adaptation left Sherlock greatly unsatisfied. Much of the film is about Sherlock trying to remember the details of case so that he can gain an inner peace within himself.

Selma

Selma is based on the famous marches from Selma to Montgomery to protest against the lack of civil freedoms experienced by black people during the 1960s. The film follows Martin Luther King (David Oyelowo) as he leads a group of people willing to face extreme violence to achieve their goals and the film also closely follows his battles with American President Lyndon Baines Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) in a bid to push his demands into American law.

You might be taken ill by Taken III

In the third film of the Taken franchise, Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is framed for the murder of his wife. He must evade capture, bring the real killer to justice and clear his own name.

Thursday Movie Picks #49: Animated Movies

It's not really a genre I watch regularly, but here are my three picks. Make sure to check out - http://wanderingthroughtheshelves.blogspot.co.uk/

Bypass

After the arrest of his brother (Benjamin Dilloway) and the death of his mother Tim's (George MacKay) responsibilities have increased dramatically. Tim must care for his younger sister (Lara Peake), girlfriend (Charlotte Spencer) and deal with bailiffs bashing at the door. Tim's only source of income is petty crime, but his life among criminals leads him down a potentially dark and dangerous route.

Jurassic World

Twenty or so years ago Dr Alan Grant (Sam Neill) refused to endorse Dr John Hammond's (the late, great Richard Attenborough) park. However, somebody did decide to endorse the park, get it off the ground once more and turn into the most popular theme park attraction in the world. However, attendance is falling and younglings are becoming slightly less impressed by the beasts that ruled the world over 65,000,000 years ago. So a new super dinosaur is cooked up in a lab and she, unsurprisingly, makes her escape by using trickery because she's a clever girl. So, Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her team, featuring Chris Pratt's raptor keeper Owen Grady, track down the escaped dino that's about to cause a massive lawsuit.

United Passions

For as long as I can remember I have always loved football, particularly international football. In fact, my first football memory (at about six years old) is eagerly standing up when the head teacher asked for anyone who wishes to watch England play Tunisia at the 1998 World Cup to stand up - England won 2-0 with both goals coming at the end of each half. I love the World Cup, for me it's the best sporting spectacle on the planet, I love the passion, the excitement, the heartbreak, the emotion, the intensity, the tension and I love it despite the inevitable English disappointment. There is one problem, and it's a biggie, which is the World Cup is organised by FIFA who are the subject of United Passions.

Mortdecai

Art dealer and part time crook Charlie Mortdecai (Johnny Depp) is drafted in by MI5 to investigate the whereabouts of a missing Goya painting. As Charlie is in a dire financial position, Charlie agrees to a 10% fee if the painting is found and sold, however, he is not the only one who wants to get their hands on it as some Russians also want the painting as does an American, Milton Krampf (Jeff Goldblum), and Charlie's own wife, Joanna (Gwyneth Paltrow) who wants to find the painting to sort out her and her husband's terrible finances. 

Sir Christopher Lee (1922-2015)

Sir Christopher Lee was an actor of outstanding gravitas, he had a booming voice and an astonishing presence every time he appeared on screen. Christopher Lee was an exceptionally versatile actor with a knack of playing diabolical villains from vampires to wizards and cult leaders to Jedi Knights who crossed the path over to the dark side but whenever the script called for him to do so he could play heroes and sympathetic characters with great pathos.

Thursday Movie Picks #48: Movies Set in a High School, Secondary School or the Equivalent

 I couldn't do Thursday Movie Picks last week because I was busy trying to conquer and defeat ancient armies in battle on Age of Empires.

Anyway, this week it's Movies set in High School, Secondary School or the equivalent - http://wanderingthroughtheshelves.blogspot.co.uk/