To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill A Mockingbird is a standard English text pretty much everywhere in the world, and that includes my school. I really loved the book, and I was so over the moon when we were allowed to watch the film as I’d heard nothing but good things about it. And it is a classic, so isn’t it necessary in anybody’s cinematic education?
Gregory Peck (rest ‘is soul) stars as Atticus Finch, a lawyer and single father of two young children. Set in the 30s, Mockingbird follows Atticus’ daughter, Scout, as she is forced to learn the harsh realities of life when Atticus agrees to defend a black man in a case of rape.
For a modern audience, undoubtedly the first thing on anybody’s mind who hasn’t seen it before is that Mockingbird is in black and white. BLACK AND WHITE. The horror. But to be fair, it was made in 1962, which is nearly 50 years ago. That’s just how everything was back then. It’s not just the film, the world in the early 60s was literally black and white. Didn’t you know that? It’s true. Ask anybody. Colour was only discovered in 1970 by a man named Roy. I do not tell a lie.
But let’s be serious, the black and white thing, as much as it’s no fault of the film makers, is a problem for modern viewers. My generation in particular has next to no experience with black and white films, and it’s confusing to see something so dated. It’s just not up to the standard of image we’re used to today. It’s very strange. But it isn’t really that much of a problem. Like I said, it’s no fault of the film makers. I just found that 50 years takes its toll on even a classic.
While we’re on the downsides, I found the music a little off as well. A bit fake.
Aside from those, this film really is an example of quality film-making, and there’s no denying that it’s a classic performance from Gregory Peck. He’s outstanding. In the book the character is so richly written, and with Peck, it’s like Atticus has stepped straight out of the book. It’s a thrill to watch him.
There’s one scene in the town courtroom, when Atticus is getting his lawyer on, that is possibly one of the best scenes I have ever seen in any movie ever. The performances are so commanding and it’s so deliciously tense that it shut up my entire class. It takes a good scene to shut up my class. Impressive. It was physically moving to see them all with their mouths hanging open. Ah, the power of film. It’s scenes like that that make me realise how much I love movies. That single scene made me love Mockingbird (the movie AND the book) so much.
There’s no denying that this is a classic, but it has dated, but you can’t help that with any movie. 4/5 stars.
xx
Za.
Definitely, Maybe
For my birthday I sometimes like to watch a romantic comedy – preferably a good one that I haven’t seen before – and to be honest the selection was a bit thin on the ground this year, but I asked my very generously helpful friends for suggestions and we came to the consensus of Definitely, Maybe, for no real reason other than it has Abigail Breslin in it who is inarguably adorable.
Definitely, Maybe is the story of a young father, Will, who is in the process of being divorced by his wife. His 10-year-old daughter, Maya, is suddenly curious as to how the two of them met in the first place, and thinks that in the telling of the story Will will come to realise how much he loved her when they first got together and that that will repair their marriage. Will at first doesn’t want to tell Maya the story, but eventually concedes, saying that he is going to tell a story about the three major loves in his life (one of them being Maya’s mother), but he’ll change the names of the women so Maya is forced to guess who her mother is.
It sounded interesting to me for two reasons: 1. My own parents split up when I was nine, and 2. It was made by the same people as Notting Hill and Love Actually, my favourite romcoms of all time (although it feels to me like they’ve copied the poster design for this movie from Love Actually).
I liked the premise of the film, that it was a story told by a man to his daughter. It was almost a love story between Will and Maya (in a totally paternal way) than it was between Will and any of the women. Will was a really great dad to Maya and the film represented their relationship as just as important, if not more important, than his romantic relationships. Which I think is really important. It’s great to see a movie that highlights the importance of fatherhood (as opposed to the importance of motherhood) and the impact dads have on their children, which is often very different in real life to the way fatherhood is usually portrayed in the media.
I really liked Maya, too – she wasn’t a dumbed-down version of a ten-year-old, which can happen in movies. Children are made to seem cute and helpless. But Maya spoke to her father like a person and had real feelings about their divorce, which I identified with. She was a smart girl, and I think a lot of the time children are not seen as smart or grown-up in movies, but her character was really lovely. And Abigail Breslin is an extraordinary actor, as well as being adorable (she is getting older now, though).
The cast was great (Ryan Reynolds, Isla Fisher, etc. etc. etc.), and they did pretty well in their roles. I feel like Rachel Weisz could have done better as Summer, Will’s second love interest, but now I’m nitpicking, and nobody likes a nitpicker. Unless they actually have nits, and then it’s a different story.
As well as being a love story, the movie seemed to be a bit of an anti-love story, in that two of the three relationships Will has turn out to not work. Love isn’t always a happy ending, as Disney would have you believe. Definitely, Maybe is about how relationships are imperfect and difficult and the realities of life are that you have to deal with them. That really identified with me, and I think it is a really accessible concept for most people. Love doesn’t always stick around.
It was a great movie for a birthday treat, and probably a good girls’-night-in DVD hire, but quite honestly not very appealing to the male population. As with most romcoms, I guess. I liked it, but I didn’t quite love it – maybe a 4/5 from me.
xx
Za.
Johnny English Reborn
A lot of people hated the first Johnny English movie, but I’ve always been a fan of stupid-Englishman humour (and who better to pull it off than Rowan Atkinson – Mr Bean, anybody?), so I loved it and was eagerly awaiting the sequel, Johnny English Reborn. I had heard some not-good things about it before I went, so I was a little nervous, and this British comedy isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. But I liked it.
The film tells the story of Johnny English, a highly incapable MI7 spy who lost his badge after he failed an important mission in Mozambique. There’s some sort of vague plot line that there’s a secret organisation aiming to kill the Chinese premier, but it’s really just a weak excuse to get English doing all sorts of stupid things. Which is fine, I think. This doesn’t appear to take itself too seriously, and I think everybody’s well aware that the plot is not there as the main feature, but merely facilitates the jokes – and when the jokes are funny, who really cares about anything else?
What I like about the Johnny English franchise is that they manage to keep the humour PG, but still funny. More and more often American comedies are veering towards swearing and vulgarity as humour, and it’s losing its appeal a bit. Humour doesn’t have to be disgusting and adult, and Johnny English Reborn has really thought about this and masters it. When I went to see it there were people of all ages in the audience – down from 5-year-olds all the way up to their doddery grandmas, and everybody was laughing very hard at most of the jokes. I say MOST because there are a few that are a smidgen off. They can be a little hit-and-miss. It’s not very intellectual humour, so don’t expect to love it if you’re a high-and-mighty smart-face hipster, but it should be great for just about everybody else.
I think Rowan Atkinson is a very funny man, and a fantastic character actor, and he pulls off Johnny incredibly well, but I think Johnny in this sequel was far more competent than he was in the first, which is just unacceptable. Johnny should be so daft he can barely walk out the door without falling down the stairs. I did like that the Big Guy in MI7 was a woman (feminism FTW!). The one thing I really missed from this, though, was the character of Bough, played by Ben Miller. Bough was a great sidekick in the first movie, and the sidekick in this one (Hunter? Who knows.) was just inexcusably young and wafty. He was less capable than Johnny, which was a bad move on the writer’s part.
My favourite thing though? The Englishness. In this Americanised, Hollywood-ised world of family comedies there is nothing quite like a bit of good old-fashioned British buffoon laughter. Johnny English Reborn is a joy to laugh at and pretty much everything you expect it to be. If you’re expecting to love it, you’ll have a ball. If not, you’ll want to hang yourself slowly. It’s a bit half-and-half. But I liked it, and that’s all that really matters, right?
And quite honestly, you know that the audience loves a film when the theatre gives a round of applause at the credits. I loved it, my brothers loved it, the weird people behind me who took off their shoes and put their warty feet on my armrest loved it… everybody loved it.
Final verdict? 3.5/5 stars. Overall, it was as hilarious and ill-formed as I had hoped it would be, and it’s a great laugh for the family – but maybe not all you snobby, critical, know-all 20-somethings out there. I know how you can be. Don’t take it personally. I love you. Sort of. I’m kidding. Or am I.
xx
Za.
P.S. This is one of those movies where you stay until after the credits. STAY! Good dog.
Howl’s Moving Castle
Studio Ghibli is probably the most famous Japanese anime studio and it churns out beautiful and moving films. Howl’s Moving Castle (or Hauru no ugoku shiro) is one of my favourites from the studio and I never really get tired of it.
It’s the story of Sophie, a teenage girl who is turned into an old lady by an evil witch. She goes on an incredible journey, makes friends, falls in love with Howl, a talented young wizard, and in the end she discovers herself.
Howl
Before I start, if you are planning on watching this then I highly recommend watching it in Japanese with subtitles rather than watch it in English. The voice acting is much more accurate and I think you get a much better feel of how the director intended the movie to be originally rather than how Hollywood has aimed it at its western audience. The same goes for all anime.
The first thing teenage girls will notice about this movie is really obvious. HOWL IS HOT. I mean, really. When I watched this with my class you couldn’t hear the movie over my friends squealing. Good job there, Studio Ghibli.
If you’re not a teenage girl, the first thing you’ll probably notice is that the animation is stunning. It’s colourful and seamless and perfectly fantastical. It’s a very different style to Western animation, and it’s incredible. If you like this style, you should probably also check out Ponyo, one of the studio’s most recent and colourful productions. It’s also really wonderful.
The storyline is quite serious in parts, and can be analysed on many levels. The question of the worth of war is strung throughout it all and it’s accessible to adults, while at the same time very entertaining for children. There are bits that are really funny and bits that are sweet and magical. The Japanese approach to goodies and baddies is also really interesting. In Western movies, baddies are usually killed, but in this they seem to see the light and turn to good. I don’t want to give too much away because I think the discovery of this movie in particular when you don’t know much about it is much better.
My favourite thing about Howl’s Moving Castle is the characters. They all have their own reasons for being how they are and they’re all really complicated. They’re well-developed. It’s lovely. And the animation means that the characters can’t be ruined by terrible acting.
If you haven’t seen Howl’s Moving Castle quite frankly I don’t know why you’re still reading this. Go and buy it! Now! Shoo! A 4.5/5 from me.
xx
Za.
Ponyo
I watched my first proper anime movie last night.
D’aawwwww, cute.
So. It’s about a cute little fishie called Ponyo who wants to see the world out of the water. She goes to the surface on a jellyfish, and meets a little boy called Sosuke. She sees that he has a cut finger, and licks it to make it better. He puts her in a bucket and takes her to school and shows the old ladies at the nursing home where his mother Lisa works. Then Ponyo tells him she loves him, nawwwww, and lots of stuff happens, and Ponyo ends up as a human. I don’t want to be too spoilerish.
All in all, i loved this movie, it was heartwarming, it made me cry, and I loved it. An unequivocal 5/5.
~H
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie
From discussing it with my friends, who as 14 year old girls are pretty much exactly the target audience, I can tell you that at least in my little world the reception of the publicity for Glee: The 3D Concert Movie has been a little disappointing. My friends were not convinced by the ads and I’ve heard from a few people who have seen it that they were the only people in the cinema, and I was when I saw it too. It hasn’t been very popular yet at all.
But as die-hard Glee fans, my family and I hauled ourselves off to see it last Monday, and it was great.
This really is just a movie about Glee Live (the cast performing songs from the show live to a huge audience) and is mostly made up of performances, split up by interviews with “outcast” fans and the cast themselves. Its aim isn’t so much to be a documentary as it is to be a representation of what it’s actually like being at Glee Live. The point, I think, is entirely to make the audience feel as if they were there themselves. As much as I really liked the interviews with the fans and the cast it felt to me like they were thrown in to make the movie more credible as a documentary and that seemed a little awkward. From what I’ve heard from other people it seems like only Glee fans are going to see this movie, and I think any fan could have happily sat through an hour and a half of just the music without the interviews in between.
But still, I did think the interviews were very cute. The ones with the cast seemed very natural and some parts of the ones with the fans seemed very staged, but they were light-hearted and sweet both ways. I guess what I’m saying is I didn’t particularly like the use of the interviews but I did like the interviews themselves.
Apart from those interviews I think it did do a really good job of putting the audience in the moment. I must have cried five separate times. The noise of the crowd and the energy of the performers and the addictiveness of the music ripped my emotions to shreds just like it would at a real concert. There’s something about being around hundreds of people who are all passionate about the same thing that makes you feel so much that all you can do is lose it, and the sheer noise of the movie set the stage and simply created a perfect concert atmosphere. My mum and I sang and danced along to every song and I would have loved it to go on for another half hour.
There’s something about that concert atmosphere that would pull anybody in, and I think it’s a great shame that only Glee fans seem to be going to see it. This movie has reignited my love for the show and anybody who doesn’t know the show well would surely be moved to check it out, because when push comes to shove this is a really great concert movie, and a really good movie.
It’s entertaining, fun, emotionally draining, and overall just a gorgeous, glorious piece of film. It made me smile from ear to ear and is one of those things that just lights up the sky and can restore your faith in the love of humanity. I don’t think you can ask for more than that it a movie.
What an excellent family night out. Easily recommendable to all. 4/5 stars from me.
xx
Za.
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
OK. So I’m not exactly a fan of Justin Bieber. No, actually, I’m really not a fan of Justin Bieber. Nevertheless there must be something that draws all teenage girls to him, no matter what they think, because when I went overseas recently I watched the whole of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never on the plane. Yes, the whole thing, from start to finish. I’m also ashamed to say that I… kind… of… liked it. Kind of. I said KIND OF.
Justin Bieber
Let’s all agree here and now that however you feel about this kid, he is a phenomenon, and nobody could deny that. He started out on YouTube as a nobody and now he is one of the biggest stars in the entire world, and he’s still only 17. What he has achieved is pretty impressive, regardless of how much musical talent you may or may not think he has.
And essentially Never Say Never is not about Bieber’s talent but his fame. He is successful beyond comprehension, and for the most part the movie does show you that. It follows his life from his childhood leading up to his first performance at Madison Square Garden – which completely sold out very, very quickly.
I liked that the movie started with short little interviews with his female fans, and I liked that they kept those going throughout the whole thing, mostly. It was really interesting to see how over-excited and CRAZY some of Bieber’s fans are. They are weirdly obsessed. They had clips of girls bawling and crying out “MARRY ME JUSTIN” and bawling some more. I don’t even know why Justin Bieber holds so much sway over teenage girls – I admit he’s a good singer and he’s very baby-faced, but I don’t think his music is particularly great and his baby face doesn’t make him attractive. In fact, he looks like a little boy to me. Not very hot at all. I just don’t get it. So I liked that I got to see the side of the fans, because I’m much more interested in why they idolise him that I am in the person himself.
I also enjoyed seeing the more erroneous side of his fame – the girls attacking him on the street, the relentless paparazzi, not being able to go to school with his friends, the endless, endless, endless touring – we like to see that stuff. It’s good to remind us mere mortals that sometimes fame is not all it’s cracked up to be.
The plot of the documentary is a little lame, though. Justin gets a sore throat a few days before his big gig, which means he might not be able to perform, and everybody freaks out. In the end, of course, he’s fine and he can go on, but really I don’t think a lot of the audience is interested in how and why he has an infection.
And I know that it is a movie aimed at JB’s fans, teenage girls, but when push comes to shove Never Say Never is a documentary, and I found bits of it quite patronising. Just because girls blub over this boy doesn’t mean they’re stupid. Oh wait…
I’m kidding, of course. JUSTIN BIEBER FANS, YOU ARE SMART. DON’T HURT ME. THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A JOKE.
In summarisation, I did like Never Say Never. It was a great no-substance movie to watch on a long flight. It was informative to an extent and presented in good humour. But it’s not the most life-changing thing you will ever see and Non-Beliebers will probably hate it, so I don’t think it’s really recommendable to the majority of people. 3/5 stars from me.
xx
Za.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
(Slight spoilers coming up. But seriously. You already know what happens in Harry Potter.)
This is what everybody’s been waiting for, really. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The final part in the epic cinematic adventure. The end of an era. The ultimate battle. The movie when Harry might kill Voldemort but SHHHHH WE DON’T WANT TO GIVE ANYTHING AWAY.
It’s really very exciting.
I know I’m a little slow on the uptake here (only saw this last Saturday night – a week after it came out) but I have a reason! I was in France for the release and (would you believe it) they were only showing it in French! And as much as I would like to I do not speak French.
I am a big fan of Harry Potter, both the books and the movies. I think it’s a really riveting story that cannot be denied as one of the most phenomenal series of the last twenty years. I remember going to see the first movie as a four-year-old and peering through my fingers at the scary scene with the troll in the girls’ bathrooms, so it’s very exciting to be seeing the last movie a full ten years later. It’s very lucky that I get to be part of the generation that has grown up with Harry Potter and to live through and experience the telling of a story that will doubtless be told for years to come. I think it’s a privilege to even be part of the audience of such a massive cultural movement and the story of Harry is not one any of us will be forgetting very quickly.
The movie opened quickly and we got straight into the action. I was expecting the entire film to be go-go-go but it was a little more go-go-go than expected. Which was good. There was only a few points in the movie when I don’t think my heart was racing quite as fast as it was in the previous scene. The story built up and built up, and even though I knew what was going to happen I couldn’t help urging Harry on in my mind and sitting on the edge of my seat.
From about halfway through onwards, I don’t think there was one moment I wasn’t crying. When the characters started dying and the plot started to climax I just fell to pieces. The whole thing was emotional and beautiful and so sad. I’m really going to miss Harry. Ugh. It’s a pretty moving movie, I can tell you that much.
One of my main thoughts as I was watching was that I really liked the movie’s use of music. It was not overplayed, and there was silence in parts that would normally have been orchestrated, which really emphasised the scenes and brought a raw realism to them. I also loved that they mostly used scores from the previous films. Harry Potter’s soundtrack is, let’s face it, a classic, and I thought its use in this film made it a really justifiable end to the saga.
My other favourite thing was that after Harry killed Voldemort (WHOOPS DID I RUIN IT FOR YOU WHAT A SHAME) the lighting changed instantly. The Potter films get darker and darker as they progress and Voldemort becomes more and more powerful and more of a threat, so I loved that as soon as he died, the whole thing brightened up again. It was like a new beginning. Loved it.
Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood
Lots of people seem very concerned about how true the movie was to the book (COUGH COUGH HAMBLE COUGH) but for me I think that question is kind of irrelevant. I think it was quite true to the book, but regardless of that I know it’s really hard to translate a book to the screen. There are lots of things you have to change to make it worth watching, and just because something is left out of the movie that was in the book doesn’t mean the producers considered it an element that weighed down the story. It might have worked wonderfully on the page but just didn’t fit in on the screen. That being said, I know Luna and Neville don’t get together in the book, and I agree with that decision on Rowling’s part. I don’t really think she could have worked that in. I wouldn’t have been all that comfortable with it. But they do get together in HP7P2 and I thought that was ADORBS. TOTALLY adorbs. They pulled it off really, really well (by the way, how cute is Evanna Lynch?).
The acting was great, and the cast is all so big now. I’m just so proud of them… *sheds tear*. They’re all very successful and seem very nice, and they’ve really matured as actors. Well done to them, and I wish them as much success in the future. Not that they need it.
All in all, I think this film’s been a pretty successful venture. It’s a fitting end to a fitting series and I really loved it. 4.5/5 stars from me.
xx
Za.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Wow.
We went and saw this last night, at the Macquarie Center, Gold Class. Wheee. I swear, the seats are like couches.
Anyway, I’ll shut up about that and write a review.
It had pretty CGI, and good acting, and large explosions, but having read all seven books eleventy-twelve times, in my opinion, it was way too unfaithful to them. I mean, sheesh. If you’re gonna make a movie of one of the most popular series (serieses? serii?) of all time- well, I dunno. Tighten up a bit.
But reviewing it as a standalone movie, holy moly. Amazing. Wow. I have a slight writer’s block right now, so I’m gonna stop soon, but I’d just like to say they did the important scenes from the book really well. There was some symbolism that took a while to work out, but all in all, it was amazing. 4.5/5.
Hamble.
No Strings Attached
No Strings Attached revolves around a couple of old friends who have sex for fun one morning and decide to make it a regular thing – without feelings.
I really wanted to watch this when it first came out and I sadly missed it, but luckily because of my overseas trip I was able to catch up with it on the plane.
Natalie Portman is wonderful as always in the role of Emma, as is Ashton Kutcher as Adam, but the characters are a little depthless and the actors take them as far as they possibly can within the parameters of the poor character writing.
I was expecting more nudity, but I think they tried to play for a wider audience and there’s hardly any actual sex scenes. That’s good news for parents, but I just wanted to see Ashton Kutcher take his clothes off. So sad face.
It is another typical romantic comedy with a predictable plot, and follows the regular foolproof pattern of try 3 times and fail, succeed on the fourth try, but it is a sweet story and Portman and Kutcher do have some chemistry. Plus, it IS a romantic comedy. And I love those.
The whole thing is a bit clumsily put together, but I keep coming back to the impeccable casting as No Strings Attached‘s saving grace. Really good and attractive choices.
This movie was really only to fill my time on my long flight, so I enjoyed it in a kind of sedated way. It was colour and movement. But when I analyse it, No Strings was actually pretty good. Another girls’-night-in movie. 3.5/5 stars
xx
Za.
