The Theory of Everything

"There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope."

Fresh New Year, fresh new films to see! 2015 promises to be a great year for film so we thought we would start off with a potential great, 'The Theory of Everything'.

'The Theory of Everything' is a British biographical film following the life of Stephen Hawking. In the 1960's at Cambridge University lived a man named Stephen Hawking. Still undecided on what field to focus his PhD on, Hawking meets a lovely young lady named Jane Wilde. The two spend much of their time together and subsequently fall in love. Life then throws Stephen a massive curve ball. He collapses in the middle of the university grounds and is rushed to hospital where he finds out that he has Motor Neurone Disease. Stephen is given two years to live. Distraught at this devastating news, Hawking locks himself away from the world and pushes Jane away. Jane however isn't giving up that easily on the man she loves and though despite warning from Stephen's dad she decides to stick by Stephen. As his condition gets progressively worse, and the family grows, Jane reaches breaking point and decides she needs help.

This film was truly breath taking. I found myself upset, happy, appalled, angry, and I had a tear to the eye on more than one occasion. The acting was of the highest calibre. Eddie Redmayne was truly magnificent as the man himself. It must have been a very daunting and difficult task but he nailed it. As for Felicity Jones as Jane Wilde Hawking, she portrayed the angst, happiness, pretty much everything spot on. Such great casting, I could feel the love this couple had oozing out of the screen, it was so so believable. The cinematography was also spot on with some amazing shots and different filming styles all thrown in. I particularly loved the rewind at the end which brought me to tears for the fifth or sixth time in one film. Some scenes were completely dialog-free but so well written and acted that they were almost more powerful than if they had have had dialog. I could have done with a bit more about how the disease affects people as this was only lightly touched on. I would highly recommend viewing this film. Not only is it a lovely love story which is brilliantly shot and acted, but it also tells the story of the genius of Stephen Hawking and his awful condition. 

9/10 for 'The Theory of Everything'. I have a feeling this film is going to stay high in my 2015 league table. Now go see it!

Annie

"It's a hard knock life for us"

Probably our last trip to the cinema this year saw us cramming in another few films. We began our day at the cinema by seeing what the reboot of 'Annie' was all about.

'Annie' is the latest adaptation of the 1977 Broadway musical of the same name. A modern twist on the classic film sees Annie (Quvenzhané Wallis), the foster child from Harlem, in a desperate search for her birth parents. Annie is living with her foster parent Colleen Hannigan, an alcoholic washed-up pop star who has taken a group of foster children under her wings in order to earn money from the state. Due to a note left with her when she was born, Annie believes her parents are coming back for her any day soon. One day, when trying to stop a group of boys from chasing a stray dog, Annie is saved from being hit by a car by Mr Stacks (Jamie Foxx). Mr Stacks is a billionaire mobile phone creator who is currently running a very unsuccessful presidential campaign. With help from his spin doctor, and after being filmed saving Annie from the car, Mr Stacks spends more time with Annie to improve his public perception. Annie's presence in Mr Stacks life proves to be an eventful one as he learns what is actually important in life.

Shamelessly I have to admit that I loved this film. I must have been in a good mood, as reading other reviews; I think I'm one of only a few who think the same. Yes it was quite over indulgent, yes it has children singing (one of the most annoying sounds ever!), but it brought a tear to my on more than one occasion. The relationship between Annie and Mr Stacks' associate (played by Rose Byrne) was lovely to watch, as was the friendship between her and Mr Stacks. The plot was cleverly brought into the 21st century with mobile phones, a smart-penthouse that was frankly ridiculous, and of course an over-produced updated soundtrack. Regarding the music, there is a mix of old and new with cleverly updated Annie classics such as, 'Tomorrow', 'Hard-knock life', 'You're Never Fully Dressed without a Smile' etc. plus some new songs (all pretty awful!). The acting wasn't the best I'd seen but also not the worst. Cameron Diaz, although quite poor in this movie, did bring the comedic aspect to the role of the awful Miss Hannigan. I'm surprised to see how great she is in these nasty roles (see 'Bad Teacher'). Jamie Foxx and his male associate (Bobby Cannavale) were painfully awful to watch but I got over that soon enough. Hats off again to the youngest actor Quvenzhané Wallis, she really shows the adults how it's done. Young actors in movies this year have been very well cast in almost every film I have seen. The plot didn't really do it for me. Although it's cleverly been brought up-to-date, I did prefer the original, though it did retain the bare bones of the Annie story so of course it wasn't all bad.

7.5/10 for 'Annie'. The fact that this film is well paced, the music is mostly enjoyable and the fab acting from the young lady in the main role make this an entirely watchable and at some points smile-inducing musical. Definitely worthy of another viewing.

Gone Girl

Right, Friday at last! To start the weekend on a good note, we decided to finally go and see 'Gone Girl'. So far, from what I've heard, this film has divided opinions. Wanna know what I thought...

'Gone Girl' is a mystery thriller adapted by Gillian Flynn from her novel of the same name. You'd have to have been living under a rock to have not heard the hype this film has gained. Personally I haven't read the book, but I do know that those people who have read it wondered how it would translate onto the big screen. This is due to the way the novel is written with its use of multiple perspectives and non-linear structure. Despite this, I believe that one thing the adaptation has on its side is its length. It is 149 minutes long (almost as long as Titanic) and I can only imagine that this works in favour of an adaptation due to not needing to cut much out.

Nick Dunne, portrayed by Ben Affleck (Pearl Harbor, Argo), returns home on the day of his fifth wedding anniversary to find his house has been trashed and his wife Amy, portrayed by Rosamund Pike (Jack Reacher, Hector and the Search for Happiness), is nowhere to be found. After a minor investigation of the crime scene, it becomes apparent to the police that this is in fact less of a missing person case and more likely a staged murder scene. Due to his weird demeanour, and the fact that all the evidence is pointing directly at him, Dunne is quickly becoming a suspect in this potential murder case. The only problem being, "How hard it is to convict someone of murder when there is no body present?"

Another great film of October 2014. The whole mystery of what was going on in the beginning to what was going to happen next kept me glued to my seat. The film captivated me for the full 149 minutes. Rosamund Pike gave an absolutely stunning performance as Amy, 'amazing' to say the least! Ben Affleck on the other hand could have been easily replaced. For me he did not cut it and I found myself wishing for a more dramatic performance from let's say, DiCaprio, or Downey Jr. Having said that, the film was so well paced, held together like it wasn't missing anything from being adapted and kept me well and truly entertained for 2.5 gripping hours. Go see it, especially if you enjoyed the likes of 'Prisoners', 'Side Effects' or even 'Taken'.

 

9/10 for 'Gone Girl' places the movie at number 4 on My 2014 League Table just below 'Lone Survivor'. Potential end of year top 5 here...

  

The Maze Runner

So here it is my first official blog about an actual film and it's a right old corker! Last night we went to see... 'The Maze Runner'.

'The Maze Runner' is a young adult science fiction film based on James Dashner's novel of the same name. This is the first installment in 'The Maze Runner' series which could spawn two sequels, possibly three, if for some miraculous reason a decision to split the final book is made. Hmmm, yeah, because that never happens (see Harry Potter 7, Breaking Dawn, Mockingjay, Allegiant). Also I should add that there is another book which serves as a prequel to this series and a second prequel in the works so this is a potential film series that could be around for a while yet.

'The Maze Runner' focuses on sixteen-year-old Thomas played by Dylan O'Brien (Teen Wolf, The Internship) who suddenly awakens on a grated lift with no memory of where he is, nor how he got there. He is quickly greeted by a group of teenage boys in the same situation; each of them having been there for varying lengths of time with no memory of their lives previously. After a brief freak out, Thomas is shown around 'The Glade' (a huge courtyard, complete with its own forest, that these boys now call home). By befriending one of his fellow 'Gladers' he finds that these boys have accepted their fate and are now living in a well structured community. There are even rules the boys have made which they must abide; plus a prison for those who choose not to. Thomas soon learns that the only way out of 'The Glade' is via the deadly and ever changing maze which surrounds them and is haunted by the deadly 'Grievers'.

Personally I found the whole film gripping from beginning to end. I was constantly kept guessing throughout. What is going on? Why are these boys here? Why can't they remember how they got there? To make things even better the whole thing is very well acted. These guys have well and truly raised the bar for young adult fiction film acting especially Will Poulter (Son of Rambow, We're the Millers) as 'Gally' who, more often than not, steals the show. My one tiny criticism is that I can imagine the book including a lot more detail going deeper into each aspect of the story. I don't know if this is how I feel knowing that it has been adapted from the novel but it may leave book fans feeling a bit disappointed. Having said that, the film itself holds focus throughout with just enough action set amongst just enough emotion and to top it all off it's very well paced. The result leaves us with one hell of a film worthy of another view and anticipating the next installment.

A solid 8/10 from me which plonks in at number 12 of 56 so far, just below 'Guardians of the Galaxy' in my '2014 league of films'.

 Watch 'The Maze Runner' Official Trailer Here