Captain America: The Winter Solider

ONLY VERY MINOR SPOILERS.

I wouldn't say that Cap is my favourite Avenger (that honour goes to Thor) but he is a very close second. One of the reasons I love him is he is just so caring and loving. He absolutely does not want to hurt anyone and if you're his friend, then you are his friend for life and he will go out of his way to help you. Now I'm just getting emotional thinking about how I'd like to be his friend.

The Winter Soldier is much better than the first one. For one, the inclusion of the Black Widow makes the film a thousand times better. I need to see a Black Widow movie and soon. I would see that movie ten times just to do my bit for its box office numbers. She's intelligent, thoughtful, caring, stunning and my eyes just automatically go to her every time she's in a shot. I also liked that it's not just about one mission they all go on, but it's about SHIELD and we get to learn a lot more about the organisation and what is really going on there. 

My favourite scene: My favourite scene is definitely the part where Natasha and Steve are trying to hide so they go to the shopping centre and the Apple Store. That whole scene is hilarious and I could not stop laughing. I also have to say that I got the most excited I think I've ever been in the cinema at the mid-credits scene. We actually got a look at the twins, who are going to play a very big role in The Avengers 2, one of them is being played by one of my very favourite actors ever, Aaron Taylor-Johnson. 

My favourite character: There are too many! However, I think I have to say The Winter Soldier is my favourite character in this film. He just makes me so sad the entire time, I wanted to sob every time he was on screen, especially at the ending. Sebastian Stan is truly an amazing actor, especially seeing as most of the acting he had to do was in the eyes. I'm excited to see where they go from here with this storyline. It's already confirmed that they are making a third instalment, set for release in May 2016. 

My least favourite character: I'm probably going to have to go down the easy route and say Alexander Pierce, played by Robert Redford, who is everyone's least favourite character. If you want a slightly more controversial answer I will tell you that I am not a big fan of Nick Fury and I find his scenes quite tedious.

Overall this was a really great film which I 100% recommend for everyone to go and see (if you've seen the first one - it won't really work if you haven't seen the first one). It's really encouraging to see that each of Marvel's works keep improving and it just makes me more excited for the films yet to come (I'm looking at you Guardians of the Galaxy!). 

March Favourites

(Favourite) Television: This month there is one particular stand out for a television series I have been loving this month and that is Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I have absolutely no words for how much I love this series. It's definitely a new favourite, and I will be adding it to 'My Favourites' list as soon I am done writing this post. It's a hilarious, fresh comedy with one of the most perfect casts I've ever watched and is truly groundbreaking. This show should be mandatory watching for everyone. I don't want to go on and on about how amazing it is but seriously, just do yourself a favour and if you're not watching it already: GO! (I actually give you permission to leave this blog post on the condition that you watch this show it is that amazing . . . and then come back and read the rest!)
I also have to give a massive honourable mention to My Mad Fat Diary. I won't talk about it much here, because I want to write a whole post on it and I'm only just finished Season 1, so watch this space! 

(Favourite) Film: Surprisingly, March has been a pretty good month for films and I. Usually, I will watch two or three films in a month, four if I'm lucky. I do favour television quite a bit more. This month, for some reason, I found more and more I was wanting to watch a film over any episodes of television I had lined up. I think that there were a lot of reasons for this, one of which was the fact that I crammed in heaps for before the Oscars, the other of which was I'm in a little bit of a television rut at the moment (I think I just have too many choices!). I'll be writing a small post about the films I have been watching, so keep an eye out for that, but without further ado, onto my favourite which I have to say was: Howl's Moving Castle. I have never watched a Studio Ghibli film before this, so I didn't know what to expect but I can tell you that since watching this I have now seen another three and plan on seeing many more. They were all films that are just enjoyable, cute and fun. The animation is absolutely stunning and so beautiful. I do have a post coming up on the films I watched in March so look out for that soon!

(Favourite) Reading: February was a big month for reading. I was on holiday in Hawaii and I just powered through quite a few books that I had been meaning to read for ages. March, with the start of uni again, has seen a rapid decline in my reading time. I am going to do a bog post sometime soon about some books I've been loving/looking forward to reading, so keep an eye out for that too. Here's an Empire article I absolutely adored reading: it's the exact article that Empire published in their June 1994 issue about the movie Four Wedding's and a Funeral (if you weren't already aware, that's my favourite movie). For this month's favourite I have to go with something I've read before and that is Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Unlike the other two in the series (The Hunger Games and Catching Fire) I haven't read this one since I originally did around three years ago. Since I saw Catching Fire I have wanted to re-read because I just couldn't really remember any of the details of what happened anymore. I finally managed to start it again a few days ago and I've just really been enjoying it. It's almost like reading it for the first time again. I have had to put it down a few times because I couldn't see the pages through my tears (no one mention Finnick) but it's also helped me get back into reading as I've started and finished two more books in the mean time. 

This photo is of Jared Leto in a dragon/lizard onesie (not that you can really tell).

(Favourite) Random: I think the most exciting thing that happened to me this month was the fact that I bought VIP tickets to meet Benedict Cumberbatch. Yes, I did pay an arm and a leg for them, but I am so excited and I think it will definitely be worth it, considering it will probably be the highlight of my life year (no pressure Benedict!). It's not until April 13th, but it's just under two weeks away now and I'm not sure I can get anymore excited! The other other highlight happened just a couple of days ago: I got see 30 Seconds to Mars live in concert! They were so amazing, it was definitely one of my favourite concerts I've ever been to. I just love every single one of their songs and Jared Leto is such an amazing performer, I'm so happy I've seen them live. 

Let me know what you've been loving the past month in the comments! 

Road to the Oscars: Day Six (Her)

Falling in love is a crazy thing to do. 

It's kind of like a socially acceptable form of insanity.

Post contains minor spoilers. 

I find the whole concept behind ‘Her’ very interesting. It freaks me out how possible this future could be. 'Her' is a movie about Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) who is living in a future city of Earth/America. In this future everyone is very reliant on technology already, but this new Operating System (OS) comes out that is like having a friend and a computer in one and is basically meant to be suited specifically to you. Theodore's OS is named Samantha, and she is voiced by Scarlett Johansson. I find the idea of having my own ‘Samantha’ quite exciting. Someone to always talk to, and that always wants to talk to you and know about your day. I don’t know, I guess I just find that idea quite comforting. I suppose that really says something about my life, doesn’t it? I don’t think, however, I would ever be a person who could fall in love with one an OS. At the beginning, where Theodore and Samantha were just meeting and getting to know each other, I found myself smiling along and thinking it was quite cute how quickly they had become close friends. When they started 'dating' however, I found myself starting to cringe a little. I was not as comfortable with it as some characters in the movie were. 

I think it would have been extremely hard for both Johansson and Phoenix. Johansson, because she had to make sure her voice was exactly on point with every single thing she said. It had to convey so much emotion, and I think she managed to pull it off spectacularly. If I was going to fall in love with anyone’s voice, Scarlett’s would definitely be on that list (Ben Whishaw, Tom Hiddleston and Bianca Lawson are all on that list too by the way). Phoenix had the difficult task of having to always be on camera, even when it was Samantha talking. His face had to play for two characters. Again, I think the casting was pretty darn perfect. I really enjoyed Amy Adams' character, also named Amy, and Rooney Mara’s character, Catherine. I think the two women, who were quite different in their personalities and different in roles they played in Joaquin’s life, really gave depth to the story and added to my understanding and feelings towards Johansson’s OS character. 

This movie won't win Best Picture, but it is certainly thought-provoking and an extremely interesting movie to see. I highly would recommend watching it with an open mind. 

As always, let me know in the comments what you thought if you've seen it!

Road to the Oscars: Day Five (Gravity)

Life in space is impossible.

I didn’t want to see this movie. When the trailer first came out, with Sandra Bullock’s endless heavy breathing and screaming, I thought to myself that there was no way in hell you were going to get me to sit through that for an hour and half. 

Then it came out and all I heard were positive reviews. I still didn’t give in though, I still wasn’t sure I could handle it. That trailer had just freaked me out. 

Then my best friend saw it. Said it was good, I’d like it. I thought to myself, sure, I’ll watch it. I’ll just put on my ‘to-watch list’ and it can sit on that list until the moment arrives where I have to watch it or perhaps, for some strange reason one day, I feel like watching it. 

Well I guess that moment arrived. No, not the one where I feel like watching it: the one where I have to watch it. It was nominated for Best Picture, and I’ve decided to review each nominee. I guess I really dug my own hole with that one. 

That whole story is really to just inform you how much I didn’t want to see this movie and how wrong I was. Basically there are two characters in this movie, Ryan Stone is played by Sandra Bullock and Matt Kowalski is played by George Clooney. There is a few other voices for a while, but that’s seriously about it. It’s strange, but oddly, it works. I thought I would have a problem with just Bullock, Clooney and a whole lot of space and heavy breathing but I have to admit that I didn’t even notice it untilI I had finished watching it. Bullock holds her own really well, and there is enough drama for the audience to be entertained while still only have one person on their screen. 

Understandably, the things that happen in this movie are quite unbelievable, but that’s alright with this movie because it’s space, and space itself is so unbelievable that you could say or do anything with it and I would believe you, no questions asked. 

Also, something happened to me which usually doesn’t happen when I watch a film: I fell for a character’s backstory. I can do it super easy with television, and in films where they are based on books I’ve read, but when it’s just a film, I find I don’t always get into them because it’s just too cliche for me. Somehow it feels too quick. However, the five minutes where Kowalski is trying to calm Stone down and ask her questions about her life, just really got to me. There were even a few tears. That’s how good Bullock is in this movie; I fell for some sad backstory. 

I don’t think this will win any Oscars. Perhaps for cinematography (and special effects or something) but Bullock won’t win Best Actress because that belongs undoubtably to Cate Blanchett. It also won’t win Best Picture but I’ll tell you something I wouldn’t have ever dreamed of saying a few days ago: I’m glad it was nominated. 

Road to the Oscars: Day Four (12 Years a Slave)

“Racism is not dead. It’s not. And that’s why this film is so important. To understand American society today, it starts with these kinds of stories, and the fact that they haven’t been dealt with yet. There’s work to be done." 

- Lupita Nyong'o

I watched 12 Years a Slave yesterday. I was going to write a post about it yesterday, but I couldn't bring myself to do it so I wrote about Dallas Buyers Club instead. I couldn't do it because I just feel like it's such a hard thing to write about. Instead I've kind of put together some words from other people along with my own. 

The movie is based on the 1853 memoir of the freeman Solomon Northup (who is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The movie is bleak, uncomfortable, terrifying, depressing but it is also "visceral, truthful and electrifyingly 'real'" (here). When I say that this movie is bleak, uncomfortable, terrifying and depressing, what I mean is, that it's exactly what director Steve McQueen wants you to feel. His shots are "intended to induce claustrophobia, physical and existential" and all his images have "considerable power" (here). 

Everyone in this movie is perfect. The whole cast is so exceptional, with performances from Lupita Nyong'o, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt and Sarah Paulson. Everyone deserves the praise they are receiving for this movie. I wish I could write more about it but really, there isn't much more I need to say other that I believe everyone should watch this movie. Not only because it a cinematic masterpiece but also because it is important for people to see the issue of slavery and racism being tackled on screen.

This will win Best Picture, I'm sure it will, and I hope it does too. It will also hopefully win Best Supporting Actress for Lupita Nyong'o, and hopefully an Oscar for Chiwetel Ejiofor too (if McConaughey doesn't edge him out). 

Road to the Oscars: Day Three (Dallas Buyers Club)

I can handle your insults, but 5%?

25. Take it or leave it.

For those of you who read my February favourites post a couple of days ago, you'll know that Matthew has been absolutely blowing my mind lately. With work like True Detective, Mud and Magic Mike he has gone from an actor I would avoid like the plague to one of my favourite actors at the moment, extremely quickly. Even his short role in The Wolf of Wall Street was outstanding. He has finally shown us his true potential as an actor, a real “McConaughnaissance” (I wish I had come up with this, but sadly the author of this very interesting article on the relationship between the Oscars and bloggers got there first). His performance as Ron Woodroof, who is diagnosed with AIDS and told he has 30 days to live, is brilliant and thought-provoking. Woodroof is not just portrayed as a two-dimensional “do-gooder” whose trying to save lives, but as a real human being, with shades light and dark. A man who is often homophobic and out to make a profit, but will stand up for the people he trusts and loves. 

With all that praise just heaped on McConaughey, I now want to state that I thought Jared Leto was just as amazing, if not slightly better. Now I could be a little bias here, because I’ve loved Leto for longer than I have McConaughey (who I’ve really only loved since True Detective started), but I don’t think I am when I say in this film Leto can be a bit of scene stealer. All eyes are focused on him and what he’s saying when he’s on screen. And although I don’t truly believe this, I have to admit I had a good chuckle when I read the fact that “Leto lost the most weight and wore eyeliner” made him "a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor” (again, taken from here). There has been a lot of discussion about Leto’s character, Rayon, and his casting. I believe that they definitely should have cast a transgender person to play the part. But sadly, they didn’t and Leto has done a pretty amazing job in their absence. 

The film itself is quite conservative, especially considering the subject its dealing with. While we see Ron regularly engaging in sexual activities before his diagnosis, post-diagnosis he is shown as abstinent except for one woman who he makes very sure also has AIDS. As this review points out, “the idea of safe sex for people with HIV is not discussed, and it is unusual for a movie on this subject to avoid the subject of condoms so entirely”. It also hardly deals with any of the politics behind the issue at the time (Reagan era America) but I don't know whether it's lacking because of it or whether it's better focusing on what the people were doing. 

Dallas Buyers probably won’t win Best Picture but I’ll tell you that it has a definite winner in Jared Leto for Best Supporting Actor and a very good chance with McConaughey for the award of Best Actor.

Road to the Oscars: Day Two (American Hustle)

Some of this actually happened.

American Hustle confuses me. Before trying to write this I went and read some other critics reviews because I wasn't one hundred per cent sure how I felt about it. What I found was everything from blatant hatred for the film to those who couldn't praise it high enough. Obviously the Academy agrees more with the latter, or it wouldn't be nominated for ten Oscars at the upcoming ceremony, one of which is 'Best Picture'. 

I have to admit, the film surprised me when I first watched it. The trailer hadn't done it any favours and there were honestly only five reasons I went to see it: Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. I definitely hadn't expected a comedy. Did anyone? A comedy about government corruption in the 70s? But I did laugh a lot throughout the film. Admittedly it was mostly laughter about the state of Christian Bale's body and Bradley Cooper's hair but there were definitely other funny parts too. Jennifer Lawrence dancing to 'Live and Let Die' certainly springs to mind. 

I agree a lot with what critic David Thompson had to say about the film in his review. Firstly, the film goes for 129 minutes, which Thompson believes is "29 minutes too long". There were many parts that they could have cut out, all of which while slightly amusing or interesting, did not add to the story at all. Secondly, he says that "one could be forgiven for thinking that the entire movie is an opportunity for these actors to read an outline of script and take it from there" and that it could easily be seen as an "after-hours jam session" for the actors. I can't help but agree. The performances were great, but it seemed too easy in some parts and a lot of the script could be called 'monotonous' without hearing any arguments from me. 

I could see it winning the Oscar for Best Costume Design, because it was pretty amazing, but if it was up to me, that would be the only one. With all that said, it definitely deserves to be on the list of the top nine films for the last year, it just won't win Best Picture.