Tuesday 30 June 2015

True Detective: Season 2, Episode 2


True Detective

So last week was a pretty slow start for the premiere of True Detective and made me think if the show would get any more thrilling, as the first season was. Maybe it was a slow start because there's more characters involved, so they have to cover more stories for the series. Plus i'm hoping to see more than just 8 episodes as they did for the first season of True Detective, because they have more characters for the series & after two episodes we still don't know the true plot of the story yet. 

Episode 2 - Night Finds You

Frank Semyon & His Demons

The opening scene of True Detective shows us Frank and his girlfriend lying in bed, and Frank starts to talk about his old man back in Chicago. Franks old man used to lock him up in the basement whenever he went out for a bender (Drinking) and Frank thought he was just trying to keep him safe. Now Frank explains a little deeper and darker on how when he was 6 years old his father put him down in the basement and the door was locked when Frank woke up. Frank says he got arrested or something but he explains further. On the 2nd morning he woke up and he was out of food, on the 2nd day the light bulb went out, making it pitch black and it made the rats come out.

Frank wakes up to a rat chewing on his finger and his girlfriend asks "What did you do?" Frank replies on, when he woke up he grabbed the rat and smashed it on the floor till it was goo in his hands, and two days later Franks father comes home.
Credit to HBO & Melty.com
This little story that Franks has at the beginning, had me intrigued so much i could picture everything he as saying to his girlfriend. Can you imagine being down in the basement in pitch black darkness while you have rats trying to chew your finger off! This tells me that Frank had a dark childhood while growing up and its just the tip of the iceberg on what really his character is like. I think he is trying to keep his demons in the past but they might catch up to him sooner or later in the series.

Paul's Mother & Girlfriend Issues

We know Paul has had some traumatic issues from his injuries to his body but he also has relationship problems with his mother and girlfriend, as we see in the 2nd episode.

His mother who lives in a trailer is trying to get Paul to stay over and always says "You can stay in you old bedroom," but Paul tells his mother that he has a new assignment with special detail and he wont be around as much, also Paul asks his mother about her shifts at the restaurant she worked at but she no longer works there anymore. He eventually stays over in his old bedroom while having a smoke next to his window.

I don't know why he has issues with his mother, but he really didn't want to stay over in his old bedroom. From the look on Paul's face, he always looked like it was a major effort with his own mother and he found it difficult to be around her for some reason, but why?

We also see him packing his stuff at his girlfriends flat, telling her that he has a new job at being detective, but she explains to him that she cant do this anymore as it is to difficult for her. Paul keeps on packing anyway and leaves her as she tells him its basically over between them and Paul says "This is you doing this" as in its all her fault for ending the relationship.
Credit to HBO
In the first episode we knew that they had problems to begin with, as Paul had erectile dysfunction and how he would always leave in the middle of the night. I think he used her for comfort for whenever Paul got lonely or bored an his girlfriend couldn't handle him leaving her in the muddle of the night or the lack of communication between the both of them.

The Unlikely Partnership

Ray Velcoro & Ani Bezzerides, we see together a numerous of times in the 2nd episode of True Detective. The unlikely partnership are trying to investigate the murder of Ben Caspar as they are driving round to place to place trying to gather information, putting the missing pieces together. As doing so, the two find a house of Ben Caspar and they also visit his psychiatrist he had been seeing for the past 3 years. With all the information they had got, it seems the two were getting no where with the investigation, until Paul gives them a bank record that matches the information Ray & Ani previously had in their possession.

It was random putting these two very different characters together but very necessary as the two work in the same department as each other, but i thought it was a matter of time before everything blew up as it was very awkward to see the two working together. There was a lot of stares and a lot of awkward silent scenes between them both.

Ray & His Son

From Rays antics with his son from the previous episode, it was a matter of time something bad was going to happen with him and his sons relationship. Ray is being the desperate weird father that his son doesn't want to be around him but Ray is always there and when Ray found out his son was getting bullied, he went to the others kids house and beaten up his dad in front of his sons bully.

When Ray thinks hes about to meet his son, he is met by his ex girlfriend/wife and she tells Ray that his son wont be here and that she is going for full custody of their son and supervised visits because of Ray's antics lately.
Credit to HBO & Melty.com

This clearly has made him very angry as the one thing he has in his life and loves dearly, is going to be taken away from him if his ex girlfriend gets full custody of their son. If a desperate father is trying his best to do good for his son, how desperate will he get if they take him away from Ray?

Franks Getting Desperate

Now that Frank knows that Ben Caspar Is dead, he pays a numerous of visits, one of those visits is to a dealership businessmen for Ben Caspar which now Frank has a problem with,  as he tries to explain to the dealership businessmen how Caspar died with 5 million of his money and now the business deal can no longer go on with out Ben Caspar's deal papers. 

The deal that was suppose to make Frank a fortune is down the drain as the death of Caspar has ruined everything for him, taking most of Franks money to Caspar's grave. Who wouldn't be angry right? 

Two Russian guys have just beaten up a businessman after they crashed in to the back of his car, but that was the plan, since they wanted him out of the car to beat him up. After they've beaten him, Frank runs across the road, to the beaten man who is lying on the floor moaning in pain and Frank starts to ask him patronizing questions on "Who would do such a thing, to get guys like that, after you?" and that he should take more care and not to try p*ss people off.

Frank had this all planned out and he did this to scare the man and threaten him in some way but tried to act all innocent and patronizing towards the businessman. It was a bit passive aggressive in some way as Frank was trying to get in to his head with out doing any physical harm to the man. 

Franks pays a last visit to the city Mayor and hands him a little paper brown envelope with money inside for "business." The two talk about business but also the mayors son and how Franks wants to know who killed Caspar, because his life's work is put on hold.

OK, now we see Frank getting very desperate because hes going to the most powerful man in the city, the mayor! The mayor obviously must be dirty since he took the money from Frank and talks openly about Franks ongoing business but no major information about this scene was given away as the mayor is very mysterious and blunt.

A Killer Ending

Frank and Ray meet at the dreary dim bar where the music is down and slow as much as the people who drink there. 

Frank hands over a piece of paper with new information, that Caspar had another house in Hollywood. He tells Ray to go check it out but Ray also has something on his mind to tell Frank. Ray begins to talk about how Ray & Frank met & that its not the life for him anymore, that he has no reason to to carry on because hes tired. Frank doesn't take it on board and tells Ray to go check the house anyway.


I think Ray doesn't want to work with Frank anymore because he knows his son will be taken away from him and what else is there to fight for? That's why hes bringing this conversation up. Also Frank is desperate and he wont take him serious enough to care about Ray's thoughts.

Ray arrives at the house Frank advised him to go to, and he pick locks the front door till it opens. He enters inside the house and hears old music playing in the background, so he moves around the house slowly so hes more aware of his surroundings. Ray sees a puddle of blood on the living room floor as he switches on the light and this makes him look around the room for more clues. He opens up a hidden mirrored door that lies with in the walls of the house and sees a cam recorder facing towards the one way mirrored door he just opened. As Ray backs out of the room, a masked man who is wearing a crow mask to his his face, shoots Ray with a shot gun and Ray falls down to the ground, the gunman  then walks up to Ray and shoots him again in the stomach to finish him off for good. 

Told you it was a killer ending! And how very random was that? I did not expect to see Ray get shot or killed so soon in the series, that's if he is dead. He might of had a bullet proof vest on or something. 

Does anyone else think it was part of Franks plan to get him in the house to get him killed? Or it could of been the person who killed Caspar, which puts Frank in more of a bad situation. Plus if Ray did die, it might mean that Ani & Paul will have to partner up to find Caspar's and Rays killer for the duration of the season, while Frank is also trying to find out but obviously on the other side of the law.

Conclusion
The overall episode was slow as the first episode but had more of a thrilling ending as we see Ray get shot viciously. I think it was more of a build up episode for the future of the series as we might see more compelling and thrilling scenes as we see Frank get desperate to find the killer and make the deal happen and also the work of the detectives and officer Paul.

I'm excited to see what happens with the upcoming episodes of true Detective and i hope you guys are also excited.

Discussion

  1. What did you think of the overall episode?
  2. Did you expect more from the episode?
  3. What was your favourite part of the episode? & Why?
  4. What was your least favourite part of the episode? & Why?
  5. What do you think will happen next with the characters?
  6. What do you want to happen? & Why?
  7. Why did they shoot Ray?
  8. Is Ray dead or alive? & how would he even survive if so?
  9. If Ray does survive how will he fit in the rest of the season?
  10. Do you think there will be more episodes than the first season of True Detective?

Monday 29 June 2015

Under The Dome: Season 3, Episode 1&2


Under The Dome

Quick Recap Of Season 2
  • Julia randomly Finds a unknown girl drowning in the lake & Sam knows her
  • The Dome is getting stronger and pulling everything magnetic towards it
  • Angie follows the "unknown" girl in to the high school
  • Angie gets killed in the high school while she followed the "unknown" girl
  • Junior is having realistic dreams about his dead mother. Turns out shes alive
  • Angie left a bloody hand print on a locker that turns out to be the "unknown" girls locker, 25 years ago
  • They discover the "unknown" girls identity is Melanie and shes the sister of Barbie
  • They discover a tunnel under the school and barbie falls down a black hole while he was abseiling it
  • Barbie wakes outside of the dome in a random city and asks his dad for help
  • Barbies dad takes him to a back door that takes them back in to the Dome, with 3 other people with him, including Juniors "dead" mother, Mollie
  • All 4 of them got back in to the Dome and they all appear to be in the lake
  • Mollie keeps getting bad head aches from the domes egg so Jim agrees to get rid of it by giving it to the military and by doing so the Dome is contracting inwards, destroying the town
  • Melanie got sucked in to a whirl wind hole and created a tunnel, which the towns people follow, hoping it will lead them out of the Dome 
  • The towns people can see Melanie in bright light and says "Follow me, where going home"

Episode 1&2 - Move On/ But I'm Not

The new season of Under The Dome doesn't actually start off inside the dome but with a new story with Barbie as a Special Ops. We see Barbie holding a powerful automatic gun, patrolling and killing what ever is in front of him and gradually capturing one of the people to gather information from, to eventually killing him after he got the information out of the person he just captured. Anyone else confused yet? i know i am!

We see Barbie arrive at the Special Ops HQ and with a new girl involved with Barbie as we see them have a intimate shower scene together and also share the same bed. Barbie and his new girl are napping down for the night and we see a cut scene, i think its a dream of Barbie's as there is a white glow around the screen, meaning its a flash back or a dream of some kind. It would make sense if it was a dream.

The dream is of Barbie shouting for Julia but then finds her dead, lying in a ditch and covered by tree branches. Barbie picks her up and says "I'm Here, Just Like I promised." Barbie wakes up suddenly with a cold sweat, waking up his new girlfriend beside him as well. She says "its been over a year now, maybe it will be a good idea to back to Chester's Mill for the memorial...So you can move on."

What the hell just happened? i'm confused as anything! First of all, when did Barbie become special Ops? & 2nd what happened when they got out of the Dome? I felt like they have just skipped a whole lot of stuff, with Barbie's new job, new girlfriend and the 1 year later business going on, talk about throwing me in to the deep end here.

Another cut scene jumps to Julia & Junior, down in the tunnels shouting for Barbie, but nothing shouts back. The two hatch up a plan to get a ladder to cross the other side of the tunnel but Big Jim ruins the plan by tying the two up and asking them what their plan was. He eventually lets them both go to carry on with their plan but shoots Junior in the shoulder in the process of it all.

Now we are back in Chester's Mill with Barbie and hes just seen a familiar face walking the street, Melanie. Barbie wasn't the only one to see Melanie as Ben saw her too. Ben creeps upon Barbie in the woods, confronting him that they saw the same person and that everything isn't all that it seems, that everything around them isn't real. 

OK, we see Barbie return to Chester's Mill a year later after the Dome incident, for the memorial of the people who died, but everything seems weird as he is seeing Melanie roam the streets and other people can see her too. what does this even mean? Also how are we seeing Julia and Junior down the tunnels if they are dead? or are they dead? I think these questions will be answered further into the episode.

As we see cut scenes jump back and forth to the people who were trapped under the dome but now living a life Dome free for a year, we see them how they all turned out but all have now gathered back to the same place for the memorial. Coincident? Melanie can see them all through the purple window like screens, as if she is controlling them by touching the screens. We can also see Ben running towards the memorial and collapsing and stops breathing as if hes being strangled, but he is being strangled, strangled by Melanie in the world they actually all live in and not in the fake world, Chester's Mill. Kind of making a bit more sense now isn't it? 

Julia & Junior are on the other side of the tunnel were Melanie has just killed Ben, but Julia or Junior know nothing about this yet. Junior collapsed on the floor while being attacked by the aggressive butterflies and Julia is discovering that all of the people who went through the tunnel are all unconscious in purple cocoons. Melanie can see Junior on the floor and wakes him up and kisses him, which takes Junior to a bright room with the echoing of Melanie's voice and he begins to get sucked in to one of the cocoons that Julia has just found.

Now it makes sense! The people in the cocoons are all being controlled and have been made to believe that they are all been living their life normally but in-fact they are still in the Dome in the Tunnel cocoons. 

Barbie has been seeing some familiar faces right? But when he goes to the diner he bumps in to some one he thought that was dead, Junior. Barbie swears on his life that he saw Juniors dead body and his name on the memorial wall, but he cant make sense of it all. Also remember the guy Barbie killed on his Special Ops mission?  Well Barbie just bumped in to him at Chester's Mill. Whaaaat!!

On the other side of the Dome Julia & Melanie have met up in the tunnels and are now waiting at the lake for Melanie's Father, because Melanie wrote on the Dome "Daddy Hurry." Don, Melanie's father lands in the lake and he has brought the egg with him for Melanie's help, but he doesn't know that Melanie isn't really his daughter and she begins to strangle him to death to steal the egg from him. 

I think Barbie is on to something as he keeps seeing dead people roam around Chester's Mill like nothing happened. First with the dead guy from the Special Ops missions and 2nd Junior walks in to the diner, all happy as Larry! 

If you don't understand what just happened with the junior situation, ill break it down for you. When Junior got put in to the cocoon by Melanie after she kissed him, he was automatically made to believe he has had a normal life and the dome was a year ago, which brings him back to the fake world with everyone else, including Barbie and the others. The cocoon is brain washing the people at the Chester's Mill memorial. 

Now Melanie killed her "father" for the egg, what will she do with it now? kill the people in the cocoon with it?

Because Barbie has seen the dead guy from his Special Ops mission, he follows him to find out what is happening, but he is shortly interrupted by a phone call off his new girlfriend and it turns out to be the new psychiatrist of Chester's Mill telling Barbie that his girlfriend is in hospital. Another coincident from stopping barbie finding out the truth?

Julia has followed Melanie back to the cocoon tunnels and Melanie places the egg on top of one of the cocoons which activates it, making it do something to the other cocoons around the tunnel. Julia has now found out who Melanie really is but still questions on what she is doing with the egg, and when Julia finds out, Melanie slaps her and begins to strangle her. This is where Big Jim comes to the rescue and interrupts them both, smashing the eggs activation beam leading to the cocoons, freeing the people inside them all. The new Psychiatrist and Barbies new girlfriend help each other out of the cocoon by grabbing on to each others arms, as if they know each other.

When Barbie got a phone call when he was about to follow the guy he thought he killed, i thought it was a bit obvious that he got interrupted on purpose from stopping him from finding out the truth. 

Also what was the egg doing when it got activated? and what would happened if Big Jim didn't stop it? Annnnnnd who is Melanie? she been on a massive killing spree, killing her father which is actually not her father, which makes me think she might be someone else or a alien of some kind!

I also think that the new girlfriend and the psychiatrist might also be involved with Melanie's plan as they might have been in the cocoons to stop the people knowing what is actually happening in the Dome, as you see them both interrupt Barbie and his plan to find out. 

Conclusion

Overall it was a very confusing episode but it gradually made sense towards the end, making me think how clever how it turned out. I think the Barbies new girlfriend and the psychiatrist is working together with Melanie, maybe they are the same kind or that they have made a deal with Melanie to keep the rest of the population safe, so they agreed to help her.

To be honest i don't have a clue now how it will all plan out, now they are all out of the cocoons. They might all be trapped in the tunnel with the two new characters that Barbie thought one was his girlfriend and the other who people turned to for help, who were actually involved with the plan. 

Discussion
  1. What did you think of the 2 hour long episode?
  2. What was the best part of the episode? & why?
  3. What was the worst part of the episode? & why?
  4. Was you confused as much as i was?
  5. What do you think of the two new characters?
  6. Why are the two new characters helping Melanie?
  7. Are the two characters the same as Melanie?
  8. What was the egg doing to the cocoons?
  9. Who is Melanie & what is she there for?
  10. What do you think will happen in the next episode?








Saturday 27 June 2015

The Longest Ride


The Longest Ride

A former bull riding champion falls in love with  college student Sophia, but conflict paths threatens to tear them apart: Luke is trying to make a come back on the bull riding circuit, while Sophia is about to start her dream job in the New York art world. when the couple are stuck on how to work things out they are inspired by a elderly man Ira, whose decades long romance with his beloved wife withstood the test of time.

Thoughts & Experiences

Its been two days with out a blog post and i'm having cold turkey withdrawals from not writing! So i decided to change things up and watch a romantic movie for you, since a lot of you will probably love love romantic movies and ill admit it, i love romantic movies as well! 


As you guest correctly the movie i watched last night was the new upcoming film, The Longest Ride. The Longest Ride has to be one the best romance movies i have seen in  along time, instantly putting it on my top 10 lists. When i was watching the Longest Ride i couldn't help compare it to other romantic movies like "The Notebook," & "Dear John." After the movie was over i had to google it, and it turns out it was the same novelist (Nicholas Sparks) who wrote the two novels, including The longest Ride.

At the start of the movie it shows us a bull riding rodeo, where men have to ride a large bull for 8 seconds to qualify for the next round, Introducing us the male lead role, Luke Collins. Luke Collins is a champion bull rider and has just drawn the largest and meanest bull on the rodeo circuit. When Luke gets on to the bull you can see how feisty and angry the beast is, as it is rattling the bull cage before entering the open circuit.  The gates open for Luke and the maniac bull and the crowd goes wild as they see Luke and beast fight it out for 8 seconds, but something goes wrong as you see Luke get thrown off the bull furiously.
I Loved the beginning of the movie as it was different from other romantic movies and started off thrilling and exciting to see rodeo bull riding from the start. I Believed that something bad happened there and then as it cut off and made me think what could of happened to Luke when he fell off. 

Fast forward 1 year later from Luke's bull riding accident, and bring in the female lead role Sophia Danko. Sophia is a sorority college student and is asked by one of her sorority sisters to go watch a bull riding rodeo with the other sorority sisters for the day. Sophia and her sorority friends are now at the rodeo having a good time and watching the riders do their thing and Sophia is fascinated by one of the riders, who turns out to be Luke. Luke is on top of one of the bulls nervous than ever before, bringing flash back images from his accident 1 year ago, but Luke manages to contain his feelings and completes his bull ride for 8 seconds, making him the champion of the local tournament.

Sophia & Luke have a brief encounter at the tournament as he runs away from the charging bull he just defeated and climbing the gates in front of Sophia. Sophia can see that Luke dropped his hat in the process of running away and shouts him to give it him back, but he tells her to "keep it." Smooth!

The two have anther encounter at the rodeo after party and finally have a chance to introduce themselves to each other, but the encounter was short and sweet as one of Sophia's sorority sisters is to drunk to look after her self, making Sophia take her home, and Luke agrees to call her. I'm Guessing for a date or to hang out.

A couple of days later they haven't spoken or haven't called each other, so Sophia finally gets the courage to call him and they both agree to go out on a date. Finally! 

Luke & Sophia are enjoying an afternoon by the lake, engaging in some good food and conversation. Sophia tells Luke that she wont be in college for long as shes taking a job in New York and this makes Luke sad as you can tell by his facial expressions. Luke asks to take Sophia home because it is interrupted by a down fall of rain, but while they are driving home Luke sees something and stops his car. When Luke gets out, he sees a car that has crashed off road in to a tree he tells Sophia to call 911. Luke drags an elderly man out of the burning car and puts him in his truck, while Sophia grabs a box that is still in the burning car because the man was begging them to rescue it from the wreckage. 

It went from romance to super hero movie in the space of 5 minutes, it was a incredible transition. The dinner date by the lake reminded me of summer time for some reason, probably because the scenery was beautiful and sunny. Then when everything was all lovey dovey the scene changed to an action movie, where we see Luke rescue the elderly man from his car. I guess this worked in his favor because its showing off his many hero skills in front of the girl he likes. 

Luke & Sophia have just dropped of the elderly man off at hospital and Sophia agrees to stay there till he wakes up. The two apart ways as they think nothing will happen between them both and Luke drives off in to the stormy night. Sophia is now alone in the waiting room along with the box she rescued from the burning car and opens it up. Inside are hundreds and hundreds of letters, so she decides to open one up and read it. The reading cuts to a new scene a old decade of the elderly mans memories of his first love and how they came to meet each other.

This part was so emotional and warming as it shows us Ira's first memory of his first love in a letter he wrote. I think the decade was from the 40's  from what i can tell from the clothing and vehicles. In them days it was all so romantic and true, because there wasn't technology like we have today's world, which i think ruins the whole romantic side because who writes letters these days? its all text and social media romance. I would of loved to have a romance from the 40's era where it was at its best in my opinion.

As Sophia goes to take the box of love letters to Ira, she can see him there arguing with the nurse to eat something, but he refuses. Sophia tells him to eat something and she will read the letters to him because he struggles to read, even with his glasses on. Sophia begins to read another letter and the memories flow wild with emotion. Sophia tells Ira she will come back tomorrow to read more letters to him and for the duration of there newly found friendship.
I thought this was brilliant and clever of the producers to get Sophia to go back to the hospital to read the letters to Ira, to have two different love stories in one movie. I have never seen this in a movie before which made it very unique for the me, i'v seen flash backs before but not as many to make up a new story for a movie like The longest Ride achieved.

Conclusion
 
When i watched the The Longest Ride it reminded me of the great romantic movies like i mentioned before. I think this could be one of the greats for years to come and i think the viewers would love this unique adaption of the Novel. 

The first encounter with Sophia and Luke was well planned out and didn't rush in to anything serious like most movies would. The accident with Luke made me think that this could be a barring for him in his life and for Sophia as well, but could they find the strength to endure it together with out being torn apart?

The best part for me was the memories of Ira and his love Ruth. This is what made the movie unique and stand out, it was interesting to see how Ira's life would turn out after some hard times, in both of their lives. The two very different era love stories were very similar to each other as both had hard times and had to keep the strength to stay with one another, but gradually overcome the hard situations like most couples would in reality. 

Overall the movie was very emotional in good and in upsetting ways but what romantic movie isn't? The story was superb and gripping, which i think most romantics will love. 

Characters/Actors

Britt Robertson is the gorgeous actress who plays the gorgeous Sophia Danko. Britt did a good part in capturing the emotion of a girl who is madly in love, making me believe she was actually in love with the rodeo cow boy. I'v been watching Britt for about 4 years now in TV & Movies and she absolutely deserves the recognition she is getting today.


If you think this guy looks like a younger version of Clint Eastwood, its because its his son Scott Eastwood. Scott Eastwood did a fine job in being a Texas rodeo cowboy and what a gentlemen he was. I think the women would love a guy like Scott's character Luke, as he was kind, thoughtful and knew how to treat a women at best. 


Alan Alda was the old Ira who was in the car crash. he made me think he was heartbroken and lost since the death of Ruth. He didn't seem happy any more until Sophia read the letters he wrote to Ruth. I think Alan could make older viewers relate the situation he was in and the circumstances he faced in the movie.

Jack Huston played the best part for me because i haven't seen him act before and he played the part very well and uniquely. he started off as a shy man who fell in love with a women out of his league, to become a man who came out of his shell which Ruth brought out the best in him. As a British actor i actually thought he was American with the accent he spoke in the movie.


Oona Chaplin is the Spanish actress who plays foreign character Ruth. Ruth moved to America due to the war and lead her to meet her true love Ira. Ruth has a love of art and collected art over the years of Ira & Ruth's marriage. Over the years they have collected a rare bunch of paintings that are worth millions, which Sophia & Luke discover at the end of the movie. 

Discussion
  1. What did you think of the overall movie?
  2. What was you favourite scenes? & Why?
  3. What could of been improved in the movie?
  4. What was you least favourite scenes? & Why?
  5. Was the actors/actresses suitable for the roles? 
  6. Who was you favourite character? & Why?
  7.  Did you think the movie was as good as the novel?
  8. Is the movie better that the book?
  9. Is the book better than the movie?
  10. What movie would you compare this to for similarity?


Friday 26 June 2015

About


YourMoviesInMind

YouMoviesInMind is a blog about my thoughts and experiences on the latest Movies & TV series that i am currently watching.  You could call this a review blog but i try to keep it unique as much as possible. A Typical review blog will only explain the movie and the qualities it holds, when my blog will explain the movie while i include my thought process while i watched it. 

My goal is create a social community who have the same or opposite thoughts as i did while watching the movie and TV series, hoping it will make a general discussion on the topic, between me and other people. 

Explanation

In this section i will break down and explain on how my blog works, so you guys can fully understand the process.

Scenes & Thoughts - This part of my writing is when i will explain more in depth about the scenes and the base line of the story of the movie/TV series, i wont talk about the entire movie but enough for the readers to get what the gist of the story, hopefully grabbing the attention of the readers. I will include my thought process while i watched the movie. My thought process is where you will see my writing change to Bold&Italic, so it highlights what i am thinking in that moment in time.

Conclusion - At the end i like to come up with a conclusion of my overall experience on the movie or TV series that have watched, hoping it will give you a better insight and hopefully it will interest you in to watching it as well.

Favourite scenes - The sub title says it all, this is where i will explain my favourite scenes of the movie/TV series, where i found it emotional or had big impact on me while i was watching. 

Characters/Actors - I will explain the characters of the movie/TV Series if necessary , and also the actors who played the characters.

Discussion - Discussion is simply for fun and helps people engage in my latest blog posts, this includes a number of questions that is related to the post.

My Lists - I always found my self having a conversation with friends where they would ask my top favourite actors or movies and this gave me the idea to create"My Lists" page. My Lists is one of my pages on the blog where i will write up a lists on a topic to do with the movie & TV industry.

Wednesday 24 June 2015

Independent Movies

Independent Movies

This will be a list of my top ten Independent movies i have watched over the years. This list wont be in any order or ranked, it will be randomised.

Lost In Translation

A lonely, aging movie star named Bob Harris meets a conflicted newlywed Charlotte on a trip in Tokyo. Strangers in a foreign land find escape, distraction and amidst the bright Tokyo lights after meeting in the hotel bar. They have bonded that is meaningful and heartfelt.

I really liked Lost In Translation because i can understand the loneliness in a foreign country and then reconnecting with someone to form a bond. I think the audience would love this movie and could relate to it on so many different levels.

This is the type of movie people should take when they are traveling for business, as they could understand the film and how they could relate to the characters of the movie.

The Hurt Locker


A bomb disposal group are in the last final days of their tour in Baghdad, the men face increasingly dangerous situations, an of which could end their lives in a explosive instant.

The Hurt Locker is truthful in many ways as the men & women who protected their country in Baghdad faced these situations in real life and it made me wonder on how anyone could do such a job, i really do praise their bravery and mindset to overcome such thing.

It has to be one of the most thrilling movies iv seen on the last ten years of my life, as it is very gripping with most of the bomb scenes and the director did a great job in this Independent move, nabbing the film 6 Oscar wins!

Like Crazy 

A British girl who is studying in Los Angeles, falls madly in love with an American boy who studies at the same college as her. However the two lovers are forced apart when the girl violates the terms of her Visa, sending her home to England. They try a long distant relationship but circumstances change and things get harder for the couple.

I'v not had a long distant relationship before and to be honest i wouldn't want one, but i can understand how easy it could be to get yourself in a long distant relationship if you are madly in love with the person.

I highly recommend this film because i know a lot of people are trying to have long distant relationships and they could try and see from a different perspective of things, maybe to make things easier for themselves.

Jeff Who Lives At Home


When Jeff leaves his mothers basement to buy some glue, he looks for signs from the universe to determine his fate. A series of unexpected events leads Jeff to cross paths with his family, including his mother and his brother. If Jeff is lucky he will find the meaning of his own life.

I actually watched this movie again the other week on Netflix and i'm glad its in my top ten list, as it is very different from and other Jason Segel & Ed Helms movies. It is a very dry comedy, so i think it will take a lot to laugh if you don't understand any of it. 

If you are looking for something different than any other comedy movies, then i would tell you to watch this as the ending is beautiful and meaningful in every way.

Everything Must Go

A longtime salesmen has seen better days and is no longer at the top of his game. He is now a alcoholic and got fired from his job, as he turned up drunk. On that same day his girlfriend dumps him and sees his possessions on the front lawn and is facing the fact that his life is collapsing. He then holds a big yard sale and turns it in to a survival strategy.

If you love Will Farrell then i think you would love this movie as he is funny and very different from any other typical movie he has done before. 

If you have had the worst day of you life before then you should watch this movie as it shows us that its not all so bad and you can come out the other side as a winner. Remember, everything happens for a reason right? that's how i think anyway!


500 Days Of Summer

A greeting card writer and a hopeless romantic is completely caught of guard, when his girlfriend Summer Dumps him. He then reflects on the 500 days they spent together and tries to figure out where it went wrong. When doing so he reconnects with his true passion in his life.

OK, lets set this straight that this isn't a romantic movie at all, it is a way of life movie that tells us what we are all thinking when the one we love ends it, "Where Did it Go Wrong?"

If you have been hurt or dumped on then this is a great movie to watch, because when i watched it, it reminded me of myself when i was in that same position and i'm sure many of us have been in that position too. It a great story and it all worked out in the end, like it does for most people. 


Requiem For A Dream

Requiem for a Dream tells parallel stories that are linked by the relationship between the lonely, widowed and the aimless. 

I had to watch this film a couple of times as it is very confusing and very eccentric, but an eye opener on some of the reality of the truth it holds. 

The characters in Requiem For A Dream are all linked together in some way or another and are all addicts in their own way. I think we are all addicts to something and are creatures of habit, which is why i liked this movie and learnt a thing or two.

I also liked the mixture of actors, especially Jared Leto because i am a big 30 Seconds To Mars (Music band) fan, and Jared Leto is now a Oscar winning actor. 

All i will say it that you will either love or hate this movie.


The Perks Of Being A Wallflower


A shy introvert freshman is welcomed in group of seniors who give him confidence that he hasn't had before and introduces him to the real world.

The Perks Of Being a Wallflower has to be in my top 3 of all time Independent movies as it so emotional to watch freshman kid find some people to like him and show him the ropes to the real world, it was completely moving. The movie had some dark moments but was all necessary to the story line, which made it gritty and truthful in some ways.

The actors played their characters spot on and possible made the audience relate to some of them.

The Way, Way Back


A awkward teen who has to spend the summer at a beach house with his mother, her boyfriend and his daughter. As his mothers boyfriend is always bothering him so he attends to a water park and lands him self a job their, attending the slides and pools. The time he spends at the water park he sees the manager as a father figure as he desperately needs one.

The Way, Way Back is kind of similar to The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, because it shows us a introvert teen who finds himself confidence and friends for himself just like the previous movie. I love movies like this because i can remember being a awkward teen once and it was so horrible for my confidence and i gradually got over it, like the characters in these movies.

I also liked this movie because it reminds me over summer so much and i love summer! Plus i would love to work at a water park like the teen did and meet some awesome people. 

Stuck In love
A successful writer tries to reconnect with his two children after his divorce. The family come to terms with the complexity of love.

Another series of stories of different characters of this wonderful romantic movie. I love movies like this because it is complex with different stories and towards the end they all reconnect together. In this case its a family, but a broken family that come together at the end for love.

I would say this is one of my favourite romantic films iv seen, that i have watched a dozen of times, as it gives me a mix of emotions as it is not all about happy love but the hateful, heartache love that some people might go through in their lives. 

Conclusion

Not all big budget production movies are the best or emotional as the Independent movies we see today. We should all take the time to sit down and watch at least one indi movie in our life time as they hold more of a connection to people in a way big budget movies might not have.

Discussion 
  1. What did you think of the list?
  2. What movies would you add in my list?
  3. Do you have a list? & What is it?
  4. Has anyone seen any of the movies on my list & enjoyed/disliked any of them?
  5. Whats your favorite and worst Independent movie you have watched?

Tuesday 23 June 2015

SPY


SPY
Summary

Susan Cooper has worked her whole life behind the desk for the CIA, working in a partnership with the handsome agent Bradly Fine, being his eyes and ears to help Bradly avoid danger. Sadly, Bradly gets assassinated by a beautiful Bulgarian arms dealer Rayna Buyanov.  Despite Susan's agent training she has never been out in the field or held a gun before and she manages to wiggler her way in to her very first mission as a secret agent, to help capture Boyanov and avenge Bradly.

Thoughts & Experiences

After a long boring day yesterday i was deciding what movie to watch, and i thought i was going to watch Mad Max again because its so awesome, but then i changed my mind to watch SPY. I was a little reluctant as i thought it was going to be another typical wacky comedy and that wasn't the case at all, i was surprised on how well it turned out in the end.

The lead role was played by Melissa McCarthy who plays the behind the desk agent, Susan Cooper. Most of the movies i'v watched Melissa McCarthy in have all been well and funny but none have made a impact on me and made me think that was amazing or funny as hell, they all seem to be the same type of film but with a different story. I think this is because Melissa has created a image for herself, so most of the movies she plays are very similar to each other.

The opening to SPY was full of action straight away, showing us Bradley Fine (Jude Law) do his job as a CIA agent, as he is undercover at a guest party. Bradley creates a diversion at the party to sneak of into the background and goes to a under underground stair way to find his target man at gun point. At this point i'm thinking hes done his job well and its almost completed, but wait... There's more. The two men are now facing each other with Bradly asking the terrorist "where's the nuclear bomb?" and gives him a warning of 10 seconds to tell him or hes dead, but BANG...Bradly's gun shoots the terrorist in the head as Bradley sneezes from allergies he suffers with.


This was so funny because it was so unexpected, i didn't know what just happened as it was so fast of a sneeze reaction. The terrorist was saying "I think i have more than ten seconds," and when Bradley starts to talk again, "Ahhchoo!...Pew," right between the terrorists eyes. He stands there for a while before collapsing, when Bradley realises what just happened he shouts out in anger because that was the only terrorist that had the information he needed for the CIA.  

While that just happened he is talking to his partner, the eyes and the ears for his safety, Susan Cooper. Susan Cooper is telling Bradley that she put his allergy medicine in his coat pocket and says "i herd you sniffle before, so its blood on my hands." Susan then guides him out of the armed building to safety and praise each other in to their ear pieces. 

Random but very funny opening to SPY and a good way to introduce the roles and the characters of the movie, making the viewers & i have a very good first impression.


Bradley Fine is now on his 2nd mission to get the Bulgarian women named Rayna Boyanov (Rose Bryne). Bradly is wondering around a house looking for Rayna but its deserted as no one is around, but as he notices this, two men come from behind and Bradley takes them out with his agent trained combat moves. When Bradley is showing off to Susan in front of the mirror, Rayna already has him at gun point which leads to Bradley's death. As Rayna shoots and kills Bradley, she speaks to his camera which Susan is watching on the other side and Rayna names all of the undercover agents, blowing their secret identity.


The thing i didn't like about this scene was i thought it was a bit to obvious on what Bradley's plan was, but i wont get in to that. I think this because his hidden camera that Susan looks through is getting connection problems so she cant see properly & at the time of Bradley's death we actually don't see him dying, we just see and hear the gun shoot at him, initially making the audience think he's dead, but is he?

Now all of the secret agents are sitting round a table at the CIA headquarters, discussing what to do next now their identity is not a secret anymore. Rick Ford (Jason Stathem) is among the secret agents who has been identified and is very upset, screaming profanities towards his boss and fellow agents around the table. The agents are trying to come up with a plan but unable to since they have no way of getting close to Rayna as she knows who they all are, accept from Susan Cooper. Susan comes up with an idea to go out in the field as a secret agent so she can revenge her friend/agent Bradley Fine. This makes Rick angry as the boss is considering it and he quits his job (This leads him to be a rogue agent) and storms out.

Jason Statham's character Rick Ford literally had me laughing all the way through this scene as you couldn't take his character serious because hes always swearing and coming up with stupid scenarios to catch Rayna. Rick Comes up with a plan to go in to the "Face off machine" to change his identity but it was a joke and he didn't know that the machine isn't real. 

Rick ford quits and this makes him a rogue agent further in to the movie, this leads to Susan to become a real agent and its hilarious because she hasn't been out in the action before,  let alone shoot a gun. 


Favourite scenes



one of my favourite scenes is where she is discussing with her boss, and she is handed a new identity for her mission. Some of the costumes/wigs are funny and entertaining for the viewers to enjoy and to laugh about.


The first fight scene Susan gets her self into is probably the funniest part of the movie for me as she kicks the bad guy between the legs, making him stab him self and falling off a balcony. As she sees him on the ground, she throws up vomit and it lands all over the dead guys body and face, she drops the knife that lands in to his chest and finally faints to the ground.


Susan Cooper is on a epic car chase, well a scooter chase as she chasing a car through the city of Rome on a scooter. She is chasing and shooting the car, almost loosing it as she is blocked off by road works, until she sees a ramp that leads to the other side of the road work.

Susan goes for the jump in epic slow motion and lands in wet cement on the other side of the road works. Now she is driving awkwardly slow through the cement while all the angry builders shout at her for ruining their hard work.

can you imagine doing that awesome jump and then to land in wet cement to ruin your jump. Any way this part was funny because Susan's face says it all on how awkward it is.


Conclusion

I expected to have a typical Melissa McCarthy movie & i think it was a typical McCarthy movie as its similar to some of the movies she has already done, like Heat & Identity Thief. I like her similar movies but i would say this, don't expect it to be any different from her previous movies.

Jude Law did an average job on acting, nothing to serious but he was very funny and entertaining to watch, something different from the actor that i liked. Also Jason Statham didn't have much acting to do with the movie but i would honestly say he was the funniest person out of them all, with his one liners, swear words and his ego that you cant take very seriously.

Overall i liked the movie as Melissa McCarthy was her funny usual self, the other two actors were funny and some of the scenes were hilariously fitting towards the story line, so i would recommend this movie.

Discussion

  1. Did you like the overall movie?
  2. Could the movie have been any better?
  3. What parts of the movie would you improve? & Why?
  4. Did you like the characters/Actors?
  5. Who was you favourite Character? & Why?
  6. Who was you least favourite character? & Why?
  7. What was your funniest part of the movie?
  8. Do you think there will be a sequel?
  9. What will the sequel be about?
  10. Any new or original actors for the sequel?