True Detective: Season 2, Episode 1

True Detective

Summary

True Detective is a collection of series in which police investigations unravel the personal and professional of those involved, within or outside the law.

Episode 1 - The Western Book Of The Dead

I caught up on last nights episode premier of True Detective season 2 this morning and wow, it was so slow and a bit pointless of a first episode if you ask me, but i'll get in to that further on into the blog. If you're wondering why i didn't watch it last night its because i live in England, so i have to wait a day later to watch things that air in America first, which sucks so much!

When ever i watch on a carry on series or a sequel to a film or anything on them lines, i'm always going to compare them together. Season 1 of True Detective was truly a great first season for the series, with great actors (Mathew McConaughey & Woody Harrelson,) amazing story plot and don't forget on how gritty and truthful it was, making the viewers want more. I think season 2 has got some serious work to do if they want to compare/compete with season 1 of True Detective.

After i watched the first episode of True Detective i was pretty much disappointing and left confused as i didn't know what the produces was going for, it didn't have any true story behind it and the cut scenes was to random to keep up with. The whole episode was basically the reveal of the characters and what their persona was all about. With season 1's first episode we knew who the characters were, what role they had and what the story was about straight away. OK, they gave a little bit about the new characters but not much as it might because they're more A list-ers in the mix.

Characters/Actors

Collin Farrell is our first A list actor we see in the first episode of True Detective playing the character Ray Velcoro. Ray Velcoro is a Lieutenant of the Vinci's police department, a fictional California city. Ray also has a side line job with career criminal Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn,) Who helped Ray 20 years early with some information on who raped his wife. This first scene where the two characters meet for the first time gives us a flash back to the past as we know True Detective loves to do from the last season. We know this was a flash back as we see Ray Velcoro with a clean shave with a mustache, looking sober and wearing a sheriff uniform but now Ray is a Alcoholic with relationship problems with his bullied son and has a hot temper as we see him brutally beating up a couple of people.

I think Collin Farrell's character will be one of the most explosive and main characters of the new season as he is dangerous and a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. I think Frank will play him as one of his pawns in the criminal world and he might get into some sticky situations.

Vince Vaughn plays the criminal businessmen Frank Semyon, a person who has climbed the ranks since the last flash back, 20 years ago. Frank now owns a casino and planning to make his fortunes with a 68bn high speed railway road through the city of Vinci. As being a buisnessman you would think he has left his criminal ways behind him, but Frank is just better at hiding them these days, but as soon as a corruption article lands right in-front of him he gets Ray Velcoro to do his dirty work and scare the reporter from showing the rest of the article. 

Franks Semyon is a hard character to read as we don't know if he can be dangerous or not as we didn't see him do any dirty work, but i think he will get his hands dirty as the season goes on. He may also make some enemies in his line of work to make him decide on some hard decisions to further his ranks in the his criminal career.

Our first female lead role is Rachel McAdam's who plays the tough cop Ani Bezzerides. Ani is trying to stay away from her family who she thinks needs help as her dad is a hippy and her sister is a sex cam girl as we see Ani and a team of cops raid a house when Ani's sister was caught doing her day job.
Ani is reckless and tough as she carries a gun in her belt and pocket, and always picking fights with casino bouncers as we see in the first episode.

Ani clearly has some issues in her personal life which may also effect her day job as a cop. I think this will be interesting as we might see her juggle from the two lives she lives in, even though she might not want to be part of her dad and sisters life. We also know that her mother died but not sure how it happened, so we might see some more flash backs to her mothers death.

The fourth and final lead role is Taylor Kitsch who plays the high road police officer, Paul Woodrugh. Paul is suspended from his job after being accused getting a blog job from a Hollywood actress. Paul is also reckless like Ani but in a different way as he likes to leave his girlfriend late at night to drive on his motorcycle at high speeds with his lights off.

From what i saw of Paul Woodrugh i think he will be one of the most important characters as he is very mysterious because he has all them scars on his body but wont share on how he got them, will this be some flash back scenarios on how he got his scars? 

Conclusion

In my experience in watching the premier of True Detective season 2, there wasn't much story i could talk about as it was only the first episode after-all. It was all to mysterious for the viewers to gather any valuable information. 

The only thing i gathered from the first episode is that the characters all have relationship problems as Ray's wife got raped and his son is scared of him, Frank has a girlfriend and seems happy together, Ani has daddy & sister issues and has one night stands as we see in the episode and Paul has traumatic issues with his scares on his body, leading him to have a erectile Dysfunction as we see him take a Viagra pill before he has sex with his girlfriend. So are we going to see them sitting down together in a relationship therapy center to sort their problems out? I hope not! I'm still waiting for the detective side to the story, but its still early days as its only the first episode of the season.

The only interesting thing we seen in the episode was how the characters got brought together at the end, as they all get called in to a crime scene where Paul found a dead body who is Ben Caspar, a buisnessman who was heavily involved in helping Frank with his Railroad highway project. But what now? and how will Frank react after this event?

Overall it was a very slow start to the new season as their has no depth in the story so far, but i am very interested on how it will all plays out.

Discussion

1. What did you think of the first episode of True Detective?
2. Could it of been improved? & How?
3. Was the Characters good/Interesting/worthy of the new season?
4. Who is the favourite character to watch? & why?
5. Do the characters suit the roles they are playing?
6. What do you think will happen in the season to come?
7. Should there of been more flash backs in the first episode? or do you think there will be more?
8. What did you think of the new these song of True Detective?
9. Is there to many A list actors that over shadow the story of the True detective?
10. What actors would you replace? who with?& why?

Inside Out

Inside Out

Summary 

Riley is a 11 year old, hockey-loving, Midwestern girl, but everything changes as soon as her and her family move to San Francisco. Her emotions led by Joy who tries to help Riley through this difficult time in her life, but the stress of it all brings the emotion of Sadness in to Riley's life. Joy & Sadness get lost in to the far end of Riley's mind, leaving Anger, Fear and Disgust to act alone while Joy and Sadness try to get back to headquarters.

Thoughts & Experiences

I would firstly like to say that i am a huge fan of Disney Pixar movies as they bring the best out of people, even if we are fully grown adults like i am. Pixar are not only here for our entertainment but can also teach us a thing or two as we grow up and yes, they are very emotional movies to watch but that's the best part about Pixar, So why not do a movie about thoughts and emotions? They finally did!

Inside Out starts from the very beginning of life. the birth of our very own existence, showing us a baby of Riley being born. When we are being shown the baby version of Riley and seeing through her eyes, we see her two parents being very happy to see her, this makes baby Riley very happy and brings Riley her first Joyful emotion, Joy.

We see Joy playing with baby Riley's emotions and collecting valuable memories from inside her mind, controlling what everythng she feels and in this giving time she feels happy & Joyful as she is the only emotion around, for about "33 seconds," then comes in Sadness, the sad emotion to Riley's mind. 

This part was one of my favourite parts of the movie because it reveals to of the two main characters of Inside Out in a funny and very different way as the two characters are shown playing with Riley's emotions and thoughts for the very first time. 

The 3rd emotion to show up is Fear, Fear is the emotion that is scared of everything and tries to keep Riley safe as he stops a older but still a very young version of Riley from tripping over a wire in a scene where she is running and playing freely. Disgust is the emotion that keeps Riley from being "poisoned, physically and socially," when we see Riley's father try and feed her some broccoli, Disgust comes in and saves Riley from eating the horrible healthy food. Last but not least we have Anger, Anger shows up when Riley's father tells her she wont have any desert if she doesn't eat her broccoli, making her throw and tantrum with anger!

I thought this part was spot on with the reveal of the emotions of a young Riley, as parents might think "This is how my child acts," making the audience feel involved and relate to the movie straight away. I think with out being a parent, every single person can relate to this movie as we all have emotions of our own, unless you're a robot of course.

From every emotion Riley gets comes with a memory she got from the emotion, for example when Riley was still a youngster and scored her first hockey goal with her father, she felt Joyful and the memory was instantly saved in her mind. Each core memory that Riley has, creates a aspect of a personality of herself, creating a memory island and for this instance it will be Hockey Island as part of her personality.

This part can be a bit confusing but once you understand it is quiet clever from the produces to come up with. I will try and come up with my own example from myself so you can understand better, hopefully. So, before blogging i read about blogging, which lead to me writing this post right now, which has now created a Blogger Island in my mind which is part of my personality. Can you see how it has made me think from watching this movie, i bet it will have you thinking like this as well. 

We can now see that she is growing up quickly, creating a lot of different personalty islands as you expected, but Riley & her emotions will face her biggest challenge yet, as they will be moving to San Francisco. Riley and her family are now in San Francisco, where Riley feels like her new home doesn't feel like home but Joy is trying to keep her positive about things.

Riley is about to start her new school where she feel very nervous but very excited at the same time. As Riley is in her new classroom she introduces herself in a Joyful way but Sadness is getting in the way of Riley's emotions an things go wrong very quickly as Riley starts to cry in front of her new classmates. Joy & Sadness at this point in time are fighting over Riley's memories to try and save her from being sad but they get sucked up in to a tube where all distant memories go to perish.

Will Joy & Sadness make it back in time before things get worse with Riley's life? 

I haven't moved house or any where before so i wouldn't know how it feels, but i think i can understand, as it would be very sad and unknowing on whats to come. If you have moved before you can certainly relate to this part of the movie and i bet you it conjure up some past memories and emotions you might of had in that moment.

I liked this part of the movie as it shows us how Riley's emotions will play up in the most difficult situations that come in to her life. It made me think of some hard times that i have had in my life and over come through emotions of my own, it made me feel Joyful as Inside Out related to me on such a personal level and i think it will relate with most of the viewers.

Characters/Actors/Voice-Over's

Joy/Amy Poehler

Sadness/Phyllis Smith

Sadness/Bill Hader

Anger/Lewis Black

Disgust/Mindy Kaling

Conclusion

Inside Out, for me was a brilliant movie as it made me feel and think from past life experiences that i had while growing up, and iv never had that before from a movie to relate to me on a such personal level. I think this movie will be good for kids who are growing up and living their life as they should but also great for adults as they may think from their past childhood memories to bring some old emotions up they might of had.

The voice-over actors were fitting to each emotional character for Inside Out and they should be as it was a 5 year production plan, so they had time to find the right personalities for each character for the movie.

The story of Inside Out was average but very smart how they made difficult situations play with emotions as they would in real life to help us adapt and overcome our emotions, and to mold our own personalities from life experiences like Riley does.

Discussion

1. Is this one of Pixar's best Movies yet?
2. What did you think of the characters of Inside Out
3. Who was your favourite character? & Why?
4. Who was you least very character? & Why?
5. Could you relate to the movie?
6. What was your favourite scene? & Why?
7. What was your least favourite scene? & Why?
8. What could of been improved?
9. What other emotions would you put in there if you could?
10. Did you enjoy the movie overall? 

Insidious: Chapter 3

Insidious: Chapter 3

Summary

Teenager Quin Brenner, asks a psychic Elise Rainier to contact her dead mother for some closure but Elise refuses due to her negative past events as a child. After visiting Elise, Quin starts to notice some paranormal on goings in her house and Quins father is skeptical at first but then starts to believe. Quins father goes back to the psychic Elise for help, to use her gifted abilities to try and stop the demon that has his daughter, who wants to possess her living body.

Thoughts and experiences

Iv'e seen the trailer on the adverts a dozen of times of Insidious 3 and it looked like it was going to be the best one yet out of the 3 films they have now made. The story is completely different, new back ground setting and new characters but some familiar faces from the previous insidious movies. Will this movie give the horror trilogy justice or will it simply fail? Lets find out!

In the beginning of the movie there is a teenage girl, who is seeking help from a psychic to contact her dead mother who she deeply misses. As she knocks on the front door to the house, the door opens and we all see a familiar face, its the psychic from insidious 1 & 2. Quin, the teenager asks for help but the psychic doesn't want to help as she seems traumatized. The psychic invites the girl in because she feels sorry for her and begins a psychic session. 

Quinn starts to talk about how her mother died and how she can feel her presence around her while she is sleeping, that sometimes she can hear her voice speaking to her.

OK, now i think we know its going to be a new story as we see a new character which is Quin, the teenage girl, and that shes already looking in to the other side of the afterlife as she misses her dead mother. When she gets invited in to the psychic's house, the psychic looked consistently worried and shook up about something, which made me think on whats going on with her life? Or what can she see with her psychic abilities? Is there something attached to the teenage girl?

After a disappointing first appearance with Elise the psychic, as she gets no contacts with her mother but she looks very worried towards Quinn, telling Quinn that "everything is going to be fine" or "there's nothing to worry about." Quinn goes home with a lot on her mind and pretty upset.

If i was Quinn sitting in front of the psychic and she told me that, i would automatically think something is obviously wrong, especially if shes looking at me with a worrying face!

Quinn is about to go to sleep as she thinks she can hear whispering coming from the air vent above her bed which she can, so she goes to check out and try get a reply from the whispering voice she can hear. She slowly climbs her bed, upwards towards the air vent but hears nothing, accept from a loud-ish bang and some wind.

This was the first tense scene of the movie as i was trying to anticipate the out come of the scary part but nothing happened, accept from some intensity. I thought a hand was going to come from the air vent and grab her but unfortunately that didn't happen, maybe that would of been to obvious.

The next morning Quinn has a drama audition for the school she always wanted to get into and is very nervous about it. As she is auditioning, things go wrong and she forgets her lines, so this plays on her mind all day as she is telling her best friend on how bad it went. When Quinn and her best friend are hanging out and converting, they both get up and leave but Quinn can see someone standing in the middle of the road and automatically stops to look, as she stops a car from behind rams Quinn to the floor, running her over viciously.

I did not see that coming! i jumped like hell when the loud thump of the car hit Quinn from behind, and was really strange seeing someone standing in the middle of the road for no reason, but i think they were there to get Quinn to stop and to get run over on purpose. Getting hit by a car that hard will have you in crutches or even plastered up, like Quinn's both legs was, making her home-bound and disabled for a while.

Elise the psychic is bedding down for night, saying "good night" to her beloved dog and lies down on her bed with her dead husband's cardigan she gets comfort from by holding it while she sleeps. Elise slowly goes to sleep but suddenly wakes up with a fright as she has seen something in one of her visions, so she immediately gets a book from a draw and writes down "Quinn Brenner."

When you finally think the nights over and watch everyone settle down for bed, you get a right big jump scene as Elise wakes up out of the blue, i seen this coming but i couldn't contain jumping as  she jumped up as well. When she wrote down Quinn's name in the book i knew that she saw something bad to do something with Quinn. 

Now we know the baseline of the story and what could possibly happen, lets get into some of my favourite scenes from this point onward's. 

Favourite scenes

1.

From the last scene i left you with, the next part starts with my first favourite scene. This scene is where Quinn is in bed about to go to sleep, but decides to knock on the wall to get a response from her friend who lives next door, she soon gets a response knock from the other side of the wall. She then text's her friend who lives next door to her and says " Did i wake you up" and gets a reply saying "i'm not at home, I'm at my grandma's house." Quinn looks freaked out and knocks on the wall again to get a response ,but nothing knocks back!

Quinn tries and forgets on what just happened and goes to sleep, but as soon as she goes to sleep a pale white arm grabs her from above and wakes up screaming, as the arm disappears there is a loud thump coming from the ceiling above, followed by a large forming crack.

2.

Quinn is hiding under her quilt as she is terrified of what happened from before and is sleeping in the living room on the couch. As she is under her quilt thinking that something is going to happen, she comes from under her quilt and notices shes not on her couch anymore, but in her wheelchair in the building hallway. Quinn starts to wheel her self to the elevator as she is not on the right floor to her apartment, but then wheeled away by the demon that torments her. The demon then takes her to an apartment and chucks her out the wheelchair on to the floor.

Quinn now laying on the floor can see something crawling towards her in a demonic like way, but its herself she can see but with no eyes, mouth, hands or even feet. 

Can you imagine being disabled as Quinn is and having a weird demon crawl towards you and you cant move away! I would be terrified and i would try crawl the opposite way ARGHH!!

3.

After Quinn's father finds her in the above apartment where she is screaming for help, the demon that was crawling towards her has now gone and her father sees her on the floor screaming for her life. Quinn's father sees oil foot prints leading to the window and sees a man lying dead on the street floor outside, making us think that he jumped out the window, killing himself.

Quinn gets out of her wheel chair to have a look at the man who jumped but suddenly is surprised by the demon who is actually hanging at the bottom of the window ledge, grabbing Quinn to pull her out the window.

This was very unexpected as i thought the dead body was going to disappear and not be right in front of her face, what a scare!

4.

I think this next part has to by my favourite part as it was new to the trilogy and was entertaining and funny at times to watch, i'm on about the two paranormal investigators Tucker & Specs.

The two are brought in to the Brenner's apartment after things get out of hand for the family. They use their hi-tech gear and attach a small camera to Quinn, for when she is asleep. As Quinn naps down they can see her every move on the night vision portable screen and see Quinn wake up and walk towards them down the dark hallway. When Specs goes to look down the hall way they see on the portable screen, she disappears as soon as the flash light shines towards her. The father then goes in to the room they expect her to be in but can't see her in there or where she is on the portable screen, so they use the flash light to locate her and as the light shines they can see where she is hiding on the screen, which is in the wardrobe...

I loved this part because it was very dynamic from different point of views, also very tense from watching what they can see on the portable screen from actually what is in front of them.

Conclusion

I'm sorry i didn't have many favourite scenes but i thought most of the scenes were to obvious or that i have seen them before in the trilogy or other horror movies.

Overall i was pretty disappointed in Insidious: Chapter 3 as i thought it was pointless making it and the back ground story build up was also pointless, because the whole movie was centered around a demon that wasn't even scary at all and a poor excuse to try possess Quinn. At the end of the movie we see Elise, Tucker and Specs talk about a business start up and that's how they met, so the whole movie had a horribly story just to show the audience on how the three previous insidious characters met. WHAT?!

On the plus side it had a few jump scenes, but no creepy or scary scenes and i think its the worse insidious movie out the other 2 but it has mixed reviews, it all depends what you look for in a movie.

Discussion

1. Is Insidious 3 worth making just for a trilogy?
2. Was you scared as much or less from the previous Insidious movies?
3. Did you think the story was good/bad? and why?
4. Was the characters good/bad? and why?
5. What was the scariest part of the movie?
6. What was your favourite part of the movie? and why?
7. What was you least favourite part of the movie? and why?
8. What could of been improved?
9. What would you of done in certain scenes?
10. Whats the best Insidious movies in order? and why?

Crime Movies

Crime Movies

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

Lawless

In 1931, the Bonduarant brothers hides their true business in the backwoods from where they live, bootlegging.The middle brother Forrest is the brains of the operation, the older brother, Howard is the brawn and the youngest brother jack is the look out for the operation. Now the local police have took bribes, the Bonduarant brothers stand alone to face the corrupt war when a lawman from Chicago tries and shuts down the bootlegging business. 

The thing i liked about this movie is, that its not a typical "in the city" crime movie, its vacated in the backwoods of Franklin County. It was refreshing and it made me very intrigued on how the movie would play out, since it didn't have the typical gangster role.

I liked how the three brothers are brought up to nothing in a small community, from having nothing to having the brightest idea to start up the underground business. This shows us that you don't need much in life to succeed with your dreams.

Gangster Squad

Mickey Cohen is Brooklyn's most ruthless gangster there is. In 1949, Los Angeles, Mickey makes a fortune from drugs, prostitutes and gambling. Mickey has a lot of goons. policemen and even politicians on his side, its enough for him to intimidate the bravest lawmen, until the Los Angeles police department decide to form a squad of their own to take down Mickey Cohen.

Gangster Squads has to be one of my favourite modern made movies to date, even though its based in 1949, they did a great job in reacting that era at its finest with its costumes, cars, background setting and guns.

The story of it all was so action packed and intense to watch, as one of the policemen falls in love with Mickeys girlfriend, while the policeman is trying to take him and his cult down. This made things harder for the policeman and his object of the job.

Scarface

Tony Montana finally got his green card in exchange in assassinating a Cuban government official. As he lands himself in Miami, Tony claims the drug trade around the city, murdering anyone who stands in his way. He then becomes the biggest drug lord in the whole state, controlling the cocaine that comes through Miami. The pressure from the police, drug cartel and his own paranoia becomes the rise and fall of Tony Montana.

Scarface, a huge legendary film and one of my favourites of all time. This has to be one of the most typical ganster/crime movies yet, it reminded me of the game GTA: vice city almost, with all its flower coloured T-shirts and the whole Miami 80s vibe.

This film has a similar concept of "Lawless" as he started with nothing and became the biggest drug lord in the state. It is kind of inspirational in some ways, but obviously i don't want to be a big drug lord!

Public Enemies

Bank robber, John Dillinger's charm and audacity endears him of America's downtrodden public, but but hes all so a pain for J, Edgar Hoover and the rest of the FBI. Hoover, desperately wanting to capture the bank robber dead or alive assigns his top agents to the field and make him public enemy number one.

If you have seen the movie J.Edgar starring Leonardo DiCaprio, then you know how much of a iconic lawmen he was back in the 40/50s era. So you must know by now that most of the stories involving J.Edgar are to be true or based on true events, which makes the story and movie more intriguing to watch.

Public Enemies is one of J.Edgars iconic stories i have witnessed on the big screen, showing the audience on how he might of acting in the situations he was brought to while working with the FBI force. John Dillinger on the other hand was also a legend back in his era, robbing 24 banks and 4 police stations with his notorious gang. Knowing this before i watched the movie helped me understand the tension between the two and i hope it helps you, if you haven seen it yet.

Gangs Of New York

A young Irishmen Amsterdam Vallon is released from prison and returns to the five points of New York to try and find the killer of his father. William cutting is a powerful anti-immigrant gang leader who  becomes friends with the young Irishmen. Amsterdam's journey becomes a personal fight for survival and to find a place for the Irish people in New York.

Another not so typical gangster/crime movie, as it is set in the 1860's of New York. The back ground setting was amazing as it shows us how New York might of looked back in that era and how the people behaved.

I liked this movie because its dark, gritty and revengeful, these three ingredients are a powerful combination for a very thrilling movie. Plus if you want to see the two of the best actors act together (Leonardo DiCaprio & Daniel Day- Lewis) then you should watch this movie!

Boys N' The Hood

Tre is sent to live with his father where he is brought up to be a man in his household, and also understand the streets of South Central, Los Angeles. Tre's friends Dougboy and Ricky, don't have the same support as Tre and is sucked in the neighborhood booming drug and gang culture, with the most horrific end results.

If you like NWA and Los Angeles gang cultural movies, then this is the perfect movie for you, as it is surrounded by gangster rap, horrific gang shootings and the typical survival on living on the streets of LA.

 Loved this movie because i'm a big fan of NWA and one of its actors, Ice Cube who was one of the rappers for the NWA group. This film shows the audience what its really like living on the streets of South Side LA and what some of consequences could be.

Training Day

A veteran police officer who escorts a rookie on his first day with the LAPD's tougher inner city narcotics unit. The rookie officer is shown a different side to the police force that he hasn't seen before and needs to decide whats best for him and his future.

Training day is a raw and blistering film that shows the audience what heroism can get yourself in to when you cross paths with a desperate crooked cop.

This movie is more of a modern type movie of Boys n' The Hood, but obviously on the other side of the law, or is it? since the LA street culture has taken over some of the policemen's judgement to make them decide wrongly with greed.

With a Oscar winning performance for his (Denzal Washington) role in this movie, its totally worth the watch as his acting is outstanding!

Man On Fire

A wave of child abduction in the city of Mexico, a ex CIA agent John Creasy accepts a job to be the body guard of a 9 year old kid Lupita, the child of a wealthy business owner. As Creasy becomes very fond of the young girl, she gets kidnapped by a crazy gunmen and Creasy must find her, through the corrupt policemen and criminals.

I think this is my favourite Denzal Washington film as i could watch this movie when ever i'm bored. Its so thrilling and entertaining to watch as Creasy takes down the corupt policmen and criminals one by one, as he is very motivated and focused on getting the girl back.

The best part about this movie is that its based on a true story, this makes things better as it makes the audience think what a great man he must of been.

American Gangster

Frank Lucas is a chauffeur for one of the biggest mobsters in Harlem, New York. When he dies, Frank uses his wits and business code to become the next biggest crime boss in New York. A Veteran cop senses a change in the New York crime industry and looks for a way to stop it growing any further.

Oh look another Denzal Washington movie! Well i like him as a actor and he does amazing crime films, what can i say? Any way i think this is one of his best films yet, showing again that anyone can rise to the top, no matter what background or job you come from.

American Gangster is more of a drama based film and isn't mostly action as most crime movies would be. Its all about knowledge and how you can use it to your advantage to be the best.

Dead Man Down

1. Rising gangland player Victor infiltrates the criminal empire run by Alphonse, but his aim is not to accumulate prestige and power. Instead, Victor's mission is to make Alphonse pay for destroying his once-happy life. Beatrice, his neighbor, watches and waits. When she uncovers Victor's secret, she threatens to expose him unless he helps her carry out her own campaign of revenge.

Another great revenge movie as we spoke about Gangs Of New York before. This movie has to be one of the most suspense movies on this list, as it focuses on a man who is deeply in to the gang related world just to seek out revenge on the gangsters.

Its rare of me to like a Collin Farrell film as i think he hasn't produced many great ones since the movie SWAT, which is also another crime film, but i think this movie does him justice and tells me he can be a great actor at times, depending on the role & film.

Conclusion

Everyone loves a good crime movie of some kind, whether its on the good side of the law or on the wrong side of the law. Each aspect we see from both sides brings us thrilling, action, suspense scenes that we wouldn't normally see in real life and we could all do with seeing good a crime movie once in a while.

Discussion

1. Whats your favourite crime movie of all time?
2. Whats the worst crime movie of all time?
3. What era delivers the best crime scenes?
4. Who's your favourite crime character & why?
5. who's your least favourite crime character & why?
6. If you was a crime character what would you gangster name be?
7. if you was a police detective, what would you detective name be?
8. what would you gang be called?

Animation Movies

Animation Movies

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

How To Train Your Dragon

A teenage boy named hiccup, lives on the island of Berk. On the island of Berk it is a tradition and the way of life to fight dragons. Hiccup's weird personality makes him an outcast from all the other dragon fighters which makes him a misfit. Hiccup is thrown in to dragon fighting school by is father, who is chief of the tribe. Hiccup makes friends with a dragon and names him Toothless and plans to change the course of dragon fighting.

I liked this movie because it shows an outcast rising to become a hero in a very different way and i think some people can relate to Hiccup if they're very different or maybe they get bullied, but still rise above all, to achieve great things in life, as you see Hiccup & Toothless do.

Toothless the dragon is probably the best character of the movie as he is very cute, funny and is the best breed of dragon, as they explain that he is rare to catch as he is very fast but Hiccup manages to capture him. You could think as it like "Nothing is impossible to achieve," i think a lot of kids could learn from this wonderful movie.

Monsters Inc

Monsters Incorporation is the largest scare factory in the monster world, and a monster named James P. Sullivan is the best work colleague at Monsters Inc, as he is one of the top scarers. His best friend Mike Wazowski and working partner gets a visit from the human world as they are on one of their scare missions. The human named Boo goes to the monster world where no human has been before.

I remember when i went to the cinema back in 2001 to watch Monsters Inc, i was 11 years old at the time & i loved every bit of it. I may of went to the cinema twice to watch this movie, as it was so entertaining and good to watch. As soon as i watched it i would check out my bedroom wardrobe for monsters and hope to see one, my imagination was wild back then!

Monsters Inc has so many entertaining characters to watch, all of them are funny as they are monsters for crying out loud, how would that not be entertaining? Anyway, the two main monsters are very likable and the little human girl is so very cute also. 

The story is very clever and different which makes it stand out from most animation movies. i recommend parents have their children watch this movie.

Toy Story

A good kind-hearted doll named Woody, who belongs to a young boy called Andy thinks hes his favorite toy in the house & think he is jeopardized after Andy's parents after they buy him a new toy, Buzz Lightyear. Andy and his parents are about to move house and both Woody & Buzz have to escape the clutches of the mean kid next door to reunite with their family and other toys.

This movie is one of the classic/legendary films in the animation industry. When you think of animation movies, you will probably think of Toy Story. Toy Story to me is every child's dream come true, to have a toy come to life!

The whole story of the movie is funny & entertaining for kids, plus every kid can relate to this movie, i know i did because every kid goes through a phase of having a new toy, then it gets old and you want a new one. Toy Story shows this quality at its best and that's why i love this movie.

Wall.E

Wall.E is the last surviving robot on planet earth, Wall.E mostly spend his days tidying up the planet, piece by piece. The robot has eventually made a city made out of garbage and over the 700 years, Wall.E has developed a personally of his own. Wall.E is more than a little lonely until he spots EVE, a robot on a scanning mission. The lonely robot embarks on his greatest adventure yet when he follows EVE back in to space.

Wall.E is the type of movie for the kids and adults to enjoy, where kids will like the whole funny side to the story with all its silliness, the adults will understand the loneliness and how powerful a crush can be and what it can make you do.

I really enjoyed this movie as an adult and i would say its my favorite animation film yet, as i could relate to it in some ways. I loved how the robot had a personality of its own over the time he spent on earth and how he collected the most bizarre things he could find. 

UP

A 78 year old balloon salesman named Carl Fredricksen, is about to live a long life dream of his, To try to tie more than a thousand balloons to his house to fly away to adventure the wildness of South America. Carl's worst nightmare is about to happen as he finds a small chubby boy intruding on his dream and they now they both fly together to South America.

UP is a two time Oscar winner and it deserves every reward it got, as it is amazing! The movie is funny, entertaining and it brings out the child in me every time i watch it. Can you imagine flying in your own house that is attached to a thousand balloons, that would be awesome!

I read about on how an old lady and her house was the influence of the movie, as her house was between a property development project and the constructors wanted to buy her house to knock it down, but the old lady refused. As the construction manager became friends with the old lady after years of trying to persuade her to sell her house, the old lady died and left her house in the will of the manager. Now he has the house, he didn'twant to destroy it after all and it still remains between two very large city buildings.

Spirited Away

A 10 year old child named Chihiro and her parents stumble upon a abandoned amusement park while they are driving. When Chihiro's parents are turned in to giants pigs, she meets the mysterious Haku who explains how the amusement park is a resort for the supernatural to spend their time in the earthly realm and she has to work there to free her parents.

When i first watched this movie i was a bit mind boggled because it is so very confusing and weird, but that was a good thing because it kept me interested in the story the whole time.

I don't think this will be a movie for younger kids, maybe the ages of 10-16 would understand it as it is very complex and in depth story telling. It could be a good film for the younger kids if they like weirdness and funny looking characters though.

Tangled

Flynn Rider, the most wanted bandit is on the run and hides out in a hidden convenient tower but is immediately held captive by Rapunzel. Rapunzel who has 70 feet of magical hair has been a locked away for years and desperately wants freedom. Rapunzel & Flynn Rider make a deal with each other and set out on adventure together.

I think by now we know who Rapunzel is, don't we? She is many of the legendary fairy tales we have loved while growing up as a kid, specially the girls since they love a princess fairy tale.

I'm not usually one for the typical Disney love movies but i really did enjoy this movie as it was funny, dumb and..... funny! The younger kids would love this movie and being an adult myself i think some adults would love it too.

The Polar Express

When a young boy doubts the spirit of Christmas, he takes a train journey to the north pole and also embarks on a journey of self discovery that shows him the wonders of the Christmas spirit that never fades away for those who still believe.

I watch this movie every single Christmas time, its one of those family rituals we have each year. If you want a good Christmas spirit movie to watch then i highly recommend this one for the family and kids.

The film is also very mysterious and magical at the same time but thats Christmas, right? There's nothing like a sense of mystery for Christmas as we all wonder whats we have for Christmas each year.

Cars

A celebrity hot shot race car named Lightening Mcqueen gets lost and end up in a small deserted town called Radiator Springs. While hes on his stay at Radiator Springs the famous race car finds the true meaning of friendship and family.

Cars, in my opinion is one of the most memorable animation films out there as it is a popular theme for the kids. Kids love race cars of all kinds and this is the movie that they all want to see. If i was a kid watching this movie i would want to be a race car, not a racer but a actual car!

This movie is fun, funny & fast! So watch it quickly!

Despicable Me

A super-villain named Gru decides to make a plan to capture the moon, hoping it makes him the best super-villain there is. He has a little help from his little yellow minions who are in fact called minions, who make the weapons and equipment he needs to complete his plan. Gru is ready and his calculations are set but nothing could prepare him for his biggest challenge: Three adorable little orphan girls that make his life hell.

This movie has become one of the greats as it was a huge hit with the kids and even the adults like myself. I think it became a huge hit because everyone loves a bad guy who has a good heart, making them the good guy of the movie after all.

Another big factor of the movie is the yellow Minions that everyone loves, i mean they are hilarious to watch and they are all so silly and dumb at times, even though they are the brains behind the organisation of Gru.

conclusion

Everyone should have a list or at least a favorite animation film they like, they aren't just here for our entertainment but they can be used for a way of life, as we can learn or relate to the stories they tell us in these magical movies. 

If you would like to include you favorite list or animation movie in the comments below, that would be great to hear from you guys!

Game Of Thrones: Season 5

Game Of Thrones

Its Been 10 long weeks and i'v just watched the last episode of Game Of Thrones, ending season 5 in a dramatic way. Now all i have to do is wait a billion years for season 6, which every GOT fan hates! Lets go over some of my favorite & memorable parts of season 5.

Mance Ryder's Death

This will have to be my first favorite/memorable scene as i thought the season started off slow, but this scene was brutal and brave at the same time. Jon Snow who wanted to keep Mance alive was out powered by Stannis & Melisandre, as they thought the fate had to bring Mance to death by setting him alive on fire.

When Mance is half cooked already, being burnt alive, we see an arrow go straight through his heart as Jon snow puts him out of his misery.

  The Many-Faced God

After leaving Sandor Clegane, Arya Stark embarks on a journey of her own, which leads her in the city of Braavos. Arya is confused on where to go or to be, but she comes across a man called Jaqen H'ghar, who is mysterious and takes in Ayra as an apprentice to The Many-Faced God, Where she has to reinvent herself to become "No one"

This part of the story had me very confused on who this person is and represents and to be honest with you i'm still confused after watching the entire season, but its very tense so far with Arya Starks story and i think it will get better for the next season to come.

Dany Struggles With her Dragons

From the previous seasons i have watched, Dany become something powerful and a iconic figure to the slaves and many other people that hear the legend of the "Mother Of Dragons." Dany, The Mother Of Dragons is practically raising dragons, but they are getting bigger and hungrier, so they are becoming hard to handle, even for their own mother. As they are getting bigger & hungrier, Dany decides to chain them up in a chamber. 

This cant be good for the dragons surely? keeping them in a cage like chamber, chained up to be starved. Plus every time she goes to visit them shes terrified of her own dragons. So this makes me think what will happen now she cant control them, will she lose her power? will other people stand up against her and fight? Its a massive cliff hanger for sure in this episode.

Tyrion, The Captive

After killing his own father, Tyrion is on the run and flees his on city on a boat. After his long journey in a box, across the sea, Tyrion is finally free and able to get to the closest brothel possible (Typical Tyrion). Tyrion is in his element with beautiful women, good conversation with his companion and lots of alcohol. When Tyrion goes to re-leave himself, he is taken by the one and only Ser Jorah Mormont who is bannished from Dany's city. Jorah thinks capturing Tyrion will allow him to be in the presence of Dany again, since he is in love with her.

When i saw Ser Jorah Mormont behind Tyrion, who is taking a tinkle, i thought he was going to get murdered there and then. I would of been very upset if that did happen, but luckily it never. He got bagged and gagged to be captive in the arms of Jorah. I Think this made the audience stumble across their imagination, thinking what could possibly happen next? or what does Jorah want with Tyrion?

Attack Of The Greyscale

Ser Jorah Mormont and Tryion are now travelling companions, travelling across a river together. Even though Tryion is still a captive to Jorah, they still speak humbly together, sharing as little as possible with each other.

While on their travels across the river in their small rowing boat, they are under attack by the infected Greyscale people, who turn to stone if touched by one. Jorah is trying his best to fight off the Greyscale people off the boat and protect Tyrion at the same time, Jorah does a good job of this but has been infected in the process of it all.

I loved this scene as it was very unexpected and thrilling to watch. Imagine fighting off infected people but you're not allowed to touch their skin in case you got infected your self. It would be scary as hell, i think i would jump off the boat and swim for safety.

Jon Snow Vs The Wildlings Vs The White Walkers

Jon Snow and his former prisoner, Tormunds Giantsbane traveling together to the Wildlings village to try and warn them about the white-walkers. When they arrive at the Wildlings village, they are not welcome straight away as Jon snow is an enemy to them, so it is a dangerous but bold situation they have gotten them self's in to. 

Jon Snow talks to the Wildlings about the white-walkers & their weakness to "Dragonglass," and persuades half of the wildlings to go back to castle black, where they will be protected and welcomed by the Nights Watch. 

I Think the audience liked this part because it is showing two enemies agreeing and coming to terms with one another, to protect their friends & Family, but it is also very tense and awkward between the two tribes.

Now that Jon Snow has more than half of the Wildlings to come back to Castle Black with him for safety, they are surprised by an ambushed attack by the white-walkers, which forms as a snowy like mist from the distance of the wildlings village.

When i first saw the mist come over them cliffs that hanged over the wildlings village, i knew something bad was coming and knew it might be the white-walkers, which it was! This scene has to be one of my favorites parts of season 5 so far and i think many of the viewers would agree with me.

The attack on the wildlings has just begun and its not a pretty site as most of the wildlings who wanted to stay, are now dead...or are they? Jon Snow & Tormund Giantsbane are fighting along side each other, while gathering the wildlings to the boats to get to Castle Black. In the process of  it all, Jon Snow goes back to get the dragonsglass but is intruded by the The White Chief Walker.

The two of them fight it out in the blazes of fire, to the cold ice weather outside. Jon snow is near death as he is been beaten pretty bad and has no dragonglass to kill the Chief with, but out of desperation, Jon Snow pulls out his sword "LongClaw" and defends himself with it, killing the chief with a heavy swipe to the torso, smashing him to pieces.

.

Another favorite part of the season, the killing of The White Chief White. Why you ask? because it was a epic fight and how could he kill the white walker with out the dragonglass?Jon Snow & the audience question has been answered, can the white walkers be killed only by dragonglass? no!  The desperation from his sword gave us the answer we all needed.

After escaping with his life, Jon Snow and the other living wildlings escape on boats, to set sail to castleblack, but looking back to the wildlings village a very iconic scene is about to happen with the dead wildlings that lie motionless on the floor.

The boss of the white walkers, stairs at Jon Snow and the Fleeing wildlings, while he raises his arms up in the air, bringing back the dead wildlings back to life as the white walkers army.

I thought this was the most iconic scene for season 5 and tells us all that the white walker army is getting bigger and bigger for every kill they make.

The Fighting Pitts & The Dragon

Dany, the mother of dragons has just reopened the fighting Pitts of Meereen. While she watches the fights go on, she is attacked by the "Sons Of The Harpy" and ends up in a brutal show down. When surrounded by the Sons Of The Harpy, there is no hope for Dany and the men protecting her. 

As Dany looks up towards the sky, she hears a ferocious roar echo around the fighting arena, and its one of her dragons coming to save her.                      Finally! we get to see the dragons in action! As soon as it lands in the fighting Pitt, it gave me goose bumps as it roared at the enemy and setting them a light with fire. When most of the enemy was burning alive or eaten, Dany gets on top of the dragon and flies away. This was amazing in every way and tells me that she has power of her dragons once again

For The Watch

Now that Jon Snow is back at Castle Black and lead the wildlings to safety, it feels a little to uneasy for Jon Snow as everyone thinks as him as a traitor, for saving the wildlings, including Olly who always looked up to Jon.

Olly, the young kid at castle black, tells Jon Snow that one of the wildlings have told them they know where his uncle is and hes not dead. Jon Snow believes Olly and goes outside to speak to the wildling. As soon as Jon is outside he pushes through his castle black companions and sees the sign saying "Traitor" written by the nights watch people. When Jon snow turns around he is stabbed numerous of times, while they say "For The Watch"

So i guess the fan favorite Jon Snow is now dead? i am gutted as he played a vital role in the Game Of Thrones series and he will be missed by everyone, plus i think i heard a thousand hearts break last night as well. 

Now that he might be dead, we don't know yet what lies install for castle black and the left over wildlings Jon Snow left behind? its all one big mystery.

Conclusion

I thought this was one of the slowest seasons out the other 4 as it took so long to get in to the good parts. I think it took longer because it had to build more of a story for season 6 and had to go into more depth to reveal where the characters lie for the next season.

Season 5 only got interesting in the last 3 to 4 episodes for me, as that's were all the battling and drama started to happen. It might be good to someone else but these are my opinions, but overall i thought the season was more tense than the others and had better cliffhangers, making the audience want more than ever.

Discussion

1. What did you think of the overall season 5 of Game Of Thrones?
2. What was your favorite episode?
3. Who was your favorite character of season 5 & why?
4. Who was your least favorite character of season 5 & why?
5. Could they of improved the season in any way?
6. What was your favorite scene of season 5 & why?
7. What was your least favorite season 5 & why?
8. What was your impressions of the dragons?
9. What will happen with Dany?
10. What do you think will happen in season 6?