The Reel Life of Real Life

Recently promoted to ‘00’ status, British spy James Bond (Daniel Craig) embarks on his first mission. Terrorist banker, Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), is to participate in a high stakes poker game in order to cripple various organizations. Bond must ensure he doesn’t win. Of course, help comes in the form of Treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), who has been sent to keep an eye on Bond. I love this movie! I would say it’s probably one of my favourite movies actually, not just in the Bond series, but as a whole. In terms of the Bond series, it’s definitely without a doubt the best. I think if you look up any James Bond movie polls on the internet, they will almost, if not always, regard this “Casino Royale” as the best Bond movie...for the simple reasons it’s got the best plot, best bond girl, best villain, and in my opinion one of the best theme songs (though other Bond fans may not agree with this). I like the book. I absolutely love the vocabulary Ian Flemming uses whi...

A tale of murder, lust, greed, revenge and seafood! Directed by John Cleese, this comedy tells the story of Wanda, who, with her boyfriend Otto and acquaintances George and Ken, plot the robbery of a diamond collection. However, Wanda and Otto want the stolen diamonds for themselves, and so decide to turn George into the police, not knowing that he has already moved the diamonds to another secret place. Wanda decides the best way to find out where, is by getting close to George's lawyer, Archie Leach. This is another great movie with some very funny moments. My favourite of which was probably when Otto opens this safe thinking he's got the diamonds, only to realise they're not actually there, and so sort of sits back in shock, shouting "DISAPPOINTED!". I luaghed so much. John Cleese features in the movie himself, as Archie Leach. All of the cast are very good: Jamie Lee Curtis as Wanda, Kevin Kline as Otto, and Michael Pilan as Ken - all excellent. If yo...

Ok...I think Stephen King’s creation is a very unique and grounded tale, certainly a classic, but as a horror...I’m not quite sure. Here we have Carrie White, a socially awkward girl, shunned by her peers in school, only to go home to her fanatically religious mother who (albeit unwittingly) abuses her. As the story progresses she realises she has the power of telekinesis. The thing about it is that we already know something horrific happened on their prom night, which has become legendary, so the mystery of the story is to find out how and why. Some of the situations Stephen King puts this poor girl through are, frankly, barbaric and just show how cruel some people can be. Carrie has never actually done anything to them to deserve the horribleness they have shown her...at least, until the prom night. I think the media have blown it way up as this big scary horror story of this girl terrorising people, but personally I’ve never found either the original movie or the remake scary...

Directed by Danny Boyle and based on the novel by Alex Garland, The Beach tells the story of twenty-something-year-old Richard who travels to Thailand and comes across a mysterious map. Rumours suggest that it leads to a solitary paradise and intrigued, he sets out to find it, with the help of a young French couple, Francois and Éitienne, whom he meets at his hotel. I think the genres of this movie are primarily thriller/drama though of course there is a bit of romance thrown into the mix as well as Richard takes a shine to Francois, despite her being with Éitienne... Leonardo DiCaprio is the star of the movie so of course I love it...but I have to admit it I only loved it up to a point, and then towards the end I felt the plot sort of deteriorated a bit; became kind of unfocused as though the structure temporarily collapsed. However, I do love Danny Boyle’s directing. The opening scene in particular I think is a great way to open the film. It starts off really quiet the...

In a small English village in Midwich, during one particular day every living person and thing falls into a deep sleep through some kind of unknowable force for several hours. Some months later, it materialises that every woman capable of child-bearing in this village is pregnant. Once the children are born, they appear to grow very quickly and possess the exact same blond hair and seemingly penetrating eyes which they then use to make people do what they want them to do. The film was directed by Wolf Rilla and based on the novel, “The Midwich Cuckoos” by John Wyndham. We are thrown straight into some conundrum within the first scene, that’s a little creepy. A man is on the phone and suddenly collapses. We move outside to a man driving around on a lawnmower/tractor when we realise he’s unconscious. The camera moves along a road and we are given glimpses of all these people unconscious. We are taken into the phone’s operator building – people mysteriously all unconscious. The f...

Directed by Stephan Daldry and starring Kate Winslet, David Kross and Ralph Fiennes, the film opens in post-WW2 Germany, where teenager Michael Berg, becomes ill and is helped by Hanna Schmitz, a stranger twice his age. When he recovers from scarlet fever and he returns to her home to thank her for helping him that day, the two soon begin a secret love affair over the course of the subsequent summer. When Michael realises that Hanna loves being read to, he starts bringing books, such as “The Odyssy” and “The Lady with the Little Dog” to read to her at the beginning of all their liaisons. However, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, Michael is now a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials – one of which he is stunned to realise Hanna is a defendant. As Hanna’s past is gradually revealed, Michael realises he is in possession of information which could save Hanna from a life in prison...but despite this, it...

After returning from a wedding reception, a couple staying in an isolated house receive a knock on the door in the middle of the night. What follows is a violent intrusion of three strangers, their faces hidden behind masks. Their reason when asked? – “Because you were home”. I admit the plot sounds pretty barbaric and not in the least bit appealing. But this is actually an interesting movie due to the fact that it’s purely set within the house. Not many movies could get away with this. But the tension built is incredible. It relies heavily on the ‘fear of the unknown’ but pulls it off so well, it’s quite an experience. I remember watching the trailer with my friend and I got such a fright I screamed – and that was just the trailer! And what was great was that it didn’t put all the scary bits into the trailer so you knew it was coming when you were watching the movie. I really hate when that happens, it’s such an anticlimax. So disappointing. But this wasn’t. The acting ...

I read the book recently and absolutely loved it. I was both crying and laughing simultaneously. So of course I had to watch the film immediately after…although with a bit of apprehension as I was afraid it might ruin how I imagined the characters in the book, as some films can. But it absolutely didn’t. What I liked about it was how much it stuck with the format of the book, and how many lines it took from the book too. Very little was changed, and anything that was, was only subtle, small and completely understandable. The casting was more than perfect. Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort are the embodiment of Hazel and Augustus...in my opinion! I couldn’t imagine any other playing either of them. They are exactly as I pictured the characters in the book. Perfect. I found the scene in which Isaak is grieving after breaking up with his girlfriend and Augustus lets him smash his basketball trophies very amusing. The way they filmed it is great because you’ve got Augustus try...

The first time I watched this was quite an experience. This is a scary movie. It’s like the anti-Christmas story. Robert Thorn is the ambassador of the United State, and who’s wife has a stillborn child, born on sixth day of the sixth month at six o’clock in the morning. Without her knowing however, he substitutes another baby as theirs. Five years later, a series of gruesomely curious deaths begin to take place around the Thorn family. A question is raised: could the son they’ve been raising, in fact be the devil’s child? Directed by Richard Donner, and starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Spencer Stephans, Billie Whitelaw and David Warner, this is a horror classic not the be missed. Aside from the creepy dog and nanny, horrific deaths, and spine-chilling score, this film actually has a very intricately woven plot line. I like the details and dropping of hints we are given throughout the film. It’s taken real passages from the Bible and fitted them into the story, which o...