The Reel Life of Real Life

I was very intrigued to see this film when I realised Martin Scorsese was directing it and Robert De Niro was starring in it. I couldn’t imagine either of them working on a musical. I just never thought this would be a genre I’d see either of them do. But needless to say it is a film worth watching some time. Jimmy Doyle (Robert De Niro), an egotistical saxophone player, and Francine Evans (Liza Minnelli), a lounge singer, meet in Times Square on V-J Day and decided they’re meant for each other. However their romance proves rocky and strained as their careers slowly begin to take flight. Robert De Niro is quite something. I’ve only seen him in his newer movies, so this was an interesting watch for me. He’s so much younger! Not sure what to say to his character. He wasn’t always very nice and could be quite domineering. But Robert De Niro plays this well I think. For example there’s a scene when Jimmy is telling Francine to get in the car and he’s quite bossy about it, like...

Nineteen year old Tony Manero lives for Saturday nights at the local disco where he is “the king of the dance floor” thanks to his impressive dance moves. But at home Tony fights constantly with his father and has to compete with his brother, a priest and the apple of his parents’ eyes. On top of this Tony works at a dead end job in a small hardware shop that he’s good at but isn’t passionate about. However, he soon meets Stephanie Mangano, who is also an avid dancer, and begins training with her for the club’s dance competition. Of course, as to be expected, things don’t run as smoothly as they would like…  The film was directed by John Badham and starred John Travolta. I found it really interesting to know that more than 40% of the cast made their feature debuts in this film! It felt so strange to me seeing John Travolta in a role like this just because he looks so young! I mean, his character has parents in this film! I’m so used of seeing  him playing on...

A treasure hunter (Bill Paxton), looking for a diamond in the wreck of the Titanic, discovers in a safe the nude picture of a young woman. After it is shown on television, Rose Dawson (Gloria Stuart) aged 101, comes forward. She, Rose (Kate Winslet), was that young girl on the ship. She was travelling with her mother (Frances Fisher) and her wealthy fiancé (Billy Zane) but whom she desperately didn’t want to marry. About to throw herself over the rails once aboard the Titanic, she was stopped by Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio), a young man who had won his steerage ticket in a poker game.. They fell in love and spent every moment together until the iceberg broke the ship apart and even then were determined to stay together. I’ve been deliberately avoiding doing a review of this film because…well, above all else I don’t know where I could possibly begin! Over the years I have developed a very love/hate relationship with this film. Frankly, and quite honestly, I absolutely love and hate...