Watership Down

The basics  

Watership Down is a British film which was made in 1978. It was first a novel by Richard Adams and was published in 1972. It was directed by Martin Rosen and it is about tyranny, freedom, bravery, death and violence.

What is this film about?

At the beginning we get to meet two rabbits, Hazel and Fiver. Fiver starts to have visions of a soon coming doom to their warren and they go to tell their chief. The chief barely pays attention to what they have to say and dismisses their advice to move all the rabbits to somewhere else. Because of this Hazel and Fiver and a few more rabbits run away together to find a new home.      

My views on it

Do you remember when you were about seven and you sat down to watch a cartoon film about rabbits (rated U), then after the film you cried and then you had nightmares for about two weeks? If you do it was this film, Watership Down.

Coming across this film again (now in my twenties) I was interested to see my adult view on one of the most horrifying films in any kids childhood. In three simple words ……….. I loved it. Now I am able to appreciate this film on so many levels but I can still see why this film would be terrifying to a young audience.  In most cartoons there is this feeling of hyperreality, for example in Roadrunner you can watch Wile E. Coyote blow himself up or fall of a cliff numerous amounts of times and still laugh because it funny and you know he will be fine in the next clip. Watership Down does not really have this feeling of hyperreality, it all feels very realistic and when two of its main themes are death and violence it’s not hard to see why this film could be scary for a child. As an adult the sense of reality in this film is great, knowing that the consequences for the characters are real it makes you care for them more and it makes it more dramatic when it happens. Also because the theme of death is about as subtle as a brick to the face, it gives most of the film a wonderfully haunting feel as you watch.

Also there is underlying meanings that you can pick up.  One that most people seem to talk about is its view on totalitarian regime, mainly looking at Nazism (looking at the Efrafa warren and General Woundwort). This meaning wasn’t put in by the writer ‘Well, I don't think there's any pro or anti-society in Watership Down, it's simply a tale. […] It's only a made-up story, it's in no sense an allegory or parable or any kind of political myth.’ (Adams. R, 2008). He just wanted to write a story about bunnies, with knowing that it just makes me like it more.  But art is up for interpretation and if you wish to read into the political themes then go for it.

The animation in this film itself is another thing I really enjoyed about it. It is a bit too old to have had CGI and it didn’t have the budget of Disney but what they have done I think is great. The artwork in this film seems hand draw and painted and you can tell a lot of effort went into it. It is almost like watching a painting and there is something charming about that.

I would really recommend this film, especially to the people who seen it when they were young so they can watch it again and this time enjoy it. Just don’t show it to your kids.  

Favourite Quote 

Narrator: All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and when they catch you, they will kill you... but first they must catch you.

Rating 4/5

300

The basics   

300 is an American film that was made in 2006. 300 was originally a five issue series of comic books which was written in 1998 by Frank miller. The film was directed by Zack Snyder and is about war, glory, honour, betrayal and military tactics.

What is this film about?

In 480 BC the Persians have raised the biggest army the world has ever seen and they are on their way to take over Greece. In rejecting submission the King of Sparta Leonidas visits the Ephors (priests) to obtain their favour before sending the Spartan army in battle. After Ephors consults the oracle he claims that Sparta’s army should not go to war as it would interrupt the sacred Carneian festival. Because of this Leonidas goes for a loop hole and he claims that he is not going to war he is just going for a walk up to the hot gates (where the Persians are) with 300 bodyguards at this side. Bring on the legendary battle of Thermopylae.

My views on it

I remember being sat in the cinema watching this film and I was thinking ‘these battle scenes are awesome’. Now thats was a few good years ago and since then I have gone through college and I have gone through university. I have become more intelligent, my knowledge on cinema has grown dramatically, my views on films has changed a lot and when I watch this film recently I was thinking ‘these battle scenes are awesome’. In the last few years I have changed a lot but my opinion on the fights in this film have not, it’s just the rest of the film I don’t like.

Back when I first watched this film I didn’t care for the Spartan Queen’s side of the story. You know, the side of the story that has her in, with the traitor and the council and all that stuff. All I care about was the action. Nowadays my view on the action is the same but now instead of just not caring about the queen’s side of the story, I am annoyed by it. Because the Queen’s story in this film is nowhere near as visually pleasing as the Kings story, also it is not on the same level of intensity, excitement or interest as the King’s story, it flops. Due to this it make the film feel very unbalanced and this is what really annoys me. It almost feels like the queens story in this film was only there to fill up time and I would say after watching this film once if you wanted to watch it again you could get the same level of entertainment from it by just watching the Kings side of the story and fast-forwarding through the Queen’s side and save yourself a few minutes.

Also before I sat down to write this review I did some research on the film and its context (like I do with all my blogs). Within minutes I had found out more about this battle then I did from the film and I found myself reading up on this battle for a long time and then I started to wonder ‘why isn’t this in the film?’. I know that this film came from a series of comic books so that they could not fit it all in to 117 minutes, but I would have loved to have learnt more about the history of this war in this film.  This is something that this film lacks and instead of getting this we get the boring Queen story line that no one will ever remember this film for.

All in all I would recommend this film. This film has some of the best use of green screen I have ever seen so far, the battle are amazing, you will not even remember the Queen’s side of the story after you have watched it and you will be shouting ‘this is Sparta!’ in no time.

Favourite Quote 

King Leonidas: This is Sparta!

Rating 3/5 (or you could say 300 out of 500. Woo for bad puns)

Akira

The basics

Akira is a Japanese Anime which came out in 1988. The manga was written by Katsuhiro Ohtomo and he also went on to write the screen play with Izô Hashimoto and direct it as well.  This film is, well……… about a lot of things really, too many to write down.  

What is this film about?

In 1988 an unexplained explosion happens and vaporizes Tokyo and world war 3 kicks off and then we jump forward 31 years to 2019. Now in Neo-Tokyo we meet Kaneda and Tetsuo, two teenagers in a motorcycle gang (Kaneda is the leader) off for a night of fighting a rival gang called the clowns. In this Tetsuo gets badly hurt crashing his bike so as not to hit a small blue child that looks old and when the army stops them they take Tetsuo with them for the top secret Akira project and that’s just the start of the film.

My views on it

Before the time where Animes were about children that could summon creatures for battle’s or just for fun (Pokémon, Digimon,  Yo-gi-oh, Beyblade, Cardcaptor Sakura etc.).  Or teenagers feeling uncomfortable near each other and it being almost pornography (Ecchi anima like Love Hina and B Gata H Kei AKA B-Cup Slut), and before Studio Ghibli could really make a name for themselves there was Akira.

Back in 1982 the original manga for Akira was only meant to be 200 pages long but due to popular demand in the end Akira went to more than 2000 pages and was a 6 issue epic manga. It wasn’t too long before this came out on the big screen and became a ground-breaking Anime and a cult classic.  Now I could go and talk about interesting facts about this film, or how awesome it is, or go in depth in to the story or any of the themes that this film has or what effect it had on anime itself or a number of things which makes this film a classic and not just in Anime but in cinema. I could do any of these things but that’s already been done so many times so I going to tell you some of the things I didn’t like about Akira.

Due to the fact that Akira was such a big manga it was impossible fit all the details from the manga in to the film. Now you can say this with any film that has come from a book but some do it better than others. In Akira because they had to try and fit in all the story line in to a two hour film, I feel that the characterization was let down a lot. Most of the characters had no back story to them and they seemed very two-dimensional, the only characters we mainly got to know were Kaneda and Tetsuo and that wasn’t really much. Also the relationships between characters was thin, yet again the only one we go to know a bit was Kaneda and Tetsuo’s relationship. Due to this I didn’t care for a lot of the characters, for example because the film only scratched the surface of Tetsuo and Kaori’s (his girlfriend) relationship, when she died I couldn’t of cared less.

Another thing I didn’t like was when Kaneda and Tetsuo where having one of their fights later on in the film I always was thinking ‘Tetsuo can stop tanks, take out an army and pretty much total Neo-Tokyo but a teenager with a laser gun can give him a hard time, mmmmmm that’s not right’.  I know that Kaneda is a tough character and that it is probably their friendship that holds Tetsuo back but still in the context of Tetsuo’s power, state of mind and the fact he is losing control of himself you would think that Kaneda would not be a threat on any level to Tetsuo.

Also if someone was to ask me ‘would you recommend this film?’ I would say ‘no’. Hear me out for this now, beside what I have said I do really like this film and it is a classic but the people who would love this film have already seen it and the people who wouldn’t, haven’t.  This isn’t the kinda film that people randomly pick up at blockbuster. The people who would watch it are film buffs and anime freaks and they have seen it all ready and this is why it called a cult classic.

Favourite Quote

Kaneda: He's not your friend, he's ours! If somebody's gonna kill him, it should be us!

Rating 4/5

La Horde

The basics

La Horde is a French zombie film that came out in 2009. This one was their first feature film that Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher had directed and had written as well, also including two other writers Arnaud Bordas and Stéphane Moïssakis. This film is about Revenge, being badass, zombies and working together against a common enemy.    

What is this film about?

At the start there is a funeral for a dead cop who was killed by a gangster, from this a group of cops set out on a revenge mission which leads them to a very run down tower of flats. They make their way to the top floor but end up being captured by the gangsters. Soon enough the dead begin to rise and the cops and the gangsters have to work together to try and get out of the tower alive.  

My views on it

When I come across French cinema, I don’t know why but my mind always starts to think about films such as À bout de soufflé (Breathless) and Jules et Jim (Jules and Jim). You know the kind, French new wave cinema from the 60’s that’s black and white, has jump cut editing, filmed by a hand-held camera, are really pretentious and are only watched by film students or critics. With this in mind I must say La Horde is a bit different than them (some sarcasm for you there).

As I watched this it seemed like the story line was only there so they could class this as a film and not just as a bunch of awesome zombie fight scene’s throw in together one after the other. I could just picture the writers creating the story line like this ………….

(Four writers sitting around a table drinking coffee)

Writer 1:         ok we all know how all the fight scenes are going down right?

All Writers:      yes.

Writer 1:         and we all agree that it’s going to be set in a tower of flats?

All Writers:      yes.

Writer 1:         soo…….. How do we get a lot of badass people to the top of a tower of flats?

Writer 2:         At the top of the flats can be a gangster hide out, full of gangsters.

Writer 1:         awesome that’s going in. And?

Writer 3:         cops could come to get them.

Writer 1:         There not badass enough.

(Writer 4 drinks some of his coffee)  

Writer 2:         Badass cops on a revenge mission.

Writer 1:         Great, just how do we justify zombies?

Writer 3:          Random, unexplained judgement day thing happens and zombies just turn up.

Writer 1:         Mmmmm... I don’t like it. (Pause) I love it. Let’s start filming.

Writer 4:         Can we throw in a crazy old guy with an axe?

Writer 1:         Yes, why not. Let’s do this thing.

End scene

If you haven’t guessed yet the story isn’t the reason why you would watch this film.  It is riddled with plot holes and it just there as a formality. The reason why you should watch this film is it gives you what you want to see, Gangsters working with badass cops VS a zombie horde. When I first watched this I didn’t care that the story only took five minutes to write, or that before the cops went in to the gangster’s room there was no blood anywhere and when they left there was blood on every wall in the whole building (which is strange as there was only a hand full of zombie on the top floors). There is many things wrong with this film but when you get to see a gangster blow a zombies head off with a shotgun or a female cop beat a zombie to the ground with her bare hands then drop a fridge on it, all you can think is ‘how awesome was that !’.

At the end of the day this isn’t a masterpiece of French cinema like À bout de soufflé or Jules et Jim, and it’s not going to be talked about in 50 years’ time like they are, but I would say if you’re a zombie fan, give this a watch It will not disappoint.

Some words of advice as well if you are a new comer to the world of foreign cinema or have never seen a foreign film before, this would be a good starter film. It’s easy to follow, there’s not much dialogue and there’s loads of action.      

Favourite Quote

Jimenez:   Tonight we came for a blood bath

Rating 2/5 (but if you are a zombie fan like me 4/5)

The Hangover Part II

The basics

The Hangover part II, which came out in 2011, is the sequel of the American comedy The Hangover which came in 2009. In this film the wolf pack is back and set for another night out that they will never forget and a night that they will remember nothing of.

The film brings back all the favourite cast from the first one (including a cameo from Mike Tyson) and is directed by the same director Todd Phillips. Like the first one this film is a comedy about a bachelor party, friendship, investigation, hangovers and having to deal with Alan (aka Zach Galifianakis or more commonly known as ‘that guy from The Hangover’)    

What is this film about?

Well if you haven’t guessed already this film is basically the same as the first one but with a few minor changes. The film starts off with a phone conversation with Phil claiming ‘It happened again’ (because it has) then it shoots back to the beginning to show us story leading up to the phone call.  This time around it is Stu who is getting married (like I said minor change) and he is planning to do his nuptials in Thailand.

Due to what has happen in the past Stu’s bachelor party is ……………………….. A brunch at a IHOP before they leave America. Once in Thailand, a few days before the wedding, Stu gets convinced to have just one sealed bottle of beer on the beach around a camp fire with his friends and his soon to be wife’s little brother Teddy. They enjoy their one sealed beer and have a few marshmallows to roast over the camp fire.

Next thing we know they wake up in a dirty little room, Phil is hung-over, Alan has a shaven head, Stu has a Tyson like face tattoo, there is a monkey wearing people clothes,  Doug is safely back at the hotel which is good. But where is Teddy? This leads to the adventure of the wolf pack, retracing their steps around Bangkok trying to find Teddy as they have no clue of what they did that night.      

My views on it

The big question is not whether I liked this film, it is more did I like the first one and the answer is mmmmmmm yes, yes I did. This film has the same story line, cast and director as the first one but what did we really expect of this film. The film is called The Hangover Part II, how much variation from the original story line could they do. Most people do seem to put down this film a lot for being the same as the first one and I do a bit because it does seem a bit lazy but this is not what this film is about. This film is a laugh out loud comedy which you are meant to sit back just enjoy for its stupidity and its crude sense of humour. If you looking for a film that’s a thinker, is original and intelligent then this is not for you as this film was never trying to be nothing more than just a good laugh, which it is.

All in all I would say that this film is not better than the first one but, it is not off it by far.  In this film the humour dose seem to be cruder then the first one especially when it comes to the bit about the lady boy’s (its set in Bangkok you knew this was going to happen). This is one of the reasons why I prefer the first one as the first one is just as funny if not funnier and it doesn’t go that crude.

So I can say I enjoyed this film almost as much I enjoyed the first one and if the rumours are right I will be enjoying The Hangover Part III in 2014.

Favourite Quote

Stu [Part of the lyrics to" Alan town"]: I got fucked in the ass... / By a girl with a dick.

Rating 3/5

DR. Horrible’s Sing Along-Blog

The basics   

DR. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is an American short film (or TV mini-series) which was created in 2008. During the writer strike in 2007, Joss Whedon set out to direct and write this 3 part musical which he co-writ with his brothers Zack and Jed and Jed’s Fiancé Maurissa Tancharoen. At first DR. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was only meant to be shown on the internet but from there on it has been shown in a few public places like Comic-Con in Sian Diego and is available on DVD. This film is a comedy musical about super-villains and super-heroes, love, career ambition, revenge and the balance DR. Horrible has to find between them.

What is this film about?

The film starts off with our unlikely hero (the villain) DR. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) doing his own video blog where he is just replying to the emails that he has received. Soon on in the film we find out, through the medium of song DR Horrible’s two goals in life. One is to be let in to the prestigious Evil League of Evil which is led by the legendary thoroughbred of sin, Bad Horse and the second is to pick up the courage to talk to the cute girl in the Laundromat who he has a crush on. 

In this we get to see DR. Horrible struggle to balance both of these dreams at the same time. As he get repeatedly beaten up by his nemesis Captain Hammer (who is a cheesy super-hero and a jerk) and during one of this heist to get so Wonderflonium for his Freeze-Ray he accidently introduces his dream girl, Penny to Captain Hammer and they start dating as well. Will it ever work out for our loveable DR. Horrible?

My views on it

For a film, well TV mini-series if you want to be pedantic that is only 42 minutes long, written during the writers’ strike  and was only meant to be shown on the internet  its very good and lovable. This is a great little rom-com musical that will just make you smile all the way through it. Now I am not saying this film is fantastic, it does have its flaws but you have to take it for what it is and it was released as nothing more than just an internet video, not a blockbuster film, an internet video.

The main surprise about this film is that the songs and the singing in it are actually good. You will find yourself as the title suggests singing along to the songs as the story unfolds and singing them still after it has finished. Also who knew that Neil Patrick Harris could sing?

This film is defiantly heading to become a cult classic which will be enjoyed for many years, and may I suggest makes a great film for when you have got a hangover.

Favourite Quote 

Captain Hammer: 
It may not feel too classy
Begging just to eat
But you know who does that?
Lassie. And she always gets a treat

Rating 4/5 stars  

Human Centipede (first sequences)

The Basics

Human Centipede (first sequences) is a Netherlands film which was made in 2009. Tom Six is the mind that is behind this film as he directed, produced and writer. So all in all he gets all the blame for this film. This film is about a mad scientist, horror, concepts, god complex and why Americans should never travel across Europe, didn’t they learn anything from Hostel and Hostel: Part II.  

What is this film about?

Well the film starts off like most new wave American B movie where instead of the young Americans being lost on a dark road in American or at a very dodgy looking camp site there on their holiday traveling across Europe. Because as we all know there isn’t any killers left in America so their teenagers have to come to Europe to be killed.  

We meet our two travels, Jenny and Lindsay, just two girls having a good time in Germany who plan to go out to a club one night. So they get ready, get in their rental car and drive off to the club and if you’re like me you already start to question ‘why are they taking a car if they’re going to get drunk in a club?’. I like to think one of them was going to be the designated driver.  As they drive, their car gets a flat tire in the middle of some dark woods in the middle of nowhere. Now i have never been to Germany but if I was them and I think most people would do the same, if I was going to a club I don’t think I would take the road that goes through the woods as club are mainly in places with other buildings like city’s. As the girls run around the woods looking for help they come across a house where they are let in by an older man who seems a bit strange. I don’t think I need to say but those two girls end up being drugged and tired up in the basement /laboratory. After this the old man called Dr Heiter goes out and gets another victim to match the two girl’s flesh type and the rest of the film you can gather from the title really. 

My views on it

I first came to hear of this film by word and mouth but not much and then I came across South Park’s parody of this film called humanentipad. From watching this I had to see the film. Form the start I accepted that it was going to be a low budget film that was based completely around one concept and that people only watch it for novelty reasons. So I am trying to say I didn’t have high exceptions for it. And even with all this I still thought that this was a rubbish film.

As you sit and watch this film you will notices plot hole after plot hole like why doesn’t the doctor who can speak German and English put one of the English specking girls at the front and not the Japanese guy? How does the Human Centipede get up and down the stairs? And the film is very medically inaccurate.

But the main problem I have with this film is that the concept of the human centipede is very poorly done. You wait about 50 minutes to see what you hope will be gross, messed up surgery that’s complex and in a very dark way is genius and this wired freaky abomination that is not three people but a being in itself.  But no its just 3 people in a line, stitch together by mouth to ass which is just dull and as we get to see the human centipede for the next 40 minute the idea of it just becomes mundane . So the only real hope this film had was to be a gross and to have shock value and it doesn’t even have that.    
 
Favourite Quote 

Jenny: [speaking on a hotel phone] Hi. Yes, um, I was wondering if I could get driving directions to a nightclub called Bunker. Yes, Bunker. How exactly would I get there ?

Rating 1/5 stars