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The Amazing Spider-Man 2

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There are a few things that I have found people more sensitive about than the things they loved as a child. If you mention it with kindness their faces will light up and if you speak ill towards it they will be hurt in a special way. We all have that one thing from our childhood that we just love. For me it’s Spider-Man. I unabashedly love Spider-Man. However this does not mean I will always love a Spider-Man film. As much as anything done right in these films is pure ecstasy to me however if something is tackled wrong its a kin to spitting in my mouth and slapping me in the face all at once. The Sam Raimi Spider-Man’s were pretty fun but not what a modern representation of what the character and his villains are. The first in Marc Webb’s series was good despite the hurdles it put in its own way with a needless conspiracy sub plot and a lack luster villain in the Lizard. With that all being said I am delighted to report The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is not only the best Spider-Man movie ever. In my humble opinion it is the best super hero film ever and has pipped The Avengers as the best cinema experience I have ever had. Continue reading →

2014
04/17
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Captain America: The Winter Soldier

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The summer super-hero season seems to be starting earlier and earlier each year and this trend continued today as Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens in Irish cinemas. This marks the third of the five films from Marvel’s phase 2 of their cinematic universe and was always going to be a pivotal film for my feelings of phase two in general after a mediocre Thor 2 and a incredibly disappointing Iron Man 3. I am very happy to report that Captain America 2 is a return to the quality of film making that has made me so passionate about this studios films.

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2014
03/26
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Oscars 2014: The Verdict

This Sunday marks the most prestigious night in the Hollywood calendar; the 86th Annual Academy Awards. Now many people are chiming in with their guesses for the big prizes however I have found myself conflicted on a number of categories with who I think will win and who I want win and so I have decided to acknowledge both. You can find a full list of those nominated here . Now not to ramble on like so many of the speeches this Sunday will.

Best Actor

ImageThis years Best Actor category is the most stacked category of the year. In my opinion any one of the five men nominated put in better performances than any and of the nominees from last year’s awards, Daniel Day Lewis included. We have been treated to five top class and diverse performances from five of the best actors working today. A lot of people have picked Mattew McConaughey as their pick for the winner which is perfectly understandable. In my opinion the best actor over the last 12 months is without a shred of doubt is McConaughey. Not only in Dallas Buyers Club but he also gave Academy Award nomination worthy performances in Mud and The Wolf Of Wall Street, not to mention his haunting stint on True Detective. However Best Actor is awarded to the best single performance of the year not the best Actor of the year overall. Chiwetel Ejiofor delivered that for me. 12 Years A Slave was a completely different animal of a movie which brought its cast to places rarely explored in Hollywood cinema. Ejiofor plays the protagonist with a combination of power and weakness that has stayed with me for months now. Another factor towards my favoritism of Ejiofor is that I feel this will be the best performance of his life while McConaughey has had several stunning performances, which is a testament to the man’s ridiculous talent. Continue reading →

2014
02/28
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Gravity – The Best Movie Of 2013

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The first thing that crossed my mind as the credits rolled for Gravity was “That was the best movie that has come out in 2013”. There are a good number of films that I either have not seen or have not come out yet which I feel will be better, specifically 12 Years A Slave and The Wolf Of Wall Street, however until then Gravity has top honours for me. Sitting in the theatre I couldn’t help but feel I was witnessing a landmark in film as a craft. As a fan of film making as a process I cannot even comprehend how Alfonso Cuarón managed to pull this film off but he did and he did it spectacularly.  Continue reading →

2013
11/14
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The First Annual Academy Of Super Hero Film Awards

No matter how you feel about it, Thor : The Dark World was the final super hero/comic film in one of the biggest years for super films ever, still not a patch on last year but it was never going to be. Knowing that and seeing as we’re heading into award season I felt that now was the time to take 2013’s best comic films and dole out awards in the same categories as the Academy Awards but limit the field to comic book movies. Please comment below with your criticisms of my picks and feel free to pick your own. Oh and if you can pretend Kevin Smith is hosting it too that would be great.

Best Actor – Hugh Jackman (The Wolverine)

ImageThis was probably the closest call I had to make when compiling my list. On one hand we had Henry Cavill turning in a star making performance in Man of Steel, one which is going to walk him into a lot of high profile movie roles. On the other we had Hugh Jackman, Robert Downey JR and Chris Hemsworth returning to the roles they made famous but in grittier sequels. Even though I feel Cavill is the best acted Superman (not the most iconic yet though), I feel overall Hugh Jackman gave the best performance as a super hero this year. He took all the great features we have loved from his Wolverine over the past 13 years and added new layers of pain, regret and realism. It was his best outing as the razor clawed mutant and was the perfect precursor to the amazing looking X-men : Days Of Future Past. Continue reading →

2013
11/10
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Thor: The Dark World

 

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I personally am a massive comic book fan, especially Marvel comics. My top 20 favourite films mainly consist of gritty noir films, art house independents and cult classics. However the real exception to this trend would be Avengers Assemble which I can safely say is the most enjoyable movie I have ever seen. The first time I saw it was genuinely one of the most exciting and brilliant experiences of my life. I enjoyed it more than any of my birthdays and any Christmas day ever. I realize how pathetic that may sound but its the truth. So naturally you imagine I would be very excited for Thor: The Dark World. I was and I wasn’t.

Any super hero movie gets me excited. Guardians Of The Galaxy are C list at best super heroes who have a movie coming out in 2015 and I have been actively excited since August 2013 when it was announced. However I was reserved with my expectations going into Thor for one reason … Iron Man 3. Iron Man 3 is an actually pretty well liked movie and was a huge success for Marvel studios however I hate it with a passion. I won’t get into the details of my deep hatred now but it has to be noted it left a poor taste in my mouth and left me skeptical about Thor 2. Well the movie finally came along and it has re-affirmed my faith in the church of Marvel. Continue reading →

2013
11/05
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Late To The Party: Raging Bull

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Biopics are a huge source of internal conflict for me. While a large proportion of them are great films (at least comparative to other genres), I still don’t consider myself a fan. Firstly when the person is so iconic, such as Abraham Lincoln, it’s hard for me to remain invested in a plot I know the outcome of. I was never on the edge of my seat waiting to see if slavery was abolished or not when I went to see Lincoln. Also, some bio-pics are guilty of glorifying their namesakes and fail in giving a sufficiently unbiased portrayal. So, for me at least, biopics work best when they feature less iconic people (Oskar Schindler for example) and/or when they present their protagonist in as honest a light as possible (Billy Hayes from Midnight Express). With that being said, Raging Bull, the tragic life story of the vicious middle-weight boxer Jake La Motta, is undoubtedly my favourite biopic of all time.

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2013
10/23
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Top 10: Movie Psychopaths

Off the heels of my review of Psycho  where I went in depth about my love of movie psychopaths I thought it could be interesting to do my top 10 movie psychopaths list. The criteria are they have to have appeared in a movie but can have appeared in other media and must conform to this definition of a psychopath “a person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behaviour without empathy or remorse”. With all those formalities out of the way lats kick it off! (Warning spoilers) Continue reading →

2013
10/17
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Late To The Party: Psycho (1960)

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This is my second late to the party review, a column where I will take classic, cult and all round respected films I just haven’t seen yet and cross them off my bucket list whilst giving them my honest thoughts, be they disappointment or remarkable. Now all film is subjective so please leave a comment with your opinion, slander my blasphemy or even suggest my next review. In today’s edition I’m going to be reviewing the prototype for every slasher film from Halloween to Scream 4, Alfred Hitchcock’s career gambling and ultimately career defining Psycho (1960).

Firstly let me begin this by saying there is nothing I like more than a great movie psycho. I’m not referring to Freddy, Jason or any of those ridiculous imposters. It’s the likes of John Doe, Patrick Bateman and Hannibal Lecter which have played a huge part in me becoming so passionate about films. Which is why it was unusual that at age 21, I had not seen Psycho. I had a few chances but I procrastinated for years for several reasons. Well I finally watched it. I was hopeful but also skeptical that it either wouldn’t hold up to the grit of modern psycho stories or my knowledge of the ending would take the intrigue out of it. After having watched it I can honestly say its easily one of the best films I have ever seen.

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2013
10/12
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Late To The Party: Mean Streets

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First off, some clarity for those confused by the title. Even though I am a huge film fan there are many great, iconic and cult films I just have not gotten around to seeing. So I thought it would be interesting to start reviewing them as I tick them off my bucket list. These are all going to be movies I have just seen but would not be considered recent movies and I feel the added factor of the movie’s reputation affecting my expectations should make for some interesting results. The first film I’m reviewing is Mean Streets (1973) which is a Martin Scorsese crime drama and his first foray into the subject matter he would soon be the king of. It also stars two Hollywood legends in Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel during the very early stages of their careers. Continue reading →

2013
10/10
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