Movie of the Week: Jurassic Park

Title: Jurassic Park

Director: Steven Spielberg

Release year: 1993

Notable cast: Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern

Genre: Action, adventure

Recommended for: everyone – we should all see it at least once!

Rating: 5/5

Description: I always have loved this film and always will! I think it is timeless, especially because I must say the special effects are still as good as today’s special effects! Everytime, my breath is taken away when we see the first dinosaurs and I just find it a film full of imagination and wonder that everyone should watch. It has a little bit of everything for everyone, a hint of romance, a bit of scare and a thrill. I also love watching Sam Neill’s character’s relationship with the children grow as he protects them.

Plot Summary: During a preview tour, a dinosaur theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaurs to escape.

Movie of the Week: Notting Hill

Title: Notting Hill

Director: Roger Michell

Release year: 1999

Notable cast: Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant

Genre: Romance, Drama

Recommended for: girls

Rating: 5/5

Description: I just love this film, it’s one I have watched over and over. For me, it has the perfect mix of romance, drama and comedy and is simply a beautiful and charming rollercoaster of love.

Plot Summary: The life of a simple bookshop owner in Notting Hill changes when he meets and falls for the most famous film star in the world.

Favourite quote: ‘I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her’ – Anna Scott

 

What’s a film you watch over and over again?

Allegiant

Title: Allegiant

Director: Robert Schwenkte

Release year: 2016

Notable cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller

Genre: Action, Adventure

Recommended for: no-one!

Rating: 1/5

Description: This was honestly one of the worst films I have ever seen, I don’t know what to say about it, really, because I stopped paying attention about half-way through.

Plot Summary: I don’t even understand what the plot was!

Kinky Boots

Title: Kinky Boots

Director: Julian Jarrold

Release year: 2006

Notable cast: Joel Egerton, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Genre: Musical comedy

Recommended for: when you want something different

Rating: 2.5/5

Description: Honestly, the film was a bit slow and boring. I like the story line but it just needed something more, something that made you want to watch. It was a real shame because I just adore the stage show which is fabulous and I recommend you see the stage show if possible.

Plot Summary: Charlie Price inherits the family’s failing show business and a transvestite comes to his rescue.

Zoolander 2

Title: Zoolander 2

Director: Ben Stiller

Release year: 2016

Notable cast: Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson

Genre: I think it was supposed to be funny?

Recommended for: please no one watch this!

Rating: 0.5/5

Review: When I saw the amount of celebrity cameos in this I was concerned, generally celebrity cameos are to distract from how bad a film is, and boy was I right! It wasn’t even one of those films that was so bad it was funny, it was just plain bad. Simply one of the worst films I have ever seen, if you can call it a film, generally to be considered a film I at least require it to have a real plot. It was just completely stupid. Do yourself a favour and never watch this.

Plot Summary: Derek and Hansel are lured into modeling again, in Rome, where they find themselves the target of a sinister conspiracy.

Movie of the Week: Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

Title: Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

Director: Jake Syzmanski

Release year: 2016

Notable cast: Zac Efron, Aubrey Plaza, Adam Devine, Anna Kendrick

Genre: Rom Com

Recommended for: anyone that wants a good laugh

Rating: 4.5/5

Description: Staying true to form, I still love anything with Aubrey Plaza in it, after watching her for years on the small screen (in Parks and Recreation – it’s an amazing TV show) it was great to finally see her on the big screen. No, this film does not have a super enticing plot and you’ve probably seen a ton of similar American films before, but this film was super fun and super funny and I loved it – I was still laughing as I was leaving the cinema and just wanted to watch it again!

Plot Summary: Two hard-partying brothers place an online ad to find the perfect dates for their sister’s Hawaiian wedding. Hoping for a wild getaway, the boys instead find themselves out-hustled by an uncontrollable duo.

Suicide Squad

Title: Suicide Squad

Director: David Ayer

Release year: 2016

Notable cast: Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Cara Delevingne, Will Smith, Viola Davis

Genre: Fantasy, Crime, Adventure

Recommended for: comic universe fans

Rating: 3.5/5

Description: I enjoyed the movie but I felt that there was room for improvement. I though the acting was pretty good and I liked the characters, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn was a standout for me and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang was surprisingly very good and funny (go the Aussies), although I think Jared Leto really overplayed the Joker. Also, it was strange how much they promoted the Joker but he was hardly in it. I felt like the plot just didn’t flow that well and I ended up confused sometimes and sometimes a scene change was really obvious, like the actual scenes didn’t flow into one another together. Overall, I would watch it again because the enjoyment of watching the characters made up for the flaws.

Plot Summary: A secret government agency recruits some of the most dangerous incarcerated super-villains to form a defensive task force. Their first mission: save the world from the apocalypse.

The BFG

Title: The BFG

Director: Steven Spielberg

Release year: 2016

Notable cast: Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill & Penelope Wilton

Genre: Kids & Family

Recommended for: when you have to watch something with your kids

Rating: 2/5

Description: It’s a cute story and there are some charming moments, however it feels like it drags on for a long time as it takes a while for anything to happen and to get to the main plot.

Plot Summary: A girl named Sophie encounters the Big Friendly Giant who, despite his intimidating appearance, turns out to be a kind soul who is considered an outcast by the other giants because he refuses to eat children.

Movie of the Week: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Title: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Director: Jim Sharman

Release year: 1975

Notable cast: Tim Curry, Richard O’Brien, Susan Sarandon, Patricia Quinn, Little Nell, & Barry Bostwick

Genre: Musical comedy

Recommended for: if you want to have a good time!

Rating: 4/5

Description: I watched this to get the awful remake off my mind and I still love it! It’s not perfect, but it’s not meant to be; it’s meant to be rough around the edges, something which the remake completely missed. It’s got a great balance of crazy, comedy and shock-horror and fun, which makes it enjoyable every time!

Plot Summary: A newly engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must pay a visit to a castle of a mad alien scientist which leads them on a strange journey.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s do the Time Warp Again

Title: The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s do the Time Warp Again

Director: Kenny Ortega

Release year: 2016

Notable cast: Victoria Justice, Laverne Cox, Ryan McCartan, Reeve Carney, Christina Milan and Annaleigh Ashford

Genre: Musical something?

Recommended for: if you want to cry

Rating: 1/5

Description: This is was just awful. It was an abomination. I actually cried twice because it was so bad. I can’t think of anything good to say except that Annaleigh Ashford as Columbia was ok – that’s genuinely the best I can do. This production completely missed the essence of Rocky Horror – what made the film what it is. Rocky Horror is inspired by B grade horror films and the accidental comedy in them – it is meant to be a grubby looking low budget production, not a huge flashy show with no comedy, instead just very serious actors trying to look sexy; the whole film just completely missed the point. I was also very confused about how I was supposed to be watching the film. At the start they showed a movie theatre and people watching it on the screen but then the film was like a live stage show – am I meant to watch it like a film or stage show? I was also confused about the music, sometimes they stayed pretty much true to the original song and sometimes they made songs or part of them like a rock song like they were trying to revamp a song – just pick one, the original or a new version of the song! The acting was pretty atrocious, it seems that none of the actors understood their characters. Anyway, I have many more criticisms and things to say but I’ll leave it here for now and this will be like a thesis paper.

Plot Summary: A straitlaced, square couple, seeking shelter from a storm, find themselves in the castle of a transsexual alien mad scientist who has just built a buff man.