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: Divergent (Cliché right?)

Title: Divergent

Director: Neil Burger

Release year: 2014

Notable cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ashley Judd, Kate Winslet

Genre: action, adventure, sci-fi, romance, fantasy

Recommended for: teenagers

Rating: 4/5

Description: I made this movie of the week because I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, not necessarily because it was fantastic film. There was good chemistry between the leads, however I feel it lacked in the romance department a little, in other words a little more romance and a little less action/violence would have been nice to balance it out a little. Furthermore, both leads impressed me with their acting, I was initially very unsure about them but they did a good job. Overall a good start to the franchise.

Plot Summary: In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she’s Divergent and won’t fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it’s too late.

Favourite quote: “Fear doesn’t shut you down, it wakes you up” -Four

Man of Steel

Title: Man of Steel

Director: Zack Snyder

Release year: 2013

Notable cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe

Genre: action, adventure, fantasy

Recommended for: comic book film fans

Rating: 3.5/5

Description:  Really enjoyed the film, although for me it got a bit too Star Wars in some parts, yet it was still a gripping film. I also thought they could have explored Clark and Lois’ romance more. Moreover, I really didn’t think Amy Adams was a very good Lois Lane, I just could’t see her as Lois, and her and Adams and Cavill didn’t have great chemistry-it was hard to believe the relationship. However, I must mention that Henry Cavill’s attractiveness, makes up for most flaws!

Plot Summary: A young itinerant worker is forced to confront his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his race.

Favourite quote: “What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than what society had intended? What if a child aspired to something greater?” -Jor-El

Movie of the Week: Edward Scissorhands

Title: Edward Scissorhands

Director: Tim Burton

Release year: 1990

Notable cast: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Anthony Michael Hall (Remember Rusty from Vacation?)

Genre: drama, fantasy, romance

Recommended for: everyone

Rating: 4.5/5

Description: An original and curious film, dark yet heartfelt and slightly humourous film of romance with what appears to be like a modern day frankenstein creature, having scissors for hands. Brilliant and incredibly charming and enchanting film, although it makes me have a little cry every time!

Plot Summary: An uncommonly gentle young man, who happens to have scissors for hands, falls in love with a beautiful adolescent girl.

Favourite quote: ” I am not complete.” -Edward

Beetlejuice

Title: Beetlejuice

Director: Tim Burton

Release year: 1988

Notable cast: Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton

Genre: comedy, fantasy, sci-fi

Recommended for:  teens-adults looking for a bit of a laugh

Rating: 3.5/5

Description: probably a little dated now, but still an bizarrely interesting movie that you keep watching just because you wanna know what happens next!

Plot Summary: A couple of recently deceased ghosts contract the services of a “bio-exorcist” in order to remove the obnoxious new owners of their house.

Favourite quote: ” Let’s turn on the juice and see what shakes loose.” -beetlegeuse

Movie of the week: Sliding Doors

Title: Sliding Doors

Director: Peter Howitt

Release year: 1998

Notable cast: Gwenyth Paltrow

Genre: drama, romance, comedy, fantasy

Recommended for: people who like to think

Rating: 4.5/5

Description: a very clever idea, a refreshing type of romantic comedy that’s more thought-provoking than tear-provoking as many rom-coms endings are these days. I really like how the film looks at the idea of chance, but also holds onto the idea of fate + destiny.

Plot Summary: A London woman’s love life and career both hinge, unknown to her, on whether or not she catches a train. We see it both ways, in parallel.

Favourite quote: “Not only does he own a personalized matching set of crocodile-skin luggage, but his favorite TV program is Baywatch. So you see there’s always someone sadder than you.”

Movie of the week: The Adjustment Bureau

Title: The Adjustment Bureau

Director: George Nolfi

Release year: 2011

Notable cast: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt

Genre: sci-fi, thriller, romance

Recommended for: definitely a good one’s to satisfy  both boyfriend (sci-fi, thriller) and girlfriend (romance)

Rating: 4.5/5

Description: captivating, compelling, on-edge, clever in how it blends sci-fi and romance

Plot Summary: The affair between a politician and a ballerina is affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.

Favourite quote:”You don’t have free will, David. You have the appearance of free will.” -Thompson

E.T

Title: E.T

Director: Steven Spielberg

Release year: 1982

Notable cast: Drew Barrymore, Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace

Genre: sci-fi, fantasy, kids + family

Recommended for: EVERYONE!

Rating: 5/5

Description: ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! So sweet, and magical, contemporary but classic, excellent graphics for the 80’s, MUST SEE FOR EVERYONE!

Plot Summary: A meek and alienated little boy finds a stranded extraterrestrial. He has to find the courage to defy the authorities to help the alien return to its home planet.

Favourite quote: “It was nothing like that, penis-breath!” -Elliot

Midnight in Paris

Title: Midnight in Paris

Director: Woody Allen

Release year: 2011

Notable cast: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Carla Bruni

Genre: comedy, drama, romance, fantasy

Recommended for: girls and guys looking for a different type of romance story

Rating: 3.5/5

Description: clever, interesting, different, loved the cross between modern and different eras-helps provide something for everyone, geart cast and costumes, magi and mystique

Blurb: While on a trip to Paris with his fiancé’s family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight.

Favourite quote: “Nostalgia is denial – denial of the painful present… the name for this denial is golden age thinking – the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one ones living in – its a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present.” -Paul

*I actually watched this film on my way home from Paris

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Title: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Director: Terry Gilliam

Release year: 2009

Notable cast: Heath Ledger, Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Christopher Plummer, Colin Farrell

Genre: adventure, fantasy, mystery

Recommended for: if you like something complex and different

Rating: 3/5

Description: confusing, interesting, colourful, bold, witty

Blurb: A traveling theater company gives its audience much more than they were expecting.

Favourite quote:  Tony: Where the hell are we?

Percy: Geographically speaking, in the Northern Hemisphere. Socially, on the margins. And narratively, with some  way to go.

*This was the great Heath Ledger’s last film appearance.