Monday 25 March 2013

Classic Teen Movies

Being a movie buff in 2013 means you've watched Christopher Nolans Batman trilogy a hundred times and can name every Kristen Stewart movie.
Well, I am a movie buff on the sheer reason why I prefer old classics over any modern movie ANY DAY.
I was brought up on John Hughes and Joel Schumacher. Being born in 1995 didn't give me much opportunity to watch these when they were popular but I was lucky enough to have a movie buff relative who loved the 'brat pack' movies just as much as I do today.
Here are a few of my favourites and why they annihilate the modern teen movies made today.


Weird Science - 1985 - John Hughes
One of my favourites and possibly the best sleepover movie when you're a dweeby geek and dramatically declining in the social circle. Anthony Michael Hall made his debut as the stereotypical nerd that he portrayed in other favourites Sixteen Candles & Breakfast Club and let's not forget how Kelly LeBrock is just a BABE in this film. It makes me laugh every time and remains at the top of the teen movies. There's 17 Again and god forbid, Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging that girls will argue are the best movies for a girly night in but when I'm in the house, there's some 80's teen comedies, Reeses chocolates and a whole lot of panty hats.


Pretty In Pink - 1986 - Howard Deutch
Although directed by someone different, it was written by John Hughes most people mistake it for one of Hughes movies although it isn't. It's a cult favourite and is practically the epitome of teen movies. Molly Ringwald made her debut in the 80's with other notable favourites such as Sixteen Candles and Breakfast Club alongside Anthony Michael Hall and is now referred to a lot in most modern movies. In 2001 Not Another Teen Movie was a spoof movie dedicated to parodying every teen movie in the 80's making a special appearance at the end was Ringwald herself. Pretty in Pink remains my favourite of her movies and again, is an awesome movie to sit around with your friends and swoon over Blaine and cry over poor little Ducky.

St Elmo's Fire - 1985 - Joel Schumacher
This film was released around the same time as every other teen movie and yet it remains one of the best. A film about life and love and the hardships of adjusting to adulthood, it's a movie I can never tire of. Not to mention that Andrew McCarthy and Rob Lowe just make me swoon in this movie. Like every other teen movie in the 80's there's humour and drama mixed into one masterpiece. Teen movies nowadays really don't run your emotions like the old classics to. Someone once said to me, 'High School Musical 3 is like St Elmo's Fire, they're all adjusting to life.' Ladies and Gentleman, I could've shot them down like a poacher in a  rabbit hutch. Anyone who claims to be an old classic movie buff may have watched Breakfast Club or Sixteen Candles but they're not a true 80's movie kid if they haven't sat through this.

Breakfast Club - 1985 - John Hughes
Here it is, ladies and gents. The film that made the 80's pop culture that was the 'brat pack' and teen comedy. A film made in the same year as St Elmo's Fire and similar in content but completely different characters that you can not only feel for but relate to as well. Each character symbolizes the stereotypical cliques in high school's back then and even today. There are movies like Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging that make fun of the stereotypical geeks in social turmoil due to the popular crew but there's no other film that depicts the realism and how if affects others. And let's face it, no other actor can pull off being a realistic geek than Anthony Michael Hall. The film is a work of art and a genuis' masterpiece. A perfect movie to sit down and laugh with. I wanna say I'm in the Anthony Michael Hall clique but Ally Sheedy and her basket case self probably suits me right now.

Sixteen Candles - 1984 - John Hughes
Another Ringwald classic that once again features our very own favourite geek. This film just screams teen sleepover movie. I'm sure every sixteen year old girl can relate to Molly's distress when she crushes on the most popular boy who is in a relationship with the popular girl and her parents don't acknowledge her and her bratty siblings just don't know the meaning of the word 'sensible.'
I became so obsessed with this film, I didn't take it out of my DVD player for a month. It was on replay all the time. Not only does it provide you with killer humour and knockout one liners but it's a brilliant ending that yes, is predictable but it's alright because it's just so great and romantic.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off - 1986 - John Hughes
Another Hughes masterpiece. There's not one person I know that hasn't heard of this movie. This movie struck the whole truant is cool phenomena. Everytime I skip school, my thoughts are always with our favourite little truant and his innovative ways to avoid everyone and yet have the best day ever.
Like Weird Science, Matthew Broderick constantly breaks the fourth wall to talk with the audience and it's humour and close calls is what drives the story ahead. It's a classic that doesn't feature many actors from his previous films although it's similar to Home Alone that Hughes goes on to direct later.

Lost Boys - 1987 - Joel Schumacher
Another one for the resentful 'brat pack' nature although not really a teen comedy. It's a vampire classic that truly 100% represents the vampires that are as real as they're gonna get. Forget sparkles and convertibles with fancy ski resort houses and Claire De Lune. Lost Boys brought teen movies to a comedy/horror level when Schumacher directed this all time cult classic. It's all about rock n roll, motorbikes, mohawks and leather jackets. This is what vampires were about in the 80's.

Saturday 16 March 2013

Guilty Pleasure: One Direction

Alright, everyone know's 'em, they're like marmite. You love 'em or hate 'em and then there's those who secretly love them and just cannot bring themselves to admit it.
Well, it's like it's programmed into the mainstream to hate these guys but my question is WHY? They're five young guys who are easy on the eyes and bring out great music. They're just a boyband. I don't see Girls Aloud getting compared to Hannah Montana like these guys are getting compared to Justin Bieber.
Okay, fair enough, their first album was like Disney crapped all over it but their new music is really developing.
Take Me Home has got some awesome tunes on it. I'm seventeen years old and still find these guys sorta, pretty, kinda amazing.

3) I Would
So, my third favourite song on the album is I Would because it's fun, lively and it's kinda jolly not considering the lyrics. It's real easy to catch on the tune and it's great to sing along to. One thing I really enjoy about this album in particular is the fact all the guys get at least one solo part in every song except for Back For You which I think is only Louis and Liam for their girlfriends, if I'm correct. Anyway, the chorus will stick in your head for ages and you'll be humming it on the bus stop tomorrow.

2) Over Again
This is a slow and rather sad song. Apparently, the boys cry when they perform it live which doesn't surprise me to be honest. It's a meaningful song that isn't the conventional love song. It seems to be about a guy pining over a heartbroken and damaged girl. My favourite part in this song is Harry's verse and Louis' straight after. The 'showers that are British' part just makes me wanna break down in tears and makes me proud of my cuppa tea accent. It's a song that will make you fall asleep, make you cry or make you smile if you can relate to the lyrics because they work out in the end. I hope. Maybe I should listen to it again...

1) Rock Me
So, I've actually heard this song is really, really popular.
It's undoubtedly the best song on the album and it's probably the first song I've managed to listen to a hundred times without getting bored this year. I'm scared to listen to it again just in case.
It's brand new from their original material. All of their voices sound amazing and really rock n roll and their live performances of this song makes Harry be shown in such a new light. His stage presence is really overpowering and you can tell he is really into this kinda of genre music. This song makes you rethink every stereotype you've ever placed upon this group. They're capable of other genre's and pull them off successfully.

So, if you haven't guessed already, I've got a huge soft spot for Harry Styles, who doesn't? I just think he's really misunderstood. He seems to listen to his crotch rather than his brain and he's 19 years old, famous and good lookin'. Who are we to say who he can and can't sleep with? As long as he doesn't release a stupid song out of it. *cough* Miss Swift *cough*
Louis comes a close second just because he's so effing funny.
Anyway, I know some of you have at least ONE song on your phones or iPods and I know you've hummed What Makes You Beautiful at least once.

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Blue Valentine & Crazy, Stupid, Love

I went on a little Ryan Gosling adventure over the weekend and watched two of his movies. One, underrated and boycotted due to critical acclaim and another, a popular one but nobody really paid any attention to how gorgeous he is in it. Anyway, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the two movies and also how I support 100% this man to play Christian Grey in the upcoming but not yet confirmed Fifty Shades trilogy.

Blue Valentine is one of those indie films that everyone has overlooked and underrated except for those who have a particular interest in one or two of the actors and can truly appreciate the true perfection of this movie.
Don't believe anyone who says it's a love story. For it's half right and you'll dive into this movie with the intent of a happy ending and that is far from what happens.
The movie cuts back and forth from the meeting of two young adults and their budding relationship to the present where the pair are married, unhappy and at breaking point. I can understand why some might say it's a love story, in essence it is but it's the realism that comes with their relationship that gets you to think back and consider whether or not falling in love is really worth it. I was thinking to myself near the end 'I don't want this to happen to me' and 'I am never falling in love.'
But, moving past the tearful storyline, the acting from Michelle Williams and the perfect Mr Gosling is faultless and according to Wikipedia, they were instructed to not only live together during filming but to act like a married couple to 'get a feel' for one another. How authentic is that?

Crazy, Stupid, Love was the movie I watched afterwards and I had to say it was the best choice of a movie after I was recovering from that ending from Blue Valentine. Surrounded by teary tissues and a pessimistic attitude to the whole concept of love, I wasn't ready for this movie. The title alone of this movie made me want to shut off the whole world and just cry over my future that will undoubtedly involve hundreds of cats. Anyway, this movie is a romantic comedy. It's a film that encourages people to not think negatively about love and rejoice it. It basically contradicts everything Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams were depicting in Blue Valentine.
Steve Carrell does an impressive job in portraying a man who is torn up over his cheating wife and approaching divorce along with struggling to regain his 'manhood' that Gosling's characters, a womanizing rich boy claims he's lost.
All in all, it's a star studded cast of Julianne Moore, Emma Stone and Jonah Bobo. Excellent job, everyone.

Friday 1 March 2013

Mama Review

This post will contain spoilers and opinions you may disagree with - feel free to leave at any point.

This movie is a must-see for all horror fans. Whether you prefer gore over jumpscares or psychological over emotional trauma, this film is perfect for horror fans to unite.
From the trailer, it appealed to me. It was scary and after 9PM, the jumpscare was amazing. You don't get much information at all from the trailer itself, really. There's quick, snappy images to keep you engaged and guessing but where the storyline is concerned, there's hardly anything there to make you go, 'so that's what it's about.'
This movie isn't original, the storyline has been done before. The plot holes are there, the acting isn't the greatest in some cases and there are predictable scenes.
That's not to say it's not a great movie to sit down with and scare the shit out of you.

So, the movie focuses around a family, or more prominently, two young girls and their uncles girlfriend, Annabelle.
The movie begins with a distressed father taking his two young girls, one around 3 or 4 and another only around 1. He drives them dangerously in the snow towards a destination, however, they crash and end up in the woods. They encounter a lone house where they take refuge, just as the father is about to shoot his eldest daughter (and assumed he's going to murder himself afterward) he is brutally attacked and killed.
Five years later and the father's brother has been spending years trying to find his nieces. His girlfriend, a punk rock musician who doesn't like to be tied down and celebrates when she's not pregnant, is less than enthusiastic when news comes that the girls have been found. The two girls are underweight and animalistic in behaviour. They snap, claw and bite when approached, they've been feeding on racoons and badgers and cherries, they know little communication skills and are predatory.
Soon, the eldest girl learns quickly how to communicate with their uncle and becomes significantly close to Annabelle who is forced to care for the girls once her boyfriend is thrown down the stairs by an unseen force.
The two girls continue a relationship with a woman they call 'Mama' as she visits them in the night and play with them. Anna becomes suspicious when the youngest still talks little and begins to sleep outside. Once Anna and the girls begin to bond, 'Mama' an ex mental patient who attempted to escape with her baby but was killed when she threw herself off a cliff, makes herself known and begins to attack Anna claiming she wants the girls back. The movie ends with the youngest girl, Lily falling off the cliff with 'Mama' and the eldest staying put with her uncle and Annabelle.

I definitely think Jessica Chastain's acting deserves significant acclaim for this movie. Not only sacrificing her long, red haired locks for a choppy, rocker style, she really pulls off being a non enthusiastic single mother who wants nothing but these children to go away, she plays the damsel brilliantly and when her character warms up to the girls, she plays it perfectly.
I have to say the storyline was, although not original, was pretty good. Mama was just a ghost like character but they gave her a really deep past and motive for capturing the children. By the end, I kinda felt sorry for her character and understood why she wanted her own baby.

I give this movie a 7/10 for scares and 6/10 for storyline. Definitely recommend it but don't see it expecting awesome action sequences and psychological horror.