*splutters tea*

haha yes it was released when that meme was popular :p

Still a good 'un though.

Black Swan

Darren Aronofsky, so it's incredibly pretentious, overblown and mostly depressing, much like the bag of [LIFTED] that is Requiem for a Dream. However it's refreshing that it doesn't have a banal moral message in this one, the characters at least develop a little, and it has a thought-provoking ending. I got dizzy frequently though, lots of lights and spinning the camera around, just how confused and scared can one girl be? Tiresome.

5/10

He's made good films like The Wrestler and Pi, but then he churns out stuff like this, and people seem to be floored by it. I must be missing something.

Was it the girl-on-girl scene causing the raves?

I didn't even notice that as being especially risqué or new to be honest, it was just typical of Aranofsky laying everything on with a shovel as per, the man doesn't understand subtelty.

Saw Johnny English 2 today.
It was actually very funny in a cheesy way.

I hadn't been to the cinema for the longest time - chiefly because I find them dirty, expensive and badly set-up, I don't like the company and the films are crap. Moreover the recent 3D fad holds little promise for me because of my eye problems. However, the 2D remake of an old friend was a temptation I just couldn't resist. And I'm glad I went.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2D)

Firstly I'll deal with the bad. I don't like this implementation of performance capture. YMMV but sadly I found that the humans sat right in the middle of Uncanny Valley. Also I found Tintin to be a bit weedy.

The Good? A pretty good (but disjointed) story and score are well used and the sense of intrigue pulls you along. The voice actors are pretty well chosen and even those that aren't manage to not jar too horribly. The best aspect though is the choice of shots - they were quite wonderful. The same performance capture that jars when used on humans allows the inclusion of shots that would be impossible with normal filming.

It feels like a Hergé and looks like a Hergé. All in all a pretty good flick and I'd happily watch it again.

Verdict: 7.5/10

With Tintin more than the others, I found the the eyes lifeless. However I still enjoyed the movie, and even watched it in 3D.

I'm like a little kid when I go to the cinema. Unable to be critical, I am just swept up by the story and carried along. most films I see these days are good enough for me to forgive their faults. Even Skyline nearly made it.
On the other hand I find 3D detracts from the experience. I spend more time looking around the corner at the effect than following the action.
Tintin was pretty good in 2D. I loved it when Haddock expressed his "unquenchable" thirst for adventure.

The entire Harry Potter series.

Don't bother.

Interesting. Mainly because I've never watched any of the HP films (might've seen bits'n'bobs whilst channel flicking) and only read one book (the first one I think it was) - even that was because I was sick and unwell, off school, and really bored.

Should I just give the entire franchise a miss? I was really disappointed by the LOTR film and reckon the book was probably superior.

The LOTR film became tedious when they decided, right that's it, there's no more hope, make everything grey.

Similarly in HP they reach the point where there's actually no colour or light, you're sat watching a black screen with moody music.

The difference being the HP books are similarly lacking in sophistication whereas the LOTR books are dripping with detail and weight.

Thanks for the warning.

I haven't seen any of them, except about an hour of the first one (I think), and I was wondering if it was worthwhile ploughing through them with the family; even though my kids haven't shown the slightest interest in anything HP.

I did have a crack at one of the books and found it quite cold, and poorly written; so much so, I gave up. However, I don't want to slag them off too much as they did get a lot of people to pick up a book; kids especially.

As brilliant as they are, the LOTR books are probably quite a challenge for a lot of kids.

Die Fälscher

Highly recommended, a little too familiar if you've seen films such as The Pianist in terms of the prison camp and the treatment of the jewish prisoners, and the camp guards were a little stereotypical, but that's a minor point - what it lacks in originality it more than makes up for in terms of character depth and expert pacing. Very interesting, true story.

8/10