Epic

After spilling my feelings out in my last blog post I figured it's a good time to write something a little more lighthearted! So why not another film review? Yes, good idea. Well today I shall be reviewing the new film 'Epic', which is out in cinemas now.

When I was looking after my little sister last weekend I asked her if she wanted to go see anything in the cinema, and she said she wanted to see 'Epic'. I didn't know much about the film, but I knew Blue Sky Studios were pretty good, having released such great as Ice Age and Horton Hears A Who. The film also boasted a talented and er, interesting voice cast, featuring the likes of actors Amanda Seyfried, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Chris O'Dowd, Aziz Ansari, Christoph Waltz and Jason Sudeikis; and musicians Steven Tyler, Beyonce and Pitbull. Yes, Pitbull.

I have to say I actually really enjoyed this film, a lot more than I expected to. A lot more of an adventure story than a comedy, it has its funny moments but overall it presents an engaging storyline of love, family, good versus evil, belonging and defending your home. The characters are extremely likeable, I really found myself drawn into the characters' plights. Plus O'Dowd and Ansari are hilarious as the snail and slug respectively.

Also, can we talk about how beautifully animated this film is?! It's gorgeous!! Just take a look at the trailer here. Okay, maybe I have a thing for forests, and this is pretty much an hour and a half of beautiful forest animation. That makes me a very happy film student. The textures and the colours and just gahhh, I'm not good at describing it. I just really liked it a lot. The trailer here gives you a good idea of the look and feel of the movie. Just lovely. 

I have one complaint - why name the film 'Epic'?! You've just built up an expectation that the film itself will be 'epic', which is pretty ambitious of you, despite how good the film actually is. Also, with the overuse of the word epic on the internet, you've made it notoriously difficult to search for your film online, as the vast majority of what will come up will quite likely be those Epic Win / Epic Fail pics. Bad choice of title guys. But, that is really my only fault with this film!

I'd definitely recommend it for adults and kids alike, head to your local cinema and go watch it!!

Arranged

 

Arranged (2007)

Okay I loved this film.

Recently I have been browsing Netflix's 'Faith and Spirituality' section to see if I could find any decent Christian films to watch. My search hadn't been very successful, if I'm honest, a lot of Christian films, (with a few exceptions) are cheap and cheesy, not really something I enjoy. In the end I gave up on trying to find a good Christian film and clicked on this one, Arranged, a story about two first year teachers, one Jewish, one Muslim, who become friends despite their cultural differences.

I will say it again - I loved this film! It focused a lot on the subject of arranged marriages, however it refreshingly showed both sides to the argument of whether arranged marriage is right or not. Arranged marriage is something I don't know anything about, so I was found learning about it really interesting, especially when it wasn't presented in a biased light. I really fell in love with the characters as they struggled to come to terms with what they were facing. I think you can learn a lot from this film. I would recommend it to all. I think I may have to watch it all over again just to enjoy it more!

8/10

Lars and the Real Girl

I've decided it might be cool to do some film reviews on this blog. I watch a lot of films so I probably won't post about every one, just the ones I feel are worthy of review. First on the list -

Lars and the Real Girl (2007) 

First of all, what else can I say but who ever thought a film that has a storyline revolving around a sex-doll could be such a sweet, innocent, heart-warming story? I won't give too much away for those of you who like to enjoy the mystery of what a film will bring but I will write a short synopsis. Lars Lindstrom, played wonderfully by Ryan Gosling, is a lovable introverted young man from a small Canadian town who shocks his brother (Gus) and sister-in-law (Karin) one day when he introduces them to his new girlfriend Bianca... who happens to be an anatomically correct sex-doll. However, as a contrast to the actual commercial purpose of the doll, Lars has created her to be a kind missionary, with whom he wants a loving and pure relationship with. Out of kindness his family goes along with his delusion, and soon the whole town has joined in, treating Bianca like a real human being. I really enjoyed this film. Watching the relationship between both Lars and Bianca, and the couple and the rest of the town, unfold. It was lovely seeing the whole community come together to support Lars through his delusions, despite what they originally thought of it. Just a lovely story all in all, definitely worth a watch.

To me this film is about many things -

• Tolerance. To me this film really preaches tolerance to those who are different to us. I particularly liked the fact that the a lot of the characters were members of a church together, and the pastor of this church was very welcoming to Bianca. I feel like not as many churches would be as kind as this, it is something we can learn from.
• Loneliness. A lot of the main characters seemed to suffer from loneliness, which I think is something we can all relate to. Each of the characters dealt with their loneliness in their own ways, obviously the most extreme being with Lars. An interesting thing to watch and think about.
• Childhood. There is a real sense that a lot of the characters are afraid to grow up. Many still have toys like action figures and teddy bears and Lars strives to understand what it feels like to be an adult.

Anyhoo I'm not so good at writing movie reviews, I'll get better with time. But for this one I will say definitely worth a watch, though it's probably not everyone's cup of tea. I quickly loved Gosling as Lars from the word go, and found all the other characters equally admirable.

I give it a solid 7/10