Now You See Me (2013)

Running Time: 115 mins
Directed by: Louis Leterrier
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Mélanie Laurent, Dave Franco, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman.
UK release date: 3rd July 2013.

Though it's not on the same 'wow' level as one of the summer blockbuster's that are being dealt out over the next few months (especially as it's four weeks since it's US release), Now You See Me is an attention-grabbing film to keep you, at least a little, interested throughout the development of tricks and illusions.

Review: Starting off from seeing each magician in their own environment finds us with Danny Atlas, the classic illusionist, Henley Reeves the woman in the water tank, Jack Wilder the lock picker and Merritt McKinney the hypnotist. These magicians are obviously talented, something a mysterious benefactor notices and leads them to form together. One year later, as the Four Horsemen, the group perform a huge magic act to a massive audience in Las Vegas, where they teleport a man from the audience to steal money from a bank...in Paris.

Because we see how they come together to form the Four Horsemen, it appears they're the ones to be rooting for; but when FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) is called to investigate their illegal magic tricks, are the magicians the good guys or bad? It's clever and it's this that works best for Now You See Me. Sure, Eisenberg's character is extremely arrogant, while there is a cause for sympathetic concern when Rhodes is 'beaten up' by one of their magic acts, but none of the characters are portrayed as being right or wrong. They're all equally important as main characters.

Now You See Me moves quickly, mirroring the intensity of trying so hard to be one step ahead of the story. The film's opening lines, 'the more you look, the less you see' clearly warn not to look too closely, but the mere mention to not try and work it out makes it all the more tempting. There are more parallels to the act of magic, not just the story trying to distract audiences from the truth. As if to mock big, fancy shows, the Now You See Me score is huge and extravagant, but it works. During the times when the magicians are performing, the music is over the top- like the act of a magic trick.

The popular cast are probably the element to reel in an audience for Now You See Me. It's a big array of well known acting talent from the previously mentioned Jesse Eisenberg and Mark Ruffalo to Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and the simply wonderful Mélanie Laurent, as well as the rest of the four horsemen, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, and Dave Franco. Ruffalo really is the star of the show, always nailing every line he delivers with either the comedy value or the sincerity of a man desperate to uncover the truth. It's sometimes distracting seeing so many big names in one scene, but they all bounce off each other well. That is when the script isn't getting in the way.

There are many funny, laugh out loud moments in Now You See Me (one big moment which is so perfectly timed, it's the highlight) but at times the script is laughable when it's not meaning to be. The story is intriguing and it moves at an exhilarating pace, but lines in the dialogue try to stand out and subsequently fall as boring, unimaginative add-ons.

It's hard not to compare Now You See Me with Christoper Nolan's The Prestige, a film about two rival magicians. The only real link is in theme of magic, everything else is extremely different, however they both have an impacting ending. The delivery of the ending for Now You See Me feels flat and rushed; it could have been much more spine tingling if executed right with better timing and delivery of 'it', but nonetheless it's very, very good.

Now You See Me is innocent fun. If you look too closely you can see, or rather hear, the flaws, but at the end of the day it's entertaining and despite the ending being flat I bet you didn't see that coming!


3/5

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30 Minutes Or Less (2011)

As I saw the film two days ago it's going to be hard to remember all but I'm going to try as I really want to write up a review of it.

Running Time: 83 mins
Directed By: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, Fred Ward, Dilshad Vadsaria
Screenplay: Michael Diliberti
UK Release Date: UK 16th September


Quick Plot: When two lazy racketeer's realise they need money and fast, they hatch a plan of kidnapping a pizza boy, strapping a bomb on him and forcing him to a rob a bank in order of keeping his life. Seems pretty simple right?

Review: One of the greatest things about 30 Minutes Or Less is that it's very silly but not long and over powered like a lot of films are. It's only 83 minutes long and it's so enjoyable it flies past!
As much as people say Jesse Eisenberg plays too many similar characters- the awkward, nerdy teen- he's pretty good at it! His role in The Social Network earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor and he carried out the role of the cold hearted Mark Zuckerberg very well. Though back to this film, his character Nick, even though again socially awkward in parts, seems a lot different to his usual stereotypical roles. His character develops throughout the film and even if it is extremely wrong, being strapped to a bomb taught the guy a lesson. At the beginning Nick is a lazy pizza boy who doesn't even attempt to try and deliver on time and he takes his friendship with Chet for granted. But throughout the film he learns a lot and becomes selfless. It's easy to see that Fleischer and Eisenberg have a bond that works well enough so that Eisenberg can stretch his acting techniques well in this film like his others but also create a little something different in Eisenberg's character. As for Aziz Ansari as Chet, it's pretty much the same, he's a very funny character throughout who steals a lot more gags than Eisenberg does. Ansari has done a lot of comedy work, having small roles in films like Get Him To The Greek, Funny People and having a role in the TV sitcom Parks and Recreation. I hope the film will be a big hit for him and I hope people start to acknowledge how much of a great comedic actor he is.
After having an exclusive look at one of the funniest scenes from 30 Minutes Or Less in the morning at the Empire Big Screen, I was sure Chet was going to be the funniest character but in my opinion Danny McBride was maybe funnier. As the lazy, insensitive Dwayne, McBride is absolutely hilarious moreover the juvenile and stupidity of his character was neatly written for the comedic value. Travis played by Nick Swardson as Dawyne's side kick and trustworthy companion, was too extremely funny but McBride and Ansari's characters were, personally anyway, the funniest and half of the comedy source.
The other half of the comedy was simply the silly plot which I've researched and found out is based on a true story! It's so stupidly silly, like Ruben Fleischer's previous film, Zombieland which also starred Eisenberg. It's silly yet witty and playful forcing you laugh at the frivolous jokes. And that's only some of the film, it's also has a lot of humorous action with guns, fire blasters, lots of money and fast cars! It's not exactly amazingly written but some of the jokes run along with the plot quite well even if some a little too crude than they needed to be. Watch out of a Facebook gag which put the audience in hysterics. The film gets underway very quickly after a quick insight into the main characters lives and like I've said, it's not a very long feature film at all in comparison to a lot of stuff we see today, so it's nice to have a good comedy film which doesn't drag anything out and gets straight to the point. It's extremely entertaining and quick humoured and after you'll find yourself having had a nice laugh at a quick, funny, innocent (probably not the best word) comedy action.

A nice quick review for a nice quick film. It's funny, smart and I enjoyed watching it. I hope it does wonders in the box office but am sure a lot of people will enjoy it. Can't really ask for much more! 4/5

30 Minutes Or Less first trailer

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Rio (2011)

Running Time: 95 mins
Directed By: Carlos Saldanha

Starring: (voice) Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Jamie Foxx, Will.I.Am

Screenplay: Don Rhymer

UK Release Date: 8th April 2011

Quick Plot: Blu leads a comfortable life in Minnesota with his owner, but when his owner finds out he is the last male blue macaw in the world and the only known female is Jewel who lives all the way in Rio De Janeiro, they travel there in the hope they will mate. But, after they both get stolen and chained together, Blu has to learn the ways of a bird to survive Rio..

Review: Can I just say how much I love animation right now? I've always liked family/animation films, ever since I was a kid (obviously) but my fondness of them has never gone away. For the past few years Dreamworks and Blue Sky animation have created brilliant animation features. Monsters vs. Aliens, Megamind, How To Train Your Dragon and then the Ice Age trilogy and Horton Hears A Who, all wonderful family animations and Rio is exactly that!
I wasn't all that fussed about Rio to begin with, even with the slightly humorous Orange Ad that's been played for all of 2011 so far, I thought it looked alright. But my inner child got hold of me when I watched this and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The music was one part I loved, Will.I.Am and Jamie Foxx were fantastic together, especially the song 'Hot wings' which I will link at the bottom like I did with yesterday's review.
Rio has a very impressive storyline and the characters are all so special. Jesse Eisenberg fits the character of Blu so well and Anne Hathaway was so enjoyable as Jewel. Even the human characters were great, Leslie Mann as Linda worked prominently. The human storyline, though it obviously run along the birds one, was very cute and just as enjoyable.
Rio is definitely a 'stunning film', even though it is of course animation, the city of Rio de Janeiro is gorgeous! In the plot, there is a Carnival taking place on one of the evenings so the City was covered in even more colours, music and beautiful costumes.

Because I wrote a review yesterday I'm not in the mood to think of something to write again because it hurts my head too much because I'm not clever, so I'm going to sum up the film right about..now.
Rio is one of the funnest family animations of the last decade with brilliant music, lovely storyline, noteworthy voices and stunning visuals. If you don't watch it at the cinema, make sure you buy or rent on DVD because you will not be let down. Yeah it's predictable, but all children's films have to be. Today when watching Rio, I heard lots of delightful laughs from many children, so I think it's a great choice for young ones.

Rio trailer and 'Hot Wings' - Will.I.Am ft. Jamie Foxx     Wooops...how did this get here.... I didn't make it I swear..Jesse did.

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BAFTAs 2011

So it's here.
Each year I watch the BAFTAs but this year I think I'm the most excited. Ever since the age of about 7, my interest in films gets bigger and greater each year. This year, I've seen at least 75% of the nominees and that's quite a lot seeing as 50% of them were not released here until only a few months ago. For me it's an achievement, I feel like I have more of an opinion in the matter.

Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter

Right now it's 7:13pm and I've accidentally seen a winner.

I'm going to now, save this as a draft, write up my opinion on the winners and everything throughout the evening when I'm watching the show at 9pm on BBC1 and probably post it tomorrow.

It's now Monday.
First off I apologise to everyone who's friends with me on facebook for my obsessive status updates last night I was just overwhelmed.
Everything about the award season is so glamorous and is one of the best times of year for me.

Click here for the full set of winners

Right now everyone knows everything and who won and that let me give my opinion.

Well, The King's Speech was a bit greedy wasn't it?
Obviously I'm joking because they deserved everything because the film is incredible. But I do think 127 Hours deserved at least one award.

Jesse Eisenberg image from @empireonline

'King Colin' as he will forever be known as now, won Best Leading Actor and Helena Bonham Carter 'Queen Helena' won Best Supporting Actress but the one I was most happy about was Natalie Porman winning Best Leading Actress for Black Swan. Like I said in my Black Swan review, I adore Natalie Portman, she's one of my role models and has been for years and years and her performance as Nina Sayers will forever be one she will have to keep having to try and beat. I loved the speech Darren Aronofsky did on her behalf because of the line '..because she said I'm to blame for her not being here because I came the closest to knocking her up without actually knocking her up by introducing her to her fiance and she is very pregnant so she can't fly..'
The Social Network won 3 along with Inception which I'm happy for but the one thing I have to admit I'm upset about is the Orange Rising Star award :(

Gemma Arterton looking stunning

I will now reveal who I voted for (even though it was highly obvious) Andrew Garfield. I felt bad against Gemma Arterton like I betrayed her- though she will never know. I'm not going to say Tom Hardy didn't deserve the award because she obviously did, he's a great Actor, although he has been around for a long time already. I wanted Andrew to win it so much because he deserves it but also I would have seen him on the stage!
But then my luck improved as David Fincher won Best Director to which he sadly could not collect as he is busy filming The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo right now, so to my surprise Tilda Swinton asked if Andrew and Jesse Eisenberg would accept it for me. At that moment in time, to be completely truthful I died a little bit inside because when them two are together my heart melts. I will speak more about this moment further down.


Over the moon for Toy Story 3 winning Best Animation. Sad that Inception or 127 Hours did not win Best Original Music, but I will let this go because everything else was fair and deserved.

Jonathan Ross image from @empireonline

When Stephen Fry gave Harry Potter the contribution to cinema award and there was the lovely montage about everything Harry Potter. When Mr Fry was talking about the film and the camera cut to a picture of Emma Watson I was nearly in tears because it hit me that this year the series is over.
I loved loved loved loved Jonathan Ross hosting again! I've missed him all over BBC and his jokes were so funny. Especially at the start when he mentioned Sex and the City 2 and The Expendables and everyone in the audience laughed because you could see where his joke was going.
Another funny and embarrassing moment was when Rosamund Pike alongside Dominic Copper, nearly announced the winner of Best Screenplay without naming the nominations and letting the film play!




Instead of writing more and more boring points, here's my top 5 best things about the whole evening.

1. Andrew Garfield and Jesse Eisenberg accepting the Best Director award for David Fincher
2. On the red carpet Edith Bowman interviewing Emma Stone and asking what it has been like filming Spiderman for her and Andrew Garfield to both be up for Rising Star nominations and Emma replied: 'He's actually been trying to kill me on set. When I go in my trailer everything keeps falling on me'
3. Kieran Culkin sitting next to Emma Stone with Andrew, Shannon and Jesse. Now my hunch is bigger that Kieran and Emma are dating.
4. Harry Potter winning a contribution to cinema.
5. Helena Bonham Carters speech.

Videos
Andrew and Jesse on the stage. Just love them both.

Andrew: I'll go first

Jesse: Well I'll go second then

And Jesse is so nervous bless him he's shaking.

And when Andrew walks off and Jesse looks so lost and cute and just sdfjsdfjgjhsfjksdjs

 

Queen Helena's amazing speech! Such a funny, inspirational lady.

 

Darren Aronofsky accepting Natalie Portman's award.

 

I think I've gone on enough about the BAFTAs now and I need to get back to my Valentine's Day plans (LOL)

Oh yeah by the way..

 

 As he's one of my favourite people ever he deserved a picture.

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Orange Rising Star Nominations for BAFTA Award 2011

Hi blog. This isn't a review of a film, just a post about something to do with film. I apologise, but as I haven't been to the cinema since 127 Hours all I've done is revision for upcoming exams so I thought I would take a break to write about The Orange Rising Star award for the BAFTA's this year.

Orange Rising Star Nominations for BAFTA Award 2011

Last year, my vote for Jesse Eisenberg didn't make it and Kristen Stewart won instead. Which is perfectly fine she's a good actress (if she won it for Adventureland, but no she wont it for Twilight instead) it's cool..I'm over it..no honestly I am she kind of deserved it. But I'm more excirted for this year because the nominations are Actors which I've seen lots of their work.

To my delight all 5 nominee's are Actors who I adore, I either fancy them like mad or I've enjoyed their performances over the last few years too.
For anyone who knows me personally or knows me a little bit online knows I have an extreme fondness of Andrew Garfield and Gemma Arterton. Both are two of my favourites Actors and I adore their films they've starred in. My admiration of Aaron Johnson, Emma Stone and Tom Hardy is still pretty strong but I had compare it to Andy and Gem- so I had to let them go.

Now it's taken many hours to get my head together and decide on who to vote for one and after much debate which myself I've finally voted.
My vote might not be that important, but for me it's a peace of mind knowing who I would like to win. I guess I could have used two mobile numbers and voted for each one, but that would have cancelled out each vote and there would be no point.
I wanted to take this time on my blog to mention the greatness of both Andrew Garfield and Gemma Arterton and write about why I adore them both so much.

Andrew Garfield

Andrew first caught my eye in  The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) and unfortunately it being quite awful, he was one of the only good things about it. I thought he was the cute British boy in in it and I was angry at Lily Cole for not fancying him because I thought he was completely gorgeous. He was confirmed to play Spider Man in the reboot about a 1/4 of the way through 2010 and I was over the moon because I had heard lots of positive feedback that he was a good Actor and remembered him from Dr Parnassus. Then I saw him in The Social Network, Sugar Rush (TV) and a short film called I'm Here in 2010. The Social Network was in my top 5 favourites of 2010 because of it's brilliance, some of which was all down to Andrew.

Andrew as Eduardo in The Social Network (2010)

He stars in Never Let Me Go due for release in a few weeks in the UK, which I'm excited for mostly because I'm reading the book and am thoroughly enjoying it. Andrew Garfield is also a complete gentleman, he's super talented- he's proved he can play many roles already. He's too exceptionally gorgeous. He's been nominated for many other awards already from his previous performances, most of which are his role of Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network and Tommy in Never Let Me Go.

Gemma Arterton

Gemma Arteron as Tamara Drewe

Gemma Arterton is one of my top ladies ever. She's one of my role models and she's an inspiration to me. She's starred in Prince Of Persia, St. Trinians, Clash Of The Titans, The Disappearance of Alice Creed, Tamara Drewe and I'm sure she's going to have a great future. Even though Clash Of The Titans was a complete let down, a disaster of a film, Gemma made it worthwhile and I thought she played her character of Io very well. Though it's been brought up she plays lots of similar roles from Clash Of The Titans and Prince Of Persia- Tamara Drewe and The Disappearance Of Alice Creed prove that theory wrong- though I have yet to see both of them, I've heard good reviews from many people and have faith in their review.

It was such a  tough choice in voting for this-you wouldn't believe.
Especially if you know me well, you would know the effect it has had on me picking out of two of my favourite people in the whole entire world. But I've voted now and I hope either one of them wins to be totally honest.

Emma Stone, Tom Hardy and Aaron Johnson

But I should mention, Aaron Johnson, Emma Stone and Tom Hardy have had a good year too. If you haven't seen any of the films I've listed above, at least watch one of these: Kick Ass or Nowhere Boy (starring Johnson), Easy A or Zombieland (starring Stone), or Inception and Bronson (starring Tom Hardy)

When the winner is announced, if I'm not busy during that week, I'll do a post about the result which should be short.

Hope everyone is well and having a nice week! :D

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