The Woman in Black

So I went and saw this last week, with a very open mind. I never enjoyed Dan in Harry Potter, I'm sorry he was just too... Sappy to be Harry in my liking, but I am a huge fan of the books that probably doesn't help! But I thought lets give him a chance, and I am glad I did.

Ok so he doesn't speak too much in the film, it's supposed to be like that. But his physical acting is just superb and I cannot imagine any of his other contemporaries doing any better. His relationship with his on screen son, Joseph, is beyond sweet and was definitely helped by the fact that it was his Godson. Can I just add, Misha is so adorable and his couple of lines are just heart wrenching.

Just to say, I have seen the play and read the book, both of which I love and saw the original film, which was alright. I do suggest you read the book and see the play as the three different versions are so different from each other and yet each are terrifying in their own right. The modern horror does not scare me, as I have said before stalk and slash bore me, however The Woman in Black did. I jumped. A lot. And couldn't sleep very well after I saw it. I really wish they didn't make the cuts in order for it to be released as a 12a, as no one of that age should really see this film. Anyone younger than 14 will be scared, and anyone younger than 11 would get terrible nightmares, I'm sure. And everyone leaving the cinema has said the same thing.

Now here is where I am going to get into nitty gritty and reveal some details so, I'm going to say spoilers, but they're not going to be major plot points.

First of all, the directing is fabulous! Truly gothic and going right back to the old days of Hammer, spooky and very dark with lack of colour throughout which gives it that extra eerie touch. I cannot wait to see what Hammer will provide me next, Dracula please?

The sound in this film is amazing as well, or should I say lack of it. Long silences as Dan wanders around the house, subtle bangs here and there keeping you on the edge of your seat until BAM that creaking and banging of the rocking chair. And that rocking chair will haunt you for a long time to come! I remember it in the play and this was just as scary! Marco Beltrami's soundtrack is just sublime and adds to the film beautifully, working well with the sound team, Hugo Adams, Niv Adiri and Mark Appleby to name just three of the wonderful team! And the film would not work without the whole soundtrack of sound, music and silence.

It has a wonderful tension arc running through the film, starting with just some intrigue at the beginning, curious about his wife and previous life and also about Eel Marsh House and its tragic past. It slowly begins to build as he firsts steps onto the island, walking through the grounds, I am sure I can see The Woman in Black in the background but that is probably my imagination. Increasing steadily as he walks around the house until your first proper sighting of her, and then the menace begins.

The film is very clever about building the tension, you are so unsure when you will be scared though you know it is coming, and then suddenly is drops. But it won't start right again, it continues telling the story, revealing the mystery little by little, but suddenly it will start again and you are terrified.

I only have one problem with this film, and this is a spoiler now! Major spoiler! The end of the film. I would much rather I wasn't shown their fate, and having them all live happily ever after in heaven with his wife. It just ruined it for me. I wish they had cut as the train went past and Sam Daily sees the children in the reflection with the Woman in Black drawing closer, screaming and then cut! End film. Credits.

Overall though, amazing! I recommend it and I really hope more horrors like this are released soon!

Another gripe, and this is a stab at the government. This was the final film to be funded by the British Film Council, which was partly funded by government but they have now cut the funding. They also denied Pinewood studios planning permission to build a whole new Hollywood style area here in the UK for filmmaking, creating thousands of jobs, and all the buildings people could actually live in, the schools would be real, everything would be used all the time. Grrrrrrr

First of all, watch this (in HD if you can) Linky!

How. Awseome. Does. That. LOOK! Ok, so hopefully I don't need to explain this to you, but this is the sequal to that 80's classic Disney movie, TRON. That's right ladles and jellyspoons, TRON! If you haven't seen it, you are missing out!

From this, we can gather that Kevin Flynn is still alive (and look it's the original actor Jeff Bridges!) and from what we have been told, his son Sean is looking for him! There a couple of viral sites Flynn Lives being one and Home of Tron the other. Not much more info from the sites yet, but I will certainly be keeping an eye on them!

Tron was one of my favourite films when I was younger, and still is. In fact I wanted to watch it after seeing this and realised I only have it on... VHS! So I ordered it from HMV with my last pennies xD 2 disc special edition of course.

I just cannot wait to see this in the imax!!!

Be Prepared!

So most of us grew up with them, the Disney movie, the classic Disney movie is what I am on about here. The 2D animations, with fantastic characters we all loved and songs we knew every word too! It seems though they are moving away from this trend, instead sticking with the Disney Pixar animations, which although I love, aren't quite the same. Maybe it is just me being nostalgic and silly, but I really don't think they compare.

I remember doing some work in English at GCSE about Disney and how they films were 'sexist' and also 'out dated'. Well every girl wants to be a princess when they are younger, and this was even before Disney. Just look at some of the literature from before, A Little Princess, anyone remember that one?

It just seems strange to me that children enjoy both of these types of movies, the traditional Disney musical and also their work with Pixar, yet they choose only one. My little cousins love a bit of Jungle Book or Cinderella (ok so Connor doesn't like Cinderella so much it too girly for him xD) but they also love Finding Nemo and Monster's Inc, as do I.

I just think that Disney are narrowing themselves down too much and everyone is after all going in the direction on 3D animation. By staying 'behind in the times' and creating movies that sell big, have brilliant soundtracks that also lead to the good ol' sing along versions, aren't they actually staying ahead by really appealing to the kids? After all kids love to sing, dance and make a noise, not sit there and just watch.


On a side note, I don't want to post personal things here too much but I HAVE FINISHED ALL MY COURSEWORK. That is all :D

Mobile Film

Shoot the Summer (Shoot, shoot the summer) I have to sing it to that tune every single time, I can't resist it. If you have no idea what I mean, I am talking about the song Shoot the Runner :D Now I came across this purely by accident on the BBC website, I had no idea something like this had been done and that it was being done whilst I was at Reading last year!

Basically the BBC handed out mobile phones to the audience and to some artists at a range of festivals over the summer. They then gave these people one instuction, "film whatever you want". The film you watch on the site is basically these films edited together to show us the summer.

Some points are very funny, like the drunken ramblings of some festival goers as they sing at their tents. Others are down right bizzare, like the couple who try to sell the phone they are given. Then some are just genius, like the Scroobius Pip rhyme near the end.

Watching it through, some parts you can really tell that it is made with a mobile phone, yet at other places you forget. The shots are steady and the sun meant they are well lit, it really amazed me. Showing people this just really emphasises the idea that everyone can now create media, no need for a fancy camcorder, a simple mobile phone, which nearly everyone now has, is all you need to create a film.

It has even got me thinking about making my own short film, all captured on my little (well fat) Nokia. Ideas have been floating around my head, and hopefully over the Easter period I will have made something to show you all. The BBC have even posted an article about how to film with your mobile phone and some tips for beginners.

But can this really be a feasible way forward in film making or is it furthering social media with more 'youtubers'? Mobile phones and the cameras within them are becoming more and more advanced every month, who knows what will be available to us next year? A mobile with a HD camera? It would not surprise me if it did come that far.

What do you think? Will mobile phones become a major thing amongst social media, like youtube, or even with film-makers, even if it is just experimenting?

Freshen Up

Ok, so I have decided to try this again. I failed, miserably before as I didn't update much and then I didn't update at all. So I have also decided this will be my last try and hopefully I will continue with this, as you know film really does interest me.

So what has sparked my interest this week? Well this has. This is not the first time I have obviously come across 3D technology, we all remember those green and red glasses we had to wear to make an image or film '3D' (and they also gave us a headache) but now it seems technology has really created another film "revolution". My lecturer, Andrew Clay, has also recently brought the technology back to my attention and even he believes "it is going to be quite a significant year for digital 3-D technology."

The only trouble is, I am a poor student so I am yet to experience the revolutionised 3D film. All that I know of 3D cinema is Spy Kids: 3D, which was one of the worst films I have ever seen. To me it seemed as though they spent more money and time on the technology (which is now inferior) than on the storyline and charcterisation. This stigma is still with me, I am still worried I am going to see a shoddy film, albeit with amazing visual effects. It didn't help that personally, My Bloody Valentine wasnt my thing, stalk and slash horrors just bore me, so the film wasn't an option for me anyway and I certainly wasn't going to pay extra just for it to be enhanced visually by 3D. However I have seen an iMAX digital 3D film whilst at Futuroscope in France, we went to see Deep Sea 3D, which was spectacular. It was in French, however it was... beautiful.

But now it is not only available at the iMAX (I still love it by the way) but at your average cinema as well. "The number of cinema screens worldwide capable of showing 3D movies has grown from 98 in 2005 to more than 1,300 at the end of 2007 and is predicted to pass 3,000 by the end of 2008, said Ms Jones." 1. Even my local Cineworld in Stevenage is catching on to this new way of making money. With less people going to the cinema now and big corporations making money from DVD sales rather than cinema releases, maybe this could create the influx of cinema goers that is needed for the industry (maybe cutting down prices? :D One can hope). Its not only seeping into the cinemas, Dreamworks said that all productions from Monsters VS. Aliens onwards are going to be 3D. Disney are also very keen to get in on the action, and my comic book movie to look out for The Adventures of Tintin is going to use the technology as well.

From all this I am keen to see one of these films being released this year and next, and hopefully I will be able to. Just the only problem is the expense for me, and also the worry I am paying for a bad film is still sticking with me...

3D Movies to be released
Monsters vs. Aliens :-)
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs :D
Up :D
G-Force :-)
Final Destination 4: 3-D :-(
Avatar :D
Toy Story 3 :D
Tim Burton's Alive in Wonderland :D
Deep Sea-quel :D
Shrek Goes Fourth :-)
Mastermind :-)
Puss in Boots :-)
Star Wars :D
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas :D

:D - Love to see!
:-) - Wouldn't mind seeing
:-( - Did they have to?

As you see, most these films are family films, which isn't a big surprise, after all the family blockbuster is where most the money is made. As you see as well, the kids films are the ones I want to see xD Oh dear...


1. BBC
Image

So it was my birthday last Friday (25th July) I open my present from my best friend, which states that she is taking me for lunch in London and to the IMAX CINEMA :D to see THE DARK KNIGHT!!! So I was majorly excited! I went yesterday and OH MY FREAKING GOD!! The movie was made for the Imax to be honest >.< Just. WOW! I loved it!

This was how Batman films should have been from the start. Heath was the perfect joker, he was scary and I believed he was insane! That was fabulous! Harvey Dent was just an awseome character in this one, seeing him turn into Two-Face was just perfect! It worked so well! Christian Bale was just a wonderful Batman and everything just fit to be honest.

Dark, ruthless and brilliant! I am going to see it again, no doubt, I just adored this film way too much! I am also gunna watch Batman Forever at some point to compare xD Cause I can (and its on video, I feel like going old school for a change).

I am also gunna have a super blog soon, after I have finished writing it :D

We knew it was coming

Ok so some critics say its shite, others say its ok and some even say its amazing. Now I decided it is my turn.

I saw this film last Friday, been meaning to update since but revision for exams took over, anyway! I have been wanting to see this film for AGES, especially since I studied M Night Shyamalan for my Auteur Project for Film Studies this year (I know Alot about the guy!) so I was very excited about seeing this film. I was all "What's happening? Know one knows! That's what makes it exciting!" My friend thought I had offically flipped, when in actual fact that happened years ago.

Don't go thinking I am bias cause of my studies of him, I admit Lady in the Water was SHITE and Signs may not have been brilliant (though that film really does scare me!)

But onto the film. So the simple, quick answer? It's worth seeing! I personally thought it was great, very Shyamalan in its style and narrative, everything you expect in a Shyamalan you will get it. His directorial traits all there, a car crash, alot of characterisation and less action, lack of CGI, believeable characters, settings and even storyline.

Now here is where I will get into spoilers, cause I can :D















Just in case you thought I didn't leave enough space or summin silly like that.

Trees? Plants? As the baddies? Well yeah sounds kinda... dumb really. But to be honest it does kind of make sense, and also like most of these supernatural films, its not supposed to be possible most of the time. Yet Shyamalan in this makes you truely believe it could, just like in Signs, Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.

Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel are quite convincing, but I hink Shyamalan could have picked better. They certainly really didn't make the film. Betty Buckley was really creepy as Mrs Jones, I really didn't like her, and Ashlyn Sanchez was very cute and I think played her part very well.

Now scariness? Maybe not that scary, has its jumpy moments and also gross out moments. There is this guy who kills himself by running himself over with a heavy duty lawn mower, and you may not see it, but you hear all the crunching and stuff and its just brrrr horrid!

Overall I loved it! Cannot wait for the DVD and special features xD I'm sucha geek!