25 April 2010

Charlie Bartlett

Title: Charlie Bartlett

Certificate: 15

Year: 2007

Director: John Poll

Actors: Anton Yelchin - Star Trek
            Kate Deenings - Nich And Norah's Infinate Playlist
            Robert Downey Jr. - Sherlock Holmes
            Hope Davis
            Tyler Hilton
            Mark Rendall

Summary: Charlie Bartlett is a 17 year old boy who fails to fit into any private school and always winds up starting some extravagent enterprise and getting expelled.  Eventually he begins attending a public school and begins another enterprise, this time it includes him being a phycatrist and perscribing students medication for their issues.  He finds himself falling for the principals daughter and what he's been doing has serious consequences.

My Review: Funny and lively, Anton Yelchin does a brilliant job as Charlie and successfully mocks modern day schools and teachers.  Great film.

Rating: 7/10 = funny and lively

Worth buying?: About £5-£6, definatley worth it!

Under The Greenwood Tree

Title: Under The Greenwood Tree

Certificate: PG

Year: 2005

Director: Nicholas Laughland

Actors: Keely Haws
            James Murray
            Steve Pemberton
            Ben Miles

Summary: Based on a novel by Thoams Hardy.  Fancy Day, a well educated young woman from Exeter, comes as the new school mistress and to look after her sickly father who resides in a small country village.  She soon finds herself with two suiters and in love with another.

My Review: Begins slowly and is a ittle hard to get into at fist but improves in the second half.   The acting is saisfactory but the quality of the filming is poor.

Rating: 4/10 = slow.

Worht buying: I like period dram's but Thomas Hardy's heroines are fickle and I would not watch it more than once, so no.

Flight Of The Pheonix

Title: Flight Of The Pheonix

Certificate: 12

Year: 2004

Director: John Moore

Actors: Dennis Quaid - Parent Trap
            Giovanni Ribisi - Avatar, Sky Captain And The World Of Tommorrow
            Miranda Otto - Lord Of The Rings
            Hugh Laurie

Summary: An oil rig in the Gobi Desert is shut down and as the crew are being flown back to civiliation the pane flies through a sandstorm and crashes.  The crew have to fight to survive with little water, food and nomads nearby.

My Review: Slow to start and not very engaging.  The bad events begin to get repetative by the end and it all grows a little tiring before omething new happens.  Ribisi is brilliant in the role of Elliot and extremely convincing.

Rating: 4/10 = repetative and unengaging

Worth buying?: Depending on wether your into lots of death and conflict, which I'm not.  No.

Happy ending? Yes

Lord Of The Ring: Fellowship Of The Ring

OK, so you know that this blog is an archive for my film reviews and so here's my first one.

Title: Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring (extended edition)

Certificate: PG

Year: 2001

Director: Peter Jackson

Actors: Elijah Woods
            Sean Astin
            Viggo Mortensen
            Liv Tyler
            Orlando Bloom - Pirates Of The Caribean
            Cate Blanchett - Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
            Sean Bean - National Treasure

Summary: Based on trilogy by J.R.R.Tolkein.One ring to rule them all.
Bilbo, an aging hobbit, leaves the shire and his nephew, Frodo, whom he adopted.  He leaves behind the ring that he found many years ago in a cave in habited by a creature by the name of Gollum.  This ring is the one ring created by Sauron and extremely powerful and evil.  Frodo has to take the ring to Rivendell and the elves but the ring will not be safe in Rivendell as assumed and so the Fellowship of the ring forms, bringing together many kinds of people and binds them to one another and to Frodo and his quest.

My Review: The scenery of the film is magnificent and extremely beautiful,film has great use of camera language and music and Peter Jackson has worked wonders with this magical tale and note the signature camera shot of the Extreme Close-Up (ECU) particulary during very emotional and emotive scenes.  A powerful film in many ways and brilliant for all the family.

Rating: 10/10 = thrilling and powerful

Worth buying?: It has come down in price since it's original release and itis coming up to its 10th anniversary but whatever the price it is worth buying and the extended edition with extra scenes and fantastic extra footage is a definate must have!