Hall Pass

This was the most recent film I have seen in the cinema and I saw it last Wednesday. Hall Pass is a 2011 comedy film produced and directed by the Farrelly brothers who are well known for directing such comedy films as: There's Something about Mary, Shallow Hal and Dumb and Dumber and co-written by them along with Pete Jones. It stars Owen Wilson who is very well known for his attrective and silly roles in: Zoolander, Starksy and Hutch and Meet the Fockers. Stephen Merchant who is one part of the English comedy duo - him and Ricky Gervais. Christina Applegate who has been in the legendary Anchorman. From the directors and the cast this is sure to be a hilarious film.

Hall Pass is about a married man who is granted the opportunity to have an affair by his wife. Joined in the fun by his best pal, things get a little out of control when both wives start engaging in extramarital activities as well. This film was your typical American comedy film but it does have a few funny moments: there is some full frontal, unexpected, male and female nudity, some very crude but hilarious sexual references, the men get high on a golf course and a girl even sharts herself! It is a fun rollercoaster of a film to go on and I found it very clever that the wives end up joining in and get more action too! The cast have great chemistry with each other and the film flows very well. However, one thing I'd like the film to have improved on is the involvement of the two men's friends as they were only in the film for a few scenes and they then decided that the men weren't going to find any women and left. I think they film could have benefitted with more of the men being involved and seeing them getting into lots more crazy situations.

All in all, Hall Pass is an entertaining film for a Saturday night with mates.

I give Hall Pass 2.5/5

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never

Ok, so this is my guilty pleasure of a film. I know I am a tad bit too old to have Bieber fever but I just can't help it! I saw this film a couple a weeks ago with my two friends and to be honest I had no idea what to expect from this film and I was pleasantly suprised.

The film is an original from MTV and it follows the pop star Justin Bieber with footage of performances from his 2010 My World Tour, all counting down to his performance in Madison Square Garden. In some scenes, it explores the lives of the cast and crew of the My World Tour. It also includes scenes of Bieber's childhood which were taken from home videos.

This film suprised me as I found that it was very appealing to all audiences, not just 'tweenage girls', as it had the sentimental family moments for the women, the performances from a range of well-known acts for the teenagers and the hope generated for all those ambitious children. Justin also seems like a 'normal' teenager as he goes back to his home town and just hangs around with his friends, he also visits a spot where he used to busk and suprises a young girl who is doing the same thing. He is seen as a fun-loving teenager who just mucks around with his staff and family. The acts in the movie make it great to watch too because it seems like you are watching a selection of concerts, there are guest appearances from: Sean Kingston, Usher, Boyz II Men, Miley Cyrus and Jayden Smith. Each of these acts perform a live song with Justin. The best song of the movie has to be 'Never Say Never' with Jayden Smith. Jayden makes appearances throughout the movie, the audience love him because he is so adorable with his afro and it's crazy how he is the mini-me of Will Smith. Another thing good about the movie is that you see Justin Bieber has a real talent with all the amateur videos he posted on YouTube, which then led him to being discovered.

All in all, I find this a nice, cheesy film to cuddle up and watch with your friends, of which you can sing along to the songs too! It's amazing to see his success and how quickly it has all come about. This is a lovely, inspirational film for children to watch everywhere and believe that their dreams can come true.


I give Justin Bieber: Never Say Never  3/5

The Fighter

The most recent film I went to see was The Fighter starring Mark Wahlberg - who is known for his action roles in Shooter and Four Brothers, Christian Bale - who is known for his action roles in Batman Begins and Terminator: Salvation and Amy Adams - who is known for her ditzy role in Enchanted. It is a 2010 biographical sports / drama film directed by David O. Russell. The film centers on the life of professional boxer "Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg) and his older half-brother and ex-boxer, Dicky Eklund (Bale) who struggles with his addiction to drugs.  It has been nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Bale) and Best Supporting Actress.

This has been one of the best films I have seen in a while and this is down to the superb cast and the great storyline. Bale really impressed me as he takes on the role as the real life 'Dicky' perfectly. I have seen him in other films where he plays the usual, macho lead in the film but in this film he became the real life 'Dicky'. On screen, he is very uneasy from the drugs and he is entertaining from his sheer ignorance as to what his life now is. You can see that he truly loves his little brother and wants him to do his best but he ends up just dragging him down. Wahlberg has a great role too, he's not just a nice bit of eye candy but he plays the role of the shy, push-over little borther perfectly. It's not until he meets his love interest Adams that he begins to fight for his career. Adams was the actress the impressed me the most from this film and this was because I had seen her play an easier role of the spoilt younger sister in The Wedding Date. However, in The Fighter she is more gritty and has a lot more strength to her. The final few scenes where the final match occurs it really sets your heart beating! I even cheered in the cinema to the result I have always enjoyed boxing as a sport and I like how a story was put with this sport. It is a very exciting film that has quite a lot of humourous parts in it too. I cannot recommend it enough!

I give The Fighter 5/5

Due Date

The second film I went to see was Due Date and it is a 2010 American comedy road film directed by Todd Phillips, and it starred Robert Downey, Jr.- who is known for his action roles in Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes and Zach Galifianakis - who is very well known for his hilarious role as 'Alan' in The Hangover. The plot of the movie is: High-strung father-to-be Peter Highman is forced to hitch a ride with aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay on a road trip in order to make it to his child's birth on time. This seems like a quite funny and easy-watching film.

I had, once again, very high expectations on this film because of the fantastically funny films Todd Phillips has directed previously such as: Road Trip, Old School, Starsky & Hutch and of course The Hangover. These films are all teen sensations but have also appealed to the adolescent in all of us. Zach Galifianakis is also a great asset to the film as his role as a ditzy, naive and odd man entertains any audience. You also know there will be some action if Robert Downey Jr. is part of it.

I have to say I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong it was a funny film but I felt like it was trying too hard to be The Hangover as Galifianakis is just playing the same character. There were many random events that happened but it just seems that it had all been done before. However, some scenes did get you laughing e.g. when Ethan starts to masterbate in the car or when they drinks Ethan's father's ashes. Downer Jr. plays a great role of a predicatable, businessman just wanting everything to run smoothly and basically explodes when it doesn't go to plan. There are also a few guest appearances from Juliette Lewis - who plays a mother and drug dealer and Jamie Foxx who is suspiciously into Peter wife. All in all it's not a great or hilarious film but you do get a few laughs out of it, so it would be nice to watch occasionally on DVD.

I give Due Date 2/5

Cyrus

During my first few weeks living in Glasgow I went to see Cyrus one afternoon with my flat-mate. It is a 2010 comedy-drama film that was written and directed by the brothers Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. It stars John C. Reilly - who is known for his funny role in Step Brothers and the naive husband in Chicago, Jonah Hill - who starred as a sex-starved, foul-mouthed teenager in Superbad, and Catherine Keener - who starred as the nice lady who worked in the Ebay shop in the 40-year-old virgin.

At first, I was very unsure of this film as I'd never heard of the Duplass brothers, as they have only seem to do small, low-budget films. However, from the cast, I was sure it would be a hilarious film. Boy was I wrong. It is a very slow film with nothing much that really happens. The plot of the movie is: John is seven years divorced from his wife and is having trouble adjusting to his new life. After meeting Molly at a party, he thinks that maybe he has found the perfect person again. There's just one problem: Cyrus, Molly's grown son. John must find a way to make his romance with Molly work despite intentional and unintentional interference by Cyrus. From the adverts it looks like it will be a Step Brothers part 2 by the way the two men are acting, you expect them to have numerous encounters doing shocking things to one another, but no. They say a few sly words and an unconvincing fight but that's it! The camera work is also very shaky and it looks like it's been done from a home-made camera, which is fair enough if you want to give that effect like The Blair Witch Project, but not in a film like this. The acting also seems stiff as you can't really feel the love between Molly and Cyrus or the heat between Molly and John. All in all it was a let down of a movie because that movie had certain expectations from what the actors have previously been in and it wasn't remotely funny.

I give Cyrus 1/5

Cineworld

I am very interested in the media and films are my passion. I really enjoy the different genres of film: I love to cuddle up and watch a classic, girly, romcom like Pretty Woman; but then I like the twisted and gruesome work of Quentin Tarintino for example, the stunning Pulp Fiction; I also enjoy a good cry to something like The Notebook and I enjoy some foreign cinema as the imaginitve storylines along with the captivating graphics take you into another world, like in the film Pan's Labyrinth. 

This blog will discuss the Glasgow cinema scene and how popular it has become. I have recently moved to Glasgow and one of the first things I did was visit the local cinema. Cineworld is a cinema on Renfrew Street, Glasgow, which is located in the north east of the city centre, it is next to the Buchanan Bus Station and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. It is also very close to Sauchiehall Street and Buchanan Galleries. It is 203 feet high and is currently the tallest cinema in the world. By 2003 it was the busiest cinema in the United Kingdom by admissions as it attracted over 1.8 million customers. Cineworld Glasgow has 18 screens over 9 levels, and can accommodate more than 4,300 people.

The cinema was built on the site of Green's Playhouse, and opened as the UGC Cinema in September 2001. In 2005, it became part of the Cineworld chain when the owners of UGC of France sold all of its UK cinemas which were then re-branded. Green's Playhouse the original cinema on the site also held a record, for being Europe's largest cinema in terms of number of seats which are 4,368. It was also entered into the Guiness Book of Records by being over 200ft high, and it is now known that Cineworld Glasgow is the world's tallest cinema. In 2000 however, during the cinema's construction, the building design came under heavy criticism from the architecture community. The building was designated the "Carbuncle of the Year" for its poor design choices and contrast with the surrounding area.

This is a little introduction as to what the cinema I go to is like and why it is so popular.