Blackfish Review

Before I start the review I have to say this up front, I have never been to Seaworld. I've been to Florida a few times but I have never even wanted to go to Seaworld, something about the park always struck me as unpleasant. After watching Blackfish, I can now confirm that my initial thoughts about Seaworld were right. Since there isn't really much I can say about the film as a whole without ruining the experience, I'll keep this review short.

Monsters University Review

Out of all the Pixar films, the one that I most wanted to see a sequel to was Monsters Inc. I've always been interested in seeing the implications of Sully and Boo reuniting and how all the changes to the monster world have been accepted on a larger scale. I didn't expect a prequel with Mike and Sully meeting at uni though but the more I thought about it, the more I thought that a lot of comedic potential could be wrung out from that premise, plus the timing of this film couldn't be more perfect for me since I'm going to uni this year. So how was the film? Pretty good overall.

Kick-Ass 2 Review

Since it was first announced, Kick-Ass 2 has been one of my most anticipated films, with the only film I was looking forward more to than Kick-Ass 2 at the start of the year being The World's End. The first Kick-Ass was one of my favourite films from 2010 and the ending of the film left me heavily anticipating this film. So how was the film: not as good as the first film but still a great film.

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa Review

Anyone that lives in the UK will know the name Alan Partridge. This character, created by Steve Coogan and Armando Ianucci, has been a presence in the UK on TV and radio for the past 21 years and now the charms of Partridge's casual racism and sexism have been brought to the big screen with Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. One of the best comedies that has been made this year.

Politic-A-Thon: Top 15 West Wing Episodes

So to cap off the Politic-A-Thon, I decided to pay tribute to one of my favourite TV shows, The West Wing. I originally wanted to do my top 10 episodes but there are so many brilliant episodes that I couldn't limit it to just 10. So here are my top 15 episodes of The West Wing.

Politic-A-Thon: Game Change Review

When I first announced that I was going to do this blog-a-thon, I asked if anyone would like to contribute to it. Only one person has ended up contributing, Dan Heaton of Public Transportation Snob who has written up a review of Game Change on his site. I'm going to put a quote from the review below which will link to Dan's site.

"Game Change isn’t going to charm many hardcore conservatives, but it brings more nuance to the McCain campaign than you might expect ... The divisive political landscape has only grown nastier during the past five years. Movies like Game Change remind us that we haven’t been completely won over by celebrity in our politics. Even so, the chaos of 2008 may seem like an afterthought with another battle looming on the horizon."

I would give my own thoughts on the film but I haven't been able to see it. Game Change was shown on Sky Atlantic in the UK (a channel which I don't have) and hasn't received any kind of release on DVD or on LoveFilm Instant/Netflix since.

Politic-A-Thon: The Iron Lady Review

Most of the films I've done for this series have been ones I really like, so I think it's time for me to do a film I hate. Anyone who knows me knows that I think the worst thing to happen in British politics was the period when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister. Under her, the unions lost their power and the incredible advancements made by Clement Atlee's government with the welfare state and nationalisation of industry were gutted and led to millions being rendered unemployed and entire communities in the North decimated. It also didn't help that she openly supported General Pinochet whilst denying support for Nelson Mandela and was one of the people who supported a cover-up after Hillsborough. But I digress, it's not my hatred of Thatcher that makes me hate this film, it's that it doesn't do anything interesting to discuss Thatcher and her legacy.

Politic-A-Thon: The Ides of March Review

Going back to George Clooney today for his other major political film, the pretty underrated The Ides of March a film focusing on the perils of the election process, not for proper multi-party elections per say but for the Presidential Primaries for the Democrat Party, something that not many films have covered.

Politic-A-Thon: The Lives of Others Review

Seeing how I did The Baader-Meinhoff Complex yesterday, I think it's only fitting that I do a film about the GDR today and there is no better film related to the GDR that I could cover than The Lives of Others, a film focusing on the political oppression in the GDR, the Stasi.

Politic-A-Thon: The Baader-Meinhoff Complex Review

So for the next two days in the Politic-A-Thon I'll be covering films concerning Germany's political history during the Cold War with The Lives of Others for East Germany and today's review, The Baader-Meinhoff Complex, a brilliant film about the actions of the Baader-Meinhoff Gang from 1968 to 1977.

Where Do I Start

Every once in a while something comes along which really makes me despair in the future of cinema. Today it this post by Hunter Walk.

http://t.co/yAALkuEmz3

Where do I begin.

Politic-A-Thon: Mr Smith Goes To Washington Review

Time to go a bit more old-school today with a review of the classic political film Mr Smith Goes To Washington. Now this film is actually ahead of it's time in regards to the presentation of the political world in DC and the big message of the film is still as relevant today as it was in the 1930's.

Politic-A-Thon: Black Mirror: The National Anthem Review

And now for something completely different politically. Yes, I'm going back to Black Mirror and what better episode to talk about in the Politic-a-Thon than The National Anthem, the episode involving the Prime Minister shagging a pig.

Despicable Me 2 Review

At the start of the year I wasn't really looking forward to Despicable Me 2. I hadn't seen the first film and the first few trailers for this one made it look like a film unappealing to me. However, a lot of critics I trust have given very positive reviews to the film so I decided to check the film out and it's pretty good, although there are a lot of problems with the film.

Politic-A-Thon: Good Night and Good Luck. Review

Going through all these political films I've realised that I've not covered a film based on political journalism so what better film to cover than George Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck. This film brilliantly covers the war between Edward R Murrow and Senator Joe McCarthy during the peak of the Red Scare, when Murrow could have been arrested for what he said and the way the story is told by Clooney is excellent.