The Backup Plan

13/5/10-The Backup Plan-Starring J-Lo and Alex O' Loughlin

So after a day of Hoedown Throwdown it was off to the cinema, to see the new Jennifer Lopez movie, The Backup Plan. The premise being that Zoe (Lopez) is tired of waiting for the right man to come along and decides to skip to her backup plan of having a baby through other means.

So she goes for artificial insemination and almost instantly meets the man of her dreams. Then it becomes a series of predictable pregnancy gags and annoying plot turns.



The only really funny thing in this film is when Zoe attends the single mother support group, the desperate characters are funny and there is one undeniably funny scene involving a waterbirth. Other than that laughs are thin, the chemistry between the two leads is poor and all the supporting characters are boring.

Jennifer Lopez still looks great though but in her comeback role she seems to be trying too hard at the comedy and leaving the acting behind. And although it is all predictable and for the most part unfunny, it should be applauded for trying to show pregnancy as the unflattering passage that it can be, but that message too seems to get lost in the way the plot pans out.

5/10

Hannah Montana: The Movie

13/5/10-Hannah Montana: The Movie-Starring Miley Cyrus and her dad.

Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana is getting too big for her boots so dad ships her back to good ol' Tennessee to retrace her roots. She meets a boy and her old horse and learns the error of her ways.

Lots of singing, lots of dancing and Miley learns that there is more to life than shoes and private jets.



I think the film has a lot of inconsistencies like how Miley's gran moans at her for not adapting to the farm life immediately but she refuses to accept any change whatsoever to the town. The man who hounds Miley/Hannah for a photo throughout the movie succumbs to his conscience less than a minute after having no problems whatsoever with his antics prior to that moment. Had they displayed some sort of inner turmoil earlier (which they don't)then fair enough.

On top of that queue a checkbox of mindless comedy cliches. Ferret down the trousers, man falls out of tree, boy gets bitten on the bum/falls off a ladder/falls out a tree and a superb set-piece where a girl with a double identity has agreed to be in two places at once! Crisis!

I will say though that I have a soft spot for Hannah Montana, I like the humour of Jackson in the TV show but he is barely in this, the same can be said for Robbie Ray, but the film is still fun. The music is good and in the end it gives a good insight into the pressures of fame, in one scene in particular where Miley is on the bottom of the barrel as fans chant for Hannah outside her window.

By the end of it I had got into the spirit and the film does have a pretty good last half hour, but is somewhat lacking in the ingredients that made the TV show such a hit.

6/10

Nausicaa-Valley of the Wind

12/5/10-Nausicaa-Valley of the Wind

Today I watched Miyazaki's Nausicaa-Valley of the Wind. This is a story of Princess Nausicaa who has a unique relationship and understanding with nature, as everyone around her seeks to destroy what remains of a heavily polluted planet, she tries to preserve the little good that is left.

Through her perseverance and unwavering support for life of all kinds and their equal rights to co-exist, Nausicaa attempts to overcome heavy fighting from two rival groups in order to avoid the return of the much-feared "Giant Warrior" one of the main forces behind the destruction of the world.



I would not say that this is Miyazaki's best effort and many have agreed that Princess Mononoke more or less eclipses this in terms of visual style and story and I would probably side with them. Of course it is still a film of quality but while Princess Nausicaa is an admirable and inspirational character, she is really the only one.

The villains are disappointingly bland and the good guys aren't much better, but in a way they all serve as a backdrop to making Nausicaa one of the best characters Miyazaki has ever produced.

However the story is interesting and the Ohms are awe-inspiring, while the Giant Warriors are terrifying too. Miyazaki has managed to create an involving story in a world that we find ourselves caring about by the end of the film. The climax is ultimately rewarding and although the environmental message is slightly laboured, it is conveyed here with such passion, it is hard to ignore.

8/10

and the rest

Here is a list of all the films I've seen up until this point.

Might make a better attempt at this next year.

28 Weeks Later-3/10
44 Inch Chest-7/10
A Prophet-10/10
A Very Long Engagement-9/10
Adaptation-9/10
Adventureland-10/10
Air Force One-6/10
Alice In Wonderland 3D-5/10
Amadeus-9/10
American Psycho-7/10
Amores Perros-10/10
Annie Hall-10/10
Avatar-10/10
Awakenings-9/10
Back to the Future-Part II-4/10
Bandslam-6/10
Batman and Robin-3/10
Batman Returns-6/10
Battle Royale 2: Requiem-2/10
Bedtime Stories-5/10
Being John Malkovich-10/10
The Breakfast Club-6/10
Cemetery Junction-9/10
Changeling-9/10
Children of Men-9/10
The Class-9/10
Coneheads-3/10
The Crazies-6/10
Cronos-2/10
The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys-8/10
Daybreakers-3/10
Death Proof-4/10
Dogging: A Love Story-7/10
Doubt-8/10
Dude, Where’s Your Car?-5/10
Duplicity-7/10
Elephant-7/10
Enchanted-9/10
Forrest Gump-8/10
Franklyn-7/10
Galaxy Quest-6/10
The Gameplan-6/10
The Godfather Part II-8/10
The Goonies-7/10
The Green Mile-8/10
Hachi: A Dog’s Tale-8/10
Happy Gilmore-8/10
Harry Brown-7/10
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince-7/10
Horton Hears a Who-6/10
Hot Rod-8/10
How to Train Your Dragon 3D-9/10
I Love You Man-8/10
I Love You Phillip Morris-5/10
Innocent Voices-10/10
Insomnia-7/10
Into The Wild-8/10
The Invention of Lying-4/10
Julie&Julia-9/10
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang-9/10
LA Confidential-9/10
Lady Vengeance-9/10
Laputa : Castle in the Sky-9/10
The Last King of Scotland-9/10
The Lovely Bones-7/10
Man on Wire-10/10
The Mask-6/10
Mean Girls-9/10
Men Who Stare At Goats-7/10
MicMacs-8/10
Mongol-9/10
New Moon-7/10
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist-7/10
Once-8/10
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest-10/10
Open Your Eyes-10/10
Pay It Forward-2/10
Precious-9/10
The Princess and The Frog-8/10
Princess Mononoke-9/10
Punch Drunk Love-8/10
Rachel Getting Married-10/10
Rat Race-5/10
The Road-9/10
The Rocker-4/10
Rudo y Cursi-8/10
Seven Pounds-8/10
Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll-7/10
Sex Drive-6/10
The Shawshank Redemption-10/10
Sherlock Holmes-8/10
Silence of the Lambs-9/10
Snakes on a Plane-1/10
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut-7/10
Starsky and Hutch-6/10
Superhero Movie-5/10
Things We Lost In The Fire-7/10
Three and Out-6/10
Three Kings-8/10
The Truman Show-8/10
The Unborn-4/10
Up-10/10
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story-4/10
The Wolfman-3/10
Youth In Revolt-7/10

Cheers!

Adventureland

11/5/10-Adventureland-Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart

First of all I should mention that in order to obtain this film I used an altogether new medium for me, the Playstation Network video rental store. This worked out rather well for £3.49

Anyway, Adventureland has, since its release, gathered a reputation for having been marketed wrongly. It was promoted as a comedy, akin to Superbad (the two share a director) and a lot of people were disappointed.

Had it been marketed as an unwavering attempt to portray young people with realistic problems and undeniable flaws, then it might have been a massive success.



Not to say that Adventureland isn't funny, it has a few laugh out loud moments and the shady way that Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig's characters run the park is hilarious. The scene where they glue eyes on to bananas is a particular highlight. Much more than that though this film contains very likable characters with a great cast and some great standout moments.

The film is difficult to watch at times as James and Em make poor choices about their relationship, but it only goes to show that no-one is perfect and serves to make them even more endearing as they struggle to cope with the hand life has dealt them.

I would struggle to name a better film I've seen this year. Greg Mottola has told a story that will resonate with anyone who's struggled with the opposite sex, rubbish jobs or parental problems. I loved this film and I personally hope that Greg Mottola makes many more films in future times.

The Point

Ok, hello, I was going to try this a while ago but now I feel a renewed sense of enthusiasm.

This year I have been trying to watch a film every day, at day 131, I am 26 films behind but I have no doubts that I can catch up.

The idea behind the blog now being that in the style of Julie and Julia (one of the 105 films I watched this year.) If people can spur me on, then it'll make it more worthwile.

So I'll pop on here, share my thoughts about the film of the day, starting with last night's after this, and hopefully get a bit of a community thing going.