The Reviews



Feel free to read all of my reviews of films and music, you can read them below! :)

Music



Name: This Is Alphabeat (2008)
By: Alphabeat
Rating:
Review: Finally, cheesy pop is back! Alphabeat are the cool new band from Denmark bringing brilliant 80's style music back to Britain. The album is without doubt the best I've heard. Every track is a standout one, they could all be a single. Brilliant music to lift your spirits and get you dancing like theres no tomorrow. Just listen to tracks such as the so far unreleased 'Go-Go' and you will be in heaven. The already released singles have so far been hits and the ones coming soon are sure to be aswell.
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Verdict: Watch out, Alphabeat are about. Be prepared for a total blast of an album. A modern classic.

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Name: A Little Bit Longer (2008)
By: The Jonas Brothers
Rating:
Review:This comes as a surprise. The latest helping from 'teeny boppers' The Jonas Brothers, turns out to be quite good. The album on a whole is fairly strong, despite two weak tracks (that are fortunately only bonus tracks). Songs such as 'Burnin' Up' and 'Bb Good' are the usual from the trio, but the brilliant ones are the ones which are completely fresh. The moving 'A Little Bit Longer', is a song written by the youngest, Nick, about coping with Diabetes. It is without doubt the best song on the album. While, Lovebug, a cutesy acoustic song with an 60's feel is sure to keep long-term fans happy.
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Verdict: A rarity coming from Disney, highly enjoyable and well written.

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Name: Viva La Vida (2008)
By: Coldplay
Rating:
Review: With its cold, fresh feel, Viva La Vida, the latest from British band Coldplay, is unmissable. It may not suit everyones tastes, but for those into it, its an absolute treat. The title song 'Viva La Vida' is a strong contender for best of the year. Chris Martin really pulls it out of the bag with his brilliant songwriting. Songs like 'Cemeteries Of London' continue the dreary yet grand music we are used to from Coldplay. But all in all Viva La Vida is a breath of fresh air. A brilliant compilation of great music.
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Verdict: A harrowing yet grand album. Strong contender for one of the best of the year.

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Film



Name: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (2005)
Runtime: 2hrs
Rating:
Review: Despite having a popular predecessor, Hellboy 2 : The Golden Army may have been a risk. It delivers virtually everything there in the first, but lacks just a bit. The film itself is by no means bad. It just could have been so much better. Once again, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is back to fight against Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), the prince setting out to rebel against the world, and win it over. Also back are the popular characters from the first, Abe (Doug Jones) and Liz (Selma Blair). Its a fair film, by no means brilliant but its a good solid story with brilliant character and set designs. Where Hellboy 2 falls is at its garish similarities to childrens fantasy films. It has several points where you feel like you are watching a kids film, and others where you are watching a good solid action film, and brings back the brilliant memories of the first. It has a beautiful colour scheme, and dazzling set design which is both attractive and eyecatching.
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Verdict: If a bit childish, its still a good film with solid acting and a decent story.

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Name: Hellboy (2004)
Runtime: 2hrs 10mins
Rating:
Review: Guillermo del Toro does it again. His brilliant unique style makes another bloody brilliant film! Based on the best-selling comic book, Hellboy is the story of a demon raised by Nazi's. Now in the safe hands of the Professor Broom at the Bureau of Paranormal Research, he uses his spare time to fight the evils of the earth. The film itself is utterly brilliant. Guillermo del Toro does a fantastic job creating a strong, creative film, with awe inspiring set design. The cast itself are all brilliant too. Ron Perlman is brilliant and brave for taking on one hell of a role. Doug Jones makes his usual appearance in the film playing Abe, a creative smart sea creature. I cant help but mention again del Toro's set and character design. It is bold and brilliant, which fits nicely with the rest of the film.
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Verdict: A divine, beautiful action packed epic from Guillermo del Toro. May not be for everyone but for those interested, its a must-see.

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Name: Amityville Horror (2005)
Runtime: 1hr 25mins
Rating:
Review: At points, it is terrifying. At others, its a bit silly. The Amityville Horror is a telling of the 'true' story of the Lutz family. The story of how the family moved to a Gothic house and experience strange goings on. As always it is blamed on something religious. Ryan Reynolds is the real letdown in this film. He's there to look evil and take his shirt off. However, I can't speak all bad of this film. There are times when you are genuinely scared, something that his hard to come across in modern horror.
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Verdict: A mediocre horror flick good for a Saturday Night scare.

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Name: Untraceable (2008)
Runtime: 1hr 40mins
Rating:
Review: It may feed slightly off of the 'Saw' series, but to be fair, its not that bad. Diane Neal and soon-to-be Twilight star Billy Burke, star in this film about an internet killer, who kills victims depending on the amount of visitors to his webcam site. The more visitors, the faster the subject will die. There are some points where you will feel it will be predictable, but it bounces back, and shows you something different. Several gory scenes including a man being burned alive by some seriously burning lamps, and a mans skin being removed by acid will be a treat for those who love squeamish stuff.
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Verdict: Smart and Gory. A clever piece of cinema that is well worth a watch.

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Name: The Strangers (2008)
Runtime: 1hr 25mins
Rating:
Review: What a dissapointment. The first installment from directing newcomer Bryan Bertino, has an exciting filler but lacks a good beginning and end. The first 10-15 minutes are almost completely irrelavant to the rest of the film, and would be better left out. It takes a long time to get into some good scares, and after appearing, become a rarity. To be fair, the film is overcrowded, and after a while, becomes unscary and verging on funny. By no means is it a terrible film, just a terrible dissapointment...
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Verdict: It has the potential, but after a while, severely lacks scares and turns boring fairly soon.

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Name: The Dark Knight (2008)
Runtime: 2hrs 32mins
Rating:
Review: It doesn’t come as a surprise that after a week on release, The Dark Knight has made just a little under $300 million. With the hype of a new superhero movie and everyone rushing to see the late Heath Ledgers final big performance, it was bound to break some kind of record. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the movie is once again a treat for comic book geeks and avid cinema-goers alike, with high adrenaline action sequences, and brilliant cinematography. Perhaps the most perfect thing about this film is Heath Ledgers portrayal of the Joker, a fearless, psychotic killer with a team of clown henchmen behind him. His performance is utterly flawless. It will leave you terrified, yet somewhat in awe of how fantastic he plays this man. His collection of brilliant disguises will also show the characters devilish sense of humour. This is so much more than a superhero movie; it’s a brilliant movie all-over. They’ve taken the deal of romance in a movie like this, and toned it down, to leave you with something tasteful, and breaks all superhero movie clichés. Surprisingly, the villains are the overpowering characters in this movie; Bale lacks something that makes his character brilliant, which is luckily made up for in the performances of Ledger and fellow villain, Aaron Eckhart, who portrays love interest of Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and the DA of Gotham City. He later becomes the fantastic Two-Face, a character so squeamishly gruesome, you can’t help but watch. Not only that, but in its first week of release, The Dark Knight has knocked ‘The Godfather’ off of the top spot on IMDB’s top 250 movies of all time, The Godfather has been there for almost nine years! I guess everybody smells Oscar nominations for the movie, and undoubtedly one for Heath Ledger, his performance is the best; not only of the movie, but of cinema in recent years. He really has pulled it off.
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Verdict: Be prepared. Best Superhero Movie Ever? Without doubt. Best Film Ever? Its very, very possible.

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Name: P.S. I Love You (2007)
Runtime: 2hrs 6mins
Rating:
Review: True, its not the best film ever made, but on the enjoyable side, it is one of the best. P.S. I Love You is the story of Holly Kennedy, a woman who loses her husband to a brain tumour, but is pulled through it all by a series of letters he has written. Critic wise, its not been a good year for Hilary Swank, first, The Reaping was bombed by the critics, but it was a film I really enjoyed. And now this, described by the critics as being 'incomprehensible', I seem to think the polar opposite. If you are wanting to see a sad, yet funny film, see this. It is so enjoyable! It is not oscar worthy, but Its as close to excellent as rom-coms get.
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Verdict: Ignore the critics, you will really love it!

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Name: La Vie En Rose (2007)
Runtime: 2hrs 20mins
Rating:
Review: Its not often I come across a film which both moves me, and makes me laugh. It is not surprising that Cotillard won the Oscar, she deserves every little inch of it. Her portrayal of Edith Piaf is both believable and breathtaking. The script, brilliantly written by Olivier Dahan, keeps you interested throughout, and despite its long runtime, it is a film that you will feel compelled enough to watch again and again.
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Verdict: A beautiful film that will thrill you from start to finish!

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Name: The Aristocats (1970)
Runtime: 1hr 18mins
Rating:
Review: 'The Aristocats' has been one of my favourite films since I was little! Despite being the first film since the death of Walt Disney, it shows that his brilliant imagination and warm heart lives on. With its brilliant music and funny script, The Aristocats is a warm hearted film, which can be enjoyed by everyone of all ages.
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Verdict: Cute, Funny and Enjoyable From Start To Finish!

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Name: Jumper (2008)
Runtime: 1hr 30mins
Rating:
Review: I think it was just bad luck that I saw two movies in a row (this and 10,000BC) that I both had high expectations for, and by both, was sincerely dissapointed. To be fair, the only reason I was really looking forward to Jumper, was an appearance from AnnaSophia Robb. As I saw the trailers over time and saw that it looked pretty cool with great action sequences. Unfortunately, thats all I got. It seemed to have so much potential, with a great idea and a brilliant director. But it lacks so much. It left me wondering, what happened? It just jumps (no pun intended! :) ) between small little sequences and really has no plot to it at all. It ends in a boring way, something that is completely unheard of coming from Liman.
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Verdict:See it if your wanting some great action sequences, but plot-wise, its something you're able to miss.

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Name: Paris Je Taime (2006)
Runtime: 2hrs
Rating:
Review: This is a film I had been anticipating for so long, and let me tell you, I was not dissapointed. With such a strong cast and idea, it would be very hard to go wrong. It is basically, 18 5 or 6 minute films, about people falling love in the city of Paris. It has a particularly moving performance from Juliette Binoche. She plays the mother of a young boy who has gone missing, and with her brief appearance at the end, shows how people in Paris, whether they know each other or not, are so kind-hearted. That seems to be what Paris does to you. Despite one or two weak segments, the end makes up for them, leaving you feeling so warm-hearted.
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Verdict: Unmissable. One of the most beautiful and imaginative films of the past decade.

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Name: 10,000 BC (2008)
Runtime: 1hr 49mins
Rating:
Review: It feels horrible to even give this film just one star, as, I'm sorry to sound immature, as it really doesn't deserve it. This boring and weak film leaves you feeling the need to cry, or hit someone! Its just so unbelievably bad! Don't let the trailers and posters mislead you. They seem to take the good bits of the film, and put them in the trailer, to convince you to sit through the 'not-long-but-it-really-feels-like-it' rest of it. The exciting sabre-tooth tiger that we see, appears for on average, two minutes. The rest of it is about as exciting and fun as drowning kittens. At one point, there is such crude humour that throws you off track, that makes you feel like you are watching a completely different film, for me it was Home Alone. It has an overwhelming amount of cliches, which made me want to run out screaming when it came to its cheesy end. All I can say is, thank God its over.
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Verdict: Even if you were naughty enough to download it, you will feel you want your money and time back.

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