Tag Archives: Gary Oldman

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

22 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by in Action, Adventure, Crime & Gangster, Thriller

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Directed by Chris Nolan, staring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph gorden-Lewitt, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard and  Morgan Freeman.

Firstly let me acknowledge and show my sadness for the tragedy that occurred at the midnight screening of DNR, it is a horrible state of affairs when any one person is killed let alone 15 dead and another 30 or so injured. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the effected as I’m sure anyone who knows this story or has a connection to it is doing the same.

Before reading any further, let me state clearly now that as is the rule of my blog THERE ARE NO, I repeat NO spoilers in this review so please read on without fear or trepidation. Continue reading →

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

26 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in Crime & Gangster, Spy, War

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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was directed by  Tomas Alfredson and was written by Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan and John Le Carre’ who wrote the original novel this film is based upon. It stars Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Hurt, Mark Strong.

The story follows a secret government agency hiding out in London  called the Circus who deal with possible threats from other countries and investigate suspicious cases and people in order to protect the country from harm.  It is set in the 1970s and follows Gary Oldman’s character Mr Smiley who is an expert in his field and was forced into retirement, now they need him back to hunt down a spy who has been leaking secrets to the soviets.

If ever some one walks up to you and says the British can not make a good film, simply say four words, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. This film is just fabulous in so many ways. Firstly it’s clear that this year was made for adaptions to the big screen, we’ve seen the success of Ides Of March, War Horse, Moneyball, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2, The Descendants, The Help and Extremely loud and incredibly close . I would go on to name more but the list is simply put, too impressively long. Many of those films mentioned above are getting huge attention at the Oscars.

If you’re looking around for a brilliant spy thriller then look no further, this is it. Tinker Tailor is a fantastic film for so many different reasons. Continue reading →

Red Riding Hood (2011)

10 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in Action, Adventure

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Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, staring Amanda Seyfried, Lukas Haas and Gary Oldman. This is the telling of the classic story about the girl who wears the famous Red hood and lives in the medieval village which is being terrorized by the famous wolf. We all know this story very well.

From the start were introduced to mountains and forest in the general wilderness as a showing of how trapped they are by nature. The acting from the start is very poor and annoying, even after the first couple of lines this feels like a twilight film. Funnily enough because of the director who happened to make twilight, high hopes then.

The film is plagued by poor taste in acting and the script which is plain and boring so maybe it actually suits the characters. Predictably to get some kind of plot going, the wolf kills. So the villagers become an angry mob and storm to the cave where the wolf lives. My question is if you knew where he lived and had enough men for a small army why would you not have dealt with this much sooner and saved a lot of hassle and lives. The group predictably splits up and one person is killed by the wolf, they believe this to be the wolf. Two things occur to me with this, one they appear to have no knowledge of a beast which has plagued them for generations, also they have no idea what it looks like. How do they know it’s a wolf that’s attacking them ? they are surrounded by woods and animals, any of which could have done this. Some reason they are set on a wolf, go figure. Continue reading →

Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows Part 2

24 Sunday Jul 2011

Posted by in Adventure, Science Fiction

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Now I know I said I would have no bias when I wrote these reviews, believe I’ve  tried hard to do just that. However I struggle not to have an favouritism or anything like that with Harry Potter. Harry Potter has been a huge huge part of my life for many many years now and reading the books was my introduction into the world of literature. So for me not to be bias is like asking a fish to stop swimming, its near on impossible but it can be done.

This film as everyone knows is the last instalment into the world of Harry Potter, the books finished a few years ago and thus the films must now end. Sad times. We have followed a group of three individuals through the better part of their lives, we have watched then grow and mature into adults and now we must let them fly away and see what the world has to offer them outside the world of Harry Potter.

I Believe I walk out of every Instalement of the series saying the same words “That was the best one by far” and like a bad case of De Ja Vu, I say the same again. This really was the best one, really way.

Watching the film was a mixture of excitement as you really want to watch it and sadness as your realise that this is the last time for the three of them.

This part of the journey is so very well done. Yes they do miss out one or two important things and havechanged the ending so that , in my opinion it feels more cinematic and more for the audience then individual which is a shame.

It is very well done, and feels somewhat shorter then the rest of the films, maybe I enjoyed it that much more. Why did they have the change the ending from the book. Spoiler alert for those who some how don’t know how this ends. At the end Harry is supposed to stand up in front of everyone and Voldermort and give a large speech which rounds everything up thats happened in all the books, this is followed by Voldermort and Harry firing spells at each other and cause Voldermort’s spell to rebound and hit himself, killing him instantly. None of this happens and it’s slightly annoying as the ending to this book was so good. Admittedly its a good ending in the films but its not the same.

They also left out the entire part of Dumbledore’s family history which is slightly annoying as its a very good part of the book as it also leads to Voldermort’s past and his family history. Two parts which are fascinating and brilliant and yet were not carried through to the book. However all that is Just me being a true Harry Potter fan and knowing the books inside and Out.

The sets were amazing, from Gringotts and the dragon to the battle of Hogwarts. The CGI and sets and incredible and quite right as it look them so long to make.

One thing which was nice was the return if briefly of Gary Oldman, Sir Michael Gambon and a few other faces who died in perviously in Harry Potter.  Alan Rickman’s performance was amazing as usual as Snape and the scene where his past with Lilly potter and the plan is revealed is very well done. Though why they changed the setting from the Shrieking Shack, as it was in the book to the boat house I’m not sure.

However having said those negative things about it , it is a brilliant film and the such a good way to end it all. Yes they did miss some crucial things out, well crucial to me and one other person I know. Putting that aside it is a really good to watch.

Daniel Radcliff is must be said has come on miles since the first, you can see the growing actor now as he really does come on miles in this film. Compared to the other films his acting is off the charts good. Same with Emma Watson, though she has always been good just waiting for the lads to catch up. Rupert Grint is almost there just not quite in the same league as the other two anymore.

My main Hope is that in 20 years time they don’t remake this film as that would be a huge travesty.

Helen Bonham Carter is fantastic in this, I wish she had had more scream time but ever since she appeared she has been one of the favourite characters from the films as she is just so so good. In the beginning when she is playing Emma Watson character, its fantastic to watch she really does do the movements and expressions well. She is one of my favourites easily.

One of my favourite scenes which I wish had lasted just a tad longer is the scene where Dumbledore is talking to Harry after he has been killed, the scene is nearly how I had it in my mind including the little part of Voldemort under the bench.

OVERALL

**** A fantastic film and almost the best way to end the series. Sad times, but new beginnings for the three of them. Goes without saying that everyone needs to see it.