Marvel V DC Part 2...

In this three part series I am comparing Marvel against DC. I am seeing who I think had the better movies released last year, then I will give my opinions on the movies getting released this upcoming year, as there's many that look like they could be incredible.

In part one I did head to head reviews, putting 'Captain America: Civil War' against 'Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice'. You can read that HERE. In this post I will be doing a head to head of two more films (I mentioned in part one that this will not be 'Deadpool' as I have already reviewed it - Read the review HERE).

'SUICIDE SQUAD' V 'X-MEN: APOCALYPSE'

These are two quite different films, with X-Men opting to be more serious with few parts bringing out comedy and 'Suicide Squad' opting for the comedic value throughout, but which one is better?

Suicide Squad

I found the idea of the film a good one, bringing together a group of bad guys together as one, to take down more bad guys. Despite this I do think that the film fell a little short of my expectations. The first half had substance, it was funny and intriguing, but it slowly tailed off until finally finishing, and I did lose concentration a couple times within the second half of the film.

The acting was good, and there was a great cast of actors assigned to 'Suicide Squad'. From two time Oscar nominees Will Smith and Viola Davis to Oscar winner Jared Leto ('Dallas Buyers Club'). The star of the show was definitely Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, I think that she captured this difficult character perfectly, and is no doubt become the most popular one from the film, with many people eagerly anticipating a Harley Quinn film. Harley's other half The Joker was also portrayed well within the movie, by Leto. This is a hard character to act, as so many have played it so well. Despite Leto not quite doing as well as Heath Ledger in 'The Dark Knight', I do believe he did a good job and I am interested to see more of the new Joker the future films to come.

As I mentioned before I think the problem with this film is ot loses its momentum half way through, it slows down a bit and never manages to get back up to the standard that it started with. The final battle is not as big as I was expecting it to be, and the final few scenes do not keep up the comedic value that the movie gives to you within the first half.

'Suicide Squad' made a total gross within theatres of $325,100, 054. Bringing it in at number nine of the top total grosses of all movies released in 2016. Coming in just behind 'Zootopia' and 'Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice'.

Overall I give this film a 7 out of 10. This film got marked up for its strong, interesting and funny start, but lost points for the weaker second half.

X-Men: Apocalypse

I think that this was a strong superhero movie, it did have comedy but it also knew when to be serious, while as providing high action scenes. X-Men did a good job of capturing the watchers attention and being able to sustain that throughout.

I am not a huge fan of the acting across the board of X-Men movies, but I do think that this one did a lot better than the rest. The cast is a good one, with some very big names, such as Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence ('Silver Linings Playbook'), two time Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender, and Golden Globe nominee James McAvoy. I was most impressed with the two actors more known for TV than film though, Evan Peters of 'American Horror Story' brought great comedy to the film as he has previously within the franchise and Sophie Turner of 'Game Of Thrones' portrayed a difficult character perfectly, she was able to show us the inner emotions of Jean Grey better than I have seen done before.

The only problem with this film is I think you may have to watch the other X-Men films in this series to understand some parts, it is not a completely stand alone film as 'Suicide Squad' is. Despite this it is a film that fans of the series will love, and if you did decide to watch it without the ones before then I think you will still enjoy the majority of the movie without getting confused in the story.

'X-Men: Apocalypse' made a total gross within theatres of $155,442,489. Bringing it in at number sixteen of the top total grosses of all movies released in 2016. Coming in just behind 'Star Trek Beyond' and 'Jason Bourne'.

I give this film a 8 out of 10, for its strong story and good portray of characters, as well as it's balanced level of comedy, action and suspense.

In the third part of this series I will announce who did better in 2016 Marvel or DC, as well as who is set to have the best 2017

Marvel V DC...

Now this year there is a lot of superhero genre movies coming out, and I for one cannot wait. Last year there were a mixed bag of films in this genre, and I wanted to do a head to head post of the top two films released from both sides to see who came out on top in my ratings and at the Box Office in 2016... Marvel or DC.

I have already reviewed one of the Marvel movies of the year, Deadpool (read the review here), because of this I am going to leave it out of the head to head reviews.

'CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR' VS 'BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE'

These are the biggest films released from each side in 2016. They had big budgets (both estimated at $250,000,000) and they both also made big money as well, but which one was better?

Civil War

This I have to say was one of the best movies this year, and is definitely one of the best superhero movies released. It had a bit of everything for everyone to enjoy, it had comedy, it had suspense, it had action and it had emotion. 

As far as acting goes in superhero movies this is on the upper end of the scale, this is no doubt down to it's killer cast though, from two time Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr. and one time nominee Don Cheadle to Oscar winner Marisa Tomei ('My Cousin Vinny') and four time Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson. All main actors in this movie helped to portray the emotions of the characters perfectly, they allowed us to have a view into the mind of superheroes and I can tell you we weren't disappointed. 

The plot is a solid one, and completely grasped watchers attention early on, and managed to sustain it throughout. The movie's storyline is about a political interference in the Avengers' activities which causes a rift between the Captain America and Iron Man, and forces others to choose their side. 

This film made a total gross within theatres of $408,084, 349. Bringing it in at number three in the top total grosses of all movies released in 2016, coming behind 'Finding Dory' and 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'.

Overall I give this film a solid 8 out of 10, for its gripping story and its excellent capture of a range of emotions throughout.

Batman V Superman

I have to say that I was not as impressed with this film, which is hard for me to say as a huge Batman fan, but I do not feel this lived up to it's hype, as Civil War did. With a new Batman, and a merge of some DC characters that haven't been in scenes together before, this film had a lot of potential to amaze and inspire but it just fell flat. 

Now the acting was not the problem here, as there is an excellent cast, with two time Oscar winner Ben Affleck (Best Original Screenplay for 'Good Will Hunting' and Best Film for 'Argo'), one time nominee Jesse Eisenberg and five time nominee Amy Adams leading the way. They did portray the characters well, although it is quite obvious that Ben is not going to be able to live up to Christian Bale's amazing showing as Batman in Christopher Nolan's trilogy. 

The problem for me was the storyline, it didn't engross me as I would've wanted, I feel like they should've stuck to the story of Batman being against Superman, as they did for half of the movie, rather than have them work together to fight a being from another world, they could've saved this for a future film. I also think the graphics were appalling for this day and age, they really let it down, and made it seem low budget. 

I did however enjoy Wonder Woman's role in the movie, and it has made me look forward to seeing her individual movie due for release this year. 

Batman V Superman made a total gross within theatres of $330,360,194. Bringing it in at number eight in the top total grosses of all movies released in 2016, coming just behind 'Deadpool' and 'Zootopia'.

Overall I have to give this movie a 4, I was let down after viewing it, and left feeling like I needed more substance to what I believe is a fairly average movie. 

The winner of these two movies has to be 'Captain America: Civil War', it came out top at the Box Office and top in my ratings. 

My next post will be part two of this series, I will put 'Suicide Squad' and 'X-Men: Apocalypse' head to head, and reveal who came on top overall in 2016, Marvel or DC. 

'The Girl On The Train' Review

I haven't been blogging for a while but I am ready to get back into it. Starting with a review of a film that I recently saw in the cinema.

'The Girl On The Train' caught my eye recently with the trailer, and made me want to go see it. I haven't read the book so I didn't really know what to expect, and this review can only be based on the movie alone.

'The Girl On The Train' is a thriller about a hard-drinking woman, Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt), who takes the same train every day in New York, and this train passes by her old house, where she once lived with her husband, who now lives there with his new wife and their child. Rachel becomes obsessed with another couple who live a few houses down, and creates her own imaginary world for them, until one day she discovers something shocking, which fills Rachel with rage. The next day she wakes up, hungover, with no recollection to what happened the night before, but shortly finds out that the wife in her dream couple has gone missing, and Rachel knows that she must find out what has happened to her, and what actually happened to herself on that night.

The film's story is a gripping one, and at times had me on the edge of my seat, no doubt thanks to Emily Blunt's fantastic performance as the leading character, but I must say there were moments where I did find the movie a little dull. I found some of the other actors performances not as convincing as Blunts, which made some scenes lose the drama of the storyline.

I don't think the screenplay was great, I felt like the film was a bit choppy, and could be hard to follow what was actually happening within the story. There are many twists and turns along the way, and none of which are really given enough time for you to connect with the relevant characters. I usually am a fan of a gripping thriller with story twists which leave you thinking, but I must admit this one did come across a little sloppy, I do think that this has to be the directors & screenwriters fault, along with the uninterested cast.

The film is not all bad though, as I mentioned before Emily Blunt puts in a stellar performance here, and completely steals every single scene. She portrays the character of Rachel brilliantly, she makes you feel every emotion, and relate to her, something that unfortunately her fellow actors could not do. I am a big fan of Emily, and I do feel like this is one of her best performances, it's just a shame that her cast-mates could not give the film the same dedication.

I do think that the story itself is interesting, and this could've been a huge breakout film of 2016, but due to poor execution of this Paula Hawkins novel it will not be, and I am not interested I am however now intrigued to read the book.

I rate this film a 4 out of 10. Overall, I am disappointed with this film, as I thought that the trailer was great. The direction and screenplay did not do the novel justice, but Emily Blunt's performance did, she is the reason that this film does not get a worse rating from me.

5 People You Didn't Know Had Oscars

Last week I wrote about 5 people who you might not believe had never won an Oscar, despite their amazing careers within the film industry, you can see this blog HERE.

This week I thought I would show the opposite, and talk about people who have won an Oscar but have been forgotten about.

5 - Cuba Gooding Jr.

Before his days of appearing in movies aimed at younger audiences such as 'Snow Dogs', and well before his latest outstanding performance as O.J. Simpson in the new series 'The People Vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story', Cuba Gooding Jr. was performing in highly rated Oscar worthy films, such as 'Boyz In The Hood' and 'As Good As It Gets', but it was his performance as Rod Tidwell in the film 'Jerry Maguire' that won him the award. In 1997 Cuba beat the likes of William H. Macy (Fargo), and Edward Norton (Primal Fear), to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. 

"Show me the money" is one of the most quoted movie phrases of all time, was first uttered by Gooding Jr. in the movie, and it could be that scene alone that won him the award. Cuba plays a wide receiver playing for the Arizona Cardinals, who is signed to sports agent Jerry Maguire, throughout the film you see their relationship develop from a professional one to a friendship. Cuba puts in a performance unlike any of his others in this film, and is fantastic throughout, completely deserving of winning his only Oscar. 

4 - Lionel Richie 

Lionel Richie is a musical legend, from his time as part of The Commodores releasing songs such as 'Easy', to his solo career releasing classic songs such as 'Hello' and 'All Night Long', he has had a long and successful career, but many people forget that he is also a Oscar winner, making his career just that little bit more impressive. 

In 1986 Richie won the Oscar for Best Original Song, for his song 'Say You, Say Me', which was within the film 'White Nights'. Something that might be even more surprising to know is that Richie was actually nominated for two Oscars that year, as he wrote lyrics alongside Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton for the song 'Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)', which was in the film 'The Colour Purple'. Richie was also nominated before this, in 1982 for the 'Endless Love'. 

3 - Anna Paquin

Well before her days playing Sookie Stackhouse on the hit show 'True Blood', Anna Paquin won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She was eleven years old, and it was her first ever acting role. She completely captivated audiences for her performance in 'The Piano', and took over the 1994 Oscars by beating big stars such as Holly Hunter, Winona Ryder and Emma Thompson to the award, making her the second youngest actor ever to win an Academy Award, after Tatum O'Neal (Paper Moon). 

Paquin plays a role well above her years in this role, her character moves to New Zealand with her mother (who is mute), and the young girl serves as her mum's interpreter. Her performance is great for someone older than eleven, but it is made just that little more impressive because of the young age. She captured all the emotions of her character, but also had to capture the characteristics of the mother, as she is always interpreting for her within the movie. 

2 - Cher

Cher has had a long, successful and controversial career, spanning over five decades. She is known mostly for her music career, starting as part of the duo Sonny & Cher, gaining huge popularity after the release of the song 'I Got You Babe', and then going on to have an extremely successful solo career, releasing big charting songs such as 'Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down', 'Believe' and 'If I Could Turn Back Time'. 

Despite her huge success many people don't know that Cher is actually a really really good actress, which she has shown in films such as 'Mermaids' and 'Silkwood', but still many people didn't take her seriously as an actress, that was until she walked away with the 1988 Leading Actress award for her spectacular performance in 'Moonstruck'. She was not even lucky to win, she was fully deserving of the prestigious award, as shown by the actresses she was up against (Holly Hunter, Glenn Close and Meryl Streep). 

1 - Eminem

When you think about the Oscars Eminem is not someone you think about at all, but he has won one. He didn't turn up to the ceremony as he thought he had no chance at winning, this turned out to be a mistake as the rapper along with two other co-writers won the award for Best Original Song at the 2003 Oscars, for the song 'Lose Yourself'. 

In the film '8 Mile' Eminem plays a young rapper struggling to make it big, and just struggling in all aspects of his life, it is a film that is semi based on Eminem's life. The song 'Lose Yourself' is a crucial part to the film, and has had much success outside of it, it still was not expected to win the Oscar though, as quite often rap music gets shunned by the academy, but the song is so powerful and inspiring it beat the odds and strolled to the award on the night. 

Other People You May Not Know Have An Oscar

Nicolas Cage - Leading Actor ('Leaving Las Vegas')

Bruce Springsteen - Original Song (Streets Of Philadelphia from 'Philadelphia')

Phil Collins - Original Song (You'll Be In My Heart from 'Tarzan') 

5 People You Won't Believe Have Never Won An Oscar

With Leonardo DiCaprio finally winning his first Oscar this year for 'The Revenant', after being nominated four times previously. I thought that I should make you aware of some people who have still never won one, despite being extremely deserving of the prestigious award.

5 - Ridley Scott 

'Alien', 'Blade Runner', 'Thelma & Louise', 'Gladiator', 'Black Hawk Down', 'American Gangster' and 'The Martian', these are just some of the films that Ridley Scott has blessed us with. These seven films have a collected total of nine Oscar wins, but Scott has never been on the receiving end of any of them. 'The Martian' was nominated for seven Oscars this year, including Best Film and Best Leading Actor, but there was no Best Director nomination for Ridley, despite not getting a nod this year Scott has been nominated three times previously.

Ridley Scott has helped to provide us with visually stunning movies, but has not received the recognition that he most definitely deserves. It is crazy to think that someone with his back catalogue of amazing mesmerising films hasn't yet won the top award, but with him still going as a director with block busters such as 'The Martian', there is still a chance that this 78 year old man can still get one.

4 - Amy Adams

Amy Adams is an actress who has been consistent with brilliant performances throughout her career, and she has the five Academy Award nominations to prove it. Adams usually plays the supporting role in films, as she always provides a perfect accompaniment to the lead role, with her versatile acting ability. She has however received one Leading Actress nomination in 2014, for her performance in 'American Hustle', acting alongside the likes of Jennifer Lawrence and Christian Bale. Sadly Adams had some seriously tough competition for a performance that could've swept the award on another year. Three time Oscar winner Meryl Streep, one time winner Judi Dench, one time winner Sandra Bullock were nominated, and the award went to two time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett for 'Blue Jasmine'.   

Despite not winning the big award as of yet, you have to believe that a woman with the talent that Amy Adams has is bound to get the award at some point. In the meantime you can see her in the much antis anticipated 'Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice' film.

3 - Alfred Hitchcock

It is a great shame that the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock did not receive an Oscar before his passing in 1980, despite his five nominations. Perhaps one of the most famous scenes ever to hit the cinema screens, the shower scene in 'Psycho' will forever be ingrained in some of our minds, and the rest of the film will be too. Hitchcock went to great lengths to provide us with some of the greatest films from the 50's and 60's, he took risks that no other director would at the time, such as killing off the films  most well known actress in 'Psycho', something that wasn't done those days and shocked audiences around the world. That was always Hitchcock's aim, to shock moviegoers. 

Unfortunately Alfred Hitchcock will now never win an Oscar, but his films will live on, as they are some of the most gripping films you will ever watch. 

2 - Gary Oldman 

From playing Sirius Black in the 'Harry Potter' film franchise to Commissioner Gordon in Christopher Nolan's 'Batman' trilogy, Gary Oldman has been in some of the most successful films ever. It's almost unbelievable that Oldman has only received one Oscar nomination (Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy) despite acting in 85 titles since his career beginning in the 80's. 

Oldman has played a range of different characters, from over-the-top antagonists to down-to-earth heroic roles, and Oldman seems to be able to just switch between the two effortlessly, leaving you guessing at what he will be acting as next. When you watch him on screen you're not thinking that it is Gary Oldman playing another part, you are always convinced that it is someone completely different. he always manages to bring his character to life. With such a talent like that I can't believe he hasn't won an Oscar, or at least been nominated more than once, but there is still time for him, especially if he keeps choosing the perfect roles for himself.

1 - Glenn Close

Glenn Close has received an astonishing six Oscar nominations, and with the quality of her performances it is ridiculous that she hasn't won one of them. Some people may know her as the woman who brought the nightmarish character of Cruella De Vil to life in the 1996 live action version of '101 Dalmatians', but she has done so much more than this, and provided so many memorable performances over the years. Close has this amazing ability to transform into her character, taking complete control of it, and becoming the person she is portraying. No film displays this better than her performance in 'Albert Nobbs'. She is unrecognisable as this character, and maybe would've won any other year, but she happened to be against Meryl Streep playing Margaret Thatcher in 'The Iron Lady'.

I believe that Glenn Close is one of the best living actresses at the moment, and it is only a matter of time until she receives her much deserved Academy Award.

Other People You Won't Believe Have Not Won An Oscar 

Peter O'Toole

Brad Pitt

Christopher Nolan

Annette Bening

Johnny Depp

Helena Bonham Carter

Joaquin Phoenix

Mark Ruffalo

Keep an eye out for next week's post - '5 People You Didn't Know Had Won Oscars'

Underrated Film - 'Cake'

This is my second instalment of the underrated films series, where I am reviewing films that I believe are underrated within the film industry.

You can find my first underrated film review - HERE

This review is of a 2014 drama starring Jennifer Aniston called 'Cake'.

'Cake' has been a film that I have avoided since it's 2014 release, as I, like many others, didn't believe Jennifer Aniston was suitable for such a serious role, that was even after she was nominated for a Golden Globe for the performance. I think that Aniston is a terrific lighthearted actress, she is great in comedies and romance flicks, but I have never been convinced that she could capture an audience with her acting, that was until I finally gave in and watched 'Cake'. 

'Cake' is the story of Claire (Aniston), who becomes fascinated with the suicide of a woman from her chronic pain support group, while also tackling memories of her own personal tragedy. This film builds up slowly, as you learn more about Claire, as the storyline continues you see just how amazing Aniston's performance really is. Claire is a character that has many layers to her, that are shown gradually throughout the course of the movie. She is a harsh woman with a dry sense of humour, who closes herself away from the world, but it is only once you learn what she has been through, and what pain she is still going through, that you see she is fragile, and closes herself off for a reason. I believe that Aniston captures each part of this character perfectly, only giving a little bit of weakness away at a time. 

As Claire learns more of the woman's suicide, so do we. Nina, played by Anna Kendrick, had just as many levels to her as Claire does, her story is a sad one, that makes us all look to our own lives. Kendrick plays the part perfectly, she delivers Nina's sweet personality, alongside the darker side, that has been enhanced during her struggle with chronic pain. We learn she has a husband (Sam Worthington), who develops a poignant relationship with Claire, as they both try to heal each others wounds.

There are many good supporting performances within this film, but the best one I believe comes from Claire's maid/cook/carer Silvana, played by Adriana Barraza. Silvana brings out the softer side to Aniston's character. Barraza perfectly accompanies Aniston, as she gives her the space to develop the character within various scenes, and displays Silvana's empathy brilliant. 

I recommend this film to any drama film fan, and anyone who is a fan of Jennifer Aniston. This film has all the elements to grip you to the screen, and Jennifer Aniston was extremely unlucky not to receive an Oscar nod for this fantastic performance. If you're not a fan of Aniston's acting, then I still recommend 'Cake', because you will walk away pleasantly surprised by just how much range she really has as an actress, she's not just Rachel from 'Friends'. 

Underrated Film Series Begins

I am going to start reviewing some films from the past that I believe are underrated, to the point that some of you may not of heard of them. I want to get people aware of these films, so that they can go view them and see what they think. Not every film I choose to review will be your cup of tea, but hopefully one or two of them get added to your list of favourite movies.

I am starting my underrated film review series with a gripping drama starring Jessica Lange, so any fans of that particular genre or any Jessica Lange fans... pay attention.

'Frances'

Before she gained a new wave of fans after taking on the lead role in the highly rated TV series 'American Horror Story', Jessica Lange was the star of many amazing movies from her Supporting Actress Oscar winning performance in 'Tootsie' during the 80's and her Leading Actress Oscar winning performance in 'Blue Sky' during the 90's. None of these performances however quite match up to her mesmerising display of actress Frances Farmer in the biopic movie 'Frances'.

It's no secret that Jessica Lange is a fantastic actress, she can display a range of characters with ease, as she has shown in 'American Horror Story', where one season she is an evil witch whose health is slowly deteriorating, and then in the next she's the head of a freak show stood on stage singing David Bowie's 'Life On Mars' in a German accent (CLICK HERE - to view). She makes it look so effortless, to ditch one character and move onto the next immediately, she is up there as one of the greatest actresses around but sadly many people are not aware of her greatest ever performance.

In the film directed by Graeme Clifford, Lange takes on the biopic role of Frances Farmer, an American actress who became famous in the 1930's, after staring in films such as 'Come And Get It'. Farmer became successful because of her looks, and was cast in roles which revolved around this, she became tired of doing the same thing, she wanted to be known for her acting ability. This is when she started to rebel against Hollywood, and started acting in theatres. Farmer is probably most well known for her professional and personal downfall, and the events which took place after, this is what the film 'Frances' focuses on.

The film centres around Farmer's involuntary commitment to a mental hospital, where she was mistreated. This film is difficult to watch at times because of this sequence, but Jessica Lange's performance grips you to the screen. You can't look away for fear of missing one facial expression, or one gesture which completely covers how the character is feeling in that moment, that is the power of Lange's performance in this film. She portrays Farmer's breakdown impeccably, almost as if you were watching Frances herself. This film is emotionally tiring, by the end you don't know how to feel, I just found myself staring at the screen as the credits played on, thinking about what happened.

Any other year and Jessica Lange would've been walking away with the Leading Actress award at the Oscar's ceremony, but unfortunately for her she was up against Meryl Streep's best ever performance in 'Sophie's Choice'.

I highly recommend this film to any fans of dramatic cinema, Oscar films or general Jessica Lange fans, as it will definitely fit in with everything you want. This film has been underrated in awards and in the media, but I believe that the solid acting as well as the gripping story deserve more.