Game of Thrones

With the coming of the 4th season of Game of Thrones, I’ve decided it’s time to give my opinion on the series.

Based on the book of the same name written by George R.R. Martin, the series has stayed true to the novels and depicts the lands of Westeros really well. The first season’s main plot, follows Eddard Stark (played by the very talented, Sean Bean), a nobleman who controls the North of the continent and his quest to uncover a devious plot within the noble court of the realm. With a Ludacris amount of sub plots, constantly twisting and turning, it would be impossible for me to even attempt to write it down. A little warning for those of you too used to the norm, don’t expect Hollywood endings.

The story is filled with plots to kill the king, uprisings, love interests, a demonic occurrence and many more juicy events. The acting is really good and keeps the audience captivated, itching to watch the next episode. There’s an enormous cast however character development is fairly deep and progressive. The world is rich with blood and sex, so this series is definitely for children or early teens.

By far one of the best TV Series I’ve ever seen which in all honesty stays true to the book and does it justice. If you’re a fan of George R.R. Martin, you will enjoy this. I’d also like to point out that the season ends on both a massive cliff-hanger as well as a dramatic surprise. I CAN’T WAIT FOR the next season!!!

Acting – 4.5/5 (by far the best acting I’ve seen on TV)

Plot – 4/5 (does not differ from the book at all hence why it’s 4 not 5.)

Enjoyability – 5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfAE3hIaPm4 – Season one Trailer

Tower Heist

Tower Heist is a classic David vs Golliath-type-film, where David gets financially screwed over by the rich Wallstreet Tycoon who is under investigation for fraud.

With a cast of comic heavy hitters including Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphey (whose acting is actually decent), Matthew Broderick and old school comic vet, Alan Alda, playing the multi-millionaire bad guy!

It’s set in a sky-scraper apartment building in New York city, home to the richest of the rich. One of the big honcho’s, who also holds the pension money for everyone who works in the building, is being done for fraud, leaving the workers without any hope of ever seeing their money again. This is where Ben Stiller steps in, becoming the hero of the building, saviour of the pensions. I won’t say anymore as I don’t want to give away the whole story.

The plot of the film is a pretty run-of-the-mill heist movie, filled with the usual twists and turns that come with it. The movie doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It’s not bad by any stretch, but its been done before. If you’re an Ocean’s 13 fan then I think you’ll enjoy this movie.

It can be quite comic at times, especially with Eddie Murphy playing the wise-cracking quirky thief.

The film is generally enjoyable and is suitable for the whole family. Character development is quite good but there is one thing I would like to complain about, sub plots. The film has very few and does very little to actually advance them. This is not to say that the main plot is boring or anything, it just would have been nice if they branched off more of the characters to add even more depth.

Acting – 5/5

Plot – 3/5

Enjoyability – 4/5

Overall – 4/5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMmd7xD_oLg – Trailer

Real Steel

Originally I thought Real Steel was going to be a complete pile of junk, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it’s actually quite a good film.

Set in the near(ish) future, the world of boxing as we know it has changed. Instead of humans fighting each other, we now have every nerd’s dream of watching giant robots pummel each other in part ripping action!

The film stars Hugh Jackman, who originally comes off as a real asshole only to become father of the year. His son, Dakota Goyo (who he originally abandoned), ends up having to stay with him after his mom died. Together they find an old rusty robot and build him up to become a powerful fighting machine who challenges the champion of the world (rocky anyone…). The acting is generally quite good and the story line is solid.

There are some really emotional moments as with any sports film, however there are a few things that didn’t make sense. If these robots are so advanced, then why aren’t there any hover-cars during this period, or any other particularly futuristic looking objects… The portrayal of the robot as a personality (I’ll leave it to you to find out whether the robot is actually alive or not) is quite good and you do end up creating quite a bond with it.

The plot itself seems very similar to most sport films, so there’s nothing new here, however the actors really sell it. Sadly, Hugh Jackman’s character goes from asshole to pretty cool guy too fast for my liking and in my opinion needed a sort-of inbetween.

I highly recommend giving this a watch, especially if you like sporty, feel-good films.

Acting – 4/5

Plot – 4/5 (yes I know this plot is similar to many others but I still like it.)

Enjoyability – 5/5

Overall – 4/5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S8a180uYBM – Trailer

The Evil Dead II

You all know Sam Raimi right? Director of Spiderman… Well back in 1987, long before his greatest hits, he worked on a little project called Evil Dead 2 (the remake of the original Evil Dead)

Starring the infamous B-Movie mega-star… Bruce Campbell as the main hero Ash, and several co-stars including Dan Hicks and Sarah Berry. The film is a horror – comedy – gorefest based around the book of the dead, where once certain words are spoken, the spirits and demons of the underworld are unleashed.

This movie is so bad its actually great!!! Quite gory for its time, but does well in poking fun at itself. The acting is ok for its time but Bruce Campbell’s performance is beyond epic. Quite action packed, a true Bruce Campbell movie in its own right.

In one particular scene, he ends up having to chase his own demonically possessed hand around the cabin with a shotgun (I wonder where ‘Idle Hands‘ got its idea from…), while it hilariously mocks him. Bruce then goes into a psychotic rage which will leave the audience gasping for air between bouts of bellyaching laughter.

The movie was quite low-budget and the special effects reflect this, but the production as a whole delivers the blood spilling, hand-chopping experience quite well. This film sparked a follow-up sequel called ‘Army of Darkness‘ in 1992. The series has quite a large cult following and If you have the free time, aren’t grossed out by gore and like B-movies, then I highly recommend watching this!

Acting – 3/5 – it’s so bad its really good and Bruce Campbell gives an amazing performance in his ‘psycho’ phase

Plot – 4/5 – Great for what it is

Enjoyability – 5/5

Overall – 4/5

Army of Darkness

Army of Darkness (1992) is the direct sequel to my previously reviewed film….. The Evil Dead II.

Starring none other than the big boy of B-Movie badassness… Bruce Campbell (I enjoyed the sound of all those b’s). Ash (Bruce’s character) is catapulted from the present right into the medieval era, where the book of the dead has, yet again, been unleashed (obviously by Bruce….). He quickly becomes the hero to these people and amply shows off his boom stick. (his gun you perverts… I know what you were thinking!!). To cut a long story short, Bruce must save the country from the blight of the undead in order to be sent back home.

This movie has got quite a few hilarious moments. The terribly bad jokes and puns are just sooo bad, they’re hilarious!!. Still as gory as ever, if you liked the Evil Dead II, you’re definitely in for a treat. By far one of Bruce Campbell’s better films but not quite as funny as it’s prequel.

The only problem I have with this movie are the sub-characters. The one or two there are we don’t really get to know and in all honesty, we don’t really get to care much about. Beneath the skull splitting monster-killing action, there are a few sub-plots, however they’re quite basic (probably due to the fact that in the end, this is a B-Movie).

Acting – 4/5 (BRUCE CAMPBELL!!!!)

Plot – 3/5

Enjoyability – 4/5

Overall – 3.5/5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD_82kvQLkA – Trailer