Film Club

Hey there!

So instead of my usual review of a film I'm going to update on how my time helping out junior school kids with their film club is going.

The first week was crazy with a group of young kids running round like they've never been happier, but that's just nine year olds for you. The brief was to create a short film about yourself; some kids went off and produced a news broadcast, others a documentary about cheese sandwhich eating aliens and others a vlogger style video.

It was interesting to see how different kids reacted to the brief. The girls, in general, went for the factual news broadcast where as the boys went for aliens and the gamer kids went for a youtube vlog style.

I hadn't really thought about how young these children were, I was reminded though when one such child just could not stand still to hold the camera meaning the shot was crazy. When he saw the footage he realised he'd have to stand still to get a decent shot and therefore stood as still as anything for the twenty seconds or so when he filmed; I don't think I've ever seen such dedication before!

This week they were asked to produce a school tour of classrooms and facilities they like, again, the girls went for facts and portrayed the school in a light they thought would impress. The boys tod stories of what had happened in each classroom and some groups interviewed staff on their opinions.

Not to draw on stereotypes but from the groups I've seen, girls are bossy and boys are laid back. I'd never before thought about how this might affect their work when asked to work in groups but I've found each group's imagination when reacting to a brief to be varied and unpredictable. It's very interesting to work with children at such a young age and I've found it's strange; how they craze independence and happily compile pretty good footage yet still crave your approval.

Les Miserables

*spoilers*

The cinema was packed, everyone was talking and opening loud packets of food or throwing popcorn when the lights went down and the film began. Silence fell over the room.

A giant stadium like landscape if filled with prisoners singing in water whilst pulling a ship. The atmosphere is incredible as you're forced to think about the scale of what these people are doing.
I'll admit, I didn't recognise Hugh Jackman for the first scene and a bit because the make up was so good.
Jean Valjean is pulled aside by Javier and told to pull a giant flag over to him (the only reason I could see for this was so it could be mirrored later...) and told he's got parole. Yay!
Jackmans performance is incredible as the beaten down man with nothing left anymore. His singing, however, oh dear. I was expecting more from him considering the background in musical theatre but I just didn't find him absolutely mouth-open-gaping-at-the-screen good, but maybe that's just me. Russel Crowe on the other hand, could hold a tune. His performance as Javert was brilliant and I found I noticed more about his character than I had with previous performances of Les Mis.
Anne Hathaway as Fantine was a great casting. Her first appearance of a helpless woman in need pulled me in to their reality and held me there. Her singing was good although I sometimes thought she could improve.
Amanda Syfried and Eddie Redmayne's love story was portrayed heartbreaking in the short air time they had. Redmayne's song 'Empty Chair At Empty Tables' hit hard and had the audience weeping at the impact.
The two inkeepers played by Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen were definately one of the highlights of the movie for me. Their performance together was hillarious, I was hesitant about the casting of the latter but I take back all my doubts, he brought life and added comedy to the tense emotions of the film.

I have no idea how much of the film used CGI to fill in on locations but I really don't wish to find out as the sheer scale of some of the scenes was immense and awe-inspiring. The two scene's which stick in my mind for this are the opening scene (as described above) and the last scene. The last scene ends the film perfectly with a portrait of a paradise after death for all the characters.

The cinematography, however, left something to be desired. I felt director Tom Hooper used shots with a tilted camera too often with no effect but to induce a sort of sea sickness in the audience.

Overall, I feel the film could have used improvements in the singing area but the standard achieved by professional actors instead of singers was, generally, up to the job. The acting of every character was believable and an emotional rollercoaster for most.

I loved the film and left with a grin on my face, excitedly recounting the best parts to everyone who would listen.

The Dark Knight Rises

A short scene and character review of The Dark Knight Rises which I've been meaning to write for a while so here goes...

After hearing all the hype about the amazing new addition to the Batman trilogy I had high expectation built up, unfortunatley I was disappointed in what I saw.

*Spoilers ahead*

For one, the first fight scene between Bane and Batman.

WHAT?!

I understand we, as the audience, have to be shown that Batmas is not up to the standard he has been in previous films which in turn means the last fight scene will look impressive as the hero will have returned to full strength and it'll be amazing blah blah blah.
This is not how I viewed the scene whilst watching the movie. I saw a cartoon kid trying to beat up his bully; it just didn't work for me. To be honest I started vying for Bane purely because Batmans performance was so poor.
Half the fight was missed because of poor lighting (but what else where you expecting from a Nolan movie?) and there was a complete lack of action. In my opinon it could've been done better.
The location was the only thing I found impressive, the gushing waterfall through the centre of the platforms gave emphasis to the fact Bane was king of the sewers and could do anything he wanted.

I found Bane was a very very impressive villain.
Despite what many reviews recounted, I found it easy to understand what Bane was saying and found Hardy's English accent was perfect for the character's menacing appearance.

The twist was vastly hyped up but, in reality, not well thought out. From the start eveyone in that cinema had their suspicions about Miranda. Seriously, a hot new woman who isn't Catwoman appears and we're supposed to take her in our stride with no suspicions?! However, I will admit defeat when it comes to the reveal I was excited about how it would pan out.

The ending had the cinema in tears over Alfred; Michael Caine strikes again!
I also found the end scene with John Blake watching his childhood hero die was emotionally wrecking.

Overall, I think it would have been a brilliant film but the hype strikes again and killed it for me.

Introduction

Hey there!

I'm Chloe, a seventeen year old heading towards the end of college.
I watch too much tv and way too many movies. I figured I should do something productive with my passion so here I am.

Feel free to comment on anything and I will get back to you asap!

Thanks for reading!