Django!!

Someone in my office described Django as a spoof western, I was astounded!! If QT had heard that remark can you imagine what his response would be!?! As you’d expect Django pays homage to the classic westerns – the names of the horses, the names of the characters, the Ennio Morricone music mixed into a soundtrack that is typical QT, the original Django making an appearance - I must confess I never saw the original and found this out afterwards. At the same time Django Unchained is classic QT: Samuel L Jackson getting in as many MoFo references in as he can, the classic cult worthy conversations, and of course the violence. The performances are outstanding - Christoph Waltz, I felt, surpassed his performance in Inglourious Bastards, Jamie Foxx gave it his all - one of the scenes must have been particularly uncomfortable for him to do, and Kerry Washington who plays Django’s wife had to act through her way through so many harrowing scenes, also [SPOILER] watch out for the scene where Leonardo DiCaprio continues acting right through a real injury – I guess that’s what you’d call dedication to the art, and it did add to the emotion of the scene!! [ / ]

Quentin Tarantino doesn’t churn out the movies, but his few offerings are well worth the wait! Now that he's done war and a western do you think he might try classic horror or sci-fi next?

And on the Small Screen: Comic Book Men

Did you love comics as a kid? Do you still secretly like comics, or are you an adult who’s proud to still love them? If you are then you must watch Comic Book Men. A reality show set in Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash in New Jersey (remember those guys in the Kevin Smith movies?) You’ll have a blast watching Walt, Chris and Bry making fun of Ming every single week. You’ll love the oddballs that come into the store trying to make a fortune from their water stained, dog-eared, cigar smoke smelling comics that they just found under their grandfathers bed, just so they can buy that new kitchen. You’ll also love how Walt buys almost everything that is brought into the store – I really want to see all that set-up inside his house!!

You would never even imagine how working in a comic book shop could be so much fun, although I must admit I've always thought working in a Forbidden Planet store would be amazing! Comic Book Men returns to the small screen on 14^th Feb … check out the FB page to find out more!

Let it snow, but not that much !!!

On Friday I was sitting in a stationary aeroplane in the middle of a snow blizzard wondering if we'd ever take-off. It made me think of Die Hard 2 - Bruce Willis easily taking on the bad guys and the bad weather all at once. Whilst Die Hard 2 doesn't even compare to the original it's one of the ones you always remember for its snow especially if, like me, you are snowed in at an airport. I wanted Bruce to show up and quickly sort out the grounded plane situation but sadly that was not to be, so instead I passed the time thinking of the best snow movies/scenes. Here's what I came up with for my top 5 ...

1. 30 Days of Night - snow, vampires, a hopeless situation  - what more could you want for entertainment.

2. The Thing - a classic for sci-fi fans!

3. Kill Bill - the Japanese snowy garden scene, such a beautiful setting for the O-Ren Ishii sword fight and a great contrast with the blood.

4. Troll Hunter - a Norwegian gem of a film, and a must if you haven't already seen this.

5. Planes, Trains and Automobiles - another hilarious contribution from Steve Martin :o)

Well despite the blizzard and minus a Bruce I was lucky enough to make it to Spain in search of the sun, so many thanks easyJet! And the 8 hour wait didn't really seem that long.

Aca-what now?

Remember Glee’s Acafellas and then the more tunefully successful The Warblers? Well now that feel good acapella fun has leapt onto the big screen in Pitch Perfect. Although I’m sure in the US acapella competitions are taken ‘super’ seriously, this movie with its battles between aca-rivals, busting their moves and mashing-up hits is such a fun watch. Relax your brain whilst tapping your feet on the sticky cinema floor , then leave the cinema thinking of as many words and phrases as possible that you can add the prefix ‘aca-‘ to – aca-n understand why you’d want to do that! 

… and the winner is … ???

Though the year has only just started, it’s that time of year already when the Oscar nominations are announced. Good timing for Quentin Tarantino’s release of Django with several noms including Best Picture and Original Screenplay. Some strong contenders in the animated feature film category too with Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie – a movie treat for film buffs – did you spot all the horror movie references? And Wreck-It-Ralph (although this hasn’t been released in the UK yet we thoroughly enjoyed the free Wreck-It-Ralph advent calendar that we picked up from our local cinema). 

One of the surprise nominations for me this year though is Silver Linings Playbook. Don’t get me wrong – I loved this movie! But for me it had more the feel of an indie pic that you’d watch at the local art house cinema rather than a glitzy Oscars contender. It’s nice to see that it’s up for 8 Oscars including Best Picture, Director and nods in all the actor categories. It does have some stiff competition though but we’ll have to sit tight ‘til 24^th Feb. when the Oscar ceremony takes place to see how it fares!

Dexter Season 8 (already!?!)

Good news! Dexter returns to US Screens on 30th June @ 9pm!! Not wishing time away, but we LOVE our Dexter!!!

The Hobbit will make you hungry!

The Hobbit  in short …great effects, great character design, a long movie that takes you to the end (of part 1) in a flash; but beware the lavish feast at Bilbo’s house at the beginning of the movie. With tasty treats aplenty and dwarves stuffing their faces 'til they can no longer move. If you haven’t eaten yet then your stomach will start to rumble and you’ll have over 2 more hours of movie to get through – so grab a bite before you go in or take in some snacks. That way at least your stomach won’t be disturbing the peace after this scene – but remember, please keep snack bag rustling down to a minimum. ;o)