Ultimate DVD Collection #2 Clue

Now, I'm not saying these are the greatest films ever, I'm not even saying they're particularly very good but I love them for one reason or another and they get watched a fair bit in our household.

This is my Ultimate DVD Collection so let's continue with one of my all time favourite movies based on a board game, Clue.

Twilight's Baby Vampire Renesmee Makes An Appearance

We get a first look at Renesmee today, Bella and Edward's half vampire child from Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2. Well, I say get a look but she's hiding behind them.

Peek a Boo!

Anyone who's read the books has an opinion on the events in Breaking Dawn. I don't want to spoil it for those who don't know what happens but needless to say most of it's ridiculous/batshit crazy.  

Oh and where did they get the name Resnesmee from you say? Well, it's a mix between Esme (Edward's mum) and Renee (Bella's mum). I know, it's horrible. 

I have to admit, I quite enjoyed Breaking Dawn Part 1. Probably because my expectations were zero.  But I'm under no illusion this one might just be TOO weird. It's the imprinting from Jacob onto Resnesmee that I find slightly uncomfortable. 

Who knows, it might be a great ending to what is, at best, an average film franchise. Since Robert Pattinson wants to be serious actor now and is doing his damn hardest to turn his back of the role that made him famous, I can't imagine he's too fussed about the ending. He's already said he's got nothing more to give to the role so the sooner it's all over, the better. 

Breaking Dawn Part 2 is out November 16th. 

Harry Potter and the Top 5 Best Cast Characters

Having recently finished watching the entire 8 film series on blu-ray I forgot how much I like the Harry Potter films. Now and again they may not be as good as the books, and sometimes they do feel like a novel on screen instead of a film, but overall I think they are great. I am surprised how much I have enjoyed them, even Half-Blood Prince (which I remember hating at the cinema) makes much more sense after watching them close together. So it got me thinking. We all have our favourite characters, but were the best actors hired for the right roles? Here's my Top 5 best cast characters and some honorable mentions. Massive spoilers ahead!

Ultimate DVD Collection #1 The Shadow

Now, I'm not saying these are the greatest films ever, I'm not even saying they're particularly very good but I love them for one reason or another and they get watched a fair bit in our household. You'll probably have heard of them but have you watched them all? Maybe you've even gone out your way to ignore some of them.

This is my Ultimate DVD Collection so let's start with this Alec Baldwin classic, The Shadow.

Twitter Accounts I Find Most Entertaining At The Moment

Tweet, tweet

I love Twitter, I can literally spend hours on there (and regularly do). As much as I like talking to my friends it's such a great way to socialise and network. And also semi-stalk (in a totally non-threatening way, obviously) celebrities. It's amazing. And who doesn't love a good #hashtag??


Now some people on Twitter just don't get it; the worst offenders are accounts that are obviously ran by their publicist. The whole point of Twitter is to interact with people. Why be on it if all you are going to do is plug your latest song/ film/ eyelashes/ children's story book collection? I've put together a Top 5 of my favourite Tweeters of the moment; people who are actually interesting, well written blogs, cool actors and even a shop. You probably follow them but let me tell you why I follow them.

5. @WstonesOxfordSt Waterstones on Oxford Street.

Okay, they can be a bit weird sometimes when they go off on one but most of their tweets always raise a smile. I thought it was a spoof account for a while but seems to be genuine (I think). Quirky, cool and not a hint of crummy offers, it's well worth a follow.

They want to destroy the Kindle too.

4. @richardosman Richard Osman, everyone's "Pointless friend".

Richard Osman is hilarious, the banter between him and Alexander Armstrong on Pointless makes the show. His tweets can sometimes be a bit random (there was a World Cup of crisps at one point- forget who won), but anyone informing me of The Chuckle Brothers being on TV is a-okay by me.

"Hiya, hello."

3. @dsrealitybites Digital Spy Reality Bites Blog.

If you watch as much reality TV as me, there really is no excuse not to follow DS Reality Bites. They are great to tweet along with when any reality shows are on. Funny and with a memory like an elephant (Bring Back Gamu was a popular hash tag during the last series of The X Factor), Reality Bites is a must for fans of The Apprentice, BGT, I'm A Celeb and the like. Get involved.

There are many more acts you've forgotten but DS Reality Bites hasn't.

2. @TheRock The Rock, wrestler slash actor.

Honestly, you'll find it hard to find someone more inspiring in their tweets (maybe not the one below so much). There are some really motivational words going on. He also has loads of pictures (everyone loves a good Twitpic) and info on his films. And as we all know if you put The Rock in your movie franchise it automatically gets better by about 57% (or something). EXAMPLE: Fast & Furious, Journey To..., G.I Joe; maybe more...?

Bazinga.

1. @twhiddleston Tom Hiddleston, y'know Loki: god of mischief.

I'm a little bit in love with Tom Hiddleston at the moment; this is the reason I love Twitter. You follow people but it's playful interest-taking. And to be fair, if they didn't want anyone knowing anything about them, they wouldn't be on Twitter would they? That's my story anyway. With lots of interest still in The Avengers/ Avengers Assemble it's nice to see actors who are obviously incredibly popular at the moment to actually read and reply to messages from people (not from me but hey, I don't want to come across as a total mentalist.) He sends some really adorable tweets and also some cryptic ones about an up and coming project. Cute, articulate and oh-so-smart, I love looking for his tweets on my timeline. My god I might explode by the time Thor 2 comes around.

Every body's favourite god and new favourite insult.

Return Of The Old School Vampires?

What with Tim Burton's Dark Shadows out today it got me thinking, where have all the old school vampires gone? Twilight defiantly hasn't helped the blood thirsty image of vampires. Whatever they say in the films and books about how "dangerous" they are, really they're toothless. And a bit too pretty. As far as I can think (and be bothered to research) Interview With The Vampire started this whole romantic vampires thing; Twilight just took it to the next level. Supernatural did a great send up of these toothless/ romantic vamps in the episode Live Fast or Twihard, even Sam and Dean couldn't escape Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner for long. 

A couple of months back I got to watch The Monster Squad at The Prince Charles Theatre, London (a Goonies-esq 80s kids flick... With a 15 certificate) and in it was Dracula. A proper old school Dracula with a cape and one of those medals you used to win at swimming galas.

The Monster Squad monsters and Dracula with his medal. 

What happened to those vampires? Maybe it was just Dracula who looked like that... Johnny Depp's vampire doesn't look too vicious in Dark Shadows either. 

At least in True Blood they are up front at how deadly they are. They abide by the law but they can kill if they need too. But again, they are ultra modern and rather too good looking. 

Twilight rediscovered vampires to a tween audience but maybe they should go watch Buffy if they like teen angst and the supernatural. While not the best episode, Buffy Vs Dracula always sticks in my mind. Dracula is a proper old school vampire; he even turns into a bat! Buffy can't kill him but they come to a happy medium- they just agree to stay out each others way. 

Buffy did teen angst vs vampires over 10 years ago- the original angst-ridden vamp? How about Angel?? Some kids need to get a clue. 

Buffy vs Dracula

There have been loads of vampire films the last few years: Daybreakers (cool, urban vampires), Fright Night (handymen vampires) and a few more out this year (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and TV shows; The Vampire Diaries, Blood Ties, Moonlight to name but a few. Vampires are still big business.  I would just like to see a bit more classical bloodsuckers with big swooshy capes, slicked back hair and can turn into a bat.

Love 'em or loath 'em vampires aren't going anywhere but I'm hoping they start going back to the roots a bit more. We've also got Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2, and at least they have the Volturi, they're quite traditional. Shame they are all shiny in the sun though, that really lets them down. 

Videos I Will NEVER Tire Of- #3 Stop Eating my Sesame Cake

This one is fairly recent to me, and I found it totally by accident. One night on Twitter, I was asking what to watch when it was decided that I should put on Congo. My friend then tweeted "STOP EATING MY SESAME CAKE" to which I was struggling to remember where it was from in the movie. A quick search into YouTube and this baby came up. The rest, as they say, is history. And on repeat. 

                       

WHY IT'S AWESOME: Because it's got Tim Curry in. It's from the movie Congo. It sounds like the soundtrack to Mega Man on the NES. Need I go on?? To be fair there's really nothing else to go on about.

BEST PART? The 8-bit style music.

COULD IT GET EVER SO SLIGHTLY ANNOYING? It reminds me too much of my NES for it to be annoying.

Why Robert Downey Jr. Is Awesome #1

I love Robert Downey Jr. Sometimes I forget then I stumble upon something to remind me. What with a million Avengers premiers, interviews, photo shoots going on I thought it'd be good to just look at a few nice pictures.

That's it really.

Lovely.

Ace suit.

Lucky women.

Loving the glasses.

An even luckier women.

Do you think he even knows how great he is?

Just in case you've been hiding under a rock, here's Avengers Assemble trailer. With Iron Man!

I've Already Bet My Cinematic Future On The Avengers

So The Avengers (or if you're from the UK, Avengers Assemble. Stupid.) hits our screens on April 26th and for me marks the start of the Blockbuster season. Our appetite has been whetted by Wrath of the Titans and Battleship but the big guns come out with Avengers Assemble. Marvel have a lot riding on this but if the trailers are anything to go by, they need not be worried. We've been waiting a little while to see the Marvel Universe collide.

I can honestly say I've not been disappointed by any of the films in the Marvel Universe they've created. Thor was a massive surprise for me, I really enjoyed it. I'm so glad they brought Loki back as the big bad. Captain American was fun too and I loved both Iron Man films; that might have a bit to do with the fact I love RDJ but they were still great. Even The Incredible Hulk had it's moments.

I've already staked my cinematic future on the awesomeness of The Avengers. I said that if it's rubbish I will not got to the cinema ever again. I'm THAT confident it'll be amazing. If not, my other half will just have to buy a smaller popcorn from now on.

That's an American TV spot but I just love the "Let's do a head count."

Loki might have an army but as Mr Stark says "We have a Hulk." And without doubt, a massive hit. Bring on April 26th.

Who doesn't like jazz flute? Ron Burgundy is back.

Nothing surprising in the news that Hollywood have got a fair few sequels in the pipeline but there are some which I'm VERY excited about. One of favourite comedies of all time is getting a sequel; Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. With original stars no less! (Hopefully all of them.)

We've defiantly got our sweet Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) and Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) on board and the story will feature a custody battle. Can. Not. Wait.

In case you missed it, here's Ron himself announcing the sequel to the world, well the Americas, to our friends in Spain, Turkey and the UK including England.

NEWS TEAM!! ASSEMBLE!!!

Smiley Smiley Catchy Monkey: what might just happen at the Oscars 2012

So the Academy Awards are tonight and it looks all but certain that The Artist will sweep the board. But, how about some surprises? It's been so long since there has been a big shock. The last one I remember is probably Crash's win over Brokeback Mountain back in 2005. People say Avatar should have won but really, it shouldn't. It's not actually very good, but I know I'm in the minority in thinking it was very average in all respects.

Right, let's look at the Best Motion Picture of the Year. And let's be honest: none are outstanding. We got Scorsese, Spielberg and Allen who have all made films that are a million times better. The art house darling in The Tree of Life. The beyond sugary sap, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (who trailer has me nearly in tears, but that might be more to do with the terrible U2 song attached to it) and also The Help (one that just looks like it's trying to hard to please everyone). We've got Moneyball and The Descendants, two films which the buzz has died down considerably. Which of course, only leaves The Artist. So kind of by default that should win. Don't get me wrong, it is a good film and a lovely nod towards silent cinema but I can't help feeling the Academy want to say "aren't we, and haven't we ALWAYS been fantastic?" It'll win as it's won so much in this award season, and it's definitely the best of the lot in my opinion.

The Best Director; if The Artist wins then it's Michel Hazanavicius' statue. And again; none of the others deserve it more than him so I don't mind him winning.

Best Supporting Actor seems wrapped up by Christopher Plummer in Beginners while Supporting Actress looks set to go to one of the ladies from The Help, my money is on Octavia Spencer. I can't see any surprises there.

Best Original Screenplay will be won by Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist and Best Adapted Screenplay hopefully goes to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Bridet O'Connor and Peter Staughan).

Other technical categories will probably be hovered up by Hugo and War Horse, while Harry Potter fans hoping they can do a (ever so slight) LOTR Return Of The King might as well go bed early. Those films aren't really any good and definitely not good enough for Oscar. Just face it, enjoy them for what they are but they are no master pieces (I give it 5 years before their inevitable "reimagining").

But while we're on Harry Potter let's talk Best Achievement in Visual Effects. Because any of the nominated films are better than HP Part 2. I'd HOPE for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I'd even take Real Steel. Transformers: Dark of the Moon wouldn't surprise me, neither would Hugo. But I have this horrible feeling it will be HP Part 2. It shouldn't be.

I've not seen any of the documentaries or the short films animated of live. Sorry guys. Or the Foreign Language films, so they will all be a surprise to me.

Then we've also got Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song to give it it's full title. Why are there only 2? What the hell is the point in that?? If you are trying to get rid of it, just get rid of it. And you would probably best get rid of it if Bret "Flight of the Conchords" McKenzie gets beaten by bloody Rio. We may as well all just shut up shop if that happens.

Best Animated Film is slightly open as there's no Pixar film to take it (Cars 2 was so bad. I hate Mater more than anything I've seen in cinema this year). I'm guessing Kung Fu Panda 2 (which looked amazing, and was much better than I thought it would be) or maybe Rango.

That leaves Best Actress and Best Actor. They might as well hand the award to Meryl Streep as she is going in, just to save her the wait. As for Actor, well it looks like Jean Dujardin will win it. And that's okay; his performance was amazing, and the more I think about it the more I think he deserves it. BUT as much as I like him, (he gave a good speech at the BAFTAs) I would love Gary Oldman to win for George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Solider Spy. His performance was very understated, and I still don't believe BAFTA didn't give him the award. For him to win the Oscar would be amazing. And I bet he is wearing the sharpest suit you'll ever see.

But he won't. The Artist will win very big, the smaller awards will be shared out and you'll be wondering (yet again) why you bothered to stay up all night and watch (or click the refresh button on) the least surprising Oscars ever.

EVER.

He's my Pointless friend...

I love quizzes. TV quizzes, pub quizzes, quiz machines, newspaper quizzes. QUIZ! Maybe that makes me an 85 year old women who waits for Countdown everyday but I don’t care. It’s like learning (sort of). I like to think I’ve got a good general knowledge. But where I think I excel is in my movie knowledge. And my favourite quiz show on TV at the moment is Pointless. Anyone who doesn’t know this show; you are missing a treat. Hosted by Alexander Armstrong and assisted by his Pointless friend Richard Osman the aim of the game is to try and get an answer no one else can think of. It used to languish on BBC 2 but the powers that be knew they had something special and moved it to BBC 1. Now in HD!

It’s amazingly entraining. Alexander and Richard are a great duo, they have an array of contestations and a broad range of questions. So, Pointless isn’t exclusively film questions but I love it when they turn up to test my knowledge. Me and my other half are always bitterly disappointed when we don't get a Pointless film answer. I always think maybe we should apply but we’d be gutted if we didn’t get any movie questions. We would be rubbish at Geography (A level be damned!). The only answers I could give are ones I remember from other Pointless shows- Congo, Central Republic of Africa, St Vincent and the Grenadines.

My favourite answer was when, from a list, you had to guess what book a character was from. The book title would also be a description of the character as an extra clue. Bilbo Baggins was the character, so what did the contestant say? “Bilbo Baggins played Frodo in Lord of the Rings.” What an answer. The subjects of trousers was also a highlight.

Also, why do people always want to see musicals are a subject? They are always rubbish at them.
The last round is when they have to choose a topic and find just one Pointless answer with 3 tries. I wish they would put all the Pointless answers online, just to test my knowledge.

The other day the final round subject was Film. How we laughed, until the question came up. Name the actors in The Great Escape; we literally had no idea, apart from the obvious. We had failed at Pointless on a film question. It’s unusual for us both to know nothing on a film. We were gutted. It’s now on our Lovefilm list.

We still love Pointless, and Pointless Celebrities is the greatest title of a TV show ever. Well done for not calling it Celebrity Pointless.

And don’t forget, by country we mean a sovereign state as recognised by the UN.

Prince Charming, a Couple of Aussies and Silent Cinema : The BAFTAs 2012

Ah the BAFTAs. The biggest night of the year for British cinema, shown on a 2 hour delay on the BBC. Well done everybody.

Apart from that ridiculous oversight, it was a good night. We had The Artist win big, Colin Firth proving that there are real life Prince Charmings out there and Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe being genuinely funny (“Rusty”, “Jacko”).

Stephen Fry was a delight as the host. Personally I was never a fan of Jonathan Ross, he didn’t seem to fit in with the prestige of the BAFTAs where as Stephen Fry just oozes class and is an all round smart guy.

I thought Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy would maybe have won a few more; BAFTA has been known to slightly favour British films over others in recently years. I admit; I thought Gary Oldman would have walked away with the Best Actor BAFTA. Not that I mind Jean Dujardin winning; the more I think about his role in The Artist the more I think it was amazing. He’s a funny guy and I loved that he mentioned Benny Hill.

Smooth operator. 

George Clooney and Brad Pitt were there but I never felt they had a chance of winning. It’s nice to have some actual Hollywood stars there too. Especially when I kept seeing Dermot “Smug” O’Leary and Fearne “How do I keep getting these jobs?” Cotton. They really should not have been sitting with ‘The Talent’. It’s embarrassing for everybody.

Colin Firth proved to everybody what we all assumed he was; a true gent. Running after a lost high heel and then helping the (Iron) lady into said shoe, it was a lovely moment.

Why the BBC cram a handful of awards basically over the end credits, I really don’t know. And I thought they were quite big awards- Animated Film, Film Not In The English Language, Cinematography? No, the BBC don’t think so. Bit of a shame. The Oscars don’t get treated like this.
Maybe next year we can see the BAFTAs live; I really don’t think they need to worry about a group of middle-aged British actors running amok, swearing and causing havoc. They’ve watched Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; they are probably the most well behaved group of people ever.

One last thing. Gary Oldman? Looking boss. (That’s what the kids say, right?)

Think they'll have that on the tour...

Just an introductory post to my blog so you know what it's about!

We're ready to believe you!

I'm a film watcher, DVD enthusiast, celebrity magazine reader, TV fanatic, book reader, RDJ fan, Jurassic Park addict, Nintendo devotee, reality TV follower, a professional Mario Kart driver, part time Ghostbuster and all round SingStar.

There are lots of TV shows I'm enjoying at the moment. Namely The X Factor, Misfits, I'm A Celeb, to name but a few. Also loved the last series of Celebrity (in the loosest term possible) Coach Trip and Derren Brown: The Experiments. Started watching Life's Too Short, which, while it may have it's critics at the moment, I thought the first episode was funny.

And yes I see there's loads of reality TV but I do like other stuff! Curb Your Enthusiasm, 30 Rock, The US Office, The Simpsons (I could be the only one though), How I Met Your Mother- so also a lot of American shows. I also love classics like I'm Alan Partridge, Black Books, Spaced among others.

The last film I saw at the cinema was The Adventures of Tintin, which was fantastic. The mo-cap was brilliant and I can see why they thought it would work better like this. And I loved Snowy!

The last DVD I bought was Supernatural Season 6. I love Sam and Dean, and this season had some classic episodes which I think I will blog about when I've re-watched them. Just to name check two of my favourites- Live Free or Twihard and The French Mistake.

DINOSAUR! 

My favourite films include Jurassic Park and Ghostbusters.

I love reading and am currently reading One Day and The Hunger Games. I read a lot of books adapted into films.

Looking forward to Fincher's The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo, Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows and The Muppets.

So the blog will be a mix of all this. Oh, and celebrity gossip. I LOVE celebrity gossip. And Busted, I'm going to spearhead their reunion.