Inside Out Review

I finally got to see Inside Out yesterday (Tuesday 4th August)!

After seeing the trailer multiple times, I was really excited to see this feel-good Pixar animation. But how wrong I was! Because Pixar really likes to play with out heart strings. Funny? Sure but there were also several times where I wanted to ball my eyes out. But I really should know by now that when I go and watch any Pixar film, I should prepare myself for all kinds of emotions (just look at the likes of Up and Toy Story 3 if you don’t believe me).

But I’m getting ahead of myself here!

Inside Out follows the life of Riley (Kaitlyn Dias), from her very first day, all the way through her childhood until we reach the present day where Riley is now eleven. During these stages we meet Riley’s emotions, who all live inside her head. At first there was just Joy (Amy Poehler) but as Riley gets older and develops, more emotions appear. Soon Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Fear (Bill Hader), and Anger (Lewis Black), all take residence up inside Riley’s head, who all make up her emotions.

Throughout the film, Joy appears to be the most important emotion and she ensures Riley is a mostly happy girl. Things seem to take a rocky turn however when Riley is uprooted from her home and moves away with her parents. The emotions try their best to cope with the situation at hand but after Sadness tries to become more involved at the Headquarters, Joy tries to push Sadness away which incidentally leads to Joy and Sadness being sucked away to Riley’s long-term memory. Without Joy and Sadness at Headquarters, this means that Anger, Disgust and Fear now have to run the show on their own, which makes Riley behave like any normal, moody 11-year-old. In a bid to get back to Headquarters and make Riley happy again, Joy and Sadness go on a quest in Riley’s head, where they bump in to Riley’s imaginary friend, Bing Bong (Richard Kind), who is part candy floss, part elephant, part cat, and part dolphin, to assist them on their way.

This is a very thought out film and it seems that Pixar hasn’t missed out a single thing; we have the train of thought, which is an actual train, the Dream Production Studios, the core memories, the balls of memories, the long-term memory, the memory workers, the islands of personality… Every little detail is included.

I was surprised that Sadness had a big role in this film (part of why it was such an emotional film) but with her we came to understand that it isn’t such a bad emotion after all. And we can’t have Joy without Sadness.

I’m not sure why children films have got so depressing all of a sudden (or maybe they always were but as kids, we never really understood them) but all the same, it was a fantastic film. And as a children’s film, I am sure it will help kids come to terms with their emotions and understand them more. And it’s such an awesome thought to think we have little people in our head that contribute to our emotions and make us be, well… us.

This film dominantly concentrates on Riley’s emotions but we do get a glimpse of what happens in her parents heads and I found the father’s particularity funny where his emotions were watching a game of football and had no idea what his wife had just said. The end credits also showed us the emotions of different people and animals which created a good laugh for us all as we left the cinema, creating a fun, uplifted atmosphere at the end of the film.

Overall, this is a great animation which is beautifully done but it is a long sadder than I initially thought it would be. Make sure you have the Kleenex handy before you go and watch this film.

Overall Rating: 4/5

Poltergeist 3D (2015) Film Review

On Tuesday (2nd June), me and a few friends went to watch ‘Poltergeist’ in 3D at our local cinema. Horror is one of my favourite film genres so I was excited to see this film, especially after watching the trailers that made the film look incredibly spooky, and the 3D effects would surely make the film even scarier.

For those of you who do not know, ‘Poltergeist’ is the remake of the 1982 horror film of the same name. I have never seen the original film so I was not sure what to expect but I do know that remakes are very hit and miss.

‘Poltergeist’ is an America film and revolves around a young family who are looking to buy a new house after husband and father, Eric Bowen (Sam Rockwell) is laid off from his previous job. After moving in to a house that seems perfect for them, they start to realise not all is what it seems. Middle child, Griffin (Kyle Catlett), finds a box of toy clowns in his closet, the lights flick on and off, objects move on their own accord, and youngest child, Madison (Kennedi Clements), is caught talking to what seems to be an unknown presence inside the TV. It is later discovered that the house the family now live in was built on an old cemetery, but they are told the bodies were moved to a nicer neighborhood before the house was built.

After parents, Eric and Amy Bowen (Rosemarie DeWitt) leave oldest child Kendra (Saxon Sharbino) to babysit for the night, things really start to get scary within the house and the end results leaves Madison being dragged through a portal in her closet by the ghosts. When the parents return they realise Madison is trapped inside the TV and the call in the Paranormal Research department for help, who later call for ghost buster TV personality Carrigan Burke (Jared Harris). Carrigan Burke in on a TV programme that is basically Most Haunted and he has come to Bowen’s household to “clean” their house of the poltergeists. Carrigan’s plan is to go through the portal and drag Madison out and lead the spirits in to the light.

So, overall the plot is pretty mediocre and has all the conventions of a typical horror film; jumpy moments that aren’t even scary (for example, a squirrel jumping out of a closet), dramatic music, dim lighting etc. But is it actually scary? My answer for you is no. Rated at a 15, we can’t expect this film to be bloodcurdling scary but the moments that were meant to be scary, didn’t seem scary to me at all. It very much reminded my of a film version of ‘Most Haunted’ and I personally think they could have made it a lot scarier than the finish project we were left with.

Now, that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the film because I did but I don’t think the film lived up to its genre. The film was quite humorous actually, although I am not entirely sure whether that was intentional or not. There were a lot of quips and one liners that made me chuckle, and for a horror film, the tone was unusually light.

I did enjoy the 3D effects to the film though and I think this added to my enjoyment of the film. Things seem to fly at you from the screen, making the jumpy parts even better.

Overall, the film was entertaining but if you are looking for something that will scare you a little, it’s probably best to give this film a miss.

Overall Rating: 3/5

‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ Review

I went to see ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ at the cinema recently and wow, I was amazed! This film initially didn’t strike my interests as it looked very much like a male dominate movie and from the trailers on TV, it looked like a lot of fighting, guns and gadgets were involved. I do like action movies but at the same time, they are not my first go to movie of choice so it didn’t really strike up my interests and it was definitely not on my list of must-see movies. However, a group of friends invited me to the cinema and with having nothing better to do, I agreed to go along. And I am so glad I did.

‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ is hilarious and witty, with some superb acting from Colin Firth and Taron Egerton. Seriously guys, this film is hilarious! It is no where near as serious as I thought it would be but instead is charming, quote worthy and intellectual. The movie kept me gripped from beginning to end and I couldn’t tear my eyes from the screen for even a second.

So what is this film about? Well, the storyline revolves around Eggsy, (Taron Egerton)  who has now come of age and is recruited by a member of the Kingsmen, Harry Hart (Colin Firth) to join the group and undergo training. Eggsy soon discovers that his biological father (now deceased) was also a Kingsman and it is now Eggsy turn to follow in his fathers footsteps. However, unlike posh, well spoken Harry, Eggsy comes from a very different background which makes watching him try to fit in and become a Kingsman a very funny watch indeed. Eggsy is put through training alongside other potential recruitment’s. All Eggsy has to do is beat the others and come out on top and he will become the newest Kingsman member. Sounds simple, right? Well, not if tasks include trying to survive whilst jumping out of a plane without a parachute.

And we can’t have good guys without the bad guys, right? And in ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’, this bad guy is delivered in the form of Samuel L Jackson. He plays Valentine, who has a thick lisp and loves to wear baseball caps and dine on Big Macs. He is also the creator of a micro sim that, when inserted in to humans, sends them in to crazy, killing machines. He also has a crazy, evil sidekick, Gazelle, (Sophie Boutella) who has prospective razor legs which she uses to kill people.

‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ includes a brilliant, all star cast. Not only is the brilliant Colin Firth and Samuel L Jackson two of the main characters in this movie, but there is also an appearance from Micheal Cane.

This is a truly brilliant movie and is sure to make you laugh. You don’t have to be in to action or spy movies, or even enjoy movies of a violent nature to enjoy ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’. This movie was a pleasant surprise and much better than I initially thought it would be.

Overall Rating: 4/5