100 Films You Should See In 2006!

The latest issue of Empire Magazine has a feature on what they think are the 100 films you should see in 2006. Where as I don’t go to the movies very often I do watch more than 100 DVDs in a year, so I figured it would be worth a look.
Reading through the article was rather depressing though, with only 17 of the movies looking any good (imho).
Standouts included A Scanner Darkly, Munich, Jarhead, Casino Royale (gotta love Bond no matter what, well, with the exception of Timothy Dalton), X-Men 3, Lady In The Water, Miami Vice and V For Vendetta.
Empire also had the 50 films you should have seen in 2005. Of these 50, I’ve seen only 15, but want to see a further 11 when they come out on DVD, which gets me close to 50%.
Maybe I should watch more DVDs….

Coke Zero

Is it just me, or does Coke Zero taste like flat coke, only fizzy?

DVD | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I’ve never read the book, so all I know of the story is from the 1971 original, which apparently met with extreme disapproval from Roald Dahl.
Right from the start, when the collaboration of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp was announced, I was happy. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a quirky, bizarre movie, and seemed very suited to the Burton/Depp touch.

I’m happy to announce, imho, they’ve managed to pull it off. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is an amazing treat. Not only visually stunning, but Burton has changed the storyline considerably, and has made for a much more complete, and satisfying movie.

If you don’t know the story, shame on you, I’m not going into it here. Depp again pulls off a convincing, quirky and completely oddball character with ease, and it totally suits Burton’s rendition of the story. It seems more serious in some parts, but doesn’t miss out on the whimsical.

Let your imagination run wild, forget any love you had for the original and enjoy this modern rendition.

Spiritual Connections
It’s not hard to notice that this movie has something to say. Primarily about the hazards of indulgent excess, Burton's Chocolate Factory also puts family unity front and centre. When Charlie is offered control of the Chocolate Factory it comes with a price tag – he must leave his family behind. Charlie chooses to stay with his family and turn down Wonka’s amazing offer. It’s a trait that Charlie has shown throughout the movie, for a boy he has an amazing grasp on self sacrifice and looking out for others, and he gets rewarded plenty for his sacrifice in the end. Not only that but through his actions Charlie helps Willy come to terms with a past he has been suppressing all his adult life.

It's all about me...

I’ve seen these lists on various blogs so I copied one and filled it out myself, so y’all can know a little bit about me. Sorry, but I forgot to take a note of the blog I borrowed this from.

4 jobs you've had:
Kiwi Fruit Picker
Graphic Designer @ Health Waikato
Graphic Designer @ BUNZ
Marketing Manager

4 Movies you could watch over and over:
Band of Brothers (mini series)
The Princess Bride
Starship Troopers
Saving Private Ryan

4 Places you've lived:
Dorchester, Dorset, England
Whakatane, Bay Of Plenty, New Zealand
Hamilton, New Zealand
Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand

4 TV shows you love to watch:
Top Gear
Aussie V8s
Lost
Um, don’t really watch TV….

4 places you've been on holiday to:
Rhodes
Yougoslavia
Greece
Malta

4 blogs you visit daily:
Short and Sweet
A Servants Thoughts
Oh, that’s only two, the rest of my bloglines aren’t blogs, oh dear…

4 of your favourite foods:
Home made Pizza
Pavalova
Wendy’s Bacon Cheese Burger
Vanilla Coke

4 places you'd rather be:
Christchurch, New Zealand
Melbourne, Australia
On a beach
At home (I’m at work whilst I write this ;-)

4 albums you can't live without:
A Collision: David Crowder*Band
Thousand Foot Krutch: Phenomenon
A Kind Of magic Live: Queen
Anything by Eric Clapton

Hhhmmm, that was a fun 5 minutes…..

DVD | Luther

The tag line for this movie is “One man had a vision that changed the world”. It’s fair statement about the man who turned his back on organised religion and brought the truth of the Gospel to the people.

It’s been said that this movie is anti-Catholic. Sure, you could look at this movie and come to that conclusion, but only if you wanted to come to that conclusion. Sure it portrays some in the Catholic Church in a very poor light, but that’s not the point of the movie.

It’s about one mans convictions, primarily that we are saved by faith, not works. It shows that we can’t buy our way out of hell, as the Catholics at the time were promising.

Fortunately it doesn’t make Luther out to be some super hero. It shows a man struggling with his own faith and how to live his convictions. Indeed it shows some of the dark side of the revolution as some of Luther’s supporters whip up angry mobs against the organised church leading to brutal massacres.

All in all a well acted a produced movie about a man that Christians and non-Christians alike should be thankful for. Thankful that he helped make the Gospel accessible, and thankful (if you’re agnostic or atheist) that he helped bring about the separation of Church and State.

TV | Supernova

I'm not really that big on TV, and especially dislike mini-series. But being home alone on a Sunday night I decided to give Supernova a go.

It's been on for an hour, and it's as cheesey as expected, but nothing has really happened.

It's supposed to be a special effects end of the world action packed show, and NOTHING has happened in the first hour!!??!!

I'm turning on my X-Box.

DVD | Mr & Mrs Smith

OK, time for some serious Hollywood action. Check your brains at the door, and be prepared for two hours of fun! Mr & Mrs Smith is an action/comedy feast that stars two of Hollywoods most popular actors; Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

The story centres around a bored married couple. Their lives have become mundane. They have dinner ay 7pm sharp every single day, and they talk as little as possible. Their lives are so individually compartmentalised that they have little time for each other.

So they go and see a marriage counsellor. But he’s never going to be able to fix what is wrong with their marriage; it’s a marriage built on lies from day one. It’s a marriage were neither can share their most intimate thoughts or issues.

You see, they’re both cold-blooded killers. Paid assassins at the top of their game, and it’s a game where you don’t let on what you do for a living.

So what happens when you both get sent to do the same job? You discover that the love of your life is also your biggest competition, and is now out to kill you!

After a little while of trying to kill each other, they realise that they can’t; they actually love each other. And on top of that their respective bosses are now trying to kill both of them.

Fast paced and visually spectacular with plenty of humour to keep the movie light, this is a popcorn extravaganza.

Spiritual Content
Bet you didn’t think there’d be any spiritual content in this movie did ya? But consider this, even though they have huge problems, when the rubber hits the road, they come together and put their lives on the line to protect each other. They found a love that far exceeds friendship or brotherly love.

In the Greek language there are several different words for Love; Philla or Phileo is love between friends, Eros is sexual love and then there is Agape.

Agape is sacrificial love. The kind of love that a person has when they are prepared to lay down their lives for someone else. It’s the type of love that took Jesus to the cross.

Tim Robbins to do 1984?

Oh man, how much do I love Tim Robbins? He’s awesome. I’ve loved him ever since seeing Bob Roberts.

Being one to take interesting projects means that he’s been in some of the best movies (Shawshank) as well as a few stinkers (Code 46).

Now he’s about to direct a stage play based on George Orwell’s 1984. But wait, there’s more, he’s also got a screenplay of it and is working towards doing a movie.

Of course this will be a long way off, but I’m sure it’ll be worth waiting for, and in the meantime there’s always V for Vendetta, a very Orwellian looking movie.

X-Box | Spartan: Total Warrior

Before I start my review proper, I’m gonna give a big shout out to Lauren Kozak and the team at m80 who somehow discovered my Blog and decided to send me this game to review. You guys rock.

Ok, on with the review. Spartan is made by the creators of the PC based Total War series, so to start off I though this was going to be a cool strategic war game. What an idiot I am. Read the title; Total Warrior, not Total War. This was to be a 3rd Person action fest.

You get to play a dude named Spartan (no middle names or surnames, no, you just go by the very cool name Spartan), a young untrained warrior based in the last town in your country that has yet to be sacked by the mighty Roman Empire.

That’s the good news, the bad news is that the entire forces of the Roman Empire have surrounded your city and want to get in and kill you, your girl friend, her mother and your great Aunty (you get the picture) and it’s up to you to stop them.

Well, not you alone, ‘cause you’ve got the Spartan army and a few close buddies on your side.

Thus starts your hack and slash adventure. What hits you first, besides the beautiful visuals, is the sheer volume of characters on the screen, the Spartans rush forward to meet the Roman army and you run to join the fray. There’s so much going on its amazing that there’s no screen jitters, its all smooth in this battle scene as you spray Roman blood all over the battle field.

Oh yes, there is blood, this is an R-16 game designed for mature players, and if you're not careful, it’ll be your blood on the ground. Button mashing will only get you so far, master the combinations, and mix offensive with defensive attacks if you want to get any where in this game.

And trust me, you will want to, ‘cause the game is huge with many varied and interesting maps, with different missions to complete.

Upgrades, new weapons and unlockable treasures to find keep the game from getting too repetitive, whist adding extra challenge.

Epic in scale and atmosphere, this is a great game for action and adventure fans who are looking for a new twist on an old genre. On the down side the cut scenes are bland and the music choice is odd at times.

DVD | Three Colours RED

The final in the Three Colours Trilogy focuses on an unlikely relationship, and how a positive influence on a life can be very beneficial.
Warm and (platonic) love abound in this red themed movie, which again sets a different tone from the other parts of this trilogy.
None the less it is a fitting final to the trilogy and ends it on an upbeat, positive note.
The only thing I didn’t like about this movie is how they placed the main characters from all three movies in it at the end. I knew they were all supposed to appear, but I was expecting more subtlety and cleverness than what happens in the awkward final
All in all a fine trilogy.

DVD | Three Colours WHITE

Whilst Blue was a tragic drama that evolved into a bright conclusion, White is a very black comedy. It’s refreshingly funny, but weird to be so different from it’s predecessor, whilst being part of a trilogy – I’d have thought that all 3 movies would run along similar veins.

White concerns an impotent Polish hairdresser, who is dumped by his heartless French wife, who throws him out with no money, no passport and very little French language skills.

Fortunately he decides to busk for a living and meets a fellow Pole who helps him out. He gets back to Poland in a suitcase and finds work on the black market. He cunningly works many deals and sets up the ultimate revenge movie.

Darkly funny and very rewarding.

DVD | Three Colours BLUE

Blue is the first film in Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colours Triolgy. The three movies, Blue, White and Red represent the colours of the French flag, and their themes; Liberty, Equality and Fraternity mirror the French national motto.

In Blue the theme of Liberty comes from cruel beginnings, but fortunately finishes on a hight note.

It’s probably worth mentioning here that these movies are more the art house type rather than your Hollywood blockbuster; so if you’re easily bored, stay away. How ever if you want to see some truly imaginative camera work and original stories that stay tuned.

It’s more than just camera angles though as Kieslowski seem to infuse the screen with the colour blue, sometimes in-your-face, others quite subtle. It becomes fun on a minor level to watch for those minor blue moments.

But back to the story – it starts off with a familiar scene, a family driving home after a night out. But something is amiss, Kieslowski shows us that the break fluid is leaking; you know something bad is going to happen. And it does. Both the husband and daughter are killed – the wife is given her liberty.

Initially the grieving widow, played superbly by Juliette Binoche turns inward, she’s cold and without remorse. She want’s to destroy everything associated with her late family.

But through the course of the movie, through the interactions with others and discoveries made, she finds a new passion for living, and truly finds liberty.

This is an amazing film, but as I mentioned earlier, it’s not your usual Hollywood action spectacular. If a Hollywood blockbuster is McDonalds, then blue is a quiet coffee and muffin in the middle of the Hunua Ranges.

Spielberg denies Mary Poppins film

A story recently posted at ananova says that Steven Spielberg has denied he is planning to remake Mary Poppins.

Hello? Why anyone would even contemplate the absurd notion that Spieldberg would do any such thing is beyond me!

Fortunately Spielberg's spokesman Marvin Levy has publicly stated: "I never heard of this and couldn't imagine Steven ever doing a remake of a classic - and a Disney classic at that."

Top 10 DVDs of 2005

I got the Idea to do a top ten from joblo. I figured it would be easy to pick 10 DVDs, but turned out harder that I expected. Constantine in my mind seemed like a no brainer, but in the end missed the cut. Go figure.

10. In My Fathers Den
No I’m not being patriotic, this was a damn fine movie, and being a kiwi made and funded movie is just the icing on the cake.

9. Carnivale
Thanks to HBO there’s a lot more imaginative programmes coming on TV, and then getting released onto DVD. Carnival, whilst being one of the weirder TV shows was also compelling and original.

8. The Notebook
I’m not a big fan of romantic movies, but this one hit the spot.

7. Million Dollar Baby
What could have turned out to be a very boring movie, kept everyone hooked with an unpredictable punch below the belt that turned an average boxing movie on its head.

6. Hotel Rwanda
An amazing performance by Don Cheadle that documents a moment in time when the might of the West dropped the ball, and ignored humanities pleas.

5. The Village
M. Night Shyamalan is the king of modern suspense movies, and whilst many thought he may have lost his touch, he proved his worth once again with The Village.

4. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
How much more original, lovable and funny can you get?

3. A Very Long Engagement
Who knew a French movie would make it onto the list? But I’ve never seen a movie that blended realistic war scenes with romance, numerous plot lines and some twisted revenge, and an ending that whilst was predictable wasn’t to ‘Hollywood’.

2. Collateral
Micheal Mann is the man! And he even manages to give Tom Cruse a character that is almost believable! Lets hope he doesn’t stuff up Miami Vice this year!

1. The Woodsman
A movie about child molestation makes it to the number one spot? Before y’all rush out to lynch me, Kevin Bacon delivers an un-missable performance of a broken man trying to discover how to be normal.

DVD | Hell On Wheels

In 2003 Le Tour de France celebrated it’s 100th birthday. The Tour, the toughest bicycle race of all, is watched by millions of people worldwide.

Whilst most people see the race on TV, watching from a distance as the suspense and scenery stimulate their visual senses, Director Pepe Danquart takes us on a different journey.

Focussing on the Deutsche Telekom team, and more specifically riders Eric Zabel and Rolf Aldag, Pepe shows us the less seen side of the race; it’s a story of torture and pain, of fear and weakness, of determination and focus, on overcoming the odds. It’s a story of the human condition, and how far you can push yourself.

But more than that it also looks into the history of the event. It shows how it began, how it’s grown, what it takes to put together the event, and how fanatical the fans are.

It’s a fascinating look into the lives, joys and pain of one team, in the scope of the entire event.