The Fear Street Trilogy (2021) Review

The Fear Street Trilogy (2021)

Directed by Leigh Janiak

Based on Fear Street by R. L. Stine

Fear Street Part One: 1994

Starring: Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr, Julia Rehwald, Fred Hechinger, Ashley Zukerman, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Maya Hawke, Jordana Spiro, Jordyn DiNatale

Fear Street Part Two: 1978

Starring: Several people from the first film plus Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, Ryan Simpkins, McCabe Slye, Ted Sutherland, Gillian Jacobs, Chiara Aurelia

Fear Street Part Three: 1666

Starring: Pretty much everyone from the first two films (even the dead ones, which is a little silly!)

Plot Synopsis (via Wikipedia – this is for the first one but covers all three films which are just set in different years):
The film follows a group of teenagers in Shadyside who are terrorized by an ancient evil responsible for a series of brutal murders that have plagued the town for centuries.

My Opinion:

Quicker to review these all together as it’s one overall story running through all three films. I can’t decide which was better: 1994 or 1978. I think maybe 1994 was the slightly better film but I enjoyed 1978 the most as I’m always a sucker for the ’70s & the ’80s and liked the (obvious) Friday The 13th vibe of being set in a summer camp. Wasn’t as crazy about 1666 and the dodgy accents they all had but I don’t usually like horrors set in that sort of time period as much. But I did like the end of that film & thought the whole story came together pretty well (although it was a bit silly), making it a better trilogy with a more coherent story than a lot of old slasher movies managed.

I’ll say this: Don’t be fooled by the R.L. Stine connection. This is NOT Goosebumps! I was surprised when I saw these were rated 18. Oh man, they are gory. They’re full-on slashers. They were a bit much for me (but I’m a wuss). I know I grew up on slashers (big fan of the Nightmare On Elm Streets) but I could always count on old gore looking super fake. Well, the Fear Street films do have that same fake kind of gore – I think I’m just more sensitive in my old age. They were fun films, though, and I appreciate them trying to do an old school slasher & doing a trilogy all at once was an ambitious risk that I think worked. The characters maybe could’ve been a little better but they were okay (I liked the nerdy little brother the most).

I started by giving the first two films a slightly higher rating. I may change my mind but I lowered them as I don’t think they’re quite as good as some other horrors of the last several years. To be fair, they can’t be compared to things like The Babadook or Midsommar as those are very different from the “slasher” horror genre. But, as I watched 1978, I couldn’t help but keep thinking of The Final Girls which is also set in a summer camp but is spoofing slashers & which I enjoyed much more. I do admittedly love horror comedies, which aren’t for everyone, but I feel the Fear Street movies may have been better with a bit of dark humor thrown in instead of being so serious. I’m fine with the first one starting out very much like Scream & the second being Friday The 13th as I know it’s an homage to those but some may instead see them as derivative. So I think “spoof” horror comedies work a little better as everyone understands exactly what those are trying to do.

Also, although I loved the music in the first two films, it was very overused. I think they wanted to prove what years they were set in so they used as many songs as possible from those eras. 1994 was interesting as I have a love/hate relationship with ’90s music (I appreciated the Radiohead). And I looooved the 1978 soundtrack. They prominently used David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold The World and I had that song stuck in my head for days afterward (which is good, as that song is awesome). So I personally appreciated the music (how could they afford the rights to so many songs?!) but don’t think the movies did a great job of making it seem like they were actually set in each of the years & relied too much on the cool music to tell us the era.

My complaints are minor, though, and I did enjoy this trilogy. It’s not trying to be some brilliant new horror – it’s just trying to make an entertaining old school slasher. The trilogy is flawed but fun. I do wish I liked the third film a bit more as it was kind of a letdown after the first two. But I’d watch more of these if they make more.

My Ratings:

Fear Street Part One: 1994 – 6.5/10
Fear Street Part Two: 1978 – 6.5/10
Fear Street Part Three: 1666 – 6/10

Here’s David Bowie’s brilliant The Man Who Sold The World:

The Last Temptation Of Christ (1988) Blind Spot Review

The Last Temptation Of Christ (1988)

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Based on The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Harry Dean Stanton, David Bowie

Music by Peter Gabriel

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
Like the novel, the film depicts the life of Jesus Christ and his struggle with various forms of temptation including fear, doubt, depression, reluctance and lust.

My Opinion:

I’ll keep this short & I’ll be totally honest – The Last Temptation Of Christ was on my 2017 Blind Spot list mainly because I wanted to see David Bowie’s role in it. So now I can say I have! All five minutes (at most) of it, toward the end of the 2 hour & 44 minute film. I suppose I also wanted to add another Martin Scorsese film to my ranked list of his films that I’ve seen (it doesn’t quite make it into the top ten, out of the 12 I’ve seen, nor does it make the list of My Top Ten Harry Dean Stanton Movies). Not gonna lie – out of almost a year & a half of doing this Blind Spot thing, this film is easily my least favorite & was the biggest struggle to work my way through.

I won’t get into the film’s story and religious beliefs. I watched this because I’m a film fan & it’s a movie by a very respected director with some big name stars (and because: David Bowie). No, “biblical dramas” are not at all the type of genre I go for (give me sci-fi) so that wasn’t going to help but it’s definitely overlong and it didn’t feel as, I don’t know… As well put together as most of Scorsese’s other work? I know nothing about filmmaking but this just isn’t up there with the likes of something like Goodfellas (also a genre that’s not at all my type of thing but a good film is a good film, whatever the genre). Not that this isn’t a good film… It must be a decent piece of filmmaking considering that Scorsese was nominated for the Best Director Oscar for it, the film’s one & only nomination. Hmm. It’s very hard to review respected films that just really didn’t speak to you personally! That’s why I’m keeping this very short for a Blind Spot review. I’d love to instead hear from fellow bloggers who, unlike me, have strong opinions one way or another about this film. I do know it was & still is very controversial & hated by some while there are others who think it’s another Scorsese masterpiece.

The acting is solid and Dafoe does a good job but I also felt that the acting let the film down a bit. I didn’t think “Wow – so-and-so was brilliant in this film!” the way I’ve thought some of the actors were pretty amazing in the majority of Scorsese’s other films. Some felt very miscast (Keitel) while some are actors I’ve never been particularly impressed with (Hershey). Okay okay – and my beloved Bowie! I fully admit that acting was never his biggest talent… 😉 However, he did okay in his very small role & didn’t feel as out of place as some of those in larger roles. Harry Dean Stanton was a highlight, though – he’s such an underrated actor.

Overall, I’m sorry to say that this is one of those films that I won’t remember much of a year or so from now. There weren’t really any specific scenes that stood out in my mind (we all know the story already anyway so I saw pretty much exactly what I expected, although this is a somewhat alternative version). I was especially disappointed that the acting didn’t stand out for me and it seriously felt even longer than it already was, especially at the end when we’re given a long look at an alternative life for Jesus? Sorry. I didn’t love it. It’s not a bad film but I’d only recommend it to those interested in religious dramas or to serious Martin Scorsese fans who want to see all he’s done. Ugh. I feel like a bad blogger for not loving a Scorsese film.

My Rating: 6/10

Only I would review The Last Temptation Of Christ & Smurfs: The Lost Village in the same week… Have a nice weekend, everyone!

Songs Reimagined As Comic Books

Love these!! Naturally, the above “comic” of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars is my favorite.

These song & comic book mash-ups were created by Chris Sims and you can see all 13 of them at Comics Alliance. 🙂

Graphic Posters of Classic Album Covers

I love these!! Aladdin Sane is my favorite. Also love Random Access Memories & The Dark Side Of The Moon. 🙂

These are by graphic designer Nick Barclay using only one or two shapes to represent each album. You can see the rest of the album covers at Fubiz plus more of the artist’s other cool work at Nick Barclay Designs.

My Top Ten Color Songs

I’ve been meaning to do this list for a while but there are just SO many songs with colors in the title. I decided to not go overboard like when I did My Top Ten Devil & Hell Songs and spent ages making sure I hadn’t missed any favorites with “Devil” or “Hell” in the title. There are too many color songs (or colour in the UK – I wish autocorrect would stop correcting me) so I’ve not spent ages doing an exhaustive list and am sure I’ve missed a favorite that’ll have me kicking myself.

However, there are too many to narrow it down to only ten so I’ll count down from 20 to my favorite. And, okay – I have honorable mentions too. Sorry! 😉 But I’ve still left out loads of songs. Would love to hear what other Color Songs are the favorites of fellow bloggers!

Here are My Top Ten Songs With Colors In The Title (based, of course, on how much I like the song):

My Top 20:

20. Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones
19. Red Alert by Basement Jaxx
18. Rainbow Connection by Kermit
17. Black History Month by Death From Above 1979
16. Little Black Submarines by The Black Keys
15. White Unicorn by Wolfmother
14. Blackbird by The Beatles
13. Behind Blue Eyes by The Who
12. Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix
11. White Room by Cream

My Top Ten:

10. Back In Black by AC/DC

9. Crimson And Clover by Tommy James & The Shondells

8. Pretty In Pink by The Psychedelic Furs

7. Mr Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra

6. Blue Monday by New Order

5. Fade To Black by Metallica

4. Rainbow In The Dark by Dio

3. Red Rain by Peter Gabriel

2. Golden Years by David Bowie

1. Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath

By the way – I already had the argument with the hubby on if “Rainbow” could be included or not. As always, I won. It’s my blog, after all. 😉 I’ll now do my best to not list 1,000 honorable mentions…

Honorable Mentions:

– Green Onions by Booker T. & The M.G.’s
– White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It) by Grandmaster & Melle Mel
– Fool’s Gold by The Stone Roses
– Fade To Grey by Visage
– Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan
– White Wedding by Billy Idol
– Black by Pearl Jam
– Golden Brown by The Stranglers
– Green Hell by Misfits
– Gold Lion by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
– Violet by Hole
– White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane
– Colours by Donovan (also, Turquoise & Mellow Yellow…)

Celebrity Passport Photos

These celebrity passport photos often crop up online but I always find them fascinating and there are some in this collection on The Telegraph website HERE that I’ve never seen.

As with his super cool mugshot, David Bowie looks WAY too good in the above passport photo. Why do I look like some kind of psycho in my passport photo? The majority of the celebrities in the photos at the above link look really suave & attractive, proving that they’re indeed far cooler than us mere mortals. Who the hell looks good in a passport photo?! Although, the black & white ones look far better than the modern color photos of people like Beyoncé & David Beckham…

But Prince looks pretty fierce:

My Blog’s January 2016 Stats

Happy February everyone! 🙂 Can you believe January is over?! Man, I hate January… Good Riddance!

I haven’t done one of these monthly “blog stats” posts in a while. I just always enjoy having a look at what posts got the most views and/or comments each month (usually not my favorite posts!). And, as always, I find the bizarre Search Terms amusing.

So first I’ll have a look at My Top Posts for January:

I’m happy that my top post by far was the one where I chose the 12 Blind Spot movies that I plan to (hopefully) watch & review throughout the year. I’m cutting back on blogging but that’s the one new project I’ve decided to attempt this year (and I’ve already watched two of them and reviewed one: An Education & Summer Wars).

I also got a scary number of hits on my very old Cast Of Labyrinth Then & Now post and my very short David Bowie tribute post. People do love a tribute post, I guess, as My Top Ten Alan Rickman Movies also got a lot of views. January was a sad month for celebrity losses. To be honest, I still can’t even really talk about Bowie without getting far more upset than I ever expected so let’s move on.

Since January is so depressing, I decided I’d go & watch that heartwarming Leonardo DiCaprio film with the big cuddly bear. I was surprised to see that my review for The Revenant got so many views. I apologize for not being able to take that review seriously! It was a very good movie and all that, but… You couldn’t drag me back for a second viewing.

There are two movies I really want to mention once more as I feel they deserve attention. I’ve already watched 14 movies in 2016 (is that excessive? well, it was January – it’s too cold to do anything else!). Anyway, of those 14 one is a new favorite while another is one of those very rare types of films that could, quite possibly, change someone’s life for the better (not mine, though – maybe if I’d seen it in any month other than cold & bleak January!!!).

The new favorite is a pretty obscure film called In Your Eyes, which did get quite a few views but not many comments as I suppose most people have never heard of it. I was therefore very happy when two bloggers gave it a watch because of my review and they both loved it too. It’s a surprisingly simple love story (rare for me – I’m not big on romance) about two people with a telepathic connection. It was written by Joss Whedon and it’s a good script with great characters and it just worked. For me, anyway… I’m now totally in love with the dude in it (Michael Stahl-David, in the above photo). *sigh*

The other movie, which isn’t high in my stats as I only just posted the review last Wednesday, is Room. I believe I told someone here that this is the type of movie that makes me wish I was a writer so I could put into words exactly how I felt about it. Well, I attempted to in my review but nothing I say could do it justice. Just…. Watch it. Please. If you’re a film lover, it’s one you need to see. I watched it last Tuesday and it’s still playing on my mind. It gives such a bizarre mixture of emotions – thinking about it now I don’t know whether to smile or burst into tears. It’s an extremely powerful film, probably more so than anything I’ve ever seen in my (many) years on this Earth.

Yikes. Let’s lighten the mood and look at My Top Search Terms for January:

Okay, pervy Googlers! Seriously – get over the girl in Odd Thomas in her panties and the girl in the short skirt in The Purge. And I’m sure all the boys DO love Mandy Lane nude scenes but you’ll find none on my blog (plus, I don’t actually remember a nude scene in that movie…).

I had no idea who the hell Ron Mlodzik was so I had to look him up. Looks like he was in David Cronenberg’s Shivers but I didn’t even mention his name in my review so I don’t know how that search led someone to my blog. Well, here you go – I think this is Ron Mlodzik?? That’s one way to clean glasses, I suppose:

I also had to look up Ken Duken to see who the heck he was. Oh – he was in the unexpectedly enjoyable Chalet Girl! I’m sorry to say I have no naked photos of him on this blog, though. It would certainly be better than nude photos of that Ron Mlodzik dude.

Finally, I’m happy that my post about the Steve Buscemi/Roger Daltrey episode of Tales From The Crypt (Forever Ambergris) got some hits as I had a lot of fun with that post.

I hope you all have a lovely February! It can’t be worse than January, right?! 🙂

Music Video Friday: David Bowie – Ashes To Ashes

Today’s video for Music Video Friday is David Bowie’s Ashes To Ashes.

I actually had a bunch of posts scheduled for this week but, after hearing the news of David Bowie’s death on Monday, I didn’t feel like posting them. I did a very short tribute post on the day but have otherwise not really said anything about it. I’m not a writer – I do this blog thing as a way to chat with people about movies (and some music & books) that I like. What can I say? The world has lost an extremely talented artist & I (and many of us) have lost a hero. It sucks. But I do this music video thing every Friday so there was no way I was going to post anything other than a David Bowie video today.

Obviously, there are loads of Bowie videos to choose from but I immediately knew that I’d go with Ashes To Ashes. Because of my age I grew up hearing 80’s Bowie the most (things like Modern Love & Let’s Dance will be the first songs of his that I’ll have really been aware of) but it’s his 70’s music that is most near & dear to me now. That’s probably my favorite decade for music overall and I think it’s also when Bowie did his best stuff. I suppose I like the song Ashes To Ashes as, being 1980, it’s kind of between those two Bowie eras. According to Wikipedia,

Bowie said that with “Ashes to Ashes” he was “wrapping up the seventies really” for himself, which “seemed a good enough epitaph for it”.

(Which was of course pretty obvious from the lyrics concerning Major Tom now being a junkie)

The video was directed by David Bowie & David Mallet. I’ve been looking into the directors of videos more since I started this music video series & I “discovered” Mallet when I did a fun post with Brian of Hard Ticket To Home Video about Billy Idol’s White Wedding (you can check out that post HERE if you’re interested). Mallet did loads of videos throughout the 1980s for Idol & Bowie as well as for artists such as AC/DC, Queen, Def Leppard, Joan Jett, etc etc. But I have to say that Ashes To Ashes is definitely his most stylish & artistic video and of course contains yet another one of Bowie’s (many!) iconic looks (the great costume was designed by Natasha Korniloff).

Enough of my rambling. Here’s the video. It’s weird. It’s artsy. It’s stylish & cool. It’s totally Bowie. 🙂

David Bowie

I don’t normally do any kind of tribute post when a celebrity dies. I mean, it’s not like I’ve ever met these people. But, damn – this one upset me.

No one feels like a true original anymore. David Bowie was truly one of a kind & I’ll miss him. I know a lot of people will, including my husband and even our six-year-old daughter. She hears the music her crazy mother plays all the time and has grown to love Bowie too. I love having that connection with her. To her, that’s DAVID BOWIE in Labyrinth, not just Jareth or the “Goblin King”. David Bowie was far cooler than just some movie character. David Bowie was the best.

R.I.P. David Bowie

My Top Ten Christmas Songs

This list was a lot harder to put together than you’d think. I was torn between my American roots & the very different Christmas songs that I’ve grown to love (and hate a little!) in over a decade of living in the UK.

When growing up in America, I only really heard the very traditional Christmas songs and I do love all those (White Christmas, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, etc etc etc). Sometimes those songs would be sung by rock & pop stars (like The Jackson 5) or screamed annoyingly by Bruce Springsteen. Ugh. Stop screeching, Bruce! Then there’s that damn Mariah Carey song – All I Want For Christmas Is You….. to SHUT UP, Mariah! And Michael Bublé can kiss my ass.

I was totally unaware that the UK had all these original Christmas songs (from the Seventies & later) that are really damn good & a lot more fun to listen to than Jingle Bells. Those in the UK will probably roll their eyes at my list as these songs are massively massively overplayed each year but I suppose I haven’t had to suffer with them for as long. Therefore, I’ve decided to do a Top Ten of my favorite contemporary Christmas songs at this point in time. Yes, some of these are American but I think the majority are bigger in the UK.

Here’s what I’ve had to leave out so that this top ten didn’t have 100 songs on it:

– Traditional Christmas Songs (unless sung by David Bowie) 😉

– Songs From Favorite Christmas Movies/TV Specials. If I was including these, I’d have to say that my ONE true favorite Christmas song of all time is most definitely Linus & Lucy by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. But I’ve left these out to keep the list simple as I love far too many songs such as Linus & Lucy and songs from Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer & How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

So let’s get this over with as I know some of you will already be sick of these songs by now. Here are My Top Ten (contemporary) Christmas Songs:

10. TIE: The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) & Run-D.M.C. – Christmas In Hollis

I had to include Christmas In Hollis because I’m an 80’s kid. As for The Darkness, I still respect the fact that they got a penis reference into a Christmas song. To those not in the UK, a “bell end” is an insult, meaning a “penis”. Or, more specifically, the tip. I guess. Because of the shape? I’ll stop there so I don’t attract all the pervy Googlers.

9. John & Yoko – Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

War is over? Really?! Well, it’s a good song & I love all of The Beatles. This probably deserves to be above my next song, which is from another Beatle.

8. Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmastime

This song walks that fine line between “enjoyable” & “making you want to kill if you ever hear it again”. I still enjoy it, though. For now.

7. Mike Oldfield – In Dulci Jubilo

It’s no Tubular Bells but it’s still good. The power of Christ(mas) compels you!

6. TIE: Frankie Goes To Hollywood – The Power Of Love & The Pretenders – 2000 Miles

The Power Of Love is an odd one as I didn’t even know it when I moved to the UK then was confused as to why a song with the lyrics “I’ll protect you from the hooded claw. Keep the vampires from your door.” was considered a Christmas song. It’s apparently just because of the below video for it, which is all about the birth of Christ. Huh. Very different from their video for Relax, which had men symbolically ejaculating all over the place. Oops – I’m definitely going to get the pervy Googlers now. As for 2000 Miles, it’s just a damn good song.

5. Chris De Burgh – A Spaceman Came Travelling

I promise that you will never EVER see the words “Chris De Burgh” on this blog again. But, screw it – I’ll admit that this is actually a really good song. As far as Jesus songs go. (The spaceman is Jesus, right?? Oh I love 70’s music & their obsession with space! Like the artist who’s next…)

4. David Bowie & Bing Crosby – Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy

DAVID BOWIE!!!!!!!!!! And, you know, Bing Crosby. Their cheesy banter at the beginning of this video is hilariously cringeworthy.

3. Jona Lewie – Stop The Cavalry

This is one I didn’t know before moving to the UK. I love it! It’s so catchy. If hearing this song doesn’t cheer you up at Christmastime, you’re a Scrooge.

2. Greg Lake – I Believe In Father Christmas

Yeah, I just really love music from the Seventies… 😉 This song is awesome.

1. Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody

Yes! More cheesy 70’s glam rock goodness! I’m sure a lot of people in the UK HATE this song by now (unless they’re drunk off their tits at a Christmas party) but I have yet to get sick of it & doubt I ever will. I’d have loved hearing this growing up. It makes me want to get drunk at an office Christmas party & photocopy my ass. Okay, I’d never actually do that… But if I do, I hope Slade is playing!

Honorable Mentions:

Elton John – Step Into Christmas
Wizzard – I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
Jethro Tull – Ring Out, Solstice Bells
The Waitresses – Christmas Wrapping

My Top Ten Songs Where The Title Isn’t In The Lyrics

I get really annoyed when a song isn’t named what it should be. Such as: Why the hell isn’t Baba O’Riley by The Who called Teenage Wasteland?! They don’t mention the words Baba O’Riley at all in the song but they sing “Teenage Wasteland” over & over again!

Okay, it doesn’t REALLY annoy me all that much – there are bigger things in life to worry about. 😉 But I did think it would make a fun top ten list! Like last week, though, I’m going to be annoying & make this a Top 20 (there were too many!). Feel free to add any you think of – I admit that with this list I’ve only looked through what’s on my iPod so there will be loads of songs I’ve not thought of or not mentioned.

So here are My Top Twenty Songs Where The Title Isn’t In The Lyrics (ranked roughly according to how much I like the song – I don’t think the order is important with this one):

20. MGMT – Kids (Should Be: Take Only What You Need)
19. Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy (Should Be: Really Hurt Me Baby)
18. Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song (Should Be: Ah Ah Ahhhhhhh AH!)
17. Death From Above 1979 – Black History Month (Should Be: Dunno. Maybe “Hold On”. But that’s a Wilson Phillips song…)
16. Blink 182 – Dammit (Should Be: This Is Growing Up)
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Brendan’s Death Song (Should Be: I’m Almost Gone)14. Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues (Should Be: I have no idea… How about “Mixin’ Up The Medicine”!)
13. Interpol – Evil (Should Be: Rosemary)
12. New Order – Blue Monday (Should Be: How Does It Feel?)
11. Daft Punk – Instant Crush (Should Be: We Will Never Be Alone Again)

Top Ten:

10. Public Image Ltd – The Order Of Death
Should Be: This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get

I adore John Lydon & this Public Image Ltd song, which is used prominently in the shower scene in Hardware. Yes! I’ve managed to once again mention the movie Hardware on my blog! Anyway, it’s an awesome song title even if it’s not said – most of the titles in this list are better than my “Should Be” titles.

9. Blur – Song 2
Should Be: Woohoo!

Such a fun song! It’s apparently named Song 2 because it’s two minutes long plus I think it was also the second song on the album? I sometimes play it when timing my kid’s toothbrushing (because kids are meant to brush for two full minutes, right?). Well, it’s a fun way to brush teeth!

8. The Police – Synchronicity II
Should Be: Not sure – maybe “Many Miles Away”

I used to really be into song lyrics as a teen/early twentysomething – you know, the age when you have time to waste on that kind of shit. But I never looked into the lyrics to this one at all until now. Pretty deep stuff with this one! And pretty bleak. This is quite possibly my very favorite song by The Police, who I don’t think really got the credit they deserved. An excellent band & I think I now like this song even more after reading the lyrics but I have to say I still don’t understand the title. I’m too old to think about these things.

7. TIE: Gorillaz – Dirty Harry & Clint Eastwood
Should Be: I Need A Gun & Sunshine In A Bag

I love Gorillaz!!! Do any Americans here know their songs? I think they were far bigger in the UK. I’m actually reading Tank Girl at the moment because it was created by the same guy (Jamie Hewlett) who created this “cartoon band” (one member of the band being adorable Damon Albarn from that picture of Blur I posted for Song 2). These are my two favorite songs of theirs & it made sense to put “Clint Eastwood” & “Dirty Harry” together for this post. The titles are cool. The look of the band is cool. The songs are cool. They should be even bigger than they are!

6. Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five – The Message
Should Be: Don’t Push Me

Seriously. Don’t push me. I’m close to the EDGE! 

5. The Who – Baba O’Riley
Should Be: Teenage Wasteland

I’ve not researched all of these songs but did of course look into this one. Here’s a bit about it from Genius.com:

Initially part of an idea (later thrown aside) of a follow up rock opera — Lifehouse — to Tommy, Pete Townshend wrote it after his experience at Woodstock. The name of the song is a combination of Meher Baba – an Indian guru that kept silent from 1935 until his death in 1969 who inspired Townshend spiritually, and Terry Riley — a musician and classical composer that also inspired him.

There’s actually a lot more to it if you want to read about it at Wikipedia – it’s an interesting read. But whatever the reason for the title, it’s a damn good song.

4. The Cure – Lullaby
Should Be: The Spiderman

I just really really like this song. 😉 Love The Cure.

3. David Bowie – Space Oddity
Should Be: Ground Control To Major Tom

Well, okay – I assume this title is a play on words after 2001: A Space Odyssey. I looked this one up too. Turns out this song is actually about alienation. I thought it was about a guy going into space! I’m so damn literal. This song has now gone up even more in my estimation. And I already loved it like crazy before. Because: Bowie. 🙂

2. Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Should Be: Not sure but any excuse to get Black Sabbath into a list… How about “I Am Frowning All The Time”

Black Sabbath have quite a few songs where the title isn’t in the lyrics (except Iron Man, of course). I almost used Black Sabbath but the word “black” is said, so – close enough! I do love the lyrics to Paranoid – you can tell that Sabbath come from dark, grey, dreary England… 😉

1. The Clash – Train In Vain
Should Be: Stand By Me

Okay – clearly The Clash couldn’t use Stand By Me as the Ben E. King song was such a huge hit. I’m thinking I like The Clash even more than I realized – this song also topped my list of My Top Ten Happy Songs. I love it! And Train In Vain is an excellent title even though I’m sure most people can’t name it.

Almost Mentions:
(I considered these but in looking up the lyrics, I ruled them out as at least one of the words was mentioned)
Harvey Danger – Flagpole Sitta
The Rolling Stones – Sympathy For The Devil
Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
The Smiths – How Soon Is Now
Radiohead – Paranoid Android (how can I have not noticed that in this song, one of my absolute all-time favorite desert island tracks, there’s a voice saying the words paranoid & android in the background the whole time?!)

Anthropomorphic Cuteness Part VIII: Bowie Apple

Here’s a photo of an adorable kids t-shirt complete with an anthropomorphic apple that I like to call the “Bowie Apple“.

And speaking of David Bowie, I saw this fun gif the other day that I wanted to share. Artist Helen Green created this gif showing us “50 years of David Bowie’s hairstyles in 5 seconds“. 🙂

“Buscemi Bowie” appeared on Ministry Of Gifs soon after… Lol

My Top Ten Actors’ Eyes

Err… Would this actually be a Top 20???

Abbi of Where The Wild Things Are once again did a couple Top Tens that I’d like to rip off. 😉 Her lists of her Top Ten Most Annoying Actors & Actresses (as well as the actors & actresses she’d watch in most everything) have now been copied by pretty much every one of us movie bloggers on WordPress. Well, a while ago Abbi got the idea from Cindy Bruchman’s Mr Bright Eyes Top Ten list of blue-eyed actors to then do her own list of Top Ten Blue Eyed Actors followed by her Top Ten Brown Eyed Actors.

Well, I’m mixing it up a bit! If I had to pick, I’d say brown eyes are what do it for me the most but I do love some sexy blue eyes as well (hello Chris Hemsworth!). So I’m putting both in one list.

Here are My Top Ten (Twenty!) Actors’ Eyes:

10. Jesse Williams

Whenever I’m not watching Grey’s Anatomy because it’s full of moany wankers, I always think “Damn! That guy has some lovely eyes.” But then I think “Not that I would know, since I totally don’t watch that annoying Grey’s Anatomy bullshit. Umm. It must be The Cabin In The Woods I’m thinking of. Yep, that’s where I saw him. Not Grey’s Anatomy. I don’t watch that shit. Honest!”

9. Orlando Bloom

I wouldn’t say I have a big crush on Bloom but his brown eyes are perfect. I could have put either Orlando Bloom or Andrew Garfield at number nine as they both have the perfect type of brown eyes that make me melt but I went with Bloom as, well, he’s definitely the more attractive of the two.

8. David Bowie

That’s me – once again using any excuse to get David Bowie into a post. 😉 I’ve always been quite fascinated by people who have eyes of different colors (even though, in Bowie’s case, it’s down to a childhood accident). It’s just another quirk that makes him unique.

7. Paul Walker

Aww – poor Paul Walker. I wasn’t a fan of those silly testosterone-fueled Fast & Furious movies but I loved Walker’s baby blues. It was a shame he’d done so many of those movies – I’d have liked to see him in other things. You know what movie of his I really liked? Roadkill! (Called Joy Ride in the US. Isn’t it weird when they change movie titles??)

6. Johnny Depp

Another crush from my teen years who had beautiful brown eyes. I can’t help it… the majority of guys I had crushes on through my teens just always seemed to have brown eyes! Holy shit, though – look at the size of that collar.

5. Paul Rudd

Sweet, funny, adorable Paul Rudd. I’ve loved him since Clueless. Cute AND funny – that’s how I like ’em! Love his slightly unusual greenish eye color.

4. Chris Hemsworth

Those who know me know that I kind of have the hots for The Hems. He’s gorgeous from top to bottom anyway but having eyes that are such a perfect shade of blue certainly doesn’t hurt either.

3. Jim Sturgess

I told you I liked brown! Don’t get me wrong – Hemsworth is still my number one crush. Jim Sturgess, however, has THE most perfect puppy dog brown eyes. This is the type of boy I’d have fallen desperately in love with as a teenager (and who would’ve broken my heart, of course. the bastard!).

2. Paul Newman

Back to blue! Okay, Chris Hemsworth is gorgeous but Paul Newman beat him to “baby-blue-eyed sex symbol” fame. What a legend! What a face. What a hottie!

1. Michael Schoeffling

Ha! Yes, Jake Ryan from Sixteen Candles. What can I say? Jake Ryan topped my list HERE of My Top Ten Movie Crushes. As your biggest crushes are when you’re in your teens, a lot of the guys on that list are of course from my teenage years. Jake Ryan was the perfect guy to me back then (in a totally shallow looks-wise way). So I have to put the lovely Michael Schoeffling’s beautiful brown eyes at number one.

Green Eyes & The Ladies:

It feels like I should mention some actresses as well, such as Elizabeth Taylor, whose eyes were a deep shade of blue that sometimes appeared violet and who was lucky enough to be born with a “mutation” of a double row of eyelashes!! (I had never heard that until I looked people up when putting this list together). Also, seeing as I have neither blue nor brown eyes, I felt like I should give a shout-out to all the AWESOME green and hazel-eyed people out there. There are lots of beautiful green-eyed actresses but not actors for some reason. I read that green eyes are more common in women but that was somewhere on the Internet and the Internet is full of LIES, so… Who knows! Anyway, here are a few actresses with lovely eyes (yeah, mostly green as green-eyed girls rock):

Evangeline Lilly
Scarlett Johansson
Angelina Jolie
Emily Browning
Charlize Theron
Melanie Laurent

And the most amazing eyes I’ve ever seen belong to actress Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, who was specifically hired for the (great) movie I Origins, a film in which the plot revolves around the eyes and their mysteries. I wondered throughout the movie if they were faked but they’re indeed her actual eyes with the unusual markings and different colors. Gorgeous!

Under The Skin (2013) Review

Under The Skin (2013)

Directed by Jonathan Glazer

Starring:
Scarlett Johansson
Jeremy McWilliams
Joe Szula
Kryštof Hádek
Paul Brannigan
Adam Pearson
Michael Moreland
Dave Acton
Jessica Mance

Running time: 108 minutes

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
Under the Skin is a 2013 British-American science fiction art film directed by Jonathan Glazer, and written by Glazer and Walter Campbell as a loose adaptation of Michel Faber’s 2000 novel of the same name. The film stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien seductress who preys on men in Scotland.

My Opinion:

Finally! I finally managed to see this movie after looking everywhere for a cinema actually showing it when it came out and having no luck. I was intrigued because, first of all, it looked like “The Woman Who Fell To Earth“. Being a big David Bowie fan and loving The Man Who Fell To Earth way more than I should, I really wanted to see this. Plus, I found out that the director has made some of my favorite music videos (more about that later). So did Under The Skin live up to all the hype in my head? Yes and no.

I mentioned this movie when I reviewed Lucy HERE on Monday and, yes, I think Under The Skin is the superior film of the two although I did really enjoy Lucy. Scarlett Johansson is indeed the true star of both films and, I think, makes both movies far better than they would’ve been with a different actress (and this is coming from someone who has never really been a fan of hers). Under The Skin is a very brave role for her to have taken on and I think, along with Her, it’s paid off and made her a far more respected actress. Under The Skin could have been a massive failure for her and, although there will certainly be plenty of people who hate the film, I think it’s a huge success as far as her professional career is concerned. As for the movie…

Yes, it’s weird. Very very weird. It’s exactly what I expected, though, having seen The Man Who Fell To Earth (it does have plenty of similarities so it’s hard to not compare the two). I enjoyed it a lot although I don’t think it’s quite as iconic as the Bowie film (which is NOT a good movie but it’s hard to deny that Bowie is extremely fascinating and certain images from the movie will stay with you). In the same way, there are images from Under The Skin that will never leave my mind. I think that’s a good thing, though. I see that as a sign of a great piece of art. As a coherent and fully rewarding movie-watching experience, however, Under The Skin falls a little short. For as much of a mess as The Man Who Fell To Earth was, we at least had a backstory and knew what Bowie’s alien’s purpose was on Earth. If you’re the type of person who wants a movie with a proper storyline & a satisfying conclusion, Under The Skin may not be for you. If you want a nice piece of art to look at (like, weird & abstract art – not Norman Rockwell or Thomas Kinkade), you MIGHT enjoy Under The Skin.

Summary:

Well, I don’t think I really need to say much more than I already have. Basically, Under The Skin is weird and you’ll either love it or you’ll hate it. I found it to be an interesting piece of art and, as the director has made music videos before, perhaps that’s why this feels a little like something in between a music video & a movie. If you want a straightforward movie or even something that has some deep meaning, you won’t get that here (but I may just be too stupid to figure out some “deeper meaning” to this film). You will, however, get a good performance from Johansson and some images that you’ll never get out of your mind. I really enjoyed the film.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Here’s a list (thanks Wikipedia) of a few of the music videos made by the director of Under The Skin (Jonathan Glazer). I’ve included two of my favorites (FYI – the UNKLE one isn’t one to watch if there are kids around):

Karmacoma by Massive Attack
The Universal by Blur
Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai
Karma Police by Radiohead
Plus my two favorites:

Street Spirit (Fade Out) by Radiohead:

Rabbit in Your Headlights by UNKLE ft. Thom Yorke:

**I’ve recently participated in the Alfred Hitchcock Blogathon being hosted by the robust Rob of MovieRob and the zany Zoe of The Sporadic Chronicles Of A Beginner Blogger. You can read my contribution, a review of Hitchcock’s 1964 film Marnie, starring Sean Connery & Tippi Hedren, HERE. Thanks, Rob & Zoe, for hosting this blogathon! 🙂

Top Ten Actors I’d Watch In Pretty Much Anything

Here we are! My final list of the four started by the fabulous Abbi of Where The Wild Things Are. You can see her list of “The Top Ten Actors I Would Watch In Almost Anything HERE. This is a great thing you started, Abbi! I believe others have made similar lists so let me know if you want me to add your link. I know Zoe of The Sporadic Chronicles Of A Beginner Blogger also did her list of actors HERE. 🙂

I did my most annoying actors & actresses last week but, surprisingly, it took THIS LIST of my favorite actresses to piss people off the most (yes – I grew up with Drew Barrymore & I love her. So sue me!). 😉 Thanks for all the wonderful comments on these – I’ll be replying to each & every one of you soon.

Now here are my Top Ten Actors I’d Watch In Pretty Much Anything (in no particular order plus I’ve narrowed it down by only including living actors):

Leonardo DiCaprio
Best Movie: The Wolf Of Wall Street

Jack Nicholson
Best Movie: One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

Morgan Freeman
Best Movie: The Shawshank Redemption

Chris Hemsworth
Best Movie: Rush

Tom Hardy
Best Movie: The Dark Knight Rises

Michael Caine
Best Movie: The Prestige

David Bowie
Best Movie: The Prestige but I also love Labyrinth & The Man Who Fell To Earth

Christoph Waltz
Best Movie: Django Unchained

Michael Fassbender
Best Movie: Shame (is he wearing an Iron Maiden shirt?? We’re meant to be!) 😉

Ian McKellen
Best Movie: The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy

Patrick Stewart
Best Movie: X2 or Star Trek: First Contact

**That’s 11 but Ian McKellen & Patrick Stewart count as one! 😉

Passports Of The Rich & Famous

David Bowie looks so damn cool here – Just like in his famous mugshot.

See more cool passports of the rich & famous here: Visual News

The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) Review

The Man Who Fell To Earth

Directed by Nicolas Roeg

Starring

David Bowie
Rip Torn
Candy Clark
Buck Henry
Bernie Casey

Plot Synopsis (via Wikipedia):

Thomas Jerome Newton is a humanoid alien who comes to Earth from a distant planet on a mission to bring water back to his home planet, which is experiencing a catastrophic drought.

Newton uses the advanced technology of his home planet to patent many inventions on Earth, and acquires incredible wealth as the head of a technology-based conglomerate, World Enterprises Corporation, aided by leading patent attorney Oliver Farnsworth. His wealth is needed to construct his own space vehicle with the intention of shipping water back to his planet.

My Opinion:

I’d been wanting to see this movie for a very long time and finally got the opportunity when it was on TV a couple of weeks ago. I’m a huge David Bowie fan. Okay – More a fan of his music than his, um, acting. But I’m glad I finally got to see this intriguing, unusual, crazy, slightly fucked up, and totally 70’s film.

This film is a bit of an incoherent mess, quite frankly. It starts with Bowie coming to Earth. Then we suddenly get this college professor, Rip Torn, screwing lots of college girls. LOTS of screwing. There’s a lot of sex in this movie. And nudity. And naked Bowie (yes!).

They show Bowie experiencing new things on Earth while Rip Torn does lots of screwing. I think they’re trying to show that he & Bowie have some sort of psychic connection? Then Bowie meets a sweet & simple girl, Candy Clark, and they start a relationship. And have lots of sex. And Bowie drinks a lot and watches multiple TVs all at once. And we see Bowie’s wife & kids slowly dying back on his home planet. And we see Bowie penis! And we see weird alien sex involving a milky substance that looks a bit like when Bishop is ripped apart in Aliens. And all of a sudden Bowie has a spaceship to fly back home and, oh yeah, I forgot that was the whole point of the movie. Then people are getting thrown out of windows and I’m losing the plot a bit. And the guy who’s the teacher in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is suddenly in the movie and I’m still not sure what his role was. Then there’s crazy gun sex and contact lenses and nipple tweaking and WTF. The end. Well, not quite the end but I won’t give the end away.

So, yeah. When this movie finished, I admit that I just kind of sat there going “WTF?”. I watched this two weeks ago. Since then I’ve started to think that, actually, this movie was kind of freaking awesome. In a totally fucked up way. Why? Well, that’s simple: David Bowie, of course. He always has been and always will be thoroughly intriguing. Who better to play an alien? And being an alien excuses any less than perfect acting, I guess. How are we meant to know how an alien would actually behave? 😉

Candy Clark is very good as Bowie’s girlfriend on Earth. For me, the best parts of this movie by far are the ones focusing on their relationship. Whenever they focused on any characters other than these two, I lost interest. They were great together and it was fun watching their dysfunctional relationship. And their crazy gun sex.

Summary:

I honestly don’t know what else to say so I’m going to just sum things up now. This movie is not good. Iconic, yes. But not good. But I didn’t care. Because… It’s David Bowie. And I love him. He makes me feel kind of funny, like when we used to climb the rope in gym class. (Does that line work if a girl says it? Also, we never actually climbed any ropes in my gym classes at school). This movie LOOKS cool. Especially Bowie – he looks cool as hell. I mainly wanted to write this review just for the cool pictures I could post. No, this movie is not good. But I liked it. It’s horribly awesome and I have to own it on DVD. If you’re not a Bowie fan, though, you’ll probably want to avoid this movie.

My Rating: 7.5/10

I’d like to also add that I recently went to the “David Bowie Is” exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. If you’re a Bowie fan and live anywhere near London, I highly recommend it. You get to see SO many personal items – I especially loved all his handwritten lyrics to all my favorite songs and his many costumes. It was excellent.

My Top Ten David Bowie Songs

My 6 Month Blogging Anniversary & 10,000 Views

I figured I should do a post for either my 6 month blogging anniversary or when I hit 10,000 views but they happened close to the same time. I’m up to 10,771 views as of today since starting this blog on the 25th of November 2012. I have no clue if this is a high or low number after six months but I’m happy about it anyway. I seriously didn’t think anyone would ever look at this thing. 🙂

I’ve always loved movies but have met very few “real life” people who share that passion (other than my hubby!). So I started this (secret) blog thinking maybe I’d find a few other movie lovers to chat with & was shocked to find that there are SO many of you totally awesome movie geeks! Seriously – you people watch way more movies than I do. 🙂

To celebrate my six months of blogging (this is probably the longest I’ve ever kept going with a hobby!), I figured I’d post links to some of my favorite past posts.

REVIEWS

– My First Movie Review: The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. I didn’t say a lot but I think I need to find a balance between this and my more recent reviews which I think have become way too wordy! Perks was one of my favorite movies of the past few years and I decided to also read the book after seeing the movie. Book review HERE.

– One of my favorites that I’ve seen in the cinema this year: Robot & Frank. One thing I like about writing these reviews (although I really struggle with them sometimes as I’m certainly no “writer”) is that it makes me think more about the film as I write about it. Quite often the movies go down in my estimation but sometimes I end up liking them even more after I write about them. This happened with Robot & Frank – I realized just how brilliant the film really was while I typed out my thoughts. Another film like this was Beginners.

– The review I had the most fun writing: Monkey Shines. Ha! This movie is a bit mental. I try to keep “spoiler free” with all my reviews but with this one I just HAD to go through the whole thing scene by scene. My review makes the movie sound sort of awesome. It’s not. Lol. Also had fun reviewing Project X, which totally ripped off far superior 80s teen movies.

– The movie that was the biggest “pleasant surprise”: Tucker And Dale Vs Evil. Wasn’t expecting to enjoy that one so much! The same goes for Warm Bodies and, oddly, Sleuth. I keep moving Sleuth up higher & higher in my list of All The Movies I’ve Watched In 2013 – it’s one of those that’s really stuck with me for some reason.

– My Most Popular Reviews: Star Trek Into Darkness and three reviews for Star Trek: The Motion Picture & The Wrath Of Khan & Star Trek (2009)

MY IMDB TOP 250 CHALLENGE

I started my IMDB Top 250 Challenge on the 1st of January. I’m hoping to watch all of the top 250 movies at IMDB (eventually!). I’d already seen 150 as of the 1st of January and I’ve watched 16 more so far this year. Links to all my Top 250 reviews are at the bottom of the page at the above link but I’ll include the links for my favorites here:

– The Secret In Their Eyes – Excellent foreign film. I highly recommend this.

– Princess Mononoke – Working my way through the Studio Ghibli stuff. This is the first one to make me truly appreciate Studio Ghibli and I now desperately want to watch all the rest that I haven’t seen.

– Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope – I’ve now watched all the Hitchcock films in the Top 250 (there are a lot because Hitchcock was a genius). I’m always surprised to see this review still getting views – seems to be a popular slightly underrated Hitchcock classic.

– Charlie Chaplin. Okay – Charlie Chaplin is my favorite “new discovery” this year. I’m so glad that I’ve FINALLY made a start on watching his films. They’re absolutely brilliant. Here’s a link to a post about him on his birthday, which includes links to my reviews of Modern Times, City Lights & The Kid: Happy Birthday To Charlie Chaplin.

LISTS

Like the character of Rob in High Fidelity, I’m a bit obsessed with making Top Five Lists (or Top Ten, depending on my mood). Here are a few of my lists:

– My Top Ten Shower & Bath Scenes In Movies. I decided to make this list after seeing JUST how many views my blog got after I casually mentioned Amber Heard’s shower scene in my review for The Ward. This list worked. People search for various combinations of the word “shower” and end up on my blog EVERY SINGLE DAY. Pervs. 🙂

– My Top Ten Movie Endings. Loved making this list. There are WAY too many to choose from and I have lots of honorable mentions. Plus I keep having to go back & add to the list as I watch more films. I should probably add The Wrath Of Khan as an honorable mention as well, come to think of it.

– My Top Ten Foreign Language Films

– My Top Animated Disney Films

– My Top Five Movies About Love

– My Top Ten John Hughes Movies

– My Top Ten Stephen King Movies

– My Top Five Beatles Songs

– My Top Ten David Bowie Songs. Because I’m a little obsessed with David Bowie.

MY TOP POSTS

– Ten Things I Like About England. My most liked post ever. And it has NOTHING to do with movies. Maybe I shouldn’t be running a movie blog?! Lol

– What Kind Of Film Would YOU Make?. By far the biggest response I’ve ever had to a post. Looks like we all would love to be filmmakers.

(I felt like there should be a Star Wars picture in here somewhere)

Phew. That took a while. Sorry if that was too long, too wordy, too boring. But it was fun looking back through the past six months of this blog and seeing how much it’s grown. I’m really glad I decided to start it and am really happy to have met such great people here. I love all the discussions we’ve had and I look forward to the next six months. I’ll leave you with an underwear picture as it seems I’ve become known for posting pictures of half-naked people a bit too often lately.

Were you actually expecting a girl? 🙂

See the Cast of Labyrinth Then and Now

Labyrinth. Awesome. See the following photos & more here: ScreenCrush

Had to post this because I have a thing for David Bowie. And these trousers:

Um. Yeah. Where was I? Okay – here are My Top Ten David Bowie Songs

This Week’s Movie Quote

Charlie: Right now we are alive and in this moment I swear we are infinite.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012)

David Bowie Is: Tilda Swinton’s speech at V&A exhibition launch

The ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibition opens at the Victoria and Albert Museum today. Good speech from Tilda Swinton – read it here: The Guardian

I soooo want to go to this. Link: Victoria And Albert Museum

Oz The Great And Powerful (2013) Review

Okay – I’m a big fan of The Wizard Of Oz. Like many people my age (and older. and slightly younger.), I grew up with The Wizard Of Oz and it was as important to me in my childhood as Star Wars was. Well, okay – Stars Wars was a bit more important… And Star Wars remains that way for me in adulthood in a way that The Wizard Of Oz doesn’t so much. But I still don’t want it tampered with in a way that might taint it for me. The original Star Wars trilogy has been slightly tainted by the prequels. But at least there were still enough good things in the prequels to make up for the Jar Jar moments. Unfortunately, Oz The Great And Powerful is like one long Jar Jar moment.

Before I trash this movie too much, I should point out that I haven’t read any of the L Frank Baum stuff. I read quite a lot but I’ve just never read anything he’s written, even though I was a big fan of The Wizard Of Oz. So bear in mind as I discuss Oz that I can’t help but compare the two movies as it’s all I know.

Where to start…. Hm. At the beginning, I guess. I almost didn’t mind this movie at first. I liked the look of it when it was all in black & white at the beginning. Probably helps that it was a travelling circus – I’ve always found old fashioned travelling circuses fascinating. I think I’d have been much happier if James Franco had never left & gone to Oz! Within maybe ten minutes of him being in Oz, I had this sinking feeling that the movie was going to go downhill fast. And it did. How bad is that?! In The Wizard Of Oz, Oz is such a magical place and you can’t help but get this great sense of wonder when Dorothy opens the door onto this strange & colorful place, even after seeing the movie dozens of times. And that movie came out in 1939! How can a 2013 movie, with all the amazing advances in filmmaking & special effects, turn Oz into such a boring place?! Seriously!

I know things in The Wizard Of Oz are all pretty strange & trippy. Munchkins, talking apple trees, flying monkeys, a talking scarecrow & tin man & lion, etc. Yet that movie made us believe in these things, even though it was all crazy. Even with that old-fashioned hammy acting and some not-so-great special effects. It all just… Worked. The characters in this 2013 movie left me cold. I felt nothing for any of them. They spent too much time on the (not very impressive anyway) CGI and forgot about developing the characters and making us care about them. And forgot about making the script halfway decent. And forgot about acting…

The acting! I thought the acting in the new Oz was almost embarrassing. As I said, it was a bit hammy in 1939. But that’s fine. It worked. That was a different time. It didn’t work in Oz The Great And Powerful. Perhaps it would have been better if they’d gone really over the top and hammed it up even more? I don’t know… Probably not. I just found all the acting in it very odd. Don’t know how else to explain it. I mean, the little china girl showed more depth than any of the human actors. The talking monkey did too. These are all pretty good actors I’ve liked just fine in other things so I don’t know if it was the fault of the script or the directing or what. But… Wow. I just really didn’t CARE about any of them. I didn’t even really care about anything other than the movie finishing. That’s not like me when it comes to movies!

I’m just ranting now. I should probably finish otherwise I’ll just go on & on. I do apologize – I usually do slightly better reviews than this. I was going to put a lot more thought into this review & break it down into specifically what I didn’t like and TRY to think of a few positive things to say. But I’m tired. And I cared so little about this movie that I don’t want to waste much more time on it. So to sum up: I didn’t really like Oz The Great And Powerful. 😉 Yes, a big part of the problem is probably that I love The Wizard Of Oz. If you really love that movie, I don’t think you’ll like Oz The Great And Powerful. If you don’t like the 1939 movie, you MIGHT like this 2013 movie. I don’t know. I’ve tried to think about how I’d feel about this movie if the 1939 movie didn’t exist. To be honest, I think I’d still dislike it just as much. But at least I wouldn’t be angry about it tainting a beloved classic.

My Rating: 4.5/10

*Here’s a positive – I do think kids will enjoy it. Maybe ages 7 to 11 or so? But that’s a very small age range. There’s nothing wrong with making movies aimed at children but it IS possible to make a movie that both children AND adults can love. Just ask Pixar.

*Another positive: Bruce Campbell.

*Another positive: The Bowie song China Girl kept going through my head whenever the little china girl was on screen. Let’s look at his mugshot. The coolest mugshot ever.

My Top Ten David Bowie Songs

In order starting with my favorite:

1. Ziggy Stardust
2. Heroes
3. Life On Mars?
4. Space Oddity
5. Moonage Daydream
6. Ashes To Ashes
7. Starman
8. Golden Years
9. Changes
10. Magic Dance

Honorable Mentions:

Andy Warhol
Fame
I’m Afraid Of Americans
Under Pressure

And…
All The Young Dudes (he wrote it)
The Laughing Gnome (I’m sorry but I kind of like it…) 😉

David Bowie In NME

How awesome is this David Bowie photo?!

Link: David Bowie In NME

Have the magazine in front of me. I know what I’ll be reading before bed. 🙂

This Week’s Movie Quote

Jareth: You remind me of the babe.
Goblin: What babe?
Jareth: The babe with the power.
Goblin: What power?
Jareth: The power of voodoo.
Goblin: Who do?
Jareth: You do.
Goblin: Do what?
Jareth: Remind me of the babe.

Labyrinth (1986)