Blog Archives

Jesse’s Been A Sad Boy – Dirty Vinyls

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So, Jesse’s Been A Sad Boy is a fantastic song by an incredible Auckland-based band, Dirty Vinyls, who you really need to check out!

Incredible song writing with a unique, energetic and rocky sound:
http://soundcloud.com/the-dirty-vinyls/jesses-been-a-sad-boy-1

Looking forward to hearing their new songs :)

Keep up to date with their music on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dirty-Vinyls/216537505057669?fref=ts Continue reading

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Star Trek Into Darkness

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I went to the midnight premiere of Star Trek Into Darkness! Pretty cool, guys. Pretty cool.
Although, I was quite disappointed that nobody dressed up…

I haven’t seen any previous Star Trek movies or television episodes, so I have to say I was at an emotional disadvantage, because I didn’t have a relationship with the characters that many others had.

Having said that, I did enjoy the movie – especially in 3D. It actually made the movie better. For once. The scenes in space were pretty epic with stars flying at your face. As for the sound effects though, the screechy scratchy gun fire put my teeth on edge.

The villain was incredible! John Harrison/Khan was played by Benedict Cumberbatch… His voice.. Oh my God… So amazing. However, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu is my favourite character – I wish he had more dialogue.

Oh! Of course, Simon Pegg’s character Lieutenant Commander Montgomery “Scotty” Scott was… Continue reading

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Iron Man 3

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Holy crapolah. This movie… Guys… Just..

Wow.

This is a huge step away from the typical and clichéd superhero movies. This one was very funny with a switch up of roles among the characters. Like, it is an action-comedy with an underlying deep and meaningful storyline.

Throughout the movie, Tony Stark kept having anxiety attacks. Although I think it could have been more effective and emotional by having flashbacks, it was still pretty intense.

The story was pretty decent, although I have to say that the villain, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) was… Continue reading

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What Would I Give – Lisa Crawley

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This is a fun, uplifting song by a kiwi singer, Lisa Crawley. I really enjoy the choppy sound of the piano.

Enjoy! Continue reading

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Jack the Giant Slayer

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What an exciting cast! Bill Nighy, Stanley Tucci and Ewan McGregor! *drool*

I first saw the advert on the back of the bus, and quite frankly I thought it looked a little.. Lame.

I mean starting from Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, we have had remake after remake of these fairytales and fables; Beauty and Beast, The Wizard of Oz, Mirror, Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman… So to see Jack and the Beanstalk being remade was not a surprise, and I expected it to have similar disappointments with all of the other remakes.

Namely the fact that the violence has to be toned down so that it can be suitable for the younger audience. Despite the storyline being 100 times better if it went the full hog and making it an M.

I was right. But it didn’t stop the story being enjoyable.

I do think the writers… Continue reading

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I’m still alive! Reviews are coming…

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Hey guys!

So I am swamped with uni studies at the moment and I am afraid my conscience won’t allow me to watch movies as it makes me feel too guilty, when I know I should be writing 2000 word essays on pointless crap.

However! I thought I should write a post to remind you that I am still in existence – I bet you’re relieved – and tell you the list of films I am going to review in about a week’s time…

1. Jack and the Giant Slayer
2. Once
3. The Devil Wears Prada
4. The Cove
5. Express my anger on recent government decisions in NZ…

Please comment to this post if you wish to put something on the list :)

I have been using my twitter account @NZFilmFreak a little more often since getting an iPhone! Ah! Scandal. What a techno person I am; all up to date and shizz. So feel free to follow!

It’s great to have so many fans of my blog…

*crickets chirp*

…and I am pretty sure that people will begin to recognise me in the street and congratulate me on my talents of blogging and pay me to write about films in the near future… Continue reading

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Fave Scene: The Perks of Being A Wallflower

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I love this scene! The song is Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners.

It is such a contagious song and has that sound that makes you want to get up and dance. Or at least put a smile on your face.

I love Emma Watson’s dancing in this too. Friggin’ awesomely hilarious.

I don’t mean to brag, but I have mastered her choreography for this song… Continue reading

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower

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Okay, it was NOTHING like I thought it would be like.

This is not a happy-go-lucky, up beat and freeing movie like the trailer makes it out to be. In fact, it has a lot of very serious themes, making this high school drama rather dark, and not at all light hearted.

Despite the totally unexpected storyline, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a very emotional journey – you laugh just as hard as you cry in some parts. So it evens out into a humbling story.

The main character, Charlie (Logan Lerman) and both of his friends Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller), each go through massive emotional roller coasters. Huge changes to their lives that are developed incredibly well. Feelings and emotions are messy, unexplainable and complicated, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower accurately represent them this way… Continue reading

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It Ain’t Me, Babe – Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon

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Originally this was a Bob Dylan song, and don’t get me wrong, his version is amazing!

Johnny Cash and June Carter’s cover was also incredible!

However, the first version I ever heard was Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon’s cover in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line. I just fell in love with that song.

Their covers keeps the essence of that era, but modernises the sound – it’s like a the young Johnny Cash is back to life, but a modern version.

It has great harmonies and guitar riffs with a non-cheesy country sound.

WARNING: You will feel obliged to sing in a strong southern accent… Continue reading

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Morning Glory

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I saw this movie when it was first released in the cinemas. I remember enjoying it, but not finding it any better or worse than any other chick flick I have seen.

However, I bought it the other day and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it! I think I loved it the second time around because the plot is based in the television industry (the main character, Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) is an Executive Producer on a breakfast show) and I am studying television at the moment.

So “yes”, I am officially convinced. I feel destined to become a television producer!

Rachel McAdams is absolutely gorgeous! Her outfits are to die for too… Continue reading

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An Amazing Drum Cover – Misery Business (Paramore)

Hey guys!

This is an amazing drum cover of Misery Business (Paramore) by a New Zealand drummer named Raj Bakker.

Check out his YouTube channel to keep up to date with his uploads: http://www.youtube.com/user/RajBakkerChannel

Enjoy! Continue reading

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Bridesmaids

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I was put off of seeing this movie when it first came out because it just looked like The Hangover – but the female version. However, after seeing a few scenes of it over the last couple of years, I decided to buy it in the sales.
And boy am I glad! I haven’t laughed this hard in ages! It is a truly hilarious journey that these wacky characters go through – any one of them could have been the leading lady.

Nothing is going well for Annie (Kristen Wigg). Her bakery closed down due to the recession, she’s in her mid-30s and a hopeless spinster. Thankfully she still has her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), though…
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Oz: The Great and Powerful

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Oz is in fact a childrens’ movie, which I was unaware of until I was sitting bored brainless in the theatre.

It was an okay movie with a fantastical world of colour and mystery. But essentially no surprises or twists at all. The happily ever after ending was inevitable and the actions of the characters was predictable.

Just watch Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland. It’s pretty much the same story but a more mature version closer to the roots of the original fable.

Obvious similarities between the two fantastical tales include… Continue reading

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Looking forward to: “The Perks Of Being A Wallflower”

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I am so, so excited to watch this movie. I had never heard of the books before, but recently stumbled across the trailer.

The script seems awesome with hilarious lines. With the popularity that the books have gotten, I hope that the movie will live up to the hype.

I guess I am looking forward to this film because it explores a very relatable subject of fitting in… Or not… In a free spirited and fresh way…

Let me know if you have seen it and what you reckon. I have read very good reviews so far… Continue reading

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Lydia – Fur Patrol

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I had no idea this rock band was from New Zealand (Wellington)! So crazy.

I love this song. I remember hearing a lot growing up and recently stumbled across it again. A song about letting go of somebody who has moved on to somebody else.

Am I surprised to see you here with Lydia,
She’s oh so nice and easier to love than I Continue reading

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Dead Poets Society

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Imagine Good Will Hunting + Scent of a Woman… and with a touch of The Ron Clark Story. That pretty much gives you Dead Poet’s Society.

It is a great story about breaking the mould. Not being what your father wants you to be, not giving into the black and white versions of education, but finding the creativity in it and allowing your imagination to run riot.

Robin Williams plays John Keating who is an English teacher with unorthodox teaching methods in a private all boys school. The tradition and formality… Continue reading

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The Butterfly Effect

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Soooo creepy! But in an awesome way. I have never seen anything like this film before.

Of course I was weary about Ashton Kutcher being in a serious thriller, but he was fantastic! Like, seriously convincing.

The Butterfly Effect is where a seemingly innocuous act can have a domino effect and create chaos.

It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world.

This film plays on this theory where Ashton’s character, Evan, has the ability or curse to travel back to predetermined points in his life. But every time he tries to make it better, something else goes terribly wrong… Continue reading

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Walk The Line

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I thoroughly enjoyed this biopic about one of the best country rock n roll singers of the sixties, Johnny Cash.

Joaquin Phoenix did an incredible job of becoming Johnny Cash. His natural intensity was perfect for the really heavy and dark life of Johnny Cash. I didn’t know much about Johnny Cash until I impulsively bought this movie. I had a few of his songs and enjoyed them, but assumed that he was just a country singer for geriatrics.

It turns out that Johnny Cash’s life and the people he rubbed shoulders with is incredible. The stories he has are inspiring. I am not sticking up for everything that Johnny Cash did, but I have to say that it was so unfortunate… Continue reading

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L’accordéoniste – Edith Piaf

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La Fille de Joie Est Triste (L’accordéoniste)
“The Accordionist” (1940)

This is a beautiful song written and performed by Edith Piaf (Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien – Inception and Tu es Partout – Saving Private Ryan). The chorus gives me chills.

It is about a prostitute who is married to an accordionist who will be going to war soon and will not return to her alive.

Her man will never come back.
Goodbye to beautiful dreams.
Her life is done for.

I interpret her story as though she has to forget her emotions while she’s working, but as soon as she leaves and watches her husband play the Java, she becomes overwhelmed with emotion… Continue reading

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Water For Elephants

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I bought this DVD as a bit of a whim. After stumbling across the trailer on YouTube I thought that the look of the whole film resembled the circus scenes in Big Fish.

It is the story of the dark side of the circus during the early 1930s, with a forbidden love story between Jacob (Robert Pattinson) and Marlena (Reece Witherspoon) intertwined. Jacob runs away with the circus and poses as a certified vet to continue travelling with them, but discovers that there’s much more to performing that the magic the audience sees.

On the way, he experiences the control and under handed acts that go on in order to keep the circus from failing during the depression. Staff would go missing in the night if the boss and husband of Marlena, August (Christoph Waltz), was unable to pay… Continue reading

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Burlesque

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So, Burlesque is pretty much a lighter, chick flick version of Moulin Rouge. It is an upbeat, modern story with back to back songs that make you want to get up and dance.

Christina Aguilera is a singer who I admire for her talent, yet if I am honest, I do not enjoy her music.

She does an amazing job during the scenes where she is performing on stage. However, for the most part her acting is much to be desired. Her squeaky voice gets a little on nerves considering she has such a deep, powerful singing voice.

The same goes for Cher, her acting was average… But so was her auto-tuned voice. I’m not convinced that she should really be classed as “a legend”. I swear… Continue reading

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Midnight In Paris

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When I first watched this film I was disappointed because in my mind I had hyped up the plot line of Gil (Owen Wilson) travelling through different time eras of Paris. The artistic, fashionable, sophisticated and elaborate times of the 1920s, as well as the ceremonious, coming of age times of the 1890s.

The plot is about the Golden Age. That is, longing to live in a time before your own. For example, mine is the early 1960s. Better music and fashion with the huge liberal movement against war and for free will. However, Midnight In Paris attempts to… Continue reading

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My Fave Character: Maggie Jacobs

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The ditsy character in the Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant TV series, Extras, is Maggie Jacobs (Ashley Jensen).

I like her because she is so innocent and naive. It makes a huge change for one of the leading characters to be so honest and unaffected by mainstream beliefs. She is fresh-faced and relatable, similar to Bridget Jones but much more average. I guess because she’s… Continue reading

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Easy A

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This is quite a different version to the typical high school chick flick that drowns the market. Easy A is about how rumours can make or break your reputation, as well as who your friends really are. But also how you can take insults and use them to your advantage.

It has a pretty funny script with some catchy insults from the witty and very sarcastic Olive (Emma Stone). Her best come backs are usually toward the “Jesus Freak”, Marianne (Amanda Bynes), who was responsible for spreading the original rumour about Olive losing her virginity… Continue reading

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Megamind

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This animation is one of the most enjoyable ones I have seen. The best animations are ones where they are enjoyable for more than one age group, which Megamind certainly is! Great for the younger audience as well as the teenage and adult.

It’s about a blue alien named Megamind (Will Ferrell) who grew up on Earth causing destruction and trouble, and his arch nemesis Metro Man (Brad Pitt) who is the city’s ‘super hero’. It’s a classic good guy/bad guy relationship which becomes a game to Megamind, until he finally defeats Metro Man and realises that the success he had always strived for was not as rewarding as he had thought… Continue reading

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