Our movie of the weekend!

This week's movie of the weekend has to be the much anticipated box office smash, Limitless. A few weeks ago, we had been riding the tube and fell for the film’s witty advertising stunt promoting “a clear pill that unlocks your full potential”. I’m sure the majority of Londoners have seen it by now (see below), and it was only after discussing how amazing this pill sounded for the next 4 stops, that we finally read the small-print and realised it was a prank. We then saw the trailer that looked awesome, and let’s face it, any film that stars Bradley Cooper as the leading man is hardly going to be a disappointment!

Nevertheless, the film starts out with a longhaired and pretty shabby-looking Cooper walking through the bustling streets of NYC. Now, I’m generally not a fan of the “grunge” look - I definitely prefer my men clean-cut and suited-up - but I must say, Coop didn’t look half bad! This is a classic example of what I like to call the “Captain Jack Sparrow Effect” – i.e when deliberate adjustments are made to a person’s appearance in order to make them appear less attractive, but it actually ends up having the opposite effect. Basically, you can give Johnny Depp: mascara, dreadlocks, and dirty fingernails, and he’ll still end up looking hotter than ever!

So, basic synopsis: Cooper is a writer who’s struggling to find the inspiration to complete (or rather I should say, begin!) writing his novel. When he bumps into an ethically questionable character from his past, he is offered a top-secret drug that will supposedly give him the creativity-boost he needs. After an unjustifiably short debate with himself, he concludes that he’s not got much to lose, so should just try the pill and see what happens. The pill taps into neurones in the brain allowing the individual to use 100% of their brain at a time rather than the usual rumoured 20%. The result: his mind is suddenly unlocked, giving him access to a very organised database of every piece of information he’s ever seen, read, or heard about it. He’s able to complete his novel in 4 days, learn entire languages in a matter of hours, and basically become the perfect version of himself. One thing leads to another, and before you know it, the film spins into an action-packed thriller that brings you to the edge of your seat, stressfully asking yourself: “What happens when the pills run out?!”

Despite its slightly unnecessary gore, the film’s combination of unexpected humour, Cooper in a pair of tight black briefs (followed by some drooling on our part!), and a unique plot that revolves around something every human uniformly desires, lands this week’s film with a solid 10/10!

Our movie of the weekend!

Diverging away from our usual romcoms and chic-flicks, Keli and I decided to go and see the new action/thriller starring Liam Neeson (a.k.a. the man we believe has one of the sexiest voices on the planet), Unknown. Now, from the trailer, we were expecting this film to be pretty good – Basic synopsis: a man goes to Berlin with his wife for a conference and once they get to their hotel, he realises he left his briefcase with their passports back at the airport. So he grabs a taxi and heads back to the airport, but on the way, gets into a terrible car accident that results in him being in a coma for the next 4 days. Naturally, when he wakes up in hospital days later, he is extremely confused as to why his wife isn’t there by his bedside, or more importantly, why a missing persons report hasn’t been issued in search of him. He immediately goes to find his wife who he assumes must be distraught not knowing where he’s been for the past 4 days! However, once he finally tracks her down, she’s unaware of whom he is….or so we think…DUM DUM DUM!

The film basically felt like a 1 hour and 45 minute adrenaline rush – every few minutes someone would be jumping out of a moving vehicle, or fist-fighting a guy twice their size (and winning obviously!), or simply passing out and waking up somewhere completely different. Some jumpy bits that get your heart beating a little faster than usual, extremely convincing acting on Neeson, Diane Kruger, and January Jones’ (can’t get over how awesome her name is!) part, combined with an intelligent twist at the end, leaves you with the feeling that you got your money’s worth. All in all, we’d say that it’s definitely one worth seeing, especially if you’re in the mood for a bit of a thrill!

Our movie of the weekend

Last weekend, we went to see the latest instalment in the list of 8 romcoms Jennifer Anniston’s has done since 2009 (where she finds the time, we’ll never know!). Now, being the massive JennAnn fans that we are, we were naturally expecting this movie to be a hit (even if the lead male is played by Adam Sandler!), and let us just say now – it did not disappoint!

Adam Sandler plays a plastic surgeon by day, and a chauvinistic Neanderthal who lies to women about being married in order to sleep with them, by night. Nevertheless, eventually his lies get the best of him and he is forced to turn to none other than his loyal assistant (Anniston) to play the role of his soon-to-be-divorced wife.  One thing leads to another and before you know it, he’s taking  his made-over assistant, her two “adorable” children, and his sex-crazed cousin to Hawaii, in the hopes of “sealing-the-deal” with his new young girlfriend (played by Brooklyn Decker – i.e. the 23 year-old Sports Illustrated model whose body makes every woman vow she’ll start taking the stairs!) Jennifer Anniston’s son helps create the awkward tension essential for any successful romcom, whilst her daughter provides several hilarious moments aided by a “British” accent!

When you combine this with Jennifer Anniston in a bikini (wow!), a “who knew?” six-pack from Sandler, grabbing a coconut by the butt cheeks, and giving CPR to a goat, it leaves you with a hilarious and surprisingly unpredictable film that we will definitely be getting when it comes out on DVD!

Our Movie Of The Weekend

Now it’s very rare that we have a major disagreement. Sure we don’t see eye to eye on everything but mostly the disagreement is so minor that no arguments arise. This week’s movie choice however is a completely different story. Never before in the history of the planet have two people disagreed about something more and fought their cases with such force and precision. What’s this subject matter that has caused us to question our friendship we hear you ask; it’s the release of Harry Potter 7, part 1. Val sees this as the high point of the year, a true wonder, Keli however would rather cut out her eyeballs than have to sit through that movie ever again. Here we will explain our rationing and although we can’t come to a decision maybe you can help us out…..

Val's View:

Well let’s just face it; the first part of the seventh instalment in the Harry Potter series was amazing! Now, anyone who knows me well enough will know that I am nothing short of a Harry Potter fanatic, and may therefore argue that my opinion is somewhat biased. However, there are several reasons to account for my even-higher-than-usual levels of enthusiasm. Unlike its predecessors, this film, being divided into two parts, meant that the script almost directly followed the storyline from its novel counterpart. The previous films have had to miss out several key aspects from the novels due to time constraints, but this 2hr40mins addition gave David Yates the freedom to include all the rich details we know and love from the books! I recall leaving the cinema after watching the 6^th film, and feeling thoroughly disappointed that some of my favourite parts from the book had been overlooked, whilst other scenes (i.e. the destruction of The Burrow!) were simply made-up and added in! This time when I left the cinema, I felt nothing but a strong urge to go back and watch it all over again! Additionally, this meant there was more freedom to really watch the relationships between the main characters grow, which is what will make the final instalment that much better! All in all, it was a solid 10 out of 10, and anyone who thinks differently (a.k.a Keli!) should just read the books or shhh!

Keli’s Case:

That is all very well Valarie but what if you don’t have your extensive knowledge of all things wizardly and just wanted to enjoy a good film on a Saturday afternoon? I will say that honestly I wanted to love it. I truly and utterly went in there with all so much hope and expectation- similar I suppose to when you venture from the classic vanilla and try a new flavour ice-cream on holiday- but sadly, and I mean sadly, instead of the delight you get after indulging in a mango and passion fruit sorbet for the very first time, I was left with a sour taste combination of boredom and frustration. If I wanted to watch three teenagers camping, awkwardly dealing with their crushes and trying to find ‘magical things’ in the forest I would just watch my camp trip video from sixth form instead of sitting through over two and a half hours of the latest Potter tale to hit our screens.  Not reading the book meant that with this film even more than the others I did not understand the little jokes, the tensions and the suspense that I have later been told is “all part of the first section of the dramatic finale”. But dramatic the first part ain’t, and who really wants to go to the cinema to wait for something to happen when consequently nothing will in Harry’s world until summer 2011. Sorry Val we will have to agree to disagree on this one………

Our Movie Of The Weekend

We don’t know about the rest of you but with all the Christmas shopping, splurging on decorations and indulging in yummy festive food we haven’t had much cash to splash on a night out on London’s tiles. So last weekend we decided to have a movie marathon Friday night. Despite Valentina already having a pretty impressive DVD collection under her belt (6 shelves worth!) we thought we would try something new. We chose Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl’s summer ‘rom-action’ Killers and British dance flick Street Dance UK.

Both were surprisingly better than our expectations (which let’s face are not that high). Killers was actually really funny, a little bit far-fetched- but in a good Mr and Mrs Smith way- and cute without the cringing. But despite the fun we had watching Ashton Kutcher fight off baddies in a suitably tight tank top we must say that the winner goes to Street Dance UK. And here’s why……

It has all of the elements you expect for a dance film; the love twist,a series of battles, dodgey looking apartments, backstreet “cool” nightclubs, tough auditions and that classic combination of street dance and ballet entwined into one routine. But importantly all it hits all of these crucial elements actually really well in addition to featuring more outstanding dances than we have ever seen in a dance movie and not just at the end; one by Britain’s Got Talent Winner’s Diversity is partially memorable. Oh and the music is amazing too, we’ve already got the soundtrack and spent at least half a hour afterwards trying to learn the routines!

So yes it might be kinda lame to stay in on a Friday night, and yes it might be even lamer to watch a British dance film but you’ll be sorry if you miss this one- Trust us!