Identity (Mangold, 2003)

For those of you that enjoy a classic psychological thriller Identity (Mangold, 2003) may just be up your alley. This film fits perfectly into the frame work of a psychological thriller, twist included which does mean that it only really works once. I guess you could watch it again but I doubt that it would have the same impact that makes the first watch enjoyable. Identity is a murder mystery about ten people that all end up stuck in a motel because of an incredibly heavy storm. As time passes the characters are murdered one by one, and of course panic ensues and John Cusack tries to figure out who has been killing everyone. There are clues to the twist if you’re looking for them, which I’m sure if you’re a thriller veteran you probably look out for without being told about their existence.

For recommendation, as I said earlier, if you like a thriller (especially psychological) you will most likely enjoy this film. This is because it has many of the common tropes that makes the genre what it is. The music is perfectly timed to get those jump scares out of you and the lighting works very well with the storm setting to create a very tense atmosphere. These two aspects in combination make for a very suitable atmosphere, especially if you watch it in the dark (as one should with ‘scary’ films). The storm setting lends itself very nicely to the film as it allows for a situation where lights will flicker, lightning bolts can light up just enough of the space, phone lines are out, etc. It adds to the tense atmosphere that pulls audiences into this kind of a film.

The performances are slightly irritating if I had to pick one thing out that doesn’t really work for me. It’s just very over the top, although it would probably be somewhat unbelievable if they did anything else. Some of the lines are kind of clunky and sound rather awkward. Overall the performance suits the piece but is very expected for that reason, none of the actor do a bad job it’s more a problem with specific lines that probably wouldn’t work no matter how amazing the actor.

Overall, a rather good film to just sit back and enjoy (not sure how correct that word is here). It makes you think as most mystery narratives do but isn’t too overly complicated that you can’t keep up and lose interest. Certainly not art and doesn’t do anything very outside of the genre it resides within. Although that makes it easy to recommend to people that like other psychological thrillers such as Shutter Island and the like.  

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Top Five Anime Recommendations!

Since October (I think) I have been caught in the wonderful spiral of doom that is anime. I love it, although I don't think that it is very surprising that I have fallen for anime because of my love for animation in general. Anyway, after having watched 20 different anime series I have decided on my top five anime recommendations during this moment in time. Let's Go!

#5 Erased
So moving, and heartbreaking but also heart saving. Plus, an amazing theme song that you will have in your head for days.

#4 Haikyu!!
Do you like volleyball? No. Well neither did I until I watched Haikyu!! Escape from your reality to a world where volleyball is the biggest thing in the world. Adorable characters and hot as hell characters that you will probably become very attached to. Plus there is three seasons so plenty to watch.

#3 Blue Exorcist
More adorable characters here but it's also touching and fantasy filled. If you like battles and adventure along side family ties and friendship development then Blue exorcist will be your jam, it's certainly mine. Plus the animation is just so beautifully done.

#2 Noragami
Introducing the cutest God you'll ever see. Yato, the stray God, is fun, silly and downright adorable. The story and relationships are touching and leave you wishing for more. Hopefully another season will be released soon after the ending of season two.

#1 Your Lie in April
Prepare the tissues in advance for a few of the episodes, moving to tears and leaving you feeling uber somber and thoughtful is what this anime will do. The animation is beautiful, the characters are developed so well and the narrative is so thoughtful and full of reality. You really forget that it's animated for a minute there, it's just perfect and so underrated!


Honourable Mentions:

• Attack on Titan
• Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood 
• Free! Iwatobi Swim Club
• Yuri!!! On Ice
• Food Wars
• Cowboy Bebop
• Magi

You can find all of these anime's on Crunchyroll and/or Netflix. You can use crunchyroll for free with just a few ad breaks during the episode. Piracy is such a big issue is anime, using a site like crunchyroll will help the next season of an anime became reality! 

(This is all my opinion, I am not being paid to say any of this)

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Nocturnal Animals (Ford, 2016)

What else could you expect from Tom Ford than something beautiful. The man knows what he is doing when it comes to making beautiful things, films being no exception to that. Nocturnal Animals tells two stories through a dual narrative set in different times and using different characters. The first narrative is from the point of view of Amy Adams, an artist that has issues sleeping. The dual narrative begins when her ex-husband sends her a manuscript of the book he has written and dedicated to her. The second narrative is that of the story the manuscript tells as Adams' character reads it.
The film is shocking and heartbreaking. Terrifying and satisfying. The stories combine so beautifully, the matching of imagery between the two narratives is incomparable. It leads the audience to believe something than immediately proves it false.
The performance of Jake Gyllenhaal specifically is mesmerising. Every time I watch a film starring this actor I fall more in love with the way that he performs and takes on his character. Gyllenhaal conveys such strong emotion throughout the entire film, sadly making the performance of Adams slightly less outstanding. However, I don't believe that is her fault, rather than how her character is. Her character is quite bland and unlikeable, which I do believe to be the point. As you feel sympathy for Gyllenhaal's character in both of the narratives even though in the first one he doesn't spend much time on screen.
Overall, this film is a master of cinematography and aesthetic. You know that this is a Tom Ford film if you have seen A Single Man, his only other film. Ford is about aesthetic, you only need to look at his design work to realise that. This film is beautiful, and should be watched by those that really appreciate film in a creative way.

Rating: 4.7 out of 5

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True Art

To me film is art. However, not all art is created equal. Anyone can create art with whatever means they choose, whether it be with a video camera, a pencil, a pen, paint, computer equipment, anyone can create art. True art however is something else entirely. True art is when you see it and are moved to feel emotion by whichever way it grabs your heart whether that be what it looks like, the meaning behind it or something it says to you that maybe only you can hear. True art speaks to you, although that same piece might not speak to the person sitting or standing next to you in the gallery. Art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. If you see it as art then it is art. True art moves the soul.

Film moves my soul more than any other art form. Literature and other more traditional concepts or art can also move me but not to the same level or on so many occasions as film does. Film, to me, is the truest art there is. It has the power to move to me tears on so many occasions. It reaches for my heart and refuses to let it go again. The most powerful is animation, animated film moves me to my very core. The films of Disney, Studio Ghibli, PIXAR nearly all have the power to move me to tears. However, few move me to a point where I just sit there afterwards and take it in. To name a few, Lilo and Stitch, Dumbo, Your Lie in April all move me to a point where I am unable to literally move from my seat or think about anything else, let alone watch anything else.

They move me to create my own art, they evoke emotion in me that few other things can. Film moves me to the point where I can't take it anymore. To the point where I hurt so badly that I can no longer stand watching it anymore (talking to you Dumbo). Maybe it's because they touch a raw nerve but I'm not entirely sure what they have in common apart from being animated. They make me think and feel the way that nothing else can. I believe that is the marking of true art, at least for me anyway.

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Anime revaltion

I have finally given in to the world of anime. I have always watched Studio Ghibli films but never really given into the world of anime series such as 'Attack on Titan', 'Death Note' etc. I decided to check out crunchy roll as that is apparently the best way to watch anime legally (and I refuse to watch things otherwise). I went for a genre that I new I would like, so went for romance. Scrolling down the title listing one particular anime caught my eye: 'My Little Monster'. Oh my gosh, I didn't know I would become hooked so quickly. You know you're past minor interest when you horrendously groan when the adverts come up on your screen. I didn't realise that I would get hooked so quickly, I thought I would enjoy it but I didn't realise that I would finish it within a few days during any free time I had that I wasn't asleep. I didn't even watch it when I was sleepy because I didn't want to miss a minute of this delightful programme.
From the character design (dear god, Haru is the cutest thing in the world) to their outright confessions of love that somewhat shocked me at first but you get used to it. I guess they just talk like that in anime. I love everything about it, and now I just need to find out if it was this specific anime or anime as a whole that I love. I have already begun watching my second anime, around 30 minutes after finishing 'My Little Monster'. (It's 'My lie in April' for anyone that is interested. So far so good, lets face it I'm already hooked.)
I don't know why I never gave in to anime, I mean it makes sense that I would entirely fall in love with it. I love animation and the art of animation, and really anime is just so beautiful its unreal. I love western animation, it is beautiful but in a different way. I don't think anime is anymore artistic than the animation Disney or PIXAR create. I hate it when people say it is because it's just different, not any more or less artistic just artistic in a different way. I look forward to my future anime adventures, woo!

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When you're down

I have compiled a list of films to watch when you are feeling down. Whether you want something to pick you up, let you escape or to get the tears out because lets face it, that always makes one feel better. Let's get started...

Number 1: Lilo and Stitch (2002)
This Disney film tells the tale of an alien called Stitch and a little earth girl called Lilo. It tells the story of how they help each other and those around them with their issues. This one is definitely going to get the those tears out, if it doesn't I don't understand your brain. However, after the multiple emotional teary moments it has an uplifting and very happy (yet still tearful) ending.

Number 2: The Lego Movie (2014)
It literally tells you that everything is awesome (try and tell me that you didn't sing that). This very funny film has punchy jokes, a killer song, and the voice of Morgan Freeman throughout most of it. How could it not lift you up when you're down?

Number 3: Say Anything (1989)
Absolute classic that will lift you and your expectations of men way way up. The story of blossoming young love between Lloyd and Dianne will let you escape whatever is going on in your life, even a hard break up believe it or not.

Number 4: Ghostbusters (1984)
Ok, if that song doesn't lift you up I don't know what will. It's just a fun film about a group of friends that run around NYC catching the ghosts that plague the city. A bit of romance is sprinkled in there among the the sarcasm and sliming to...I don't know, maybe because all films have a romance...I just like Bill Murray chasing Sigourney Weaver ok, it's funny.

Number 5: Back to The Future (all of them, the 1985, 1989, 1990)
The story of time travelling Marty McFly and Doc Brown as they go back and forth between past, present and future (although not anymore technically). This popular 80's franchise could lift me up from pretty much any funk I am going through in that moment, Marty is just so cute and it's just so funny, I love it.

Ok, so if you couldn't tell that I am literally in love with the 80's and so many of the films made in that decade then you clearly are blind and I apologise. Hopefully, this list will help lift you out of the funk you may have found yourself in. But y'know you could watch a majority of these films even when you aren't feeling funky, maybe leave out Lilo and Stitch (it's very sad in the middle but actually bring you down if you don't need to cry). Anyway, thanks for reading.

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Disney Favourites: Music

One of the best things about Disney movies is the music. I don't just mean the musical style Disney films like The Little Mermaid or Mulan but also the ones where nobody sings but there are still songs recorded specifically for the film like Bolt. This post is going to be all about my top ten favourite Disney songs, I would love to say it was 50/50 but it unfortunately is not.

• I Thought I Lost You - John Travolta & Miley Cyrus, from the 2008 animated feature Bolt
• I'll make a man out of you - Ensemble, from the 1998 animated feature Mulan
• Hakuna Matata - Ensemble, from the 1994 animated feature The Lion King
• Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride - Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu, from the 2002 animated feature Lilo and Stitch
• Just around the river bend - Judy Kuhn, from the 1995 animated feature Pocahontas
• I'm wishing/one song - Harry Stockwell & Adriana Caselotti, from 1937 the animated feature Snow white and the Seven dwarves
• A whole new world - Lea Salonga & Brad Kane, from the 1992 animated feature Aladdin
• Once upon a dream - Mary Costa & Bill Shirley, from the 1959 animated feature Sleeping Beauty
• So this is love - Ilene Woods & Mike Douglas, from the 1950 animated feature Cinderella 
• I see the light - Mandy Moore & Zachary Levi, from the 2011 animated feature Tangled

This list isn't in any specific order but would certainly have to be on my ultimate Disney playlist and in fact are on that playlist. I doubt that really surprises you if you have read any past blog posts of mine. Especially any Disney themed ones which are all linked below if you want to check those out. 

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