Robert Zemeckis, No Country for Old Men and Slumdog Millionaire

Hey, I'm Phill. I'm 18 years old from Liverpool and enjoys watching films regularly. This is my blog which includes reviews and thoughts on a variety of films such as Nightcrawler and Big. Here is a link to my Twitter <- Please click to be linked to my personal Twitter account!


Robert Zemeckis


Robert Zemeckis is an incredibly successful figure in the film industry. He is the man responsible for the Back To The Future series, Forrest Gump and also Cast Away. All of these films are highly successful and also famous internationally especially Forrest Gump. I personally had never heard of him until I was researching on IMDB. It was interesting to discover that the maker of all those great films that I have seen was unknown to me. This also demonstrates how often the directors of films do not get a great deal of credit in comparison to the actors. Actors are always the more well-known as they are the ones often being advertised to promote the films. When in reality its the director whom has the hardest job due to him deciding on everything about it. He is hugely talented in film making and doesn't get as much credit as the likes of Spielberg. Forrest Gump is an incredible film, as are the Back To The Future series and Cast Away. It is beneficial now that I am aware of who he is as I can use him for future reference when watching films as seeing his name will encourage me to watch a film more, knowing that its been directed by him. The picture in the top left hand corner is Robert Zemeckis (left) and Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (right) this is the bench that features in the 'Life is like a box of chocolates scene'!
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No Country For Old Men

I watched No Country For Old Men on the weekend, after seeing the trailer and hearing about the film it inspired me to watch it. The film has little dialogue, which I believe suits the film as the main character is often very lonely in the film. The acting from the antagonist played by Javier Bardem was excellent, his actions and also little dialogue shown to the audience how dangerous he was, which was vital for the storyline, as the main character of the film could never escape this man. In addition the acting from the main character played by Josh Brolin was also good, as despite him having such a huge bounty on his head, the character showed his bravery which led the audience into a false sense of security as we would expect him to survive, and in actual fact he doesen't which also shows how dangerous the antagonist is in the film. I would certainly recommended it as it is evidently a good film with a solidly structured storyline. It also received an 8.1/10 on IMDB which is considerably high. Also it received an oscar in 2007, which shows that the film is worth watching.

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Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire was directed by Danny Boyle and at the time of its release (2008) the film received a tonne of praise and also gained a huge amount of attention. At the time the film was receiving a large number of 5 star ratings and was hugely popular when released. However when I watched it I believe that the film was overhyped. I agree it is quite a good film, but not worthy of the hype it received. Especially knowing that The Dark Knight was released the same year, which I believe is on another level. Yes it is arguable as they are completely different in terms of storyline, I just found Slumdog Millionaire to be an over hyped film for what it was. This film is also an oscar winner, which is yet again debatable as in my opinion The Dark Knight was a much better film. The first 17 days of the films release, it had a gross of £10.24 million in the UK alone, which clearly shows how popular the film was.

IMDB also shows the huge difference in films between The Dark Knight and Slumdog Millionaire as the Batman epic received 9.0 where as Slumdog received 8.0, this is a huge difference in rating and also supports my opinion as I think that Slumdog was not worthy of an Oscar.

Kajaki and Nightcrawler

Kajaki - A true story.

Kajaki is a British war film about the warfare in Afghanistan. The film revolves around a company who were set up in a camp in Kajaki which is apart of Helmand Province. They encounter a problem once they get trapped in a valley, surrounded by IED's, they try to radio helicopter support but this only strengthens the problem. The film's level of Britishness is immeadiately displayed, the strong British accents of the soldiers comes across from minute one of the film. You see the strong bond and relationship the Platoon have with eachother, joking around trying to get through each day and maintain positive during a dangerous and difficult time. The film received various 5 star ratings and a solid 7.2/10 on iMDB. In my opinion it is a very good film, the fact that it is based upon a true story really shocks you, as the film certainly does not hold back on gore and blood & the film is often gruesome. If you are squeamish then I would give this a miss, but it is refreshing to finally watch a British war film. As these days the majority are American with huge funding for promotion and advertisement where as this film seems to have went under the radar. Perhaps due to lower budget, or the fact that the British film industry is minor compared to America, and not even the biggest in Europe.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nightcrawler - Jake Gylenhaal

Nightcrawler is a film released  in 2014, the main character of the film is Louis Bloom (played by Jake Gylenhaal) who is a Citizen journalist, he arrives on crime scenes and films them, then makes money and gains popularity off of his filmings until he makes his own news company. In the film he is arguably the protagonist and antagonist at the same time, Louis is a very creepy and almost psychotic character - he shows little emotion, and will do anything necessary to get what he wants. I think this is a fantastic film, with a very structured storyline and hard to predict. The acting from Jake Gylenhaal is sensational and in my opinion Oscar deserving. Louis is such a mysterious character, and the ending comes as a huge shock. Needless to say Dan Gilroy has done an exceptional job of both writing and directing the film, he is also responsible for The Bourne Legacy released in 2012. The film has received a 7.9 on iMDB, and an average review score of 8.2 on Rotten Tomatoes, I wasn't sure what to expect with this film, and I was pleasantly surprised as just how good it actually is.

One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, Captain Phillips and Apocalypse Now

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' was a film I felt as if I should watch. After Jack Nicholsons incredible acting in The Shining, watching this film was a 'no brainer' to me. Although the film is nearly 40 years old the picture quality was excellent considering the time it was made. However the Blu-Ray disc is probably the reason why. I truly didn't know that much about the film before watching it, I only knew that it was highly rated on IMDB (8.8!) and that it had something to do with a mental institute. That being said ; the storyline was easy to follow. I thought the film was excellent, at first I was a bit apprehensive, but when it got further in it got better. Needless to say that Jack Nicholson done a great job acting as the main character. The storyline was solid throughout and included twists. The antagonist of the film was a Nurse who worked in the institute and Louise Fletcher done a great job of acting as her, she came across as such a horrible person to the audience, which is what the director wanted us to feel to support the main character (Jack Nicholson) I would recommend
this film as it I have never seen a film like it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Captain Phillips
I talked about this film in one of my previous posts stating that I wanted to watch it, well I did watch it and it was quite a good film. It is quite a slow paced film in terms of action, but this is due to it being based on a true story. Tom Hanks once again done a great job of acting and it was crucial for the director to get a good actor for the main character to show what the persons reactions were like as if it was real life. An 8.1 on IMDB is high, especially for a critical website. If I was to judge what it got beforehand I would have said a 7.5 this is because although it is a good film, it is slow paced and not a great deal happens. This is down to the true story it portrays. I did think it was a good film, and am glad I watched it, but thought it would be slightly better than what it was.




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Apocalypse Now
This film is one of the highest rated war films to date and with it being directed by the maker of The Godfather, you expect it to be good. I love Vietnam war films, and war films in general like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, and I watched this film after I seen those. I did enjoy the film, but the last half an hour or so was where the film went downhill for me. I found it totally irrelevant and strange and I felt like it let the film down. I had high expectations for the film and I did enjoy it right up until the last half an hour, and I was disappointed with this, as I felt it could have been a lot better if it stayed on the path that it did previous. Although I have this annoyance with the film, other peoples and critics opinions seem to differ as IMDB gave this a whopping 8.5 and Rotten Tomatoes having an average rating of 8.9!! This ending to the film must be enjoyed by many viewers if it gets such a high rating as the ending is a huge part of the film.

The famous 'Charlie Don't Surf' scene <-------

The Hunger Games : Catching Fire, Platoon and Big

The Hunger Games : Catching Fire
So the new Hunger Games is just around the corner with less than 3 weeks until its released at cinemas in America. This time the director is not Gary Ross whom was responsible for the first film and who was also responsible for Big. It is now Francis Lawrence who was responsible for the big blockbuster I Am Legend. This means that pressure is on for Francis to deliver an even better film than the first, which will be difficult to achieve seen as though the first receiving such high praise. I personally enjoyed the first film, I even went to the cinema to watch it because of the high popularity it had at the time and also the various 4 and 5 stars it received. Therefore the new addition to the film series no doubt has caught my attention and I will look forward to its release. That being said Francis Lawrence has a difficult job of picking up the story line and carrying it on. The fans of the books of The Hunger Games will already know what to predict within the story line due to the Catching Fire book being released in 2009.


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Platoon
Platoon is a film that I really enjoyed, from the start to the finish it's a film I will always look back on as being one of my favourite war films. Charlie Sheen was the main character in the film and he done a great job of it in my opinion. Other actors include Willem Dafoe (Spiderman) and Tom Bergener (Inception) and the acting was really good in the film, Willem Dafoe played Elias who was a very likable character, which is a huge contrast to what Tom Bergener was in the film. I have watched quite a few war films, and I've got to say this is definitely one of it not my favourite. It's certainly worth a watch regardless of my opinion because it got a credible 8.1 from IMDB. The scene in which Elias is killed is really emotional and was a great scene from the director as it was hard-hitting to the audience, the music also perfectly fitted the scene as it was very slow and quite a upsetting song which matches the scene perfectly (Adagio for Strings)

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Big (Tom Hanks)
Big is a classic comedy/fantasy film from the 80's. It will always be remembered as being a great family film to watch because it is so entertaining. It is about a boy that wishes to be big at a wish machine at a classic American amusement park and he literally turns into an adult overnight. The film is easy to watch and entertaining due to its simplistic story line which is easy to follow. This means that the film is suited at a huge audience as you can watch this film and relax without having to pay too much attention from the story line. I personally loved this film and is yet another great performance by Tom Hanks. Seeing him recently on the Jonathan Ross show reliving the classic piano scene from the film was great and really made you realise how simple yet great the film was. However due to its simplistic story line IMDB gave this a mediocre 7.2, which can be argued as harsh by many people due to the film being so enjoyable.

The Counselor, Indiana Jones and Scarface

The Counselor

The Counselor has recently been released to cinemas. Considering it was written by the writer of Oscar winning 'No Country For Old Men' you'd expect higher than a mere 6.0 from iMDB. That being said, you can almost predetermine that the film could be mediocre due to the amount of quite famous actors/actresses in it like Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz & Penelope Cruz. This amount of big actors and actresses can often determine a film being bad. Examples of this are Expendables, which has hugely successful actors in it, but its a really mediocre film. This is a simple tactic from the directors as the actors who appear in the film are almost being used as bait to hook audiences in to watch the film, regardless of its reviews.

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The Indiana Jones Series!


Who doesn't like the adventure epic Indiana Jones series? The adrenaline filled adventures, the likable characters, storyline that just doesen't get old.. Or does it? I am a big fan of the Indiana Jones films, it doesen't come as a surprise that it's made by Spielberg. However, I believe that the latest addition to the series came as a bit of a letdown. From epic to average, its a disappointment to see arguably the finale of the series to come as a letdown. Although it was average, film sequels are often worse than the original film, take Die Hard for instance, Die Hard 4.0 was a disgrace of a film. That being said, the Indiana Jones series will always have a good reputation, and is certainly a film worth watching!!

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Scarface .


Scarface, a classic gangster film from the 80's. Directed by Brian De Palma, the man also responsible for other big gangster films such as Untouchables and Carlitos Way.  Scarface is such a great film in my opinion, using Al Pacino to play Tony Montana was essential for this film, he fits the part perfectly and did an excellent of acting as the Cuban immigrant. Scarface has things you would expect in a typical gangster film : Money, greed, guns, gore and women. Tony Montana in the film is a Cuban immigrant who takes over a big drug cartel, eventually he succumbs to greed and this leads to his death. Throughout the film there are memorable parts such as the chainsaw scene, the hot tub scene ''I don't need nobody'' and of course ; the 'Say Hello To My Little Friend' scene, due to the film having such famous and memorable scene it shows its worth a watch and anyone interested in good gangster films, you need to watch this.

'Stolen' film directed by Simon West, The Goonies and Law Abiding Citizen

'Stolen' is an action film directed by Simon West. The main character is played by Nicolas Cage who is quite a controversial actor. Basically the film is about the 'best' bank-robber in America that has his daughter stolen by one of the people who was involved in a bank robbery in which Nicolas Cage got caught in. The arch enemy of the film takes his daughter hostage, demanding $10 million of his share. Nicolas Cage obviously attempts to get his daughter back, and also attempts to get the $10 million. To be honest I thought it was a mediocre action film, some good parts, but quite far fetched. It has received quite poor reviews from iMDB and Rotten Tomatoes and it cost $35 million to make.






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The Goonies
The Goonies is a film that I really love. I watched it when I was younger and thoroughly enjoyed it. I just love the adventurous aspect to the film, along with the humour and characters. The characters play a big role in the film as if they wasn't likable the film would simply not work. 'Mikey' in the film is played by Sean Astin who also starred in the Lord of The Rings films. He is the main character of the film but this does not matter too much as all of the characters such as Chunk (Jeff Cohen) and Mouth (Corey Feldman) are equally as likeable. Especially Chunk, who is famous from the film for the 'Truffle Shuffle'. Due to the characters being so likable and each having their different qualities, it makes the film far more enjoyable. I think the actors who were in 'The Goonies' done a great job and acted well together. Unfortunately there hasn't been a new Goonies made, although speculation was made about the 1985's versions kids making a new one. Maybe its for the best, as a new film with different actors often just doesen't work. A key example of this is Home Alone 3, where Macaulay Culkin did not appear in.


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Law Abiding Citizen
Law Abiding Citizen is a film directed by F. Gary Gray and is about a man that decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer, but also the direct attorney and others involved in the deal. The main character of the film is played by Gerard Butler. I believe the film is great, unexpected moments often shown in the film. It is gorey, but is a great film in general. However it got quite a low score of 7.3 on iMDB which I believe does not do this film justice. The film cost $53 million to make and was released in October 16th 2009.