Big screen small screen

You lucky, lucky people. It's time for another film review post, with some television reviews thrown in for good measure. Bet you can't wait to get on with reading now? Then I shall begin. 

American Hustle
Once you get past the mouth gaping wide open at the utter state of Christian Bale and his spectacular beer belly and Bradley Cooper with a tight curly perm you can settle in and enjoy this very good film. There is much to enjoy. It's quite long but I didn't feel bored and kept the bum shuffling to a minimum which is generally a good sign that my attention is being held. It's hard to talk about the plot without giving too much away, so I won't in case you haven't seen it yet. But I would heartily recommend it. And not just for the amazing wardrobe of all the cast. I would say it is entirely worth it just for Jennifer Lawrence, who was apparently inspired by watching 'New Jersey Housewives' - who knew such a programme even existed?! This is definitely one of my recommendations. 

Gnomeo and Juliet
I have to admit that part of wanting to watch this was a little bit of revenge for the sports-fest that Wavey has indulged in over the holiday. Bloody BT 'kindly' making their 24 hour sport channels available to our tv package customers. You are indeed so kind BT (yes Sheldon, that was sarcasm). So chuckling silently from me we sat down to this film. It was awful. Truly. The only funny bit is the title. Not recommended, even for revenge purposes. 

Despicable Me
From one utterly crap animation to an amazing one! I'm pretty certain I started laughing right from the beginning and spent much of the rest of the film in that same state. Even Wavey had to admit that it was funny. Have I mentioned how much he doesn't like watching animation films? Very very clever and very very funny. I would highly recommend this to anyone really. I challenge anyone to not laugh at the Minions! 

Sightseers
Have you guessed that we've spent a lot of this holiday watching tv and films? It really has been incredibly indulgent. This is described as a dark black comedy, and indeedy it lived up to its name. It was dark and it was very funny. The basic premise is that two people go on a caravanning holiday and end up becoming mass murderers. This is not that surprising to me having endured several caravanning holidays, ask my parents about the squeaky sleeping bag, my Ma still gets a slightly murderous look in her eyes about it. This film also confirmed my long held suspicions that caravanning people are bordering on psychotic, it's just not normal...

The Blacklist
We had 4 pages of Ts recorded on our tv box. 4 pages! It seemed only right we started there in our mammoth holiday viewing. James Spader! Bald James Spader - so not right. The Blacklist however is very right. Oooh it was good! Right from episode 1 it gripped you, wham bam! Straight in, none of this building up to the story, oh ho no. Bring on the action! There was lots of running, explosions, car chases, intrigue, the list goes on. Right up my street. I immediately went and registered for the Never Miss list for Sky so that we don't miss this when series 2 starts. Can't wait! 

Top of the Lake
The name Jane Campion is generally not associated with light hearted stuff, and this wasn't at all light but it was extremely good. One of those series that is quietly good. We've had it on the box since August but I'm glad we watched it in the cold dark winter as it might have been a bit much for our sunny summer. Elisabeth Moss was a revelation in this, playing such a different character from her Mad Men role. Is she really a New Zealander? I should probably have checked IMDB before writing this. If not she did a very convincing accent. It's hard to say I liked this as a lot of it was very unpleasant viewing but it truly is worth it. It's bordering on an excellent which is high praise indeed. 

There's been all sorts of other viewing going on but this would go on forever and it's already quite long. I have big plans to see lots of films this year so stay tuned for more reviews! Who needs Empire magazine when you have me. Chuckles.