August Watch List

1. Cheri

 Celebrating aged courtesans and their loves. Lea ( Michelle Pfeiffer) has a six year long relationship with Cheri, son of a fellow courtesan. He then marries another courtesan's daughter, arranged by his mother. She disappears to the coast to forget about him. This all happens within the first 20 minutes of the film. The rest of the film was just dragged out and took too long to reach an uneventful conclusion. Based on a novel I have a feeling it would be better to read it. The costumes are amazing though. 2/5

2. Zathura: A Space Adventure

As the poster says, its the same author as Jumanji and in the actual book the brothers who are the focus of this film and book appear at the end of Jumanji. Just like the game Jumanji, Zathura is found covered in dust in the basement of a very old house that looks like it hadn't been touched since the 50's. They play the game and things happen. The first major event being that the house is hurtled into space. But this isn't your average space environment, for one thing the house is partially destroyed and open but no one is affected and they can all breath perfectly. It was a fun film, if a bit limited, as there is only so much you can do in space, with children. No where near as amazing as Jumanji but still a fun film. 3/5

3. Land of the Lost

I saw this film while calming myself down. I was too tired to move off the sofa so ended up watching the whole film, unintentionally. I had avoided watching this film as I knew I wouldn't enjoy it. I was right I did not enjoy this film. I did actually care about any of the characters and I thought that most of the storyline was a massive cliche. There were too many elements to the film and yes I know its about the 'land of the lost' so random things are expected. It wasn't funny, it was unpleasant. 1/5

4. W.E

Directed by Madonna, that was the main pull. After all the bad reviews and talk I decided I should see this, especially as I liked the whole cast. The story seems very one sided, being told from Wallace Simpson's point of view through Wally, a neglected and lonely wife of wealthy British doctor in 1998. I am not 100% sure of the historical accuracy of the film but it was very impressive, especially for Madonna. I preferred the story set in 1998 as it felt more emotional and interesting. The story of Wallace and Edward has been told over and over it was interesting to see a fresh look on the famous love affair. But, it seemed to point fingers at how cold and mean the British were/are. The Royal family shunned Wallace and the British doctor is mean and hateful. Madonna tries to make us feel sorry for Wallace but I really didn't. She gave up everything? What? She had affairs and was a Nazi sympathizer. He gave up a Kingdom, that's far more. A good film but i can't ignore these flaws. 3/5
5. Delicacy

Audrey Tautou hasn't been this good since Amelie. This story is so beautiful and I'm saying that trying not to be cliche. Tautou's husband dies in a sudden accident and she shuts herself away for three years, concentrates on her work, then one day while thinking of her husband randomly kisses her co-worker, Markus. He is adorable in the way he wears big wooly jumpers, leads a simple life and is the nicest guy you've ever met. Gradually she starts to come out of her shell and becomes closer to Markus. The relationship is sweet but its everyone around them that can't understand why she chose him. Why not? That is the question. The film is so easy to watch, which each small event becoming a moment in their relationship where she slowly moves on in the right direction. 5/5

6. The Girl with the Pearl Earring

Finally saw the ending of this film after years of just seeing bits of it. I really thought this film was amazing and I actually thought Scarlett Johansson was more than decent in the title role. Seeing her transform into the painting was so entrancing I understand the long lingering shot, I couldn't tear my eyes away. The story was interesting and made me want to read the book to find out if I had missed anything. Straight forward biopics are becoming too predictable but to concentrate on a masterpiece resulted in a far richer film. 4/5

7. The Eagle

To be honest I only wanted to see this film because Jamie Bell was in it. The story is basic, Roman solider Marcus wants to redeem his family honour by crossing the wall and venturing into the North to find the lost Eagle of the Ninth. He does so with the help of British slave, Esca who he himself was a member of a Northern tribe. The many different tribes of the North are damn scary. With all the Romans putting on American acsents it felt like yet another 'damn the Brits' film, which is very dull. Jamie Bell was good though. 2/5
8. Brave

Like at Pixar films, this was awesome. I was intrigued by the story as I never heard of such a folk tale. The writers had created one from scratch using folklore and other tales which I really enjoyed. Choosing Scotland to be the setting was a welcome change too and I liked the all British and Scottish cast, that made all the difference. I love folk tales and fairy tales so this story just made me want to see more tales like it. I really hope that Disney and Pixar continue this type of story. Aside from the story which was also very funny, the actual animation was breath taking especially the scenery (and the heroine's hair). The montage of the heroine climbing cliff sides and roaming the hills was beautiful. Loved the film! 4/5

9. The Imposter

Doc of the month. This film was brilliant, it had me hooked from start to finish, the story took me over. There are many ways I can say it but that is how powerful this film was. Does anyone remember how engrossing 'Man on a Wire' was? Well this is just like that. It played out like a fictional film and kept you guessing about what actually happened to the real missing child. I don't want to ruin the story as its worth seeing it in full without people telling you bits about it. Just please go and watch it. 5/5

10. Young Adult

Charlize Theron's character is amazingly awful. She has indeed got older but never grew up. She is in denial about everything in her life and she belongs back in high school. She reminded me of a less humourous version of Cameron Diaz's character in Bad Teacher. When she goes back to her old town and sees people from her past it is obvious that she doesn't belong there and maybe never did. Unfortunately though there is no real ending, she does go through a brief transition near the end where she gives a big speech to an old high school, I'll say friend but he wasn't, but by morning she is back to being exactly how she was before. There was no progress. 2/5