Welcome to The Ink & Paint Club

From start to finish the night was amazing!

Whenever I hear of these amazing events set up and created by Future Cinema and Secret Cinema, I always wished I could go, especially as the last one was Ghostbusters, alas I didn't go. BUT, when I saw the above flashing all over Facebook, I HAD TO GO!

Luckily my friend is also a Roger Rabbit fan, so, for her birthday we took a trip to The Ink & Paint Club (like in the film). It was amazing, completely amazing. I had horrible journey getting there, but it was all forgotten when we walked down the shad street to the door, complete with Gorilla at the door and some shady looking characters hanging round the door. We even had to find out the password before the event, and it worked! We were let in. We entered as if it was backstage and walking through the dingy hallways it opened out to the most amazing art deco venue, The Troxy by name but that night it felt like we had walked out onto the film set. I was very impressed.

Unfortunately, due to me deciding to walk 30 minutes to the venue, we didn't get a table at the front, near to the stage which was complete with band stand and a very enthusiastic host, it was in full swing when we arrived and shown our seats, exactly like in the movies! Excuse my gushing but it looked amazing, my photographs did not do it justice. They were film characters dressed up walking around the hall, the weasels and we caught a glimpse of Roger Rabbit himself hiding under a table near the bar. I sampled a Toontastic cocktail, delicious and almost had one of the weasels serve us, very amusing.

Before the interactive show began, we were treated to the Valiant brothers doing a routine before Teddy had a piano dropped on him, Betty Boop showed us some moves and Jessica gave a very good performance. Just after this, a manic chase erupted involving everyone in the show chasing Roger around the entire venue. While all this happened, Judge Doom stalked the back rows, glaring at people.

During the film, characters came out of scenes and walked around the room, still part of the film. It was so much fun. Also I was treated to Micky Mac and Cheese, very good, especially after that long walk.

Cannot emphasise how much fun we all had at the show and it looked like everyone involved was having a blast. At the end of the film, all the characters were on stage dancing, they started pulling people on stage to join in. At this point, sadly it was time for me to depart this magical film and animated land. An amazing night, I will most definitely be adventuring to another event.

 #futurecinema   #RogerRabbit

We Like Sports

I am not a fan of sports films, usually, but I do have a short list of sports films I approve of. Sports films is a genre, whether I like it or not

All of the films lists are considered sports films, note, only one is football and there are no basketball or baseball films listed, for a massive reason.

Bend It Like Beckham (2002, Gurinder Chadha) - Football (not soccer) 

I can't escape this film, its from my youth and yes, it was good, for its time. People just look at this film now and call it cheesy or bad but they are and are wrong, it wasn't ground breaking but it was something that made people take a second glance at films made in the UK. I remember e-v-e-r-yone watching this and even buying it on VHS. Can't believe that in 2002 we were all still buying VHS tapes. I liked this story and it was genuinely funny. An outsider, fighting against convention succeeds in following her dream. A british film by a female directer, you have to support this rare occurrence.  And I think Keira Knightly should be very grateful for being cast in this film.

Whip It (2009, Drew Barrymore) - Roller Derby

Another film in the list directed by a woman, plus the amazing sport. I really got into watching the games or should I say bouts(?), I miss not seeing one every month, I still support my team though, the Steam Rollers from the London Roller Girls league. The film is a perfect mix of derby appreciation, friendship and I have to say this, female empowerment. This sport, solely belongs to women. Having seen so many games live, the films really does capture the energy and excitement of the game. I don't feel this with any other sport.

Rush (2013, Ron Howard) - Formula One Driving

Unlike the other films in the list, this film is based on two real life drivers, James Hunt and Niki Lauda and their rivalry. I am a huge fan of Daniel Bruhl (played Lauda) and and I was intrigued by the story and I actually didn't know the outcome, as I am not familiar with formula one driving history. It was brilliantly acted and I really got into the races that were shown in full. I mention more about the film in my Watch List comments.

Kingpin (1996, The Farrelly Brothers) - Bowling

A film not talked about that often, happened upon it when I saw it in the sale. I like Woody Harrelson, I love Bill Murray and I really wanted to see Randy Quaid play a Amish bowler. The story of a talented bowler (Harrelson) who is tricked by an evil rival (Murray) ends up losing his bowling hand and years later seeks revenge in a competion with the help of the Amish. Both Murray and Harrelson, as their older selves have terrible comb overs, and get really violent when playing, so the hair is everywhere. As well as bowling, we got ourselves a hair off people! Its a hidden gem.

Goon (2011, Michael Dowse) - Ice Hockey

This film was a surprise to me. I thought it was just a 'dumb' movie with Sean William Scott, but, as I said in my comments in my Watch list, the film was so much more. The central character, Doug (the thug) is unbelievably sweet and a great team player. I actually liked the look of the sport, a contact sport, like Roller Derby. It has a great story a guy who comes from nowhere to be apart of a failing team, only to bring it up to the top, again similar to Whip It. It may look like any generic sport movie but it feels a lot simpler and there is a heart in Doug's character.

Day at the Races (1937, Sam Wood) - Horse Racing

Horse racing doesn't always have to be the Seabiscuit story over again, it can be about the Marx brother trying to delay a race so their horse, High Hate can race. First time I saw this film, I laughed so much I cried, I could not stop. My family had the same reaction too. I would have thought this was a comedy rather than a sport film so I suppose this is a cross over, a bit like King Pin. To be honest this film is less about the actual competing and more about the characters and the comedy, thats all I can say. Just watch this film.

Inked

Both my sister and I finally got those tattoos we were talking about. My first, her second.

I have wanted a tattoo for literally years but have either been too scared or just not had enough money due to being in and out of work. But, now, no excuses. My sister had talked for ages about about getting a second done and I had thought about the illustration for ages. I tried a few locations on my person as well as changing the size. I decided, as you can see, left arm, bigger size.

We were recommended a place in Twickenham, home town, Tattoo UK and we both had our tattoos done by the very talented, Ben. I was slightly worried at the start and said I wouldn't look. Ben assured me that some people find it better to look. I said if I looked I would start to panic.

Behold, Smaug, the dragon or Little Smaug as my sister has called him. Any major (cool) nerds out there will recognise it from the original illustrations from JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit. I love Middle Earth, one of my favourite childhood books and I love dragons.

And my sister's, who designed her own. She does love triangles.

I admit it was painful but not as bad as I thought. I am sporting a bruise on my elbow crease so it may look painful but it isn't. Both our tattoos are doing nicely, just can't wait until its finally all healed up. 

After tattoos and discussions about scabbing, we went and had tea at my favourite place in Richmond, The Tea Box. We scoffed down some sandwiches and the most amazing scones and enjoyed a delicious cup of Lychee Red tea. When we left the shop, my sister said I was walking slowly, even though the fact my arm was sore didn't actually effect my legs!

An most excellent Saturday I'd say, tea and tattoos.

He Was The Master

Its not very often that a great actor leaves us, especially one like Phillip Seymour Hoffman. His sudden death was a shock indeed. I found out he had died just as I was leaving the office to run to the cinema.

I know everyone and everywhere in the film world is paying tribute to the great actor but I just wanted to write something, even if it was a short something. He is/was one of my favourite actors and I think its such a sad event to see him go.

I think Little White Lies said it best, posting a photograph of the actor with just 'The Master' above him.

Here are mu chosen Top 5 performances (not in any order) by Phillip Seymour Hoffman:

1. The Master - Lancaster Dodd

Playing a cult leader, similar but not exact to the likes of L. Ron Hubbard, PSH portrays 'the master' as, at first a sincere person who becomes arrogant and too indulgent due to his celebrity status. This film was over looked and not seen by enough people, but PSH was nominated for awards for his brilliant performance.

2. Before The Devil Knows You're Dead - Andy

Not sure how if that many people saw or even remember this family drama that turns sour. PSH played Andy, a business man who has run out of money, his marriage is falling apart so he turn to his brother, Ethan Hawke, for help in a crime against their own parents.

3.The Big Lebowski - Brandt

Of course this role is in my top 5, its a Coen classic. But this role shows just how impressive PSH is/was. He makes a supporting characters someone to remember, plus he is hilarious.

4.Capote - Truman Capote

This role won him his Oscar and recognition as one of the modern greats. Perfecting the role of real life writer, Truman Capote, PSH didn't seem like an obvious choice for the role but he's just too darn good this had to be in the top 5 and I am guessing everyone else's.

5.Magnolia - Phil Parma

Again, not the main character, not the main centre of attention, but the scenes between Phil and Earl Partridge are brilliant. He doesn't under play the part, its a quiet part of the film that I find most memorable, raining frogs and William H Macy's story aside.

And a special mention for Twister where he played Dustin 'Dusty' Davis (1:03) where he uttered the words 'Food!' and I quoted forever after.

Creating something is all about problem-solving.
Philip Seymour Hoffman 


#PhilipSeymourHoffman #Film #Cinema #TheMaster #Capote #Magnolia #TheBigLebowski #Twister

January: Film List

1. Elysium - maybe

The film was ok. Amazing idea but just an ok story and its mainly for one reason. Why can't the hero or as it started off in this film, the anti hero, just be out to save himself. Why does there always have to be a woman he used to know involved? And why does this woman always have to have a child, who is sick or dying? By the way these aren't spoilers, you find these things out in the first few minutes of the film. The idea behind the annoying characters is brilliant, two societies, the wealthy who live in space on Elysium, run by a corrupt government and the those who live in poverty and constant sickness on Earth. The film sold to me on the grounds that Max, the 'hero' of the story was dying of radiation sickness and had days to live. Once notorious criminal, he uses his past connections to get to Elysium to use their machines that can cure literally anything. But then the woman and child gets involved and I started to lose interest in the plot, I started rooting for the evil Jodie Foster and her crazy accent on Elysium. Its worth a watch, besides it has Sharlto Copley in it, its worth watching the film just for him. 3/5

2. Pacific Rim - maybe

If you have seen the Honest Trailers trailer for this film then you know exactly what to expect, big robots fighting big monsters. The original trailers said this, the poster screams this, basically, the film does exactly what it says on the tin. There is a sort of story about one pilot who loses his brother, the other pilot and its about him coping with his grief then he is asked to come back and fight. But the action sequences take up most of the film, and the fight scenes are good but long. The basic plot line is, monsters from another dimension emerge every few months at first from the beneath the Pacific ocean and attack cities, the attacks become more frequent so Earth builds giant robots to fight back, these are piloted by two people who have to be 'drift compatible' meaning they have to share minds. I suppose its just a fun action film with science fiction thrown in. 3/5

3. Admission - maybe

Love Tina Fey so when I saw this for very cheap in HMV, home it went. Typical set up. Tina Fey plays an Admissions Officer for Princeton College. She has been living with a professor from the college for years and live a quiet unexciting existence, this is until Paul Rudd shows up. he runs a progressive school, where the children are taught how to make things, like shelters and how to look after animals. He tells her that one of his students, the only interested in attending college, is her son. From there, the film snowballs, things get worse then hopefully but ultimately I felt that the film had too many negative ending points. It needed at least one lose end to be positive. Still, a funny film featuring a very awesome and funny lady and Lily Tomlin who was hilarious. 3/5

4. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - HIT

This film was far more than I expected it to be. It made me want to travel to Greenland and Iceland, the landscapes are amazing. Walter Mitty is a quiet guy who works at world famous (actually real) magazine called LIFE, that actually did shut down in 2000. He takes care of all the negatives, the photographs and has built up a friendship with famous photojournalist Sean O'Connell through his work that he sends to the magazine. Walter is shy and has a crush on temp worker Cheryl. After the magazines plans to turn to digital everyone is under threat of losing their jobs. The managers have decided to have the cover of the magazine be Sean O'Connell's photo but its missing. This spurs Mitty on to search for Sean and the missing negative. It is such an inspiring film, with mixture of daydreams and reality that doesn't come across as tacky or annoying and well thought out and feels right. I was surprised to see that Ben Stiller not only stars as Mitty but also directed, I think I can give Stiller a lot more credit than I had in the past. 4/5


5. 47 Ronin - maybe

Based on Japanese folk tales and legends, it looks spectacular but the story, woe the story. The film was ok but it could have been a whole lot better. All the Japanese and Asian actors were great, wish they could have just spoken in their own language, it would have made the film more authentic. I know most will question the presence of Keanu Reeves but unfortunately he has a sort of annoying purpose and the ending is unbelievably ridiculous and I don't mean foolish, I mean tragic. There are some good fight scenes and the costumes are beautiful but as I said the story lacks drive and there is little passion in the narrative that in some parts, makes it difficult to care. This film could have been so much better. 2/5

6. August: Osage County - HIT

I didn't realise this was originally a play until 10 minutes in. It felt like there was too much dysfunction for it not to be. Family doesn't gather without the purpose of certain truths coming to light, starting with the funeral of a character who makes such an impression yet is only in the film a few minutes. Based on the play of the same name by Tracy Letts who also wrote the screenplay for the film. The Weston family gather at the home of Violet, the domineering, loud foul mouthed mother of three daughters, Ivy, Barbara and Karen. Bervery, their father has died, suspected suicide, and the family including Violet's sister, Mattie Fae and her husband Charles come for the funeral. Truths are found out, chaos ensues and ultimately, most of the families' lives are ruined. A brilliant film, I would have liked to se it on stage. 4/5

7. American Hustle - HIT

This film was brilliant. The story, the cast, the clothes, it was worthy of all those nominations and wins. I don't want to ruin this film in any way because I think it's a film you have to see for yourself, plus its too complicated to sum up in a paragraph. Christian Bale and Amy Adams are two con artists, small scams but get caught by an arrogant FBI agent who is too eager to move up in the ranks. He forces them to set up an elaborate operation to trap corrupt politicians in order to gain their own freedom. The con artists are a team but things almost all go wrong due to Jennifer Lawrence's character, the wife of Bale's. She hilarious but awful, truly awful. She uses her young son who is adored by Bale's character, as leverage. Its a con artist, drama about trust and knowing who you are. 5/5

8. Blue is the Warmest Colour - maybe

I had heard so much about this film, all the controversy about the director abusing his actors, such as forcing them to do certain scenes and such. I'm sure everyone had heard of the controversy about it being a love story, a lesbian love story. It's just a love story from its beginning to its middle and then after that (trying not to ruin anything). I'm glad I saw it as I wanted to see what the fuss was about, it did win the Palm d'Or at Cannes Film Festival and that's a pretty big deal. But, this film was 3 hours, way too long for a film like this. Too long. There were so many scenes that needed a serious edit or could have been cut out. The two leads were very good, especially during a fight scene, they both were impressive, even if one did annoy me throughout the film, she never closed her mouth. It was a good realistic love story and never want to see it again. 3/5


#Film #Cinema #Videorental #WatchList #Elysium #Admission #TinaFey #PacificRim #WalterMitty #AmericanHustle #Blueisthewarmestcolur 

Magic Is In The Air And The Studio

Its been open a while now and I admit I only really liked the 3rd and 4th films but hey, we all read the books when we were younger and we all secretly want to go see the studio.

This week I went to the Warner Brothers Studios, the Harry Potter studio tour to be exact and it was great day out!

Going to the studio reminded me of all those days out I went on when I was a child and with my family. There were quite a few families on our tour going round together. It was a mixture of tourists and families, unfortunately school groups and small groups of friends. It sort of reminded me of the exhibition of the Lord of the Rings films at the Science Museum.

It was very exciting walking onto some of the sets and looking at how each prop was made, really fascinating. I even had a go at the broomstick ride across London in front of green screen. Very uncomfortable but seeing as I knew I would buy the video or photo (too expensive) I went all out, going crazy and over the top on the broom. It was exciting wearing the cloaks too.

I was really bold over by the artwork. There was a cabinet full of the graphics created for the films, including posters, the Daily Prophet newspaper and the wizard magazine, The Quibbler. My friend and I had our noses pressed up against the glass, starring eagerly at the Marauder's Map. The coveted prize in the middle of the cabinet. We both said;

'this is what I wish was in the gift shop, we'll take this please'.

Not giving any secrets away but you get to see some major sets, such as The Great Hall, Griffindor rooms, the Potions Classroom and you actually get to wonder around, a little bit, in Dumbledore's office. The back lot has a few sets but I was most excited about the Knight bus, triple decker purple bus. Most of things I got excited about were from my favourite book in the series and favourite film, The Prisoner of Azkaban. Had my photo on it, like you do. then we enjoyed something I'm sure all people who read Harry Potter, a cup of Butterbeer and it was delicious.

After the cold outside, we wondered through the creature workshops and on to another highlight for me, Diagon Alley. The shops were all set up and if only we could have gone in to each of them. Again I just wanted to buy the set, one of those sets that you would want to live in.

After the alley it was some the most spectacular concept artwork on display. I really wished there had been some postcards of the art on sale in the shop but alas, nothing.

The tour ended on a definite high note. After being able to stare at the scale model of Hogwarts and explore it through interactive computers, we were all lead into Ollivander's Wand shop, where a very jolly and Harry Potter film expert welcomed everyone. All the wands had names on them, and we were told that each box represents a member of the cast or crew, there were 4,000 boxes. Very impressive. It was a fantastic end to the easy going tour.

I'm not the biggest Potter fan and I had a great time, I highly recommend going along to have a look round. If you love films and want to take in the splendour of British film crews' work, go visit the studios.