Top Five Prison / Prison Escape Films.

Hello Hello Hello.

Before I begin forcing my opinion down your throat I feel I must apologise for my tardiness as of late. I have been quite a busy lad as of late doing various bits and pieces to do with Awkward Cough and Theatre and Edinburgh Fringe Festival Things and this morning I watched "La Regle du Jeu" which (interesting fact for fans of fact) may well be the best flick that LoveFilm have been kind enough to allow me the loan of. Well worth a look.

Anyway, yes, due to my business as of late I feel I have neglected my Cinemazov duties. A fact Joe was all too quick to point out to me. So here I am decreeing that I will be a nicer and more efficient and frequent blogger. Right, let's get it on.

I dunno about y'all but I love a good film set in a prison. & I don't mean seedy explotation grindhouse "woman with large breasts in nazi prisons" films.

No Offense intended, Ilsa.

I mean hopeful redemptive one man against the corrupt faceless terrible prison system, triumph over adversity prison/prison escape films. The kind of film that "The Great Escape" is, y'know? Which, by the way, I haven't included in this list as it seemed a far too obvious choice (Plus I felt it served better as an example) and we all know it's awesome.

Review: In a Better World (Hævnen)

In a Better World won the 2011 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, so It's little surprise that it is a pretty great film. Like most films of its kind its best described through its themes of justice, revenge and well...bullies rather than a description of its plot. It's slow and thoughtful but never plodding or dull. The film splits its attention brilliantly between a medical outpost in Africa and a Danish town so I always found myself wanting to know what was going on in the other place instead of glancing down at my watch. It looks beautiful and the music is equally pleasent apart from a rather generic slide show at the end of the film.

5 Film Lines That Always Bring The Tears

We All Love A Good Cry

There are moments in the best of films that burrow deep into our minds and find the thing that truly moves us, and then presents those things to us in the most brilliantly executed manner. Then like any great scare in a horror film, all you need to see after the first viewing is that short line and you are welling up again. These are my favourites. There are spoilers here so please don't read unless you've seen it because these are five brilliant films and if you don't know them they will probably make no sense but end up ruining it for you, which wont be nice.

Review: Arrietty

It's the little things

You can't beat hand drawn animation. No matter how realistic your computer generated image is or how much the train conductor looks like Tom Hanks, you can't really compete with the beauty of Ghibli's animation. And that really comes across when seeing this new offering on the big screen. Along with some descent English dubbing and the humour that always accompanies tiny people with giant sugar cubes, Arrietty is the usual charming goodness from  team Ghibli.

Arrietty is The Borrowers (in fact many cinemas are calling it just that) Tiny people live under the floorboards of a house where a young boy with a heart condition is gathering some much needed rest before his impending risky operation. They hide themselves from us humans waiting until night to sneak into our homes and 'Borrow' the things we wont miss, like sugar cubes and tissues. The majority of the fun in this film comes from watching the tiny borrowers clamber around the shelves using string to rappel off cupboards.  

Olivia Colman (Peep Show, Hot Fuzz) Is brilliant as the panicky Mum of Arrietty constantly fretting about the humans and her daughter running off all the time. Geraldine McEwan (Miss Marple) is also great as Haru, she is a classic creepy Ghibli old lady and some of the noises she makes are making me laugh just now thinking of them. 

It's easy for kids to follow and endlessly beautiful to watch. Not really surprising that they have done it again and thanks to Pixar dropping the ball (again) with Cars 2, Oscar this year please?

JO

Brotherly Dispute:Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II (Part II)

   Before I begin let me make one thing clear, I am not, as has been suggested, a boring old fart or a killjoy, I am not someone who sees themselves as being ‘above’ films like Harry Potter. In short, I am not a snob. (I’m watching an episode of Thunderbirds as I write this.) The most confusing thing about the HP7.5 debate is that I liked Part one, it didn’t blow me away but as a non-potter fan it intrigued and excited me, it did something new and for that I was grateful and, most importantly of all, excited to see Part two. And a week or so ago I did just that. I went to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. My brain was open; I was ready to embrace the excitement and wonder of the finale of the greatest story about a scarred boy wizard that this world has ever seen. Alas, it was not to be. 

Brotherly Dispute:Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II (Part I)

Hello, my name is Joe, and I love Harry Potter. Let me be clear, the love I speak of is not for the written word but for the moving pictures. I remember the first time I saw the Philosopher’s Stone. It was in a tiny 50 person screen that was more like a projector set up in a living room than a cinema screen. It was noisy and there was clear excitement in the room as this was a premier screening (so we were all eager as all hell) When the lights went down just to show the adverts and trailers everyone was silent as if expecting the projectionist to just flip the film on to try and catch us off guard. When the BBFC certificate came on the screen many people cheered and one overly eager middle aged woman even whooped. And there it was, the first film. And that started me on the path of Potter love. I was too young to be reading the books myself so they would be read to me and I was easily distracted or sleepy, so as a result never really liked them. It was the films that really got me interested. Now older and somewhat wiser as far as filmic knowledge goes, I can see the bad in the early films. Don’t get me started on Emma Watson’s terribly over thought drama school acting and over-pronunciation. But I still enjoy them. I won’t go into the whys for the whole series because that would make this more an essay than an article. And after all I am here to defend this final instalment. However my first argument is about me and my opinion entirely. I am this films ideal customer. No real experience of the books and a love of the film. So the way I see it, if someone like that sees this new film and loves it, then it has done its job, entertaining its key audience. Of course this is not my main argument as that’s simply me saying “Well I liked it so I don’t care what you have to say” What is it that really makes this final instalment in the saga of Potter so good?

In addressing this film you’ve got to remember that it’s a split story. In the same way you can’t really talk about Return of the Jedi without having seen Empire Strikes Back, you can’t go on about Part Two without Part One. The first part of The Deathly Hallows is a very different beast in terms of pacing. It’s really a story of frustration and boredom than the final epic push that the second half is. When they announced that the last two films would be split in two, I was sceptical just like many others. “I’ve seen the book on shelves and it’s definitely shorter than the fourth and fifth so why does it need to be an extra two and a bit hours long?” I asked my sister, an avid hater of the films ever since she began courting the books way back in 1997, “Well” she began “They skipped out so much in the last six films that they are probably going to use this time to fill in all the necessary gaps.” That made a lot of sense to me and I realised this wasn’t all about the money but giving the series a proper send off. And in many ways that’s what Part One feels like, build up so we can appreciate Harry’s final battle. I think this is the first time I’ve really noticed how expertly the books have been translated into a screenplay. There is a clear and different mood to both films and while Dobby’s death was handled poorly toward the end of Part One, Voldemort finding the super-wand and pointing it to the skies with a classic Finnes roar is a perfect ending. And with it we are rewarded with a pure 2 hours of Hogwarts in Part two (Clearly just for nostalgic purposes, which works wonders) This second film is pretty much 2 hours of the three teen wizards bounding around all over the place finding a Horcrux every 20 minutes which is a refreshing change from the overly long camping trip in the first. I’m not saying the first was poorly paced, in fact I think this contrast just helps the second movie feel even faster and all the more desperate.

But there would be none of that emotion or desperation without a stellar cast which this film offers in spades. Ralph Finnes has always been a very ghostly and intensely creepy Voldemort but in this he offers up something very different, fear. You can really see that Voldemort is getting desperate and there is nothing more terrifying than a madman on the edge of the end. In fact I began to sympathise with him. I could almost understand his frustration and pain, I found myself hoping he would be granted some mercy at times, which was truly bizarre and brilliant. Then there is Michael Gambon who delivers a truly brilliant speech that would rival any political activist for the impression it makes. Radcliffe and Watson are solid as ever but you can’t talk about the cast without mentioning the best character of all, Snape. Alan Rickman has always offered an excellent performance as the brick wall to Harry’s exploits and has always made us doubt where he stands. But finally we discover why he is such a hard man to read and Rickman entirely takes this chance to shine. In a flashback of all things, we begin to feel like total crap for ever being mean to the guy and in a way making him the hero of the whole saga. One bad point though. Through some bad scripting, Rupert Grint (Ron) is truly lacklustre. A huge shame, as his performance in Part One was brilliant.

Even though war is a busy and commonly messy business this film manages to keep it beautifully clear and simple. And really simplicity is what makes the best kinds of media. Think of Pixar. Their films have simple ideas behind which is why they are so wonderful and flow so expertly. Harry Potter is a series that inspires simple child-like glee much like the Star Wars and Indiana Jones’ of this world. A clear cut good versus evil tale with epic set-pieces and charming characters.                                                               
                                                                                      JO

Welcome

Hello there! Well this is all very exciting, we finally got our stuff together and here it is, The Brothers Cinemazov : Brothers In Film (We Are Brothers) Film blog. We have a few features planned but mainly this is a blog for mine and Sam's view on films. Reviews of films old and new, lists like 'Best Films To Watch With A Cold' and brotherly disputes. I hope you all enjoy it and please tell your friends!!!

As a wise man once said "If you post it, they will come"