Filmaholics Anonymous - My February Films

It's nearly the end of the month so I thought I should quickly sneak in my Filmaholic Review for the month. We were lucky enough to get to the cinema a few times and I rented a few films as well. This isn't all the films we watched this month, as I watch lots, but it is a good selection of them, and my little reviews of what I thought of each of them.

Les Misérables

 Well I finally got to see Les Miserables! I am a fan of anything musical wise, and although I haven't had the chance to see this on the stage yet I do already know a lot of the music, so I was pretty excited to see it. Jon isn't keen on musicals but agreed to see it after he chose the last film choice! 

I loved it! Seriously, it is absolutely brilliant. I was very surprised that some of the actors could actually sing. Russell Crowe, Huge Jackman and Anna Hathaway all surprised me, they all have pretty good voices, especially Anna Hathaway who really does justice to the role of Fantine. What I didn't realise is that it is literally all sung, yes it is a musical but there is usually sections of scripting, but in this there is none, everything is sung - that's the bit Jon wasn't so keen on.

I would advise everyone to see this, even if you don't like musicals, the story and acting is so powerful and emotional (I spent a large proportion teary eyed and full on blubbing at points, so take tissues ladies!) It's a total 5 out 5 stars!

Zero Dark Thirty

I didn't really know much about the story of this before hand, other than it was about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. It is all based on the real story line and is actually really interesting. It's like a war film without the actual war part, just behind the war really. Zero Dark Thirty is the time they raided the home of bin Laden and eventually killed him. It is all about how they eventually found him. It does get a little confusing and complicated in parts but is such a great film. There is scenes of torture in it though that are hard to watch at times, but I suppose they make the film more real and true to fact at the time. Jessica Chastain is superb in the role of Maya and deserves an award for her acting in this film. This is another 5 star film for me as I think it was so well done and is a film most will enjoy. 

Total Recall

I'm a fan of the original (even if it is cheesy as hell) so looked forward to seeing the more high tech, special effect filled new version of Total Recall. Well although the story is based on the original one it is very different. The special effects are great though, as are the fight scenes, chase scenes and the future technology. I'm not a big Colin Farrell fan, but I am a big Kate Beckinsale fan (or at least Jon is a massive Kate fan!!) But I was pleasantly surprised with how good the acting was. The classic funny parts from the original are still included though, which is nice, but Farrell is no Schwarzenegger. This is a great film if your into Sci-Fi stuff or any man against the machine/government type storyline. I would give it 4 stars, it's good but it didn't deserve the full 5 stars.

You can buy it on amazon.co.uk

Funny People

This was on TV this week, so thought I would watch it as I remembered the trailers but in all honesty I didn't love this film. Sandler is a comedian diagnosed with a life threatening illness who wants to better himself, and get back with an ex as her realises he hasn't become a nice person. Rogen plays an aspiring comedian who is asked to work for Sandler and befriend him, Mann is the ex he wants back. You can kinda guess where the story goes from there but I don't want to give anything much away. I just didn't feel that it had much of anything. Funny People just wasn't very funny so didn't feel like a comedy, but there wasn't enough drama to call it that either. It was just a bit blah! I like all the cast but just think the story and scripting were very weak. It could have been pushed a lot more and made a lot better. So only a 2 star really. If you do want to see it or do like it, you can buy it on amazon.co.uk

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion

How Do You Know?

I rented Romy and Michele's High School Reunion after reading about it on a article on Hubpages about great 90's chick flicks. And as a film buff I love to watch all sorts of films, I usually watch or rent girly films when I know I am going to have a whole evening to myself with Jon in work. I love Lisa Kudrow and any 90's chick flick is good in my books. This is silly and cheesy but totally what I expected. Not hilariously funny but still pretty good. They are 2 slightly dumb blondes who try to make themselves more successful to impress people at their High School Reunion but not everything goes to plan. It's cute, girly and totally 90's'tastic! 3 stars from me, I really enjoyed it but it isn't really that strong a film. Buy it on amazon.co.uk 

I rented this film as well for a little girly night in by myself while Jon was working late. Again this was another girly chick flick that I had yet to see, and with rentals like this only being 99p I enjoy trying out slightly random or unknown (to me) films. This one had a pretty decent cast so I had high hopes for it. Sadly it wasn't really that good, it was funny in parts, romantic in parts and thats about it! 2 men after the same women, but she is a little oblivious, but there is a slightly odd second storyline about business fraud that just doesn't seem to fit that well. The acting is all great as you would expect with a cast of veterans like this, so it is purely down to a blah storyline. I only give it a 2 out of 5 stars.

See How Do You Know on IMDB or buy it on amazon.co.uk 

I also started a little personal challenge blog for my fuller film reviews as I am aiming to review my entire DVD collection (and other films I see). Havent had time to make much of a start yet but I am hoping to crack on with it soon. It is called The Filmaholic Review and I would love for you to check it out

Anyone watched any new films this week? Any you think I should see?