My 15 Favourite Films (In No Particular Order)

So here are my top 15 favourite films. They're grouped by genre, but most of which are 'hybrid' multi-genre films, though. But I decided to group these into their main genres. I didn't quite realise how difficult it would be to think of fifteen films I liked enough to call my 'favourite', -some of which are childhood favourites- so I based it on films that I was happy to watch again and again. Although some of the films I would otherwise be 'ashamed' to say were my personal favourites, they are and I decided to include them. In the end I picked these:

DRAMA:

Memoirs of a Geisha, 2005, Director: Rob Marshall, Distributed By: Columbia Pictures, 

GENRE: DRAMA/ROMANCE

The Blind Side, 2009, Director: John Lee Hancock, Distributed by: Warner Bros,

GENRE: DRAMA

FANTASY:

Avatar, 2009, Director: James Cameron, Distributed by: 20^th Century Fox, 

GENRE: SCI-FI/FANTASY

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2005, Director: Mike Newell, Distributed by: Warner Bros, 

GENRE: FANTASY/FAMILY/ADVENTURE

Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 1971, Director: Mel Stuart, Distributed by: Paramount Pictures, GENRE: FAMILY/FANTASY/MUSICAL

Matilda, 1996, Director: Danny DeVito, Distributed by: TriStar Pictures, 

GENRE: FAMILY/FANTASY/COMEDY

Bruce Almighty, 2003, Director: Tom Shadyac, Distributed by: Universal Pictures, 

GENRE: COMEDY/FANTASY

CULT:

Fight Club, 1999, Director: David Fincher, Distributed by: 20^th Century Fox, 

GENRE: CULT

ACTION:

Inception, 2010, Director: Christopher Nolan, Distributed by: Warner Bros, 

GENRE: ACTION/ADVENTURE/SCI-FI

The Dark Knight, 2008, Director: Christopher Nolan, Distributed by: Warner Bros, 

GENRE: SUPERHERO/ACTION/CRIME/THRILLER

X-Men, 2000, Director: Bryan Singer, Distributed by: 20^th Century Fox & Marvel Entertainment, 

GENRE: ACTION/ADVENTURE/SCI-FI

Wanted, 2008, Director: Timur Bekmambetov, Distributed by: Universal Pictures, 

GENRE: ACTION/CRIME/THRILLER

COMEDY:

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, 2004, Director: Adam McKay, Distributed by: Dreamworks Pictures, GENRE: COMEDY/ROMANCE

ROM-COM:

The Proposal, 2009, Director: Anne Fletcher, Distributed by: Touchstone Pictures, 

GENRE:  ROM-COM/DRAMA(-according to IMDB)

ANIMATION:

Toy Story, 1995, Director: John Lasseter, Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures, GENRE:      ANIMATION/FAMILY/COMEDY

Normally I would say that my favourite genre is probably fantasy/Sci-Fi, by this list it seems I have a wide-range of favourite genres, which is probably a good thing.

-Lauren

Fright Night - Film Review

With the current trend for remakes, the 1985 teenage-horror ‘Fright Night’ has had a re-vamp. Should they have bothered?

The film is cleverly set on the outskirts of Las Vegas where the inhabitants work the Strip at night and sleep in the day which provides a prime location for a vampire to dwell.

The editing was cleverly done to create a good mix of suspense and tension with at least one scene where they intended to make the audience jump.

The performances made the film. Colin Farrell brought a slick, charming allure to his character Jerry and that he could be both the nice neighbour and menacing vampire. David Tennant was refreshing and full of humour as the Magician Peter Vincent, although a likeness to Russell Brand sprung to mind. Anton Yelchin’s Charley, the suburban teenager was medicocre but felt this was due to the way the character was written. I failed to connect with him and I cared more about whether Peter Vincent would live rather than Charley himself.

The 3D effects were feeble. The shots were all set from one-angle, and for the most part, the glasses were unnecessary. This effect also made the film so dark that in some scenes, you were straining to see. I recall only two or three shots where the 3D was noticeably used.  These were poor especially with the blood predictably shooting out of the screen.  

If you want to watch a cheesy vampire movie, you won’t be disappointed in Fright Night.