The Day I Correctly (this may be subject to change) Predicted the Oscar Results

Ok i failed at the reviewing thing, my bad, i apologise  etc etc
But onto the main event
shortly before the awards begin which i wont get to watch as i have to get up very early tomorrow (like eight o'clock!) i shall use my mystical powers to guess... i mean correctly foresee the results to the academy awards in the main categories of Best Film and the acting awards.

Best Actor - Colin Firth for The King's Speech (lets face it its kind of the shoe in)

Best Supporting Actor - Christian Bale for The Fighter (i would love Jeremy Renner to win though)

Best Actress - Natalie Portman for Black Swan (see Colin Firth)

Best Supporting Actress - Hardest one to predict in my opinion, Hailee Steinfield for True Grit would be my choice but its kind of cheating to put her in this category as she was clearly the lead character in front of both Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon

Best Director - David Fincher for The Social Network, the fact that Christopher Nolan for Inception was looked over in this category is a (excuse me) effin crime against humanity.

Best Animated Film - Toy Story 3 (i won't be wrong)

Best Film - The Social Network (i really really want Inception to win but it won't happen, and lets face it people kinda got all obsessed over this Facebook flick, it will deserve it if it wins don't get me wrong, its a bloody great film)

The Day I realised I failed miserably at doing what I set out to do

If you're reading this then you may realise my promise to review the films nominated for best picture at the academy awards has fallen flat on it's figurative face. But there is no time for that!

It's time for a rant my friends, basically being forced to pay ridiculous train prices in order to get home, I found myself having a first class train ticket being cheaper than the standard counterpart.

Now that I have experienced both standard and first class I can say one thing. Rich people do not waste your money! I don't know what my expectations were going into first class but in all honesty it was no different from standard, you got the same selection of food from the trolley, the same seats, the tables were the same size I mean I don't get it, where does all the extra money go.

Next time national rail i want to see fireworks and a personal butler goddammit, I wish to be treated like royalty rather than spend the whole journey trying to avoid eye contact with the rather peculiar man sitting opposite me .

The Day I Reviewed 127 Hours

Danny Boyle’s latest outing after his runaway success that was Slumdog Millionaire follows the story of Aron Ralston, a mountain climber who (SPOILER) has to cut off his own arm after a hiking accident. Now it’s debatable how much of this is a spoiler as even with just a small passing knowledge of the film the horrific event is already spoiled.

Now do NOT let this deter you from seeing this film. Danny Boyle does a fantastic job at directing a film that at its core is about one man trapped under a rock for the majority of the films 94 minute running time. This is done through the excellent technique of using flash backs and hallucinations to portray what is going through the mind of the trapped hiker.

Ralston is played by James Franco, known mainly as his role as Harry Osbourn in the Spiderman films and the loveable stoner Saul Silver in Pineapple Express. Here he takes on the role of the somewhat doomed mountain climber, and he holds the film together with a really great performance. Talking to the audience through the medium of his portable camera which acts as a way for him to record, what he sometimes believes is his goodbye message.

This technique is a very good way at getting the audience to connect and empathise with the character, allowing us to see every subtle facial movement as he realises more and more what he may have to do to escape, or indeed that he may not make it out at all. The entire film is not filmed like this though; it sports some great shots of the mountainous area including some great sequences as the small crack in which Aron is trapped is lit by the sunrise.

If you were being very picky you could say the supporting cast is clearly overshadowed by its main performer. However that is a very big stretch, as this film is driven by its brilliant central character, and you find yourself willing him to escape, almost as desperate as he is to see him get out of that canyon.

Now back to the issue of the amputation, if you dislike disturbing scenes you better steel yourself before you go to see this film, as said though do NOT be put off by that. The scene in itself is brilliantly done, convincingly acted by Franco and excellently shot by Danny Boyle, it is an extreme assault on the senses, the imagery and the sound almost make you uncomfortable much in the same way that the last scene of Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for the Dream is. It demands your attention and as horrifying as it is, you can’t help but stare at it.

This is a very well polished film, and should be recommended to anyone who hasn’t seen it. It combines all of the elements needed to make a great film, acting, direction, musical score and effects to create a heart-warming, moving, tense and sometimes weirdly enough, funny story of one man’s desperate fight to survive.

An all round 5 star film.

The Day I (more like just after midnight) thought of something for the blog

Being a film nerd makes me happy, I honestly think they are the greatest form of entertainment, closely followed by music. So after seeing True Grit at the cinema and then watching The Social Network on DVD I thought, because the Oscars are coming very soon, in about eleven days I believe, I would write a review about each of the films nominated for Best Picture.

Unfortunately I have not seen every single film nominated (disgraceful I know) I have seen however most of them, so the only films I shall not be able to write a review for is Winter's Bone and The Kids are All Right. I shall write something about them once I get round to seeing them however.

Just before the awards are given out I'm going to say which films I think/hope will win, along with best actor/actress awards according to which of the films I've seen.

I'll be trying to get a review up every day/couple of days so that they are all up before the awards come out. The normal daily routine posts will still be going up, this is just a side thing that I want to do.

The Day I Saw True Grit

Today, or more specifically to be honest, tonight, i saw True Grit, the new film from the Coen Brothers, which you may know from a little film called No Country for Old Men.

I shall just tell you that it was freaking awesome, it was Jeff Bridges running around shooting the hell out of the wild west. Can you ask for much more than that? I think not.

Now what else did i get up to today? Ah yes now i remember, i managed in my infinite wisdom to book my train journey home for the weekend on the same day as my flat mates birthday, and i will be back in lovely London for her birthday party as well. Hopefully i don't look like to much of a jerk.

As for the rest of my evening i shall do what any true geek should do in these situations. Play Computer Games!

To save you all from my random ramblings (and some really bad alliteration) i shall depart, hope you all had a pleasant day after Valentines day, if you didn't i'm sorry, but there really isn't much i can do about it now is there.