Due Date review

I hadn't really heard of this film before seeing it, but my boyfriend asked/made me.
The film is about high-strung father-to-be, Peter Highman, who is forced to hitch a ride with aspiring actor, Ethan Tremblay on a road trip in order to make it to his child's birth on time.
The story in itself is funny, but the actors playing the main characters truely add to the hilarity.
Peter Highman is played by Robert Downey who, I think, is a very underrated actor. Even though his character has the typical 'bad guy turns good' moment (an epiphany, if you will), the narrative, makes this moment flip upside down again, before regaining itself. He plays the up-tight business man part very well and has definately captured the feelings people would have towards a real-life Ethan Tremblay.
Before The Hangover, Zach Galifianakis had not played a big role, per-say. Therefore, you could say The Hangover has given Galifianakis a break-through. However, his character in the film has, in some way, set a strict boundary for him to only be able to play (only be seen as) the "stupid, funny guy", which is a real shame, as I'm sure he could do so much more than this, but he does play this part extremely well. Anyway, in this film, he definately plays a similar character to Alan in The Hangover, but adds much more to it and changes the aspects as much as he could with such a restricted role.
When looking at the director, Todd Phillips' other films, we can see he makes a lot of comedies (including The Hangover), which means he was able to keep the Alan-like character in this film, and we can also see what type of comedy he makes/enjoys by looking at his other films.
Overall, most reviews have given the film 7 out of 10 and, although the film is extremely funny, I think I agree with this rating. It is definately worth seeing at least once! There are plenty of incredibly funny moments and lines, so for a night-in with your mates, or just a night-in to yourself, this is definately a film to get you laughing!

So, to sum up:
- Good, funny story
- Great actors
- Laugh out loud, feel-good film, for a night-in and laughs
- 7 out of 10 (maybe even 7.5)
- Definately worth seeing AT LEAST once!

Let me know what you think of it if you see it :)

- Whatsername.

Film coursework part 1

Are you doing Film Studies A Level at the moment? A2 or AS?

I'm studying film A2 at the moment.
We are set two pieces of coursework.
The first part is to study and make a presentation to show the class.
Our options for these studies are:

• Auteur (director)
• Star/performer
• Genre
• Institution
• Social, political and cultural studies
• Technology

We must choose one of the areas and construct a question to base our study upon.

I chose Auteur.

My question is 'Hayao Miyazaki's auteur characteristics and his impact on animated film'.

<--------- Hayao Miyazaki :D

We need one focus film and two other main films to look at.

So I chose Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001) as my focus film

and Castle in the Sky (Miyazaki, 1986) and A Bug's Life (Lasseter, 1998) as my two other main films.

So... Hayao Miyazaki... Your thoughts?

Amazing director? Average? Or just pants?
Also, favourite Miyazaki and/or Studio Ghibli film?

- Whatsername.

Harry Potter books - post 1

This will be the first of many posts, I'm sure.
I am 18 now and only started reading these books about two months ago.
I didn't want to at first because I just wasn't interested, but then I really wanted to and, after seeing four of them in a charity shop for £1, I could hardly say no!

After reading the first one, I became hooked. My free time was (and still is) Harry Potter time.
I'm halway through The Half-Blood Prince at the moment...
So far the order of favourite to least favourite is:
1 - Prisoner of Azkaban
2 - Chamber of Secrets
3 - Order of the Phoenix
4 - Half-Blood Prince
5 - Goblet of Fire
6 - Philosopher's Stone

If you've read them, what do you think of them? And what order would you put them in?

- Whatsername.