What I'm watching

Hi all, this tumblr mainly exists as a way of tracking all the movies I've been watching and some of the initial thoughts, and general feelings, I've had about them.

5/5 - Fantastic movies; movies which need to be seen and enjoyed by everyone.

4/5 - Movies which are very good but don’t have that spark which compels you to make others watch them as well.

3/5 - Average movies; watchable and enjoyable, but nothing which elevates them higher. The baseline all movies are given before watching.

2/5 - Can be watched but really bland and forgettable.

1/5 - Minimal to no reason to watch these films. It may have some redeeming factors e.g. it’s so bad it’s good or there’s one character that’s awesome enough to make it not a total waste of time.

0/5- Total waste of time. Nothing redeemable about these films.

As with every review blog/site, this is all my own personal opinion so feel free to take everything with a grain of salt.

Also I'm Scottish so all reviews will be in UK English. Get used to theatre, colour and words ending in -ised.

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Top 10 Films for February, 2011 (Excluding re-watched films) Total Watched this month: 29 (21 new) North By Northwest 5/5 Rear Window 5/5 Roman Holiday 5/5 The Fighter 4/5 Percy Jackson & the Olympians:The Lightning Thief 4/5 Frankenstein 3/5 Super Troopers 3/5 Sabrina (Original) 3/5 Hachi: A Dog’s Tale 3/5 Invictus 3/5

Top 10 Films for February, 2011 (Excluding re-watched films)

Total Watched this month: 29 (21 new)

North By Northwest 5/5

Rear Window 5/5

Roman Holiday 5/5

The Fighter 4/5

Percy Jackson & the Olympians:The Lightning Thief 4/5

Frankenstein 3/5

Super Troopers 3/5

Sabrina (Original) 3/5

Hachi: A Dog’s Tale 3/5

Invictus 3/5

#55 Sabrina (Remake) Ugly duckling Sabrina (Julia Ormond) heads off to Paris and returns a beautiful swan, attracting the attention of the man she’s been smitten with for years, David Larrabee (Greg Kinnear), and sparking the interest of his workaholic older brother, Linus Larrabee (Harrison Ford). This remake surpasses the original film in several ways but it also falls short of it in just as many. Julia Ormond is a much better fit for the ‘ugly’ Sabrina when she’s supposed to be shy and unnoticed by everyone. The costume, makeup and hair makes her a lot more plain than she normally is. This was lacking from the original as Audrey Hepburn was still Audrey Hepburn just wearing frumpy clothing. Conversely when it was time to be the beautiful Sabrina, Hepburn was great. She was sure of herself, quick witted and she was a lot more fun. Ormond is still playing her mainly as shy for most of the film which is more realistic I imagine, but it took something away from the character. William Holden and Greg Kinnear were on about the same level in the role of David and I felt the mother in this version was as interesting a character as the father had been in the previous. Sabrina’s father is more interesting in the newer version and we’re given more interactions with him and the rest of the staff than we had before. Between Ford and Humphrey Bogart, I think I preferred Bogart more. Bogart was a little hard to read emotionally but he always has a kinda dry sense of humour playing throughout the role. Ford just looked bored for the entire film. Compared to the original it doesn’t seem as good, but as a stand alone film i’d give it a 2.5/5 Also look out for a young Paul Giamatti as one of the kitchen staff and Lauren Holly as David’s fiance.

#55 Sabrina (Remake)

Ugly duckling Sabrina (Julia Ormond) heads off to Paris and returns a beautiful swan, attracting the attention of the man she’s been smitten with for years, David Larrabee (Greg Kinnear), and sparking the interest of his workaholic older brother, Linus Larrabee (Harrison Ford).

This remake surpasses the original film in several ways but it also falls short of it in just as many.

Julia Ormond is a much better fit for the ‘ugly’ Sabrina when she’s supposed to be shy and unnoticed by everyone. The costume, makeup and hair makes her a lot more plain than she normally is. This was lacking from the original as Audrey Hepburn was still Audrey Hepburn just wearing frumpy clothing.

Conversely when it was time to be the beautiful Sabrina, Hepburn was great. She was sure of herself, quick witted and she was a lot more fun. Ormond is still playing her mainly as shy for most of the film which is more realistic I imagine, but it took something away from the character.

William Holden and Greg Kinnear were on about the same level in the role of David and I felt the mother in this version was as interesting a character as the father had been in the previous. Sabrina’s father is more interesting in the newer version and we’re given more interactions with him and the rest of the staff than we had before.

Between Ford and Humphrey Bogart, I think I preferred Bogart more. Bogart was a little hard to read emotionally but he always has a kinda dry sense of humour playing throughout the role. Ford just looked bored for the entire film.

Compared to the original it doesn’t seem as good, but as a stand alone film i’d give it a 2.5/5

Also look out for a young Paul Giamatti as one of the kitchen staff and Lauren Holly as David’s fiance.

#50 Sabrina (Original) Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn) is the chauffeur’s daughter but ends up having to decide between the advances of both brothers from the family her father serves, Linus (Humphrey Bogart) and David (William Holden). This was the first I was seeing Hepburn in a film and it’s clear to see why she is still mentioned to this day. She is very pretty and acts well with the role she is given. She doesn’t really fit the younger more childish version of Sabrina she plays at the beginning of the film but once she returns from Paris she is great in the role. Bogart feels a little weird in this film. I’ve seen him do romance well but because he has to play the straight man to his brothers and Sabrina’s more outgoing nature he comes off as a little stiff and boring compared to the rest of the film. It’s also hard to tell right up until the end if he actually does care for Sabrina or if he’s just trying to get rid of her to make sure a business deal is going to go through. There are some good laughs but the film does feel like it’s dated a little 3/5 I did find it funny that Pokemon 2000 (the second (dubbed) movie) had taken a joke from this film. I was laughing more at that in the beginning of the film than anything else.

#50 Sabrina (Original)

Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn) is the chauffeur’s daughter but ends up having to decide between the advances of both brothers from the family her father serves, Linus (Humphrey Bogart) and David (William Holden).

This was the first I was seeing Hepburn in a film and it’s clear to see why she is still mentioned to this day. She is very pretty and acts well with the role she is given. She doesn’t really fit the younger more childish version of Sabrina she plays at the beginning of the film but once she returns from Paris she is great in the role.

Bogart feels a little weird in this film. I’ve seen him do romance well but because he has to play the straight man to his brothers and Sabrina’s more outgoing nature he comes off as a little stiff and boring compared to the rest of the film. It’s also hard to tell right up until the end if he actually does care for Sabrina or if he’s just trying to get rid of her to make sure a business deal is going to go through.

There are some good laughs but the film does feel like it’s dated a little 3/5

I did find it funny that Pokemon 2000 (the second (dubbed) movie) had taken a joke from this film. I was laughing more at that in the beginning of the film than anything else.