Goodbye

.....for now

I am writing this post as a brief goodbye from the blogspot world. I am still a massive film lover but my passions are slightly different now and I feel the need to work on my poetry and manuscript. I have worked so hard on it and I need to put all my energy into that for the time being.

I will keep this blog live as I am sure I will return.

I still review films but instead I review them on London Greek Radio - 103.3fm

I have now put together an online portfolio that reflects my full personality and interests in one place and I would like any readers of my blog to take a look and hopefully, enjoy that one too:

Trisha's Portfolio

In the time I have been on blogspot, I have hit nearly 30,000 views and I thank everyone who took the time to have a look at my stuff. However some things do come to an end and I feel less is more in many respects. So with this aspect closing and my poetry enhancing, I hope to have some poetry books on the horizon ready for publishing!

Female Crush #2

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Penelope Cruz is another one of my crushes, she is beautiful and a talented actress. One of my favourite films she is in is Captain Corelli's Mandolin (playing Pelagia - a Greek name meaning 'Of the sea' that I love) as this is based on the island of Kefalonia which I visited at the age of 16. She has a lot of grace and emotion in her acting and I find her extremely moving.

Female Crush #1



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Although her acting was occasionally suspect in Transformers - she is stunning and I have always respected her in interviews and other 'real life' aspects, she is honest, bold and quite frankly, misunderstood. Worthy of my first female crush post!

What a Geek

I am officially the geekiest owner of all of Leonardo DiCaprio's films - from Critters 3 to J.Edgar! As soon as the new films come out I am sure I will own them too! Unhealthy I know but I am sure all of you have obsessions too!

Some Festive Films...

As promised, I am just going to post some good family films to watch around this time of year! This is a great time for all the family to get together and below are some of my favourites:

And some classics...

Also I have been recently introduced to...

And finally a couple I have never seen but would like to...

Enjoy and let me know your favourites!

Christmas Spirit

It's already nearly that time of year. The lights and trees have gone up and been meticulously decorated, parents are frantically buying presents already, the stores are rammed full of eager shoppers and the Christmas films are already starting to air on TV.

I love this time of year. It is full of generosity and hope for a new beginning, whether you take this with a religious undertone or just the start of a new year on the horizon.

This is one of my favourite months because of the excellent TV viewing, from Christmas films to the re-runs of old shows, everything goes on in the anticipation of people on their Christmas holidays and as with any festive season, I will always attempt to provide some options for viewing.

I tend to put down my favourite films in the hope people either agree or consider a new or different film they may not have ever watched. This time I will also provide films that I am keen to watch that have been recommended to me by others.

I will post shortly :)

Happy Halloween

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The time has come and below are a couple of MUST SEE films tonight! Whether you are going to a party in fancy dress or trick or treating (hopefully just the kids doing this haha) you should definitely find some time to stick on a scary film and get those goosebumps going! Get the popcorn ready, and don't forget the answer to the very important question...

What's your favourite scary movie?

All of the franchise should be watched, especially Halloween H20 (below)

All of the Scream films should be watched including the newest instalment

To be honest, around this time of year, any horror film can be watched and enjoyed. The above just happen to be my favourites but below are some other classics that can give you all a good scare!

Enjoy :)

Trick 'r Treat (2007)

I was having a little look online for some interesting films I could watch around this spooky time of year and I cam across this film Trick 'r Treat, written and directed by Michael Dougherty. It includes four Halloween focused stories which interweave to create one. They all feature Sam, a Trick or Treater who teaches all why we shouldn't break the Halloween traditions.

As soon as I saw the images for this film I thought it looked quite creepy and even though it isn't recent, it is new to me so I will be watching this!

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Let me know in the comments section if you have seen this film and your rating as this would be good to know! I will also give my feedback shortly.

A Few Family Films...

Halloween is a time to trick or treat but also to spend some time with those at home watching some good films! Below are some clips/trailers from the films I think are a must see for all the family around this time of year!


Hocus Pocus (1993)

Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Funnily enough these two great family films (both PG)were made the same year and they are both funny and creepy but enjoyable for any age! I have watched both every year since I can remember and I still enjoy them thoroughly.

2 for 1

The Possession (15)

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Director: Ole Bornedale

Cast: Natasha Calis (Em), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Clyde)

Rating: 6/10

Another demon possession film...this time based on a young girl who becomes possessed...sound familiar? Yes this storyline has been exhausted so why use your hard earned money to take a trip to the cinema to watch this latest edition of possession films?

Well firstly, the plot regarding the yard sale and the Jewish demon box that hoards evil spirits is quite interesting, the way it tries to find innocent minds to lure them into a friendship, manipulate them and eventually become them is a slight twist on the other humdrum films. I like that element and the acting of young Natasha Calis is worth a watch regardless as she is menacing and creepy while maintaining a likeable and innocent aura.

Secondly there are some genuinely creepy moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat, mainly watching Em’s violent outbursts and discovering what is actually inside her but in general the film does have a very similar outline to that of The Exorcist and The Exorcism of Emily Rose and I would say the second of those films is slightly more scary than this film. The only other downfall to this film is the slightly silly ending. I always find if you see too much, the mystery is over. That can be said for any paranormal/horror films. They always take it too far and spoil the initial suspense and fear.

I would say watch this film if this is your kind of genre as having the cinema atmosphere does make it a little scarier but it does have a familiar format with a few new twists.

Lawless (18)

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Director: John Hillcoat

Cast: Tom Hardy (Forrest Bondurant) Shia Lebeouf (Jack Bondurant) Guy Pearce (Charlie Rakes)

Rating: 9.5/10

Well what can I say - Shia Lebeouf and Tom Hardy in one film....thumbs up just from the casting! I did really enjoy this film purely for the thrill factor of manly violence! The film focuses on the three Bondurant brothers who have a reputation for being invincible and it is all about their perils in the illegal alcohol business during the Depression-era.

A crooked police officer (Charlie Rakes) is after their shares and will go to any extreme to either put them out of business or take it for himself. Pearce plays this slimy character with great conviction and he leaves you with a bitter taste of disgust from his very mannerisms to the low-life violent acts he commits.

What I love about this film is the brothers’ loyalty and tough nature. The two eldest brothers show Jack tough love to help make him a man as at first he really cannot handle himself and is not really worthy of the invincible tagline the brothers seem to have developed as a reputation.

Hardy is the real star here showing a side to a lawless villain that most don’t see. At first you would assume his lifestyle is unsavoury (which it is) but you would associate a negative persona with this but he is in fact a caring and protective sort who has just chosen a different path to go down during hard times.

To be fair many seem to have chosen the same path in this lucrative business but with less profit and fear factor. He is violent but only when necessary and knows how to look after himself. He is a fair character who doesn’t want his brother (Jack) to be in the business at first, other than as the ignorant driver but eventually has to ease him in after he discovers his business and his brother’s well being is at stake. He is a survivor and seems to find himself escaping death on more than one occasion.

Charlie underestimates the brothers as well as their influence on the locals. He feels he is above the law as he has them wrapped round his little finger but it is in fact the Bondurant Brothers who eventually stand up to him and take back the towns dignity. There really is a sense of mutual relief and victory when they all take a stand against Charlie which is what everyone wants in a film - someone to hate and see purged ensuring justice is served!

Overall this film has everything you could want - action, a touch of comedy and a hint of romance. Excellent acting and some very poignant scenes that really reflect the calibre of acting for this new generation of Class A actors! A must see in my view and it definitely deserves the 18 rating!

Some Not-So-Recent Films

While I was away on holiday, I watched a few films that were quite good. They are more teenage type films but they were still good nonetheless so I thought I would just give a very brief insight into them just in case anyone is interested!

When I watched them, it was a lazy day, a movie marathon day (the best of days!).

Beastly (2011)

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Starring: Alex Pettyfer (Kyle), Vanessa Hudgens (Lindy), Mary-Kate Olsen (Kendra)

Quick Review: This film is a take on the Disney film Beauty and the Beast and with all its downfalls (being a bit cheesy and some questionable acting) it has some touching and funny moments. It's one of those guilty pleasures that you watch and don't tell anyone (Damn....). Pettyfer is weirdly likeable even when he is acting like a douche and Hudgens is the kind of girl everyone would want to be. Olsen is the only real disappointment for me being too typically a-typical but other than that, if you don't take it too seriously it's a nice Sunday afternoon family film.

Rating: 5/10

The Jerk Theory (2009)




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Starring: Josh Henderson (Adam), Jenna Dewan-Tatum (Molly)

Quick Review: Really fun rom com about a boy that decides to act like a jerk to get girls since being nice got him nowhere until he meets the one girl who doesnt fall for his act! Henderson is charming (and gorgeous) and Dewan-Tatum is beautiful and annoyingly perfect! The real gem of the film is the relationship between Adam and his friends, they are quirky and funny - proving that geeks can be cool! I laughed and enjoyed this film but I could'nt rate it higher as it is very predictable. But I did cry at the end.... (what is wrong with me?)

Rating: 6.5/10


The Pact (2012)

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Starring: Caity Lotz (Annie), Casper Van Dien (Bill Creek)

Quick Review: A good twist to a paranormal type horror as it is quite unexpected. It's a little slow going at first but there are some genuinely creepy moments. I am not sure if it is scarier in the cinema or at home but I have an inkling (without spoiling the twist) that watching it at home would be worse! The acting is good but there are some unexplained elements to the film as well as the name not being very fitting to the plot. Other than that, it is quite a good movie!

Rating: 6/10

Until next time movie lovers...

I'm Baaaaaack

I am back from holiday, back to work and back to reviewing! I am so excited to be back home (how sad?) and to catch up on all my extra-curricular activities haha!

My holiday was amazing, I loved Napa this year and I met so many interesting people. Limassol was great, my favourite club was Drops Beach Bar and I even enjoyed their karaoke night (in Greek - haha). I personally found Castle Club to be the best this year in Napa, went there the most and I finally went to an after party - River Reggae, although I do not recommend walking there after four hours of straight dancing!

My favourite songs from this holiday have to be:

 

I have already posted a new poem on FluidLanguage, check it out it's called 'For You, My Enemy' I will soon be hitting the blogging hard with some new Quick Reviews to catch up on some of the films I saw while I was away but as they are not recent features, I will just be giving a quick insight into the films to see if they are something my readers want to try watching! Below are some photos from my holiday (if you are interested) and I look forward to getting back on track!

Update

I have been slacking on some of my film posts. My passions are writing, poetry and films and I have had more time to focus on my poetry lately and due to work constraints haven't had the time to get down to the cinema as often as I would like to.

I am off on holiday for 3 weeks to sunny Cyprus, my homeland so I will not be posting for a while and I certainly won't get the chance to see all the films I want to :(

However in the meantime I would like to point you in the right direction for film reviews - Unparallelled Reflection. I work with this team on Fluid Language and they have branched out into film reviewing so it would be great support for them if I pass on their site to some of my loyal readers.

I will be back on track with watching the most recent films and reviewing once I am back from my holiday and I look forward to doing so! It has been far too long!

The Dark Knight Rises - TRAILER

From the trailer alone I can see this film is going to be amazing! I love Christian Bale as Batman (I think he is one of the best) but there are some new additions that can make this even better! Anne Hathaway stars as Catwoman but more importantly the sexy Tom Hardy as Bane. Hardy is really choosing his films well and I can't wait to see him as a villain! The last time he was featured as one of the villains, it was in Batman and Robin (1997) which was more of a comedy version of this much loved comic and it also featured Mr Freeze and Poison Ivy. Funnily enough I actually enjoyed this film as a child but now, I prefer the more serious and dark take on the mysterious Batman. I look forward to seeing this and reviewing it as soon as I can. I still have The Pact and The Chernobyl Diaries to review. Sorry for the delay but I will get these up shortly!

Somewhere in Time (1980)

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Starring: Christopher Reeve (Richard Collier), Jane Seymour (Elise McKenna)

I finally watched Somewhere in Time (1980). My God sister told me about it after we had another discussion regarding my favourite film - Titanic. I love romance and films that emphasise an element of destiny and fate so she told me about this film that had the same effect on her as Titanic has on me.

Last night we sat down (no phones allowed being the rule, as my God sister insisted I watch it with my full attention, when I broke this rule I was snapped back into my place with a quick 'this part is important!' LOL) and I got to grips with this time travelling romance film that mind f*@ked me to the extreme!

Firstly I was struck by the beginning of the film, an elderly woman approached Richard (Christopher Reeve) at his opening night of his play and she hauntingly captured the rooms attention. She took his hand and put an old pocket watch in it, she closed his hand and whispered 'Come back to me'. It honestly sent a chill down my spine (even though my God sister had re-enacted this scene for me previously with much passion) and was a great way to set the scene and get the questions running through your mind.

Richard is a playwright and had his opening night of his play at the theatre near the Grand Hotel where he visited some eight years after this encounter with the old woman. He was drawn to this place and later he found out why. He comes across an old photo hanging in the Hall of History and is mesmerised by the woman in the photo. Her beauty is apparent but he is not sure why he is so obsessed with her.

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Eventually he discovers that the old woman that gave him the pocket watch was in fact the woman in this photo, Elise McKenna who was a famous actress and had stayed at that hotel in 1912. He became engrossed in the notion that he had known this woman on a deeper level and researched her life and came across a book regarding time travelling from his college professor in her belongings.

He then tries to do the impossible by attempting to travel back in time to 1912 when he discovered he had signed in to the visitor's log book at the exact same hotel almost 60 years earlier.

The poignant thing in this film is the fact that he does meet this woman and they have a whirlwind romance but he inevitably has to return to the future, where he came from. The trick was not to remember the future and to completely immerse himself in the past in order to stay with Elise, his true love. They both fell for each other which is why they were heartbroken when Richard disappeared after finding a 1979 coin in the pocket of his suit, reminding him of the future and dragging him back against his will.

The trip back to the future completely drained him, he was heartbroken at the fact that in his future, Elise was now dead but in her past, he was not able to stay because he was reminded of his future (confusing I know). The point is, they were in love and meant to be but living in two different eras and only able to be together through the form of time travel, star crossed lovers if you will.

The film really does boggle the mind as you think to yourself, did he try and go into the past originally to find her because she gave him the watch? He must of given her the watch before in order for her to find him in the future to give it back to him. He then went back to find her again but she could not warn him of what would make him remember his future as she did not know he would have forgotten the modern coin in his pocket.

Now I understand, this is one complicated explanation of a film and trust me, I am having a hard time getting my words right to explain this film but that is the beauty of it. The viewer has to build up their own perception of how Richard's time travelling idea came about in the first place and why he could never go back to her again. It is a very subjective film that leaves many debates and opinions open for discussion.

The fact is, they both died of a broken heart, they were both born in the wrong era destined to be with each other but fate was too cruel to enable them to be with each other. They experienced a short-lived romance that lasted them a life-time and that to me is the greatest love story.

This is a must see just for the sake of trying to figure out my review of this film LOL. I hope I have been as clear as possible but it truly is a worthwhile film for any hopeless romantics out there! The acting is fantastic and Christopher Reeve really is a likable character and easy to watch on screen for the entirety of the film while Jane Seymour is as captivating and beautiful as ever.

Rating: 8.5

Trailers Galore!

I have been to the cinema lately and noticed some good films are coming out! However I doubt I will be able to see all of them, I thought I would post the trailers to see what my readers think. If you have seen any of them yet, please comment below and let me know what you recommend!

Knowing me, I will still make the time to see them on the big screen but just in case, I would love some feedback and thought the trailers would be a nice edition to my blog to prep for my reviews.

So in case you haven't had the chance to check out the previews at the cinema, here are some trailers to get you in the film mood:

The Pact (15) - I went to see this film and will be reviewing that soon!
Release Date: 8th June

Fast Girls (12A) - In line with the Olympics London 2012
Release Date: 15th June

Red Lights (15) - All star cast, Robert Di Nero, Cillian Murphey and Sigourney Weaver

Release Date: 15th June

The Amazing Spider-Man (12A) - Toby is replaced! Finally! I'm loving the new edition who you may recognise from The Social Network (12A) (Eduardo) - Andrew Garfield

Release Date: 3rd July

I am excited to get to see all of these films and I will be posting reviews very soon!

Watch this space!

Obsessions, ramblings and other (most probably) irrelevant news from my life!

Lately I have been slacking in the film department. I haven't made the time to follow up on my film obsessions to see films such as The Avengers Assemble (12A), What to Expect When You're Expecting (12A) or Prometheus (15). I have been wanting to see a number of films but I have also been trying to read up on some classics and get in touch with my poetry!

I have been writing for a poetry blogspot - FluidLanguage -for a few months now and I have realised I have not read enough poetry to help inspire me for future work. So I have been reading the likes of Emily Bronte, Sappho and Homer as well as some classic books I purchased in a quaint antique store in Weymouth.

PHOTO: Property of Patricia Hilton

I have also been focusing on building my loving collection of DVDs. My main aim is to collect every film that stars Leonardo DiCaprio because as most people who know me, they know I am a massive fan of his work. So far I have 11 of his films:

PHOTO: Property of Patricia Hilton

But the last remaining ones that I need are as follows:

• The Quick and the Dead
• Total Eclipse
• Marvin's Room
• Don's Plum
• Gangs of New York
• The Departed
• Body of Lies
• Revolutionary Road
• J.Edgar
• And eventually The Great Gatsby

Now for me, films are a memory of my childhood where I sat up late with my Dad being allowed to watch films my friends probably didn't even know about. I allow myself to escape from the real world by watching them and I like to learn about them and collect them. This is the same for my writing and poetry. I like to read up and learn more so that I can improve.

I have neglected my blog in the last month or so but in that time I have read some amazing books and poems. One of my favourite's is by Sappho:

He is more than a hero

He is more than a hero
he is a god in my eyes--
the man who is allowed
to sit beside you -- he

who listens intimately
to the sweet murmur of
your voice, the enticing

laughter that makes my own
heart beat fast. If I meet
you suddenly, I can'

speak -- my tongue is broken;
a thin flame runs under
my skin; seeing nothing,

hearing only my own ears
drumming, I drip with sweat;
trembling shakes my body

and I turn paler than
dry grass. At such times
death isn't far from me

However I do miss the cinema! I have missed out on some films I really need to see so I will be making a few necessary trips to catch up!

Hope the rambling's put all my readers in the mood to stick on a film! I watched To Wong Foo (1995), Con Air (1997) and Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010) last night in a movie marathon and I realised how much I missed sitting and watching movies on the sofa with friends and popcorn. The Bank Holiday was the perfect excuse but I need to start doing this more often, it saves me money but also allows me to brush up on my movie knowledge for the film game a twitter pal @Ant_Wright_ and I came up with called #NameThatFilm.

Follow me on @Trishaaa_ if you are interested in testing your movie quote knowledge! Hit me up with a quote and I have to guess which film it is and vice versa! Remember to hash tag me with #ntf.

Love a bit of movie fun!

Enjoy the rest of what is left of the Bank Holiday!