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Werewolf Santa (2023)
Come for the schlock, stay for the characters
"Santa's turned into a werewolf."
"I'll get my jacket."
Sometimes movies know they're silly. Sometimes a movies grandest ambition is to be silly; that is the case with Werewolf Santa, and I can't claim it doesn't achieve that.
Unsuccessful paranormal blogger Lucy (with lame rocker boyfriend in tow), head to her family town for Christmas. While she expects her biggest problem to be clashes with her divorced parents (Emily Booth and Mark Arnold), the Yuletide spirits flip when a werewolf attacks Santa Clause, sending him on a gloriously goofy, bloody rampage.
The budget is undeniably low, but the core cast of likeable characters keep the film entertaining and enjoyable throughout. By the way, Emily Booth needs to be recognised as the British Elvira, not just for sex symbol status, but also for great comedic timing.
If you like Christmas horrors that don't take themselves too seriously, you could do a lot worse.
Forrest Gump (1994)
Another reason why I don't like Robert Zemeckis
Despite the 8.7 average rating on IMDb, the many praising reviews it receives and the good opinions of my friends, I wasn't really expecting this film to be anything special. However as it is such a highly regarded film, I thought it was probably worth watching, even if I wasn't going to enjoy it. Why I knew I wasn't going to enjoy it; it won six ocars but other films that were also released that year have since become more well loved (e.g. pulp fiction, the shawshank redemption), I'm not a really big fan of Tom Hanks as an actor (shock horror!) and Robert Zemeckis is definitely my least favourite director, creating films that (in my opinion anyway) have no real aim other than to make some cash. So how did it compare to my pre-judgements? Just as I thought really. There were many problems I found in this movie; to start with the camera angles and the camera movement made the film hard to look at visually, as the people and object moving looked very unnatural. Another problem is that aside from Forrest, all of the characters seem one dimensional as they were all extremely underwritten. Leading on from that, for me, the script is a major problem; the dialogue is incredibly tedious, every line made me sigh with frustration, but that isn't the main problem with the dialogue; I watched the film with friends and every few seconds I heard them laughing at the things Forrest says, however that's something I couldn't get into, I felt that there is something very malicious about laughing at a man with some kind of mental handicap. Though the dialogue isn't the only problem with the script, the whole story is beyond unrealistic. Although it isn't unlikely for someone to drift through life and for things to just happen to them, it is unlikely for the majority of them to be such good and life changing things, especially for a man with a mental disability, from a non-privileged background, at this time period. I also find it a little bit sneaky that they never mention what is wrong with Forrest, it seems to be they did this so they could include some parts of the plot, for example him having sex with Jenny and they her having a child, that I doubt would happen in real life to people in his condition. However, none of this is exactly enraging for me, the only thing that really makes my blood boil, is the Vietnam sequence. Films that have been made about the Vietnam war have been made with the soul purpose to let audiences know, that war is hell and war will destroy you, but Forrest's narration tells us that his experience in Vietnam was fun, which goes against everything films like Platoon, The Deer Hunter, Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now stand for and aside from a few seconds of footage, nothing shows the horrors of the war, it's unrealistic and highly insulting to the people who fought in the war. Though as I have given it 3/10, there obviously must be a few plus points, there are about three. The effects that put Forrest in with archive footage and very well done and well edited, Gary Sinise is very good in an underwritten part, the fact he didn't win an Oscar is a travesty and there are some huggable children in it. Though that doesn't make up for the obvious flaws in this movie.
El laberinto del fauno (2006)
A modern day masterpiece.
There is nothing that can be said about this film that is negative; the direction from Guillermo Del Toro is flawless, obviously he has show us his talent in other films, but in this he expresses his full range and brilliance. The effects and make-up are wonderful, showing that not all movies need high tech special effects to achieve the beauty of what a film maker is aiming for. The acting and characterisation are exceptional; every character is fully developed and expresses what the character is like, without going over board on their personality traits. Overall the story is beautiful, expressing wonder and innocence, amid the setting of fascism and war. What I really love about this film, is the fact that it allows you to think for yourself; you are lead to believe that what is happening is real, that is until the Captain catches Ofelia, while she is talking to the Fauno and yet he does not seem to notice it's presence, making you wonder, is the Fauno actually there, or is it all her imagination? I know what I think, but it's up to you to come up with your own conclusion. If you have seen this film advertised, but decided not to view it, put those assumption aside and watch it, as it is a highly worth watching film and those of you who do not come away loving it (though why you wouldn't is beyond me) you will definitely admire it and agree that it was worth watching. There is no other film quite like it and it will forever be my favourite.