Halloween Must-See Movies With a Twist! October 29, 2010

Halloween is looming and fright-night film fests are a great way to quench that guilty thirst for a bit of holiday fun. For a perfect monster movie-marathon, the first thing you need are some great Halloween favourites; but what separates the classic from the cliché? Obviously those Halloween scream-fests that first spring to mind, you can’t help but love them, the ones that have you jumping out of your seats time and time again.

Here are ten examples of cliché Halloween films:

1. Nightmare on Elm Street – I haven’t seen the remake yet but I love this film, even though the acting is awful!
2. Halloween– The cliché of all Halloween clichés! Enough said.
3. Texas Chainsaw Massacre– Sick, sick film, the original is the best in my opinion.
4. Friday the 13th– The original is a little slow at times, but again a popular choice.
5. The Exorcist– This film freaked me out the first time I saw it, and made me laugh the second time…
6. Child’s Play– The concept of this film is just massively wrong, purely for the reason it scares the living daylights out of me!
7. Scream– This is one of my favourite films of all time, it’s just an excellent combination of horror, comedy and teen-drama. A Halloween cliché at it’s best!
8. Night of the Living Dead– One tip, don’t eat when watching this film! Yes it’s a classic but it’s a cliché too.
9. I Know What You Did Last Summer– Again another fave of mine, but I have to admit it’s not only cliché but cheesy too.
10. Dracula–  I don’t think I have to explain.

These are all fabulous horror films, but I have a few favourites of my own which may not be your first choice but I promise are fantastically creepy (some more than others) and really great in their own right. I’ve also thrown in some classic family one’s too, because I love them!

Here is my Halloween Must-See Top Ten:

1. Hocus Pocus – No not just for kids, this film is a classic in my opinion; Bette Midler is a gem and Halloween would not be complete without a talking cat! 
2. The Shining – Freaks me out every time I see it, however this could also be classed as a cliché but I think it’s a definite classic.
3. The Changeling– No not the Angelina Jolie film! Trust me, this chilling ghost story gets the imagination working and leaves you constantly checking the staircase.
4. Audition– If you like deeply disturbing Japanese horror with a gruesome climax, this one’s for you!
5. The Amityville Horror (2005)- I still will not watch this alone and I hate going into the bathroom afterwards, I didn’t really like the original, in my opinion the remake is much scarier.
6. Cujo– This film is not well-known but the concept scares me to death.
7. Dolly Dearest– Way scarier than Child’s Play, the doll is the most creepy thing I have ever seen.
8. The Birds– Hitchcock is a genius, this film is a classic horror and I’m scared of birds anyway so this gets me every time.
9. Carrie– I love, love, love this film! It doesn’t get scary until the end but the climax is very disturbing.
10. The Halloween Tree– I snuck this in because it’s a favourite of mine and reminds me of my childhood. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I think it’s quite touching.

So there you have it; twenty films to watch this Halloween weekend and what a movie-marathon it will be too! If anyone has any favourites that I haven’t mentioned please feel free to comment. Happy Halloween everyone!

Saturday Night At The Movies!! October 24, 2010

Going to the cinema to catch a good flick is probably one of my favourite things to do when I fancy a quiet night out. For me Saturday nights are mostly spent hitting the town hard with the girls or curled up on the sofa watching X Factor; but every now and again it’s such a treat to go and grab a bite to eat and head to the cinema to watch the latest blockbuster. Now and again you do end up with a rubbish film that you will either laugh or shout about, sometimes walk out of; but for me that’s the fun of going! Going to the cinema is a bit like a lucky dip; you never know what you’re going to end up with! Here is a map of some of the cinemas not far from me that I love to visit when I’m in the mood for popcorn (salted), pick ‘n’ mix and a good movie.


Facebook: How it all began! October 22, 2010

After a tiresome week in uni, my friend (and fellow journo) Caroline and I decided we would treat ourselves with a trip to the cinema to watch The Social Network. Seeing as we’ve had a lecture on the wonders of social networking in journalism and are constantly encouraged to tweet and Facebook etc we thought it would be educational as well as a bit of fun. I’m pleased to say it was enjoyable, educational and I now have an even bigger crush on Andrew Garfield!

I discovered Facebook in my first year of university with the help of my good friend Charlotte Jones who introduced me to it. At first I was sceptical about joining, having only been a member of Bebo for a couple of months and gaining about thirty friends, I wasn’t that into the whole social networking scene, but when Charlotte persuaded me and I finally gave in I realised that she was right, it was a really good way of meeting new people and keeping up-to-date with the goings-on in university. I foolishly thought it was a fad and would die down in a year or two; I couldn’t have been more wrong!

The film itself is rather simple and from a storyline perspective not a lot happens; the concept is mainly focused on the moral dilemas that young entrepreneurs are faced with in order to become a success. Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg the founder of Facebook who one night finds himself furiously blogging and programming a website called ‘facemash’ in order to get revenge on his ex-girlfriend and just abuse girls in general. The site gets twenty-two thousand hits in two hours and catches the eyes of the Winklevoss twins who along with their friend and ask Mark to help them set up an exclusive dating site for Harvard. Mark uses this idea to create ‘facebook’ and asks his best friend Eduardo Saverin played by sexy brit actor Andrew Garfield to help him finance the site and be a co-founder. This ultimately leads to Zuckerberg being sued by both the Winklevoss twins and Saverin and having to choose between friendship and ambition; Justin Timberlake plays an excellent geek with the role Sean Parker, he should definitely continue acting.

I find it fascinating that there are people out there who have such exceptional minds. The story of how Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook intrigued me partly because of my interest in social media and partly because it’s truly amazing that one person’s idea can have such a massive effect on the way we live our lives, and to think a world phenomenon was created because a guy was angry, drunk and driven by revenge! This film really does open your eyes to the world of social networking and how much of an impact Facebook has had on the way we live today.

Why Are We Obsessed with TV? October 13, 2010

As I began thinking about a certain niche for this blog, I realised that even though I do really like a lot of things; fashion, jewellery, music, food, swimming etc, it occurred to me that I do not possess enough passion to write about these things on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis.

Before I lost all hope I had an epiphany; one thing I can truly get passionate about is TV and film. Even as a small child I was fascinated with the ‘idiot box’. I would act out scenes from tv programmes and films and quote lines from memory; I think it is fair to say I was a bit of a film nerd! Even my fellow peers would look at me in confusion and sometimes astonishment as I began to quote lines from films such as Alice in Wonderland, Clueless, The Nutty Professor, Shrek, Ace Ventura and so on and so on. I am not ashamed to say that I can still quote the odd line here and there, even though my memory isn’t as good as it use to be!

But do not judge me too quickly! I’m just one of the poor souls trapped in a world of entertainment and reality car crash tv! Even though some of you wont admit it out-right, we all have a weakness for our favourite tv shows and films. I can guarantee, you know them off by heart too (or at least a few anyway)!

But why do we love this industry so much? Even those who are opposed to watching ‘too much’ telly and prefer to curl up with a good book can still tell you what happened in X Factor last Saturday or who’s died in Eastenders. Why do we still continue to watch Reality TV when we know most of it is a set up? Simple, it’s our one direct lifeline to the world and all it’s creativity! Apart from the internet of course, television is one of the most important sources of information and we need it for our survival! You may disagree with me but I truly believe it’s quicker and easier to be educated by the TV than it is to read a book. I don’t think it’s fair to say that TV does nothing for the imagination, if anything I think it triggers and motivates it; however, reading books helps you put that imagination into practice.

With TV being as important as it is, I figure why not write about it. The variety of entertainment is endless and if you’re a bit of a ‘couch potato’ like me, don’t worry. Sitting on your backside isn’t the worst thing in the world. To some, we may not spend our evenings being (dare I say) ‘proactive’ by heading to the local Pilates class, but we are absorbing important information and more of it than we realise. It’s putting that information to good use that’s the tricky part, so let’s get cracking!