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MegWhiteIII
Reviews
High School Musical 2 (2007)
Oh dear
Where do you start? How about the warped message this film is sending out to children who's families genuinely have money issues? I almost choked on my own disgust when Troy complained that he was fed up of seeing all the rich people at the Country Club while his parents were 'scraping for pennies'. With a house the size of his I doubt they're scraping for anything. Secondly, isn't it wonderfully convenient that they all managed to get pretty good jobs with no previous work experience and that they all managed to secure employment on their first attempt, at the same place, at the same time. Apart from being the luckiest group of 'teenagers' in the world, they are all the most ungrateful group of spoilt brats I've ever witnessed. The jobs they secured aren't given away to teenagers with no employment record and you don't become an assistant chef because you made a Crème Brule and some cookies then complain about it.
Apart from those two minor points that really, really grated on me, the rest of the film is truly dire. I would happily watch High School Muscial (which, I am shamed to admit, made me laugh a little) every day for a week rather than sit through this trash again. The pointless, meandering plot-line, the dreadful, dreadful songs and the nauseating tones of Vanessa Hudgens were all too much for me. I stayed true to my word and sat through the whole thing, but not before my soul was permanently tainted. You may think I'm exaggerating, and you might be right, but a movie hasn't dragged like this since the Forty Year Old Virgin. Mercifully, I didn't have to pay for this one, but I did have to waste electricity on it.
There are many, many bad points to be raised about this poor excuse for a film, and I think Nastarinvonjacobis has made them quite eloquently. Oh, and before I forget, who in the world has a portrait photograph of themselves in their basketball gear in their own room? A dreadful film, even by Disney Channel's standards, I don't recommend this film to anyone, unless you're playing a drinking game to take a shot every time something in this film annoys you (not recommended for those who don't want to get seriously drunk)
Medium (2005)
Just a brilliant show
As far as the Sci-fi channel goes, excluding Heroes, this is the best show they have (cue the BBC hi-jack). I saw the beginning of a few episodes late at night but was properly introduced to this by my brother and his girlfriend. After spending an entire half term watching Medium catch-up week on Sci-fi it became my favourite TV show (it was only just surpassed by Heroes later on). Though it does seem repetitive (watching Allison wake up after a nightmare in almost every episode) I never feel like watching the same thing re-hashed. Patricia Arquette is wonderful and the relationship between Allison and her husband Joe is probably the greatest thing about the whole series. Sofia Vassilieva and Maria Lark are the least nauseating child actors I have seen and they never fail to make me laugh.
The supernatural elements to the storyline are made believable by the brilliant casting and acting. Whenever I read about Allison Dubois, I find it difficult to picture the real woman since Patricia Arquette fits so perfectly into the role. Whether or not you believe in supernatural occurrences or 'psychic' abilities is irrelevant. This series has a brilliant combination of good acting, humour, plot twists, engaging story lines, well conceived characters and, of course, supernatural elements. It manages to avoid coarse language and gratuitous sex (which doesn't sound like something a seventeen year old would point out as positive), but I don't feel it would add to this series, rather, it would detract from the dignity it carries itself with. Although there are violent and graphic scenes which would not be to everyone's taste, I think this is a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging show.
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
A wonderfully beautiful film
I first heard about this on Jonathan Ross' 'Film' TV show, (I don't remember what year). It showed the clip of Chihiro trying to feed the dragon Haku the gift from the River God. I wasn't sure why I wanted to watch it, but I told my mum I wanted to go see it. She didn't like the look of it, so I put it out of my mind until a year or so later I saw it premiere on Sky and decided to watch it. I was absolutely blown away by it. I made it my mission to get my friends and family to watch it. I then devoured every Miyazaki film I could get my hands on. Contrary to most people's opinion, I think his films have gotten better. Whilst his other films, notably Nausicaa, have wonderfully rich stories, the feel of his later films are more complete and stand up to the test of a wider audience. There is an indescribable feeling of awe that struck me when I first saw this film, the same I got from Akira.
Obviously, being a big fan of animation makes me inclined to enjoy this film and a desperate love of cel animation that makes me long for another golden age of Disney is going to make me love it that much more, but putting aside the technical wonder of this film, it's visually compelling and has a beautiful story. If you like a departure from reality and have an appreciation of animation as an art form rather than a tool to keep kids quiet, I'm sure you have already seen this film, if not, then I suggest you watch it (subtitled, the screechy dub is unbearable). Years later, I still love this film as much as I did when I first saw it. My rating is obviously just my personal preference, of course not everyone will like this film, but I believe it is a breath of fresh air and a step in the right direction for making classic animation relevant again.