Just take a moment to think about how much time you spend on your smartphone. Think about how much of your week is spent on social media, scrolling through the endless amounts of selfies and filtered pictures. Do you ever get envious or judge people based on what they post on social media? Wish that picture of you from Friday night got more likes on Facebook or that you had more followers on Instagram? Well this is Ingrid cranked all the way to maximum and the poignant message in the dark comedy, Ingrid Goes West, is of how social media promotes an illusion of connectivity which is currently being cast on a generation in today’s society. This movie comes so close to homing in on that warning but cops out right at the end when all of its good work comes undone and any caution about the perils of social media evaporate literally within the last 20 seconds of the film. Ingrid is played by Aubrey Plaza who fits the role of the main character perfectly. The 33 year-old has come a long way in a short space of time since Parks and Recreation and here she plays an unstable social media stalker. We get an understanding of just how media obsessive she is at the start when she pepper sprays her friend at her wedding for not inviting her only to discover that the bride wasn’t a friend but had once commented on one of Ingrid’s Instagram posts. After recovering from that episode, Ingrid then decides to move to LA to track down Instagram expert, Taylor (Elizabeth Olsen), who she had come across and begins to fixate upon. Through a series of creepy acts, she tricks Taylor into befriending her and the pair begin spending time together before it all falls apart when Ingrid’s dark secrets are revealed. None of the characters in the movie are particularly likeable and therefore make the film a rather uncomfortable experience all round. Just think how annoying it is being out with your friends when everyone is staring at their phones or taking selfies – now think how annoying that would be just to watch unfold. The one aspect of relief is Dan (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), Ingrid’s landlord in LA and Batman fanatic who offers a number of laugh out loud moments to the proceedings and the only one who has any concept of reality. The devastating twist at the end should have been where the movie ended and landed its knockout blow of a message. But where 99% of the film is about the dangers of social media obsession, the remaining 1% is the closing sequence to the film that completely obliterates any positive message it was trying to promote. It ultimately lets down what is otherwise a poignant, contemporary movie.

The Greatest Showman, by Michael Gracey is truly a wonderful and aesthetically pleasing film. I watched the film with my sister and Mum on Monday 8th January. After hearing great things about the film and of course the Golden Globe win for “This is Me” made me very excited to watch the film. As soon as the film started I was hooked, it made me shiver with how beautifully crafted the beginning was. All the colours, twirling, flying and singing was chaotically perfect. The music was beautiful throughout. However, I didn’t think Hugh Jackman (who played the ambitious showman and entrepreneur, P.T. Barnum) was too impressive, for me his voice didn’t fit the songs. Zac Efron played the playwright and future partner to Barnum, Phillip Carlyle. He did a very good performance, not my favourite of his characters but still very good. I grew up watching High School Musical and Hairspray on repeat, so seeing that Zac Efron is in his fifth musical was very exciting. His song “Rewrite the Stars” with Zendaya (who played an acrobat, trapeze artist of the name Anne Wheeler) not only sounded beautiful the scene was beautiful too, the trapeze tricks along with the lighting made the scene very romantic and the song was stuck in my head all day afterwards! “This Is Me” and “Never Enough” were my favourite songs in the film. Two very powerful songs by two very powerful actresses. The songs were moving and almost brought me to tears in the Cinema while watching the film. The film being a partly real story set in 1800’s New York, made it even more appealing as you had Victorian style costuming with a modern style Circus, their Costume Designer, Ellen Mirojnick did a fantastic job. Hugh Jackman’s acting as the caught up, somewhat spoilt showman was fantastic, Michelle Williams who played his wife was a great partner for Jackman and you were really rooting for him, his family and their story. Despite the twist in the story, he was a great protagonist to follow and even though some of his actions were questionable you couldn’t help but understand what he was doing and why he was doing it. Overall the film was a very aesthetically pleasing film, it had a great storyline with a great narrative arc. It also had some fantastic songs that were performed by some great actors. I would definitely recommend you watching the film if you love a Moulin Rouge themed musical that is filled with lots of music, dancing and an equally great story.

https://youtu.be/ltDoXCeNv70

Four Rooms is the result of the collaboration between four of the most influential directors of the 1990’s: Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. The anthology comedy film is set at a hotel on New Year’s Eve. The audience follow Ted the bellhop (Tim Roth) on his first shift at the hotel as he wanders from room to room attempting to fulfill the every request of its guests. Each film maker makes their mark on the hotel by directing the inhabitants of one room; and, you guessed it, there are four in total. Tim Roth’s portrayal of Ted in Four Rooms does not disappoint. From room to room, he oozes energy: skipping, jumping, wiggling and sweating whilst cantering around the hotel. Ted’s every move is exaggerated. Roth brings a fresh take on the bubbly male character, and no homosexual stereotypes are thrown at him, though he uses his light voice and crisp, English accent to his advantage. In many ways, it is Roth’s performance which makes the film a whole. Without a strong lead, and commitment to the character, a movie with four big name directors would be unenjoyable. Instead, the comedy which flows through the movie links each room and is expressed greatly through Ted. The first scene is from Anders, winner of the 1992 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best New Director. Hers is an all-female cast; a covern of witches who attempt to revive one of their own. Madonna stars as Elspeth, the head of the covern, a woman dressed in head to toe, skin tight leather. The Honeymoon Suite was my favorite of the rooms, for it proved itself to special. The women are written to be sexy and funny, a combination which, it could be said, intimidates male audiences and is thus scarce in Hollywood. They dance around, semi-nude, close together and chanting. Not one actress falters, embracing the weirdness of the scene which results in hilarity for audiences watching the drama unfold. A highlight is the discomfort shown by Ted around the women, who in turn tease him and eventually end up needing his services to complete their spell. The next room is Room 404, written and directed by Rockwell. Following a call to the room where a party is taking place, Ted heads up to refill their ice bucket, however, he enters the wrong room. Suddenly, a fantasy hostage situation is unfolding before Ted, and he soon becomes non-consensual participant. A husband has his wife tied up and gagged and is accusing Ted of having an affair with her. Uncertain if the situation is real or a fantasy of the couple, Ted ends up with a gun pointed at his head. The best part of this scene is the shot of Ted hanging out of the bathroom window, shouting for help. The screen is split in half by the outside wall of the hotel as Ted’s body is suspended, his whole weight on the window ledge. Despite the creativity in the cinematography of this scene, the scene as whole doesn’t contain much action. Furthermore, I found the narrative of the scene quite confusing. The audience are aware Ted is at no real threat, though the husband and wife characters are written to compliment the faults of the other. Eventually, Ted escapes the room and checks the number on the exterior of the door, it could either read 404 or 409. As every film fan knows, Rodriguez has a certain panache to his movies. They are effortlessly stylish, and usually dangerous. In the third installment to Four Rooms, Room 309, Antonio Banderas is the strict father of two misbehaving children. He and his wife wish to escape their little terrors for an evening, thus bribing Ted to watch over them whilst they party into the New Year. Chaos, as it surely does where the bellhop is concerned, ensues. The screenplay for Room 309is is near perfect: for example, the scene opens as Banderas’ character is scraping his son’s hair back with a comb, causing the boy obvious pain but he shows little regard for his son’s dcomfort. Eventually he gives up, angrily telling his son he has his mother’s hair. His wife’s reaction is priceless. The children display a sassy attitude towards the eager to please Ted, calling him for every little thing and driving him crazy. This scene is by far the funniest of the four in the movie and ends in a horrifically hilarious still. The final room is The Penthouse. Tarantino directs and stars in the seemingly longest installment of the movie. As always, his acting is wooden and the scene revolves around him; Tarantino casts himself as “famous film director, Chester Rush”, the hotel’s VIP guest. By this point, Ted is growing tired and after phoning his boss to quit, he is persuaded to stay for one more call. He enters The Penthouse and from there the scene is seamlessly edited as the camera pans the set and the audience are introduced to each of Rush’s friends. The first half feels like Tarantino is exaggerating his knack for writing dialogue. The scene is fun, but pointless; nothing much happens. However, the narrative picks up in the second half as the characters educate Ted on their bet, which if he agrees to participate in will earn him a lot money: one of the men bets Rush he can light his Zippo lighter ten times in a row with no faults. If successful, this man will win Rush’s classic car, but if he fails he loses his “pinky” finger. After much persuasion Ted agrees to participate: it is his role to slice the man’s finger from his hand. The scene ends swiftly (WARNING: SPOLIERS) with the man failing to light his Zippo on the first attempt, the shot cuts to a close up as Ted brings down a hatchet onto the man’s finger, dismembering it from his body. Ted sweeps up his money and exits The Penthouse, anarchy unravelling in his mist. Overall, Four Rooms is a well put together comedy drama which begs not to be taken seriously. The lack of action in some scenes is made up for in the cinematography and comedy provided by Ted. The directors created a brilliant common thread in the bellhop, the character’s physical comedy and exaggerated hyperactive mind is well portrayed by Tim Roth. For me, the best room is Anders’ Honeymoon Suite whereas Tarantino’s Penthouse is an anticlimactic end to an otherwise entertaining movie.

Written, Produced and Directed by: Mahmoud Shoolizadeh United Kingdom, London, September 2018 Synopsis: SUSAN is a story of Love and War. A feature social drama film basically about Susan who lives in London, England with her lovely family. She loses her husband in Afghanistan war. She suffers but she keeps her Love and hope alive. In this film Susan is the symbol of love and kindness. She faces lots of challenges in her life, though she tries hard to keep this kindness and love, even in the very difficult situation she is facing. While she is alone, full of pain and misery, one unexpected moment happens and this is just the beginning!

Watch the official Thoroughbreds film trailer! Childhood friends Lily and Amanda reconnect in suburban Connecticut after years of growing apart. Lily has turned into a polished, upper-class teenager, with a fancy boarding school on her transcript and a coveted internship on her resume; Amanda has developed a sharp wit and her own particular attitude, but all in the process of becoming a social outcast. Though they initially seem completely at odds, the pair bond over Lily's contempt for her oppressive stepfather, Mark, and as their friendship grows, they begin to bring out one another's most destructive tendencies. Their ambitions lead them to hire a local hustler, Tim, and take matters into their own hands to set their lives straight. THOROUGHBREDS is released in UK cinema’s on March 9th 2018 Read our official Thoroughbreds film review.

AHHHH Titanic, one of the major classics on screen, and the still 'going-on' debate whether Rose had room on that door or not?! If you are part of the population who loves a romance, with a few tears, as well as a young Leonardo DiCaprio on your screen, then Titanic is definately a film you will enjoy. Titanic is one of the most famous tradegies to occur causing the director James Cameron, to have the pressure on highlighting the the world the horrible tragedy and historical events which occured that awful night in 1912. DIRECTOR: For a good movie, calls good director, and James Cameron is certainly a good director. With the stress of showing the emotional aspect of this occurance, Cameron provided a memoriable and amazing tale of two lovers of different classes, wanting to spend eternity with each other rather than with their apparent family. The use of flashbacks made this film so moving and memorible whislt seeing Rose aged 100, (the present) and to the past (1912) ACTORS: The use of actors within Titanic provides an amazing and emotional atmosphere for the audience watching the film. With the talented acting of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, what is there to hate about it?! Kate's acting is devine, highlighting her aristocratic life with her elegant gowns and stunning appearence. Whilst Leo's role is much more layed-back, due to him being noticed as a 'poor guy', thus contrasting with his romantic interest. The acts of the class system is shown to see higher and lower class being divided, however Kates character Rose, and Leo's character Jack go against this and find love in the weirdest of places - a massive ship. SETTING: The setting and effects used are amazing! Notice the intricate details which the creators have placed into the scenes. I was able to watch the behind the scenes of the film, in which the creators informed of the detail of making the settings look exatly the same as the real titanic which tragically sunk in 1912. The delicateness of first class gives the atmosphere of pure wealth and power over the lower class, who are seen to be in rooms like a square, two bunkbeds and nothing more. COSTUMES: As a member critiquing films, I believe costumes is to be one of the main aspects which creates the atmosphere in which the film was set - if for example they were wearing hoodies and adidas shoes in this film is wouldn't be realistic - however, the designers inflicted their knowledge on past higher and lower class fashion back in the early 20th century. The black suits with black ties showing men as the dominant figure, with the higher women wearing elegant gowns and fuffy hats highlighting purity and delicatness. THEMES: The overall theme for this movie is LOVE, a tragic love story left with the audience in tears and inpity. As well as providing a desire for both men and women to have on how their relationship would be. SOUND: The non-degetic sound in my opinion proivide the most emotion, with Celine Dion's song of 'My Heart Will Go On,' even when used in an instrumental way, left my heart shaking and feeling faint. MEMORIBLE MOMENTS: There is flashbacks of the video footage of the real life titanic, this moment creates a flood of emotion for the entire audience as it puts into account the real life event which took place, and that this movie was based off of such a tragedy that it is shocking it truly happened. I RECOMMEND K x

In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, we rejoin the story three years on: An impending volcanic eruption threatens to wipe out the surviving dinosaurs on Isla Nubla, and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), has created the 'Dinosaur Protection Group' in an attempt to save the dinosaurs from extinction. After the U.S. Senate rejects plans to rescue the dinosaurs, Claire is contacted by John Hammond's former partner, Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), who is planning to move the dinosaurs to a new island sanctuary. Whilst discussing the rescue operation, Eli Mills (Rafe Spall) – Lockwood's aide – voices concerns that locating Blue, the sole surviving velociraptor, will be near impossible, compelling Claire to recruit Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) to help on the mission. J.A.Bayona directs this sequel to Colin Trevorrow's, Jurassic World. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom promises to be a "darker film", one more "scary"; exactly what you'd expect from Bayona. However, with a huge franchise production such as this, there's always going to be a back-and-forth between the director and studio; usually resulting in any influence the director has being significantly watered down. Regrettably, that's exactly what's happened here. Bayona does what he can with a lacklustre script, naff story, and a franchise too afraid to take risks. There are – and entirely to Bayona's credit – some visually beautiful and brilliantly put to together scenes; some of which are actually quite scary. The opening scene – one of the best – Is full of promise: The pitch dark setting, tropical thunderstorm, lashing rain, and general murky gloominess provides a sincere horror movie ambience; comparable in tone to Jurassic Park's opening scene. And again, during the third act, there's a remarkable scene, set in a sprawling gothic style mansion, which sees the indoraptor – Henry Wu's (BD Wong) latest lab manufactured horror – hunt Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon, playing Benjamin Lockwood's granddaughter), who is seeking solace in her bedroom. The creature, slowly creeping over the rooftops, silhouetted against the moon, strikes an imposing figure; the iconic Wolfman look. The scene shifts to a Nosferatu feel as the creature, with long reaching claws, purposefully and delicately opens Maisie's bedroom window and enters her room: Shadows creep slowly across walls, and claws tap menacingly against the wood floor as the creature moves in a measured, loury manner towards Maisie; hiding under the covers of her bed. Extreme close-ups of both subjects follow; creating a palpable sense of uneasy closeness. Making good use of long unbroken shots, slow purposeful movement, and intense close-ups do add a tangible sense of dread: I enjoyed these sections of the film very much and really appreciated the directors nods to various classic horror monsters. Unfortunately, these scenes are few and far between; any sense of threat is quickly extinguished within the first quarter of the movie as you realise this is the safe franchise film you knew you should have expected. The cast is adequate if not exemplary, and Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard obviously enjoyed a friendly working relationship. There are a slew of new faces, all of whom do a perfectly acceptable job in their respective roles, most of which are destined to end up as one-hit wonders. And therein lie the problem. Neither of the main cast has anything in the way of character development (They're reunited in this movie in exactly the same way as in Jurassic World; with Claire having to recruit Owen, who's at his trailer, at the behest of somebody else, after an awkward break-up), and none of the new characters are worth spending any time or effort on as they'll never be seen again. Much of the storyline seems rushed and badly paced, particularly the island rescue scenes: There was a good deal of build-up to this section of the film, and many people were anticipating a Jurassic Park: Lost World kind of feel; those people must be feeling let down. Too much time was spent on scenes either side of the island rescue section, but particularly just after it takes place. The section of the movie between the Isla Nubla rescue and Lockwood estate scenes is long, unnecessary, and just boring. Much of this could have been scrapped and more time could have been spent on Isla Nubla, developing characters and giving us more dinosaur action. From a technical point of view, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has some wonderful cinematography, and is perhaps where J.A.Bayona's influence is felt most staunchly. The use of animatronics is something which has been sorely missing from these movies for many years and make a welcome return here: A shame then that the movie relies far too much on CGI throughout much of the duration and never uses it to its full potential. While the CGI isn't bad in and of itself, it does feel unsubstantial and holds no weight. The scenes using animatronics were instantly noticeable and more enjoyable: Consequently, this leads to many of the scenes using CGI to feel a bit limp. Verdict Maybe I expected too much from a child-friendly franchise movie, maybe I'm being overly harsh; I just couldn't help but feel massively disappointed. In all fairness, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom achieves what it sets out to make; a loud, fast, and entertaining enough action-adventure movie which families will flock in their thousands to see; I have no doubt that it'll have a huge taking at the box office. I just wish J.A.Bayona had more free rein, or that the studio had been more willing to take risks. What we've been left with is a movie which is as average as they come: A movie which showed such promise, and really could have been something special. For me, the movie is saved from falling into complete mediocrity by the (admittedly few) windows of greatness that could have been; something I attribute to the director. Should you go see it at the cinema? Yes, absolutely. Is it something I'd want to purchase on release? Probably not. 6/10

Cast: #anthonygonzalez #gaelgarciabernal Director: #adrianmolina Disobeying his family’s baffling ban on music, Miguel embarks on a journey through the enchanting Land of the Dead in search of his dreams of becoming a #musician. 12-year-old Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) who lives in a small town in rural #Mexico hopes that one day he can become a musical sensation, just like his idol, the late great #ernestodelacruz (Benjamin Bratt). But, his family have other plans and imposed a ban on music. He still practices and plays in secret, in an attic which his made into a shrine for his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. The ban commenced many generations ago, when Miguel’s great-great-grandfather supposedly abandoned his loved ones to pursue a career as a singer. As the annual Day of the Dead festival approaches, the town of Santa Cecillia prepares to celebrate its deceased and honour their memories. However, a twist of fate sees Miguel miraculously transported into the Land of the Dead, where the macabre residents are shocked to find a living person walking amongst them. MY FINAL THOUGHTS A few things which caught my attention about Coco was some of it's breathtaking animated backdrops, they looked absolutely stunning. The magical thing about Pixar they've always manage to capture the imagination of the audience. This lovable new addition to their franchise doesn't disappoint. It also educates the younger audience about the Mexican folklore festivities, which is associated with the celebrations #dayofthedead. This movie has a touching storyline, not forgetting to mention it's gorgeous music which is composed by Michael Giacchino, the man behind the music of #startrek. Overall I gave this toe-tapping, inspiring movie which is catered for the whole family young and old, a dizzying 5/5 Stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 #followyourheart #seizeyourmoment #cinema #cocó #entertainmentnews #familymovienight #filmcritic #movienews #mustseemovie #mexicanmusic #pixar #pixarcoco #composer #michaelgiacchino #unpocoloco #kamaras_reviews