Katie Jarvis plays Mia

Andrea Arnold has a unique style of directing, with Fish Tank you are pulled in straight away – no titles, no cast list. Because of this the story seems all the more realistic. Katie Jarvis shows herself to be a brute force from the beginning, a feisty actress who plays Mia, a young, naive 17-year-old who puts on a front of anger to hide her loneliness (hence the name Fish Tank), she feels as if she’s trapped in a gold-fish bowl. The first scenes of the film show Mia’s relationship with her mother (played by Kierston Wareing). Its clear from the beginning that their relationship is not, and never has been an easy one. And as the film develops, their friendship (or lack of) gets all the more worse. The first scenes also show Mia’s passion of dancing, her love for a horse owned by travellers, and her alienation from almost everyone she knows.

As the film develops Michael Fassbender is introduced. He plays the role of Connor, Mia’s mum’s new boyfriend. To begin with he seems like everything the family needs to be happy – he takes them out, makes them laugh and ultimately plays the role of a father. However sadly this can’t last, and as the film comes to a close you see why.

Fish Tank is a master film which highlights and shows off Britain’s most talented actors, producers and cinematographers, and most importantly a star director who takes a simple story and makes it an incredible watch. Fish Tank was not shown in many theatres, but it did win a BAFTA for Best British Film (2009) which shows Britain has a big market, and strong love for independent films that deserve to be as hyped about as Hollywood blockbusters.

5/5

We look so beautiful.

Hey guys, ive not posted in a fair while and im sorry for that. For the past couple of months ive been quite busy with college. I had a couple of exams, and for the past three weeks ive been looking at ucas/uni stuff. Of course that hasn’t taken all my time, im just making excuses really. I feel so much has changed since I made this blog, and I guess that’s because it has! I know this blog is really for film information and reviews, but i want to take some time to just tell you a bit about whats been going on this past year! So, sorry if this is boring, I just feel like chatting to you guys, my awesome readers.

So, whats been going on so far this year? Well, college, social gatherings, birthdays, gigs, coursework! An array of things really. To begin with, college really wasnt going good for me. I suffer from anxiety and I also had depression at the start of the year, so college was a challenge. But I got over that and just began to enjoy college! Whenever I get anxiety now I just tell myself to get over it, because im fed up of letting it ruin things (or me ruining things for myself). I’ve met brilliant, amazing, lovely, people at college who have been, to be honest, some of the best friends I’ve ever had. I feel like I’ve known them forever! We’ve shared some great times, and I hope many more will come. Although, year two of college is said to not be as fun, but hey yo we’ll see! As long as i’m with them, i’ll be happy. A dear friend of mine sadly left on monday to move to Scotland, it was a very sad day to be honest. I’ve never met anyone like him, he’s a great chap with a brilliant zest for life. Tears were shed when he said goodbye.

A quick word for the great gig I went to in May; Pete fackin Doherty! The one and only frontman of The Libertines was one of the greatest nights of my life, sadly he’s currently serving a prison sentence, but hey that’s just Pete!

I have also started a music blog, it currently only has one post but I shall certainly add many more! I love blogs, I love writing for you guys. I don’t care if I only get one view a day, that’s one awesome person who’s taken the time to read what I’ve written. My love for music this year has gone through the roof, im going to Bestival in September, and I am so excited for it! The festival carries a great message with it: Increase the Peace. Perfect. I love you guys, increase the fackin peace yeah!

Love. <3

What else has interested me? Almost Famous. And Twelve. These two things, one a movie, one a book really, truly captured me. I read Twelve, by Nick McDonell, in two days. And Almost Famous, made me question what i want to do with my future. Now you may ask, ‘Huh? How can a film make that happen?’ Well, watch Almost Famous for yourself, and you will understand.

And, well Twelve, there’s just no words to explain this book, honestly. The book has been translated to film by Joel Schumacher, a great indie director who did a good job of keeping the books essence, but making it watchable and suitable for a media audience to consume.

People may say is it possible for a movie to change your life? But the same can be said for music, just look what The Beatles did. I’ve found my vocation, now i just need a way to enter it.

The film tells the real life story of Jim Carroll, now a poet, musician and performer back in his youth he became addicted to heroin. The film tells the story of his downward spiral into addiction, taken from his book named The Basketball Diaries.

I’ve been wanting to see this film for some time, i was off put by a few people telling me it was a tough watch etc but today i finally decided to just watch it. And to be honest it blew me away, Leonardo DiCaprio gives what i think is one of the best performances of his career and the fact he wasnt recognised at the Oscars for this confirms my thoughts that they really don’t dish out awards according to acting talent. As the film went on and his addiction worsened the audience is immersed the whole time, feeling the pain which he feels, the highs, the lows and the times where he doesn’t even know what he’s feeling. This is all conveyed to the audience clearly, with the use of dreams and Jim’s (DiCaprio) poetic narration.

The use of a rock/punk soundtrack and the urban background of New York city helps to give the film the gritty feel it’s after and just make the atmosphere of the film all the more dark, dirty and tense. We’re taken places in the film you’d never want to go, even in your worst dreams – drug dens, public toilets used for prostitution. All these elements of addiction are there and in your face, because as i said before its like we’re addicted with the characters, we feel their pain. The difference is we want to get clean but they don’t.

See this film,

Addicton grabs hold of the three young characters

that’s a command.

I’m sorry if ive been neglecting you guys, with no new reviews and me just blabbing but i want some feedback! I don’t get any I still love whoever reads this though, so thanks to those who do!

I finally watched Kill Bill and i gotta say I was sooo disappointed! Like massively let down. I really wanted to love it, just like everyone else does but I didn’t. At one point I even considered turning it off! However I found the end interesting with the revealing of a secret (don’t wanna spoil it for those of you who are yet to watch), so as I have Kill Bill Volume 2 I will most probably watch it just to see how things unravel.

x

Sorry for the caps, i just like to shout aha
Peace x

(:

Sin City is of course genius and if you havent seen it you should be ashamed. At the same time i do believe its the kind of film that can only be done once (see The Spirit for example). Run Lola Run is a foreign film which from what ive gathered is played out in different scenarios which is part of what intrigued me. I also bought Children Of Men and City Of Men (they just happen to sound similar haha) which are both exceptional for their own reasons.

I first watched Children Of Men earlier this year, around April some time. So not too long ago. It blew me away then, it blew me away again when i watched it on Saturday. I can’t praise it enough, it made such an impact, unlike any film I’d seen in time. The cinematography is breathtaking and the soundtrack leads to many emotions. Alfonso Cuaron has unbelievable flair as a director also, with the last twenty minutes of the film looking like a real-life news reel.

City Of Men was one i bought because id seen City Of God and as this was related i thought why not (as its only a 15 as well, i thought it would be an easier watch). It’s a feature

Clive Owen stars as Theo in Children Of Men

length addition of the spin-off show which came out of City Of God and i really liked it. Again the cinematography was beautiful, and the story engaging. What i liked as well, was it wasnt difficult to watch and never felt uncomfortable. Now maybe that means its didnt portray the true nastiness of the Rio favelas but City Of God did that perfectly for us.

Now this has been a bit of a ramble but its been a while since ive had a word with you guys so thought i should say a hello!

Leave your comment now and start the debate