Reviews

If you look at the range of movies Hitchcock has completed, there is no denying that his favorite films revolved around the concepts of the thriller, with the occupation of a murder at the center of his stories. With this continuation of love for the perfect murder, it seemed only matter of time before Hitchcock delved into the genre of horror. Previous to the birds there was Psycho, a film that defined and influenced the concepts of modern horror and created the 'slasher' sub genre that is still presently popular. With the birds Hitchcock once again created another horror sub genre. Through the birds, Hitchcock displays his familiar aesthetics, particularly his ability to deceive the audience and his ability at establishing suspense. Being purely subjective, the birds display why Hitchcock gain the classification of 'the master of suspense'.

We meet the protagonist Melanie and Mitch through a pet shop, surrounded by caged birds. They both engage in a conversation that displays they share a interest in each other. This introduction highlights Hitchcock brilliance in deceiving the audience. I remember when i first watched this and asked myself "Isn't this a horror movie", as the conversation between the two characters evokes a sense of romance. Initially, the introduction sets the film up to be a romantic-comedy, the birds are caged, the humans are happy and the audience are comfortable...for now.

After Melanie and Mitch depart, Melanie feels reluctant to meet Mitch again, she uses Mitch sister as the motivation to meet him again as his sister wanted birds for her birthday, eventually Melanie drives to Mitch's house. The drive consist of some beautiful photography, as Hitchcock uses the landscape to evoke a sense beauty,romance and happiness,like wise 'to catch a thief', the landscape represents the mood of a romance. Furthermore Hitchcock adds some devilish humor, as Melanie drives around the bends, the birds in the car for Mitch begins to slowly shift right to left, the birds are given life hilariously...Wait is this a horror film?.

Eventually Melanie meets Mitch again. At this point, and as i previously noted the film has no traces or elements that consist in a horror film, it's basically become a romance between the two leads. However once we feel comfortable Hitchcock gives us little hints that remind us that this is indeed a horror film, such as when the 'gull' 'accidently' hits Melanie and the bird that hits Annie door. Hitchcock is slowly building the tension.

Through this next sequences, Hitchcock unleashes the horror. The scene of Mitch's sister, Cathy, birthday party. In this scene Mitch and Melanie relationship reaches an emotional climax and at this moment the birds attack, signifying the end of the romance and the beginning of the horror, and my god what horror it is, no one is safe not even the children.

As the violence begins, Hitchcock begins to display his genius in creating tension, as each sequence consist a minimal build to a sensational, horrific climax. For instance the sequence that consist of Mitch mother visiting the farmer. She arrives and everything is silent as she descends through the house, slowly she notices that cups are destroyed and the house is a mess. Once she gets to the room Hitchcock displays her view through a rotation of pov shots. The violence increases through each pov shot until it reaches it's climax, a man with his eyes missing and covered in blood. Furthermore the sequence when Melanie goes to pick up Cathy from school. Hitchcock once stated "The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: "You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!" this was his definition of suspense, which is on full display in this sequence. As Melanie is waiting a bird descends onto some playground equipment, as Melanie continues to wait more birds descend upon the same position, without her knowing. Once she turns around the playground equipment is engrossed in black from hundreds of birds, and as you would suspect they once again create havoc.

After the birds are well established as a public threat, the common people in the diner all suggest theories of why the birds are attacking humans. This scene brilliantly highlights the horrific essence of Hitchcock 'the birds', as these common people are attempting to explain the attack. They don't realize that the answer to their question has no answers. The birds have no goals or motives, they just attack because they can.

Eventually the character have to create their own fortress in their house for protection. Through this passage, Hitchcock creates another brilliant editing sequence that mirrors psycho shower sequence. The sequence consist of Melanie being attacked by the birds while trapped in a room. The editing creates brilliantly a bombardment of horrific images that provides no room to breathe. As an audience we are trapped with her. Eventually Melanie escapes and the family leave the house. Through this end sequence Melanie clings to Mitch mother for her comfort. This is an embedded theme running throughout the birds, the fragility of women and their dependence on men. The ending shot displays a natural landscape that mirrors a apocalyptic future. The shift in tone from the romance to a apocalyptic future is astonishing.

The birds is undeniably a Hitchcock classic that consist of his familiar traits. But the brilliance in the birds is that Hitchcock creates a figure of nature that is considered subordinate to humans, but eventually becomes a dominate figure, and through this process he outlines the fragility of humans and just subordinate we really are.

We, as a modern day audience become overtly excited for blockbuster films. With the use of modern day sources such as the internet, it seems embedded in our culture to give films such hype, whether it be action, comedy or romance, blockbuster films have become the only form of cinema for the mass audience to look forward to. The cinema culture is surrounded by remakes, sequels and prequels mostly motivated from one reason, money and most blockbuster that we see, par some, are underwhelming, due to the fact that these films consist of following generic conventions to just please the modern audience. Imagine if Godard films were the true excitement, imagine if the mass audience lined up to be overtly excited for a Godard film, they would most likely be treated to a highly stimulating and innovative experience. 'Vivre Sa Vie' is a film that highlights audacious filmmaking in every sense. A film that is willing to break the barriers of the cinematic universe. 'Vivre sa vie' can only be described as Purely authentic.

The story is divided into 12 episodes of a woman life, Nana, and follows her descent into prostitution.

The opening minutes introduces the film's protagonist Nana through three separate shots, portraying her face from the left, right and front. From this opening sequence, we gain a sense of awareness to Godard's innovation, presenting a simple presence that embodies a complexity of emotion, and we hope the music will in some way convey a sense of emotion, however the music abruptly seizes before we form a connection, maybe Godard is simple telling the audience to let go.

The first episode consist of Nana wanting to breakup with her lover. They engage in a simple conversation, however the way Godard presents the conversation is simply audacious and astonishing. Firstly the characters are facing backwards to the camera, they talk to each other while not in the same frame and they only exist in their individual frame. This scene, as i said, is extremely audacious, as Godard breaks the rules of cinematic discourse, while brilliantly conveying the stages of their relationship, as the separate frames highlights the loss of connection and their love only exist through the reflection of a mirror. It is most definitely one of my favourite scenes of all time.

Through the next episode, we see Nana at her work, i presume. The episode is short and simple, however the camera movements are once again brilliant, as the camera sweeps through the store continuously following Nana, it's as if the film is conscious of itself being a film. Furthermore, at the end of the episode the camera moves from Nana position to a view of the street that consist of no characters, it is simply a view, while a character speaks "You attach to much importance to logic". Superb.

As the story unfolds we see Nana become more subordinate to men, as the homage to 'the passion of Joan of arc' and the disturbing 'first man', it seems inevitably of Nana descent into prostitution. As Nana is talking to her pimp, the camera moves once again to present two faceless faces, both in line with each other. The camera slowly pans left and right to reveal Nana reaction to the pimp. Once again the camera takes on a life of it's own, only concerned with the emotions of Nana rather than other characters. Furthermore, the simply vision of Godard to establish a shot like this, and the blocking of people is amazing to watch.

Through this review i have simply interpret 'Vivre sa vie' as purely subjective, my interpretations could be completely wrong or right, but it doesn't matter, because that's the beauty of this film, it's beautifully ambiguous, it offers multiple subjective views, and the innovation is amazingly authentic. For the audience that appreciate the cinematic boundaries Godard has created, you cannot miss this.

Spiderman 2 has become a fond memory of my movie experiences, mainly due to the fact that this was the first film that provided me with an emotional investment in the characters and also illuminated me to the power that films can present. Previous to this surreal experience i liked films as a form of entertainment, however the second viewing of this film, i believe, developed my love for cinema. Spiderman 2 is a superhero movie in the minimal sense, the film provides the dangers that a superhero faces but rather is concerned in developing a character study on the concepts of being a teenager and facing simple life problems. This is where the brilliance lies in spiderman 2, it's focus is on peter parker rather than spiderman.

The audience sees immediately, as we are introduced to peter parker, the challenges he's faces from the creation of parker/spiderman. As to the previous film, we are introduced to peter parker narrating his daily life problems such as trouble at work, failing at school, struggling with rent and his social inability for Mary Jane. Raimi takes the first 10 minutes to establish these problems, which is great because it provides a brilliant focus for the movie and creates amazing pathos for the audience to establish an emotional investment. These opening sequences also create raimi exploration into the superhero paradox, spiderman offers the opportunity to save people from danger and the chance to be classified as a hero, however why does peter risk his life and sacrifice his social life when he is unappreciated for his efforts. Peter realized that the personification of spiderman was a self sacrifical curse, however peter is beginning to question his obligations.

Furthermore there is a new villain in town 'doc ock' who is a scientist that has 4 mechanical arms welded to his body, sounds ridiculous doesn't it?, however raimi provides Octavius with a great sense of depth, a scientist tragical embedded into his own creation. Furthermore the birth of 'doc ock' brilliantly shows off raimi love for horror, as the scene encapsulates the villain while paying homage to horror classics.

Once again Maguire is great, his ability to convey a sense of innocence effortlessly compliments the pathos that are used. Consider the scene when peter confesses the truth about uncle Ben death to aunt may or when he tells uncle ben that he has to give up their promise, it's quite impossible for the audience to not share some kind of emotional investment into peter's character.

The previous spiderman was noted for the first use of CGI, which brought high and lows, however it seems raimi has improved dramatically at incorporating the use of this technology as the action sequences flow quite effortlessly. Particuly the train sequence, as the CGI allows the action to obtain an exhilarating level.

As i previously noted, where spiderman 2 brilliance lies, is in it's ability to create a superhero movie that draws it's attention to not the superhero but rather the individual, who makes the choice to protect humanity and the predicaments that are cursed with this choice. Spiderman 2 is a teenager character study, most notable a drama then an action film, IMO the first superhero film to break the concepts of what these 'genre' films can represent.

At heart a heist film, however only a director with such a strong and grandeur vision could capsulate the mechanics of a heist film and present an innovative, complex, ambiguous and original approach to this genre while still providing the epic concepts associated with blockbuster films.

Inception follows the story of Cobb, a man who specializes in the concepts of mind theft, however Cobb latest job requires 'inception', the method of planting a idea in someones mind.

The opening sequence of inception establishes, quite evidently, the brilliant concepts of where this film succeeds, from brilliant editing, masterful soundtrack, amazing set pieces while being interwoven with an innovative substance. All these concepts lead to a brilliant creation of a dream premise, which is presented as being quite complicated, however the film creates a balance between this complicated plot and also, in a sense, it's simplicity, which allows a story that is quite easily to follow.

Like most Nolan films, 'Inception consist' of some breathtaking set pieces. The reason why the set pieces are amazing is due to the fact that they are authentic. Rather than use CGI (besides one scene) Nolan incorporates his set pieces as real settings, which is astonishing, considering the example of one set piece which consist of a fight sequence in a revolving hallway. Furthermore the story has an emotional backbone in relation to the Cobb and his wife, who is downright scary!

As i noted before, the editing in this film is masterful and deserving of the Oscar. For instance, the last 40 minutes consist of four simultaneous action sequences which one would think has the potential to lose viewers in it's own momentum, however it does not, due to the fact of the film's brilliance in the editing compartment. Furthermore Hans zimmer once again provides a grandeur score, each sequence is heightened greatly in the spectacle department simply due to the music, from the opening sequence of 'the dream is collapsing' to the ending with the poignant 'time'.

The brilliance of this film is that it constructs a great parallel balance between the intellectual and spectacle, as the film provides complex concepts which mentally engage the viewer while also providing the action spectacle. The only criticism is that the film relies on it's complex ideas to conceal plot holes, nevertheless 'Inception' most definitely compensates these flaws from it's sheer ambition.

A very satisfying film that deserves appreciation.

Finally the wait is over, 'The Dark knight rises' succeeds my expectations to become one of the best trilogies in cinema history. The previous installments of Nolan's batman introduced to the modern audience the concepts that comic-book heroes could represent and 'The Dark Knight rises' continues this brilliant pathway of what batman represents to society and concludes the character study of Bruce Wayne. TDKR provides the character of batman as a symbol of hope against the backdrop of an American society.

The third installment traces Bruce Wayne eight years after he blamed Harvey dents deaths on himself, hidden and exiled, Bruce most again don the cape to stop the terrorist bane.

Believe the hype, TDKR is simply epic, a brilliant character closure to the story arc of Bruce Wayne, following his fall and rise through the embracement of his fear to provide hope for a city. TDKR, as previous to tdk, also embeds themes of social commentary towards the American society dealing with issues raising from terrorism to the occupy movement, it's quite evident to see the influence Nolan gained from 'metropolis' for the use of the setting to metaphorical represents the state of civilization, and this is where Nolan's batman's film succeeds from others, they provide the broadest scope of what superheroes can represent, they are not just people who dress up to fight injustice, but rather represent a sense of hope for a decaying society, thus providing the ambitious sense of imagination grounded through the presence of an alarming reality.

As the previous installments did, TDKR once again provides great acting. Most definitely Christian bale best performance as the tormented hero, conveying the fall of a man and the pain that he inhabits physically and mentally. Tom hardy was simply sensational as the villain Bane. Bane is the first (imo) villain in the Nolan universe that makes you fear for batman safety, the scene where bane and batman first encounter each other is brutal to watch, they fight in silence while Bane continues to deliver he's evil monologue while beating batman to a pulp, it was brilliant to watch in imax as the use of low angle shots of tom hardy presented him as such a towering figure, furthermore, when not being brutal, hardy was brilliant in conveying his emotional statues just through his eyes, especially a scene towards the end that evoked a sense of poignancy and humanization. As many, i was also skeptical of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, an while i'm still not a fan of her costume, her performance captured the essence of Selina kyle by creating a balance between innocence, eroticism and a sense of mischief.

Also like the previous installment there are many breathtaking set pieces, such as the amazing introduction and the football sequence and while the film moves at a furious pace it's still able to establish the emotional touches, furthermore each scene is heighten in it's spectacle factor by other contributors, notably by wally pfister cinematography and Hans Zimmer score. While i felt that the film lacked the tightness of TDK and contained such an anti climatic send-off to a brilliant villain, TDKR most certainly redeems itself from it's ambition in presenting a film that evokes the nature of traditional epics while embedding culturally important themes. Tdkr completes the story arc of Bruce Wayne in amazing fashion, by providing a sensational ending that concludes an amazing trilogy but leaves you wanting more, and hopefully this exactly what we get.

"this isn't a love story, but a story about love", a quote from the ominous narrator which begins Webb refreshing take on the Rom-com genre, presenting a film that dosen't let itself be degraded by the popular clichés, but rather encapsulates the mythologies of the clichéd love story and rips it apart to present, most importantly, a refreshing, realistic and predominate tale of love.

The audience are introduced in hilarious fashion to tom, who is destroying plates from his breakup of his 'love' summer. Immediately you can tell that the film incorporates innovative techniques towards it's narrative structure, as the story is continuously told through the past, present and future shown through the time span of 500 hundred days.

Eventually we learn that tom met summer through her gaining a job at the same workplace, a card factory. Furthermore we learn that tom is quite good at his job which represent his thoughts on love being contributed from the concepts of pop-culture, for instance the ideas of faith and 'soul mates', while quite differently summer thoughts on love are based in a more realistic sense than rather influenced from clichéd ideas.

By using these characters to represent the different concepts of 'love', Webb creates a brilliant comparison between the realistic and idealistic view of 'love'. Webb captures this brilliantly, especially in one scene where tom is walking to summer's house party after they break up, hoping that this event will rejuvenate their love. While tom is walking to summer's the screen is split into two, reality and expectations. This juxtapositions is brilliant because Webb captures a moment shared among many, the hoping that the women you love will come back to you but eventually reality wins. These techniques used evoke the audacious of woody Allen narrative techniques.

There is also two brilliant uses of homages to the graduate and Ingmar Bergman, not just a gimmick but rather a another way of representing the characters emotions. tom and summer are at the theaters watching the graduate and by the ending summer begins to cry, as the ending of the graduate portrayed the characters accessing their values on their relationship and realizing if they truly loved each other, summer cries because she shares the same feelings. The other homage is to the great Ingmar Bergman, tom is at the theater after he has separated from summer, and three sequences from Bergman movies play, representing tom deep depressions.

The end of the movie was brilliant in capturing the essence of love, quite evident in tom and summer's final conversation highlighting the evasiveness of love and it's unpredictably motives.

Finally a movie the depicts love in a realistic process (and funny), despite how off-beat it may seem.

My first outing into the world of Martin Scorsese, and while now i have seen many Scorsese films, 'taxi driver' remains my favorite due to the haunting imprint it has left on me. This film is undeniably the most powerful, disconcerting and poignant character study of the fragility of the human condition from the forms of alienation in an urbanized landscape.

The plot examines a veteran from the Vietnam war and his attempts to find solace in the Saviour of a prostitute.

The most notable area of where 'taxi driver' succeeds is from the sublime direction of martin Scorsese, who establishes the camera as a window into Travis subconscious, which allows Scorsese to convey Travis emotions visual rather than aurally. For instance, the harrowing scene when Travis meets the gun dealer, the camera establishes Travis gaze as he positions the gun towards the window and takes aim at society, which evokes his thoughts of "Some day a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets". Also the sequence where wizard is creating small talk and the camera is again used in POV style to establish Travis view which is fixated on a glass of water which symbolically highlights Travis emotions. Scorsese also establishes his audacious direction with some great innovative, authentic shots, for instance when Travis is talking into an endless conversation on the phone and the camera slowly moves from Travis position on the phone to the emptiness of the hallway. This shot (imo) is audacious film-making at it's best, Scorsese boldness in breaking the traditional camera movements to create a brilliant ambiguous sequence.

Besides Scorsese sublime direction, Robert De niro is riveting as the tormented Travis bickle, conveying effortlessly the parallel dimensions of a Psychotic but still capable of demanding sympathy, for instance when Travis attempts to find a connection in talking to the adult-theater clerk and his oblivious nature in taking Betsy to the theater, he is surrounded by alienation to the extent that he can't access the proper methods of socializing.

Furthermore Bernard Hermann score is another technique which broadens the window for the audiences to enter Travis psychological state, the music conveys a sense of poignancy while simultaneously being disturbing.

Like '2001' the ending of 'taxi driver' is brilliantly ambiguous, offering audience a divided opinion, was it just a dream or an ironic statement on the nature of the media?, either way you interpreted the ending, the mood is still disconcerting.

Martin Scorsese 'taxi driver' is a disturbing tale of alienation in a nightmarish urbanized landscape. The film will be forever encapsulated into the 'all-time greats' because simply there is no other film that captures a character study of the fragments of the human mind as powerful as this.

'The Dark knight' is a brilliant comic book adaptation that captures the essence of the iconic figure 'batman'. 'Batman begins' the previous installment, developed the mythologies of batman as a realistic, serious and conflicted character that explored the origins and fears of the comic hero. Now Nolan's new efforts explores the moral conflicts of characters, while being a complex, disturbing and epic crime saga.

The story follows Batman and commissioner Gordon war on crime with the help of the new D.A Harvey dent, however a new class of criminal arrives, 'the joker', who pushes them physically and mentally to their limits.

As many film-goers, i was primarily attracted to 'the dark knight' due to the hype surrounding heath ledger performance as 'the joker', however with repeated viewings 'the dark knight' has unfolded on me to reveal itself as a character study on the premise of 'good vs evil' and the moral conflicts that are embedded in the noblest man, such as batman and his realization in the audacious lengths he has to go to stop men like the joker who represents the characteristics of a nihilist.

While the movie encapsulates these conflicted characters it also excels in providing brilliant action set pieces, each set piece as breathtaking as the next. Some of my favorites, the opening bank robbery and the inclusion of William Fichtner (homage to heat), the hong Kong sequence which also provided a greater scope to the Nolan universe as the inclusion of hong Kong grounded the film in a realistic setting and the car chase sequence, this might sound like an absurd comparison but the direction of the car chase evoked memories of john ford's 'stagecoach' and how both films capture the action with greater time lengths in camera takes instead of relying on frantic editing to convey a sense of energy.

Many people have suggested that 'the dark knight' is an allegory for the bush reign on the 'war on terror', there is, without a doubt, political embedded themes through out the film, especially the sequence where batman taps millions of cellphones to create a sonar to locate the whereabouts of the joker.

Also the film is filled with boasting performances from Christian bale, Morgan freeman and Michael Caine, but it is Aaron eckhart portrayal of the tormented Harvey dent and heath ledger portrayal of the joker that steals the show.

I sincerely thank the team behind this innovative take on the 'batman' universe because as i know, as many others, that this franchise has developed an image that represent the true mythologies of the iconic figure.

'Persona' was my first introduction into the films of Ingmar Bergman, so as you can imagine the experience evoked such authenticity in it's surrealism that i was quite compelled to this story of two women. The story follows a nurse who is put in charge of an actress who can't talk and finds that the actress's persona is melding with hers.

The opening sequence is surrealism as it's most audacious, as Bergman depicts a dream sequence that is no doubt baffling but still symbolically powerfully in representing a disturbing mind-state of the individual, which, like most art, visual constructs meaning of the human Psyche.

The film is riddled with beautiful and disturbing symbolic imagery that includes the juxtaposition of the two women to produce a quite obvious surrealistic image of the conveying persona and a monologue from alma that is so superbly written in conveying it's eroticism, that it allows the audience to use their imagination in interpreting alma story.

As i assume, this film will not confine to everybody taste and while i appreciate the film i have no doubt that repeating viewings is essential to understanding the films buried messages, however for film-goers who appreciate the intellectual and the use of film as an artistic form of subconsciously expressionism of individuals thoughts, visit 'Persona'

Francis ford Coppola 'Apocalypse now' is an authentic experience, an experience that i wish i could've been a part of during it's time at the cinema, but nevertheless i attempt to recreate it's surrealistic sensation through my home theater because this film encapsulates you into it's atmosphere of a journey into the physcological depths of the Vietnam war like no other.

The story revolves around captain Willard who is ordered by his superiors to assassinate an American renegade colonel.

'Apocalypse now' is visually one of the best films ever made. Each sequence contains a beautifully contrasts of colors with continues beautiful set pieces which enormously contributes to the film surrealistic and physcological mood. There are three particular sequences that display this brilliantly, first the opening sequence with the slight noise of the helicopters and explosions inter-wined with 'the end' establishes the mood like no other, the 'Ride of the Valkyries' attack is simply one of the best battle sequences committed to celluloid and the 'do long bridge' conveys a surrealistic nightmare.

The characters also contribute to the films mood and atmosphere. At first we are introduced to Willard who is already mental unstable however the other individuals that occupy Willard through the river seem quite normal at first until they slowly descend deeper into the clutches of the jungle, as the river works brilliantly at metaphorically representing the decent into madness.

Like many masterpeices, 'Apocalpyse now' will withstand the clutches of the time because it's a film that gives your more than just an exercise in watching but creates an authentic and surrealistic expericence like no other film I have seen before.

'Apocalpyse now' is filmmaking at it's best.

Clint Eastwood western "unforgiven" debunks the melodramatic mythologies towards the western genre to create a unique universe that does not consist of stereotypical characters that represent good and evil but rather creates a universe where the characters are morally conflicted and where 'good' and 'evil' are concepts that embody each other.

The story follows the retired gunslinger 'William Munny' played by Clint Eastwood who accepts a bounty with the help of the 'schofield kid' and his previous partner.

When we are first introduced to munny, the scene establishes his retirement as he works on his farms and visit his wife grave, however more importantly these activities suggest his failure in living a normal life and his sense of alienation suggested from the filming in widescreen format that captures the vastness of the western landscape, similar to john ford films. Munny character is presented as morally conflicted, in a sense has been 'unforgiven' for his past sins.

What follows are truly some of the most captivating scenes committed to the western genre that encapsulate Eastwood philosophy of violence, there is no salvation for a killer, whether depicted good or bad "we all have it coming".

Also one final note, this movie boasts perfect performances across the board. Each actor embody their character brilliantly, from Eastwood morally conflicted gunslinger, hackman as the sadistic sheriff, freeman as munny elegant partner, woolvett as the naive gunslinger how idealizes the bravado masculine western figure and Harris as the arrogant assassin.

A truly unique western.

Finished watching the Amazing Spiderman and i am pleased to say that the film actually works despite revisiting the previous plot points contributed from the previous films.

This film brilliantly captures the essence of the Spiderman story, a story that is fueled by emotional content rather then continues action scenes. The emotional concepts are contributed marvelously(yes pun intended)from the lead actors Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.

While no doubt many will criticize the similarity to the previous films there are still many subtle differences, such as the characteristics of 'Garfield's Parker' to 'Maguire's Parker', Maguire captured quite effortlessly the sense of innocence that inhabits Peter Parker, however he could not capture the arrogance (quite evident in spiderman 3), this is where Garfield interpretation soars, Garfield performance creates the perfect balance between the emotional,arrogant and humorous characteristics which are fundamentals to Peter Parker/Spiderman character.

Emma stone also deserve praise for her performance, she embodies the character of Gwen Stacey in expertly fashion, conveying a character that that demands importance rather than being constructed for 'eye candy'. I don't want to degrade the previous films because I am quite fond of them but there is no denying Emma stones Gwen Stacy excels over Kirsten Dunst Mary Jane.

Yes there is also plenty of action and some quite captivating set pieces especially the fight in the high school, however it seems Webb has, in a sense, put the action secondary (despite the inevitable climax) which is a perfect choice because the entertainment exceeds from the effortlessly chemistry shared between Garfield and Stone.

Webb has successfully created a great film where we actually care about the characters. Maybe I suffer a sense of nostalgia as the previous Spiderman films are a treasured memory of my cinema experience, it was still captivating to watch the story unfold again.

The tracks have been set for the sequel, where now the writers can (hopefully) create a unique take on the spidey universe and rather then following the clichéd sequel degrader of going 'big', but rather keep the emotional investment they have created in this film.

Stanley Kubrick '2001 a space odyssey' is a surrealistic, audacious and ambiguous journey into the concepts of mankind. The films plot is quite simply, humanity discover monolith on the moon and set out on a journey to Jupiter to discover the monolith origin.

The opening sequence consist of black motionless screen while disconcerting music plays which brilliantly establishes the mood for a journey into the unknown, directly after this we are introduced to the first act 'the dawn of man', which portrays the beginning of mankind through a Darwinism approach by using primal ancestors and how the monolith provides the intelligence for the primal individual to use a bone for a weapon, the first form of technology. Furthermore this scene contains the most audacious editing sequence, which consist of the primal figure throwing his bone into the air and then cuts to a ship floating in space which captivates Kubrick ideas on the advancement of technology in the future.

What Kubrick has created in this film is cinema at it's purest, like silent films, '2001 a space odyssey' creates it's storytelling through use of visuals and music, which is beautifully highlighted through this next sequence of spaceships contrasted with classical music, the sequence oozes grace like a moving painting.

while there is so much to talk about the answer is quite simple, Kubrick '2001' is undoubtedly one of the best films ever made and offers, which is rarely found elsewhere, an experience of the unknown and the meditation of mankind.