Stephen King's IT (1990)

I never read the back of the videobox when I was a child, I never wanted to! I just saw Tim Curry's creepy clown face and though 'I never want to see that!'
Well, Lauren and I were in a horror movie mood a couple of weeks ago and we went crazy and bought a load of old shite- half that we haven't even watched yet. We didn't get round to IT either but I have been ill for the last week and thought a three hour movie (originally two long TV episodes) would do me good. And I thought it was GREAT! Apart from Tim Curry it's not really scary at all and I loved the first half because it was like watching one of those 80s movies set in the fifties about a load of kids in nowheresville America just hanging about, you know, like Stand By Me. So it was really great watching all these kids getting freaked out but dealing with it by making dams and saying stuff like "Holy Smokes!" even though people were getting murdered!
I also liked it when you saw the present day versions of the kids all played by actors that din't look like them at all- especially the guy playing older Seth Green. Anyway, when they went down into the sewers as grownups it was a bit boring, but it was an enjoyable romp and I haven't had any nightmares.

She Stoops to Conquer, National Theatre Live

This was definitely the best National Theatre Live I've seen- the only one worth seeing and the only one I'd want to have seen in real life.
It was fucking hilarious, the actors were deliciously over the top. Cush Jumbo is so adorable and I love Sophie Thompson and want to be her when I grow up.

Stewart Lee, Carpet Remnant World, York

On the day we went to see Stewart Lee we ate too much and watched too many horror films. Ten minutes from the end of Stew's stand-up show I stopped laughing, not because it wasn't funny any more, I just got too tired and my mouth hurt from smiling. Plus that bit about office world made me cry with laffs, yes it went on too long, but that's what I wanted. I wanted it to go on forever.
Great first Stewart Lee Live experience, well done Lauren booking those tickets a YEAR in advance. Do it again!!

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2011)

A bunch of college kids are in a car on their way to spend the weekend camping in the creepy woods, another vehichle passes them and the kids get a glimpse of the kind of folk they might meet in the hills... a couple of massive hillbilly hicks and their bruiser of a dog, chainsaws and all in their truck. We know the set up.
Yet this turned out to be THE BEST HORROR COMEDY. After that first scene the film then shifts to Tucker and Dale's point of view, they are hardworking country types who have finally saved enough money to buy and fix up a holiday home in the hills, they are cute and lovable and when bad things happen around them they are so scared and horrified that they weep.
The pure comedic joy you get from watching ridiculous stupid misunderstandings and accidents is immense. I recommend it.

My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Anna saw it at the cinema and said it was shite, which was a shame because I'd fancied seeing it because I wanted to see how Kenny tackled being Larry- to me it seemed the perfect casting.
My dad rented it and we watched it together. I thought it was brill! A great British ensemble piece and I actually managed to enjoy Judi Dench (there's a first!)
Also, just as I expected, Kenny nailed it. At some points I forgot he wasn't Olivier.

Anonymous (2011)

Good take on the 'who wrote Shakespeare's plays' theme. Nice acting and good story even if the script was a bit terrible, and I love it when acting families play older and younger versions of the same character. See photo of Joely Richardson playing young Queen Elizabeth and her mum Vanessa Redgrave playing older Bess. Thumbs up from British-actor-geek Amy!

Midnight in Paris (2011)

YES. A Woody Allen film made just for him like his good ones were, but without him, and with a charasmatic and handsome leading man, but still playing the Woody Allen part and it working.
Brillianly nerdy and indulgent and intellectual but at the same time not really, and above all affectionate, romantic and beautiful but not sexy and never trying to be. Just lovely.
What I loved most about Midnight in Paris was that the present day bits could have been any time really in the past forty years. There was nothing topically specific, rich republicans have always been like that and always will be. It wasn't ever about a time really, just a place. Predictable ending, but what a nice film. And the opening sequence of just views of Paris was great too.

My Dog Tulip (2010)

Rob and I watched this animated film online, I think it was on BBC4 a couple of months ago. The animation styles were wonderful, something about them reminded me of cartoons of my youth, ones like Padington Bear and King Rollo, very British and nostaglic. And after spending the day with Polly (Rob's dog) it was very fun and appropriate, though not so fun when we went downstairs to find Polly had ben sick on the carpet...

Travelling Light, National Theatre Live

I liked the girl, I liked the use of film and projection but I'm glad I didn't see this one for real and it was just a cinema trip because it was schmaltzy and sentimental and comparing it to She Stoops to Conquer which was put on at the same theatre on the same stage just a month or two later, well it was just forgetable.

The Artist (2012)

I was one of the people who saw the Artist without first seeing the spoiler-laden trailer.
I thought it was wonderful and a brilliant experience.
Everyone should see it at the cinema.

Sherlock Holmes 2 (2012)

SHITE.
I liked one scene, the scene three minutes before the end when Moriaty and Holmes chuck themselves over the Reichenbach Falls. And then what? They bring Holmes back instantly!? Didn't the original fans of the books have to wait ten years or something before he was brought back to life? I think that was a bit more dramatic.