Worst TV ads from the 2010 World Cup

In the very first ad break of SBS's coverage of the opening ceremony, I realised that these ads would be repeated countless times until the end of the World Cup. Thankfully there were some good ones but we just got sick of the majority. Of course, the World Cup is the best possible time to advertise, so companies queue in abundance to make embarrassingly desperate links between their products and football. Here's my run-through of those that were memorable for the wrong reasons:

• A cheaply animated kangaroo plays football before a stadium crowd that makes that in EA's FIFA Soccer '95 look realistic. As if the animation wasn't bad enough, the grotesque 'roo claims that "Even when the football's on the other side of the world...with TAB Sportsbet, it's almost as good as being there!"

It's enough to make you sick. TAB Sportsbet have offered us some truly disgusting ads in the past, so at least they're consistent. Interestingly, this kangaroo is playing with a football that's clearly an official Nike design (the ad even flashes the logo), so they must have bought rights to use the image. It's as if they think that will save the ad. And that makes me sick. Cheap, nasty, disastrous.

• A football match is being played inside a car tyre (bare with me). After a spectacular scissor kick shot on goal, an opposition fan screams "STOP!" and the ball stops mid-air, with the stadium watching. The voice-over laments, "if only everything stopped as quickly as tyres from Continental."

Wait, what? Now the video itself is decent, with attractive visuals and impressive special effects, but it's such a bizarre link between football and car tyres. Even more baffling is the way they've chosen to make that link--a ball stops mid-air? Huh? Watch below to be perplexed.

• Visa follows the trend of making irrelevant references to football as they dish up a simple-but-effective montage of fans around the world watching the football. It's beautiful, and has the music to match, but the voice-over ruins the moment with reprehensibly clichéd lines like, "every four years...for 31 days...the world comes together...to stand apart." We've heard it all before, and we can bear hearing it again, but then he says, jarringly, "express your true colours with an easier way to pay."

• Kia Motors is just as bad when they drive cars around a cement-covered football pitch. The supposed link is this: "it's not every day you see this kind of performance and handling--before the match even kicks off." Then grass appears and stands pop up, with hundreds of fans flocking to them and the streets. It's similar to (but far worse than) Hyundai's effort: thousands of fans fill a city square, playing with giant beach balls stitched as the unmistakable truncated icosahedron (right), adorning the Hyundai logo. It's quite abstract but easily excusable given it doesn't insult the viewer with absurd claims.

The final, most threatening contender for the World Cup's worst ad is an absolute catastrophe fronted by Grey's Anatomy actor Patrick Dempsey (below). He sits down at a cafe with friends, all of whom are more than happy to indulge their friend's ego by marvelling at his good looks. Dempsey, not the modest type, responds with a revoltingly smug look before explaining to the viewer that he's using a L'Oréal hair product. It sure is awful, but its saving grace is that it's so fun to loathe Dempsey--you don't mind watching it because you love to hate it.

Watching the Tab Sportsbet ad, however, is pure misery and torment. Distress to look at, torture to hear, it is undoubtedly the most terrible advertisement from SBS's World Cup coverage.

As for the best ad, that honour is justly awarded to Nike for their Write the Future campaign. The series features world football stars in pivotal moments during fictional matches, imagining the consequences of their deeds in that moment and acting accordingly (writing their own future). There are also appearances by stars outside of football, like Roger Federer, Kobe Bryant and even Homer Simpson. Click here to watch the in its full, three-minute excellence.

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Finally, talk of football ads cannot go without mention of that (above) starring Cristiano Ronaldo for Castrol Edge. It's gained a cult following thanks to Ronaldo's amusing interpretation of the English script.

2010 World Cup stories: New Zealand

New Zealand football in 2010 is echoing that of Australia four years ago, and the two are distinctly comparable. A nation from Down Under scrapes through a qualifying play-off, ending decades of disappointment in the 'footballing wilderness' since their last appearance. Their return to the world stage does wonders for football back home, igniting fresh interest in a land where 'soccer' takes a back seat to a more grotesque code of football. During the seasons anticipating and following the World Cup, the popularity of their domestic league flourishes and crowds swell to sizes greater than ever.

Both sides' World Cup campaigns were successful beyond expectations, and while Australia made it past the group stage, New Zealand truly impressed the world, and their journey provides a better tale of 'triumph of the underdog'.

Drawn into perhaps the weakest group at the World Cup, with Italy, Paraguay and Slovakia, the All Whites were seen as one of the worst teams in South Africa. They opened their tournament versus the Slovaks, and both sides employed cautious tactics. Despite a decent New Zealand defence, Robert Vittek headed the Slovaks into the lead after 50 minutes. In a dour match, the highlight was a dramatic 93rd-minute Paul Reid header that stole a point for the All Whites. Neither side deserved to win but the draw was certainly a victory for the Kiwis.

Next opponents were the Azzuri, champions of the world. Even a draw would be a mighty effort and amazingly, New Zealand scored first for an improbable 1-0 lead. Predictably, they spent the rest of the match fighting off Italian attacks, and slipped to 1-1 after a penalty given for a tug on the shirt of the physically unstable Dani de Rossi. Nevertheless, New Zealand showed 'heart' and 'spirit' and 'discipline' et al, keeping Italy at bay until the final whistle, and the result was the Cup's biggest upset so far, grabbing headlines worldwide.Late into the Italy match, Ricki Herbert (below) subbed on Andy Barron, who works full-time at a Westpac bank, playing football for semi-professional club Team Wellington in New Zealand's domestic league. Herbert admits his reason for bringing on Barron was less about tactics and more to prove that amateur footballers can mix it with big guns at the World Cup. This can hardly be proved on such little evidence, but that's missing the point. God bless Herbert, he saw the fairytale and made it happen: amateur footballers matching millionaire world champions, that's brilliant. Another way to look at it is that in Italy, there are 4.9 million footballers--more people than the entire New Zealand population.
Needing a victory in its last match, the All Whites really should have taken the game to Paraguay, who would be safely through with one point. New Zealand were defending for hefty periods, and rarely threatened, ending in a nil-all draw. (Meanwhile, Slovakia actually defeated Italy; an even bigger upset that pushed New Zealand's into the shadows.)

Nevertheless, the World Cup was a huge success for the Kiwis. It's a great achievement to finish undefeated, not to mention, incredibly, above the world champions in the group. Interestingly, we can say that both Italy and New Zealand were winless at the World Cup, which goes to show the extreme range of expectations.

Notable trivia is that the Netherlands' loss to Spain in the final means that New Zealand were the only team to finish the World Cup undefeated. Every other team either lost at least once in the group stage or were knocked out later on--Spain, of course, lost to Switzerland in their opening match.

2010 World Cup stories: France

If England fans are feeling sorry for themselves--forever suffering under the weight of great expectation and the consequentially inevitable disappointment--then a quick glance across the Channel should ease their misery. Nobody knows the details of the French team's self-destruction but most of the football world agrees it is something truly spectacular. This summary is my understanding of the story, based on the widely reported chain of events. It includes milestones over the last 12 years in French football, which I've added to give context within the decade as well as to simplify and emphasise the highs and lows of this story:

• France wins the 1998 World Cup.
• France wins Euro 2000.
• France crashes out of the 2002 World, finishing goalless at the bottom of their group.
• France makes the final of the 2006 World Cup.
• Coach Raymond Domenech's popularity continues to fall since his 2004 appointment, despite taking Les Bleus to the final.
• France exits Euro 2008 early, winless at the bottom of their group.
• France struggles to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
• In their opening match in South Africa, France draws nil-all with ten-man Uruguay.
• France loses 2-0 to Mexico.
• After days of rumours of unrest within the French squad, it is revealed striker Nicolas Anelka confronted Domenech at half-time versus Mexico, telling him to "go screw yourself, dirty son of a whore."
• Anelka is sent home by FFF after refusing to apologise.
• Siding with Anelka, the French players take strike in protest, walking off the training field after an argument involving Domenech, captain Patrice Evra and a fitness coach. (Details, and the remarkable video, here).
  
• Two members of French coaching staff quit.
  
• French President Nicolas Sarkozy steps in, ordering his sports minister to prolong her stay in South Africa to handle the crisis.
• Zidane is forced to deny rumours he is behind the players' rebellion. He criticises their strike, as does Domenech.
• Evra is absent at a captain-coach press conference, inciting suggestions he, and other players, will boycott the next match. Some reports even claim that four french players are threatening never to play for France again, including Evra and Thierry Henry.
  
• Evra is dropped for the match (pictured below, on the bench). He is criticised for poorly managing his team during the crisis, perhaps even leading the rebellion.
• France has a player sent off and are easily beaten by South Africa.
• France crashes out of the World Cup, again bottom of their group.
• Les Bleus return home a national disgrace and a laughing stock in the football world.

It is a simply remarkabe chain of events. French football is left at sixes and sevens. The fallout and investigation will continue to make headlines for months. The story of the French World Cup disaster will live on in history for much, much longer. Laurent Blanc will not believe his misfortune in falling heir to such a corrupt team--he is about to undertake one of the biggest challenges faced by any manager in the world. By contrast, his appointment could not come at a better time for the country. It marks an unparalleled chance to begin a new chapter in French football.

As for Domenech, his already dreadful esteem has managed to spiral even further down. His only saving grace is that he was already planning to part company with FFF, his contract ending after the 2010 World Cup. He could not have left on a worse note, hated by his players, hated by French fans and hated by French media. After the loss to South Africa--his final match after six years at the post--he was sincere, but it's too little too late. Nothing can save his reputation.

As my brother asserted on the whole fiasco, "they pretty much punched each other in the stomach, and it hurts."

My 'A Movie a Day' project has ended

On Sunday, the day after I watched The Sixth Sense, I decided not to watch a movie, ending my Movie-a-Day project. At the time I couldn't be bothered to watch anything, and I've felt that way a few times during the project but every time I just watched something for the sake of keeping the streak alive. Recently, however, in the few days before Sunday, I've been really indifferent about watching a movie every single day and about keeping my little project alive, which was becoming more something I had to do rather than wanted to do. Besides, I'm pretty satisfied with the milestone of one month so it was better to end it before the streak got ridiculously long and more important than it should be. Besides, I can still watch movies when I want.

As I documented my experiences in this blog I had an unpublished post; a list of movies I'd watch so far, to help keep track. I've tidied it up and added links to each movie's post:

LIST OF MOVIES
01. Dec 25 Tropic Thunder 5/10
02. Dec 26 Sherlock Holmes 8/10
03. Dec 27 Little Miss Sunshine 6.5/10
04. Dec 28 Transformers 7/10
05. Dec 29 United 93 8/10
06. Dec 30 Avatar 8/10
07. Dec 31 Das Wunder von Bern 6/10
08. Jan 01 This is England 7/10
09. Jan 02 Déjà Vu 6.5/10
10. Jan 03 Donnie Darko 5/10
11. Jan 04 WALL-E 6.5/10

12. Jan 05 The Bank Job 6.5/10

13. Jan 06 The Bucket List 3/10
14. Jan 07 The Godfather 8/10
15. Jan 08 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 6/10
16. Jan 09 Room Service 6/10
17. Jan 10 Star Wars Episode II: The Clone Wars 7/10
18. Jan 11 Equilibrium 8/10
19. Jan 12 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 8.5/10
20. Jan 13 Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope 7/10
21. Jan 14 Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back 7/10
22. Jan 15 Semi Pro 4/10
23. Jan 16 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 6.5/10
24. Jan 17 Shoot 'Em Up 6.5/10
25. Jan 18 BoyTown 5/10
26. Jan 19 The Hangover 6/10
27. Jan 20 Shaolin Soccer 7.5/10
28. Jan 21 Zombieland 7.5/10
29. Jan 22 Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi 8/10
30. Jan 23 The Boat That Rocked 6/10
31. Jan 24 Reservoir Dogs 7/10
32. Jan 25 12 Angry Men 8/10
33. Jan 26 Chop Shop 7.5/10
34. Jan 27 The Invention of Lying 5/10
35. Jan 28 Law Abiding Citizen 8/10
36. Jan 29 The Hurt Locker 8/10
37. Jan 30 The Sixth Sense 8.5/10

I never planned to blog this project to begin with--in fact the only reason I have a blogger account is because it was a minor requirement in year twelve IT. I suppose now that the Movie-a-Day project is done I'll keep this blog, but probably won't post much...

A Movie a Day: The Sixth Sense

Saturday 30 January - THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)
Another one of the 'you've just gotta watch this' films, I had a fair knowledge of The Sixth Sense from various "I see dead people" references in pop culture, not to mention a bit from studying M. Night Shyamalan's next film, Unbreakable, extensively in year 12 media last year. While I'd heard The Sixth Sense was widely praised, luckily I wasn't too familiar with the plot itself (particularly important considering it's a thriller).

It was a brilliantly engrossing, deliciously slow-burning, precariously creepy thriller with a good story and great acting, particularly then-11 Haley Joel Osment, also starring Bruce Willis *with hair*, who I liked. 8.5/10

A Movie a Day: The Hurt Locker

Friday 29 January - THE HURT LOCKER (2009)
Before watching it, I had no idea what The Hurt Locker was about, except for a brief mention early in this Empire article which suggested it was widely acclaimed. Even then, though, I didn't know it would be a war thriller--to be honest I think the less prior knowledge you have the more you will enjoy it; less room for deflated expectations. Anyway, The Hurt Locker follows a team of three US soldiers who disarm bombs (an 'Explosive Ordnance Disposal team') in present-day Baghdad (though it was largely filmed in nearby Jordan). It was almost without music and filmed with hand-held cameras, giving it a distinctly documentary feel--except for the occasional impressive slow-mo shot.

The story starts fairly slowly, as do thrillers, but soon the drama thickens as personalities clash in life-and-death situations. I don't think that trailer reflects the movie very well but then I couldn't do better... The tension between characters was communicated really effectively; it was really good. 8/10

A Movie a Day: Law Abiding Citizen

Thursday 28 January - LAW ABIDING CITIZEN (2009)
I wasn't too keen to see this, having noticed some bad reviews, but I went into the cinema and let myself get lost in the movie, and really enjoyed it. I think 'Law Abiding Citizen' is a funny name, making it sound hilariously mundane for an action movie, but it does have some relevance--the movie's about a guy called Clyde (pretty much a criminal mastermind; played by Gerard Butler) who vows to bring down the legal system after one of his family's killers walks free. Opposite Butler is Jamie Foxx, playing Clyde's former lawyer now trying to stop him.

It was a well-written film with a smart plot, not too confusing, plus Clyde pulled off some really smart crimes. It's the kind of film that impresses you by how devilishly clever they can kill people. It got terribly gruesome at times but you've gotta take that bad stuff with the good--in fact the gore probably made me care more, making the film more powerful and more memorable. Anyway, at the end of the day, my lasting impression of the film is of its great plot, not its occasionally confronting violence. 8/10

A Movie a Day: The Invention of Lying

Wednesday 27 January - THE INVENTION OF LYING (2009)
Ricky Gervais plus the title concept equals so much potential, but I was seriously let down. Such a concept could have and should have been so funny but instead this is a sadly mundane film with an awfully bland feel about about it--something to do with the look of it and particularly its musical score, which made me think I was designing a house in The Sims. As a huge Gervais fan, I tried and tried to like The Invention of Lying, but it was poisoned by that blandness and also clichéd heartfelt speeches.

I skimmed through the movie again today (having watched it last night) and gave it more respect after watching some of the funnier dialogue again, which Gervais delivered with his gift for comic tone and timing. He really did shine in this film (not only comically but emotionally: see scene where his character's Mum dies), so it's a shame everything around him was so far behind. The first time I watched this it barely made me laugh--although I was amused by this alternate world, one without lying, or even tact or euphemism. I'm not advocating anti-Americanism but I imagine The Invention of Lying would be sharper as a British film. 5/10

A Movie a Day: Chop Shop

Tuesday 26 January - CHOP SHOP (2007)
What drew me to this independent film was its not only its critical praise (especially for its 12-year-old star, Alejandro Polanco) but also its setting; a slum in Queens, NYC, because the poorer side of the celebrated city is rarely shown in the media. Anyway, it was a really grim film, about an orphan boy working in an auto-body repair shop (a 'chop shop'), almost living in poverty, saving money for his own food van so he and his sister can run their own business.

This trailer explains a bit more, but it makes the movie look more action-packed than I remember--it was fairly slow-moving. I thought it was a really good movie, though surely my impression was raised by the knowledge it was a small, independent film.. I gotta stop over-thinking my enjoyment of films. Honestly, I was impressed by Chop Shop, the only problem for me being its ending, though I still recommend it. 7.5/10

A Movie a Day: 12 Angry Men

Monday 25 January - 12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
Watched this from the direction recommendation of Sacha, who said I'll like it, and that made me expect to be let down, but he was right, I did like it. 12 Angry Men is about a jury (consisting of the 12 'angry' men) debating the guilt of an 18-year-old boy charged with murdering his father. Save for the characters entering and exiting the jury room at the beginning and end, the entire film takes place within a jury room.

The film's appeal lies in its thought-provoking and outstandingly intelligent dialogue. Only briefly in the film's last moments are any characters' names used, but even more impressive is that the entire film is a discussion about hypothetical events, with the jurors offering theories and persuading one another as personalities collide and egos clash. While the film had a common running length of 96 minutes, I found myself feeling like I'd been watching for hours. This could be good or bad but I see it as good; feeling like I was in that jury room with them, not that it was dragging on but that I was absorbed in it. 8/10

A Movie a Day: Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs marks 31 consecutive days on which I've watched a movie; a whole month. I'm surprised I managed to keep the streak going this long, originally aiming to watch A Movie a Day for two weeks, so I'm very happy with this milestone. Right now, though, I have no reason or plans to end this project...

Sunday 24 January - RESERVOIR DOGS (1992)
I'm not sure what to make of Quentin Tarantino films. They have cult fame and for a long time I've told myself that they are excellent movies and that I'll love them all. I think the first of his I watched was Kill Bill, which was entertaining, and then last year Inglorious Basterds, which I also liked. A little over a month ago I saw Pulp Fiction, perhaps the highest-praised Tarantino film. However, partly due to that hype and partly due to my cynical wariness of the hype, I was disappointed by the film, perplexed by its bizarre narrative style. This altered my expectations of Reservoir Dogs, but luckily I enjoyed it a lot more than Pulp Fiction.

Like Tarantino's later films, Reservoir Dogs is an unorthodox movie, with the story jumping around within the narrative timeline between characters. My problem with Pulp Fiction was that it pretentiously emphasised its dialogue, which I found to be delivered with an unnatural smoothness. Its plot was fairly compelling, but like I said, it unfolded in a peculiar fashion which didn't sit well with me. A lot of people will argue that's the quality that charactierises Tarantino's work, and I understand it's a deliberately sideways take on cinema, but Pulp Fiction didn't appeal to me. Anyway, enough on that--Reservoir Dogs I enjoyed a lot, being much more straight-forward and resembling the more traditional crime thrillers. The bottom line is that it was a strange movie that I enjoyed more than I had hoped, without embracing it to the extent of cult fans. 7/10

A Movie a Day: The Boat That Rocked

Saturday 23 January - THE BOAT THAT ROCKED (2009)
Really liked the look of this when I saw its trailer about a month ago, but again I was disappointed by the actual movie. Almost everything about this comedy film was actually quite good, but I didn't find it very funny--the most important part. The Boat The Rocked (released as Pirate Radio in the US) is about a fictitious pirate radio station in 1966, broadcast by a crew of disc jockeys on-board the Radio Rock ship anchored off Britain.

One of the film's most appealing traits was its ensemble cast, which included some actors I liked and knew from other works, like Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shawn of the Dead), The IT Crowd's Chris O'Dowd and Katherine Parkinson, and Rhys Darby of Flight of the Conchords fame. I felt the chemistry within the cast was very fluid, natural and heartfelt but some of these guys could have been so much funnier. Of course, the movie was full of great 60s rock and pop music (hence the title's double-meaning, the boat that rocked), and to be fair it was a genuinely warming, entertaining movie, despite it lacking depth in its characters. 6/10

A Movie a Day: Zombieland

Thursday 21 January - ZOMBIELAND (2009)
My desire to see this film was fed by this review on YouTube by TomSPerkins, and I'm glad I took his advice because I really enjoyed it. The film has a brilliant, sharp, fast opening sequence that really engaged me, and I was happily entertained for the rest of the movie.

Zombieland is, of course, a zombie movie, but also a comedy. I'm not a big fan of horror movies; the only zombie films I've seen off the top of my head are 28 Days Later (not a comedy) and Shaun of the Dead (a comedy--that I loved), so I pretty much expected this to resemble the latter. Aside from the genre elements of zombies and humour, the two films are fairly different (although I wasn't comparing them while watching Zombieland). Anyway, this was a really fresh, well-made movie. 7.5/10

A Movie a Day: Shaolin Soccer

Wednesday 20 January - SHAOLIN SOCCER (2001)
Can't believe I never got around to this one; I've had a copy for such a long time and I've been told I should watch it, knowing that I would like the film--so I did watch it, and I did like it very much. My copy had dubbed English audio but without subtitles for the occasional shots of chinese text, although that wasn't really important, because this film's appeal lies not in its story but the special effects.

You can watch an American trailer for the film here, although it doesn't really do justice to the style of the film. That trailer comes across as flashy, thrilling and action-packed, but Shaolin Soccer makes hilariously absurd use of its spectacular special effects, rather than high drama. While predictable, it is a well entertaining film all-round. 7.5/10

A Movie a Day: The Hangover

Tuesday 19 January - THE HANGOVER (2009)
Really looked forward to this after hearing a lot of praise for it since its release; stuff like 'best comedy of the year'--but I was let down, and didn't find it nearly as funny as I expected. Perhaps the style of humor wasn't what I expected and so I didn't pick up on the jokes.

While The Hangover had a good, entertaining story and the actors played their characters well and the music was good, the final word is that I didn't laugh very much, and being a comedy, that's a good measure of my opinion on it. 6/10

A Movie a Day: BoyTown

Monday 18 January - BOYTOWN (2006)
I was looking forward to this movie, knowing that it had an excellent ensemble cast (Mick Molloy, Glenn Robbins, Bob Franklin, Wayne Hope, Gary Eck) and I loved previous films from the likes of Molloy (Bad Eggs, Crackerjack). BoyTown is a fictional comedy about about five men who decide to re-launch their boy band, which enjoyed success in the late '80s.

This story had so much potential, twisting the boy band stereotypes as jokes on middle-aged life. However, the characters and back-stories were paper-thin, and although this is common in comedies so as not to detract from the humor, unfortunately BoyTown wasn't very funny anyway; sadly, far less sharp than most of the cast's other work. 5/10

A Movie a Day: Shoot 'Em Up

Sunday 17 January - SHOOT 'EM UP (2007)
Watched this Clive Owen action-comedy film with and at the recommendation of my friend Walker. We were both surprised it was so gruesome but then again it's deliberately over-the-top: much of its humor revolved around the absurdity of its gore. It was virtually a parody of the action genre.

The title says it all really; it was simply a hard, fast action movie, with a few jokes thrown in. It had a fairly grungy style, set in an American slum, but what it lacked in attractiveness was made up for in excellent, creative action sequences and a production values to match. 6.5/10

A Movie a Day: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Saturday 16 January - CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS (2009)
I was pleasantly surprised by Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, considering the only reason I watched it was because it was the only movie on my iPod and I wanted to watch a film to keep up my streak.

Being another animated kids film I thought it would be around 4-5/10 quality with a predictable storyline and juvenile humor but I was entertained by its quirky style and quality dialogue & comic timing. 6.5/10

A Movie a Day: Semi-Pro

Friday 15 January - SEMI-PRO (2008)
Chucked this movie on looking for some light-hearted entertainment but was disappointed not to be entertained very much.

Will Ferrell is not as funny as I so often tell myself, and Semi-Pro was almost a carbon copy of Dodgeball, not to mention several other Ferrell films, but it was simply not very funny. His sense of humour is zanier and less compatible with my own but, although I laughed aloud a few times in Semi-Pro, to me Ferrell seems to be a kid who just messes around and somehow makes films out of it. He thrives on playing washed-up men hoping to make it big through sport, and to be honest, he's looking a little washed-up himself after this flick. It's a shame, because I genuinely like Ferrell, but I didn't genuinely like this movie. 4/10

A Movie a Day: Equilibrium

Monday 11 January - EQUILIBRIUM (2002)
All I ever heard about this movie was that my friend Max mentioned it in passing about two years ago, so my only expectations were that it would be a sci-fi with a heavily psychological story.

I was very happy when Christian Bale, one of my favourite actors, appeared early on as the star of the movie. Another thing I noticed early was the uncanny similarity to George Orwell's 1984, which I studied in year 12 English last year (props go to MK haha). Equilibrium is about life in the post-World War 3 world of Libria, where human emotion is seen as the cause of conflict and thus is suppressed by the government through mandatory drugs. Bale plays John Prestion, a government agent whose job is to find and destroy emotionally stimulating material (eg. art). However, John begins experiencing emotion in the first time and he begins making dangerous steps outside his methodical lifestyle. I found it to be a thoroughly entertaining and thrilling film; my only problem would be its absurd likeness to 1984. 8/10

A Movie a Day: Room Service

Saturday 9 January - ROOM SERVICE (1938)
This Marx Brothers film was on ABC a few nights ago and my Mum taped it for my brother. Anyway, he and my Dad were watching it so I decided to make it my movie for the day (although that broke my plan of watching the two Star Wars trilogy in six straight days).

I didn't expect to enjoy this movie too much, thinking the style would be too dated and unusual, but I was pleasantly surprised. On occasion I genuinely laughed out loud at jokes, although I wouldn't want to watch it all again for a while. 6/10

A Movie a Day: Star Wars

I never properly watched Stars Wars so I decided now was a good time. Decided to watch from episode one through to six rather than in order of release, I suppose because I thought it would make the story arcs more enjoyable. My original plan was to watch six in six days, so I could write one post for them all at the end. In the end I watched other movies in between so I'm gonna come back and add to this post when I watch another episode.

Friday 8 January - EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (1999)
A while ago I sat down to watch The Phantom Menace after school but fell asleep about halfway through. Watching it now, pretty much the whole film was vaguely familiar, either from that day after school, or from channel-surfing the TV, or from walking into the room while my brother was watching it.

My understanding of The Phantom Menace was that it was considered one the worser Star Wars movies, and while my enjoyment may have been hampered by the uncomfortably hot weather, I didn't like it very much. 6/10

Sunday 10 January - EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002)
This was more entertaining and interesting as the story developed and the special effects improved on episode one.

I thought Hayden Christensen acted very poorly as Anakin Skywalker, but overall I liked episode two better than episode one. 7/10

Tuesday 12 January - EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH (2005)
Definitely my favourite Star Wars movie so far. I loved this movie, with even better special effects and a more engrossing story than its prequels. I was well entertained for almost the whole film. 8.5/10

Wednesday 13 January - EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE (1977)
I wasn't sure what to make of this film, because within the Star Wars canon this story fits the order I'd been watching, but of course this film itself was made almost 40 years ago, and was obviously an incredible film at the time but not by modern standards--that's the perennial challenge of watching 'classic' movies. Anyway, I did enjoy A New Hope but it was hard to get lost in the movie because the whole time I was looking for the element that made it so famous; the factor that sparked a cultural phenomenon. 7/10

Thursday 14 January - EPISODE 5: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)
Watching Episode V, I was more used to the older quality of the original trilogy, so I felt I could enjoy it a little more than Episode IV.

However, I wouldn't rate it any better. I try to ignore the hype around the classic films when I watch them, but I can't help think that this movie is not as good as A New Hope, the one that started it all. 7/10

Friday 22 January - EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983)
Finally watched the final installment of this epic saga. I liked this one more than the other two from the original trilogy--partly because I had seen more and was more into Star Wars than before, and partly, I think, because I didn't watch it so intently, having it on the computer while multi-tasking allowed me to watch it more lightly and enjoy it more. This really seemed like an epic movie, with several clear chapters in Luke's adventure--although it may not have stretched as far as I think, because often I went back and played scenes over to make sure I followed the story. Anyway, really enjoyed the sixth episode. 8/10

And there it is; finally, I have seen the Star Wars films. Overall I'm underwhelmed by the series, to be honest. I definitely enjoyed watching it but unfortunately I set my standards too high, expecting to be blown away--an idea developed by the fact that Star Wars has snowballed from an impressive movie to a cultural phenomenon. This notion hampered my enjoyment because, not only were my expectations too high, but I was too often searching for the element within the movies--especially the original trilogy and A New Hope--that sparked this phenomenon, as I mentioned earlier. Another thing that hampered my enjoyment was that I partly felt like it was a chore watching the movies, hearing people say 'you've GOT to watch that...' Overall, though, I'm definitely glad I watched Star Wars and I can see why so many people get so into it, but if you haven't seen it, don't worry, I don't think it's necessary to urge you to.

A Movie a Day: The Godfather

Thursday 7 January - THE GODFATHER (1972)
It's hard to judge cinema classics like this because I watch them in a completely different culture to the one in which they were made and released, so what may have been a groundbreaking film 40 years ago may not stand out against current cinema.

Regardless, I thought 'The Godfather' was an excellent movie; a deep, intelligent, epic drama, I can see why it's seen as a masterpiece. I always put off watching this because of its near-3-hour running time, but its slow-burning nature only served to heighten and build the drama, with the story developing several layers and spanning ten years. 8/10

A Movie a Day: The Bucket List

Wednesday 6 January - THE BUCKET LIST (2007)
Very disappointed with this one. Saw the trailer before its release a few years ago and liked the look of it, but it failed my expectations spectalularly. A 'meaning 0f life' exploration about two terminal cancer patients (Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman); I thought it would be a really good drama. I can't quite pinpoint its biggest fault but I found this to be a really weak, boring movie.

The characters were undeveloped and one-dimensional and the dialogue was poor, as if the two leads were only ever making small-talk. The story had potential but the whole movie just seemed really fake and I found I didn't really care about it or its characters. At the end of the movie I thought it was only halfway through and that much more drama would unfold, but it didn't, and I simply thought "is that it?" To make matters worse, the jokes were not funny at all. 3/10

A Movie a Day: The Bank Job

Tuesday 5 January - THE BANK JOB (2008)
I always wanted to see this but never got around to. I had the idea that it would be similar to 'Snatch' and 'Lock, Stock', two other English heist films, and I suppose it was, but I don't remember the other two exactly so can't compare too much. In any case, I enjoyed The Bank Job: it got off to a fast start and was riveting building up to the bank job itself, which surprisingly wasn't the film's greatest climax.

However, after that it all got a bit messy and boring while setting up the finale. There was a period of half-an-hour or so where it was too hard to follow as several parties moved to claim their stakes in the heist. As a result I lost interest less than halfway into the film, but I did think that the ultimate climax tied up neatly and nicely. 6.5/10

A Movie a Day: WALL•E

Monday 4 January - WALL-E (2008)
While failing to live up to the praise I seem to remember from its release, WALL-E was enjoyable, particularly thanks to excellent animation which I enjoyed in 1080p HD. Being a Disney-Pixar movie I was surprised by the desolate state of Earth and by the cynically depressing state of humanity.

The last thing I heard about the movie before I watched it was my friend bemoaning the blatancy of the anti-globalisation message, so that was on my mind and it did seem to push that social value surprisingly hard. Perhaps all Disney-Pixar films have done so but I never looked for it and missed those values. Anyway, despite all this, it really was an entertaining, pleasing film without being outstanding. Being a kids' film the story and characters were thin, so my enjoyment mostly came from the brilliant animation as well as the fascinating portrayal of society in 2085. 6.5/10

A Movie a Day: Donnie Darko

Sunday 3 January - DONNIE DARKO (2001)
This was one of those I've been told I should see, but never did. I knew it would be a strange film and to be honest didn't expect to enjoy it, and that was correct. I didn't enjoy it, but the film's style differend from my expectations. Instead of something with a little more straightforward scare factor, 'Donnie Darko' was, as far as I can describe, a really bizarre philosophical film that makes little objective sense and that I didn't understand.

My problem wasn't that it was slow but it simply explored themes beyond my grasp; I couldn't find the will to ponder metaphysics, existentialism and/or other themes. I'm not sure on the terminology, but nonetheless it left me confused. I'm not sure how to talk about this film or what else to say, so I'll leave it at that.. 4/10

A Movie a Day: Déjà Vu

Saturday 2 January - DEJA VU (2006)
Set in present-day New Orleans, Denzel Washington stars as special agent Doug Carlin investigating both the murder of a woman and the bombing of a ferry. To aid him he is presented a mysterious new technology called Snow White, which forms the basis of the story. This technology is like a surveillance camera but it can show any place at any angle within a small range, but only what happens exactly four days and six hours ago (hence 'déjà vu').

While the result of Snow White is clear, it is never properly explained, which is the movie's major pitfall: while I found it overall entertaining and exciting, it felt like the suspense was hollow, like it was built on nothing and came from nowhere. When the story started concerning time travel, it was yet more confusing and absurd, but at the same time more engrossing. Washington made an excellent performance and the plot twists went down to the wire, so it had a great climax, but there was always the feeling that it couldn't be fully appreciated due to the confusing premise.

A Movie a Day: This is England

Friday 1 January - THIS IS ENGLAND (2006)
'This is England' is a drama about gangs and politics during 1980s England. The story follows Shaun, a detached 12-year-old whose father died in the Falklands War and who is accepted by a skinhead gang.

It is a raw and powerful film, portraying the brutal nationalist and racist ideals within a skinhead community. I expected it to be a dark ride and it was. While it looked relatively low-budget its actors and story made it strong, and ultimately this was a gritty and impressive movie. 7/10

A Movie a Day: Das Wunder von Bern

Thursday 31 December - DAS WUNDER VON BERN (2003)
Das Wunder von Bern ('the miracle of Bern') is a German phrase referring to their national football team's famous 1954 World Cup triumph. I watched a German film that is, of course, based on this story, while following the family life of Matthias, a lonely boy whose best friends are his rabbits and German winger Helmut 'the Boss' Rahn. The film also deals with the recovery of family life in post-war Germany as Matthias' father returns from being held prisoner in Russia since before Matthias' birth.

I accidentally found this film on SBS while channel-surfing late one night. The film kept my interest for two reasons: it was about football and it had a historical setting. I only watched the first twenty minutes because it got late, so I acquired it later and now finally watched the rest. I think it counts for this movie-a-day thing because almost all of it is fresh to me.

I enjoyed this but not as much as I remember from the TV; I suppose because when I watched the whole thing on New Year's Eve it was dreadfully hot and I was getting ready to go out--having said that I did enjoy it as a pleasant (but unspectacular) movie. I liked the believable 1950s setting and the imagery itself had a warm tone, but the story was a little thin and there were some funny, inconsistent special effects. It felt more like a telemovie than a feature, although it was one of the most popular German cinema releases in Germany ever. I think my enjoyment was hampered the fact I watched the first part a few months before the rest (I didn't have enough time to watch it in full). It was an amiable film that did justice to one of Germany's proudest sporting moments, an event that united and helped rebuild a damaged nation. 6/10