Sandra Says Blog

  Alice in Wonderland (1933) Over the years there have been many versions of this film, spin offs and adaptations, however, I want to focus on this one and how some of it has been done well for its time but some of it is lacking in standing the test of time. We first see Alice (Charlotte Henry) in an English Victorian home, bored, it is snowing outside so Alice is not allowed out. Although this is a good start and sets up the story well, nowadays we have better clothing, so Alice quite possible would be out with her friends, building snowmen, having snowball fights or sledging down a nearest slope. Alice is talking the items in the room including the chess pieces on their board this sets up the future characters we see later on which is done well. When she looks into the mirror and imagines the world in the reflection, this is when the fascination begins. Alice falls asleep and is dreaming when she goes through the mirror. The special effects are extremely well done for its ...

  Example how first impressions can change I have an interest in the Titanic story it started with that I like fictional stories based on real life events and was recommended to read Danielle Steels ‘No Greater Love’ my interest in the titanic grew, the luxury the fact that it is still there and you can still see it on the ocean floor. Which brings me to sitting down and watching Raise the Titanic which was made before the ship was found and was still believed to be in one piece. However, a t the time I watched we knew that it was in two pieces at the bottom of the ocean but my interest in the film was there . I thought the film was slightly irrelevant and not a good film at all the story seemed farfetched and didn’t make any sense at the time. Then I was on holiday in Ibiza and bought a book Clive Cussler Inca Gold I read the book and thought it was a great story Dirk Pitt being the main character fantastic. I then found out that Clive Cussler also wrote the book R...

  Happy Feet (2006) Whenever people have said about changing the world, making it a better place, one of the ways mentioned is educating the young. Plant the seeds of information when the children are young, and even if their parents don’t listen, when the children grow up into adults they will hopefully carry through and act on the information they were taught when they were kids . This film is a perfect example of this, it is aimed on the level for children , the characters are appealing and memorable to the young. Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) is an Emperor penguin living in the south pole with his family and friends, but there is one big problem, these penguins were born to sing and that according to penguin nature , that is the only way. Mumble however, cannot sing, instead he has a real talent for tap-dancing. This eventually leads to Mumble being cast out of the Emperor penguin world. He then meets some Rockhopper penguins who loves Mumbles dancing and wants him ...

  Neighbour s - hotel explosion – who did it? WARNING: Spoilers . Now sadly as Neighbours is coming to an end I thought I would post/do a review looking back at one of their bigger story lines. Paul Robinson had it all: hotel, girlfriend Naomi Canning, and he was even mayor of Erinsborough . After a bad breakup from Naomi, she gave a memory stick with all of Paul’s private and dodgy deali ngs to Daniel , Paul’s nephew , which was then leaked to the newspapers. The result of the leak was that Paul lost everything, his home which was the penthouse at the Lassiters hotel, the hotel itself, and all his money. Terese Willis who had recently split from her husband, Brad, and felt sorry for him, took him in. The Quill family , Julie, Tom, and Shay, presently took over the hotel . Julie had known Paul from the past resulting in a not so friendly encounter. Enter Lynn Scully , one of Paul’s ex-wives. He had given her some shares , which are now worth 70,000 Austr...

  Sully – Miracle on the Hudson 155 is just a number; 155 people can be just a crowd of people on the street that pass un-noticed; b ut when you watch this film , 155 is the miracle number we want to hear. This film tells the story of what happened on January 15 th 2009, when a plane takes off over New York a nd both engines are fatally damaged by a bird strike. The pilot , Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (Played by Tom Hanks), makes the decision to land the plane on the Hudson river. The film starts after the event in an inquiry situation, in an office. T his is a bit of a slow start to what quickly becomes a fast- paced telling of the story. This film is the closest representation of actual events I have ever seen on the big screen . The incident is a simple one and has a happy ending , so no rest rictions and no artistic licencing needed. Even though it’s told mainly from Sully’s perspective, it does briefly allow you to see the events from the pa...

  Swing Vote (2008) W hen something is a draw it may go into extra time. This film takes this to a whole new level. An American election in 2004. In New Mexico Ernest Bud Johnson (Played by Kevin Costner) has been fired from his job at an egg factory and for drinking and being drunk he is a laid back single father to his daughter Molly (Played by Madeline Carroll). Molly is very astute and registers her father t o vote. W e see in this film just how important voting can be. Whether this encourages people to vote remains open but it does show a vote counts. However, Bud doesn’t show up to vote, Molly trying to do the right thing goes to vote on his behalf but a power cut in the polling booth wipes the vote and it doesn’t go through. In New Mexico both candidates are tied and this int ern makes Bud’s vote the decider for the whole American election and determines who becomes overall president of the United States of America. Bud’s vote is worth 5 points and this would t...

Rocky Balboa 30 years after Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) had his first fight, he is back, he is coming out of retirement. At the start of this film it is heart-warming to see that Rocky seems to be an animal lover, a caring, devoted father, still recognised as someone famous, a successful, kind employer at his restaurant, a devoted husband to his late wife and a good friend. It all sounds good, Rocky seems a little too perfect, they lay it all on thick. For an hour and a half film I just wander when the ‘Rocky coming out of retirement’ starts. The film takes a while to set up the point of this film and then all of a sudden, without warning ‘Boxing’ comes into play and the pace of the film quickens. At first the scenes at the dog pound, there seems no point to them, but there is a lot that is said to build up the ‘Rocky returning to fighting’ part. A little harsh but we find out why Rocky wants to return to the ring, or does he? Yes, after a pep talk, we get a clearer picture....