We love Jennifer, but can she really act?

I saw the advertisement for this on the side of a bus, and was forced to uneasily smile to myself knowing that it would be another film I definitely wouldn’t venture to the cinema for. Even with unlimited Orange Wednesdays.

Now it’s not that I dislike Jennifer Aniston, because like the majority of the public (or so it would appear, according to gossip magazines) I have a soft spot for her, in a kind of feel sorry for her way because some ruthless power woman named Angelina Jolie stole her husband.

But I love her in the same way I love the whole Friends cast, I love them because they’re in Friends, and not because they’re amazingly talented actors. I’m deeply upset that Channel 4 chose not to renew its contract of airing Friends repeats over and over again. Let’s be honest it made the best background TV, no matter how many times we watched the same episodes.  We could be napping, filling out job applications or necking back wine before a night out, Friends never fails to put us in a good mood.

All the actors were thrust into fame and fortune because of the unpredicted success of the show, but I really dislike the desperate attempts to make it onto the big screen. Why couldn’t they just have left it at Friends?

Aniston has probably remained the most in the public eye, both because of her split from Brad Pitt and because of her insistence in popping up in every romcom flop going. I tried to watch The Break Up with my boyfriend at the time, it was so bad, boring and depressing it definitely had the capability of causing a break up. I refuse to watch Marley and Me, mostly for the reason I can’t stand films, apart from Disney, that make animals the main characters, but also because Anniston and Owen Wilson working together could possibly be the death of me.

So what I am trying to say, is that as much as I like Jennifer Aniston, and would like nothing more than for her to settle down with a nice man, there’s a high probability I won’t watch an films she’s staring in. I just don’t see her as anything more than Rachel Green and as lovely as she is, I don’t want to see her everytime I head off to the cinema.

Unfortunately Miss Aniston doesn’t convincingly pull off any other characters, despite the decade she’s spent trying.

An Education – Not so inspiring

People seemed to go a little bit crazy with praise at Carey Mulligan’s performance in the 1960’s coming of age film; An Education. I saw a review on the Mirror website backing up what a huge hit the film is and have to admit, I may be going against the majority when I say that I wasn’t overly impressed with the whole charade.

I can’t remember the last time I watched a film with quite such a horrible relationship as the one this film focused on, that made me feel quite so upsettingly awkward, slightly queasy and like I should report social services all at the same time. I’m not denying that Mulligan didn’t do a pretty fantastic job at capturing the social expectations for a teenager in the sixties, because she did. She definitely made the film more bearable and I was a massive fan of her glamorous phase; living a life of heavily eyelined eyes, tailored dresses and a full fringe.

The Parisian scene was my favourite, but only because of the clichéd romantic beauty of Paris, especially during this period, and not for the horrible, unsettling interactions between the characters.

Obviously the film makes me glad that I’ve been bought up to expect a university education and a career, and that my life doesn’t consist of being married off whilst I’m still a teenager. However it doesn’t distract me away from my personal beliefs that it will always be more important to enjoy life in the moment, be spontaneous and regret nothing rather than worry about the future. After all, it could all end tomorrow.

Oh and for the record, Rosamund Pike was such a glitzy blonde, I love her.

Leonardo DiCaprio at his best.

My friend recommended Shutter Island to me with the words: “It’s amazing, and plus you’ll love it because it references World War Two constantly”. I’ll admit I do have a little tiny bit of a fascination with war films like Schindler’s List, but let’s all be honest here; you’d be a little bit crazy, not to mention insensitive, not to completely admire it. Now, I’m a big DiCaprio fan, and no it’s not just because of the way he looks (though that hardly decreases my feelings towards him). I find he’s part of a rare breed of actors that can  convincingly pull off a huge variety of characters, my personal favourites probably being What’s eating Gilbert Grape (his performance is outstanding for someone not yet out of their teens) and the very obvious, Titanic.

Although this film is noticeably well over two hours, it is never  predictable. It is dark and mysterious in places and without a shadow of a doubt, it is shocking. I found myself slightly confused the whole way through it, but not so confused i gave up trying to work out what was happening.

This film is an adaption of the 2003 Dennis Lehane novel of the same name, and although I’m slightly intrigued to see if it keeps me as captivated as the film, I think I’ll find it similar to when I attempt to read murder novels; they just don’t have the same shocking, jump out of your seat value.

I like this film in the same way that I liked Harry Brown; if I’d have read the plot i might have been scared off by its male vibes and pulled an unimpressed face if someone had suggested we rented it out at Blockbusters. But actually I really like it and I’m pretty certain (unless you’ve read the book and it doesn’t match up to your high expectations) that you’ll love it too.