Granny Magnet

I've just rewatched Attack the Block (2011; dir: Cornish) for some Uni analysis and I remembered why I first liked it. It is funny, fresh and a very modern take on the alien-invasion theme - as demonstrated in this scene in which Jerome only has a small amount of credit left and, needing to warn everybody about the impending alien attack, exclaims: "This is too much madness to explain in one text!".

The alien-invasion theme is a well known one and this film has done well to update it, asking how different retaliations would be if the heros were (mostly) black, working-class and held in suspicion by the police. Having no credit, having to improvise with weapons (fireworks and super-soakers, anyone?) and forgetting your contact lenses are all real-life touches that add a sense of comedic realism to the movie. As a disclaimer, I will note that weapons are not a part of my everyday in any sense, but I do think that if aliens suddenly crashed into my conservatory, I wouldn't have a gun to hand like they do in the movies - I'd have to work out a defense strategy with only a pair of tweezers and a box-set of The Smiths CDs to hand.

It is also worth mentioning that the title of this post comes from the amusing slogan emblazoned on Pest's t-shirt toward the end of the film.

Water Weight

For my first post back after a relative absence, I thought I would give you a vignette into my life today. Today my skinny jeans don't fit but I'm taking it on the chin and assuming they've shrunk in the wash. I'm eating a big bowl of supernoodles as I type to bolster my confidence...

I also chose this film - Mean Girls (2004, dir: Waters) - because I was discussing it with a group of my friends the other day and we decided that it is pretty superb. It may be a comedic look at power-play in female friendships but every point it makes is salient and everyone can empathise - every teenager has been bullied for their looks or behaviour but has then in turned thrown a snide remark at someone else for theirs.

I say every teenager and not every teen girl because this film does appeal to men too. A consensus of my male friends agree that it's not light, fluffy or "annoying" like so many so-called Women's Films can be - it shows how women think sometimes and may give the guys a clue as to why we fly off the handle at the slightest comment sometimes.

The cast is genius too and this film will definitely make you feel lucky you don't have the ability to make three-way phone calls...