You don’t need to be a superhero to get the girl. The right girl will bring out the hero in you.
Wade Wilson / Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) in the action comedy superhero Deadpool (2016). The wise-cracking eponymous character is hell-bent on finding the man who made him a superhero with drastic consequences.
With everyone still discussing the American Presidential election and the inevitable consequences of Donald Trump’s victory, it seemed a good time to take a look at who has taken the Oval Office in Hollywood. Some relate to real presidents, while others are entirely fictional. How many of the 12 can you get?
1. (1970s)
2. (1990s)
3. (1990s)
4. (1990s)
5. (1990s)
6. (1990s)
7. (1990s)
8. (1990s)
9. (1990s)
10. (1990s)
11. (2000s)
12. (2000s)
13. (2000s)
14. (2010+)
15. (2010+)
Answers Below
In the New York Herald, November 26, year 1911, there is an account of the hanging of three men. They died for the murder of Sir Edmund William Godfrey; Husband, Father, Pharmacist and all around gentle-man resident of: Greenberry Hill, London. He was murdered by three vagrants whose motive was simple robbery. They were identified as: Joseph Green, Stanley Berry, and Daniel Hill. Green, Berry, Hill. And I Would Like To Think This was Only A Matter Of Chance.
The opening lines as narrated in Magnolia (1999), a mosaic mixture of storylines that arguably includes Tom Cruise’s best ever performance.
Who is Keyser Soze? He is supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. And like that, poof. He’s gone.
Verbal Klint (Kevin Spacey) in the hugely thrilling The Usual Suspects (1995). Winner of an Academy Award for Spacey as well as for Best Original Screenplay, it features one of cinema’s most famous endings.
‘Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water…’ Jaws 2 may not be one of the films below, but it’s good advice when there are some nasty things in the water. Don’t worry, there are some nicer things in there too. See if you can work them out. Answers below.
(1970s)
(1990s)
(1990s)
(2000+)
(2000+)
(2000+)
Answers
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1. Jaws (1975)
2. Free Willy (1993)
3. Lake Placid (1999)
4. Whale Rider (2002)
5. Open Water (2003)
6. Shark Tale (2004)
“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it”
So said the supremely gifted writer Roald Dahl, and it could easily be used for all the naysayer critics who have panned Now You See Me. The latest effort by French director Louis Leterrier thrusts magic into the spotlight, giving it top bill and centre stage with all manner of tricks, illusions and slights of hand. And what a delight it is, skating along at a glorious pace, with spectacular sets and surprises aplenty.
It all begins shrouded in mystery when four highly-talented magicians are each brought together by specifically designed tarot cards. Arrogant showman J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), his glamorous former assistant Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) who has since made it as an escapologist, cocky mind-reader and hypnotist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) and pickpocket extraordinaire Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), discover a set of highly developed plans. Working together, it’s clear they will be part of something very secretive and very special. For once, they are in the dark.
Now established as “The Four Horsemen” and on the cusp of super stardom; they announce on stage their grand finale. Something never done before. To rob a bank.. You don’t get that from X-factor. Before a flabbergasted audience, a bank is robbed before their very eyes!
Grumpy agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is on the case and struggles to take magic seriously; something that is making it harder for him to solve the case. Throw in the insightful former magician Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) with his own agenda, and you have all kinds of cat and mouse games. And a finale full of elaborate shocks. This is one magic show that will leave you all chasing shadows.
With a strong cast, confident direction and an imaginative screenplay, Now You See Me is full of flamboyant panache. With sets in Vegas, New York and Paris, and with high speed chases, amusing interrogation scenes and distinctive action scenes, it’s certainly not dull. The maverick four are an unusual but inspired line up, with the wisecracking dynamic and differing skills neatly playing out.
Those that aren’t into magic should still get a kick from the reveals, but the big message of the film is that magic is so much fun even when on the outside looking in. It’s easy to say that there are suspensions of belief, that the characters should be better rounded and that the ending should have a more mysterious note, but magic is never a mathematical science. Sometimes, it’s all just about entertaining the audience.
If he loved you with all the power of his soul for a whole lifetime, he couldn’t love you as much as I do in a single day.
Heathcliffe (Laurence Olivier) in Wuthering Heights (1939)
Alex Raphael 