Netflix A-Z: Attack the Block (2011)

We’re back for Round 2 of Netflix A-Z! Are you ready?

Some of you know that I’m part of The Random Chat Show and if you haven’t, well, I am.  You should go check it out over at That Moment In. I have two amazing co-hosts and while we didn’t go into an in-depth conversation about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I did retain one recommendation for a film John Boyega did and that is Attack the Block. And you know what? That is exactly what I’m choosing for the A selection. I need a good movie to start this off and I trust Melissa’s (aka The Creative Fox Den) recommendations.  Especially since it has been on my list for a while and I had wanted to start it up a few times but never got around to it.

Let’s check it out! 🙂

Attack the Block (2011)

Director and writer: Joe Cornish

Cast: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Leeon Jones, Franz Drameh, Luke Treadaway, Nick Frost

A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion.-IMDB

Its always hard to imagine a great recent alien movie nowadays.  You know, one that isn’t too serious but still packs in a lot of fun.  Attack the Block really does have it all.  Its fun and action-packed with great creature design and a nice motive behind the alien invasion.  The movie itself is packed with young actors and the only familiar faces you  might see is Nick Frost and Luke Treadaway.  We’ll take a look at the cast in just a bit.  Attack the Block is around one neighborhood or even just mostly one building.  It follows these young gangs who really aren’t all that dangerous.  They each have a snippet of their families and backgrounds and you can see their personality shine through with their own skills and abilities that makes this group well-rounded.  In between the pretty thrilling adventures packed with a mix of scares and British humor, it even manages to get us to think about the social situation going on.  Plus, the gang turns from a bunch of muggers into the hunted and before long you will start cheering for them, hoping that they’ll manage to get rid of this alien invasion or at least survive it.

I have to say that I went into Attack the Block completely unsure about where and how this was going to go. Just to say, there’s a ton to love about this movie. I’m not big on groups of kids acting tough but these guys and their friendship was put together really well. Each of them have a pretty fun personality that defines who they are and to make me connect and care about them during the movie that I was worried about their survival was a true feat.  John Boyega is definitely a talent here.  He pulls off the leader of the group and you can feel a bit of his character.  The movie never dwells too much on their backgrounds but I think that is okay for its length.  It focuses on the issue on hand and that is the alien invasion.  It is random and came out nowhere.  There are enough questions as they get chased down and the key one is why their little South London block was the main target and why they were the focus and the final big one: how do they stop these raging creatures? If the kids don’t make you feel enough thrills and the occasional laugh, Nick Frost and Luke Treadaway’s characters dialogues will give you the bit of humor to break some of the crazy tension that some scenes do build. Since I’m on that point, Luke Treadaway NEEDS to do more movies.  I really like him a lot! (Have you seen him in Tonight You’re Mine!)

One of the biggest positives of Attack the Block has to be the creatures.  This one proves that creatures don’t need to be complicated.  They go back to a very simple logic of why the creatures landed here.  Its a simple explanation of why they chose the block and its a simple solution (in concept and not so much execution for the characters). Who knew that a set of glowing teeth was all you needed to make a menacing alien, right? Fact is, that is all Attack the Block needed to make the convincing character.  The movement and features was like a few creatures that we know all  meshed together and they way they work turns out to be much more simple than even this group actually thought initially and yet, its super efficient in delivering the tension and the scares.

Overall, Attack the Block is really great. I honestly don’t have much criticism for it.  I like the story, the characters, the length, the balance between the scares, thrills and humor and especially the creature design.  It works really well for me and its exactly how I’d like to start Netflix A-Z for the beginning of the year. Attack the Block deserves a view and I highly recommend it.

Have you seen Attack the Block? Did you like it? 

Any idea what the B selection will be? Hint: Asian Horror

Valentine Marathon: Tonight You’re Mine (2011)

Spontaneity is this lovely lovely trait that I sometimes like to let loose.  If I was to use one word to describe this Valentine Marathon, it would have to be that.  I really just looked at my list and jotted down a bunch of choices and then kind of kept changing an extremely tentative schedule, especially after it just fell behind after the last weekend.  Honestly, I was originally going to watch Sense and Sensibility, because the package just arrived from Amazon or Much Ado About Nothing but I wasn’t really in the mood for fancy English so I went for a shorter runtime and a much more up in the air movie that I knew nothing about called Tonight You’re Mine.

Tonight You’re Mine’s original title is “You Instead”.  Perhaps you know it as that.

Its an indie romantic comedy of sorts so lets give it a watch! 🙂

TONIGHT YOU’RE MINE (2011)

Director: David Mackenzie

Cast: Luke Treadaway, Natalia Tena, Ruta Gedmintas, Alastair Mackenzie, Matthew Baynton, Rebecca Bronson

 T in the Park holds nights of the biggest  music festival in Scotland with known and aspiring bands.  One of these are big time duo, The Make. As the boys Adam (Luke Treadaway) and Tyko (Matthew Baynton) stop to jam a tune, they are messed with by a upcoming girl band, The Dirty Pinks lead by Morello (Natalia Tena) and her girls. While breaking up their conflict, the security handcuffs them together and disappears in the chaos, leaving them trapped together despite disliking each other.  For the next 24 hours, they are tied to each other, taking a glimpse at each other’s life: boyfriend/girlfriend, music, performances, hanging out, etc.  Its then they realize that there’s a connection that grows.

Tonight You’re Mine (or You Instead) is an through and through independent romantic comedy.  Its story is pretty simple but the feel-good factor is off the charts.  Why do I say the story is simple? Well, its your typical boy meets girl, hates each other, spends time together (forcefully) for 24 hours and then connects and falls in love.  There is always a conflict that happens before they get together.  I don’t usually comment on camera but in this one, its what makes it feel extremely indie and makes it feel like an extremely real event happening.  The focus sometimes goes off and it emphasizes the mood and atmosphere of the scene they are in. Its not only real but its extremely spontaneous, making this double the fun.  Plus, this is following two rock stars so the music helps make this so much fun to watch. I personally love really music-oriented movies so this one worked for me A LOT!

I think a lot of the awesomeness goes out to the cast to put their hearts into this.  There was an amazing chemistry and mood set.  It was also this witty stuff going on especially when both of the main characters, Morello and Adam both had their own relationship and they needed to get along with each other but they also showed that they both were these incompatible relationships.  Although there are some pretty fantastic connection even with these supporting characters playing the boyfriend and girlfriend, the chemistry between Morello and Adam emphasizing their connection brings up a lot of really fun times and there’s even a deeper moment somewhere in there. They are both really colorful characters.

“I need a hug”

Natalia Tena as Morello and Luke Treadaway as Adam just makes you fall in love with them throughout the 80 minutes run time.  They go through some performances, breakups and quiet moments.  It gives their progress so much awesomeness in every moment.  I really have no other words than awesome for this. It just made me feel all awesome, warm, fuzzy, giddy, happy.  Its been a while I’ve felt so great after watching a movie. Now, where are these two talented stars? I need to search up their other movies!

Before I recap, this is one of my favorite moments in the movie and thats probably also the turning point in Tonight You’re Mine. Wait for the mash-up to start first at around 1:00.

Overall,  Tonight You’re Mine is an amazing indie feel-good romantic comedy.  Its gives a refreshing simple story set in a music festival full of awesome music.  The colorful leads breath life to their characters, Morello and Adam and their chemistry is absolutely unbeatable.  I absolutely highly recommend it! 🙂  Its been a while I’ve felt so passionate about a movie!

I’m so tempted to watch it again tonight but Valentine’s Marathon is still going on and I’m doing this night by night.  I can’t wait to add this to my movie collection!!

Have you seen Tonight You’re Mine? Did you like the little clip? Have you seen Natalia Tena and Luke Treadaway in other roles that I should check out?