Arnold Schwarzenegger

Thoughts on… My Most Watched Actors

I have a Letterboxd account and it’s pretty great. Letterboxd is the movie version of Goodreads so you can log what you watch, write reviews, make lists and follow different users. If you get a Pro account (which is only $19 a year which is about £15 and I think that’s pretty good value to be honest) you get to see what your various movie-related stats are each year you log films and overall on all the films you’ve ever marked as watched.

I’ve been looking at which actors I’ve watched the most overall and there’s some interesting things there but it does make me want to try and change some of my viewing habits.

Out of my top twenty most watched actors, just two of them are women – Rachel Weisz and Scarlett Johansson. Scarlett Johansson was someone I was surprised to be there as she’s not one of my favourite actors nor someone who I’d go to see a film just because they’re in it. Her being in the Marvel Cinematic Universe certainly helped give her a boost and for a younger actor (she’s 32) she’s been in the business for a while and has an eclectic filmography. Rachel Weisz is a new addition because I have been watching more of her filmography recently, trying to get her (and more women in general) into my top twenty. In comparison to Johansson, Weisz is an actor who I love and will seek out films just because she’s in them but she usually stars in dramas or films that aren’t so mainstream hence while she is someone I do really like, her filmography isn’t always to my taste. (more…)

REVIEW: Maggie (2015)

maggie elenasquareeyesTeenager Maggie Vogel (Abigail Breslin) becomes infected by a virus which slowly changes her into a cannibalistic zombie creature. Her father Wade (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and stepmother Caroline (Joely Richardson) decide to stay with her.

Maggie is a quiet film that looks at the more human cost of the zombie virus. I’m not much of a horror or zombie fan but the few films in that genre I’ve seen usually have healthy and normal people coping with the outbreak, not what it’s like for someone who has this virus and knows that they are going to change and die and they might hurt people who they care about. It’s also an interesting take as those infected with the virus aren’t necessarily dangerous till the virus really takes over so they can be around people to begin with.

The scenes with Maggie and her friends, the majority of which are healthy, are really touching as they’ve got this dark cloud hanging over them and it’s like Maggie’s illness is the elephant in the room. Maggie is dying and changing but she’s still a teenager that wants to be with her best friend.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is really good in this film – which is something I never thought I’d say. It’s not a film you’d usually see him in, there’s no action it’s not an odd comedy, it’s a really touching film about the relationship between a father and a daughter and how he won’t give up on her even though so many people including the doctors and the police say she should be locked up.

The pacing is sometimes a bit off with Maggie as it really is a gloomy, often beautifully shot family drama rather than a straight horror film. The premise while interesting can also be a bit dull so really it’s the strong performances and chemistry between Schwarzenegger and Breslin that makes Maggie a film worth watching. 3/5.