Payday Loans- an infection that is plaguing our society

You only have to watch daytime television to come across the endless number of payday loan or short term loans that are advertised to people. Most will have people (who are really actors) speaking to the camera in a nice movie smile, telling you how much they loaned and what they spent it on...new beauty therapy course, new car repairs, new boiler. Blah blah blah. You get the message.

Payday loans are fundamentally taking advantage of the tough economic times, knowing that there are always those that don't have enough to get them through the month, or if there is something that suddenly needs fixing. You only have to see the rapid growth in their numbers, and as I eluded to earlier, the amount of times that they are advertised. It's such a shame that they have become so normalized in recent years. It's not uncommon to see Wonga (without doubt the most renown of the payday loan company's) billboards on buses or on the TV, they now even disgracefully sponsor Newcastle United Football Club. 

The most tragic thing about the business of payday loans is the extortionate interest, and that's not forgetting the roll over interest which is added on if you miss a payment. With 1.8 billion loaned out on payday loans in 2012, there are no doubt many struggling people who have run up debt upon debt, possibly leading to bailiffs and debt collectors.

It's a surprise that it has taken so long for this to get the attention that it deserves. In part its due to Member of Parliament Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) who has been very vocal on the issues, and she should be applauded for her 'End legal loan sharks' campaign. 

The only way we can stop people from falling into the traps of payday loans, is by alerting people to its dangers, informing them that there is a more helpful solution to their problems. Payday loans in many cases will only make their situation even worst, especially for those in dire straights.

In terms of a longer solution I would like to see, as has already been suggested by some, is a permanent end to rollover interest rates, the end of advertisement on the television, not allowing every other shop on the high street being some form of pawnbroker or Money shop.

But we also need to introduce education about debt and finance into the classroom, from my own experience, and from what I am aware it is not part of the curriculum. Education on money matters if done correctly could be invaluable to children, its best to start early and let them learn the early way, rather than let them learn the hard way.

     

Breaking Dawn Part 2 review, and series overview

Despite the fact that they are often badly written, badly acted, predictable and rather full of benign characters, I am actually quite the fan of the Twilight series (I've not read the books), although I will be very soon. The second part follows on from the end of the first part of Breaking Dawn where Bella gives birth and then turns into a Vampire.

For the first time in the entire series I actually came out of the cinema and didn't fee like I had enjoyed myself. One of the biggest problems with this film compared with the others is that all of its plot narratives and ideas make it hard to take it seriously. For the first time it felt like I was watching a TV movie based on a soap opera. One of the most notable differences from the first Twilight film with the finale is how disjointed and overblown it became. With the introduction of many more characters and the expansion of each films production budget, the series forgot about the characters and became overblown with too many non sentical plot narratives. This was exclusively evident in the final two parts.

Twilight is not the only movie series to suffer this fate, in fact most do.

The first half of the film is the worst in the entire series,  without spoiling too much Bella is united with her daughter Renesmee, and has to deal with the consequences of now being a vampire. We are shown her struggle with not being able to hunt humans despite the fact that it is now in her nature, this is portrayed quite well. But what isn't shown so well is the power of the vampires themselves, in the first three films they're shown to be extra strong and run as fast as the speed of light. In the early films this worked because there was still a mystique about the vampire race, despite being incredibly beautiful looking they genuinely seemed menacing and intriguing. Their powers were used for a reason, in Breaking Dawn we see it so much that it gets kinda boring, on a couple of occasions its even used as humour.

Another thing I miss about the early films is the love triangle, without it the fourth lacks any chemistry between Bella, Edward and Jacob. I also missed the appearance of any of her high school friends such as Jessica. Instead we have a new bunch of vampires with different super powers, who have about as much character as cardboard box. These new vampires are introduced to aid the Cullen family to fight the Volturi, who are angry at the illegitimate birth of Bella and Edward's daughter.

But what killed the film for me was the unexpected ending. The audience just as bewildered as me actually laughed. We were all given a nasty surprise.

Verdict- a decent and watchable film, will split fans and non-fans will find nothing new. 3/5                    

Silent Hill: Revelations 3D- Review

Its been six years since the first Silent Hill hit our screens, so you could say its been quite a while for the second to arrive. The first one was itself rather decent in my opinion, it was far from a perfect film and at times rather boring. However it managed to translate the atmosphere of the games onto screen rather successfully.

Going into seeing this film I had very low expectations, the reviews it has received from the mainstream media have been diabolical. But to my surprise it was actually better than I expected and at times enjoyable. That said the film is still no better than mediocre, but with a little more attention the film had the potential to be better.

Revelations follows on from the first film in that Harry (Sean Bean) returns from the first film, his daughter Heather (Adelaide Clemens) the films lead continuously move from house to house to house. The film starts on her first day at a new school where she meets up with another new student Vincent (Kit Harrington). Its on her first day of school that she realises that she is being watched by Private detective Douglas Cartland.

But the film really kicks off when she arrives home to find her father has disappeared and written on the walls are the words 'Come to Silent Hill'. 

The surprisingly good thing about this film is that its a rare video game adaptation that is actually quite true to its source material, many of the locations will make fans of the series nostalgic. That aside everything in the film seems to just plod along, the narrative seems to have no purpose and things just seem to happen for no plausible reason. Locations are visited and then left far too quickly. One scene involving a spider creature made up of mannequins is one example, what could have been a very scary scene ends far too quickly. 

The dialogue at times is worst than that of a B movie and cringe worthy, the 3D is good (the falling ash is particularly impressive) but very very sparse and hardly worth the extra money to pay for the ticket. Carrie Anne Moss gets no more than five minutes of screen time in her role as Claudia Wolf. And those who have not seen the first film will struggle to make any sense of this one. 

However Adelaide Clemens is impressive as Heather, and she surely has a good career in front of her. But that aside the film will split opinion of fans of the video games, the ending will certainly leave others a little aghast. But its the plot of the film which is its Achilles, implausible narratives are never explained thoroughly enough to care.

Just about watchable - 2.5/5

Prometheus Review

A visually impressive Sci Fi film that is hard to love or hate

Never have I anticipated a film as much as Prometheus, I viewed the various trailers more times than I care to mention, I read all of the discussions on the internet forums, I read all of the magazine features. So lets just say I expected a lot from this film, and perhaps its my fault that I left the cinema a little disappointed.

Prometheus is set in the future where a group of explorers travel to a planet in another corner of the universe after discovering cave paintings dating back to various times of Earth's history. The paintings are deemed to be an invitation by lead Character and archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Sean Harris).

Prometheus is the name of the spaceship in the film, which is travelling to a planet called LV223 The cast are assembled quickly and introduced beginning with the Android David 8 (Michael Fassbender) who plays the role brilliantly from start to finish, the other lead characters are introduced when they awake from their cyro sleep chambers. We have pilot Janek (Idris Elba), Fifield (Sean Harris) and Millburn (Rafe Spall). And the cold corporate employee Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron).

One of the first shots of them together is when they are all eating together, its reminiscent of a scene in Alien, but that's where the similarities end, although Prometheus is set in the same universe and a few other minor homages, they share very little in terms of content and success.

Visually Prometheus is astounding, whether its the main spacecraft entering the orbit of LV223, the holographic images or the star maps, it is wonder to the eyes, especially in an IMAX screen.

The first two thirds of the film is paced very well, the audience is introduced to the surroundings of the film and we move closer to the premise of the film which has been tentatively built up to. But then it suddenly goes a bit off the tracks and falls into a bit of a downward rolloercoaster of a mess.

Without giving much away the death toll quickly adds up under disastrous circumstances, but none of it has much effect because most of the characters have so little depth you don't care much for them, in fact the only two characters with any substance are Shaw and the magnificient android David.

The various monsters in the film seem unimaginative and lacking screen presence, one particuarly looks as though it belongs in another movie althogether.

But its not entirely bad, Prometheus is a very watchable and enjoyable film that will hold your attention until the final credits, and the film deserves credit for atleast trying to deal with complex issues such as the relationship between lifes creators, it unashamedly tries to be more than just a Sci-Fi horror film. But in the end it falls on its own pretense.

Prometheus is worth watching, it neither amazes or dissappoints, and you will come out of the cinema with more questions than answers. If you go see it, see it on an IMAX screen for the better experience.

3/5 
   

Facebook- is it still my friend?

There's something that doesn't fit quite right with me about the whole Facebook's $104 billion flotation, its not just the fact that it will make billionaires out of its creators, the fact that Bono alone will earn up to $900 million is a bit hard to take, all on the backs of people updating their entire lives onto the worlds largest social network site, and don't get me started on the adverts that I don't think anyone ever clicks into. But my problems with Facebook now run a little bit deeper.

Now don't get me wrong I have a Facebook account and unwillingly check it everyday, and the only reason that's stopping me from deleting it is because the University class I am in have a group where throughout the year we have informed each other of when deadlines are due and general study stuff. But that aside Facebook in my opinion is just losing its novelty, where at first it was an innovative and a much more user friendly and sophisticated version of Myspace, now its boring and has got to the stage where it treats its users like products.

As a journalist student what I really like about Twitter is that its not about 'me' its about 'us', its much more about information which is why so many news affiliations find it effective, another of its advantages it requites little effort to use, I use it to post my blogs as well as news gathering. To me it's an extension of the public sphere, it can empower people. Now of course there are a lot of trolls on Twitter and others who use it to show off, much in the same way that people use Facebook to whinge about the every single moment of their life, and others who upload photos of their entire life. Other random irritations include the monumental amount of game requests I get from people who constantly play Farmville and The Sims, I used to play poker quite a bit until I realized how much time suckage it really is.

But underneath facade, when you really think about it the idea of Facebook is a false illusion, whilst it may bring people closer and consistently in reach of one another it also takes away the special qualities of meeting new people and then moving on with your life, in some parts of your life the people who you meet for the briefest moments give you the best experiences and memories. Of course you have the option of picking your friends on Facebook as you do in life, but most people do not.

The same can be said for the photos that users add onto their profile, there really is nothing worse than seeing the latest photo of someones six pack (not that I'm jealous or anything), the dinner they are eating or the latest nail varnish they are using, the list is much bigger but I won't bore you. But the most disheartening thing about uploading meaningful images onto Facebook is the fact that they don't belong there, they belong in a photo album, moments such as weddings, site seeing holidays, special occasions, etc. i'm not saying that sharing is a bad thing, but shouldn't these things be sacred and personal, special memories that you can physically hold in your hand and put in a frame, they should not be shared among a bunch of virtual strangers to peer at.

I admit I am a hypocrite, I have uploaded my New York photos onto Facebook but I would never do so again. But things like Facebook underlines the narcissistic way in which consumer technology is taking over every component of society, as once unnecessary things have gradually become our necessities, and the confusion between pleasure and happiness continues to grow.



  

American Reunion- Review

A decent movie to a series that is perhaps past it’s sell by date

It’s been nearly ten years since American Wedding (2003), and in that time the series has produced numerous straight to DVD spin offs.
Thankfully the new film brings all of the old gang back together for a reunion, this time they’re no longer teenagers but adults in the real world.

The opening scene introduces Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), who have since had a child together. In typical fashion the opening scene is both cringing and funny in a way we have come to expect from the previous films in the series. Without spoiling much it involves masturbation, on both characters accounts.

We’re soon treated to a short prologue scene for each of the other main characters, Kevin (Thomas Nicholas) has become a become a house husband, Oz (Chris Klein) is now a successful sports show host in Los Angeles, Stiffler (Sean William Scott) is working as a temp in a law firm.
Along with Finch (Eddie Kay Thomas) the old gang are brought together because of a high school reunion in their home town. The film soon brings the characters into awkward situations that we have seen before, namely girls and parties.

Along with the return of Jim’s dad (Eugene Levy), there are a number of funny moments in the film which are reminiscent of the far superior first two films of the series, but they are too far between one another, and whilst they may have once shocked audiences in the past now seem a little forced.

Because the characters are no longer teenagers the crass naivety of each of them is less believable as the writers would have liked. Sub plots such as the bad state of Jim and Michelle’s sex life seem out of place and hamper the pacing of the film.
Other characters from the first three films are now reduced to either slight supporting roles or just cameos, those include Stiffler’s mum, Nadia and Vicky (Tara Reid). Aside from Stiffler’s mum none of the others really much but take up screen time.

The film does have a subtlety and maturity that the others don’t have, and all of the characters come to a satisfying conclusion as the reunion takes place and the final scene follows the end credits, particularly in Stiffler’s case.

But I do hope this will be the last one, with the American box office numbers nowhere near the previous three films this will be more than likely. Perhaps the film would have better served if it had been released on the tenth anniversary of the first film in 2009 instead of 2012.

But American Reunion is still a decent film worth seeing that will divide fans and bring nothing new to newcomers, my message to them, go back to the beginning where it all started.
3/5

The Avengers Assemble- Review

Probably the best comic book adaption I have ever seen

The Avengers surpassed all my expectations, in pretty much every way. When the idea was first announced I didn’t think it would work, I thought there would be too many superheroes for it not to be a mess, but I’ve been proved wrong.

With The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America all rolled into one team, there is plenty of action and carnage to go down well with your popcorn.

The film leads off from where Thor ended, when a powerful energy called Tesseract is unleashed and creates a portal in Space; Loki manages to break through and plans to send an army to destroy Earth. It is from here that director of S.H.I.E.L.D Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) assembles ‘The Avengers’ initiative.

The story soon brings all of the team together reasonably soon into the film. What works well is the fact that the chemistry between the characters is very good, while part of a team you really feel as though each have their own individual role and story within the main plot.

For me the star of the show was Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, as well as taking part in the best action scenes he brings a level of humour and comic relief into the film that breaks up the pace between the different sections of action and dialogue.

The film is also helped with a very impressive and menacing villain, the remorseless Loki strays away from being camp or too complex of a character not to understand, his motives and purpose are clear.
The effects are impressive and mind blowing; it’s hard to imagine anything ever bettering it. The 3D whilst not the best that I have seen does its job without really hindering or greatly improving my experience if I had not done so.

At 2hours and 23 minutes the film is long but thanks to the good pacing and build up to the conclusion I felt involved in every scene, and not once did I want the end credits appear.
In conclusion the film is without doubt the best I’ve seen in 2012 so far, with probably the best finale that I have ever seen on screen, and with a great collection of one liners to offer, The Avengers is worth every penny of your money and defines must see!

4.5/5