Raising Arizona (1987)

Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson, John Goodman
Certificate: 12
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Awards: None

Raising Arizona is an off the wall comedy about a criminal played by Nicholas Cage who marries a cop (Holly Hunter). When they find out they can't have children, they decide to steal one from the owner of a large supermarket chain.  When they get him however, they do not get what they expected.

Sometimes the film is completely random and just goes completely bizarre, but that's what makes the film funny. The whole story is just completely stupid and unrealistic, but also hilarious and sweet at times. Definitely one of the weirdest comedies I've ever seen.

****Good

Raising Arizona Trailer

28 days later (2002)

Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Brendan Gleeson
Certificate: 18
Genre: Horror
Awards: None

Great Britain has been infected by a virus that turns people into flesh eating fiends and only a handful of survivors are left. Jim (Murphy) has ben unconscious for a long time, and he wakes up to this post apocalyptic nightmare with no idea what is going on. He soon meets other survivors in the form of the cynical Selena (Harris) and the taxi driver Frank (Gleeson) and his daughter.  When they hear a broadcast from Major Henry West (Eccleston) promising the cure, they set off to join the broadcasters in hope of protection.

28 Days Later is brilliantly shot to show how empty and different London seems when almost everyone is dead or infected. The atmosphere is eerie and depressing and gives it a feeling of immense tension. All of the actors perform wonderfully and have very different characteristics you can emphasise with.

The only problem I have with the film is that sometimes the characters do things that I don't think people would do in a zombie apocalypse, such as taking valium to get to sleep and entering a dark, uninviting building to get some cheeseburgers.

Overall, this is a pretty scary film with gore aplenty. I enjoyed it a lot, and I'm not that into horror movies.

*****Brilliant

28 Days Later Trailer

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Director: Henry Selick
Starring: Danny Elfman, Chris Saradon, Catherine O'Hara
Certificate: PG
Genre: Musical, Animation, Horror, Fantasy
Awards: None

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a animaed film similar to the look of Coraline. The Hero of the film - Jack Skellington (Elfman (Singing)/ Saradon)- is the of Halloween, but he is bored of scaring people every year. When he finds a mysterious land called Christmas Town, he decides to get into the festive mood and take over christmas.

Most of the film dialogue is sung by Elfman and the other characters. The animation gives the film an eeriness that I don't think had been seen before. Other Characters such as the boogieman are also a joy to watch and the halloween styled christmas is a very original story. This is a very enjoyable film... If you can stand musicals.

****Good

The Nightmare Before Christmas Trailer

Rio (2011)

Director: Carlos Saldanha
Starring: Jesse Eisenburg, Anne Hathaway, Jemaine Clement
Certificate: U
Genre: Animation, adventure, comedy
Awards: None

Blu (Eisenburg) is a blue bird, and the last male of his species. When he taken to meet the female Jewel (Hathaway) to bring back the special blue birds, they are kidnapped by bird smugglers and their pet bird Nigel (Clement). They escape with help of some friends but must now break the chain that attaches them. Oh, and Blu can't fly.

Rio has some good bits, but it seems to be me about the music than anything else, and I don't like the music. The villain is the best character and he seems down right ruthless. This isn't the best animated film of the year, but it could have done worse. At least people went to see it unlike Cars 2.

***Okay

Rio Trailer

Toy Story 2 (1999)

Directors: John Lassester, Ash  Brannon, Lee Unkrich
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack
Certificate: U
Genre: Animation, adventure, comedy
Awards: None















Toy Story 2 returns to Woody (Hanks), Buzz (Allen) and the other toys. But when Woody is stolen by a toy shop owner who wants to sell him to a Japanese museum, the toys try everything to get him back.

Toy Story 2 ups the game from the original with more characters and a better villain.  The story is different  enough as well to keep the audience engaged. If you haven't seen this film then you must have been living with the moon people for the last twelve years. A definite recommendation.

****Good

Toy Story 2 Trailer

Ip Man (2008)

Director: Wilpson Yip
Starring: Donnie Yen, Ka Tung Lam, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi
Certificate: 15
Genre: Kung Fu, Biopic, action
Awards: None















Ip Man (Yen) is one of the greatest kung-fu masters of all time. After his home is taken over by Japan in world war 2, he learns how to work his way through poverty. But he soon begins to gain interest by the Japanese General Miura (Ikeuchi) who is a big fan of karate.

Ip Man is the best Kung Fu film I have seen. It has some humour and a good story. The martial arts are on epic proportions but still seem realistic (unlike Hero). It has emotion and is incredibly enjoyable.

*****Brilliant

IP Man Trailer

Life Of Brian (1979)

Director; Terry Jones
Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin
Certificate: 15
Genre: Comedy
Awards: None















Life Of Brian is the second film by the Monty Python gang. This time following the adventures of Brian (Chapman),  who is mistaken for the messiah in the time of christ.

Life Of Brian is a hilarious film. Chapman's brian is a loveable victim and Cleese's characters are definitely the most funny.  The subject matter may be controversial, but that just makes it more funny, as nobody else does comedy on the life of christ.

*****Brilliant

Monty Python: The Life of Brian Trailer

Spartacus (1960)

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov
Certificate: PG
Genre: Historic
Awards: Best supporting actor (Ustinov),  Best art direction, Best cinematography, Best costume design















The story of Spartacus has been told by lots of different films, but this is definitely the most famous. Spartacus is played by Kirk Douglas. He was born a slave, but was later bought by the Roman Lentulus Batiatus (Ustinov) to become a gladiator at his school. There, Spartacus meets Varinia (Simmons), a beautiful slave girl who he falls in love with. Spartacus unites the slaves in an attempt to escape Italy entirely, But the Roman General Marcus Crasuss (Olivier) is intend on crushing the rebellion.

Spartacus is a really long film. and the love scenes are cheesy and boring, but this is to be expected from a film this old. It's really before my time so I didn't really get into it. It's still a good film, but it is really slow.

***Okay

Spartacus Trailer

Immortals (2011)

Director: Tarsem Singh
Starring: Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Freida Pinto, John Hurt
Certificate: 15
Genre: Myth, action, fantasy
Awards: None

Immortals takes the tale of Theseus (Cavill) and the Minotour, and injects it with steroids. Theseus starts off as a slave who is being influenced by the gods to become a great warrior. The gods need him to stop an evil King (Rourke) from releasing evil gods with a magic bow. On his way he meets an Oracle (Pinto) who basicly tells him that the bow must stay hidden. When Theseus gets the bow however, she seems to change tack entirly and says he can use the bow to bring down the king. What?

I don't think the plot for immortals makes sense. Why is Mickey Rourke trying to release the bad gods? He knows they're going to kill all of mankind. It seems he's only doing it to annoy the gods. He kills so many of his own men, It's a wonder he has any left?

The film has some good parts, such as the battle with the minotour. The roar in the beginning chilled my blood. The fight scenes are shown in a slow-mo way that would make Zack Snyder proud and Mickey Rourke plays a very sinister bad guy. Altogether, I think they made this film a bit too mad.

***Okay

Immortals Trailer

Marathon Man (1976)

Director: John Schlesinger
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider
Certificate: 18
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Awards: None












Marathon man focuses on Thomas Levy (Hoffman), a college student, who's brother- Doc (Scheider) - is mixed up with an ex-Nazi with diamonds (This is what I gathered from the very confusing plot) named Szell (Olivier).  Thomas soon becomes targeted by Szell and his marathon running skills have to come into action.

There's a lot to like about Marathon Man,- like the torture scene that has become almost as famous as the one in Reservoir Dogs.- but it's so long. You don't even know what the plot is until about an hour in. It just drags on and on. Altogether, this was a bit disappointing.

***Okay

Marathon Man Trailer

The Warriors Way (2010)

Director: Sngmoo Lee
Starring: Dong- Gun Jang, Kate Bosworth, Danny Huston, Geoffrey Rush
Certificate: 15
Genre: Western, Fantasy, Action, Samurai
Awards: None















The Warriors Way is a blend of asian ninja sword fighting films and the American westerns. The greatest swordsman in the world - Yang (Jang) -  has been assigned the task of eliminating his enemy clan. But when he refuses to kill the last child, he is hunted by his own clan. He travels to America where he meets a circus town. There, he finds a knife thrower named Lynne (Bosworth) who wants revenge on the outlaw Colonel (Huston). Colonel is ruthless and evil to the core, and now Yang must protect the town from his wrath.

 Geoffrey Rush plays the town drunk who doesn't really do anything until the second half of the film. I think that his character could have played more of a part (especially as he is billed first on the trailers). The film is just an awesome bloodbath of action that could entertain anyone. The baby adds a bit of comedy to the film and Danny Huston is great. The only thing that really irritated me in the film is the jumpy slow motion in the fight with colonel. It doesn't really work and just makes it look stupid. Altogether, the film is an enjoyable action packed story.

****Good

LITERAL Warrior's Way Trailer

The Warrior's Way Trailer

Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn (2011)

Director: Steven Spielburg
Staring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost
Certificate: PG
Genre: Adventure, Animation
Awards: None
















Tintin (Bell) is a young Belgian Journalist who owns a dog named snowy. When Tintin buys a model of the ship named The Unicorn, he becomes hunted by the devious Sakharine (Craig) who has taken control of the ship Karabujan. With help of alcoholic captain Haddock (Serkis) and two bumbling British policemen named  Thompson (Pegg and Frost), Tintin will try to figure out the mystery of why the model is so important.


The animation in Tintin is very good, and the humour is well used. It seems a bit like an Indiana Jones film. But the story seemed flawed as they tried to put three Tintin stories into one. The Thompson characters don't seem to be introduced either. They just suddenly appear as if we've seen them before which will confuse new audiences. I give this film four stars, but it's a low four. It could have been better.


****Good 

The Adventures of Tintin : The Secret of the Unicorn Trailer

Hero (2002)

Director: Yimou Zhang
Starring: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung, Daoming Chen, Donnie Yen
Certificate: 12
Genre:  Kung Fu, action
Awards: None














An nameless warrior (Li) is invited to have dinner with the king of Qin (Chen) after he has killed three assassins. Broken Sword (Chiu Wai), Flying snow (Cheung), and Sky (Yen) have fallen to his sword, but as he tells his story, something is amiss...


I liked the story of Hero, but it was very stylised. There was a lot of flying around and stuff that just makes it look a bit stupid and unrealistic. This film took itself much too seriously and lacks the sort of humour Ip Man has.

***Okay

Hero Trailer

Gran Torino (2008)

Director: Clint Eastwood
Starrring: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley
Certificate: 15
Genre: Drama
Awards: None

This film proves again that Clint Eastwood is the ultimate badass. He plays Walt Kowalski, an old man who fought in the Korean war. After his wife dies, he lives alone. After he saves a Hmong boy named Thao (Vang) from a gang, He starts to reluctantly make friends with the Hmong family who live next door. The preacher, father Janovich (Carley), tries to stop Kowalski from going after the gang when things get messy.

Gran Torino has everything in it. Sadness, Humour, guns, family problems. It was thoroughly enjoyable and gripping. Eastwood has made an almost perfect movie with this. I enjoyed Unforgiven but Gran Torino wipes it off the scale.

*****Brilliant

Gran Torino Trailer

Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

Director: Edgar Wright

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Dylan Moran, Lucy Davis, Bill Nighy

Certificate: 15

Genre: Comedy, Horror, Zombie

Awards: None

Shaun (Pegg) is having a problem with his love life, He hasn't spoken to hi mother in ages and to top it off, the place has become swarmed with zombies. Now he and his friend Ed (Frost) must save the ones they love while not getting turned into Zombie themselves.

Shaun Of The Dead is a funny and sickening film (like it's follow up Hot Fuzz) . It has gross special effects and good characters who get picked off one by one. I think Hot Fuzz is a bit funnier and more imaginative but it is still an epic film.

****Good

Shaun Of The Dead Trailer

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Director: Gavin Hood
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston
Certificate: 12
Genre: Superhero
Awards: None















X-Men Origins: Wolverine is of course the story of how Wolverine (Jackman) came to be. He is born a mutant and fights alongside his brother Viktor (Schreiber) -AKA Sabretooth- in about four different wars. They then join a mutant team led by William Stryker (Huston), but Wolverine quits when things get too violent for his liking.

6 years later, John Logan's wife is killed by Viktor and he becomes Wolverine to have his revenge, although things do not go as planned...

A lot of X-Men fans don't like Origins and I don't know why. It is much better than The Last Stand and has loads of cool mutants in it. Jackman is as awesome as ever and Schreiber is a scary villain

****Good

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Trailer

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

Director: Brett Ratner
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Ian Mckellen, Patrick Stuart, Famke Janssen
Certificate: 12
Genre: Superhero
Awards: None














The X-Men are back in action when a cure for mutation is found and Magneto's (Mckellen) dark brotherhood decide to take the fight against humanity. Wolverine (Jackman) is also back as he finds that Jane (Janssen) is still alive. He takes her back to Xavier (Stewart) who warns him that Jane may now be evil (What?).

The plot of the film is really stupid, as dead people come back and characters we want to see or killed off straight away or are otherwise not in it at all (where was the blue German guy?).  This is by far the weakest of the X-Men series so far as all the others are really good.

**Pretty Bad

X-Men: The Last Stand Trailer

Johnny English Reborn (2011)

Director: Oliver parker
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Daniel Kaluuya, Dominic west
Certificate: PG
Genre: Action, spy, comedy
Awards: None















After 5 years in exile (and 8 off the screen), Johnny English (Atkinson) has returned to MI7. With his new partner agent Tucker (Kaluuya), he must stop the assassination of the Chinese premier by the deadly assassins known as the vortex.


The film is quite funny, but a lot of the jokes seem a bit too silly to be in the film. The original was a lot better in my opinion but it is still worth watching.

***Okay

Johnny English Reborn Trailer

3:10 To Yuma (2007)

Director: James Mangold
Starring: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Ben Foster
Certificate: 15
Genre: Western
Awards: None














3:10 To Yuma is based on a book which is written by the same author who wrote the book that became Jackie Brown. Ben Wade (Crowe) is an outlaw who has just been caught. A group of men- including Dan Evans (Bale)- volunteer  to escort him to the 3:10 to Yuma train, but Wades's gang is being led by Charlie Prince (Foster), and he will do anything to get Wade back.

I really Enjoyed 3:10 To Yuma. I'm normally not a fan of Christian Bale, but here he was likeable enough. Russell Crowe is just awesome and plays the role cooly. The only thing I have to say about it negatively is that the ending is stupid. It's really surprising and unrealistic. But on the whole, it's a good film.

****Good

3:10 to Yuma Trailer

Meet The Spartans (2008)

Directors: Jason Freidberg, Aaron Seltzer
Starring: Sean Maguire, Carmen Electra, Ken Davitian
Certificate: 12
Genre: Comedy
Awards: None













Meet The Spartans is a parody of the film 300 where the spartan king Leonidas (Maguire) must defeat the persian empire led by Xerxes (Davitian) with 300/ a few men, while his wife tries to persuade the senate to bring more troops.

The film has some funny parts but the celebrity impersonations and takes on talent shows are not needed. There is so much product placement in the film it is unbelievable.  It was funny in the beginning but I just got bored.

**Pretty Bad

Meet The Spartans Trailer

Public Enemies (2009)

Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Steven Lang
Certificate: 15
Genre: Crime, action
Awards: None

Public Enemies is the biography of John Dillinger (Depp) the bank robber of the 1930's. After Dillinger has become public enemy number one, the FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Bale) is set on catching him, so he sets up the best team he can find including Charles Winstead (Lang). Meanwhile Dillinger meets Billy Frechette (Cotillard) and falls in love.

Public Enemies has some good moments but the characters seem to be a bit one dimensional. The film does not go into detail about any of the characters an instead focuses on what happened.

***Okay

Public Enemies Trailer

Real Steel (2011)

Director: Shawn Levy
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly
Certificate: 12
Genre: Boxing, Sci Fi, Family
Awards: None


When I entered the cinema, I did not have much hope for Real Steel. But it is in fact pretty good. Charlie Kenton (Jackman) controls robots in boxing matches, but he's broke, in debt, and his robots keep dying. When his son Max (Goyo) comes to stay for the summer, they train a robot named Atom to take down the bots from the big league.

Real Steel is different to your transformers movies. It's still loud and full of energy, but it's more sophisticated and clever. It's more about the humans than the actual robots. All in all, it is a good film.

****Good

Real Steel Trailer

Highlander (1986)

Director: Russell Mulcachy
Starring: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Roxanne Hart, Clancy Brown
Certificate: 15
Genre: Fantasy
Awards: None

Highlander is a fantasy film about an immortal scotsman named Connor Macleod (Lambert). After his tribe banished him for being unnatural, he is trained by another immortal. a spanish man named Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (Connery) who teaches him how to fight. He also explains that one day all the immortals have to kill each other for a prize, but he doesn't explain anymore than that. In present day, Connor is under the name Ricky Nash.  The Kurgan (Brown) - the strongest immortal - now wants to kill Macleod to win the prize. Brenda wyatt (Hart) is also a major character, a police woman who wants to find out why people are fighting with swords in car parks.

Highlander has a very 80's look to it with its special effects. I like the story as it is original and unexpected.  I was surprised when I found out that there are four sequels to this film as it seems as if the story was all tied and finished. Overall a good film.

****Good 

Highlander Trailer

Music and Lyrics (2007)

Director: Marc Lawrence
Starring: Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, Haley Bennett.
Certificate: PG
Genre: Comedy, music, romance
Awards: None














Alex Fletcher (Grant) is an ex pop star who has been signed on to write a song for the new generation star: Cora Corman (Bennett). But when the woman who waters his plants - Sophie Fisher (Barrymore) -  starts to make up lyrics, Alex thinks he can make a songwriter out of her.

Music and lyrics is a funny film. with almost parody music videos and the stars are brilliant in their roles. This is one of my favourite romance films

****Good

Music and Lyrics Trailer

Sin City (2005)

Directors: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller, Quentin Tarantino (Guest)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba
Certificate: 18
Genre: Film Noir, Action
Awards: None
Sin City was going to be my first film review but I never got round to doing it until now.

Sin City follows the stories of three men in the city. Hartigan (Willis) is a cop trying to stop the rape of an 11 year old girl by the son of a senator. Dwight (Owen) is tired of the corruption of the cops and decides to take the law into his own hands. He then has to help the prostitutes in sin city dispose of a cop's body. Marv (Rourke) is framed for the murder of a prostitute and decides to track down who really killed her.

Sin City is a film like no other. It's black and white image is splashed with bits of colour like a comic book  and has a cool voice over from all three characters. All the stories link together and the villains are defiantly rememberable (Elijah Wood has no fear of typecasting now!)

*****Brilliant

Sin City Trailer

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

Director: Shekhar Kapur
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Jordi Molla
Certificate: 12
Genre: History Drama
Awards: Best Costume design
Queen Elizabeth (Blanchett) has survived assassination plots and battles so far with the help of the assassin Walsingham (Rush), but now King Phillip (Molla) of Spain is set on having a catholic queen of England and will stop at nothing to have it so. The Queen is distracted from this by the Knight, Sir Walter Raleigh (Owen) as he becomes her new love interest.

E:TGA does not hold up to it's predecessor, as a lot of the film will bore you to death. Geoffrey Rush has nothing to do, and he's the best character. It has a different feel to the first film (Probably because most of the original cast were killed off in the first one).

***Okay

Elizabeth: The Golden Age Trailer

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (2011)

Director: Rupert Wyatt
Starring: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Frieda Pinto
Certificate: 12
Genre: Sci Fi
Awards: None











Before Caesar (Serkis) became the leader of the apes, he was a super intelligent chimp that lived with Will Rodman (Franko), who modified his mother and doctor Caroline Aranha (Pinto). But after he becomes to dangerous to the neighbourhood, he is sent to a facility where he meets other apes like him...

Your definitely on the apes's side in this film, as most of the humans are horrible. This film is a really good action film and, although I have not seen any other Apes films I'm sure the fans of the original will love it,

****Good

Rise of the Planet of the Apes Trailer

War Of The Worlds (2005)

Director: Steven Spielburg
Starring: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins
Certificate: 12
Genre: Science Fiction, Horror
Awards: None
Ray Ferrier (Cruise) is a divorced man who now has his kids for the weekend. Unfortunately for him, aliens have decided to invade and now he gas to protect his screaming daughter rachel (Fanning) and stroppy son Robbie (Chatwin) from aliens, crashed airplanes and mad men such as Harlan Ogilvy (Robbins)

War Of The Worlds was one of my favourite films and it's suspense and horror is really gripping. Tom Cruise is really good but there is too much screaming From the girl.

*****Brilliant

War of the Worlds Trailer

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Director: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Gary Oldmam, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Colin Firth,Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, David Dencik
Certificate: 15
Genre: spy, thriller
Awards: None

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy follows the retired spy George Smiley (Oldman) as he tries to find out who is the undercover spy in MI6 when he is tipped off by the agent Ricky Tarr (Hardy). Smiley's former boss: Control (Hurt), told agent Jim Prideaux (Strong) that the mole was one of five men: Percy Alleline (Jones) (Tinker), Bill Haydon (Firth) (Tailor), Roy Bland (Hinds) (Solidier), Toby Esterhase (Dencik) (Poor man) or Smiley himself (Spy). Now he and Peter Guillam (Cumberpatch) must find him...

I found TTSS very confusing, but I think that is because I don't know the Cold War very well as I found Watchmen confusing as well. The acting is just brilliant - Gary Oldman should get an oscar for his role and Tom Hardy lifted the film as Ricky Tarr while Benedict Cumberpatch and Mark Strong were equally as good - but the story went a bit over my head. It's a film I want to rewatch to see how I feel about it then. So watch this space...

****Good

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Trailer

Taken (2008)

Director: Pierre Morel
Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace
Certificate: 15
Genre: Action
Awards: None
After retired secret service worker Bryan Mills's (Neeson) daughter Kim (Grace) is taken in France by traffickers, He goes back to using his old skills to get her back. He has 96 hours before she will become untraceable as a prostitute in an unknown country.

Taken is a dark action film that grips you and makes you feel for Bryan Mills. This is not Liam Neeson from Narnia or star wars. Here he shows how he can also be a dark character of vengeance,

****Good

Taken Trailer

The Beach (2000)

Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Virginie Ledoyen, Robert Carlyle, Guillaume Canet, Tilda Swinton
Certificate: 15
Genre: Drama
Awards: None
The Beach is particular a beach on an island in Thailand where only a few people know about it and even fewer know where it is. When Richard (DiCaprio) is told of the beach by a mad man named Daffy (Carlyle), He goes off with a woman he fancies named Francoise (Ledoyan) and her boyfriend -Etienne (Canet) - to find it. When they eventually get there, they meet the community led by a woman named Sal (Swinton) and start their life in paradise, but soon things begin to go wrong.

The Beach is a gripping tale that is held together by the narration of Leonardo DiCaprio and it shows how good Robert Carlyle is good at playing mad people (He played Hitler in a TV series). It is scary at parts and beautiful in others.

****Good

The Beach Movie Trailer

The Power Of Three (2011)

Director: Yvonne Deutschman
Starring: Toyah Willcox, Brumilda Van Renburg, Robin Craig
Certificate: TBC
Genre: Comedy
Awards: None

Michelle (Willcox) is an over 50 woman who wants to direct a film but her producers are not so keen. When her friends Olivia (Van Renburg) from south africa and Lizzie (Craig) from canada they realise that they should stop feeling miserable about their lives and begin anew.

The Power of Three is a film directed at women over 50 and the first half is a bit dull, but when they begin to make the film it makes up for it with a few jokes and a race against time. The story is quite good. I'm not the target audience but I liked the second half alot.

****Good (If target audience)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obysBnAdVI4

The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)

Director: Ben Palmer
Starring: Simon Bird, James Buckley, Joe Thomas, Blake Harrison
Certificate: 15
Genre: Comedy
Awards: None


The Inbetweeners Tv show was a sitcom about four six formers who dug themselves into ridiculous  scenarios. The Inbetweeners movie does the same thing except they are now in a greek party district. Will (Bird), Simon (Thomas), Jay (Buckley) and Neil (Harrison) then try to get some girls to stay in their company.

You don't really need to see the television show to watch the film although the humour is the same. I am a bit confused on why the character Richard was included in the film as you expect him to do something but he just appears and disappears without adding anything. The film was one of the funniest things I have ever seen and I am sad to see the end of the Inbetweeners.

*****Brilliant

The Inbetweeners Movie Trailer

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, Daniel Bruhl, Eli Roth
Certificate: 18
Genre: War
Awards: Best supporting actor (Waltz)

The first ten minutes of the film shows one of the most brilliant and tense scenes of the history of cinema, as the Jew Hunter - Hans Landa (Waltz) - is one of the greatest characters Tarantino has ever created. He seems charming but he can see what other Nazis can not.

The Jew hunter's story, However, is one of three (As usual for a Tarantino film).  On the side of the allies, stands a guerilla group of American Jewish soldiers who are deep in nazi occupied france scalping Nazis and generally bringing fear and death to the German soldiers. The group is led by lieutenant Aldo Raine (Pitt) who likes to carve swastikas into the surviving nazi's foreheads to send back to the army.

The third story is of a French Jewish girl called Shosanna (Laurent) who's family were killed by Hans Landa and his men. She now owns a cinema and plans to blow up a nazi premier there as revenge for the death of her family.

Inglourious Basterds is defiantly in the top three Tarantino films made so far as it's story is brilliant and it even has music from Ennio Morricone (Sergio Leone films) and David Bowie. You know what Tarantino? This may just be your masterpiece.

*****Brilliant

P.S I'm now away for four weeks

Inglourious Basterds Trailer

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Harris, Kenneth Branagh,  Christian Coulson
Certificate: PG
Genre: Fantasy Boarding School
Awards: None

The Second film in the Harry Potter film series shows Harry (Radcliffe), Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Watson) back in Hogwarts for a second year. But this time a Chamber of Secrets has been opened and a monster is attacking the students. The headmaster- Albus Dumbledore (Harris)- does not know what to do, Hagrid (Coltrane) has been framed and the only clue is a diary from fifty years ago belonging to a boy named Tom Riddle  (Coulson)...

Oh yeah, and their new defence against the dark arts teacher- Gilderoy Lockart (Branagh)- is an idiot.

HPATCOS is the last Harry Potter film directed by Christopher Columbus, It is the last film that has the innocence of Harry Potter before it all turns dark and tragic. It is also unfortunately the last film that Richard Harris played Dumbledore due to his death in 2002. The Chamber of secrets contains better acting than The Philosopher's stone and shows humour as well as tension which is what some of the later films fail to do. Cheesy ending though.

*****Brilliant

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Trailer

I'm Back!

Now that I have a computer to use, I'm going to start reviewing again every tuesday and thursday.  Stay tuned for upcoming reviews of...

* Gran Tarino
* Inglourious Basterds
* Public enemies
* The Usual Suspects
* Taken
* The day the earth stood still
and
* War of The Worlds

Also, while I was having my break, I have started making top 10 lists to put up soon.  Watch out for Tuesday...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)

Director: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman
Certificate: 12
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Awards: None

The last Harry Potter has now been released and it went out with a bang.  When we left off, we last saw Harry (Radcliffe) escape from Malfoy manor. Now he's back on the hunt for horcruxes with Ron (Grint) and Hermione  (Watson) and defeat Lord Voldemort (Fiennes).

The film shows an epic battle at Hogwarts along with a heist in Gringotts bank with a sprinkle of death here and there. The film also has the most emotional moment in the whole series when snape's (Rickman) back story is shown. The film was really good and outshines Part 1 by miles. Eat your heart out Twilight!

*****brilliant

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 Trailer

X Men: First Class (2011)

Director: Mathew Vaughn
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon
Certificate: 12
Genre: Superhero
Awards: None

X Men: First Class follows the young Charles Xavier (McAvoy) and Eric Lehnsher (Fassbender) and how they became friends and then bitter rivals. It shows how Eric was tested in the concentration camps and when Charles meets a strange blue girl named Raven (Lawrence). The main antagonist of the film is the mutant Nazi -Sebastian Shaw (Bacon), who wants to turn the cold war into world war three. Charles and Eric find that with their own army of mutants, they could prevent the end of humanity.

First Class is a very good portrayal of the first years of the X men. Mcavoy and Fassbender Play their characters extremely well and all the other mutants are portrayed brilliantly. The film is one of the best in the series but I am not sure if i would want their to be a sequel as there is not much to go on from that point.

****Good

X-Men: First Class Trailer

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

Director: Jennifer Yuh
Starring: Jack Black, Gary Oldman, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie
Certificate: PG
Genre: Animation, Martial Arts, Comedy
Awards: None

The original Kung Fu Panda was a very good film which combined action and comedy rather well. Kung Fu Panda 2 is no different as it lives up to it's preprocessor's reputation. Po (Black) now has to take out the peacock, Chen (Oldman), who wants to rule the whole of china. Shifu (Hoffman) tries to tell Po that he needs inner peace to destroy Shen while Po and the furious five go to battle. Po also finds out how his father is a goose even though he is a panda.

Kung Fu Panda 2 is a fun film which does not ruin the first.With films like these, I would not be supprised if dreamworks became the next Disney/Pixar.

****Good

Kung Fu Panda 2 Trailer

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey Rush
Certificate: 12
Genre: Fantasy
Awards: None

POTC:OST is the fourth film of the Pirates Of The Caribbean films and has an almost completely different cast. Jack Sparrow (Depp) is back and has done almost nothing since the last film. He is captured by Captain Blackbeard (McShane) and his ex-lover Angelica Macon (Cruz) and forced to lead them to the fountain of youth. Meanwhile, Captain Barbossa (Rush) and the Spanish navy are also after the fountain of youth.

I was a bit disappointed with this film as it wasn't as interesting as any of the others. Too many of the original cast were cut out that it didn't feel like a POTC film. Many of the remembered comedy characters weren't there such as Pintel, Reggati and Cotton's parrot. At Worlds End may have been over complicated but it kept you watching while On Stranger Tides's (Why is it called this?) felt lacking. The film was by no means a flop but it does not compare to the others in the series.

***Okay

LITERAL Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Strange Tides Trailer

My excuse for not writing

Recently, I hit my computer and it stopped working for some reason. This means I will not have access to a computer every Tuesday and Thursday. Due to this I will only publish reviews of films in the cinema until I get a new computer.

Sorry.

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)

Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian Mckellen, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis, Sean Austin, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Bernard Hill, Dominic Monaghan, Miranda Otto, John Rhys- Davies, Karl Urban, David Wenham, Christopher Lee, John Noble.
Certificate: 12
Genre: Fantasy
Awards:  Best art, Best Costume, Best director, Best editing, Best makeup, Best music, Best picture, Best sound, Best effects, Best adapted screenplay

The final film of The Lord of The Rings shows Frodo (Wood), Sam (Austin) and Gollum (Serkis) make their final length of the journey to Mordor while Aragorn (Mortensen), Legolas (Bloom),Gimmli (Rhys-Davies) and Theoden (Hill) gather an army to help captain Faramir (Wenham) with the defence of Gondor. Gandalf (McKellan) brings the hobbit Pippin (Boyd) and tries to talk sense in to Saruman (Lee) and the steward of Gondor, Denathor (Noble) before joining the battles while leaving Merry (Monaghen) with the army of Rohan with Eomer (Urban) and Eowyn (Otto).

This film is definitely one of the greatest films for battles but the ending is about thirty minutes too long where it all gets cheesy. It's better than Towers but can never topple Fellowship. After watching these films again, I am seriosly looking forward to The Hobbit next year.

*****Brilliant

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Trailer

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

Director: Frank Oz
Starring:  Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly
Certificate: PG
Genre: Comedy
Awards: None

Yay! It's my 100th post!
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a comedy about two rival con-men named Freddy Benson (Martin) and Lawrence Jamieson (Caine). They are both fighting for the same territory to scam people in. They set up a competition and who ever loses has to leave the town.  The target is  Janet Colgate (Headly), A soap opera queen from America. The first person to get $500,000 from her is the winner but both sides  are trying as hard as they can to defeat the other.

DRS is really funny and a real must see. Both Steve Martin and Michael Caine are believable con-men and it has a funny ending as well.

****Good

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Trailer

Hannibal (2001)

Director: Ridley Scott
Starring:  Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Giancarlo Giannini
Certificate: 18
Genre: Horror
Awards: None

Hannibal takes place a few years after The Silence Of The Lambs. Clarice Starling (Moore) is having 
problems with the FBI, and has been told that if she can track down DR Hannibal Lector (Hopkins) and 
give him to Mason Verger (Oldman) then he can get rid of her track record. Hannibal has been living 
low in Florence but is recognized by Inspector Renaldo Pazzi (Giannini) and now feels like it is time to
return to America.


Hannibal is scarier than TSOTL and focuses more on Hannibal than Starling this time.It is a creepy 
film with a good plot.


****Good

Hannibal Trailer

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer
Certificate: 18
Genre: Crime Gangster
Awards: Best Screenplay

Pulp Fiction is a load of stories with different characters that somehow connect. Vincent Vega (Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Jackson) are two mob hit men who work for the Crime lord  Marsellus Wallace (Rhames). Marsellus also allows Vincent to look after his wife Mia (Thurman) when he is not around. Butch Coolidge (Willis) is a boxer who has been bribed by Wallace to lose his fight but when he wins he and Wallace face something neither of them wanted (shudder).  Finally, there are two robbers (Roth & Plummer) trying to rob a restaurant.

Pulp Fiction is an extremely good film and reminds me a lot of Sin City ( I know Sin City was made afterwards but I saw it first). Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta are a brilliant comedy pair and it leaves very good impressions for my first Tarantino film.

******Genious

Pulp Fiction Trailer

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Sean Austin, Ian Mckellan, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys- Davies, Bernard Hill, Dominic Monaghan, Miranda Otto, Billy Boyd, Christopher Lee, Karl Urban, David Wenham
Certificate: 12
Genre: Fantasy
Awards:  Best Sound, Best effects.

The Two Towers is the second film in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and takes place after the breaking of the fellowship. Frodo (Wood) and Sam (Austin) are trying to get to Mordor to destroy the ring but they can't get there so when they find Gollum (Serkis), they use him as a guide but they get caught by Boromir's brother, Faramir (Wenham). Aragorn (Mortensen), Legolas (Bloom) and Gimli (Rhys-Davies) are tracking down the Uruk hai  that have captured merry (Monaghen) and Pippen (Boyd) but meet Gandalph (Mckellan) instead. They then go to Rohan to help  King Theodan (Hill) protect his land from orks. But Theoden has been possesed by Saruman (Lee) and tricked by his servant wormtail (Dourif)-Who wants his niece Eowyn (Otto)- to banish his nephew Eomer (Urban) and all the soldiers loyal to Rohan.

The Two Towers is a good film with much more action than The Fellowship but I find it the least interesting of the three. The new character, Gollum is first seen in this film and he has become one of the most famous film characters ever like Darth Vader and Mr Spock.

****Good

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Trailer

Alien 3 (1992)

Director: David Fincher
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance
Certificate: 18
Genre: Horror Sci Fi
Awards: None

After the events of Aliens, Ellen Ripley  (Weaver) crash lands on a prison planet where the criminals have turned to god to save them. Nobody seems to like Ripley but the doctor Clemens (Dance) and the convict Dillon (Dutton) but they all have to work together as yet another alien has come onto this planet to haunt Ripley again.

Alien 3 is not as good as the first two and there is something in the beginning that happens that I do not like but it is watchable and has some good action and horror sequences.

***Okay

Alien 3 Trailer

Eat Prey Love (2010)

Director: Ryan Murphy
Starring:  Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Billy Crudup, James Franco
Certificate: PG
Genre:  Romance
Awards: None

Oh dear. After Wild Child I did not think i would be reviewing another film like this so soon. I have been putting off this review for so long that I've got about 20 to do after this that are actually good like Pulp Fiction and Lethal Weapon.  Eat Prey Love is a story about a writer called Liz Gilbert (Roberts) who is married to a man named Stephen (Crudup) but leaves him for another man named David Piccolo (Franco) but gets tired of him as well and goes to Rome, India and some other place i can't remember where she meets yet another man, Felipe (Bardem), and starts a relationship with him.

Eat Prey Love has got to be the most boring film I have ever seen. even Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was better than this. But i must say again that I am not the target audience of this film so if you like films such as Mama Mia and Wild Child then you should give it an extra star. Which Still means rubbish!

- A complete waste of time

Eat Pray Love Trailer

Rango (2011)

Director: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Ned Beatty, Bill Nighy
Certificate: PG
Genre: Western Animation
Awards: Best animation

Rango is the first film that i have seen that is technically in 2011 as although The Kings Speech and True Grit were also out this year they were in the 2010 Oscars. Rango (Depp) is a lizard who has lived a lonely life inside a tank but when he is accidentally dropped into the dessert his life is completely altered. He meats a girl named beans (Fisher) and they travel to a town named Dirt. Dirt has a problem though, all the water has disappeared and Rango must find out who is behind it but he has to get past some deadly foes including the mayor (Beatty) and Rattlesnake Jake (Nighy).

Rango is an enjoyable family film and funny at times. It even has an animated Clint Eastwood. It is of course nothing compared to the other spaghetti westerns but nobody was expecting it to even come close to them.

****Good

Rango Trailer

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)

Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian Mckellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Austin, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean,  John Rhys-Davies, Dominic Monaghen, Billy Boyd,  Ian Holme, Christopher Lee, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett
Certificate: 12
Genre: Fantasy
Awards: Best Cinematography, Best Effects, Best Make-up, Best Music

For those of you who live on mars TLOTR:TFOTR is a fantasy film about a ring that belonged to a dark lord named Sauron who was defeated by Ilsildor who took the ring but was killed by Orks. The ring was found by Gollem who lost it to a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins ( Holme). Bilbo has now given the ring to his nephew Frodo (Wood) but Sauron has returned and wants his ring back because it is a magic ring. So the wizard Gandalph (Mckellen) sends Frodo and his trusty friend Sam (Austin) to rivendale (that's probably not how you spell it) to find out what to do with the ring. Gandalph goes to his master, Saruman (Lee), but he has turned evil while Frodo and Sam are helped by two other hobbits named pippen (Boyd) and Merry (Monaghen) and the heir to the kingdom Aragorn (Mortensen). Frodo is injured by the evil Ringraiths and is helped by the elf Arwen (Tyler) who is Aragorns girlfriend. Thet reach Rivendale and meet Elrond (Weaving) who is Arwen's father and lord of Rivendale. He sends Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippen, Aragorn and Gandalph to destroy the ring with the help of an elf named Legolas (Bloom), A dwarf named Gimli (Rhys-Davies) and the son to the steward of Aragorn's kingdom Boromir (Bean). They have to overcome even worse fears here such as a balrog and Saruman's Orks but they meet some nice elves such as Galadriel (Blanchett) so it's not all bad.

As complicated as the plot is, it is still one of the greatest films of all time and if you have not seen it you must see it right now. It is my second Favorite film of all time after Inception and is the most famous fantasy film ever. The acting is much better than it is in star wars and the scale of the film is just epic.

***** Brilliant

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the ring trailer

Wild Child (2008)

Director: Nick Moore
Starring: Emma Roberts, Alex Pettyfer, Georgia King.
Certificate: 12
Genre: Comedy
Awards: None

UGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH - Americans, please stop making films showing us British as Tea drinking idiots who hunt for pheasant every day. Wild Child is one of these god awful films that portray the British in this such way.  The plot consists of Poppy (Roberts) -who is obviously, a wild child- being sent to English boarding school so that it will sort out her behavior. There she meets some friends and enemies, tries to get expelled by dating the headmistresses son (Pettyfer), finds out her dead mother went to the same school, cries, gets framed by enemy (King) and saves the day.

To be fair i'm not the targeted audience for Wild Child and the people I was watching it with loved it. (No i don't watch Chick Flicks on my own because i'm not sad). All the same I hated it. I'm off to watch The Lord Of The Rings to get rid of the horrible memories of this film.

*Rubbish