Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker
Certificate: 15
Genre: Romance
Awards: Best Actress (Lawrence)

Pat (Cooper) has just been released from a mental institution after attacking attacking his wife's lover after which he was found to have undiagnosed bipolar disorder. He wants to get back with his wife but, with a restraining order in place, it seems impossible for him to do so. After going to dinner at a friend's,  Pat meets Tiffany (Lawrence). Widowed and with her own problems, Tiffany confuses Pat but she could be the way to get a letter to his wife.

Silver Linings Playbook benefits from some very good Acting. Cooper and Lawrence work so well together while De Niro and Weaver are great as Pat's parents. De Niro in particular should be applauded. It's his best performance in years as he plays a father who really doesn't know how to handle Pat's problems while having OCD himself. Another surprisingly good performance comes from Chris Tucker in his first non Rush Hour film in years.

The story itself is sweet and original. It may use some of the typical cliches but they make sense. The chasing through the street at the end may be a very overused action, but it has a deeper meaning here thanks to the inverted chasing earlier in the film.

I really enjoyed Silver Linings Playbook. The characters are so well conceived. From the very beginning you fall love with them and then the next two hours are just bliss.

*****Brilliant

Gravity (2013)

Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
Certificate: 12
Genre: SciFi, Thriller
Awards: Best Director, Best cinematography, Best editing, Best original score, best sound editing, best sound mixing, best visual effects

Gravity has become one of the most respected and successful films of the year and it's pretty easy to see why. The story is great, the technological efforts are great and it leaves the audience on the edge of their seat the whole way through...

Out in space, a group of astronauts are caught in a storm of debris from a destroyed Russian satellite. The only survivors are veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (Clooney) and newbie medical engineer Ryan Stone (Bullock). The two try to make it to a Russian satellite in order to get back home.

This is really Bullock's film here and, wisely, Cuaron never cuts away from her. We never see mission control back home panicking or anything like that. we see only what she sees and therefore experience only what she sees, making this a very eerie experience. Space looks amazing and the 3D actually brings something more into it, the first film since Avatar to do so.

There are a few gut punches in the film that, when added with the minimalistic music, creates a feeling of realism that makes the film even more tragic. Although it's a SciFi film, Gravity has more in common with survival films like Into The Wild than Star Trek and that really makes the film unique.

I am inclined to agree with the majority here as Gravity is definitely one of, if not the, best films of the year. If anything is worth seeing, this is.

*****Brilliant

Carnage (2011)

Director: Roman Polanski
Starring: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly
Certificate: 15
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Awards: None

Carnage is based off of a play and so it is no surprise that it takes place almost completely in one room. After two children get into a fight, both sets of parents decide to settle the matter without causing too much of a fuss. However, due to clashing personalities and the absence of the children, nothing is settled and the adults start to attack each-other, even if they started out on the same side.

Carnage is a very predictable film. Right from the start you know that nothing is really going to happen, so you can just sit back and enjoy the battle. The end credit sequence brilliantly proves the point the film wants to convey, that the argument is pointless. What's also great is how the least identifiable character (a top performance by Waltz) becomes the one we side with as everybody else starts becoming more aggressive while showing their true colours. Waltz is the most honest of them all. He doesn't care and never has.

The three other cast members are also on top performance here. Each is given a chance to morph their character as they pull of their social masks.

Overall, the film is interesting, but it's nothing great and certainty not Polanski's best. But it has an almost farce-like feeling to it that makes it compelling. It is a much more serious farce. This is worth a watch if you can find it, but don't expect Rosemary's Baby.

****Good

Naked (1993)

Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, Katrin Cartlidge, Greg Cruttwell, Peter Wight, Ewen Bremner, Susan Vidler, Claire Skinner
Certificate: 18
Genre: Drama
Awards: None


Naked may be one of the most underrated films in the history of cinema. Everything about it is just great. The dark british film is one for the history books...

The film follows Johnny (Thewlis). After a street-side rape, he flees Manchester and ends up in London. Here he calls upon ex-girlfriend, Louise (Sharp). He stays there for a while before braving the streets of the dark city.

The story is more of an odyssey than an actual story as Johnny's journey takes us from character to character. The brilliant Thewlis brings it all together. His rantings on god and the universe are a wonder to behold. We don't know if Johnny believes anything he says or whether he just wants to rile people up. His behaviour does seem self-destructive, yet he is able to bully everyone via his well read mind which confuses and confudles even the most open-minded people.

The thing is, even though Johnny is a mad rapist, the audience cannot help siding with him. His arguments are so well thought out, he starts to make sense to us as we become more and more entwined world. This is almost surrealism dressed up to look like kitchen-sink realism.

Although the film is dark and depressing, it does have a comic side. Johnny superiority to all inevitably includes a few jokes at the victims expense and we can't help but laugh even if we feel guilty at the same time.

The one gripe I have with the film is the use of the antagonist Jeremy (Cruttwell). He is shown almost at the beginning even though he does not become part of Johnny or Louise's story until about two thirds through the film. Although the performance is fine, it's just irritating to have to cut back to him when Johnny is so captivating.

Naked is an absolutely brilliant film with one of the best performances I have ever seen, coming from David Thewlis. This is career high and it's a real shame that he wasn't nominated for an oscar. Perhaps if Mike Leigh had been as well known as he is now, all would be different.

******Genius

Crimewave (1985)

Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Reed Birney, Sheree J. Wilson, Brion James, Paul J. Smith, Louise Lasser, Bruce Campbell, Edward R. Pressman
Certificate: PG
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Awards: None

Crimewave is Sam Raimi's whacky comedy made between Evil Dead and its sequel. Its story consists of a nerdy security guard (Birney) trying to get the girl of his dreams (Wilson). However, due to an assassination plot, two murderous rodent exterminators get involved as things start to get silly.

Raimi's effects have always been a bit weird. In the Evil Dead series and Darkman, they give the films a charm that makes you want to see more of the same style. Crimewave, on the other hand, is a mess. It seems that it is supposed to be a mess, but that doesn't make it any better. Cackling, cartoonish villains, boring love story and all but a few unfunny lines makes this a particularly bad film.

There are some good bits. Bruce Campbell makes a great little character, while the stylisation of film noir is done superbly.

It's surprising how the film turned out considering the talent behind the story. Raimi collaborated with the Coen brothers for the script and it's shocking how bad it is. This is by far the worst Raimi film I have seen so far. Very disappointing.

**Pretty Bad

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Director: Alan Taylor
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddlestone, Anthony Hopkins, Kat Dennings, Christopher Ecclestone, Idris Elba, Chris O'Dowd
Certificate: 12
Genre: Superhero
Awards: None

So it's been a year after the events of The Avengers, and it's time to see how our favourite norse god is doing. Other than moping over his human girlfriend, he seems to be okay, creating peace throughout the nine realms and all that.

Meanwhile, Jane Foster (Portman) is stuck on earth and - other than moping over her alien boyfriend - she seems to be doing okay. However, when she finds a portal to another dimension, she accidentally activates a special weapon called the eather that possesses her while also waking up Malekith (Christopher Elf-eston) and his army of dark elves who want to bring the world back into darkness. Oops...

So the two get back together and go to Thor's place for some Asgardian operation to get rid of the eather. However, with Malekith on their tales, Thor has to ask for help from the one he trusts the least - His brother Loki (Hiddlestone)

Like Iron Man 3, Thor 2 (or is it 3? does The Avengers count?) is filled with humour. Although Loki gets the big laughs, almost all of the human cast get a few funny lines. This a complete contrast to our main baddie. Malekith is an underused, underdeveloped villain who could have been so much better. Ecclestone is a good actor, but the film is too focused on Loki to give anything for him to do.

That said, this is the film that won me over to Loki's character. In The Avengers, he seemed too smug to like. But now he has been behind bars and is really a prisoner, he seems more of an ankle biting, playful brother to Thor: the brooding hero.

Thor 2 is a darker chapter in the character's story and is better because of it. Garish CGI Asgard is swapped for gritty CGI Asgard while dreary London replaces sunny Mexico. But the humour keeps the mood up as things get smashed up. Thor 2 is a step up from the original and miles more enjoyable than The Avengers (which I feel is the weakest of the Marvel universe films).

****Good

The Cat Returns (2002)

Director: Hiroyuki Morita
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Tim Curry, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, Andrew Bevis, Judy Greer
Certificate: U
Genre: Fantasy, Animation, Comedy
Awards: None

The Cat Returns is a film by studio Ghibli, famous for My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away, and has the same immense imagination as its predeccesors. After Haru (Hathaway) saves a cat from being hit by traffic, she finds out that the cat is a prince of the cat world. The cats therefore "reward" Haru by taking her to the cat world to marry the prince. Understandably, Haru isn't exactley happy about this and - following the advice of a voice - she seeks help at the cat buro where she meets the Baron (Elwes) and his friends who decide to help her out of her predicament.

As expected, The Cat Returns is as eccentric as anything made by the studio. It has a very enthralling charm about it and it's full of entertaining characters and sequences including a labyrinth with walking walls.

However, it is one of the shortest Ghibli films I have seen, lasting only 75 minutes while most are close to 2 hours. A lot more could of done with the labyrinth and the Baron's character, but the length does make it feel like a little adventure compared to Spirited Away which takes place over numerous days so it does give it a sense of time.

If you like the vast imagination of studio Ghibli, The Cat Returns will certainty tick your boxes. I watched the english dub version so I don't know if the original voices are better but the english version holds up well.

****Good

Four Lions (2010)

Director: Chris Morris
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Nigel Lindsey, Kayvan Novak, Mohammad Aqil, Adeel Akhtar, Craig Parkinson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Eldon
Certificate: 15
Genre: Comedy
Awards: None

Four Lions is a british comedy about incompetent Islamic terrorists. Now that's not something you see everyday. It's no surprises that it comes from the mind of Chris Morris - a controversial figure in british television who is most famous for the fake documentary series Brass Eye that tricked celebrities into backing fake campaigns such as an elephant with its trunk stuck up its anus.

The film follows Omar (Ahmed), a radical muslim who wants to blow up something in the name of Islam. Unfortunately his crew are as useful as a box of wet matches. There's the gullible Waj (Novak), the half crazed Faisal (Akhtar) and the extremist of extremists Barry (Lindsey) who all mess up Omar's plans to blow up the London Marathon.

Four Lions is a side-splittingly funny film that may seem slightly harsh due to its subject matter, but you're never really rooting for the characters as you know there is no way they could pull it off.  You know it's going to end badly and you keep watching until it does.

****Good

Badlands (1973)

Director: Terrence Malick
Starring: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates
Certificate: 15
Genre: Drama, Crime
Awards: None

After seeing The Tree Of Life, I was a bit apprehensive in dipping my toe back into the dreamy pool of imagery that is Terrence Malick. Luckily, Badlands is nowhere near as pretentious. The voiceovers are still there and the beautiful imagery, but this time they go hand in had with the plot.

Based on a real story, Badlands sees 25 year old Kit (Sheen) and 15 year old Holly (Spacek) fall for each other against the latter's father's wishes. After then shooting the father (Oates), the two lovers try to escape from the authorities, killing anyone in their path.

This isn't a film where you will find grim dirty realism. Both the main characters seem to spend most of the time with their head in the clouds making everything seem quite surreal. Adding to this Spacek's un-emotive voiceover that explains love and murder in the same tones.

If you want to get into Malick, it would be re
commendable to start with Badlands as there is enough plot to keep you satisfied along with the directors extraordinary talent in making a film as beautiful as can be.

****Good

Shock Corridor (1963)

Director: Samuel Fuller

Starring: Peter Breck, Constance Towers, James Best, Harri Rhodes, Paul Dubov, Larry Tucker

Certificate: 15

Genre : Drama

Awards: None

Shock Corridor is a a film by Samuel Fuller starring Peter Breck as Johnny, a journalist who wants to solve a murder that took place in a mental asylum. In order to do so, he has to go undercover as a patient and try to question the witnesses. However, due to the inmates being insane, it's hard to get a proper answer out of them. The state of Johnny's mentality also slowly begins to deteriorate.

The actual murder case is really not the main theme here as we never get the full details or the killers motive. Instead, the film focuses on Johnny and his fellow inmates including a chilling performance by Harri Rhodes as a black man who believes he is a KKK member and starts race riots in the hallway.

Johnny's mentality is also a fascinating as his voice over always delivers a calm and thoughtful voice while his outward voice and actions start doing stranger and stranger things.

Shock Corridor is a really good film that may not leave much mystery to how it ends, but it's enthralling to watch the madness unfurl.

*****Brilliant

The Wolverine (2013)

Director: James Mangold
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukishami, Svetlana Kodchenkova, Brian Tee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi, Famke Janssen
Certificate: 12
Genre: Superhero
Awards: None

The Wolverine is not a sequel to the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine - as you may expect - but a follow up to X-Men: The Last Stand, making this film the most recent X-Men film in chronological order.

After killing Jean (Janssen) in the last film, Logan (Jackman) is a bit of a mess and just really feels sorry for himself. However, when he is contacted by a man - Yashida (Yamanouchi) he saved from an atom bomb in Japan, he is given a chance to give up his immortality and have a normal life (well he'll still have claws but it's more normal than the life he has now). Logan refuses and then Mariko (Okamoto), Yashida's granddaughter is kidnapped by people who work for a mysterious mutant called the Viper (Kodchenkova).

The real stand out point of this film is that it doesn't feel like an X-Men film. With only a handful of mutants, this feels completely different and focuses more on Wolverine and his problems rather than big fights between lots of people with different powers. That doesn't mean their isn't any fighting in it. Wolverine slices away like he's playing Fruit Ninja and some of the deaths are quite gruesome and shocking.

The Wolverine is very enjoyable film and I think the second best of the franchise after First Class, but it doesn't add anything to the X-Men story. This is basically the film about when the Wolverine went on holiday.

****Good

Elysium (2013)

Director: Neil Blomkamp
Starring: Matt Damon, Sharlto Copley, Jodie Foster, Alice Braga, William Fichtner
Certificate: 15
Genre: Sci Fi
Awards: None

Elysium is Blockamp's follow up to the critical success District 9 and it goes down the same route. Elysium is a man-made atmosphere in space where the rich people live. They have machines that can heal anything and champagne garden parties. Earth has become derelict and very sandy. This is where the poor people live. They have machines that break their arms and frequent trips to the hospital. Some people think this a little unfair.

Matt Damon plays Max, a crook who wants to make it Elysium. When he finds out he has three days to live he decides its time to get there and get himself cured. However, Delacourt (Foster) has other ideas and after Max steals a bunch of Elysium's secrets she is out to get him and hires...

Sharlto Copley does a brilliant job at playing the horribly sadistic mercenary, Kruger. He is a completely different character Wikus (from District 9) and you can tell that he enjoyed playing him.

As story goes, Elysium is more of a re-run of District 9. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't do anything better than its predecessor. The story ends in the same way and the characters are identical except for the people playing them. Therefore I can only give it the same rating I would give Blockamp's debut.

****Good

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013)

Director: Declan Lowney
Starring: Steve Coogan, Colm Meaney, Sean Pertwee, Felicity Montagu, Simon Greenall, Nigel Lindsey, Tim Key
Certificate: 15
Genre: Comedy
Awards: None

If you are not familiar with Alan Partridge, this film will most likely look completely rubbish to you. For those of you who have not come across Steve Coogan's most loved character, Alan Partridge is supposed to be rubbish. He's a radio DJ who used to work for the BBC before his programs were cancelled for being too boring.

But Alpha Papa isn't just a replay of Partridge's greatest hits. Some recurring characters are seen (such as Michael the Geordie and Lynn the PA but they're not focused on that much while his catchphrase doesn't appear at all. The film is more interested in new character Pat Farrell (Meaney), the fired North Nofolk DJ who takes the radio station hostage in anger. He won't speak to the police unless it's through Alan.

Alpha Papa is as funny as it's sitcom predecessors with many of the jokes told awkwardly by Partridge. There are a few toilet humour jokes in there but they turn out differently than expected so you can't really take off points for that. Some jokes may seem a bit harsh, but it adds to Partridge's lack of social skills.

If you're not familiar with Partridge, Alpha Papa may seem quite strange. However it's still funny and definitely worth a look. It's my film of the year so far.

*****Brilliant

Jack Reacher (2012)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Werner Herzog, David Oyelowo, Robert Duvall, Richard Jenkins
Certificate: 12
Genre: Action
Awards: None

There was a bit of a ruckus from Jack Reacher fans when Tom Cruise was announced to play 6 foot 6 Jack Reacher. However for the people who have actually seen it, that argument has died away. This could be a very good franchise for Cruise (but maybe not a successful one if box office numbers continue at this rate).

After five civilians are shot dead in a peaceful city, the evidence all points to an ex-army man with a history of past shootings. Instead of confessing, the man asks for Jack Reacher before being sent into a coma for the rest of the film. When Reacher arrives, he and the man's lawyer Helen (Pike) discover that the evidence pointing a bit too desperately to be believed.

Jack Reacher always seems to be on top of things. He never seems to be troubled or anywhere he can't handle himself and this works both with and against the film. On one hand it seems pretty awesome to see an invincible man with all the answers almost seem to stride through every obstacle while on the other it makes Reacher seem arrogant. He's a know-it-all and unlike John McLane in Die Hard, we don't see him find out these things. We just see him explain it to other characters and so we warm to him less. It also makes the villains not seem like a threat at all.

The action is great with Reacher just smashing and outwitting everybody at every turn while Werner Herzog plays the villain and if he had somehow defeated Reacher in any way he would probably have been seen as really good, but because of Reacher's unstoppable force he becomes more of a Scooby Doo villain.

Overall I like Jack Reacher because it's different. The character reminds me of Riddick in the way he deals with things - especially his last conversation with the villain. I really hope Reacher has a second shot at cinema.

****Good

The Haunting (1963)

Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Julie Harris, Claie Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn, Lois Maxwell
Certificate: 12
Genre: Horror
Awards: None

The Haunting is a haunted house film. The house in question is Hill House - a historically unlucky building with plenty of deaths under it's roof. Dr John Markway (Johnson) is trying to prove that the paranormal exists and therefore brings in some people with previous experience with spooks to stay at the creepy mansion.

The Haunting isn't gory or full of jump scares. It just feels creepy and sinister. Julie Harris plays Eleanor, a character who seems to descend into madness and as she is also the narrator the film seems to get more and more creepy as it goes on. One scene with a face on the wall stands out as the scene that is most likely to make you feel uncomfortable.

It's old fashioned horror but damn does it do it good.

****Good

Pacific Rim (2013)

Director: Guillermo Del Toro

Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, Max Martini, Robert Kazinsky, Ron Perlman

Certificate: 12

Genre: Sci Fi, Action

Awards: None

Seeing as Del Toro's biggest selling feature is his detail and creativity in fairytale fantasy, I was a bit skeptical that his next film was about giant robots. However, my fears were unnecessary. The same amount of imagination has been given here. Each Jaeger (the robots/ suits) and Kaiju (the monsters) looks completely different.

The story follows Raleigh Becket (Hunnam), someone who used to drive one of the Jaegers with his brother in order to stop the Kaiju who emerge from the a portal in the Pacific ocean . To drive a Jaeger, one must combine their brain with their co-pilot so when Becket's brother dies it hits him extremely hard. He disappears for six years until his old Marshall Pentecost (Elba) tracks him down. The Kaiju are becoming a bigger problem as they come more frequently and Jaegers are becoming scarce due to casualties. When Becket then joins the team in Hong Kong he meets Mako (Kikuchi) - a trainee with a not so happy past with the Kaiju.

When the fights happen, they feel big. The scale of the giants is very visible (especially in 3D). The destruction is kept fresh and new throughout the film (unlike a certain superhero film this year). Ships are used as bats and bits of both machine and creature come flying off.

Unlike many blockbusters, Pacific Rim isn't afraid to tamper with death of heroes. The stakes always seem higher when you know that the characters may not make it out alive and although the personalities aren't the films strongpoint, they are acceptable and you still want to root for the good guys.

Neither of the main characters are really that special. Becket in particular is rather boring. However the supporting characters make up for them. Elba is captivating to watch as the man who runs it all while Ron Perlman plays a black market dealer named Hannibal Chow that comes the closest to humour that the film is willing to go. There are also two scientist who are somewhat alienating but watchable at the same time.

As one of the only Blockbusters not based on a story from an outside source, Pacific Rim is quite an interesting picture. It may not have the best characters in the world, but that can be overlooked by it's premise. Transformers this ain't.

****Good

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

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

This film is basically one big sketch show with an over arcing plot and story. The humour is eccentrically British and is a lot more associated with television than in the movies.

The story follows King Arthur (Chapman) and his band of knights as they set out to quest for the holy grail. On their way they meet a black knight who doesn't know when to quit, insulting French soldiers and a sorcerer named Tim among others.

Silly is the word when watching Monty Python. The mix of surreal humour, fourth wall breaking and strange animations makes the film as funny as anything. Even if you have not seen the film you are probably aware of the some of the scenes as they are paraded around everywhere. King Arthur kicking a guy talking about democracy, a conversation about swallows and coconuts - these have entered pop culture years ago.

If you like strange and silly humour, The Holy Grail is definitely for you. It's not like anything else I have ever seen (except Life Of Brian - Monty Python's film after this) but I wish it wasn't so unique because I want more.

*****Brilliant

Dredd (2012)

Director: Pete Travis
Starring: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey, Wood Harris
Certificate: 18
Genre: Sci Fi, Crime
Awards: None

It's the future and a terrible travesty has befallen the land. The remaining people live in large cities filled with criminals and death. The Judges are a police force who are allowed to kill on the spot. Dredd (Urban) is the most famous of them all, a sort of legend among the judges. On his mission to investigate a triple homicide he takes on a psychic rookie by the name of Anderson (Thirlby).

Like 300, Dredd seems very confined. It doesn't show you much of the film's world as - except for one sequence in the beginning - it all takes place in one tower block. This works in the film's favour as it can then focus more on the story. However, sequels may seem schizophrenic as it would be a whole new setting.

Having not read the comics, I don't know whether Urban's portrayal is loyal but I've heard he does it justice (I suppose anything's better than Stallone shouting like a tranquillised Hulk). The feels very moody and stylised with lots of slow motion (which has actually been made a plot point) and weird psychotic colours.

Dredd is gritty but also quite colourful and dreamlike. The drugged up atmosphere stops it from becoming too dark and brooding while still keeping the gangs and gore madness.

****Good

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
Certificate: PG
Genre: Noir, Drama
Awards: Best Screenplay, Best Music, Best set decoration

Starting off with the end result of the film may be quite normal nowadays but in 1950 it was very original. The narrator AKA Joe Gillis (Holden) then takes us to the beginning where he is a struggling screenwriter in the unforgiving world of Hollywood. When fleeing from the tax people, Gillis finds himself in a deserted looking house. However it revealed to be the home of Norma Desmond (Swanson), a silent era actor who has gone slightly crazy in her retirement.

Played completely seriously with a noir voice over, Sunset Boulevard makes itself interesting and enthralling. As it is a satire of the movie industry there are plenty of real life directors such as Cecil B. Demille as himself and Erich von Stroheim playing Desmond's servant. There are also cameos from Buster Keaton and H.B warner.

A dark and twisted look at stardom and the film world in general, it also has a tint of lunacy that just shows how Hollywood is weird, wacky and dangerous.

*****Brilliant

Man Of Steel (2013)

Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Antje Traue, Christopher Meloni, Laurence Fishburne
Certificate: 12
Genre: Superhero
Awards:  None

As somebody who has never seen a Superman film or read the comics before, Man Of Steel was his chance to envelop me into Metropolis as Batman had back in 2005. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Like the Dark Knight trilogy before it, Man Of Steel is taking the dark and gritty approach to it's story. While appropriate for a series with insane serial killers and a dark gothic background, Aliens flying people make it seem like a parody. Humour is scarce and when it appears, it is questionable whether it is intended or not.

Handheld camera is also a prominent feature and for the first half it felt sickening. Admittedly it does give the film a realistic look but I would have preferred it to be smoother.

The acting is all good throughout. There is no problems with the cast that I can see. The lack of deaths via characters or extras does seem miraculous seeing as more buildings where destroyed in this film than there are buildings in the world.

There are also some major plot holes that can be seen throughout the film. Why does Zod bring Lois Lane on his ship? Why doesn't Superman destroy the ship when he sees Zod is bad?

However, the film is not a complete disaster and judging by other reviews and the box office sales, I am in a minority when I say it could have been better. But It could have.

***Okay

Gamer (2009)

Directors: Mark Nevaldine, Brian Taylor
Starring: Gerard Butler, Amber Valletta, Michael C. Hall, Kyra Sedgwick, Logan Lerman, Terry Crews, Ludacris, John Leguizamo
Certificate: 18
Genre:  Action, Sci Fi
Awards: None

In the future, death row inmates have the choice to volunteer themselves to have a chip in their brain. They are then set into a team and have to kill the other while being controlled by players at home. If a Gamer wins 30 fights, he wins his freedom. However the people in charge don't want him to for some reason.

Gamer has got an idea with a lot of potential but it is just unwatchable. The quick and strange camera shots just give a feeling of sickness and confusion, and this goes on for the whole film. None of the characters are interesting enough to care about and the plot makes little sense if any.

The premise is still wonderful and would be brilliant for a Black Mirror episode. Unfortunately Gamer doesn't think, it just wants to show action and even failing at that.

- A complete waste of time

The Green Mile (1999)

Director: Frank Darabont
Starring: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, James Cromwell, Doug Hutchinson, Barry Pepper, Sam Rockwell, Dabbs Greer, Michael Jeter
Certificate: 18
Genre: Crime, Fantasy

Paul Edgecomb (Hanks) is a prison guard who looks after the prisoners on death row.  When John Coffey (Duncan) becomes his newest inmate things begin to get a bit more interesting for him and his crew.

Amongst Paul's coworkers is Percy Wetmore (Hutchinson). Percy is a sadistic young man who likes to make life much harder for the inmates, however he has powerful contacts and therefore cannot be gotten rid of so easily.

The Green Mile has some really good performances, but none of them can outmatch Clarke Duncan's portrait of the strange John Coffey. He adds emotional weight to a character who you will love in the end. The mid film twist is also done really well. For about a third of the film, it seems like it might be The Shawshank Redemption all over again but then things start to get supernatural.

Altogether The Green Mile is a really good film. It's compelling, has some unsettling moments but most importantly has characters you care about.

****Brilliant

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Director: Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau
Certificate: 12
Genre: Superhero
Awards: None

After the Avengers conundrum, Tony Stark(Downey Jr) hasn't been feeling very well. This is unfortunate as a new threat in the form of the Mandarin(Kingsley) -A bearded terrorist- has just surfaced. Nobody saw him coming.

Iron Man 3 becomes the strongest of the series due to it's fantastic dialogue. It's wittier than ever with a brilliant bit between Stark and a boy who becomes his sidekick for a while. There's a plot twist that is
humorous albeit comic fans  don't seem to have enjoyed it that much. Iron Man 3 meets the original and improves the format.

****Good

The Great Gatsby (2013)

Director: Baz Luhrman
Starring: Toby Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton,  Elizabeth Debicki, Isla Fischer
Certificate: 12
Genre: Romance, Drama
Awards: Best Costume, Best Production

Based off of F. Scott Fitzgerald's critically acclaimed novel, The Great Gatsby follows Nick Carraway (Maguire) after he moves to NewYork city and meets a very strange man called Gatsby (DiCaprio). Gatsby lives next door and throws lavish parties for everybody in town. However nobody really knows much about him until Nick comes along. Gatsby opens his life to Nick because he is in love with Nick's cousin and always has been. Unfortunately she is now married with children to another.

Although DiCaprio's performance should be praised, it is Maguire who really shines in this film. We feel what Nick feels and the power of his voiceover (especially at the end where it gets really powerful) is what makes the film.

Visually the film is nice to look at, mixing old fashioned and modern music to make this weird hybrid, and all the characters are done justice. The plot may seem boring to many and that is understandable as not much really happens. There is no world changing conclusion and we end almost the same as when we began. Albeit The Great Gatsby is a good film even if it does not mach up to Luhrman's past achievements.

****Good

Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)

Director: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Peter Weller, Alice Eve, Anton Yelchen, Bruce Greenwood.
Certificate: 12
Genre: Sci Fi
Awards: None

After an highly praised return in 2009 and with all the main cast returning, the sequel can bring out the big guns. And boy do they...

The main thing good sequels do is give the series a much more impressive villain. John Harrison (Cumberbatch) is exactly this. He seems like a much bigger threat than Nero with is cold and calculating demeanour.  However he is more than just a villain. He is one of the antagonists who - in his eyes - is doing right. This makes him a lot more relatable.

The rest of the cast all show up with their own unique traits. Some like Scotty (Pegg) are given much bigger roles while it's Chekov (Yelchen)'s turn to have the least screen time. Alice Eve's Carol is a character that was a bit confusing. I wasn't sure if she was the love interest for Kirk or Bones.

Star Trek: Into Darkness is a satisfying sequel. Both the beginning and the end gives the feel of an Indiana Jones film. Perhaps another franchise for you Mr Abrams?

****Good

Star Trek Into Darkness Trailer

Star Trek (2009)

Director: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchen, Simon Pegg, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, Winona Ryder
Certificate: 12
Genre: Sci Fi
Awards: Best Make-up

For years the Star Trek franchise was circling the drain. Mainstream audiences had all but forgotten it. Then came the brand new spanking reboot that re-glorified it.  Star Trek is not technically a remake or a reboot. It is in fact an alternative timeline set in course by the death of Kirk's father (a pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth). This gives the writers an almost free-reign over the franchise. They can now tell any story they want.

As this is the first film in the alternative timeline, it is basically the origin story. James T. Kirk (Pine) is recruited into Star fleet and meets his crew to be. I really don't know enough about the original series to tell if any of the characters are terribly different to their original forms, however I don't think there is anything major that fans are angry about.

Some people say that Eric Bana's Nero is a rubbish villain as he is forgettable and is more plot device than actual character, but that is what the film needs. Nobody is interested in a show stealing villain in the origin story. It's the main characters you want to see. Save your Jokers and Gollums for the sequel.

I can't really say much more about the story without giving it away. I can merely say that fans of the originals will be surprised while newbies will be entertained.

****Good

Star Trek Trailer

Unstoppable (2010)

Director: Tony Scott
Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson
Certificate: 12
Genre: Thriller
Awards: None

A train in West Virginia has gone off without a driver and it's heading with speed into a populated city with toxic chemicals that could wipe it out completely. Two railway employees, experienced train driver Frank (Washington) and a first time conductor Will (Pine), have to try and stop it before it reaches there.

Like Speed, this film gives a thrilling sense of time running out as the inevitable approaches. Scott ups the frantic feel with news reports on the situation as it's happening which gives it a much more realistic feel.

The film is focused on it's two main characters and how their relationship turns out. There is nothing wrong with that, but it does seem that all the other characters are quite two-dimensional. They could have been more rounded. For instance, we hear about Will's family and see his wife later on. But she is nothing more than just a prop. The same with Frank's daughters. It would have been interesting to explore more about the people waiting to find out whether or not the person they loved has survived.

Overall Unstoppable does exactly what it sets out to do. It thrills and excites the audience with a problem with a time limit.

****Good.

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

Director: Charles Crichton
Starring: Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sid James, Alfie Bass
Certificate: U
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Awards: Best Screenplay

The Lavender Hill Mob consists of four men. Holland (Guinness), a bank transfer agent; Pendlebury (Holloway),  a man who makes Eiffel Tower souvenirs, and thieves Shorty (Bass) and Lackery (James). Their target is the gold Holland delivers.

TLHM is another Ealing Comedy with wit and a smidgen of slapstick. All four characters feel different and seem to make a good crime team. There is a lucrative scene in the second half involving a spiral staircase which has got to be the eeriest scene out of all the ealing comedies.

****Good

127 Hours (2010)

Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: James Franco
Certificate: 15
Genre: Drama
Awards: None

Aron Ralstone likes to explore the canyon in Utah. However, this time he is in deep peril when he gets his arm stuck under and boulder and is trapped miles away from any other human being. Hallucinations begin as the water runs out and sanity becomes scarce...

127 Hours is a horrifying film. It is scarier than most horror films as you can actually see yourself in that situation. Ralstone's ordeal is fascinating although the squeamish will not get off lightly. James Franco lets you really feel sorry for the character and you'll be biting your fingers the whole time.

*****Brilliant

G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra (2009)

Director: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Sienna Miller, Adewale Akinnuoye - Agbai, Ray Park, Christopher Eccleston, Byung-hun Lee, Rachel Nichols, Dennis Quaid, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Certificate: 12
Genre: Action, Sci Fi
Awards: None

G.I. Joe's are a top secret military organisation who stop the nabbing of nukes from the enemies of justice and freedom. They all have silly names and this time nukes are being stolen by an angry scottish weapons manufacturer (Eccleston) so that he can sell them to somebody else. We follow Duke (Tatum), a soldier who wants to join the Joe's after he sees that his ordinary ex-girlfriend (Miller) has turned into a super villain.

G.I. Joe is stupid. Nobody seems to even question how a perfectly ordinary person suddenly starts stealing nukes and beating up the best of America's military might. Duke actually seems to be more concerned with the fact that she has died her hair. The other Joes are mostly generic and boring. Snake eyes (Park) is the only interesting character who is tied with the "baddie's" mate Storm Shadow (Lee).

G.I. Joe feels like a cartoon one would watch on saturday mornings. We have cackling villains and stupid plots that feel like they were written by a five year old. It may be based on cartoons and action figures but other franchises have had better adaptations to film. However, if you're a fan of explosions you might like this.

**Pretty Bad

Fight Club (1999)

Director: David Fincher
Starring: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf
Certificate: 18
Genre: Drama
Awards: None

Edward Norton plays an insomniac who wants more from life than just a day job. Then he meets Tyler Durden (Pitt), a free living soul who brings our protagonist on a journey of masculinity and freedom he could never have imagined. It starts with fight club, but I'm not allowed to talk about that.

Fight Club is just cool. There is no other word for it.  The visual style mixed with a music which makes everything just seem awesome. You're carried away with the fantasy due to Norton's awe filled voice over and Pitt's care free attitude. It has a story to match Fincher's Se7en in thrills with acting just as good.

*****Brilliant

The Host (2013)

Director: Andrew Niccol
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel, William Hurt, Chandler Canterbury, Diane Kruger
Certificate: 12
Genre: Romance, Sci Fi
Awards: None

The Host is about an alien race who live inside of humans and control them, therefore making the world a peaceful, lovely place to live in. However, there are a group of Humans left who do not like living with aliens and want to keep their free will. Melanie (Ronan) is one of these people. She is captured and forced to occupy her body with Wanderer, one of the aliens. The two come to an agreement after a while that the aliens aren't really that nice and decide to run away to Melanie's remaining family. Unfortunately most of the family don't like her anymore as she is seen only as one of the alien creatures. Wanderer then has to gain their trust in order to........ I don't think they really had a plan after that.

The Host is unintentionally funny with dialogue that feels stupid and completely unrealistic. It's a comic style premise that tries to take itself seriously. Some parts are incredibly rushed such as a part where Melanie disappears from Wanderer's thoughts. It's supposed to be going on for three days but I hadn't really noticed she was gone due to the fact that it was resolved so quickly in the film.

The film still has an interesting premise and it's by no means terrible. It does have a problem of showing who the audience should root for. The humans all seem to like hitting each other a lot while the only violent alien is acting as such because of the human consciousness inside her. The end also feels like a massive cop out with a solution pulled completely out of the blue.

***Okay

Is Sleeping Beauty a scathing look at human nature?

This may just be me trying to be overly pretentious but philosophically, Sleeping Beauty could be more than just a film about a princess who find "twoo loove".

Sleeping Beauty is the story of a princess who is cursed by a wicked witch to die on her sixteenth birthday after she pricks her finger on a spindling wheel. However, her fairy godmothers change the spell so that she just sleeps for a bit until some bloke kisses her and everything returns to normal.

However, you could see it like this...

A girl is just living her life normally, originally and happily, until somebody (the witch) says something scathing about her. To stop herself getting hurt more she tries to be more like everybody else, creating a barrier (evil plant things) that make it harder for people to become close to her and find the real person.

It's just a thought...

The Expendables (2010)

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis
Certificate: 12
Genre: Action
Awards: None

The Expendables in Sylvester Stallone's homage to 80's action films and he seems to have most of the leads collected. The plot is minimalistic: Barney Ross (Stallone) and his chums go off to rescue a woman from a dictator.

Maybe it's because I don't have fond memories of the actors but I didn't really enjoy The Expendables. The only stars that I was looking forward to seeing (Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger) only turning up in one very short scene. The rest is just explosions and a body count that gets a bit boring. Apparently the sequel's better but we would have to see.

****Good

'The Expendables Trailer

American Beauty (1999)

Director: Sam Mendes
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper
Certificate: 18
Genre: Drama
Awards: Best Actor (Spacey), Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay

It is hard to describe what American Beauty really is. You could see it as a deeply philosophical film or a mundane tragedy. I like to see it as a dark comedy.

In a suburban town, The Burnham family live an unhappy life. None of the family particularly like each other any more and are living life as a chore. We see mostly from the father's, Lester (Spacey)'s, viewpoint. Lester is in a loveless marriage, a dead end job and his daughter hates him. He starts to form what seems to be a midlife crisis with a crush on his daughter's friend and a weed addiction.

This film is unique in how upbeat it seems when the contents is so depressing. Spacey shines out as always, but he is surrounded by a very talented cast. Bentley's strange next door neighbour just has to be applauded. The style is fantastic while the soundtrack is able to sit next to Watchmen and the Tarantino's as one of the best.

*****Brilliant

The Quick And The Dead (1995)

Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russel Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio
Certificate: 15
Genre: Western
Awards: None

This western shows a shooting contest set up by the ruthless sheriff Herod (Hackman).  Ellen (Stone) is an outsider who wants to join in order to kill Herod and anybody else who gets in her way. Other competitors include a killer turned priest Cort (Crowe) and Herod's own son (DiCaprio).

Sam Raimi's style is as present as ever with canted angles and an almost cartoon feel to the violence. The story may be one we have heard before, but the film is able to take away our gripes by it's stylistic approach to the whole thing.

****Good

The Man In The White Suit (1951)

Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Starring: Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker
Certificate: U
Genre: Comedy
Awards: None

The Man In The White Suit is an Ealing comedy about how greed will consume the growth of human invention. Sidney Stratton (Guinness) is a genius who has created a fabric that will never get dirty. Unfortunately, neither the owners of the fabric factory or the workers want this to go public due to the fact that fabric will no longer be needed.

The comedy works well as a satire on how neither Communism or capitalism will ever really be looking out for the public. Everybody looks out for themselves. It's just human nature. The comedy also includes a few bouts of slapstick that will put a smile on your face. It's a low key comedy that feels very British

****Good

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

Director: Charles Crichton
Starring: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Tom Georgeson
Certificate: 15
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Awards: Best Supporting Actor (Kline)

Charles Crichton - Known for Ealing Comedies such as The Lavender Hill Mob - and John Cleese - Known for the silly Monty Python and Fawlty Towers Series' - came together in 1988 to make what can arguably be the last Ealing comedy. It follows a bank heist for diamonds, which will become what drives all of the characters against each other.

Both sides of the Atlantic are present in the battle. The brits are represented by a surprisingly straight John Cleese as a barrister, the brains behind the crime Georges Thomason (Georgeson) and Michael Palin as Stuttering animal lover Ken. Cleese isn't as compelling as Basil Fawlty or his other silly characters here and seeing him as a romantic lead is almost frightening. Palin's journey is a lot more funny as he faces his fears and does terrible things that changes his character

But the Americans have brought stiff competition. Jamie Lee Curtis's Wanda is compelling as the sneaky thief whose loyalties don't seem to lie with anyone. But it's Kevin Kline's performance as the dim-witted arrogant Otto that brings the film together. His sneery remarks and slow mind create a character that is laughable but also dangerous.

For most of the film, the humour is kept rather low key with just a few “laugh out loud” moments on the journey. Then we reach the climax where things get out of control. You can see John Cleese's crazy sense of humour leaking out for all to see.

A Fish Called Wanda is perhaps for a different audience than the Monty Python films but it gives the right amount of comedy for it to succeed.  The English vs. American clash will give everybody a side to root for as we see the best and worst of both.

****Good