Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Director: J.J. Abrams
Starring: John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Domhnall Gleeson, Lupita Nyong'o, Anthony Daniels, Andy Serkis, Max Von Sydow, Mark Hamill
Certificate: 12
Genre: Sci Fi
Awards: None

What other film could I do for the last review of the year if not Star Wars?

The seventh film in the series, The Force Awakens has taken the world by storm and, in a number of ways, it deserves to. Set thirty years after The Return Of The Jedi, Luke Skywalker has disappeared and the galaxy seems to be in a civil war between the first order, lead by a strange being named Snoke (Serkis) and the resistance, lead by general Leia (Fisher).

On a lonely sandy planet (sound familiar?), a young girl (Ridley) finds a droid being hunted by stormtroopers for information that it has from one of their prisoners. She meets a turncoat stormtrooper named Finn and the two escape the planet with an old veteran in order to find the resistance.

As somebody who quite enjoys the prequels (although I grant that they could never be called good films, they are admirable failures at trying something new), it was somewhat disappointing that The Force Awakens does not seem to have much ambition and instead seems just a newer version of A New Hope. Yet the film is still incredibly enjoyable and any fan of Star Wars is bound to have a good time.

The old faces returning are all great to see, although some seem to be there for no reason (cough, 3PO) other than for fan service but that is what this film was always going to be, a film for the fans. It is great to see how the world has gone on and the technology and the fact that it feels like a Star Wars film but The Force Awakens, to me, shows that the Star Wars film of the future aren't going to do anything new and exciting. Like Marvel, the films are likely to be entertaining and keep an audience hooked but the dream of something radically different is dead. This is not altogether a bad thing but it makes the Star Wars universe a smaller world.

****Good

The Purge (2013)

Director: James DeMonaco
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Rhys Wakefield, Max Buckholder, Adelaide Kane, Edwin Hodge
Certificate: 15
Genre: Horror
Awards: None

Set in the not-so-distant-future America, The Purge is a night that happens every year where all crimes are legal. The wealthy Sandin family become the focus of a siege after the son allows a homeless man being attacked take shelter in their house.

Whilst having a great amount of potential, The Purge seems incredibly lazily written with many of the plot points being incredibly unconvincing for the scenario. The main character works in security yet is completely helpless when being attacked on a day when one should have been prepared.

The Purge is one of those films that tries too little at creating tension and fear and instead does the predictable and the boring. None of the characters feel fleshed out and narratively, the third act simply does not pay off. In the hands of a greater talent, The Purge could be riveting but it just simply is not.

**Pretty Bad

The Heroes Of Telemark (1965)

Director: Anthony Mann
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris, Ulla Jacobsson, Michael Redgrave
Certificate: U
Genre: Action, War
Awards: None

The Heroes Of Telemark is a WW2 film detailing the exploits of the Norwegian resistance as attempt to stop the construction of heavy water - needed for the atomic bomb - for Nazi Germany. Douglas plays the scientist, Rolf, who is persuaded to join Harris' resistance soldier to destroy a factory that creates the component.

Whilst educational (the film is based on a true story), The Heroes Of Telemark cannot stand up as one of the great World War Two films. It is overly melodramatic at points and often seems slow for no discernible reason. It is fun to see Douglas and Harris together however as two of cinemas greats and some sequences look very nice in the snow but the film is ultimately nothing special.

***Okay

Ted (2012)

Director: Seth McFarlane

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Seth McFarlane, Mila Kunis, Joel McHale, Giovanni Ribisi, Patrick Warbutton, Patrick Stewart

Certificate: 15
Genre: Comedy

Awards: None

Ted is Seth McFarlane's first feature film, yet it still contains many of the attributes of his TV programs (Family Guy, American Dad et al). McFarlane voices a teddy bear that comes to life when his owner John wishes it one christmas. Years on, Ted and John (now played by Wahlberg) are all grown up but now losers who won't get their lives together, infuriating John's girlfriend Lori (Kunis) who feels that Ted is holding John back.

Like McFarlane's other work, Ted is deliberately provocative which leads to some brilliantly shocking and surreal jokes. Yet, like many un-clever comedies, watching it for a second time feels a little flat. With the punches already thrown, what you're left with is a run-of-the-mill story about a guy who tries to get his life together.

The ending is somewhat predictable and the overall narrative leaves one wanting but Ted is first and foremost a comedy. Whilst the jokes may be cheap (fart jokes) and non PC, this is why people like McFarlane and nobody can deny that Ted is very funny.

****Good

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Tim Holt, Dolores Costello, Joseph Cotten, Anne Baxter, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Orson Welles
Certificate: U
Genre: Drama
Awards: None

The Magnificent Ambersons was Orson Welles' follow up to his astounding Citizen Kane and features the rich family of the Ambersons including Isabel (Costello) and her son George (Holt). One day Isabel's ex lover, Eugene (Cotten) returns to the town and he and the recently widowed Isabel become close again. This does not go well with George who wishes to keep them apart for the good of the Amberson name.

Compared with Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons cannot compete as the characters feel flatter and the story not as vast and appealing. Yet on its own two legs, the film is still highly enjoyable. The spiralling saga of the family's decline is always interesting to witness. The cinematography is still brilliant with every shot being as beautiful as the last whilst the performances are still very strong.

Perhaps not as vital a watch as its predecessor, The Magnificent Ambersons is still very worthy of being a Welles film (although he had less control on this one).

****Good

Nil By Mouth (1997)

Director: Gary Oldman
Starring: Ray Winstone, Kathy Burke, Charley Creed-Miles, Laila Morse, Jamie Foreman
Certificate: 18
Genre: Drama
Awards: None

Nil By Mouth is a british film made by Gary Oldman about a working class family and their relationships towards various drugs and alcohol. Ray (Winstone) is an abusive husband which causes his life to spiral downwards whilst his brother in law, Billy (Creed-Miles) is a drug addict who also falls into deeper and deeper holes.

The film is grim and dark and unpleasant, as would be expected. Most of the characters are unlikeable and even terrifying, yet the don't lack charisma making them seem much more real. The main arc of the story considering Ray and wife Valerie (Burke) feels incredibly raw and allows the viewer to feel invested. Billy's story is a little bit more of a lackluster yet still stands as a subplot.

If you are familiar with the darker side of british social realism you have probably seen films like this already but at the time it stood out as something different. Performances are great and well directed, Nil By Mouth still might not be for everyone.

****Good

Meantime (1984)

Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: Phil Daniels, Tim Roth, Jeffrey Robert, Marion Bailey, Gary Oldman, Pam Ferris, Alfred Molina, Tilly Vosburgh
Certificate: 15
Genre: Drama
Awards: None

Meantime is a British social realism film by Mike Leigh which has very early performances from actors such as Tim Roth and Gary Oldman. The film shows us the lives of a family living on benefits in the east end. When Roth's character, Colin, is given a job by his aunt Barbara (Bailey), it causes tension between him and his brother, Mark (Daniels).

Mike Leigh's film (like his later film, Naked, to a lesser extent) doesn't seem to be interested in telling a story more than giving us a glimpse into the lives of these characters. Nobody is shown to be happy and sometimes their motivations seem unclear yet they still seem believable people you could meet in east end London (which is where I actually live, by the way). The film tries to make us understand the problems of the working class rather than one individual problem, leading to many parts seeming unresolved. But that seems to be the point.

If you enjoy British social realism, Meantime is a grim and despair-filled slice of it. The fact that it features young versions of some now-massive stars just adds another interesting aspect to it as they started in the same place as their characters (if not the same circumstances).

****Good

All About Eve (1960)

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, George Sanders, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Gregory Ratoff, Marilyn Monroe
Certificate: U
Genre: Drama
Awards: Best Picture, Best supporting actor (Sanders), Best director, Best screenplay, Best costume, Best sound

All About Eve is a film about the ruthless profession of the theatre and a girl who rises from nothing to become a star of the stage. Eve (Baxter) is taken under the wing of ageing actress Margot (Davis) but after a while the older woman becomes suspicious of the younger and her intentions.

This film contains twists and turns throughout that kept me surprised. The power games being played here are a wonder to behold with each of the six main characters all seeming to be playing for their own agenda. George Sanders' critic Addison DeWitt is a stand out character due to his elitist but devil-like position but Bette Davis is a wonder to behold as the paranoid and aggressive Margot who the audience turns against as the story progresses.

All about Eve has brilliant performances and a narrative that keeps you enthralled and guessing until the very end. There is no doubt that this is one of Hollywood's immortal greats.

*****Brilliant

Legend (2015)

Director: Brian Helgeland
Starring: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Paul Anderson, Christopher Eccleston, David Thewlis, Taron Egerton, Paul Bettany, Colin Morgan, Chazz Palminteri, Tara Fitzgerald, Sam Spruell, Mel Raido
Certificate: 18
Genre: Gangster, Crime
Awards: None

In this Kray twins biopic, Hardy plays both the cool headed Reggie and the mentally insane Ronnie as they take over London and experience their rise and fall. The two characters seem incredibly different and show off Hardy's acting ability to an even further degree this year.

The story is narrated by Reggie's love interest Frances (Browning) and her character is also a shining star as she gets more and more caught up with Reggie and Ronnie's life until it all flies into a never ending spiral. The rest of the supporting cast is filled with veteran actors such as Eccleston's obsessive police detective, Thewlis's brilliant scheming legal ally and Bettany's sinister crime boss as well as upcoming actors like Anderson's top goon and Morgan and Egerton's lackeys. Whilst some are given more time to shine than others, they make a eclectic collection of characters that keeps you entertained throughout.

Legend isn't as ground breaking as the British gangster films of Guy Richie or even Mathew Vaughn's Layer Cake, but it is still very enjoyable, very glamourised but that is what one would expect from a film called Legend.

****Good

Beneath Hill 60 (2010)

Director: Jeremy Sims
Starring: Brendan Cowell, Steve Le Marquand, Harrison Gilbertson, Alan Dukes, Mark Coles Smith, Gyton Grantley, Bella Heathcote
Certificate: 15
Genre: War
Awards: None

Beneath Hill 60 tells the story of an Australian mining company in World War One who dug tunnels and planted explosive under the German lines. The target is Hill 60 in Belgium, a strategic point that, if timed right, could cause a great turn in the war.

The film flits between the soldiers, in the trenches and the tunnels, and 18 months earlier when the main character, Captain Woodward (Cowell) was a miner in Australia who was told no to go to war as the mines were needed. Whilst the latter scenes does give a greater beck story for the character (and allows female characters to be included) it isn't needed to make the war scenes more tense or dramatic and arguably takes away from the feeling of isolation WW1 is associated with.

Yet Beneath Hill 60 hits all the right notes and works its context well, showing the trenches to be horrific places to live and the comradeship that comes with being in the army. Some parts feel like they could have been done better but overall it is a reasonably strong war film.

****Good

Citizen Kane (1941)

Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane, Dorothy Comingore, Ruth Warrick, George Colouris
Certificate: U
Genre: Drama
Awards: Best original Screenplay

Citizen Kane is one of those films that has become so crucial to film history that it will always be admired for being so innovative. However, Citizen Kane is not only admirable in this modern age, it is still enjoyable.

Using new techniques like a focus on depth, people talking over each other and a non-chronological narrative, Welles' film is still very influential to this day and is often cited as the greatest film of all time by many critics. The images still look stunning in brilliant monochrome and the story is incredibly intriguing as a reporter looks for the secret of the last words of Kane (Welles), the newspaper tycoon who's life is then explained to us in detail.

Each person reveals a different part of Kane's life until he becomes a full person, which makes you seem like he is being painted out in front of you. Many of the other characters are given great arcs as well like Cotten's Mr Leeland.

It goes without saying that Citizen Kane should be watched, but it is also incredibly enjoyable rather than just a lesson in early cinema. The story still works and Welles is still a competitor for this generation of filmmakers.

*****Brilliant

Me And Earl And The Dying Girl (2015)

Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Starring: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton
Certificate: 12
Genre: Comedy
Awards: None

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl may not have the most unique of premisses - A boy befriends a girl who has cancer - yet its execution allows it to be a cut above the rest.

The film begins in a very cliche teen movie style, with the character of Greg (Mann) who doesn't attach himself to any group in high school. That is until his mother makes him befriend Rachel (Cooke) when they learn that she has Leukaemia. Rather than turning into a romance however, we see a blossoming friendship with the inclusion of Earl (Cyler), Greg's best friend who both make films based on world cinema.

MAEATDG is incredibly funny but also keeps us sticking with the heart of the horror of terminal disease, giving emotional punches throughout. Each of the characters become fleshed out throughout the film to stop them from becoming teen movie stereotypes whilst the supporting cast also give memorable performances.

Due to the film's style and humour, this is a very memorable teen movie that never feels plain or boring. Bringing a ton of different emotions, Me and Earl and The Dying Girl could be the best teen film of the year.

****Good

Wild At Heart (1990)

Director: David Lynch
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Diane Ladd, Harry Dean Stanton, J.E. Freeman, Willem Dafoe, Isabella Rossellini
Certificate: 18
Genre: Comedy
Awards: None

Wild At Heart follows a couple - Lula (Dern) and Sailor (Cage) - who decide to leave the state and break Sailor's parole in order to escape Laura's mother (Ladd) who does not approve of Sailor. In reaction, Laura's mother hires a number of killers to track down and kill Sailor.

It may be obvious seeing as it's a David Lynch film but Wild At Heart is very weird. Mixing Elvis Presley with The Wizard Of Oz, Lynch creates a world that doesn't seem to belong to any time. All the villains seem incredibly strange and otherworldly whilst the tone becomes more and more sinister as the film goes on.

Cage delivers one of his best performances of his career as Sailor, sympathetic but brutish and probably the anchor for the whole film. Dern gives a similarly great show but the weak link is perhaps Ladd as the overbearing mother. It may be intentional to make the character annoying, yet the constant grating when she is on screen pounds upon the brain and it becomes a relief when she is not on screen.

Wild At Heart is a crazy romance story that is well worth watching if you have the chance. It's also a great introduction to David Lynch as it is very accessible.

****Good

Magic In The Moonlight (2014)

Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Marcia Gay Harden, Simon McBurney, Eileen Atkins, Hamish Linklater
Certificate: 12
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Awards: None

In the 1920's, Firth plays a great magician who can also uncover false mediums better than anyone else. He is asked by a friend to to unmask Emma Stones's plucky psychic but it ends up being harder than he thought.

Magic In The Moonlight is what can only be described as typical Woody Allen. One of his films where he doesn't try anything new but still brings his humour, philosophy and style through which is not a bad thing at all. Firth plays the typical Allen neurotic character but his performance allows it to seem very different. Whilst Allen plays on his pathetic figure - like Chaplin - , Firth gives his character a greater charisma a biting quality. He seems more confident.

The film looks gorgeous, set in France with lovely countryside and great buildings of high society with 1920s cars and clothing. The supporting characters all add humour in either the form of wit or slapstick that doesn't take the focus from the main characters but does allow them to loosen the load of being the sole focus.

Critics may have been luke-warm on the film because it doesn't stand out compared to much of Allen's other work, yet Magic In The Moonlight is immensely enjoyable if you just want more of Allen rather than a new innovation in his work.

****Good

Les Miserables (2012)

Director: Tom Hooper
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Banks, Daniel Huttlestone
Certificate: 12
Genre: Musical, Drama
Awards: Best supporting actress (Hathaway), best make-up, best sound

Les Miserables is an adaptation of the musical adapted from Victor Hugo's book. In this version almost every line of dialogue is sung, which may make it difficult for some people. The story takes place in early 19th century France and mostly follows Jean Valjean (Jackman), a bread thief who breaks his parole, and Javert (Crowe), the police inspector trying to track him down. The film spans a vast number of years during the cat and mouse chase in which many other events take place, such as a factory worker being kicked into squalor and an attempted revolution.

For those not against musicals, Les Miserables is a very enjoyable film with its all star cast belting out their dialogue with brilliant songs. Whilst some have criticised Crowe's performance, he is not terrible to listen to and any flaws simply add to his character. The film is also incredibly stylised visually to create a picture like the artwork of the time. Similar to Barry Lyndon, yet perhaps more obviously computer generated.

The musical dialogue may perhaps stop the characters from becoming more complicated yet they still work as stock types that tell a story. There are still amazing moments within each character's ark that can bring a smile or tears, such as the first kindness shown to Veljean, the revolution's outcome and Fantine (Hathaway)'s fall.

Les Miserables is a triumph in the genre of the musical and works well as a great epic. The cast shine and the songs remain in one's head for days afterwards. The "live" performances may perhaps not add much but it is still extremely enjoyable in its own right.

****Good

War Book (2014)

Director: Tom Harper
Starring: Ben Chaplin, Shaun Evans, Sophie Okenedo, Kerry Fox, Phoebe Fox, Antony Sher, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Adeel Akhtar, Nicholas Burns
Certificate: 15
Genre: Drama
Awards: None

For years, civil servants have played a game of "what if", where they plan for a hypothetical threat towards nuclear war. In 2014, things go more or less the same except a minister has taken the place of one of the civil servants.

War Book is a film that creates or the twists and turns through its dialogue and it does create a gripping narrative. One crucial reveal changes the whole context of the story and makes it a much scarier tale.

yet, whilst the overall story is told well, the individual characters all fall slightly short. None are given to much focus, but enough to make you expect more. Some characters are given a slightly mysterious backstory and motive that is never really fully grasped whilst others have traits brought to the forefront that are not touched upon again.

War Book is an enjoyable film but it doesn't do anything too special to make it stand out against its peers and people may be disappointed at how far it goes with it's potential.

***Okay

Chicago (2002)

Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, John C. Reilly, Queen Latifah, Taye Diggs, Dominic West
Certificate: 12
Genre: Musical, crime
Awards: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Zeta-Jones), Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Sound

Chicago is a musical that features Roxie Hart (Zellweger), a wannabe singer and dancer who is sent to prison for shooting a man she was having an affair with. The story tells of her trial and how she became a public star because of the publicity garnered by her lawyer, Billy Flynn (Gere) as he contorts the truth in order to make her a much more poplar and relatable character.

Chicago is a very stylised, with its musical parts often taking place outside of reality in order to show what is happening. This allows for a great juxtaposition between Roxie's experience and her perception of her experience that, like Scorcese's underrated The King Of Comedy, can lead to the ending to become questioned for its validity.

Whilst Zeta-Jones won the oscar for best supporting actress, I would argue that her performance and character are in fact the least interesting. Zellweger's ditzy but ambitious protagonist, Gere's trickster lawyer, Reilly's pathetic husband and Latifah's charismatic gaoler all play much greater roles in the story and leave a greater mark behind once the credits have rolled.

All in all, Chicago is an enjoyable film with glitz and glamour all over the place. It's stylish, it's sexy and has lots of songs that are pleasing to hear.

****Good

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Kruger, Steven Berkoff, Leon Vitali, Michael Hordern
Certificate: PG
Genre: Drama
Awards: Best Cinematography, Best Art-decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Music Adaptation

Barry Lyndon is Kubrick's attempt to create a cinematic painting, recreating the 18th century with the odyssey of it's titular character as he rises to aristocracy and falls once more into obscurity. Over the course of the film, Barry joins two armies and makes many friends, lovers and enemies throughout his adventure.

Every shot of the film looks absolutely gorgeous as the special lenses used so that everything could be filmed in natural light works wonders. Barry Lyndon can easily be said to be one of the best looking films in cinematic history, with its costumes, sets and the cinematography that takes away the layers in order to give it a much more artistic look.

The story is also an enthralling collection of events that allow character after character to shine yet O'Neal's main character could be argued to be the least interesting character in the film (or at least in act 1) but he still mashes all the events and characters together whilst having an ark of his own.

Barry Lyndon is undoubtedly another great film by Kubrick and could easily sit alongside Paths Of Glory, 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange any day. Perhaps not the most accessible of his films due to it's length and plot but it is worth it if you watch it.

*****Brilliant

Topsy-Turvy (1999)

Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: Jim Broadbent, Allan Corduner, Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Ron Cook, Shirley Henderson, Martin Savage
Certificate: 12
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Awards: Best costume, best make-up

Topsy-Turvy is a period piece that follows Gilbert (Broadbent) and Sullivan (Corduner), the playwright and composer after their latest play fails to become a hit. The two big names begin to bicker and fall apart until Gilbert gets a stroke of influence from a Japanese show, leading to The Mikado

Perhaps the greatest thing about Topsy-Turvy is the recreation of 19th century London, with sets, costumes and make-up all shining through to create a world not often seen in British Film. The recreation of Gilbert & Sullivan's shows are also brilliant to watch with each play feeling completely different to the others.

Whilst Broadbent does a good job in portraying the witty and moody Gilbert, it is Corduner who shines here as the cheerful Sullivan who seems to be friendly with everyone, and therefore becoming perhaps the most enjoyable character. The supporting cast are also great with notable performances by Timothy spall and Shirley Henderson as stage actors whilst a pre-Gollum Andy Serkis is memorable as a choreographer.

Topsy-Turvy may not be for everyone, (the stage play segments can feel like they drag on for some) yet it cannot be denied that it is beautiful looking film with some great performances. Perhaps not as enthralling as Mike Leigh's more depressing pieces, it is still very, very entertaining.

****Good

Battle Royale II: Requiem (2003)

Directors: Kinji Fukasaku, Kenta Fukasaku
Starring: Shûgo Oshinari, Tastsuya Fujiwara, Ai Maeda, Ayana Sakai, Riki Takeuchi, Aki Maeda, Takeshi Kitano
Certificate: 18
Genre: Action, Sci Fi
Awards: None

Battle Royale was a stunning film featuring schoolchildren forced to kill each other by an uncaring government. Like its american cousin, The Hunger Games, the sequel steps away from the concept that made it so intriguing and takes thing to a level of army vs army. A story much less unique.

Since surviving the Battle Royale, Shuya Nanahara (Fujiwara) has created a resistance group that has declared war against all grown ups. This declaration gains the response of Japan sending another class of schoolchildren to kill Shuya and disband his group. Among them are the violent tempered Takuma (Oshinari) and Shiori (Ai Maeda), the daughter of Kitano (Kitano) - the teacher who ran the last Battle Royale.

Whilst not as terrible a film as many would lead you to expect, Battle Royale II cannot compete with its predecessor. Although its much more action packed, there is less interest as most of the characters are completely forgettable whilst the plot complicates and then falls under its own weight (although Battle Royale suffered from this problem at its conclusion).

Battle Royale II is not a terrible film yet it is still a disappointing follow up, perhaps due to the death of original director Kinji Fukasaku at the beginning of filming. The potential was still there yet it seemed that the outcome was slightly different to intended.

***Okay

Limelight (1952)

Director: Charles Chaplin
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Sydney Chaplin, Nigel Bruce, Norman Lloyd, Buster Keaton
Certificate: U
Genre: Drama, comedy
Awards: Best music

It may not be the first thing that comes to mind, but Charlie Chaplin had a voice for film. His soft tone  soothes so well and makes him a joy to listen to. In Limelight - made 11 years after his first talkie, The Great Dictator - Chaplin plays the washed up comedian Calvero who stops Thereza (Bloom), a ballet dancer from killing herself. He then convinces her that life is still worth living whilst sinking further and further into failure and misery himself.

Limelight is a truly touching film about how life always has something else to offer, even if you think the best of it is over. Obviously this can draw parallels with Chaplin's own career that make the film sadder.

Yet the film is overall uplifting and even features a comedy sketch with both Chaplin and his rival Buster Keaton, making Limelight watchable just for that brilliant sequence that people had always wanted to see.

Whilst not your typical Chaplin comedy, Limelight shows a much older man with much older woes that portray a melancholic but satisfied tone. The film shows that he still had what it takes even after his glory years had passed.

****Good

True Lies (1994)

Director: James Cameron
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Art Malik, Tia Carrere, Bill Paxton, Charlton Heston
Certificate: 15
Genre: Action, Comedy
Awards: None

In True Lies, Schwarzenegger plays a secret agent on the trail of a terrorist organisation, yet his work is getting in the way of his family life as his wife (Lee Curtis) becomes more and more irritated with his constant absence. Thus the strain of keeping his family together and defending the world from Crimson Jihad increases and intertwines...

True Lies is possibly of of the least cheesy Schwarzenegger films from the 90s as he plays a character rather than just himself - yet he still juts through a bit as always. Whilst the action scenes are very good and the pace one well, the comedy aspect sometimes grates - perhaps because of how the film has aged but it just doesn't seem to be that funny anymore.

A lot of True Lies seems to have influenced The Incredibles as they are very similar in theme and sometimes even in plot points, with a man having to cover his secret identity and live a normal life. Therefore True Lies is undoubtedly a very influential film and should be remembered.

Overall, True Lies is an enjoyable film but I was expecting a bit more from a post Terminator 2 James Cameron. There isn't much to make it stand out yet that doesn't make it any less adequate.

****Good

London Road (2015)

Director: Rufus Norris
Starring: Olivia Colman, Paul Thornley, Kate Fleetwood, Clare Burt, Janet Henfrey, Jenny Galloway, Gillian Bevan, Michael Shaeffer, James Doherty, Nick Holder, Anita Dobson, Mark Sheals, Ha Fowler, Linzi Hateley, Alecky Blythe, Tom Hardy
Certificate: 15
Genre: Musical
Awards: None

London Road is a musical based on the real accounts of the people who lived on the road during the Ipswich murders. It focuses more on how it affected the residents at the time and afterwards rather than the actual murders using the dialogue from recorded interviews to create songs about the events and feelings.

All the cast work really well in creating a believable neighbourhood with people you would find on a typical street. Olivia Coleman could arguably be called the lead but the cast are more of a chorus, which can cause characters to lack individuality but each is given a few unique opinions and lines to make them slightly different.

The irritating thing about London Road is the way that it has been marketed, both by its own posters and other parties, as being a Tom Hardy film due to his popularity. His part is more of a cameo than anything else and the fact that he is being so focused upon draws away from the other great performances and the uniqueness of the film.

The musical parts of the film are absolutely stunning. The songs aren't particularly memorable or catchy but they are based more on realism and show a group consensus of fear, suspicion and anger at the events that happened.

I would definitely recommend watching London Road as there is nothing like it to my knowledge and it does some really interesting things in order to make you think about people and the circumstances some are in.

*****Brilliant

Strange Days (1995)

Director: Kathryn Bigalow
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore
Certificate: 18
Genre: Sci Fi, Action, Crime
Awards: None

In the far off future of 1999, Los Angeles has become a dystopia where crime runs wild in the streets. Ex-cop Lenny Nero (Fiennes) now sells memories that others can experience on the black market, but never a memory of somebody's death - known as a blackjack. When he is sent the blackjack of the murder of one of his friends, Lenny teams up with his friend Mace (Bassett) and former colleague Max (Sizemore) in order to try and Lewis), who he believes to be somehow mixed up in it.
find the killer and protect his ex-girlfriend, Faith (

Strange Days creates an absolutely enthralling world that just takes you in. The use of playback memories being sold as entertainment is a wonderful premise and the film uses it to its full potential with great examples throughout that play out almost like a first person video game.

Both Fiennes and Bassett bring great performances to help boost the interesting story, with Fiennes' charismatic sleaziness still making him likeable despite his very obvious flaws. The plot plays as a mystery thriller that keeps the viewer guessing throughout whilst also drawing on themes of police corruption and racial tension that drop the story into a colder reality.

Strange Days was a very pleasant surprise that had a great premise and focused on it rather than simply let it be a gimmick in the sidelines. This is indeed a lesser seen gem.

*****Brilliant

Red Beard (1965)

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring:Yûzô Kayama, Toshirô Mifune, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Reiko Dan, Miyuki Kuwano, Terumi Niki
Certificate: 15
Genre: Drama
Awards: None

Red Beard was the last film of sixteen to be made in the director-actor partnership of Akira Kuroswa and Toshirô Mifune, joining the ranks of Seven Samurai, Drunken Angel and The Bad Sleep Well. The film follows Dr Yasumoto (Kayama) who is sent to work in the clinic of Red Beard (Mifune) in 19th century Japan. Yasumoto dislikes Red Beard and refuses to work yet is slowly taught humility and honour as he sees the suffering of the patients.

The first half of the film shows how Yasumoto slowly learns humility whilst interacting with a number of patients that have their own stories of woe. The second half gives Yasumoto a patient in the twelve year old Otoyo (Niki) which give some absolutely heart warming scenes. The film has strong performances throughout showing the turmoil of the poor during a time of feudal discomfort.

Kurosawa makes every moment captivating with brilliant cinematography and settings for the flashbacks whilst the present is shown in such mundanity that the social realism becomes even darker and bleak. Whilst perhaps not as impressive as his action films, Red Beard succeeds in showing the nightmare of the lower classes in the 19th century and delivers slight hope in the characters that do what they can to lessen the despair.

****Good

Hanzo The Razor: Sword Of Justice (1972)

Director: Kenji Misumi
Starring: Shintarô Katsu Yukiji Asaoka, Mari Atsumi 
Certificate: 18
Genre: Action
Awards: None

The Hanzo The Razor series was a Samurai trilogy that seems to have been influenced by anti-hero cop films such as Dirty Harry, with Hanzo (Katsu), an officer in feudal Japan who doesn't play by the rules and does anything to solve the case. In the first film, Hanzo finds that a criminal has escaped from prison and investigates through a trail of police corruption and duplicity.

Whilst the film seems to be rather tongue in cheek, the use of rape by the protagonist leaves a rather sour taste in the mouth, as female suspects are forced upon by Hanzo in a form of interrogation that the film does not condemn but even portrays as erotism.

The overall plot is rather flimsy with no major villain to really make an impact. Once the main Plot line is completed. The film also carries on for a while, seemingly not sure what to do with it's major character and creates a subplot trying to bring the debate of Euthanasia into the fray. Yet as Hanzo doesn't seem like a character that is overall a 'good guy' (I wouldn't even class him as an anti-hero), it is hard to take any moral lessons from him that seriously.

Overall, Sword Of Justice works as a mediocre action film that uses shock and a very slanted morality to entertain. Yet, it hasn't really persuaded me to pursue its two sequels.

**Pretty Bad