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