Gravity (10th viewing)

It seems quite fitting that THE movie of the year is probably the last movie I'll see this year. Probably the last time I'll see Gravity on the big screen too. Which is a big shame because I've genuinely enjoyed every viewing of this film. I should have persuaded Liz and Graham to have seen it too because it's not going to be the same on the small screen.. Watching it tonight and I was still in total awe.. Arguably my greatest regret this year was not seeing it on IMAX down the bay..

The film of the year, and any year for that matter. *****

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2nd viewing)

Missed the first minute of this one due to a slight overrun of Harry Hills latest movie (less said about that the better..)
This time I saw it in 2D and the film lost none of its appeal as a result of dropping a D..
I still enjoyed it and the barrel sequence still had me, and the rest of the audience gripped!
Still an entertaining, if slightly long **** movie..
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The Harry Hill Movie

This was an odd one..
It was a 'filler' movie while I killed some time before 'The Hobbit 2'. As a result I left before the credits had ended and knowing Harry Hill there was probably a funny 'end of credits' moment..
Plot goes, Harry's hamster (voiced by Johnny Vegas) falls ill and he's told by the vet he has only a week to live. So Harry decided to take him on a holiday to Blackpool.. You still with me? Along the way they end up in 'Blackpole' due to the Sat Nav (which voice options consist of Angry White Van man, Sheila and Yakuza Mob boss..) So they end up staying in a B&B run by The Magic Numbers... Throw in a guided tour around the local Nuclear Plant by the cleaner (played by Jim Broadbent - in drag), seashell people and heavily armed chickens and you can see where this film is coming from.. In fact judging by that synopsis It sounds quite good.. It wasn't. That being said I'd prefer to sit through this than 'Die Hardly'... but surreal oddness do not a good comedy make..
Overall a ** movie. (1 for the gung-ho chickens and another for the mutant, radioactive Godzilla hamster.. don't ask..)
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47 Ronin

I knew it was too good to be true. How long can the run of 4 to 5 star movies go on for?

Ok, here goes.. Now I'd seen the trailer for this one so many times that it got to a point where I'd sigh every time it came on.. This was a sign I should have paid attention to. The trailer told me everything I needed to know about the film...

Synopsis, for what it's worth goes something like this. Keanu Reeves plays Kia, a half-breed who's taken in by a Japanese community and blah, blah, blah.. It's immaterial.. The film was shite. The script was embarrassingly bad and littered with clichés. The love interest was laughable, there was just no chemistry.  Even the special effects were average at best.. And to top it all, in the end *spoiler alert* they all kill 'em selves.. Utter rubbish. 

The question remains was it 'Die Hard 5' or 'Riddick'?

I'll give it ** ('Riddick' bad)

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2nd viewing)

Spoilt for choice today but due to the long running times I only managed this one. And this is still an excellent film..
****1/2 still..


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All Is Lost

As we were going out tonight I wasn't sure if I could get another film in today.. As it turned out I could and I was fortunate enough to see Robert Redfords latest staring role. In fact he was the only one in it! I hadn't seen a single trailer for this but the general consensus was it was good.

This was another one of those films that, on paper just doesn't do it for me.  Bloke on a boat... Boat sinks.. That's the basic synopsis... and to be fair that pretty well sumed up the movie. But there was more to it. Mainly Robert Redfords performance. There was practically no back storey and unlike 'Cast Away' for example, there was very little dialogue.  There's not much more I can say about it really, only that it enthralled me and that Robert Redford reminded me a lot of my Grandad.  Which is probably why I liked it. They both shared a similar strong, silent composure and had the ability to fix things when required to do so..

Overall a moving ****.

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The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty.

I must have seen the trailer for this film 50 times over the last month or so.. Not to mention TV spots. Plus I bought the 'Of Monsters And Men' album and Jose Gonzalez's latest single just because they feature on the trailer... (Yes, the trailer!). I've even set up a 'Walter Mitty' playlist on my iPod. So, you can see where I'm coming from regarding this film. Oh, I did I mention I'm a big fan of Iceland and photography too...

Anyway, the story goes thus... Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) works for Life magazine (which incidentally is the job I was born to do) and one day he turns up to work only to be told they're closing down the magazine. That same day he receives a film roll from legendary photographer Sean O'Connel (Sean Penn) with the proviso than negative 25 should be the final cover for the magazine. Only thing is that negative is missing! What then follows is Walters attempt to track down Sean O'Connel (and hopefully  negative 25). The initial half of the film is littered with moments when Walter drifts off into his own dream world and these moments are particularly funny. The cinematography is excellent and now Iceland is DEFINATELY top of my bucket list.. Not only was the film hilarious in parts but also very moving (I found my self welling up on numerous occasions..)

 I loved it! I almost rated it 5 stars but I think Gravity has a slight edge..

****1/2 Stars easily..

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Gravity (9th viewing)

I don't need to say anymore about this film..

*****

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Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

Here we have another one of those films where I am a BIG fan of the original and I always worry the sequel will soil it's good name..
Luckily this one didn't... kind of.. This time we see Ron has married Veronica and they have a 6 year old boy. When Veronica is offered the top job at the station (by none other than Harrison Ford) and Ron subsequently sacked he leaves her heads into oblivion (via a drunken stop over in Sea World).. He is then approached by GNN (the Gobal News Network) who are to start up a 24hour news channel...

And much hilarity ensues.. And to be fair I did laugh.. A lot of the best gags I'd seen in trailers and snippets but I still laughed at them.. again..! I think this is similar to the first one in that the appeal will grow on DVD and repeated viewings.. The obligatory 'News team battle' at the end had a lot of surprise cameos too..

Overall I enjoyed it. Not quite 'Alan Partidge' funny but another excellent comedy to add to this years collection..

Rating ***1/2 
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Gravity (8th viewing)

The weekends not complete if I don't fit in a showing of Gravity..

God knows what I'm going to do when this finishes..?

Rating: it's a thing of beauty... *****

Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (3D)

Ok, here's part 2 of the Hobbit trilogy. It kicks off where the last one ended and we find our intrepid short-people catching their breath having just escaped the clutches of some nasty Orcs.. After a bit of deliberating they decide to cut through the particularly murky Mirkwood.. And bump into elves, spiders and other wood dwelling types. 

The advantage this film has over part one of the trilogy is that there's no need for character introductions and consequently no musical washing up numbers incorporating plot details... This pretty well jumps straight into the action. And this films strong points is the action. The barrel escape was worth the ticket price alone!

Martin Freeman is excellent and the film hints at the dark influence the Ring has on its owner as it did in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

Again the film is too long, although this one was less than the usual 3 hours.. (but not by much!)

Overall Mr Jackson has done it again and no doubt I will try and fit in another showing over Christmas.

Rating: ****

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Saving Mr Banks

Well this one rounded off the weekend quite nicely.
Another heartwarming tale similar to yesterday's Nebraska. Both Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson were excellent, and personally I didn't think the Colin Farell sections were that bad (despite Film 2013's opinion).

Emma Thomson plays author P.L.Travers who, due to financial problems reluctantly decides to sell the movie rights for her book Mary Poppins to Mr Disney (Tom Hanks).  Not without her getting final say on the movie though.  As a result Mrs Travers comes to blows with Walt Disney and most of his staff. Occasionally there are flash backs to Emma's character as a young girl growing up in Austrailia, struggling with an loving but alcoholic father (Colin Farell). Over the two hours or so the story slowly builds up to offer an explanation into why Emma Thompson character is like she is. 

The film has excellent supporting characters too. Paul Giamatti and Jason Schwartzman were two I recognised..

Overall another entertaining ***1/2.

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Gravity 3D (7th viewing)

... erm... I'm just filling time while I wait for 'Saving Mr Banks'... Honest... plus I needed somewhere to get out of the rain..


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Homefront

I don't think I've seen a movie with Graham since Hummingbird.. Which was Jason Statham's previous offering. This was a totally different affair. Instead of 'the Stath' playing ex-special forces, out numbered and out gunned man on the edge, here he plays a small, 90 year old lady with arthritis and a replacement hip.. Yeah whatever.. I don't need to bother with the synopsis, needless to say this started off well and kind of fizzled out at the end..
Overall though a better movie than Hummingbird. Rating: ***

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Gravity 3D (6th viewing)

Yeah I know.. So much for my recovery program... It's just so damn good..

Rating.. As if I need to say..

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Nebraska

Hi. My name is Mark Eagling and it's been 6 days, 2 hours and 45 minutes since I last saw Gravity.. And to help me along with my treatment I decided to watch this little monochrome tale..
It starts off and we see a rather haggard looking Bruce Dern wandering aimlessly along a busy road.. Cut to him being collected from the Police station by his son, played by Will Forte. It transpires that Bruce has received a letter informing him he's won a million dollars and that he was off to Nebraska to collect it.. It also transpires that Bruce is a troubled man and let's just say his lift doesn't quite go to the top floor..
What then follows is the two hour story of him and his sons road trip to collect his 'winnings'. Of course he hasn't won anything and his son knows this but still he indulges him regardless.. And it was a warm and genuinely lovely film. It reminded me of 'The Straight Story'. It's inoffensive apart from the odd f-bomb and the performances are subtle and sincere.. Plus the payoff at the end is superb..

It's a bit of a niche film in that my family would find it boring. But for me it was another excellent reason for the unlimited card and I'm glad I saw it.

Rating: ****.

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Oldboy (2013)

I decided to see this one mainly because after today they've only got evening showings, which is always a more tricky prospect..
I haven't seen the original but the basic premise sees Josh Brolins character locked up for 20 years. When he gets out he embarks on a quest for revenge.. or so the blurb goes.. Now this is an 18 certificate film and I'm always nervous when it comes to 'adult' films.. Although all the past 18 cert viewings have always been entertaining..

Well this one was certainly "entertaining" for want of a better word..

Elizabeth Olsen (who I last saw in 'Red Lights'... but can't remember her!?) was excellent and once again Sharlto Copley ('The A Team', 'District 9' and this years 'Elysium') is the go-to man for weirdos and generally unstable characters.. Throw in Samuel L Jackson and Spike Lee directing and you have another one of those movies with all the right ingredients.. Luckily this one wasn't 'The Counsellor' bad (another 18 movie... Yeah, I forgot about that one..) but it wasn't brilliant either.. There was violence and sex aplenty, and the twist at the end I did not see coming. There's a lot of negative reviews doing the rounds at the moment and I think this is mainly down to comparisons with the original. As I haven't seen that I had the advantage and took the film at face value. The question is "do I want to see the original?".. Being Korean it'll pull no punches so that'll have to wait till I have a stronger stomach..

In the end though, I enjoyed it for what it was. I won't see it again, it's a 'renter' not a 'buyer'.

Rating: ***1/2

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Carrie

Just managed to squeeze this one in to round the day off.
Here we have another remake to add to the pile that Hollywood keeps churning out. Unlike "Oldboy" I have seen the original... but it was a long time ago and I only remember 2 scenes.. The bit when Carrie %$&*^@$%! some *&^**%@ at her mum and the infamous 'Shock' ending (which everyone who's seen the film remembers..!)
The basic story revolves around a 'coming of age' Carrie (played by the excellent Chloë Grace Moretz) and the discovery that she has telekinetic powers.  After being humiliated at school and then the video of it being uploaded to youtube (don't remember that being in the original..!), one of her class 'mates' (Gabriella Wilde) takes pity on her and convinces her boyfriend (newcomer Ansel Elgort) to take Carrie to the Prom. Throw in Julianne Moore as an overprotective,  religious nutjob of a mother.. and the rest, as they say is history..

Overall, this wasn't a bad film.  The original was old enough to not have any real bearing on me at least and the performances were very good.
Rating: ***1/2

Gravity 3D (5th viewing)

I was getting withdrawal systems after last weekend.. It won't be around be around for much longer.. They've already moved it to the smaller screen 15.. Get it while I can..
Rating:*****...Duh!

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The Hunger Games Colon Catching Fire.

After the disastrous no-show of last weekend (I even missed the monumental 50th anniversary Dr Who episode... In 3D!!?),
I thought I'd catch an early showing of this one as it's quite a long film.
I'd seen the first Hunger Games but couldn't for the life of me remember what happened.. I try to watch it on Netflix as a refresher but that didn't workout either..

Anyway, brief synopsis... What I do remember is that it's set in a not-to-distant, post war future and the globe is divided in to districts. We start off with Katnis (the excellent Jennifer Lawrence) and Peta (Josh Hutchinson) about to embark on a world tour as the winners of the previous Hunger Games. Needless to say it doesn't quite pan out as the supreme leader, dictator (Donald Sutherland) would like. So he and his minions plan the 75th Anniversary games to dispatch the troublesome Katnis.. Are you still with me?
To be fair I'm doing this film an injustice. It was excellent with fine performances from all concerned. I was gripped when needed to be gripped and emotionally involved when the moment arose.. If you know what I mean..
Overall the autumn is once again turning out to be the best time to spend in the cinema..
Overall a solid ****.
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The Counsellor

You know what they say, the first step to recovery is acknowledgment.  And I'm now acknowledging my addiction to the movie "Gravity".. There, I've said it.  The next step is cold turkey.. or in this case "The Counsellor"

To use a Subway reference this film had all the ingredients for a perfect sandwich. Firstly there's the honey oat base (Ridley Scott). Throw in the meat (Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem and Brad Pitt). Toast then top with lettuce and onion (Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz). Perfect! Or so it should have been... The story is based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy (who'd previously penned "No Country For Old Men". This film also has an interesting method of dispatching its protagonists!).

Spicy Salami, sorry Michael Fassbender is a lawyer who drives a Bentley, lives in an Apple store and starts off by handing over a 3.5 carrot diamond engagement ring to the gorgeous Penelope Cruz.. Clearly he's doing alright for himself but for some reason (I think greed is mentioned later in the film) he decides to invest in a large drug deal along with Mr Pitt and Bardem. Well at least I think that's the basic premise..

One of the problems I have with it (besides a legitimate reason for a rich man to get involved with drug dealers) is that it was very 'talky'. Don't get me wrong I like a bit of good dialogue but here everyone was spouting wise advice and cod philosophy ! Even the barman had something profound to say.. And to be honest it got a bit boring.. The film needs to be seen again for me to fully understand what was going on .. Unfortunately it doesn't deserve to be..

Overall a disappointing **1/2.. (should have seen "Gravity" again..)

  

Gravity 3D (4th viewing)

Ok, so four viewings is not THAT odd but four in a row?!

What can I say, it's a Spicy Italian..

As I was watching it today it occurred to me that it's a thing of beauty. You could take a single frame, hang it on the wall and it wouldn't look out of place.. 

Rating: *****... Duh!

Gravity 3D (3rd viewing)

Ok, here's the thing. I'm a big fan of Subways. I go there most weeks and when I do I have a 6" spicy Italian on honey oat with lettuce, onion, sweetcorn and mayonnaise.. And I love it. Now I could quite easily try the turkey or meatball subs. They're the same price and who knows they may well taste as nice. The key is that they MAY taste as nice. It's a gamble. Why risk it when I know the spicy Italian never fails. Plus this week I read a review that said the meatball sub leaves a bad taste in your mouth..

 You see this is my problem.  I could have seen Ridley Scott's latest offering 'The Counsellor' or perhaps 'The Butler' or even 'Don Jon'. But why take the risk when I know I'm going to be blown away by 'Gravity'?  And true to form I was.. For the third time.. More importantly, this movie still has legs.. 

It's 5 stars.. Why do you think I keep seeing it..

Gravity 3D (2nd viewing)

What can I say.. It's awesome. After seeing it at 10.40 this morning I had to go and see it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke... It wasn't..
Still *****.

And I'll probably, no definitely see it again.

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Gravity 3D

I think the last time I got this excited about a film was The Dark Knight Rises... and we all know how that one turned out. There's been a lot of hype about this one. So much so that a) I almost contemplated paying £15 to watch in in IMAX and b) I turned up at the cinema 1/2 hour early! Had to turn round and leave..

Anyway, back to the film... It was AWESOME! The best film of the year by a long shot.. I don't wanna sound too gushy but it was both a thing of beauty and a tense, thrilling ride of a movie.. After the first 10 minutes I was hooked... and it just got better. There's one scene where you see Sandra Bullocks character drifting out in open space.. Then the camera slowly moves in until it's inside her helmet looking out. It truly is an amazing spectacle..

Maybe it's because this years films have been so lame.. I've been waiting for an 'Avengers' movie all year.

Overall a resounding *****.

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Philomena

This film is where the Cineworld card comes into it's own.. I would never have paid £8 to see this, it's just not my type of film. But having already seen Thor (twice) and as, technically I don't have to pay, I figured why not?
This is the second Steve Coogan film I've seen this year and it turned out to be as satisfying as Alpha Papa. Granted it wasn't as funny but it was genuinely moving and basing it on a true story always adds a certain gravitas..
The film can be summed up like a sequel to The Magdelene Sisters.. Although I haven't actually seen the Magdelene Sisters this film centres around the convent and in particular, one of the girls who lived there. Judy Dench plays Philomena, the girl in question and her struggle to find her child who was taken from her 50 years ago by the evil nuns.. Steve Coogan plays a journalist who helps her track down her son. The film was very touching and I found myself welling up in places. Luckily Steve Coogan added some humour to prevent it from descending in to a weep-fest. Judy Dench was excellent as the lead and I found myself genuinely upset by her predicament and the way she dealt with it. Religion was brought into question and I pretty well agreed with everything Steve Coogans character had to say. Overall and emotional and funny movie ****
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Thor 2 (2nd Viewing)

Thought I'd catch this one again as I missed the first five minutes yesterday.. And those five mins did shed a bit more light on the story. Also saw the new 'Captain America: Winter Soldier' trailer and the tail end of the 'Walter Mitty' feature.. (which I am genuinely looking forward to!). All that and it was better in 2D.. you know, light loss etc.. The mid credit ending has me intrigued.. There was talk of Benichio Del-Toro joining Marvel in the cast of 'Guardians Of The Galaxy'. So what he's doing here is beyond me..

I still enjoyed it.. ****

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Thor 2

I gotta be honest... I wasn't a big fan of the first Thor.. It all seemed a bit far fetched (duh!?) But after his turn in The Avengers and a welcome injection of humour, I enjoyed it a lot more than I should have.. 

It starts where the Avengers ends.. Thor and Loki return to Asgard.  Loki's locked away in cell (with no visible toilet facilities I noticed.. ) I missed the initial 5 minutes so didn't catch Christopher Eccleston's entrance, but needless to say he reappears and chaos follows. It was Tom Hiddleston

who stole the show though in my opinion..

The action and CGi are both excellent, as to be expected in a film of this budget and overall I enjoyed..

Rating ****

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Captain Phillips

Here's another one I saw with Graham, he was more keen than I was.
Turns out it was another excellent addition to the Autumnal cannon.
Tom Hanks plays Captain Philips, who's container ship is highjacked  

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Enders Game

Here's another book adaptation hoping to set off another franchise.  This has been described as a cross between Star Wars and Harry Potter and I can see where they're coming from.

The basic premise goes something like this.. After earth is attacked by an alien race Harrison Fords general sets about creating an army to defend the planet from an inevitable future attack. Asa Butterfield plays Harry Potter, sorry Ender, an odd, outcast who is enlisted and subsequently selected to be 'the one' to lead the said army to attack the aliens where they live..

It's an interesting film. I'm a fan of both Star Wars and Harry Potter. Plus it's a big budget Scifi so it ticks all the boxes.. The ending had an interesting and dark twist too.

The special effects are the usual and all the actors put in solid performances.. But as with most films this year I wasn't blown away..

Another solid ***.
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Escape Plan

This is the first film where Arnold and Sylvester have played staring roles together apparently.. And at 66 and 67 (respectively) they're getting on a bit now (bless 'em). Long gone are the hey days of the 80's where my chums and I would settle down to watch Arnie and Sly mowing down bad guy after bad guy with heavy weaponry, cleverly constructed dangerous undergrowth and assorted garden utensils..
Unfortunately this film lacks the energy of their previous outings, which is to be expected at their age. It had humour and it was aware of its own ridiculousness... Sam Neil turns up in a small role as a conscientious prison doctor. Vinny Jones also appears playing a blind cripple who struggles with his inner demons having been imprisoned for inadvertently killing a bus load of orphans... Only joking, he plays a Prison thug who beats people up a lot and generally looks grizzled..
If you've seen any prison escape film you know the basic premise and that's fine. Graham found it a little tedious, too much plot and talking..
I on the other hand, enjoyed it for what it was.. ***

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Cloudy With A Chance Of Cloudy Meatballs 2

I loved the first one.. I'd go as far to say it's my favourite animated film of all time.
This time Flint Lockwood and his chums have to head back to Swallow Falls where it all started and retrieve the FLNSTFER, his machine he invented which has now taken to producing living food!
This film started of well. It had a lot of the same humour and charm of the first one and I was relieved more than anything. There was also a lot of activity going on in the background as in the first one.. The film started to fail a bit when the food started communicating and it all got a bit sentimental, but in the end it was entertaining.. Plus I have to keep reminding myself it's a U certificate and aimed mainly at kids, so you have to make allowances. Overall it was enjoyable. Not as good as the first one (are they ever?) ***
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The Fifth Estate

I hadn't heard much about this one.. Actually I hadn't heard anything about this one. Only that Julian Assange had denounced it and uploaded the script online.. I'd also seen a teaser trailer which gave nothing away.. But that's it..

What can I say about it? Well, it's the story of the website Wikileaks and it's creator Julian Assange. Benedict Cumberbatch does an uncanny impression of said Assange and Daniel Brule (Rush) as his partner in crime (so to speak). It covers the inception of Wikileaks in 2007 right up to its disclosure of the US governments secrets in 2010/11..

Hummmm.. To be honest it was an odd one. It didn't really get going for me until the 'Collateral Murder' video episode (I remember seeing that, and it was shocking then too). 

All the actors put in excellent performances but there's only so much excitement you can generate with footage of people on computers... I liked the way they dropped in the 'selling off the post office' reference at the Guardian and also bought the film right up to date with Julian denouncing it in an interview at the end..!?

Overall though it was fairly boring.. **1/2..

Blue Jasmine

Half Marathon day today so I wasn't really expecting to see a film.  After Liz and Sam had finished there was a few hours left so I figured why not? Unfortunately the times for  "How I Live Now" and "Filth" weren't any good so I ended up watching this, my first Woody Allen film. 

It was an odd film... Cate Blanchett plays Jasmine, posh New York bird who, after her marriage fails moves in with her sister in San Francisco. There's a series of flashbacks where we see Jasmine living the high life with her husband, Alex Baldwins Hal. The performances are oscar worthy, particularly Cate Blanchett and it is funny in places. The ending was a bit strange.. It kind of ran out of steam... 

Overall another "meh.." film.

***..

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Prisoners

The film choice is getting a bit thin at the moment. Some say it's down to Grand Theft Auto 5's recent release last week. Needless to say I wasn't spoilt for choice this weekend. The other new release being Runner,Runner Justin Timberlake and Ben Afleck's latest. Prisoners had a better write up and you generally can't go wrong with Hugh Jackman and Jake Gylenhall. So having biked back from the bay I settled down for the 11.00 am showing.
It started off well. There was a certain atmosphere, moody and sinister which I liked. And they managed to maintain that mood through most of the film. The synopsis, for those who haven't seen the trailer centres around two families whose children disappear one autumnal afternoon. A man is arrested on suspicion of abducting the two kids and then released due to insufficient evidence. One of the children's father (Hugh Jackman) kidnaps the suspect and applies his own questioning technique..
I enjoyed this film. Granted there was a few unanswered questions but in truth I think they were answered it's just that I missed the answers... if you know what I mean. It ended rather abruptly, almost an Inception ending. Which, to be fair didn't bother me really..
Hugh Jackman and Jake Gylenhall were both excellent, and once again Paul Dano played another odd character well as he did in There Will Be Blood..
Perhaps it was a little too long for my liking but an enjoyable ***1/2..

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R.I.P.D

Ummm... Not sure what to make of this one. Basically it was a mess but it had it's moments..

The CGI reminded me of Van Helsing... which is not a good thing.. I won't bore you with the synopsis

only to say I doubt there'll be a sequel. It bombed in the US and it'll probably bomb here too..

**1/2... and I'm being generous..

Monsters University

Whoo hoo ! Private screening!

(In other words I was the only one there..)

This was another early morning 'filler'. The main event was the 1.30 'R.I.P.D'. It started off with the usual Pixar short. This one was titled 'The Blue Umbrella' and was about a erm... blue umbrella. It was clever as I'd come to expect from Pixar. Then onto the main event. I enjoyed Monsters Inc and this one had all the old characters and voices from that film. It centres around Billy Crystals Mike Wazowski and John Goodmans Sully and their college exploits..

This wasn't that bad.. Another 'meh..' film. I laughed a few times.. maybe 6. Not up to Pixars' usual standard. 

Another entertaining ***.

Rush

I felt obliged to watch this one. The reviews had been "good" to "great" but as I'm not a fan of Formula 1 I'd been putting it off.. Turns out it wasn't that bad a film.

I remember James Hunt... It's a little hazy but I seem to remember him being all over the TV when I was younger. This film centres on him and Nicki Lauda's battle for the world title in 1976. The two characters were polar opposites, James being the arrogant, tempestuous playboy. And Nicki the cold, precise German.

Both leads are good with Daniel Bruhl's Nicki Lauda being particularly so. The races are exhilarating and I found myself biting my nails a couple of times! It's quite moving too and I thought it particularly poignant that James died at only 45 years old (which will be me this time next week! 45 that is not dead...)

All in all, an entertaining ***1/2


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About time

Here we have Richard Curtis' latest sugary offering.

Now my problem with this one is Groundhog Day. If you've seen that film I wouldn't bother with this one. It uses a similar idea.  Basically Tim (Domhnall Gleeson), and all the male members of his family can travel back in time. So he uses it to get a girl friend. Seriously, who wouldn't get the lottery numbers or place the odd bet? His Dad, played by the excellent Bill Nighy makes a comment along the lines that money doesn't make you happy... That was one of the problems with this Movie.  It didn't treat the science bit seriously enough. Granted the performances were very good and I found myself sympathising with Tim during the early part of his courtship with Rachel McAdams Mary (do people still say courtship?).  But in the end I didn't find myself involved in the movie, mainly due to the total disregard for time travel... Its TIME TRAVEL! What you could do with that...??

Overall a disapointing **1/2..

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White House Down

This one was a pleasant surprise. It had bombed in America so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

If you want a plot synopsis you can check out Olympus Has Fallen as that pretty well sums it up.

I preferred this one though, it had a lot more humour.  And, as per usual it went nuts at the end! 

Overall an entertaining ***1/2 stars.

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Despicable Me 2

Here's the first of today's movie marathon (albeit a mini one)

This was practically a private screening... until a couple of kids turned up.

Ok. Despicable Me (the first one) has our main protagonist as an evil mastermind who befriends some kids and ends up being nice.. Well, at least I think that's how it went ? I haven't seen it and that was one of the reasons I'd yet to see this one.. That and the fact it looks a bit odd, a 44 year old man going to see a kids film... on his own.. 

Anyhoo back to the film.. This one carries on from the first one and we find Steve Carrel's Gru living a cosy existence, looking after three kids and making jam with his minions.. Along comes the AVL (anti villain league) and he's drafted in to help them find a Super villain... 

I enjoyed this film, it was funny. The problem was I've seen funnier films this year. To be fair though I'm not its target audience. Overall though and entertaining way to kill time before 'White House Down'

Rating: ***

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Riddick

Well after the morning I had I was looking forward to a spot of escapism..

I've seen both 'Pitch Black' and 'The Chronicles Of Riddick', so I was familiar with Vin Diesels character.  The problem with this film (or one of the problems) was that it was basically a remake of the first film.. They obviously thought that formula worked better than the sprawling, space opera that was Chronicles. And I can see where they're coming from. Pitch Black was a stripped down, survival thriller and more character driven. Here they tried to do the same thing... And initially it nearly paid off.. 

We find our protagonist left for dead on a barren wasteland planet.  There's a bit of backstory of how he was duped by Dredd himself (Karl Urban) but really that was just to tie up the loose ends.  After all, at the end of Chronicles he was lord and master of the universe... nearly..

Anyway, the first half of the film Riddick settles in by meeting the neighbours (immunising himself against their venom) and getting himself a dog. The next half the mercenaries turn up and we're back to Pitch Black territory.. 

The problem for me (besides the direct rip off of itself!?) was the script. It was pretty poor. I know you shouldn't expect much, after all its a B movie. But some of it was terrible.. On the plus side the planet looks nice. The CGI is on par for a film of this budget and its mildly entertaining. 

Overall though its another 'meh' film in a summer of 'meh' films..

Rating **

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Elysium (2nd viewing)

Well it was this again or 'The Millars'... And it was a no brainier really.

The science is still a bit ropey but the attention to detail is still there and 

Sharlto Copley still does a good bad guy..

Still **** but if I watch it anymore I'm gonna start analysing and picking holes..

Lets just leave it at that..

The Way,Way Back

This was a pleasant surprise.. I'd had a rough day and so I was in the mood to sit in a dark room for a couple of hours..

The format's been seen a hundred times.. It's a coming of age movie in a nutshell and despite all the cliches it still manages to entertain.. 

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Pain & Gain

Caught this one on an advance preview weekend, and what with it being the end of the bank-holiday I figured why not. 

I'd seen the trailer and it did look funny. Luckily it was funny.. The story centres around Mark Wahlburgs character, a personal trainer who aspires to be better. Together with two other, equally dumb body builders he plans to extort money from a wealthy client. Naturally it goes horribly wrong (don't they always?) and much chaos ensues.. There were some genuinely 'laugh out loud' funny moments. There are also some dark moments that didn't always sit well in the movie. I felt a little uncomfortable at one point when they attempt to kill their kidnapped millionaire. The man in question, played by Tony Shalhoub, was an arse but you never felt like he deserved what he got. Having said that it is based on a true story.. Talking of which, I always took 'based on a true story' with a pinch of salt after the Coen brothers and their Fargo revelation, but in this film they included photo's of the actual protagonists and the incriminating evidence in end credits to add some gravitas..

Overall it was an entertaining and eye opening 2 hours.

Rating ***1/2

I'm sure somewhere out there, there are intelligent body builders its just that they're never portrayed in the movies.

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Elysium

After assisting Graham with a bit of wallpapering I headed down town in time to catch the 1pm showing of Elysium. Now I loved 'District 9' and I'm a sucker when it comes to Sci-fi.  Consequently I was looking forward to this but trying not to get too excited as this years blockbusters have been fairly lame so far.. Luckily this one was better.. 

The plot centres around Matt Damon, an ex-criminal living in an overpopulated and run down L.A. After an unfortunate accident at work he's give a high dose of radiation and collapses. When he comes to he's given some pills and told he's got 5 days left to live.  Instead of contacting InjuryLawers4U.com he decides to head to the off-world space station Elysium where they have the technology to cure all ills..  Unfortunately this is an exclusive, members only space station and entry is tricky at best...

The attention to detail was excellent in this film.. Right down to the cooling fans on the robots. Also the earthbound technology had a dirty, well worn feel about it which I like. The the guns where AK47's with modern, almost home made modifications attached.  Where as on Elysium it was as if it was designed by Apple.

There where one or two minor issues I had with the film, not including the blatant disregard for health and safety at the work place. I couldn't quite make out Jodie Fosters accent. I'm assuming as she lives and works on Elysium it was a global accent but I couldn't get my head around it! Also the ending left a few unanswered questions which I won't go into due to plot spoilers..

Overall though I enjoyed it. Not sure if its a ***1/2 or **** movie ? Compared to the movies so far this year it's gotta be ****.

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Percy Jackson Sea of monsters

After a trip round the bay on Graham's bike (crashed on the slippery board walks! Nice..), I finally made it into town in time to catch the 12.00pm showing of Percy Jacksons latest quest. I'd seen the first one but can't for the life of me remember what happened.. 

It started off well. I handed over the ticket to a stoner attendant and after he ripped it he passed it back saying 'awesome..!' I replied ' I doubt it..' 

You can sum up this movie as 'Clash Of The Titans' meets 'Harry Potter'.  Obviously when it comes to Greek mythology you can't avoid the Clash similarities but Harry Potter? 3 kids go on a quest, 1 is the chosen one, the other is the clever, potential love interest (who also carries around a bag of magical accessories) and the third is... well, slightly dim.. Sound familiar?.. That being said the CGI was up there with most movies these days and it moved along at a reasonable pace.. Unfortunately that seems to be the norm this year.. Maybe it's because I'm not its target audience or maybe I'm just getting very picky, but really I think they should try harder..

An 'average' **1/2

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2 Guns

Well it's official. So far I've seen more films this year than I did all of last year! And I've still got 4 and a half months of the year left..

And to be honest it's been pretty lame up to now (with one or two exceptions). By this time last year I'd already seen 'The Avengers' 5 times, 'Prometheus' and 'The Raid'.

Anyway back to the movie. Unfortunately this is another 'ok' film. The trailer not only plays up the comedy but also it contains ALL of it. Don't get me wrong, Mark Walberg and Denzel Washington are funny and work well together, but that does not a good movie make.. The plot centres around a bank robbery carried out by our two leads and the chaos that ensues... There's some nice support from Bill Paxton and Edward James Olmos (Bill Paxton playing a particularly nasty bad guy) but the film plods along at a (too) leisurely pace.. I was chatting to the attendant prior to going in and he summed up the film as 'meh..' I think he hit the nail on the head there.. 

Another film to through on the three star pile.. 

Not crap, but not brilliant either. ***

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Kick-ass 2

Second film today. I enjoyed the first Kick-ass (KA), it kind of came out of the blue. So this one, (unfortunately) has expectation loaded on it..

It carries off where KA1 finished. Both Hit-Girl(HG) and KA try to settle in to a normal life but find it more difficult than they anticipated. KA joins a group of masked vigilantes and HG skips school and... well, carries on being HG. At the same time the superhero formally known as Red Mist rebrands himself as the super villain The Motherf*cker and seeks to avenge his fathers death by killing KA. You still with me? The problem with this film is that it reminds you how good KA1 was. That film had shock value. The language and violence was 15 bordering 18. Here it's definitely in the 15 camp. I think Matthew Vaughn's direction was better too. This one seems to lack a certain cohesion.  Also the soundtrack didn't have the same impact as previously..

There were good parts. The dark humour was still there.. just not as often.. Chloe Moretz is still an excellent killing machine.. Don't get me wrong, it was enjoyable but I'm not feeling the urge to go and see it again.. In fact I'm feeling the urge to see KA1 again!

Overall a mildly entertaining ***

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Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2nd Viewing)

Laura's birthday today so, naturally we headed down to Cardiff. Missed the 10.40am Kick-ass 2 so decided on another showing of Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. I decided to get the ticket from the attendant as I wanted to know when it finished, and I must say I was impressed!  The attendant guessed I wanted to see Kick-ass 2 and gave me a ticket for that too.. 

Anyway, back to the film.. As you can imagine 11.20am on a Thursday's not exactly a sell out.. Me and two others.. Practically a private viewing. 

And it was still as funny as the first time. I was almost crying at one point!

Still an hilarious ****

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Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.

I almost didn't see this one.. I got the ticket and the weather was so nice I very nearly headed down the bay...

As it turns out this was the best film of the weekend. 

If you're familiar with Alan Partridge (and a fan, like me) this film needs no introduction. 

Here we find Alan, a DJ for Norfolk Digital, a small local radio station. In come a media company and decide to streamline the station and sack some of the older DJs. After they sack DJ Pat (Colm Meaney) he returns to the station armed with a shot gun and a siege ensues..

I laughed out loud through most of the film. Steve Coogan is on top form and the script is chocked full of gags.

Overall, an hilarious ****!

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