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..