Justice League Doom - A Review

4 Stars - Well Done Dwayne

All your old friends from the Justice League series back together... except it's Hal Jordan, not John Stewart... And Michael Rosenbaum plays a different Flash... and it's the Superman from his own show, not the Justice League one... and there's no Hawkgirl... and Cyborg's in it... well at least Batman and Wonder Woman are the same...

Justice League Doom is based on the Tower of Babel storyline from the comics... which I haven't read, so won't be able to compare it to. Its plot revolves around a group of villains trying to take out the justice league one by one, using contingency plans made by Batman and modified to be lethal by Vandal Savage.

The voice cast are a treat with majority of the cast being voiced by DC regulars, who by this point know the characters really well and always bring something special to them. Kevin Conroy in particular, this marking his 20th anniversary year voicing Batman for DC, has made Batman as badass as he always does.

This also holds a very special place in the DC Animated films, as this was the last script by Dwayne McDuffie, a wonderful talent who will be missed, this film was really good and a fitting end to a wonderful career.

Dwayne McDuffie (1962-2011)

A Girl In Every Port - A Review

3.5 Stars - good fun

Groucho Marx without Harpo and Chico... still good though

So Groucho Marx and a group of idiot friends get involved in a plot including identical twin racehorses...

Not a huge amount to say about it other than Groucho is on top form, with most of his jokes being winners and the rest of the cast, whilst not especially funny, aren't horrible and certainly set Groucho up for a lot of his best bits.

This is a nice addition to my Marx Brothers boxset, even if it doesn't officially count as one of their films, it is still worth a watch for a fan.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - A Review

4.5 Stars - very, very funny

so, M, Davy Jones, Carmine Falcone, Professor McGonagall, Harriet Jones,  Aslan, Philippa from dinnerladies and The Slumdog Millionaire all live in a hotel in India together... hilarity ensues

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel brings together a wonderful group of character actors for a very funny and very touching film.

The core cast in this film are magnificent, and I want to talk about them all.

Judi Dench is simply lovely in this, really capturing the role and making it very easy to relate to, making you feel sad when bad things happened to her and happy when good things did.

Bill Nighy gives a somewhat more subtle performance than he often does, making for a wonderful downtrodden husband blooming and gaining confidence from the new life he finds himself in, leading to an especially good scene where he finally confronts his wife about their problems.

Tom Wilkinson slides quietly along underneath everyone else's performances making for a very touching and heartfelt performance that you almost don't realise till near the end is one of the best performances you'll see for a long time.

Maggie Smith absolutely steals the film, playing a real departure to the usual fairly nanny-ish Scottish woman I've always seen her playing. She plays a splendidly funny racist woman, and nearly everything she says is enough to crack me up. (Note: racism is bad, but if gentle enough can be funny)

Penelope Wilton plays Bill Nighy's dominating wife. She is probably the least interesting character in the film, but even then she still plays her part very well and makes for some great emotional scenes.

Ronald Pickup plays a sex crazed pervy old man. He is another character who is funny in almost every scene he's in, getting quite possibly the best line in the film. "if she dies, she dies"

Celia Imrie is as confident and charismatic as ever, making for a very enjoyably funny character.

Dev Patel plays the owner of the hotel who's trying to stop the place from falling apart, and to convince his mother to let him marry his girlfriend. He gives the part a lot of energy and makes for a lot of fun.

The film has several little glimpses into the Indian culture and whilst at times it can seem a little glossed over, what you do get is very nice.

So to sum up, this film is definately worth seeing, very funny

Safe House - A Review

2.5 Stars - just a bit dull really

It's time for another game of well he's clearly the villain...

Safe house is a predictable action film starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds.

Not an awful lot to say about it, the plot is pretty boring, Denzel's cool... Ryan Reynolds is fine... Brendan Gleeson is wasted...

The action scenes are shot with if only we were as good as the Bourne films shaky cam, which once again proves to not work for a film that doesn't know how to use it well and just gets annoying to watch.

So yeah, give it a miss...

Shame - A Review

5 Stars - Disturbingly Beautiful

A film starring Magneto's dick... which was truly a large part...

Shame sees Michael Fassbender starring as a sex addict whose life is thrown into chaos when his sister moves in with him.

Steve McQueen's wonderful direction captures a truly tense and disturbing mood. This truly captures the film's tone, making for a terrifying and moving experience.

Michael Fassbender is magnificent throughout once again proving himself to be one of the most talented and versatile actors of our time. His performance has a lot of subtlety to it and feels incredibly believable as a depraved sex fiend.

Carey Mulligan also stars as Fassbender's sister, and she is every bit as good as he is. Making a really vulnerable and needy, yet still very likeable character. Not to mention that she belts out New York, New York with an absolutely gorgeous voice.

There is a real chemistry between the two and you can absolutely buy them as brother and sister.

To sum up this film is utterly perfect, an absolute must watch if you get the chance.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - A Review

4 Stars - Worth it for the performances

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, or Max Von Sydow outshines the rest of the cast without saying a word...

(Note: I missed the first ten minutes or so of the film so my review might be less valid than some)

This film tells the story of a most likely autistic child (Thomas Horn) as he searches for answers when he finds a mysterious key left by his father who died in the World Trade Centre at 9/11. It proves to be an emotionally driven film with wonderful performances.

Obviously the subject matter of 9/11 is a delicate one that requires light handling, fortunately this film gives it the respect that it deserves and doesn't feel too exploitative.

The main thing that made this film was the performances, especially the central performance by Thomas Horn, who in his first acting job is magnificent. You really get the feeling of how his mind works and understand what he's going through.

However he is outshined by the always wonderful Max Von Sydow as The Renter. Sydow doesn't have a word of dialogue in the film, his character speaking entirely through his notepad. But he still manages to give it such a wonderful energy and charm that he is the highlight of the film.

Overall I would say that this film is worth seeing for the strength of the performances.

The Muppets - A Review

4.5 Stars - Pure Joy



This film is the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, muppetational film I've seen in a long time...

What can you say about the Muppets? If your answer to that was anything other than I love them, then you might as well leave the review right now, because I don't want you here.

The film follows the story of Walter (Peter Linz), a huge fan of the Muppets, who convinces Kermit (Steve Whitmire) to try and get the old gang back together to save the theatre from an evil oil baron (Chris Cooper).

The film really captures a lot of the classic humour of the original show and films, and is a real joy to watch if you're a fan with the mjority of jokes hitting, and a fourth wall that is left crying in the corner.

The film is chocked full of celebrity cameos, including Jack Black, Alan Arkin, Jim Parsons, Neil Patrick Harris and way too many others to list, all of them add to the humour and none feel forced.

Steve Whitmire and Eric Jacobson do a wonderful job as Kermit and Piggy, sadly they'll never truly match up to Jim Henson and Frank Oz, but that doesn't stop them being great at what they do.

All your favourites are here, Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie, Beaker, Animal, Link Hogthrop, Scooter, The Swedish Chef, Rowlf... if you can think of a muppet they're probably in this film.

The songs are.. okay, some feel fairly forced, but others, such as Man or a Muppet? and The Rainbow Connection work well and make for a lot of fun.

So Overall, if you want a major nostalgia trip, or just a fun and enjoyable film, then I'd say go see The Muppets



The Woman In Black - A Review

5 Stars - Terrifying

Harry Potter with ghosts this is not...

When I heard they were doing a film of The Woman In Black I had mixed feelings, because I have seen the play, which was terrifying, my fear was they would get it wrong. Thank goodness my fear is completely unfounded.

From the opening shot this film oozes atmosphere and has you on the edge of your seat scared of every shadow and leaping at every little noise.

Daniel Radcliffe gives a wonderfully understated performance, really getting across the terror of the situation and making you want to see him get out of it. He has come on leaps and bounds since Harry Potter and I look forward to seeing more from him.

The Supporting cast also do a terrific job, especially Ciaran Hinds.

There's not a lot I can say without spoiling the plot which I would not dare do.

See this film, it is properly scary.

Man On A Ledge - A Review

3 Stars - Good Solid Fun



Man On A Ledge, or how not to break into a high security building...

From the start of Man On A Ledge we are presented with a man set out to prove his innocence, a cop with emotional issues to work out from a case she botched recently, two inept thieves trying to steal a diamond and a slimy business man who smokes cigars and smiles evily. Fun right?

Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington), the titular man, is an ex-cop who has been framed by the evil David Englander (Ed Harris) for the theft of a priceless diamond. He has escaped custody and is standing on the ledge of a hotel tower pretending to be a suicide attempt until his innocence is proved by his brother (Jamie Bell) and his girlfriend (Genesis Rodriguez) who are breaking into Englander's building to steal the diamond back. Cassidy asks for disgraced negotiator Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks) to handle his case, she is determined to get him to come inside from the ledge, as she doesn't want to have a repeat of her last case where the man she tried to talk down jumped.

The plot is simple enough to follow and doesn't feel too forced, which was my big worry for the film based on the trailer. However it is hardly a gripping epic, the best way to describe it is 'fine'.

The characters are all very enjoyable, especially the brother and his girlfriend, who have plenty of good comic relief whilst breaking into the building without really being very good at it. Also Ed Harris is as enjoyable as always, though I wish there'd been more of him, because the scenery was barely even nibbled on.

To sum up, this is a fun film, and I'd say it is worth a watch, but you'd probably be best of waiting till it comes on the TV...

Chronicle - A Review

2 Stars - Decent Idea, terrible execution.

Chronicle is a film that raises the questions of does ultimate power corrupt? How much does it take to push a person to the edge? Just who was filming that final fight scene anyway?...

Josh Trank's film is a 'found-footage' piece. This is framed through the idea of the main character Andrew (Dane DeHaan) deciding he is going to film everything in his life. His reasons for doing this seem unclear, and the how the found-footage would be found is often a mystery.

Andrew, his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) and a jock they meet at a party Steve (Michael B. Jordan) all gain mysterious psychic powers after contact with an unspecified strange object. Their powers are seemingly limitless, though larger objects are more difficult to move until they work on it more. The three explore their powers and have fun with it, then Andrew begins to start hurting people and becomes something of a monster.

As a premise for a film there is a lot of potential in this idea, it could lead to cool visuals, interesting moral dilemas and serious character development. However due to the three main characters all being unlikeable dicks, all we as an audience get is annoyed that they don't do anything of worth with their powers.

Andrew is presented to us as tormented, by an abusive, alchoholic father (Michael Kelly) who was in fact the only character I got any kind of attachment to, since he had a scene of genuine decent emotion and you could see him strugling. Andrew's mother is dying of a non-specific disease, and it's here that I started to feel they were laying it on a bit thick with his 'trauma'. This kind of teen-angst is hard to get right in films and more often is just annoying, this is one of those cases.

So when he finally snaps and starts hurting people, we don't feel sorry for him and can't see his choices as anything but evil, not misunderstood.

The 'found-footage' element of this film is another black mark on it, I am not a fan of this sub-genre for a start. The film is always from the point of view of someone's camera, but I really can't see why. It added nothing and often led to the big question of just who on earth was filming that bit? A particula bad example, we see from inside a police car as it is flipped over by Andrew, but why would the police be filming out of their front window? Also, why does everyone's camera have exactly the same high def picture quality?

To sum up, Chronicle takes a good premise for a film and fails to deliver it to its full potential. I'd give it a miss if I were you.

The Artist - a review

5 Stars - Absolutely Magnificent.

Perhaps review is the wrong word, unbelievable gushing of fan boy love might be more appropriate...

The Silent Movie is a sadly forgotten style within modern cinema and has been ever since the Jazz Singer brought talking pictures to life back in 1927. However they have always appealed to me personally, for their wonderful use of stylised gestures and creativeness of effects not often seen by todays CGI heavy industry. So when I saw the trailer for The Artist I got very excited indeed.

The film, directed by Michel Hazanavicius, tells the story of George Valentin, a silent film star, whose career plumets at the dawn of the talkies, he falls into poverty and depression, whilst Peppy Miller, a beautiful young actress becomes a rising star, due in no small part to Valentin giving her a way into the industry.

The film tells this story wonderfully, tugging at your heart strings throughout, but with a good amount of comedy thrown in for what is often well needed relief. And has basically become my favourite film ever, a spot I never thought I would be able to give to any film ever.

The performances are wonderful, Jean Dujardin is captivating as George Valentin, giving a performance with many levels and subtle emotions, which is no doubt difficult to achieve in a silent film what with the lack of dialogue often calling for more 'over the top' performances. He has won a Golden Globe and SAG award for his performance and I strongly hope he will go on to win the BAFTA and Oscar as well.

Berenice Bejo is lovely as Peppy Miller, giving her a real energy and a charm that makes you want to see her succeed and makes it hard to see her go through difficult scenes.

All the supporting cast are excellent, from John Goodman as Al Zimmer, the comical head of the film studio, to James Cromwell as Clifton, Valentin's faithful and caring Valet. And of course the unforgetable Uggie (Winner of the Palm Dog Award) as The Dog

Talking about the artist would not be complete without giving mention to the magnificent score, by Ludovic Bource. In a silent film the score has to tell the story, there is no other way it can work. Bource's score is truly magnificent capturing the mood of every scene perfectly and never feeling out of place or over done, I liked it so much I bought the CD.

To sum up, The Artist is the film that made me feel better walking out of the cinema than I ever have for any other film. Even if you don't fall madly in love with it like I did, I still think you'll leave it with a smile on your face.