Despicable Me (2010) 9/10

Starring : Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews
Director : Chris Renaud & Pierre Coffin
Running Time : 91 mins

In his secret hideout in a suburban neighbourhood, super villain Gru (Carell) hatches his latest scheme – to steal the moon and hold it ransom to the world! But when three little orphan girls show up at his house, wanting Gru to be their dad, he finds himself struggling to continue to hatch his evil plans with three kids running around after him.

I loved this movie – the plot is silly and the characters are fun. The minions (the little yellow things) are great secondary characters, and Gru manages to transcend his villainous character and become something of an anti-hero that all viewers will be routing for from start to finish.

You’ll like this if you liked : Monsters Vs Aliens

The Perfect Catch (2005) 7/10

Starring : Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon
Director : Bobby & Peter Farrelly
Running Time : 104 mins

When career focused Lindsey Meeks (Barrymore) meets laid back Ben Wrightman (Fallon), they start off a relationship that at first seems perfect. But when baseball season begins, Lindsey finds herself competeing with the Boston Red Sox for Ben’s affections.

This remake of Fever Pitch doesn’t have any of the originality or sparkle of other Farrelly Brothers movies – even their remake of The HeartbreakKid was stamped with the obvious Farrelly Brothers feel that has been made so popular by movies such as There’s Something About Mary and Shallow Hal. Still, this is an entertaining movie that manages to be entertaining, even without the gross-out moments so often associated with these directors.

You’ll like this if you liked : Fever Pitch

Death Race (2008) 6/10

Starring : Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Natalie Martinez
Director : Paul W S Anderson
Running Time : 111 mins

In the near future, where criminals serving life sentences are forced to race each other in armoured cars until only one driver remains, Jason Ames (Statham), wrongly convicted of murdering his wife, is persuaded to take the place of a mysterious masked driver who is popular with the public but has died in the races. As the race begins, Ames soon realizes that they may be fixed...

As far as remakes go, this wasn’t the best effort I’ve ever seen - the acting was lackluster and the story was predictable - but action fans will appreciate the over the top violence. To be honest, Paul W S Anderson to stick to what he knows best, Resident Evil movies.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Fast And The Furious

Eclipse (2010) 5/10

Starring : Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Director : David Slade
Running Time : 123 mins

Bella Swan (Stewart) is forced to choose between vampire Edward (Pattinson) and werewolf Jacob (Lautner) as she finds her life in danger as the vampire mate of a deceased vampire seeks revenge against her for his death.

Wow. I though these movies couldn’t get less interesting. It’s a shame the books were written first, or else more focus could have been pulled away from Bella and focused on other characters. Unfortunately the majority of this movie involves Bella trying to choose once again between necrophilia and bestiality and choosing poorly. I sometimes wonder if Stephenie Meyer secretly wanted fans to be up in arms about Bella’s decision to be with Edward instead of Jacob as he is such a bad choice. I’m dreading the next installment – who knows what nonsense will happen next?

You’ll like this if you liked : Twilight

The Town (2010) 6/10

Starring : Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner
Director : Ben Affleck
Running Time : 125 mins

Following a bank robbery in which bank manager Clare Keesey (Hall) is held hostage for a short time, one of the robbers, Doug MacRay (Affleck) decides to start a relationship with her in order to find out just how much she learned about her captors. He soon discovers that she has information she has kept from the police that could identify his friend James Coughlin (Renner), but by this time Doug has started to fall for Clare.

Normally movies have police officers infiltrating criminal operations, so it’s a nice twist to have the criminal infiltrating (in a sense) the people investigating his crimes. It’s just a shame that the acting isn’t really that engrossing, and the ending seems a little rushed and almost tagged on.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Bank Job

Vertical Limit (2000) 8/10

Starring : Chris O’Donnell, Robin Tunney, Bill Paxton, Scott Glenn
Director : Martin Campbell
Running Time : 120 mins

Professional climber Peter Garrett (O’Donnell) is forced to relive one of the darkest moments in his life when his sister Annie (Tunney) and her climbing team get trapped on a part of K2 where the limits at which they can survive are forced to breaking point.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable action movie which fans of Cliffhanger or Twister will enjoy immensely. The acting might not be that great from the leads – I didn’t even remember that Chris O’Donnell was in this – but the action and suspense more than make up for this as the movie builds up to its epic conclusion and the clock slowly begins to run out…

You’ll like this if you liked : Cliffhanger

Unthinkable (2010) 7/10

Starring : Samuel L Jackson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Michael Sheen
Director : Peter Woodward
Running Time : 98 mins

FBI agent Helen Brody (Moss) is tasked with finding the location of three potential bomb threats when a video tape is delivered to the government by terror suspect Steven Younger (Sheen). However, when she is introduced to a professional CIA interrogator who calls himself H (Jackson), she starts to wonder if they are taking the whole interrogation a bit too far.

This is possibly Samuel L Jackson’s least likeable role, including his loveable rogue Abel Turner in Lakeview Terrace. His role is probably a little too true to life, making Americans look like the kind of people who think they can fight terrorism by performing terrorist acts. Do not watch this if you are a patriotic American – it’ll probably just make you angry. If your not a patriotic American, you might actually find something of interest here…

You’ll like this if you liked : Vantage Point

The Invisible (2007) 6/10

Starring : Justin Chatwin, Margarita Levieva, Marcia Gay Harden, Chris Marquette
Director : David S Goyer
Running Time : 112 mins

Nick Powell (Chatwin) is beaten up by a gang at school and left for dead, but when he wakes up he soon realizes that perhaps he is closer to death than he first imagined. No one can see him or hear him, and it doesn’t take long for Nick to realize that the only person who might be able to figure out his situation for him is a girl named Annie Newton (Levieva), who just happened to be the person who may have killed him.

This is an okay movie, but not quite as good as the Swedish original – the thing that lets it down the most is the fact that at times you could almost make the mistake of thinking you’re watching the original. The only reason I realized I was watching a different movie was that Marcia Gay Harden and Chris Marquette were in it. Watch the original – it much better.

You’ll like this if you liked : Premonition

Resident Evil : Afterlife (2010) 7/10

Starring : Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts
Director : Paul W S Anderson
Running Time : 93 mins

On her seemingly never ending journey to stop the increasingly evil Umbrella Corporation and their hoards of zombie like monsters, Alice (Jovovich) meets up with a small group of survivors who tell her of an apparently untouched safe haven called Arcadia where they desperately want to relocate to.

It’s nice to see characters from previous Resident Evil movie survive into the sequels, as Alice can get to be a little tiresome with her deadpan approach to battling evil. I actually thought this was an improvement on Resident Evil Extinction - maybe because Paul W S Anderson is back in the directors chair - although things are starting to become more and more predictable as the series progresses. Resident Evil 5? Bad idea but yep, it look that way…

You’ll like this if you liked : Predators

Old Dogs (2009) 6/10

Starring : John Travolta, Robin Williams, Kelly Preston
Director : Walt Becker
Running Time : 89 mins

Long time friends and business partners Charlie (Travolta) and Dan (Williams) live and work in Manhattan where they have made quite the success of things. But life takes a turn for the worse when Dan discovers that he is the father of twin seven year-olds and has to take care of them while their mother Vicki (Preston) spends two weeks in jail for political protest.

It’s not often that you see Williams and Travolta in comedies nowadays, not unless their primarily aimed at children or if there’s a gangster involved. This made for a welcome change of pace, even though it did feel very similar to Williams 1997 comedy Father’s Day, but still, at least he was a little more subdues here.

You’ll like this if you liked : Father’s Day

Jonah Hex (2010) 5/10

Starring : Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, John Malkovich
Director : Jimmy Hayward
Running Time : 82 mins

Jonah Hex (Brolin), a disfigured bounty hunter who can talk with the dead, is made an offer from President Grant in return for dropping charges against him; to catch and stop a man named QuentinTurnbull (Malkovich), a potential terrorist who also happens to be the man who murdered Jonah’s family in front of him.

It seems that ever since Marvel Comics made X-Men in 2000 and Spider-Man in 2002, any comic book going will be transformed for the silver screen. Sadly these aren’t always successful transitions, and in the case of DC Comics Jonah Hex there is basically nothing of much interest in this supernatural Western that doesn’t take enough from either the supernatural or the western.

You’ll like this if you liked : Hitman

Doubt (2008) 9/10

Starring : Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis
Director : John Patrick Shanley
Running Time : 111 mins

It’s 1964, and Father Brendan Flynn (Hoffman) is a very popular priest at the Bronx Catholic School at which he teaches, but his relationship with a troubles 12 year old boy comes under question when Sister James (Adams) shares her suspicions with school Principal Sister Aloysius Beaviuer (Streep), who has her own reasons for wanting the priest as far away from her school as possible.

It’s not just the relationship between the priest and the boy that are ambiguous; it’s the entire story in this movie. We never really know if the priest has done anything wrong, or if it is just Sister Aloysius’s desire to stop him relaxing her rules that leads to his dismissal. A surprisingly enjoyable film, with some great performance from all involved.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Reader

Grown Ups (2010) 7/10

Starring : Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider
Director : Dennis Dugan
Running Time : 103 mins

Thirty years after winning a basketball championship at the age of twelve, five school friends and their families reunite for the funeral of their coach. Realising how much has changed in the three decades they’ve been apart, they decide to take their families on a weekend retreat where they can get back to nature and try to avoid the comforts that have spoiled them over the years.

Even though this is effectively an Adam Sandler comedy, he isn’t as grating as he can be. Thanks to the ensemble cast who range from good actors to Rob Schneider, there is someone for everyone in this comedy about trying to relive your childhood while trying to fix your kids.

You’ll like this if you liked : Couples Retreat

Gangs Of New York (2002) 6/10

Starring : Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day-Lewis
Director : Martin Scorsese
Running Time : 160 mins

In 1863 America, Amsterdam Vallon (DiCaprio) travels back to his home town in New York to face off against Bill The Butcher Cutting (Day-Lewis), the man responsible for the murder of his father, and try to take away his powerful position as a gangland kingpin with the help of his personal army.

I actually thought this was a pretty over-hyped movie which pretty much relied on the star appeal of DiCaprio, Diaz and Day-Lewis to market itself to the public. This was an over long, weakly plotted movie that could have been much better with a little bit of editing

You’ll like this if you liked : Public Enemies

Whiteout (2009) 5/10

Starring : Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Tom Skerritt
Director : Dominic Sena
Running Time : 101 mins

US Marshall Carrie Stetko (Beckinsale) is stationed in Antarctica where she is due to finish work at an international research station and finally resign from a job she’s grown to hate, but when a naked dead body is found in the tundra she finds herself investigating what appears to be a serial killer.

This sounded like a nice idea for a movie, but after about five minutes I was pretty bored of the whole idea. In spite of a number of deaths, this didn’t really get any action sequences until well over half way, and by then I’d pretty much given up on the whole movie. Only worth watching if you really want to see Kate Beckinsale in the shower.

You’ll like this if you liked : 30 Days Of Night

The Comebacks (2007) 5/10

Starring : David Koechner, Karl Weathers, Melora Hardin, Matthew Lawrence, Brooke Nevin
Director : Tom Brady
Running Time : 103 mins

Failing football coach Lambeau Fields (Koechner) has been nothing but a failure in his pursued career, but when he is encouraged to take a greater interest in his job by his friend Freddie Wiseman (Weathers ), he relocates to another school where he brings together a rag tag football team that he just might be able to form into a respectable team.

This isn’t as bad as some of the spoof movies of recent years (I’m lumping this in with the Movie Movies as it is called Sports Movie in some countries), but there really isn’t enough humour to make this a memorable comedy. Thankfully it does try to stick to its subject matter of teen comedy stroke sports comedy and doesn’t slip into other genres which might have made it feel like it was being padded out.

You’ll like this if you liked : Date Movie