Wreck-It Ralph (2012) 9/10

Starring : John C Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk
Director : Rich Moore
Running Time : 102 mins

In Disney's 52nd Animated Classic, Wreck-It Ralph (Reilly) has been a computer game villain for many years in popular arcade game Fix-It Felix, but has become dissatisfied with his lot in life, and wants nothing more than to be recognised as a hero. So he takes an opportunity to enter another game, Hero’s Duty, where he thinks he can win a medal. Unfortunately he accidentally and unknowingly transports one of the multiplying bugs from the game into another game, Sugar Rush, where he meets computer glitch Vanellope von Schweetz (Silverman) who promises to help him get a medal if he helps her enter a race and win. Meanwhile Fix-T Felix (McBrayer) is forced to team up with Hero’s Duty character Calhoun (Lynch) to try to stop the bugs from destroying the entire arcade.

This is a great little movie, filled will well observed gaming references and some nice homages to existing games. Fans of the Disney classics might feel more like they’re watching a Pixar movie, what with the impressive animation and witty storyline, and kids will love the characters who range from cute to creepy.

You’ll like this if you liked : Despicable Me

Gamer (2009) 5/10

Starring : Gerard Butler, Michael C Hall, Amber Valletta, Logan Lerman, Terry Crews, John Leguizamo, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Kyra Sedgwick
Director : Neveldine / Taylor
Running Time : 98 mins

Computer programmer Ken Castle (Hall) has designed the ultimate role playing game called Society, in which people can either pay to be other people or be paid to allow other people to be them. In the next stage of the games development, Castle comes up with Slayers, a game in which criminals on death row have the opportunity to be let off in return for allowing people to use them in a game of life and death, but the star of this game, a man named Kable (Butler), wants nothing more than to take down the game designer and put a stop to the gaming culture once and for all.

This was an interesting concept that for some reason doesn’t quite work. Whereas movies like Surrogates managed to make the concept believable without going to over the top, this makes the concept unbelievable while going completely over the top. This feels more like an episode of The Outer Limits than an actual movie, and the acting combined with lack of in-depth study into how the game actually works make this a lacklustre effort.

You’ll like this if you liked : Crank : High Voltage

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) 8/10

Starring : Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni
Director : Colin Trevorrow
Running Time : 86 mins

Magazine intern Darius (Plaza) dislikes the humdrum routine of her intern job, so she jumps at the chance when she is asks to help on an assignment with her colleagues, staff writer Jeff (Johnson) and fellow intern Arnau (Soni). They are sent on a mission to interview an apparently crazy man named Kenneth (Duplass) who believes he has discovered the secret to time travel and plans on travelling back in time to save his girlfriend from being killed. But as Darius worms her way into Kenneth’s confidence she starts to doubt whether he is as crazy as he first seemed.

I didn’t actually know what the plot of this movie was before I saw – the phrase “Safety Not Guaranteed” being used as part of Kenneth’s ad asking for assistance in travelling through time. The performances are good, the characters are fun, and the sci-fi is minimal – all of this adds up to a fun character study that ends surprisingly and makes for an enjoyable watch.

You’ll like this if you liked : Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel

The Switch (2010) 7/10

Starring : Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis
Director : Josh Gordon & Will Speck
Running Time : 97 mins

Believing that she’ll never meet the right man to have children with, Kassie Larson (Aniston) decides to have a child via artificial insemination. Her best friend, Wally Mars (Bateman), hates the idea but can’t admit to himself that he is in love with Kassie, so he gets drunk and, finding the donor sperm in the bathroom, swaps it for his own. Seven years pass, and Wally doesn’t remember swapping samples, but when he meets Kassie’s little boy everything comes flooding back as he realises he is just like him.

It’s a bit troubling that Bateman’s character gets drunk and plays Russian roulette with not only the life of his best friend but that of an unborn child. If you ignore this fact, this is an interesting light-hearted drama, and it has a feel-good ending even though it does feel almost completely illogical.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Proposal

Hitchcock (2012) 8/10

Starring : Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Danny Huston
Director : Sacha Gervasi
Running Time : 99 mins

Famed director and all-round celebrity Alfred Hitchcock (Hopkins), with the help of his wife and long-time collaborator Alma Reville (Mirren), wants nothing more than to make a movie based on the Robert Bloch novel Psycho, but faced with pressure from those on high to make another North By North-West and avoid making risky and risqué movies, he is forced to raise the money himself and do what ever he can to ensure that the movie goes ahead as he planned.

Hopkins and Mirren are awesome in this adaptation of the making of Psycho. Hopkins is barely recognizable in the lead, with Mirren managing to steal the limelight at moments from Hopkins in spite of his great performance, and Johansson is her usual charming sexy self as famed Psycho victim Janet Leigh. Fans of Psycho will love this look at the problems that arose in production on possibly the world’s first serial killer movie (and also apparently the first movie to show a toilet).

You’ll like this if you liked : American Splendor

Surfer, Dude (2008) 5/10

Starring : Matthew McConaughey, Alexie Gilmore, Scott Glenn, Jeffrey Nordling, Ramon Rodriguez, Woody Harrelson
Director : SR Bindler
Running Time : 86 mins

Steve Addington (McConaughey), known as the Soul Surfer in surfing circles, is happy living off his endorsements and surfing to his heart’s content, but when his contract is sold to a businessman named Eddie Zorno (Nordling), he finds himself forced into recording his moves for a virtual surfing game or Zorno will ruin his reputation and he won’t get any more of his endorsement money

Surfing movies rarely grab my attention, and this one was no different. Basically it seems to be a story of how commercialisation is ruining innocent pat times and making them no fun anymore. The use of reality television and computer games was interesting, but this movie just didn’t grip me.

You’ll like this if you liked : National Lampoon’s Endless Bummer

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid : Dog Days (2012) 7/10

Starring : Zachary Gordon, Steve Zahn, Robert Capron, Devon Bostick, Rachael Harris, Peyton List
Director : David Bowers
Running Time : 91 mins

Greg Heffley (Gordon) has finally finished school for the summer, and he can’t wait to spend some time doing nothing but playing video games all day long, but when his parents decide he needs to get out and get some fresh air he joins his friend Rowley Jefferson (Capron) at a local country club where he runs into his school crush Holly Hills (List) and decides to pretend to his parents that he’s got a job there so he can hang out with her.

This is a lot more disjointed than the previous two movies – mainly because it’s based on two books and the stories are twisted into each other – but it is still just as good. Rowley gets to another shorter dance routine – this time with Greg – and Roderick continues to get his comeuppance even though he thinks he’s so cool. Fans of the series will enjoy this, and it’s sad to hear that it is probably the last as the kids are getting to old for their roles, but it ends on a high note with Roderick’s awesomely funny rock version of a Justin Bieber classic.

You’ll like this if you liked : Angus

The Ugly Truth (2009) 6/10

Starring : Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner
Director : Robert Luketic
Running Time : 96 mins

In order to prevent her morning news show from getting cancelled, Abby Richter (Heigl) discovers that her boss has hired Mike Chadway (Butler), a chauvinistic man who believes that all men are interested in women for one reason – sex. Abby can’t believe that this can be true, so Mike decides to prove to her that her beliefs in how relationships work is all wrong and that the Ugly Truth is that men are superficial and even the ones you think are going for personality are only after one thing.

This movie had its likeable moments, but it didn’t really hold together well enough for my liking. The two leads didn’t seem to have much chemistry between them, and the plot moved too quickly to be realistic. Worth watching if you enjoy chick flicks, but there are better examples out there.

You’ll like this if you liked : Fool’s Gold

The Knot (2012) 7/10

Starring : Noel Clarke, Matthew McNulty, Talulah Riley, Mena Suvari
Director : Jesse Lawrence
Running Time : 89 mins

Jeremy (McNulty) and Alexandra (Riley) are madly in love and about to be married, but their friends don’t seem to be very supportive, believing that people should only get married if they have to, not because they want to. Jeremy’s friends are too busy playing pranks on him, and Alexandra’s friends believe that once you get married the sex stops coming.

The makers of this have clearly watched Bridesmaids and have taken a good leaf from its book, but have added in the groom’s side of the story too. There is plenty of toilet humour (literally in most cases), and the fact that everyone involved in the wedding would rather be somewhere else makes things even sillier. I actually found this quite funny, especially scenes with Clarke’s character – I suspect he gave himself all the best moments – and fans of slapstick will love every minute of this.

You’ll like this if you liked : Death At A Funeral

The Double (2011) 7/10

Starring : Richard Gere, Topher Grace, Stephen Moyer, Odette Yustman, Stana Katic, Chris Marquette, Tamer Hassan, Martin Sheen
Director : Michael Brandt
Running Time : 95 mins

When a US senator is murdered, the CIA suspects that the killer was a known Soviet assassin who was presumed dead for many years. Retired agent Paul Sheperdson (Gere) is called out of retirement, due to his large involvement in the original cases, and paired with rookie FBI agent Ben Geary (Grace), but as Geary investigates the case he starts to have doubts about the reliability of Sheperdson.

Although at times this goes from being outright confusing to a point where it looks like the director has got to the point where he starts spelling things out to the audience, this is largely a pretty decent thriller. Some of the mystery isn’t handled very well, but then there are other moments that come as a big surprise. Grace is surprisingly good, with Gere doing a great job as the aging CIA agent.

You’ll like this if you liked : Righteous Kill

Flight (2012) 7/10

Starring : Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood, Melissa Leo
Director : Robert Zemeckis
Running Time : 138 mins

Commercial pilot Whip Whitaker (Washington) is captaining a flight when the plane’s controls stop responding. He manages to land the crash land the plane and saves the majority of those on the flight, with only a few of the passengers and crew being killed, and his is dubbed a hero. That is until his blood alcohol levels are discovered to be way over the allowable limit and he finds himself facing criminal charges.

Denzel puts in a great performance in this movie, and you can’t help but feel sorry for him even though he was drinking on the job. He did manage to save the majority of the passengers on his plane, and it wasn’t his fault the plane crashed, but I guess that’s just bad luck. This does run a little long, but it doesn’t feel as long as it is. Well worth watching, if only for Denzel’s performance.

You’ll like this if you liked : Argo

Wasted On The Young (2010) 6/10

Starring : Oliver Ackland, Adelaide Clemens, Alex Russell
Director : Ben C Lucas
Running Time : 93 mins

Step-brothers Darren (Ackland) and Zack (Russell) couldn’t be less alike: Darren is a computer nerd who keeps himself to himself, and Zack is the popular jock at school. The only thing they have in common is that they both fancy Xandrie Reeves (Clemens), but when Zack decides to throw a party he takes advantage of a drugged Xandrie and assaults and rapes her with his friends. When Darren discovers what has happened, he decides to take revenge on his step-brother.

This had a lot of potential, and around three quarters of the way through it got quite engrossing, but movies with unlikeable villains really don’t interest me. Villains should have personality and some logic to why they are the way they are, but there was nothing appealing about Zack the jock, who just struck me as an unlikeable asshole. If some effort had been put in as to why he was liked at school other than his sporting prowess this might have been a bit more interesting.

You’ll like this if you liked : Brick

Silent Hill : Revelation (2012) 7/10

Starring : Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Debra Kara Unger, Martin Donovan, Malcolm McDowell, Carrie-Anne Moss, Sean Bean, Radha Mitchell
Director : Michael J Bassett
Running Time : 90 mins

Heather Mason (Clemens) and her father Harry (Bean) have been on the run for years, Heather assumes from the police who want to arrest her dad for killing a man in self-defence, but when her father disappears she discovers that her real name is Sharon and that he has actually been protecting her from a cult situated on Silent Hill, where the boundaries between dimensions are thin and strange faceless zombie-like creature roam.

Someone must have been listening when I complained about the length of the original Silent Hill movie. This has a much more suitable ninety minute runtime, and the largely absent Radha Mitchell also isn’t a bad thing. Lead actress Clemens does a great job in her duel role, and the creepiness is beyond anything you could really imagine. A reasonably good horror in the vein of the Hellraiser series.

You’ll like this if you liked : Resident Evil : Afterlife

Antichrist (2009) 4/10

Starring : Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg
Director : Lars von Trier
Running Time : 105 mins

Following the accidental death of their son – and event they both feel responsible for – a couple decide to take a trip to their cabin in the woods in the hope of trying to deal with the wife’s depression over the issue.

I really did not like this movie. Not only was it weird, dark and depressing, but it was also sadistic and overly sexual. The plot could have come straight out of any day time drama, but von Trier has managed to twist it into an unwelcoming, unfriendly and unrelentingly unlikeable movie that I can’t imagine anyone would actually enjoy to watch, even on an intellectual level.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Savages

Origin : Spirits Of The Past (2006) 6/10

Starring : Chris Patton, Carrie Savage
Director : Keiichi Sugiyama
Running Time : 94 mins

Three hundred years from now, in a future where mankind has destroyed Earth's environment through the genetic engineering of their forests, a young man named Agito (Patton) finds himself faced with a machine that contains a young woman, Toola (Savage), from Earth's past. When he revives her he discovers that she has been set the task of returning Earth to its former glory.

Although the animation is nice to watch, this isn't the most enlightening or imaginative anime of recent years. It reminded me of Akira in the way the actors seemed to do little but shout each other’s names, and its attempt to preach to the viewer its message of ecology is pretty weak to say the least. Still, there's enough action to keep most die-hard anime fans engrossed.

You’ll like this if you liked : Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind

Something Borrowed (2011) 6/10

Starring : Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, Colin Egglesfield, John Krasinski
Director : Luke Greenfield
Running Time : 113 mins

Rachel White (Goodwin) and Darcy Rhone (Hudson) have been best friends since childhood, but when Rachel meets Dex Thaler (Egglesfield) at law school, trouble starts to loom. Rachel was too shy to tell Dex she liked him, then Darcy met him and the two started dating. Now that Darcy and Dex are due to get married, Rachel and Dex spend a drunken night together and realise they both have feelings for each other.

This movie isn’t particularly pleasant when you get down to the nitty gritty. Basically Darcy is screwed over by her best friend AND her fiancée, but the writer / director instead focuses on the relationship between Rachel and Dex, almost totally ignoring poor Darcy. Granted she wasn’t the best of friends, focussing entirely on herself and basically ignoring her friends’ needs, and there’s a bit of a cop out at the end of the movie to make her seem as guilty, but all this did was make me think all the characters in this movie were awful.

You’ll like this if you liked : He’s Just Not That Into You