People Like Us (2012) 8/10

Starring : Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Hall D’Addario, Michelle Pfeiffer, Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass
Director : Alex Kurtzman
Running Time : 115 mins

When Sam (Pine) goes home for his father’s funeral, he discovers that all of his father’s money was left to someone called Josh Davis (Hall D’Addario). When he tracks down Josh to find out who his is, he discovers that Josh is Sam’s father’s grandson, and that his mother Frankie (Banks) is Sam’s half-sister from another relationship.

This is actually a really enjoyable light-hearted drama which delves into the characters really well. Granted, some of them are a little stereotyped and predictable, like the alcoholic mother and the angry child, but the actors involved manage to keep the topic light and entertaining without taking us away from the story at hand. Plus there’s a very likeable (though unlikely) final scene to this movie.

You’ll like this if you liked : Admission

Snow Buddies (2008) 5/10

Starring : Kris Kristofferson, Josh Flitter, Henry Hodges, Liliana Mumy, Jimmy Bennett, Skyler Gisondo, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Everett Scott, Molly Shannon, Dylan Sprouse, Lothaire Bluteau, Paul Rae, Jim Belushi
Director : Robert Vince
Running Time : 88 mins

Five puppies accidentally find themselves on a plane to Alaska when they follow an ice-cream truck to the airport. When they arrive in Alaska they team up with a little boy and his pet huskie to form a dog sled team to compete in an annual competition.

I suppose that very young children would enjoy this talking-dog movie – to be fair, that’s who it’s aimed at – but even so I thought this was a little lacklustre and really needed the puppies to have less one-dimensional characteristics. The fact that they would even try to compete against full-grown huskies is ridiculous, but children that don’t know better might enjoy this to some extent.

You’ll like this if you liked : Homeward Bound

Frozen (2013) 8/10

Starring : Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk
Director : Chris Buck & Jennifer lee
Running Time : 101 mins

When Princess Anna (Bell) is accidentally injured by her sisters Elsa (Menzel) in Disney's 53rd Animated Classic, her parents separate the two girls to avoid Elsa’s secret ice powers from doing further harm. Years later, with their parents dead and Elsa to be crowned queen, the people of Arendelle discover Elsa’s powers and chase her off into the forest where she accidentally creates a perpetual winter. Anna decides to travel in search of her, hoping that she can talk her into coming home and settings things right with their nation, and she enlists the aid of an ice delivery man named Kristoff (Groff).

Clearly Disney was riding on the success of Tangled with this similar animated movie. Based on the fairy tale of The Snow Queen, this instant classic (aren’t all animated Disney movies considered classic?) takes a simple tale and brings us characters that may not feel original but at least feel realistic. Other than Elsa’s magical powers, there are no magical moments for the first half of the movie, and thankfully no talking animals to speak of. The sudden changes in some of the personalities of the characters did seem a little far-fetched, but I guess Hans was just a good actor.

You’ll like this if you liked : Oz The Great And Powerful

Nativity! (2009) 7/10

Starring : Martin Freeman, Marc Wootton, Jason Watkins, Ashley Jensen, Pam Ferris
Director : Debbit Isitt
Running Time : 106 mins

When primary school teacher Paul Maddens (Freeman) is given the task of producing the Christmas nativity play for the year, he stupidly brags that his ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lore (Jensen) is coming to see the play. The fact that she is now a Hollywood agent makes his head mistress Mrs Bevan (Ferris) believe that the school could be famous and, thanks to trainee teacher Mr Poppy (Wootton), the lie spreads like wildfire and Paul finds himself becoming something of a local celebrity.

This is a slow paced but well observed comedy that will appeal to all ages. The little white lie that gets blown out of proportion gives us an entertaining story with some great comic performances from the kids involved. Freeman may not seem like the best lead, but the very fact that he is understated makes the proceedings all the more charming as they unfold.

You’ll like this if you liked : Little Miss Sunshine

A Thousand Words (2012) 7/10

Starring : Eddie Murphy, Kerry Washington, Cliff Curtis, Clarke Duke, Allison Janney
Director : Brian Robbins
Running Time : 88 mins

Publishing agent Jack McCall (Murphy) is famous for telling any lie imaginable to close a deal, so when he gets on the wrong side of spiritual guru Dr Sinja (Curtis), he discovers a magical tree has appeared in his back yard, and with every word he utters – even if it is written down - a leaf falls from its branches. When there are no leaves left, he is warned that he will die, so he is forced to find other methods to communicate to avoid this fate.

Eddie Murphy movies usually fall into two categories – movies for grownups and movies for kids – but this falls somewhere in-between. I was surprised that the editors didn’t just cut a little language and content to make this more suitable for kids, but even with the swearing and sexual content this is still not a bad little family movie that will keep both children and adults smiling through most of the film.

You’ll like this if you liked : Liar Liar

Daddy Day Camp (2007) 5/10

Starring : Cuba Gooding Jr, Lochlyn Munro, Richard Gant, Tamala Jones, Paul Rae
Director : Fred Savage
Running Time : 89 mins

Charlie Hinton (Gooding Jr) and Phil Ryerson (Rae) are devastated to hear that the summer camp they enjoyed so much as children is closing down due to a lack of funds, so the pair team up to try and make a name for the camp, reopening it to the public and desperately trying to get as many children as possible to attend, but it isn’t long before things start going wrong for them.

I quite liked the original Daddy Day Care, and once you realise that none of the original cast returned for a sequel you can see that this may have been something of a mistake. Gooding plays the slapstick role he has for some reason come to be famous for, though he is one of few actors who can act in both kids films and action thrillers, while Rae plays his crazy sidekick with little or no enthusiasm. The kids, sadly, aren’t as interesting as those in the original, and perhaps a more School Of Rock approach might have made this more fun.

You’ll like this if you liked : Daddy Day Care

Epic (2013) 8/10

Starring : Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Jason Sudeikis, Beyonce Knowles
Director : Chris Wedge
Running Time : 103 mins

MK (Seyfried) goes to visit her eccentric father Professor Bomba (Sudeikis) – a scientist who lives in the woods – but discovers that he is still obsessed with his belief that there are little people living in the forests, but when MK is accidentally shrunken down to miniscule size by the dying Queen Tara (Knowles), she soon discovers that her father’s beliefs are true and that there are whole societies of little people called Leafmen living all around her.

This is an enjoyable kids movie that manages to be entertaining without being patronising. Part of the story’s scenario is similar to Ferngully :The Last Rainforest, with a bit of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids thrown in for good measure, and though the main characters don’t have specific characteristics that make them stand out, the supporting comedic characters do enough to keep very young children amused.

You’ll like this if you liked : Rise Of The Guardians

Amelie (2001) 8/10

Starring : Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta
Director : Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Running Time : 122 mins

Amelie Poulin (Tautou) finds a new direction in her life when she finds a tin in the wall of her apartment. After she returns it to its rightful owner, she decides to make it her life’s ambition to do good deeds for anyone she meets, ranging from her colleagues at the café she works in to random strangers on the street.

This movie which, to be fair, has a pretty limited plot, manages to be entertaining throughout its duration. Audrey Tautou has perfect comedy timing in this romantic comedy, as do the supporting cast, and the style chosen by the director to translate this story to the screen makes it all the more entertaining.

You’ll like this if you liked : Penelope

Antiviral (2012) 6/10

Starring : Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Douglas Smith, Joe Pingue, Nicholas Campbell, Sheila McCarthy
Director : Brandon Cronenberg
Running Time : 104 mins

In a society where celebrities are so loved that fans willingly infect themselves with viruses that have infected their favourite stars, Syd March (Landry Jones) – an employee at one of the clinics that offer this service – accidentally becomes infected by a virus that killed superstar Hannah Geist (Gadon), he is faced with a race against time to find a cure before he succumbs to the same ill fate.

This is pretty much what you’d expect from one of David Cronenberg’s kids, and for Cronenberg Senior fans this won’t disappoint. It’s weirdly surreal and combines technology and biology in a creepy and unusual way, with an ending that is unorthodox to say the least. There is, however, something lacking in this for the everyday movie goer, and sadly this causes it to lose much of its moral in translation.

You’ll like this if you liked : S1m0ne

Love Happens (2009) 6/10

Starring : Aaron Eckhart, Jennifer Aniston, Dan Fogler, John Carroll Lynch, Martin Sheen
Director : Brandon Camp
Running Time : 105 mins

Following the death of his wife, motivational speaker Burke Ryan (Eckhart) writes a book which gives advice on how to cope with the loss of a loved one as a method of dealing with his own grief. It’s only when he meets florist Eloise (Aniston) that he discovers that he hasn’t been following his own advice, and that in order to move on he needs to open himself up to the possibility of finding love again.

This felt like it should have been a comedy, but there were no real laughs throughout the movie. Eckhart was effective in some parts of the movie, nut Aniston was lifeless and annoyed me a little. Again this is one of those films that are enjoyed by only a small section of society, but it really felt like a drawn out dull story that tries to deal with depression but ends up dealing with guilt.

You’ll like this if you liked : PS I Love You

Kick-Ass 2 (2013) 8/10

Starring : Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jim Carrey
Director : Jeff Wadlow
Running Time : 104 mins

Dave Lizewski (Taylor-Johnson) and Mindy Macready (Moretz) have been trying to lead normal teenage lives since the death of Big Daddy, but it isn’t long before Dave dons his Kick-Ass tights and joins super hero team Justice Forever, but when Chris D’Amico (Mintz-Plasse) takes up the mantle of The Motherfucker and creates a super villain team, Kick-Ass and his friends find their lives in terrible danger.

This movie doesn’t have as much focus as the original, what with the introduction of so many other heroes, but it was still pretty damn entertaining. The violence is just as over the top, and the villains are unforgiving in who they target, so fans of the original will no doubt love this action-packed sequel.

You’ll like this if you liked : Super

Dead Space : Downfall (2008) 7/10

Starring : Nika Futterman, Keith Szarabajka, Jim Cummings, Kevin Michael Richardson
Director : Chuck Patton
Running Time : 74 mins

A holy relic is discovered on a distant planet, and the USG Ishimura is sent to retrieve it, but when they hear reports of outbreaks of strange violent behaviour amongst the colonists on the planet, the crew start to suspect that there may be something infecting the planets inhabitants. It isn’t long before the same suicidal, violent behaviour starts to infect the crew themselves.

This is an interesting and good looking adaption of the popular computer game and, like Resident Evil, produces its own version of a classic horror villain. The Necromorphs (zombies in all but name) are fun because they are very difficult to dispatch of, and this movie tries its best to come up with an enjoyable narrative. It does pretty well, but this could have been better if some of the campy swearing had been removed, because it always makes me laugh when cartoon characters swear.

You’ll like this if you liked : Stranded

Bullet To The Head (2012) 7/10

Starring : Sylvester Stallone, Sung Kang, Sarah Shahi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christian Slater, Jason Momoa
Director : Walter Hill
Running Time : 92 mins

Hitman James Bonomo (Stallone) is hired to kill a corrupt cop, but his partner is killed after the gig by another hired killer, Keegan (Momoa) When the dead cops partner Taylor Kwon (Kang) turns up, trying to find his killer, he and Bonomo find themselves joining forces to track down the people behind their respective partners deaths.

This was a fun movie and, even though it has the sort of plot line you’d be comfortable seeing in a Van Damme or Seagal movie, this was actually reasonably good. Stallone looks a little old, but that works for him in this, and Sung Kang was good in the duel lead role.

You’ll like this if you liked : Contraband

Winter’s Bone (2010) 5/10

Starring : Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Kevin Breznahan, Dale Dickey, Garret Dillahunt
Director : Debra Granik
Running Time : 101 mins

Seventeen year old Ree Dolly (Lawrence) spends much of her time in her small Ozark mountain town trying to take care of her siblings, what with her father being missing and her mother suffering from depression, but when she is told by sheriff Baskin (Dillahunt) that her father put the family house as collateral for his bail she sets out on a dangerous mission to discover what happened to her father.

This one of those movies that everyone seems to think is fantastic but turns out to be really boring. It takes too long to get going, and then just drags on with some nonsense about chopping off her dead fathers hands so they can keep their house. Personally I didn’t enjoy this, and found it a little confusing in parts, but some people who like slow dramas (which seem to be all the rage at the moment) might find something of interest in this movie, which received an awful lot of award nominations considering it was so boring.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Road

Drinking Buddies (2013) 7/10

Starring : Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston
Director : Joe Swanberg
Running Time : 91 mins

Kate (Wilde) and Luke (Johnson) work together at a brewery where they enjoy flirting with each other. The trouble is Kate has a boyfriend, Chris (Livingston), and Luke has a fiancée, Jill (Kendrick). So, when things start to look a little strained in their relationships, they both start to wonder if the other would be a better choice of partner.

Although not laugh-out-loud funny, this romantic comedy-drama is pretty entertaining from start to finish. The chemistry between Wilde and Johnson is perfect, and the ending is worthy of Sofia Coppola. Fanso f standard romantic movies might find this isn’t their cup of tea, particularly with the overly long drawn outending sequence, but personally I thought it was pretty enjoyable.

You’ll like this if you liked : Lost In Translation

Last Rites (2006) 5/10

Starring : Noel Gugliemi, Howard Alonzo, Ethan Ednee
Director : Duane Stinnett
Running Time : 83 mins

Two rival gangs find themselves set up by the LAPD when they go to a meeting st an abandoned warehouse, but things take a turn for the worse when a meteor hits the planet at a point frequented by vagrants who are quickly transformed into flesh eating zombies.

This movie, sometimes known as Gangs Of The Dead, is pretty stupid and takes the ideas of George A Romero and limits them to a group of hobos. The premise seems to be one that is overly used in recent years, and the idea that the lead gang member wants to quit the life because he has found God but then doesn’t think of anyone but himself, and not to spoil things but the ending was practically stolen from Army Of Darkness.

You’ll like this if you liked : Day Of The Dead

Red Dawn (2012) 6/10

Starring : Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Isabel Lucas, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Director : Dan Bradley
Running Time : 94 mins

When their small town is invaded by Korean soldiers, a small group of teenagers manage to elude them and, led by American marine Jed Eckert (Hemsworth) and his little brother Matt (Peck), they decide to fight back against the invaders and attempt to get their town back.

This remake of the incredibly popular eighties classic that featured pretty much every popular teen actor of the time falls a little short of expectations, even though those expectations are pretty low. I think the main problem was that the kids in this film weren’t famous enough. Granted, it had the guy from Thor and the guy from The Hunger Games, the girl who was almost Wonder Woman, plus that kid that used to be real fat, but the rest of the kids were nobodies in my view. In terms of storyline, this was pretty predictable, and the characters were one-dimensional, but action fans will probably find this okay.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Expendables

Hurricane Season (2009) 6/10

Starring : Forest Whitaker, Taraji P Henson, Bonnie Hunt, Isaiah Washington
Director : Tim Story
Running Time : 103 mins

High school basketball coach Al Collins (Whitaker) decides, in the shadow of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, to try and form a basketball squad made up from the students from five previously opposing schools who have been forced together and tries to get them to work as a team in the hopes of making the state championship finals.

Considering this is a typical triumph in the face of adversary movie that Hollywood lap up, this wasn’t particularly impressive. None of the characters really spoke to me, and though it was interesting to see the before and after effects Katrina had on the population of New Orleans, I really didn’t feel there was enough here to warrant a movie, particularly one that thinks everything will be okay if you win a basketball game – that will rebuild your house!

You’ll like this if you liked : Goal!