Detention (2011) 8/10

Starring : Josh Hutcherson, Shanley Caswell, Spencer Locke, Aaron David Johnson, Walter Perez, Dane Cook
Director : Joseph Kahn
Running Time : 94 mins

A group of school kids that attend Grizzly Lake High School start to find themselves under attack from someone claiming to be Cinderhella, a character from a popular series of horror slasher flicks. When they all get detention, they decide to try and figure out who the killer is, and soon they discover that the truth behind the killings is much more confusing...

This is actually a pretty funny movie that doesn’t go too over the top to garner laughs from its audience, in spite of its over the top premise. The script is sharp and witty, with some knowing nods to popular culture – even pointing out what movies it is ripping off – and, unlike those movie movies by Friedberg and Seltzer, this doesn’t unnecessarily parody anything that isn’t related to the genre it is embracing. Well worth watching if you love your comedy horrors how they’re supposed to be – subtly humorous.

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

Vampire Academy (2014) 7/10

Starring : Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky, Gabriel Byrne, Dominic Sherwood, Olga Kurylenko, Sarah Hyland
Director : Mark Waters
Running Time : 105 mins

Rosemarie Hathaway (Deutch) is a half-vampire guardian to Princess Vasilisa Dragomir (Fry), the heir to the vampire throne. Together they attend St Vladimir’s Academy, where they are faced daily by threats against their lives so, when things get too tricky, they are forced to further investigate who is behind the threats before they become a reality.

This isn’t a bad teen movie, with Deutch putting in a lead performance that her parents could be proud of, and I’m surprised that this has had such negative comments made about it. Basically this is mean Girls meets Underworld, with some jokey pokes at the expense of the Twilight series, and as far as it goes this is much more interesting than the Twilight movies. This is fast paced and energetic, and though the concept is a simple one it is executed in an entertaining enough way that its teenaged target audience should be reasonably pleased with the end result.

You’ll like this if you liked : Percy Jackson & The Olympians : The Lightning Thief

The Four (2012) 8/10

Starring : Deng Chao, Liu Yifei, Collin Chou, Ronald Cheng, Anthony Wong
Director : Gordon Chan & Janet Chun
Running Time : 119 mins

A government agency known as Department Six is investigating the circulation of counterfeit coins when they discover that another secret group known as the Divine Constabulary are taking over the case. So Department Six operative Coldblood (Chao) is sent undercover to work for the Divine Constabulary in order to bring them down from within, but finds this hard to do as his grows to like his new colleagues.

This is a fun-filled, action-packed, cartoony movie that remains engrossing in spite of its sometimes confusing plot. I couldn’t quite understand why there was a need to devalue the currency when the bad guy was simply going to resurrect an army of the dead to overthrow the city. Aside from the odd plot hole here and there, this energetic film is entertaining from start to finish.

You’ll like this if you liked : Kung Fu Hustle

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Furious 6 (2013) 7/10

Starring : Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez
Director : Justin Lin
Running Time : 131 mins

Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and his team of thieves have scattered across the world following their successful heist in Rio, but when Dom is offered the chance of getting a full pardon for him and his crew by CIA operative Luke Hobbs (Johnson) just by stopping another team of international criminals he agrees to take on the challenge. One problem – one of the head honchos is his ex-girlfriend Letty (Rodriguez), who he presumed was dead.

I remember when The Fast And The Furious movies were basically about car racing. Now they’re proper crime capers with a death toll to boot. If you like your action movies incredibly over the top, skip through the first ninety minutes of this and just watch the last forty – that’s where all the high octane nonsense lies. If you want something with a bit more substance, check out the first ninety minutes, there’s character development and everything!

You’ll like this if you liked : Fast Five

My Soul To Take (2010) 6/10

Starring : Max Thieriot, John Magaro, Denzel Whitaker, Zena Grey, Nick Lashaway, Paulina Olzsynski, Jeremy Chu, Emily Meade, Raul Esparza, Shareeka Epps
Director : Wes Craven
Running Time : 108 mins

The legend of a serial killer has lead to local kids celebrating the annual River Day and a legend that tells that the killer will return to kill the seven children born in the town of Riverton on the day he died. When people start disappearing sixteen years later, Adam ‘Bug’ Heller (Thieriot), one of the seven, starts having visions of their attacks.

Wes Craven treads over familiar ground with the Scream-like horror that does little to refresh the genre. The idea is a nice piece of folk lore – a killer that vows to kill those born on the day he dies unless certain rituals are followed – but the execution is a little shaky and I’d have expected better from the king of horror, especially with a closing twenty minutes that feels just like a supernatural version of Scream. A little more humour wouldn’t have hurt, either.

You’ll like this if you liked : I Know What You Did Last Summer

The Book Thief (2013) 7/10

Starring : Sophie Nelisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Ben Schnetzer, Nico Liersch, Roger Allam
Director : Brian Percival
Running Time : 130 mins

In the late 1930s, Liesel Meminger (Nelisse) is sent to stay with an adoptive family in Nazi Germany and soon learns a love for books thanks to her adoptive father Hans (Rush). She soon starts stealing books to feed her new hunger for reading while questioning Hitler’s regime when she meets Max (Schnetzer), a young Jew who is hiding in her adoptive parent’s basement.

This World War II drama at times feels like it is aimed at children, but then kind of meanders into other avenues that don’t fit in with the tone. The fact that everyone seems so nice in this (other than the Nazis of course) makes it feel a little realistic – even Watson’s role as a horrible foster mother softens towards the end. Nothing overtly bad (other than Nazi occupation) happens in the movie until the very end when we are forced to look on and pretty much see everyone die. This does, however, have its moments, and on the whole this is an engaging coming-of-age movie that deals with hardship in an extraordinarily positive light.

You’ll like this if you liked : Bridge To Terabithia

Starlet (2012) 7/10

Starring : Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Stella Maeve, James Ransome
Director : Sean Baker
Running Time : 104 mins

When aspiring adult actress and casual drug user Jane (Hemingway) finds a stash of money hidden inside a thermos she bought at a yard sale, she decides to impose herself in the life of lonely widow Sadie (Johnson), the original owner of the object. After a shaky start, the two of them soon form an unlikely friendship.

Although this started off slow, it did start to pick up once Jane meets Sadie, but there was a little too much focus on ths issues surrounding Jane’s friends and the porn industry and not enough focussing on her relationship with Sadie. Granted, you needed both to compare and contrast to get the full effect of the relationship between the two leads, but this could have been better if Jane wasn’t so one-dimensional.

You’ll like this if you liked : Another Earth

Pain & Gain (2013) 8/10

Starring : Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Rob Corddry, Ken Jeong, Michael Rispoli, Rebel Wilson, Ed Harris
Director : Michael Bay
Running Time : 130 mins

A trio of body builders, lead by personal trainer Daniel Lugo (Wahlberg), come up with a plan to kidnap on of Daniel’s clients, Victor Kershaw (), and force him to sign over all of his money to them but, due to their lack of brainpower and reliance on muscle and drugs, the three soon find their plan falling apart around their ears.

I was surprised to see this was a Michael Bay movie, what with this being more of a heist movie than the usual action flicks we’re used to from him in recent years. Not only that, but this is genuinely funny, which makes it all the more unbelievable that this is based on true events. The leads do a splendid job as the unbelievably inept criminals who have what could be a good idea but handle it so badly that it couldn’t help but fail. This is a great flick that manages to be both funny and exciting without diminishing in any way.

You’ll like this if you liked : Seven Psychopaths

Conan The Barbarian (2011) 7/10

Starring : Jason Momoa, Stephen Lang, Rachel Nichols, Ron Perlman, Rose McGowan
Director : Marcus Nispel
Running Time : 113 mins

When his father Corin (Perlman) is murdered by a power hungry and sorcery obsessed bandit named Khalar Zym (Lang), young Cimmerian warrior Conan (Momoa) makes it his life’s duty to find the man and make him pay. In his mission for vengeance, Conan finds himself helping out a woman named Tamara (Nichols), whose blood is the source of Zym getting the power he so craves.

This adaptation of the adventures of Robert E Howard’s popular fantasy figure Conan is actually pretty good. There is a multi-layered storyline that is interesting to follow, and Momoa makes a pretty impressive lead. The slow introduction of fantasy elements is well handled and well-paced, even though the acting is a little hammy in places, and Rachel Nichols screaming did begin to grate on my nerves.

You’ll like this if you liked : Season Of The Witch

Ride Along (2014) 7/10

Starring : Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, John Leguizamo, Bruce McGill, Tika Sumpter, Bryan Callen, Laurence Fishburne
Director : Tim Story
Running Time : 100 mins

Ben Barber (Hart) wants two things in life : to marry his girlfriend Angela (Sumpter) and to become a cop, so when he gets accepted to the police academy he decides to propose. But when he asks for the blessing of Angela’s brother James (Cube), and Atlanta cop who despises him, James decides to show Ben what being a cop is really about by taking him on a 24-hour ride along.

Although not as good as the hype made me believe, this is a likeable buddy movie that allows straight-man Cube and comedian Hart to shine. The setup might feel familiar and the characters might seem obvious but by not going too over the top and keeping the humour both dry and tongue in cheek, this is a likeable movie that I can’t imagine anyone disliking.

You’ll like this if you liked : Showtime

On The Road (2012) 6/10

Starring : Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Alice Braga, Elisabeth Moss, Danny Morgan, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen
Director : Walter Salles
Running Time : 140 mins

With his career on the slide and his father recently deceased, failed writer Sal Paradise (Riley) decides to take a cross-country trip in search of something to motivate his work. With his friends Dean Moriarty (Hedlund) and Marylou (Stewart), the trio try to discover something new and fascinating that could inspire Sal’s writings.

I’ve never read the book on which this is based, but this movie was in my opinion incredibly boring. The acting was dull and without any kind of inspiration, and the story meandered in such a way that it was difficult to follow what the characters were trying to do, not that I cared - they were so unlikeable. If you’re like me, you’ll find your mind wandering while watching this, so to be honest I just wouldn’t bother unless you were a huge fan of the book and like this dated tripped-out kind of flick.

You’ll like this if you liked : Across The Universe

The Spectacular Now (2013) 8/10

Starring : Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson
Director : James Ponsoldt
Running Time : 96 mins

Teenager Sutter Keely (Teller) has no plans for his future and simply lives in the present with his girlfriend Cassidy (Larson), but when she breaks up with him he turns to alcohol to cope. After a drunken night he wakes up lying on someone’s lawn and meets Aimee Finecky (Woodley), a girl who is his complete opposite; driven, intelligent, and with a future. He decides to spend some time with Aimee, and they start hanging out, but he is unable to see how dating her just for a short while could affect her feelings in the future.

The characters in this movie actually do feel realistic, with Sutter’s inability to know when he is being hurtful due to his habit of living in the now. The story does meander a little, and I did think at one point that there would be no conclusion, but the blunt ending, although abrupt, does give some closure at least to how Sutter’s personality has developed through the movie thanks in part to Aimee.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Dead Leaves (2004) 7/10

Starring : Jaxon Lee, Amanda Winn-Lee, Hal Lubin
Director : Hiroyuki Imaishi
Running Time : 52 mins

After they wake up on Earth with no memory of prior events and strange super powers, Retro (Lee) and Pandy (Winn-Lee) go on a crime spree and end up on the moon-based penal colony Dead Leaves. There they discover their true identities and plan a mass jail break.

This Japanese cartoon doesn’t use the standard sort of animation you’d expect and instead looks like a Tank Girl comic book on drugs. This strange style is actually quite appealing and after a while, even though it gets more and more outlandish, you start not to notice. The characters are fun, and it’s just a shame that the run time is so short, as this feels like it ends before it really gets a chance to get started. A must for anyone who is a fan of kooky comic book stuff, like Love And Rockets or The Mask.

You’ll like this if you liked : Tank Girl

The Great Gatsby (2013) 6/10

Starring : Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton
Director : Baz Luhrmann
Running Time : 143 mins

Nick Carraway (Maguire) moves to Long Island where he starts to wonder about his curious reclusive neighbour Jay Gatsby (DiCaprio), a man few have ever seen in spite of his regular lavish parties. When he does meet Gatsby, he discovers the man is deeply in love with Carraway’s cousin Daisy Buchanan (Mulligan) and had moved to the area to be close to her and try to win her back from her domineering husband Tom (Edgerton).

The score in this movie did at times spoil the movie for me – it’s fine to take a modern song and give it a twenties twist, or vice versa, but the hip-hop moments felt silly to me; I wouldn’t have expected Noel Coward ditties in Boyz N The Hood!?! Visually the first half of the movie is strongest, but in terms of content and acting the second half wins hands-down (largely thanks to the lack of modern music spoiling the period setting). Where Luhrmann managed to keep style while having modern tunes in Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge, here he loses something along the way. This is worth watching if you’re not easily distracted and don’t mind being pulled out of the moment during musical scenes.

You’ll like this if you liked : Moulin Rouge

Ginger Snaps (2000) 8/10

Starring : Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Kris Lemche, Jesse Moss, Danielle Hampton, Mimi Rogers
Director : John Fawcett
Running Time : 104 mins

Sisters Ginger (Isabelle) and Brigitte (Perkins) are outcasts at school – and love things that way - but following an attack from a wild animal Ginger starts to act out of character, and when she starts developing body hair and a tail Brigitte starts to suspect that her sister is turning into a werewolf. With the help of local drug dealer Sam (Lemche) Brigitte tries to find a cure before Ginger’s transformation becomes irreversible.

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this movie already – it is one of my favourite guilty pleasure horror films. The story is like a cross between An American Werewolf In London and Carrie, with a bit of Species thrown in for good measure. The performances are faultlessly subtle and the action is paced in such a way that humour and horror are perfectly balanced with each other until the concluding action scenes where things turn to complete terror. A must see for any horror fan.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Faculty

The Lifeguard (2013) 7/10

Starring : Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, David Lambert, Amy Madigan
Director : Liz W Garcia
Running Time : 98 mins

Suffering from a bout of depression, New York reporter Leigh London (Bell) decides to move back to her home town in Connecticut and takes a job working for minimum wage as a lifeguard. She gets back in touch with her childhood friends Mel (Gummer) and Todd (Starr), but this lapse into her childhood ways leads her to start a relationship with Little Jason (Lambert), a troubled sixteen year-old.

This movie really skates over the whole statutory rape theme of this movie and focuses on the theme of Leigh trying to find meaning in her life. Granted, the age of consent in Connecticut is sixteen (apparently it’s so kids can be enlisted at that age), but that doesn’t make what Bell’s character did any more right. There will be those who focus heavily on this issue, but if you look at this movie in a way that it is simply about Leigh having what amounts to a mid-life crisis and trying to cope with it then this isn’t that bad a film, and the soundtrack is great!

You’ll like this if you liked : Garden State

The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants (2005) 7/10

Starring : Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Alexis Bledel
Director : Ken Kwapis
Running Time : 114 mins

Four lifelong friends, Carmen (Ferrera), Bridget (Lively), Lena (Bledel) and Tibby (Tamblyn), find a pair of jeans that amazingly fit them all. As they find themselves separated for the first time over summer break, they decide to share the jeans amongst themselves, as well as the stories of what has happened to them on their respective time away.

Even though the concept of this teen film is a little ropey, with the girls mailing a pair of jeans to each other all over the world, the stories within the main body of the film will no doubt appeal to young girls the world over who will enjoy the little dramas that effect each of the girls in turn. There are some funny moments, but largely this is a dramatic piece that seems to give all of the girls involved a memorable summer that I’m sure most of them would rather forget parts of.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Baby-Sitters Club