Into The Storm (2014) 6/10

Starring : Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Matt Walsh, Max Deacon, Nathan Kress, Alycia Debnam Carey
Director : Steven Quale
Running Time : 90 mins

A team of storm chasers find the mother lode when an unlikely number of tornadoes touchdown in the small town of Silverton. As the townsfolk run for cover to the nearest shelters, overconfident storm chasers risk their lives to get the best footage of the storm that they can, not caring who might get hurt in the process.

This was the slowest paced disaster movie I have ever seen. Granted, the special effects weren’t bad, and once things started getting sucked into the sky and dropped on people’s heads it wasn’t too bad, but the tedious introduction of characters that have no character just felt like a huge waste of time when we could have been watching things fly through the air!

You’ll like this if you liked : Sharknado

The Experiment (2010) 7/10

Starring : Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Cam Gigandet, Clifton Collins Jr, Ethan Cohn, Fisher Stevens
Director : Paul T Scheuring
Running Time : 97 mins

A random selection of men are offered $14,000 to take part in a two week experiment, where they are chosen either to be prisoners or guards in a prison mock up, in which they are expected to keep peace and order and under no circumstances to use violence, but as the guards start to get power hungry and psychologically torture their prisoners, things get extremely out of hand.

Not a bad movie, based on true events, but it’s a shame that the makers of this film decided to rely on violent scare tactics to get their message across when the true psychological trauma inflicted on those involved in the original Stanford prison experiment was so much more worrying. The very idea of people taking on the roles they’ve been assigned to such a degree that they start unconsciously acting like those they are portraying could lead to some very disturbing events indeed.

You’ll like this if you liked : Unthinkable

Penguins Of Madagascar (2014) 9/10

Starring : Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, Conrad Vernon, John Malkovich, Benedict Cumberbatch
Director : Eric Darnell & Simon J Smith
Running Time : 92 mins

The four Madagascar Penguins, Skipper (McGrath), Kowalski (Miller), Private (Knights) and Rico (Vernon) escape from the circus and break into Fort Knox to celebrate Private’s birthday. There they are kidnapped by the evil Doctor Octavius Brine (Malkovich) who turns out to be a vengeful octopus named Dave from their days in the zoo. He has a plan to stop people thinking that penguins are cute, and with the help of an animal led spy agency called the North Wind, the four penguins must stop Dave before he can put his plan into action.

I really enjoyed this, even more so because I wasn’t a huge fan of the last Madagascar movie. There’s plenty of fun and action to keep both children and adults entertained, there’s a plot that can actually be followed, and there’s some great character building for the penguins who up until now (in the movies at least) have only been secondary characters.

You’ll like this if you liked : Despicable Me

The Big Wedding (2013) 6/10

Starring : Robert De Niro, Katherine Heigl, Diane Keaton, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, Ben Barnes, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams
Director : Justin Zackham
Running Time : 90 mins

Adopted Alejandro (Barnes) is getting married to Missy (Seyfried), but when his divorced adoptive parents Don (De Niro) and Ellie (Keaton) discover that he has invited his strict Catholic birth mother to the wedding, they have to pretend that they are still a married couple.

I’d heard this was absolutely terrible, but it could have been worse. There were some dodgy plotlines like the virginal Topher Grace falling in love with who is essentially his adopted brothers sister, the family discovering that it was Ellie and not Don who cheated first, and the return of Robin Williams as a priest / vicar (I’m still not sure which), but all in all it wasn’t that bad a movie if you can get past the unnecessarily slapstick carrying on.

You’ll like this if you liked : Licence To Wed

This Is Where I Leave You (2014) 6/10

Starring : Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Rose Byrne, Corey Stoll, Kathryn Hahn, Connie Britton, Timothy Olyphant, Dax Shepard, Jane Fonda
Director : Shawn Levy
Running Time : 103 mins

When their father dies, four siblings are forced to return to their home town for the funeral, where the secrets they’ve been trying to keep from their family soon come into the open, ranging from cheating spouses and divorces, to problems conceiving, while old rivalries and long forgotten arguments come back to haunt the now grown-up children.

This had potential, and when they mentioned sitting shiva, which would mean not leaving the house for days on end, I thought it would be a nice closed-room comedy filled with witty banter and intriguing back and forth discussions. Sadly this element of the plot soon went out the window and the characters were all over the place, blatantly ignoring the funereal instructions. There are some nice moments, but most of them are so simple it’s hard to find them as funny as they should have been.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Skeleton Twins

The Woman In Black (2012) 7/10

Starring : Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer, Ciaran Hinds
Director : James Watkins
Running Time : 96 mins

Four years after his wife dies in childbirth, lawyer Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe) is given one final chance to prove himself by his bosses and is sent to a remote village to perform some standard legal services. Once there he is met by a cold welcome, and soon discovers that the village is haunted by the ghost of woman seeking revenge for the accidental drowning of her son.

This wasn’t a bad little gothic horror film, although most of the scares relied purely on extremely jumpy music that after a while did begin to get on my nerves. Radcliffe is pretty good in the lead – a far cry from Harry Potter as a lawyer and father – and manages to make both his fear and anguish believable to the audience from start to finish. If you like atmospheric horror films, they you could do a lot worse than this.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Others

The Wedding Ringer (2015) 7/10

Starring : Kevin Hart, Josh Gad, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting
Director : Jeremy Garelick
Running Time : 102 mins

Doug Harris (Gad) can’t believe he’s about to get married to Gretchen Palmer (Cuoco-Sweeting), who he considers to be way out of his league, but as their wedding quickly approaches he is faced with another dilemma – he doesn’t have any close friends he can use as groomsmen. So he hires Jimmy Callahan (Hart), a Best Man for hire who has the unenviable job of convincing Doug’s in-laws that he is one of his oldest friends.

From the trailers I didn’t expect to like this movie, but this was actually pretty funny, even though the main character wasn’t exactly likeable. Hart and Gad make an interesting pairing, and in spite of some predictable plot twists and some implausible romantic entanglements this is still fun to watch and reaches a satisfying conclusion that makes sense based on what has happened earlier in the film.

You’ll like this if you liked : I Love You, Man

Dom Hemingway (2013) 5/10

Starring : Jude Law, Richard E Grant, Demian Bichir, Emilia Clarke, Kerry Condon
Director : Richard Shepard
Running Time : 94 mins

Following a twelve year stint in jail, safe-cracker Dom Hemingway (Law) is released back into the community where, with the help of his best friend Dickie Black (Grant), he tracks down Ivan Fontaine (Bichir), his former boss who he refused to grass up to the cops. Demanding a payout for keeping silent, Hemingway is paid off by Fontaine but loses the money which is stolen by Fontaine’s girlfriend following a car accident. Hemingway then sets out to prove himself once more as the country’s best safe-cracker.

There’s something not quite right about his movie. I’m only really a fan of movies where the hero is a villain if they are a loveable villain, but Hemingway to me is not very likeable at all. Law does his best with what passes for a witty script, but the wit and charm feel far too forced for my liking and make this movie drag out for far too long until it reaches its somewhat anti-climactic conclusion.

You’ll like this if you liked : Bronson

Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance) (2014) 6/10

Starring : Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts
Director : Alejandro G Inarritu
Running Time : 120 mins

Riggan Thomson (Keaton) has been typecast as the superhero he played twenty years ago, but now he wants to prove he is more than just a man in a cape by producing his own Broadway show, but fate doesn’t seem to be favouring him as one of his leading men is taken out of the picture and he is forced to employ a new lead with only days before opening night.

This was an interesting movie that gives us a view of a failed actor trying to rise above and do something worthy with his skills, but for me it failed because of its inability to produce any truly likeable characters. I know there are movies like Sideways where you’re not supposed to like anyone, but with this I felt like we were supposed to be rooting for Keaton, and I didn’t feel the impulse. Granted there are some good performances, particularly Norton who I thought was very good, but all in all this felt piecemeal and not very well thought through.

You’ll like this if you liked : Adaptation.

Colombiana (2011) 6/10

Starring : Zoe Saldana, Jordi Molla, Lennie James, Amanda Stenberg, Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis
Director : Olivier Megaton
Running Time : 104 mins

Following the murder of her parents as a child in Bogota, young Cataleya (Saldana) grows up wanting to nothing except exact vengeance upon their killer. After years of training by her uncle Emilio (Curtis), she soon become a highly skilled assassin and, after lots of practice, heads out in search of the mobster responsible for her parents death.

This is a pretty standard revenge movie, with the slightly dated twist being that the person seeking revenge is a woman. The storyline feels like it is simple enough to follow, but when you look at it closely there are a lot of things that don’t make sense, such as Cataleya’s belief that the FBI would know the location of the man who killed her family. This movie is okay on the surface as a pointless action flick, but if you think of it too deeply you may become disappointed.

You’ll like this if you liked : Hanna

Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014) 8/10

Starring : Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner, Ed Oxenbould, Dylan Minnette, Kerris Dorsey
Director : Miguel Arteta
Running Time : 82 mins

Alexander (Oxenbould) leads a terrible life – not only is nobody coming to his birthday party, but pictures of him superimposed onto bikini models have surfaced on the internet. On the evening before his birthday, Alexander makes a wish that his family could understand what it would be like to have a terrible day, and it soon seems to him that his wish has come true...

This is a fun kids film, filled with slapstick moments that will keep the kids happy. On the whole the bad things that happen are pretty well thought through, and it feels a little like Licence To Drive when the car starts getting wrecked. I half expected this to turn into a fantasy movie when Alexander makes his wish, but thankfully things don't ever go in that direction. Don’t expect the humour to be too clever, but this is a likeable movie that has a satisfying conclusion and some reasonable performances from the cast.

You’ll like this if you liked : Imagine That

Iron Man & Hulk : Heroes United (2013) 6/10

Starring : Adrian Pasdar, Fred Tatasciore, Dee Bradley Baker, Robin Atkin Downes, David Kaye
Director : Eric Radomski & Leo Riley
Running Time : 72 mins

Iron Man (Pasdar) and the Hulk (Tatasciore) are forced to join forces when an evil being of electrical energy named Zzzax (Baker) is unleashed as a team of villainous Hydra agents use Hulk’s gamma energy to supercharge one of Iron Man’s inventions.

Fans of The Hulk and Iron Man should get a kick out of this straight to video animated movie, and I didn’t think it was that bad. It’s just I hated the animation. It was heavily computerised which really put me off, especially when some of the earlier efforts had more standard animation (some even had an anime style, which was great fun to watch). If you like the characters and can live with the animation style, then this is great fun, but the style was just too distracting for me to find it as enjoyable as it could have been.

You’ll like this if you liked : Ultimate Avengers

Life After Beth (2014) 7/10

Starring : Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C Reilly, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Paul Reiser, Matthew Gray Gubler, Anna Kendrick
Director : Jeff Baena
Running Time : 89 mins

As Zach (DeHaan) tries to get over the death of his girlfriend Beth (Plaza), he thinks he sees her at her parents’ house. He soon discovers that Beth has come back from the dead as a sort of zombie, and he manages to continue their relationship from where they left off. But Beth’s increasingly erratic behaviour starts to cause Zach to wonder if her return from the dead has brought her back exactly as she was before.

The first hour of this movie is really fun, with DeHaan thinking Beth faked her own death, and then their weird relationship together and how Beth reacts to things, but it takes a decided left turn and turns into a full on zombie movie at roughly the hour mark. I guess there was no other direction for this to go in, and the writers and cast handle the transition well, but people who are expecting a standard comedy might be surprised to see that this is quite a gory horror, though the gore is very much tongue in cheek.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Voices

Far From Heaven (2002) 7/10

Starring : Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson, Viola Davis
Director : Todd Haynes
Running Time : 107 mins

Fifties housewife Cathy Whitaker (Moore) finds her life thrown into disarray when she catches her husband Frank (Quaid) in his office kissing a man! As she struggles to come to terms with this, she begins a friendship with Raymond Deagan (Haysbert), a black man who works as a gardener. Cathy and Frank try to save their marriage by taking trips together and by Frank going to therapy, but Frank’s homosexuality and Cathy’s growing love for Raymond seem to get in the way of any hope for their marriage.

It’s funny that the reaction to the possibility that Cathy is seeing a black man seems worse than Frank being gay. Less than sixty years later, neither of these issues is really that big a deal, but the writers give us a view of mid-century American society that you wouldn’t often see portrayed on screen (at least not before Mad Men). This is melodrama through and through, with some strong performances from Moore and Quaid, and fans of this kind of drama will find little to fault here, but this is at times a little too hammy.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Hours

Residue (2015) 6/10

Starring : Natalia Tena, Iwan Rheon, Jamie Draven, Danny Webb, Franz Drameh, Adrian Schiller
Director : Alex Garcia Lopez
Running Time : 103 mins

Following an explosion in an area of London, quarantine zones have been erected to keep people away, but photojournalist Jennifer Preston (Tena) decides to investigate by going into the quarantine zone. What she discovers is a deadly paranormal phenomenon that could have the potential to wipe out mankind if someone doesn’t act quickly...

For something that is such a good idea, this was almost hopelessly mismanaged by everyone involved. It almost comes across like the horror movie Shutter, just not as creepy. It might be that this is based off a TV mini-series that makes it feel so disjointed (I haven’t seen the mini-series so it might even be simply a cut down version with 30 minutes cut here and there) but whatever it is this great idea could have been done so much better if there was a bit more characterisation and a little less focus throughout on the government conspiracy.

You’ll like this if you liked : Shutter

Delivery Man (2013) 7/10

Starring : Vince Vaughn, Chris Pratt, Cobie Smulders
Director : Ken Scott
Running Time : 105 mins

Childish and unreliable David Wozniak (Vaughn) receives a visit from a lawyer informing him that the sperm he donated twenty years ago to make some extra cash has been used to father over 500 children, and that over 100 of the children want to know who their father is. Due to confidentiality laws, the kids are trying to go through the courts to overthrow the ruling, and it looks like a distinct possibility that they could win. So, having taken a peek at some of the files on his children, reluctant father David decides to visit some of the children to see if he wants to get to know them in return.

Few people probably realise this, but this movie was actually a remake of a Canadian movie made only a few years earlier called Starbuck. Quite why this was remade so quickly is anybody’s guess – perhaps it was suggested that a bigger star might sell the story to the masses and make more money. In any case, this was a likeable movie with some interesting ideas, though it does fall short of its expectations at times, with some of the children being pretty stupid at not guessing who Vaughn really is when he approaches them.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Switch

Someone Marry Barry (2014) 8/10

Starring : Tyler Labine, Damon Wayans Jr, Lucy Punch, Hayes MacArthur, Thomas Middleditch
Director : Rob Pearlstein
Running Time : 88 mins

Three friends have grown sick and tired of their annoying friend Barry (Labine), so they decide to try and marry him off by purchasing a mail order bride for him. This doesn’t work out, but he meets Melanie (Punch), an English girl who is every bit as annoying and abrasive as Barry is. Now they are faced with having two Barry’s in their group, and decide to make the ultimate decision in terms of friendship.

This may not have been the most high brow or complex of comedies but I really liked it. Labine and Punch were wonderful as the happy couple, and the supporting cast of characters playing Barry’s friends manage to bring their own stories into the mix and show just how terrible they are even without Barry’s influence. In spite of the fact that the characters are over the top and at times ridiculous, they are instantly identifiable and you can immediately see how they are going to develop as the movie progresses.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Wedding Video

The Deal (2005) 6/10

Starring : Christian Slater, Selma Blair, Robert Loggia, Colm Feore, Angie Harmon, John Heard
Director : Harvey Kahn
Running Time : 108 mins

When Tom Hanson (Slater) agrees to act as the go-between for one of his investment firm’s clients and a Russian oil cartel, he soon discovers that the deal is not what it seems. With the help of new associate Abbey Gallagher (Blair) – a tree-hugging graduate who wants to put a stop to big business oil production – they discover that the corporations involved will stop at nothing to ensure that their deal goes through.

Although not the best thriller I’ve seen in recent years, this wasn’t too bad. Slater and Blair work reasonably well, though the notion that everyone fancied Blair seemed a little far fetched. The plot was simple but effective, and although some of the relationships between the characters weren’t that believable, this managed to sustain some interest in me and the potentially obvious twist worked pretty well.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Pelican Brief