The Cold Light Of Day (2012) 6/10

Starring : Henry Cavill, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Echegui, Roschdy Zem, Joseph Mawle, Oscar Jaenada, Caroline Goodall, Bruce Willis
Director : Mabrouk El Mechri
Running Time : 94 mins

When his mother and brother are kidnapped while holidaying in Spain, Will Shaw (Cavill) discovers that his father Martin (Willis) is secretly a CIA agent, and that he must return a briefcase that was taken as part of an assignment, because if he doesn’t return it the kidnappers will kill his wife and son.

This isn’t the best action thriller in the world, but then it isn’t the worst. You’d think having Bruce “John McClane” Willis, Henry “Superman” Cavill and Sigourney “Ripley” Weaver amongst the cast would help, but it didn’t really do much to improve the plot. There are some fun action sequences, and even though the idea of someone finding out a family member is secretly working for the government or as a spy isn’t that original, this is still a likeable enough action flick that most fans of the action movie will enjoy if they just switch off their doubting minds for 90 minutes.

You’ll like this if you liked : Abduction

Blended (2014) 7/10

Starring : Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Bella Thorne, Emma Fuhrmann, Braxton Beckham, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Kyle Red Silverstein, Shaquille O’Neal, Terry Crews, Abdoulaye, Joel McHale, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kevin Nealon
Director : Frank Coraci
Running Time : 118 mins

Following one of the worst blind dates imaginable, Jim (Sandler) and Lauren (Barrymore) find themselves mistakenly on holiday together with their children after they separately persuade their friends to give them their vacation tickets to an African resort for cheap. There they are forced to pretend to be a blended family, and their kids start to discover the joys of having two parents.

This hit and miss comedy is thankfully more hit than miss. There are some unfunny moments that the movie could have survived without, and the usual over the top CGI moments that Sandler movies are known for, but on the whole this is a decent slapstick family comedy that manages to remain likeable even with the presence of the increasingly unlikeable Sandler thanks to some clever 360 degree turns in his character that make perfect sense in hindsight.

You’ll like this if you liked : Just Go With It

I Am Sam (2001) 7/10

Starring : Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dakota Fanning, Dianne Wiest
Director : Jessie Nelson
Running Time : 133 mins

Sam Dawson (Penn) is mentally challenged, with the IQ of an average seven year-old. He is literally left holding the baby and manages to bring up his daughter Lucy Diamond (Fanning) pretty much on his own, but as Lucy starts to progress through school the authorities question his ability to give her the upbringing she needs, so he calls on the help of lawyer Rita Harrison Williams (Pfeiffer) to prove that he can care for his daughter better than anyone else.

Sean Penn is extremely good in this role, even though many have cited that he is a little over the top. Personally I think her was spot on, and with Dakota Fanning in an early role for support they make a likeable screen pair. Pfeiffer rounds off the main cast with a seemingly purposefully underwhelming performance that allows Penn to stand out and shine.

You’ll like this if you liked : As Good As It Gets

Home (2015) 8/10

Starring : Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Matt Jones
Director : Tim Johnson
Running Time : 94 mins

The Boov have fled their home planet to escape from the evil Gorg and taken over the planet Earth, sending the humans to live in exile in Australia, but when Oh (Parsons) accidentally sends on invite to his housewarming to the entire galaxy, he finds himself n the run from his own people, joining forces with a young girl named Gratuity ‘Tip’ Tucci (Rihanna) who is desperately trying to find her mother (Lopez).

This was a fun movie that most children will enjoy, though there weren’t as many comic nods to adults as some of the better Dreamworks movies. Surprisingly this wasn’t quite as good as The Penguins Of Madagascar, but rather than plot (which was kind of derivative, and even the surprises weren’t all that surprising) this movie focussed on the burgeoning friendship between the two leads. The ending does feel a little tacked on, like they had to do something to show what happens after the events of the movie, but it’s still a likeable flick.

You’ll like this if you liked : Big Hero 6

Before Midnight (2013) 8/10

Starring : Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
Director : Richard Linklater
Running Time : 109mins

Nine years have passed since Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Delpy) were reunited, and they now have twin daughters and live in Paris together. They are invited by one of Jesse’s author friends to take a holiday in Greece, but the events of the holiday have the couple questioning their relationship and if they really want to live in the country of their partners choice.

This may not be as nice or romantic as the first two films, but that is because the characters have gotten older. The things they loved about each other when they were younger now seem to equate to irresponsibility in their forties. And their attitudes towards each other quite aptly reflect how these kinds of people would change in almost two decades. Fans of the originals might feel cheated by this, but to be honest it is a realistic step in their relationship that such young carefree love is unlikely to last into parenthood.

You’ll like this if you liked : 2 Days In Paris

The Fault In Our Stars (2014) 8/10

Starring : Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Willem Dafoe
Director : Josh Boone
Running Time : 134 mins

Hazel (Woodley) suffers from a debilitating form of cancer that means she has to constantly carry an oxygen tank around with her, but this hasn’t deterred her from enjoying her life. When she meets Gus (Elgort), a fellow teenage cancer sufferer, the two start a whirlwind romance that leads them to Amsterdam in search of their favourite author (Dafoe), a man who wrote the only believable book about dying from the illness they share.

This movie, which you just know from the outset is going to have a downbeat ending, manages to be fun as it progresses to its conclusion. The two leads work well together, with the supporting cast doing a decent job, and the script manages to garner a good few laughs, even with a subject that is instantly so sad. Fans of Woodley will love her in this, her best performance after The Spectacular Now, and relative newcomer Elgort is believably upbeat in spite of his diagnosis.

You’ll like this if you liked : If I Stay

John Q. (2002) 7/10

Starring : Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, James Woods, Anne Heche, Kimberly Elise, Daniel E Smith, Ray Liotta
Director : Nick Cassacetes
Running Time : 117 mins

John Quincy Archibald (Washington) is devastated when his son Mike (Smith) is diagnosed with a rare heart disease which means he requires at transplant, but when he discovers that his work health cover won’t pay for the surgery and he can’t even get his son on the waiting list, he resorts to desperate measures to get his son seen to.

This starts out as something of a bog standard drama, with Washington doing his level best to keep his family afloat, then being hit by his son’s potentially fatal illness. Then things quickly take a left turn and this becomes something of a dramatic action flick. Somehow it works, and although some of the storyline is schmaltzy and overly soppy, it’s still a fun movie.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Negotiator

The SpongeBob Movie : Sponge Out of Water (2015) 7/10

Starring : Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Mr Lawrence, Antonio Banderas
Director : Paul Tibitt
Running Time : 81 mins

When Plankton (Lawrence) tries to steal the secret Krabby Patty formula, the formula disappears and he is accused of the crime in spite of not having fulfilled his plan. He teams up with SpongeBob (Kenny) and together the two set off on a journey of discovery to track down the recipe and discover who really stole id from Mr Krabs (Brown).

You don’t have to be a SpongeBob fan or a six year-old to enjoy this movie. Granted, it is filled with the kind of silliness that only a six year-old can enjoy, but there’s a storyline and some fun pokes at Disney musical movies. The twist is an unexpected one, and the idea of SpongeBob joining forces with Plankton, his usual nemesis, makes for an interesting movie that adults can enjoy too!

You’ll like this if you liked : The Lego Movie

The Butler (2013) 7/10

Starring : Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr, Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, James Marsden, David Oyelowo, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman, Liev Schreiber, Robin Williams, Clarence Williams III
Director : Lee Daniels
Running Time : 133 mins

Cecil Gaines (Whitaker) takes a job as a butler to the White House in order to support his family, and serves under eight presidents. During his time at the White House, Cecil experiences many changes in American society, including the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war, and is faced with the idea that his children will be the ones shaping the future of America as he continues to serve those who run the country.

I enjoyed this movie in parts, and those parts tended to have nothing to do with Whitaker in the lead role. The promotion for this movie make out that his character is the one making all the changes to American society, but moreover it seems to be his children. The only thing Gaines does in the movie to make change is argue for equal pay at the White House, but that’s hardly a big deal when his son is fighting for equal rights in society and his other boy is planning on fighting in Vietnam. And why did they brush over the fact that his wife cheated on him? She needed to be confronted about that particular behaviour.

You’ll like this if you liked : Mandela : Long Walk To Freedom

Chef (2014) 8/10

Starring : Jon Favreau, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Emjay Anthony, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey Jr
Director : Jon Favreau
Running Time : 110 mins

Carl Casper (Favreau) is a popular chef in the restaurant where he works, but when he receives a bad review he realises that his creativity is suffering. So, after a viral video of him confronting a critic pushes him over the edge, he quits his job to operate a food truck where he can make his own menu and prepare the food he wants to.

This is a wonderful vehicle for Favreau, who writes, directs and stars in this gem of a movie. The story is simple yet effective, and the supporting cast of familiar faces help us as an audience to wonder which characters are actually going to be important as the movie progresses. The focal point of the movie, other than finding success as a chef, is the relationship between Casper and his son Percy (Anthony) as they travel across the states and bond as father and son, and the two of them manage to make it a believable journey that concludes with a plausible resolution.

You’ll like this if you liked : Julie And Julia

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) 7/10

Starring : George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, Chris Thomas King, Charles Durning
Director : Joel & Ethan Coen
Running Time : 108 mins

Three escaped convicts in 1930s Mississippi form an unlikely alliance as they search for the buried money from one of their bank heists while being pursued by the law. On their journey they run into all manner of strange and unusual characters...

Like most Coen brothers movies, this one is difficult to describe and still do it justice. It is definitely of a kind and a lot of people will dislike it’s weird take on comedy and drama, but if you are a fan of the Coen brothers then you will enjoy this mid range effort from them. The pacing is a little slow, and the story a little old fashioned, but it is set in the 1930s so that actually works all the better.

You’ll like this if you liked : Raising Arizona

Ex Machina (2015) 7/10

Starring : Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac
Director : Alex Garland
Running Time : 108 mins

Caleb (Gleeson) is a young programmer at a large internet company who wins a competition to spend a week with Nathan (Isaac), the CEO of his company who spends much of his time in his mountain retreat. When Caleb arrives for the week he is told by Nathan that he will be required to take part in an experiment which will have him interacting with an artificial intelligence in the form of a beautiful girl robot named Ava (Vikander).

This is an odd little movie that I couldn’t help but get engrossed with as more and more questions arise, just waiting to be answered. It starts to become something of an intrigue as you wait to find out just what Nathan is up to and if Ava is what she seems, but with the conclusion of the film you’ll actually be left with more unanswered questions than you started out with.

You’ll like this if you liked : Artificial Intelligence : AI

Now You See Me (2013) 8/10

Starring : Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Melanie Laurent, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman
Director : Louis Letterier
Running Time : 125 mins

Four small time magicians receive a summons from a mysterious benefactor who gives them instructions on how they can become The Four Horseman, a spectacular magic act whose headlining performance concludes with them apparently robbing a bank. When it turns out the robbery is for real, the police and Interpol start trying to track them down and prove that they are in fact criminal masterminds rather than the innocent magicians they claim to be.

This is an excellent crime caper that certainly delivers on mystery, tension, suspense and action. The idea is fun and well thought through, the actors (on the whole) are pretty good and very believable in their roles, and the twists towards the end of the movie may not be completely unexpected but they certainly pack a punch and work effectively to round out the tale.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Prestige

Red Army (2014) 7/10

Starring : Viacheslav Fetisov, Scotty Bowman, Mark Deakins
Director : Gabe Polsky
Running Time : 84 mins

This documentary looks at the world famous Red Army hockey team from the Former Soviet Union through a series of interviews with some of the players and others involved in the games, and how as the years progressed, many of the players defected to the USA to play for more money and became political enemies of their own country.

I’m not big on documentaries, but when I was recommended this I sat down and watched it – and actually found myself enjoying it! It was so interesting hearing how the Soviet hockey team were trained to do nothing but play hockey, then realised that they could make considerably more money by turning their backs on their communist ways and embracing capitalism. Well worth watching even if you don’t like hockey, or even sport in general.

You’ll like this if you liked : Youngblood

Curious George 2 : Follow That Monkey! (2009) 7/10

Starring : Jeff Bennett, Tim Curry, Jamie Kennedy, Matt Lauer, Jerry Lewis, Frank Welker
Director : Norton Virgien
Running Time : 82 mins

When Ted (Bennett) takes George the monkey (Welker) to a magic show, George accidentally frees Kayla the elephant, who is part of the disappearing act, and takes her on a cross-country trip to find her family. The only problem is the magician who owns her, Piccadilly (Curry), thinks that Ted and George have kidnapped her so sets head of security Danno Wolfe (Kennedy) on their trail.

This was better than I expected, and a fun film for young children, even if they don’t understand the complex plot. Saying that, the characters are a little one-dimensional, and I’d have liked the magician to be a little less understanding that someone had apparently stolen an elephant that was so important to his act and his livelihood. Plus, a rare appearance from the always awesome Jerry Lewis was a fun surprise.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Wild Thornberrys Movie

Get Hard (2015) 7/10

Starring : Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Craig T Nelson, Alison Brie, Edwina Findley Dickerson
Director : Etan Coen
Running Time : 107 mins

When rich idiot hedge fund manager James King (Ferrell) is framed for embezzlement and sentenced to prison time, he employs the help of the guy who washes his car, Darnell Lewis (Hart), to help him cope with life in jail, something King assumes Lewis knows all about. The first problem – Darnell has never been in prison! The second problem – the people who framed King think he is performing his own investigation and want him out of the way...

Some of the comedy in this movie is so broad it feels quite old fashioned. With such comic moments as bums on windows and people falling over and getting beaten up, this could have been an X rated Stooges movie! Ferrell is a little too over the top for my liking, and Kevin Hart’s straight man who just wants to get paid feels a little odd when we are introduced to his criminal cousin who lives in a completely different world to him. This is fun, and there is a semblance of a plot, but the majority of this movie deals with the silliness between Hart and Ferrell, which does sometimes get in the way of the storyline.

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

Spike Island (2012) 7/10

Starring : Elliott Tittensor, Nico Mirallegro, Jordan Murphy, Adam Long, Oliver Heald, Emilia Clarke
Director : Matt Whitecross
Running Time : 101 mins

Four school friends in 1990s Manchester decide to make a demo tape of their band and travel to Widnes to hand it over to their idols, The Stone Roses, who are performing at a gig on Spike Island. Along the way they face obstacles that could ruin their chances, including a lack of tickets and an inevitable love triangle.

As a fan of The Stone Roses, it was fun to see a movie made about a group of teens who loved their music and would do anything to see their heroes and have them respect their music in return. Like a more dramatic version of The Inbetweeners, this road movie will have anyone from the UK reminiscing about the early nineties music scene and the rise of Brit Pop spinning out of The Roses Madchester influence.

You’ll like this if you liked : Fanboys

Noah (2014) 5/10

Starring : Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Anthony Hopkins
Director : Darren Aronofsky
Running Time : 138 mins

Noah (Crowe) is told by the voice of God that he plans on destroying mankind and starting over by sending a flood. Noah is challenged with the task of building a massive ark to help protect a select number of animals and his own family, but first he must contend with the evil machinations of his brother-in-law, Tubal-Cain (Winstone).

Although the special effects were good enough, this was nothing but an overlong nonsense tale which has Noah acting like a nutcase rather than a man acting on the word of God (although in this day and age they are often the same thing). There wasn’t enough fun moments with Noah collecting the animals, and as far as I could see the Ark was pretty much empty! Plus, not to take a dig at religion, but it doesn’t make sense to me that God would decide to wipe out the evil of mankind by sending a flood yet choose to save a man whose wife is a descendent of Cain!

You’ll like this if you liked : Pompeii