Southpaw (2015) 7/10

Starring : Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, Naomie Harris, Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson, Oona Laurence, Rachel McAdams
Director : Antoine Fuqua
Running Time : 124 mins

Bill Hope (Gyllenhaal) is a famed boxer, undefeated in his weight class. After suffering an injury to his eye, his wife Maureen (McAdams) tries to convince him to retire, but he is provoked into fighting another match by a rival for a charity event, where his wife is shot to death. As he becomes depressed following her death, he starts losing fights and attacks a referee, which leads to him being suspended from fighting and losing his daughter Leila (Laurence) to social services. So Billy finds himself on a journey to prove he is good enough to take care of his daughter, and also to make back the money and prestige he has lost.

The first half hour or so of this was actually pretty boring an obvious, until Hope’s wife is killed. Then we have a much more interesting story of him trying to turn his life around after spiralling out of control. There are some genuine poignant moments, sometimes spoiled by below par performances from the likes of Jackson and, even at some points, Gyllenhaal, though his ability to channel the spirit of Rocky Balboa was hilarious.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Fighter

Goosebumps (2015) 8/10

Starring : Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, Ryan Lee, Jack Black
Director : Rob Letterman
Running Time : 104 mins

Zach Cooper (Minnette) moves with his family to a small town, where he meets his attractive neighbour Hannah (Rush). The two of them become friends and Zach soon discovers that Hannah’s father is secretly the famed children’s author RL Stine (Black), but when it turns out that the monsters from his books have become real, and the only thing stopping them from going on the rampage is the fact that they are trapped inside their books, the obvious happens and the gang have to stop the monsters from their terrible rampage.

I don’t know if it’s the big kid in me, but I really enjoyed this old-fashioned family movie. I never read the Goosebumps books as a kid, but I found this fun and refreshing, seeing as there are so few non-animated family movies made these days. Like Night At The Museum or Jumanji, this uses fantasy in a clever way that makes this movie both entertaining and enjoyable.

You’ll like this if you liked : Bedtime Stories

The I Inside (2004) 6/10

Starring : Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Polley, Piper Perabo, Stephen Rea, Robert Sean Leonard, Stephen Lang, Peter Egan, Stephen Graham, Rakie Ayola
Director : Roland Suso Richter
Running Time : 92 mins

Simon Cable (Phillippe) wakes up in hospital with no memory of the past two years of his life. As he searches fro clues as to what might have happened to him, he finds himself transported back and forth through time, reliving the missing moments, and piecing together the mystery behind what happened to him.

This movie had a lot of potential, but thanks to lacklustre performances from all involved (though Perabo did a pretty good job) it falls short of being memorable, especially thanks to a disappointing ending to the film. If you like weird thrillers that slowly unravel as they reach their conclusion, this might entertain you, but there are better movies out there, like Identity.

You’ll like this if you liked : Stay

Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness (2015) 7/10

Starring : Frank Welker, Mindy Cohn, Grey DeLisle, Matthew Lillard
Director : Mark Banker
Running Time : 76 mins

In the twenty-third of the direct to video Scooby-Doo series, Scooby (Welker) and the gang win the last five tickets in a lottery awarding a once in a lifetime trip into space, but when aliens start sabotaging the ship, the gang find they might just have another mystery on their hands.

This was a fun pastiche of the Alien movies – something which might go over younger viewers heads but wasn’t wasted on me. I love that the rest of the gang have developed their own personalities over the years and aren’t just one dimensional like they were in the 60s. This instalment of the straight to video series just goes to show that the franchise is just as fresh as its always been, if not fresher.

You’ll like this if you liked : Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy

Deadpool (2016) 9/10

Starring : Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, TJ Miller, Gina Carano, Brianna Hildebrand, Stefan Kapicic, Leslie Uggums, Jed Rees, Karan Soni
Director : Tim Miller
Running Time : 108 mins

When he discovers that he has late stage cancer, former Special Forces Operative Wade Wilson (Reynolds) decides to sign up for an experimental treatment to cure himself. When the treatment turns out to be a sadistic method of artificially activating his mutant genes, Wade finds himself turned into an indestructible killing machine and sets out to get revenge on the people behind the treatment that has left him hideously disfigured.

This was exactly what I expected from a Deadpool movie, perhaps with a little more nudity than I expected. The action was over the top and violent, the humour was silly, and the story was disjointed on a way that was perfect for a Deadpool movie. Reynolds has always been first choice for the lead role, and the supporting cast managed to keep things light even when they were getting dark. Fans of the comic book character (who turns twenty-five this year) will love this movie with a passion, and hopefully it will spawn a whole generation of new fans.

You’ll like this if you liked : Super

Tammy (20014) 5/10

Starring : Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Allison Janney, Dan Aykroyd, Mark Duplass, Gary Cole
Director : Ben Falcone
Running Time : 101 mins

After being fired from her job and discovering that her husband is having an affair, Tammy (McCarthy) decides it high time she got away from the small town she lives in. So that she can fund the trip she brings along her grandma Pearl (Sarandon), and together the two of them get up to all sorts of childish hi-jinx.

This movie had potential if only it wasn’t so dry. With McCarthy at the helm, I expected crazy slapstick nonsense, and there was plenty of it, but it didn’t really go with the rest of the script. It started off with Tammy coming across as mentally challenged in some way, then her portrayal swiftly changed to angry and bitter. There are some potential dark moments which could have worked well, but the powers that be clearly copped out of using them at the last minute, and in spite of a stellar cast of supporting celebs, this was less than great.

You’ll like this if you liked : Identity Thief

Aloha (2015) 7/10

Starring : Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride, Alec Baldwin
Director : Cameron Crowe
Running Time : 105 mins

Brian Gilcrest (Cooper) is asked to negotiate a deal with native Hawaiians in order to gain a traditional blessing for some land proposed to be the sight of a new space centre, but his trip is complicated not only when he runs into his ex-girlfriend Tracy Woodside (McAdams) and her new family but also when he becomes close with his Air Force liaison Allison Ng (Stone).

There’s a lot of controversy surrounding this film, mainly due to the casting of Stone as quarter Asian, quarter Hawaiian character, but when her character is explained her appearance makes perfect sense. The storyline is shaky to begin with, and it’s hard to tell if this is a romantic drama or a cultural journey, but as with most of Crowe’s movies this is bitter-sweet and on the whole enjoyable.

You’ll like this if you liked : Jerry Maguire

Paper Towns (2015) 7/10

Starring : Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne, Austin Abrams, Justice Smith, Halston Sage, Jaz Sinclair
Director : Jake Schreier
Running Time : 109 mins

After years of pining for his neighbour Margo (Delevingne), Quentin (Wolff) is invited by her on an adventurous night of revenge, but when he discovers the next morning that she has vanished he convinces himself and his friends that she has left clues behind for them to track her down.

This movie wasn’t that bad, sadly not getting interesting until Delevingne disappears. The search for Margo, being the bulk of the film, is the most fun and the characters that help Quentin in his search make the movie watchable. The references felt a little off. Clearly this was set in 2015, as the characters scratch their initials and the year at the end, yet it felt like it was set in the 80s, possibly because of the soundtrack and the overall feel of the film. Also the main three guys talk about sneaking in to see Snow Dogs when they were young, but they’d have been no more than five when that movie came out in 2002! In spite of these problems with time frames, it’s a film that teenagers will enjoy.

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

One Day (2011) 7/10

Starring : Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Romola Garai, Rafe Spall, Ken Stott, Patricia Clarkson
Director : Lone Scherfig
Running Time : 108 mins

Dexter (Sturgess) and Emma (Hathaway) meet in 1988, and sleep together on the night they meet. Every year on the same day we see how their lives have progressed, and what stage they are at in their relationships with both each other and other people.

This was an interesting movie, with an original concept, but it fell a little short of being brilliant. It was somewhat distracting having Hathaway doing a Northern accent, and Sturgess going from posh to cockney for his television persona was unlikely, as generally is was people who didn’t speak ‘proper English’ that were getting presenting jobs in the 90s. Fans of David Nicholls might be disappointed as this is nowhere close to being as good as Starter For Ten, and the random sad ending was a bit of a downer, but it does have its moments that work quite well.

You’ll like this if you liked : Love And Other Drugs

Maze Runner : The Scorch Trials (2015) 7/10

Starring : Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Dexter Darden, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Alexander Flores, Aidan Gillen, Ki Hong Lee, Jacob Lofland, Barry Pepper, Rosa Salazar, Lili Taylor, Alan Tudyk, Patricia Clarkson
Director : Wes Ball
Running Time : 132 mins

Having managed to escape from the Maze, Thomas (O’Brien) and his new friends travel to a desolate landscape known as Scorch where they team up with a band of resistance fighter eager to take down the organisation known as WCKD.

This was very different from the first movie, and as such I didn’t know what to expect. It seems weird that the primary villains of the movie are an organization that is trying to save the human race from extinction – granted, they might be a bit dodgy in their methodology, but the ends do justify the means when there’s no other solution in sight. Maybe the next movie will reveal that they created the virus or something along those lines, but that would be predictable. I might read the books so I don’t have to wait at least another year to find out...

You’ll like this if you liked : The Hunger Games : Mockingjay Part 1

Charlie Brown And Snoopy The Peanuts Movie (2015) 8/10

Starring : Noah Schnapp, Hadley Belle Miller, Mariel Sheets, Alex Garfin, Francesca Angelucci Capaldi, Venus Omega Schultheis, Rebecca Bloom, Marleik “Mar Mar” Walker, Noah Johnston, Kristin Chenoweth, Bill Melendez
Director : Steve Martino
Running Time : 89 mins

When a little red-haired girl (Capaldi) starts at his school, Charlie Brown (Schnapp) is instantly smitten, but panic sets in as he tries to impress her. What makes things worse is he comes top of the class in a test, so when he is paired with her for a book report he has to pull out all the stops to make sure that it matches up with his recent success.

Just like the Peanuts cartoons and comic strips of old, this has an understated charm that works perfectly with the material. The characters are just how you remember, the plot isn’t over the top and could easily have existed in a live-action movie (though that would have been horrible). Fans of Snoopy and Charlie Brown will love this, as it takes all the best elements we remember as kids as recreates them in 3-D form.

You’ll like this if you liked : Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown

Obvious Child (2014) 7/10

Starring : Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffman, Richard Kind
Director : Gillian Robespierre
Running Time : 85 mins

Stand-up comedienne Donna Stern (Slate) has a one-night stand with Max (Lacy) after her boyfriend dumps her, only to discover the next morning that she’s pregnant. She decides to have an abortion, which has a negative impact on her comedy routine and also causes potential problems with her relationship with Max, who she starts seeing more seriously.

This movie is in no way a laugh out loud comedy. The humour is dry and at times unfunny, but that’s what makes it feel real. I’d have liked it if the stand-up was actually humorous when it was supposed to be, but then the focus isn’t on the comedy – that’s just there. The plot of a woman getting an abortion and the complications such a decision can lead to is what makes this movie interesting, and the natural performances of the cast make this an interesting drama with a plausible ending.

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

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015) 7/10

Starring : Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton, Ronald Pickup, David Strathairn, Richard Gere
Director : John Madden
Running Time : 122 mins

Sonny Kapoor (Patel) is about to get married, but with the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel almost fully booked, he starts to concentrate on his dream of opening a second hotel to take on the overflow of guests, but is faced with problems from the get go.

This wasn’t quite as good as the first film, but fans of the first will still find this very enjoyable,. There is a lot more Sonny in this, which is good and bad: good because we get to know his character better as he was something of a caricature in the first film, and bad because sometimes it is the caricature that adds mystery to a likeable character. The rest of the cast do a great job with the material, including the addition of Richard Gere and Tamsin Grieg, but don’t expect quite as many laughs or as much drama as the first film.

You’ll like this if you liked : Quartet