The Dreamers (2003) 4/10

Starring : Michael Pitt, Eva Green, Louis Garrel, Anna Chancellor, Robin Renucci
Director : Bernardo Bertolucci
Running Time : 110 mins

It’s 1968 and an American teenager named Matthew (Pitt) heads to Paris where he makes friends with twins Isabelle (Green) and Theo (Garrel). The strange trio form an unusual sexual relationship while the French pair’s parents are away, and Matthew infatuation with Isabelle leads to some awkward sexual encounters.

Basically, on many levels, this films is pornography. And not very pleasant pornography at that. Granted, it’s worth the admission fee to see Eva Green with her tits out, but that doesn’t make the characters any more palatable, nor the plot any more enjoyable. By setting it against the backdrop of the student riots in 1968 Paris, I guess the makers were trying to make some sort of statement, but the overall storyline is uncomfortable to watch, and the reactions of the parents when they find the three asleep and naked is unusual to say the least.

You’ll like this if you liked : Stealing Beauty

Inside Out (2015) 9/10

Starring : Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan
Director : Pete Docter & Ronnie Del Carmen
Running Time : 96 mins

Riley (Dias) is controlled by five central emotions – Joy (Poehler), Anger (Black), Fear (Hader), Disgust (Kaling), and Sadness (Smith) – who help her make her way through her young life, but when Riley’s family move house to a new city her emotions start to run out of control, and when Sadness and Joy accidentally get sent to long term memory, the remaining emotions are left to try and control the emotional girl.

This movie, like so many of Pixar’s movies before this, is the perfect mix of comedy and drama, with this movie having some exceptionally emotional moments (obviously this movie would, what with five of the characters BEING emotions). The characters are fun and imaginative, and the dual storyline of the emotions trying to cope with getting lost and Riley trying to cope with new surroundings intertwine perfectly together to form an excellent family film.

You’ll like this if you liked : Toy Story 3

Wish I Was Here (2014) 7/10

Starring : Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Josh Gad, Pierce Gagnon, Ashley Greene, Kate Hudson, Joey King, Jim Parsons, Mandy Patinkin
Director : Zach Braff
Running Time : 107 mins

Struggling actor Aidan Bloom (Braff) is forced to look for work when his family run low on money to pay for their children’s Hebrew school. Realising that he has no saleable skills, he resorts to homeschooling his two children until the local public school has available places.

This movie had its moments, and as far as dry humour goes this had it in spades, but the story didn’t gel together quite as well as I’d hoped. The performances were pretty good, especially from up and comer Joey King. Though Kate Hudson was sort of wasted in this simple roll. Braff seems to give his character all the most memorable moments, and it would have been nice if the other characters were given the option to be more fully fleshed out.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Last Kiss

Hot Pursuit (2015) 6/10

Starring : Reese Witherspoon, Sofia Vergara, Matthew Del Negro, Michael Mosley
Director : Anne Fletcher
Running Time : 88 mins

Uptight police officer Rose Cooper (Witherspoon) is charged with assisting the FBI in bringing in a criminal turned informant, but when he is murdered Cooper is forced to flee with the man’s wife, Daniella Riva (Vergara), and the two go on the run from those out to kill them while the public believe that Copper is the one responsible for the deaths.

This is a lot like Midnight Runs but with female leads and a little less pizzazz. Witherspoon is plausible enough as the by-the-book cop that ends up being blamed for a crime she didn't commit, with Vergara putting in her usual over the top performance as the gangsters moll that joins her in their mismatched road trip. On the whole it’s an enjoyable enough movie, it just isn’t particularly imaginative or memorable.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Bounty Hunter

A Film With Me In It (2008) 7/10

Starring : Dylan Moran, Mark Doherty, Keith Allen, Amy Huberman, David O’Doherty
Director : Ian Fitzgibbon
Running Time : 83 mins

Mark (Doherty) is living a terrible life, having to dodge his landlord Jack (Allen) and keep his lack of money a secret from his girlfriend Sally (Huberman), while having to care for his disabled brother David (O’Doherty). His dream is to write a Hollywood blockbuster with his friend Pearce (Moran), but when an accident in his ramshackle flat kills his dog, a series of events spiral out of control that could land both Mark and Pearce in a whole lot of trouble.

This might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but this blacker than black comedy made me laugh in places. Granted, it is very dark and depressing at times, but if you can look past the deathly shell and find the humour beneath the surface, you’ll probably thoroughly enjoy this little known gem of a film that takes an accident and turns it into a calamity.

You’ll like this if you liked : Very Bad Things

Mission : Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) 8/10

Starring : Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin
Director : Christopher McQuarrie
Running Time : 132 mins

Ethan Hunt (Cruise) finds himself on yet another impossible mission, this time following the dissolution of the IMF. Hunt is forced to go it alone after a rogue organisation known as the Syndicate who he suspects are performing secret operations without any oversight from their home nation and, with the aid of former IMF operative Benji Dunn and (Pegg) Ilsa Faust (Ferguson), an agent of the Syndicate itself, he attempts to bring down the group once and for all.

Surprisingly the Mission : Impossible movies seem to be getting better. Considering the second movie was atrocious and that they’ve been going for almost twenty years. It seems that after the third film which introduced Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, the formula has begun to gel and now that there are more and more recurring characters the franchise could last for quite a long time.

You’ll like this if you liked : Fast And Furious 7

Seventh Son (2014) 7/10

Starring : Jeff Bridges, Ben Barnes, Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Antje Traue, Olivia Williams, Djimon Hounsou, Julianne Moore
Director : Sergei Bodrov
Running Time : 102 mins

A witch hunter known as Spook (Bridges) takes on a new apprentice called Tom Ward (Barnes) and helps train him to track down the infamous witch Mother Malkin (Moore) who killed his previous apprentice. As he continues to train his apprentice, he discovers some interesting secrets about his heritage, while Tom himself finds himself falling in love with Alice (Vikander), a witch who he should in fact be trying to kill.

This movie was a lot better than I thought it might be. I was expecting a dreary drama about a man with the ability to heal or something like that. This comes across on watching as a fun children’s movie full of over the top action and spectacular special effects. The plot might be a little shaky, and there are more coincidences than you could possibly imagine, but overall it’s a pretty fun film, even though its conclusion felt a little rushed.

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

Jurassic World (2015) 7/10

Starring : Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Irrfan Khan
Director : Colin Trevorrow
Running Time : 125 mins

The site of the original Jurassic Park is reopened and renamed Jurassic World, successfully managing to bring a dinosaur theme park safely to the public, but when one of the exhibits – a genetically modified beast created purely as a scare tactic to encourage the public to visit – escapes from its compound and goes on the rampage, it is up to self-styled dinosaur whisper Own Grady (Pratt) with the aid of ops manager Claire Dearing (Howard) to try to bring him down before more members of the public get hurt.

This might not be as well plotted as the original movie, but it is better than at least one of the sequels. Some of the special effects are a little ridiculous, and the scenario of the genetically modified dinosaur seems like a desperate attempt to try to surprise the audience who might be more than likely made up of huge fans of dinosaurs. Pratt and Howard work well together, but there are a few loose ends to this story that it would be nice if they got addressed in the planned sequel.

You’ll like this if you liked : Jurassic Park III

The Counselor (2013) 6/10

Starring : Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt
Director : Ridley Scott
Running Time : 138 mins

A lawyer (Fassbender) becomes involved in a drug deal with a man named Reiner (Bardem), one of his clients, but a series of coincidences lead to him being blamed for the death of a valued drug courier. As he tries to protect his fiancé Laura (Cruz) from the cartel, he discovers that life with Mexican drug dealers isn’t as much fun as he hoped it would be.

Although this picked up towards the end when everything starts to go horrendously wrong, this starts out incredibly slow. Our first introduction to the main character is a sex scene, which didn’t really tell us what sort of person he was, and in hindsight you realise just how much exposition there was about what was going to happen, including the bolito story and the talk of snuff films being made of the cartel’s female victims. Personally this wasn’t my cup of tea, as I like things to be spelt out for me, and we never get a definite answer as to what happened to Laura, though the arrival of a DVD to the lawyer kind of tells us it wasn’t anything good that happened to her off screen.

You’ll like this if you liked : Killing Them Softly

Avengers : Age Of Ultron (2015) 8/10

Starring : Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Samuel L Jackson
Director : Joss Whedon
Running Time : 142 mins

A computer program designed by Tony Stark (Downey Jr) to bring peace to the world goes out of control and develops its own sentience, deciding for itself that the only way to sustain peace throughout the world is to destroy those responsible for the violence – namely, mankind! But the robot, named Ultron (Spader), decides that the perfect starting point will be to eliminate the Avengers.

The Marvel movies are always fun, and this was no exception. The combined might of some of the biggest franchises are combined once again as Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, et al once again fight the bad guys. The fact that the bad guy this time is of their own making packs this with even more of an impact, and even with so many characters to manage the writers are still able to give each character enough in-depth screen time to keep them unique and interesting.

You’ll like this if you liked : Iron Man 3

Cirque Du Soleil : Worlds Away (2012) 5/10

Starring : Erica Linz, Igor Zaripov, Lutz Halbhubner, John Clarke, Dallas Barnett
Director : Andrew Adamson
Running Time : 92 mins

Mia (Linz) is a young woman visiting the circus in a small mid-Western town when she becomes enraptured with the performance of an aerial acrobat (Zaripov). When the acrobat misses a catch and falls to the ground below, Mia rushes to save him but falls with him into the bizarre dreamscape world of Cirque du Soleil where they are seprated and must work their way through the many acts to find each other again.

Personally I didn’t enjoy this, probably because I like my movies to have a plot that is decipherable and not just a series of Faustian levels in a nightmare circus tent. I suppose seeing it on the small screen meant I missed out on the theatrics and the 3D effects, but even then it would probably be better if seen live. The performances are impressive and the sets are great but I just couldn’t get into this as it felt like opera to me.

You’ll like this if you liked : MirrorMask

Fantastic Four (2015) 6/10

Starring : Miles Teller, Michael B Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell
Director : Josh Trank
Running Time : 100 mins

Four young scientists travel through a portal to another dimension. One is killed, and the other three receive great powers, along with a fourth, Sue Storm (Mara), who is back in our dimension when the accident occurs. As they try to cope with their new abilities, one of them, Reed Richards (Teller), goes on the run while the one presumed dead, Victor Von Doom (Kebbell), returns to exact his revenge for being left stranded in a hell dimension.

Strictly speaking there isn’t anything wrong with this movie. The script could have been tighter, the plotting a little better, and it would have been nice if the girl could have been allowed the opportunity to be an explorer. The big problem with this movie is that it spent too much time setting up the accident that gives the characters their powers and not enough time exploring how they learned to use them. Plus it felt like I was watching the pilot episode for a cancelled television series as the story didn’t really go anywhere. Fans of the comic book will hate this with a passion, but those unfamiliar with over fifty years of comic history and the two previous blockbuster movies (three movies if you count the abomination from the nineties) then you might enjoy the special effects at least.

You’ll like this if you liked : Green Lantern

Wild Target (2010) 7/10

Starring : Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint, Rupert Everett, Eileen Atkins, Martin Freeman, Gregor Fisher
Director : Jonathan Lynn
Running Time : 98 mins

Victor Maynard (Nighy) is an assassin for hire who is offered the job of killing Rose (Blunt), an art thief and con woman who has swindled a man named Ferguson (Everett) out of a valuable Rembrandt, but for some reason he decides to help her escape and, with the assistance of passerby Tony (Grint), the three of them find themselves on the run from another assassin, Hector Dixon (Freeman).

This was a fun movie, even if it wasn’t brilliant. The comic storyline may have had some holes in it, but the overall effect worked quite well in the long run. The performances are likeable, with Nighy remaining straight laced for the duration, Blunt being a believable kleptomaniac, and Grint a plausibly innocent victim, but I would have liked to have a bit more closure on the characters played by Everett and Fisher, who are just left in the hospital with no explanation for why they stop trying to have Blunt and Nighy killed and why they aren’t arrested.

You’ll like this if you liked : Big Nothing

Man Up (2015) 9/10

Starring : Lake Bell, Simon Pegg, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Ophelia Lovibond, Olivia Williams, Rory Kinnear, Sharon Horgan, Stephen Campbell Moore, Ken Stott
Director : Ben Palmer
Running Time : 88 mins

Thirty-four year-old Nancy (Bell) is tired of being set up on blind dates, but when she is mistaken for Jessica (Lovibond), a twenty-four year-old city worker by forty year-old divorcee Jack (Pegg), who is meeting her for a blind date, Nancy decides to keep up the pretence of being Jessica when she finds she has so much in common with him.

This is such a fun movie, and thanks to Lake Bell’s flawless English accent there is little to complain about in this French farce of a British comedy. The script is tight, the acting is solid, and the case of mistaken identity isn’t overplayed. My one gripe would be that the ending feels a little rushed, and the reactions from Jessica when Jack reveals he isn’t interested are a little unlikely and amazingly convenient.

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

The House Of Magic (2013) 7/10

Starring : Murray Blue, George Babbit, Shanelle Gray, Grant George, Doug Stone
Director : Jeremy Degruson & Ben Stassen
Running Time : 86 mins

A cat named Thunder (Blue) is abandoned and finds himself in a mysterious house, owned by a magician named Lawrence (Stone) and filled with all of his magic act animals. A rabbit named Jack (Babbit) has it in for Thunder and tries to get rid of him, but ends up putting the magician in hospital, which gives his estate agent nephew Daniel (George) the opportunity he’s been looking for for years to sell his uncles house out from under him. Now Thunder, Jack and the rest of the magic house inhabitants must unite to stop him from selling their home.

This movie was actually not that bad. I didn’t expect much, what with it being made by a movie studio I hadn’t heard of before (nWave Pictures?), but the characters were likeable and the story was fun and easy to follow, though it was a predictable plot that has been done to death many times before. There aren't any big names in the voice cast, but still, the kids will love it.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Nut Job

She’s Funny That Way (2014) 7/10

Starring : Owen Wilson, Imogen Poots, Kathryn Hahn, Will Forte, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Aniston
Director : Peter Bogdanovich
Running Time : 94 mins

Isabella Patterson (Poots) is a call girl who would love nothing more than to become an actress, and when the opportunity for a high profile roll emerges she jumps at the chance. Unfortunately the director, Arnold Albertson (Wilson), just so happens to be one of her clients, and the playwright, Josh Fleet (Forte), happens to be dating her therapist, Jane Claremont (Aniston).

This is an old fashioned French farce of a film that comes across as if it were written by Woody Allen. The story is simple enough to follow, but it is the confusing relationships between the characters that make this a fun film to watch. It’s a little pretentious, and Poots’ Brooklyn accent is very distracting, especially as she is English, but that aside this is a fun movie.

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

The Informant! (2009) 7/10

Starring : Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Melanie Lynskey, Tony Hale, Patton Oswalt
Director : Steven Soderbergh
Running Time : 109 mins

Mark Whiteacre (Damon) is the vice president of ADM, a company that works on the development of lysine, but when he decides to claim that someone is sabotaging the plant he works in so that he can cover up the problems his department has been facing, he opens up a can of worms that has him turning informant for the FBI in regards to the companies price fixing activities.

This is a confusing movie that doesn’t really get into the idea of Whiteacre being a compulsive liar until quite far into the movie. We as an audience are lead to believe that everything he tells us is true, especially as some of the things he has actual evidence of. By mixing the lies with the truth he creates a mishmash that is almost impossible to work through to discover what is fact and what is fiction, and this leads to a very fun and highly entertaining movie that could quite easily have been flat and boring.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Men Who Stare At Goats