Last Vegas (2013) 7/10

Starring : Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, Mary Steenburgen
Director : Jon Turteltaub
Running Time : 105 mins

Four childhood friends reunite for a bachelor party in Las Vegas when their last single friend, Billy (Douglas), finally decides to settle down. Whilst there, they discover secrets about each other and, ironically, about themselves.

This is a likeable buddy comedy drama that allows four of Hollywood’s big names to clown around and act silly for the duration of the film. There is a semblance of a plot, and each character has their own sub-plot to contend with, but the script isn’t Shakespeare. If you like comedies that you don’t really have to think too much about, then this will definitely appeal to you, but if you like high brow intelligent comedy then this might just miss the mark.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Bucket List

Sicario (2015) 7/10

Starring : Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya
Director : Denis Villeneuve
Running Time : 122 mins

FBI Agent Kate Macer (Blunt) is called upon to help with a task force that is trying to stop the drug wars that have become prevalent at the Mexican border. Unfortunately one3 of the people helping the US to stop these drug runners is Alejandro Gillick (Del Toro), a drug dealer himself, and Macer starts to doubt how good the intentions are to stop the competition.

This is an interesting movie that manages to paint America as both the bad guy and the hero of the piece, with the CIA proving to be criminal conspirators in the drug problems of South America and the FBI trying its best to stop them. Blunt is pretty good, but Del Toro and Brolin steal the show, as villains often do. The plot is complex, but not so much so that it will completely go over your head. Worth watching if you like movies about corrupt agencies, but the violence is quite muted so won’t appeal to action fans.

You’ll like this if you liked : Training Day

The Final Girls (2015) 9/10

Starring : Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, Alexander Ludwig, Nina Dobrev, Alia Shawkat, Thomas Middleditch, Adam DeVine, Angela Trimbur, Chloe Bridges, Tory N Thompson
Director : Todd Strauss-Schulson
Running Time : 92 mins

Max (Farmiga) is the daughter of famed 80s slasher actress Amanda Cartwright (Akerman), and a few years after her mother’s death she is invited to a commemorative screening of the series that made her mum famous, Camp Bloodbath. But something strange happens when a fire breaks out at the movie showing, and Max and her friends find themselves trapped inside the horror movie, the only escape being to live through the film and kill the killer at the end.

Many people didn’t like this homage to the slasher movie simply because it wasn’t a hard 18 / R certificate movie. In the UK it was a 15, and in the USA it was a PG13. Just because this had a low rating doesn’t mean it couldn’t handle all the subject matter you’d expect to see in a slasher flick, it just wasn’t as gratuitous as it might otherwise have been. Personally I enjoyed it a whole lot, and didn’t even realise it wasn’t an 18 until after I’d already watched it. Any true slasher / horror movie fan will enjoy this take on the genre, and if you can handle the fact that there is no nudity or outright gore then you will no doubt enjoy this movie too.

You’ll like this if you liked : Tucker And Dale Vs Evil

Adaptation. (2002) 6/10

Starring : Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper
Director : Spike Jonze
Running Time : 115 mins

Charlie Kaufman (Cage) is asked to work on a screenplay for the adaptation of a non-fiction novel, ‘The Orchid Thief’. The trouble is he can’t find enough interesting material surrounding the subject of orchids to fill an entire movie and, coupled with his own personal problems, he starts to descend into an insecure spiral of depression.

This, like most of Kaufman’s movies, is odd and almost without a plot, with crazy things happening straight out of left field one second, and absolutely nothing the next. It’s no surprise that the subject matter of this movie caused such difficulty for Kaufman, and it’s just luck that he managed to come up with something even slightly entertaining, though more often than not this is completely off the wall. Do not watch this unless you are a fan of his work, his influence definitely shows.

You’ll like this if you liked : Being John Malkovich

Paul Blart : Mall Cop 2 (2015) 6/10

Starring : Kevin James, Raini Rodriguez, Neal McDonough, Daniella Alonso, Eduardo Verastegui, David Henrie
Director : Andy Fickman
Running Time : 94 mins

Paul Blart (James) heads with his daughter Maya (Rodriguez) to a security officers’ convention in Las Vegas, hoping to get over the recent terrible events in his life. There he discovers a plot to steal all of the artwork from the hotel when his daughter is kidnapped so, with the help of his fellow security officers, he sets out to rescue her and stop the thieves.

The fact that this sequel even exists says a lot. The first movie was okay, but not brilliant, and this feels at times like it was intended to go straight to video or worse – straight to television. The acting isn’t great, but the story does come together reasonably well, and the slapstick isn’t too over the top so it isn’t as cringeworthy as it could have been. Fans of James may think this is beneath him, but to be fair he hasn’t done a decent live-action movie since ‘The Dilemma’ back in 2011, although ‘Here Come The Boom’ wasn’t bad either.

You’ll like this if you liked : Zookeeper

The Lady In The Van (2015) 7/10

Starring : Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent
Director : Nicholas Hytner
Running Time : 105 mins

Playwright Alan Bennett (Jennings) meets a homeless woman, Ms Shepherd (Smith), near his home in Camden Town and, after getting to know her, allows her to park her van-home in his driveway for a short time. The two get to know each other over the fifteen years she stays there, and Bennett uses her as an inspiration for one of his works in progress.

Although slow paced and with very little actually happening for the most part, this was an interesting and fun bit of easy viewing. Smith and Jennings worked well together, though Jennings comedy Leeds accent for Bennett was a little distracting at times. Fans of Smith might not think this is her best work, but it is entertaining and well performed to say the least, although as with many stories based on true events it is a little open ended in some parts, though some are explained a little too conveniently.

You’ll like this if you liked : Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day

Annie (2014) 6/10

Starring : Jamie Foxx, Quvenzhane Wallis, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, David Zayas, Cameron Diaz
Director : Will Gluck
Running Time : 118 mins

A foster kid named Annie (Wallis) is given the opportunity to live the high-life when mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Foxx) takes her in as part of a campaign move to make him appear more likeable to the public, but his political advisor Guy Danlily (Cannavale) plans on using Annie to further Will’s political aspirations in a much less permanent fashion.

Fans of the original will most likely dislike this remake, and not because Annie is now black. The musical numbers feel completely tacked on, and this has none of the theatrical feel that all good musicals should have. For a musical to be successful in the cinema, it really needs to look and feel like it is filmed on a ‘set’, so that the feeling of being in a theatre is still present. Instead, this feels like the songs are tacked on, and has at times no sense of being a musical whatsoever.

You’ll like this if you liked : Rock Of Ages

Survivor (2015) 6/10

Starring : Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan, Dylan McDermott, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster
Director : James McTeigue
Running Time : 97 mins

Kate Abbott (Jovovich) is an American State Department employee working in London vetting visa applications. When her entire team are killed in a restaurant bombing, she discovers that her boss Bill Talbot () has been blackmailed by terrorists who plan to set off a bomb on New Year’s Eve in Times Square, so she is forced to go on the run when she is framed for the crime by those responsible.

This low budget effort is interesting in its limited capacity, but Brosnan as a villain comes across a little comical to my mind. Jovovich is good enough in the lead role, though the theory behind bothering to kill her team seemed a little stupid as it basically sent up a red flag that something was going on and almost forced the investigation that led to the realisation of the terrorist attack.

You’ll like this if you liked : Shooter

Shaun The Sheep Movie (2015) 8/10

Starring : Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Omid Djalili
Director : Mark Burton & Richard Starzak
Running Time : 85 mins

When Shaun (Fletcher) and his sheep friends decide to have a day off from their humdrum routine, they accidentally cause an accident which gives the farmer (Sparkes) memory loss, and results in him thinking he’s a hairdresser. The sheep set out into town to find the farmer and bring him home, and chaos ensues.

Fans of Aardman who may not necessarily know Shaun The Sheep that well will still get a kick out of this borderline silent movie. The action comes thick and fast, with plotlines that will entertain children and adults alike. The basic premise of a man with memory loss is wittily handled, and the scenes with the sheep trying to get him back are very funnily played.

You’ll like this if you liked : Wallace And Gromit In The Curse Of The Wererabbit

Never Let Me Go (2010) 8/10

Starring : Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley
Director : Mark Romanek
Running Time : 105 mins

Kathy (Mulligan) is brought up in a boarding home for what appear to be orphan children with her friends Tommy (Garfield) and Ruth (Knightley). Together the three grow into adulthood, discovering along the way that they have been bred for spare parts, and will eventually have their organs donated to other, more worthy, people before they eventually die.

This is such a little gem of a movie. I’d never heard of it before switching on the TV one evening and seeing it there. I was instantly engrossed in the story, and surprised that a science fiction movie could be so down to earth and engaging without employing spectacle as a selling point. More people should see ths movie, or even read the book, as it is a wise and likeable story featuring characters who are forced to accept their place in society in spite of their own feelings and emotions which may end up either killing their spirit or setting it free.

You’ll like this if you liked : One Day

The D Train (2015) 7/10

Starring : Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor
Director : Andrew Mogel & Jarrad Paul
Running Time : 102 mins

Dan Landsman (Black) wants nothing more than for his high school reunion to be a success, so when he sees one-time school mate Oliver Lawless (Marsden) in a commercial on TV, he assumes that his success and previous popularity will be a big draw for people to attend. Dan uses his boss’s lack of technical skills to trick him into sending him on an all expenses trip to LA to track down Oliver, but the success of the reunion slowly starts to take precedent over Dan’s own life.

This isn’t the most laugh out loud comedy I’ve ever seen, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be. Rather it’s a situation or relationship comedy, showing that sometimes hero worship can take people into areas they wouldn’t normally explore. Fans of Black’s outrageous performances might find him a little subdued her, but it works well for the part, and Marsden always works best in comedic roles, though again his role isn’t side-splittingly funny. Many people focused on the gay sex scene and said this was jarring and out of place, but when you consider some of the other silly decisions Black makes in the movie, such as jeopardising his career and, in fact, his bosses entire business in the pursuit of a successful high school reunion, then it really isn’t the most unusual scene in the film.

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

Cinderella (2015) 7/10

Starring : Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgard, Holliday Grainger, Sophie McShera, Derek Jacobi, Helena Bonham Carter
Director : Kenneth Branagh
Running Time : 105 mins

When her mother dies, Ella (James) is left to live a relatively happy life with her father (Ben Chaplin). He remarries, and her stepmother (Blanchett) moves in with her two daughters, but when Ella’s father is killed whilst away on business, Ella discovers that her stepmother is wicked and evil and forces her to become a house slave for her and her children. So when her fairy godmother (Bonham Carter) shows up, Ella is delighted to get the opportunity to be whisked off to a royal ball.

This is a fun version of the fairytale, though the characters of Ella and the Prince are a little one-dimensional. As always, it is the villains that make these movies so much fun, and Blanchett and her daughters do a reasonable job as the child-friendly villains of the piece, hamming it up without going too far over the top in their performances.

You’ll like this if you liked : Maleficent

Dracula Untold (2014) 6/10

Starring : Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, Dominic Cooper, Art Parkinson, Charles Dance
Director : Gary Shore
Running Time : 92 mins

Prince Vlad (Evans) rules his kingdom with a calming influence, in spite of having a reputation for slaughtering his enemies, but when a Turkish invader named Mehmed (Cooper) insists on taking a thousand of his countries boys to create an army, including his own son Ingeras (Parkinson), Vlad is forced to turn to an unnatural solution by becoming a monster to prevent the Turks from invading his lands out of retribution.

Fans of the sort of vampire movies where there is nothing but action and no attempt to give the characters any sort of personality beyond the surface will not like this. There is very little vampirism for the first hour beyond the scenes with Charles Dance, and there is more attention spent on creating a history for Vlad The Impaler. However, people who enjoy the original book will find this reimagining of Vlad’s history intriguing and engrossing, with a final half hour of action as the payoff.

You’ll like this if you liked : I, Frankenstein