Reviews

As there is not many stories to be told anymore, at least in the old fashioned way, avoiding turning a normal story into a fantasy is hard. Harry Brown's director, Daniel Barber, manages to take the "Death Wish" style story and insert it into a British council estate with ease. With the very simple plot of one man who has had enough and it being told in a likely and very understandable way makes this picture a very enjoyable day at the cinema. Michael Caine brings us another strong, emotional and honest character with a flawless performance backed up with a good supporting lineup. The younger members of the cast show a lot of budding talent. In particular Ben Drew who plays Noel the main thug on the estate giving an unsettlingly accurate performance of modern day youth gone wrong. For such a brutal story the authenticity of the circumstances have to be exact for it to sustain credibility and this film shows it was clearly well thought out and researched. Harry Brown gets a well deserved 9/10

I reckon it will be noted as the funniest film this year as I think it would be hard to top. It is certainly the best comedy I've seen for a couple of years. The cast were excellent with a truly great dynamic of main characters played by very talented comedic actors. The performance that sticks out is Zach Galifianakis' character 'Alan'. Zach has brought a fresh character to the screen and with the quality of this films script the combination of the two are what brings this to the point of a comedy masterpiece. As a film fan who is partial to only rating thrillers and dramas with a sense of respect, this film reminds me of how comedy can be the masterclass of cinema and the reason why we enjoy it so much. My Dad is not a fan of comedy as such and normally sees going to watch films of this type as a chore but to see him laugh as much as my brother and myself at 65 years of age shows how its humor can break not just an age gap but more importantly a persons taste in film. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this movie and do not wish to say anything about the story. The best thing to do is to go and see this film for yourself and you'll realize what i'm talking about.

As this picture is part of a franchise its hard not to think back to previous films but with Terminator 3 being a disappointment I didn't expect much from this either. The film in general was so-so, Christian Bale's John Connor sparked no relation to previous portrayals, instead what we saw was a cold and distant Connor. I never thought it would have been a good idea to base a Terminator film solely on the aftermath of Judgement day as with just small snippets of it in the first films it managed to keep a certain mystery which added to the appeal of the story. The character 'Marcus Wright' played by Sam Worthington is what kept this movie fueled enough to last the duration. The only thing that interests me about this film is that its basically a prequel set in the future. 'Yelchin' was good as 'Kyle Reese' but the nostalgia just didn't seem to hit me the way it should have. This story is done and if any other installment is released I would do my best to avoid it.

As a self-confessed fan of the Star Trek TV shows I knew I would enjoy this film but didn't expect to be so thrilled and entertained that I would be floating out of the cinema. A very important trait for any film-maker is to produce a movie with a detailed story and bursts of information within a two hour period as J.J. Abrhams manages to accomplish. As for the cast I would say it was an amazing group effort. Chris Pine's 'Kirk' was the most pleasing of them all but was not standing out there alone. I would hold Karl Urban's performance as 'Bones' and Simon Pegg as 'Scotty' in high esteem, they brought the same warmth to the characters as their predecessors if not more. The action is not over-done and the plot was very cleverly constructed. Finally, you do not have to be a die hard Star Trek fan to enjoy this movie, in fact be warned, you may just find yourself watching an episode or two of the classic TV series as I believe it will return an interest to the show. Watch it!

The horror genre is slowly losing respect amongst people who take films seriously, I can confidently say it is because of the absolute nonsense they try to pass-off as cinema these days, with its cheap scares, smutty sex scenes and mind-numbing plots. But Sam Raimi might be the saving grace of this sinking ship as he has brought it back to basics. This film is perfectly crafted with a plot a child could understand but still entertain the most refined of movie goers. I enjoyed every character of this film, as they were all portrayed with skill. The scares are credited not to a loud slamming door or a sudden din of orchestral shrieks but to brilliant special effects and a mystery to the evil which lurks through this film. As someone who would not normally rate horror movies, I enjoyed this film and it left me with the appropriate unsettled feeling which this genre was born to do.

Considering previous Michael Bay productions I was not expecting too much from the first film but was pleasantly surprised by its visual intoxication, with characters carefully charted throughout the film. Unfortunately Revenge of the Fallen's chemistry was severely unbalanced. The much adored battle scenes from the first movie were sadly not outdone for this sequel, instead they were just longer, louder and without creativity. I would not totally discredited this film as Shia la Boeuf's performance was yet again commendable. You could see the director was pushed for time as most of the battle scenes were shot in slow motion to add the more dramatic effect but after 9 or 10 of them it can get a bit tedious then eventually funny when it shouldn't be. But in respect I wasn't constantly watching the clock waiting for it to end, so I was entertained enough to sit through the length of this picture. But as a person who truly rates films on the premise that I could watch them over and over again, sadly this is not one of them.

The only reason i would give this movie a six and not an 8 is that i am not particularly fond of musicals. But, this picture was not without its charm. The cinematography is great, i like that vision of London, almost reminds you of a nightmare you had when you were young. Jonny Depp is excellent in this movie. I believe he didn't ever attempt to sing before this film, i could be wrong but in any case he does a good job. Alan Rickman is his usual convincing self as the "bad guy". I really enjoyed Helena Bonham Carter's character as well, very darkly portrayed. I reckon the mixture of Musical and Horror isn't a bad idea at all and gives the film a very surreal feeling which helps you maintain interest in the film. Overall I initially didn't think I would enjoy this film but I was pleasantly surprised that I gained enough interest to watch it the whole way through. Not a bad film at all, just not fantastic.

As soon as i found out Michael Mann was doing it i knew it would be great. When Mann started to direct the show, he saw a lot more potential in it, and this film is an obvious result of how much of a visionary he is. I've only seen the intro to the show so i can't comment on it. I presume it won't be a patch on the film. Foxx and Farrell are brilliant as the leads, you see on the screen they put everything they had into the movie. Watching a Michael Mann movie is like watching Michael Schumacher race, always exciting and always a winner, if you find this type of effort and dedication monotonous then you are just a sweet and sour junkie. Hats off to everyone who made this film happen.