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Sound of My Voice (2011)

Directed by Zal Batmanglij this film stars Brit Marling, Christopher Denham and Nicole Vicius. Two aspiring film makers seek to expose a secretive cult as a sham it soon becomes confusing as to what is actually going on.

This film does a good job of subtlety drawing in both the viewers and the central characters to show how cults slowly begin to change your thoughts. Much of the film is done in a low key way and this really helps build the confusing and seductive nature of the cult. While the film does not have the same atmosphere as Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) or such overt threats it does cover somewhat similar material.

4/5

Die Harder

Die Hard 2 (1990)

Directed by Renny Harlin this sequel stars Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Sadler and Art Evans. It's another bad festive season for John McClane as he tries to pick up his wife from the airport during a terrorist attack.

After the success of the first film a sequel was a no brainer and this film does a good job of staying faithful to the characters without trying to just recreate the events of the previous film. The story is inspired by the novel “58 minutes” and some of the characters by real events involving CIA meddling in South America, all of which provides a decent basis for the film. What the film does best is go above and beyond the original with some excellent action sequences that really make the best use of the airport setting.

4/5

Derailed

Avalanche Express (1979)

Directed by Mark Robson this film based on the novel of the same name stars Lee Marvin, Robert Shaw, Linda Evans and Maximilian Schell. American spies try to protect a high ranking Soviet defector as he travels across Europe by train and the KGB attempt to kill him.

Much of the plot of this film makes little sense and has characters doing what would be obviously ridiculous things for real spies. The film did suffer from the death of both the director and Robert Shaw during post production which explains some dodgy sound dubbing. While there are some big action sequences they are pretty clearly made using a cheap model railway set up that is less than impressive.

1/5

29 and single, it's problem

Lola Versus (2012)

Directed by Daryl Wein this film stars Greta Gerwig, Joel Kinnaman, Hamish Linklater and Zoe Lister-Jones. A 29 year old woman suddenly finds herself dumped by her husband to be and all at sea in her personal life.

There is not a lot you have not seen before in this film right down to being yet another romantic-comedy based in New York. While there is not a lot new or especially funny about this film it is a solid if unremarkable entry in a crowded genre. Greta Gerwig does a decent job in the main role but the supporting cast does seem a little lacking at times.

3/5

Going swimmingly

The Silent Enemy (1958)

Directed by William Fairchild this film based on real events stars Laurence Harvey, Dawn Adams and Sid James. During the Second World War divers based at Gibraltar try to keep Allied ships safe from mines and Italian divers based in neutral Spain.

While this film is based on real events there is an inevitable divergence from history at times and parts of the story have been “sexed up”. It is a bit of a shame that given the impressive real events that history was changed for the benefit of a more exciting film. Largely the film is well made and the underwater action sequences are pretty impressive and it is easy to see how they could have inspired the later Thunderball (1965).

2/5

Out of place

This Must Be the Place (2011)

Directed by Paolo Sorrentino this film stars Sean Penn, Frances McDormand and Judd Hirsch. A reclusive former rock star living in Dublin travels to New York to see his dying father.

This is a pretty strange coming of age tale that takes a while to get going and features several bizarre turns along the way. Once the film does get going you can finally see where it's going but the first part is a little on the long side. Sean Penn's character is as strange as elements of the plot but is a really unusual performance for the star.

4/5

Attack of the poor script

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)

Written and directed by George Lucas this film stars Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen and Ian McDiarmid. Obi Wan and Anakin investigate the attempted assassination of Senator Amidala.

Largely this is a pretty average film but comes with one major flaw that really undermines the whole film and maybe even the trilogy. When Anakin murders a whole village of sand people this should be the point at which he falls to evil but it seems to have little consequence and when confessed to Amidala, who is supposed to be good through and through, she does not give a toss. Mostly the film is well made but often falls into indulgences of excess with special effects which tends to lose the characters with in a blur of action.

2/5

Paths of Private war horse

Private Peaceful (2012)

Directed by Pat O'Connor this film based on the novel of the same name stars Jack O'Connell, George MacKay, Alexandra Roach and Richard Griffiths. Two brothers from the Devonshire countryside, a girl and the First World War make for a mix that will always end in tears.

Much of the plot of this film is similar to material covered in other films or books on the topic so there is little new here. It appears there are some changes between the book and the film but it stays in the same rough area. The execution of this film is not on par with that of the other recent Michael Morpurgo adaptation, War Horse (2011), but this is likely due to this film having a much smaller budget.

3/5

Shadow of a script

Dark Shadows (2012)

Directed by Tim Burton this film based on the late 1960s soap opera of the same name stars Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green and Helena Bonham Carter. After spending 200 years buried in a coffin a vampire is released and finds himself in 1972.

As with any Tim Burton effort this film has a unique look and style about it that is hard to find anywhere else. Unfortunately the script for the film is a real mess that leaves far too many characters and character relations under developed. Particularly in the final minutes new elements come out of nowhere for apparently no reason and all in all you have a hard time caring about what is going on.

2/5

Newish

The First Time (2012)

Directed by Jon Kasdan this film stars Britt Robertson, Dylan O'Brien and Craig Roberts. Two awkward teenagers meet at a party and stumble around beginning an awkward relationship.

Unlike a lot of other romantic comedies about teens that want to lose their virginity this film is a lot less raunchy taking a more down to earth and low key approach. What the film does lack in humour it makes up for in being a more realistic approach to teenagers that are not sure about what they are doing. All that being said there are times the film the embraces genre clichés a little too much which undercut the attempt to be a more realistic film.

3/5

Bob the Rasta

Marley (2012)

Directed by Kevin MacDonald this documentary features interviews with many people that knew Bob Marley. The life of Bob Marley is tracked from his humble upbringings in Jamaica to his death from cancer at the age of 36.

The documentary does an excellent job of bringing together a wide range of people that knew Marley either as friends, family or people he worked with to give a great insight into his life. What the film does well is put it's subject in a historical context and show how Marley became more than a music artist to the people of Jamaica. There is some great photography of the island of Jamaica as well as good use of archive footage.

4/5

Beyond breaking point

Brake (2012)

Directed by Gabe Torres this film stars Stephen Dorff, Chyler Leigh, JR Bourne and Tom Berenger. A Secret Service agent awakes to find he is being held hostage in boot of a car by people that want information from him.

Being able to pull off a story that is essentially one person in a box for 95% of the film is pretty impressive but most of that is undermined by the fact that the story is a bit unbelievable. For someone that is supposed to be a highly trained Secret Service agent the protagonist falls for a lot of story elements that do not stand up to scrutiny. Given the limitations of the story the film is well made and captures the claustrophobia of the step up well.

2/5

The wrong story

The Wrong Man (1956)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock this film based on real events stars Henry Fonda, Vera Miles and Anthony Quayle. A poor New York musician with a family is arrested and accused of a crime he did not commit.

At times it is hard to see why this case of mistaken identity is any more remarkable and worthy of having a film made of it than any other. While it does seem like the film takes a while to get started it does cover most of the issues well but in an unremarkable way. There are hints of the Hitchcock style but mostly this film has all the hallmarks of a director making a film to finish out a contract with a studio, which was the case here.

3/5

Strangers in a strange land

Valhalla Rising (2009)

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn this film stars Mads Mikkelsen, Alexander Morton, Ewan Stewart and Gary Lewis. In 1000 AD a one eyed Norse warrior escapes from men holding him captive and joins a band of Christian warriors.

With some great photography and minimal dialogue this film creates a really haunting view of old world suspicions and mysterious landscapes. Sometimes the lack of dialogue does make the plot feel a little sparse but the ambiguity it creates really helps create a sense of unknown. Scotland provides a great backdrop and nearly all the scenes are excellently shot.

4/5

Cuban Crisis

Thirteen Days (2000)

Directed by Rodger Donaldson this film based on the Cuban Missile Crisis stars Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp. President Kennedy and his staff must deal with the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba while playing a game of brinkmanship over possible nuclear war.

What the film does well is really put us in the position of the Americans struggling to chart a way through the crisis with limited information but this does come at the cost of ignoring the Soviet side of events completely. Most of the film is historically accurate in events but in character, particularly making Kenneth O'Donnell the protagonist, the film is less historically accurate. Mixing in historic footage works well and is not out of place with the modern footage as is some times the case.

4/5

Rushed script?

Premium Rush (2012)

Directed by David Koepp this film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez and Jamie Chung. A bicycle messenger with some what of a death wish tries to keep a package from a corrupt cop.

Most of the weakness in this film comes from it's average script that does not really have enough plot to fill the run time. It also does not help that the main character fails to address his character flaw or learn anything from the events of the film. There are some decent cycling sequences but only one really good action sequence which is another area the film is light in.

3/5

A media puzzle

The Cup (2011)

Directed by Simon Wincer this film based on real events stars Brendan Gleeson, Stephen Curry and Daniel MacPherson. On the eve of the biggest horse race in Australia a Jockey's brother dies while riding a horse.

It seems that this film largely sticks to what happened and does a good job of bringing real life characters to the screen. The plot is largely as you would expect but gives a good idea of how sport can intersect with the larger public. As someone with no interest in horse racing I did find some of the racing scenes hard to follow the action, it would have helped if these were made in a more clear manner.

3/5

Away with the fairies

The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

Directed by Mark Waters this film based on the series of novels of the same name stars Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger and Mary-Louise Parker. A woman and her three children move to a strange house in the woods.

While there are some changes it seems that the plot of this film condenses the first three novels of the series into one script. At times it feels like there is a little too much exposition in the film but otherwise this is a pretty standard children's affair. The special effects are not bad but it is obvious that nearly everything is CGI up the wazoo and maybe the children are a little old for the story they are involved in.

3/5

The rare self remake

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock this remake of his own earlier film of the same name stars James Stewart and Doris Day. An American family on holiday in Morocco are drawn into a series of mysterious events.

It is unusual that a director will remake one of his own films but Hitchcock does a good job here of reworking the story with some different locations. The plot itself is nothing that unusual but as always the film is well made given who the director is. What makes the film worth watching is the centre piece to the finale, the Albert Hall sequence which is really impressive.

4/5

Yet another one last job

Victim (2011)

Directed by Alex Pillai this film stars Ashley Chin, Ashley Madekwe, Jason Maza and Michael Maris. A member of a gang of inner city youths that make their money by burglary wants out after one last job to pay off his debts.

Nearly every element of this film has been done before somewhere else as the plot is littered with genre clichés. While there is nothing wrong with being another genre film the dialogue in the film is weak and really lets the film down. The performances from the cast are alright but there is nothing the write home about in the execution of this film.

2/5

weak-quel

The Jewel of the Nile (1985)

Directed by Lewis Teague this sequel stars Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. Six months after the first film the honeymoon period is over for the relationship between Joan and Jack who get caught up in a new adventure.

The plot for this sequel seems fairly forced at times and relies too heavily on stereotypes of African culture. While there are some minor parts of character development for the most part this film is just cashing in on it's predecessor's success. Most of the time the special effects stand up but the final sequence has some ropey fire effects.

2/5

Just when you thought it was safe to clone dinosaurs...

Jurassic Park (1993)

Directed by Steven Spielberg this film based on the novel of the same name stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough. Disaster strikes at a wildlife park on an island in the Caribbean where dinosaurs have been cloned.

At the time of release this film was a smash hit as it does a great job of mixing physical and computer effects to instil a real sense of wonder in the audience with respect to the dinosaurs in the story. The plot is fairly average “don't mess with what you don't understand” stuff and a little weak on the character development side but does at least attempt to look at the issues involved with cloning extinct spices. There are some changes from the novel but the film contains some iconic sequences and a great cast that really have to be seen at least once.

5/5

Bourne again

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Directed by Tony Gilroy this 4^th film in the franchise stars Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz and Ed Norton. After Jason Bourne has gone rogue the CIA look to close down other secret programs that may be exposed.

While part of the same series as the previous films this is more of a spin off and you do not really need to have seen the previous films to watch this one. The problems with this film stem from a decidedly average script that lacks any real character which is a shame as some of the early scenes show real promise. There is nothing really special about any of the action sequences and while the film looks OK it does nothing to stand out.

3/5

Stryking

X-Men 2 (2003)

Directed by Bryan Singer this film again features a large cast including Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen and Brian Cox. A military scientist seeks to rid the world of the “mutant menace”.

While the first film was a great success this sequel does a really good job of increasing the size and grandeur of events. Once again the plot explores the mutants as minority theme well and gives the right characters plenty of depth. The special effects are good and the actions sequences are more numerous than the previous film in the series.

5/5

Depth Charges

The Cruel Sea (1953)

Directed by Charles Frend this film based on the novel of the same name stars Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, Denholm Elliott and Stanley Baker. A British Merchant Navy officer is drafted into the Royal Navy at the start of the Second World War to captain a convoy escort ship.

While this is not an action packed affair the story of this film does a good job of showing what life was like for the crew of convoy escorts in the war. The plot does a good job of highlighting the affects of war on the captain of the ship and is more subtle than you would expect from a time with limited understanding of Post Traumatic Stress disorder. Using a combination of archive footage and model work the action sequences just about hold together but are not overly impressive.

3/5

'MURICA saves the world again

Independence Day (1996)

Directed by Roland Emmerich this film stars Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman and Vivica A. Fox. Aliens have arrived and they are here to wipe us out and steal our planet.

At the time of release this film was a box office smash and as an action film it has some really memorable sequences. The script itself is on the weak side with pretty bland characters, a fair amount of American nationalistic chest thumping and some events that are on the silly side. Luckily the spectacle makes up for most of the films sort comings with good special effects and use of CGI.

4/5

Not so valiant effort

Valiant (2005)

Directed by Gary Chapman this animated film features the voice talent of Ewan McGregor, Ricky Gervais, John Cleese and Olivia Williams. 1944, a group of misfit British pigeons sign up to do their bit for the war effort carrying messages.

There is a good basis for a story here in both the British obsession with WWII and role of animals within the war effort but this is a pretty weak by the numbers offering. What the script really lacks is character depth and humour you would find in an effort by someone like Pixar. The cast features a good crop of British talent but has little to work with really which is a real shame.

3/5

Cockney gangster problems

St George's Day (2012)

Written, directed by and staring Frank Harper this film also features Craig Fairbrass, Vincent Regan, Charles Dance and Keeley Hazell. London gangsters find themselves in trouble with a £21mil debt to Russian drug dealers.

The plot of this film is a mish mash of genre clichés that steals from just about everywhere. What would have been useful is another draft of the script as it is overly wordy in places and commits basic errors in others. There is some suspect acting from a cast of D grade actors and you end up wondering what Charles Dance is doing in this film.

2/5

More T virus

Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)

Written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson this 5^th instalment the franchise stars Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Li Bingbing and Sienna Guillory. Accompanied by another band of cannon fodder allies Alice takes on Umbrella Corp. and the mutated undead again.

Neither the plot of the previous films or the paper thin plot of this film really matter, essentially Alice runs around killing stuff and that is all that you would expect anyway. There is very little in the way of character development and unless you are a fan of the series you might not pick up all the details or cameos but that does not really add or detract from the film. What saves the film is that most of the action sequences are pretty impressive and the film manages to include a decent amount of locations/sets that are really interesting.

3/5

No stakes?

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov this film based on the novel of the same name stars Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The 16^th President of the United States is secretly also a vampire hunter and this is his story.

Using history and vampires mashed together as a bases for the plot of this film leaves us with a fairly fun story if not especially deep. There are a few changes between the book and the film but these appear to be mostly minor, the script was written by the novelist which probably helps. Most of the action sequences are well directed, although they do rely heavily on bullet time style effects.

3/5