Philomena

Philomena tells the story of Philomena Lee, an Irish women who had a child out of wedlock in the 1950's. She was sent to a convent by her family and The child was taken away from her by the Nuns.

The films follows Philomena (Judi Dench) and former BBC Journalist Martin Sixsmith  (Steve Coogan) 50 years later, as they go in search of whatever happened to Anthony.

Although this is "based on a true story" there is clearly a lot of dramatic licence used here to tell the story, the Martin Sixsmith character is portrayed as quite a hardnosed unlikable journalist, obviously I have not met the real Martin Sixsmith but I somehow doubt the real man is anything like the Coogan character.

The performance by Judi Dench as Philomena is great, although her Irish accent does come and go a bit, but this is a very different role for her and she plays it brilliantly.

The film is careful in it's discussion of religion and Catholics particularly when it comes to the Nuns, clearly this could be used as a tool to bash Christianity and this is avoided by ensuring that it is individual christians and not Christianity as a whole that are in the firing line.

This is clearly a story that needs to be told, if only to highlight the plight of those still searching for their Parents & Children.

A human interest story, though clearly adapted to make the film more interesting, a story that needs telling. Although with modern values regarding sex and Children outside of marriage this is unlikely to happen again, this is something everyone should see to ensure we never go back to the past 8/10

Thor: The Dark World

I seem to spend a lot of time reviewing sequels having not seen the first movie, So I took opportunity of the Thor & Thor: The Dark World double bill to ensure that I have seen both.

The other thing I tend to say a lot when reviewing sequels when I have seen the original is that it's not as good as the first film. Thor is perhaps one of those exceptions where the sequel is better than the original.

With a lot of the soul searching and character building done and out of the way in Thor. The Dark World is a much more set piece superhero action movie, and more what you expect when watching a Marvel Movie, with an increase of threat and tension than the original, this feels like a proper superhero film.

Performances in both movies from Hemsworth and Portman are excellent, the storyline is great, some amusing jokes littered throughout and with a closing line that poses far more questions than it answers, the franchise is nicely set up for Thor 3 and/or Avengers 2.

If you are a Marvel Fan, then I probably don't need to say you will enjoy this, but even if you are not a huge superhero fan, this is still a very good watch 9/10

One Chance

One Chance is a biopic of Paul Potts, the opera singer who won the first series of Britain's Got Talent. Starring James Corden as Paul, it tells his story from childhood through opera school in Venice up to winning BGT in 2007.

This film has many flaws, Corden's central performance is lacking that extra something and at times is quite wooden, and Colm Meaney (an Irishman) attempting a Welsh accent is at times annoying. The highlight for me is Julie Walters as Paul's mum Yvonne, who is superb as ever.

The storyline is interesting, clearly most of the audience will know the end of the story, but the first 3/4 of this film are interesting and new. However the thing that ruined the whole movie for me was the BGT Audition sequence.  I appreciate that they have edited together original tv footage of Judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan, with new footage of Corden as Potts, but it just does not work for me, it doesn't quite hang together. Also I understand that in any "based on a true story" film some dramatic licence is required, but the idea that the BGT auditions are broadcast live is patently ridiculous. 

An interesting story, but let down by average acting and by its finale. 4/10

UPDATE: Watching the original Paul Potts BGT audition on Youtube has only added to the sense that they have taken what was a superb bit of television and ruined it.

Enders Game

Enders Game, based on the novel by Orson Scott Card, stars Asa Butterfield as Ender Wiggan, a shy but brilliant teenage boy who is being trained up to command earths army against an alien race. General Graff (Harrison Ford) is convined that Ender is the boy who will save humanity. 

I found Enders Game to be a very interesting story, with Asa Butterfield putting in a superb performance as Ender, the shy awkward kid, who is a master tactician, Harrison Ford also is superb.

The storyline is interesting, and the characters have a lot of depth, although I did spot the twist on the end coming quite early on, but was never bored as the film held the attention well throughout.

My only issue with this movie is Hailee Steinfeld, who's performance is about as wooden as her portrayal of Juliet.

Something for everyone, Sci-Fi fans will enjoy it, and those who like stories with lots of human emotion will also find lots of things to like in it. A great watch 9/10

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

My reviews of animation on here are getting fairly repetitive, because I enjoyed Wreck it Ralph and The Croods so much earlier this year, it is they that I end up comparing to, and once again this film is not up to the standard.

I have not seen the first film, so I don't have a basis of comparison, but I get the feeling this is a poor sequel. The Characters have little depth, as probably a lot of that was contained in the first film.

The food/animal jokes are funny at first but very quickly become repetitive and boring, and towards the end are met with groans rather than laughter.

It might be a useful half term movie for the kids, but only if they have seen Turbo first 5/10

UPDATE: I have just caught the first film on tv, and the original is much better than the sequel.

Captain Phillips

Based on a true story, Captain Phillips stars Tom Hanks as Captain Richard Phillips, the captain of a container ship that was boarded by Somali Pirates in 2009.

The story was not reported widely in the UK so although I had some idea of the outcome, not knowing exactly how the story ends was helpful.

It would be very easy to make this movie entirely from Richard Phillips point of view, and portray the Pirates as the "bad guys" so it is a massive credit to Paul Greengrass that the pirates are significant characters in the story, and you feel for them as victims as much as Richard Phillips.

You really feel for Phillips who is clearly concerned with the fate of his captors, and the way in which Hanks portrays his caring nature and desire to keep everyone safe, including the Somalis is a superb piece of acting, especially in the closing scenes once the ordeal is over.

Although over two hours long, the film holds the attention throughout, with gripping tension and drama.

This is a great piece of story telling, topped with an excellent lead performance by Hanks, tense and gritty and difficult to watch in places, and the fact that you feel an emotional connection to the Pirates is a massive credit to the Director, a must see movie.  10/10

Turbo

Turbo is an animated film about a garden snail who dreams of becoming a racer, through a freak accident he is exposed to nitrous oxide and is suddenly blessed with super fast speed, using this new gift he enters the Indy 500.

In a year of some great, and some not so great, animation, this fits somewhere in between the two. In the end I left the cinema with a huge smile, but getting to that point felt fairly torturous.

The concept is a great one, and the eventual outcome is brilliantly arrived at, had this been a 15 minute short, then I would perhaps be hailing it as a master piece, but there is not enough in the concept to keep you interested for a whole movie. There is very little in the way of sub plot, so you ultimately know where the film is going almost right from the start.

The characters are great and the ultimate end of the film is superb, but there is not enough of a storyline to make a feature film 6/10