Out on Friday, What we did on our holiday is a comedy about bring up kids when Parents are divorcing.
The Parents played by David Tennant and Rosamund Pike, travel to Scotland for his Fathers birthday party whilst trying to keep up the pretence that their marriage is still intact.
Anyone with young kids I'm sure will find this brilliantly funny, particularly the kids are fantastic, and with Billy Connelly playing the Grandfather with lots of wisdom this works on just about every level.
As well as being hilarious throughout, it is also a fantastic advert for the highlands, with beautiful scenery 9/10
Tuesday, 23 September 2014
Monday, 22 September 2014
A Walk Among The Tombstones
Liam Neeson plays an Ex-Cop turned private Detective in a Thriller reminiscent of Taken. With Taken being such a success, and Taken 3 currently in production, Neeson is in danger of being typecast as the Ex Cop/FBI/Air Marshall.
This film suffers for all the comparison to Taken and Non Stop, mainly because it is not as good as either. The pace is very slow initially, only picking up towards the end, concentrating far to much on Character development to the detriment of plot development. How many AA meetings does he need to go to for us to understand he is an alcoholic?
If you really want to see Liam Neeson chasing and killing gangsters, watch Taken 5/10
This film suffers for all the comparison to Taken and Non Stop, mainly because it is not as good as either. The pace is very slow initially, only picking up towards the end, concentrating far to much on Character development to the detriment of plot development. How many AA meetings does he need to go to for us to understand he is an alcoholic?
If you really want to see Liam Neeson chasing and killing gangsters, watch Taken 5/10
Friday, 19 September 2014
Magic in the Moonlight
Set in 1928, Woody Allen's latest movie sees Colin Firth as a Magician who is asked to help prove that a spiritual medium is a fake, however the more he watches her the more he begins to question whether she could be real.
For fans of the 20's period, this might be a good watch, with lots of period detail, clothing etc, however I am not a huge fan of period films, and this was not enough to keep my interest. Despite only being a little over the 90 minute mark this seemed to plod along at quite a pedestrian pace, until it's final act. The conclusion of the movie is very good, unfortunately the final 10/15 minutes does not make up for the previous 75.
Both Woody Allen and Colin Firth have done much better movies than this fairly recently, so this is a little underwhelming 6/10
For fans of the 20's period, this might be a good watch, with lots of period detail, clothing etc, however I am not a huge fan of period films, and this was not enough to keep my interest. Despite only being a little over the 90 minute mark this seemed to plod along at quite a pedestrian pace, until it's final act. The conclusion of the movie is very good, unfortunately the final 10/15 minutes does not make up for the previous 75.
Both Woody Allen and Colin Firth have done much better movies than this fairly recently, so this is a little underwhelming 6/10
The Giver
Quite often 2 very similar films are released close together, for example Deep Impact and Armageddon, or last years Olympus has Fallen and White House Down.
The latest teen fiction novel to be turned into a movie, The Giver is a story of a fenced in society where emotions are removed, and everyone is told how to live and what their jobs will be. Sound Familiar? There are so many similarities to Divergent, one of favorite films of this year, even down to the choosing ceremony. The problem this film has is that it is nowhere near as good as it's predecessor and with the much anticipated Hunger Games third film out soon, this is just not in the same league.
The story and concept are interesting, and the acting is passable, had this not had such movies to judge it against I might have enjoyed it more, but the standard is high, and this fails to live up to it 6/10
The latest teen fiction novel to be turned into a movie, The Giver is a story of a fenced in society where emotions are removed, and everyone is told how to live and what their jobs will be. Sound Familiar? There are so many similarities to Divergent, one of favorite films of this year, even down to the choosing ceremony. The problem this film has is that it is nowhere near as good as it's predecessor and with the much anticipated Hunger Games third film out soon, this is just not in the same league.
The story and concept are interesting, and the acting is passable, had this not had such movies to judge it against I might have enjoyed it more, but the standard is high, and this fails to live up to it 6/10
Chef
Chef was originally released back in June, however due to my local Cineworld not showing it, I missed it first time around. I have now to catch up with it on a Take Two Thursday screening.
It stars Jon Favreau as Carl Casper a former high flying Chef who is stuck in a rut cooking someone else's food. When he loses his job, he is forced to take on a food truck on a road trip across America.
In my review of the hundred foot journey I said not to go in on an empty stomach, and this is very similar, showcasing some really great American street food that left me hungry.
While the storyline is, perhaps, a little cliché, with the family man getting to spend time with his kid. This is a very pleasant feel good film, with a fantastic soundtrack of Jazz Music that had me foot tapping most of the way through, and a thoroughly enjoyable 2 hours. 9/10
It stars Jon Favreau as Carl Casper a former high flying Chef who is stuck in a rut cooking someone else's food. When he loses his job, he is forced to take on a food truck on a road trip across America.
In my review of the hundred foot journey I said not to go in on an empty stomach, and this is very similar, showcasing some really great American street food that left me hungry.
While the storyline is, perhaps, a little cliché, with the family man getting to spend time with his kid. This is a very pleasant feel good film, with a fantastic soundtrack of Jazz Music that had me foot tapping most of the way through, and a thoroughly enjoyable 2 hours. 9/10
Friday, 12 September 2014
A Most Wanted Man
Based on a John Le Carre novel, A Most Wanted Man is one of the final films made by Phillip Seymour Hoffman before his death. Unfortunately it is not one of his most memorable.
It is in essence a spy film (I would have used the word thriller except it lacks any real thrills) It opens up with a couple of sentences about how Hamburg was where 9/11 was plotted, but then lacks any real sense that what they are doing is preventing terrorism. It has a very distinct lack of terrorist threat. I'm not saying it needs to be a cliché last minute save the world, but there is absolutely no sense that anyone they are spying on is actually plotting anything.
The storyline line is weak and lacks any sense of momentum, Seymour Hoffman's half attempt at a German Accent is pretty poor, and on the whole this is 2 hours that I would like back 3/10
It is in essence a spy film (I would have used the word thriller except it lacks any real thrills) It opens up with a couple of sentences about how Hamburg was where 9/11 was plotted, but then lacks any real sense that what they are doing is preventing terrorism. It has a very distinct lack of terrorist threat. I'm not saying it needs to be a cliché last minute save the world, but there is absolutely no sense that anyone they are spying on is actually plotting anything.
The storyline line is weak and lacks any sense of momentum, Seymour Hoffman's half attempt at a German Accent is pretty poor, and on the whole this is 2 hours that I would like back 3/10
Sunday, 7 September 2014
Pride
It is not very often that a movie can take you from the edge of tears one moment, to smiling and laughing the next. Pride is a shining example of how to take an audience and get them emotionally involved in the highs and lows of the Characters.
Based on real events during the miners strike of 1984, it tells the story of a group of Lesbians and Gay Men who decided to fundraise in order to help the miners. It is a tale of Cultures Coliding, prejudices broken, friendships formed and society enriched. It stands as a testament to how far LGBT rights have come in 30 years, and how much more there is to do.
This is a rare gem of a movie, superbly written, well acted and emotionally engaging. This should not be seen as a Homosexual movie, everyone should see this film regardless if your sexual orientation, a masterpiece 10/10
Based on real events during the miners strike of 1984, it tells the story of a group of Lesbians and Gay Men who decided to fundraise in order to help the miners. It is a tale of Cultures Coliding, prejudices broken, friendships formed and society enriched. It stands as a testament to how far LGBT rights have come in 30 years, and how much more there is to do.
This is a rare gem of a movie, superbly written, well acted and emotionally engaging. This should not be seen as a Homosexual movie, everyone should see this film regardless if your sexual orientation, a masterpiece 10/10
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