(HORROR) The Amityville Asylum - 2013 *

A young woman starts a night cleaning job at a mental institution in Amityville, unaware that the hospital has been built on the Amityville house site. Horrific things happen.
Its quite a stupid film, deeply unscary and badly acted.

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa - 2013 ****

'Bad Grandpa' must not be taken seriously. It would be pointless too really, as most of the scenes are so ridiculous and over the top that it would spoil it if you saw it as anything other than a joke. Johnny Knoxville plays the ludicrous but likeable Grandpa Irving who is dealt the task of taking his grandson Billy to stay with his father while his mother is on jail. This takes them both on a road trip of epic proportions (to be honest I'm amazed that he isn't arrested for some of the things he does) and a hilarious climax involving a children's pageant brings it all to a farcical close. 

Funny, and silly. 

Breach - 2007 ****

Another surprisingly good political thriller, the kind that really gets under your skin. Added to which, the fact it's based on true events gives it even more of a kick. 

Ryan Phillippe is a junior employee of the Washington Bureau named Eric who is assigned to keep an eye on an intelligence agent named Hanssen who has been reassigned to the FBI headquarters. At first Eric believes he is doing nothing other than checking out Hanssen in case he displays sexual perversions, but soon finds out that Hanssen is a lot more dangerous to the FBI than he first imagined.  

Well crafted and enjoyable, although could've been a bit shorter in length. 

Gravity - 2013 ***

'Gravity' has an exceedingly good premise - an astronaut and engineer find themselves separated from the shuttle they are working on, and are stuck in space with barely no oxygen and no contact whatsoever with anyone. The acting is excellent, and I'm surprised to say that Clooney and Bullock work very well together. It's brilliantly designed too, to such an extent that after a while the idea of floating in space can give you a serious bout of nausea. 

The Magic Box - 1951 ****

William Friese Green is a pretty fascinating character. Besotted with his work to the point of obsession, he was willing to break up his family, declare himself bankrupt and sell his house, also that he could continue with his experiments of moving pictures. That said however, he was also one of the most unsung geniuses of the 19the century. It is very tragic that his talent was not recognised until after his death. 

Robert Donat is perfect for the part, and I find him immensely watchable in this character, both for positive and negative reasons. His passion for his craft is clear to see, but in some aspects he is completely deluded and unresponsive (such as not paying bills because the money needs to go on equipment for his experiments). I do feel awfully sorry for him though, because no one would give him a chance to show what he could do. 

Philomena - 2013 ***

I can't say I was particularly excited by this, despite having Steve Coogan and Judi Dench topping the bill. Dench befriends Coogan, a weary reporter who believes he can find her missing son who was taken from her when she was a young girl living in a convent in the 1950s. 

The trip brings trials and tribulations, but most importantly it brings friendship between the two. It's not funny in the slightest in my opinion, and doesn't give either of the players the correct platform on which to perform. 

Maternal Obsession - 2008 ***

 Gripping movie about a young woman named Lily who tries to live a normal life whilst being slowly smothered by her mother at home. The mother cannot stand the idea of her daughter having any sort of life, especially if it involves a man.
When Lily starts a relationship with a man from work her mother will do anything to stop it happening, whatever the costs.
Worth a watch.

Spring Breakers - 2013 **

Trying to justify this film is a waste of time. Its a pointless film about pointless people. It shows the world for the bleak place it is. Four girls, desperate to go on spring break but unable to secure the funds to do so end up holding up a store at gunpoint. The partying, casual sex and smoking goes ahead but only for a limited time as the girls are soon arrested for their crimes and only saved when a dangerous drug addict named 'Alien' bails them out.
This film basically highlights what is wrong with America and society in general. Awful film.

Identity Theft - 2013 **

One of those films that I hoped would be good but was awfully let down by. 

Melissa McCarthy is infuriating as the carefree woman who steals Jason Bateman's identity and has a fantastic time doing so. Bateman loses his job as a result of this and decides to track her down to get her arrested. McCarthy just oozes stupidity, even when designing fake credit cards in bright blue eye-shadow.
She's just a massive joke of a character, completely unrepentant for her actions, resulting in feeling constant sympathy for Bateman . I also spent most of the movie feeling quite annoyed that the subject of identity theft was taken as such a joke when it's not.

Blue Jasmine - 2013 ***

I have a soft spot for Woody Allen, and therefore despite this film being slated beyond compare I thought it was okay. Granted it was nothing like 'Midnight in Paris' but that's one of my favourite films directed by him.

Cate Blanchett does an astoundingly good job as a 'fallen' Park Lane society beauty named Jasmine, who flees to her sister Ginger's 'modest' abode in San Francisco after her wealthy husband's sudden death. Here she must contend with (in her eyes) her intellectually inferior sister and her 'loser' of a boyfriend, whilst also trying to come up with a way to make some money so she can pay for an online interior decorating course. Blanchett is at times completely loopy, talking to herself in the street, having constant panic attacks and snobbishly looking down her nose at anyone who is not from her background. There is obvious tension between her and Ginger, and I think Sally Hawkins is an ideal choice. 

As usual, the music is brilliant and the cinematography is on top form. As long as Woody is around directing films I will be gobbling them up.

Filth - 2013 ***

'Filth' is a bit of a conundrum. James McAvoy is literally acting his heart out (he can even vomit on que) and going for gold here, but even so, it comes across as a bit of a dirty film. Not dirty as in rude (although there is plenty of sex to placate any hardcore fan) but dirty as in unkempt and uncared for.

McAvoy plays a womanizing, chauvinistic, alcoholic Detective in Edinburgh, who spends his days playing 'pranks' on colleagues (including defaming their character on the bathroom wall), drinking, getting high, sleeping with anything that moves, and generally being a manipulative and unpleasant bastard. 

Hoping to move up the corporate scale, he is assigned a murder case, but becoming increasingly detached and hallucinatory as time goes by until he (and we the audience) have no idea what is real and what is fantasy. As the film progresses we learn some disturbing secrets about him, and the lengths he will go to hide them from everyone. 

I can't say I hated the film. It was entertaining, and I commend James on a very difficult and uncomfortable role. But it's certainly not a film to watch unless you specifically want to feel unnerved and awkward.

Dirty Movie - 2911 *

Well National Lampoon seems to be heading for a permanent fall. This was just another shocking attempt at comedy that was as funny as a hernia.
The idea of a film about making a film (oh, and it's chokablok full of perverted jokes) has been done before so wasn't really a treat. The actors all looked like this was their last chance at fame before they got a 'normal' job, and to be honest I'm amazed this was even given DVD release. Horrendous.

(HORROR) Tamara - 2005 **

Pretty laughable horror film about a girl named Tamara who is picked on by her classmates and tragically buried alive by them one evening. The next morning she is shockingly back at school, but this time looking completely different and utterly irresistible to all men. It's just a bit of a stupid movie.

(HORROR) Rites of Spring 2011 *

Another awful horror film. A deranged lunatic kidnaps young women on the first day of spring every year as a pagan/sadistic ritual. At the same time a completely unrelated sub plot is taking place between a husband and wife who are having financial trouble. It's ghastly.