The Awful Truth - 1937 ****

Notably Cary Grant's first 'screwball' film, it's certainly a funny one and is now in the annuals of the top hundred comedies. Grant and Dunne play a soon to be divorced couple. Despite not wanting to stay together, they each go out their way to sabotage the other's new relationships leading to some hilarious moments that only Leo McCarey could envisage. Ralph Bellamy is rather good as Dunne's new love interest, but it is Grant who fills the screen with wit and charm, the only way he knows how.

(HORROR) Child's Play - 1988 ****

'Child's Play' is a scary film. Especially scary to me because I have a bit of a hysterical nature regarding dolls becoming real. The 'Good Guy' doll itself, even when it's just a doll, has a menacing look about it, but when it starts walking and talking, my god!
A doll being possessed by the soul of a psychotic murderer named Charles 'Chucky' is quite a good idea for a horror film. It's certainly unique, and it's got enough material to spawn a number of sequels. Definitely a must see for horror fans.

(HORROR) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 - 1986 *

I'm not against sequels, in fact occasionally you can find one that is very good and sometimes (*shudder*) even better than the original. This is not better than the original, and in fact I'm deciding whether this might be one of the worst films I have seen this year. The acting is horrendous, almost funny in fact, the plot is as holey as a fishing net, and the characters are ghastly. Not really scary (as in the first film) but just really stupid. The main character, a girl called Stretch (for God's sake don't ask why!) runs around screaming and shrieking with a simplistic look on her face but doesn't seem to appreciate the basic fundamental do's and don'ts of running away from maniacs. She likes hovering around, shouting out 'who's there?' every thirty seconds, tripping herself up on virtually anything and generally making as much noise as possible so that she will be caught. (Do you ever notice in horror films how loudly the characters breathe when they are hiding from their captors? Well she sounds like a warthog with a cold).

The Internship - 2013 ***

'The Internship' has a fair few laughs, and does come across as an original film, but my god you couldn't possibly take something like this seriously.
Vaughn and Wilson play two friends in dire need or fun and worthwhile jobs. By lying on their CV's, they manage to wrangle their way into becoming interns at Google. However, various challenges that they have to face, tasks that they have to complete, and horrible people that they have to have daily contact with, serve to push their self esteem and faith in themselves to the limit.
On the plus side, working at Google looks AMAZING, (although going to strip clubs with your colleagues seems a little far-fetched...)
Worth a watch, but not to buy.

I, Anna - 2012 ***

Quite a decent thriller, and I suppose it does have 'film noir' qualities about it, but parts of the film lagged, and I was a tad disappointed with Charlotte Rampling's performance (especially as she is usually brilliant). Gabriel Byrne plays a troubled DI who is covering the case of a man murdered in his flat. By chance, he becomes enthralled by Anna, a mysterious and lonely woman who seems to know more about the murder than she lets on. Is she involved?
Quite a good experience, but certain things just didn't hold my interest.

Red Lights - 2012 **

 

Erm no, this is nothing like 'The Sixth Sense'. That was good and genuinely haunting and scary. This is not. Robert De Niro plays a 'real psychic' who Weaver and Murphy are desperate to uncover as a fraud. They just don't seem to be able to find any hoax material on him. Slow, badly paced and the acting was unforgettable. Pointless.

(HORROR) The Conjuring - 2013 ***

Scary but not original (are any new horror films original anymore?). A family move into a cursed house with a cursed doll and strange occurrences begin to happen. All related to being cursed of course  They call upon a renowned psychic and his wife to cleanse the house .
Nothing new here, although a few jumps and especially bad if you have problems with dolls.

Passion - 2012 **

Am embarrassed that this is Brian De Palma. He's usually superb. This was a very poor remake of the French thriller 'Love Crime' with the superb Ludivine Sagnier about cruelness and backstabbing in the workplace, and the repercussions. Unlike that one, the acting is wooden (from both McAdams and Rapace) and the story is very disjointed. I didn't think much of this really. If you want to see a good story with good acting it's best to stick to the original.

The Hangover III - 2013 **

It's just as well this was the last film of these comedies because I know I wouldn't of watched the next one. Same sort of routine, although really doesn't have anything to do with the last two movies. The funniest character was Chinese - says it all really. I just feel that these films were never particularly good, they just arrived on the scene at a time when America was only shelling out awful comedies, and I suppose they were a bit unique. Or rather, the first one was. The second one wasn't so much, and this one had no clue what it was doing (neither did the formless, idiotic characters). This time the group are in Las Vegas. Oh joy.

(HORROR) Taste the Fear - 1961 ****

Ironic really, that a 60s hammer horror would be scarier than something churned out in the last few years pertaining to be a horror film. A woman goes to stay at her father's house which her stepmother appears to be running with routine precision. Every time she asks about her father however, she is told that he is away on business. Which is strange really, because she could swear that she saw him in the summer house, and in his wheelchair by the pool at night. Haunting and scary. Worth a watch.

Just Go With It - 2011 ***

Moderately funny, but nothing to get too worked up about, this movie features Adam Sandler in the role he loves best, that of a quirky, not very funny, hard done-by bloke. After a misunderstanding, Sandler meets a woman he believes is meant for him. The thing is, he has always worn his wedding ring (despite the marriage ending when he was a teen) so that women will not want commitment from him. He therefore has to convince his new girlfriend that he is getting divorced from his wife and she believes him. This is so that she doesn't  The only thing is that he doesn't have a wife, only a good friend (Aniston). After a lot of begging, he persuades her to play along as his soon-to-be-divorced spouse, as well as her two children.
Of course there are some funny moments, but the standout performances have to be from Aniston's two children, one of whom spends the whole movie speaking in an awful cockney accent in preparation for going to drama school. Sandler gets annoying after a while.

(HORROR) Friday the 13th - 1980 ** 1/2

Having never watched any of this franchise it was rather exciting for me to get to see the first in the series the other day.
However, my excitement disappeared rapidly when I realised how awfully dated and cheesy the whole thing was. I can't actually see what all the fuss is about. Rather like 'Sleepaway Camp' (which spawned plenty of sequels but was utterly stupid to watch) this was a typical slasher from the 1980s, although it really can't compare to anything like Halloween or Texas Chainsaw.
Jason, the main 'star' of these films, is only viewed for about 3 seconds near the end of the film, so I would imagine that I will end up seeing the next one just to see if he makes a more lengthy appearance (a rather clever marketing ploy I think).

The Tall Man - 2012 **

Awful, messy film, with a ridiculous performance by Jessica Biel who appears to have undergone a 'no wash' policy for the entire period of filming.
Children are disappearing at an alarming rate from the mining town of Cold Rock. After Biel's child is taken, she sets out to discover the truth about who or what is taking the children, and how come the townsfolk seem to know so much more than they are letting on.
The story starts off in a reasonable way, but the end is actually a joke.

L'Atalante - 1934 ****

L'Atalante is a beautiful film, both in action and in photography. It has this weird, slightly surreal feel to it that I have only ever experienced in another masterpiece of it's time 'The Night of the Hunter'.
Jean Vigo only made a small number of films in his short life, and this is the one that defies time and stereotype. It's hard to explain how you feel after watching, but it's somewhere between deep exultation and heartbreak. It probably is a fair comment to make that it's one of the greatest films ever made.

Love Crime - 2010 ****

One of the better films I have seen this month. 'Love Crime' is richly constructed, brilliantly acted by both Scott Thomas and Sagnier, and (as stated on the poster) really does convey a film noir quality to it.
Christine is ruthless and calculating as the executive boss who enjoys tormenting and manipulating her young and talented assistant Isabelle. Isabelle quietly and calmly plots the only thing that means she can be freed from the harassment that she can think of. Murder. But there comes a twist. Not only does she leave clues at the crime scene, but she implicates herself. Mental Breakdown? Or something more sinister?
Very gripping and beautifully directed by the late Alain Corneau, this is one to watch.
An added bonus is to try and catch 'Swimming Pool' (which stars the two same actresses and is equally as bizarre).

(HORROR) V/H/S 2 - 2013 *

The entire first film was a bit of a mistake. I sort of wished that I hadn't wasted my time. The second one sounded like it might have improved a bit so I 'jumped off the deep end' so to speak.
The first is broken up into various segments, and some are quite good. The others are really bad though, and it just made the film a big confusing mess. It gave me the same feeling that I had when I watched 'The Bay', that of feeling so confused and dumbfounded that a horror movie could make me feel that way. I would avoid this, and if it's not too late, avoid the first film too.

(HORROR) Dead Souls - 2012 **

'Dead Souls' is particularly gruesome, but also ridiculous in every possible way. It starts off with a flashback that I can only describe as disgusting, and then flips backwards and forwards for the rest of the film which leaves the audience rather confused. The main character is a rather wimpish year old who discovers on his birthday that not only was he adopted, but that he has been left a house. And a terrifying, evil house at that. Once he arrives he finds a strange girl has been living in the house (a bit squat-like if you ask me) and they find themselves mixed up in the horrific stories of the house.
It's certainly atmospheric but I cannot possibly say that I enjoyed it.

Last Passenger - 2013 ***

One of my pet peeves with films is having a good storyline that comes to the end with no resolution whatsoever. This is sort of what happened here. I'm not sure if the film was loosely based upon the awful accident at Moorgate Tube Station over 30 years ago but it certainly leans in that direction. Dougray Scott and his young son board the train for home late at night and are joined by various other 'normal' characters. Kara Tointon in particular appears and begins flirting with him in rather a desperate manner but that just seems to be her personality. She also takes a shine to his son.
They fall asleep and when they next wake, they find that there are only a small handful of people left on the train. After unsuccessfully trying to speak to the driver Scott realises something is very wrong when the train speeds by each of their stations without stopping and appears to be picking up speed.
It's a taut movie, and does have plenty of jumps and thrills, but I was SO disappointed by the ending that it's brought my rating right down.

(HORROR) Bloody Homecoming - 2012 *

Well the first part of the title says it all. It is bloody. Bloody awful.
With the worst actors in the world, an almost transparent plotline and effects that would be better seen in an amateur play, this was a helping of 'gory horror' at it's lowest form. This sort of film involving students going to a prom has been done many times before, and only a handful of times has it been able to sustain something actually worthwhile.
I cannot recommend this film unless you are wanting a way to put yourself to sleep VERY quickly without the help of a strong sedative.

(HORROR) Static - 2012 ***

'Static' is quite a strange film. It's odd really how one minute you can feel a certain way about the characters and then in a blink of an eye that opinion has completely changed and you are siding with the bad side. The tagline on the poster says it all really. I hadn't noticed this before I watched it and so was a bit behind. It doesn't really become clear what is happening until the end, but when it does it's very confusing.

(HORROR) Sick Boy - 2012 ***

If it wasn't for the shockingly bad ending, and the irritating lead female character, this would actually have got away with being an original and scary horror.
After accepting a babysitting job for a woman who pays $400 per evening, Lucy does the one thing she is asked not to do. And that is go downstairs to the basement area where the woman's son lives. What she finds is really quite horrific.
Worth a watch. But gets a bit silly towards the end.

(HORROR) The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow 2009 *

 

 

I was genuinely loved the first film. It was SCARY. It had a good plot, and made me not want to go to sleep with the lights off. This sequel (disturbingly having gone 'straight to video') was diabolical. It's one of those films you will confuse with another manic scarecrow-ish monster in a similar film (Jeepers Creepers 2) and still find it awful.
There is no story, except that the main character is in danger of losing his home which conveniently happens to back onto a massive crop field. It then transpires somehow, that there is a hideous scarecrow intent on evil deeds who wants to kill him and his wife and children.
That appears to be most of the story.

(HORROR) The Bay - 2012 **

First off, there is nothing talented or radical about a film with a wonky camera being jerked up and down for over an hour. The story is hilarious. Deadly bugs get into the cuts and scrapes of people when they are swimming in the local pool and soon the whole town is being eaten from the inside, tongue first.
Just ridiculous. And the whole film is narrated by the world's most AGGRAVATING woman whatsoever who talks in a boring, monotone voice nonstop after having found various footage online of the infection. Just a complete waste of time.

Last Chance Harvey - 2008 ****

I was surprised by this movie. Warm and easy going, it was just the sort of thing you want to watch on a cold and cosy evening. Dustin Hoffman plays a wannabe jazz musician named Harvey and a bit of a useless father, to the extent that his daughter (who is about to get married) makes sure he stays at a separate hotel to all the other gusts and is put on the end of the dinner table. The icing on the cake however, is when she chooses her stepfather over him to give her away at the wedding.
Whilst in London for the celebrations, Harvey meets gentle and good-natured Kate, who refuses to find love, and spends her life on the phone to her neurotic mother who is convinced her Polish neighbour is going to murder her.
The pair, somewhat stubbornly, hit it off, and begin to spend a lot of time together despite their obvious differences.
Emma Thompson is wonderful as always and Dustin Hoffman is not bad at all.

The Grass is Greener - 1960 ****1/2

An amusing and typically English film. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr are the owners of a large stately home which they periodically open to visitors for extra money. One day Robert Mitchum appears and falls in love with Kerr, who reciprocates and rushes off to London with him for a few days under the pretence of visiting friends. Meanwhile, Grant (fully aware of the situation) has the pleasure of an old friend (Jean Simmons) who drinks too much, flirts too much, and is besotted with him.
It's quite farcical but very enjoyable and easy going - must watch.

Soapdish - 1991 **

For a film that had such a good cast it was surprisingly unfunny and over the top. Sally Field is the manic, obsessive star of a daytime television soap who becomes desperate after finding out that the company want to get rid of her. Robert Downey Jnr plays one of the writers, besotted with a member of the cast, and Whoopi Goldberg is Field's close friend and scriptwriter Rose.
There is obviously a reason why this isn't exactly an Oscar winner.

A New Kind of Love - 1963 *** 1/2

When mannish Joanne Woodward is contracted to go with her boss to Paris to 'lift' some new ideas for the latest fashion season in New York, she becomes enamoured with a caddish playboy (Paul Newman) who is there to get a scope for a new newspaper article. After a misunderstanding and a drastic makeover, Newman mistakes Woodward for an elegant, foreign debutante and starts to pursue her.
Beautiful shots of Paris, and you can see Paul and Joanne's genuine love for each other in the scenes they inhabit together.

What a Carve Up - 1961 **** 1/2

Loved this film. Saw it years ago and was recently lucky enough to get it on DVD due to a birthday Gift card.
Kenneth Connor and Sid James play friends who are summoned to Kenneth's uncle's estate after they learn of his sudden death. The evening unfolds in a terrifying way when other members of the strange family appear and get bumped off in quick succession.
Very funny and enjoyable.

Gambit - 2012 *** 1/2

'Gambit' is funny. It's not hilarious, but it has enough humour to quench the audience's thirst.
Colin Firth is a master at distinguishing forged paintings, and when he tries to get wild Texan Cameron Diaz involved in his latest scheme to swindle Alan Rickman out of a stunning Monet, everything that could possibly go wrong, does.
Colin Firth is quietly amusing and I liked the plot very much, but Cameron Diaz is a bit tiring after a while.

What about Bob? - 1991 ****

'What about Bob' starts off as a rather strange, whimsical film and quickly escalates into almost screwball proportions. Bill Murray plays neurotic Bob, who decides to follow his new shrink (played brilliantly by Richard Dreyfuss) to his holiday home in Maine. Try as Dreyfuss might, he just can't get rid of Bob, even to the extent where his family start including him in everyday plans. Bob meanwhile is spreading his own sort of love around the island, with surprising results.
Worth a watch, I've wanted to see this for ages.

The Other Woman aka Love and Other Impossible Pursuits - 2009 **

Bleak and hard going. Natalie Portman plays a woman trying to get over the death of her baby as well as juggling her marriage with her husband who left his last wife for her. Portman tries unsuccessfully to get on with her husband's son from his first marriage, all the time feeling inadequate for not having the child she so desperately wants.
Nothing happy or positive here so don't watch unless you have some sort of sedation for afterwards.

Mother's Boys - 1992 *

Dreadful film with Jamie Lee Curtis as a psychotic mother who abandons her children and husband and then returns years later to create fresh havoc in their lives. Peter Gallagher is his usual sleazy self which is quite off putting but it doesn't really effect the overall hideousness of the film itself.

What Richard Did - 2012 *** 1/2

'What Richard Did' is a slow burning, tense drama. Richard is a golden boy who's life is drastically changed one night when his jealous and possessive nature over his new girlfriend causes a tragedy.
Very well acted and raw.

(NOIR) The Enforcer - 1951 ****

Incredibly powerful and well paced classic noir starring Humphrey Bogart as an intimidating law enforcer who gets himself embroiled with some dangerous men which we see through a variety of flashbacks. Very tense and very entertaining movie. One of Bogart's last.

Harlow - 1965 ***

The film itself was okay, but Carroll Baker was woefully miscast as Jean Harlow. For fans of Jean, this film does nothing for her image, missing out important chunks of her life (such as her relationship with William Powell) and portrays her as a bit of a ditzy, uneducated bimbo which she wasn't. The relationship with Marino Bello is glossed over as little more than a step-daughter being immature towards her slightly annoying stepfather, when in reality Bello was a hard and unlovable man who took all Jean's money and made it very difficult for her to mature as a human being and as a celebrity. It wasn't a bad standalone film if you want to try not to compare it to any real events but there is no way you can take this as gospel about Harlow's short and sad life.

(HORROR) Silent Hill: Revelation - 2012 *

Diabolical. The sequel to an excellent film has let me down in more ways than one. A hideous mess of terrifying, nightmarish characters who wouldn't look out of place in something Stephen King would envisage. One particular scene involving a spider-like creation is etched firmly on my memory.
Awful. Pointless.

Enough - 2002 *** 1/2

'Enough' is a variation on 'Sleeping with the Enemy.' Full of domestic and emotional abuse against one woman (Lopez), her husband will stop at nothing to alienate her from friends and family, and then harm her to stop her leaving him. She is spunky and has balls, but there are certain scenes (including learning martial arts) that don't quite fit with her personality.
I enjoyed it however.

My Favourite Wife - 1940 ****

An extremely funny but tender rom-com from Leo McCarey where Cary Grant marries a new wife before finding out that his old one isn't as dead as he thought. Irene Dunne has been shipwrecked on an island for seven years and finally comes home. Her happiness is blighted however when she finds out that Cary Grant has just married someone else after declaring her legally dead! Mix ups ensue for a veritable banquet of screwball comedy.

Jack Reacher - 2012 *

What a dire movie. Tom Cruise, your career is over!! Jack Reacher incorporates a sort of trampy Robin Hood who goes around killing the baddies to save the goodies. All very nice in a fantasy world but not so good in real life.
Just a complete mess.

Pain and Gain - 2013 1/2

Pain and Gin more like. Because the only way to get through this horrendous mess is with a heck of a lot of alcohol. I don't think I have seen such a hideously bad film in a long time. Mark Wahlberg needs to stop making films and retreat to a dark corner where no one will see him, and The Rock is a joke as an actor. Added to which, funnily enough this ISN'T a porn film, but you wouldn't know it, with shot after shot of women's breasts and arses with no point or reason whatsoever. It was doing my head on by the end. You can always tell that a film is rubbish if the director has to rely on the degradation of women to make it sell. And that was what happened here. Don't watch this. Even if you are high as a kite.

Connecting Rooms - 1970 ***

Hard going and bleak, but also tender and bittersweet, 'Connecting Rooms' merges two great stars (albeit past their prime) in the form of lonely neighbours staying in an imposing and cold boarding house. Bette Davis is the wannabe star who has great dreams for herself but whose real life is sadly different, and Michael Redgrave is a schoolteacher who has a strange secret about why he left his previous post.
The characters in the house are all quirky and individual but at the same time are united in their hunger for acceptance.

Rubberneck - 2012 ****

A weird name for this eerie thriller, but worth a watch nonetheless. A socially awkward scientist has a one night stand with one of his colleagues but cannot seem to let go, even after months have gone by. When he sees that she is taking an interest in a new member of the department, he becomes obsessed, and his internal rage gets the better of him.
A nervous and unsettling film. Not well known but good anyway.

Come September - 1971

A nice easy going film. Rock Hudson plays a wealthy playboy who retreats to his beautiful mansion in Italy for one month in September a year. During this time he meets up with his gorgeous fling Lisa then goes back to America with no ties or restrictions. This time however, he comes to Italy early, and finds that his girlfriend is on the verge of getting married, and his mansion has been transformed into a hotel. Things are about to get a lot more chaotic than he could ever imagine.
Very funny, Rock Hudson is always good for a laugh.

Who's Harry Crumb - 1989 *** 1/2

John Candy is extremely funny in small doses. Here he plays a private investigator who comes off as something a bit like Peter Sellars in the Pink Panther.
He hasn't got a clue. He's absolutely rubbish as a person who tries to be a member of authority. The funniest scene involves his car becoming attached to the car in front and being dragged along the road for miles.
Watch it.

Parasite Eve - 1997

An incredibly depressing and mournful film about scientific discoveries into deadly parasites interspersed with death and despair. The Japanese aren't exactly known for cheerful, upbeat films, but even this was taking the biscuit a bit.

The Vicious Circle - 1957 *****

Caught this by chance but blimey what a whopper of a film! John Mills plays a well respected doctor, falsely framed for the murder of a German movie star found in his flat. The beauty of this film is the amount of red herrings (a bit like an Agatha Christie) and the fact you genuinely have no idea who to trust. The ending comes as a proper shock when the culprit is revealed. I really loved this, I loved the direction, the acting and the fast paced story. Tiring at time! What an unexpected treat. This is a proper suspense film.

House Party - 1991 ** 1/2

The first 'House Party' was pretty dire, so what possessed me to watch the second one? I have no idea. Contrary to reviews I preferred this one. It was funnier despite the fact it went way off track regarding the original story. Still, there are funnier films out there, and even though Whoopi Goldberg appeared briefly at the beginning it didn't raise the tone of the film much more.

(HORROR) The Amityville Haunting - 2011 **

Another chaotic mess by the affably named 'Asylum' film company. Basing itself around lost footage found of a family's slow descent into madness and mania in the by now infamous 'Ocean Drive' house that was home to the Amityville killings. Of course it wasn't filmed in the real house, it looked nothing like it in fact, the actors were painful, especially the ex-army father who insists on everyone calling him 'sir' and the aggravating boy who wanders around sticking his video camera in everyone's face and repeating the same questions over and over again,
It's a horrendous movie.

Detention - 2011 ***

It's getting three stars for total originality because iv never seen anything like this before. It's slasher/comedy/sci fi/ all mixed together, and you are never quite sure which scene will inhabit which. It's a very dry almost black comedy, not a laugh out loud one, its or not scary enough to be a slasher. It's very weird. I can't say I loved it, but hats off to the director for manoeuvring such a fresh idea.

(HORROR) The Hearse - 1980 *

Another awful film. I was hoping to see one of my old silver screen favourites Joseph Cotten in an intelligent and dramatic part, but he just came across as an old fuddy duddy. The film itself is laughable. A woman named Jane moves to her aunt's house that was left to her for the summer. She begins to experience weird feelings in the house, and is troubled by sightings of a herse at night time on the road.
The locals brush her off and disregard her as crazy, but are still hesitant to talk about the house.
Sounds good, but really isn't. Give it a miss.