Anonymous

To see or not to see, that is the question...Anonymous

A political thriller, that has a hint of Blackadder and a whole lot of costume drama. Anonymous follows one of the most ridiculous conspiracies about Shakespeare being illiterate and not having written a single word ever. Obviously this is crazy and there is no solid evidence. You have to be a real diehard Shakespeare fan to see this unless your a middle-aged person who enjoys watching costume dramas but their hard to come by. The whole plot revolves around the idea that William Shakespeare was actually a cover for the 17th Earl of Oxford, played very well by Rhys Ifans. It's a fair theory but with nothing to hold the theory up, so you assume this film is just for laughs. Although it's not all about the whole 'Anonymous' plotline, but instead shows a lot of scenes with Elizabeth I, played by Vanessa Redgrave. Son of Timothy, Rafe Spall plays the bumbling and very annoying "real" William Shakespeare. It drags on a wee bit too long and there are countless historical inaccuracies but Sebastian Armesto does a decent job as playright, Ben Jonson. 

3/5

Contagion

Antiseptic action...Matt Damon...Contagion

Poor Gwyneth Paltrow, first she lands a job on Glee now she's being killed off in medical thrillers, what next for the poor woman? Oh yes, probably another fruit-themed child like Pear and another role in some Marvel-Iron Man spin-off. The movie begins with her sitting in an airport bar, feeling sweaty and nauseous, she merely throws these symptoms off as jet-lag and continues talking to her lover, conveniently not her husband, the unsuspecting Matt Damon. In fact, poor Beth (Paltrow) is actually one of the first people to get a contagious disease that originates from a pig. Sadly, she dies in the first fifteen minutes along with about five other people. So bring on the science experts, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard and Bryan Cranston are among the many. As the film progresses the audience becomes unsure about what type of movie it is, Wikipedia say, 'medical thriller' I disagree. It jumps between showing the downfall of society, with action and then into a biology lab where a series of tests are taken place. One of the highlights of this slightly uneasy film is Jude Law, with a fairly good Aussie accent. He plays Alan Krumwiede, a blogger who thinks he's gotten a great story by posting stuff about the video of one of the first people to die from the disease. It's enjoyable at times, slightly gritty at others and slightly unnecessarily horrific. I can't make up my mind about this film.




3.5/5

Midnight In Paris

Nostalgia Lane..Owen Wilson...Marion Cotillard..Midnight In Paris

Woody Allen is trying to reignite his film-making fame by creating this rom-com set in twentieth century Paris. He does this quite successfully. Owen Wilson, whom I don't find annoying for once, plays, Gil, a successful but distracted writer. He travels to Paris with his fiancee, Inez, played by an annoying Rachel McAdams because of Inez's father's business. Soon Gil finds himself encountering famous people from the last couple of centuries. Gil meets Pablo Picasso's mistress, the strikingly beautiful, Adriana played superbly by Marion Cotillard. As every night at midnight, surprisingly, he is drawn closer and closer into her world. He meets other famous people like Hemmingway (Corey Stoll) and Gertrude Stein, played by Kathy Bates. It's funny, charming but doesn't quite draw you in from the beginning. A genuine success done by Woody Allen.


3.5/5

Johnny English Reborn

Come in from the cold....Rowan Atkinson..Daniel Kaluuya...Johnny English Reborn

The sequel to 2003's spy-caper Johnny English is possibly the better of the two. It shows an aging Rowan Atkinson reprise his role as the bumbling James Bond spoof. Set five years after the first film, the year being 2008. After a disaster in Mozambique, he has retired to the Tibetan mountains, under the watchful eye of a monk. When MI7 calls him back into action it's a race around the world from England to Hong Kong to save the life of a Chinese premier. I like the nice little secret wink that English has with the 'Q' type man, Patch Quartermain, played by Tim McInnerny. A reunion with the Blackadder pair. They also give a nice pun on the sort of Shirley Bassey title sequence. There is also a pointless chase around Mayfair on an electric wheelchair. With some decent gags and a great script, this is an instant hit.


3.5/5

Dr Who. Series 6. Pt. 2 - The Wedding Of River Song

A simple solution.....Alex Kingston....Matt Smith....Karen Gillan

After this series, story-arcs and twists and turns we finally get an interesting finale, that ties up loose ends and sets new ones. Time has gone wrong and everything in history is mixed up, pterodactyls in Hyde Park, flying cars, Emperor Winston Churchill and Charles Dickens on BBC Breakfast. The Doctor is taken from the Holy Emperor Winston Churchill's office to a pyramid in Cairo where the things really kick off. Silents' escaping, thousands of people dying, Amy showing a rather bad-ass side to Madame Kovarian, to which she deserves. We see the return of Dorium Maldovar, the big blue guy who gets beheaded. There's an especially touching farewell to the Brig. Nicholas Courtney who played the famous character, passed away in February, and it's not just a last minute line, it also allows the Doctor to acknowledge, people do die. Although it's Doctor Who, and you can't kill the titular character, so in the end we're left with a very healthy Doctor, except everyone thinks he's dead. Amy and Rory know he's alive but can't find him and the Doctor has become a shadow man again. I feel the Ninth Doctor was like that, the end of David Tennant and all of Matt Smith just shows us, how much of a celebrity the Doctor is. Sadly Amy and Rory are coming back, which is ridiculous because David Tennant had Rose, Martha and Donna. So hurry up change the companions and speaking of changing the cast, the story-arc of Tranzalor and "the fall of the Eleventh (Doctor)" I'm really looking forward to the Christmas Special and the next series.




Who Rating: 5/5

Arrietty

A teeny tiny tale......Saoirse Ronan....Tom Holland....Arrietty

This latest creation by Hayao Miyazaki came in the summer rivaling big summer movies like Pixar's latest creation, the dire Cars 2 and the final Harry Potter. This rather gentle tale about a ill boy befriending a tiny person is derived from Mary Norton's The Borrower's tale. It may have it's cringe-worthy moments and silly music playing in the background but it really gets to the heart of the tale. Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, who last starred in the shockingly bad Hanna, redeems herself playing the titular character. She lives with her mother, (Olivia Colman) and her father, (Mark Strong.) Every night they go out and 'borrow' items like sugar cubes and tissues. But one night, something goes wrong and little Arrietty is thrust in an adventure. It has a very sad but peaceful ending. It also deals with the boy, who has a heart condition and is going to be operated on, which comes as a surprise. Visually stunning, with a slightly twee story, but gets away with it. 


4/5