The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Trampling on the vamp.....Kristen Stewart..Robert Pattison

The saga continues in the ever-lasting Twilight trilogy. In this edition, Bella and Edward (Stewart, Pattinson) decide to get married, which is fine enough, although the dialogue from Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen is horribly twee and "OMG." The film tends to have unnecessarily graphic scenes which gets on your nerves when you think, they could have missed this out. The love triangle between Edward, Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and Bella is hotting up now their married. Edward takes Bella to his mother's island (?) and they soon discover that Bella's pregnant. Again another question mark. Within a couple of weeks it looks as if this baby is a giant egg inside Bella's stomach because it's is bulging (!). As it is a two-parter, there are at least 15 different parts when you put on your coat, because you think it's about to end, then you think it's got half an hour left. It drags on, and it's stupid. But stupidly enjoyable. 






3.5/5

Arthur Christmas 3D

Is the figurehead, figure-dead?.......James McAvoy...Arthur Christmas

In this Aardman CGI family film, it sees Santa, not as a jolly man in a red coat, but a symbol, and icon. The only thing is, there are several people fighting for the title. The current 'Santa' (Jim Broadbent) is getting old, and has pretty much left, everything to his technocrat son, Steve Claus (voiced by Hugh Laurie) because he practically doesn't know the use of a light switch. Now here's the other Claus, the 'Lost Claus' as the cinema posters say, Arthur (voiced terrifically by James McAvoy,) who still considers Christmas a festive time of good will but it's now turned to one big slick militarised operation. Enter Grandsanta, (voiced by Bill Nighy), who is the cranky old coot, that was once Santa, he sits in his armchair, watching 'Christmas' happen. He probably gets the best lines in the whole film. After a mishap occurs and a little girl called Gwen's (Ramona Marquez) present isn't delivered, it's up to the clumsy Arthur and the sprightly little packaging elf, Bryony (Ashley Jenson) to deliver Gwen's back before Christmas morning. An enjoyable Christmas treat, with a fairly good message.






4/5

In Time

Twisting time...Vincent Kartheiser..Justin Timberlake...Amanda Seyfried

With an excellent plot device, this film doesn't live to it's full potential and at least 50 minutes of on-screen foot and car chases doesn't help. Set in the future, it shows that people don't age over 25 and money is time, items cost time, like one example is a coffee is 4 minutes. A very expensive hotel is 1 year. It sees Justin Timberlake receive a century of time from a mysterious man who kills himself and suddenly be transported into an adventure where he kidnaps a billionaire's daughter (Amanda Seyfried) and takes her on the run. It spends one hour of the movie showing Seyfried and Timberlake running around getting into car chases while being pursued by a 'Timekeeper' (Cillian Murphy.) They become vigilante Robin Hood-style criminals, giving illegal time to homeless people, small children, anyone in need of it. It drags on a bit, and there are too many plot holes, (in the thin sliver of plot that's there) but it's stupid. Enjoyably stupid.




3.5/5

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of The Unicorn - 3D

 Mo-cap magic...Jamie Bell..Andy Serkis...Tintin

I didn't know what to expect when I entered the cinema. With very mixed reviews from "amazing" to "poor," I knew I would come out thinking with the same opinion as one of these reviews. But the people who said this film was bad, have got it completely wrong. They review this movie as a film, so was I until I realised it was a really good Tintin adventure. Probably not that a good film, but a great plot and if you haven't read Tintin you may be at a loss. It shows Jamie Bell as the boy detective himself, suddenly being thrown into an adventure all about a sunken ship with treasure aboard. He meets Andy Serkis who plays Captain Haddock, who's insanely drunkenness is much more of an issue than in the books. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost play the bumbling duo, Thompson and Thompson, their casting I think is due to Edgar Wright being on the writing team, he has worked with Pegg and Frost on a number of occasions. The Thompsons' don't get that much to do, although they have a little sub-plot of their own involving a pickpocket, (Tinker Tailor's Toby Young.) Daniel Craig plays a very Tintin-esque baddie, Sakharine, who has a very evil air to him, he even has a malicious hawk. The animation gives it, a nice touch and you can tell it's Steven Spielberg. He even throws in a funny little Jaws reference involving Tintin's trademark quiff. It's an Indiana Jones-style romp, but a very enjoyable romp. 




4/5

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