The cold, bleak, winter wildernesses is the opening tone for ‘Prisoners’, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and son, Ralph Dover (Dylan Minnette) are out hunting in Pennsylvania, and as the Lords Prayer is being whispered by Keller, his son fires a single round upon an unsuspecting deer. This small segment immediately signals this isn’t a normal kidnapping movie and isn’t using the same formula as recent films in this topic (such as Taken 2 that begins with a happy tone at the start). You can tell this movie is taking its self seriously.

The Dover’s, Keller, Ralph, Grace (Maria Bello) and Anna (Erin Gerasimovich) are celebrating Thanks Giving around their neighbour’s house, the Birch’s, in their quite Pennsylvania town. After the two young girls from either family, Anna Dover and Joy Birch (Kyla Drew Simmons), go looking for a red whistle that Keller had lost some time back, they both go missing and the finger is then pointed at Alex Jones, whose RV was where the girls where playing near earlier on in the film.  

The Birch family, Franklin (Terrence Howard), Nancy (Viola Davis) ,Eliza (Zoe) and the Dover’s Thanks Giving is thrown into turmoil and they then take matters into their own hands when they feel that the cop assigned to their case, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), isn’t doing enough to find their daughters.

‘Prisoners’ is a very chilling film, using suspense to its advantage without spoiling it with a cheap jump scare. This is a very realistic take on a kidnapping; you have both ends of the work going into finding these girls. Detective Loki, has solved every case he has been assigned to and you can understand why with the sheer work he is putting it to find these girls. At the other end of the spectrum you get the vast range of emotions flowing through the families that is explored well. You get the devastation from Grace, the anger from Keller and both are explored greatly whilst balancing this fear that they may not find their daughter.

The cast is one of the best assembled in 2013 so far and they all give very strong performances. Hugh Jackman is the stand out and since being apart of the Oscar Winner ‘Les Miserables’ he is giving it all to every part he is playing. Jake Gyllenhall, Melissa Leo and Paul Dano are equally superb; nothing about their performance could be faulted. Everything these characters are doing is in aid to find their daughters, nothing feels unnecessary and everything has its place to add to the emotions these characters should be feeling.  The one weak point is Kyla Drew Simmons character, as you rarely get to see her emotions after this devastation, but I do feel this is largely down to the short screen time she had compared to the rest of the cast and wasn’t anything to do with her acting capabilities.

‘Prisoners’ does get going fairly quickly, but is extremely long (at 153 minutes) and you do feel that perhaps a few of the repetitive scenes could possibly have been axed from the final cut to shorten the movie. But saying that the movie never drags, and director Denis Villeneuve has done a great job to constantly lead the audience up these different paths, leaving you constantly guessing who has taken their daughters.

Another aspect of the realism is that the police are literally starting with only the bare minimal information that the Dovers and Birch’s have provided, Loki has to explore leads that lead to dead ends as they would in real life, whereas in other movies that use a kidnapping, (using Taken 2 again as an example) they tend to find a vital piece of evidence or a clue at he scene to where the missing person is and they are immediately on the right path. With ‘Prisoners’ you get this layer of realism that overall makes this film more enjoyable than the majority of films in this topic.

Chilling and suspenseful, ‘Prisoners’ is well crafted from start to finish. Not only is it well acted but the sheer emotion pouring out of these characters makes you really feel you are apart of that family and hope they are able to find their daughters. ‘Prisoners’ is engaging from start to finish in the way that you are constantly making up predictions in your head to who the kidnapper is and this makes the two and a half hours easily manageable. Prisoners is undoubtedly a must see and is one of the best films released this year. 

Please give our Facebook page a like and follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with all the Entertainment you need. 

It’s been one of the most talked about films this summer and with good reason. From Jennifer Aniston’s strip tease to an awkward teenage boy getting his testicle bit by a spider, this has to be one of the best films I have ever seen.

The plot entails a low end drug dealer David (Jason Sudeikis) having to smuggle drugs in from Mexico after losing his boss a lot of money. David comes up with a plan of creating a fake family on holiday in an RV so that he doesn’t get stopped and searched at the border. David then proceeds to hire a stripper who lives in his building, Rose (Jennifer Aniston), a nerdy teenage boy (Will Poulter) and a homeless tough girl (Emma Roberts). After a lot of persuading on David’s part, all of the characters agree to go on the trip knowing the consequences.

 After obtaining the drugs, the Millers start to head  back to the border, however along the way the  Millers  RV breaks down and they are rescued by an unassuming family, the Fitzgerald’s, whose idiocy and naivety make them adorable to the audience.
Of course a film wouldn’t be a film without the actors. In many ways, the actors can either make or break a film as if there’s one bad performance, it sets the tone for the whole film. Thankfully in this film, the actors only add to the excellence.

Jason Sudeikis conveys a funny drug dealer who the audience come to love due to his hilarious desperation not to be found out, this along with his pan faced insults to nearly every character in the film, show the audience a different side to this actor. Sudeikis makes his character convincing as a low grade drug dealer who is just trying to keep himself afloat in a drug business that he cannot possibly control or fully understand.

Jennifer Aniston plays an unforgettable role as Rose, the sexy stripper, who is going along with the Miller scheme with the promise of money. Although this is not Aniston’s typical role, she portrays it well, showing the audience the true emotions of her character with brilliant reactions to the drama going on around her. And of course, you cannot talk about Aniston’s character without bringing in the strip tease. The snippet of the strip tease shown in the trailer does not justify Jennifer Aniston’s sexiness in the scene that does not come soon enough.

Will Poulter who plays Kenny is the hidden gem in ‘We’re the Millers’ as his naivety makes him the most lovable of the characters as the audience instantly engage and connect with him. The Kenny character is the typical nerd who wants to be able to stand up for himself and others, wanting to ‘get the girl’ and mostly to be accepted. All of these factors come across flawlessly with Poulter playing him. Poulter makes himself known in this film and confirms his status as a rising star.

Editing and Graphics by Conor Rees

Unfortunately Emma Roberts who plays Casey is the weak link in this otherwise brilliant film. Roberts gets the ‘boring’ character as Casey doesn’t contribute much to the main plot. The main incentive for her character is to be part of a family that she feels accepted in. Roberts is however very capable of pulling off the stroppy teenager, a role that she frequently possesses. However, it is unlikely that Roberts will receive any credit from this film as her performance overall was boring and unneeded.

Overall, I would definitely buy this movie as soon as it comes out on DVD/ Blu-ray because although it contains flaws, it’s one of the best films I have seen recently with its crude humour, that striptease and lovable characters; it’s definitely one to watch.

Please give our Facebook page a like and follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with all the Entertainment you need. 

A fter watching ‘Only God Forgives’ one thing was clear and certain in my head, this movie is sure to create a divide in people’s perceptions of this movie. The majority of people who will see this movie will leave thinking that Only God Forgives is one of the worst movies they have ever seen, creating confusion at every turn and leaving the cinema completely baffled, the small minority of people on the other hand though will feel satisfied that they have just witnessed a beautifully crafted and very unique story that is completely different to anything that is currently out there. I can understand why some will love this film and why the majority won’t.

Only God Forgives is the second time director Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling have teamed up after the 2011 hit Drive. Only God Forgives is a story about revenge. Julian (Ryan Gosling), a drug smuggler in Bangkok finds himself trying to track down the person responsible for his brother’s death when his mother flies in from American. Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm) is the person behind Julian’s brother’s death though this is all brought about after Billy (Julian’s brother) kills and rapes a young girl.

That is the clearest way to explain the main backbone of the story without creating confusion. It sounds fairly simple, but believe me it isn’t. Everything in this film requires you to be very analytical and look extremely in depth at what you are seeing on screen in order to know what is going on.

Characters in this movie stand for more than just people in this film. There doesn’t really seem a right side to follow as neither is good. Julian and his mother, Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas) are trying to get revenge for Billy’s death, but is that really justified because Billy did rape and kill a young girl. Chang on the other hand is perceived as this corrupt cop (though he isn’t- I’ll get to that in a bit) and the person responsible for Billy’s death, so you don’t really see him as the good guy of this movie either.

When you see Crystal on screen you never feel like she is a normal person, you first see her arriving at her hotel and she imminently opens her fiery personality on the woman working behind the reception desk. She seeks revenge and nothing else all throughout this movie, she is never nice to anyone on screen other than Julian and even then she sits there caressing her sons arm creating this unnatural relationship between mother and son. The way she speaks to people and her persistence for revenge it’s clear that Refn is trying to portray Crystal as the Devil.

Chang isn’t a police officer but is always looked up to by the police, they all respect him and never question him and everything he does is justified to the people around him merely due to his status. He is untouchable in this movie and can also just pull a sword out of thin air. Chang isn’t a cop, he is a metaphor for God.

None of this is explained to you either so I can understand why people will get confused. No one will go into Only God Forgives expecting that they will have to look this much in depth at this movie and thus leaving you confused, mainly due to the vast majority of movies not leaving you this much in the dark.

Leaving you in the dark is a big problem in this film. Dream like sequences crop up throughout this film adding to the confusion especially when in certain scenes it is only made clear through Julian’s shirt changing colour. This doesn’t bring anything other than confusion. Another area leaving you in the dark is the obsession with Julian’s hands. These shots of his hands and his fists clenched all throughout, such as the scene when he puts his hands under the tap and the water turns to blood. This is eventually explained in the movies closing stages but again it’s an explanation you need to figure out yourself.

You also never attach yourselves to the characters mainly because they are never developed, this could be due to the characters acting as nothing more than metaphors. This isn’t something I’m a fan of, by not attaching yourself to the characters and with all this confusion this film isn’t an easy watch.

As in Drive, Ryan Gosling barley has any dialog in this film, as expected. He does well in this movie with the script he has been given but isn’t really given as much screen time as you’d expect. The stand out is Vithaya Pansringarm, he really is a sinister character in in this movie. You get this vibe of a god like being walking around Bangkok by the way he slowly walks around everywhere, everything he does is precise and elegant, be it with his sword or his fists. One area that I didn’t understand is the karaoke scenes that happen far too often in this film that occur every time Chang dishes out a punishment.

Music is the main strength in this film, it has to be good when dialog is absent for long periods of time. This techno style of music compliments this dark criminal environment extremely well especially in the fight scenes. An element that is also well worked is when characters are mute, it takes place a few times during ‘Only God Forgives’ when characters begin to talk and all you can hear music instead of their dialog. This is a clever idea that shows that who they are talking to isn’t listening and only focused on their thoughts.

Nicolas Winding Refn has approached this movie with the image of creating Only God Forgives as artistic as possible. This movie does look great, dark atmospheres work well to create this criminal environment. Cinematographer is also excellent, long, slow camera panning shots all add to this art. Everything has its place in this artistic image including light that is perfectly worked to only focus on certain objects in scenes, leaving the rest of the set in darkness.

I’m all for a great artistic film with great cinematography and music but this film isn’t great. Drive’s uniqueness still felt like a great movie, you was able to fathom out what was going on despite a lack of dialog from Ryan Gosling. Only God Forgives feels like it’s trying to be too clever. With characters resembling metaphors you find it hard to understand their actions when you aren’t given much detail into their background, and with a story that jumps from seemingly normal situations to bizarre scenes you will easily get confused. This movie is only 90 minutes but it feels a lot longer than many two hour plus films due to the amount of times you will be scratching your head at what’s going on. This isn’t an easy watch and even when you do take the time to analyse ever moment on screen certain scenes still appear completely bizarre and going to far, especially a torture scene and one scene in particular is when Julian cuts open a characters stomach and puts his hand in there, not a single piece of explanation is given to why this happens or what Refn is trying to portray.

Nicolas Winding Refn is a good director with a unique mind, proved perfectly from Drive, but the way he has approached this movie feels like he is trying to create a piece of art or literature with hidden meaning behind ever tiny detail more so than a movie. By all the focus going into you working out what the meaning is the movie sort of shoots its self in the foot by creating confusion. You don’t expect to have to do this in a movie and when you don’t know what is going on you begin losing interest. I can appreciate a film that uses amazing cinematography perfectly complimented with a great score but by no means does that mean it’s a great film. Only God Forgives sadly is just that.

Click here to Pre-order Only God Forgives. 

   

Skyfall delivers a new take on Bond, with director Sam Mendes changing the formula of the continual, two-part movie story, (as seen in Casino Royal and Quantum of Solance) and instead opting for the exploration of the alien terrain that is Bond’s past. This deeper, darker experience moves away from the typical Bond that we have seen prior to Skyfall; but is this a risk too much for Bond’s 50^th anniversary. 

   After a near death experience James Bond (Daniel Craig) is left in a vulnerable, psychological state rendering his skilled attributes, such as shooting and his vigour at a rock bottom low. As all this is taking place M (Judi Dench) is fighting against both her superiors, who are asking for her resignation and a terrorist, Silva (Javier Bardem) who is trying to get inside her mind via a string of cyber-hacks leading to terrorist attacks including an explosion within M15. All of these factors are added to Bond’s main mission, to find and track down a stolen hard drive containing the names of British NATO undercover operatives.

Skyfall explores a very alien territory in the Bond universe by uncovering Bond’s past such as the death of his parents. We go deep into the history of 007 which keeps the majority of the story close to UK, though in typical Bond fashion his mission takes him traveling further afield such as Shanghai and Istanbul. Though this is a new and risky approach to tackling a 007 film its execution is well presented and the questions that Skyfall generates are answered before the films conclusion.  

The acting is fantastic with standout performances from Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem and Judi Dench. Dame Judi Dench delivers a superb acting performance in her supporting role and this ties in nicely with a story that involves M more so than any other Bond film.

The series that kick started the Bond story back up in Casino Royal introduces the new younger Q (Ben Whishaw) in Skyfall. His acting is good though it’s nothing that stands out compared to other actors performances.

One criticism though is the way Naomie Harris’ character Is presented as it takes a while to warm to her due to the hit and miss comedy she tries to inject into the film.

The overall great acting accompanies a superb soundtrack that was worthy of its Oscar nomination including Adele’s fabulous Oscar wining song‘Skyfall’.

Though Skyfall is executed very well certain areas are lacking that familiar touch that true 007 fans may miss. The traditional car chase scene is ditched in this film for bikes but only briefly used in the films prologue. The lack of car chase scenes, scenes that James Bond is famous for has been absent since the Brosnan era (apart from again a brief scene in the opening of Quantum of Solace), though this isn’t something that should act as a fault as it doesn’t feel needed.  

Though other areas could be criticised for being stripped down such as the lack of innovative gadgets, one of which being merely a radio transmitter, they aren’t really missed. You find yourself too enticed and tied up within the depth of storyline to really miss these aspects.

Bonds 50^th Anniversary feature uses a gripping story that works very well and is more different and unique than any other Bond film to date. It mainly does this by stripping away a lot of the traditional Bond glamour. Sam Mendes opted for a new exciting, different Bond that moved away from the safe formula that people came to love. This fresh take, which focuses on possibly the deepest story used in a Bond film, injects this new life into 007 that gives fans a new experience that doesn’t recycle old materials from previous Bond’s. Sam Mendes’ change-up in Skyfall has created one of the best Bond’s to date. His risk paid off.

Click here to buy Skyfall via Amazon.

Finally the trailer to the hit 2006 sequel of 300 as arrived. 300: Rise of an Empire continues where 300 left off, still firmly under the reins of Zach Snyder (Man of Steel, 300 and Watchmen). Though the 2006 adaptation of the famous Battle of Thermoplae wasn’t a true account of goings on, 300 was still an excellent film, combining a gritty and more of a mythological take on the historical battle, and it went down well. Now eight years on (with 300: Rise of an Empire set for a 2014 release), the sequel sets add a bigger Greek army to the mix whilst still keeping these intense action scenes. 

Watch the action packed trailer below featuring Eva Green :-

Les Miserables follows Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) after being released from prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister’s hungry child. Though he has been released he is given the label of being a danger to society and ordered to report to an officer after a certain period of time.  This results in Jean going on the run as he is unable to get any work due to being branded as a threat. After eight years pass he still has Javert (Russell Crowe) chasing him down.

Jean Valjean then picks up the duties of caring for the young child Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) and bringing her up as if she was his own. As all this is happening the heart of the French Revolution is taking place in the backdrop and the majority of the cast getting heavily involved in this fight for freedom.  

Yes this is a musical film, but Tom Hoppers musical adaptation of what is said to be one of the nineteenth century’s greatest novels is a breath of fresh air and also brings a tale of love, redemption and freedom to the table to create this very unique experience.

This musical is almost all in song apart from a few snippets that are inbetween songs. This is also a progressive tale spanning just under twenty years during the French revolution and you really do get attached to these characters as they are developing through time.

 Les Miserables has a fantastic cast made up of Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Cohen, to name a few, and their performances are truly great. They are all able to deliver the emotion of this tale though their singing very well and I don’t think it would have felt the same had it not been a musical film.

Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway are the two stand-outs in Les Miserables. The raw power and emotion you can see they provide is fantastic especially as this is delivered through song. Some have criticised Russell Crowe’s singing but I didn’t find that a problem and thought he did very well in this film.

The world and atmosphere is very beautiful, emersing you in this very realistic looking 19^th century world. You get the sense of conditions they lived in very well and why they are rebelling against the King.

But there a few problems with this film though. Being a film entirely expressed through song it can be hard to understand certain aspects, as you find yourself constantly having to analyse the words in each song to understand what is going on in the story. This is extremely demanding in a 2hr 40min film and towards the end it can feel that certain scenes could have easily been cut out without taking away anything other than an extra song. Yes I don’t think this film would have been that emotional if it wasn’t a musical, but I thought more dialog in-between songs could have helped you through this movie a lot smoother.

I have never read Les Miserables and I don’t think this film clearly delivers the motive behind Javerts relentless hunting of Jean either. It seems a little excessive for my taste as he goes to all these extreme lengths to catch a bread thief.

One of my favourite characters in this film is killed off very early on in this film as well, which I won’t spoil. I felt that certain characters presence, especially due to the performance they delivered earlier on, could have given an extra edge to the film at its later stages.

Saying that, this film is a great passionate tale and a must watch, all this coming from a person who in the whole doesn’t watch musicals. I truly enjoyed this film but found myself having to watch it twice to fully understand every moment of the film.

Still though this is a great movie and I’d happily watch Les Miserables again. If you love musicals then this will be one of the best you have ever seen and for those who don’t watch musicals I’d recommend you give this a try.  

Click here to buy Les Miserables via Amazon

‘The Purge’ pitches us into the year 2022 where America’s desperation to eradicate the high crime rate and unemployment infesting society has resulted in the legalisation of any and all crime over 12 hours on the night of March 21^st to the morning of March 22^nd . This event, known as ‘The Purge’, ceases the running of all emergency services over this 12 hour period in order to sustain a low crime rate throughout the rest of the year.

We are homed in on the Sandin family made up of parents, James (Ethan Hawke), Mary (Lena Headey) and the kids Charlie (Max Burkholder) and Zoey (Adelaide Kane). The Sandin family are normally safe, during ‘The Purge’, behind their security system that James Sandin has made his fortune selling to local neighbours. But this year’s ‘Purge’ is thrown into turmoil for the Sandin’s when they are confronted by masked assailants that turn this film, (that is perceived to be horror movie), into an invasion thriller flick.

Firstly believability is a key issue. This movie is flawed from the begging as it fails to emotionally attach you to this concept actually being believable. The idea that in nine short years, (well even earlier than that as this film gives the impression that there has been a few Purge’s prior to this one), ‘murder will be legalised for one day’ needs to have well thought reasoning behind it to help attach ourselves to the story, other than it just saying this event helps cleanse society to release their anger as we all have this violence.

Though this is set in the near future it still feels extremely distant to a realistic scenario where the government allows the legalisation of murder, this is ultimately down to this lack of substance being why it is taking place and what benefit it causes.

The Sandin’s are only involved in this year’s Purge due to one decision, made by their son Charlie, to deactivate the security system and rescue a homeless man being pursued by the mob of masked assailants, that eventually wind up standing on the Sandin’s front door step.

Motives aren’t really well addressed either. The only reason these people, led by Rhys Wakefield’s character, are after this man is that he killed one of their friends. In one scene in this film where the leader of these creepy assailants is talking to James through the camera on the door, he kills one of his friends for interrupting him. This shows he doesn’t really care about his friends and it’s a poor motive to go to all this effort for one man.  

There isn’t any motive either behind a certain characters actions that is already present in the Sandin home when ‘Purge’ begins and we never find out what they aimed to accomplish by their actions either.

The majority of characters are very dumb whited as well. The Sandin’s always seem adamant to split up from each other when there are crazy people out to kill them wandering in their house. On top of this the masked people are just as stupid. They ignore the gun fire taking place from some of the early encounters when they invade the house and continue to search for the Sandin’s like the gun fire is mute, either they are deaf or as big as this house looks its somehow able to mask gun fire shots.  

The masked people also don’t really value their own lives, they seem more adamant giving each other piggy-backs than thinking that there could potentially be a Sandin waiting around the corner with a gun.

This so called horror isn’t one bit scary either. Yes it is creepy at times, but the majority of that comes from before they get into the Sandin home. It’s also predictable in parts such as when that overly used moment of the music becoming mute signals an appearance of an assailant appearing behind one of the characters.  

I wasn’t a fan of the twist at the end either that was again another factor that lacked a believable motive and also executed poorly.

Some of the acting is good in this film, such as performances from Ethan Hawke and Lena Headley, that overall make this experience bearable. Rhys Wakefield also does succeed in creating this creepy character, though in my opinion it would of felt more sinister had he left his mask on than revealing his face.

Though this film has problems I'm sure there will be many sequels to follow as these low budget and high grossing movies have become all the range today. There is potential for the Purge sequel (when it does come about) to be turned into a good movie, but after seeing 'The Purge' its hard to see how they will be able to change these poor foundations that have been already set in stone.

Overall this unique looking story of murder being legalised for one day had the potential foundations to be great, but due to poor execution and a lack of believable substance going into the main story and reasoning behind why this event is taking place this so called horror is merely just a mediocre home invasion flick.

Click here to buy The Purge via Amazon

The summer blockbusters of 2013 are starting to roll out and below I have compiled what looks to be the best comedy movies.  

3. The Hangover Part 3- May

The first Hangover was recently voted funniest comedy film ever by British cinema goers on The Sun. There is a reason why and the third installment looks to continue the same formula that we all found hilarious. The second Hangover was highly criticised for being too similar to the original and lacked that innovation that took us in with the first film. The third isn’t using that traditional formula that the others seem to use. It looks as though the trilogy is going to end on a high.

2. Kick Ass 2 – July

The sequel to the 2010 hit comedy is set to be released this year recruiting the comedy genius that is Jim Carrey along the way. This isn’t a typical superhero film as it adds that layer of vulnerability to the characters. I expect Kick Ass 2 to be like Kick Ass whereby it’s very funny but serious at the same time. It is very unique and I recommend anyone to watch the first film before seeing Kick Ass 2.

1. This is the End – June

The all-star cast including Seth Rogan, James Franco, JohanHill, Michael Sara plus a couple of A-list celebrities, to name a few, all play themselves in this comedy. After a massive party at James Fanco’s house, that includes some of the best comedy actors in the industry along with celebrity’s like Rihanna and Emma Watson, the characters find them self coming face to face with the apocalypse. The apocalypse situation the actors find themselves in results in them being confined inside James Franco’s house and sure to create comedy gold. This in my opinion could go two ways, it could be genius by confining these comedic minds together or it could fall a bit flat and appear stale. But I’m quite confident that this will succeed and if it does it has the potential to take the comedy crown.

Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter!!!!

Don’t agree. Comment your top picks below. 

The year is 2077 and Earth is left in a desolate wasteland after the war that Aliens brought to the planet 60 years earlier. Hard to believe that humans actually won the war.

Anyway, despite humanity winning the planet was lost and the only known human inhabitants of Earth is a mechanics team made up of Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and Victoria “Vik” Olsen (Andrea Riseborough). Jack is the mechanic and Victoria, who has never been down onto the planet since the war, acts as Jack’s navigator as she feeds him information from an interface above in their home.

Jack’s job is to monitor and repair the drones that now protect a mining project to gather Earth’s valuable remaining resources (water). But things begin to change once Jack witnesses a shuttle crash on earth two weeks before their mission completion and he rescues another human in the wreckage. Jack then begins to unravel a whole new meaning to why they are there and his world is tipped upside-down once he realises that the human he saved is the woman from his dreams, Julia (Olga Jurylenko).

First of all this movie is very beautiful, the landscape and the special effects in this film really are fantastic and significantly submerge you in this desolate Sci-fi landscape. Director JosephKosinski (TRON) really does have an eye for great special effects in his movies. The soundtrack is also very impressive and it complements the special effects really well as it adds that extra layer of depth that reels you into the experience.

Tom Cruise gives a great acting performance in this movie as per usual. He seems to pull off a top job near enough every time and I can’t remember the last time I saw a bad performance from him. You do get immersed into his character but I feel that is the only character that you do connect with. You learn a lot about him and dive deep into his character background from his dreams to Jack’s green paradise isolated from the desolate world.

Oblivion is paced very well at the beginning and you are given a perfect amount of time to learn about Jack and attach yourself emotionally to this character.

The film does a good job at the start but it does feel too rushed towards the end and that perfect pacing goes completely out the window as the story is quickly tied up.

Oblivion fails to provide you with enough substance to invest emotionally in other characters. It feels as though you are given small tasters and more will be explored later on but that never arrives. Morgan Freeman’s character (Beech) reveals almost nothing about himself and the same can be said about Julia (the woman from Jack’s dream he finds in the rubble) and because of this and how the story unravels you don’t get an emotional attachment to those characters.

Some things are very predictable in Oblivion as well. The stale, robotic and static like tone to the woman Jack and Vik communicate with reminded me of the computer at the end of Terminator Salvation that they spoke to. The tone makes it so predictable to what is going on and who she is. But saying this there are generally moments that I didn’t see coming in this film and they did come as a surprise.

Overall Oblivion is very fun and enjoyable with its main highlight being the beauty of the landscape created through its impressive special effects. It does lack in character depth other than Tom Cruise’s character and the story does feel like it should have fit a longer running time as events feel too rushed towards the end of the film. Things are very predictable but certain things generally do come at a surprise and add to the enjoyment of this film. Oblivion is a film I would recommend seeing, it’s not going to blow your mind and reshape the Sci-fi genre but it is a fun and enjoyable experience that’s worth watching. 

Click here to buy Oblivion via Amazon. 

Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook!!!!

It’s back to the notorious cabin, sporting the same evil incubating cellar. Drug addict Mia (Jane Levy), ­­­­­along with run-away brother David (Shiloh Fernandez) and gang of determined friends’ journey to the deserted cabin in an attempt to kick Mia’s addiction. Instead they are greeted with a room of dead cats, a book bound in human flesh, and an evil spirit hell bent on feeding on everyone’s souls, to name but a few of the cabin come rehab’s delightful features. Activities include cutting off your own body parts, reading extracts from a book of the dead after specifically being told not to, and generally having a terrible time.

Whereas The Evil Dead doesn’t have the same absurdity as its original, feeling much more like your average zombie film with the loss of its fantasy edge, it does now have logic on its side, something the original clearly didn’t feel was a necessity for a film.

Unlike the original, we are now treated with the knowledge of why the teenagers have arrived at the cabin, and even who the cabin actually belongs to. Aren’t we lucky. The book of the dead is now also burn proof! So warding off evil is now a bit more of a challenge.

Overall, although a bit monotonous, and with a very ‘things finally seem to be okay, oh no wait they’re not, oh wait, yes they are’ kind of ending, it does not disappoint in terms of gore, and jumpy moments there are plenty!

If watching other humans being slashed to pieces is your scene, you must see The Evil Dead!

Click here to buy Evil Dead Now via Amazon.

Please Give Us A Like on Facebook and Twitter.

Identity Thief is a comedy that ultimately try’s to combine a slightly mediocre comedic presence with the poorly written idea of humanising a criminal and life destroying profession, the ‘Identity Thief’.

Jason Bateman stars Sandy Paterson, a farther of two and accountant, who is taken advantage off due to his feminine name and gets his identity stolen by fraudster Dianna (Bridesmaids Melissa McCarthy). As things unfold it’s eventually clear that this film is a road trip movie once Sandy realises he must confront Dianna in Miami and bring her back to Denver.

This film is funny at times and Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy give a lot to their performance and do help this film become an enjoyable experience, despite being dragged down by the shoddy plot line.

You see problems unfolding right from the beginning when it comes to the writing. The lack of believability, emphasised even before Sandy heads out to catch his fraudster sets the tone to this film. Sandy seems to be living in an alien world where help isn’t at hand by both his credit card company and the police.

Now here is the first major problem when it comes to believability, the law enforcers, (you know, the people that up hold the law and stop crimes from being committing). Well these crime stoppers ultimately tell Sandy that they won’t help him but do suggest that he kidnaps Dianna and brings her back to Denver so they will arrest her. Quite possibly some of the worst legal advice I’ve ever heard on screen especially from a Detective as well. This sets the ball rolling for the poor backbone of a story that runs through this film.

You also get these cameo like appearances from Genesis Rodriguez and Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. that are chasing Dianna for another fraudulent job she has committed. Those two characters aren’t really given a purpose other than to push Dianna into having a reason to give into Sandy and come back with him. Their roles are overlooked quite frequently and at points you even forget they are still chasing Dianna.

But despite these faults in the story they are only small minor problems that orbit the main downfall of the overall story. This is to try and humanize a criminal that ruins the lives of many for their own greed. The story starts by portraying the selfish and callous lifestyles of the identity thief. The film aims to win you over by trying to convert your perceptions of this character and make you forgive this criminal by justifying the reasoning behind her actions. It’s a poor attempt at an overall plot line and it’s that lack of realism that fails to get the reaction that the story is trying to draw out of the audience.

No it’s not a film that will leave you in stitches and with it being almost two hours long it is stretching the limits of when a film such as this start to drag. Yes the plot lets it down but the silliness does create an enjoyable film though that is funny in parts, the majority of the time this comes from Melissa McCarthy’s character Dianna.

Overall if you are looking for a comedy with a solid story and that is intensely funny then this isn’t the film for you. This films plot is completely hollow due to the lack of believability and strange attempt to humanize the ‘Identity Thief’. Yes this is a comedy and there are funny moments at certain points but the film won’t have you laughing throughout. This film is enjoyable though and is a very easy watch but it’s not something that you should rush out your way to see.  

Please give this a like or a share on Facebook and Twitter. We now have a Facebook page, a like will be greatly appreciated.

Click here to buy Identity Thief via Amazon.

Elysium is the new Sc-Fi Action film from director Neill Blomkamp (District 9). Elysium, starring Matt Damon (as Max De Costa), Jodie Foster (as Secretary Rhodes, head of security on Elysium) and Sharlto Copley (as Kuger), is set in the year 2154 and clearly has some implications presents taken from District 9.

The new trailer for the movie shows off a desolate looking earth where the only safe haven is in a space station where only the wealthy may bask in its beauty city. The paradise know as Elysium inhabits a place where sickness, poverty and war are extinct and left to exist in the poor and polluted looking earth.

District 9 focused on the slums in South Africa and focused on the poor living there. This movie again looks at the poor, but shows the vast contrast between the living conditions of those that are in poverty and the wealthy.

Max De Costa looks to travel to Elysium for some reason, the reason isn’t revealed in the trailer but could possibly be to restore some balance in humanity’s separation of wealth. Anyway in order for Max to infiltrate, what is the heaviest guarded place in the universe, he gets what looks to be some bionic attachment to his body in order for him to complete this mission.

The action pack trailer has a lot on but not too much when it comes to revealing the plot other than Max must get to Elysium. The trailer does create some interest by revealing very little and instead focusing on showing some action. Expect another trailer soon that reveals more when it comes to story.

Elysium is out in cinemas this summer on August 9^th.

Trailer below:-