Pleasant surprises.
Movies that I didn't expect much from or had no interest in - but they turned out to be good.
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- DirectorHarry Bromley DavenportStarsPhilip SayerBernice StegersDanny BraininAn alien creature impregnates a woman who gives birth to a man who was abducted by aliens three years ago. The man reconnects with his wife and son for a sinister purpose.A cheap b-movie that's actually really interesting and creative.
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsBruno LawrenceAlison RoutledgePete SmithA scientist awakens to find himself alone in the world. In a desperate attempt to search for others, he finds only two who have their own agenda.Another cheap b-movie that's actually really interesting and creative.
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerF. Murray AbrahamArt CarneyWith the help of a magic ticket, a young movie fan is transported into the fictional world of his favorite action movie character.Self-referential/meta movies and writer Shane Black are two things I don't normally like, but this was a really fun movie.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLiam NeesonRalph FiennesBen KingsleyIn German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.Not usually a fan of Spielberg and his saccharine stylings, but this film was honestly and respectfully done.
- DirectorBill DukeStarsWhoopi GoldbergKathy NajimyMaggie SmithShowgirl Deloris Van Cartier returns as Sister Mary Clarence to teach music to a group of Catholic students whose run-down school is slated for closure.
- DirectorJonathan MostowStarsKurt RussellJ.T. WalshKathleen QuinlanA man searches for his missing wife after his car breaks down in the middle of the desert.
- DirectorMimi LederStarsRobert DuvallTéa LeoniElijah WoodA comet is discovered to be on a collision course with Earth. As doomsday nears, the human race prepares for the worst.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsHarrison FordMichelle PfeifferKatharine TowneThe wife of a university research scientist believes that her lakeside Vermont home is haunted by a ghost - or that she is losing her mind.
- DirectorNick HammStarsThora BirchDesmond HarringtonDaniel BrocklebankFour teenagers at a British private school secretly uncover and explore the depths of a sealed underground hole created decades ago as a possible bomb shelter.Cleverer and more convincing than I expected from one of those noughties twist-around-every-corner teen horrors.
- DirectorMark Steven JohnsonStarsBen AffleckJennifer GarnerColin FarrellA man blinded by toxic waste which also enhanced his remaining senses fights crime as an acrobatic martial arts superhero.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsTobey MaguireKirsten DunstAlfred MolinaPeter Parker is beset with troubles in his failing personal life as he battles a former brilliant scientist named Otto Octavius.Much better than its predecessor - a huge step-up in budget, writing, direction and performances.
- DirectorEli RothStarsJay HernandezDerek RichardsonEythor GudjonssonThree backpackers head to a Slovak city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that awaits them.It's definitely not subtle, but it wasn't half as juvenile as I expected it to be and I actually enjoyed it!
- DirectorJon FavreauStarsJosh HutchersonJonah BoboDax ShepardTwo young brothers are drawn into an intergalactic adventure when their house is hurled through the depths of space by the magical board game they are playing.
- DirectorNeil BurgerStarsEdward NortonJessica BielPaul GiamattiIn turn-of-the-century Vienna, a magician uses his abilities to secure the love of a woman far above his social standing.
- DirectorGreg MottolaStarsJesse EisenbergKristen StewartRyan ReynoldsIn the summer of 1987, a college graduate takes a 'nowhere' job at his local amusement park, only to find it's the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.
- DirectorPaul WeitzStarsChris MassogliaJohn C. ReillySalma HayekTeenager Darren Shan meets a mysterious man at a freak show who turns out to be a vampire. After a series of events, Darren must leave his normal life and go on the road with the Cirque du Freak, becoming a creature of the night.
- DirectorRodrigo CortésStarsRyan ReynoldsJosé Luis García-PérezRobert PatersonPaul is a U.S. truck driver working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap.The stuck-in-a-coffin concept was a make-or-break idea, and it made it. Not one single shot takes place outside the coffin, and I was gripped the whole way through.
- DirectorBreck EisnerStarsRadha MitchellTimothy OlyphantDanielle PanabakerAfter a strange and insecure plane crash, an unusual toxic virus enters a quaint farming town. A young couple are quarantined, but they fight for survival along with help from a couple of people.It's not great, mind you, but better than I would've expected.
- DirectorJon TurteltaubStarsNicolas CageJay BaruchelAlfred MolinaA protege of the magician Merlin must train his teacher's successor - an introverted but resourceful physics prodigy - in the art of sorcery to prevent the return of Morgana le Fay.
- DirectorJon FavreauStarsDaniel CraigHarrison FordOlivia WildeA spaceship arrives in 1873 Arizona to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. All that stands in their way: a posse of cowboys and natives.Much better than the title would suggest.
- DirectorCatherine HardwickeStarsAmanda SeyfriedLukas HaasGary OldmanSet in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf, a young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter, much to her family's displeasure.Good, albeit cheesy.
- DirectorGary RossStarsJennifer LawrenceJosh HutchersonLiam HemsworthKatniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games: a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death.Had no interest in this series, but really enjoyed all of the films - good writing, great action, excellent world-building.
- DirectorJames MatherSteve Saint LegerStarsGuy PearceMaggie GracePeter StormareA man wrongly convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage against the U.S. is offered his freedom if he can rescue the President's daughter from an outer-space prison taken over by violent inmates.
- DirectorJason MooreStarsAnna KendrickBrittany SnowRebel WilsonBeca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.
- DirectorPaul W.S. AndersonStarsMilla JovovichSienna GuilloryMichelle RodriguezAlice fights alongside a resistance movement to regain her freedom from an Umbrella Corporation testing facility.Better than you'd expect from the rest of the films - the action is much better than usual for these films, the score is great, and Alice actually gets a kid to look after.
- DirectorBill CondonStarsKristen StewartRobert PattinsonTaylor LautnerAfter the birth of Renesmee/Nessie, the Cullens gather other vampire clans in order to protect the child from a false allegation that puts the family in front of the Volturi.Still not exactly a good film, per se, but much more watchable and charming than the previous four.
- DirectorFede AlvarezStarsJane LevyShiloh FernandezJessica LucasFive friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods.An actually good remake of a film I don't like.
- DirectorEd Gass-DonnellyStarsAshley BellJulia GarnerSpencer Treat ClarkAs Nell Sweetzer tries to build a new life after the events of the first movie, the evil force that once possessed her returns with an even more horrific plan.Expected something really trashy but it was actually fairly subtle and well-paced.
- DirectorJacques OuanicheStarsBrahim AsloumSteve SuissaIsabella de Ligne-La TrémoïlleVictor "Young" Perez , tells the astonishing, harrowing and incredible moving story of a Tunisian Jewish boxer, who became the World Flyweight Champion in 1931 and 1932. Perez started training as a boxer at age 14 along with his older brother Benjamin "Kid" Perez Perez rose to great fame via the help and guidance of Leon Bellier and had a brief relationship with French-Italian actress Mireille Balin. The 5'1", 110-pound Perez won the International Boxing Union's version of the World Flyweight crown with a 2nd-round knockout of American champion Frankie Genaro, ergo becoming the youngest world champion in boxing history ! Perez was arrested in Paris on September 21, 1943 and detained in the Drancy internment camp France, before being transported to Auschwitz where he was assigned to the Monowitz to serve as a slave laborer Victor Perez arrived at Auschwitz on October 10, 1943, as part of "Transport 60" a group of 1,000. He was held in AuschwitzIII/Monowitz. Whilst there he was forced to participate in boxing matches for the amusement of the Nazis. By 1945. Victor had survived 140 bouts in 15 months and won 139 !! Perez was one of the prisoners on the "Death March that left the camp on January 18, 1945.
- DirectorRawson Marshall ThurberStarsJason SudeikisJennifer AnistonEmma RobertsA veteran pot dealer creates a fake family as part of his plan to move a huge shipment of weed into the U.S. from Mexico.
- DirectorRodney AscherJulian BarrattRobert BoocheckStarsEric JacobusAndy NymanSimon BarrettAnother 26-chapter anthology that showcases death in all its vicious wonder and brutal beauty.I'd say both the first film and this one had seven really good segments each, but the ones here are more creative - plus, there are only a handful of really boring or bad segments this time, whereas the first film was almost constantly boring save for those good seven.
- DirectorPhil LordChristopher MillerStarsChris PrattWill FerrellElizabeth BanksAn ordinary LEGO construction worker, thought to be the prophesied as "special", is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil tyrant from gluing the LEGO universe into eternal stasis.Not the cynical name-recognition cash-grab I expected it to be, but an actually endearing, heartfelt ode to childhood.
- DirectorRobert StrombergStarsAngelina JolieElle FanningSharlto CopleyA vengeful fairy is driven to curse an infant princess, only to discover that the child could be the one person who can restore peace to their troubled land.
- DirectorAndrew StantonAngus MacLaneStarsEllen DeGeneresAlbert BrooksEd O'NeillFriendly but forgetful blue tang Dory begins a search for her long-lost parents and everyone learns a few things about the real meaning of family along the way.It didn't just rely on the original for cheap nostalgia, as the first 20 minutes or so seemed to indicate.
- DirectorMike FlanaganStarsElizabeth ReaserLulu WilsonAnnalise BassoIn 1967 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her daughters add a new stunt to bolster their seance scam business by inviting an evil presence into their home, not realizing how dangerous it is.A gazillion times better than the teeny-bop "horror movie" that was the original. Probably thanks to writer/director Mike Flanagan.
- DirectorMike FlanaganStarsCarla GuginoBruce GreenwoodChiara AureliaA couple tries to spice up their marriage in a remote lake house. After the husband dies unexpectedly, the wife is left handcuffed to their bed frame and must fight to survive and break free.I was very worried based on how boring Mike Flanagan's films usually are ("Oculus" [2013], "Before I Wake" [2016], "Hush" [2016]), but this one was very strong.
- DirectorMalcolm D. LeeStarsRegina HallQueen LatifahJada Pinkett SmithWhen four lifelong friends travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival, sisterhoods are rekindled, wild sides are rediscovered, and there's enough dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing to make the Big Easy blush.
- DirectorJake KasdanStarsDwayne JohnsonKaren GillanKevin HartFour teenagers are sucked into a magical video game, and the only way they can escape is to work together to finish the game.
- DirectorTomas AlfredsonStarsMichael FassbenderRebecca FergusonCharlotte GainsbourgDetective Harry Hole investigates the disappearance of a woman whose scarf is found wrapped around an ominous-looking snowman.Definitely not perfect, but there is good to be found among the bad.
- DirectorJon WattsStarsTom HollandMichael KeatonRobert Downey Jr.Peter Parker balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter-ego Spider-Man, and finds himself on the trail of a new menace prowling the skies of New York City.I hadn't particularly liked any of the handful of MCU movies I'd seen so far, so I didn't expect much of this one either. Turns out it's got a solid plot, there's a genuinely likeable and sympathetic villain, and Spider-Man's funny in it (not obnoxious, i.e. the Guardians of the Galaxy).
- DirectorChris MulStarsFrank DillaneDamson IdrisCatherine SteadmanA detached university student faces the consequences of astral projection when he uses it to reconnect with his dead mother.
- DirectorFede AlvarezStarsClaire FoyBeau GadsdonSverrir GudnasonYoung computer hacker Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist find themselves caught in a web of spies, cybercriminals and corrupt government officials.
- DirectorDanishka EsterhazyStarsKatie DouglasCelina MartinSara CanningIn a highly regimented boarding school, a pair of students discover that things are not as they seem.
- DirectorPaul FeigStarsAnna KendrickBlake LivelyHenry GoldingStephanie is a single mother with a parenting vlog who befriends Emily, a secretive upper-class woman who has a child at the same elementary school. When Emily goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to investigate.I didn't like "Spy" [2015] and I hated "Ghostbusters" [2016], but this was very good.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsAlden EhrenreichWoody HarrelsonEmilia ClarkeDuring an adventure in the criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his future co-pilot Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian years before joining the Rebel Alliance.Basically had no interest in seeing this given the premise, the incredibly lukewarm reception, and the wasted potential of "The Last Jedi" [2017].
- DirectorJohannes RobertsStarsChristina HendricksMartin HendersonBailee MadisonA family of four staying at a secluded mobile home park for the night are stalked and then hunted by three masked psychopaths.Wasn't really a fan of "The Strangers" [2008] and just expected this to be a trashy sequel, but it's actually really well-made and full of nice camerawork, bright colours and pop ballads.
- DirectorRoar UthaugStarsAlicia VikanderDominic WestWalton GogginsLara Croft, the fiercely independent daughter of a missing adventurer, must push herself beyond her limits when she discovers the island where her father, Lord Richard Croft disappeared.I love old-school Lara Croft, including the movies with Angelina Jolie, but I really dislike new-school Lara Croft. But I think this movie was a much better realisation of the fish-out-of-water Lara that the 2013 reboot games were aiming for, seeing as she doesn't just feel like a scared little girl who keeps tripping over everything.
- DirectorStephen SuscoStarsColin WoodellStephanie NoguerasBetty GabrielA teen comes into possession of a new laptop and soon discovers that the previous owner is not only watching him but will also do anything to get it back.Didn't like "Unfriended" [2014] and expected something really stupid from this sequel. It turned out to be pretty damn good.
- DirectorRobert RodriguezStarsRosa SalazarChristoph WaltzJennifer ConnellyA deactivated cyborg's revived, but can't remember anything of her past and goes on a quest to find out who she is.
- DirectorAnna BodenRyan FleckStarsBrie LarsonSamuel L. JacksonBen MendelsohnCarol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.All the politics surrounding it marred my expectations - it's actually good when you switch all that background noise off.
- DirectorTim MillerStarsLinda HamiltonArnold SchwarzeneggerMackenzie DavisAn augmented human and Sarah Connor must stop an advanced liquid Terminator from hunting down a young girl, whose fate is critical to the human race.Much better than people made out - only problem is it follows the exact formula the series always has. So it's very good, but nothing new.
- DirectorKeith ThomasStarsDave DavisMenashe LustigMalky GoldmanA man providing overnight watch to a deceased member of his former Orthodox Jewish community finds himself opposite a malevolent entity, in writer-director Keith Thomas' electrifying feature debut.
- DirectorSam HargraveStarsChris HemsworthBryon LerumRyder LerumTyler Rake, a fearless black market mercenary, embarks on the most deadly extraction of his career when he's enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord.
- DirectorNiki CaroStarsLiu YifeiDonnie YenGong LiTo keep her ailing father from serving in the Imperial Army, a fearless young woman disguises herself as a man and battles northern invaders in China.See "Captain Marvel" [2019] above - switched off the background noise and ended up liking it.
- DirectorSimon McQuoidStarsLewis TanJessica McNameeJosh LawsonMMA fighter Cole Young seeks out Earth's greatest champions in order to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.Nothing particularly clever, but surprisingly entertaining.