Reviews

This film receives just over the half-way mark from me, simply because whilst I didn't dislike it, I wasn't wowed by it either.

The actors played their roles well, not brilliantly, but convincingly enough. Stewart was actually rather good and I much preferred her in this role than in the Twilight films. Her English accent wasn't too bad either. Hemsworth was great as always but I feel that there wasn't much for his character to do. Theron was incredibly well suited to the role and played Ravenna with both menace and vulnerability. The dwarfs were by far my favourite characters, showing both sensitivity and humour, adding the light relief that we craved during this dark film.

It was the plot that I was most disappointed with. I felt like too much was attempted to be crammed in, without giving much background. The director touched upon Snow White's background, how the Queen came to be under the spell, why the Huntsman was a widow, what the King's men had been doing in the meantime and what had happened to the dwarf clan. All these fingers in different pies and yet we learnt nothing conclusive. More of an effort should have been made to expand on these themes; particularly the Queen's childhood which would have explained a lot as to how she had become this evil youth-obsessive. The romance too should have perhaps been expanded; it appears that Snow White and the Huntsman fancied each other but that wasn't portrayed very well at all.

The cinematography was incredible and the visuals were stunning, both in terms of the scenery of the forest and the castles but also in transitions such as turning the evil Queen from old to young flawlessly in seconds.

The film was fine and a good watch but not one that I'd necessarily go to see again.

My neighbour gave me her free tickets to see this film as she was unable to attend. I knew nothing at all about the film and went somewhat apprehensively. I needn't have worried however as it was a fantastic film.

It follows four young girls who leave their Aboriginal community in the hope of entertaining US troops in Vietnam and becoming big stars. That's all it does. The director doesn't try to overplay it and make it overly dramatic. Instead it feels somewhat like a documentary, with no clear path as to where it's going.

The actresses playing the four girls were superb, all being fantastic actresses who are believable in their work, but also incredible singers. Jessica Mauboy in particular was amazing and I honestly could have listened to them all night, no dialogue needed. Chris O'Dowd, the manager of the band, is funny while being endearing. The director subtly brought romance into the plot without taking anything away from the main story.

Racism was a key topic that was brought up regularly to show how Aboriginal people were treated in the community and all the characters have to deal with it in some form of another. Kay in particular has to decide between being a white or black girl. It also brings home how prevalent it was then with one white solider refusing to be treated by a black doctor. It was truly harrowing.

The film was shot wonderfully, with the Aboriginal community lit up in beautiful sunshine, while Vietnam scenes were kept bleak and grey.

A great film that I would watch again.

I normally dislike Jude Law but thought he was fantastic in this. He definitely suits more of an action role than a rom-com and he played his character with both menace and depth. The boss also played his part fantastically although Jake I felt was somewhat lacking. I'm not sure what it was as Forest Whitaker is superb in all his other films. He just didn't seem to fit into the character and the friendship between Remy and Jake was hard to believe. It had a bit of a slow beginning-it didn't seem like much of a plot line with no clear direction and rather all over the place. It took about 20 minutes for it to really get going but once it did it was superb. The addition of his family, I would assume were there to show that he was a normal guy with a life outside being repo, however I felt that it hindered the film and scenes with his wife just felt stilted and pointless. Had there been more chemistry between the actors, I feel that there might have been more scope for this relationship to be a useful addition to the film. Whilst some of the plot was predictable to begin with, there are many surprising twists and turns from the middle of the film to the end and the ending was a complete shock. Whilst I myself was not a great fan of the ending, I applaud their effort to make a controversial climax. It's not for the faint hearted, with extremely graphic violence and bodily mutilation. I have a strong stomach when it comes to films but even this was too much for me and I ended up watching some of the scenes through my fingers. I would definitely recommend this film to those wanting a lot of action and who can deal with the gore.

It was an all-round Christmas cheese-fest. It was very much your typical romantic comedy in a nut-shell; girl meets boy, lies about who she is, he finds out, happy ending. Whilst it did have some good moments it was often cringe-worthy to watch. Very little plot substance and some very flat acting meant that a lot of the film feels wasted. For example to make more of a story they had Ally befriend the children but this just fell flat on its face with bad acting and scenes that lacked reality. The children's relationship with their mother, the high powered advertising exec, was very odd as well and this too added to the disbelief that the children were in any way a part of the film. Whilst some scenes were shot beautifully, with stunning views of the house, the rest of it felt very home-movie-esque. The ending I could have quoted word for word as it was so predictable. However all was not lost, as there were still some nice moments and if you want a simple, cheap rom-com to warm up your Christmas, it does the job, although I doubt many of the actors will include it on their CV's.

Can a sequel ever be as good as the original? In this case yes. Home alone 2 made me laugh harder and louder than the original. The opening of Home Alone 2 was near identical to the original, but it was designed that way to harmlessly mock the former film and make us remembered why we loved it in the first place. However the film has changed location and this time Kevin is lost in New York. In a new and huge city, Kevin's adventures get even better. It was less of Kevin wandering around the house and more him exploring the world and it led to some very funny scenes in the Plaza, the hotel he's decided to check himself into. Acting-wise, I still don't think that his family improved. Luckily they seemed to be in the film less this time so they were bearable. Culkin again was fantastic in his comedy scenes, not so much in sad scenes. The pigeon lady was great and the return of the 'wet bandits' was fantastic. They were just as comedic the second time round, if not even more so. The tricks Kevin pulls on the bandits were even more amusing this time round and led to a lot of laughing out loud. They were much more inventive and the actors played their parts superbly. Such an enjoyable film, that dare I say it; I think I enjoyed the sequel more than the original.

Spending Christmas in sunny Australia threw my Christmas spirit array, and I needed something to make it feel more Christmassy. Home alone was the perfect film to do this. Watched by families every year, the film never fails to bring a smile to the face and a Christmas feeling in your heart.

Released in 1990, the film is still a classic. However what I hadn't remembered was how slow the film is to get going. The vast majority of the film seems to concentrate on Kevin's adventures in the house but that's not why kids watch it, they want to see the bad guys meet their comic demise. It just felt a little dragged out before the action finally began.

Likewise as much of a legend as Macaulay Culkin is, he just wasn't as good as I remembered. When he was trying to act sad, it just felt a bit wooden. He really came to life when he used comedy or was setting up the traps against the bad guys. In comparison to his family though, he was superb. The other group of actors were just slightly too dull for me and I didn't particularly enjoy their scenes.

For me the two robbers were the highlight of the film. Two actors have never been picked so perfectly. Their timing, their facial expressions, their tone was just fantastic and even in my 20s, I still laughed out loud at their performances. The film is pretty basic but that's all it needs to be. The stunts are fun and childish and didn't need to use any special effects to make them any better. It's simple but just right.

A fantastic film that will never lose its charm, it's a Christmas must-see, every year.

This film was a fantastic surprise. I watched it without knowing anything about it and it was spectacular. It was visually astounding and the plot was superb.

Reminding me slightly of Trainspotting, the film follows Eddie Morra, a down on his luck man suffering from major writers block. He bumps into his ex-wife's brother, who offers him a drug which changes his world forever. It begins with a scene from the middle of the film, whereby Eddie is standing on the edge of a building with people trying to hammer down the door behind him. It's a brilliant technique as it makes you wonder what has happened to him to build up to this point. The film just continues to get better and better.

The soundtrack and score were so well tuned (pun intended) to the film and the colours and the production of the film were outstanding and the camera shots were used to their maximum potential. The most dazzling were the shots that zoomed through the city, first used in the opening sequence and then again to show the progression of Eddie's drug-fuelled day and how the world would seem to him. The acting talent was brilliant and Bradley Cooper was never an actor that I thought highly of, he was always just an 'ok' actor. This film showed his maximum potential and he portrayed Eddie spot-on. Robert De Niro was on form and special mention must go to Johnny Whitworth, who was fantastic. There are some obvious plot flaws, such as Eddie not being searched by the police after he has raided Vernon's flat for his drugs, however this did not undo the film at all for me; I really didn't want it to end.

All in all a great (if unexpected) watch perfect for those times when you can't quite decide what it is you want to see.

I love the disaster movies. I love the thrill and excitement of not knowing whether your heroes will survive and wondering what I would do if the end of the world suddenly came upon us. With Deep Impact and the Day after tomorrow firmly in my top 10 films, I had high hopes that 2012 would be just as good, if not better than these incredible films with its use of the latest advances in cinematography. However a great disaster movie it was not meant to be, as a general film straying into science fiction it was enjoyable but not thrilling.

I think my main issue with the film was that normally there is a hero or a few heroes, who you are rooting for all the way through to survive. 2012 bills John Cusack as the hero of the hour, who realises just how important his family is to him. However although I adore Cusack normally, my heart just wasn't in it and while I want him to survive, it doesn't ultimately make a difference to me either way. The film also was jam-packed with action, probably too much so, nudging on the edge of believability, with cities crumbling within the first half an hour and whilst it was very dramatic, it feels that it's been drawn out and it's not until the last 45 minutes that you truly got into and felt your heart start to race.

My other issue with the film was the way in which some characters were portrayed. Adrian Helmsely was presented as a hero who argued back to his boss, who said that it wasn't right what they were doing and demanded that more people should allowed to be saved. As a scientific adviser he seemed rather inept with "temperatures are rising with incredible velocity" just one of the many unscientific phrases tumbling from his humanitarian lips. Carl Anheuser was shown as the bad guy, the one who tried to control who would be saved. This is all very well and good, but if this were to happen then I would argue that Anheuser is actually the one in the right. Human life needs to be preserved and to do so does mean some sacrifices.

Despite the incredibly dire nature of several aspects of the film I found myself actually rather liking it and am a tentative fan of the film. It does require a suspension of reality on the viewers part (but surely that's what films are for) and it does turn into an enjoyable film with a twisting plot that whilst it doesn't leave you aching for more does mean that the film seems to fly by as though you are strapped into a roller-coaster instead of sat on your sofa. The special effects used are brilliant and the actual plot line and ideas put into it are fantastic. The actors play their parts superbly, particularly Woody Harrelson and it is an enjoyable movie.

Undecided as to which genre of film to watch last night, I thought I'd opt for a seemingly lighthearted movie to kill some time. My feelings by the end of the film were still the same, what genre film had I just watched? If it was a romantic film it failed to make me care or be excited by the prospect of a relationship, if it was a comedy it failed to make me laugh. The film didn't make me feel any empathy for the characters and while I enjoyed the actors' performances, it fell flat on the entertainment value. I successfully predicted all the way through exactly what would happen. The film had no driving force, didn't seem to be building up to anything and the clichéd ending wasn't the closure I wanted.

However it was not all bad. It was very well shot, with beautiful sets and was visually exciting, with first class editing. It was an original plot, based on a solid concept. Because of this it could have been really good, offering the audience a mirror in which to view themselves and what society has become. Whilst it did become a bit of a thinker and made me wonder what extent we go to, to have the best of everything it ultimately failed to truly strike at the heart of the topic and left me feeling like there were gaps that should have been filled throughout the film.

Overall; a watchable film but not entirely enjoyable.