Zookeeper (2011) Poster

Having seen the trailer for this film and looked at it here. I saw this poster and thought well I really do not need to see this film now. The trailer shows Kevin James trying to win Leslie Bibb and yet you get the attached poster showing the animals pushing him towards the Roasrio Dawson character which was where you think it will end up anyway as it is standard fare but hey why not just show you the whole story in the trailer and posters.

It just goes to show where Hollywood is today that they have no surprise in film any more they just want to tell you everything before you see the film and yet they wonder why no one goes to the movies anyway.

Why not do what Simon Pegg and Nick frost wanted to do with Paul when they wrote the film and released it they wanted it released with no reference to the fact that Paul was an alien and imagine the impact when you were in the cinema and out of the dark here comes Paul it would have been an awesome reveal in the cinema and would have gone down in film history but the execs decided that it was to much and wanted to show what the money had been spent on so we get nothing but alien in the promotional material.

Cowboys & Aliens (2011) Trailer

I have highly anticiapted this film since I heard about this film, Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig in a Western that has aliens in it what is there not to love about this film idea. In watching the trailer it would appear to be somewhere along the lines of Daniel Craig being abducted and returned to the wild west with some sort of weapon attached to his arm.

He has to team up with Harrison Ford who indicates that some people from the town including his son have been abducted. I am a bit worried having seen the trailer that I have basically seen the full plot of the film and I am wondering if there will be any twists that will keep us interested up to the end.

The trailer makes me want to see this film more and more and i hope that it lives up to the hyoe and expectations I have for it and I am not disappointed, will endeavor to see this film at the cinema when it comes out.

UK release Date - 17th August 2011

The Descent (2005)

This is Neil Marshall's 2005 Caving horror film that sees a group of experienced thrill seekers venture into a cave, they also have some other issues on the go within the group which leads to some excellent tense scenes. The story takes them into the cave and when they discover that they are lost and the claustrophobic atmosphere that Marshall creates is terryifying. I have to say that the group of cavers are all female and this makes it an interesting dynamic but I do not think it defines the terror it just happens to be a group of female cavers.

The effects are good as most of the scenes are in darkness and therefore you can forgive a lot but what you do see is done really well, I have seen this film a couple of times and the performances from the lead actors is very good. One downside I have heard is that there are 2 endings a UK one and a US one, this bothers me somewhat as this means that the 2 films are almost completly different to each other as the conclusion a lot of the time is what makes a film and it does part of the way in this film.

Overall I really enjoy this film there are some really good scares and scenes in it and it is well worth watching, a solid 4 star rating for me.

Captain America:The First Avenger (2011) Trailer

The latest film from Marvel is the story of Captain America, from the trailer it looks interesting i know nothing about Captain America other than the fact that he comes from the Second World War and is part of the Avengers and this film is released with the Avenger movie scheduled for next year.

From the trailer it looks interesting it would appear that he is created so it will be interesting to see what he can do. I am a fan of comic book movies so based upon the trailer I will go and see this, however I am not a fan of origin stories so my expectations going in a re quite low and I do hope it is good as I am developing high expectations for the Avengers when it comes out next year.

UK Release Date - 29th July 2011

The Crazies (1973)

This is the 1973 film written and directed by George A Romero and is the story of a small town that becomes contaminated by a man made virus and the story of the army who try to contain and quarantine the town and some of the town inhabitants. You follow Judy and David and David's friend from the fire service Clank. This film was remade in 2010 and I saw that before watching the original, I have to say that I enjoyed the remake and the original film is just as good if not better for being made in 1973.

The acting is a bit ropey and the effects especially the blood effects are not very good but I think that you just have to consider the time it was made and the probable budget that was involved. I have to say that while the acting and the effects are overall it is excellent B movie that is worth watching and i will revisit again, The remake is also worth a watch and i will actually look at seeing that again in the near future after seeing this film.

This is a 4 star recommend for me, it is not a 5 star film as not everybody will enjoy it but it is worth seeing and I look forward to watching it again.

Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) Trailer

I love the Paranormal Activity films, the first is a classic to me and the second fulfilled all it promised to me, the worst part of both these films was that seeing them in a packed cinema was distracting so while I will probably go and see this in the cinema I actually think that I might wait for a quieter showing before going to see it.

Now the trailer looks like a prequel and I am not a fan of prequels but then the second film did both so I am interested to see what it can do. I think that the franchise will probably go to far like many of the previous franchises and I hope that if they are making more they have started to think of an end game and or a way for the story to be interlinked.

This is definetley a film I want to see at the cinema, I think it probably says more about me than I care to admit.

UK Release Date - 21st October 2011

Siren (2010)

A thriller that starts out with three friends heading out on a boat for a tour of some islands, you have Ken and Rachel with Rachel's friend Marco a strange little triangle that plays out quite interestingly. Overall the film is quite slow to get going when they meet Silka on the island after the boat conveniently gets stuck.

This was quite a tense little thriller as psychological scares a plenty as their fears are shown to them, however it was far to slow for me to get going there is not that much to like about the characters and even though the director tries to develop them it lacked something for me.

I would say 2 stars if you like the psychological scares with a bit of the supernatural thrown in then it might be for you, I would say stay away from it. It lacks the real world essence to make it truly scary for me.

Zookeeper (2011) Trailer

I have seen this trailer a couple of times it is the film of the year where the big comedy star gets to act ll silly and stupid with some funny partners. In this case it is Kevin James with a cast of zoo animals who get to to show him how to get the woman of his dreams, Leslie Bibb with Rosario Dawson in the wings, my cynical heart asks wonder how this will play out?

I laughed at the trailer the Gorilla, going to TGI Friday's screams product placement but it is pretty funny, just glad it is not McDonalds.

I will probably skip this film at the cinema to childish even for em that enjoys the children's films and I will wait for it coming out on DVD.

UK Release Date - 29th July 2011

From Paris With Love (2010)

This is the thriller starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyer that came from nowhere and nobody saw except me and I am glad that I have seen it. It is the story of Jonathan Rhys Meyer is a young attache in the the office of the US ambassador in Paris who wants to be a spy and ends up working with John Travolta. Shenanigins ensue and there is a roller coaster tour of Paris as they search down the terrorists, this is a thriller there are some cood comedy moments in it and it was a highlight of my year finding this film.

John Travolta really plays crazy well with a bald head and goatee beer and his no nonsense attitude you actually do not like the character which is where you are supposed to be with him and your sympathies lie totally with the Jonatahn Rhys Meyer character and the journey that he goes on.

A 4 star recommend I can see this becoming a film that I will revisit agin in the future a most enjoyable romp through Paris.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) Trailer

Decided that along with reviews I am going to look at some upcoming films that I might go and see and see what I think of them from the trailer and have a comparison when I have seen the film.

First up is the remake of The Rise of The Planet of the Apes, now I am not sure if this is a remake of the original film by this name or if it a sequel/prequel to the Mark Whalberg remake of the original classic.

So from the trailer I am highly anticipating this film, with James Franco and Andy Serkis and the effects that the trailer show it looks really good, it is the set up of how the apes take over? do they take over, well if it is a sequel/prequel to the remake then we know how it is going to end up but ultimately it still looks great and I cannot wait to se this at the cinema.

UK Release Date - 11th August 2011

Death at a Funeral (2010)

I had not seen the original film so had very little to base what I thought of this going in and I was pleasantly surprised, it is essentially a slapstick comedy with a serious and slightly dark edge starring Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Zoey Saldona, Keith David and Danny Glover. The premise is the funeral of a father and how his family deal with the funeral and a little surprise that turns up.

The comedy in this film is actually quite clever and funny, it is by no means a masterpiece and i will not be rushing out to see it again but happy that I have seen it. It is quite good as some of the funny moments are telegraphed but not really thrown in your face so it treats you with a bit of maturity, but Martin Lawrence is the biggest annoyance he just annoys me for some reason but Chris Rock is good and Zoey Saldona actually has some really good timing.

Worth seeing but not worth searching for 3 stars.

Your Highness (2011)

This is another film that I had wanted to see at the cinema pretty much because Natalie Portman was in it and I enjoyed watching Natalie Portman, the rest of the film was laughable and not in the good comedy way. I have no idea where this film came from, it was like a gaudy comedy that decided to go for the R rating in the USA and to hang with making sure it was funny. James Franco was fine in the role he played and the supporting cast were okay but Danny McBride was just wrong in so many ways, it was like I want to write a film where I am the star and for some reason they let him make it.

The jokes were poor and the story itself would have been funny had I been stoned, I was straight and really it felt painful. Part of the problem was that they ended up getting more stars than they knew what to do with and they did not get a chance to do what they were good at. Portman was sort of like, well we will ask her, she will probably say no and for some reason she said yes and they were like wow, now what do we do?

I would say avoid this unless you are into lowest common denominator comedy and are perpetually stoned cause then I think you will find it funny, a very disappointing 1 star film for me.

Horrible Bosses (2011)

Went to the cinema to see this film with the thought that most of the best comedy moments had probably been in the trailer. Not quite but it was close a lot of the best laughs in the very busy cinema came from parts that I had seen in the trailer. There were a lot of jokes that were not in the film, however it was just about an average comedy.

The actors in this were good, the best being the bosses, Jennifer Aniston as the dirty man eater, Kevin Spacey as the psycho and Colin Farrell as the asshole. There acting chops really show in this and while they are extreme caricatures you can sort of see the truth in the parts they actually play. The comedy actors in the role of the put upon workers, the best was from Jason Bateman I actually believed he would and could be the person that ends up like that. Charlie Day was slightly unbelievable as the person that Jennifer Aniston craved and Jason Sudekis as a really nice guy but could pull anything in a skirt within minutes of meeting them was unbelievable and not that funny.

Overall it was 3 stars for me, it is enjoyable funny with some dark moments and some of the comedy is funny however overall it just misses something for me. Worth seeing but not worth missing anything else for.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)

So I went to see the final film of the Harry Potter series, now I am a big one for expectations and have in the past been badly let down because my expectation were far to high for the film, the hype got to me and gave me a hope for something that was not possible. Perhaps it is now that I am older, wiser and have the experience to appreciate good film making but this film, totally met my expectations. It was everything I hoped it could be and it brought forward all manner of emotions from me. I am not embarrassed to say as a 33 year old man I had tears running down my face at a couple of points in this film and I knew they were coming due to the fact that I have read the book twice and listened to the audio book twice. I know the story of the book and love it, the characters are actually good because at times they annoy me, their decisions are infuriating but also they do not just make decisions for the story, there is reason behind their decisions because of the characters that JK Rowling has created over the 7 books.

This is a visual representation of a book and therefore was never going to be exactly the same as the bok but what it showed was that you can make a great film using a source material without destroying the essence of the story and what the book conveys. Yes there are sections changed and different directions taken but in the main it is the same story told in a different format and it holds up. There will be some people that do not like the decisions made, I however love them they work so well. At times during the reading of the book as the series was in full swing on film, I thought there is no way they can make this work on film, I am happy to say that I am wrong.

You are at film 8 in a series, they are all sequels but the story is still strong, the characters are beleivable within the world in which they are set. This is the strongest film in the series and a worthy conclusion to the series and the long years from J K Rowling's original conception of the characters. This is a 5 star film for me and I recommend the investment in all of the books and then the films, it takes it's time but at the end of the road it is such a worthwhile journey.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010)

preparation for the final part of this saga coming to the cinema I decided to watch the first part again, I think that it is only fair to put all my cards on the table regarding these films and books. I love everything about them, even the worst film or book in the series is still really good to me. I have seen all of the films in the cinema and I own all of the films that have been released, all of the films have been watched more than once as well. So when this film was coming out I was very nervous as the final book is my favorite and the best decision I heard was that it was going to be done in 2 parts.

They captured everything almost perfectly in my eyes, there are a few things they could have done slightly differently that would have been easy enough and just made it fully perfect for me. Watching it again I knew what was going to happen and how they were going to do it and still they emotion bubbled up in me at the points that were sad and the exciting bits. Somehow they manage to make the scenes of risk work and you still feel the peril which is usually lost when you have read the book or seen the film before.

The only real flaw in this film for me as it is the 7th film it is not stand alone, there is so much happening in the books and film that there is little to no exposition so you would have to have invested in all of the previous films. Therefore it is a 5 star film for me and I would recommend it but only if you have seen all of the other installments.

Solomon Kane (2009)

When this film came to the cinema I was interested in seeing it but never got a chance and actually never knew anything about it, it is the story of Solomon Kane who starts the film escaping the devil and goes to the church to try and redeem his soul. When he gets sent away from the church he ends up going home and discovers an evil in his family home. The story itself is quite interesting and the effects are actually done really well and the acting with Solomon Kane played by James Purefoy, Pete Postlethwaite as Meredith's father and Max Von Sydow as Solomon's father are all very good.

There is just something missing from it, considering where Solomon comes from and his unwillingness at the start to go back to that he embraces it very quickly and the story seems to jump from point to point with actually very little point in it to me. The effects are glitzy and overall the characters were not explained well to begin with so you did not care about them, when Solomon went from brigand to holy man I was like whatever and the saddest part was that he should have reacted quicker which might have saved the whole film as he would have been a hero but he lost me about half way through.

Overall the performances were fine the effects were good and the idea was interesting but was poorly executed in my humble opinion so 2 stars for this and I would not recommend it.

Brewsters Millions (1985)

Another classic from my youth, I rember having this on VHS, think it may even have been recorded from the TV and I would watch it again and again, so it comes with great memories. As is sometimes the case I had not seen it for a few years when I decided to dust it off and give it another watch. It is a story that always makes me think, Monty Brewster played by Richard Prior inherits $30 Million and has to spend it in 30 days, I thought how I would do it today and actually think the scheduled remake might actually work. This is film that has been made several times and is being remade again in 2012 according to IMdb so actually looking forward to that.

You have interesting characters in his best friend Spike played by John Candy who is always funny and is ever watchable a great loss when he died. Overall this film still works today even though it is a little dated around the styles and situations. However the comedy comes from the fact that only Montgomery Brewster actually knows what he is trying to do and some of the best laughs are when his friends make him money and his reactions are hilarious.

This is another film that while I will rewatch it again and again it will not be for everyone and I would love to hear from anybody that watches this for the first time in today's economy, I wonder if the warm glow I have for it is from Nostalgia but it is a solid 4 star recommend from me.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

This is the 2010 Platinum Dunes remake of the Wes Craven classic from 1984 starring Robert Englund and Helen Langenkamp. Now the remake was highly talked about and there was a lot of discussion around whether they would get Robert Englund back to play the role that made him famous. And they went with an interesting decision, they chose Jackie Earle Haley who came to prominence to me as Rorschach in the 2009 Watchmen. Now I am not a fan of remakes and the original version of this film that launched Freddy Kreuger into our world is one of my all time favorite films. So I was not very hopeful but excited to see how they would re imagine this classic and restart the franchise.

Well what a disaster this turned out to be, you have a Freddy Krueger that is not Robert Englund and while Jackie Earle Haley was adequate in the role he was not the wise cracking child killer we knew in the 80's. They missed the point of the film to me, now they attempt to tell a slightly different story which is good, put your own mark on it. But they missed the point, the characters were totally unbelievable and you did not care and while they made the story their own they kept putting in scenes from the original, the wall scene and the claw in the bath. The biggest let down for me though was the special effects, the scene where Freddy comes out of the wall over Nancy is pitiful CGI, they would have been better with a rubber sheet and somebody putting their head into it. And the final scene of the film was laughable based purely on the quality of the CGI, this in today's age where they can convince you that there is an alien who does not exist is talking to live action actors it is disappointing.

Overall I was disappointed even though I had low expectations, it has to be 1 star not worth seeing. There will be people that will watch it as a completest but please avoid it other than for this reason.

The Rats (2002)

So I was given this film and when I looked at it, I was like wow they made the James Herbert book into a film, this has to be good. I read the Herbert book when I was younger and it destroyed me I could barely read it all and actually put it down twice that I remember and the book itself has stuck with me through points but I cannot remember the whole thing. So this film could have taken it's idea from the novel but it is not based on it and if it is I hope Herbert sued them.

It starts with some interesting point of view shots from the point of view of the rats and goes down hill from there, it starts a couple of story threads and you are like cool lets see where this goes like the Weill's disease when someone is bitten then it goes nowhere to the point that the lead actress as seen on the trailer is buried in rats and is dragged out covered in bites and yet there is nothing said about this and they all go off happy ever after.

Overall I was disappointed but I think that it was because of my expectations and probably warped memory of a book that scared me when I was younger, 1 star for this made for TV drivel.

Evil Aliens (2005)

This was actually recommended to me a long time ago by someone in Blockbusters however I did not get around to watching it until recently and the only good thing in this film was Emily Booth, the acting in this is ridiculous and very campy and I think they were aiming for something that they missed completely. The effects were poor but I think this was part of the aim, the idea I think was to be so bad it's good and unfortunately they missed that mark.

This was actually that bad I could not watch it all the way to the end and I fast forwarded some chunks. It was about 2 steps up from an amateur shoot, but in saying that there were some cool gory effects that fit in well with what they wanted to achieve.

So simply a 1 star film for me, Emily Booth who I have always liked shone in this and the effects carry it a bit but I will never watch this film again.

Paul (2010) Second Watch

I got a chance to watch this film on DVD just after it came out and it is still as funny the second time around, you can see my original thoughts on it here. I think that this is so far my film of the year and will take a lot of beating, the comedy and chemistry between Nick Frost, Simon Pegg and "Paul" is brilliant. The timing and the comedy is phenomenal and the sci-fi references within the film are just great I found more the second time I watched it. Apparently according to Mark Kermode the film was toned down for a more mainstream audience. If this is the case I hope that the shot extra footage that they could them make a "Directors Cut" to show the film how they wanted it.

I thought that the film had a lot of references in it and I am sure I missed a few and would like to see a definitive list put out by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost so that we can see what we have missed. I am comfortable getting most of them however there are a few that go so far over my head I do not even know where they come from at all.

This is a total recommend 5 stars of comedy gold and I think that even if you are not a sci-fi film fan then you will still get a lot from this film, I look forward to seeing it again and again in the next few years.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3:At World's End (2007)

I watched this film as part of catching up on the series after seeing number 4 at the cinema and I was not looking forward to it as I had watched it before and been unimpressed with it. I wonder if going in with such low expectations helped when watching this as I actually quite liked it, there is a lot going on and it is about 30 minutes too long. The story throughout still follows the love story of Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom and you have Johnny Depp escaping and surviving throughout as Captain Jack Sparrow.

You have Bill Nighy and Geoffrey Rush back as their characters and you have all of the rest of the cast coming back again. Overall it is not a bad film but it is fairly hard work and the ending is sort of a mixed based on the fact that it is a Disney film.
I think this is 3 stars for me, it is not watchable without having seen parts 1 and 2 and you should only watch this if you have endured the 2nd part. 

Outpost (2008)

So I actually watched this thinking it was going to be based on Mars for some reason, anyway it has nothing to do with Mars in is about a group of mercenaries that are hired in war torn Eastern Europe to go into an area that is still a high risk. And there are Nazi Zombies so you have to know that it is going to be a good film. The tension is excellent I have to say that I was worried and wondered how they were going to escape. One of the biggest flaws in this though was that I had no reason to care for the soldiers that we were following. 

Overall there were some interesting ideas that they needed to explore a bit better, they needed to simplify how the story ran and perhaps a bit more exposition whether it was through speculation or even found papers. The acting in this is okay, the writing and direction though is what lets this down  a and could have been stronger and made this a better overall film. 

I give this 2 stars, if you are into Nazi Zombies and desolate picture scapes then it will be worth a look for you, other than that you can avoid it. 

Deep Rising (1998)

This is another film that has become a regular guilty pleasure for me to watch, the story of the cruise liner that is attacked by the small underwater worms and the boat captain played by Treat Williams and the crew of robbers he takes to where the ship is and what they have to do to try and escape. This is a fairly basic by the numbers monster film with an enclosed location with a difficulty in having to escape and a story line that keeps them there. You have the bad guys and the monster and the thoughts of what is worse. 

The acting in this is fun if a bit campy from Treat Williams and Famke Jansen and the comic relief is given by Kevin J O'Connor who you might recognise from The Mummy as Benni. Overall the effects in this film are not brilliant but they are a lot better than some nonsense I have sat through and they do not detract from what is a fun ride and some excellent scenes. 

As this falls in to the guilty pleasure category I am going to give it 4 stars, it will not appeal to everybody but I cannot wait until the next time I choose to watch it. 

Ghost Ship (2002)

I love Ghost Ship from the opening scene which even people that hate the film agree is pretty awesome, the wire scene if you have seen the film, it is actually worth watching for that scene and you can turn off afterwards, however this falls squarely in to my guilty pleasures category and I have watched it many times and will watch it again. You have a salvage crew with Gabriel Byrne, Julianne Marguiles, Ron Eldrad, Isaiah Washington, Alex Dimitriades and Karl Urban. Go chasing after a cruise liner that is shown to them by Desmond Harrington a strange young man they meet in the port.

When on the ship strange happenings and Julianne Marguiles seeing a young Emily Browning playing Katie and it kicks off from there, I think that it is a good old fashioned haunted ship story that has an interesting idea and delivers it well, the characters while not detailed are likeable and believable and I am happy to listen to counter arguments.

I would recommend this but I understand why some people would not appreciate it and I am happy to allow them to lose out on the joy and fun that i think this film brings. I am going to say 4 stars as I accept it has it's flaws, even though some of those flaws make it so enjoyable to me.

Crocodile 2: Death Swamp (2002)

In my madness I decided to see what the sequel to Tobe Hooper's Crocodile was like and it was interesting to start with as it came at a strange angle with a plane crash due to terrorism and bank robbers. But really after that high point the best part of the film was the joke of the scared man panicking and think he is safe giving the crocodile the finger then getting eaten, seen it before done better.

The effects are worse than awful and the crocodile is hardly believable at all, it is clearly poor CGI that even SyFy might be embarrassed at but having seen some their work they possibly admire it as a high point in technology. Overall the characters are weak and you can see some of the points coming a mile off, some barely interesting ideas done poorly make this another terrible monster flick to avoid.

So based upon the fact that it is actually worse than the original it gets the one star rating.

Crocodile (2000)

Watched this film for some reason, I cannot remember why but was probably hoping to rediscover the coolness of Lake Placid, don't hate me for liking that film. Anyway this is like a cheap knock off version with a group of teens and a crap CGI crocodile and really nothing very surprising happens in this film. Another one of these films where half way through I realised I had seen it before and thought so memorable that I did note even remember seeing it.

If you love the animal monster film then there is probably something in it for you and it is directed by Tobe Hooper of Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame so a chance for you to a completest in that regards. It is not so bad it is worth watching and in some scenes it is so bad it's funny but overall not really worth the effort unless as mentioned you fall in to one of these categories.

So I am going to say a 2 star avoid for Crocodile, so not worth the effort.

The Posiedon Adventure (1972)

The classic ship disaster movie with Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine is a classic of the highest order I have to say that I enjoyed re-watching this film as it is a few years since I have seen it and probably the first time since I saw the remake. You have a straight performance as the captain by Leslie Neilson, the first time I have seen him on film since his sad demise and I have to say that I think he is an a awesome actor. So you have the fact the ship ends up overturned and you get an excellent practical effect when the ship rolls and Gene Hackman playing the priest who has lost his faith in God taking control to try and save everybody.

You end up with a small group of people being lead by Gene and you have some in fighting amongst themselves with what the best option to do and the inevitable threats and danger from an overturned cruise liner. I have to say that my favourite characters are the Rosen's they are such a lovely couple and some of the lines between each other are fantastic, my favourite being, "when was the last time we said I love you to each other?", "what does it matter?" so simple and could be taken wrong in today's cynical outlook but I like to consider it as why does it matter we are here together and we have been together forever and we know we love each other.

So you have a cast of awesome actors that take an adventure story in a strange location and they have to escape from the threat, one of the best parts is that there is no real bad guy in this film it is simply a disaster which I do not think they do very well at the moment. This is 4 stars it loses a bit over time but will always be re-watchable to me and I look forward to revisiting again in the future.

I Am Number 4 (2011)

I had thought that I would like to see this film for a while when it came out, the premise was bit dubious to me, they hunt them down and kill them in order? Really? Anyway it must come from a series of books if not then it is not a very good film, there is a lot that is not really explained very well and it is almost like well you have read the book so you know what is happening. It sort of loses it from there, I think on hindsight that it is trying to treat the audience with a bit of respect and saying to them if you think about it, you will see that it all makes sense.

In essence this is an alien teen movie as in teen who is an alien moving schools, getting through high school, meeting girls dealing with bullying and the right thing to do but they are also from another planet. It achieves this but without anything truly special happening, while I do not like to much exposition I have to say that some more here would have been helpful to me.

I actually think that I will have to watch this again to see if I get more from it as I appear to have missed something but at the moment this is a 2 star film and probably not worth seeing.

** Upon investigation after writing the review, yes it is a book and is a proposed 6 series run, they would have been better waiting for the rest of the series to come out before rushing to make the film.

Insidious (2010)

I had wanted to see this film from the first time I saw the trailer when I was on holiday in the states back in March, my anticipation was high and I hoped that it would scare me. Well I got to see it and I was not disappointed at all, the premise is a ghost story haunted house but there is a different level to it and I have to say that the jump scares and the story are melded together by James Wan to create the scariest film I have seen in years.

The central performances by Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson are brilliant as the couple that are dealing with what is happening around them and their family. Now there are some discrepancies that you could nitpick with but overall this is a solid scare filled film that actually made me need the light on when I got up to go to the bathroom the night I saw the film. Now I always invest in the films when watching them but very rarely am I scared or disturbed other than jump scares and even less often do they actually encroach on me after the film has ended so a good film for the scares. The ending is truly awesome and is worth seeing the film for what it does at the end, you might see it coming but it is delvered expertly

Not sure this will be for everyone but I give this a solid 4 stars recommendation and will look out for James Wan and Leigh Whannell in the future because they are not letting me down at all at the moment.

Bridesmaids (2011)

So the fiance wanted to go and see a film and being the film and cinema lover that I am I will go and see anything with her. It was Bridesmaids that she wanted to goand see, after hearing a couple of comments I was interested in seeing it. From the opening scene it was hilarious, I laughed out loud on several occasions and had tears rolling down my face at one point. There are several occasions where the comedy is lowest common denominator but honestly it was still hilarious.

The actors including Kristen Wiig who wrote it and Maya Rudolph who played the bride, you honestly believed that they had a friendship relationship that you believed in, the relationship is not always perfect but you always come back to each other. The supporting cast made up of Rose Byrne, Chris O'Dowd and Melissa McCarthy are all excellent in their roles and while this is a hilarious comedy it keeps it in the real world and has true reactions that while you are laughing you believe in it.

This is 4 stars for me, it is perhaps a bit long at just over 2 hours but overall a very solid recommendation and will be watching it again when it comes to DVD.

The Fugitive (1993)

I love this film it is the Harrison Ford version starring Tommy Lee Jones and I think that it is awesome, it was one of the first BluRay's I ever bought and again one of the first I watched and the transfer is excellent. The film itself is well made and from the train wreck scene it is non-stop action from the two heavy weight actors in the lead roles. I have to say that from an early age Harrison Ford has been one of my favourite actors and with the Fugitive, Air Force One and his turn as Han Solo and Indiana Jones I could watch him all day.

The film itself to me is almost flawless, they play the suspense and the action really well and all the way from the opening to the final reveal it is just an awesome film. The supporting cast including Joe Pantoliano, Andreas Katsulas and Jeroen Krabbe are all excellent and play their role fantastically well.

Overall I cannot praise this film enough and will watch it many more times, another 5 star classic for me.

Death Race 2 (2010)

The sequel to the Jason Statham film which in itself was a re-imaging of the Sylvester Stallone Death Race 2000, and it turns out it was a prequel as well so I was not holding out much optimism but I had enjoyed the original Jason Statham film so thought why not. Now to start with they get a Jason Statham look a like in Luke Goss but it is a totally different character so you do not need a look a like and the story they have for no apparent reason is very similar so it is Death Race lite, the beginning.

The story itself without the original film would have been interesting but as it keeps trying to fit back into the first film you can see where it is going. There are some nice little points that they do very well but I kept thinking that well they have to get to this point and how they get there is sort of tacked on.

This is only 2 stars, if it was a stand alone film then it would be 3 but as it has to try and tie in to the original not worth seeing unless you like low end violence and driving fast cars.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

So onwards I went and watched part 2 of the Pirates series and this is at least the third time I have seen this film and sometimes on multiple viewings you get more from a film. However I did not get anything from this it is obviously a filler film to get to the third film as there are a couple of stories that do not have a conclusion at all. You have Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly back and have Bill Nighy and Stellan Skarsgard stepping in as Davy Jones and Bootstrap Bill respectively and they are all fine.

It seems to be the story that is a struggle, they have about 3 plots going on from the opening with Captain Jack in a coffin and Will and Elizabeth getting married and then Jack on an Island as a chieftain and none of it really matters, it makes the whole film very long and if you think about the film and the point there are so many thoughts are what is the point questions raised, it is not obvious or needed.

I cannot fault the actors but this is 2 stars, there are some cool scenes and set pieces but overall it is not enough to save this from being a waste of time.

Burke and Hare (2010)

So I had no real want to see this film but it was there so I watched it and it was actually really funny, Andy Serkis and Simon Pegg with Jessica Hynes and Isla Fisher made an interesting couple of couples and the rest of the cast are a who's who of British comedy and acting with parts for Tom Wilkinson, Stephen Merchant, Tim Curry, Paul Whitehouse, Bill Bailey, Christopher Lee and Ronnie Corbett all come together under John Landis direction to actually make a positive fun film of a really dark subject matter.

The story itself is based on the true tale of Burke and Hare the Grave robbers turned murderers in Edinburgh and how they provide cadavers for the medical profession in Edinburgh back in the 19th century. I have to say that when I heard it was going to be a comedy I was put off immediately because why would you want to feel sorry for a couple of people who murder people for profit but John Landis makes you like them. I think a lot of that is to do with the fact that Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis are just so nice you enjoy there performances and therefore like the characters.

I will say 4 stars for this, it is worth seeing and as long as you watch it as a comedy and not as a historically accurate piece it is a lot of fun.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

So after seeing the 4th film at the cinema I decided to view the original 3 again and so I started with the original as you would, you can see my original review of it here. This time was a bit muted for me, I didn't enjoy it the same as I have before as I know now where it goes and that just depresses me. The acting and story are still pretty interesting with Johnny Depp stealing the show.

The music in this series is brilliant and stirs you every time you hear it and it gets you involved in the action but I have to say that had this series ended at 1 I would have had a lot more respect for the original. You can see what they wanted to achieve with this film and they did achieve that and leaving it at that would have been fine.

This is actually only 3 stars for me now, it is worth seeing to see what Captain Jack is like and the love story between Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom but stop it here.