My Top 10 Least Favourite Films Of 2014

(I've been very busy these last few months, hence the drop in reviews, but I'm endeavouring to give you my Top 10 Favourite and Least Favourite films of this year, starting with this.)

10. B******s
(I'm not the biggest fan of Euro-cinema but I can defend it from people calling it pretentious. This is just pretentious impenetrable nonsense that raises far more questions than answers. Part of me is glad I'm censoring the title thereby slightly robbing the film of publicity)

9. Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie
(A lot of people like Mrs. Brown's Boys, I do not. Sort of reminds me of the naff elements of 70's low-brow comedy that I felt the alternative comics swept away. As I've mentioned before, Brendan O'Carroll's a very smart guy, I have nothing against him, but it's excruciating to see this kind of clowning for a whole movie.)

8. Blended
(Adam Sandler's on here, big surprise, but I've always derived some joy from his work with Drew Barrymore. No longer is this true. About as dumb as you expect from Sandler's comedies and this time lumped in woth the reductive stereotypes of "Africa". Okay, South Africa, but the distinction between country and continent is all too rare.)

7. Walking On Sunshine
(80's pop jukebox musical that desperately wants to be Mama Mia! but lacks the star power and, obviously, the originality that the earlier film had. Too desperately earnest to be enjoyed as camp and definitely too daft to be taken seriously.)

6.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
(Although Michael Bay didn't direct this film, it plays to so much of Bay's poorest elements as a film-maker, it almost seems like a parody. I've never been a big fan of the turtles, but even I felt that poor Donatello, Micelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael deserved better than this as did Whoopi Goldberg and Will Arnett. Megan Fox knew what she was getting herself into.)

5. Sex Tape
(What could've been a sweet, if cheeky, comedy about the problems of middle-aged couple just goes straight for the lowest common denominator and keeps plunging. Not one laugh to be had. Okay, Jack Black made me grin...a little. We missed you, Jables.)

4. Pudsey The Dog: The Movie.
(The best film about a dancing dog that I've ever seen. The only film about a dancing dog that I've ever seen. Just complete tosh not meant to last in anyone's memories and it's insulting to the intelligence of children. In a world of Disney and Ghibli, I don't want to see John Sessions overplaying every syllable of dialogue or running jokes about pig muck, thank you.)

3. Tarzan
(Some of the ugliest computer animation that I've ever seen, tied around a derivative and badly written story. Seen a lot of these low-budget computer animated films from foreign climbs in recent years and whilst I get that they don't have the production values of Pixar or Dreamworks, they still need to try harder.)

2. Grace Of Monaco
(Ick. The film looks like a Ferrero Rocher ad but with none of the substance of even a confectionary. A group of actors that I really like (Tim Roth, Frank Langella, Robert Lindsay, try as I might I'm not often completely won over by Nicole Kidman) delivering performances with little to no depth. Some fingers of blame have been pointed to director Olivier Dahan, some have been pointed to the distributors The Weinsteins, but even at a script level this is poor, poor, poor)

1. A New York Winter's Tale
(Although I've never been a fan of his, I feel bad for Akiva Goldsman as I know his personal life has been hard these last couple of years. That being said, he should've stayed away from this film. Tons of problems with logic and a cloying sentimentality that makes the film completely impossible to take seriously. By the time I saw Colin Farrell riding through the streets of New York on a magic horse, I was in hysterics.)

The Judge (2014, Dir. David Dobkin, USA) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vincent D’Onofrio

High-flying lawyer Hank Palmer (Downey Jr.) receives news that his mother (Carol S. Austin, Catherine Cummings) has passed away. Hank returns to his small hometown in Indiana and endures an awkward reunion with his father, Joseph (Duvall) a highly-respected judge. During Henry’s stay, he notices his father struggling with his age and discovers damage done to his car. Soon afterwards, Joseph is arrested for a suspected hit-and-run murder.

On its most of basic of surfaces, The Judge has a fair few things to recommend it. The cast is interesting and full of decent talent. I was also drawn in by the film’s initial poster, which brought this movie to my attention. Robert Downey Jr. sat in a black leather chair, Robert Duvall sat in a similar chair behind him, the colours dark browns. It reminded me of the cinematography of the late Gordon Willis and his work in the Godfather films. Of course when you have Robert Duvall high on the bill and playing someone in the world of law, the comparisons with the Godfather movies and Duvall’s role as Corleone consigliore Tom Hagen, are always going to be conjured up. The poster is very misleading as the subsequent posters and trailers were lighter and more in keeping with the actual film’s tone. It would be a stretch to say I was disappointed, but I was taken aback slightly. In the end, The Judge is a rather enough light film considering the subject matter and could be rather enjoyable, as it is when it’s at its best. The problem is that it’s a rather long film, padded out with way too much detail.

Over the course of the film we elaborate over Downey Jr.’s old life. We see his brothers, Glen (Vincent D’Onofrio) a would-be professional baseball player and Dale (Jeremy Strong) a (seemingly) autistic man with a strong attachment to a hand-held camera. We also meet Downey Jr.’s old fame, played by Vera Farmiga. This is all customary “big man returns to small town” stuff that is pushed into various sub-plots and is either not fully resolved or just fizzles out. This is best exemplified with a sub-plot involving Farmiga’s daughter, played by Leighton Meester, which is technically resolved but is given little real significance given that the ideas in that sub-plot alone could’ve made a separate film.

The acting is to a decent standing, with both Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall both playing characteristics that have been a part of their work for years. This is particularly true Robert Downey Jr., snarking away like Iron Man’s Tony Stark and what you get is basically Robert Downey Jr. playing that Robert Downey Jr. role for over two hours. He does it well but it also gets tiring at times. Robert Duvall has always been a subtly impressive actor and there are few (if any) actors I can think of who can convey so much from just a slight facial expression as Duvall. He’s also been the second banana in a lot of the productions. He’s played the lead role before but as a veteran of Hollywood, he really needs a chance to shine and gets it here…but only on occasion. Sometimes it feels like he’s going through the motions but he still sells the big dramatic moments and his final scene in the film is also his best.

Elsewhere, the other actors entertain but are, as explained, under-explored. Billy Bob Thornton’s role as a cocky rival lawyer is never fully put across very well as to his own personality beyond being smug (against Robert Downey Jr. also playing a smug lawyer) and another far less experienced lawyer character is played like he belongs in a completely separate (and far more comedy-centric) film.

The Judge is taking a critical pasting from some corners, partly because it’s running against another crime-related thriller in David Fincher’s far superior, Gone Girl. But really, The Judge is not a bad film. It’s a film that needs trimming and, being completely sincere with no snobbishness intended, in a simpler form it could’ve fit well as a made-for-TV courtroom movie. As this stands, it’s okay but imperfect.

RE-RELEASE: M (1931, Dir. Fritz Lang, Germany) (Cert: PG/NR) ****

Starring: Peter Lorre, Gustaf Gründgens, Otto Wernicke

Panic has gripped the streets of an unknown German city as a child killer (Lorre) is lurking around. With the police desperately trying to apprehend the murderer, criminal organisations around the city are bearing the brunt of the disturbances by the police. Wanting an end to the harassment and having their own disgust at the killer’s deeds, the criminals go on their own manhunt to find the child killer.

In the early years of cinema, Germany’s influence over the new art form was one of the greatest in the world and few in Germany ranked as high a film-maker as Austrian-born director Fritz Lang. However, by 1931, fortunes had changed for German cinema and for Lang. The economic depression of 1929 meant that Germany (in the process of breaking free from World War I reparation induced austerity) was again a poor nation and Lang’s career was troubled with the financial failure of his hugely ambitious previous film, the science-fiction epic, Metropolis. Fortune has smiled on Lang however in the long run. His reputation has helped his legacy survive this rough patch and now both Metropolis and M are ranked amongst Lang’s most famous and beloved films.

They may stand as odd comparisons as films go. Metropolis is a lavish, gleaming and fantastical escapist film. M is far more subdued, darker and seemingly lacks the innocence of Metropolis. However, M stands up because however grim the subject matter is, in both films, Lang (and, in fairness, his then wife and screenwriter/producer Thea Von Harbou) have ideals that they push earnestly and for all its darkness, M is a moral tale.

M is also an early adopter of elements that film lovers will be all too aware of. The killer signals his arrival with a whistled refrain of Grieg’s “Hall Of The Mountain King” a highly effective early use of musical leitmotif fitting both a non-chalant innocence and monstrous dread..The lead in the film is Hungarian actor, Peter Lorre. Lorre is now probably best known for his later work in the US, with his credits for Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. Even those unaware of his name or who haven’t seen his pictures will probably notice his features (his short and stocky frame, bulging bug eyes and tickly-accented and rasping voice almost perpetually on the edge of hysteria). When he got the lead of Hans Beckert in M, Lorre was a comedy actor and M is clearly no comedy (well, it has a few gags, but its darker themes do away with any notions of levity) but Lorre’s wild performance stands out brilliantly, rivalling only Anthony Perkins’ Norman Bates in Psycho for best screen psychopath. Gustaf Gründgens also stands out as a criminal king pin on Lorre’s tail.

Speaking of Psycho, Lang’s direction has ideas that would become akin to Alfred Hitchcock in later years. This is little surprise as much has been made of the influence of German cinema on Hitchcock (who, early in his career, briefly worked in Germany) but the skilled use of panning,  beautiful shot compositions and affecting music often come with a Hitchcockian air, showing the strength and influence of Lang as a director.  

So, why only four stars and not five? Well, I tousled with the idea of a five star review, especially given this film’s reputation. I really like M, but there are a few minor problems, mainly in the pacing. The film is simple. It has a simple premise, a clear way to begin and end. It’s a film that would’ve probably been expected to last an hour back in 1931, but it lasts two. Some of the additional detail works (the criminal gang are entertaining at times, even if they are bloodthirsty) but it slows up the tension. Metropolis is even longer, but it had a much grander story to tell (also, unlike a fair number of people including Lang himself, I just prefer Metropolis as a film)  but with another viewing there’s every chance I could push this to a five rating.

As a coda to the film, in a story that’s been aired countless times, M (and Metropolis) were noticed by the Nazis when they rose to power in 1933, with Josef Goebbels offering Lang a high position with the film studio, UFA. Lang (who was half-Jewish) fled Germany for America soon after. Is M a pro-Nazi film? No. My theory has always been that Lang was offered the job so that the Nazis could keep a close eye on him (tellingly, Lang’s clearly anti-Nazi film The Testament of Dr. Mabuse was banned by the Nazis, as was M, eventually) although Thea Von Harbou did support them. Goebbels praised the film for its lack of humanity, but its overpowering message of tolerance and understanding as well as vigilance makes any claims of this to be fascist, completely nonsensical. In fact this is a film profoundly affected by a sense of humanity and given its dark and even controversial message, that’s the film’s greatest strength.

The Best Of Me (2014, Dir. Michael Hoffman, USA) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) **

Starring: Luke Bracey, Liana Liberato, James Marsden

Having met as teenagers, Amanda (Liberato, Michelle Monaghan) and Dawson (Bracey, Marsden) are star-crossed lovers. However, their home lives, reputations and tragic circumstances ultimately tear them apart. Reuniting years later after the death of an older friend (Gerald McRaney), the romance between them starts to be rekindled.

It appears to me that Nicholas Sparks is becoming the next Stephen King. Not necessarily in terms of quality or content, but more that EVERYTHING Sparks writes seems to end up as a movie pretty soon. Also, like King, Sparks tends to stick solidly to certain formulas, plot points and tropes. He writes romantic plots often there are elements of forbidden love, dark criminal pasts and our male protagonist is always masculine but sensitive as if he comes home every night after work with a pile of timber under one arm and a puppy in the other. The Best Of Me is this formula to the absolute letter.

At nearly two hours, The Best Of Me is cotton-wool-coated saccharine tosh and is astoundingly contrived as if there was a checklist of all the plot points mentioned above being checked off one by one. Such is its adherence to these old chestnuts that even logical sense can not stand in their way and inevitably, it becomes ridiculous. Those that stand in the way of our lovers are either complete caricatures or their objections are given very little reason save for some fairly blunt and simple points that come pretty much out of the blue.

So is there anything to recommend this movie? The performances are okay, given the material. Liana Liberato has a good screen presence and whilst I've seen him in much better things, I always find James Marsden rather likeable. Also, as tried as this film's romantic conventions are, I do take some comfort that the romance being purported here lacks the rather unnerving undertones of a lot of work being pushed towards this market at the moment. Still, its daft wholesomeness is undercut with a cynical hint. This sort of thing is being peddled fast and loose and its marketability is clear. Films like The Best Of Me aren't hateful, but their brand of ten-a-penny disposability doesn't do the ideals of romance any justice. 

'71 (2014, Dir. Yann Demange, UK) (Cert: 15/TBC) ***

Starring Jack O'Connell, Charlie Murphy, Richard Dormer

Gary Hook (O'Connell) is a soldier fresh out of training in 1971 and looking for a deployment to Germany. However, rising tensions around Belfast force Gary to be deployed instead to Northern Ireland. Whilst out patrolling Republican territory, the soldiers are met with protesting locals, culminating in Gary running for his life. Following his escape, Gary must find his way back to the barracks, deep within enemy territory.

Although this film was set over forty years ago, the simple idea that this a film against the backdrop of The Troubles in Northern Ireland still gives '71 a sense of edge and danger. What the makers of '71 have done is given us a film from an earlier time, but removed the safety that the passage of time gives us. '71 is, at points, a very harsh and brutal film.

The film stars Jack O'Connell as a young soldier stationed in Belfast and O'Connell provides an interesting presence. He's an actor with a flair for expression, but his dialogue in the film is fairly sparse and he exudes a sort of "everyman" persona. He is the surrogate for the audience and given the rather straight-forward nature of the plot, this heightens the experience and tension. At the film's best, you can almost feel you're in the thick of the action, aided by some strong and interesting choices in the direction of Yann Demange. Rare is a man that can take one of my pet hates in the movies ("shaky-cam") and actually make it work.

The downsides to '71 mostly manifest in how the film deals with a day-to-day depiction of The Troubles. Not so much from a perspective of historical accuracy (of which, I'm no expert) but in how it's presented to the audience. Whatever the realities of the situation were, the sheer level of action thrown at the audience is high, even if it's a true representation. On the one hand, it does a good job of selling just how dangerous an environment the setting is. On the other, those looking for a wider understanding of The Troubles rather than an action movie, may be disappointed. The film also appears to be on just the one side of an argument that to this day, divides communities. The resolution (which is under-explained to say the least) resolves much of this inequity, but many who disagree with the film's central viewpoint will be likely to be around by that point. 

'71 presents itself as a serious film and I don't really doubt the sincerity of its intentions and far be it for me to be overly-moralistic in how The Troubles are portrayed. As a thriller, this is a very effective and well-made film of sometimes heart-pounding levels of tension and when it sticks to that, '71 works very well. Just be sure that that's the film you want to see, because there's little else of the wider story within the film

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (3D) (2014, Dir. Jonathan Liebesman, USA) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) **

Starring: Megan Fox, Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher

April O'Neil (Fox) is a young journalist wanting to take on some serious investigative work and not covering lightweight fluff reporting. Investigating a crime syndicate causing chaos in New York City, April becomes fascinated with the actions of who she believes is a vigilante. It's in fact four vigilantes and they're all giant talking turtles with martial arts skills looking to save New York.

There's a not insignificant number of twenty-somethings out there with a real fondness for the things they enjoyed as children and few things are remembered as fondly as those heroes in a half-shell, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A late-80's/early-90's animated TV series that over the last several years has been hammered at to be commercially viable again to mixed results. This latest attempt to revive the franchise has got the heart beating again (it's already made its money back) but its a Frankenstein's monster. Living, but not very well and frankly probably better off in the grave.

One thing that TMNT does achieves as a movie is the ability to be both obnoxious and dull. Although Joe Liebesman has the director's credit, this is really seen by the public at large as the work of the film's producer, Michael Bay. Bay's studio, Platinum Dunes, worked on the project and its revamping of 80's nostalgia and the involvement of Megan Fox means that thoughts of Bay's franchise, Transformers are never too far away.

Fans of the original TV show may be the most offended, though for the record, despite being the of the same age as the nostalgic fans and having watched the show as a kid, I have a passing fondness at best. Aside from the aformentioned Bay connection, Fox seems like an odd casting choice for April O'Neil and whilst there are the expected remarks about her being attractive and some backstory, I don't quite get the sense of intrepid interviewer. Early on, Fox seems rather stilted when delivering to camera as an interviewer. Not a bad performance per se, but not a good casting choice.

As for the turtles, there's a mixture of the old humour of the "totally radical" variety from the cartoon (Michaelangelo is still the comic relief in particular) whilst also a need to make them tough and edgy. Raphael is particularly intense, to the point that you almost think he belongs in a different movie. Donatello is sort of the nerd of the bunch, but this doesn't gets expanded on very much and Leonardo is...present. There are promising supporting roles from Will Arnett and Whoopi Goldberg, but Whoopi disappears not long into the film and Arnett is best doing his over-confident goofball schtick, but seems out of his otherwise fairly plain character when he does so.

As action-packed at the film is, and rightly so, it suffers from low lighting and a frantic editing style that makes the action hard to follow and the 3D, whilst clear at times, doesn't really make the film any better unless you like things pointing out of the screen. Backing this all up is a story that...well...just isn't very interesting and is very predictable. Fans may get something from this as the spirit of the original turtles is buried in there somewhere, but what's come with it is crass and not particularly enjoyable.

The Rewrite (2014, Dir. Marc Lawrence, USA) (Cert: 12a/TBC) ***

Starring: Hugh Grant, Marissa Tomei, Bella Heathcote

After a string of critical and commercial failures, award-winning screenwriter Keith Michaels (Grant) is struggling to pay the bills. Desperate, he reluctantly takes on work as a screenwriting teacher at a modest university in upstate New York, working only for the pay-check and ensuring that his class is mostly filled with attractive, young female students. However, a mature student named Holly (Tomei) also works her way into the class and Keith begins to develop bonds with his students, especially Holly.

To date, director Marc Lawrence has achieved a lot of his fame for his romantic comedies starring Hugh Grant (or Sandra Bullock in the case of his screenplay for Miss Congeniality and in the case of Two Weeks Notice, both Bullock and Grant). In this capacity, Lawrence has combed out a certain persona for Hugh Grant. Whilst Richard Curtis has painted Grant's characters as slightly foppish and inarticulate but charming and romantic buffoons, Lawrence's Grant is a snarker and less kindly, but still ultimately loveable.  

This partnership with Hugh Grant has stood Marc Lawrence in good stead as far as The Rewrite is concerned. Fans of fluffy, inoffensive and ineffectual romantic comedies will probably find this pretty enjoyable as it does everything these films are expected to do, even if it doesn't really break conventions. As a film based around screenwriting, upon critiquing it, its's natural to look at the quality of the material presented and its comedic value is pleasant and lukewarm. There are a few funny moments here and there, but nothing particularly gut-busting. It's here where High Grant is really the secret weapon as his deliveries of these lines and his comfort with the character (which was almost certainly written with him in mind) bring the quality of the jokes up a notch. 

Marissa Tomei is enjoyably sparky and it's always nice to see Chris Elliott, even if this isn't his greatest role as Grant's friendly Shakespeare-spouting colleague. The teens are more troublesome, not because of their performances but because of their depictions. TheRewrite paints its characters with broad strokes with only a few personality traits per character and most of the older characters manage to get away with it (although Allison Janney's turn as an uptight professor disapproving of Grant doesn't do Janney's more energetic talents justice and makes her rather unlikable). The students are just a mixture of stereotypes that are only slightly fleshed-out. There's the hyperactive squealing girl, the Star Wars-obsessed nerd and a nihilistic girl with a Daria-esque monotone. It isn't the worst case of stock characters in movies, but there's no brilliant Breakfast Club style deconstruction either beyond basic attempts.

What little is actually given away of the award-winning script that our lead has supposedly written, Paradise Misplaced, the fictional film sounds pretty terrible and it's odd to hear it being so lauded by so many characters. I have the sense that the original film was a lot sillier and less mature than the final result. If that's the case, then I congratulate Marc Lawrence. This is definitely not scraping the bottom of the comedy barrel. It just isn't at the top, either. It's resting in the middle, undisturbed but maybe not particularly loved, to stretch a metaphor very thin. It's fine, but no masterclass.

The Equalizer (2014, Dir. Antoine Fuqua, USA) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: Denzel Washington, Maton Czokas. Chloë Grace Moretz

Living a low-profile and quiet life, Bob McCullagh (Washington) likes to spend his free time reading in a local diner where he also meets and looks out for Teri (Moretz). Teri works as an underage prostitute for Russian gangsters and after rebelling against them, ends up badly beaten and in hospital. With a skill for defending himself, Bob takes to the streets and literally fights to take the mobsters down.

Director Antoine Fuqua's last effort, Olympus Has Fallen was one of my least favourite films of last year. Beyond its nonsensical plot, I found it to be just rather...disturbing in what it was trying to say. Now, Fuqua has reunited with his Training Day star Denzel Washington, riding high off his success with Flight, to do a film adaptation of the 1980's TV series, The Equalizer; with Denzel Washington playing the vigilante hero, originally played by Edward Woodward.

Towing along as screenwriter is Richard Wenk; not a very big name, but one I have taken notice of. Wenk got his break from cult horror-comedy Vamp, a film set in a vampiric strip club, back in 1985 and more recently wrote Expendables 2, the best Expendables film because it got to the heart of the silliness inherent in the franchise. Here, Wenk's instincts towards comedy have been cut off and we get a very serious film, though thankfully one that doesn't leave the same bitter aftertaste as Olympus Has Fallen.

To get to Denzel Washington from Edward Woodward (excusing he pre-existing work with director Fuqua) is very strange, but as Bob McCullagh, Washington does a good job. Washington has a way of bringing to the screen, likeable, charismatic and confident characters but with a slight hint of being haunted. A quality that was used in Flight. Marton Czokas, who plays the film's main villain, is similarly charismatic and he works well with Denzel. Chloë Grace Moretz plays an underage prostitute and she doesn't get as much screen-time as you might expect, and is also saved from her role being too seedy given her age and the subject matter.

The quality of the presentation is uneven. There are some sequences, particularly towards the film's climax that really look impressive, but others such as Washington analysing each incoming conflict akin to Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films feels hackneyed and isn't pulled off very well. Also, whilst I mentioned this film isn't quite as disturbing as Olumpus Has Fallen, there eventually becomes a sense that the violence being meted winds up being almost without reason. The bad guys are doubtlessly bad, but slowly it becomes clear that what it all boils down to is Denzel Washington going on a slow but destructive rampage.

Well, there are worse things to watch...

Magic In The Moonlight (2014, Dir. Woody Allen, USA) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ****

Starring: Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Simon McBurnie

In addition to performing as a Chinese mystic named Wei Ling Soo, Stanley Crawford (Firth) devotes his time to exposing frauds, specifically those who claim to be psychics or mediums. At the request of his friend Berkin (McBurnie), Stanley travels to France to meet Sophie Baker (Stone) a young and pretty American believed to have psychic gifts. Stanley is, as always, skeptical but but skepticism is tested by her phenomenal talent. Could she be the real deal and is there more to his fascination with her than meets the eye?

Known to be an actor, director and writer, less known is Woody Allen's work as a jazz musician, but his fondness for jazz is evident through out his work. Here in Magic In The Moonlight, there's a regular refrain of Cole Porter's "You Do Something To Me" and, listening the lyrics, I could easily imagine that they inspired this film. At this stage in his long and prolific career, Allen is riding high off of the popularity of his last effort as director, Blue Jasmine, and for good reason. It was well-written and featured a memorable performance in the lead by Cate Blanchett. It was, whilst also a comedy, a rather acerbic and dark film that had its moments of severity. Magic In The Moonlight is a lighter affair and is really rather flippant. But then again, what's wrong with flippancy?

Magic In The Moonlight is a rather light and bouncy film. So light and bouncy that even the fairly mild 12a and PG-13 certificates it has been graced with seem rather harsh. In the leads, Colin Forth and Emma Stone give the film life as unlikely a pairing they are. There's nearing a thirty year age gap between the two actors and  they physically seem totally at odds. Firth often seems massive and imposing in this role, his rather guttural tone and exasperated manner at times recalling John Cleese. Stone is slight a d bird-like, fitting with her 20's flapper character. That they have chemistry on screen is an impressive achievement, put down to their performances and Allen's witty screenplay.

The plot is really one of seduction and given the film's tone, there's an expectation towards subtlety and finesse that feels mishandled. Firth's character arc doesn't come through slow and steady changes, but rather sudden revelations that clash with the understatement you expect from this film. The whole idea of Firth playing on the one hand a magician and the other, an avid defrauder of psychics could be logically justified despite the initial feeling of contradiction, but his motives are never really built upon. There's also a lacking amount of exposure for some of the supporting characters, although Eileen Atkins stands out as Firth's agnostic and mediating aunt as well as Hamish Linklater as Stone's foppish aspiring beau. 

As Woody Allen advances in years and has a vast amount of work behind him, it's amazing that he's as prolific as he is. The thing is, to me, Woody Allen doesn't seem like a director by profession. More just an enthusiastic and gifted hobbyist, who happens to have famous acting friends and is able to give his work major distribution. His work has an air of almost effortlessness to it, as if he's just having fun. Far from being a criticism, I find it refreshing and it's those who make their work seem easy that often work the hardest. This is a film that has Woody Allen's trademark style. It's urbane and far from broad (although Allen's early work was very broad) and isn't to everyone's taste. I like Woody Allen movies though, and this is a rather winning piece despite its lukewarm reception.

A Walk Among The Tombstones (2014, Dir. Scott Frank, USA) (Cert: 15/R) **

Starring: Liam Neeson, Astro, Dan Stevens

Ex-cop Matt Scudder (Neeson) has been living sober for the last eight years and helps other people with their own addictions. It's through a local drug addict (Boyd Holbrook) that Matt talks with the addict's brother, Kenny (Stevens), a drug trafficker. Kenny's wife (Razane Jammall) was murdered, and Kenny wants Matt to find them men responsible. As Matt looks deeper, other similar cases start to emerge.

The most recent outing for Lawrence Block's literary detective Matthew Scudder (a previous novel, 8 Million Ways To Die was released in 1988, with Jeff Bridges as Scudder), A Walk Amongst The Tombstones is a film that has three differing ideas of what it wants to be and never picks a side, resulting in a rather unsatisfying film. 

With Liam Neeson in the lead, this is one in a seemingly endless parade of post-Taken broody Neeson action movies that all follow a similar and rather tired tone (to be honest, I don't think Taken is all that good to anyway). The film also wants to be a gritty modern film noir, a style that seems to be emerging into cinemas nowadays with the recent horror film, Deliver Us From Evil. The third is as a sort of 70's-styled thriller in the vein of directors like William Freidkin, which is the most satisfying guise of the three.

In director and screenwriter Scott Frank, there's an emergence of an auteur sensibility. Frank has a definite eye for style and it's pleasing, even if it's perhaps wasted here. The script is less impressive, with a fairly bad ear for dialogue (a young street kid Neeson takes under his wing, played by Astro, is conceptually interesting but lurches between a literate and talented youngster to a wannabe gangsta in his dialogue). The film also makes constant reference to the Millennium Bug, as the film is set in the late-90's. If you're waiting for the constant allusion to this to have any baring on the plot, you're going to be disappointed.

On occasion, A Walk Among The Tombstones has things to recommend it. An interesting aesthetic, a few memorable scenes and an effective approach to violence. Still, it's far too long, not especially well-written and in the end, just rather tired and dull.

The Riot Club (2014, Dir. Lone Scherfig, UK) (Cert: 15/TBC) ***

Starring: Max Irons, Sam Clafin, Holliday Grainger

Before coming to the screen, The Riot Club existed as a stage play, Posh. Posh quickly acquired a reputation being a provocative piece and whilst this big screen adaptation doesn't go into the Clockwork Orange levels of debauchery and violence, it's still a film with a power to shock. The titular club operates out of Oxford University and its ten student members are all part of the super-privileged upper-classes. The group is also largely made up of unlikable swines. Let me be clear that I don't mean elitist snobs, but rather unnervingly fascistic and sneeringly self-entitled monsters.

These "Terror Toffs" (or "Hooray Henry Hooligans" if you prefer), certainly get the job done of angering up the blood and raising the bile. It's an intention of the filmmakers that is pulled off brilliantly, but they lack detail. Max Irons' Miles is meant to be a more agreeable and more down-to-earth connection between the audience and this world which seems alien to most viewers, but beyond him most of the Riot Club members all fit the same self-centred and spoilt brat mode, the biggest exception besides Irons is Ben Schnetzer's turn as a Greco-British rich kid, who endures borderline (or even overtly) racist comments from his associates and even that often falls to the way-side. 

The film has been seen as an indictment of archaic notions of the upper-class and I leave The Riot Club wondering how accurate an assessment that really is. The actions of the characters are boorish and shocking, made more so by feeling certain that these kinds of people with these viewes, really do exist. But, from the rather flowery and indulgent opening (which resembles something in the vein of Peter Greenaway) there seems to be a certain romantic and glamourised notion of what this film seeks to defame. The filmmakers largely succeed by the end of the movie and I have no doubt that most people will walk away with a sense of vitriol (perhaps more than was originally intended). But I also think this film could find a following amongst those who share the club members' values. That is troubling.

What We Did On Our Holiday (2014, Dirs. Andy Hamilton, Guy Jenkin, UK) (Cert: 12a/TBC) ***

Starring: Rosamund Pike, David Tennant, Billy Connolly

To date, writers/directors Guy Jenkin and Andy Hamilton are perhaps best known for the BBC sit-com Outnumbered, which followed the everyday lives of a suburban family with a heavy slant towards improvisation. In retrospect, the recently finished series was a good show. What We Did On Our Holiday follows different characters played by different actors, but is to an extent, Outnumbered: The Movie.

Hamilton and Jenkin haven't stepped outside their comfort zone here, and so it does feel like they're playing it safe and going back to the same old material and it's not as strong as Outnumbered, which was a very funny show. Still, it does hold enough humour for it to be better than a lot of the recent comedies I've seen and its family-friendly softness provides a certain level of comfort. It's lightweight, even schmaltzy at times, but the wit rises above the sentimentality.

A married couple played by Rosamund Pike and David Tennant, take their children to the Scottish highlands to celebrate the birthday of Tennant's dad, played by Billy Connolly. He is terminally ill, but is unaware that his son and daughter-in-law have separated. All the while, the children tie these two plot points together. David Tennant is one of Britain's most celebrated actors of the moment and Rosamund Pike is seemingly on the verge of a long-awaited Hollywood breakthrough, being very busy as of late working with Pierce Brosnan (A Long Way Down, continuing their collaboration with Pike's Bond breakthrough in Die Another Day) and Simon Pegg (Hector And The Search For Happiness) or, in fact, both actors (The World's End) as well,as the upcoming Gone Girl promising big things.

This is however, Billy Connolly's movie and he delivers the best performance, mostly through anchoring a film with fairly broad comedy but going (mostly) against his reputation for being fairly broad comedian. His performance is a soft but amusing one, full of warmth. The children are all likeable characters, but I felt the "slice of life" realism that made Outnumbered strong was being discarded here, to the film's detriment. Another film may have made the plot fascinating, but given the parameters of what we're used to from Jenkin and Hamilton, it comes off as unbelievable...in a bad way. That said, this film has charm and one-liners that will keep you smiling for some time after the film's over. It's a nice trip, but you wouldn't want to stay there.

The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014, Dir. Lasse Hallström, USA/India/UAE) (Cert: PG/PG) ***

Starring: Manish Dayal, Helen Mirren, Om Puri

A family from Mumbai open an Indian restaurant in the French countryside, to the chagrin of a traditional restauranteur played by Helen Mirren. This film very much has director Lasse Hallström stamped upon it with an eerily similar premise to Chocolat, The Hundred-Foot Journey is a beautiful and sometimes sumptuous journey, but one with ultimately little in terms of direction or objective.

The Hundred-Foot Journey is a purely escapist and romanticised film. It caters less towards concerns for great film-making or great storytelling and pushes more towards glamourising its main subjects, namely France, India and the food of those two cultures. France is the rural countryside where everyone looks stylish and buys food at the local market. Paris makes an appearance but very late on, the pastoral image of France being easily dominant. The India is a raga music and quaint but efficient ways. The film trades in stereotypes, but ones that are positive and harmless whilst the food is lingeringly surveyed to the point where the term "food porn" is more than justified. 

The film has problems, mainly that whilst Helen Mirren's not set up to be a character to be disliked by the audience, her attitude in the early going (arguably tantamount to racism) makes our sympathies for her a tough sell. In credit to Helen Mirren she only just manages to pull this off. The big problem though is that it's a film far too in love with its own aesthetic. It spends so much time luxuriating in exotic locales and foods that it neglects to really lay down what the story's point is. As the film went on, a slow realisation that I had no idea what the end point was, leaving the film to trail off in a slightly frayed, slightly messy fashion. Still, this is a film built largely on the fantasy and it does manage to deliver that.

A Most Wanted Man (2014, Dir. Anton Corbijn, UK, USA, Germany) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Grigoriy Dobrygin

An adaptation of a novel by John le Carré, A Most Wanted Man has gotten some rather unfortunate publicity, that of it being the final completed work of the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died earlier this year, joining the likes of James Gandolfini and Robin Williams as noted actors whose recent passing comes ahead of some posthumous works.

With Hoffman in the leading role, is it a fitting send off for such a great actor? More or less. Hoffman spent much of his career in supporting roles, such as in The Big Lebowski or his collaborations with director Paul Thomas Anderson in Boogie Nights and Punch Drunk Love and those looking for Hoffman's late-career blooming might want to look up Anderson's The Master instead. However, A Most Wanted Man is still a very serviceable spy-thriller and Hoffman's performance as Gunter, a hard-drinking, perpetually-smoking German detective looking to find a man suspected of terrorist links escaping custody in Hamburg, which makes the film work.

A Most Wanted Man is set against the backdrop of post-9/11 Hamburg and whilst this is clear on a superficial level (the written prologue sets this up and the plot revolves around Islamic fundamentalist terrorism) the film owes more of a sense towards both Cold War thrillers and a slightly noir sensibility. Of course, le Carré's work is particularly associated with Cold War fiction (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold for example) but the scenery evokes an older Germany. Gunter walks along a long grey wall, recalling the Berlin Wall. There's a briefing amidst decor that perfectly fits late-70's/early-80's designs. The sense of East against West paranoia is thick in the air as our man on the run, while a muslim, is half-Russian and half-Chechnyan. Make no mistake, this is a Cold War movie that doesn't take place in the Cold War.

The noir aspect is mostly played through Gunter's role as the very noir-ish detective detailed above. But the film continuously moves around no real moral centre. There's no black and white for the most part, just a heap of grey. On the one hand, there's the authorities fighting terrorism. On the other are those providing shelter to a possibly innocent man, this side typified through Rachel McAdams as a compassionate human rights lawyer, sheltering the fugitive played by Grigoriy Dobrygin.

The problem with A Most Wanted Man is intrigue. The performances are great, even if it is a case of non-German actors speaking English with faux-German accents (McAdams' accent is particularly faltering at times) but it hangs around a story that feels rather limp and lacking in tension. This, like a lot of mystery thrillers is probably a "grower" of a film, so a second or third viewing is probably more rewarding as a viewer can piece together elements they're familiar with. The ending is also suitably cathartic and easily the best moment in the film, raising even greater issues. 

I would like to see this film again, if only to delve deeper into its mystery, but it still does okay at making a first impression.

The Guest (2014, Dir. Adam Wingard, USA) (Cert: 15/R) ****

Starring: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Sheila Kelley

As much as I bemoan the state of modern mainstream horror (as a fan of the horror genre in general), there is some real talent out there. Such is the team of writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard, who made their name off of the long-in-distribution-limbo You're Next; an 80's slasher throwback with an increasingly ridiculous strand of black parodic comedy. Well, they're back with The Guest.

More of a thriller than a horror movie, or perhaps fitting into that snug space in between, alongside Psycho and the whole giallo sub-genre, A sort of 80's-styled take on Shadow Of A Doubt, The Guest stars Dan Stevens as a man claiming to be a former comrade of a soldier killed in the Middle East and whose family Stevens is currently staying with. However, it's pretty clear that he's not the man he says he is and is far more threatening. Stevens is brilliant in the lead, giving a menacing performance of barely restrained mania. Every second he's on screen he is an entertaining delight, playing up the façade of the nice young soldier type who addresses people as "sir" and "ma'am", a model citizen of the conservative-minded. Other performances are fine, but Stevens is king here.

The film has as a tongue so planted firmly in cheek that it has become almost an appendage. With You're Next this was mostly kept under wraps in the promotion and was presented as a conventional horror film. Here that tone is blatant from the trailers and is clearly never intended to be taken seriously. This has its fun but the increasingly silly antics do end up clashing towards the end as the film's attempts at tension and genuine frights never fully pay off between the gags. Being such a dark comedy and a film that tips its hat more to films of the 80's rather than contemporary horror or thrillers, The Guest in an acquired taste...but then, the best things are.

Pride (2014, Dir. Matthew Warchus, UK) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: George MacKay, Ben Schnetzer, Imelda Staunton

A film about the group, Lesbians & Gays Support The Miners who operated in a small Welsh town amidst the mid-80's miners strikes is a very earnest film and firmly believes in its convictions. The film knows ots audience and completely caters to it, showing clear support for both the working classes and the struggle for gay rights. It's a powerful and (assuming your views are similar to those of the film) meaningful. There is an issue however with where the audience fits in with all of it.

We're presented with Joe, played by George MacKay, as a quiet everyman. The character who usually represents the audience perspective, but who is often pushed out of the limelight, both in story and in the film's publicity (posters and trailers have tended to advertise bigger names like Imelda Staunton, Bill Nighy, Paddy Considine and Dominic West) and what happens is a sense of the situation but perhaps not as much of a personal touch. The film also portrays both the gay community and the rural Welsh community with jokes and stereotypes, but knowingly and lovingly even if some of the moments which could actually be genuine (a hall full of people leaping into an impromptu anthem of solidarity) comes off as a little too fanciful. Still, speaking as someone who comes from a similarly-affected former mining community and a believer in gay rights, I think the film does well enough. 

Before I Go To Sleep (2014, Dir. Rowan Joffe, USA/France/UK/Sweden) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong

In an interesting companion piece to The Railway Man last year, Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth are back together in this film about a 40-year-old woman who wakes up every day not remembering life after mid-20's because of a violent head injury and with the help of no-one that she can outright trust, piece together who took her memories. It's an adaptation of a well-known novel by S.J Watson, but those whose interest flows more towards cinema may find comparison with Christopher Nolan's breakthrough film, Memento.

Before I Go To Sleep is a less experimental film than Memento and is relatively straight-forward. Memento's a good film and the higher level of accessibility in Before I Go To Sleep may make the more snobbish of people turn their noses to this film, but actually its subscription to tradition and familiarity help the film rather than hurt it. Time may tell if it will reward repeated viewings, but the story is crafted well enough to be understandable whilst still intriguing, engaging and surprising.

Whilst I find it hard to think of a time where I've been very impressed by Nicole Kidman, I think her talent is displayed here in a very difficult role to play. To play someone who has to wake up every day to a whole new life she didn't know she had and a new life born of such horrible circumstances is a tall order and Kidman certainly gives it her all. Colin Firth and Mark Strong also have their shining moments in supporting roles, both of which are hinted towards sinister motives. Firth gets the greater screen time and does very well, but his history of often playing kindly figures does make him slightly less believable in a more threatening light which is more believable from the tall and physically-imposing Strong.

Stylishly presented, sometimes to the point of sterility, Before I Go To Sleep is a well-constructed mystery thriller with some pretty fascinating twists that will have many people hooked.

The Boxtrolls (3D) (2014, Dirs. Graham Annable, Anthony Staachi, USA) (Cert: PG/PG) ***

Starring: Isaac Hempstead Wright, Elle Fanning, Ben Kingsley

With the association with Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick, Laika have been one of the animation companies still flying the flag for stop-motion as well as providing films mainly aimed at children but still getting in plenty of gunk and creepy-crawlies. I enjoyed their previous project, Paranorman, even if I felt it may have been too strong a piece of meat for young audiences. Boxtrolls comes off as gentler and more in mind for the pre-teen demographic, but it loses some of that inspiration along the way.

Set in a quaint implicitly British town beset by squat underground-dwelling creatures who wear cardboard boxes (the titular boxtrolls), the main character is Egg (so named for the cardboard box for eggs that he wears), a human boy raised by the trolls who seeks to defend the innocent if ugly trolls from the fearful townspeople and especially Snatcher, an ambitious cheese-obsessed villain voiced by Ben Kingsley clearly in a mood more silly than serious. Kingsley's casting is unusual, but the same can be said of Maleficent and Super 8 actress Elle Fanning (sister of Coraline star, Dakota) as Egg's young human ally, but she does a good job. Whilst other voices include Richard Ayoade, Toni Collette, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg and perhaps the oddest choice, a pretty much unrecognisable Tracey Morgan.

As with most films tagged with being 3D, this is a practically pointless addition and you won't lose anything and save money by going to see it in 2D. The animation is nicely detailed and with some good character detail that comes to the fore in this medium of animation So far as recommending the film as a whole goes, fans of earlier Laika and Selick films (or those who like their children stories with a Roald Dahl sense of icky mischief) will probably appreciate this and the few chuckles it provides, but it's by no means their strongest work.

Obvious Girl (2014, Dir. Gillian Robespierre, USA) (Cert: 15/R) ***

The world of chick-flicks is an inconsistent, often disappointing place, especially to those viewers looking for something a little more left-field. To that end, Obvious Girl is no masterpiece but does its job as an enjoyable off-kilter rom-com. Jenny Slate plays an aspiring stand-up who becomes pregnant following a one night stand with nice guy, Jake Lacy. The bulk of the film takes place around her awaiting an abortion.

Yes, that last part is a bit of a hard sell for a mainstream-friendly comedy, but it's a credit to the filmmakers that whilst the subject does waver outside of the film's focus at times, when the issue of abortion is addressed, it's neither dreary nor insensitively flippant. Whilst time will tell if we have the next Tina Fey on our hands, Jenny Slate is likeable and endearing as a realistic and flawed protagonist, even if her material isn't as strong as the film would have us believe. Still that didn't let down Martin Scorsese's brilliant King Of Comedy and this film too stands its ground.

It's not a hilarious film, but it has its charm. It's a quirky indie comedy set in the trendy ends of Brooklyn but isn't swamped by hipster affectation. Surprisingly inoffensive and light, even if it's probably not going to be topping many best film lists this year.

Sex Tape (2014, Dir. Jake Kasdan, USA) (Cert: 15/R) **

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Rob Corddry

What to say about Sex Tape? I'm tempted to slate it as a one-note film, but that's not entirely accurate. More like one note being played way too hard into a kazoo and then thrown into a shredder. It's basically joke after joke about sex with a tiny bit of sweetness clumsily crowbarred in towards the end.

The story of a middle-age-ish couple looking to find a way to "spice up" their love life is a concept that has promise and dramatic potential. Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel are both capable of pulling off a moving and interesting take on that. What happens is a farce (the bad kind) and a parade of jokes that are neither particularly funny or well-edited giving off bad timing and uncertainty as to whether a joke was intended or not.

So aside from the actually pretty likeable cast of actors assembled what is there to enjoy?...I suppose the novelty of a movie made by Sony that's somehow a giant ad for Apple. Hurray!

Reviews: Let's Be Cops/If I Stay

Let's Be Cops (2014, Dir. Luke Greenfield, USA) (Cert: 15/R) **

Starring: Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr., Nina Dobrev

Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr. star as two best friends on the edge of thirty with unrewarding professional lives who decide to pretend to to be cops. It's a basic premise with correspondingly basic results, nothing out of the ordinary. Compared to some of the work that's passed through the Wayans family over the years this isn't the worst and has a couple of minor laughs now and then but the film often stumbles into rather unnerving amounts of sexism and racism (both hit particularly hard in the sorority house sequence shown in the trailers). It's not bottom of the barrel, but it's nearer there than the top especially when the ball,is dropped on some pretty good potential developments towards the film's conclusion.

If I Stay (2014, Dir. R.J Cutler, USA) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) **

Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Jamie Blackley, Mireille Enos

If I Stay was a film of good potential. Chloë Grace Moretz is a gifted young actress, as best exhibited in Kick-Ass and Hugo and there are some fairly solid performances, especially from veteran Stacey Keach and even if the story of a young girl in an out-of-body experience following a car accident deciding on whether she should live or die smacks a little of mawkish sentimentality, the recent Fault In Our Stars proved that a film can still overcome that danger. No such luck here unfortunately, with the scenes addressing the hereafter (a void of bright light) coming off as disappointingly sappy and unoriginal. It also doesn't help that the central dilemma isn't very well covered. When given the choice to live or die, the options seem uninterestingly one-sided.

 When I saw this film, there was a lot of audible sniffs of sorrow from the audience, but with a few barely-contained snorts of laughter elsewhere. I suppose if you just want heart, there's something in there. Alas for the more cynical cinema-goers, it just comes off as a bit of a turkey.

Deliver Us From Evil (2013, Dir. Scott Derrickson, USA) (Cert: 15/R) ***

A film that mixes neo-noir with horror, Deliver Us From Evil is, surprisingly, not the first of its breed (check out video nasty Dead & Buried, which mixed the two in 1981) and it isn't the best. Reportedly based on true events, Eric Bana plays a specialist NYPD cop investigating a series of violent incidents which seems to have some supernatural connection. Eric Bana is always a great actor to watch and here is no exception and the film also has a great supporting character in Édgar Ramírez as a Jesuit priest but the film falls victim to some of the bad trappings of modern horror. Possessed people chanting a single phrase over and over, shuddering lightbulbs and the ever present jump scare. The film also gets too bogged down in its dreary nature and becomes dull at times.

Those expecting a revolutionary new step in horror will probably be disappointed (although this film is slightly better written than most of its contemporaries) but there's no major flaw in the film and the state of modern mainstream horror has definitely provided worse films as of late.

The Congress (2013, Dir. Ari Folman, Israel/Poland/Luxembourg/Germany/Belgium/France) (Cert: 15/TBC) ***

Starring: Robin Wright, Jon Hamm, Danny Huston

For all that can be said about Ari Folman, above all, his is a unique mind. Having made a name for himself with the animated war documentary Waltz With Bashir, Folman's latest film is The Congress. It's most definitely a work of fiction, but it flirts with truth as a satire on fame, celebrity and the Hollywood system, even if some of the jabs are a little too obvious (The fictional movie studio in the plot is called Miramount. Subtle.). Robin Wright stars as a fictionalised version of herself who opts to scan her body so that a digital replication of her can go on to appear in movies indefinitely. However, twenty years into the future she travels to The Congress where, under the influence of a drug that makes the entire world seem animated, the film studio that made the digital copy is on the verge of revolution.

And yes, it is a strange film.

However, it has merit. Robin Wright is a good acting choice because of the character she plays as an actress who almost was a superstar but never quite made it (of course there are customary nods to her work in The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump) and she does a good job and so does Harvey Keitel as her agent, who gives a particularly good monologue that demonstrates how sad it is that he's not as much on the limelight these days (unless Wes Anderson's directing).

 The animated sequences are the film's main strength though, as we tumble through a surreal world that stylistically falls between the Fleischer brothers and Richard Williams. The animated section alone would make for a great movie but somewhere around the Flash Gordon/Strangelove-esque sequence (I did mention it was strange) there's a feeling of having your fill and despite its amazing visual flair, it ultimately sags a little and feels significantly in excess of its two hours.

Lucy (2014, Dir. Luc Besson, France) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Amr Whaked

Mon dieu, Besson!

Scarlett Johansson is possibly the biggest actress in the world right now and in that line she's appeared in a number of science-fiction films lately; Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Her, Beneath The Skin, for example. Lucy now appears in this chain and it's by far the weakest of this lot in that it pushes pseudo-science (admittedly, almost a sci-fi necessity) to its limit. It's all hokum and even the central concept seems to revolve around a common misinterpretation (the film points towards that there's an untapped 90% of brain function that leads to other abilities. The human brain actually uses all its functions, just some more than others at any given time).

So, why have I not trashed this movie entirely? I'm not a Luc Besson fan. but I can't deny his competence. The action scenes are well-paced and exciting and Scarlett Johannson gives a solid performance, even if much of what she says comes off as oddly hilarious ("I can feel my brain" is a personal favourite...but my sense of humour's weird anyway). It's a long way from great and still a fair distance from okay, but at least I can't say it's boring, unlike the recent and rather similar Transcendence. 

The Rover (2014, Dir. David Michôd, Australia/USA) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson, Scoot McNairy

There's something about the Australian outback that brings a sense of almost animalistic energy on the screen, like a tiger ready to pounce and that sense is very much at the heart of The Rover; a science-fiction thriller about a solitary man in the wilderness played by Guy Pearce teaming up with a simple-minded young American named Rey (Pattinson) as they both, for different reasons, go on the trail of Rey's brother (McNairy). 

There have been comparisons to Mad Max (1979) given the setting and the heavy use of cars in the plot, but the film put me in mind of the brilliant but lesser known Wake In Fright (1971) which also gave rural Australia a real sense of macho menace amidst the isolation. Indeed, the sparsity is the film's main asset with some of the tensest movie sequences in recent memory but also its main fault in isolating the viewer and sometimes slipping into artsy pretence. The performances are good though, particularly Robert Pattinson, vaguely looking like a young Tom Hanks and shambling (in a good way) through a performance Rey, whilst Guy Pearce's lead is, pleasingly, as impenetrable as the film, frustratingly, sometimes is.

Reviews: Expendables 3/Hector And The Search For Happiness

The Expendables III (2014, Dir. Patrick Hughes, USA/France) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ***

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, Jason Statham

The hotly-anticipated third part in the Expendables franchise delivers more of the same explosions, quips and 80's action movie references but proves something you'd think wouldn't apply to films like this. Bigger isn't always better. The huge cast may make for one of the most awesome movie posters I've ever seen, but so many people means that the battle scenes, of which there are many, are messy and some of newer Expendables are pushed out of the way (save for a promising Ronda Rousey and Antonio Banderas who is hands down the best thing in the movie) and the usually very entertaining Terry Crews takes a backseat. There's still some of the, now slightly tempered, mania to be had though and Mel Gibson shows some great skills in playing the villain and reliving his Lethal Weapon days as an arms dealer and ex-Expendable the team are tasked with taking down.

Hector And The Search For Happiness (2014, Dir. Peter Chelsom, UK/Canada/Germany/South Africa) ***

On the one hand, Hector succeeds as being a piece of satisfying fluff on a purely emotional level but is, at the end of the day, one in this line of inconsequential "journey to find self" films that pop up every once in a while (it hasn't even been that long since The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013), for example). Simon Pegg stars as an unsatisfied psychiatrist who travels the world to find out what makes someone happy. It's not really a question to be answered, the locales are at times a little too simplified (especially his trip to "Africa"...not a specific country, just "Africa") and you wonder why a man who derives some pleasure from his well-paying job and happens to be married to Rosamund Pike is so unsatisfied (not unhappy, per se, which is different) with his lot. Maybe he just needed a holiday, but it's a somewhat enjoyable trip. Emptier than it claims to be, but enjoyable. Appearances also from the likes of Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, Jean Reno and Stellan Skarsgård.

Wakolda (The German Doctor) (2013, Dir. Lucía Puenzo, Argentina, France, Spain, Norway) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ***

Starring: Florencia Bado, Àlex Brendemühl, Diego Peretti

Out in Patagonia in 1960, an Argentinian family travel to their new home, opening a hotel amidst the picturesque mountains. Following them to this new destination is a German immigrant doctor (Brendemühl) who has a particular fascination with the family's young girl, Lilithii (Bado). The doctor is Josef Mengele, a man who tortured and experimented on concentration camp inmates for the Nazis, now on the run in Argentina. When Mengele discovers the family is expecting twins (another fascination for him) the situation becomes extremely dangerous.

One of the most regularly visited topics of the aftermath of Nazism to pop up in pop culture is the fates of several prominent Nazis hiding out in South America and it's informed works from Ira Levin's novel, The Boys From Brazil (adapted into a movie in 1978) and The Marathon Man (1976) so in Wakolda, we get a film that deals with the reality of the situation. Some Nazis did indeed go into hiding in South America, including Josef Mengele whose experiments on living (and fully conscious) human beings were horrific. Wakolda spares its audience the full horror of telling too much of Mengele's past, which perhaps to those unfamiliar with him may lessen the impact, but the film imbues such a pervading atmosphere of creepiness that it's still effective.

Some of this creepiness, whilst it works on a purely emotive level comes off as too generalised and unrealistic. The film, naturally, focuses on the not-insignificant population of German-Argentinians and German immigrants in Argentina only fifteen years after World War II ended and you get the sense that the film is just a few details away from a fictional tale of some Nazi colony. Conspiratorial groups of ex-Nazis planning various acts, hushed whispers of an earlier time and institutionalised bigotry and bullying. In one particular scene, a group of schoolboys judge the bodies of the swimming schoolgirls that pass by them. It's uncouth but not something normal teenage boys wouldn't do. Yet in this context, there are Nazi undertones of judging physical prowess and, in a term used to criticise modern media and the fashion industry, "body fascism". It's clever but comes off as maybe an exaggeration of what went on. Still, I'm no expert on these things.

As Josef Mengele, Àlex Brandemühl is a strangely magnetic presence. His performance is understated, possibly because when we see Nazis on screen they're either hammy sadists (Ronald Lacey's Toht in Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)....which is excellent) or going maniacs going through some sort of breakdown (Bruno Ganz's Hitler in Downfall (2004)...also excellent). He's quiet and doesn't emote much but just his odd, off-kilter perspective and the vaguely paedophilic undertones of his character (though his fascination with young Lilith seems more scientific than sexual) play on some tensions and unease.

The film is gorgeous to look at. The locations are serene and cinematographer Nicolás Puenzo uses them to the fullest advantage. There's a lot going on visually in the film, especially symbolically (check out the doll factory for starters) but again this almost pushes the film to its detriment. With such an interesting story, you walk,away remembering the film more as a sequence of images without much cohesion. Beautiful to look at, but not making much of an impact. Wakolda's a surprisingly brief film given the subject matter and covers the story fairly well, even if the visuals distract and you probably need a little understanding of the fates of the surviving Nazis and South America's role in such to come to appreciate it. Still, if this sort of thing interest you, I encourage further exploration.