Thor: The Dark World

Chris Hemsworth gets his hammer out and gives it a good polish, oo steady on. This time he is a little more well rounded as a human being/god and is a very sensible one at that. Tom Hiddlestone is still a bit of a bellend but is in prison now so he can just shut the hell up. Natalie portman is back on the scene but decides its good old London she wants to hang around in doing science and wotnot with one of the two broke girls. Chris thinks its about time he went to see Natalie who isn't best pleased about the hole New York Avengers and not taking the time to even drop her a text, ultimately though she can't stay mad at those abs. Whilst this is going on Christopher Ecclestone has big ears and an army and wants to turn all the lights off in the multiversey thing that Anthony Hopkins looks after. This does not go down well with the hammer wielding one who sets about hitting anything with pointy ears very hard and trusting too much in his ne'er do well brother. Oh and Renew Russo is there a bit aswell.

Superhero films rock, end of, and recently they have been very very good. The first of the Thor films was one of these good superhero films and the second is just as good if not better. Thor and his family and friends are now well established and are given a little more breathing room to expand within the universe they preside. We learn a bit more about Sif and her feelings towards Thor, we learn about the motivations and relationships between Loki and his family and Natalie's character shows a bit more of her personality. The story is a good one and flows very nicely and the action sequences are suitably over the top with bags of hammer smashing nonsense. Not only is the action good but in true marvel style they pepper the film with comedy moments that do not feel out of place and if anything add to the experience. If marvel keep this level of film making I will be a very happy boy, all they need now is to stop making that nonsense agents of shield and life will be right.

Verdict: 4.5/5

Mud

Two teenage boys in America like to go out on their little boat looking for things. Once out they find a bigger boat stuck in a tree that has a man living in it. That man is Matthew McConahuey?, McConnahey?, McConauhey?, I dunno, and he has done some bad bad things and is hiding out. The boys befriend Matthew and start getting food and other things for him whilst he waits for Reece Witherspoon to show up. The boys then potter about living their lives and collecting boat parts and we learn lots about both them and the naughty things Matthew has been up to.

Much to my surprise Matthew is actually starting to become not only a good actor but a brilliant one. It seemed to start with the great film Killer Joe in which he played a psychotic hitman and does not slow down in this. He is outstanding in this almost to the point where he is unrecognisable and plays the title character with a complex mix of emotions that make him hard to read and figure out. That being said the film is as much about the two boys as it is mud and both of them again are brilliant. Their friendship is explored and also their individual feelings towards mud and the decisions they make regarding him and their lives in general. This makes it a coming of age story as much as it is a full on drama. The support cast are also on top form and not a single person lets the side down. The story is as engaging as you are going to get and you really feel for all concerned as the film progresses. I must admit I was slightly bored in the middle as like myself it began to sag a little around the midriff but on the whole I thought it was great. Well done Matthew, well done.

Verdict: 4.5/5

Behind The Candelabra

Michael Douglas puts on a lot of make up and plastic stuff to become Liberace the uber homosexual piano player of a few years or so ago. He meets Matt Damon at a party and takes a shining to him, so much so he invites him to live at his big house. Once there they start having the most sacred of all love, the love between two makeup caked men. Once here ol Liberace gets a bit weird and gets Rob Lowes plastic surgeon involved to alter poor Matts face in very creepy ways. Their relationship develops again in a very odd manner and we all find out that Liberace may have needed some sort of therapy.

This is probably the campest film that has ever graced the big screen. The amount of sparkles is verging on the blinding level and the man love is not shyed away from with Matt and Michael really going for it in some scenes. Michael Douglas is unrecognisable in his Liberace get up and is frankly brilliant in the role. Matt Damon is also unrecognisable as the love interest and don't even get me started on Rob Lowe. The whole thing is a true story also which makes it even creepier. They also make a good attempt at injecting some comedy into the film which works in some respects but not in others. Despite the good story, acting and direction I couldn't help but get a little bored. It plods along nicely but in some places not a lot happens. Top marks for effort but not so for execution unfortunately.

Verdict: 3/5

Olympus Has Fallen

 
Gerard Butler has a job protecting the president, Aaron Eckhart. Not only is it his job but he is well in there being Aaron's bestie at the same time, that is until he makes a bit of a risky decision that ends a little badly. Due to this he is let go and spends his time doing something else, not sure what, and annoying his other half over a morning smoothie making session. Meanwhile Aaron is meeting with a South Korean guy and some other Koreans, presumably some angry northern ones, start blowing up walls and stuff and take over the White House. Once they have taken over they start making all sorts of evil bad guy demands and threatening to off the rest of the cast. Of course the American government are occupied by a bunch of incompetent boobs and its up to Gerard to bust in, bash in some Korean skulls and save the god damn day.

If when deciding what film to watch you are looking for high brow, intelligent filmmaking that delivers a message and changes your entire perception of life itself then I would keep moving as you are not going to find it here. If on the other hand you are looking for mindless nonsense that will entertain and potentially burst your eardrums then take a seat and grab some popcorn. There isn't really anything new on offer with this film but that isn't the point of it. It is meant to be a bit of throwaway rubbish that you can switch your brain into neutral for and it delivers in heaps. The story is engaging enough and the action is on the verge of Taken type brutality. Gerard won't win any oscars but he is believable as a damaged tough guy who does not think twice about shooting people's faces off. The rest of the cast do their job properly and the setting is refreshingly claustrophobic spending all it's time within the White Houses walls. I really enjoyed this film and urge everybody that if you want to be entertained you could do a hell of a lot worse than rent this.

Verdict: 3.5/5

Film review: Boy In The Striped Pyjamas

Right so there were these Germans in the 30's mad 40's who had a real go at being the biggest bunch of douchebags ever. They liked starting fights and invading countries and then later on killing Jewish people. They were led by a small angry man with poor choice in hairstyles who was very good at public speaking. The boy in this films father likes this small man very much and as a result moves his entire family to live on a camp, not the scouts kind but the concentration kind. Once there the small boy meets another small boy who, you guessed it, dresses in striped nightwear. They become pals whilst playing chess through an electric fence without realising that they should hate one another.

This film is first and foremost depressing. The subject matter is extremely heavy and does not shy away from that fact. It is terrifying and difficult to watch but at no point does it feel the need to be gratuitous or violent. These are by no means bad things as the film is excellent. Both the main children in it are very good and show you the horrific events of the Second World War through innocent and naive eyes. Not only does the film highlight how nonsensical some if the adult decisions are in the minds of children but by using the German child's older sister they show how indoctrination and propaganda can destroy all that innocence. It is genuinely scary what people will do when they think they are doing right. You will not enjoy this film in the traditional sense but that isn't the point of it. It will move you and show you a well known subject matter in a different and fascinatingly clever way. Loved it.

Verdict: 5/5

Film review: G.I.Joe: I wanna say retaliation?......o well it's something

Channing Tatum returns with his ragtag band of muscle bound soldiers to fight more unbelievably bad bad guys. O wow look Dwayne 'the rock' Johnson has a big gun and is shooting some stuff and there's a Japanese guy in a mask, who to be honest could in reality be a fish for all we know as he never removes the bloody thing, who likes cutting people. Channing takes these people and some others and fights a guy with plastic surgery related issues who wants to take over the world by using exploding motorbikes and somesuch. Things start to go a tad wrong for Channings crew until Bruce 'yippee-ki-ay' Willis turns up and joins Dwayne in the act of kickin some serious ass.

Ok to start off this review I would like to say that the first GIJoe film was an absolute puddle of horse piss, which did not set the sequel up for a warm welcome. To my surprise then I didn't hate it and actually found myself quite enjoying some of it. Yes I know it won't win any awards and yes I know in reality it is mindless drivel but we all need some mindless drivel once in a while. The reason this film worked when the first didn't is because it is well aware that no one expects it to be amazing. It is a film made for boys who like fighting and guns and guess what it is full of fighting and guns. The Rock is on fine form and smashes his way through both walls and ridiculously cheesy dialogue and the rest of the cast also seem to be having a lot of harmless fun with these ridiculous characters. The first film helps this one in slamming our expectations through the floor meaning that because I didn't want to use a Bunsen burner on my eyeballs after this second film I ended up pleasantly surprised. S to wrap up it is not a masterpiece but I would happily watch it again and probably enjoy it for the throwaway nonsense that it is.

Verdict: 3/5

Film review: Seven Psychopaths

Colin Farrell is a writer and is struggling to come up with a new script idea. His mate Sam Rockwell likes to steal dogs with Christopher Walken and return them for rewards. One day they accidentally steal mob boss Woody Harrelsons dog and things start to kick themselves off. During this Sam is helping Colin to write his story about a variety of psychopaths whom we meet throughout the other dog stealing nonsense. This all culminates in violence and some such.

I have to admit that the premise of this film is mildly interesting at best and that being said I did not have brilliantly high expectations before pressing play on the DVD player. It starts in a pretty simple way but does not unfortunately remain in simplicity. It is not to say that the story is confusing at all but it is very bitty and flits between the psychopath stories with some involved in the main story and some seemingly just there to make up the numbers. The films 4 main characters are played by 4 of my favourite actors with Rockwell, Walken and Harrelsons on fine crazy form. Farrell is not bad but due to the nature of the story does not really have the breathing room within his character to really let himself go nuts. Rockwell is by far the best thing in this and clearly everyone concerned is having great fun it's just a shame we as the audience are not invited to join in to some of it. That isn't to say the film is dreadful but with a title like this you would expect something better than run of the mill.

Verdict: 2.5/5