12 Years a Slave

Chiwetel Ejiofor is a well respected gentleman in America in 18something or other. He plays the violin and has kids and stuff until he meets a couple of white folk who seem nice at first but then sort of kidnap him and sell him into slavery in the south. His first owner is Benedict Cumberbatch who is also sort of nice until you remember that HE HAS SLAVES! Benedict then needs to sell him for a reason, I forget what, to Michael Fassbender who is not so nice. Michael then continues to paint a wonderful picture of Southern White Americans of that time and Chiwetel tries his darndest to convince people he is himself and not a slave. Can he make it out or does he remain lost in the vile world he finds himself in?

This is not an easy film to watch and does not hollywoodise (probably a word) the subject matter one bit. The story is adapted from a book written by the main character who actually lived the almost unbelievable life portrayed excellently by Chiwetel. Everything that the poor man, and no doubt countless others, had to endure is difficult to watch and is a cruel reminder of how we as a species can treat one another. The standard of acting is amazing with all parties knocking it out of the park. Particular attention should be focused on Fassbender who plays a completely unhinged bastard and is one of the vilest people you could imagine. Unfortunately for me this is not the perfect film most people and critics have said it is. One part of this may be the Oscar hype with the aforementioned critics universally agreeing that this is THE film of the year. I cant lie and say that it thrilled me all the way through and found myself verging on bored, all be it for not very long, in the middle of the film. It may be the relentless misery that causes this lull in interest but I cant help feeling there is a little flaw in the flow of the story. Do not get me wrong I liked this film very much but I have seen pretty much all of the other nominees for best film and I have to be honest and say that, purely as films, I liked them more. That being said it has been a particularly stellar year for films and I may not have said this a year ago or even Oscar time next year. Very good film and well worth your time.

Verdict: 4/5

The Amazing Spiderman 2

Andrew Garfield dons the symbol of the spider to continue his exploits in the great city of New York. He swings, runs, jumps and quips his way around vanquishing foes left, right and bloody centre. Jamie Foxx sees all this and is Andrews biggest fan. He works for Dane DeHaan as an electrician and noone really likes him at work, that is until he falls into a big tub of water full of electric eels. This turns him into Electro and suddenly people start to like and/or fear him, same dif right? For some reason he becomes angry with Andrew and decides to electrocute him and a variety of other New Yorkians. Emma Stone is still around and occasionally gets herself into a bit of bother, just enough to give Andrew more things to do. Can he swing and save the day or will he get squashed like a.....*wink wink*.......spider.

The first Amazing Spiderman was deemed to be a little bit pointless when it hit our screens a couple of years back as the Tobey Maguire trilogy was still reasonably fresh. I for one thought that they managed to do a pretty good job. Garfield is arguably a better Peter Parker than Maguire (not hard as Tobey struggles with the acting bless him) and the story was much more in tune with the original comics. Because number one did such a solid job at resetting the Spiderman universe, number 2 was given the freedom to go for it a little and have a little fun expanding the universe. Thankfully they manage to do this and make a fantastic film in the process. The main bad guy Electro was never one of my favourites as a geeky kid but is played brilliantly by Jamie Foxx who brings real heart to a very well rounded villain. When it was announced that Harry Osborn would also be in this film there was a big worry that it would feel too busy, much as Spiderman 3 did. The film makers here did not, thank god, fall into this trap instead choosing to focus primarily on Jamies story and use the other potential bad guys as set ups for more films to come. As ever Garfield is great and so is Emma as the love interest with a real palpable chemistry between the two, which is probably because they are canoodling in real life but there you go. As a Spiderman fan I feel very precious about the character and must say these two films are as close to the original character as you can get and the tone of the story also echoes this. For all his powers and abilities Peter has a very miserable life and the director does not shy away from this fact. All that is left to say is I loved this and it is very close to, and to be honest probably just about takes, the title of best marvel film ever made. Brilliant.

Verdict: 5/5

The Wolf of Wall Street

Leonardo Di Caprio is broke as hell and needs a job to fund his new marriage, yay for him. He gets a job on wall street working for Matthew McConaughey as a stock broker. Matthew opens Leos eyes to a world of depravity which Leo adopts as his own and embarks on a crazy ride consisting of drugs, alcohol, money and more drugs. He starts his own stoke broker firm and makes a bucket load of money that attracts none other than Donna from neighbours?!? and Jonah Hill. He then spends three hours, roughly, completely coked up to the eyeballs, sleeping with whomever he comes across and generally breaking many, many laws.

This film is completely knackering from start to drug addled finish. It begins at a relatively normal pace but within 5 minutes it slams the accelerator to the floor and seemingly ignores the fact a brake pedal even exists. Believe me however when I say that this is as far from a bad film as you could possibly get. Leo is brilliant in the lead role and is by far one of todays greatest actors and he has also managed to find himself backed up by an outstanding support cast. Jonah Hill continues to prove that he actually can act beyond being the slightly large, slightly rude pothead of his early films; Matthew McConaughey is electric in his albeit short screen time and Margot Robbie (Donna from neighbours) is outstanding and off the back of this deserves to be cast again and again. When I said this film is tiring I meant for the audience also. At the end I felt physically exhausted and this was amplified due to the fact it is a true story. This guy actually existed and actually did everything in the film, wow. I loved the film and it was possibly one of the most unique and greatest films I have ever seen.

P.S. I also want to run like lions, tigers and bears.

Verdict: 5/5

Captain America The Winter Soldier

Chris Evans is a very old guy with a big shield and a patriotism problem. He can run real fast, hit things really hard and fill everybody with a sense of true americaness. Samuel L Jackson has lost his eye again and tells chris where to run, who to hit, etc, whilst having political dealings with none other than Robert Redford. Things are running smooth enough until some pesky people start shooting at Samuel and generally making trouble wherever they see fit. Robert and Sam have a proper chinwag and decide the best course of action is to put Chris and Scarlett Johansen on charge overnight and point them in the direction of people who need a good hiding. Then some more political dealings occur and twists spring up all over the bleeding place.

Many people, such as my friend Will, did not like the first Captain America film stating that it was, and I quote, 'the worst superhero film ever made'. I must say I did not hold this view and if anything quite liked the first one, yes it was a little different than other Marvel films we had seen but I for one liked the army, world war aspect to it. This time round another friend of mine, Danny, claimed that The Winter Soldier was the best Marvel film he had seen. Polarising views somewhat and unfortunately another one I do not wholly agree with, however it is definitely up there with the best. The directors have decided to scale the story down from the fantastical Avengers Assemble and root it firmly in the real world. It focuses heavily on political issues that feel modern and nostalgic all at the same time. Chris Evans is very good as the Captain and gets to flex his character development muscles creating a nice insight into Steve Rogers thoughts and morality. The support cast are also great with particular props given to Robert Redford who pulls in a cracking performance. One of the only flaws I would argue is the titular character of the winter soldier in that he is slightly underused. Admittedly I already knew the twist associated with him so maybe that coloured my view a bit but he is a great character who spends the majority of the film running and hitting things. I would have just liked a little more development from him but this is a small criticism as they do explore his story quite a bit so maybe I am being a little greedy. Overall this is a great film and deserves the high praise it has been given. Marvel continue to impress with their myriad of very good films, the big question is can they continue at this blistering pace.

Verdict: 4/5

Prisoners

Hugh Jackman is an average joe with a wife and kids and stuff. He is mates with Terence Howard whose genitals also work pretty well. They have thanksgiving together and drink and have all sorts of fun until their two little girls go missing. They phone the rozzers who put Jake Gyllenhaal on the case and he starts running around blinking and getting frustrated at Hugh in particular. Thus begins a mystery search for the naughty bastard/bastardette who napped the kids.

On paper this reads as a solid, dependable and enjoyable who dunnit thriller that doesn't really threaten either extreme of the critical spectrum. This then puts the onus on the cast to elevate the film above the mundane, good thing Jake and Hugh were free then. Jake Gyllenhaal continues to make himself comfortable on my favourite actors list and pulls off a great performance as a slightly overworked, unhinged cop. Hugh also puts in a very good performance and keeps reminding us that he is a very competent actor. Thankfully the quality doesn't stop with the support cast, namely Paul Dano as the suspect with let's just say learning difficulties. Moving on from the cast the film touches on morality and how this can bend and break under extreme pressures. This adds something a little extra to the bog standard crime thriller format and pulls it off very well. Unfortunately the film is not without flaws but they are few in number. There are a handful of small holes through which the plot occasionally falls and it doesn't go completely unnoticed and does throw the tension off every now and again. The other big flaw is the big reveal when you find out who has taken the girls and it's a shame that when you find out you have already pretty much worked it out. That being said the film keeps the tension and frankly hard to watch scenes ramped up enough that in the end I forgave it. Great stuff.

Verdict: 4/5

Zero Dark Thirty

Jessica Chastain works for the CIA. She travels to Pakistan to meet up with a guy who has a receding hairline and a love of torture in order to try and track down that elusive little rascal Osama Bin Laden. She gets all intense and involved and lots more torture happens. We then get to go on a massive hide and seek mission with Jessica and her pals to find out if they can or cannot track down the big OBL. Is he in this mountain cave?? No, not there. Is he hiding in this city?? No, not there either. O wait, is he in that big complex which was all over the news a few years back when they found Osama Bin Laden and shot him? Probably.

This is the true story of the hunt and subsequent shooting of Mr Bin Laden and is surprisingly restrained and open about how everything was done. Most notably right from the off we are shown torture sequences and the film does not shy away from the fact this went on, allegedly, and may or may not have been lied about by the powers that be, wink wink Mr Obama. It is a bold portrayal of events and director Kathryn Bigalow channels her previous work, The Hurt Locker, to bring a gritty tense drama to the screen. Jessica Chastain and her support are fantastic and bring a real human element to the film questioning morality at every turn. The real testament to the film is the fact that despite knowing the outcome and final set piece you are still on the edge of your seat. I loved it more than I thought I would and more than most films I have seen in recent months. Cracking stuff

Verdict: 5/5

Monsters University

Billy Crystal is a big green ball with legs who wants more than anything to scare the cockles off children and earn the big bucks doing it. To get there he first has to geek it up at a university full of, you guessed it Sherlock, monsters one of whom is a big furry John Goodman. The school is all about the scaring and the dean is the scariest of them all, Helen 'I am the god-damn queen' Mirren. Everyone thinks Billy is wasting his time as we all know green balls are not scary, just look at the poddington peas, but he is determined to show us all by winning some scaring competition thingy. Can he do it? Who knows but maybe we will laugh anyway.

I loved Monsters Inc as I am sure most of us sane people did. It was witty, charming and full to the brim of heart, the reason for this? one word, Pixar. You all know I am a little in love with Pixar as a film studio and thank Christ this film does not darken the name. The characters of Mike and Sully are still charming and voiced perfectly by Billy and John. The character and world design is beautiful and inventive and the predictable monsters in uni jokes still make you laugh like a 9 year old. All that being said it is not a perfect film and doesn't quite make it to the top of the Pixar pedestal, not even close actually. It fails in a few areas in which the first film excelled, the most important of which is the heart. You don't fall in love with the characters the way you did in Inc and unfortunately it did not warm the blood in my cold, black heart. It's a bit of a shame really as you are just left with a feeling of disappointment, albeit a minor one. I would recommend this to anyone but would urge people to make their way through the Pixar back catalogue to see what true movie genius is.

Verdict: 3.5/5