Six movies

Okay so I have fallen behind on my movie reviews but I've more or less caught up with this challenge. I am more or less on track to watch two movies a week, 104 a year.


So here are the six movies I haven't had to time to do full reviews for:




Start Trek First Contact 1996


An average romp but nothing particularly thrilling or original. 7/10


The Last Boy Scout 1991


An average romp. 7.5/10


Fast and Furious 2009


It would have helped if I had known it was the fourth in the series!Typical action movie. Lots of action,some average acting. 7.5/10


Blair Witch 2. Book of Shadows 2000


Not bad but not as good as the first movie. Nicely different. 7.5/10



Carrie 2013


Pleasantly surprised at how good this remake is. It's really good and close to the novel. Enjoyed. 10/10



Curtain 2015



This is quirky stuff. It did keep my interest, although it's low budget and the acting wasn't great at all.Never really got to understand what the hell was going on!


7/10

Cash ( 2010 )

            A man finds a suitcase full of cash

Starring Sean Bean, Chris Hemsworth and Victoria Profeta

Written and Directed by Stephen Milburn Anderson





This is an enjoyable romp that kept me hooked all the way through. It's not the greatest movie ever made and it has it's fair share of plot holes and unrealistic elements, but I enjoyed watching it.


Sean Bean makes this film. Without him it wouldn't have worked. He is superb. The other two main characters, Chris Hemsworth and Victoria Profeta were less good. For much of the movie they seemed quite lacklustre and I didn't buy Hemsworth's accent. He was trying desperately to disguise his Australian accent but I think he struggled.



If you can get past the unrealistic plot in parts, this is a fun movie. Sean Bean at his best.

7/10

About Time ( 2013 )

A man discovers he can travel in time and sets out to find love

Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams and  Bill Nighy





            Written and directed by Richard Curtis






Well I am a sucker for any movie that includes time travel so how could I resist this one?


Okay it's more Love Actually than The Time Machine if you add a dash of Groundhog Day, but it's a really good feel good film. It's funny and witty in all the right places and it's really cleverly written. It more than keeps you interested for every scene. Normally I wouldn't really consider myself to be a rom-com kind of guy but this is an exception.


Domhnall Gleeson as the lead is a little bit of a wimp and the part could easily have been played by Hugh Grant but that aside he still played a good part as did everybody else.



This is one I would recommend.



Enjoyed  

9/10

The Breakfast Club ( 1985 )

A bunch of high school kids spend their Saturday in detention

Starring Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy



Written and directed by John Hughes







This is another one that I somehow managed to miss during the eighties. But then again I was only thirteen so it was probably a little old for me.




I was expecting this to be just like St Elmo's Fire and, although I really liked that movie, this was surprisingly totally different. It really is a great movie. It's very much a typical eighties film but this one has that something extra. It's funny in all the right places but also grabs at your heart strings with a splash of drama in all the right places as well. It's surprisingly well acted and probably has to go down as one of the greatest teenage high school movies ever made.

A lot of the plaudits must go down to the terrific script and direction by John Hughes.




I wasn't expecting to like this film as much as I did. But it turns out I love it.

10/10

WarGames ( 1983 )

A teenager accidentally starts world war three

Starring Matthew Broderick and Dabney Coleman

Written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F Parkes



                       Directed by John Badham




As a teen of the eighties I have always known about this film but somehow I never got around to watching it.


Watching it now is like a trip back in time and it is pretty typical of movies of the time. It's actually quite a good movie with an original story, which you don't get very often nowadays. There are no stand out acting performances but the movie does suck you in and has a decent ending that makes you think.

If you want to watch a fun family friendly movie, you can't go much wrong with this one. I enjoyed it.

8/10

The Kid With A Bike ( 2011 )

A young boy tries to find his father

Starring Thomas Doret and Cecile De France


Written and directed by Jeanne-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne





There is something incredibly charming and captivating about some of these French movies with subtitles and this is no different.

It's just a great story with no bells and whistles. Great acting and it keeps you mesmerized until the end. These films tug at your heart strings and you forget about the subtitles completely.


I loved this.

8/10

The Time Machine ( 2002 )

A poor retelling of the original novel and book

Starring Guy Pearce



Based on the book by H G Wells


Screenplay by David Duncan and John Logan




                                   Directed by Simon Wells







I was quite excited to catch up with this movie as I am a big fan of the original novel and the original film, but I was less than impressed.



I felt deflated watching this. Fair play to them that they have tried to create something different rather than just copying the original movie but it has lost all of the magic and charm completely. The original Time machine kept you glued to the screen, it captured your imagination, this didn't sadly.

There's plenty of action and thrills but that didn't make up for the loss of the awe and wonder. And Samantha Mumba? Really? That's just poor casting. She couldn't act her way out of a packet of crisps.

6/10