Reviews

Seems they tried to make a "Kill Bill" type film with the cartoon style violence, but they miscast the lead actor(actress) who doesn't have the presence or panache for the role and more goes though the role by numbers. She cannot carry this like Uma Thurman did in KillBill. Maybe no fault of hers given the supporting cast of actors are criminally wasted with a poor script, aimless direction and a plotline that makes little sense or gets your interest. It is lazy and the sort of storyline they did in a hurry, never vetted and maybe done to a budget with short timelines. It's a straight to video effort to use an older terminology. The film itself has being well advertised but disappoints considerably in being lazy in direction, cheap in how it is done, incoherent and loses your attention early on as it runs through a very predictable cliché storyline. Cant see any of the actors putting this film too high on their CVs or even wanting to remember this churned out pap. A real B movie.

Brilliant and anarchic humour and can be watched time and time again - real cartoon style sitcom with a touch of the outrageous. While it may not be to everyone's taste, but if you like this sort of humour, well then this is of the highest quality with all the madness that the two lads always bring to their roles. Great series, and their spin off film likewise was completely madcap in every way with laughs all the way through. The Tom and Jerry style cartoon violence to each other is so well done when they get going hitting each other and all done in terms of a stage setting so some credit to the the sets. Two lads are were a great comedy partnership and one well missed......

This episode is a good example of a wasteful spacefiller when writers are out of ideas and want to space-fill. Probably the first sign that the writers couldn't keep a full series of ideas and if the network saw this, well then it maybe made up their mind. Lena Headey for me always seem to overact as Miss Angry throughout the series so again something the writers could have maybe rounded her a bit more. This series had no much potential with some excellent episodes but within them you had turkeys like these and some parts of a script which seemed to be drawing it out. This episode is the worst in the series and really shows maybe why there was not the confidence in the writers to make another series without turkey episodes like this one.

Brat Pitt self indulgence and while the first half of the film shows the harsh realities of war, you know with a Pitt war film, this is going to degenerate as it goes along and on that score, Brad does not disappoint. Given I like a bit of historical context and accuracy in a film and they had someone from the dreadful Inglourious Basterds involved, this film went down the same path. It's not bad up till the completely over the top last twenty minutes. Its not anything to write home about either up to the last twenty. It does show the brutality of war, and some questionable morals with the attitude towards prisoners, something Band of Brothers and Thin red Line also hinted towards.

Had to look an see if Quentin Tarantino directed the end of this film given how over the top it all was as all the Germans were missing were bullseye targets on their uniforms as Brad manages to wipe out half their army in one night. It makes the German army incapable of taking over even a dog kennel. Kinda reminds me of Hot Shots! Part Deux when the Iraqis were coming out with bulleyse target and there was a score counter at the end of the screen saying it was surpassing other films kill totals.

Like cartoon violence really at the end and maybe they forgot to add in Yosemite Sam as one of Brads crew. If would give historians something to think about given history tells us that 80+% of German casualties were caused by the Russians but we would have to re-write history and at least attribute 20% to Brad alone. Maybe that is why we see little in terms of film on the Eastern front in what was truly brutal compared to the western campaigns. Of course at the end, you do wonder why the US Army didn't sent Brad on his own to win the war. Hopefully Pitt never makes another war film.

What makes this film is the two lead actors with Ed Norton especially brilliant in his characters method acting madness and self-indulgence. Keaton is also excellent as the ex star trying to be all serious and respected as an actor and haunted by his own demons.

These are the two stars and how they are preparing and moving towards the opening night of Riggans(Keaton) personal project. The supporting cast is also strong with their own stories and needs.

The story isn't especially complex or much substance on the storyline part so this film is very people based and their trials and tribulations of each of the people connected in some way into Riggan(Keaton).

Good suspense thriller and well worth watching. An ex Irish football legend mentioned this wasn't great so I had low expectations. I think he was wrong now after seeing it.

It is actually a very smart film, it is good in suspense, story line, does not go down predictable lines, has the stupidity and smartness of people crafted into it, and as a thriller I thought this was good fare with a superbly manipulative character in it.

It touches very well on relationships, domestic bliss, different demands, infidelity, secrets and does not paint a picture of all is easy in love.

Good characters, good acting, good build up and thoroughly enjoyable film.

This is told from the Japanese side (subtitles) and the sister film of Flags of our Fathers and while the latter is a very good film, Letters from Iwo Jima is brilliant. That it is based on letters, that it is based on true life characters, and a tragic battle in a tragic war between two imperial powers, with one fighting to the death with no hope of winning against a vastly superior force with more ships planes tanks and equipment. While we know the story of this famous battle, Eastwoods direction and telling of the story from some of the Japanese soldiers is excellent, heart- warming and ultimately sad in that they know their fate is already sealed.

Brilliant story telling of what is an anti War film when you see the tragedy unfold. How it didn't win the Oscar for the best film over the Infernal Affairs remake(Departed) is surprising but then Goodfellas lost out previously to some other lesser affair, so all is fair in Oscar war, if not real war.

Another film on enigma code but this one is very much from the viewpoint of the brilliant mathematician Alan Turing and the father of the modern computer and a man much maligned in his own country and one who only recently has been pardoned by the Queen of England.

This is very much from his perspective before the war, during the war with the enigma code which is the meat of the film and then post war. OK, the history isn't super accurate but it the meat of it is.

This is well done, entertaining, keeps moving, keeps the viewer hooked and I thought very well put together and well worth seeing.

While the enigma code has been done many times now even if it is baffling why the Germans security was so poor, it is great to see a film about this great man and what he achieved in his lifetime.

This is about small time gangsters with a bleak, hard life, struggling moneywise and having formerly having their own patch now kicked out and no longer important. Various people posturing looking for a score while not knowing who is who and all having to watch with the menace of the foreign gangsters. Better film than I expected and well worth watching. Probably not a good advertisement for Brooklyn which looks bleak and harsh but then again this is a gangster film with all the characters having some edge or background to them. But if you like the gangster films, then this is of this genre and well worth watching. It is very much a film that resonates with the other New York gangster films except moreso at the bottom feeder level where the now ex-troops on the ground try and make ends meet.

This could have been good, the idea was good, but between the script, the lead actor strutting style and the Mr Invincible Persona, this in the end was quite poor and not even remotely believable (makes James Bond look true to life). Given the TV series had a measure of sense, they seemed to have gone OTT with this as while letting their lead do his brooding act at the start to then his arrogant can't touch me smart alec style. Denzel Washington does his usual self-righteous peacock acting and at no stage is there any suspense as this leads to a predictable ending without even anything that goes anyway off cue. This is very disappointing as with a better script and a better actor (he seems to have one style and that's it), this could have been done better. I think if Superman,Batman and the Marvel avengers all turned up, Washingtons character could beat them all up while drinking a cup of tea.

Massive Eastwood fan and this is a good war film, gets into the mind of this American hero, but it isn't as good as the Hurt Locker, won't be winning Eastwood any Oscars, and does not have anything extra or special about it. What it does portray is the madness and the insanity of it all and where they was no end objective in what was trying to be achieved and of which I don't think anyone t this day knows what was intended, and that comes across well in the film and the struggle that injured vets have, and the question as to what was it all for.

Good film, but does not have that bit extra special which often Eastwood can bring (Letters from Iwo Jima was his touch of excellence on war and a film that should have won the Oscar than an inferior remake of a Hong Kong film).

Self-indulgent and it is as it says on the box in that it is just the two of them chatting or improve in various restaurants in what is a pointless film and maybe not even a film but an excuse for these two to rake in some extra cash. It is exactly as they say, two men six meals six different places and listening to them chatting as if this was reality TV except they have put this on the big screen.

You would be better going to a restaurant and watching the next table and listen to them. I am at a lost to know how they got away with putting this into a film.

I watched this as I loved Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. This has out me off Steve Coogan completely.

Very disappointed in such self-indulgent tripe. This is as bad as it gets.

While this is a run of the mill legal drama, what makes this entertaining is Robert Downey Jr. who is excellent in the lead role and thorough engrossing plus the fact that the court room stuff is low in terms of minutes with most of it around the surround story which has a human side, family, old girlfriends, and human morals.

This is enjoyable, not heavy in plot, hits the right pitch, an element of redemption along with family and of course for fans of Robert Downey Jr., he is at his very best with all his characteristics and dominates the screen.

Much better than I expected given how many legal dramas you see these days on TV.

Interesting story, not as easy to follow some of the timelines when I looked up them on the internet but then going over a ten year period. The two brothers in this are very well played as the tragedy of the event unfolds with the pressure and the madness surrounding all of this. The film does give a good idea as to the sheer commitment made by these athletes. Interesting as well to take such a story to a larger audience as one I didn't know about. Such a story has probably being played out many a time in sports across the world (Iraq football team springs to mind). I did think they could have done a bit more with the film as the film flowed along telling the story as best they could given such timelines into a two hour film, but it's not a film I would watch again in a number of year's time. Okish but pulses not racing and just made me keen to look up the story and the details on the internet. Didn't think Steve Carell was that amazing so won't be a winner in the forthcoming Oscars (we'll see!!!)

This is a low brow low key thriller with a great cast and keeps you involved all the way along. It is very much based around the various characters and the tedium of the leads existence.

It keeps as the same steady pace with a madness enveloping around unanswered questions with the leads all playing stellar. While it does not set the heart pacing or anything super original, it is a very watchable film and well recommended. It's no Memento (same premise) so very much a cheaper lower key in the same family as Memento.

It is not a film to watch while engrossing yourself in the mind of the lead character as it slowly unravels.

Liam Neeson towers in this film, very believable and a brooding presence of regretfulness and one making a living without a path anymore in life but one whose street savvy and street instincts are still honed.

While still living with a moral code, his past and need to look out for the small guy, gets him dragged into a case where there are elements playing from various side, and one which raises a question on to what you should or should not do in the case of kidnappings, with Scudder(Neeson) showing how to take control and push forward.

This is a great detective thriller, keeps you engrossed, great script, strong acting and thoroughly enjoyable and

Would you watch this again! Probably not. Very much to see from the historical aspect but didn't find it entertaining or engrossing and if anything a bit drab. Maybe this is why it missed out on the Oscar season as it should have been better and shouldn't get nominations because of the subject (as Oscars are about films not the subject). Given the life of Martin Luther King, maybe they should have picked a different part of his life but then again, this was a very significant story. Maybe sometimes the challenge to make a film about such a great man is overwhelming to the point that it makes the task impossible. This reminded me of Lincoln which while not as bad as the sleepfest drabness of the overrated Lincoln film, it is slow and does not grab you. The acting is fine and nothing close to pretentious like Day-Lewis, with his questionable Oscar for over acting while sending people asleep. They make the social commentary, they clearly get the point across of how reprehensible some of the characters are, how wrong all of this was, but maybe that is what happens, it's too much to make it into the product they wanted. Maybe it is a case of getting caught between making it entertaining and giving a true accurate reflection of these historic events in this great man's life in which he has to fix what Lincoln couldn't all those years ago.

This is formula, the usual jokes, not the greatest of scripts and maybe all the publicity for this film in terms of the international news media has helped boost the sales of this film, as it wouldn't stand on its own.

It is maybe just below watchable(which I will say is a 4) and it looks like a comedy that is churned of the production line and one which has the predictable end, the usual good guys, over the top evil guys, the bad guys turn good and the whole wrap up to keep everyone happy at the end as they do in many of these formula comedies and even the bad guys aren't original as Team America: World Police did it way better.

Maybe there is a production line somewhere churning these out with a complete lack of any originality.

Better film than I expected given the premise of the film and in the end I thought it was great. This film is very much character driven with Jake Gyllenhaal excellent. So more character than the story and in his role as Lou Bloom, Gyllenhaal created one of the most memorable obsessive manipulative morally reprehensive characters and one which does not look for or get audience sympathy or backing. For me this film was all about this character though there are excellent points made on the way the news media work, how people like quick fix horror stories than any news of real substance and Lou Bloom(Gyllenhaal) is only feeding this beast. This is set at night, through moral free glasses with a reprehensive obsessive character who the audience will look to see fall. But the larger message is the way our media works in this modern world and an excellent critique.

If you don't like Jazz, then this is not for you. As there is loads of Jazz in this and I am not a fan.

J.K. Simmons as Fletcher is brilliant as the half man obsessive tyrant and Miles Teller as the lead character matches him in being equally as obsessive in pushing himself to the very limits in a win at all costs mentality to succeed at his chosen profession.

I have no idea how true to life this would be in the modern age but maybe in the 60s and before.But the way they treat the students here would make Sociologists have a nightmare in the management of human behaviour performance.

The film plot scope is quite light as at the end I thought there wasn't much of a story, and not an original story either so you need to love Jazz. I am not sure if people could be this obsessive over Jazz.

Main plus in the film (if you don't like Jazz) is the performance of the two leads.

Simon Pegg is normally good but this is less fun and more feel good and very American in style in having the happy happy feel good find yourself, and quite low on laughs and overall quite disappointing given some of Peggs previous efforts.

Mind you there some good characters especially in the middle part and it is watchable but so much feel good syrup throughout the film and comes to the predictable end.

Best thing is some of the supporting characters in this film as Pegg plays a straight if bungling role through this road trip type of film. To some extent the various locations and the different stories ensure the film moves along at a decent pace with something always around the corner but again, would have preferred a harder edge to an over soft film.

Very good, very character based, some great quirky characters and ‎Ralph Fiennes really is excellent in the lead role and the film itself moves along at a nice pace with plenty of variety and overall an enjoyable film.

It also touches on a bit of history as it spans a few decades and while a fictional film, you can make a few social historical references in the context as it moves along.

There are a ton of big name actors in small cameos on various parts and all deliver in a film which must have been a lot of fun to act on given the strength of the quirky characters in the film and their comic opportunities.

Well worth a watch.

I actually prefer this to the original, which was also excellent but I give this the edge as the two protagonists play well off each other and in Torsten, they have a great character and in one sense the main character of the film (less film time but there is an edge to him and his shadow casts over the film). I say original as there is a 15year time gap in the films releases and in the film itself. Jägarna 1(The Hunters) in 1996 and Jägarna 2(False Trail) in 2011. You don't need to have seen the original but it would be better as there are a few references to the first film in it. Again like the original, there is a struggle for justice and again the small community where it seems harder to get into the open what should happen. This helps build the suspense and keeps the viewer enthralled as they watch the case draw towards the end.