Moonrise Kingdom

Two twelve year old's run away from home and its left to the occupants of the small island to find them before Hurricane Mabel hits...

The story revolves around the love story between two twelve year old's, who decide to run away from their respective homes and go in search of adventure on the tiny island they call home. It's left up to the people of the small town to find the young love birds, before the worst storm of the century hits.

A group of boy scouts, their scoutmaster, two fighting lawyers, a police chief and a pilot who brings in the mail, face the difficult task of tracking down the pair before a tropical storm does its best to obliterate the town.

Throw into this mix, a fighting couple, an affair, an emotionally unstable orphan who is shunted from one home to the next, a church choir production and a scout Jamboree and you have the perfect combination for the ultimate adventure.

Without a doubt this is the finest film I have had the privilege to watch in 2012. This is a perfect combination of inspired casting, brilliant writing and one of the nicest stories I have seen on film in many years. The script is a serious one, touching on some fairly heavy topics, but with a lightness and sensitivity that often has the audience in stitches.

Bruce Willis was an inspired choice as "Captain Sharp", the sole member of the police force on the island, giving one of the best performances of his long and distinguished career, and reminded me so much at times of a rather famous "Officer John McClane", probably his best known character. Willis plays an emotionally tormented policeman who has lost the only love of his life, but finds a purpose in life in the most unlikely of places.

Bill Murray and Francis McDormand are truly superb as "Walt and Laura Bishop", an uncomfortably married couple, whose daughter is one of the missing children. Both give tremendous, comedic yet, strangely moving performances and are the true back-bone of the film. Edward Norton is sublime as the disorganized, yet caring "Scout Master Ward". He brings just the right amount of seriousness to the film, while at the same time being laugh out loud funny. This is one giant turn around from his 1 minute cameo in the recent hit "The Dictator".

Tilda Swinton is a great addition as the very convincing "Social Services", an inspired name which hits her role in the film, firmly on the head. She gives a droll and dramatic performance that is perfectly suited to the film, while Harvey Keitel makes his first showing since 2010 as Chief Scout, "Commander Pierce" in a truly special performance.

The true stars however of this tremendous film, are also ironically the youngest in the cast. Kara Hayward gives a truly great showing as the young "Suzy", showing a maturity far beyond her young years. Jared Gilman, gives a truly genius performance in his first motion picture in the lead role of the young orphan, "Sam". The on screen chemistry is very believable, while at the same time being touching and innocent.

The film, goes at an excellent pace for all of its 94 minutes, and has enough laughs to keep even the most hardened comedy fan happy. There are the odd uncomfortable moments, but these fit perfectly well in the awesome, Wes Anderson written script. This movie is inspiring, and moving, yet has an innocence about it that we don't see in movies anymore.

Bravo! I really do hope the members of the academy watch this one.

9/10

Cosmopolis

A billionaire decides to take a limo ride across Manhattan to get a haircut, as hour by hour his world unravels.

The film covers a day in the life of 28 year old billionaire "Eric Packer" and his journey from one side of Manhattan in order to have a haircut. During the course of the 24 hours his life undergoes a major number of changes, that ultimately lead to his demise.

He spends most of the day in his custom built limousine, the people who need to speak to him, come and go as he makes his way through the city towards his barber. On the way across town, they run foul of a presidential visit, a dangerous and destructive riot; Packer's estranged wife "Elise" and also some very strange people who seem obsessed with the need for the Rat to become the new unit of world currency.

Trades which began at the opening of the markets, betting against the Yuan, sees his personal fortune take a dive from the hundreds of billions of Dollars, to just a few hundred million in a few short hours, but the young man seems not too bothered by these developments. The only seeming constants in his world are his head of security "Torval", always keeping his boss up to speed with warnings coming from the "compound", worryingly of somebody who wants to kill the billionaire...Eventually destiny will play her own hand.

It has been a long, long time since I have watched such a steaming pile of self appreciating rubbish as this film. 90 percent of the film takes place in an ultra modern limousine, not the best place for shooting a big screen movie. The movie takes one hour and forty eight minutes to achieve absolutely nothing, other than annoying the audience and boring them to tears.

It did not surprise me at all that nearly 60% of the cinema audience walked out of this one, it was just that bad. There was no real point to the film, other than the cast patting themselves on the back for being so smart. Robert Pattison takes the lead role in this one, as "Eric Packer", a man who seems to live above the rest of the world, completely out of touch with society and seemingly happy to live in the little bubble that is his limo. I did hope that he had turned the corner with his superb portrayal of "Jacob" in "Water for Elephants", but he seems to have taken a few massive steps back in his career in this one. It is too early in his career to pull of this sort of "artistically experimental" role. The only person I could see doing any justice to this role would be Al Pacino.

Toronto born Sarah Gadon must be wishing she had never heard of this script after a horrendous showing as "Elise Shifrin". She is wooden and completely emotionless, with the charisma of a dead fish in this film and I am not even sure what purpose she had being in it. Fellow Canadian Kevin Durand is the only truly bright light in this movie in his role as head of security "Torval". He brings a bit of cheekiness to the story, adding the odd laugh and lighter side to the script, but still can to little to improve this snooze fest.

The story is massively disjointed, drags and is just downright strange, never really settling on any one fixed direction. The ending, which should have taken 5 minutes to complete; is dragged out to five times that and still makes no sense. At the climax you are truly begging for it to end.

Even if you have nothing else to do with your time, do not waste it on this one. You will never forgive yourself.

2/10

Prometheus

The crew of a space ship in search of the origins of man, land on a foreign planet, but what they find is not what they expected...

After various archaeological discoveries on earth, which they believe proves the existence of the human creators, a group of scientists persuades a company to invest in a mission to a distant galaxy. After two years of travel, having slept most of the time, the group of doctors, geologists, scientists, archaeologists, one robot and general flight crew find the planet they have been searching for, and it's time to go exploring.

One by one, the crew starts getting killed by weird occurrences on the planet. Unexplained happenings on the ship also seem rather weird and the only non human member of the crew "David" exploring the planet by himself, his motives, completely unclear.

Instead of finding the race which created the humans, they find the last surviving remnants of a culture that wanted to destroy us, and a little something extra. Beware of what you look for, you might just find it...

There were many rumors circulating that visionary director Ridley Scott was making a prequel to the legendary "Alien", and although they were strenuously denied, there were far too many references in the film, for the audience not to connect the two. The closing scene alone proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that although this film could certainly stand on its own, somewhere in the back of his mind, the director saw this as part of the series.

The film has some really good special effects, creating an entirely new virtual world and some wonderful work with lasers. The script is respectable, although it does drag in places and has none of the expected suspense or horror which the various trailers would have you believe it contains. This is a bit of a let down, as I went into the film expecting to at least jump a few times, but there was none of that.

Michael Fassbender makes amends for his horror showing in "Shame" and not terrific outing in "Haywire", with a memorable showing as the robot "David". His tranquil demeanor is somewhat disconcerting, the audience never too sure of his motives or intentions, but he gives a very good performance and provides a bit of comedic entertainment when his head gets removed from the rest of his body.

Charlize Theron once again gives a wonderful performance as the incredibly bitchy "Meredith Vikkers", her character summed up in the classic line "It's my job to make sure you do your jobs". It is hard to hate her hard assed attitude and you actually end up respecting her by the end of the movie. Her father "Peter Weyland" is masterfully played by the talented Aussie actor, Guy Pearce, who has to add 50 years to his age to master this difficult role. The make up for his character is incredible and he does very well to adopt the mannerisms of somebody who is at death's door.

Swedish actress Noomi Rapace makes her first outing since "Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows" to do a decent job as scientist "Elizabeth Shaw". I do however wish that she could have chosen one accent and stuck to it. At the start she is Scottish, then English and occasionally lapses into a French twang, so is hard to take seriously. Logan Marshall Green does well as her husband "Charlie Holloway", but does meet his end in rather a too normal a way for a sci-fi film.

For comedic value, look no further than English born actor Sean Harris, who delivers a good few ironic laughs as geologist "Fifield". He seemed to have met his maker far too early in the proceedings and I think the film would have been a lot better, had he survived. Countryman Idris Elba does a find job as captain of the ship "Janek", looking after his crew to the very last. It would be good to see more of this talented actor on the big screen.

The 3D was well used in this film, especially on the surface of the planet, in fact the special effects were probably the highlight. The script does drag in places, but the ending will have people who saw "Alien" squirming in their seats with delight. It also leaves it wide open for a sequel....Maybe this time with Predators?

This is worth the watch, but don't expect an Oscar winning script

6.5/10

Snow White and the Huntsman

An Evil Queen, with a passion for eternal youth, hunts her step daughter in order to obtain immortality.

The classic story of Snow White and the Evil Queen with a few new twists and turns. An evil Queen, takes control over a kingdom, after murdering her husband on their wedding night and taking over his castle with her own army.

Her vanity for beauty makes her destroy the country and demoralize the people, always searching for pretty girls to feed the magic which keeps her young and beautiful. With the aide of her magic mirror the Queen keeps tabs on the "Fairest of them all", erradicating all who would wish to claim that role. When her step daughter, "Snow White" comes of age and threatens to usurp her place as the most beautiful in the land, the Queen, knows that she must kill her and, by doing this, give herself everlasting youth.

When "Snow White" escapes to the dark forest, where the Queen's magic does not work, she sends a huntsman after her, ordered to remove her heart and bring it back to the ruler. In end, "Snow White" is the only one who can save her evil step mother, but also the only one who can end her tyrannous life.

For months we have been bombarded by the impressive previews that were put out about this film, and in a way they delivered. The special effects are some of the best I have ever seen; and the animation was something to behold.

Unfortunately a film, cannot depend wholeheartedly on these factors, the cast needs to hold up their end of the the bargain, and for the most part they did. Sadly, the title role of "Snow White" was given to Kristen Stewart, she of "Twilight" fame and, as much as the casting director would like to believe it; an actress of this caliber cannot hold up the business end of what in effect, was a mini epic. The 21 year old, truly did let herself down in this opportunity for her to shine, showing that she is not quite ready to take on these sorts of roles just yet. Her emotions and facial expressions were minimal and her acting talents, seem to have been put in a cupboard somewhere. Unlike fellow "Twilight" actress Anna Kendrick, this one still has a lot to learn about entertaining a discerning adult audience. Hopefully, with experience will come wisdom, but this performance was painful in places and average at best.

Oscar winner Charlize Theron is sublime as the "Evil Queen Ravenna", giving one of the finest performances of her career as this truly evil and demented character. Her performance made you want to stand up and applaud at times, her mood swings and outbursts, something to be treasured. A lot of the special effects in this film centered around her character, but combined with her acting prowess, made her role the true backbone of this film.

Australian born Chris Hemsworth's career seems to be on fire at the moment, with films literally rolling off the production line. He follows up his decent showings in "Thor" and "The Avengers" with a good outing as "The Huntsman", a grieving  and tortured alcoholic soul, who is tasked with hunting down the heroine and also propping up most of the film. He is not aided at all by the fact that he uses a Scottish accent throughout, which keeps slipping, but does cause for the odd comedic moment. His character is strong and powerful and gives the audience somebody to root for.

The audience is spared the pitiful efforts of Stewart with the introduction of the Seven Dwarfs, in this film, played by some of the best known faces in British cinema, with Hollywood veteran Bob Hoskins giving a truly admirable performance as the sightless "Muir". Ian McShane also weighs in with an impressive showing as "Beith", while other "dwarfs", Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsdone, Toby Jones, Johnny Harris and the wonderfully lovable Brian Gleeson in the role of "Gus", brighten this film dramatically with their presence. The effects director should be praised highly for making these regular sized gentlemen, just three feet tall.

Sam Spruell does very decently as the downtrodden brother of the Evil Queen, but does struggle to garner any sympathy from the audience, coming across as a vile, demented and somewhat perverted toad. Keep an eye out for a decent cameo from model/actress Lily Cole as the victim, "Gretta", while although we don't his face, Christopher Obi, is rather scary as "The Man in the Mirror", using some amazing special effects.

The script is decent, slow in places, and not helped by Kristen Stewart, but manages to keep itself plodding along. It taught me a few new things, about the well known classic story, with the script writer taking a good few liberties. There is the odd laugh and not too much gratuitous violence, the story flows slowly, but is worth a watch in the end.

My only question goes to the casting director, as to in which fantasy world, is Kristen Stewart, fairer than former model Charlize Theron?

Worth the go and prepare to be astounded by both the special effects, and also Charlize Theron.

5.5/10

Albert Nobbs

A woman posing as a male butler in 19th Century Ireland struggles to keep her secret as a group of con-artists try to get at her hard earned money.

Women in Dublin in the late 19th Century were not encouraged to be independent and often had to go to extreme lengths to be able to work. Albert Nobbs is a perfect example of this, holding down a butlers job at the very exclusive Morrisons Hotel. He is a highly respected member of staff at the establishment which is frequented by all the upper classes and even royalty.

Albert, although a servant, keeps very much to himself, not bothering to gossip with the others in the kitchen and often discouraging them from doing so too. When Albert has to share a room with the painter "Mr Hubert Page", his secret is discovered, but he is also introduced to a whole new lifestyle by the friendly painter. When a new scullery maid joins the hotel, Albert finds himself strangely attracted to her and tries to win her hand.

Unfortunately, the young lady is already involved with a rather unsavory character who thinks they can milk Albert for all of his savings. Albert however has plans of opening a shop and living with his new object of desire. The hardest part is how to bring up the subject with her that he is in fact a woman. After disease spreads through the country, Albert decides to accelerate his efforts, in wooing the young "Helen", but needs to somehow keep his secret under wraps.

Columbian director Rodrigo Garcia makes the large move from TV to the big screen to bring a truly superb and memorable film to the table and on this form should continue in this format.

Hollywood acting legend Glenn Close comes back to the big screen for the first time in five years, to give a truly inspired performance as "Albert Nobbs". The six time Oscar nominated actress gives one of the finest performances of her career as the cross dressing butler, making the audience doubt that underneath the clothing, she really is a woman. Her characters' struggle is deeply personal and ground breaking for the time, fighting to find her own identity and also the way that she should behave in a society which is not yet willing to accept her life choice.

Newcastle born Janet McTeer gives a stunning showing as fellow cross dresser "Hubert Page", posing as a burly and rugged house painter while living with a wife at home and nobody being any the wiser. She is able to show a whole new world to "Albert", a world that he never could have dreamed that existed and one he very much wants to be a part of. McTeer truly is something special in this film and this role led to her playing another great role in "The Woman in Black". I hope that this will pave the way for this talented actress.

Mia Wasikowska, best known for the playing the lead role in "Alice in Wonderland", gives a very decent showing as the devious, yet naive "Helen", while Tony Award winning actress Pauline Collins, gives a divine showing as hotel owner "Mrs Baker". Irish veteran Brendan Gleeson, gives yet another superb showing as the honest and lovable "Doctor Holleran". 22 year old Aaron Johnson, does very well indeed as the caddish "Joe", a young Irishman determined that the wealth of "Albert" will take him to the USA.

This is a truly wonderful film, with a good pace, lots of superb acting performances, tragedy, loss and suspense. It is not for everybody's taste, but will be enjoyed by most discerning movie-goers. Well worth at least one watch.

7/10

Safe House

The most dangerous man on the CIA's wanted list hands himself into a safe house in Cape Town. Now all the house keeper has to do is keep him alive...

When "Tobin Frost" the man at the very top of the CIA's most wanted list walks into a Safe House in Cape Town to hand himself in, he puts not only his own life, but also the lives of everybody around him in jeopardy as they struggle to keep him alive.

Matt Weston is bored on his detail, knowing he is more qualified than to "House sit" in a beautiful location, but a place where nothing really ever happens. He has a hotline, to one of the big wigs at Langley, but keeps getting told to bide his time, soon something will come up and he will be first on the list. He is told to babysit "Frost", but for some reason, for a house that is not meant to exist in the outside world, his, suddenly is getting a whole lot of attention and his quiet existence is shattered by various would be assassins.

As he struggles to figure out a way to contact his handlers and also stop from dying, he takes his prisoner on the run and the body count mounts as those chasing both him and "Frost" make a last ditch attempt to stalk their prey on the beautiful streets of the South African city.

If "Agent Matt Weston" can figure out who has authorized the hit on his prisoner before its too late, then maybe he can stay alive, but with a secret force and half the CIA on his tail, it does not look good. He will discover that sometimes you don't want to know the answers to certain questions....

The film is an action packed roller-coaster ride from start to finish. Back-stabbing, double crossing and keeps the audience guessing to the very end, who on earth may be behind the ginormous body count. The action takes place on the back drop of the streets of possibly the most beautiful city in Africa, capturing the carnage, while every day life goes on unabated. The story is intricate, but rather decent to watch and will have action fans drooling in their chairs throughout.

Ryan Reynolds returns to the big screen in his first serious role since "Green Lantern" and impresses with a far, far better performance than his last outing. He seems to enjoy the depth that goes along with playing CIA Agent. "Matt Weston", allowing himself to fully embrace the heart-stopping chases and death defying shootouts that he must endure to keep a man, who he doesn't know, alive. His acting is respectable and worth the ticket price, and it would be good to see him in a few more testing roles, he has more to show.

Hollywood legend Denzel Washington is his usual genius with his delivery of the character of the fugitive, "Tobin Frost". An ex CIA Operative, he vanished off the grid and has back-stabbed his country for the past decade, but now needs to know which of his many enemies, wants him dead. This is his first outing since the action squash-buckler, "Unstoppable" in 2010 and it is so good to have a man of his talents back in the driving seat. His grasp of "Frost" is inspired, showing coolness even under the most deadly of pressure, but you imagine that he is always secretly aware of who is trying to do him in. His performance, although not as in depth as the likes of "Courage under Fire" or "Philadelphia" is still inspired and well worth your time.

Irish born Brendan Gleeson has been on an awesome run of late, with such hits as "The Guard" and "Albert Nobbs" to his credit in recent months, comes up trumps once more as CIA Director "David Barlow". The audience will never really know whether to trust the mentor to the lead character; he seems to always have a hidden agenda and may not always be putting the interests of his service in first place. Vera Farminga, does well as fellow CIA agent Cathernine Linklater", one who seems on the level and actually wants to see the situation resolved amicably. Nora Arnezeder does a convincing job as "Ana Moreau", the under fire girl friend to "Matt Weston".

All in all this is a decent film. The pace is good, the plot intricate, but not impossible to follow, while the action is intense and the drama emotive. This is a film that will entertain quite a wide audience demographic and with the South African setting proves that Cape Town is a really viable location for feature films. Keep an eye out for a truly superbly shot scene at a local football game. Well worth your time, but probably not one for the kids

6.5/10 

What to Expect When You're Expecting

The story of five expectant couples and the trials and tribulations they have to endure towards the goal of mother and fatherhood.

Pregnancy is never an easy time, but is meant to be all about "The Glow" that new mothers and sometimes fathers get in anticipation of the new addition. This film takes all of these myths and legends and boots them firmly into the bleachers.

It follows the lives of five very different couples, all experiencing the new life for the first time. Five very, very different situations into which they fall and how they experience the joy from conception to the miracle of birth. The film covers the tragedy of loss, strife, struggles, parent and sibling rivalry, miss-communication and calls "bullshit" on so many myths that perpetuate every day life.

It also shows the side of life we hardly get to hear about, that of the father and role that they play in the lives of babies, pre and post birth. For almost the first time in film, it shows the fun side of fatherhood, the joy to be had of being a dad and also how much is kept from their wives and partners. It is a refreshing look into a side of parenthood that is often glossed over.

The film covers some very difficult territory, with the sensitivity and feeling that it needs, but shows us, if you stick together, it'll all be fine in the end.

I was not too sure really what to expect with this film. I did see a number of very reluctant boyfriends/husbands dragged into the cinema, but I really do hope they were taking in the very relevant message which this film was trying to convey! It was a lot less of a comedy than I expected (there are several very talented comedic actors and actresses in this one), but more like a light-hearted look at issues which a lot of people do not like to broach. I really, really enjoyed this film!

Elizabeth Banks continues to crank out great films, and has really built herself a reputation in the past 12 months, with really decent showings in "Hunger Games" and "Man on a Ledge". In this one she takes on the role of "Wendy", a first time mom, going through the hell that can be pregnancy. To make things worse, she has to be the poster child for the pregnancy industry, but the combination can only lead to one thing, a VERY public meltdown.

Established stars Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez, give very decent showings as "Jules" and "Holly", one fighting a damaged relationship and an "oops" pregnancy, while the other has to face up to her lack of conception, and emotional fulfillment that is adoption. Brooklyn Decker shows that she is not just a pretty face (see "Battleship" for an example of this) and gives very convincing showing as the beautiful side of pregnancy in her role as "Skyler". The true star on the ladies front is Anna Kendrick, following up her stellar role in "50/50" with a real gem as the troubled and traumatized "Rosie". She continues to impress with each new film role, quite easily shedding the yoke of "Twilight" to show that she is a truly talented actress and I look forward to her next outing.

Comedian Chris Rock is superb in this film, his performance as "Vic" is both, just the right amount of funny, but also shows a well deserved gravity for the topic at hand. He is more than ably assisted by Thomas Lennon, Rodrigo Santoro, Joe Manganellio and the very funny Rob Huebel. Hollywood veteran Dennis Quaid is really good in an intense yet intimate, father/son struggle with the talented Ben Falcone, as "Gary". The only slight downer came from Chase Crawford, whose role as "Marco" was convincing, but I wish he would have decided whether his character needed an American, Latin or French accent, but at least that added a bit to the laugh factor

The film is a fine example of how a director can bring a very serious topic to the table, but lighten the tone and produce an incredibly touching and thought provoking piece which will have you leaving the audience with a far different perspective on pregnancy. I would highly recommend this film.

7/10