JamesIan2021

The film has the right tone, it knows what it is, and the cast are fun, and you can't go ever wrong with Michael Jai White, but somewhere along the way, Black Friday forgot to be fun. It's got only a few intermittent moments of excitement and energy, the prosthetics are visuals are pretty decent for a low-budget movie, but the majority of the movie spends more time on the cast walking around the shop and sitting down to talk about their lives, and it's not engaging or memorable, leading to a rather bland horror comedy that could've potentially become a cult favourite.

I was admittedly hooked for most the movie, intrigued, mostly cause the two lead stars are magnetic and the supporting cast are solid too, but the ending, I felt cheated, me and my housemates were all fuming that the film just ended the way it did. What a joke, what a shame.

I don't normally review movies anymore but I just have to say that this one is a very engaging watch. Rebecca Hall is confident in her direction, it's paced very well, Ruth Negga is excellent as always but to my surprise, Tessa Thompson absolutely knocks out with a career best performance. It's nice to see her actually show a range of emotions and expressions, she gets the chance to shine and it's enthralling. I recommend this movie.

Quirky, tense, weird and very funny, 12 Hour Shift is a smart little flick with some enjoyable performances, wacky and cunning characters as well as some great timing that compliments the comedy and thriller moments. Angela Bettis is gold, I really liked her in that film May, and she has this magnetic presence, she can convey so much with as much as a slight twitch or movement. This is a fun gem of a movie, ideal for a movie night with mates or if you're wanting a brilliantly crafted film.

Trust me when I say I hate the woke brigade, the PC and snowflake culture, and the way it's infecting film and TV is so sad, and when people are saying that Birds of Prey is "woke, man-hating trash", it's makes me think did they even see the movie?

Cause Birds of Prey hasn't been touched by PC wokeness. It is just a hugely entertaining, extremely R-rated romp with fun characters, dazzling visuals and bone-crunching fight choreography! Not to mention it's filled with wicked performances, charm and lots of laughs.

I love DC right now and they need to continue down this path of zany, goofy superhero antics, much like Shazam and Aquaman boasted.

I've never been a Scorsese fan but I wanted to watch this one for its de-aging technology approach and the buzz, it did catch my eye with the trailer. However, this 209 minute is an absolute chore to sit through, an exercise in in self-indulgence and patience testing. Whilst the performances are all fine, it's embarrassing watching a facially de-aged Robert DeNiro move like an old man when he beats up a guy, the cringe is real.

Even my mates, die hard Scorsese fans, found this an absolute trek to sit through and I felt the same. An afternoon wasted watching this. Shame it'll probably sweep the Oscars.

Katee Sackhoff's performance keeps the pace flowing smoothly and the story compelling enough, even if 2036 Origin Unknown has familiar themes and plot points, it's nice to watch an original movie amongst all the sequels and remakes of late.

Funny, superbly acted and well crafted, Ready or Not is an enjoyable dark comedy diversion, though it has no business being rated 18. Apart from a literal explosive ending, the rest of the movie floats by with a soft 15 rating at least, where most the violence is suggested or entirely cut away from. A few cuts and slashes here and there, but nothing that grisly. John Wick 3, somehow, is a 15, that has more eye-wincing violence and gore in its first 15 minutes than this entire 18 rated movie, so I was letdown in this department, considering that everyone is calling it a total gorefest, but hey it's still an entertaining enough flick.

Compared to David Leitch's previous directorial feature Atomic Blonde, where the camerawork was mostly static or unbroken during the hard-hitting fight scenes, here Leitch throws away that style in favour of erratic camerawork and choppy editing which takes away a lot of impact when it comes to the well-choreographed fight sequences.

It's frustrating, but as the film goes on and focuses more on car chases and big scale action set pieces, Leitch and team get a better grip on the action, making for an entertaining summer adventure that benefits highly from four great central performances (Johnson, Statham, Kirby and Elba) as well as strong chemistry, an over the top nature and the theme of family which keeps this spinoff still grounded in the Fast & Furious universe.

It's probably the weakest of the series, especially considering how great Fast Five, Six, Seven and Eight are, we've taken a step back here but it's still good for fans and ordinary moviegoers.

After the torture of sitting through 2019 Aladdin as well as Dumbo, I actually at first refused to see this remake of The Lion King, mostly because the original is a near masterpiece, to many as well as myself, and watching it as a kid religiously, it seemed completely pointless remaking such a fantastic film that hasn't aged a day.

However, as me and my fellow Cineworld card holders have cleared the cinema roster, The Lion King was the only thing on this weekend we hadn't seen. So I sucked it up and caved in and went with my mates. I wish I'd stayed at home.

This is a hollow, bland, dull and completely vapid, shameless cash-grab from Disney. A visually beautiful yet dramatically and emotionally inept movie. The animals look photo real and that's an achievement, but without the expressive faces seen in the original, you can't buy into the drama and emotion. This is a shot for shot remake without the beauty, fun and heart of the 1994 classic.

There's no magic, and that's what Disney prides itself on. The newly added scenes bring nothing but more length to this extremely slow remake. The colour, pop and brightness of the original are nowhere to be seen this time, instead we get a rather sepia looking film, any given David Attenborough documentary has more colour, style and emotion than this film.

The cast are a mixed bag. Donald Glover couldn't be any more boring as older Simba, he sounds like he's either high or falling asleep. Beyonce brings some class to Nala but doesn't get a lot of screen time. Chjwetel Ejiofor who I normally love gave me a headache, and John Oliver is painful to listen to. Keegan-Michael Key feels like he's been stolen from another movie and dumped here and it doesn't work, though Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, surprisingly, did a good job.

There's nothing remarkable about this film bar its visuals. It's just a cold, pointless remake that some will enjoy due to recognising certain shots which will trigger nostalgia. Even the kids in the cinema last night were wondering around bored, distracted and fidgeting, because the film has nothing to offer. Comedy falls flat, emotions are zero and what can be said other than it's just a pale imitation of a beloved classic. Well done Disney on churning out another pile of dung remake that's hit the billion dollar mark.

It's clear that Emma Thompson, Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson are invested in the material and are giving it their best, but my word is this film a complete and utter disaster.

No build-up, very little character development, an unbelievably disjointed and unfocused script and story, with lacklustre visuals and sloppy direction from a director who usually brings his A-game to most of his projects, though reports stated that F. Gary Gray had numerous issues on set with the higher-ups, so I can't completely point the finger at him.

I can't quite believe how amateur this film is, the cinematography is so basic and at times terrible, most noticeable a shot early on of Tessa Thompson running away under the Brooklyn Bridge revealing her MIB suit, it looked like a bad take that was used anyway. Nothing works, I hate everything about this film, it's incomprehensibly shoddy and it's well and truly buried the franchise. Please stay dead, give us new ideas.

It's quite clear from early on that despite the atrocious script, ugly lighting, murky aesthetic, disjointed storyline and messy scene to scene transitions, you can see John Travolta is trying to give it his all. It's by no means a great performance, as whenever he swears it's so overcooked you can't help but chuckle, but you tell he is invested in the material, but it's also clear he misjudged the material by a long shot.

All other performances in the film range from incredibly flat (Spencer LoFranco) to serviceable (Stacy Keech, Kelly Preston) Flashbacks and jumps to the present go from confusing to slapdash, and it halts the pace whilst simultaneously halting the film's narrative.

The score is hilariously awful, Pitbull really didn't take the time to analyse each scene and piece of conversation within, instead he throws together a frantic mix of Latin infused beats and overbearing hip-hop, how this relates to Gotti is a mystery. I didn't find this film to be one of those "So bad it's good" disaster pieces, it's more just a fumbling mess that keeps you watching because of its ability to do almost everything wrong.

The film could've chopped out 10 minutes of mostly exposition, removed 5 or so characters and relegated the soldiers to just background characters, as King of the Monsters does slightly suffer from overstuffing from time to time, but everything about this mighty sequel defines big, dumb blockbuster fun. I was munching on my popcorn like a little kid every time something big happened, and that may sound vague but I'm sure you can guess what I mean.

This movie is basically at 130 minute light show, a blast of cinematic spectacle with dozens of mouth-watering shots that could easily be your next computer wallpaper. Most the performances work, especially Vera Farmiga and Kyle Chandler, but let's face it, we're here for monumental destruction and titan smackdowns, and boy do you get those!

Godzilla is fully-realised, with character and presence, and he roars about 15 times here and it made me cheer with giddy abandon, I turn into a wide-eyed kid watching monster movies and this one had me jaw dropped and blown away consistently with the phenomenal battles involving the menacing Ghidorah, the deadly Rodan and the beautiful Mothra, plus other briefly seen titans that each have a distinct look and threat about them.

The set design is so cool, it reminded me of Roland Emmerich's 2012, in that these governments and giant companies own groovy high tech facilities, epic ships, complete with expensive monitors and satellites, it's all very cheesy and B-movie but it made the movie even more entertaining in that there's thought put into every scene and environment, and the aesthetics and mood of Godzilla's hidden home in hollow earth added some much-needed atmospherics to the film.

The finale of this film almost rivals the awe and chaos of the 2014 Godzilla flick, and I absolutely loved the relatively lengthy unbroken shots of the humans running through destroyed Boston as Ghidorah and Godzilla beat each other up whilst Rodan and Mothra go at it! It's explosion and action movie heaven, my ears were ringing by the end of this movie and I left exhausted in the best possible way.

Now it's the wait for Godzilla vs Kong, this franchise needs to keep going this good!

I have never liked Guy Ritchie movies. Whilst I will say he does have a certain style that is recognisable in his earlier gangster flicks, his recent directorial efforts have been awash with horrible editing, painful dialogue, and surprisingly a lack of a fitting style. Aladdin is another live action remake of a Disney classic, and its only positives are two solid performances from Will Smith and Naomi Scott, and some predictably strong CGI.

However, the rest of the film sucks. I hated Aladdin so much it may even be my most hated film of 2019. Mena Massoud is just a pretty boy with the acting range of a TV remote. The actor who played the villain is terrible, he isn't menacing, he's more campy and pathetic. The dance and song numbers are just flat, there is zero creativity except for the costume department. The camera work is basic, there is zero attempt to add flair and pace and fun into these dance numbers, hell even The Greatest Showman had flair and style.

Guy Ritchie is lazy. He injects nothing into the film in terms of style or making the film standout from others like it. It's just paint by the numbers, let's get from A to B filmmaking.

There is no tension, the comedy is so painful at one point I felt I had an aneurysm, and I blame that on the scene involving a hugely elongated joke about jam jars. The stars have no chemistry, the romance feels fake, and what hit me the most about this film, and just like the majority of these live action remakes, is that I'm always aware about how artificial these movies are. I'm aware everything is green screen, I'm aware that there is nothing remotely real or believable in these flicks. A movie should immerse you and make you forget about what went into it, only after should you admire how technically accomplished a film may be, but these Disney remakes are artificial and without a heart. God I'm dreading The Lion King now...

Justice Smith is a terrible actor, to even call him an actor is a joke, he almost single handedly ruined this movie for me with his emotionless, flat, uninterested and painful performance. All he does is yell or scream in place of range and talent, he is even worse here than he was in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

However, let's talk about the film itself. Despite excellent CGI, and enthusiastic and high energy voicework from Ryan Reynolds, Pokemon Detective Pikachu suffers from an unfunny script, predictability, bland cinematography and camerawork, forgettable performances, a cut and paste story straight from Zootopia, a lack of excitement and zero fun. How could a Pokemon movie be so boring? Well, this film just showed us how.

Nicholas Hoult has given some great performances in the past, from his insane turn in Mad Max Fury Road to his sweet and memorable role in About A Boy, so the man has proven his acting chops, but what happened here?

Nicholas Hout, dare I say it, single handedly ruined this movie, in my eyes at least. He is incredibly bland, emotionless, one-note, tired and overall flat as J.R.R. Tolkien. In the last 5 minutes of the film, he almost cries, almost, and that's about as much expression you'll get.

The rest of the cast dance around Hoult with stellar performances. Lily Collins is an absolute joy to watch, and the young actors playing Tolkien and his friends are that good, that I would've happily seen a movie that was just about them, their time together at college and their fellowship.

Hoult's monotone line delivery sticks out like a sore thumb, so when his co-stars Anthony Boyle, Patrick Gibson and Tom Glynn-Carney come onscreen, their already strong performances are elevated even further because of how flat Hoult is. I'm so surprised.

The film itself is at times slow, but then at times rather enjoyable. It's shot nicely, with a very clean image and vibrant colours, though it feels like a 3-4 part BBC TV drama. The war sequences are so dull, with a horrible mish-mash of wobbly fantastical elements mixed in with war, it doesn't work yet they keep clashing together through monotonous flashbacks to Tolkien's time in the trenches.

Thomas Newman's score, though, is terrific. It's warming, soothing and fits every scene perfectly, at times it sounded like something out of Harry Potter, which is a positive, allowing me to remember the good times watching those films compared to sitting through this rather slog of a feature.

La Corona is a serviceable horror movie set in the universe of The Conjuring.

It has James Wan-esque camera movements, just very cleverly constructed horror sequences, one involving an temperamental umbrella and the other inside a car with taunting winding down windows.

Linda Cardellini is great, probably the best aspect of the entire movie. The jump scares are fun, though predictable, but I love a good jump scare, as long as the film keeps me interested. La Carumba has a very murky, dim aesthetic, most scenes have flat lighting and very dark interiors, and to be honest, it works, it adds to the atmosphere and gives the film a very bleak outlook.

The characters are fairly one dimensional, and stands as one of the weaker entries to the Conjuring series, but it's better than The Nun, and if it had better direction and stronger writing, then this Curse would certainly be one that sticks around.

Refreshingly original, superbly acted and not without its few dark chuckles along the way, Us has its moments but is otherwise a disappointment. It isn't scary, there is zero tension, the cinematography and lack of style leaves a gaping whole in the creative department, although the musical score is terrific. Don't believe the hype, Us is average, but stands as a showcase for the brilliance of the lovely Lupita Nyong'o and the always watchable Winston Duke.

Jessica Rothe absolutely steals the show once again, but with an uneasy mix of lame sci-fi thrills, a total lack of scares and gore, cheap looking visuals as well as a horribly awful and distracting performance by Phi Vu, Happy Death 2U only ends up with one great performance and a few laughs along the way, and nothing much else.

Pointless, aimless, completely self-indulgent, painfully slow and despite a few good performances, this is a desperate imitation of a Tarantino flick, trying to be The Hateful Eight. My friend who I saw it with loved it but he even said there was no point to it. For me, the worst film of 2018/

Inside Out and Mad Max Fury Road currently stand as two of the highest rated films of the year. Critical reviews shine as well as audience ratings, however only one belongs to the title of highest rated film of 2015 and that is Mad Max Fury Road, not Inside Out. Pixar's latest feature is likable and decent, but not as amazing as people are saying it is.

Inside Out lacks a consistent flow of chuckles, I smiled and nodded more as there are never any truly laugh out loud moments. This hour and a half feature felt longer, as the themes of depression completely padded out any potential comedy. However, I can't deny the voice work as it is excellent. Amy Poehler's unabashed optimism shone through even the most downbeat moments, Bill Hader is as entertaining as ever shouting and squealing with fear, and Mindy Kaling is sassy and does a great job as disgust, in fact I couldn't imagine anyone else fitted to it. For me, and my mates who I saw it with, found that Phyllis Smith who voiced sadness was the funniest and most effective. The drained feeling in her voice and lack of happiness serves the plot greatly throughout, especially in the ending.

The animation is vibrant, and whilst there are fine details seen in the people side of the film, I felt there was a lack of detail and depth inside the character heads scenes, which is where the majority of the film is set. It's far from Pixar's best work, yet people are hailing it as the finest since Toy Story. I just don't see it, I got a lot of stick from my mates and lecturers for not enjoying it as much as they did but tough, Inside Out is not all it's cracked up to be. The concept is really cool, and this film is admittedly perfect for both kids and old viewers, exploring the darker sides of emotions and what can go on in a persons head but what really lacks is a strong heart and comedy.

Come on, Back to The Future isn't all that great. Yes it has its moments, courtesy of Christopher Lloyd's slightly crazy Doc, Michael J. Fox' wide eyed looks of confusion and some superb special effects but the pace falters, the humour runs dry one too many times and because of all the positive buzz, constant recommendations and reviews stating it to be one of the best films, and standing high in the IMDb top 250 I can't help but feel disappointed and underwhelmed. Robert Zemeckis is a good director, countless hit films especially Flight which is an incredible movie. But people hailing this as some of his finest work? No, seriously this is an average film at best.

This film is tasteless, ugly, overly violent and feels like some sicko with a twisted mind created a 90 minute snuff film of women being beaten up by one another. This is a horrible movie, anyone who can sit through its entirety clearly have more willpower to tolerate trash. Kudos to Zoe Bell and Rachel Nichols for putting on brave faces, but two actresses who have the talents are left with characterless roles, without any sort of interesting traits. This film gets so violent that it just becomes sick, watching women in tank tops get stamped on, crushed to a powder and worst of all thrown to the dogs. I don't think I've seen a film so repulsive and tedious in its story and themes. I would advise anyone thinking of watching Raze to skip it entirely and check out Deathproof, which features Zoe Bell at her best in terms of her acting performance and stunt abilities.

Poltergeist gets an awful lot right, but without one key ingredient it ends up being a flat and tame horror. The acting is superb, Sam Rockwell and Rosemary DeWitt genuinely convince with realistic and grounded performances that drive the film, even the young actors do a good job. The film is also beautifully shot, even in darker scenes their are shot compositions that interest. I didn't see this film in 3D but you can it would've definitely worked, as the 3D moments are built into the story and aren't thrown in, this has been thought out really well.

The real issue with this horror is that there is absolutely zero atmosphere. A horror without an atmosphere is like being served at a restaurant and finding out your meal isn't up to scratch, in other words disappointing. Poltergeist had potential but it's left with only jump scares that aren't effective because of that lack of atmosphere. This is a crying shame, I was enjoying the first act of the film as it drew me in up until the darkness crept it. Damn I'm disappointed.

I have not read the books, and I won't. I have heard nothing positive about them, and I don't do much reading anyway. I always knew though a film adaptation of this book would end up being a box office juggernaut and I was right. One of the highest grossing films of 2015, Fifty Shades Of Grey was commercially successful but was a critical flop both with audiences and critics. I had to check it out, see what the fuss and critical panning was all about. Here goes…..

Very well shot, regularly amusing, superbly lit, a top notch soundtrack, well acted and with just enough flirtatious chemistry and banter, Fifty Shades Of Grey took me by surprise. I ignored all the negative buzz and reviews, blocked people out of my head and just sat back and watched it. My main criticism is aimed at the sex. Whilst there's enough of it, it never gets to hot and steamy levels. Those scenes barely register an 18 rating, I think that rating goes towards the inappropriate spanking and hard whipping scenes which must've been awkward to film. The film didn't need to be 120 minutes plus, most scenes are just snogging and a story this thin cannot sustain such an inflated length. What also annoyed me is the fact that one of my favourite singers, Rita Ora, who I have the hots for, was barely in this, she had one line and like 10 seconds of screen time, if that.

With that negatives out the way, I thought Dakota Johnson was excellent. This is her most ballsiest, raw and brave performances, taking on a role that could potentially be career poison turned out to be something unforgettable and vulnerable. I liked Jamie Dornan, playing it straight with deadpan delivery and seriousness, I didn't find any campy aspects and I thought he too was taking on a role many wouldn't dare. I think that there's more desire and cravings than there is chemistry between these two, and I appreciated that difference. Although the scene where Ana discusses the contract at a "business meeting" with Christian showed chemistry and some sly humour. Supporting performances were fine, but there's no meat there. Actresses like Jennifer Ehle and Marcia Gay Harden were pretty much wasted, considering their talents it's a criminal waste, as with Max Martini.

If there is going to be a sequel, it needs to be more explicit and sexy, to earn that 18 rating. The story needs more meat, stray away from the books and make for an interesting side plots and twists then maybe the film could earn some brownie points. One of the best things about this film is Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do". That says a lot when a song is one of the highlights.