Cram them in Saturday!

Not a movie title but today I saw 3 in a row which is very unusual as the film timings never usually fit in like that. So here's a quick rundown. I'm sorry to say that they do have very specific audiences in mind!!

The Monuments Men:
A light hearted war movie based on true events but of course americanised! Light hearted - though there are the serious moments of course as it is the war - as they spell it out in the music and by casting Bill Murray and John Goodman. Don't expect a comedy though!!! You've all appreciated art in museums but when you watch this you will so appreciate it in a different way, as these men may have saved the pieces you are looking at from destruction during the war. This is worth the watch as it has a great cast, is very well acted, and is one of the things you never hear about? It also makes you realise how much these few men did to preserve the priceless art for us to enjoy today. You won't look at the classic art in the same way ever again after watching this.

A New York Winter's Tale:
If supernatural (the TV series) was scripted as a fairytale then this is what it would be like. An original story that I enjoyed watching throughout, even though Colin Farrell is in it (no he's not my fave!). But although the story is unusual you just want to watch it all to find out what happens. Probably more a film for the ladies though given it's fairytale feel . Not sure how Will Smith got cast for his minor role though - and not sure that it works as you just see Will Smith - no matter as I did love this one regardless!

Endless Love:
My excuse for seeing this one was it started 10 mins after the Winter Tale one finished, and I was there. A remake from the 80s Brooke Shield one which I never saw. To be honest, though they couldn't change the title as it was a remake and is based on a book, the poster makes the movie look so boring that I wasn't going to bother, but my dad saw it and thought I might like it. Why?  Well I did enjoy it as it was like watching an extended epi of Dawson's Creek with added mild violence. Yep, I can see men switching off at this point, even though I know they did after reading the movie title. But for ladies - you'll enjoy it, and probably more so if you like American series like Dawson's Creek. Also thumbs up to the soundtrack with some nice original tunes!!

Escape Plan

Finally Sylvester Stallone and Arnie in a film that takes you back to their earlier action movie days in a good way. Escape Plan, with it's self explanatory title, is so much better than The Expendables movies simply because it isn't trying to cram in all the action stars and cheesy lines that it can, so the movie can actually concentrate on the story.  A good twist although I've seen something similar in a TV show that got cancelled a couple of years ago (sorry to be cryptic but it will spoil the movie), and just a few cheesy moments that are perfectly placed so they are really funny. This is mainly a Sly movie as it's about what happens to his character but he seemed less fresh and more exhausted personally than fictionally, more so than Arnie though his role was less demanding. I would like to see more like this from these 2 actors instead of more Expendables !! And if you like the old school movies these guys used to be in then don't miss this one !!

Baggage Claim

Baggage Claim is a great watch if you go with a group of girl friends. Expect a sugary fluffy romantic comedy that has exactly the same formula as all the other ones.  Paula Patton (apparently Robin Thicke's wife of Blurred Lines fame) who plays the female lead would be okay if she didn't have a really high pitched, squealy voice throughout the film. It does very quickly start to grate on your ears and you do feel like you should give her a slap to get her out of it!! Her role is actually one that you can imagine Sandra Bullock or J'Lo playing several years ago. A nice variety of male actors have been cast to play her strange exes all of whom fit well into their diverse characters. It is unbelievable the amount of exes she's supposed to have though - is it really like that for all air hostesses? Girls night out, girls night in - this is the perfect movie!

Prisoners

Prisoners covers the frightening subject of child abduction. In reality we hear about it on the news and the parents can do nothing. This films considers the alternative - what if the parents can do their utmost to find their children quickly. Hugh Jackman's character is one that will cross any line just to find his daughter no matter what it takes - whilst his friend, who's daughter goes missing at the same time, finds it much harder to cross that line. The film is 153 minutes long, but the performances and story, as it unravels, are so strong that you don't notice the time go by. Both HJ and Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays the cop, are great to watch as the story unfolds, and by the end of the film when they spell it out you probably won't have worked out the ending. Heavy in topic but definitely worth spending the time to watch this one.

White House Down

So White House Down - is it better than Olympus has Fallen? Oh most definitely yes!!! An awesome, leave your brain at the door, action movie with all the explosions, property damage and random gun fire that any true action fan would want to see in a film. Okay, so it's not too original as Channing Tatum did end up in a white vest which didn't see as much dirt as was John McClane's, and the bad guys, and story, did make you think of Die Hard, but nonetheless White House Down is fun to watch. Channing T was one of the film's producers so I think it's his attempt at moving away from all the romantic roles he gets. After this, no matter how pretty he is, we can respect him as an action hero. A shout out to Jamie Foxx too but he's already well recognised for his diversity in acting. An action movie I will most definitely be watching again !!!

Runner Runner

Now and again there'll be a movie that doesn't inspire you to write and when this happens you know it was middle of the road bland. In this instance I'm talking about Runner Runner. It was fine to kill 90 minutes but it could quite easily have been a TV movie or, even better, an episode of any crime series. It's surprising that Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake wanted to do this one - I assume they did for diversity. Never see this and the world will still turn.

R.I.P.D.

Well as you might expect R.I.P.D is extremely similar to Men In Black. Is it better? Not really – the film was kind of mixed. I couldn’t stand Jeff Bridges character who was talking as though he was chewing tobacco the whole time – you couldn’t understand half of the badly written lines he was delivering. Despite this being based on a comic book, Ryan Reynolds didn’t seem to change his acting style at all, okay he was playing a dead guy but he was still stuck in one of his previous serious movies it seemed. Unsurprisingly though it was Kevin Bacon who stole the show – there was nothing extremely unique about his role but his delivery outshone everyone else.  And the movie itself?  It did pick up as it was going along - the first 30 minutes mediocre, the last 30 minutes great; I suspect if Men In Black hadn’t been done first it would have been much better.