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Films

December 2012
  • Life of Pi ★★★½
    3D effects beneficial to fantastical tale that makes a lot of a little storyline ... and Irrfan Khan (adult Pi Patel) has deep brown eyes to drown in (plus there's a giraffe, meerkats and a tiger)
  • Pitch Perfect ★★★★
    Completely bubblegum and fluffy ... but so much fun. The laugh aloud film that Bridesmaids wasn't.
  • Amour ★★★★½
    Achingly painful, beautifully paced, faded and desperately sad ... but one could understand and appreciate why every single character behaved as they did
  • The Master ★★
    Absolutely no idea what this was about nor why such a disparate group of dysfunctional characters, who seemed to intensely dislike each other, kept going to such lengths to spend time together
  • The Impossible ★★½
    OK as long as one forgets it's based on a true story ... and absolutely no point watching after the total spoiler of a trailer
  • Silver Linings Playbook ★★
    Provoked massive row on Film 2012. Danny was so right ... and Claudia was so wrong.
November 2012
  • Great Expectations ★★★
    Amazing cast, very dark and bleak scenery - inside and out - but this remake doesn't seem to bring anything new.
  • Argo ★★★★
    Could only have happened in the USA ... and did it really? Or is it just another urban myth along the lines that the moon landing never happened? Rewarding if one forgets that it's a true story ... or is it?
  • Rust and Bone ★★★½
    Bare knuckle boxing, paraplegia and killer whales are an unlikely combination that unsurprisingly brings as much confusion as it does satisfaction
  • Elena ★★★½
    Hugely understated ... or perhaps that's just because it's Russian ... revealing insight into an established relationship in which both partners have a huge distrust of the other
October 2012
  • Untouchable ★★★★½ Huge potential for non-PC offence and while acknowledging this brings huge satisfaction when two unlikely characters are thrown together and thrive ... but such a fragile bond cannot last forever
  • Hope Springs ★★★½
    Encouragement that even the most stale and predictable of relationships can be revived ... but only once both partners realise how much they want to
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower ★★★
    If only the characters had each been developed just a little bit more, this could have been great ... but they weren't, so it wasn't. Missed opportunity
August 2012
  • Take This Waltz ★★★½
    Some beautiful Toronto architecture provides background against which woman who believes the grass is greener finds that it's not ... it's just different
July 2012
  • 2 Days in New York ★★½
    Awful is the first word that comes to mind ... but it wasn't quite that bad ... but two days was far too long to spend in the company of this disfunctional family
June 2012
  • The Angels' Share ★★★★
    Great fun, full of capers, cunning plans and resiliance
May 2012
  • The Lucky One ★★½
    Predictable outcome for man who embarks upon needle in a haystack search for the woman he believes saved his life
  • Albert Nobbs ★★★★½
    Clever, restrained, surprising, unself-conscious but so interesting, believeable and rewarding
  • Goodbye First Love ★★★½
    Impossible to accept that main character could be so unaware of how her behaviour is perceived ... and unsatisfying as a result
  • What to Expect When You're Expecting ★★½
    Not entirely a waste of a couple of hours ... but close. Saved only by range of parental experiences, including some realistic ones

April 2012

  • Le Harve ★★★½
    Slow paced but interesting ... or perhaps intriguing: storylines tricky to grasp ... but somehow didn't matter
  • Salmon Fishing in the Yemen ★★★★½
    Laugh out loud funny, fab performances: Kristin Scott-Thomas has great fun; Ewan MacGregor is reminiscent of Hugh Grant at his very best, with a Scottish twist. Amr Waked is drop dead gorgeous. So many reasons to see it: none at all to miss it.
  • Wild Bill ★★★★
    Heart-breaking, moving, real, violent and poignant. Beautifully told story of father rediscovering what his sons mean to him ... and what he means to them.

March 2012
  • This Must Be The Place ★★★
    Somewhat slow, simple but intriguing tale of an estranged son determined to complete his recently deceased father's quest, meeting varied connected people on the way, and ultimately (re-)finding himself in the process.
  • The Kid with a Bike ★★★★
    Beautiful portrayal of the simplicity, single-mindedness and persistence of a young boy in pursuit of love, stability and acceptance, as well as intruiging display of how adults seeking similar can behave very differently.
  • The Hunger Games ★★★★½
    Compelling, intriguing and thoroughly satisfying. Based in the not too distant future in a very segregated USA. Didn't know about book beforehand ... feel no need to discover it now. Probably 12A certification was a bonus rather than a detractor.
  • In Darkness ★★★½
    Frank display of differing, and sometimes evolving, reactions of different groups in Nazi-controlled Poland. Plenty of bleak, horrifying squalor, but alongside moments of humour, humanity, romance and, most of all, determination that better will come.
  • Hunky Dory ★★★
    Great to be taken back to the long hot carefree summer of 1976. Shares the conflict between young trendy teachers and the establishment ones, with a side-helping of kids struggling to survive and break-out of poor family situations.
  • We Bought a Zoo ★★★½
    Simple, sweet (but not sickly), smile-provoking and fairytale-like, although based on a true (British) story. Rewarding (and credited) animal performances and not bad humans either.
  • Wanderlust ★
    Thankfully, sleepiness and a warm auditorium saved me from the full duration of this dire film. Rachel Green must be suffering agonies at what Ms Aniston has become.
February 2012
  • The Muppets ★★½
    Managed not to grasp storyline entirely but great to see these personable, friendly, familiar creatures back on screen ... albeit somewhat sanitised and sentimentalised by Disney compared to the Henson era.
  • The Woman in the Fifth ★★★
    Difficult to grasp and connect in parts. Promising characters, scenarios and settings ... but didn't completely come together.
  • Martha Marcy May Marlene ★★½
    Hard to keep track of time, place and person due to frequent, unreferenced, switches between strands. Hard to believe that normality could be so thoroughly forgotten. And no real explanation for Marlene.
  • The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ★★★★
    Glorious settings, impressive ensemble of British luuvies, interesting demonstration of wildy different reactions to encountering and encompassing economy-enforced retirement in India.
  • The Vow ★★★
    Always difficult when one likes/understands/believes in one half of a partnership more than the others. Gratifying to see persistence; intriguing to watch what survives traumatic memory loss and how one rediscovers one self, values and needs.
  • Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close ★★★
    Not credible that a young, shy, nervous, borderline agrophobic boy could so effectively negotiate strangers across the boroughs of New York (explanation at end) to unravel dead father's mystery quest. But it's an interesting insight into various people, their lives, sorrows and joys.
  • A Dangerous Method ★★★½
    Intriguing - and uninhibited and unashamed - exploration of complex and changing relationships between three characters. "Sometimes you have to do something unforgiveable just to survive" is an ominous and telling closing line.
January 2012
  • Young Adult ★★★
    Mavis (great name for anti-rom com heroine) ignores bleedin' obvious and refuses to learn anything from experience. Certainly not another Juno but soundtrack is big on Teenage Fanclub so it's not all bad!
  • The Descendants ★★
    Didn't expect much ... and wasn't disappointed. Alexander Payne has done so much better ... hope he will again.
  • Like Crazy ★★½
    Didn't fulfil potential: too much was not shown or said. A reminder that love is not always enough and absence doesn't necessarily make the heart grow fonder.
  • WE ★★
    Very stylish, probably over-stylised, but slight, implausible characters and storyline. Neither love affair seemed truly happy or soundly based. Too long (and continuity was awful).
  • Margin Call ★★★★
    Clever use of restricted timescale, storyline, venue and characters. Taut, measured and very watchable.
  • Shame ★★★½
    Not an entirely easy watch, but interesting and compelling. Refreshing to have characters that both felt real and knew themselves.
  • J Edgar ★★
    Inaccessible and over-long story, tedious and uninteresting characters (although just at the end Mr Hoover did become a little more human). Sad to see Mr DiCap looking so bad!
  • War Horse ★★
    Sentimental, silly and sanitised - yet so much sobbing in the auditorium. Horse seems to have DNA from Babe, Champion and Lassie. Saved only by start of wire-cutter scene.
  • The Iron Lady ★★★★
    Political scenes least successful and gentle face of dementia ... but plausible, sensitive and respectful.
  • The Artist ★★★½
    Exagger-acting is not my thing ... and seems better suited to canines than humans. Entertaining and different to mainstream .. but won't be my Film of 2012.
  • Wreckers ★★★
    Seems if you relentlessly rewrite your own life in your mind, you can ignore even the most obvious aberations whenever it suits you. Interesting, albeit flawed, characters and stories.
  • Melancholia ★★★
    A marriage that ends at the wedding, depression, a troubled sister-sister relationship and the end of the world. Intriguing exploration and nowhere near as weird as I'd anticipated.
December 2011
  • Another Earth ★★★½
    Would you really want to meet the other you who hadn't messed up as badly as you had?
  • Dreams of a Life ★★★★
    Amazingly simple and clever concept, well delivered, intriguing, moving and very thought provoking.
  • Moneyball ★★★½
    Baseball sure ain't cricket but an interesting insight, although wanted to understand more about lead character's decision making process.
  • Margaret ★★★½
    Intriguing examination of motive and motivation; still unsure what it was really saying.
  • New Year's Eve ★★★
    Amazing ensemble (US) cast but doesn't match clever, cynical cuteness of (UK) Love Actually.
November 2011
  • My Week with Marilyn ★★★½
    A gloriously beautiful, indulgent and glamourous couple of hours. Who cares if it really happened that way ...?
  • 50/50 ★★★
    Lazy and stereotypical; should/could have been so much better. Wonder if James McAvoy (originally cast as lead) would have improved it much?
  • Weekend ★★★★
    Simple, sweet, moving and effective. Primarily a dialogue ... and leaves the viewer to decide what might happen next.
  • Snowtown ★★★
    Almost unbearable to watch: somehow knowing it was a true story helped - a tiny bit. Unremitting evil manifest in a range of characters.
  • The Ides of March ★★½
    Despite eye candy potential of Gosling and Clooney, I was bored. Made clear that if you're going to play tough, you must be prepared to shoulder all the consequences.
October 2011
  • Monte Carlo ★★½
    A useful reminder, albeit somewhat saccharine, that the best and most worthwhile things happen when you're being yourself.
  • We Need to Talk About Kevin ★★★★½
    Stark and unnerving reminder that no matter how diabolically a boy behaves, he'll always be a son to his mother.
  • Contagion ★★★
    Some interesting insight into how people behave very differently in such challenging circumstances ... but main effect was to make me wash my hands very carefully.
  • Midnight in Paris ★★★
    The past looks extra-good through contrast with a very tedious present. The "fantasy" characters feel much more real than the real ones.
  • The Help ★★★½
    Does good justice to the book, interpreting characters and storyline well. Definite feel good factor.
  • What's Your Number? ★★★★
    Had me smiling from opening to closing credits. "Being in love means being yourself" is a great line.
  • Crazy, Stupid, Love ★★½
    Thankfully, it's a bit better than the trailer, but only a bit. Ryan Golding is hot; (Kevin Bacon is not).
  • Friends with Benefits ★★★
    Nothing new in the storyline but competently delivered. Genre winner ahead of No Strings Attached.
August 2011
  • One Day ★★★
    Film diminishes book. See the film or read the book: don't do both.
  • Sarah's Key ★★★
    Moving, surprising, emotive but oddly manipulative and unfulfilling.
  • Beginners ★★½
    Constant moving back and forth in time distracting. Disappointing not to be allowed to get to properly know an interesting set of characters.
July 2011
  • The Tree of Life ★★
    Looks amazing. Very lean and sparse. Too much and too little. Good poster.
  • Larry Crowne ★
    Where have all the good films gone? Star only for classic soundtrack.
  • Senna ★★★★
    Emotional, emotive and informative. Compelling, despite the inevitable ending.
  • Bridesmaids ★
    Well, at least it wasn't quite as dire as Bad Teacher. It feels as if everyone else (who raves about it) saw a very different film.
June 2011
  • Bad Teacher ½
    Why? Why? Oh why, was this made? And, why? Why? Oh why, did I go to see it?
May 2011
  • The Way ★★★
    Annoyance, misunderstandings and anger turn to tolerance, compassion and bonding; but it's still a long way from start to end.
  • From the Ashes ★★★★
    Insightful, honest and enlightening documentary reviewing the 1981 Ashes series. But ... for (England) cricket fans only.
  • Something Borrowed ★★½
    Cast of beautiful people with serious emotional oblivion. Some gorgeous shots of London - and NY.
  • Water for Elephants ★★★½
    Simple good beats evil circus love story with huge (credited) animal cast.
April 2011
  • Meek's Cutoff ★★★
    Brave, minimal and slowburning, quirky shot size and plenty of scope for interpretation of the ending; perhaps asks rather too much of the audience?
  • Brighton Rock ★★★
    Atmospheric, beautifully sepia-shot but characters not entirely convincing; overall somewhat disappointing although good smile moment at end.
  • Little White Lies ★★★½
    Large cast makes first half confusing hard work; second half more rewarding but still 2½ hours of subtitles. Best weasel in a supporting role?
  • Limitless ★★★★½
    Enthralling, involving and hugely enjoyable; a real gem.
  • Oranges and Sunshine ★★★
    Grim, dreary, episodic with poor character development; disappointingly missed a good opportunity.
March 2011
  • Submarine ★★★
    All best bits in the trailer; interesting ideas and characters but could have delivered much more.
  • You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger ★★★½
    Some interesting characters and storylines; distracted by London locations.
  • The Lincoln Lawyer ★★★★½
    Very entertaining, clever plot with great twists - and there's Matthew McConaughey to enjoy for two hours.
  • The Company Men ★★★½
    Predictable but touchingly achieved.
  • Fair Game ★★★★
    Good performances in representing real people; disturbing but very watchable, particularly for attention paid to effects on the couple's marriage.
  • Howl ★★★★★
    Complex, clever, completely fantastic; film of the year.
  • No Strings Attached ★★★
    Lightweight but generally enjoyable; best Natalie Portman film of the year!
  • West is West ★★★½
    Much as expected with interesting reactions by characters to effects of their decisions and behaviour.
February 2011
  • Never Let Me Go ★★★★
    Loved the book and pleased that film handled unusual storyline differently but just as successfully; enjoyed location spotting.
  • Just Go With It ★★
    Very silly in patches and not good enough otherwise to be successful; eager for credits.
  • A Little Bit of Heaven ★★★½
    Light, fluffy and elements of fantasy but oddly touching; first film this year to provoke tears.
  • Rabbit Hole ★★★½
    Interesting insight into the effect of grief on a relationship; not entirely successful but rewarding enough.
  • How Do You Know? ★★½
    Obvious where it was going from beginning; hard work to maintain interest despite the presence of Paul Rudd.
  • Blue Valentine ½
    Two dire films in two days; impossible to care about what happened to either of the main characters.
  • Black Swan ★
    So misled by reviews; characters deserved all they got. Saved from zero rating by disco scene and feather SFX.
January 2011
  • Morning Glory ★★½
    A bit overly contrived; allowing the underdog so much success took the edge of its enjoyment potential.
  • Conviction ★★★
    Covered too long a timespan to be able to truly show main character's loyalty, sacrifice and determination but worth seeing.
  • It's Kind of a Funny Story ★★★★
    Low key, in many ways un-American, movie that delivers great characters, storyline and soundtrack; unexpectedly uplifting - smiled for hours afterwards.
  • 127 Hours ★★★★
    Very cleverly done, given main character basically static for 85% of duration; anticipation of gore much much greater than reality.