It has a sniff of ring wing bullshit to it, but if you get passed that & just let the hunky army dude be a badass, it's actually got some good story & good acting. Note if you like the peen: he do be serving eye candy in boxer briefs repeatedly, so that's a boon.

This is one of those movies I call a "fun ride". It isn't particularly good or revolutionary or extremely well-written, & it has nothing valuable to say. But damn does it kinda feel good to watch the lead woman kick some Xeno-asses in CGI goo.

In 2025, Vanilla Sky just doesn't hold up. The women in the story are such flat objects, it's hard to watch it without eye roll after eye roll. The whole thing seems to think it's clever & it very much isn't. It resorts to very lazily explaining absolutely everything in great detail right at the end all deus ex machina-like. It seems like Vanilla Sky is a little time capsule filled with everything bad from the 90's. Blech. & also fuck Tom Cruise.

What can I possibly say, 30 years after this movie was released? A masterpiece. An incredibly important part of my personal cannon.

Typical horror movie of the 2000’s. Writers probably could have spent a few minutes sorting out the characters. Were the kids supposed to be in high school or late 20 year olds with their well off mansions? Trivial and just a little annoying to the plot.

One of the best original movies I have seen in a while. The ending even had more blood than a Gwar concert.

Despite being a gacha RPG, this game is worth playing. Even if you have to grind to get characters and upgrade them, the deep stories and dynamic combat are some of the best I've seen.

The arc-shaped playing field is a BIG learning curve, and the gacha system hampers the experience if you're just looking for a rhythm game.

One of the better rhythm mobile games out there. Sadly the characters and gacha are crucial to getting good scores (you can get a full combo yet still have a C rank score), but they do give you free currency for pulls. Gameplay is fun yet challenging, especially when you're going for the fabled All Perfect.

If you can stomach the 139 minute run time (you may want to plan an intermission) with bouts of no dialogue, you'll find an extremely influential work that set the tone of the genre for decades to follow. Many modern titles still pull their inspiration from here, like Dead Space's black markers bearing resemblance to the monoliths, and a litany of rogue AIs mirroring HAL 9000's personality. The musical score is incredible and the visual effects have aged gracefully. I would recommend it to anyone interested in a thoughtful trip through the quiet emptiness of space.

Slated by the critics but I am going to say that this was a good watch, kept me engaged and interested, only downside slightly predictable in the final half.

Slated by the critics but I am going to say that this was a good watch, kept me engaged and interested, only downside slightly predictable in the final half.

Written and directed by Davey Wreden, with a soundtrack composed by C418. You couldn’t ask for a better pair of names to sell a game with, and Wanderstop does not disappoint.

Sam Mendes succeeds against the odds in delivering a classic Bond film, almost effortlessly blending old and new takes on the character in a spellbinding and increasingly uncomfortable character drama. The acting is the strongest of any in the franchise, the script quite possibly the strongest, and whilst some have complained at a shortage of action, Skyfall gets right into its protagonists' heads. I have some low level quibbles - not with Bardem's Silva per se but certainly with the use of his implied sexual orientation, and the ambiguity of the post-reboot timeline is now downright confusing (was it actually undone?). But this is a thoroughly smart film, a complete departure from previous approaches, which now thankfully completely ignores the brief challenge from Bourne. The villain's motivations actually make sense, 007 is thoroughly humanised for the first time, and whilst there's an overwhelming sense of dread permeating the film, it's also enormous fun; the dialogue (particularly with the excellent Ben Whishaw's Q) fairly crackles. Mendes has proven you don't need to throw the baby out with the bathwater in order to make an all-time-great and quintessentially Bond film, just a great script and world class direction.

Quite rightly an ultra-violent shoot-em-up, Dredd ticks all the boxes. Based on the characters from the characters from 2000AD created by Wagner & Ezquerra It never tries to be more than it is, and with Karl Urban growling like he's auditioning for Batman, director Pete Travis and writer Alex Garland utterly nail the tone. The dystopian future of MegaCityOne is grittily realised, with post-apocalyptic justice meted out by Judges that embody the law - Dredd the most ruthless of them all. Nothing much happens other than Dredd and rookie Anderson (the excellent Olivia Thirlby) get sent to investigate a multiple murder in 200 storey tower block PeachTrees, owned in all but name by gangster Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), get trapped in it and end end up having to shoot their way back out. No need for characterisation, this is all about mindless violence, and unapologetically so. It's not entirely without characterisation though - Dredd does develop an uneasy relationship with the psychic Anderson, just never at the expense of him being an utterly unrepentant hardass. It gleeful evokes similar ultra-violent films of the eighties, and you half expect Arnie to come in barking catchphrases, but Urban more than ably acquits himself doing just that. So this rebooted universe could have been fleshed out a bit more fully, but it's a small quibble. Anderson becomes a dominant character in her own right, there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, and the film shows it's not just superheroes succeeding in milking the comic book trend in the cinema right now. Looking forward to universe building in the sequel!

As soon as I saw Tony Gilroy had directed 'Michael Clayton' it all started to make more sense. That Clooney-starrer bored me to tears and had no discernible plot, and that's exactly what you get with this utterly unnecessary film as well. A film laden with needless exposition (very little is actually going on), and with relentless signposting for the hard of thinking, Bourne 4 is an embarrassment to all concerned. What passes for a 'legacy' is Jason Bourne's successful escape at the end of Ultimatum, having caused various US government spooks (led by Ed Norton) to kill everyone else in Bourne's super-spy programme. A notable target for assassination is Aaron Cross (Renner), but Cross is as good as he was programmed to be, and is soon on the run. It's hardly believable that this film was written by the same man responsible for the Matt Damon trilogy - it's clumsy, one-note and utterly bereft of characterisation. Renner is wasted trying to act a role which is offered no hint of characterisation, other than a generalised altruism whilst on the run after saving super scientist Weisz, who upon realising her predicament, offers to save his life with a cure for his incomplete conversion into a super spy. The two run to Manilla, avoid getting murdered by a super villain Norton oh-so-conveniently has on call, and that's it. Oh yeh and Gilroy takes two hours to bring this all about. The action sequences aren't much to write home about, and you have to wait for most of them until the intrepid couple reaches the Philippines, parkour and everything. It feels written to order, in the absence of any need for a fourth instalment, but nonsense ranging from Weisz's deus-ex-machina 'magic virus' through to the one-note villainy throughout make it particularly cringe-worthy, right through to the inevitable sequel set-up. I didn't care one bit about a single character and won't be coming back next time.

Not actually a bad film, but it ends as superficially as it begins, never really investigating the world it depicts with anything other than a cursory nod. Whilst the stripping is enormous fun, and you *really can* see where Tatum's reputation comes from, the character dynamics are shallow, and the story has very little to offer, other than 'stripper decides to take control of his life, grows up and gets his girl'. Given the film's initial unapologetic attitude towards the profession, it seems strange that it would shift in tone so wildly about half way through. The predictable storyline aside, the performances are enjoyable (if not altogether impressive), and it was nice to see not just that Tatum could hold a film on his own, but that Alex Pettyfer could in fact act. But both of them were eclipsed by Matthew McConaughey as Tatum's business partner, who chews up every single scene he's in (one of them with added bongo drums). It's a shame that the subplot involving him developing the business outside of suburban Tampa isn't followed up on. It's a shame that a great deal isn't followed up on, from a logical impact of Tatum's bailing Pettyfer out, through to Pettyfer's own decline. His beauty on display may have been highly impressive, but his character never ultimately matters. It's definitely a film of two halves, one more consistent than the other. We never really learn anything substantial about any of the characters (McConaughey offers the most but is never allowed to shine as fully as he might), and what passes for character development is painfully superficial. Cody Horn is woefully underused as the sister/love interest, who never really influences either of the leads with anything other than an aggressive pout. The dance sequences are genuinely impressive, as are the strippers physiques, and it would be churlish to suggest the film doesn't have any entertainment value. As long as you don't demand anything more of it than enjoyment of the bodies on display, you should enjoy yourself.

It's nowhere near as strong as its much lauded predecessor, but Christopher Nolan's swansong helming the Bat franchise is still a pretty great effort. Having something to say about the nature of family and heroism, whilst having a very sharp commentary about the Occupy movement, Rises only really suffers from being far too long, and burdened with dialogue which at times would have made The Avengers' Joss Whedon cringe with disappointment. Bruce Wayne retired the batsuit eight years ago, after the events of Dark Knight, and has since lived the life of a recluse, that is until the intervention of Selina Kyle, out to steal from the rich, and case in point *him*. At the same time terrorist Bane is manoeuvring against Gotham for uncertain reasons, and hospitalises Jim Gordon in the process. Watching his and Gordon's flawed compromise to keep Harvey Dent's crime fighting legacy alive falling to pieces, Bruce resumes his role as the Batman to protect his city at any cost. The cost is enormous as Bruce finds he's at the epicentre of the plot against Gotham, and he starts to lose everything he held dear. Nolan takes far too long to tell what's a relatively straightforward story about Bruce's fall from grace, and the steps he needs to take to rise again and protect his city and legacy. It's balanced out though, chiefly by the subplot involving Joe Gordon Levitt's Det. Blake. The look this gives into the street level impact of the Batman's war on crime, and how he inspires ordinary Gothamites is one of the strongest elements of the film. A little less of Bruce's ordeal in 'the pit' and a fair bit more of Blake may have made for a more balanced movie, but the third act war for Gotham is spectacularly well done, the conclusion even more so. Nolan makes a couple of notable nods to Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns in his sign off, to make it all the more satisfying a conclusion. It's a well acted piece, with Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine standing out as they would, but it's Anne Hathaway's turn as Catwoman which effortlessly (and surprisingly) steals the show. I would never have thought Catwoman could have been so neatly reinvented (with another nod to Miller), or that Hathaway could so easily have ignored the spectre of Michelle Pfeiffer, but she steals every scene she's in (even the untidy early ones with Bane). Less enjoyable is the strange Bane voiceover: is it Hardy or someone else? Either way it's so consistently overly hammy that it removes a degree of menace which the character needs in order to appear a significant threat to Bruce or Gotham. Bane's army taking on the appearance of an Occupy movement works well, although Nolan's apparent desire for his film to appear socially relevant twice in two movies puts Rises under a little unnecessary strain. Still though Gary Oldman's Jim Gordon consistently rises to the challenge, and Joe Gordon Levitt is unexpectedly strong in his street role, paralleling Wayne's journey from a different perspective until they collide. It's a hugely involving film, that despite its density always impresses, and will leave whoever succeeds Nolan with an almost impossible task. Nolan and Bale have made a deservedly legendary trilogy.

Loved this for all the reasons I was disappointed by the Raimi-helmed era of the franchise - Peter Parker's back to being the real hard-luck hero, the dialogue is fresh and realistic, and the tone is less family-friendly, taking a much darker tone. Andrew Garfield also sets his stamp immediately on Peter, providing not just a highly attractive character, but a psychologically interesting one. The lead up to Uncle Ben's murder (an equally perfectly cast Martin Sheen) is more fully developed than even in the book, and when Ben finally dies the scene packs a real punch. Marc Webb may have shortcomings in his storytelling elsewhere in the film, but not here. The film is largely driven though by the romance between Peter and Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and again unlike what's gone before it's highly believable and note-perfectly acted. Stone plays Gwen both true to the book, but with far greater authority than Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane - I'd been sceptical about the change of characters, but director Webb changed my mind. As said, Webb doesn't get everything right - the development of Rhys Ifans' Lizard is questionable (although Ifans isn't that bad), and some of the Peter/Gwen scenes are self-indulgently long, but for me these were small quibbles. The infamous 'power and responsibility' quote is alluded to but never used, and to good effect - the film isn't entirely about Peter's rise to herodom. There's also a greater conspiracy (presumably connected to an unseen Norman Osborn) around Peter's parents, which only gets a look-in here, but which is promised to develop in the next two films. This film never had enough good word or attention at the box office, and it was unquestionably foolhardy to have released it so soon after the Avengers, but it's quite brilliant - Denis Leary's George Stacy through to Sally Field's May Parker (even Chris Zylka's Flash Thompson) all support Peter and Gwen to perfection. It'll make you giggle and cry in equal measure, which is what wisecracking Spidey is *supposed* to do.

I've rarely loved a film as much as I love Joss Whedon's Avengers. It misses out on too much of Hawkeye's backstory, but everything else is simply note perfect. From Mark Ruffalo's Banner/Hulk through to Downey's Stark/Iron Man it's true to the characters of the book, and manages what almost every other blockbuster this summer has failed to do: develop the characters and make them likeable! In many ways it's a difficult film to review, because so much of its likeability is the crackling dialogue and razor sharp performances. The conflict between Stark and Steve Rogers in particular is fascinating, with Whedon not just exploring their contradictory characters individually, but what that would lead to when put under pressure. And who thought Mark Ruffalo would be such a perfect replacement for Edward Norton? He and his CGI (this time sensational) alter ego come close to stealing the show, with witticisms Whedon majestically refuses to signpost. It's a long film, but hardly short on plot, although Whedon could at a push be chided for not explaining enough of the back story of Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner never looking better) or Scarlet Johannson's Black Widow, but a start *is* made, and hopefully they'll be given more room to breathe in the recently confirmed sequel. Fortunately Whedon remembers never to short change his geek or newbie audience alike of the humour such a serious and long film needs, be it the initial Thor/Cap/Iron Man battle, or Cap demonstrating just why he's the leader of men his reputation suggests. It's hugely entertaining from start to finish, the 3D is entirely appropriate and I can't wait for the next one. The Marvel movie you thought could never happen!