Chef Review

Jon Favreau seems to be one of the most eclectic directors working today, going from comedies with Elf to sci-fi with Zathura to superhero blockbusters with the first two Iron Man films. Now with Chef, Jon Favreau has gone back to his low budget roots to create a really funny and heartwarming comedy.

Belle Review

Over the past few months, there have been a number of films that have dealt with real life stories about black figures with 12 Years A Slave, Fruitvale Station and now Belle. This one stands out from the crowd though by being one of the only historical films about a black women, in this case Dido Elizabeth Belle. The story of Belle is a really intriguing one since she was the illegitimate daughter of a naval figure whose uncle was the Lord Chief Justice at the time and as such, she was raised in the aristocracy. This, along with a painting of Dido and her cousin, Elizabeth Murray, which was one of the first paintings to depict a black person at the same sightline as a white aristocrat means that she is an important figure in the history of black persons in the UK and this film is a great example of why she was an important figure.

Locke Review

At Cineworld cinemas, there is an event going on where, every Thursday, they do screenings of films that have previously been shown. Today, they screened Locke, a film I had been intending to watch but never got round to it when it was first released. I was really intrigued over how a film set entirely in a car can work, especially in the context of a thriller (as the trailers promised). Well this is a case where the trailers sold a completely different film, this is a character study, not a thriller, and a really good one at that.

22 Jump Street Review

I don't think any directors in America are taking as many chances in comedy as Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Every single film that they've made sounded like they would fail on paper but Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie were all hilarious films and thankfully, 22 Jump Street continues this trend.

Politic-A-Thon 2

Last year, I started my first blog-a-thon on this site, going through 13 films/TV shows with heavy basis in politics, with an extra review being done by Dan Heaton of ptsnob.com. This year, I am doing it again, this time doing 20 films. From the 21st of July to the 9th of August there will be a different politically themed film review released on this blog every day. However, I still want some help. Aside from the 20 reviews that I will be doing, I am asking for my fellow bloggers to send in reviews of any film based in politics be it a drama, a comedy or a documentary. After the jump are the 20 films that I will be covering to give you some idea of the types of films I want to see. Hope to see more people take part in this blog-a-thon.

Edge of Tomorrow Review

Out of all of the blockbusters that would be released this summer, the one I was the most cautious about was Edge of Tomorrow. I liked the idea of the time loop battles but things can go wrong. Do it correctly and you get films like Groundhog Day and Source Code, do it wrong and you get The Butterfly Effect. Thankfully though, this is a case where the premise is done correctly and there's a great sense of fun that is present throughout the film, making this set to be one of the best blockbusters of the summer

Maleficent Review

Over the past few years, there has been a big trend of reinventing fairy tales with works like Once Upon A Time and Grimm on TV, along with Frozen, getting high praise for how they reinvented fairy tales. Out of this, there has been one project that has been teased for years, a reinvention of Sleeping Beauty focused on Maleficent and now that film has come out. As a reinvention of Sleeping Beauty, it doesn't work and feels like a complete hodge-podge of all the tropes that have made recent fantasy movies popular.

Bad Neighbours Review

Out of all the films I've seen this year, Bad Neighbours was the one I was unsure about. Whilst I'm really like the cast, the premise of the film made it sound like a film I wouldn't enjoy. After hearing the overwhelmingly positive reviews for the film though I decided to give it a go and I found to film to be okay. Whilst the cast are all game, the jokes don't hit as often as they should.

X-Men: Days of Future Past Review

I have a bit of a mixed view of the X-Men series. X-Men was okay, X2 was great, X-Men: The Last Stand is not as bad as people make it out to be (I just did a defense of the film here), whilst X-Men Origins: Wolverine is. X-Men: First Class is excellent and The Wolverine is just okay. It's a pretty mixed record when it comes to the films and with this film, the franchise has gone back to its roots, getting Bryan Singer back to direct an adaptation of one of the most popular story arcs in X-Men history, Days of Future Past and has made another great X-Men film.

Frank Review

This is a strange one. A film where Michael Fassbender wears a paper-mache head and is a member of an offbeat music group has to be a strange one but the level of strangeness needs to be seen. The trailers make it out to be this quirky dark comedy but underneath there are very serious themes about mental illness and artistic integrity to be seen. Thankfully, all of these elements work making Frank a brilliant, unique film.