The Butler

The Butler starts off as an intriguing personal biopic about a man many people have never heard of, but it soon finds itself lost among a steadily growing political agenda with nothing interesting going on as far as story is concerned.

The film sheds light on the main character, played by Forest Whittaker, his family issues and his involvement in the Civil Rights Act. The most important flaw of this film is that its main character is really not all that interesting. It's cool that he worked for so many presidents, in such an important time in USA history, but there's really not a lot to him other than that.

5.5

Saving Mr Banks

Saving Mr Banks tells the story of Walt Disney's battle to get the rights to make Mary Poppins into a movie. I wasn't expecting to like this but was completely blown away.

It is beautifully put together, is hilarious in parts and very touching and emotional at other stages, but is not overly sappy or cheesy.

There are some outstanding performances here. Emma Thompson plays Mrs Travers beautifully and Tom Hanks does a good job of playing Walt Disney.

However the stand-out performance is, surprisingly, delivered by Colin Farrell as Mrs Travers' father.

8

Oldboy

Old Boy is a stylistically challenging, highly innovative, but ultimately a hollow exercise.

The plot is at first close to incomprehensible as he stumbles from one situation to another. When the villain explains his schemes at the end and brings enlightenment, I just couldn't care anymore. The intriguing premise is destroyed by the revelation that it's all a contrived revenge plot by the bad guy.

And contrived it is. The story only works by inserting endless flashbacks (full of bad pathos) and explanations. To keep the audience interested, we get gruesome scenes of murder, self-mutilation and general mayhem. As others have remarked, these scenes are well done, but serve no greater purpose. It's all a so-what comic extravaganza.

I got a lot of disappointment having waited a long time to watch this. I have seen better.

5

The Host

It took itself too seriously to be a comedy, and yet was too light hearted to have any real message (though it did seem to be trying to make some kind of statement. Anti-pollution, anti-American or anti-government). The drama was misplaced and mixed in a confusing mish-mash with all the other styles.

Secondly, after the initial monster attack nothing happens for almost the entire film. This lack of action made my attention wander, and apparently it did the same for the director, as whole plot threads go unresolved.

I was really disappointed by this film. I'd been looking forward to a decent creature flick, and instead I get some pseudo-political, horror-comedy lite.

4

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

I did really enjoy the film. It has a nice message and is definitely a feel good movie. There is nothing wrong with that. For me, this is the most beautifully looking film I've seen this year. The cinematography and camera shots were fantastic - right up there with Life of Pi and Gravity. It's definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

I personally enjoyed Ben Stiller in a more serious role. The film has comedic elements but everything is a bit more subtle and reflective of a man trying to find his inner courage and voice.

8

Anchorman 2

One of the funniest of the year, Will Ferrel is very good.

Just thought was a tad overlong and there was a little too much of character "Brick" which ruined it for me a little. It could have done with a 20 minute cut, there were some "dragging" scenes...

Stupidity at its finest!

6.5

The Flu (Gamgi)

Korean movie...The first half was a rather sweet portrayal of the world's worst mother, a well meaning rescue worker and an impossibly cute little girl.

In the second half "the flu" subplot kicks in and the stupidity rolls out, descending into a woefully laughable melange of cliche.

A tad overlong, but quite entertaining. But still prefer Jason Statham!

6

Frozen

Too many songs for my liking I'm afraid. The story and characters did not appeal to me; I thought this was tipped as the best animation of 2013, but it just did not do it for me and cannot understand why all people are raving about it.

Pace was too slow for a movie of this genre; when it did kick start it was the third act and too late for the characters to be explored. It didn't help that 90% of the movie was singing.

3

Homefront

"Transporter" rocketed Statham's name as a well rounded action star. Since then, most of his action films have felt the same, just with a different title. That was my mind set going into watch this film.

"Homefront", isn't your usual Statham film, and it's nice to see it play out the way it did. A change of pace for Statham movies, and hopefully a turning point for the actor. But let's keep things simple: Story: Good Acting: Good Action: Very Good Pacing: Good If you're looking for a good action film with a lot of heart, watch this. It's not bad.

6.5

The Family

Hadn't heard the best of reviews for this but the likes of Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro made me go.

Not giving too much away in respect of the storyline, I was pleasantly surprised by the wittiness and humour. Some of the action scenes were very good but the ending was not quite cliche. I wouldn't fall off my chair if they decided to make a sequel.

Solid 6