I watched this in 2013
The films I've watched in 2013. Change to 'Date added' in the drop-down to see the most recent. More here when I get around to it :-)
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102 titles
- DirectorJoe BerlingerBruce SinofskyStarsGary GitchellTodd MooreDana MooreA further followup of the case of the West Memphis Three and the decades long fight to exonerate them that finally gained traction with new DNA evidence.I saw the first PARADISE LOST doc way, way back when it first came out, and have been singing its praises ever since. Few can match it, and it tells its ugly story cleanly. Number 2 was part re- hash, part campaign manifesto, still gripping but lesser. And part 3, this film, achieves the near-impossible ... Mild boredom. Sorry but while the subject is inherently fascinating, and I am behind the three guys all the way, the film makers over-stuffed this with forensics. The whole case is an outrage, and there's a killer loose out there, but I have higher hopes for WEST OF MEMPHIS, which I hope to see soon. Time to get a fresh pair of eyes n this story.
- DirectorJ.A. BayonaStarsNaomi WattsEwan McGregorTom HollandThe story of a tourist family in Thailand caught in the destruction and chaotic aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.Just not enough for me. What was unfathomably devastating in real life, becomes a white, middle class, brow-beating plod towards the * SPOILER * conclusion which strives so hard to be uplifting, it hurts. * END SPOILER. Naomi does an Oscar-nominated Suffering Woman routine, and throughout I was wondering if it turn out to be anything but crushingly predictable. It didn't. If you must experience this horrible story the safety of your own home, watch one of the Discovery docs. The Impossible creates the spectacle you crave, but withdraws it oh so quickly, receding like the water, into sludge.
- DirectorRob LettermanConrad VernonStarsReese WitherspoonRainn WilsonStephen ColbertA woman transformed into a giant after she is struck by a meteorite on her wedding day becomes part of a team of monsters sent in by the U.S. government to defeat an alien mastermind trying to take over Earth.After seeing bits of it a hundred times, I sat down with Holly (3) to watch this all the way through. With one exception - Hugh Laurie's appallingly unfunny voice acting - I loved it. Simply a great laugh, beautifully written, visually imaginative and spectacular, and just so witty. A very difficult thing to pull off ... CGI animation usually looks fantastic, but rarely does the script match the eye candy. Here, it probably even exceeds it.
- DirectorChristopher McQuarrieStarsTom CruiseRosamund PikeRichard JenkinsA homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper responsible for a mass shooting.I just can't get past the Cruiser playing Jack Reacher. Sorry, I know I should be able to, but I can't. He's simply too short, end of. The story is good though .. Clean, classic thriller, it motors along, doesn't over complicate, delivers. The God that is Werner Herzog, however, falls flat here. Un-scary, un-memorable, and way under-used. In the book, which I enjoyed, he's a fearsome adversary. Here, he's almost invisible. Still, this is solid, and worth a second go on Blu-ray when it comes out. Still wish they'd cast a big guy though. Just a big guy! How hard can it be?
- DirectorGareth EvansStarsIko UwaisAnanda GeorgeRay SahetapyA S.W.A.T. team becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs.
- BLU RAY AT HOME
- DirectorBart LaytonStarsAdam O'BrianNicholas BarclayCarey GibsonA documentary centered on a young man in Spain who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.Almost brilliant, but ultimately the drama-doc format they chose for this - which given the lack of actual footage was almost unavoidable - got in the way for me. THE IMPOSTER does hit you with a few surprises though, but it's a bit of a slog before you get there. The story IS pretty unbelievable, but then towards the end, you begin to get an idea of why... Who knows who you can believe. Only one thing is certain - the perpetrator is an absolute *beep* and maybe it was his complete unlikeability which turned me off THE IMPOSTER ultimately.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsJoyce McKinneyPeter ToryTroy WilliamsA documentary on a former Miss Wyoming who is charged with abducting and imprisoning a young Mormon Missionary.Somehow I missed this whole story when it played out for real in the papers, so it was all fresh to me. Like the best documentaries, it keeps surprising you right to the end. One very damaged woman, and a handful of guys chuckling behind their hands, like boys do. Definitely Errol Morris Lite, though.
- DirectorDrew GoddardStarsKristen ConnollyChris HemsworthAnna HutchisonFive college friends head out to a remote cabin for a getaway, but things don't go as planned when they start getting killed. They soon discover that there is more to the cabin than it seems.Loved it first time round, even better second time around. Only one thing I hate ... The zombie family. If only they'd picked some different horror to come creeping after them.. Otherwise, CABIN absolutely rocks, right to the splattery end...
- DirectorColin TrevorrowStarsAubrey PlazaMark DuplassJake JohnsonThree magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified advertisement seeking a companion for time travel.Lightweight but neat and intelligent, with a character at its heart, played by Mark Duplass, who is fascinating. Similar to K-PAX, where the protagonist may by well be a mad man, although not as Hollywood-slick. The girl at the heart of it is a little too indie-chick perfect, but Duplass makes for a refreshingly original hero. The sideshow characters don't work, but who cares, I wanted to see what happened with the main attraction, and I love a film which pursues its concept to a logical conclusion.
- DirectorJames MarshStarsClive OwenAndrea RiseboroughGillian AndersonSet in 1990s Belfast, an active member of the IRA becomes an informant for MI5 in order to protect her son's welfare.Gripping and surprising, but talky. When that talkiness involves the broadest of Ulster accents, and you're listening among the background noise of a plane (as I was), you kind of need subtitles ... There's a decent Big Reveal and a whammer of a surprise at the end. Owen and especially Riseborough are damn fine. Gillian Anderson not so much. Not as ominous and terrifying as the reviews had led me to believe, but a solid thriller.
- DirectorLauren GreenfieldStarsJaqueline SiegelDavid SiegelLorraine BarrettA documentary that follows a billionaire couple as they begin construction on a mansion inspired by Versailles. During the next two years, their empire, fueled by the real estate bubble and cheap money, falters due to the economic crisis.The stock review of QoV goes something like: 'wow this is a crazy story but you will love her, despite yourself'. Well, no. This woman comes across as obnoxious, selfish, ignorant car crash of a mother, matched by a withdrawn, permanently angry ex-billionaire who has long since checked out of the marriage. Vulgar in all possible ways, and thoroughly unlikeable people, although - it has to be said - a gruesomely fascinating documentary.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsJessica ChastainJoel EdgertonChris PrattA chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.A right belter, almost on a par with ARGO. There's a very dense, talks first half to get through, but the film comes into focus half way through and by the Raid it has your goolies. What a set piece that final forty minutes is, and Man those special forces soldiers know their job. It's a fairly accurate account, too, by all reports. The admirably un-flashy action climax delivers brilliantly.
- DirectorPete TravisStarsKarl UrbanOlivia ThirlbyLena HeadeyIn a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO.A fantastic surprise, DREDD is one of the best action movies I've seen in years. Shot with real creative flair, but with absolutely NOTHING spared (the violence is prodigious and ultra bloody, true to its original 2000AD and Action Comic roots), I simply can't wait to get the Blu-ray and see it again. Not bothered about the 3D version, you don't need it. The most beautiful splatter movie ever made? Raw, economical, intelligent entertainment. Bravo.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsKirsten DunstCharlotte GainsbourgKiefer SutherlandTwo sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.Second time around, at home, the climax is still stupendous. You have to work to get there, though. Too hard, for Marie, who had checked out long before. Like DANCER IN THE DARK, it starts with absolute beauty, and drags you through hell before giving you the bleakest of all finishes. Not one to put you in a happy mood. One of my favourite films of the last ten years, though. Every now and then, Von Trier really pulls one out of the bag.
- DirectorGary RossStarsJennifer LawrenceJosh HutchersonLiam HemsworthKatniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games: a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death.
- DirectorTodd FieldStarsKate WinsletJennifer ConnellyPatrick WilsonThe lives of two lovelorn spouses from separate marriages, a registered sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer intersect as they struggle to resist their vulnerabilities and temptations in suburban Massachusetts.
- DirectorMalik BendjelloulStarsRodriguezStephen 'Sugar' SegermanDennis CoffeyTwo South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock n roller, Rodriguez.
- DirectorRob ZombieStarsSid HaigSheri Moon ZombieBill MoseleyThe murderous, backwoods Firefly family take to the road to escape the vengeful Sheriff Wydell, who is not afraid of being as ruthless as his target.
- DirectorPeter CattaneoStarsRobert CarlyleTom WilkinsonMark AddySix unemployed steel workers form a male striptease act. The women cheer them on to go for "the full monty" - total nudity.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsDenzel WashingtonNadine VelazquezDon CheadleTroubling questions arise after airline pilot Whip Whitaker makes a miracle landing after a mid-air catastrophe.The crash is extraordinary, I admit. You just have to marvel at it, although the final impact is a bit...flat. But I've never been one for films about self-destructive druggies or alcoholics, and Denzel plays both in FLIGHT. His booze-sodden Captain is a pretty unpleasant man, and the will-he won't-he courtroom drama comes too late in the day to rescue the film from more than a solid-ish 7 out of 10. Without the plane stuff it would have been a 5. Not gripping enough as a human drama, I didn't care about Denzel a great deal, so the attempt at some sort of emotional redemption at the end flopped, just like his plane.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDaniel Day-LewisSally FieldDavid StrathairnAs the Civil War rages on, U.S President Abraham Lincoln struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on his decision to emancipate the slaves.Wordy, worthy Oscar bait and to be honest a crashing bore. I honestly gave LINCOLN a real chance, I had heard it was a bit of a slog, and went in prepared. But I lost the will to live after maybe Abe's third or fourth quiet, oh-so-meaningful morality speech, and snoozed until the film finally got going ... The Vote. By which time i had long since checked out. I'm sorry Steven Spielberg, I love you (sometimes) and all that, but my goodness you made a dull one here. No doubt it will be showered with Oscars.
- DirectorXavier GensStarsLauren GermanMichael BiehnMilo VentimigliaSurvivors of a nuclear attack are grouped together for days in the basement of their apartment building, where fear and dwindling supplies wear away at their dynamic.The essential nature of a group-survival film like THE DIVIDE is this ... Do you care about anyone? In THE GREY it's Liam. In TITANIC, Jack and Rose. In ALIEN, the genre masterpiece, it's everyone. I had zero expectations going into this - just indulging my quiet taste for genre / horror films on a rare day off - but I was surprised and impressed with THE DIVIDE. I won't go so far as to say I cared, particularly, about anyone, although Michael Biehn, who gets a free pass in any film owing to his magnificent past, surprised me ... I thought I had his arc nailed from the start, and I was so wrong. Get past Rosanna Arquette doing her super-damaged deranged victim woman act yet again, and your fairly stock twitchy, eye-bulgingly nasty bad guys, and you'll find a film with some originality, and best of all, a fitting ending which gives you time to breathe and take in. The last 30 seconds makes up for the excesses, of which there are many. Not for the kids. Enjoyed this.
- DirectorTom TykwerLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsTom HanksHalle BerryHugh GrantAn exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.Well I survived, and so did Marie, and we talked about it allthe way back home, which is the mark of a good film. However, I'm not sure what we just saw. I compare CLOUD ATLAS to one of those old Magic Eye pictures, where if you relax your eyes you see a 3D image of something else entirely different emerge. But only if you stop thinking about what you're seeing. Maybe CLOUD ATLAS is that, a mosaic of scenes and images which implant something far deeper in your mind, ready to awaken on second viewing. Or maybe it's just a mess. I don't think so though. I am a Tom Tykwer devotee after seeing just one film of his - the magnificent PERFUME - and I love the way he makes a film look so ... interesting. 'Bizarre' was Marie's word, and she's right. If I watch this again one day (there's no doubt that the Blu-ray will look incredible ... this is visually one of the most stunning films I've ever seen), CLOUD ATLAS may make a rush up to the higher end of my Flickchart. For now the jury's out, but I'm glad I saw it, and glad that I'm on its side. Brave, ambitious film making with an A-list cast taking risks. Fantastic, really, I think ...
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsTom CruiseJack NicholsonDemi MooreMilitary lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder. They contend they were acting under orders.Stuck this on for a cosy film night with a takeaway, because you can rely on A FEW GOOD MEN. I've probably seen it too many times now, and this time around its lengthy, talky courtroom scenes actually dragged a little. Familiarity breeding a little contempt, maybe. But ... so many quotable one-liners, so many precision-crafted scenes, so many great, great cheesy performances. Nicholson and Cruise simply HAM this one up at full throttle. Simple, undemanding, clever and satisfying, but it's slipping down the list .. it's not ageing well.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJamie FoxxChristoph WaltzLeonardo DiCaprioWith the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsBrad PittDiane KrugerEli RothIn Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.
- DirectorAndy MuschiettiStarsJessica ChastainNikolaj Coster-WaldauMegan CharpentierAfter a young couple take in their two nieces, they suspect that a supernatural spirit named Mama has latched onto their family.I sat there waiting for this cliche-ridden rubbish to reveal itself with a knowing wink, as being in fact brilliant and post-modern ironic .. but no. It really is * SPOILER * about a computer graphics ghost who goes WHOOOOO a lot, with stock bad hair, stock long fingers and a stock long face (and bad teeth). * END SPOILER* None of it matters or scares, Jessican Chastain cannot play a rock chick (her ansafone message being partic annoying), and we only just managed to sit through the whole sorry affair. Hmmmmm ...
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsMia WasikowskaNicole KidmanMatthew GoodeAfter India's father dies, her Uncle Charlie, who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her unstable mother. She comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives and becomes increasingly infatuated with him.Disappointing. At the end, you ask yourself .. I'm sorry, did I miss something? Is that really it? This film features a nicely-wrapped box, all tied up in a pretty bow, with absolutely nothing inside it. I rest my case, your honour.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsRooney MaraChanning TatumJude LawA young woman's world unravels when a drug prescribed by her psychiatrist has unexpected side effects.Definitely one to watch twice. You have to stay tuned to this one, because two thirds of the way through it'll try to flip you. Jude Law is better than he has been for years - he gives you a man to root for. But should you root for him? Should you root for Rooney Mara? Who's the villain here? That what makes SIDE EFFECTS a bit of a belting, old-fashioned thriller. The big reveal is a little too spoon-fed, and despite Jude's best efforts I can't say that I truly cared or felt moved by anyone .. but after STOKER and MAMA, thank God for some intelligence in a movie.
- DirectorLiz GarbusStarsBobby FischerDavid EdmondsAnthony Saidy'Bobby Fischer Against the World' is a documentary feature exploring the tragic and bizarre life of the late chess master Bobby Fischer. The drama of Bobby Fischer's career was undeniable, from his troubled childhood, to his rock star status as World Champion and Cold War icon, to his life as a fugitive on the run. This film explores one of the most infamous and mysterious characters of the 20th century.The old-time science-fiction writers got it all wrong. Their version of the 21st century was populated by big-brained super-beings, bodies slowly ceasing to matter as the power of intelligence and thought took mankind over. Instead, the 21st century is dumbed-down, celebrity and body image obsessed, and it turns out that the 1970s was as good as we got, cerebrally. Because that's the decade - and I remember this - when a chess player, of all things, became the most famous living man on the planet. What a player, too, this Bobby Fischer. Sadly - and touchingly in this documentary - chess consumed his brain, and he became one of the many chess Grand Masters to disappear inside the game and his own head, behaving not just oddly but downright offensively, seemingly right till his end. BFATW charts his ascent to greatness, and subsequent 35-year exile both mentally, and in reality, from the human race as a result. A bitter, angry man who shows, in this film, the flashes of geniality which make you wish so much that he had been able to check his own madness, Bobby Fischer over-thought his life and the world around him. The documentary is a moving study of loneliness and, if you didn't know his story intimately (I didn't), contains a couple of surprises in its final third which drive home just how relentlessly anti-social this undoubted genius of a man became. Memorable and haunting.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsKeith CarradinePowers BootheFred WardDuring a routine exercise, a team of National Guardsmen are threatened by angry and violent locals.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsRichard DreyfussKurt RussellEmmy RossumOn New Year's Eve, the luxury ocean liner Poseidon capsizes after being swamped by a rogue wave. The survivors are left to fight for their lives as they attempt to escape the sinking ship.Some films you put on, just because you're searching for something which you, your wife, your 12 yr old and your three year old can watch. POSEIDON was tonight's luckless candidate .. doomed to be watched between servings of tea, dogs mucking around, toddler using the sofa and me as a climbing frame. All the while, people you don't care about are getting wet, claustrophobic, burnt, and killed ... actually POSEIDON is rather uncomfortably claustrophobic at times, and man, those actors had some gills on them.. we are talking four-minute breath-holding while swimming into dark impossibly nasty places here. It's a relief when it finally sinks, and 24 hours afterwards, i honestly couldn't tell you who made it.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.I'm reading Peter Biskind's EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS at the moment, and am loving it. The Seventies: it's not a cliche, that really WAS the decade where everything changed. So many magnificent films were made, it was the decade most of us are now thinking about when we say 'they don't make them like that any more." THE GODFATHER ... so many scenes which feel like The Lord's Prayer. Essential moments, unforgettable but always so good to see again. This is canon, and every time I see it I wonder why my Flickchart doesn't have it higher. The first half is better than the second half, but only fractionally. Masterpiece.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsAl PacinoRobert De NiroRobert DuvallThe early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.And as for the sequel ... even better. Like the Don which Michael has become, the film is cold, unlovable, sterile, serious. The one, solitary emotional high - * SPOILER * when Michael embraces Fredo, in apparent forgiveness - is followed by what you always dreaded. The Shot on the Lake. * /SPOILER*. Such a complex film, but so rich in detail, easy to follow, fascinating to see the plot unfold. And the perfect ending, which allows you to bask for a few minutes in warm nostalgia, before leaving you with the regret and the melancholy of the present. The regret which defines Michael Corleone's life.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsAl PacinoDiane KeatonAndy GarciaFollows Michael Corleone, now in his 60s, as he seeks to free his family from crime and find a suitable successor to his empire.For the first time, I watched III the way you should do .. Immediately after watching I and II. I have completely changed my mind about it. For the first time now, I appreciate how close to magnificent this one is. Garcia is no Caan, but he's damn good, especially when he learns to calm down. Hamilton is no Duvall, but nor is he the lightweight I remembered him being. I still can't warm to Talia Shire, but at least she's a constant, like Diane Keaton and the movie trivia question that is Al Neri ... The only other character, apart from Michael, who appears in all three films. The cinematography is spot on, the look, the lighting, the colours ... All the same. The climax is - I now appreciate - a brilliantly constructed and highly satisfying finale to the whole saga. And once again, there is real emotion at the end, as Pacino the Godfather receives his final portion of just desserts in the most agonising way possible. And so we come to the only real, serious flaw in the movie, and indeed in the whole trilogy. I KNOW they were pressed for time, and I KNOW their first choice actresses pulled out, and believe me I really, really tried not to join in with the Sofia-bashing. But ... Sofia Coppola is pretty much a disaster. Her character carries real weight in the saga, especially at the end, but she just hasn't got anything like the acting chops to convince. She is a distraction, and takes you out of the film. In almost nine hours of Godfather brilliance, that I can only find one serious problem says much about the quality on show. Despite Sofia Coppola - who, to be fair to her, never claimed to be an actress, and who has since developed into a fine movie director - The Godfather Part III is a superb way to wrap up the magnificent saga, and ultimate tragedy, of the Corleone family.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsTom HanksBill PaxtonKevin BaconNASA must devise a strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth safely after the spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.
- DirectorF. Gary GrayStarsGerard ButlerJamie FoxxLeslie BibbA frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsRyan GoslingCarey MulliganBryan CranstonA mysterious Hollywood action film stuntman gets in trouble with gangsters when he tries to help his neighbor's husband rob a pawn shop while serving as his getaway driver.Silent tough guy stunt driver (who actually looks like an estate agent) gives knowing look and half-smile to silent vulnerable girl next door. One, maybe three words each are exchanged. Repeat half a dozen times. Caution: art is happening. Soak in the unspoken sexual tension - only there isn't any. I get that it's all meant to be unsaid, but it's largely absent. No matter, they clearly have a thing for each other. Her hubby's just back from prison, he's a nice guy really, but has to pay his dues to the bad guys. Wife and cute son are in danger, estate agent stunt driver tough guy steps in to protect. There's your plot. And then .. Bang a shot in the head. Bang a shotgun explodes a head. Christina Hendricks is slaughtered before she can get her boobs out, major fail. Boom there's a stab in the throat. Gush a geyser of blood hits the ceiling. Splat a head is stamped upon in a lift, until brains are squeezed out like toothpaste. SLICE a throat is ripped out. And so on .. There's some driving, but really not much. The meaningful stares have twice as much screen time. So ... why do I like DRIVE? Because it creates its own very definite mood - the weird music helps - and although we are simply in LA's nasty back streets where we've been a thousand times in a movie, Nicholas Winding Refn and his very fine cast (Albert Brooks and the extraordinary-looking Ron Perlman are stand outs) play out a chilling little drama stylishly. It is sub-TRUE ROMANCE, sub-PULP FICTION for sure, and it has zero sense of humour .. your average stock market report contains more laughs than DRIVE .. but as escapism, DRIVE takes you away and off into a strange, quiet, thoughtful world where you are likely to get ripped to pieces in a heartbeat. So, it's okay by me. Far better than average, you can rely on Winding Refn (as I saw in VALHALLA RISING) to give you something different, and memorable.
- DirectorJoseph KosinskiStarsTom CruiseMorgan FreemanAndrea RiseboroughA veteran assigned to extract Earth's remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself.
- DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsWill SmithBill PullmanJeff GoldblumThe aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.
- DirectorDaniel LindsayT.J. MartinStarsBill CourtneyO.C. BrownMontrail 'Money' BrownChronicles three underprivileged students from inner-city Memphis and their volunteer coach who tries to help them beat the odds on and off the field.
- DirectorDerek CianfranceStarsRyan GoslingBradley CooperEva MendesTwo men and their sons must deal with the unforeseen consequences of their actions."Who am I supposed to care for?" was Marie's summary, and I agree, but the fact that we were talking about TPBTP almost all the way home, shows how good it is. I like a film with the right ending, and this one has that .. it holds on the final shot, and you're hoping that this IS then end .. and it is. Fade to black, credits. Bravo. Until that final moment, I wasn't moved by the film particularly deeply, but that last moment wraps it all up very touchingly, and so appropriately. The film's in three sections, of which the middle is the most gripping. Bradley Cooper is just great, Ryan Gosling does his strong silent type turn yet again, and the kids in the final section are more forgettable. Good story, though, perhaps the journey's end for two of the characters (a father & son) is a little too Hollywood cliche .. in fact it's a BIG Hollywood cliche - but the final moments make up for any flaws. Pretty much loved it, it's a grower. An intelligent, adult, original saga with a great cast, beautifully filmed. Quality.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellSarah BerryDan HicksAsh Williams, the lone survivor of an earlier onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits, holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.
- DirectorRawson Marshall ThurberStarsBen StillerChristine TaylorVince VaughnA group of misfits enter a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament in order to save their cherished local gym from the onslaught of a corporate health fitness chain.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsDustin HoffmanJessica LangeTeri GarrMichael Dorsey, an unsuccessful actor, disguises himself as a woman in order to get a role on a trashy hospital soap.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsRoy ScheiderBruno CremerFrancisco RabalFour unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous Latin American jungle.
- DirectorJ.J. AbramsStarsChris PineZachary QuintoSimon PeggThe brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsTom HanksDenzel WashingtonRoberta MaxwellWhen a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic-small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.
- DirectorKirk DeMiccoChris SandersStarsNicolas CageRyan ReynoldsEmma StoneAfter their cave is destroyed, a caveman family must trek through an unfamiliar fantastical world with the help of an inventive boy.
- DirectorLisa CholodenkoStarsAnnette BeningJulianne MooreMark RuffaloTwo children conceived by artificial insemination bring their biological father into their non-traditional family life.
- DirectorJames MatherSteve Saint LegerStarsGuy PearceMaggie GracePeter StormareA man wrongly convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage against the U.S. is offered his freedom if he can rescue the President's daughter from an outer-space prison taken over by violent inmates.
- DirectorJ.J. AbramsStarsChris PineZachary QuintoZoe SaldanaAfter the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJulia RobertsAlbert FinneyDavid BrisbinAn unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.
- DirectorChristopher MorrisStarsWill AdamsdaleRiz AhmedAdeel AkhtarFour incompetent British terrorists set out to train for and commit an act of terror.
- DirectorAmy BergStarsJason BaldwinDamien Wayne EcholsJessie MisskelleyAn examination of a failure of justice in the case against the West Memphis Three.
- DirectorMichael DowseStarsSeann William ScottJay BaruchelAlison PillLabeled an outcast by his brainy family, a bouncer overcomes long odds to lead a team of under performing misfits to semi-pro hockey glory, beating the crap out of everything that stands in his way.
- DirectorPaul HaggisStarsDon CheadleSandra BullockThandiwe NewtonLos Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsIdris ElbaCharlie HunnamRinko KikuchiAs a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse.
- DirectorNimród AntalStarsAdrien BrodyLaurence FishburneTopher GraceA group of elite warriors parachute into an unfamiliar jungle and are hunted by members of a merciless alien race.
- DirectorZack SnyderStarsHenry CavillAmy AdamsMichael ShannonAn alien child is evacuated from his dying world and sent to Earth to live among humans. His peace is threatened when other survivors of his home planet invade Earth.
- DirectorBennett MillerStarsBrad PittRobin WrightJonah HillOakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.
- DirectorThomas VinterbergStarsMads MikkelsenThomas Bo LarsenAnnika WedderkoppA teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
- DirectorPierre CoffinChris RenaudStarsSteve CarellKristen WiigBenjamin BrattWhen Gru, the world's most super-bad turned super-dad has been recruited by a team of officials to stop lethal muscle and a host of Gru's own, he has to fight back with new gadgetry, cars, and more minion madness.
- DirectorJared HessStarsJon HederEfren RamirezJon GriesA listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home.
- DirectorGavin O'ConnorStarsTom HardyNick NolteJoel EdgertonThe youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament - a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.
- DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsDennis QuaidJake GyllenhaalEmmy RossumJack Hall, paleoclimatologist, must make a daring trek from Washington, D.C. to New York City to reach his son, trapped in the cross-hairs of a sudden international storm which plunges the planet into a new Ice Age.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroCathy MoriartyJoe PesciThe life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsGene HackmanJohn CazaleAllen GarfieldA paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsKlaus KinskiClaudia CardinaleJosé LewgoyThe story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man who intends to build an opera house in the middle of a jungle.
- DirectorTom ShadyacStarsJim CarreyMaura TierneyAmanda DonohoeA pathological liar-lawyer finds his career turned upside down when he inexplicably cannot physically lie for 24 whole hours.
- DirectorChristopher KenneallyStarsDerek AmbrosiMichael BallhausAndrzej BartkowiakThe documentary investigates the history, process and workflow of both digital and photochemical film creation.
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsSylvester StalloneHarvey KeitelRay LiottaThe Sheriff of a suburban New Jersey community, populated by New York City police officers, slowly discovers the town is a front for mob connections and corruption.
- DirectorPeter HowittStarsRyan PhillippeTim RobbinsRachael Leigh CookA computer programmer's dream job at a hot Portland-based firm turns nightmarish when he discovers his boss has a secret and ruthless means of dispatching anti-trust problems.
- DirectorNeill BlomkampStarsMatt DamonJodie FosterSharlto CopleyIn the year 2154, the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth. A man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.
- DirectorGabriela CowperthwaiteStarsTilikumDave DuffusSamantha BergA documentary following the controversial captivity of killer whales, and its dangers for both humans and whales.
- DirectorTobias LindholmStarsPilou AsbækSøren MallingDar SalimThe crew of a Danish cargo ship is hijacked by Somali pirates who proceed to engage in escalating negotiations with authorities in Copenhagen.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsPeter WellerNancy AllenDan O'HerlihyIn a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsDaniel BrühlChris HemsworthOlivia WildeThe merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda.
- DirectorNicolás LópezStarsEli RothAriel LevyNicolás MartínezIn Chile, a group of travelers who are in an underground nightclub when a massive earthquake hits quickly learn that reaching the surface is just the beginning of their nightmare.
- DirectorTony KayeStarsEdward NortonEdward FurlongBeverly D'AngeloLiving a life marked by violence, neo-Nazi Derek finally goes to prison after killing two black youths. Upon his release, Derek vows to change; he hopes to prevent his brother, Danny, who idolizes Derek, from following in his footsteps.
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsTom HanksBarkhad AbdiBarkhad AbdirahmanThe true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the U.S.-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
- DirectorGavin HoodStarsHarrison FordAsa ButterfieldHailee SteinfeldYoung Ender Wiggin is recruited by the International Military to lead the fight against the Formics, an insectoid alien race who had previously tried to invade Earth and had inflicted heavy losses on humankind.
- DirectorJustin LinStarsVin DieselPaul WalkerDwayne JohnsonHobbs has Dominic and Brian reassemble their crew to take down a team of mercenaries, but Dominic unexpectedly gets sidetracked with facing his presumed deceased girlfriend, Letty.
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsHugh JackmanJake GyllenhaalViola DavisWhen Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts.
- DirectorAlan TaylorStarsChris HemsworthNatalie PortmanTom HiddlestonWhen the Dark Elves attempt to plunge the universe into darkness, Thor must embark on a perilous and personal journey that will reunite him with doctor Jane Foster.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsJessica ChastainJoel EdgertonChris PrattA chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsSandra BullockGeorge ClooneyEd HarrisDr Ryan Stone, an engineer on her first time on a space mission, and Matt Kowalski, an astronaut on his final expedition, have to survive in space after they are hit by debris while spacewalking.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.Extraordinary .. like GRAVITY, THE ACT OF KILLING is a genuinely new cinematic experience. A masterpiece.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJudi DenchSteve CooganSophie Kennedy ClarkA world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.
- DirectorLucy WalkerStarsKevin PearceShaun WhiteMason AguirreFifteen years of verite footage show the epic rivalry between half-pipe legends Shaun White and Kevin Pearce, childhood friends who become number one and two in the world leading up to the Vancouver Winter Olympics, pushing one another to ever more dangerous tricks, until Kevin crashes on a Park City half-pipe, barely surviving. As Kevin recovers from his injury, Shaun wins Gold. Now all Kevin wants to do is get on his snowboard again, even though medics and family fear this could kill him. We also celebrate Sarah Burke who crashed in Park City and died January 19, 2012.
- DirectorZal BatmanglijStarsChristopher DenhamNicole ViciusBrit MarlingTwo documentary filmmakers attempt to penetrate a cult who worships a woman who claims to be from the future.
- DirectorAdam McKayStarsWill FerrellChristina ApplegateSteve CarellIn the 1970s, an anchorman's stint as San Diego's top-rated newsreader is challenged when an ambitious newswoman becomes his co-anchor.
- DirectorBen YoungerStarsGiovanni RibisiVin DieselNia LongA college dropout, attempting to live up to his father's high standards, gets a job as a broker for a suburban investment firm which puts him on the fast track to success. But the job might not be as legitimate as it first appeared to be.
- DirectorJeff ZimbalistMichael ZimbalistStarsMaría Ester EscobarFrancisco MaturanaAlexis García V.A look at how the lives of Colombian footballer Andres Escobar and drug lord Pablo Escobar were intertwined, alongside the mysterious events that led to Andres' murder in 1994.
- DirectorSarah PolleyStarsMichael PolleyJohn BuchanMark PolleyA film that excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers.
- DirectorSebastián CorderoStarsSharlto CopleyMichael NyqvistChristian CamargoAn international crew of astronauts undertakes a privately funded mission to search for life on Jupiter's fourth largest moon.
- DirectorAriel VromenStarsMichael ShannonChris EvansJames FrancoThe story of Richard Kuklinski, the notorious contract killer and family man. When he was finally arrested in 1986, neither his wife nor his daughters had any clue about his real profession.
- DirectorJ.C. ChandorStarsRobert RedfordAfter a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in the face.
- DirectorMarc ForsterStarsBrad PittMireille EnosDaniella KerteszFormer United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop a zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatens to destroy humanity itself.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsIan McKellenMartin FreemanRichard ArmitageThe dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain, their homeland, from the dragon Smaug.It's Jackson's story, not Tolkein's, but being no great fan of the book I'll take another dose of this nonsense happily. I could have done without Lord Melchiot turning up in Laketown - in fact, that whole sequence is where THE HOBBIT does drag a little. And the laws of physics are clearly different in Middle Earth. PJ has amped up the ridiculousness way beyond even the King Kong chase sequence, and you can always relax in the knowledge that if blind, impossible luck won't save your favourite dwarf, a suddenly-arriving elf will. Always slightly late to the party, Legolas makes up for it with limitless arrows, triple-jointedness and one hell of an aim, all the while battling his own green-eyed monster after it turns out that Sex Elf Evangelina Lily has the hots for one of the dwarves. Please God they'd better not breed, we're surely talking cats mating with dogs here. Bilbo meanwhile, under-appreciated but actually the only one doing anything worth a damn, sits only just behind Legolas and Sex Elf in invulnerability. It's utter rubbish but such good rubbish, and I'm game for the final part. Let's hope they don't slag the dragon too soon .. Nobody really cares about the Battle of Five Armies do they? And what the hell was Gandalf up to? Again, though, it really doesn't matter. It's spectacular, magical nonsense.