Film Reviews by PC

I am normally a fan of Robert Rodriguez, Desparado, From Dusk Till Dawn and Sin City are all great films. However, I just did not get the first Machete but thought I would see if the sequel was any better. I should not have bothered, to be honest this was worse. The action scenes are poorly executed, the acting awful and Danny Trejo should stick to supporting roles. I understand it's Grindhouse and tongue in cheek but there is no element of fun here at all. Mel Gibson looks bored about the whole thing , I know how he felt.

Though not to the high standards of the very best series of Dexter, this is still a fitting climax to one of the more original series in recent years. The ending was always going to divide fans but I felt it at least tried something different. Michael C. Hall is as good as always but his relationship with Debra takes the forefront here. Jennifer Carpenter is great and really deserves alot of credit for making Debra part of a great double act.

Cloudy with Meatballs was great fun and the sequel pretty much continues the high standard, although a third film probably would be stretching it. This has some great visual gags and feels like it went through the book of bad jokes before writing the script. Fun for kids but adults will also enjoy it.

Detailing Walt Disney's attempts to get Mary Poppins to the big screen, Saving Mr. Banks is much more fun that it really should be. Tom Hanks is great as Walt but it is really Emma Thompson's wonderfully frosty performance as P. L. Travers which shines through. I am not too sure how much of the flashbacks are accurate, although these are interesting they do detract from the more interesting view of how Mary Poppins got made. Although offering very little in suprises, it is funny and has an emotional punch.

There is no point in judging this film on any conventional, it is Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger re-living their pomp from the 80's. The storyline is utter nonsense but at least Arnie seems to know this whilst Sly plays it totally straight.

Yes it is trashy but a definite guilty pleasure having enjoyed the classic eighties movies of these two.

It is a real shame that the makers decided to jump from an interesting drama regarding how you deal with a loss of a child to a seriously contrived conventional thriller by the end.

The acting is first rate, especially from Jake Gyllenhall who adds layers to the role of the cop investigating the disappearance. It is at the very least 30 minutes too long and just adds twist after twist until it loses all understanding of what was making the film interesting.

A shame really, but Gone Baby Gone is a much better film that tackles a similar subject.

I feel a bit mean criticising something as original as this, foregoing the usual special effects laden finish for something much more thoughtful. However, it is very straight faced and a little bit slow at times which causes the interesting storyline to lag. Asa Butterfield is very good in the title role (although he has always given me the creeps since he was in Merlin) and Harrison Ford provides gruff Commander duties accordingly. Unfortunately the likes of Hailee Steinfeld and Ben Kinglsey are given very little to do. Some of the casting is also off the wall, who thought the kid from Hannah Montana would make a good tough Sarge was strongly mistaken. A good thought provoking film but younger viewers may find it a bit slow.

I have never really been a fan of Paul Greengrass films, feeling they lack emotion and the whole handheld camera thing gives me a bit of a headache. However, Captain Phillips grips from the start and does not let go until the emotional punhc at the end. Some people appear to be criticising aspects of the story, despite them being true. Surely they are only showing what happened, including the intervention of the US Navy. Really gripping and one that will linger after the film has ended.

I am not sure why RIPD garnered so much negativity, it may be generic and basically be Men In Black with demons but it is quite good fun. Jeff Bridges is cearly having a ball and the wonderful Mary-Louise Parker should be in more movies.

You cannot get away from how technically stunning Gravity is but I also feel Sandra Bullock's performance gives it an emotional punch. At a brisk 87 minutes it runs at a fair pace with very little baggage, you are thrown in almost immediately to the disaster and then it's time to hold your breath to the end.

Much more enjoyable than the similarly themed Olympus Has Fallen, it is very tongue-in-cheek and has quite a witty script. Nice that the leading character doesn't have a tragic past and the President isn't an ex-marine who can fight back by himself. Good fun if slightly overlong.