Ice Age 4: Following this mismatched herd on another journey proved funny and adventurous. Great as a stand alone film and great as the fourth in a series! 4 Stars ****
Michael: A supposed arty film with tension and thrill. In reality a boring, stretched out waste of my time. 0 Stars
Chernobyl Diaries: Predictable, insensitive and pathetic. There's 88 minutes of my life I also won't get back. 0 Stars
The Pact: An odd mixture, never seen before, could have been better, left a lot to be explained but the idea was good. Just needed a little more room to grow. 2 Stars **
Magic Mike: Uncomfortable, a little too homo-erotic and lacking in story. A disappointment. 2 Stars **
Rampart: Although I cannot give this a true rating as we turned it off half way through I think that in itself gives you an idea of what I thought. Perhaps if you stick with it you will understand or enjoy it more.
The Shrine: A decent thriller with an unexpected ending. The only down side was the cheesy exorcist-style scene. 3.5 Stars ****
Dredd 3D: In-depth punchy gory action mixed with beautifully crafted slow-mo. A brilliant performance by Lena Headey. Unfortunately I couldn't shake the feeling that it could have been better, they could have pushed it further. 4 Stars ****
Lawless: Superbly acted, brilliantly executed, a must for any film buffs collection! 5 Stars *****
Paranorman 3D: More grown-up than some animations, slightly predictable and quite dark. Enjoyable. 3.5 Stars ****
The Possession: An old school horror film with a very creepy young girl. An overkill of moths to make your skin crawl. However, it didn't invoke nightmares therefore the scare factor was missing. 3 Stars ***
Movie 43: A complete shambles, utterly weird. I emerged understanding less than when I entered. I would suggest watching it out of sheer curiosity, however, I would bet you wouldn't view it twice. 2.5 Stars (awarded to one particular scene) ***
Gangster Squad: Underrated. Agreed, the plot is simple and one seen a million times but with the acting skills of Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling it won my applause. 4 Stars ****
Rise of the Guardians: One of the best modern animations I have seen for a while. I was starting to doubt that classics such as Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo could make a come back when this was served. Great for all ages! 4.5 Stars (because you can't beat the classics!) *****
Headhunters: I was surprised to see Jaime Lannister (a.k.a Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) in the midst of the real world and not slaying kings. Nevertheless his role was brilliant and this film, although not something I would usually pick, was tense, twisted and brutal. 3.5 Stars ****
The Last Stand: Amazing! Funny, pumped and honourable! 5 Stars *****
Quartet: A-class cast, award winning comedy and you don't have to know anything about classical music to understand and enjoy this film. 3.5 Stars ****
Texas Chainsaw 2013: Predictable, violent and utterly ridiculous. Perhaps not as gory or frightening as the previous films therefore I do not believe that true chainsaw fans will enjoy this. Boys: there is a distinct lack of nudity, you are teased, resting your hope in a flimsy shirt. 2.5 Stars ***
Pitch Perfect: From what I can gather a lot of people found this amusing. My stars are awarded to Fat Amy and the quiet girl alone. It was hurried, predictable and to be honest I just didn't care what happened in the end! 2 Stars **
The Amazing Spider-Man: I put this off for an age due to my dislike of the Tobey Maguire version back in 2002. Thankfully, Andrew Garfield saved the hero, not just a pretty face, eh!? 4 Stars ****
Seven Psychopaths: Astounding. A great piece of cinema. Awash with emotions and an insane plot and cast amounting to what is sure to be a regular in my DVD player. 5 Stars *****
That's it for now. Watch this space for Django, Les Miserables and the rest of what 2013 has to offer!
