Mamma Mia (2008)

by Adam Edwards 25/7/2013

Five years avoided, I was finally made to watch what I was expecting to be a childish murder of disco music. Once again, I have been proven wrong. A fantastic cast with fantastic performances. Firth and Walters bring humour whilst Seyfried brings a surprisingly talented singing voice.

It still had its childish moments which made me wonder what the films target audience was but the music and amusing plot line more than distracted me from this.

When you sing a song from a film for days afterwards, you know it was a hit.

Best bits: Pierce Brosnan singing

Worst Bits: Pierce Brosnan singing

Rating: 7/10

For Fans of: Hairspray, Musical theatre, Grease

The Croods (2013)

by Adam Edwards 25/7/2013

I am a lover of Dreamworks' animated features but with personal gems such as Over the Hedge and Monsters vs Aliens in the recent repertoire, this needed to be good.

Thankfully, it did not disappoint. Wisecracking characters and the right mix of comedy and emotion made The Croods a delightful and relaxing romp. Once again, Dreamworks hits the right balance of adult and child humour.

Take all of your young relatives to see it, you will not regret it.

Best Bits: Belt

Worst Bits: Predictable story, not many true LOL moments.

Rating: 7.5/10

For fans of: Ice Age, Dreamworks productions.

Monsters University

by Adam Edwards, 16/07/2013

An odd occasion as this was a cinema outing in which I was the least excited of the group. Sitting alongside my young lady, my baby brother and my childish at heart mother I was a mere tag-along. However, I was in awe for the films entirety.

The original is a good film. This. This is better. Laugh out loud humour from start to finish and the bond to the new characters is almost as strong as the bond to the returning favourites.

A hit for all ages with Pixar's colours and child humour running gleefully alongside the obvious university and fraternity humour.

A must see. One of Pixar's best.


Best Bits: Young Mike, Mums Screamo

Worst Bits: Perhaps a sense of predictability about the outcome.

Rating: 8.5/10

For fans of - Disney Pixar and surprisingly frat house comedies.

Iron Man 3 (2013)

by Adam Edwards, 26/05/2013

Like many others, I was late to the Marvel Avengers game. I had no interest when the original two Iron Man films were released. However, after a quick catch up before the release of 2012's Avengers Assemble, the third film of the Iron Man trilogy was much anticipated.

With Robert Downey Junior back to his best and the addition of the fantastic Ben Kingsley, the film completes the trilogy perfectly and even challenges the other two for the best film in the series.

Emotional and hilarious.

Best Bits: The Mandarin, Suits a plenty.

Worst Bits: Plot holes and "why didn't he just do that?"s

Rating: A strong 8.8/10

For fans of - The Avengers series, Sherlock Holmes.


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By Daniel Bradley, 05/07/2013

I absolutely loved this film. I'm not going to lie to you guys. I didn't want to know anything about the length in case it gave anything away, I wanted to watch the next Marvel classic, coming off the success of Avengers. I was not disappointed.

The Extremis arc is a good one, but Tony was originally supposed to have a solid drinking problem - this came out in the second movie, and had dried up by Avengers. Indeed, the way the writers got round this was masterful. No spoilers here, but keep an eye on a vulnerable Tony and appreciate how they've made him that way. With the success of Iron Man in the playground, it's best not to have a roll model drug addict on our screens.

One of the reasons the first film was so successful was the man alone with his intellect set up. He used his mind to get out of the scrapes he was in, and I believe they returned to that initial recipe for this film, stripping Tony from the suit when he needed one most. This is what the second was lacking, I think… it was just suit versus suit with no real peril for the man… this is more real, and we get to see him on a personal level.

Best Bits: Plot reveal, Man alone syndrome, Ruffalo.

Worst Bits: Extremis a little too hard to believe.

Rating: 8.5/10

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

by Adam Edwards, 26/05/2013

One of the most anticipated sequels for many years and it did not disappoint. A fantastic cast was already in place and with the brilliant JJ Abrams adding the talents of Benedict Cumberbatch and Alice Eve, it was the movie event of the year.

However, whilst a massive sci-fi fan such as myself was 100% satisfied by the film, I feel the obsessive Trekkies out there will not be happy. Whilst it was a stunning action film with humour and science thrown in, it just did not feel like Star Trek.

On the other hand, it is clear that Abrams, Lindelof, et al. are taking Star Trek in a new direction so any problems with the film or the lack of canon with the original series can be blamed on Eric Bana and the Romulans of the first film.

Best Bits: Acting quality and the writing. Cumberbatch.

Worst Bits: Plot holes, Can the Enterprise really survive under water?

Rating: 8.5/10

For fans of: Star Trek XI, Star Wars prequels, Sci Fi Action.


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By Daniel Bradley, Trekkie representative. 05/07/2013

This one has had to do a lot of work to match the general success of the first reboot. The hardest job, perhaps, was to satisfy die hard fans of the franchise that has come before. There is a formula to Star Trek. You must build into the crew a family spirit at its core - we must care about this family. Then there must be comedy, visual, situational and black alike, but not too much. Then there must be a solid Science Fiction vein throughout, perhaps a mystery, a quest populated by narrow escapes and a perceived insurmountable threat beaten by brains and teamwork. There must also be alien tottie of any gender.

It is for the above reasons that I love Star Trek and would, if pushed, confess to watching every episode every made. The story writing, with rare exception, has consistently been of a high calibre. It was my bread and butter growing up. So when we said goodbye to the Next Generation (and Commander Data in Nemesis!), it was a sad day for many. That Star Trek still exists in one form or another is a blessing - so is this film worth seeing for a Trekkie with hang ups? 

Difficult to say. I loved it, but a reboot still feels like it's coming at the cost of so many years of what came before… The special effects are outstanding, and all done in house which is even more incredible. The storyline was predictable for anyone who knows anything about Kirk's backstory - but that aside, the nods to Wrath are so wonderful that most sins are forgiven. So what if the timeline is irreparably changed forever - we got to see Spock talk about the old adventures…!

I know I watched a good movie, kids. I came out in awe of it… But it's like rebooting Lost with Mark Ruffalo as Hurley… and the Hatch opened early by pygmies… and Desmond's actually a bad guy now because of sleep deficiency and an accidental trigger finger… It all comes done to a simple question for a Trek fan. 'Do you want to believe, again?'

Best Bits: Benedict kicking ass, Spock kicking ass, Kirk having his ass kicked, the rapport with Scottie and the good Doctor.

Worst Bits: You don't have to try and make us happy by dipping in and out of established cannon. Do it unexpectedly, just make great science fiction. Also: Fucking tribbles. :)

Rating. 7.5/10

For Fans of Star Trek & JJ's films.

Lockout (2012)

By Daniel Bradley,

This one was great, kids, just great. I kept coming back to this one, despite the press,  because I had enjoyed the trailer so much… So when the opportunity arose, Nicola and I sat down to watch Guy Pearce shoot his mouth of at bad guys and run around a space station.

Quite unexpectedly, Lockout was extremely funny in places. There is a lot to be said for perfect casting and, were it not for Mr. Pearce, I reckon this one would be as flat as a waffle iron. The storyline was as riddled with holes as the prison guards were by act two, not a great deal of it made sense, vast portions of budget CGI was used with the effect of making the viewer think 'this is terrible, in a good way', but still terrible' and the cheese built up to constipation levels by the end…

And yet, I loved it. It was cheap, it was ok, but it did have charm and smashing one liners. It was like a side project. A labour of love made by film makers accustomed to other genres but wanted to make the kind of film they'd like to see at the pictures. Don't go in expecting something mind blowing, go in expecting something like an octopus. Something diverting, that'll tickle you suddenly when you're not paying attention. 

Best Bits: The many wise cracks coming out of left field.

Worst Bits: Predictable. Yet somehow this wasn't a deal breaker.

Rating: 6.5/10 for shameless style.

For fans of the recent Judge Dredd.

Sightseers (2012)

By Daniel Bradley

Sometimes a weird film is just a weird film. Other times a weird film can make you feel weird for having watched it in the first place. This is an example of the latter.

Independent, alternative film making has always appealed to me. So when a film about a couple of dopey caravanning serial killers surfaced in an Empire podcast earlier this year, I jumped at the chance to catch it. Now I don't know how i feel about it… other than weird.

Let's break it down. Was it funny? Yes. Was it really funny? Yes, (in a 'I can't believe she just said that, oh my goodness, what is he doing…' kind of way). Was it consistently funny? No. Was it shocking? Yes...

There were moments throughout when I began to question the motives of the writer. It challenged me to watch on, as if daring me to go deeper in to the homicidal, tea fuelled minds of the two main characters. It was difficult to stop watching, and by the end I wasn't sure who I was rooting for anymore… I liked this pair initially… But that was before the petty squabbling and adolescent sexual shenanigans… 

Honestly…? Who's to say you will like it, it's one of them. I'd say watch it if you're curious. But like doing most things because you're curious, you may end up with an unpleasant surprise.

Best bits: Misc graphic joke killing scene, dog humour.

Worst bits: Mother in law moments, forced suspense, empty feeling when you go to sleep afterwards.

Rating: 4/10

For fans of A Dog's Breakfast. (Actually, watch that instead. Canadian humour is great).

Argo (2012)

By Daniel Bradley

Sometimes when you sit down to watch a film, you worry whether for all the awards and hype, it'll just be exactly what it says in the trailer. No more, no less… nothing to surprise you with that hasn't already been hinted at in a 60 second segment on National Television.

I worried needlessly as it happens; the awards were warranted. This one is well written, based on true events, well paced and suspenseful without torturing its audience. I like to be on the edge of my seat, don't get me wrong, but no one except my 4 year old niece likes to be 3 inches from the screen giggling inanely. This film takes you for a ride and brings you back to the bus depot afterwards for a small dinner party.

Whilst it had the spin of hollywood for dramatic effect, the movie never went over the top with stunts, action or hyperbolic dialogue. There were wise cracks befitting the circumstances which I liked, and these moments didn't jar with what was going on on screen. Politics was handled craftily as well. I like my politics like I like my comedians. Honestly cynical.

Chiefly, not the disappointment I wished upon it. Well done, Ben Affleck.

Best bits: Airport scene, American Hollywood bosses.

Worst bits: Build up at the beginning. Not enough cowbell.

Rating: Solid 8/10. 

For fans of Con Air & The Taking of Pelham 123