Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Roll up, roll up. Come one, come all. Marvel (see what I did there) at the old age pensioner with the astounding strength. He knows no fear, he jumps from aircraft without the aid of a parachute and he also never seen without the world’s largest pizza tray. 

The Winter Soldier marks the third outing for Captain America on the silver screen and it could be argued that this is also his finest too. Chris Evans (no not that one) seems to be getting very good at playing old Cappy. In the same way that it's now impossible to see anyone playing Iron Man other than Robert Downey Jr. It's almost unthinkable that the red white and blue uniform of Marvels ultimate Boy Scout could be filled by anyone other than Mr Evans. 

The plot of The Winter Soldier is roughly one part political thriller, one part action movie and two parts entertainment. Hydra is the big bad again and seemed to have infiltrated SHIELD. From every department to every rank, there's nowhere their agenda isn't felt. 

The script, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely is very good. Witty when it needs to be and not long winded when it comes to moving the plot forward. The directing reigns are handled by Russo brothers, Anthony and Joe. This is their first foray into the world of the movie blockbuster, having amassed most of their CV back catalogue work on TV series including Arrested Development and Community. However the real coup of The Winter soldier was getting Robert Redford to sign on the dotted line to play Alexander Pierce. And it's not just a blink or you'll miss it cameo either. Pierce is a pivotal role in the film and just goes to show how seriously Marvel treats its product. 

With Redford playing the linchpin of the story and given its political and conspiracy overtones at times it feels like you’re watching a seventies movie in the spirit of The Parallax View or Three days of the Condor. Motives and trust are the key issues here. Who is pulling who's strings and why. Without giving to many spoilers away I can tell you the The Winter Soldier just happens to be the captains best friend Bucky Barnes, last seen falling off a train in the first film. Bucky is played again by Sebastian Stan, who incidentally only found out he was going to be in this film when a friend of his who was at Comic Con in 2012 called him up and told him that Marvel have just announced the title of the next Captain America movie and you're in it! 

Now they don't really go into that much detail but apparently Hydra's experiments on Bucky are what have kept him alive this long and what are also responsible for him having a new shiny metal arm!  Bucky gets his brain washed and is sent to eliminate Hydra's problems, the first if which is Samuel L Jacksons Nick Fury. 

In a big set piece involving a car chase and a SHEILD vehicle that has a gadget list that would make Q from James Bond whimper. The best way I can describe what happens to Fury is to say that he gets "decommissioned". Once Fury has been put on the shelf Bucky then sets his sights on the captain himself. They have several "aggressive" meetings during the course of the film culminating in a fight that almost gets a little farfetched in the believability stakes. If any of you have seen Day 8 of 24 you'll understand what I mean. But I guess if Jack Bauer can be shot, stabbed and tortured and still do his duty and save the day then I guess good old Captain America can too.

There are other characters from the Marvel universe that return in this film. The biggest being Scarlet Johansson's Black Widow. As with The Avengers the character isn't there just for geek eye candy. She's just as tough as ever, intelligent too and unless my memory is playing tricks on me, only has one excessive cleavage shot during her entire time on screen. Apart from the strength issue The Black Widow is very much cappy's equal in every department and in a nice touch that will probably go unnoticed by most she spends the entire film wearing a necklace with an arrow pendant on it.

Another returning character from the first film is Dr Arnim Zola played by Toby Jones. Now his "performance" for the want of a better word is unusual to say the least. It will leave some cinema goers with a rather odd taste in their mouths. Just think Skynet meets early Amstrad and you won't be too far off the mark. I personally didn't really buy into it but again it does help move the story forward. 

A new to Marvel film is the character "Falcon". He's played by Anthony Mackie and is thrown into the mix right from the get go. Falcon is basically one of those "does exactly what it says on the tin" type of superheroes. He has a jetpack with retractable wings (I've checked, they're not available on Amazon). He's one of the good guys and will hopefully return in future instalments further down the line although as far as I can tell he won't be in next year’s Avengers movie. 

The Winter Soldier is a great film. There are some innovative action set pieces including the best fight in a lift you're ever likely to see. There's also a scene early on where Captain pulls out a notepad. In it he has a list of cultural bits and bobs he needs to catch up on. I've done some checking up and depending on where in the world you're watching the movie depends on what appears on the list (there are ten different versions apparently). On our list we get gems like The Beatles, the 1966 World Cup and right at the top of the page the TV show Sherlock. The American list contains Steve Jobs, The Moon Landing and I Love Lucy.  

As good as the film is I do have a couple of issues with it. Firstly the film ends with SHIELD having basically been disbanded. Now they must have had a Winter Soldier script locked in place before Marvel launched Agents of Shield late last year and it's made me feel like the program is now redundant. Not sure how they'll get around that particular bump in the road when season two hits our screens but I'm sure they'll come up with something. My other gripe is that as much as I like the fact that Marvel likes to mix it up when picking directors for their films the actual films themselves are becoming a little bit formulaic. They all seem to have these massive fight sequences as their third act finale. Iron Man 3, Thor 2 and now The Winter Soldier all end with huge battles. Now I know that you have to go into these big tent pole films with certain expectations but there are other ways of creating spectacle and tension. The pay off at the end doesn't always need to be physical. 

I'll finish off by saying (and it really pains me to do so) that Marvel are now miles ahead of DC in terms of what they're bringing to the table. The Batman vs Superman film has been put back a year and now won't grace our screens until the summer of 2016. By then Marvel will have finished "phase 2" of their story arc and will be well and truly full steam ahead into "phase 3" with films like Ant Man, Dr Strange and Iron Man 4. If further proof were needed of Marvels superiority over DC when it comes to transporting comic book characters to the big screen, let me offer the following as evidence. It was reported last year that a Warner Bothers executive when being questioned as to why Wonder Woman was not being given a standalone film before she appears in the Batman vs Superman film, the response given was "the world isn't ready for a Wonder Woman movie". I would like to point out the Marvels next film The Guardians of the Galaxy has a talking racoon with a propensity for firearms violence... Your move DC, your move. 

Oh and before I forget make sure you stay for the credits. This is a Marvel film after all.

Twitter Review:

Steve Rogers, a man out of time. With his #SHIELD crumbling and best friends turning against him, trust is a high value commodity.

#Fearless

Useful Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1843866/?ref_=nv_sr_1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SlILk2WMTI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-xjmJl-bI

300: Rise of an Empire

Hello readers, it's that time again. No, not worrying if you've left it too late to get your body in shape for the beach this summer or why if the universe is indeed infinite we're stuck with Jedward. No it's fun film blog time and the Hollywood distraction that I'm about to set the crosshairs on is 300: Rise of an Empire. 

The film in question, for those not in the know, is the follow up to 300. This was a "swords and sandals" movie released back in 2006 and was adapted and directed by Zack "Man of Steel" Snyder from the graphic novel written by Frank Miller. I will start off by saying I really liked 300. It was a very special effects heavy piece of entertainment that managed to convey the feeling of actually watching a comic strip come to life. It clocks in at just less than two hours long and is perfect way to kill a couple of hours on a wet Sunday afternoon. 
It was also the film that gave Gerrard Butler his immortal and often parodied quote "THIS IS SPARTA!" It also has a long haired Michael Fassbender sounding off about fighting in the shade, which I should point out has nothing to do with spending a Saturday afternoon on Brighton’s seafront on a bank holiday weekend. 

So back to Rise of an Empire. It's a tale that is set before, during and after the events of its predecessor. It follows the Greek admiral Themistocles, played by Australian Sullivan Stapleton and his attempts to thwart the advancing Persian forces, led by the God King Xerxes and leader of his navy Artemisia, played by Rodrigo Santoro and Eva Green respectively.  
Now the main problem I found with this film is it has violence in spades but never really delivers when it comes to passion and emotion. It's almost as if the makers of the film sat around a table and decided that what this film could really use is lots of 3D blood splatters. And after that they played it safe and added some more. If you were so inclined to do so you could sit down in the comfort of your own front room, watch all eight series of Dexter and you still wouldn't even come close to the levels of blood splatter found in the one hundred and two minutes that Rise of an Empire graces the screen.
If the red overload wasn't enough to be going on with there's also a lot off issues to be had with the films physics. Now I know it's not a documentary and it's not supposed to be treated as gospel but there are problems with a couple of the big action set pieces. When the Themistocles led Greek navy first encounters the Persian fleet they enter the fray and charge into battle on what seems to be a very localised tidal wave, which disappears as quickly as it arrives. The other problem I had with it and I'd be more than happy to be proved wrong on his as ancient history isn't my strong point, is that the Greeks seem to have access to flame proof horses. Not only flame proof but horses that seem to have no problem jumping from one sinking ship to the other in the middle of a major aquatic battle. 

What about the plot I hear you ask? Well let’s start with the basics. The plot is at best patchy and at worst is incoherent. This goes back to the heart of this films problems, its lack of passion. Apart from Eva Green who is magnificent as Artemisia you get the feeling that everyone else is just acting by numbers. Lena Headley returns as Queen Gorgo and is underused for an actor of her talents. Headley gets a few key scenes that try to move the story on and also some exposition voice overs that wouldn't be missed if they weren't there. Also returning from the first film is David Wenham as Dilios. His contribution to the story seems like they really didn't know what to do with him. His dialogue is clumsy and as with Headley he is massively underused. I wouldn't have been at all surprised if he'd just been listed in the credits as "Warrior with eye patch."
There are also a couple of key speeches given by Themistocles where you’re left thinking that he has a spin doctor writing for him. No passion, no desire, no point. 
You really get the feeling that some studio pen pusher at Warners gave this film the green light purely down to the bums on seats and financial “Cha-ching” of the first flick. The problem with that is that given the first film is now over seven years old it’s a bit too late to strike whilst the iron is hot and ride on the coattails of its success.

Now it’s time to get controversial folks. Because I had trouble with this film holding my attention, my mind started to wander and by the hour mark that wandering had turned into a full blown ramble.  Every time I heard someone mention Themistocles on screen I kept thinking that it sounded like one of the names that would made it onto the short list when they were trying to name Cillit Bang. It got to the point that every time Thermy popped up on screen the phrase “Hi, I’m Barry Scott” ran from one side of my brain to the other like some unstoppable screen saver, hell bent on making me chuckle whilst I tried to maintain what little dignity I had left underneath my 3D glasses. I mention this not because I want to offend anyone from that part of the world. More to point out how my mind works when it’s not being stimulated properly. Further evidence of this can be given by stating for the record that each time there was a battle scene on the rolling oceans surrounding Greece I kept thinking that any minute now The Village people were going to turn up and burst into a rendition of “In the Navy.”

So in summing up I’ll just say this. 300 entertains and engages, whereas Rise of an Empire is definitely stuck on a sand bank somewhere. I don't know where it all went wrong. At the end of 300 they set up the premise for a great sequel. A battle that's about to involve ten thousand Spartans and the ever advancing Persian forces. That’s the film I wanted them to make. A film with action sequences to rival the battle of helms deep. A film with a script as sharp as the first and a film that doesn't miss fire as much as this one does. 
What I will take away from my time spent watching Rise of an Empire on the big screen is as follows. 
The first ten minutes of the new Captain America film are really good.
Secondly, Godzilla has the potential to blow all of the other summer blockbusters out of the water. 

Twitter Review: 
Rise of the Empire is as wet on land as it on the sea. Nothing close to the sum of its parts and the lifeboats are on standby 
#LostAtSea

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1253863/?ref_=nv_sr_1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zqy21Z29ps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Rzy7YqUVU

The Desolation Of Smaug

Hello dear reader, a couple of Saturdays before the Yuletide festivities kicked in and certain shops, who will remain nameless, started putting Easter eggs on their shelves I went and saw the new Hobbit film. Now for lots of different reasons I shan't bore you with, including one about a Microsoft windows update that made my keyboard ornamental as opposed to functional and another that centered around me ridding the world of dark chocolate and beer, I have been unable to commit pen to paper or in this case, fingers to keys and jot down what I thought of the film. I will now remedy this alarming oversight with a short, concise and as ever entertaining review of said film.

It starts unusually, not where we left off but with a flash back to Bree and a meeting in the prancing pony about six months before the start of the first film "An Unexpected Journey". This powwow takes place between Magneto & the Vicar of Dibleys hubby, sorry Gandalf and Thorin. They are discussing what to do about the pesky dragon that's taken up residence at Erebor and how, if ever, the dwarves will ever get to go and home. Apparently the metropolitan line just doesn't go that far. During this meeting the Arkenstone is brought up. This unique gem, that either runs on Duracell batteries or Magic (it's never really made clear in the film) will help the dwarves reclaim their home. I’m not sure how it’s supposed to work but I think it’s along the same principles as the "one ring." You know, whoever holds the stone, with great power comes great responsibility, greedo shot first, put your hand against the screen, we're not in Kanas anymore, gas mark 6, he's not the messiah he's a very naughty boy kind of deals. 
It’s during this meeting that it’s decided that a thief will be required to help get this gem back, which is where Bilbo comes in.
Just a quick aside. As and when you watch this film keep your eyes peeled as the very first person you see on screen, doing a splendid impression of bugs bunny, is the one and only director of the piece Peter Jackson. 

The film then takes us back to Bilbo "The Burglar" and this company of twelve dwarves. The bakers dirty dozen of Middle Earth if you will, still heading towards what can only described as the biggest branch of Ernest Jones I've ever seen. 
For those of you who haven't read the Hobbit I can say only this. You need to stop whatever you're doing and fix this literary omission right now. It belongs up there with the classics like Hamlet, A tale of two cities and the majestic George's marvellous medicine. 
For those of you who have you'll know what's coming. This includes (spoiler alert) a bear that's a man, who happens to hate Dwarves but hates Orcs even more. A wood that even Gandalf thinks twice about entering. A necromancer, which as far as I can tell is the equivalent of a Middle Earth Sith Lord. Also on display is Stephen Fry playing the Lord of Laketown. A role he plays to perfection.

This film seems to flow a lot more smoothly than its predecessor. There was a lot of talk, when the announcement came that Peter Jackson was taking a three hundred and thirty'ish page novel and then stretching out over three instalments, that it would make it very thin on the ground when it came to plot and story but with the inclusion of the appendices from other Tolkien books thrown in for good measure Mr Jackson seems to have pulled it off. Even bringing some characters back from The Lord of the Rings trilogy has paid off. It's a credit to the screenplay and its direction that a film that clocks in at two hours and 40 minutes feels like a movie half its length. In fact when the credits started to roll I had to look at my watch to double check the time. 

Now I can and will say that you get a lot more bang for your buck in the way of action with The Desolation of Smaug. There are some truly amazing set pieces here, including an arachnophobics worst nightmare brought to life. Made even more jolting if there happens to be a set of 3D glasses perched across your nose. An escape from the elves in barrels that puts any ride at Chessington World of Adventures or Alton Park to shame and a battle under the mountain that involves one of the biggest games of side and seek you're ever likely to see. 
My biggest issue with the film and I am really “nit picking” here is that Smaug doesn’t really get desolated at all. In fact the film ends with him basically getting the upper hand over everyone. I suspect given the effort that’s been put in to bring him to life, and I’ll be honest here you won’t see a better CGI dragon this side of the trilogies conclusion, Smaug will have a big part to play in the last film “There and Back Again.” This would be a big departure from the book as he kicks the bucket, hops the twig, expires, sleeps with the fishes, has bought the farm, gone belly up and also died about two thirds of the way through the novel. It’s actually Smaugs death causes the fight for the treasure and the battle of the five armies.  In closing I’ll say this. If the first film put you off and you felt disappointed (I know I did) this one redeems the franchise very well and would definitely be worth your time, money and trouble to go and see it.   

Twitter Review:
Smaug plays it smug. Watson plays with his ring and the mountain has more gold than Big Mac has Calories in it
#DragonsBarrels&Burglars

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001392/?ref_=tt_ov_dr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPVWy1tFXuc

Gravity

Hello readers, I’m going to start with something a little different with this review. I’m going to begin by saying that if you are one of the vast groups of people who frequent and enjoy visiting your local multiplex. Let’s put a label on them and call them “Cinema Goers”. Then you owe it to yourself to get your bottom down to your nearest picture house pronto quick, purchase a ticket or two, make sure it’s a 3D screening (more of that later) and then enjoy one of the best films that’s come along in many a year….

Now I know that some of you out there will have seen the trailer and made an informed opinion along the lines of “I don’t fancy that, to be honest” or something similar. Now opinions are all fine and dandy, unless of course you happen to call North Korea home, but if you have decided to give Gravity a miss I shall now tell you why you’re wrong.
The three main and obvious reasons for not going to see it are firstly, you’re not a big George Clooney fan. Secondly, Sandra Bullock has never floated your boat on the big screen and thirdly, that you just don’t find Science Fiction movies interesting. Now, taking those reasons one at a time I shall tell you why you’re wrong or what we refer to in my neck of the woods as being “Bonkers Conkers”.
George Clooney isn’t all bad. Yes, he’s annoyingly good looking and everything he touches seems to be a critical success but he’s had to work damn hard to get there. You only have to look at his IMDB page to see he’s paid his dues. He’s had to endure acting roles in Murder She Wrote, Return of the Killer Tomatoes and even Sunset Beach. Whatever your reasons for not liking Mr Clooney I think it’s time you forgive and forget any and all past transgressions that he may have committed towards you.
Reason number two, Sandra Bullock. Now when Ms Bullock first appeared in the mainstream back in 1993’s Demolition Man she was the archetypal girl next door. The American sweetheart who could do no wrong. This image was further reinforced in 1994’s Speed (yes, it’s nearly twenty years old) and it seemed that A-list mega-stardom was only a matter of when not if. However it didn’t really work out that way. Sandra became one of those “go-to” actors when casting rom coms and below par acting by numbers movies. Despite the occasional stand out performance in films like 28 Days and Crash where she played an alcoholic and a troubled rich housewife respectively  Ms Bullock has only really started to take her acting career seriously over the last few years. The proof of the pudding being her Oscar winning performance in 2009’s The Blind Side. This film also holds the record for being the highest grossing sports film ever made.  I must also admit to not being much a Sandra Bullock fan but I’m completely sold on her performance in Gravity. So much so, that I’m willing to go on record and say that with three months to go before Oscar nominations are even announced that not only will Ms Bullock be nominated for best actress she will also win the award too. Give her a chance to impress you as well.
Now, dealing with reason number three. Gravity is at first glance a stone cold, dyed in the wool Science fiction movie. Even the grand and illustrious James Cameron has gone on record by saying that “Gravity is the best Science Fiction film ever made.” Far be it for me to contradict the man who brought us blue people dying in one of the most visually stunning films ever made, Titanic, but I really think he’s missed the boat and got that wrong. Calling Gravity a Science Fiction film is like trying to pigeon hole the Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law Sherlock Holmes films as period dramas. It’s very hard to put just one label on it. At its heart it’s a story of redemption, knowing when to let go and survival.
If I had a gun pointed at my head and was asked to describe what I’d just watched I would have to say that at its core it’s a chase movie. Think of it as a modern day remake of Steven Spielberg’s Duel. However instead of a truck tormenting our victims it’s an ever escalating debris field moving in orbit at twenty thousand miles an hour. Destroying everything in its path without prejudice or remorse.

Hopefully that will have wetted your appetite enough to convince you to put one foot in front of the other and make a date with some overpriced soft drinks and popcorn. If it hasn’t however I have other weapons I can use in my persuasive arsenal to go and see what many including Empire magazine are calling their film of the year.
This film has jaw dropping visuals. I’ve never seen anything that even comes close to the levels of detail that have been put on the screen with Gravity and should really be seen in 3D, it will make a difference. I understand that there are people out there that would rather admit to liking Justine Bieber than having to wear those rather fashionable glasses but they will make a difference.
The Director Alfonso Cuaron has a reputation of delivering when it comes to filmmaking excellence. Long tracking shots, unusual angles and committing to screen originality, Cuaron doesn’t disappoint here either. Having previously helmed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the Children of Men this new film doesn’t just raise the bar with the cinematography, special effects and CGI it makes all that have come before it look clunky and antiquated. If Industrial Light and Magic are given the task to “Make with the aliens” for the soon to be filming Star Wars Episode VII then they may just need to send Cuaron the odd email and ask him very nicely just how he pulled it off his spectacular visuals. 
If you do go and see this film try and remember as you leave that 90% of what you’ve just watched was produced by computers.

At the start of the film it there’s a short description that appears on screen telling us what you can expect when in space. This culminates with the words “life in space is impossible.” After this the film starts with a single shot that ends up being just north of fourteen minutes long. When this single shot finishes, I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll be hooked and probably completely oblivious to the guy sitting behind you eating his nachos at fifty decibels or the teenager four seats over texting their friends.
This is what I would call an “Event” movie. What it lacks in summer blockbuster promotion and merchandising tie-ins it makes up for with edge of your seat drama and spectacle. Cuaron manages to pull this astonishing feat off with the help of a script, written by his son Jonas, which truly rewrites the rule book. It has suspense and has you really caring about what happens to the characters on screen. The other trick the screenplay manages to pull off is that there are only seven parts and five of those you only hear as voices. Clooney and Bullock are the only two actors you ever see on the screen. It’s also really nice to find Warner Brothers putting faith being put into a completely original story. This tale wasn’t adapted from a famous novel or short story. It isn’t part of a franchise and hasn’t been treated as a cash cow either.

I shan’t go into major plot details as to do so would require giving away spoilers and plot points that should be enjoyed as surprises by the movie goer themselves. What I will say is this. If it hasn’t come across over the previous paragraphs that I was blown away by this film and I cannot recommend going to see Gravity highly enough then I apologise. It must apparently take a much better wordsmith than I to do this film justice. So in closing I’ll say if you choose not to go I will call you a poo poo head and in certain cases I will call into question your musical tastes, literary preferences and in some cases fashion sense.

Lights blue touch paper and retires…..

Twitter Review:
What goes up must come down. Never ever going into space....EVER
#Stunning

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/?ref_=nv_sr_2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiTiKOy59o4

Dredd 3D, Skyfall, Frankenweenie, Gambit

There now follows an official press release from Bavs Celluloid Musings.

Dear reader first let me apologise for the lack of posts over the last two months. I’d like to say that the lack of activity was down to some exotic reason, such as having drafted into the Avengers to fight crime on my forklift or being kidnapped by the head of Disney to work on the new Star Wars script for Episode VII but the truth of the matter is far more boring and mundane.
Flat hunting, moving and then it taking a while to get the internet back up and running. 
I know, I Should have gone with the Disney excuse shouldn’t I?

So with the apologies out of the way I’d like to give a quick review each of the films I’ve missed over the last eight weeks or so starting with Dredd 3D.

So where to start? Well firstly let me issue a word of warning….. It’s very violent. However that doesn’t really even begin to tell the story. Saying its violent is like saying Spartacus is a long film, it just doesn’t even come close to describing what has been committed to film here. This is in a different league when it comes to comic book adaptations. Nothing has ever come close to being this visceral and in your face. If ultra-slow motion bullet injuries are your bag or the sight of people being skinned “just for jollies” then this maybe the film you have been waiting for. It also goes without saying that film is not for kids.
Karl Urban has seen his stock rise over the last decade with roles in The Lord Of The Rings, The Bourne Supremacy and the rebooted Star Trek franchise but this is the first time he’s been asked to carry a Hollywood film as the lead. A job he does with ease, spending the entire film basically only acting with his chin (for those not in the know Dredd never and I do mean NEVER takes his helmet off). Lena Headey plays the big bad meanie of the piece, Ma-Ma. She has her own ideas about Neighbourhood watch and the chemicals she likes to use around the house you wouldn’t find any personal grooming products. Ma-Ma also has a few anger management problems. If she worked in a library I think it would be safe to say that you’d never return a book late. There have been better comic book films this year but this is definitely worth a watch when it gets released on dvd.

Twitter Review:
I am the gore!
#GunsGuts&GoodGrief!

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343727/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqqgrUna28w

Skyfall comes next on my omissions list. Now seeing that the world and most of its relations have seen this by now there are two ways I can handle this. The professional approach that you’ll read in most places that’s informative, enlightening comes with a plethora of astute observations, or there’s the route I’m going to take that will include a trip to cheese city. So without further ado I’d just like to say that the new Q and M are a new “dench mark!” (See what I did there). And whilst I’m on the subject of M, Dame Judi actually drops the F-bomb in this film, which I believe is a first for Bond.
If you take Skyfall at face value it doesn’t work. Before the credits have even rolled he gets shot and loses the hard drive he’s looking for. He goes AWOL, fails to save the girl, loses Silva (played brilliantly by Javier Bardem) and M still dies in the end. Now even by the lowest standards set by any secret service agency, that’s P45 time in anyone’s book. 
Daniel Craig has signed on the dotted line to play Bond for at least two more outings and by the time the he hits the screens again in late 2014 as the world’s most famous secret agent he’ll be as old as Roger Moore was when he started playing 007. As long as DC keeps his eyebrows under control I can see no problems with him being offered more chances to kill for Queen and Country.

Twitter Review:
The best Bond of a generation. Ignore the plot and enjoy the action.
#MI6UnderAttack,

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1074638/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kw1UVovByw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StJLvbPIvTw

Next is Frankenweenie, which does exactly what it says on the tin and even throws in an invisible fish for good measure. All you need to know is that it’s a Tim Burton film and if you happen to like his particular bag of tricks, you’ll love this too.

Twitter Review:
Science experiments, monsters, gothic overtones and fantastic animation. Tim Buton remakes his own film into a B-movie classic.
#Black&WhiteGold

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1142977/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2luLW-9ySw

The last film I need to play catch up with is Gambit. A charming film with Colin Firth, Alan “shoot the glass” Rickman and Cameron Diaz. The story revolves around an art curator, played by firth, who’s fed up with having to work for his insufferable, rude and abusive boss, Rickman, and so sets about conning him into buying a fake Monet with the help of an eccentric Texan rodeo rider.
The film which is written by the Coen brothers is part farce and part poor man’s Oceans 11. It never really gets its right with the script and although it does have some great comedy set pieces, it just feels a little flat and underwhelming at times.

Twitter Review:
This could have been a great film but the script needs work.
#Monet’sTiggers&RodeoRiders.

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0404978/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq8LwPHBwtY