Reviews by KarenDirector – Matthew Warchus
Staring – Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Paddy Considine, Andrew Scott
Based on a true story of a group of London based gay and lesbian activists who decide to raise money to help striking miners in the 1980’s. They find a community willing to accept their money in a remote part of Wales where they then visit and face some hostility but eventually they make lifelong friends.
DVD extras include commentary and behind the scenes programmes.
8/10
Director – Gerald Thomas
Staring – Sid James, Hattie Jaques, Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Liz Fraser
Black and white comedy where Sid James runs a cab commonly but his wife Hattie Jaques is felling neglected at home so decides to secretly set up a rival cab firm staffed exclusively by women. Hilarity ensues while they each try to outwit each other until the truth is revealed and then how they deal with the fallout.
DVD extras includes commentary
8/10
Director – Rowan Joffe
Staring – Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong
Psychological thriller where a woman wakes up each day next to a man she doesn’t remember who claims to be her husband and that she has amnesia.
The film follows her mission to try to remember who she is and who she can trust.
6/10
Director – Kenneth Branagh
Staring – Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgard, Colm Feore, Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, René Russo, Anthony Hopkins
In 965AD King Odin of Asgard defeated the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and their leader Laufrey to prevent them from attacking the 9 realms starting with Earth and seized the source of their power the Casket of Ancient Winters.
In the present day, Odin’s son Thor is preparing to take the throne from his father but is interrupted by the Frost Giants who want the Casket back. Thor follows the Giants against his father’s orders along with his brother Loki and their friends. There is a battle breaking the long held truce and banishes Thor to earth and removes his godly powers and throws Thor’s hammer to earth wit and enchantment which only allows those who are worthy to use it.
Thor and his hammer land in New Mexico where 3 scientists Jane Foster, Darcey Lewis and Erik Selvig are investigating the strange events. The hammer is found and SHIELD officers guard it. Thor tries to lift it but is unable to do so. He resigns himself to living on exclie on Earth and starts a romance with Jane.
In Asgard Loki discovers he is Laufreys son and was rescued by Odin. Odin is tied and Loki takes the throne. Thors friends warn Thor what is happening but Loki sends a robot monster to earth to attack them all. Thor offers himself as a sacrifice and when his is near death his regains the power to summon his hammer and regains his godly strength as he has shown his worthiness. Thor kisses Jane goodbye and returns to Asgard promising to return soon.
Loki and Thor fight and Thor is left with no choice but to break the passage to Earth to save them.
A notice appears saying Thor will return in the Avengers.
There was is a post credit scene with Selvig being taken to a SHIELD office and Nick Fury asks him to investigate a cube shaped object. We see and invisible Loki tell him to accept which he does.
The DVD has some problems with jumping.
There is a directors commentary as an extra.
7/10
Director- Scott McGhee and David Segel
Staring – Julianne Moore , Alexander Skarsgard, Onata April, Joanna Vanderham, Steve Coogan
Maisie is a six years old girl who is stuck in the middle of her parents divorce. Both parents are too self absorbed to care for her, so she is left with their new younger partners, who she grows to love more than her parents as they show her that care and security she needs which her parents must face up to eventually.
The film follows Maisie who is able to understand more than those around her give her credit for.
DVD extras include Directors commentary.
7/10
Director – Lenny Abrahamson
Writer – Emma O’Donoghue
Staring – Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, Sean Bridges, William H Macy.
The story is told through the eyes of a 5 year old boy Jack who lives with his mother “MA” in “Room”. Jack has never experienced life outside of room and doesn’t even know there is and outside. After his 5th birthday Ma tells Jack the truth about why they live in Room – she is called Joy and was abducted and raped and is trapped in a shed in her captors back yard. She plots to help Jack escape so that he can get help. Although he is very scared of an unknown world he is very brave and manages to get help to Ma. The film then shows how they meet up with Joy’s family and start to get on with their lives.
This is a very thought provoking drama with especially good performances from Brie Larson and young Jacob Tremblay.
10/10
Director –
Staring – Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Amanda Abbington, Una Stubbs, Mark Gatis, Louise Berealey
There have been many views circulating about the episode so this is my interpretation of the episode. SPOILER ALERT
The Abominable Bride continues the story from His Last Vow with Sherlock being called back from his exile the deal with the supposed return of Moriarty despite Sherlock witnessing him shoot himself in the head. Sherlock secretly takes a large amount t of drugs to the to males sense of Moriarty’s supposed return. He imagines he is in Victorian London with all the regular characters, investigating the case of the abominable bride who also supposedly returned from on the dead, so that he can use his mind palace to see if he can work out what happened and if it is happening again.
Special features – lots of behind the scenes and interviews.
9/10
This is a BBC adaptation of the famous Agatha Christie story. A group of strangers are invited to an island for different reasons. They all have secrets in their pasts which are gradually revealed as the number of bodies rises. Can you guess who is the murderer before there are none?
Special Features – behind the scenes
8/10
Director -Jon Favreau
Staring – Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlet Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, Samuel L Jackson.
In Russia Ivan Vanko (Rourke) is watching Tony Stark announce that he is Iron man and decides to make a similar arc reactor and suit.
Stark becomes very famous appearing as Iron Man regularly but refuses to government pressure to sell his designs and restarts the Stark Expo event which his father formerly ran showcasing inventions from across the world.
Stark discovers that the palladium core in the arc reactor that is keeping him alive and powers his armour is slowly poisoning him. He keeps this a secret from his friends Pepper Potts, James Rhodes, Happy Hogan and his new PA Natalie Rushman and becomes increasingly reckless. He enters a special Monaco Grand Prix but Vanko attacks him using his newly created suit with eclectic whips as “Whiplash”. Vanko is put in jail, but Starks rival Justin Hammer helps Vanko escapes and by making everyone believe that Vanko died.
Stark believes he is having his final birthday and gets drunk as Iron Man. Rhodes puts on an old Iron Man suit to try to restrain him and then takes the old suit to the US Air Force.
Nick Fury (SHIELD’s director) meets with Stark and explains that Natalie Rushman is an undercover agent Natasha Romanoff and that Starks father was a SHEILD founder who became an enemy of Vanko’s father. Stark goes through his father’s stuff and discovers a design for a new element for the arc reactor and starts to make it.
Stark discovers Vanko is alive and starts to successfully use his new reactor. He goes to the Expo and sees that Hammer and Vako have been making unmanned armoured drones which are led by Rhodes in the old Iron Man suit with extra weapons. Vanko starts to remotely control Rhodes and the drones to attack Stark. Hogan and Romanoff manage to get remote control back and Vanko is defeated and Stark and Potts get together. At a debriefing Fury tells stark that due to his personality he will be used as a consultant rather than a full member of SHEILD.
There is a post credits sequence where a shield agent, Phil Coulson reports back on the discovery of a large hammer at the bottom of a crater in a desert in New Mexico.
Extras – Directors Commentary
7/10
Director – Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Staring -Jonah Hill,Channing Tatum, Peter Storemare, Ice Cube
Police officers Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) go undercover at a local college. Schmidt focuses on the arts and Jenko focuses in the football team to catch the criminals.
DVD exrras include a commentary with cast and creators, deleted scenes and interviews
6/10