Reviews by KarenDirector -Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Staring – Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum
This action comedy follows 2 police officers who o undercover at a high school to catch drug dealers.
The DVD has a commentary, behind the scenes and deleted scenes
Director – Louis Leterrier
Staring – Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Time Roth, William Hurt
Following a radiation accident Bruce Banner transforms into the hulk whenever his heart rate rises above 200. He becomes a fugitive from the US government (in particular General Thunderbolt Ross and Emil Blonsky) who want to use the Hulking process as a weapon.
They try to capture him at a university where Ross’s daughter Betty works and Blonsky and Betty are injured. Banner rescues Betty and they go on the run. Blonsky gets infected with a drop of Banners blood.
Banner and Betty find an expert in radioactive poisoning who is working on an antidote, but also has synthesised Banners blood to help medical breakthroughs. But Ross and Blonsky find them. Banner is captured by Ross and Blonsky transforms himself using the synthetic blood and goes on a rampage. Banner and Blonsky fight in their hulk forms and Banner wins and goes into hiding in a forest.
Ross is then drinking in a bar when Tony Stark (Ironman)comes to tell him a team is being put togetherth.
The DVD includes a film makers commentary.
5/10
Director – Pascal Chaumeil
Staring – Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, Aaron Paul
4 strangers meet on the roof of a London building in New Years Eve, each of them intending to kill themselves by jumping off. When the meet they decide to leave the roof slkiveand vow not to commit suicide until at least Valentines Day. The film then tells the story of how they each deal with their futures.
The DVD extras are deleted scenes and outakes
6/10
Director – Paul Feig
Staring – Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Jude Law, Miranda Hart, Allison Janney
Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) has a desk job with the CIA. When the identities of the field agents are compromised she volunteers to go out in the field to stop the bad guys as they do not know her and becomes an unexpected heroine.
This is a very funny film.
The DVD has and extended version of the film and 2 gag reels as extras.
9/10
Director – Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland
Staring – Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin
Alice (Julliane Moore) is an intelligent lecturer who is diagnosed with early onset familial Alzheimer’s. The film follows how she and her family deal with her diagnosis and decline.
It is a sensitively told and we’ll acted story, that deserved the awards it got.
The DVD includes interviews with the cast and crew.
8/10
Director – Jon Favreau
Staring -Robert Downey Jr, Terrance Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub
Ironman is the first film in the Marvel Avengers series. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is a billionaire weapon manufacturer and inventor. He is kidnapped by terrorists who want him to build a weapon, but instead he invents an armoured suit to escape and then uses it to combat crime assisted by his PA Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).
It is easy to follow for those unfamiliar with the Marvel universe (like me) and there is a post credits scene. leading on to future films.
Director – Tom Hooper
Staring – Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard
The Danish Girl is inspired around the true story of married Danish Artists Einer and Gerder Wegener in the 1920s. Following Einer standing in as a female model for his wife, he begins to live his life as a woman Lili Elbe and eventually undergoing one of the first attempts of male to female gender reassignment surgery.
7/10
Director – David O Russell
Staring – Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper.
Joy is based on a true story of a divorce mother who was determined to realise her dreams of seeing her inventions becoming successful. It is a domestic family drama with 4 generations of a family living together, in any spare bit of space in a small house. As a child Joy was always inventing things but initially in adulthood she spends her time looking after her family. During this time she sees a problem with normal mops and invents a better type of mop. The story then follow how she gets funding, through to selling them on QVC and how she progresses in the future.
It was an interesting story and I wasn’t familiar with the story of Joy Mangano before and it made me want to find out more about the story behind the film.
7/10