Tokyochuchu

Assassin's creed is a dull and joyless adaptation of the excellent videogame series. Some of the action scenes in the past may be flashy but they are also vacant and soulless. I didn't care about any of these characters or their plights and my attention drifted away from the film at various points. It's such a shame because the cast and premise is great and I am personally a big fan of the games. Ah well...

Spider-Man 3 is an entertaining but bloated movie that fails to capture the same emotional highs as it's predecessor. But again... It's entertaining. And certainly nowhere near as bad as some would have you believe.

Spider-Man 2 is one of the best super-hero movies ever made. The action scenes are decent, but it's the emotional heft of the story and the innocence of Maguire's Spidey that really connects. You just can't help but root for such a good-hearted, self sacrificing hero.

There are many great movies out there to enjoy. But it's only occasionally that a movie can come along and totally shift your perceptions of a certain genre. La La Land is that movie for me and musicals. I hate musicals. All that unnecessary singing and dancing and saccharine sweetness. No thank you. But La La Land legitimately blew my mind out the back of my skull. It takes you up to peaks of dizzy joy but also plunges you down into the abyss of heartbreak. It's an emotional rollercoaster ride of a film and all that unnecessary singing and dancing... I loved every second of it! La La Land is an absolute masterpiece and easily one of the best movies I've seen for a very long time. Plus the soundtrack is incredible!

David Brent: Life on the Road was a ton of silly fun. Gervais is still perfect as awkward idiot David Brent and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments to enjoy. The climax is a little contrived and can't quite deliver the same payoff as the Christmas specials it so obviously apes. But this is still a massive amount of fun for fans of The Office.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is an extended episode of the 1980s cartoon come onto the big screen. It features the same type of stupidity, vapid plotting and childish nature as that old cartoon series. But... Since I grew up watching that, this TMNT flick was a lot of idiotic fun. My only complaint really is that the final action sequence should have been better and should have featured Shredder, Bepob and Rocksteady more.

Although slight, That Thing You Do is one of the most delightful music related movies out there. It's a whirlwind of sugar coated tunes, youthful excitement and 1960s period detailing. Great stuff indeed.

Jack Reacher was a fun little popcorn action flick. The downsides to it were an inconsistent tone and ill-defined villains. But otherwise, the film was fun and suitably badass.

Nymphomaniac vol 1 was an uneven but entertaining film. Vol 2, however, is completely awful. Character motivations don't make sense at all and the acting gets even wonkier. And the ending is just... Awful. The first part clawed it's way to enjoyable mediocrity. The second part is just flat-out crap.

Horns is at it's best when dabbling in comedy. Much more could have been made of that aspect of the movie. But what Horns eventually delivers is a muddled experience that can never decide what what type of film it wants to be.

American Swing was an entertaining documentary about a swinger's club in New York. It leaves you intrigued and disgusted in equal measure. The 'matress room'... *shudder*

Nymphomaniac: Volume 1 is an entertaining yet uneven film. The acting (and indeed writing) veers between great to really quite bad. Likewise, the pacing and cutting suffers from occasionally bizarre shifts. But... Despite it's deep flaws, Nymphomanic : Volume 1 is still a film that is hard to take your eyes away from.

Inside LLewyn Davis is an excellent film. Expertly acted and beautifully shot, it's brilliant movie about sinking slowly into despair. It's a heavy watch that will weigh on your soul but it's undeniably fantastic film making.

The Revenant is a very simple film about man versus nature and revenge. It's impressive and features amazing cinematography. Kudos for Leo for taking a lot of obvious real punishment while making it too. That can't have been pleasant!

X-Men Apocalypse is an entertaining addition to the franchise. The film is simple, with crisp and clean plotting. Unfortunately, that also leads to the film being very predictable. Despite the complete lack of surprises, there is still a lot of fun action to enjoy.

Ghostbusters is a very good reboot of the long dormant franchise. It was funny and had some cool visuals and action sequences. What's not to like? I have no idea why this film met with such vitriolic hatred upon release. It's a good, fun film! Oh well... Here's to the internet crazies once again.

Under the Skin is a supurb art-house sci-fi flick that is completely devoid of hand-holding. It's a bleak and beautiful vision featuring truly eye-catching cinematography. After watching the movie I just couldn't stop thinking about it. The inscrutable nature of the film is so alluring and mysterious. I needed to go watch it again. And I did... And my appreciation deepened considerably. Under the Skin is an excellent film.

Filth was a very enjoyable movie. Seeing James McAvoy's monster police officer slowly sink into his own avarice and, well, filth is a funny, intense and ultimately sad sight. James McAvoy's performance is also spectacular. Great stuff if you have the stomach for it.

Suicide Squad was a fun movie. It wasn't perfect and had a pretty rote villain but entertained well through it's run time. Harley Quinn and the Joker were particularly fun. Mercifully better than Superman VS Batman.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a truly excellent entry into the franchise that even outshines the prior 'Force Awakens'. Risks are taken, new ground is covered and excitement is served up in spades. Perfectly cast and directed, Rogue One immediately takes it's place as one of the better Star Wars films out there.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a great sequel to the sublime original. It nails most aspects and easily displays whey the Dragon series is probably the best animated franchise out there. Roll on number 3!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an excellent first chapter in the Harry Potter spin off. It immediately lurches towards the darker aspects of the later potter movies, whilst still maintaining some giddy fun of new discovery. The world building is great and in general, this is a much more satisfying movie than the early Potter films. Great stuff!

Star Trek Beyond is a decent entry into the series. It makes a lesser impact than the previous reboot films, though, as it is very inconsequential. It feels more like the later Next Generation Star Trek movies like Insurrection and Nemesis than epic fare like First Contact or Wrath of Khan. Still an entertaining flick, however.

Ex Machina is a fantastic science fiction think piece. Expertly written and directed by Alex Garland, the movies slowly layers tension upon tension. This is a wonderful, thought provoking piece of cinema.

Tarantino strikes again with a beautifully filmed, superbly scripted and perfectly acted western. The soundtrack also deserves a mention for being excellent too. Fantastic stuff!

Bridge of Spies is a nice tale of true courage told by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Although the film is a little short on thrills, the emotions run high and it ultimately succeeds. Plus the performances are uniformly great.

Spy is an entertaining comedy vehicle for Melisa McCarthy. It also features some other amusing turns from Jason Statham and whoever plays that hilarious Italian pervert spy (too lazy to research, sorry). Rude jokes and decent fights abound. Spy is a fun time.

The Jungle Book is an excellent update of the animated original. The SFX are amazing and the film is exciting and surprisingly scary at points. Excellent stuff.

The Secret Life of Pets is a vaguely amusing animated movie. It has some cute characters and some funny scenes, but lacks the heart or meaning of Pixar's films.

Sleepy Hollow is a fun horror / comedy from Tim Burton. It's gory and fun and has an entertaining performance from Johnny Depp. It's also just the right level of scariness and violence to make it a suitable Halloween movie for 10 year old kids, too.

American Hustle is an excellent film, filled with fantastic performances, great writing and well earned laughs. Like all good con movies, it also has an unpredictable streak and keeps you guessing until the end. Great stuff!

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a poor sequel that has little in the way of payoff or excitement. Plus the ending leaves you with a very, very annoying cliffhanger. And the movie it's way overlong to boot.

Independence Day: Resurgence is a mildly entertaining sequel to the mildly entertaining 90's original. The general set-up and pay off to the movie works well, but the action sequences feel strangely lifeless. Neither as bad or as great as it could have been.

The Huntsman: Winter's War is a better film that the original Snow White. It's got quite a lot of fun and laughs in it. The movie also has some spectacular visuals too. I'm happy that people are still making these quirky fantasy movies that aren't Lord of the Rings related. They remind me of '80s flicks like Willow and Krull.

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 isn't quite as fun as it's crazy predecessor and features nothing to rival the that film's climax, but it's still a great movie filled with memorable scenes and performances.

Kill Bill: Vol 1 is a lot of fun. It threw me the first time I watched it, because it was so different from Tarantino's previous films. But once I understood the tone and ideas it was going for, Kill Bill became a lot of fun. Good, stupid fun guaranteed!

Captain America: Civil War had a lot to live up to, as it's predecessor Winter Solider was absolutely amazing. Thankfully, Civil Wars delivers on it's promise and is arguably the best Marvel movie yet. It's a whole ton of fun and slapped a smile on my face from start to finish. Excellent stuff and a truly worthy sequel to Winter Solider.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a classic adventure movie. It stands up well today because of it's canny use of practical effects and breakneck pace. It still has some shock value too... That face melting sequence still seems crazy gory to this day!

Creed is another unexpectedly excellent Rocky movie, albeit with Rocky shifted off to the sidelines a bit. The boxing scenes are exciting, the acting is great and the film's spirit is undeniable. The only annoyance comes via the over-use of plot-points lifted from the original Rocky movie. But still a great flick.

Jurassic World is a great, idiotic barn-stormer of a movie. I don't remember the last time I had so much fun watching a cheesy effects driven flick. Dinosaurs munch people and each other, the kids aren't particularly annoying, Chris Pratt is cool and... Well... That climax... Pure awesome sauce. Jurassic World is simply a really fun ride!

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is overlong, messy, incoherent and overly dark. There is fun to be had here, though... After all, it does feature a scene with Batman smashing a toilet over Superman's head. But pushing (more like ramming) the Justice League into this film combined with a climax that does not fit the film's prior tone ultimately scuppers most of the good stuff. Ah... A disappointing effort.

The Punisher: War Zone is a paper thin comic book movie. It's stupid, violent, simple and well... Kind of fun in a no-brain way. Don't expect a masterpiece or any kind of emotion and you'll be OK. It's just a B-movie about cracking skulls. No more, no less.

Inside Out is amazing. The amount of emotion, insight and catharsis on offer in this animation puts most serious adult films to shame. This is a film that truly makes you laugh and cry... Often at the same time. Pixar have set a new bar for themselves with this masterpiece.

The Martian is a great realistic science-fiction movie of a man trapped on Mars. The science works well and it's all glued together by Matt Damon's energetic central performance... And Sean Bean actually survives!!

Kingsman: The Secret Service was a ton of fun. It was super violent, super stupid and super funny. Colin Firth was an absolute riot in this film! I hope this is the beginning of a new franchise because I'd certainly like to see more of the Kingsmen!

Boyhood is an absolute masterpiece and probably the best movie of it's type ever made. The acting is excellent across the board and the writing matches the performances. There isn't much in the way of 'plot' per se, but somehow the film just works with the daily grind compulsively pulling you in. Boyhood is a joy to watch and a really emotional ride. It's a perfect slice of movie making.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens is a very entertaining Star Wars movie. It isn't as good as the originals but is far superior to the prequels. The film feels over-familiar in a lot of ways but fresh and exciting in others. Most importantly, it sets a strong foundation from where Star Wars can go anywhere. Episode VIII can't come soon enough!

Birdman is a very interestingly shot movie. It's camera tricks and shimmies are truly state-of-the-art and impress very much. Likewise, the performances are great too. What lets the side down a little is the inconclusive nature of the narrative. Many threads (such as the lesbian aspect, Ed Norton's arc, Emma Stone's rebellious streak) are dangled but never resolved. It's an entertaining watch for sure, but not an entirely satisfying one on the story front, I think.

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi is another fantastic Star Wars film. There are so many great, unforgettable scenes from the sand barge to the speeder bikes to the mother of all space battles. The only real problem are those Ewoks. Seriously?! A bunch of teddy bears with rocks take down "an entire legion of [the emperor's] best men". Every time I see those stormtroopers panic, throw aside all notion of tactics or strategy and run off willy-nilly into the bushes... Sigh. But still a great movie, though.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back is arguably the best film in the franchise. The plot is deeper, the tone is darker and the characters are more fleshed out. Not much more to say beyond that. I've seen this classic film many times. I will see it many times more, I think. That is the mark of a truly great movie!