Cinema Review – Angry Birds

Directors: Clay Kaytis & Fergal Reilly
Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad & Danny McBride

As of late, the movie industry has been selecting some interesting properties to adapt into feature length films and in some cases even franchises. From the upcoming Emoji movie to the recently announced $80 million Tetris film which begins shooting soon, studios are betting on whatever they can to try capture themselves a hit. Sceptics out there will immediately begin firing but sometimes these ideas pay off, the key example being 2014’s The Lego Movie.  One such property which Sony Pictures are hoping will catapult them to success is The Angry Birds, an animated comedy based on the 2009 hugely popular phone app game.

Cinema Review – Joy

Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro & Bradley Cooper

So once again yet another year has passed, the many of us have finally gotten over our NYE hangover blues and now begins another 365 days of brand new film releases. Hence in tradition with the start of every annual cinematic roster, welcome to the onslaught of awards season contenders. That final stretch before the prizes are handed out in which some of cinemas best and brightest can produce some of their finest movies. First up, from acclaimed director David O. Russell comes Joy, a loosely truth-based story about the struggled rise of a strong business tycoon/inventor and her first major invention, the Miracle Mop.

Cinema Review – The Lady In The Van

Director: Nicholas Hytner
Starring: Maggie Smith, Dominic Cooper & James Corden

One good deed which many can partake in everyday is being kind to the homeless. Whether that’s just simply lending them some change on the street or even generously buying  them a snack or a coffee, every little helps when it comes to aiding someone living rough. However, British playwright Alan Bennett has most of these everyday generosities beaten as once he helped out an eccentric drifter by letting her live on his Camden driveway for a whopping 15 years. The ‘mostly true’ story behind this became subject of one of his most popular plays to date and is now a feature hitting cinemas in The Lady In The Van.

Cinema Review – Brooklyn

Director: John Crowley
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen & Domhnall Gleeson

Love triangles in cinema have had their reputation tarnished somewhat in recent years. Few decent efforts have attempted to shine through but these have been eclipsed by far bulkier releases. The Hunger Games is the strongest of these big hitters but Katniss’s love triangle isn’t really a main focus in the franchise. Then there’s the obvious wave of the Twilight Saga and all the clones its success brought. So, it’s about time that a film reignited the element of class which romance films used to be known for. Stepping up to the plate is Irish period romance Brooklyn, with young actress Saoirse Ronan as an immigrant caught between two loves, her new life abroad and the past from which she came.

Cinema Review – Spectre

Director: Sam Mendes
Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz & Lea Séydoux

After over 50 years of feature sized escapades, author Ian Fleming’s iconic suave spy James Bond is one of the most recognised, celebrated and incredibly British icons around. Between lows to highs and shake-ups to stirrings, the Bond franchise still lives on, from the first days of Connery’s classic era through to Brosnan’s wackier days. Now, after three films since the character’s gritty reboot in 2006’s Casino Royale and introduction to Daniel Craig as the lead, 007 is back once again. Under the helm of returning director Sam Mendes, Spectre is the 24th film in the series, meaning that license to kill isn’t expiring for a while yet.

Cinema Review – Everest

Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Starring: Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa & Thomas M. Wright

Several people in the world shun the idea of the ‘nine-to-five’ lifestyle and actively avoid the customary everyday endured by the masses. Trading the traditional for audacious thrills, some people would rather travel the world, seek new heights and break personal goals alongside new ground. The latest movie from Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur tells the tale of several of these adventurous types and the tragic fate that befell them atop the highest mountain Earth has to offer in Everest.

Cinema Review – Legend

Director: Brian Helgeland
Starring: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning & Taron Egerton

The name Tom Hardy has recently become instantly recognised by more than most, as the Brit-born actor has shot from indie hit to stratospheric fame. However, before his catapult to the A-list, he starred in the fantastic acclaimed breakout piece Bronson as the titular twisted thug.  Now in Legend, Hardy is returning to his streak of depicting British criminals by taking on two cockney geezers with a single breezeblock, as  the infamous identical Kray twins.

Cinema Review – No Escape

Director: John Erick Dowdle
Starring: Lake Bell, Pierce Brosnan & Owen Wilson

Hollywood as of late has been striving for actors and actresses more known for dramatic and comedic roles to surprisingly fit into the part of a lead action star, storming through gunfights and explosive scenarios. Following the strokes of luck struck with the likes of Liam Neeson, Matt Damon and to a lesser extent Sean Penn, it’s now time for the usually mild mannered Owen Wilson to fall face to face with a warzone of his own. Starring alongside Lake Bell, No Escape pits Wilson against all of the odds in an escape aiming escapade by director John Erick Dowdle, which follows an American family attempting to find safe retreat out of an Asian country amidst a government overthrowing mutiny.

Cinema Review – Terminator Genisys

Director: Alan Taylor
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke & Emilia Clarke

Back in 1984, the now-financial money magnet that is director James Cameron brought cinema-land one of the most iconic movie bad guys with sci-fi action hit TheTerminator.  With people flocking to see the leather-clad, unstoppable machine blow the hell out of LA and it’s residents in the first one, Terminator 2: Judgement Day quickly followed, seemingly managing to raise the bar and making one of the most beloved sequels of all time. But alas, all good things must apparently come to an end as the newest two sequels Rise Of The Machines and Salvation aren’t viewed with such fond nostalgia. But almost 6 years after Christian Bale’s infamous meltdown that was Salvation, Skynet is rebooting it’s systems to come online once again, this time with the original Schwarzenegger T-800 still intack. However, is Terminator Genisys a shiny new polished take on everyone’s favourite killer bot or is this just more junk metal for the scrapyard.

Cinema Review – Minions

Director: Kyle Balda & Pierre Coffin
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm & Michael Keaton

Back in 2010, Universal Pictures and animation company Illumination Entertainment released a rather pleasant and fresh family cartoon comedy called Despicable Me. Surprising everyone in a year where animation giants Toy Story 3  and Dreamwork’s How To Train Your Dragon had already devoured the nation’s pocket money, Despicable Me become a huge hit with additional thanks to the lil yellow, denim wearing Minions. Five years and one sequel later, Minions have literally spread to everywhere; Minion toys, Minion sweets, err sexy Minion outfits and people are even having Minion themed weddings. So with this gibberish spouting gold mine in full effect, we now finally and unsurprisingly have the Minions in their own feature effort.