Devils Knot - review

Based on a true story, this movie follows the aftermath following the disappearance of 3 young boys when they fail to return home from a bike ride.

As the neighbourhood unite in an attempt to find the boys, the police unfortunately find their bodies sparking a murder hunt for the culprit and no sooner than they start to investigate, do the officers have suspects in custody.

Suspected of dabbling in the occult and satanic worship the 3 teenagers are banged to rights when a young witness comes forward and one of the suspects confesses their parts in the boy’s deaths. But while the families of the victims await the trials in the hope of conviction, private detective Ray Lax (Colin Firth) isn’t quite as convinced of their guilt and joins the defence in order to try and prove their innocence.

Starring Reese Witherspoon as the mother of one of the victims, I thought this movie would be more intense and gritty, but although I watched it from beginning to end and enjoyed it as much as you can enjoy a movie based on real life murder, I felt the ending didn’t do it justice.

With information on screen informing viewers of what happened in real life after the movie ended, it felt as if the movie could have included more of this, but instead built up the story before letting it go without much thought.

With loose ends still to tie up in real life, the movie technically can never have a proper end as the reality is without an ending, but I still feel something was missing.

Ghost Town - review

Bertam Pincus is a grumpy lonely dentist in New York whose only thoughts are for himself. Never holding the elevator for people or ignoring them when they try and have a conversation, he completely avoids human interaction, so when he starts being followed by strangers who inform him he is the only one who can help them, it’s his worst nightmare.

During a routine medical procedure, Bertram insists on a general anaesthetic so when he starts suffering hallucinations afterwards, he returns to ask the doctor if anything strange happened during his operation and is shocked when she tells him he temporarily died.

With this news a struggle to take in, Bertram continues to be pursued by strangers lead by Frank, a recently deceased love-rat who tells him he can now see the dead and needs his help to break up his widow’s new relationship.

As Bertram starts to interact with Frank he takes on the challenge of getting to know his widow Gwen who lives in the same building and begins to strike up a friendship. But when he accidentally reveals things he wouldn’t know if it wasn’t for Frank, their relationship sours and Betram turns to his colleague for help.

Advised to stop being so selfish and use his life to help others, Bertram eventually gives in to the ghosts and while carrying out their last wishes in order to help them move on, he gives his own life meaning and realises he doesn’t need to be so isolated.

Starring Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear & Tea Leoni, this movie didn’t have any comedy in it which I expected and was actually really boring.

Although there were a few moments which gave it meaning, this movie was dry and a big disappointment.

Sixteen Candles - review

Sam Baker is really looking forward to turning 16 and can’t wait to feel different. But when her big day arrives she’s left disappointed as she doesn’t feel any different and her parents forget her birthday due to her sister getting married the next day.

So with her day not starting off as planned, Sam tries to make the best of it at school, but after accidentally revealing her crush to Jake Ryan the coolest boy in school, she’s not really in the mood to celebrate and spends the dance trying to avoid the school geek who would do anything to spend time with a girl.

A cute 80’s comedy starring Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall which didn’t really keep me interested and was a bit of a disappointment.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone - review

In 1982 Albert Weinselstein is a lonely kid who spends most of his time running away from bullies, but when he receives a magic kit for his birthday he takes refuge in the talent he discovers.

Along with the new kid at school, Albert & Anton share a passion for magic and quickly come up with ideas for tricks they can both perform.

After many years of practicing, a couple of decades later Burt & Anton are the talk of Las Vegas with sell out shows and the skills to impress, the duo are riding high but behind the scenes relations have soured as Burt’s ego begins to take over the friendship.

As their grip on the audience wanes and the appearance of street magician Steve Gray starts to take over their fame, Burt & Anton know they need to come up with something big to win back the public. But when Burt takes it one step too far, the partnership falls apart resulting in Burt ending up entertaining retired entertainers in a care home.

With their friendship over Burt realises that fame took over his love for magic and tries to rediscover it with the help of magician Rance Holloway – the magician whose kit started off Burt’s fascination, but with Steve Gray continuing to push the boundaries of magic, could good old fashioned magic mend his friendship with Anton and bring them back together?

Comedy starring Steve Carrell, Steve Buscemi & Jim Carrey which despite the names attached to it, failed to deliver as a movie I would recommend or watch again. 

Abduction - review

Nathan Harper is a typical teenager – enjoying late night parties and hanging out with his mates is a welcome retreat from the training and constant preparing for battle his dad subjects him to.

With his dad drumming into him to ‘always be prepared’, Nathan has no idea what he’s referring to, but nevertheless the constant training and working out is seen as something he has no choice about.

After one too many parties, Nathan is grounded by his parents and only allowed out to attend school and work on a sociology project with his partner Karen, the girl over the road he has long had a crush on. 

The subject for the project is missing children, so the pair turn to missing person’s websites to gain information, but when Karen comes across a picture of a young boy which looks similar to Nathan except for a different name, they are both spooked. Nathan decides to contact the website and mentions that he may be the person in the picture, but in doing so he sets off a chain of events over which he has no control.

As he begins to doubt his identity, Nathan shares his fears with Karen and his friends before confronting his mum about it, but as soon as he begins to ask questions, snipers force their way into the house and ultimately kill the man and woman Nathan knew to be his parents.

With his parents dead and no idea why, Nathan & Karen go on the run to escape whoever is after them and when Nathan’s psychiatrist explains to him that she is actually one of his guardians from the CIA, he begins to realise why his father was so tough on him and has to call upon all the skills his father taught him to defend himself.

As the CIA and an unknown agency try to track him down, Nathan doesn’t know who to trust and with so many questions he and Karen do their best to escape the clutches of everyone, but with the CIA telling him they are working on behalf of his real father and only want to keep him safe, will he trust them even though he has no idea who his real father is?

Starring Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins, Sigourney Weaver & Alfred Molina, this fast paced movie had me gripped from the start, but ultimately I was disappointed as it seemed to run out of steam towards the end and gave up, leaving me with unanswered questions.

A disappointing watch.

Fame - review

The New York School of Performing Arts is the place to be if you want to be a star.

When open auditions are held, a variety of young talents enter through the doors with dreams of stardom, but not all of them are accepted.

With pushy parents and some not really knowing where their talent lies, Fame shows us the effort people go through to make it on top, but not all dreams become reality.

Despite the iconic theme tune sung by Irene Cara, I was expecting more from this movie. I found it slightly chaotic as it focussed on so many characters with only the briefest glimpse of their back story - I didn’t get to know much about any of them.

Not as great a movie as I had hoped.

Sisters - review

Reporter Grace Collier is on the trail of Dr Lochon convinced he uses children in his care for experiments.

As she trails him she witnesses what she thinks is a murder in an apartment where Dr Lochon’s assistant lives, but when the police accompany her to the apartment and take a look around, there’s no evidence of a crime.

With her former partner and fellow reporter Larry by her side, Grace is determined to prove Dr Lochon’s guilt, but as she begins to look deeper into his work her investigation takes a very dark turn.

What started off as a quite a boring movie turned into a dark and disturbing tale which bordered on slight horror.

Starring Chloe Sevigney, this movie was a waste of time which finished without a proper ending – don’t bother watching it.

The Other Man - review

Sitting in the front row of a fashion show with his shoe designer wife beside him, Peter is proud of what she has achieved. Meeting her colleagues and fellow designers back stage after the show, it’s clear she’s loved by all, but none of them love her as much as Peter.

As they enjoy a meal after the show Lisa (Laura Linney) asks Peter if he had the chance whether he would sleep with someone else, a strange question which he quickly says no to, but there’s something in Lisa’s eyes which shows maybe she would answer differently.

Switching back and forth between the past and present day, Peter spends his days looking at Lisa’s laptop and is intrigued when he finds a locked folder and emails from a man named Ralph (Antonio Banderas) declaring his love for her. With the help of a colleague, Peter discovers the identity of Ralph and despite protests from his daughter, travels to Milan in order to meet him.

Convinced Ralph & Lisa had a relationship, Peter is determined to find out how much time they spent together and manages to bond with Ralph over regular chess games in a coffee shop, but as he gets to know him Peter discovers Ralph isn’t the man he makes out to be and wonders whether their relationship was really about love.

This film had been on my ‘to watch’ list for ages so I was excited to finally watch it, but it left me disappointed. Described as a thriller, there was no suspense or anything to hook me in. The audience is led to believe that Lisa has disappeared, but as you later find out this isn’t the case making the whole journey of the movie kind of irrelevant.

Not one I would recommend and not one of Liam Neeson’s best movies.

The Debt - review

Helen Mirren is Rachel Singer, a former Mossad Agent whose daughter is publishing a book on her mother’s past as the person responsible for tracking down and killing ‘the Surgeon of Birkenau’ during the 1960’s.

But as publicity begins, Rachel is informed by her ex-husband that their friend and fellow agent David has committed suicide following the revelation that the man she is famous for killing is still alive.

With the threat of this news getting out and ruining the reputation of the force, Rachel is forced back into the field to once again track him down 30 years after the first attempt.

Told mainly through flashbacks (meaning the co-stars were actually featured more than Helen), I was slightly confused for some of the film as it repeated itself and some of the scenes didn’t appear to contribute much to the film. However, in the end I managed to work it out, but was disappointed by the lack of ending.

I wouldn’t watch it again.

Out of Sight - review

George Clooney is Frank Folley, a hapless bank robber who after being caught and thrown in jail yet again, doesn’t plan on staying around for long, so with the help of a former cellmate, Frank manages to escape. 

But as soon as Frank has tasted freedom he discovers they are being watched by US Marshal Karen Cisco (Jennifer Lopez).

With no time to think, Karen is quickly bundled into the trunk of her own car alongside Frank who despite the situation wastes no time in turning on the charm. 

As they reach their destination, Frank admits his attraction to Karen, but as he’s reminded of being on the run, Karen is left behind and although her own attraction is clear, after another escape Karen makes it her mission to track Frank down.

Billed as a comedy crime caper, Out of Sight starring George Clooney as a similar character to Danny Ocean in Ocean’s Eleven, in my opinion is nothing to be proud of.

With none of the slickness or skill of any crime films I have previously watched, this movie falls short of being entertaining or worth watching, but despite this, it doesn’t seem to have done any damage to George’s career.

Heart Shaped Bruise - by Tanya Byrne

Emily Koll is 18 years old and awaiting trial at a Young Offenders Institute.

Told through her journal entries, Emily talks about how she only found out her father was a well known gangster after he was jailed, how Dr Gilyard uses their sessions to do nothing but wind her up and how her father’s arrest caused Emily to completely change who she was.

After her father’s arrest, Emily adjusts to life without him and decides to live as Rose Glass, a fun loving college student with a secret, but as she hangs out with friends Juliet & Sid, Emily has chosen to befriend Juliet for a reason and has only one thing on her mind – revenge.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in only 2 days, but I was left empty and didn’t get the closure I needed. Only a few more pages would have given the story the conclusion it deserved.

A great debut novel, but a disappointing finish.