FILM: The Fault In Our Stars (dir: Josh Boone, 2014)

"I love it when you talk medical to me."

This is a full-on Love Story for this generation's teenage girls, which tries to give some degree of truth about relationships and illness whilst wrapped up in teenagers talking nonsense and stretching credibility (the Anne Frank house stairs scene, Willem Defoe's unpleasant writer) way too far at times, but these are balanced by some lovely scenes that court teenagedom and impending doom nicely.  The biggest surprise is that Shailene Woodley is out-performed here by Ansel Elgort, who gives a sincere performance of good depth and range, whilst both give a pleasing note of happiness to their doomed relationship.  Laura Dern also delivers strongly as Woodley's anxious but warm-hearted mother.  It is necessarily glossy and idealised to meet its target market, but this film of the hit novel has a little more edge than expected and delivers emotionally at the right places.

FILM: Jersey Boys (dir: Clint Eastwood, 2014)

"If you work hard, everything follows."

Jersey Boys makes the transition from stage to screen effectively for the most part.  Casting is impeccable with a range of strong performances across the main cast, the story proves compelling enough to sustain interest (although a shift from the musical journey to Valli's personal tragedies in the third act is less engaging), and the back catalogue of The Four Seasons is robust and enjoyable.  Eastwood is a smart and solid director, with a very fine line walked between the band's rough Italian 1950s youth and the necessarily unrealistic gloss provided by the musical format.  Skipping over the band's mid-70s resurgence is a disappointment, but Jersey Boys provides an interesting look at the changing musical times and a story worth telling.

FILM: 22 Jump Street (dirs: Phil Lord and Chris Miller, 2014)

"There's a f**king dragon in here!"

Like Bill & Ted and Wayne & Garth before them, Jenko & Schmidt are daft, immature, utterly likable screen characters who give the two Jump Street films an immense sense of warmth which is perhaps even more evident in this sequel.  Thankfully, the writing is strong, with a plethora of genuinely funny verbal/visual/slapstick gags that are maintained throughout (and whilst the self-awareness angle works, the early laboured set-up scene borders on smug rather than funny, but more effective subtlety follows).  Although 22 feels a little more episodic than 21, the through narratives hang together well, enabling a gloriously funny mid-movie reveal which leads to a wonderful reaction scene when Channing Tatum discovers it later in Captain Dickson's ("...like a cube...of ice...") office.  Indeed, Hill and Tatum simply work together so well that they are a joy to watch, Ice Cube is surprisingly fun, and 22 Jump Street is one of the smartest silly movies out there that is hugely entertaining to watch, right down to the myriad 'next case' scenarios in the credits.

FILM: Edge Of Tomorrow 3D (dir: Doug Liman, 2014)

"Do I look like a fresh recruit?"

Edge Of Tomorrow is an immensely enjoyable sci-fi actioner.  Retooling the novel's eighteen-year-old grunt to fit Tom Cruise's combat-averse PR-man Cage does work surprisingly well in context.  Fans of mech, aliens, combat and timey-wimey-stuff will all be very satisfied indeed.  The Starship Troopers meets Groundhog Day comparisons are apt, but Liman keeps the film fresh and dynamic from the word go, with a blistering pace and very kinetic action sequences.  Cruise is excellent, Emily Blunt is a revelation and more than a match on-screen, and the great Bill Paxton plays deadpan humour to perfection.  For genre fans, Edge Of Tomorrow is about as good as mainstream blockbuster cinema gets.

FILM: A Million Ways To Die In The West (dir: Seth MacFarlane, 2014)

"I look like Jane Austen threw up all over me!"

Sadly, this film isn't up there with Ted.  It almost feels like they quickly realised the limitations of the core concept when writing the script and abandoned it, as the gags and invention run out very early, leaving a reliance on the f-word and bodily fluids to tell a basic romantic/revenge story.  Seth MacFarlane directs with some flair, with a great use of classic Western vistas, and he shows surprising charm and vulnerability in the lead role.  Charlize Thron and Amanda Seyfried perform well with a good balance of straight acting and knowing archness, and Neil Patrick Harris delivers his patented nemesis character effectively.  Sadly sidelined, Giovanni Ribisi and Sarah Silverman do great work as the oblivious couple, and a couple of surprise cameos are fun.  Overall, A Million Ways.... is a rather drawn-out affair that provides a few good laughs and with little content that is stretched rather thinly.

FILM: Maleficent 3D (dir: Robert Stromberg, 2014)

"I like you begging.  Do it again!"

Maleficent is, of course, Wicked does Sleeping Beauty (mercifully without the Broadway screeching) on a day-trip to Middle Earth, but it does it all with immense visual richness. It is a mostly straight-faced alternate take on Disney's own animated classic, told this time from the curse-caster's point of view.  Quite simply, this is the Angelina Jolie show - everything else pales into insignificance - and she owns the role and commands the screen with incredible power and presence.  The first act is perhaps too twee and slow, but the final showdown is surprisingly strong and interesting.  Being a fairy tale, Idiot Plot abounds (one wonders exactly over what Maleficent rules, and everyone's lives appear to be on hold for sixteen years until Aurora's fateful birthday).  The target audience is unclear - too frightening for kiddies, too dry for teens, too familiar for adults - but Maleficent is an unusually ambitious and darkly entertaining film from the House of Mouse.

FILM: Tarzan (dir: Reinhard Klooss, 2014)

"It's a jungle, not a pick-up bar!"

The most remarkable thing about this latest animated take on the Tarzan story is very quickly realising that this would have been a worthy tale for a contemporary live-action version.  It is unashamedly Young Adult in the positioning of its two leads, but it is also surprisingly sombre and bombastic, with some strong emotional beats for a PG film.  The photorealistic backgrounds and creature work are very good indeed, and only occasionally the stylised human faces undermine the otherwise terrific mo-cap animation of movement.  Whilst at times the on-screen action owes more to Avatar, Jurassic Park and The Blue Lagoon than Burroughs, this is a daft but refreshingly interesting updating of a very well-worn and limited concept.

FILM: Rio 2 (dir: Carlos Saldanha, 2014)

"Deja vu, Blu."

The sequel inverts the original film's scenario, here starting in Rio but quickly moving to the Amazon.  However, the character-driven action of the first film is replaced here with weak family sit-com, and it even manages to shoe-horn in a Quidditch-like aerial football match, presumably in reference to the 2014 World Cup.  Most of the supporting characters are disappointingly sidelined, even Blu's nemesis, although there can be little real threat from a camp cockatoo antagonist called Nigel who gives an unsubtle rendition of I Will Survive.  Aside from the inventive capoeira turtles, there are very few laughs to be found, but the apparent USP of the franchise (i.e. riotous colour and movement) remains intact.  Even with an inevitable eco-friendly story strand tagged on - which suddenly becomes the focus for the final act - this somewhat uneven and unfocused follow-up will distract the little ones with its pretty moving colours but offers little of substance to everyone else.

FILM: The Other Woman (dir: Nick Cassavetes, 2014)

"Where are you going?"
"I don't know."

Although hardly a statement of female empowerment when the three leads refer to themselves as "the lawyer, the wife and the boobs", The Other Woman is a reasonably snappy but featherlight female-driven comedy that manages to entertain reasonably well.  Leslie Mann - when not delivering in hysterical-pace mode - creates some lovely moments as the wronged wife, Cameron Diaz shows she still has star quality and is the consummate comedy professional, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau shows some surprising lightness of touch as the philandering husband.  It all becomes less inspired as it goes along (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun on the soundtrack, the 'his toothbrush in the toilet bowl' routine, and even an American Pie diarrhoea scene), but the inevitable confrontation scene pays off quite nicely. The Other Woman is certainly not original or demanding fare, but it is well-made, well-played and efficiently delivered.

FILM: Blended (dir: Frank Coraci, 2014)

"You just scared a zebra strip into my underpants!"

As long as there are undiscerning 12-year-old American boys, there will be an audience for Adam Sandler movies.  Starting off with a deliciously disastrous blind date, our hate-at-first-sight couple wind the weary path to romance as their two families 'incredibly' find themselves on the same holiday to South Africa.  Aside from some inevitable racial stereotyping - Terry Crews, what were you thinking? - and dated double-entendres, Sandler is actually quite subdued and there is a reasonable sweetness at the heart of this very basic movie.  There are some weak child performances, and the film clearly lacks some script and technical polish, and its long running time reflects its frequently casual pacing, but by the end it delivers some feel-good factor and Drew Barrymore is as charming as ever.

FILM: The Two Faces Of January (dir: Hossein Amini, 2014)

"I bet you wish you'd never met us."

This 1960s-set Mediterranean jaunt, from Patricia Highsmith's novel, looks great and strives for a repeat of the Mr Ripley vibe but falls short, thanks largely to by-the-numbers filmic techniques and plotting that drain any real sense of tension or surprise.  Essentially a three-hander, Viggo Mortensen unravels nicely, Kirsten Dunst plays his wife with pleasing maturity and nuance, and Oscar Isaac is solid if a little too restrained as the shady American tour guide with whom the couple hook up in Greece.  The relentlessly sedate pace and tone make The Two Faces Of January pleasant to look at but not particularly engaging overall.

FILM: X-Men Days Of Future Past 3D (dir: Bryan Singer, 2014)

"Your best is enough - trust me."

Days Of Future Past is a rare beast - an intelligent and very well-handled superhero blockbuster.  Bryan Singer returns to the X-cinema-world back on form, directing with clear confidence, energy and control, all of which Superman Returns definitely lacked.  After a startlingly lively opening, this film is by turns thoughtful,  thought-provoking, dynamic, moving and witty.  Indeed, the time travel/fish-out-of-water scenario plays as well as the best scenes of Star Trek IV.  There is a lot of plot and characters to get through, but it never feels rushed, owing to impressively tight plotting and more than enough well-delivered character beats.  McAvoy and Hoult stand out here, Evan Peters makes a strong Quicksilver (his Time In A Bottle sequence is a standout), but the whole ensemble delivers a high level of sincerity and commitment.  The considerable budget pays off with hugely impressive VFX that not only are visually enjoyable but also support the scale and high stakes of the story.  The final scenes are both fan-pleasing and joyous if you have stuck with the cinematic franchise since the Millennium, with the prospect of a Singer-led Apocalypse a truly exciting prospect.

FILM: The Grand Budapest Hotel (dir: Wes Anderson, 2014)

"She was dynamite in the sack."
"She was 84....!"
"I've had older."

Inevitably, The Grand Budapest Hotel is typical Wes Anderson: quirky, directed and designed to within an inch of its life, and more concerned about the power and control of narrative than emotion.  Yet it is also perhaps one of Anderson's most completely realised and enjoyable films, with moments of playfulness and pathos that come across as genuine rather than forced.  There is much to enjoy in the visual delights offered by the film, both technical and in its stunningly-used locations, and Ralph Feinnes and Tony Revolori are wonderful as the central concierge and lobby-boy double act.  To see cinematic staples such as the will reading, the art heist and the prison break given the Anderson touch and emerge with wit and vigour is a very pleasant surprise, as is the ending that satisfies, characters, story and indeed the viewer.