FILM: The Riot Club (dir: Lone Scherfig, 2014)

"...and carpe some f**king diem!"

Laura Wade's adaptation of her stage play Posh is genuinely interesting for the fact that such a relentlessly predictable film packs a reasonable punch.  Every stereotyped prejudice you might have about privilege is laid bare and fulfilled, and the film does absolutely nothing to assuage those ideas or generate any sympathy for the characters, building to an appalling crescendo that descends into genuinely shocking violence, which in turn positions the audience to feel nothing but anger towards these hedonistic young men.  Mostly set in Morse-style beautifully-shot Oxford, the cast is uniformly strong and invest the film with the necessary swagger and bile that has real consequences for those outside the 'Riot' group.  The ending is about as cinematically unsurprising as it gets, but juxtaposes music and visuals to good effect.  It was, however, fascinating to note the buzz of outrage in the audience as the final shot cut to black, which amply demonstrated the impact of an otherwise average film.

FILM: The Giver (dir: Phillip Noyce, 2014)

"They made sameness."

In many respects, The Giver seems to be yet another Young Adult adaptation off the conveyor belt, this one leaning more towards Divergent and its dully compliant society and character factions than the more action-orientated stylings of The Hunger Games.  Yet it very quickly becomes apparent that something odd for the genre is afoot:  a surprisingly heavyweight cast - Streep, Bridges, Holmes - provides some gravitas (albeit in somewhat unchallenging roles); the black-and-white/colour limited-worlds conceits from Pleasantville are used to striking effect from the outset; and some strong plot beats for a YA film present themselves, such as the on-screen killing of a baby and potential execution of a teen.  In the lead, standard pretty-boy protagonist Jonas is played well by Australian Brenton Thwaites, who manages to react to his voyage of historical and emotional discovery to reasonably good effect, particularly in the early stages and even when Idiot Plot increasingly takes over in the Third Act.  Whilst not a great or groundbreaking film overall, the least that The Giver achieves is to make you leave the cinema thinking about how much there is to appreciate in our mad and wonderful world.

FILM: The Hundred-Foot Journey (dir: Lasse Hallstrom, 2014)

CELEBRATING 5 YEARS OF BLOGGING - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

"Twinkle, twinkle....so what?"

The film starts off as a typical Lasse Hallstrom confection - a light, picaresque, whimsical offering of little consequence - but slowly a film with more bite and depth begins to emerge, which the director handles very effectively.  The commercial attraction is the on-screen sparring of two mighty actors in Helen Mirren and Om Puri, and on that level the film and the actors deliver extremely well, but the revelation is Manish Dayal as the rising chef son Hassan with a wonderfully detailed and sympathetic performance.  A.R. Rahman also contributes a winning score that bridges both typical Indian and European-style film scores to great effect.  Once the film moves past throwaway racial stereotyping and the effects of racism impinge strongly on the characters, the film truly steps up a notch and quality shines through.

FILM: The Guest (dir: Adam Wingard, 2014)

REVIEW No. 500!

"OK.  Awesome!"

Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett follow You're Next with another cracking crowd-pleasing (not-so) guilty pleasure.  Narrative, direction and soundtrack all are tinged with 80s-retro to terrific effect, but there is a very clear contemporary delivery here, especially with the breathtakingly fast and smart action sequences.  Wingard's direction and use of camera is confident and in control, Steve Moore's synth-led score echoes the best of Carpenter (the film even has a loose Halloween setting), and a transformed Dan Stevens gives an absolutely mesmerising central performance, both in the quieter moments where he manipulates the family into which he has insinuated himself and the striking action beats.  The very knowing final shots raise a wry smile on which to end a hugely enjoyable popcorn movie.

FILM: The BoxTrolls 3D (dirs: Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi, 2014)

"The unspeakable has just happened!  We must speak of it immediately!"

The BoxTrolls is a refreshing animated film: the colour palette is dour and gloomy, the stop-motion animation is sublimely fluid, and the 3D is used reasonably subtly and does not try to fling everything at the audience.  Some quirky British voice talent gives the film an edge, and there is some lovely design - Cheesebridge is a gloriously designed town that mixes Dickens with Mittel-Europe, and the BoxTrolls' underground lair is a delight.  Whilst the obligatory musical number is quite awful, and the BoxTrolls themselves are only one step away from the Minions, overall the movie has enough design and story interest to make it stand out from the current CG crowd.

FILM: Sex Tape (dir: Jake Kasdan, 2014)

"Fetch!"

Sex Tape is one of those movies which bears little relation to real people, real lives or real situations but exists to milk comedy from a one-idea set-up....and thus proves to be quite a chore when the comedy doesn't really happen.  Once again, Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel make a strong on-screen couple, and they try to charm the heck out the material which is frequently vapid and occasionally desperate.  The sequence with Jason Segel being attacked by a dog is probably the highlight, but sadly there is little else here to really engage.