The Age of Adaline (2015)

Pleasantly surprised by its IMDb rating of 7.3, I can’t say I felt the same for the film’s plot. The story played out pretty much exactly as I’d expected but then again I don’t think it really pretends to be the movie that Inceptions you or pulls a Shawshank Redemption at the very end.

I personally love movies that remind us of the preciousness of time – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Click, About Time (one of my all-time favourite time travel movies). What I liked in particular about this one was the way in which they brought that message home – reminding us of our inevitable doom by showing us the complete opposite – Adaline Bowman, the girl who lived (and lived, and lived..)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) *spoilers*

“If I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die historic on a fury road!”

Kudos to George Miller for some of the most creative action sequences in recent years (how many times have you seen the term “car chase” and “original” in the same sentence). Although Miller makes a real attempt to balance the gritty violence and harsh landscape with emotional ‘softness’ from the characters, the audience is given so little context that it takes half the film just to figure out what is going on let alone form connections with the characters, while the strange ending seemed to leave more questions than answers.

‘Interstellar’: Finally a Nolan film worth the hype. *Spoilers*

This film really blew my mind. It was so much better than the ‘Dark Knight’ films and much better executed than ‘Inception’ (2010). There were definitely elements of ‘Inception’ scattered throughout the film but with Interstellar, Nolan seemed to have redefined those elements from being a cinematic novelty few have seen before to an interesting concept that fits seamlessly into the story line yet still stands out as a defining feature.

Enemy (2014) – explaining the ending *spoilers*

“Chaos is order yet undeciphered.”

Without a doubt one of the most shocking movie endings you will never see coming. This is one of the few films that left me completely clueless and feeling as though I were a 6-year-old whose parents had unknowingly taken to see a horror movie at the cinema.

History professor Adam Bell (Gyllenhaal) stumbles across his doppleganger, actor Anthony Clair (also Gyllenhaal) whilst watching a movie and becomes obsessed with finding him. Interesting concept, but believe me when I say this is just the beginning of the mind-boogling ride that is Enemy.

If you’re looking for an easy breezy feel-good movie, then Enemy is probably not the movie for you.

The Zero Theorem (2013)

Are you here alone?

We are generally everywhere alone. 

Quite an intriguing film that has just managed to slip under the radar despite having such a high profile cast of Christoph Waltz, Matt Damon, Tilda Swinton and David Thewlis (Lupin from the Harry Potter series).

Snowpiercer *spoilers* – One of the most underrated films of 2013?

Set in the not-too-distant dystopian future where humanity’s efforts to ‘solve’ global warming resulted in a second ice age of sorts. This resulted in all of earth’s inhabitants being frozen in popsicles with the sole survivors on board a train with a self-sustaining engine and no destination. The train is divided into distinct classes which are physically separated by their respective carriages. The lowest class (the ‘tail end’) live in squalid poverty and a diet of ‘protein’ bars that resemble blocks of blood jelly while the first class enjoy a life of luxury and excess with a night club, sauna and sushi bar.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

*Disclaimer: I know very little about the original comic so please don’t expect any references to or comparisons with the comic or you will be bitterly disappointed. You have been warned.*

This movie was not a highly-anticipated movie of mine because simply-put I didn’t see how a film with a group of misfits including a talking Raccoon and a Vin Diesel-voiced tree thing could have any appeal to anyone but children and comic geeks (and I say that with the utmost affection as I have many friends in both categories).

I know this kind of alluded to a but-boy-was-I-wrong opening for the next paragraph but it would only half tick that box. Most of the movie was as expected including a very simple plot and a few warm fuzzy moments of camaraderie and belonging. I did enjoy the back stories to each of the characters although only Quill’s (Chris Pratt) was really fleshed out which was a shame but also understandable due to the risk of deviation from the main plot. Also, the relationship between Quill and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) was very shallowly developed and there wasn’t enough basis in my opinion why Quill would risk his life to save hers after sharing only very brief moments with her.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) *Spoilers*

I have never been a fan of the Planet of the Apes franchise and didn’t have high expectations for this film. The movie turned out to be rather predictable; not saying that it wasn’t still enjoyable.

Firstly I felt that the film placed focus on the right areas. There was potential for the film to get lost in the whole disease back story and individual human back stories of the genetically-immune survivors of the disease. Usually I despise films that just run with it with no explanation (In Time 2011), however since the film was not about the disease and the human sob-stories, the movie allowed minimal time to be spent on it.

Edge of Tomorrow *Spoilers* (and explaining the ending)

Some really funny moments but the story just wasn’t substantial enough to carry it through to the end.

The first half of the movie was actually extremely entertaining as the director plays around with the notion of a time loop which resets to the exact same moment, every time Cage (Tom Cruise) dies.

June reels: Upcoming movies in cinemas this week

Edge of Tomorrow 

When: 5th June

Who: Doug Liman (Director), Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt

What: Set in the future during an alien invasion of Earth, Tom Cruise finds himself stuck in a time loop where he must relive Invasion Day over and over again by dying over and over again.

Why: Watching Tom Cruise relive Invasion Day over and over again by dying over and over again.. But seriously I have actually heard some pretty good things said about the clever storyline and refreshing characters.

Rated 95% on Rotten Tomatoes (surprising but impressive…) and 8.1/10 on IMDb.

The Fault in Our Stars

When: 5th June

Who: Josh Boone (Director), Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort

What: Based on the novel by John Greene, The Fault in Our Stars explores the love story between Hazel and Gus that began in a cancer support group.

Why: What I enjoyed most about the book was how refreshingly honest it was – it wasn’t just a really sad story about a brave dying person but it was a story of something devastating that happened to normal people with their own imperfections. The novel did such a great job at drawing the reader into their world but at the same time reminding us that this world is not so different from our own. BYO bucket.

Rated 8.6/10 on IMDb.