What we've been watching... (2014 Part 1)

I used to be quite efficient with reviews of our weekly movie night -  but it has come to my attention that I've not  posted what we've been watching in the best part of a year! So, as before, films in grey were switched off (or I slept through) so I can't really comment; films in red I can find nothing to recommend and the rest - well it depends what you want from a film!

1. The Frozen Ground - I'm pretty sure that we rented this film because it starred Nicholas Cage and John Cusak. A dark and gritty movie; it was interesting to watch these two together being dark and serious.
2. Elysium - the big seller for this was Neill Blomkamp, we'd absolutely loved District 9. This isn't quite the same level... a solid idea, and parts of it well realised, but overall the ending somehow left me feeling that there should be more.
3. Snitch - quite a lot of this film left me feeling that I needed to suspend my disbelief somewhat. The plot was a bit loose, although the actors generally gave good performances.
4. Movie 43 - switched off. An all star cast isn't everything.
5. Deadfall - a film of ups and downs. Every time I thought "this isn't so bad" something would happen and I'd be back to "Huh?"
6. Rush - if you like F1 you'll love this film... the epic tale of the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda. If you're not a racing fan you might still like this film as it is well made and tells a good story.
7. Man of Steel - time for DC Comics to square off against the Marvel juggernaut by re-booting Superman, I'd rather take the lighter 70s version over the gritty 21st Century 'Man of Steel'.
8. Despicable Me 2 - there were an awful lot of sequels around this year, and very few of them lived up to the movie they were following - this one included.
9. Kick-ass 2 - didn't watch as didn't like the original
10. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters - another sequel, but this one was just a great fun adventure film... a great family film
11. The Croods - a delightful animation set back in the stone age - charmingly naive but with a great story. We liked Belt's "ta-da" it is used as a notification sound on electronics in this house.
12. Thor: Dark World - back to the Marvel Universe, another super film with the characters we have come to know and love.
13. White House Down - pretty much the same film as Olympus has fallen, but a little bit more serious.
14. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 - sadly not a patch on the original.
15. Safety Not Guaranteed - putting aside the possibility of time-travel messing with my head this was a slightly off-the-wall fun little movie with a cast that you genuinely came to care about.
16. Prisoners - slightly dark, sometimes a little confusing but an interesting film.
17. Stuck in Love - should have been a 'rom-com' but was really rather tedious.
18. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - part two of the Hunger Games; despite the seemingly self-contained nature of the first film this turned out to be an excellent film and a worthy sequel.
19. Ender's Game - one of those super sci-fi adventures which is not only a great film but makes you want to go out and read the books.
20. Turbo - a snail who wants to be a racing car? It's like a superhero wandered into 'Cars'. Odd little film but still quite fun.
21. The Way Way Back - no recollection of this at all. May have fallen asleep or switched it off.
22. Escape Plan - fabulous fun action movie with two of the great stars of the genre. The plot is sometimes a little predictable but there are some great lines and the end is a great twist!

Reviews (etc.) continue in Part 2