What we've been watching (May & June)

We watch quite a lot of movies; at the moment LOVEFiLM send us two discs every week... although I'm always considering the best way to get our movies.

So this is what we watched in May and June (Eurovision and other reasons meant we didn't see many movies in May so I combined two months together) - come back to see what July has brought us.

Mission: Impossible - Rouge Nation

I'm a huge fan of the Mission Impossible films. I own them on DVD (that is the level of my enthusiasm). I was both excited and curious to see the latest instalment. This is the fifth movie in the series, more than four years since since number 4. 

The film is everything that it should be with all the regular cast back together and the appropriate amount of chasing around with the heroes escaping from unlikely situations in even more unlikely ways. I was particularly taken with the chase through London at the end of the movie. 

Minions

Didn't make it through to the end of this one (barely made it out of the starting blocks in fact). Turned out that we had over-estimated our enjoyment of 'Despicable Me'. I think that most of the positive reviews I saw of this came from friends with small children in tow.

Mrs Brown

Not by any means a new movie. Amazon's reluctance to have anything approaching a comprehensive catalogue for LOVEFiLM by post meant that our dwindling rental list needed a boost. In an unlikely turn of events neither Husband nor I had seen this.

I'm not an enormous fan of historical movies but this was well done, it was reasonably historically accurate and an excellent cast put it together well. The story of Queen Victoria and her servant who becomes an integral part of her life after the death of Prince Albert.

Extraction

I'm pretty sure that we chose this one because Bruce Willis's name was on the box. It wasn't an amazing offering as your standard sort of action movie - son attempts to rescue CIA agent father from a group of terrorists. Bruce Willis wasn't in the movie as much as you'd have hoped, and it was a pretty tame effort.

The Final Storm

Another film that didn't make it to the end. The mysterious stranger fleeing from the storm failed to capture my imagination.

Time Traveller (aka The Lovers)

Time travel is a complicated premise for any movie. This was badly realised and I was confused from the start. I got so fed up of Husband reminding what was going on across two time periods that I gave up.

Heist

A father goes in with some co-workers to rob a casino; when it all goes wrong they hijack a city bus. Jeffrey Dean Morgan gives an excellent performance, and whilst on the face of it a simple action movie it is worth watching to the end for the final denouement.

Hacked (aka The Den)

Watching the world of web chat users for a study the quiet online world is turned upside down when the central character witnesses an online murder which then becomes a bit close to home when her friends become targets.

Bridge of Spies

A cold war spy thriller set in the divided Berlin, a tale of espionage and exchange missions.

What we've been watching (April)

We watch quite a lot of movies; at the moment LOVEFiLM send us two discs every week... although I'm always considering the best way to get our movies.

So this is what we watched in April - come back to see what May has brought us.

Labor Day
This is one of those movies which manages to tell the story with a very small cast. Kate Winslett is a depressed single mother living with her young son; one day in the grocery store they meet an escaped convict (Josh Brolin) and they spend the day with him; forging a relationship. The film is as much about the development of the characters as it is about the story of the day unfolding.

Dragon Blade

Jackie Chan and John Cusack are on the famous Silk Road two thousand years ago. A Roman Centurion and a member of the Silk Road Protection squad; initially on opposite sides they become somewhat unlikely allies when they are both framed for treason. Some impressive scenery, a good story and (of course) some impressive fight scenes,

Pan

Another film examining the story of Peter Pan; this is a sort of origin story. Peter is an orphan taken from the orphanage to the magical world of Neverland. It is one of those films which feels that it could have been a little bit more, it certainly isn't one of the best attempts at Peter Pan.

Hotel Transylvania 2 

Back in the world of Hotel Transylvania for another story, Dracula's daughter is all grown up and married with a child of her own - the question is, will he become a vampire? This feels like a sequel for sequels sake, but it is a diverting enough way to spend a short amount of time.

The Martian

This film had a high bar set for it, so much publicity preceded it. The film centres around an astronaut who is stranded on Mars when his crew return to earth, and the plot centres around his experiences trying to survive and his struggle to return home. I'm not fond of films where there are large sections of the plot centring on one character alone on screen. Ben Afleck did a good job, but I found that the film went on too long, and I lost interest in the outcome before we got to the end of the film. 

The Dressmaker

Kate Winslet as Myrtle returns to her home town to take care of her unwell mother. There she has to face the townspeople and a dark secret from her past. All the cast put in stellar performances in this film; a good story too.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 

Having watched all of the previous three films it was more of a chore than anything else to watch the final instalment. Not so much of a film to tell a story but a vehicle to wrap up all the loose ends. Probably only one that got good marks from die hard fans.




Intern
Robert de Niro becomes bored of his life in retirement so he takes a job as an intern. He manages to become an indispensable part of the company and forms an unlikely friendship with his boss, Anne Hathaway. A quite light-hearted film with occasional moments of comedy.

The Lady in the Van

Watched about twenty minutes of this film. which came highly acclaimed from many sources, but the story telling style just didn't grab me (despite the cast, which is good on paper).