Genre: Historical/ Autobiographical/ Drama

Run Time: 105 minutes

Rating: 15A

Director: Phyllida Lloyd

Actor(s): Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent & Richard E. Grant
 





Plot:The story is told through the eyes of an elderly Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep). The movie focuses around her struggles with dementia as she speaks to the memory of her deceased husband, Denis. As she tries to come to terms with his death she recalls poignant moments in both her personal life and her life as Prime Minister. She remembers low moments such as rising taxes and abandoning her children for work to winning the war on the Falkland Islands.

Comments:This movie had the right mix to be a fantastic movie; however I must admit it just didn’t work. I found it hard to navigate through the movie, the movie tended to jump and skip from place to place. I didn’t like how the movie focused on her struggle with dementia and much of the recap on her political life contained more negative achievements than positive. Although there is no doubt the effort was there however it just didn’t work. The best thing about this movie was Meryl Streep, I was spellbound at how she was able to transform herself into the character of Margaret Thatcher, capturing her real essence and personality. It was a great effort on her part. 

Genre: Crime/ Drama/ Thriller/ Romance

Rated: 15A

Runtime:  131 mins

Director: Oliver Stone

Actors: Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Hohnson, Benicio Del Toro, John Travolta, Salma Hayek





Plot: Pot growers Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch) have a great life at the moment. The moment is ruined when Mexican drug cartel kidnap their shared girlfriend, O (Blake Lively). With help from DEA agent (John Travolta) they fight against each other, but what will be the result. Will the agreement be drugs, money or end in death.

Comment: The beginning of this film is a bit slow but soon picks up. There are scenes of nudity, sex, drug use and language. The acting in this movie is very good, many capturing the emotions and mannerisms of their characters. The trailer may show that there is a lot of violence but during the movie it doesn't last very long. Most of the violent shots shown in the trailer are the only ones in the movie. This is a entertaining film but at times it's slow and a bit of a doze.

Genre:  Fantasy/ Mystery/ Drama

Rated: 12A

Run Time: 135 minutes 

Director: Peter Jackson

Actors: Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan 




Plot:Based on the successful novel, written by Alice Sebold, this movie sticks closely to the plot of the novel, which shows the story of a young girl, Suzie Salmon who is raped and murdered by her neighbour. The movie manages to create the suspense and eeriness of the original novel, however in my opinion some of the fantasy scenes did not tie in with the overall mood of the novel. 


Comments: The acting in this movie is very good and there are not many movies which stick as close to the plot, but The Lovely Bones is not the case. 

Genre: Drama/ Mystery/ Romance/Thriller

Rating: 12A

Run Time: 92 minutes

Director: Mike Cahill

Actors: Brit Marling, William Mapother 





Plot:On the night of a discovery of another planet like earth, a young student and a composer cross paths in an accident. 4 years later she tries to find herself again but instead she finds out that the composer is alive. 


Comments:I think this movie lacks in a lot of qualities that a movie needs. Sometimes it feels like someone is filming it with a hand held camera but the thing I don't like is that there isn't much romance and no action. It may be a good plot but the director doesn't show it's potential that it could be. The ending for me was too dead and I wanted to see what would happen. If you have nothing to do, go ahead and watch it but don't waste your time if it's movie night.

Genre: Drama/Romance

Rated: 12A

Runtime:  2 hrs

Director: Francis Lawrence

Actors: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christopher Waltz




Plot:
Based on the bestseller book 'Water for the Elephants' by Sara Gruen.
A veterinary student, Jacob Jankoski (Robert Pattinson) is left penniless and homeless when his parents are killed. This leads him to joining the circus as their vet, while working with a drunk boss August (Christopher Waltz) who is violent and gives everyone a reason to be careful around him. His beautiful and quiet wife, Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), whom August is very possessive of and Jacob finds himself soon falling in love with her. 

Genre: Romantic/ Drama/ Fantasy

Run Time: 107 minutes

Director: Robert Schwentke

Actors: Rachel McAdams, Eric Bana & Alex Ferris






Plot: Based on the very successful novel by Audrey Niffenegger, the story of true love, which has no boundaries. It follows Henry, a time traveller defying the laws to have a relationship with his true love.

Comments: It was always going to be hard to live up to its standards when the movie was released. Schwentke made a good attempt however in my opinion it fell short of the overall brilliance of the novel. The plot was complicated and I found it hard to follow. However the strong plotline still managed to shine through and the box office number can’t lie, it was a huge success in the cinema.

Genre: Romance, Drama

Rated: 12A

Runtime:  115 mins

Director: Lasse Hallstrom

Actors: Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, David Lyons





Plot: Katie (Julianne Hough) leaves everything and arrives in a small town of Southport. Katie is determined to avoid any personal connections but soon makes relationships. Katie soon lets down her guard and begins to get close with Alex (Josh Duhamel), a widowed store owner with two young children. As she begins to fall in love, her dark past is catching up with her and begins to haunt her. Will she confront her past or keep living with nightmares.

Comment: This is another movie from the author Nicholas Sparks. Nicholas Sparks has written another great romantic novel. The movie is a great romantic film but it has a mysteriousness to it. Josh Duhamel was great in Safe Haven and also David Lyons who lays Tearny. Every time he is in the scene you get a feeling of creepiness.

Genre: Romantic/ Drama

Rating: 15A

Run Time: 107 minutes

Director: Lone Scherfig

Actors: Anne Hathaway & Jim Sturgess






Plot: Dex and Emma have a unique relationship. They first meet on 15th July (St. Swithins Day) when they spend the night together following their graduation. They decide not to become romantically involved but stay as friends. From that moment onwards Nicholls visits their lives repeatedly over 20 years in each chapter. We follow Dex’s rise to fame and his battle with alcoholism which eventually leads to the collapse of his career. We see Emma becoming a waitress and eventually a writer and her many disasterous relationships. However one thing that remains is the friendship between Dex and Emma. The main question is whether they will reveal their true feelings to eachother 

Comments:Based on the bestselling novel, One Day had much to live up to. Unfortunately in my opinion it didn’t exceed my expectations. There was never any true connection between the two main characters( Hathaway and Sturgess). I am normally a big fan of Anne Hathaway, however in this movie, her painful take on a British accent let her down. The only highlight of this movie is  that it was very true to the original book, the series of events were told true to the book, even taking some quotations directly out of the book. Overall, it was a good attempt, however it didn’t meet the high standard of the original novel. 

Genre: Romance/ Drama

Rated: 15A

Runtime:  97 mins

Director: Lisa Azuelos 

Actors: Miley Cyrus, Demi Moore, Douglas Booth, Ashley Greene





Plot: As a new year at school begins, Lola's (Miley Cyrus) heart is broken when her boyfriend cheats on her. Can she trust another boy again, though soon she's surprised by her best friend, musicaian Kyle. Will this year be promising for Lola and go her way.

Comment: Miley Cyrus brings a coming of age story for modern times. This film contains teen sexuality, drug and alcohol use. This films main story is about friends, parties and boyfriends. Demi Moore plays the mother of Cyrus very well and the two connect together as mother and daughter on screen.

Genre: Romance/ Comedy/ Drama

Rating:15A

Run Time: 118 minutes

Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa 

Actors:  Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore







Plot:Cal (Steve Carell) thinks that he has the perfect life until his wife Emily (Julianne Moore) asks for a divorce. Now he has to figure out how to be single. During his singleness he meets a bachelor; Jacob (Ryan Gosling) who helps him pick up girls at a bar.

Comments:As far as comedy movies go, this movie is a great. The acting is great, Steve Carell is a great actor and will always bring his comedic ways to the screen. There are some twists at the end which are unexpected. This movie is a humorous and insightful way into the lives of single peolpe.