filmsExaminer

On the remote planet of Pandora live the Na'vi, beings who appear primitive but are highly evolved.  Human/Na'vi hybrids, called Avatars, must link to human minds to allow for free movement on the remote planet. The hero Jake Sully, a paralyzed former Marine, becomes mobile again through one such Avatar and falls in love with a Na'vi woman.  As a bond with her grows, he is drawn into a battle for the survival of her world. I very much enjoyed this film and recommend. I very much enjoyed this film and recommend. 8/10

Judah Ben-Hur, a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother, an officer in the Roman army, returns to his homeland after years at sea to seek revenge, but finds redemption. Not great but not bad either, watch if nothing better on.  5/10  

This is a romantic fantasy drama, set in the 1960's at a top secret laboratory, a very tender love story between a mute cleaning woman and a captured 'sea monster', both isolated due to their individual circumstances and incapable of human speech. Starring Sally Hawkins, she is the mute, and has access to all the top secret areas in order to clean them. Octavia Spencer is also a cleaner, and crucial to the plot later. Richard Jenkins is her gay neighbour and Michael Shannon, is brilliant as the evil government security agent in charge of the 'monster'. It becomes obvious that he is more of a monster than the actual monster! The 'monster' is also referred to as the 'asset' and is being studied for any advantages that it could offer the USA military in the cold war with Russia. The mute 'says' so much in her attitude, she offers the monster compassion and care, she slowly grows fond of the monster and builds a friendship through boiled e...

Marvel fantasy origin film. Based in 'Wakanda', which is an African fantasy location. The source of the population's vast wealth, and advanced technology is an ancient cosmic metal called 'nonsenseanium' The plot is poor, the acting is wooden, with no humour and hardly any action. We see how the 'Lion King Simba' rip-off becomes king and is challenged by the 'Scar' rip-off for his throne. The film has been over-hyped and not as good as the reviews lead you to believe, it appears that reviews are being cautious of giving honest criticism in fear of being called racist! I didn't much like Wonder Woman either, but this isn't even as good as that. Overly long (134 minutes), very disappointing and boring. 4/10

BBC made film based on fact. Donald Crowhurst, who was married with 4 children, and an amature weekend sailor, attempted a single handed, non-stop, around the world boat race. In my opinion pushing boundaries is admirable ... BUT ... I couldn't help thinking whether a responsible bloke would really abandon their family and attempt such a dangerous lengthy challenge, when there was a 50% chance of survival? Especially when the bloke in question was unprepared, and in a boat that was practically unfinished and untested! It doesn't make any sense! On top of that, Donald was a total cheat, he stopped in Argentina to make some repairs, exaggerated his progress reports and falsified his logs. Suffered hallucinations due to deteriorating mental state and felt guilty for causing the sinking of another competitors (Nigel Tetley's) boat. Eventually could no longer maintain the lies and committed suicide due to the intense scrutiny his logs would have undergone and the ov...

Based on real life events that took place in 2015. A significant aspect was that the main actors were all played by the real heroes, Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone. The tragic 2 minute incident is padded out to 94 minutes. Act1: The setup, which sees the heroes' childhood backgrounds and how they meet and develop a friendship, which lasts into adulthood. Act2: See them taking a holiday in Europe, this takes an enormous 30+ minutes of the film but offers no real purpose, the tour section amounts to a fairly boring holiday. The best Oscar winning actors would struggle to make the holiday section interesting! Act3: In Amsterdam, they board the train bound for Paris and stumble upon an attempted armed terror attack. Their Extraordinary heroism foils the attack and the potential terrible consequences. Act4: The Legion of Honour medal awards, which is made from actual footage, but the French president couldn't even be bothered to congratulate the heroes in English!...

Set in 1950s London, this is very old-fashioned 'classic' looking film and is reputed to be Daniel Day Lewis's last performance. He plays a high end fashion designer 'Woodcock', who makes dresses for the rich, famous and royalty.  His attention to detail had earned him a perfect reputation for craftsmanship, his clothes were viewed as works of art. An important aspect to his creations were the 'secret' messages sewn into the linings of his clothes. His sister Cyril was also his business partner, she was the only person who truly understood his character and always did her best to protect him. There always seems to exist a heavy atmosphere in the houdehold, Woodcock demanded structure and always followed a strict daily routine. It was important that his routine was maintained or the whole of the rest of the day would be thrown into turmoil. He formed a friendship with a young waitress, Alma, who he grew attracted to and used her to model his designs. They...

Bunch of miss-fit buffoons get guns - What could possibly go wrong! This is a film about an arms deal that goes spectacularly wrong. Produced by Film4 & BFI - Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, (you'll probably know what to expect) - A very tense and gritty action drama, full of a violence and and dark humour. Set in Boston in the late '70's  The premise is very simple but delivered very effectively, a prolonged and unrelenting close quarter gun battle develops between two groups of likable buffoons in an abandoned warehouse. Don't look for any deeper meaning, there really isn't one, but there doesn't really need to be any more than is delivered in a very Tarantino style. The first 30 minutes follows the set up for the deal and character development. The remaining 70+ minutes is the totally chaotic shoot-out. The atmosphere is further enhanced with copious dust, dirt, broken glass and blood soaked set. Bang, Ricochet, bang, Ricochet, bang, Ricoch...

Not your typical comic book hero film C18 due to brutal, very bloody violence and language content. A very dark, gritty film with some elements of emotion. Set in the near future (2029), this is an action 'chase' film, where Logan is sick and obviously dying, a bitter aging weathered shadow of his former self. He is a heavy drinker and is now susceptible to injury, his healing factor is slow, and this makes him vulnerable and an interesting divergence from his normal character.  Xavier is suffering from dementia, he is a sad character and also a divergence from his normal character. Can a classic stage actor like Patrick Stewart drop the F-Bomb and get away with it? … Yes he certainly can. He was definitely one of the film's highlights for me! The Mutants are almost extinct, Logan finds himself reluctantly transporting a young mutant girl, Laura, who turns out to be like himself, a manufactured weapon, to 'Eden'. Logan is caring and protecting her, although ...

Action heist film, the baddies are planning to steal many millions from the impenetrable Los Angeles Federal Reserve, this is in the manner of 'Oceans 13'. The cops and robbers appear to be equal adversaries, this is in the manner of 'Heat'. We slowly realise that the cops are really bad as well The 'good' vegan FBI chief has predictable friction with Gerard Butler's 'bad' L.A. County Sheriff's Office team. We've seen this in tons of other films, this one is totally unconvincing.. The intense finale gun battle would have put dozens of civilians at risk - why would that happen! There's a twist at the end, obviously leading to a sequel. 140 minutes is way over long, might have been better if the story was told over 90 minutes. Save yourself some cash and download the immensely superior 'Heat' instead. 4/10

This is a live action film (incorporating CGI animation), a remake of a classic with some tweaks here and there to make it a little more modern. I doubt whether anyone is unfamiliar with the plot (but just in case) here a summary … The main protagonist is a very handsome but selfish prince, who is 'ugly on the inside'. A beggar woman comes to the castle and offers the prince a rose, and asks for shelter, she is turned away and laughed at, she decides there is no love in the prince's heart. She is angry and reveals herself to be a witch, she casts a spell on the Prince and his staff making him into the 'ugly on the outside' Beast. The staff are all turned into pieces of furniture and antiques etc. They will all stay that way forever until someone declares their love for the Beast before the last petal of the rose falls.(Don't worry it all works out in the end) The actors have all been perfectly cast. Belle is Emma Watson, the 'bookish' feminist, her chara...