filmsExaminer

Loosely based on the true story of PT Barnum, this is an original and extravagant musical that celebrates the birth of 'show business'.  This tells the rags to riches story of a pioneer who rose from nothing to create a circus of oddities that became a worldwide sensation. Hugh Jackman plays the circus pioneer, and follows his life from boy to businessman. His poor background drives him to success through some very risky business ventures directly following the loss of his job. Hugh convinces Zac Efron to quit his highly paid luxurious life to become his apprentice ringmaster. Along the way Zac falls in love with the ethnic trapese artist Zendaya played by Anne Wheeler. Michelle Williams plays his wife. Rebecca Ferguson plays the talented opera singer Jenny Lind.  There are many great catchy musical sequences, with lyrics from the composers of La La Land, the most memorable being "This Is Me" sung by Keala Settle as the Bearded Lady. Great costumes. Great acting. The ...

This is a film about exploration, about class structure, about being able to fit in, and about success and failure. The protagonist (Percy Fawcett) has a tainted reputation due to his father being a drunk and a gambler. Percy is a military officer who is offered an assignment to chart the Amazon and particularly the area around Bolivia where rubber production was the most lucrative industry, we learn there was a dispute over the position of the border, charting the area would avert a war between the rubber producers. He accepts the mission in an attempt to repair his family name and restore some reputation.  This film challenges the belief that Western Civilisation was the first to be established. Percy flits between jolly 'Old Blighty' and the Amazon several times to continue his obsessive search for this civilisation. It's hard to believe that he leaves his wife pregnant before leaving for every 3-4 year long expedition, she shows an incredible level of personal sacrifice...

Kristen Stewart plays the grief stricken Maureen, she is a spiritual medium and the personal shopper to a super star, they currently live in Paris and we see her zipping around on her Vespa buying the 'must haves' for her millionaire employer. Her brother had recently died of a heart condition, he was also a medium and we learn that Maureen has the same heart condition. Consequently they made a promise to each other that whoever should die first would send a 'message' to the survivor. She hopes to connect with his spirit. During the middle of the film Maureen starts receiving a very long series of text messages from an unknown 'stalker'. Her employer is murdered in her hotel room and we are left wondering who did it. Kristen gave a fine performance but a negative for my wife was that she couldn't help thinking Kristen really needed to wash her grungy hair. A positive for me was that Kirsten finds a number of opportunities to get topless and reveal her 'A...

his is a comedy (though that's being extremely generous) Musical The film immediately starts with a weird action sequence, which turns out to be a flash back from the end of the film. The Bellas are grown up but all going through a rough patch, they reunite and are invited to a military concert but not to perform, just to watch. However one of them has a connection to the military and they managed to crowbar a singing competition into the already thin plot. We also see a ridiculous subplot involving Fat Amy and her estranged father. This film is for a female audience based on a busy cinema full of young girls. The first two films were charming films but this is totally unnecessary, the best bits are Rebel Wilson's improvised humor and the out-takes while the credits roll. 3/10.

Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal are looking for 'black powder' in China and find themselves by chance in the middle of a massive battle between the elite Chinese army and an endless supply of unstoppable monster creatures that could have come straight out of Lord of the Rings. There is so much wrong with this film, I really don't know where to start, but I'll give it a stab.  The plot is rubbish, the dialogue is garbage, the acting is wooden, and I didn't really care for any characters in this film, that's just to start with! It was like watching a computer game made from a weird Chinese fable. I imagine this is what Cirque Du Soleil does when not performing on stage. I appreciate that the producers needed a big name on the poster to draw an audience but why on earth did 'Jason Bourne' agree to make this garbage. Pedro Pascal's character is reasonably fun, which is why I gave 1 star. With a few tweaks, this could have been a comedy spoof and it would...

Animated film from DreamWorks.  The film follows a family with a young son who have another baby (Boss Baby!). The baby takes attention away the son which results in some friction. The son hears the baby talking on the phone, and discovers he's on a mission to stop puppies taking away love, but unfortunately it just doesn't work. The plot is ridiculous, the real plot should be about how a brother copes with a new baby brother, but that's not emphasised enough. The first 15 minutes are funny with interesting ideas, the rest takes an enormous dive, and the plot falls completely flat, the rest is complete nonsense. This film might not be designed for an adult audience but neither was 'Inside Out' or 'Toy Story'. If you want to see a cartoon about family and friendship then see one of these superior alternatives again. Anyone older than 8 years will be bored in no time.  I've already forgotten all about this film. 3/10.

Fantasy Sci-fi adventure, which picks up directly from where 'The Force Awakens' ends. The film starts with the distinctive, unmistakable screen crawl and straight into a space battle action sequence.  Starring Daisy Ridley (Rey) and Adam Driver (Kylo). Made special by the last ever performance from Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), who gets more lines and more screen time than in 'The Force Awakens', although it would be impossible for him to get any less. Rey is in search of Luke Skywalker, the Jedi master. She wants training in the ways of the force. However, Luke is a damaged man, he is reluctant to start with but agrees to provide three lessons, and that appears to be all it takes to be a Jedi Master. The middle (quite lengthy section) is slow with many interweaving plots, some come together at the end, some fail. At the end Luke reunites with the rebels and faces Kylo. Luke however is revealed to be a hologram projection, which kills ...