@ jimmymcavoy now

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Maria de Medeiros, Ving Rhames, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Christopher Walken, Bruce Willis
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZBfmBvvotE

The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster’s wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110912/)

I liked it. I think Inglorious Basterds will always be my favourite Tarantino movie, but I really enjoyed this one.

I miss when the good ol’ days when I didn’t point and laugh at John Travolta.

Samuel L. Jackson was excellent. As was everyone else, really.  

I liked the Bonnie story the best, I think, but all were very good. 

8/10 

Director: Jeffrey Blitz
Writer: Jeffrey Blitz
Starring: Reece Thompson, Anna Kendrick, Nick D’agosto
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u7aUbRyMX0

Looking for answers to life’s big questions, a stuttering boy joins his high school debate team. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477078/)

I’m sort of torn by this movie, because I loved half of it, but the other half was really boring and drawn out.

Reece Thompson was awesome, and does an excellent stutter, I think.

I just think that it was too long, even though it was only about an hour and forty minutes, I think it could’ve been better as a shorter movie.

I love everyone, though.

7/10

Director: Jonathan Newman
Writer: Jonathan Newman
Starring:Martin Freeman, Mandy Moore, Jonathan Silverman, Melissa George, Jerry Stiller
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tKycPLM0po

A suburban couple decide to shake up their marriage by “swinging” with another couple. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1502420/)

This is just really awkward and sort of traumatizing and please don’t watch it. Ever.

Despite the pretty lame premise, I had high hopes for this movie because MARTIN FREEMAN and MANDY MOORE. But it’s awkward, and not funny and really, really bad.

2/10

Director: George Miller
Writer: George Miller, Gary Eck, Warren Coleman, Paul Livingstone
Starring: Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria, Alecia Moore (P!nk), Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Sofia Vergara, Hugo Weaving, Richard Carter, Common, Magda Szubanski, Anthony LaPaglia
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twYq5QkNPKw

Mumble’s son, Erik, is struggling to realize his talents in the Emperor Penguin world. Meanwhile, Mumble and his family and friends discover a new threat their home — one that will take everyone working together to save them. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1402488/)

The big problem with Happy Feet Two is that I didn’t care about the penguins at all. The introduction of Brad Pitt and Matt Damon as two krill, Will and Bill, separated from their swarm was definitely the puntastic high-point of this movie. When they weren’t on screen I was wishing they were back.

Despite knowing that there was a plot to the movie, a complication, a solution, I feel like nothing really happened to the penguins and I think if you asked me tomorrow what happened I wouldn’t be able to tell you, other than to shout a handful of krill puns at you.

It is very nice to look at, though, but I was underwhelmed by the voice acting. Please, can Hank Azaria stop doing things that aren’t The Simpsons.

6/10 

Note: Download it just for the krill storyline if you like puns. I was crying with laughter. 

Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Writer: Abi Morgan
Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman, Roger Allam, Susan Brown, Nick Dunning, Nicholas Farrell, Iain Glen, Richard E. Grant, Anthony Head, Harry Lloyd, Michael Maloney, Alexandra Roach, Pip Torrens, Julian Wadham, Angus Wright
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDiCFY2zsfc

A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1007029/)

If this movie had been terrible (as I’m sure I remember someone telling me) I was going to use the excuse that I went to see it because my mum has a giant amount of love for Meryl Streep (“Meryl can do no wrong, Sian. She’s can do ANYTHING she wants.”), but it was good. Really good.

I think it’s worth seeing it just for the excellent acting by Streep, but the rest of the cast is good. I liked how the story was told and URGH, M.T. AND D.T. ARE ADORABLE AND CAUSED ME EMOTIONS.

7.5/10

Director: Joseph Barbera, William Hanna
Writer: Jameson Brewer and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0659613/fullcredits#writers
Starring: Casey Kasem, Don Messick, Olan Soule, Nicole Jaffe, Heather North, Frank Welker
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9FYYuXqRqE

Mystery Inc. teams up with Batman and Robin when Professor Flaky is kidnapped by Joker and Penguin. (SOURE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_New_Scooby-Doo_Movies_episodes)

I don’t care, this counts as a movie. It also counts as the MOST AMAZING THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. Oh gosh, how was I to know that Scooby-Doo would mix so well with Batman to create this perfect, flawless, awesome cartoon.

This is the most amazing combination of corny lines, puns, Batman and Robin, the Scooby Gang and the old Hanna-Barbera laugh track.

9/10

Director: Bill Melendez
Writer: Charles M. Schulz
Starring: Peter Robbins, Christopher Shea, Tracy Stratford, Kathy Steinberg
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34POOFRtHHc

Repelled by the commercialism he sees around him, Charlie Brown tries to find the true meaning of Christmas. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059026/)

This story is like the inside of my big brother’s mind. Just sayin’.

But, I did like it very much! I think it’s pretty deep and meaningful for a cartoon, but not so much that you feel like you’re being lectured.

PLUS, I JUST LOVE PEANUTS.

8.5/10

Director: Chris Columbus
Writer: John Hughes
Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stein, John Heard, Catherine O’Hara
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK2Btk6Ybm0

An 8-year-old boy, who is accidentally left behind while his family flies to France for Christmas, has to defend his home against idiotic burglars. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099785/)

I don’t know, I think some of the magic of this movie was lost on me because I didn’t watch it as a kid.

It was disappointing. Not bad, just disappointing.

5.5/10

Director: Garry Marshall
Writer: Katherine Fugate
Starring: Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Robert De Niro, Josh Duhamel, Zac Efron, Hector Elizondo, Katherine Heigle, Ashton Kutcher, Seth Meyers, Lea Michele, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michele Pfeiffer, Til Schweiger, Hilary Swank, Sofia Vergara
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Y2uXjsKjs

The lives of several couples and singles in New York intertwine over the course of New Year’s Eve. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598822/)

When Valentine’s Day came out, I called it a shitty version of Love Actually. New Years Eve is a shitty version of Valentine’s Day. It’s overly predictable, to the point where I guessed the conclusion of all except one storyline (Halle Berry, just so you know). It’s corny and pretty awful but the Zac Efron/Michelle Pfeiffer story was adorable and definitely the high point.

It was very… chick flick, and I will admit that Lea Michele singing Auld Lang Syne made me cry. It’s cutesy. Over the top cutesy. I just wish someone had had a bad New Years Eve.

6/10

Director: Joe Carnahan
Writer: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia, Alicia Keys, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Ryan Reynolds 
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xidZSnYuT0s

When a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel decides to turn state’s evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he’s no longer breathing. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475394/)

I feel like this movie was trying too hard. Trying to be better than what it was and trying to be sneaky and trying to not have you guess all the twists.

It failed.

Which is disappointing, because with a cast like that I so wanted to love it. Seeing Chris Pine as the character he played was particularly joy inducing, though.

4.5/10

Director: J.J. Abrams
Writer: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, J.J. Abrams
Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URD7yLgw9_M

Ethan Hunt comes face to face with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer while trying to keep his identity secret in order to protect his girlfriend. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317919/)

I feel like people are going to hurt me for saying this, but I really liked this movie.

7.5/10 

Director: Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney
Writer: Michele Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney
Starring: Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Lisa Kudrow
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81naJWXRuSk

A washed-up writer forms an unlikely friendship with a teenager from Long Island. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437405/)

This movie was really uncomfortably not at all funny. It made me feel awkward watching it because I knew with the amazing cast it should have been hilarious. Emma Stone was the best part, but that’s not a very hard feat.

I didn’t finish it.

5/10

Director: Warren Beatty, Buck Henry
Writer: Warren Beatty, Elaine May
Starring: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, James Mason, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon, Buck Henry, Vincent Gardenia, Jack Warden
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxE9MriSy4I

A Los Angeles Rams quarterback, accidentally taken away from his body by an over-anxious angel before he was supposed to die, comes back to life in the body of a recently murdered millionaire. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077663/)

I got about half way through this movie before I realised I had no idea what had happened since the first 5 minutes. BORING.

I need to stop taking movie suggestions from my sister.

3.5/10

Director: Jake Paltrow
Writer: Jake Paltrow
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Martin Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Simon Pegg, Danny Devito 
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8rd4VQrrLo

A former pop star who now writes commercial jingles for a living experiences a mid-life crisis. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0484111/)

This was sort of equal parts weird, boring and ‘why the hell are such awesome people in such a shit movie?’ It was sort of trying way too hard.

I don’t even know. Simon Pegg and Martin Freeman should work together more.

5/10 

A secret agent is sent to Sydney, to find and destroy a genetically modified disease called “Chimera” (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120755/)

When my brother told me this movie is more action than the first, I was expecting explosions.

Not enough explosions.

Also, the accents were terrible.

Brendan Gleeson was my favourite bit.

6.5/10

As a freebie, have some of Sian’s Mission: Impossible II trivia:

1. Eight year old Sian saw Tom Cruise from her primary school and had no idea who he was
2. The scene where he jumps off the building was filmed at the building next to where I used to work.
3. You can see my primary school at the start.
4. My sister-in-law’s mum made the parachute.  

Director: Brad Bird
Writer: Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0LQnQSrC-g

The IMF is shut down when it’s implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization’s name. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229238/) 

EXPLOSIONS!

I really liked this, and now I’m going to watch M:I ii and M:I iii.

I especially liked the banter between Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner.

My brother said it was like a mix of all three of the movies. (A suspense thriller crossed with explosions)

7.5/10 

Director: Vincente Minnelli
Writer: Irving Brecher, Fred F. Finklehoffe
Starring: Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Marjorie Main
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSKvNcC6eo8

In the year before the 1904 St Louis World’s Fair, the four Smith daughters learn lessons of life and love, even as they prepare for a reluctant move to New York. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037059/)

Urgh, this film is really beautiful and it made my heart so happy.

Judy Garland is just an amazing lady, and sings so prettily.

I have love hearts in my eyes right now, and I’m all Christmassy.

8/10 

Director: James Gunn
Writer: James Gunn
Starring: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon  
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctcURFb7XE4

After his wife falls under the influence of a drug dealer, an everyday guy transforms himself into Crimson Bolt, a superhero with the best intentions, though he lacks for heroic skills. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1512235/)

I found this movie to be seriously ridiculous. Badly “gory,” and all I could think was that this movie was written by Dwight Schrute, for Dwight Schrute.

To be honest, just watch Kick-Ass.

4.5/10

Director: Jonathan Levine
Writer: Will Reiser
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeh5YXotTTM

Inspired by a true story, a comedy centered on a 27-year-old guy who learns of his cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1306980/)

This is, like, the perfect mixture of bromanctic-hilarity and heart-wrenching emotions. J

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is amazing and Seth Rogen proved again that he can do more than just pot-smoking comedy (not that there’s no pot-smoking comedy in this).

I want to write an open letter to this entire cast and tell them HOW FABULOUS THEY ARE.

Now I’m going to go back to feeling left-over emotions from this movie. 

8.5/10

Director: Chris Miller
Writer: Tom Wheeler
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMYpXl0mnL8

A story about the events leading up to the sword fighting cat’s meeting with Shrek and his friends. (SOURCE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448694/)

I did not like this movie.

The use of 3D was seriously obnoxious.

The story was ridiculous.

For a kids’ movie, there weren’t any huge laugh-out-loud moments.

Disappoint.

4/10