Rio

Certificate: U

Running Time: 96 minutes

Director: Carlos Saldanha

From the creators of Ice Age, Rio tells the tale of blue macaw called Blu (so clever - I bet they spent days thinking up that one!), a domesticated bird that can’t fly, living in Minnesota. But now the last male of his species, he retreats to his native country of Brazil by order of an ornithologist to save their kind. The casting was awful; the usually brilliant Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg and Jamie Foxx have very annoying voices for animation. Will.I.Am was also thrown into the mix - also hugely irritating. George Lopez and Jemaine Clement were the only characters worth watching. The actual animation of the film was really well done, and was definitely the best part of the whole movie. Very predictable, with a plot layout copied from about a million other animated epics, and almost every scene and character seemed based upon something or someone previously seen on our screens. For example, look out for the first scene in which you see the monkeys - remind anyone of the opening scene of the lemurs from Dreamworks’ ‘Madagascar’? If it was one of the only animated movies in the world, easily 5 stars. But it isn’t. 

Rating: **

Bright Star

Certificate: PG

Running Time: 119 minutes

Director: Jane Campion

In a little village on the outskirts of London, a struggling poet takes on a fatherless girl in her demand to learn poetry. They shortly find a mutual attraction to one another, but the relationship develops very slowly over three years. Based on the real life and times of classic British icon John Keats, I believe this film did not do him justice. I was expecting an artistic movie with passion, poise and poetry, however the acting of Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw felt forced and the plot did not flow well. As a fan of Keats later work, I really wanted to enjoy this. I have to say, a mediocre effort and not to everyone’s liking.

Rating: ***

*Top 20 Comedy Films of All Time*

1. Zoolander

2. Big Daddy

3. There's Something About Mary

4. Wayne's World

5. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
6. Water Boy
7. Shrek
8. Hot Fuzz
9. The Full Monty
10. Monty Python's Life of Brian
11. American Pie
12. The Wedding Singer
13. Team America
14. Shaun of the Dead
15. The 40 Year Old Virgin
16. Borat
17. Dumb and Dumber
18. You Don't Mess With The Zohan
19. The Nutty Professor
20. Airplane!

Clash of the Titans

Certificate: 12A

Running Time: 106 minutes

Director: Louis Leterrier

Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Gemma Arterton star in this action packed film about the Greek Gods. It definitely ticks all the boxes on paper, but in actual fact was not as well made as it should have been. I kept putting off watching it as I thought as much, which explains why this review is so late. The movie wasn’t as long winded as I expected it to be, and it did exceed my expectations. This would have been a compliment had it not been for my expectations starting out rather low in the first place. An average film, pretty good in some places, but not very consistent. 

Rating: ***