David Crow

A lot of people think that this is one of the worst sequels ever made, but I do not agree, I really enjoyed it. Reagan MacNeil is still having nightmares years after her demonic possession and exorcism, and a doctor and a priest try to free her from it. Obviously, it is not a patch on The Exorcist, but then it was never going to be as that film is arguably the greatest horror film ever made. But it is a very good story, with really good actors in the cast including Louise Fletcher, Richard Burton, and James Earl Jones. Linda Blair returns as Reagan, and thank god, as the other sequels suffered without her. Do not listen to the snobs, and give it a go.

Whilst not one of Sylvester Stallones better films, this is a pretty entertaining whodunnit none the less. Stallone plays Jake Malloy, a policeman whose girlfriend was murdered by a serial killer who up until then had been killing cops. Having turned to the bottle, Malloy is sent to a D-Tox centre especially for cops, and when bodies start to pile up there, it soon becomes clear that the serial killer is one of the patients. The film is quite slowly paced, and does not have the greatest dialogue, but what makes it good is the strong supporting cast of character actors who are all good. The film is tense, and very violent, but again, it is far better that the reviews it got from most critics, you will probably guess who the killer is, but it is an entertaining watch none the less.

In 1995, Species become one of the big sleeper hits of the year grossing over $100 Million in the US alone, and deservedly so, and it was a hugely enjoyable Science fiction horror film, one of the better ones of the mid 1990's, so it was inevitable that a sequel would come, and it is very good. After a mission to Mars, the astronauts return infected, and it soon becomes apparent that it is the same kind of Alien as SIL in the original. Sil has been recreated as a half human form to be tested on in a Laboratory, and she is now called EVE, and she looks exactly like SIL's human form from the original. She has a connection with the new alien on earth, and helpd to locate it as it is killing people and having many offspring. Natasha Henstridge, Marg Helgenberger and Michael Madsen reprise their roles from Species, and I really enjoyed this sequel.

Insurgent is a very enjoyable and entertaining sequel to Divergent, which is faster paced with superior action and set pieces to it's predecessor. I very much enjoyed the scenes where Tris is doing her tests, and once again, Shailene Woodley is excellent as Tris. Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer lend very good support, and Mile Teller stands out from the young supporting cast. Kate Winslet does her best Hilary Clinton as the crazed villain, and the film makes for an entertaining couple of hours.

Well ever since the Twilight films were hugely successful, there has been a barrage of Young Adult film adaptions, the most successful and best of these being The Hunger Games series, but in all honesty, Divergent is quite enjoyable and entertaining. I think I might have enjoyed this film more than most, as I have not read the books by Veronica Roth, so I judged it as a film. The plot is a little muddled, in a future Chicago, society has been placed into five different factions, if you do not fit into any of these factions, you are called Divergent, and are deemed to be a threat to society, as the lead character Tris is. My main problems with the film would be its length, 2 Hours 20 is a bit long, and some of the perfomance's are not great, but there is solid support from Tony Goldwyn, Ashley Judd, and Kate Winslet as the big bad, and Shailene Woodley is very good as Tris, it was good enough that I wanted to see the sequel, and if you like The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner, you should like this.

Directed by John Hillcoat and wrote by Cormac McCarthy who wrote No Country for Old Men, this is a terrific post apocalyptic movie, that is unsettling, harrowing and touching at the same time. A man and his young son have to travel across America in search of food, while having to avoid dangerous and cannibalistic scavengers at the same time. As much a thriller, as a heart rending father and son story, I loved this film, it is beautifully directed, well wrote and scored, and the performances from Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit Mcphee, Charlize Theron and Robert Duvall are superb, I highly recommend this film.

Directed by Brian De Palma, this is based on James Ellroy's novel of the same name that is a sensationalized telling of the real life murder of the actress Elizabeth Short, which actually was never solved. This is certainly not in the league of other De Palma films like The Untouchables, Carlito's Way and Scarface, but it is an interesting film, which is a slow burner, the story is interesting, and Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank are particularly good, Aaron Eckhart and Josh Hartnett are ok, but the film needed stronger male leads. There is a trademark stair set piece in the film, and the film looks good and is slick, but the big disappointment is the ridiculous, overblown ending that is truly out of sink with the rest of the picture. Not as good as it should have been, but not as bad as some reviewers would have you believe.

To be honest, I was expecting a lot from this film as Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler are not the best, but I actually enjoyed this film. The main reason for enjoying it is the fact that I felt sorry for Gerard Butler's character, and I think that many people would want to do what his character does in his position, and many people feel let down by the system. The film is pacy, and slicky directed by F Gary Gray, has good set pieces, and a strong supporting cast. At times, the storyline is a bit unbelievable, but it is entertaining none the less, Gerard Butler, who also produced the film, is very good in the lead, making up for Jamie Foxx's ok performance. Good Friday or Saturday night watch.

Yet another great film that has a ridiculously low score on Rotten Tomatoes. Based upon Brett Easton Ellis's novel about a yuppie in eighties America who has violent and murderous tendencies, this film is dark, violent, and at times, very funny. Patrick Bateman is one of the best characters in modern day films, and Christian Bale is superb as Bateman, making him scary, funny and sad all at the same time. There is graphic sex and violence in the film, which maybe, put a few people off, also all of the women characters are treated abysmally. But this film is a smart social satire more than anything else, actually being critical of it's characters materialistic obsessions, which is also very relevant in today's society. This film is not an easy watch, but you really should check it out, especially for Bale's mesmerizing performance which is a joy. If only the Academy had been brave enough to give him a nod for it,

Why this brilliant film has such a low rating is beyond me, this is superior, highly intelligent film making at it's best, without the pretension that we are having to put up with in a lot of modern day films at the moment. Adapting John Le Carre's complicated spy novel about a russian mole was never going to be easy, but the screenplay is magnificent, and the stunning direction from Tomas Alfredson mean that it is faithful and stylish. It is very slow paced, and you must pay attention when watching this film, I suggest you watch it alone in peace, because there is so much going on, and it demands multiple viewers to really fully get it, but for me it is one of the best films in recent years, the performances are uniformly terrific, but the stand out is Gary Oldman as George Smiley who for me gives the best performance of his career, who would of thought that such a raw and intense actor as Oldman could give such a quietly powerful and multi layered performance as this, and I really hope that they make a sequel.