It is no secret that we live in an ever-increasingly mediocre and superficial world. While this lack of originality, intelligence, open mindness and good common sense is devoid in a large portion of our society, things seemed to be even worse in the U.S. They, unlike the rest of the world, salivate and praise mediocrity to such an extent that if any alien race came and saw them the aliens wouldn’t even bothered killing them. Such stupidity isn’t even worth the sweat. I hear you though, not all Americans are like that but you have to admit that most of them are. That stupidity is the issue at the centre of God Bless America, a film that finally puts into action what us sane people think about almost every day.

Frank (Joel Murray) is a divorced middle aged father living out his life bombarded by the overly idiotic media wave. He suffers from excruciating migraines and insomnia that are enhanced by his neighbours’ crying abomination of a baby and their blatant ignorance. Just like every average American with nothing to do, he watches trash TV and hates himself for it. However, one day he is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer which changes things completely. Frank decides to teach the so called beloved scum of the media a lesson in humility and humanity, so with the help of Roxy (Tara Lynne Barr) they go on a killing spree that sees them kill stars of singing competition and people involved in MTV’s My Sweet 16.

I am proud to say that I am actually part of a group of people who does not watch nor enjoys reality shows, like Jersey Shore, My Sweet 16 and whatever other bullshit trash MTV cooks up. I know of them like everyone else, but I don’t watch them as they make me depressed about humanity and I feel like a part of me dies every second that I see that shit. Fortunately, a lot of people feel the same way and this film addresses such sentiments. The really sad thing about God Bless America is that it’s portrayal of the media’s fascination with trash isn’t at all over-sensetionalized. It all feels so true and accurate that you begin to question why the hell did it take Frank so long to shoot the brains out of a girl from My Sweet 16.

It may not be a popular or appropriate thing to say out loud, but we’ve all thought of killing people like that. People who are so fucking demanding and inconsiderate, people who don’t know respect, have never heard of the word humility and are 100% self-abosberd assholes. People whose ignorance is so overpowering that it could easily destroy nations, which is pretty much the case with Americans. God Bless America doesn’t tackle all the filth but shoots at the main ones, one of them being the Tea Party. While all these is going on, the film also manages to give us a tender yet odd buddy story that feels sincere and relatable. Both main actors are effective in their respective roles, although Barr’s voice gets a bit whiny from time to time.

The only real problem with God Bless America is that it does come of a bit too preachy. It is trying really hard to shove its message down your throat, which can be somewhat overbearing. Moreover, after a while things get a bit dull as you feel the character are basically reciting the same record player over and over again. But since the message is both an admirable and important one, you’ll find yourself agreeing with it. What they say is true, the state of the media is on a downward spiral accepting more and more the notion that you don’t need talent, manners and even the slight ounce of respect to become someone praised and adored all over.

God Bless America is an effective film with an important message that speaks perfectly to how things are today. It achieves one of the purposes of films, to take all of our twisted but so very appropriate fantasies and makes them into reality. Who here hasn’t wished to fucking beat the shit out of someone speaking and disturbing people in the movie theatre? God, I hate those people. God Bless America should’ve gone a bit further with its targets but for what it is, you won’t regret watching it. It’s funny when it needs to be, disturbing when necessary and injected with enough heart to carry you the distance. Not a home-run by any means, but still quite entertaining.

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In her 13th birthday, Luli (Chloe Moretz) receives a few gifts ranging from a handgun to her parents profusely battling each other. All these things are part of Luli’s life, but things get sidetracked once both her parents abandon her. Tired of being bored doing nothing, Luli decides to walk all the way to Vegas, a land that promises flashy entertaining happiness. In the road, Luli stumbles upon two individuals: Eddie (Eddie Redmayne) and Glenda (Blake Lively). While Glenda shows Luli the ropes of travelling the road as beautiful single woman, Eddie falls madly in love with Luli and entraps her into an increasingly dangerous situation.

When Kick-Ass premiered a few year ago, the person who was universally admired and praised was none other than Chloe Moretz. Her performance as Hit-Girl was without a doubt the standout of the film and poised Moretz as the new Dakota Fanning. Unfortunately, at least in this writer’s opinion, everything Moretz has done consequently has been less than stellar. Hugo was a masterpiece but her performance was utterly forgettable, the less we say about Let Me In the better and in Hick she straight up falters and burns. As a matter of fact, a large portion of why Hick is such a failure comes exclusively from Moretz performance.

First of all, she seems to be the only one in the film who struggles with the southern accent. In the beginning it’s somewhat there but as things progress it disappears all together. Moreover the charisma, excitement and sincerity we’ve seen her convey so beautiful is completely missing here. Her attempt at trying something risqué, which on paper resembles somewhat what Jodie Foster did in Taxi Driver, is just excruciatingly dull to watch. Everything about her performance feels forced, unoriginal and as a character you’re suppose to feel empathetic for all you want is for her to just shut up and stop doing things. Moretz isn’t a bad actress, but she is completely out of her depth here and she unfortunately kills everything around her.

On the opposite front, Hick does have two really strong performances courtesy of Blake Lively and Eddie Redmayne. Lively is at first unrecognizable and this is by far the best performance she has given. Every trace of her star persona is gone and what we finally get is an actress really digging deep and becoming someone else. Everything from her accent to her mannerism, Lively lights up the screen constantly and is a real joy to watch. But even better is Redmayne who totally blows it out of the park. Not only is his character the juiciest one of the bunch, but also the way he milks it for all its worth is amazing. His character is in constant flux and the more time we spend with him the more unpredictable and insane he gets. But what makes his character’s psychotic mannerism empathetic and interesting is the way he conveys them with such a high level of vulnerability and sincerity. You end up really feeling for the guy event though he just keeps screwing things up.

Supposedly Hick is meant to be a dark comedy and while the film strives to be that, you won’t laugh or even giggle once. Director Derik Martini is trying a bit too hard to make Hick into some wild card pushing film, but all he achieves to do is create an ever-increasing boring film that literally has nothing to say. Overall the film fails in almost every sense from its contradictory tones to its overly forced and illogical situations. Chloe Moretz again proves that Hit-Girl was nothing but a one-off kind of deal and seriously damages the whole film. The only really tragic thing about Hick is that two powerhouse performances by Blake Lively and Eddie Redmayne are in it; such great performances deserved a much better film.

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When Iron Man was released four years ago, it kickstarted phase one of the back then newly formed Marvel Studios. Every consequent film they have released since has be paving the way for a dream, a dream to potentially create a film unlike anything we’ve seen before. With each new film this dream started to take shape and while the road to now has brought forth insurmountable success, joy and utter awesomeness, I think it is fair to say that no one was prepared to what The Avengers would be like. Yes, we all had our expectations and from initial footage we knew that it would be a good film. Even though many of us had some doubts and so forth, it is a great testament to everyone involved that The Avengers turned out to be a new benchmark for not just comic book films, but also cinema as a whole.

As S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and scientists experiment with the Tesseract (the blue cube from Captain America for those who do not know), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is hailed into their facility to try to make sense of the peculiar way the Tesseract is behaving. This misbehaviour opens up a portal and in enters Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who wastes no time eliminating most of the agents and declaring war upon humanity. Such an act of war drives Nick Fury to contact a collection of people with specific set of skills, which include Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), the almighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evan). However as expected, so many powerful people in a room together unleashes difficult clashes that rupture the group and this leads to deaths, tragedy and an unreadiness to save the Earth from an all powerful alien enemy.

When The Avengers was officially announced the question on many people’s minds was: who would direct it? At one point John Favreau was the lead, but after the abysmal Iron Man 2 and the creative problems with the studio he was pushed aside. While this surprised no one, the announcement of the eventual director did as no one expected that fanboy favourite Joss Whedon would be given the unnaturally difficult job of assembling something not only cohesive but also create with The Avengers. I, like many other fans, saw both great potential and promise from such an unusual hiring but I never expected that Joss Whedon would do such an unbelievably amazing job. Considering that the pairing of so many superheroes could’ve lead to an uneven, illogical, forced and ultimately wasted chance of a film, it is both admirable and praise worthy that Joss Whedon was able to create a carefully crafted, significant and grandiose film.

Joss Whedon does such an amazing job with the characters here that for the most part they all completely outshine their previous appearances. Black Widow feels like a completely new character in this film. We saw her kick-ass and be all badass in Iron Man 2, but Joss Whedon turns her into a real character here and actually gives Scarlet Johansson and storyline for herself fuelled by sentiment and danger. She is not stand-in in The Avengers, she proves herself to be part of such an elite group and I for one am extremely excited to see her future standalone film. Whedon gives the character a backstory and pathos was bot welcoming and interesting. The Hulk also received a tune up in this film both as Bruce Banner and as the green beast. Mark Ruffalo nails the character in more ways than anyone expected so much so that you are constantly wanting for more. There is genuine emotion and controlled rage in Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner and this is the first Hulk that actually resembles Bruce Banner. You can feel Mark Ruffalo in The Hulk as he tears up everything and becomes produces the absolute best action moments you will see this year.

As for the rest of the characters, their greatness is enhanced tenfold in this film. Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is even more awesome this time around and is given the emotional arc the second film so desperately attempted and consequently failed to do. He steals practically every scene he is in and after watching him here I am finally excited for Iron Man 3. Chris Evans is also great, but his previous appearance was already so brilliant that it is hard to see Evans top himself once again. Then we have Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury who finally serves something more than just deliver exposition and is presented as a fully fleshed-out character. Plus, he gets to shoot at a bunch of people and look all badass. Finally there’s Chris Hemsworth’s Thor who become my favourite Marvel superhero since his film last year.

When The Avengers’ villain was announced I had two reactions: one being utter excitement because Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is in my opinion one of the best villains ever, and two being curiosity as to the effect that villain selection would have on Thor within the film. I was glad to see the latter one addressed fully. In Thor the sibling conflict was one of the main driving forces and I loved the way it was handled in The Avengers. All those moments between Thor and Loki are exceptional and add so much to their respective stories and sentiments. Both actors of course rise to the challenge and nail all of those scenes, which are among my favourites of the whole film. But special note must be made of Tom Hiddleston who truly rises to challenge of main villain and does justify the assembly of such diverse and powerful individuals. Loki has a knack for pissing the shit out every actor and it’s great to see him manipulate The Avengers and birth conflict. His scene with Scarlett Johansson is one of the most memorable in my opinion not only because it made me realized once again that Scarlet Johansson is in fact a brilliant actress, but also how Tom Hiddleston devours those moments of tenacity and rage so perfectly.

Another of the many welcoming surprises in The Avengers was its structure. None of the character introduction felt forced, instead they blended naturally and in concordance with the story at play. Moreover, I was glad to see so much character interaction in the film instead of just pure action for 2 hours straight. It’s great to see that everyone involved knew the merit and unique opportunity of really milking the conflict between these heroes and while their physical clashes are extraordinary, it is their vocals one that produce the most desirable results. They reveal things about the characters and help ground the proceedings which are already by themselves quite fantastical. From Firefly and Serenity I knew that Joss Whedon had a real handle producing an interesting and dynamic ensemble piece, but with The Avengers he takes things to another level and I was genuinely blown away by them. Another thing that blew me away was the action sequences, which to be honest bare no resemblance to any other action scene seen before. The action here is drenched in palpable danger and the characters have to really fight to win, and it all feels exquisitely epic.

Even with all its mighty successes, The Avengers is not a perfect film. For one the score by Alan Silvestri underwhelmed in the most horrible sense both because it was rarely there but when it appeared it didn’t feel unique to The Avengers. That score could be heard in any other superhero film and I think such an amazing film as this deserved a much better score. A powerful score would’ve made things even more iconic and epic, and I hope this missed opportunity is rectified in the eventual sequel. But that just a minor issue in what essentially is one of the best films I’ve seen in a very long time. The Avengers is much more than what we hoped it would be and while the actors and the effects deserve a lot of attention, the person that deserves the most praise and must never be forgotten is the man who directed the film. Joss Whedon is powerful force to be reckon with and he has proven with this film that can do anything, and that he is by far one of the best writer/directors working right now. Every superhero film since Iron Man has been driving towards The Avengers and without Joss Whedon this film would not be the genius achievement that is. I know the new Dark Knight film and Prometheus are on their way, but as of now I honestly don’t believe there will be a bigger film this year quite like The Avengers.

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In The Raven, a serial killer has based his killings on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe and once Detective Fields (Luke Evans) realizes this, he calls for Poe (John Cusack) to come and aid with the investigation. As the kills increase, Poe’s fiancé gets kidnapped and the killer challenges Poe to a cat and mouse game in which her live is at risk.

While watching this film, I came to a couple of realizations and the most powerful being about the director James McTeigue. For those who do not know, McTeigue was also the director of what I believe to be one of the best comic books films ever: V for Vendetta. What has become clear though is that McTeigue is a one-off director, meaning that he only has one good film in him and he already used that in his directorial debut. With Ninja Assassin McTeigue showed a horrible handle on story and character but at least a decent eye for action. And with The Raven McTeigue should honestly quit directing films for a while.

In theory, The Raven sounds like an interesting film with some cool possibilities but it seems like no one involved thought or even cared about them. Everything about this film is lazy, generic, dull and lacklustre from the atrociously insulting dialogue to the overly stylish and lame visuals to the more than shitty acting. The film doesn’t even deliver on the gore and fright department, which would’ve at least made watching it bearable. The Raven is a perpetual bomb and its attempts at being clever and thoughtful are anything but.

John Cusack saves things somewhat, but at no point do you feel like your watching anything like Edgar Allan Poe. This is just a goatee version of John Cusack being John Cusack and it honestly does not belong in the universe the film is so desperately trying to establish. The Raven is a suckfest all around and proves yet again that all the greatness we saw in V for Vendetta was just a fluke. And as a film talking about Edgar Allan Poe, his representation here is extremely degrading. Go read his stories and poems, they are infinitely more compelling than this shit film could ever be.

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One of the things I’ve appreciated by the new type science fiction films that have been released recently is the way they don’t feel like science fiction. These type of films, whose prime example is Never Let Me Go, focus on the humane and on establishing a palpable sense of realism. They have some traces of science fiction, but those traces are used at a minimal capacity like background noise. The science fiction elements are also used to triggers ideas and thoughts that makes us question things. It is in this respect that Womb is easily one of the most thought-provoking films I’ve seen in a while.

After leaving her hometown when she was a little girl many years ago, Rebecca (Eva Green) returns to rekindle with her best friend/lover Thomas (Matt Smith). As their love grows and happiness consumes their daily life, everything is disrupted by a fatal accident that takes the life of Thomas. Unable to cope with his death, Rebecca impregnates herself with a clone of Thomas and gradually starts to raise him as her very own in a secluded area. But as Thomas grows so does his questions about his father and about what he really is.

Referencing Never Let Me Go is of prime importance, as anyone who has seen that film will notice from the very beginning how director Benedek Fliegauf is actively trying to imitate that film in Womb. From the colour palette to the title cards with the small and subtle font to the atmospheric quality of the rest. The problem in Womb however, and there are many problems, is that Fliegauf takes al these subtleties and assembles them in a exceedingly tiresome and boring manner. I don’t mind slow-paced films, but there is such a palpable distanciation between film and audience that it makes it difficult for us to get involved. Womb aims to be thoughtful and poetic, but there’s a disconnect and it all ends up feeling both forced and fake.

Then we have the story itself which from the summary above sounds simple but able to open the door for some really interesting ideas and intriguing debates. However, much like the rest Fliegauf doesn’t know or even wants to explore them in a way that involves the viewer. It’s really frustrating because every time we’re told new things about this world and how clones are viewed, you want the film to explore those things and to establish its own views in respect to those issues. But we have none of that and what’s worse is that some things happen in the film that aren’t explained in the slightest, like the fact that Rebecca never ages. Are we just supposed to accept that Rebecca not only births clone Thomas but also watches him reach the age that original Thomas died and she never ages? Is she a clone too? Is there something that stops aging?

This film would be a tolerable is at least it delivered in the acting department. It takes a great director to get two very talented actors and make them deliver two dull, boring and misplaced performances. Eva Green is effective and from time to time can reach the emotional places she’s supposed to. Her performance really comes alive in the second half of the film and while her characters is somewhat unlikeable, we understand her sentiments and why she did what she did. Matt Smith on the other hand was horribly miscast here to such an extent that my powerful love for him went to hell. He gives an okay performance, but can’t for the life of him connect with the world he is in. It seems like Womb stripped him of all the brilliant subtle acting he showed in Doctor Who. Smith really harms the film.

Womb is a terribly misguided film. I’ll admit that the ideas are there, they are very interesting and I would’ve love to see them explored or at least dealt with in a better way. There is a brilliant film somewhere in Womb, but you will be hard-pressed to even notice it pass the cloud of problems and bad decisions director Benedek Fliegauf makes. The subtle and slow-paced tone is used too forcefully and obstructs involvement and understanding of the characters. The acting never quite hits the mark and while the actors are partially to blame, I imagine it was Fliegauf’s direction that lead them all there. Never Let Me Go is an appropriate film with science fiction elements to aspire to, but I can’t help but feel that Fliegauf should’ve found inspiration somewhere else. Womb is a boring mess that needs a remake with a much more able director.

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The world with end at 4:44am and in the midst of inescapable death, most of the whole human race is spending their last hours in normalcy. Cisco (Willem Dafoe) and Skye (Shanyn Leigh) spend their last hours locked up in their loft painting, having sex, watching you tube videos or TV about the Dalai Lama and other spiritual entities, while occasionally looking out from the rooftop. And that’s it.

There’s really not much to say about 4:44 Last Day on Earth. We are never told how people know the world with end and everyone seems to have accepted their fate. What we get is a look at the mundane and at people trying to find some spiritual peace in the face of imminent death. There is a interesting film somewhere here, but you will never find it and you really wouldn’t want to either. It’s all very simple, boring, uninteresting and while some people may relish at the sight of Willem Dafoe fucking on-screen, after 20 minutes you’ll be counting the seconds until everyone gets killed. If 4:44 Last Day on Earth had done a bit more it would’ve been at least worth your time, but as it stands it is a massive waste of time.

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One of the prevailing problems with films today, and this is especially the case within the horror genre, is a lack of originality. It’s gotten to a point where it becomes difficult to differentiate what horror film is which, as they all seem to utilize the same generic conventions in pretty much the same way. Once in a while a film comes a long that does things differently and grabs all of our attention, like for example Saw, but that freshness is quickly obliterated as then every other horror film subsequent to that one will appropriate the new conventions and used them to death driving us back to where we started. It’s an understandable albeit unfortunate pattern, but more importantly it reinforces the idea that at some point that original film will come. And ladies and gentleman, that film is Cabin in the Woods.

In order to not give anything away plot-wise, I’m just going to give you a fraction of what the film is about. As most people who’ve seen the trailers know, Cabin in the Woods is basically about five friends: Dana (Kristen Connolly), Curt (Chris Hemsworth), Jules (Anna Hutchinson), Marty (Fran Kranz) and Holden (Jesse Williams) who go to a secluded cabin for the weekend. Once there things start off relatively normal, but shit hits the fan really quickly and let’s just say that things are definitely not what they seem.

As I said before, most horror films nowadays follow a set of conventions and while the main killer figure might be different, the set up and the endgame is essentially the same. The absolutely genius thing that Cabin in the Woods does is that it takes all those conventions established in slasher films and flips them around completely. So what you get is something that looks somewhat familiar but presented in such a way that labels them different. Moreover, the mystery behind the cabin in the woods which is presented gradually throughout the film adds such a level of self-awareness to the proceedings that the experience of watching the film is both fresh and very weird.

One of the things I kept thinking to myself for the the film’s first two acts was how fuckin’ weird this film is. The what the fuck moments just kept rising and rising, and what this creates is viewing experience where you literally have no clue where things are heading. There are moments where you might think you know, but in all honestly you have no clue. Watching Cabin in the Woods genuinely felt like I was watching something new, something that did not abide by the rules we knew, something that was going to take me to a place I could never imagine. And holy shit does it do all that and more. The third act of the film is one of the most mind-blowing final 30 minutes of any film I’ve ever seen. My face was in a perpetual state of shock and wtf for the whole third act, and when the film ended I was left speechless.

Another clever thing the film does in respect to the horror film conventions is Cabin in the Woods not only presents us with an amazingly intriguing and weird story, but it also gives all the conventions we’re familiar with a set of new identifiers. What these identifiers do is place the conventions, like the slutty girl or the virgin, within a framework that is entirely its own thing. Moreover, in context of the film things happen for a specific reason and as that reason is slowly revealed it’s all put into perspective. Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard should be given an Oscar for writing such an unbelievably amazing and fresh screenplay drenched both in mythology and without ever rejecting all the horror films that came before. It’s so impressive to see how balanced Cabin in the Woods is in terms of story, characters and tone. There are constant shifts in the film but everything is assembled in a cohesive and exceedingly effective manner.

I would love to talk about the third act and the mystery of the film, but I won’t. Just as it was the case with Inception, the less you know the better. All you need to know is that Cabin in the Woods has single-handedly somewhat reinvented the horror genre in such a meta, unexpected and totally mind-blowing way that even a few days after seeing it I’m still trying to process the whole thing. Every aspect of the film is amazing from the acting to the special effects to the scares to the story. This is a horror film that uses cliches to its advantage and modifies them so that they feel fresh. I can’t stress this enough, but watching this film truly felt like I was in the presence of something really different. It’s very rare when a film is able to do that and for that aspect alone, the film deserves universal praise. You need to go watch Cabin in the Woods. This will probably be the new classic in the horror genre.

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Guy Pearce is in my opinion one of the most underrated actors ever. It’s strange because this is an actor that has been in so many wildly successful films that even some people consider masterpieces (Memento anyone?), yet he has never reached the status of instantly recognizable and constantly awarded actor. What makes it even stranger is that his talent surpasses that of most actors working today, and every film he does no matter whether the film itself is good or bad you can be sure his performance will shine through. So far though, there is one genre he hasn’t tacked and that is action. That changes with Lockout.

In Lockout, Guy Pearce plays Snow a man who after saving a General is wrongfully convicted of treason against the U.S. Meanwhile, the president’s daughter Emilie (Maggie Grace) travels to a high-security prison orbiting the planet in order to examine the treatment of the inn-mates. During an interview with one of the prisoners, Hydel (Joseph Gilgun), an accident occurs which escalates into Hydel killing most of the guards and freeing all the prisoners. Back on Earth, Snow is offered a pardon if he travels to the outer space prison and successfully rescues the president’s daughter. Once there, shit just gets crazy.

Most elements within this film like the special effects, acting and story possess a division, as on the one side things are brilliant while on the other side they are total shit. The special effects are for the most part well used and rendered. All the space sequences look really cool and enhance the action to great effect. Having said that, there are moments were the special effects look extremely gimmicky and unintentionally funny. The chase sequence in the beginning is a great example of this, as it feels more like a cut scene from a lame video game than a film. Moreover, the live-action elements don’t always blend well with the special effects and that sometimes could be very distracting.

The acting is the major element where the division is evident. Guy Pearce delivers one of his best performances to date. His combination of John Mclaine with other stuff is fuckin’ awesome form start to finish. He immediately draws you in and carries the film effortlessly. Snow is a type of hero rarely seen in action films, which makes most thing feel fresh and exciting. He has this easy-going attitude, says what’s on his mind which for the most part involved sarcasm and dickish lines that work perfectly with his undeniable charm. Plus, Pearce delivers on the action front and look awesome while doing it. He is the main draw of the film and it is because of him that Lockout is an enjoyable film.

Other notable actors are Joseph Gilgun (yay!) and Lennie James who not only ground the film, but also make it more fun to watch. But the rest of the acting borders on the line of bland to atrocious. And the character who inhabits both perfectly is Maggie Grace. I’ve never considered her a good actress, but I had no idea the extent of her dullness until this film. She sucks in the word possible ways by delivering a “performance” so flat, generic and forced that everything she does feels superficial and annoying. Moreover, when the goal or the main plot point of the film is this boring you will have a hard time caring for her. There were many moments were I honestly wanted her to just die. The only times were Grace improves somewhat is during her scenes with Pearce. Besides that she is lifeless.

And then we have the story of the film, which is not groundbreaking by any means but it had the potential to feature some interesting things. Someone forgot to tell that to the filmmakers though, as Lockout plays it relatively safe throughout. The story is injected with some twist and turns that once they hit you will find yourself literally shrugging. I also think the film would’ve benefited itself if it had been a bit more grittier and less cartoonish, but I guess that wasn’t the aim. Overall, the film is pretty generic and uses some really cliche plot points to stall or deviate the protagonist. Most of it just feels tiring and by the end you’ll be underwhelmed by Lockout.

Lockout is a fine b-movie style science-fiction action film that gets some things right but a lot of things wrong. The gimmicky special effects and Maggie Grace insult to humanity damage the film a lot. Add to that he generic story and desire for the filmmakers to go for the cliche route and you get a film that underwhelms. However, the saving grace of the film is the one and only Guy Pearce. He literally elevates the film and makes you forget about all the shit. His performance is incredibly fun to watch and it further proves that the man can play any character and blow your mind. This is his film and the only reason why I would recommend people to watch it. Just ignore the fact that a couple of days after watching it, you’ll forget all about it.

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Even though I really liked American Pie 2, I was never a big fan of the series. When the third film came out everything felt too familiar and as if things weren’t really changing. With this next chapter, the filmmakers and writers attempted to give the whole a gang a slew of crisis indicative of adulthood life in order to move things forward. In American Reunion, the whole gang reunite in East Great Falls for their high school reunion. Once there their problems gradually rise up and each of them has to find a way to resolve things. Plus, they have the craziness of Stifler to deal with.

American Reunion is one of those types of comedies that for the most part you will genuinely enjoy while you’re watching it. It’s raunchy humour works perfectly for the series and the craziness escalates as the film moves forward. Very few jokes miss the spot, but the rest land and deliver the laughs. Oddly enough, most of the laughs comes from the side characters who have very little screen time, like Jim’s Dad (Eugene Levy), Stifler’s Mom (Jennifer Coolidge) and the undeniably awesome John Cho who plays MILF Guy #2. The closing scene between Jim’s Dad and Stifler’s Mom is easily the best and funniest scene in the whole film.

The main cast are effective and while the filmmakers attempted to give all of them some screen-time, you can tell that they didn’t know what to do with some character so they gave them extremely generic problems to deal with. And that’s what really drags the film down, it is so familiar and uninspiring. Pretty much everything that happens here has either already been done in the other films in the franchise or by all the raunchy comedies that came in between. There is no originality to be found here and this notion becomes more and more apparent the more you think about the film. It’s all just… meh.

One thing that I could not look pass was the representation of women in the film. I’m not a women and even I was offended. And I know that I’m not suppose to take those kind of things seriously with these films, but there is a point when it becomes too insulting. All the women in the film are utilized either as plot points or to get naked. Even the ones who at first seems to possess a brain are quickly made to look like brainless, generic puppets the guys can use. There are a few exceptions sort of, but all I know my feminist instincts were in overdrive throughout most of the film.

Like I said before, American Reunion is a comedy that you will most likely enjoy while you’re watching it, especially if you’re a fan of the series. However, once the film ends and you think about all of its shortcomings become much more obvious. The film is pretty mindless and in the wake of actually good R-Rated comedies that we’ve had so far this year, like Goon and 21 Jump Street, American Reunion just sucks. At the end of the day, this film is extremely forgettable and I’d only recommend it to basically no one. Watch something good instead, like the there films I just mentioned.

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In The Raid: Redemption, a small group of police men in full gear including Rama (Iko Uwais) and led by Jaka (Joe Taslim) have one objective: enter the building and work their way up until they find one of the countries most powerful drug lords. However, various members of the police have their own agendas as to what their objective is and as the work themselves up things get more and more intense. What started as a high-risk operation turns into something even more hazardous and dangerous. Suffice to say that the police have nothing on the people guarding the drug lord.

For a while now we have been bombarded with rave reviews about The Raid: Redemption. Many critics have called it the best action film ever made and other similar hyperboles. This film is not the best action film, but it is certainly one of the best. There action scenes here unrelenting and incredibly awesome to watch. One of the great things the film does is establish in the very first 20 minutes a palpable sense of danger. This may a bit spoilerish, but it doesn’t take long for the majority of the police to bite the dust. With so many of the good guys dead, one feels immediately that any moment the remaining survivors will die. And I love that the people really have to fight their assess off in order to survive. In many action films the villains don’t pose much of a threat, but in here you will feel like the bad guys will win.

When I saw the trailer for this film, besides marvelling at the awesome and badass action I wondered how a film about a raid would hold up. Would there be an actual story? Or just a bunch of people fighting? Much to my surprise there is a story in the film and while it is a simple one, it is nevertheless very effective. Throughout the many action scenes the film halts in order for both the characters and the audience to catch their breath, and it is during these moments that we gets hints of the real workings behind this operation. There are many conspiracies and everyone could turn against anyone at any particular time.

Director Gareth Evans also has a knack for composition, as many of the shots in the film look absolutely beautiful in a gritty way. He knows exactly where to place the camera, when to do something intricate with it and when to hold back and just led things flow. If anyone needed a 101 class on how to shoot action, this film is the best example I can think of right now. One of the reasons why the action works so well is that it is portrayed in a realistic and gritty way. The camera doesn’t cut too much and for the most part we basically get long takes filled with fights that are in constant movement. We travel through corridors, rooms, out of the building and so forth. I really can’t overstate this, but the action here is fucking awesome.

The Raid: Redemption is by far one of the most awesome and entertaining films I’ve seen this year. The story and the characters are compelling and intriguing, and they leave you wanting for more. Mike Shinoda & Joseph Trapanese’s score is one of the best of the year so far, as the convey not only the unrelenting intensity of the action but also the overpowering tension that the whole film exudes. Director Gareth Evans has assembled a first-class action film that will satisfy absolutely everyone. The Raid: Redemption may not be a groundbreaking action film, but it gets extremely close. It is an unpredictable film that surprises us at each corner and deliver the type of action scenes that would make the film gods jizz/squirt themselves. It’s fucking awesome.

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