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Everest (Blu-ray Review)

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everest-slideStarring: Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Emily Mortimer, Sam Worthington
Directed By: Baltasar Kormakur
Running Time: 121 mins
BBFC Certificate: 12
UK Release Date: January 18th 2016 (UK)

Our Score

It’s climbing season in the Himalayas and Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) is planning to lead a group of adventure tourists to the summit of Mount Everest. While he keeps telling them how dangerous it is and how many people physically cannot make it, many are gung-ho to get to the top. As they make their way higher up the mountain, Rob decides it’s going to be best to team up with a rival company, led by Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal), in the hope of keeping things as safe as possible.

After facing illness and other issues that prevent some of them getting to the top, a group of them make it, only to be hit by an extremely nasty storm, which threatens to ensure that none of them will make it back down again. As the team gets separated and faces ever greater threat, it becomes increasingly clear that not everyone is going to make it back alive. [Read more…]

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The Cobbler (DVD Review)

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the-cobbler-slideStarring: Adam Sandler, Melonie Diaz, Steve Buscemi, Method Man, Dan Stevens
Directed By: Tom McCarthy
Running Time: 99 mins
BBFC Certificate: 12
UK Release Date: January 4th 2015 (UK)

Our Score

The Cobbler is not Adam Sandler in zany mood, but he’s not being 100% serious either. He certainly pulls things back from his usual performances and enters mumbling mode, which is admittedly more watchable than he often is. He is Max, a cobbler who is forced to use an old shoemaking machine when his newer one breaks. He discovers that the machine has magical properties, as he now has the ability to put on somebody else’s shoes and literally become them.

At first Max thinks he’s going to be able to have some fun with his powers (including a creepily rapey sequence involving a cameo from Dan Stevens and a woman in a shower), but he soon gets caught up in a tricky situation with a bunch of bad guys. Looking into the lives of his customers also makes his re-evaluate the attempts to save his neighbourhood, which he’d previously ignored, and so he sets out to use his powers to stop the baddies destroying everything. [Read more…]

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Ricki And The Flash (Blu-ray Review)

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ricki-and-the-flash-slideStarring: Meryl Streep, Mamie Gummer, Kevin Kline, Sebastian Stan, Rick Springfield
Directed By: Jonathan Demme
Running Time: 101 mins
BBFC Certificate: 12
UK Release Date: December 28th 2015

Our Score

A film like Ricki And The Flash makes you realise just how good Meryl Streep is, as without her this film is likely to have gotten far worse reviews than it did. She is obviously having a great time in the lead role of an aging rockers whose dreams of stardom never really came to anything, and now finds herself somewhat estranged from her kids.

Ricki (whose real name is Linda) gets a call from her ex-husband, Pete (Kevin Kline), to tell her their daughter, Julie (Mamie Gummer), is severely depressed after her hubby ran off with another woman. Ricki jumps on a plane from California to Iowa and discovers things are worse than she thought, as Julie has attempted suicide. However, Julie seems to respond to having her mother around, even if her two sons are less impressed about having the mother who virtually abandoned them around. [Read more…]

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Hot Pursuit (Blu-ray Review)

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Hot-Pursuit-review-slideStarring: Reese Witherspoon, Sofia Vergara, Matthew Del Negro, Robert Kazinsky, Michael Mosley
Directed By: Anne Fletcher
Running Time: 87 mins
BBFC Certificate: 12
UK Release Date: November 23rd 2015 (UK)

Our Score

Hot Pursuit must have seemed like a slam dunk. Get two popular actresses who’ve had comedy success, give them a script that’s a little similar to The Heat and bring in a director who had a big hit with The Proposal. However, the resulting movie flopped at the cinemas and has an abysmally low rating of 7% on Rotten Tomatoes.

To be fair to it though, it’s not as dreadful as that might suggest. You can almost feel the critics reacting to the fact it all very forced – a movie that from the ground up feels cynically contrived to pander to the audience and as a result ends up lacking real heart. However, everyone involved is obviously extremely keen to please, rather like an overly keen party host, where you can appreciate the effort even if you wish they wouldn’t try so hard. [Read more…]

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