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Showing posts from November, 2016

Arrival: Average Guy Movie Review

When alien spacecraft appear at twelve random locations across the globe, the whole world scrambles to figure out where these ships have come from and why. In the US, linguist, Doctor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is recruited by the government to establish communication with the aliens. A task made increasingly difficult by the rising tensions between host nations. Arrival is directed by Denis Villeneuve, the man behind Sicario, Prisoners and the upcoming Blade Runner 2049 and also stars Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg and Tzi Ma. In a way, Arrival resembles the first hour of Independence Day. The ships show up, many begin to panic and across the world, governments attempt to make contact. This is where the similarities pretty much end, instead of uber destruction porn you get a very tense, slow burn, drama. Although both movies share the underlying theme that it'll take a common goal and/or threat to truly unite the people of Earth. Carrying that weight of th

Now You See Me 2: Average Guy Movie Review

Back in July 2013, I was on a ferry coming home from a holiday in Europe, the journey would last all night and I was on my own. After boarding I was relieved to find there was a cinema on board, that night's viewing was Now You See Me. I have to admit I was less than excited about this movie but with nothing better to do I thought: why not? As it turned out, Now You See Me was ridiculous, but it was light-hearted, ridiculous fun that I actually quite enjoyed. Skip ahead to present day and Now You See Me 2 has arrived, but has it captured the magic of the first movie? Set a year later, the Horsemen are in hiding and are getting restless. When their next performance goes wrong, the Horsemen find themselves in Macau, where they are forced to work for the mysterious Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe). What does he want and what are his true motives for exposing them? In order to avoid the authorities and expose Mabry, the Horsemen have to pull off one more grand performance.

Will the Real Top Gear Please Stand Up

Fans of what Top Gear should be finally got their first look at The Grand Tour on Friday. If nothing else it proved that it's not the title, the studio, the test track or even the channel that makes the show what it is...it's the people. You can call a show Top Gear and make Chris Evans a presenter (not Captain America, the other one), but that doesn't make it Top Gear. When Jeremy Clarkson left the BBC, his mates Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman soon followed. After months of speculation, it was announced that the group were going to work for Amazon to produce a motoring show. Said show will consist of 36 episodes over 3 years and has been described as "very, very, very expensive" by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Although it's starting to look like a very good investment. The format is very similar to Top Gear except the studio is a tent that will change location between episodes. As usual the trio will travel the globe testing new cars and taking

Imperium: Average Guy Movie Review

I think it's fair to say I've never been a fan of Daniel Radcliffe. But then I never liked Harry Potter, so that would explain why I never liked him as an actor. Over the last few years, Radcliffe has been desperately trying to break away from the wizard that made him famous. In his attempts he has played a guy who grows horns in 'Horns' and the creator of Grand Theft Auto in 'The Gamechangers'. I thought Radcliffe's performance as Sam Houser was good but the character was a giant dick so it didn't really do anything to alter my opinion of him. All of that changed when I watched Imperium. Inspired by the career of former FBI Agent Michael German, Radcliffe plays an undercover Agent who infiltrates a white supremacist group, looking for stolen Caesium-137. 'Imperium' is latin, but it's commonly used in German meaning 'Empire'. According to IMDb "Neonazis do frequently refer to a "Western Imperium" as a theor

The Accountant: Average Guy Movie Review

If anyone is still questioning Ben Affleck's abilities as an actor they need to watch The Accountant. Affleck plays Christian Wolff, a maths savant who provides forensic accounting services to the global criminal elite. When US Treasury Agents begin to close in, Christian takes on a more legitimate client in the form of an advanced robotics firm where junior accountant Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) has discovered evidence of possible embezzlement. But he quickly discovers that the new client isn't quite as legitimate as he first thought. With a compelling story and great performances this really is a movie that most people will enjoy. Affleck's portrayal of a man with autism - albeit high functioning - is excellent, everything from the trouble with eye contact to the inability to recognise social cues, it's all there. And he does it in a way that is respectful of the condition, the movie is able to draw humour from Christian's interactions but not at the

Doctor Strange: Average Guy Movie Review

They say that some roles are written for specific actors, you know...like it's fate or destiny that such and such fits this role perfectly. Well I'm starting to think Benedict Cumberbatch is the example that doesn't necessarily disprove this theory, but declares it utter bullshit instead! Cumberbatch knocked it out of the park as Sherlock, he literally kicked arse as Khan (or John Harrison depending on your point of view) and now he is mystical, maybe even spellbinding as Marvel's Doctor Stephen Strange. Strange is a brilliant yet arrogant neurosurgeon until a horrific car crash severely damages his hands and robs him of his ability to do what he loves. After exhausting every possibility modern medicine can provide he looks to more mystical solutions, which leads him to The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) who shows him there's more to this world than he ever thought possible. With the help of Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Wong (Benedict Wong), The Ancient On