The Monuments Men

SF: This film had a lot going for it. The trailer is has to be said made this look like Oceans Eleven in the war. It certainly wasn't that. While Clooney is normally surprising me with how good a director he is this left me a tad underwhelmed. With such a star studded cast and the words "based on a true story" I was expecting more some how. Perhaps the very mute nature of the film was intentional but I found my mind wondering and having little to no investment in the characters. The acting was fine I guess and the plot passed the time but something was missing. Interesting premise but not one to rush and see. 5/10

50Eggs:

DonkeyB: Its not very good. It can't make up its mind if its a caper movie (al la Oceans [insert two digit number here]) or a film about the idea of the ownership of art, its more successful as a mildly amusing caper. Watch The Train instead. 5/10

Overall: 5/10

Monsters University

SF: Pixar set a high bar, so with a sequel there are a lot of expectations. having said that I enjoyed this as much as Monsters inc which is the most praise I can give. Great sense of humour, amazing animation, fun plot - everything you would want. Charlie Day surprised me, excellent voice to monster matching. Look out for all the little in jokes. Go enjoy yourselves 8/10

50eggs: n/a

DonkeyB: Disappointing. At their best Pixar make beautiful films, with strong traditional stories which somehow still manage to surpise. Unfotunately, this lacks much of the charm of the original and is a basic Campus comedy of which we have all seen quite alot. It is essentially exactly the same film as Pitch Perfect but nothing like as funny. I'm sure the kids will love it, but it has much less for the adults than some of Pixar's best efforts. 5/10

Overall: 6.5/10

Flight

SF: There is one word I need to describe this film - boring. Anything else is superfluous. I cannot describe how much I wished this would get better or be remotely interesting but alas no. It is shockingly long and tedious. Despite having some very good actors and a seemingly intriguing story this doesn't deliver at all. If this was a made for TV movie (which it felt like) it would have liked it more because I could change the channel. 3/10

50Eggs:

DonkeyB:TV movie of the week. Also it has the most literal soundtrack in history. You know exactly where the film is going from the moment the plane clips the church steeple and before that if you saw the trailer. John Goodman deserves a mention however, as the scene stealing, ponytailed drug dealer, as ever he walks on screen and you think- "ok well at least this scene will be entertaining". 4/10

Overall: 3.5/10

Argo

SF: This was cinema at its best. Somehow they managed to inject a bit of humour into what is a fairly serious topic. Everything about it - production value, cast, script, directing was great. Ben Affleck you've surprised me again. If you know the history I don't think you'll be disappointed. From what I've read I think the account is fairly accurate as it can be with "based on a true story" type films. The political balancing act pulled off here is also worth noting - its a hard line to get right.  Well worth watching. 9/10

50 Eggs: A well made, exciting piece of edu-tainement. I was ignorant about much of the history concerning the Iran-USA relationship so I found this an enlightening film, and I suspect a few Americans will too. I really liked how balanced the film was - yes the Americans are the 'heroes', but it doesn't skip their flaws or paint the Iranians as purely evil. After the lively opening sequences I found the film flagged just a little in the middle, but it picks up again after that and the tense final scene will leave you holding your breath. 8.5/10

DonkeyB: Best film of the year so far. The direction is just brilliant. I loved the look of the film. Ben Affleck is difficult to pigeon hole: we now have to measure Good Will Hunting, Chasing Amy, The Town and Argo against Gigli, Jersey Girl and Pearl Harbour. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that Argo is as good as Gigli was bad. It is also pretty clear that Ben is better when he has more control over a film- honestly his acting is nothing to write home about but for this film he has assembled a stellar cast, encouraged excellent performances from them and combined them into a film which shows real vision. 9/10

Overall: 8.83/10

Extremely Loud Incredibly Close

SF: This film should be called 'Sometimes depressing at other points quirky'. I've no idea how to rate this or if I liked it. I wish I could give this two separate reviews, at some points I was heart broken and others I really enjoyed but in a disjointed way. A confused 6/10

50 Eggs: n/a

DonkeyB: Maybe I'm being a total bozo but I really liked Max von Sydow in this. Unfortunately that was about it. 4/10

Overall: 5/10

The Artist

SF: There were things I adored about this film and it was fantastically executed but for sone reason I got a tad bored. I have to point out the Jean Dujardin was fabulous and carried the entire movie. Also the silence didn't bother me at all. Good fun 7/10

50 Eggs: n/a

DonkeyB: First 20 mins utterly charming. Too long in the middle, felt unescessarily extended to fit in as many silent movie clichés as possible 6.5/10

Overall: 6.75/10