Malcolm (Wayans) and Kisha (Essence Jenkins) move into their dream home, but soon learn a demon also resides there. When Kisha becomes possessed, Malcolm – determined to keep his sex life on track – turns to a priest, a psychic, and a team of ghost-busters for help.

Taking many of its cues from the Paranormal Activity  series, A Haunted House substitutes scares for fart jokes and sex related comedy. It’s far from imaginative, but Wayans and co-writer Rick Alvarez go for quality over quantity, hoping that the barrage of vulgarity raises at least one laugh. Occasionally (and dominantly in the first act), it succeeds and it’s hard to not smile. But these occurrences are few and far between, with the majority of gags inducing cringes that should make anyone over the age of fifteen embarrassed to have paid money to see this.

Wayans and Jenkins show surprising chemistry as the suffering couple, especially towards the beginning as Kisha moves in: their scenes appear more improvised than those seen later in the film, making for a more entertaining watch. Unfortunately this doesn’t last, and as more characters join, the less fun the film becomes. Straight-To-DVD regular David Koechner gives a welcoming yet predictable turn as Dan, a racist camera installer and reality TV wannabe. Nick Swardson grates as Chip the Psychic, and Cedric The Entertainer has his moments as the reformed priest called in to exorcise the demons.

A Haunted House will likely please fans of Wayans and modern spoofs. It’s all about expectations with this one: if there isn’t any, there’s a chance that the average viewer may get a chuckle or two from it. Humor wise, it aims for the toilet and pees all over the seat, but judging from this and the recent Scary Movie 5 it’s probably about time to flush on spoof movies.

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When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

Right from the outset, the pace is frenetically fast, and it very rarely lets up. Narratively, Star Trek Into Darkness breaks no new ground, and the outcomes of the majority of dilemmas can easily be predicted if you’ve been paying attention. It takes a small amount of tension and suspense away, because really, you know there’s no real danger posed to the protagonists. Nonetheless, it’s brilliantly entertaining to watch the unfolding events, even if they do get a unnecessarily convoluted; what begins as “good guys against one enemy” quickly turns, and brings in a number of characters with questionable motives.

And that’s one of Into Darkness’ flaws: it has grown in size, but the focus on the core characters has been sacrificed. While Kirk and Spock (Zachary Quinto) get a considerable amount of screen time, the same cannot be said for Chekov (Anton Yelchin), Sulu (John Cho) and, to a lesser extent, Uhura, (Zoe Salanda) Scotty (Simon Pegg) and Bones (Karl Urban). Fortunately, they all make the most of the exposure, and their character traits are enhanced massively: Scotty spews out comic lines with almost every line of dialogue and Bones is as argumentative than ever. But it’s the relationship between Spock and Kirk that really shines, with their banter bringing in the biggest laughs and their actions eventually creating the films most emotional scenes.

As for the antagonist, Benedict Cumberbatch suffices as John Harrison, the Starfleet agent turned villainous. His actions are cold and callous, but the actual character is noticeably absent from most of the first act. The final climax more than makes up for it though, and the crew face off against him in an exhilarating (yet predictable) confrontation.

If you’re a fan of the original series, Star Trek Into Darkness could equally impress and disappoint you: there’s a massive number of references to the show that made these films possible, but it’s arguably missing the themes and morals that captured the hearts of millions in the 60′s. For disposable summer entertainment though, it’s about as great as they come, with no prior Trekkie knowledge necessary.

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There have been countless ‘fly-on-the-wall’ music documentaries, but very few like this: released just three months after the music icon’s death, the grief was still raw for his faithful fans. Director (and personal friend of Jackson) Kenny Ortega boldly opts to not side with the star, and This Is It is very much on the fence about the man himself and simply letting the music do the talking. It’s not just the songs though: the spectacle that could have been is mesmerising, with elaborate sets and cutting edge technology which promised to wow audiences around the globe. These are presented separately, with each song having a different theme; some already established when the song was released (such as Thriller and its horror video, and Smooth Criminal with it’s Gangster tones), others having one added for the production. Each one appears to have the budget of a Hollywood Blockbuster, and with each one that’s shown, it becomes more tragic that this extravaganza never managed to open.

Michael Jackson’s performances are as energetic as a man half his age, with barely any signs of fatigue or exhaustion. His renditions of the song are sublime, with him frequently altering sections of songs to fit his artistic visions. His dance routines are as complex as ever, and again he exhibits incredible skill. There are a few occasions where he uses his persona to make demands, with the crew also referring to him as ‘sir’, but never does Jackson appear obnoxious or egotistical. Of course, there’s the possibility that Ortega has manipulated the film in such as way that it cuts out the arguments and falling out periods in what was undoubtedly a high pressure situation, but keeping them in would have been unnecessary anyway.

There’s no narrative to the documentary; instead, each song that would have been performed at the show gets a full rehearsal run through, sometimes with Michael in full costume. There are brief snippets from members of the backing band and a five minute segment on the auditions for the roles of backing dancers (with a more comprehensive look in the Special Features of the DVD) but this is very much Jackson’s show – and rightly so. The female guitarist gets a small section and it’s enough to showcase her talent, especially during the Beat It solo.

This Is It chronicles the creation of the concert that never was, and ultimately it becomes its own show. One can’t help but wonder, and no doubt many will grieve over, what could have been – a spectacle for the ages like no other performed by a musician who’s legacy will live forever.

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Director Dominic Sena’s big budget re-do of the 1974 movie is, quite frankly, a let down. Not to say the 1974 production was quality (it wasn’t); it lacked real character depth and invested too much into its action, but it seems that Sena’s Gone in Sixty Seconds is attempting to make up for those mistakes but instead focuses too heavily on the characters and plot and only allows for a small amount of car action. The film, released in 2000, lacks any real spark or suspense, which is a shame as I feel Gone in 60 Seconds (1974) was a good film to remake.

The acting throughout the movie is what saves the film to a degree, when you realise that you cannot attempt to take the film seriously you can sit back and enjoy the extremely watchable Nicolas Cage and an impressive supporting cast which includes Angelina Jolie, a favourite of mine, Giovanni Ribisi, Robert Duvall and Will Patton. The character who stood out most for me was The Sphinx, perfectly played by Vinnie Jones. The Sphinx is a tough guy mute, who does not suffer from any of the poor dialogue.

Quite disappointing, but a good film if you need something to pass the time.

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A friend of mine told me before watching this film that it was horrific, and he wasn’t wrong. Midnight Express is a harrowing portrayal of a foreign prison, with every element of the film making contributing to the terrifying feeling you receive when watching this picture. From the beginning of the film the sound adds tension, adds to the fear and allows you to get a little closer to feeling what the characters are going through. I have never witnessed the use of a pulsing heartbeat being so effective than in the opening airport scene of the film. As the film progresses the eerie use of sound subtly changes to accommodate the setting, something which ensures the viewer will stay connected.

The trio of Billy, Max and Jimmy create short breaks from the tension and hardships due to the great clash of personalities. Randy Quaid plays Jimmy Booth, a hot-headed American putting everything he has into finding a way to get out of the nightmare he finds himself. John Hurt gives a fantastic performance as Max, a stoner who is simply too lethargic to have bothered attempting to escape. Hurt’s portrayal is utterly convincing and you just can’t help but find yourself loving the character, deserving of his Golden Globe and BAFTA.

Although a familiar plot, Oliver Stone’s screenplay allows the film the lay low and be quite understated, creating a hugely fact based film that feels extremely real.

A must-see film that will stay with you for a while.

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Jon Favreau, who oversaw the direction of Iron Man and its sequel, gives up the directing chair to have a more prominent role as Happy, the loyal bodyguard to Stark. In his place steps the veteran action screenwriter Shane Black, who penned Lethal Weapon, its sequel and The Last Boy Scout. This isn’t the first time Black has worked with Robert Downey Jnr. either; the pair collaborated on the 2005 action comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. With his genre background, Iron Man 3 could have potentially been the greatest of the three – so it’s baffling then that it’s the least thrilling. Instead of set pieces that wow, we get a brooding, almost whiny Stark that no one wants to see. The character seems to have been affected massively from the final scenes of Avengers. That’s not to say the New York battle shouldn’t have been acknowledged, but it alters the Stark so much here that he’s just not the same anymore. Gone is the eccentric, sarcastic, likable man we grew to love from the first two films, and in his place is a hollow shell of a man that no one asked to see. Downey Jnr. however, is unsurprisingly great, which is even more of a feat considering the the material he has to work with.

I’m not overly clued up on the comic version of Iron Man, but I do know that The Mandarin is his greatest foe – much like The Joker is to Batman. And for the first hour or so, the build up is acceptable: Ben Kingsley dryly lays out his plans with an emotionless, none-caring tone. Without giving too much away, this doesn’t last though. And although Kingsley continues to impress, the character takes an unwanted turn that is bound to infuriate fans of the comic, and make anyone watching lose any interest in the rest of the film. Other performances by Guy Pierce, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle are sufficient, but they hardly light the screen up with their presence.

The action sequences, of which there are few until the final expected showdown, are filled with explosions and not much else: the suits now ‘fly’ to Tony unaided, meaning any sense of danger is now gone due to him being rescued by the suit each time. This shouldn’t really be a complaint, because it’s the most time we actually get to see the suits – make no mistake, this is a Tony Stark central movie. He’s in a suit for about 20 minutes of the entire runtime, that of which is the longest of the three at 130 minutes. For the rest of the film, he’s the persona previously mentioned and it’s no fun at all to watch. The climax is entertaining enough, but it’s too late to save the previous scenes that came before it.

Iron Man 3 is 2013′s biggest disappointment. That’s a bold claim to make only 5 months into the year, but the previous installments and the trailer for it promised so much, yet delivered even less than the lowest expectations. Hardcore Iron Man fans will most likely be pleased to see their hero on screen again, but for everyone else it’s 2 hours that could be spent more productively elsewhere.

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As Good As It Gets is filled with quick, hilarious dialogue and great character acting, but in terms of direction and writing, it is too long. With a great opening and ending, the middle third of the film, especially the segment surrounding Simon being forced to go and ask his parents for money, slows down the whole pace completely; and with a solid finish lined up at around 80-90 minutes, it seems that it just indulges itself and carries on for another hour, magically allowing each of the main characters to have moments of self-discovery.

Although overlong, Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt rightly win Oscars for their phenomenal performances. Jack is unrelenting in his verbal attacks, completely self indulgent and utterly convincing. Helen Hunt portrays the working class single mum superbly, delivering a character that seems so knowledgeable about the world yet so frustrated with it. The pair light up the screen when acting together. Greg Kinnear also gives a solid performance, showing that he is a great character actor.

Phenomenal acting performances in a film that could easily finish at 90 minutes.

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In an attempt to help their friend Mia (Jane Levy) kick her drug habit, four twenty-something friends head out to a remote cabin to keep her isolated and away from any temptation. It’s a plan they’ve tried before, but this time her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez) is along for the ride, and the other friends believe this will help her massively. When one of the group, Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci), reads from a barbed wire bound book they found in the basement all hell, literally, breaks loose and the friends not only have to survive, but find a way to end the curse they unwittingly unleashed.

Consisting of mainly unknowns, the cast initially appear to be your usual bunch of expendables. But by investing a twenty minutes or so into two characters, screenwriters Fede Alvarez (who also directed) and Rodo Sayagues elevate them above the typical horror victims. Jany Levy is the focus for the most part as Mia, the addict brought to the cabin to kick her habit. Her descent into madness, both from possession and withdrawal symptoms, is a horrifying pleasure to witness, whilst her brother David is the ‘Ash’ of the bunch. Fortunately, Alvarez hasn’t tried to emulate that particular character, and let the two characters be themselves. Unfortunately the others, Eric, Olivia (Jessica Lucas) and Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore AKA the most forgettable of the lot), aren’t as memorable, with only Eric serving any real purpose to the narrative.

It would have been easy, albeit lazy, for Alvarez and Sayagues to have stuck with the simple narrative seen in the original of ‘teens stuck in a cabin’, but they take it one step further by having a reason for them to stay: to help out Mia. For me, it made the story more believable, especially in this day and age where the isolated cabin gimmick has been done to death. Not only that, but it’s all the more impressive that Evil Dead avoids many of the cliche’s that were highlighted in 2012′s Cabin In The Woods - a comparison that many would rightly make. Admittedly, the first twenty minutes don’t do much to shake the similarities of the two, but thankfully by the half hour mark there’s next to no thoughts of Drew Goddard’s horror.

Evil Dead also works as a standalone film too but doesn’t forget its roots, with the obligatory nods to Raimi’s classic trilogy strewn throughout: without giving too much away, almost every prop that made The Evil Dead memorable can be seen here. One notable aspect that’s missing though is the humour: Evil Dead always struck me as a self conscious horror, therefore it made fun of itself with its exaggerated violence and excessive gore. That’s not to say 2013′s version doesn’t have these – more on that in a minute – but it’s played totally straight. Yes, I laughed at the gross nature of some scenes, but I don’t think this was Alvarez’s intention. Much like the Saw franchise, in its earlier installments at least, the intention was the shock, and I believe this is what the director was going for. This is where the majority of ‘horror’ in the film comes from too, by visually disgusting the viewer. There’s tension throughout, but it’s only there to lead up to the ever increasing amounts of gore and mutilation. The filmmakers should be applauded also for opting for make up for the injuries, rather than CGI – it’s far more effective.

Evil Dead fully deserves its 18 (or R rated) age certificate – limbs are detached from bodies for longer than they’re attached, blood literally rains from the sky, and every imaginable gruesome toe-curling scenario is brought to reality: anyone with a dislike of eyes or needles will squirm at one particular scene. It ranks up there with the bloodiest pictures I’ve ever seen – and that’s not an accolade I throw out lightly. In the climactic scenes, I was surprised to discover that there were actually actors in the frame, and not just streams of blood. Gore fans who have been disappointed with recent offerings from their genre will be well within their element here.

While it’s not as groundbreaking as its 1981 father, Evil Dead is a solid retelling of a classic. Narratively, it brings nothing new to the table but Alvarez nobly attempts to add new elements to an old story. The horror doesn’t come from jump scares, though there are a few, but in the high volume of blood visible, and the grisly methods that the characters meet their makers. Stick around after the credits too for a final scene that will leave fans of the original smiling whilst making newcomers scratch their head in confusion.

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• Strong female lead with plenty of wit and charm
• Pace and supporting actors keep the film fresh
• Relatable characters

• Predictable plot-line
• Lack of chemistry between Protagonist and love interest
• Some of the characters are very one dimensional

{Review by Kayleigh Brindley}

It’s very rare to find a comedy that’s genuinely funny but Easy A hits the oversized nail on the head.

Emma Stone’s career has spiked since her first film appearance in 2007 comedy Superbad. Superbad was the film that launched the careers of Jonah Hill and Michael Cera and it seems to have done the same for Emma Stone. In the 6 short years since, Stone has become a household name and has gone on to star in blockbuster films including The Amazing Spiderman and most recently Gangster Squad.

Easy A directed by Will Gluck was released in 2010 and features a 21-year-old Stone playing 17-year-old Olive Penderghast. The premise of Easy A is loosely based on the book ‘The Scarlett Letter’ by Nathanial Hawthorn and tells the story of how Olive lies to her best friend Rhiannon about losing her virginity to a college guy so that she can escape a camping trip with Rhiannon’s parents. Unfortunately, the leader of the school’s church group Marianne (Amanda Bynes) overhears and spreads the rumour throughout the school that Olive is a “dirty skank”. Olive then receives a plea for help from gay friend Brandon who asks her to pretend to go out with him so that people think he is straight. Olive goes one step better and pretends to have sex with Brandon at a big party enticing further rumours that she is soliciting sex for money.

The plot may sound predictable and it certainly is in some aspects but this film compensates by having a great comedy cast featuring; Patricia Clarkson (Friends With Benefits) and Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones/The Hunger Games) as Olive’s eccentrically witty parents, Thomas Haden Church (We Bought a Zoo) as Olive’s favourite English teacher and his wife, school guidance counsellor, Lisa Cudrow (Friends/PS. I Love You) who contracts chlamydia from Marianne’s boyfriend.

Patricia Clarkson’s one-liners and subtle humour make her the most embarrassing yet brilliant on-screen parent I have ever seen and definitely one to watch in this film. In one clip Brandon comes to Olive’s house and asks, ‘Is there an Olive here?’ with Clarkson responding, ‘There’s a whole jar of them in the fridge!’ and later whilst consoling Olive about her growing reputation she states, ‘I had a similar situation when I was your age. I had a horrible reputation…I slept with a whole bunch of people. Mostly guys.’ Stone shines in this film as straight-talking easy-going teenager Olive. She has no end of wit, charm and even a musical number or two up her sleeve keeping the film fresh with a great sense of pace.

This film is packed with cheese and plenty of ‘awww’ moments particularly when Olive finally gets her first kiss with childhood crush Woodchuck Todd played by Penn Badgley (John Tucker Must Die) but it’s a definite recommend to anyone looking for a feel-good girly movie or an ogle at Emma Stone in her skimpy burlesque style outfits.

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Olympus Has Fallen contains many of the elements that make an old school actioner from yesteryear: an admittedly ridiculous premise, a one man army, a foreign threat and nuclear weaponry. There’s one thing missing though, and it’s arguably the most important ingredient: fun. From the start of the assault on Olympus (that’s the code name for the White House), the film has a nasty streak that’s hard to ignore. The violence is ugly, with the body count being uncomfortably high. This isn’t your typical ‘shoot ‘n run’ picture either: the deaths are cold and merciless, from both the antagonists and Banning. I’m no prude, nor am I against violence in movies, but the level that is visible here is unnecessary.

Butler grimaces his way through the role, barely cracking a smile. This is forgivable, but the absence of one liners is not: there’s a few occasions where Banning attempts to make a smart remark, but they are eyerollingly feeble. Aaron Eckhart plays the stricken President, but can’t shake the typecast of pre-TwoFace Harvey Dent from The Dark Knight. Morgan Freeman, who can be seen in two supporting roles in as many weeks with his appearance in Oblivion, isn’t challenged in his role as Acting President Trumball, but is far more comfortable in this position than he looks in the Tom Cruise vehicle.

Plot wise, Olympus plays out like an inferior Die Hard, for all the points I mentioned above. Bizarrely, it’s no where near as pro-American as I had anticipated: in fact, screenwriters Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt have succeeded in highlighting the ineptitude of Secret Service Operatives, who appear to forget even the most basic of combat training.  It’s not just the good guys who are stupid though – the nuclear weapon based narrative has a major flaw that, in reality, would mean there’s no threat from his group whatsoever.

Featuring an unremarkable lead actor, hyper-violent action scenes and a hole-ridden plot, Olympus Has Fallen is a tedious and forgettable affair. Maybe Roland Emmerich can do a better job of attacking the White House later this year, with his effects heavy White House Down: It surely can’t be any worse.

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