Review: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Any upcoming Mission: Impossible film means some guaranteed high-octane action and pure summer-time fun.

It is hard to believe that 1996 saw the birth of the highly successful film series.
Leading the way is the one and only Tom Cruise. With a steep filmography, this is the only franchise that he is part of. This also saw Cruise become well known for doing his own stunts, which I am glad to see that he is maintaining those morals.

Now aged 53, Cruise is back for a fifth time. The previous installment's director Brad Bird is not part of the team this time. In charge now, is Chris McQuarrie. The New Jersey native has worked with Cruise in the past with Valkyrie, Jack Reacher and Edge Of Tomorrow. Other notable achievements was writing the screenplay for The Usual Suspects.

I was unsure what to expect from McQuarrie. However, he managed to prove to me that he can do a big blockbuster.
Literally from the very start, you are thrown right into the action. From one quite astonishing action set-piece to the next, this is certainly a Mission: Impossible film that manages to blow all other recent action blockbusters out of the water.

As you can tell, I had a lot of fun with Rogue Nation. This franchise seem to lately have a policy of making one action set-piece that will top the lot and get everyone talking.
Ghost Protocol had Cruise climbing the tallest building in the world. Rogue Nation has it in the opening scene, and it is an absolute feast of action, and as always Cruise is doing it himself.

Cruise never fails to perform. His commitment to the cause is second to none. You can see his passion for the franchise that made him, and his dedication for the fans will make you trust him in keeping this film series successful.
It was nice to see Ving Rhames reprise his role once again. His safe pair of hands helped the film stick together. Simon Pegg seemed to excel himself in this one. He definitely feels like an integral part of the team. Jeremy Renner was not bad, but he was not anything spectacular either.
As for Sean Harris who played the villain was quite unrecognisable. It took me a while to realise it was him as the only that I remember seeing him in was Prometheus. His performance was better than expected, but it was not threatening enough to be memorable.

The big surprises were Rebecca Ferguson and Alec Baldwin.
Baldwin was a great support and I can see potential in him being in the franchise for the next few years. But for me, the start of the film was Ferguson. Her bad-ass and heavily physical performance was great to watch. It almost reminded of Emily Blunt in Edge Of Tomorrow (who also partnered with Cruise) and Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road.

I must mention the soundtrack, which is wonderfully old-school. As much as I liked the Limp Bizkit remix of the main theme in M:I 2, there is nothing better then sticking to the original material. That infamous theme always gets the juices flowing and this helped the adrenaline of the film flow at ramming speed.

Despite all of this, I'm still giving it a passable rating as the story is as just similar as any other M:I film, which is nothing ground-breaking. The only exception was the third one as that had something extra such as a great villain, really well told and developed story, wonderfully paced and is directed by J.J Abreams who I am a big fan of.

There are not any major flaws, it just did not have anything exceptional that impressed me enough. It is just good fun and the type of film that you can turn your brain off to and just enjoy what is on screen.
However, there are minor flaws. The duration of the film was a bit long and I could definitely find content that can be taken off and the film would still be as enjoyable. The villain was nothing special. Thankfully, it was better then the one in Ghost Protocol, but I think the performance of the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman in M:I 3 will be a tough one to beat.

Despite all that, this remains to be a pure Mission Impossible movie. Even with the duration being slightly too long, I was never bored. There is a lot to love about it, and the action scenes are unforgettable. The consistency with its formula will make it interesting to see where they can go from here. McQuarrie and his team should be proud of what they have done, and I would not mind having him in the sixth feature.

This deserves to do well at the box-office and I believe this will be a smash hit. It might be the highest-grossing film of the summer due to this not being totally appealing for families, but they will definitely put themselves up there.
If you are interested in where I would rank it among the others, I will still have M:I 3 as the best in the series. But Rogue Nation will fit just ahead of Ghost Protocol and just behind the first M:I.

On an additional note, this film was also my first viewing experience of IMAX. Due to cost of tickets, I usually go a regular showing. But as IMAX was the only way of seeing it at the time, it was the perfect type of film to fully experience the technology. Now I can see why directors like Christopher Nolan believe that this is the future of cinema, rather than 3D.
I will think twice before seeing certain films as I will probably view it in IMAX.

Rating: 7/10

Nostalgic Review: Mission: Impossible Franchise

Based off the TV series from the late 60's and early 70's, this is a very popular franchise that is loved by millions.
Lead by Tom Cruise as the agent Ethan Hunt, this series of films made Cruise become well known for doing his own stunts and become the committed actor he is today.
Despite Tom Cruise having such a vast filmography, this is the only franchise that he has been part of.

From jumping out of an exploding restaurant to climbing on the side of the tallest building in the world, this franchise has become a trend-setter in making the most unbelievable action set-pieces.

With many stars such as Jon Voight, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emilio Estevez, Vanessa Redgrave, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Brendan Gleeson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, Simon Pegg, Eddie Marsan, Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Sean Harris, Henry Cavill and Angela Bassett involved. This franchise has most definitely attracted the big stars.

Mission: Impossible - One of the highest-grossing films of 1996.

Director Brian De Palma gives us such a fun film with action set-pieces that have become iconic.

Despite a lot of the technology looking incredibly out-dated and one action set piece looking completely stupid, I love this the more times I watch it.

Rating: 7/10

Mission: Impossible II - Definitely the weakest in the franchise, but still has enough in it to enjoy.

With director John Woo giving us a lot of  his signature film-making party pieces, it sort of ruins the Mission: Impossible tone.

But thankfully, the action involved is enjoyable to watch.

Rating: 7/10

Mission: Impossible III - Many people's favorite including myself.

Directed by J.J Abrams, this is wonderfully made action and the most interesting story out any other M:I features.

This also has a terrific performance by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman who plays the villain.

Rating: 8/10


Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - When IMF is shut down, Cruise and his team go rogue to clear their organisation's name.

As usual, it is good fun and one astonishing action set-piece.
I was impressed by Paula Patton, who gave us a very physical performance.

Quite a few have this as the best. I do like it, but I think it is just a solid action blockbuster.

Rating: 7/10

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation - My reaction to this one must have what everyone else's was in Ghost Portocol. This was a pure Mission Impossible movie. There is a lot to love about it, and the action scenes are unforgettable. Director Christopher McQuarrie and his team should be proud of what he's done, and I would not mind having him in the sixth feature.

We also see a terrific performance leading female Rebecca Ferguson that I think manages to steal the show.

Rating: 7/10

Mission: Impossible - Fallout - McQuarrie returns after his efforts in Rogue Nation and manages to keep this franchise refreshing with a number of new and incredible action set-pieces.

It sees Ethan Hunt and his IMF team return to prevent a nucleur attack on three major religious sites.

While the story can feel dragged out with some unecessary multiple twists, the strength of the action makes up for it. The fight scenes can easily compete with the best of the current crop and they always seem to up the ante with new concepts that our characters must face.

There's also a nice nod to the original Mission Impossible to look out for.

Rating: 8/10

My Top 10: Jake Gyllenhaal Films

Ever since his first feature film role in 1991, Jake Gyllenhaal has rapidly become one of the big modern talents of Hollywood right now. He is loved by many and with this sister Maggie being a major star in the world of acting also, this has given great drive to succeed in everything he is involved in.

Most of his notable work is involved with psychological thrillers. But he has had his moments in action blockbusters. such as Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time.
2006 saw Gyllenhaal receive his first Oscar nomination and he also received a Golden Globe and BAFTA nomination last year.
His current and future projects look to be helping him collect that all important first major awards win. Be sure to check him out over the next few years as this could be the peak of Gyllenhaal's career.

A few films just missing out on my top 10 are Jarhead, The Day After Tomorrow and Moonlight Mile. Jarhead is an interesting psycological war film with a heavy political theme to it. Gyllenhaal plays the lead brilliantly and director Sam Mendes gives us his usual brilliance.
Despite all that, nothing much acutally happens in the film. It's not helped that the war (Desert Storm) it is portraying was a slow in general.

As for The Day After Tomorrow, this is a good fun end-of-the-world blockbuster that I remember being super excited for when it got released.
It may be cliched, but the fast tempo of the movie makes this enjoyable watch with some great action set-pieces.
This was probably Gyllenhaal's breakthrough performance that got him noticed.

Moonlight Mile was the first of two films that he has lead where he plays someone grieving the death of his wife/fiancee.
With great supporting performances by Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon and Ellen Pompeo, this is a touching drama that also a surprising amount of comedy.
A hugely under-rated feature.

Out of his 40 films, I have seen 28 of them. I will rank all of the films that I have seen, and give a short review for each of my top 10:

28) Accidental Love

27) Ambulance

26) Road House

25) Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time

24) Strange World
23) Bubble Boy
22) Southpaw
21) Spider-Man: Far From Home
20) The Sisters Brothers
19) City Slickers
18) Jarhead
17) The Day After Tomorrow
16) Moonlight Mile
15) Life
14) Love & Other Drugs
13) The Covenant

12) Wildlife
11) Stronger

10) Everest - Director Baltasar Kormakur really gives us a gripping account on a tragic true story about a group of people attempting to climb to the summit of Mount Everest in 1996.

Gyllenhaal plays experienced mountaineer Scott Fischer who leads a rival climbing expedition called 'Mountain Madness'. He gives great support to the main characters in what is a truly gripping and thrilling adventure.

9) End Of Watch - A film about the life of two policeman on the streets of Los Angeles directed by a person who has experienced most of his life in that part of the world is as heavily detailed as you would expect it to be.
With the cinematography mainly in the style of a security camera/CCTV, it gives the film a great sense of realism and makes the experience much more enjoyable. Gyllenhaal partnered with Michael Pena give us highly believable characters and their chemistry is terrific.

8) Nocturnal Animals - Gyllenhaal is a hard-hitting thriller that is tough to watch. He plays a writer who send his latest novel to his ex-wife, where the book eventually haunts her.

I was not expecting it to be this brutal and gripping. Gyllenhaal and the rest of the cast do a great job, and the story is quite something.

7) Brokeback Mountain - Seen as one of the most important films of the 21st century, this winner of Oscars is powerfully dramatic story about two cowboys living a secret same-sex relationship.
The honesty in the performances of Gyllenhaal and the late great Heath Ledger give this film the status it deserves. Director Ang Lee has given a real thought provoking drama that will probably be referred to for the next few decades.

6) Nightcrawler - An exciting and tense crime thriller that sees an almost unrecognisable Gyllenhaal play Lou Bloom, a man looking for work who ends up making his own business in a job sector that is a messy one.

His performance is astonishing and with great support from Rene Russo, this is one thrill ride that amazed many people last year.

5) Zodiac - A David Fincher gritty crime thriller is always a recipe for success.
However, a different style of story-telling is used and we still get something thoroughly entertaining.

Gyllenhaal plays a newspaper cartoonist that suddenly becomes an amateur detective during the infamous Zodiac killer case.

It has a stellar cast and has a style of film-making that pulls you in ever so slowly.

4) Demolition - A weirdly wonderfully way of portraying someone mourning a loved one's death. When a banker loses his wife in a car accident, an unlikely series of events follow on.

The tone manages to make the viewing experience both heavy-hearted and uplifting. The cast and script is superb and has a surprising amount of comedy.

3) Source Coude - A very clever mystery sci-fi thriller that will give Inception a run for its money in terms of complexities. Directed by Duncan Jones who also did Moon, this is an interesting premise that was perfectly executed.

Gyllenhaal plays a soldier who is on a mission to find a bomber on a train. He only has 8 minutes to complete his assignment.

2) Prisoners - Probably the biggest surprise hit of 2013.
Directed by Dennis Villeneuve, who is becoming one of the most wanted directors in the filming industry at the moment.

When a father's daughter and her friend go missing, we get quite a surreal crime drama that slowly becomes something quite tense.

Only recently got round to seeing this and completely regret not going to see this at the cinema.

1) Donnie Darko - This wonderfully complex mystery drama became one of the biggest cult movies of the 21st century.

It sees a young Gyllenhaal play a troubled teenager plagued by a vision of a bunny telling when the world will end.

That plot does sound completely ridiculous. But trust me, there is more to it then that small synopsis I have given. This is something you have never seen before.

Review: Southpaw

The history between Boxing and the film industry is quite an astonishing one.
With Best Picture winners such as Rocky and Million Dollar Baby leading the way, there are also successes such as Cinderella Man, The Fighter and Ali. Even Warrior and Real Steel would fit under this category.

The now heavily cliched underdog and from rags to riches story-lines have become tough for the genre to bring something new to the table.

Now we have new release Southpaw. Directed by Antoine Fuqua who is known for directing Oscar winner Training Day.

There is definitely nothing original when you break it down. However, through the directing of Fuqua, excellent performances and wonderful fight sequences, Southpaw manages to make it entertaining viewing.
You have definitely seen it all before. But with, its old fashioned themes and unoriginality, the crew seem to almost thrive on it. The bleak moments are definitely a tough watch, the underdog moments really inspire you and basically everyone does the job right.

When you see it, you will not call it a classic. There are glimpses of greatness, and that is mainly due to the performances. The build-up of this film had everyone talking male lead Jake Gyllenhaal, and that this was his push for glory at the Oscars. For me it is not awards worthy, but his performance is definitely a big attraction.
After the transformation he made in Nightcrawler, Gyllenhaal then beefed up in the space of nine months and made another movie in-between to give us something quite extraordinary to watch.
You can easily tell that he has done the training and been in the ring. It is hard to believe that his role was originally for Eminem as it was initially going to be a companion piece to 8 Mile.
As Gyllenhaal's wife, Rachel McAdams thankless supporting role was good while it lasted. It is just a shame we did not get to see enough of her. Her chemistry with Gyllenhaal was believable and gave great weight to the opening quarter of the movie.
Oona Laurence is Gyllenhaal and McAdams' daughter is a real find. Her innocence, vulnerability and steely determination made her essential viewing. 50 Cent's performance as Gyllenhaal's promoter was a nice surprise. With little experience in a major feature, I felt he did a solid job and played his part well as the story progressed.

But the star of the show for me, was Forest Whitaker. His effortless performance as Gyllenhaal's trainer in the second half of the film really made this film important. The development of his character is fascinating to watch. His character also gives the only comedic relief.
To be honest, Whitaker can roles like that in his sleep.

Despite it's obvious predictability, Southpaw is compelling, touching at times and felt amazingly truthful. Fuqua's direction is key as he tackles the predictable moments with a sensitivity that I think not many would have been able to achieve. Plus, there are great relationships with certain characters that will never make this a boring watch. I loved the televisual nature of the fighting scenes and the choreography should be applauded.

Truth be told, there are better Boxing movies out there. But somehow, Southpaw manages to be predictable and compelling at the same time.
The ending may never be in doubt, but you will have a certain pleasure when leaving the cinema. If it does not quite work for you, then the performances are an attraction in itself.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Inside Out

When people hear Pixar, they think of some of the best animated films of all-time.

However over the last few years, the Californian studio has made films that were pretty solid. But we all know Pixar can and should do better.

Cars 2 was probably Pixar's first dropped ball. Overall, it was solid enough. But with it being Pixar, it was a disappointment.
Brave was good, but did not have as much of an impact as its previous material. The last Pixar feature film was Monsters University, their first prequel. The more times I watched it, I have definitely enjoyed it more. However, there is nothing exceptional about it. This shows how much people expect of Pixar.

With Inside Out, we see a brand new story that is all about memories and emotions. Pixar have set it in the mind of an 11-year old girl, which is the age that usually sees a lot of change in a persons emotions.
With Pixar creating emotions into five characters, Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust, we have our story set and ready to go.

This idea alone got every Pixar fan talking, and every time I saw the trailer before a film at the cinema, it always got high amounts of laughter.
Now that I've seen the film, I can safely say that Pixar are back with another instant classic that can compete with its all-time greats.

With its unlimited imagination, wonderfully developed characters and number of highly emotional scenes, this is surely going to be the family film of the year.
One thing that Pixar is well known for is its wide range of comedy. They manage to make jokes that appeals to every age category. Sometimes, it's done in the same joke. That is impressive, especially when the younger generation re-watching it over the years will get the other jokes as they get older.

From the very first scene, we see how creative this film is with the premise. The mind is always a discussion topic that bring out all sorts of theories. Inside Out manages to pretty much present every one. They even did some that I would never have even thought of.

I don't really need to say how gorgeous the animation is. The design of the main setting in the film was so grand in its scale, and it really made me want to explore it.

The voice acting is top-notch. Until after reading the credits, I had no idea Amy Poehler voiced the Joy emotion. She lead from the front and gave us such a memorable character that we all can support. Lewis Black as Anger was very entertaining and had a lot scene stealing moments that the trailer was hinting at. Phyllis Smith as Sadness was a nice surprise. Her performance actually made me hate her character so much in terms of the actions Sadness made in the film. But as a performance, I give her huge props. Bill Hader as Fear had enough moments on screen to feel well developed. The only emotion that I felt was under-used was Disgust (voiced by Mindy Kaling). I did not really think Disgust would be a main emotion in anyone's mind. This is probably why that character was not used in many situations.
The girl that the emotions are controlling was a great character that you would easily associate with Pixar. There is one minor character that definitely steals the show. The idea of this character was cleverly introduced and developed. I even got a bit blubbery in certain scenes that involve this minor character.

The only negatives are minor ones. There were a few small flaws mainly towards the end. But thankfully, they did not detract me from the enjoyment of this film.

I almost got the same reaction after watching some of their iconic features such as the Toy Story trilogy, Wall-E, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. This is how good Inside Out is.
Everything right about it is what you expect from Pixar. The incredible writing makes the characters loved and cared for, the jokes are smart and the animation is carefully made.
And as always with Pixar, there is great maturity in the themes and story telling of this film.
I think this film will appeal more to adults than kids which Pixar always managed to do in a lot of their best features.

What else can I say other than, Pixar is back.

Also, like all Disney and Pixar films, there is a really nice short film before the feature. And finally, don't leave your seat straight away as their is a segment during the early part of the credits that is very funny.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Ant-Man

It's part two of three in Marvel's films of 2015.
However, this latest venture is only their second original release in the last four years.

The other one was Guardians Of The Galaxy and that ended up being the highest grossing-film of 2014 in the United States.

However, the hype surrounding Ant-Man was nowhere near as much as GOTG. But I think these days, the film will be successful. That is because, if it says Marvel, it will sell. It is quite hard to believe that superhero films are so popular, that we are now seeing films like Ant-Man being made with a blockbuster budget.

I tried to avoid as much trailer footage as possible to go into my screening with as much of an open mind as possible.

I'm glad I did, as I feel Marvel have made another fun and action-packed flick. It has a great mix of a superhero movie and a heist movie and is definitely a solid addition to the MCU.
This may be the film that ends phase two of Marvel's Cinematic Universe, but it managed to be done on a small scale (no pun intended) which was nice to see after Age Of Ultron.
About a third of the way through watching it, I thought that 'Honey, I Shrunk The Kids' would make a great companion piece.

The general structure of the plot was very general and basic that has been seen far too often in superhero/action films. But that usually works and Ant-Man fits into that category.
It is easy to see Ant-Man as a well produced mess because the name sounds silly. But there is a lot of logic in the mythology of this superhero that worked nicely into the tone of the film. For anyone unsure about whether or not to see it, there are some nice references to other Marvel films, including a few special appearances.

It was nice to see Paul Rudd take a lead in a film that is not a comedy or a rom-com. His presence was pretty solid all-round. Evangeline Lily played a good powerful character that seems to be her best quality. Michael Pena has nice comedic moments in his role. However, the real star of the show is Michael Douglas. You instantly feel safe every time he is on screen and his character has a wonderful father figure to all the other main characters.
Sadly, Corey Stoll played a very weak and heavily cliched villain which seems to be all too common in Marvel films.

The big positive is obviously Douglas. But I think the way the crew approached the source material was the right way in doing it. The action was well choreographed and fun as always, and there are some good laughs. Not all the comedy works, but the majority does especially towards the end.

Sadly the main negative is pretty much the same as any other Marvel film. The villain is weak and not memorable at all. The plot may not be a negative, but it is just not that spectacular and a bit too safe.

All in all, it is another welcomed addition to the MCU. Everything about it is passable, but nearly all of it is what you would expect from a Marvel. The plot was simple to follow, but a bit too basic for me. But it was nice to see the film work on a small scale compared to the star studded Avengers films. The only exceptional part of the film is Michael Douglas. It is easy to forget how great he is.
It was sad to see the villain be so forgettable. He could be the worst developed villain in the MCU.
However, another positive that I haven't mentioned is the soundtrack which definitely felt a lot different to other Marvel scores. Also, the visuals were quite impressive, especially in the final action set-piece which had its best comedic moments as well.

As this is a Marvel film, there is some bonus scenes during the credits. Unlike Age Of Ultron, we are back with a mid and post credits scene. The mid one is predictable but good, but the post-credits scene is interesting and gives us a nice flavor for the next film within the MCU.

Rating: 7/10

My Top 10: Pixar Films

It is hard to believe that 25 years saw the birth of Pixar's first feature film, Toy Story. It then became a landmark in film history. It was also the first film I ever saw at the cinema. It was for my 6th birthday and I remember the cue extending to outside the cinema and round the corner.

After that, every next feature release seem to become an instant classic be a proud member in everyone's top films of all-time list. In my all-time top 100, there are currently five Pixar films with one other film recently leaving my top 100 unfortunately.

The stuff I see in the behind the scenes DVD extras from their California studio is simply astonishing. It is like the staff members live there and it is the ultimate place to discuss ideas. From the early 90's, that studio has changed the face of the animated genre and has showed that animated films don't need songs to be successful. Instead, well developed characters and emotional stories have made Pixar become a juggernaut studio.

Also, with a lot of their films being accompanied with a magical short film before the feature, Pixar really give you an unforgettable cinematic experience.

With everyone new feature having extremely high expectations from the audience, a few of their last features have unfortunately missed the target. If it was done by another studio, they would be seen as an welcomed addition to their filmography. But thankfully, Pixar are still releasing terrific films and the anticipation is always sky high.

Pixar currently have released 27 feature films and below are the ten films that sadly will be missing out on my top 10 list:

27) Cars 2 - By far Pixar's weakest film. It is a solid feature with nice action that is worth watching. But the whole tone of the film felt a bit out of character for Pixar.

26) Cars 3 - A not bad third installment. Starts off ok with some surprisingly slow scenes until a nice use of nostalgia and a risky finale that works.

25) The Good Dinosaur - It might not be as in-depth or clever as the majority of Pixar's releases, but it still has that classic magic that all the family can enjoy. In a world where the meteorite did not hit Earth and destroy the Dinosaurs, a young herbivore and a voiceless child set out on a journey to return home.

24) Elemental - A mixed bag but better than expected despite the marketing not looking promising. The narrative is familiar with on-the-nose themes. But it moves along at a nice pace, the animation is strong and the characters are pretty engaging.

23) Lightyear - While there is connections to the Toy Story franchise, this is more of a space adventure story. It may lack that Pixar emotion, but it makes up for it in its level of fun.

22) Onward - A good fun fantasy adventure with a strong emotional pay-off. Definitely not an instant classic. But it could well be one of its most fun.
Set in a fantasy world that has forgotten is magical ancestors, two elf brothers embark on a quest to find their Dad with the help of magic.

21) Turning Red - A fun and energetic metaphor on adolescence and accepting change. The vibe is a bit different to your Pixar feature and does lack that vintage emotional heart. But it is a welcome change that continues to show the evolution of this studio.

20) Luca - A nice and simple story with a great message for kids. While the stakes and end result is not as in-depth or profound as a lot of its predecessors, it's a fun time with gorgeous animation and score.

19) Brave - This saw Pixar slightly get back to their standard. But for many, the story felt too basic and not as memorable. I found it to be pretty good, but I would also fall with the majority on this one.
18) Monsters University - After questioning some of it on the first viewing, I have enjoyed it the more times I watch it. The first Pixar prequel sees a great origins story on the biggest friendship within the Pixar universe. It might not be nowhere as emotional as 'Monsters, Inc.', but it is still a lot of fun.
17) Cars - A terrific story about the most famous road in America. With an interesting concept, Pixar gave us another highly enjoyable film. Despite that, at the time of its release it was seen by many as ptheir least favorite which shows you the quality of films Pixar has made.
16) Finding Dory - After the events of Finding Nemo, we see Dory begin her search for her parents that she lost as a kid. While not as good as Nemo, Dory is still a great watch with lovable characters and a very interesting story-line that was really well executed.

15) A Bug's Life - Pixar's second feature was always going to have a hard time to follow from Toy Story's success. But it became a smash hit. It is a great story that has terrific characters and has wonderful comedy.
It is wonderful story-telling, has terrific pacing and has one of the most emotional scenes.
14) Incredibles 2 - The long awaited from the 2004 original is fun, exciting and one of Pixar's strongest follow-ups. It sees Elastigirl being the advocate for supers to be legal whilst a villain called the 'Screenslaver' is causing havoc.

13) Toy Story 2 - The sequel to Pixar's first feature and it became another box-office smash.
When Woody is taken by a toy collector, it is to Buzz and his friends to rescue him.
But Woody suddenly sees his place in the world of toys.
12) Soul - A moving comedy adventure told with such passion and maturity. It sees a music teacher given the chance to live his dream before a near death experience gives him a unique second chance. The animation is wonderfully varied throughout, keeps you guessing where it's going and puts you in that constant dreamlike state that Inside Out did.

11) Coco - A wonderful way of portraying Mexico's day of the dead festival. It's an highly enjoyable adventure story with many memorable characters and some fantastic native music.

Here are my top 10:

10) Ratatouille - A film that really exceeded my expectations.

It sees a rat with an unusual set of cooking skills make an alliance with a young kitchen worker moving up the ranks in a French restaurant looking to get back to its glory days.

It is terrific animation and a story that managed to work in a way that only Pixar can make a success of.

9) Up - With it's first 10 minutes etched in everyone's minds, this terrific adventure story became such a hit with audiences around the world.

It has a great old school feel to it and was one of Pixar's few to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
Also, checkout the amazing score by Michael Giacchino.

8) Inside Out - Pixar's latest feature and it brings back to a winning formula.

We see what goes inside the mind of a 12-year old and the result something truly clever and entertaining.

The characters are portrayed brilliantly, the story is probably Pixar's cleverest. It almost has an Alice In Wonderland sense to it.

7) Finding Nemo - One of Pixar's biggest projects and it became part of Pixar's masterpieces that will inspire many generations to come.

With a such a heart-warming story, this is certainly one that people of any age will find something really profound from it.

6) Toy Story 4 - Pixar's most precious creation and it continues to flourish with another wonderful piece of work.

When a new toy joins the gang before a family roadtrip, Woody leanrs how big the world can be for a toy.

It may be the first Toy Story film that is actually a 'toy story'.

5) Monsters, Inc. - Many people's first Pixar film that could actually compete with the legacy of Toy Story.

In a world where monsters scare kids in order to power their city, one child gets through to the monster world and the best scare duo are caught right in the middle of this incident.

It is one of those perfect family films that each member can get benefit from.

4) The Incredibles - Writer and director Brad Bird creates something that is beautiful with perfectly timed action and all in all, incredible.

A world where superheroes exist but are banished, one superhero is summoned on a secret mission that could spell the end of super's forever.

It has a great old school setting and tone to it that really makes it something quite extraordinary.

Like Up, composer Giacchino's score is just terrific.

3) Toy Story 3 - I think I can speak for everyone that we were nervous about the release of this one.

Despite the big gap between this and second Toy Story, Pixar still managed to amaze this with a story that tugged at our heart strings.

This has become a beloved franchise. With a fourth one on the way, I am confident that it will be another success as I know Pixar will not screw up the franchise that begun their studio.

2) Wall.E - Probably Pixar's most artistic films that has become something quite special for a lot of people including myself.

Despite very little dialogue, the level of story-telling made me speechless.

This film is gorgeous and made me so close to giving this the perfect score.

1) Toy Story - Any film that becomes a landmark will become timeless in more ways than anyone can imagine.

Toy Story is a film that no-one will forget and one of the perfect films to escape from the world.

It's adventurous, entertaining, ground-breaking, has great characters, clever story-telling and is the perfect animated film.

My Top 10: James Horner Scores

For the past 35 years, James Horner has become one of the most well known composer's in film history.

He frequent mix of orchestral and electronic made his scores some of the most recognisable of all-time. Also he associations with Celtic music made people associate that style of music with Horner instantly.
The directors you usually see him compose for James Cameron and Ron Howard.

He has scored over 100 films, shorts and documentaries and two of them are currently the two highest-grossing films of all-time. But with the announcement of his tragic death, it was a shame to find that we would miss out on not just any future scores, but his initially scheduled score for the three upcoming Avatar films.

It was really tough to narrow his scores to what I believe is his ten best. Some really good scores have unfortunately miss out. One soundtrack that I want to give an honorable mention is The Land Before Time. It is a gorgeous soundtrack that I remember from my childhood and it was a shame that I did not include it in my top 10. But that just shows how accomplished this composer was. Each of my top 10 will have bits of the soundtrack attached, so you can have a listen. Some of them could soundtrack suites, or just my favorite piece of music from that particular score. Here are my top 10:

10) *batteries not included - Despite being directed by Matthew Robbins, this 1980's heart-warming family sci-fi had Steven Spielberg's hands all over it as executive producer.

This particular piece of music is called 'Hamburger Rhumba' and it is from a very amusing part of the film. It also contains a great mix of some of the films main themes.







9) The Pagemaster - It is a terrific fantasy adventure film that is great for family viewing. It was a film I watched a lot as a kid and it somehow was never seen a by a lot of people and has now become forgotten. You may think this is a sympathy vote. It sort of is, but the music is very enjoyable to listen to.

This piece of music I have chosen is during the film's main action set-piece that at the time was quite ground-breaking. It also is the part when we are introduced to The Pagemaster himself.

I would also have a listen to the official songs of the film that he helped composed for called 'Whatever You Imagine' and 'Dream Away'.

8) Braveheart - Winners of 5 Oscars including Best Picture, this 1995 smash hit wowed audiences with its top performances and intense action. One other key aspect was its memorable soundtrack that really captured to the time period and tone of the film.

With its many famous scenes and quote, the score certainly played a vital part in those moments.

This piece is of music is a suite to the entire soundtrack.

7) Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan - The film that began Horner's career as a major film composer.

This enjoyable sci-fi adventure really enhanced the franchise to mainstream audiences. It has been a while since I have seen it. So when I revisited the score, I forgot how much Horner blended his style to the usual Star Trek themes that made the score quite impressive.

This piece of music is the epic main title.

6) Apollo 13 - One of the most famous films from the 1990's, this space drama based on true events is wonderfully told by director Ron Howard and has great performances from Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise.

This piece of music is used in the famous launch sequence scene.

5) Troy -  Probably the last epic 'swords and sandals' flick. This really enjoyable Greek war drama has the star-studded cast and is set on a massive scale.

While the audience is in awe of the battle scenes, Horner's score is setting the tone beautifully. With the soundtrack sounding very similar to fellow epics like Ben-Hur, it has that great mix of classic and modern.

This piece of music is a fan-made compilation of the music associated with the film's main character.

Also, check out the films end credits song, 'Remember Me' performed by Josh Groban.

4) Field Of Dreams - My favorite sports films that really affected me, not just in the story but the emotional score.

A film where a corn farmer hears voices in his heard to build a baseball field would sound quite mad. But the direction, performances and the score all managed to make this one of the greatest films of all-time.

Horner's score is mesmerizing and haunting at times and just adds to the tone of the film even more.

This piece of music is a suite of the entire soundtrack.

3) An American Tail - A wonderful and emotional family animated drama that I don't think gets enough recognition.

It sees a Russian mouse family attempt to emigrate to America. But when the son gets separated from his family, they must find him whilst trying to survive in a new country.

The score by Horner has some of the best use of strings from an orchestra ever and it is a soundtrack that I will never forget from my childhood.

I was thinking of putting its sequel 'An American Tail: Fievel Goes West' into my top 10. But as the sequel's score has a lot of the themes from the original, I decided to discount it.

2) Avatar - Currently the highest-grossing film of all-time, director James Cameron came out with visual spectacular on a epic story across space that sees a marine sent out on a mission. He then becomes torn between following orders and protecting a world he now sees as home.

Horner's score fitted perfectly into the environment and it is one I have listened many times.

This piece of music from the collectors edition of the soundtrack. It is a combination of the music used in the final scene and the entire end credits that features the terrific song for the film 'I See You' by Leona Lewis.

1) Titanic - The film that got Horner his two Oscars for Best Original Score and Original Song.

At the time it became the highest-grossing film of all-time, and like Avatar it was directed by James Cameron.

With its terrific re-watch-ability, this modern classic is highly enjoyable to watch, has good performances and one of the most iconic soundtracks of all-time.

If you played a few seconds of the soundtrack, people will instantly be taken back to the 1997 Best Picture winner. It gives me chills every time.

This is the soundtrack that defined Horner's career.

The piece of music I have chosen is the chilling 'Hymn To The Sea'.

Review: Terminator Genisys

The film I was most nervous for this summer has arrived.

The reason I was nervous for the fifth Terminator film, was the trailer.
It looked corny and cheesy. It also showed hints that they could very well be erasing the first Terminator by changing the timelines.

This made me nervous as I would probably be angry once I have seen at the cinema.

When the second trailer came out, I had heard that there was a major plot spoiler in it. I know some trailers are known for basically showing the entire movie. So thankfully, I managed to avoid it.
Now that I have seen the film and now the trailer, I cannot believe they showed that! Apparently, the director is not happy with the marketing team as they were not supposed to do that.

I can safely say that going in with low expectations might be the best thing to do for this film. I found to be good mindless fun that any bog-standard summer blockbuster should be.

Even with its flaws and occasional sacrilege to the iconic first two installments, their is a lot of fun and I was never bored.
Rise Of The Machines had a certain charm to it, Salvation had enough CGI action set-pieces to made it watchable. Genisys was a bit of both.

The action was good, the pacing was consistent and there were not any moments that made me get angry at the movie despite the complex use of time-travel.
Like many of the latest additions to franchises, it ran like a greatest hits album. This can be both good and bad. Thankfully I think they got away with all the references that they used, even the use of some famous lines.

The performances were not memorable, but not terrible. Emilia Clarke was solid as Sarah Connor. She was no Linda Hamilton, but she seemed to hold her own for most of the film. The only major drawback was the lack of presence as she did not seem as commanding as Hamilton was.
Schwarzenegger was actually fairly good and I think his performance will be widely seen as understated.
Jai Courtney was as poor as ever. He is as wooden as ever and I think he would have been better cast as a Terminator. As for Jason Clarke, it was perfectly fine but I still don't know how he is getting all these roles. He has not impressed me yet and all of his performances seem to be sub-standard.
A couple of minor roles that I think were wasted were J.K. Simmons and Matt Smith. They are great talents and too give under-used characters was a missed opportunity in my eyes.

It obviously won't be as viewed so many times like James Cameron's features of the franchise. But you should not expect that. Take it for what it is and you will it as pleasant and mildly enjoyable as I did.
There is a lot to get your head round. I'm pretty sure a lot of it will not fit right in terms of movie time-travel law. But I don't think that will get in the way of your enjoyment of the on-screen action.
The high points is the opening 30 minutes, the chemistry between Schwarzenegger and Emilia Clarke and pacing of it that manages to never fall into any moments of dullness.

I can sort of see why Cameron sees this as the true sequel to Judgment Day. However I would rank it slightly behind Rise Of The Machines, and comfortably ahead of Salvation.

Rating: 7/10

Nostalgic Review: The Terminator Franchise

For people who grew up in the 80's, The Terminator franchise was an integral part of your upbringing.

Director James Cameron began with a vision of a cyborg chasing a human with a knife in its hand. Then with the help of his writing team, his vision became something that I don't think he could have imagined.
It is also of course the franchise that made Arnold Schwarzenegger the star that he is today. From his famous "I'll be back" line, Arnie became a global titan.

It became one of the biggest franchises. Sadly, it has lost steam since it's iconic second feature. I personally it will never get back to what it used to be. But I am always interested in another addition to this franchise.

Below are my reviews of each feature:

The Terminator - The one that started it all. James Cameron's vision comes alive in this sci-fi action blockbuster with a mix of horror slasher.

With great intensity, beautifully made action and a simple premise, this film is so much fun.

Rating: 9/10

Terminator 2: Judgment Day - One of the most memorable sequels to be superior from the original.
Arnie is back and there is a new target for The Terminator.

Everything raised its game and we have a movie that blew everyone away. It still easily stands the test of time.

Rating: 9/10

Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines - Without Cameron directing, this was obviously going to be a disappointment. It was actually a solid effort, with a surprising amount of comedy that just about holds it together.

It does have that certain charm that makes it watchable, and it has a pretty impressive action set-piece.

Rating: 7/10

Terminator Salvation - Many people's weakest of the franchise, including me. However, I thought it was still a pretty solid romp.

It definitely may not be as ground-breaking as the first two, but it has enjoyable set-pieces that satisfied me.

Rating: 7/10

Terminator Genisys - With the trailers not showing much promise, it actually was solid popcorn fun. Most importantly, it was not the worst of the series.

The story was ambitious and I think it will upset a lot of the hardcore fans. But I felt it was as good as it could have been with the people who were involved. This franchise remains nothing without James Cameron.

Rating: 7/10