Film Freak 2014 - SUPER film Weekend

St George Open Air Cinema: 20 Feet From Stardom {Actual Film released in 2013 & up for an Oscar for Best Documentary}: Man this was good and I don't just mean good, I mean real good. Seeing this with a packed Open Air Cinema experience was pure bliss, hearing people sing along, hearing peoples reactions, just great.

I am a massive music fan (if you haven't noticed) so this was a great look at another side of the music biz. A side not a lot of people know about, the back up world. Take a look for yourselves below:



Real people, talking about real music, before American Idol, the Voice & the X Factor, this is real and this is really fine. 4.5 STARS! Cause let's be honest these folk are stars.

Indie Film: Inside Llewyn Davis {Actual Film released in 2013}: The Coen Brothers are back and this time they invite Justin Timberlake along for the ride. Look this isn't a big film nor was it the best film I saw over the weekend (and there was four!) but for a Saturday morning feature it beat Looney Tunes. The performances are all fine but in the past month when I have sat through 2 screenings of films like August Osage County and Blue Jasmine this wasn't that great.

Make your own mind up below:



Inside Llewyn Davis, it's a bit of a fun ride so 3 folk singing stars.

First proper 2014 Release: Jack Ryan:Shadow Recruit: I don't want to start the year nasty but if action films continue just to tick boxes this old duck ain't gonna be a happy camper. No sorry this was very formula driven (driven - including two car chases, yes all action films have at least one of these but this film upped the anti and delivered not one but two) film really gave viewers exactly what one expected and nothing more.

A little disappointing and the sad thing is I can't see this movie being remembered for long in 2014, it was to say the least very forgettable. However all this negativity it does come from a known author in Tom Clancy and look if you want an easy film to watch with no thought required maybe give it a go if all the dramas out there are not your film and it's the man's movie choice night.



Jack Ryan - it's not all bad but it's definitely not all good, 2.5 pass mark for the first official film of 2014 for me to review and be slightly annoyed at the admission price for.

Final film for the weekend: Saving Mr. Banks {Actual Film released in 2013} - Well, well, well after much talk I finally took a leap of faith into a Gold Class seat to check out what all the fuss and noise was about. Saving Mr. Banks, the untold (Disney) recount of how Mary Poppins appeared on our screens.

So Disney have had a really bad run of films which have attracted bad reviews and worst film titles such as the recent Lone Ranger outing and poor old John Carter to name a few.

However Saving Mr. Banks is not going to continue along this path as it's been a box office hit and nominated for a few awards along the way.

Look this does fall into the lovely and super easy to watch category but it is special. Emma Thompson is grand and Tom Hanks plays all American so god damn well.



The trailer unfortunately does give away many of Emma Thompson's great one liners but still as a whole it is a great little film. And I say little because it's not a huge tale to tell, it's essentially like Jack Ryan with Tom Clancy signing over to a studio the rights to his characters and the back story of a movie inside a movie.

So is it enjoyable? Yes and I think the big screen is the place for this film as it captures everything, the flashbacks, Emma Thompson in full flight and more.

Look I didn't think it was as grand as Blue Jasmine or August: Osage County but it's a decent and good drama for those who love well acted and well written pieces.

I don't regret it being on my end of year list for last year but I had a good old time, 3.75 Stars.