|
71%
|
Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
|
"... Lin must actually listen to criticism and has been slowly rectifying the mistakes made in his previous films - hell, the way he is going, by the time they get to Sweet Fast 16, it might be up for Best Picture."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
50%
|
The Great Gatsby (2013)
|
"It may sound like a strange comparison, but the film that Gatsby reminded me of the most is Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
81%
|
The Place Beyond The Pines (2013)
|
"Bleak, raw, epic and vibrating with energy, Pines is a film to haunt your dreams, and, so far, the best thing I've seen in a cinema in 2013."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
91%
|
The Hunt (2013)
|
"...watching an intelligent discourse on such a tricky subject makes for engrossing drama, even if it comes at the expense of our protagonist: a good man stranded in the void between moral panic and due process."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
78%
|
Iron Man 3 (2013)
|
"This film resembles its protagonist Tony Stark: its overblown, convoluted and seemingly disconnected to anything that has come before it."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
55%
|
Oblivion (2013)
|
"Not all of Oblivion's big ideas stick - in fact some of them threaten to send the film spiralling into its namesake - but at its best, the film achieves something that is highly elusive in modern film: it is completely and utterly engrossing."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
80%
|
Warm Bodies (2013)
|
"...the film's horror element is hamstrung by its bloodless rating, so the filmmakers often focus on the immaculate cheekbones of their leads..."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
15%
|
A Good Day To Die Hard (2013)
|
"Gone is the vulnerable, smart and resourceful hero of the original. He has instead been replaced by an unstoppable killing machine who - like a pull-string toy - sprouts irrelevant catch phrases like 'I'm on vacation!' in the middle of a fire fight."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
67%
|
Cloud Atlas (2012)
|
"...few films have ever been this weird, this epic and this disjointed."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
60%
|
The Last Stand (2013)
|
"...it's refreshing to watch a film that wants to be nothing more than a blood-soaked accompaniment to beer and pizza."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
88%
|
Django Unchained (2012)
|
"It would seem that this film's irreverence isn't a case of didn't-try-can't-fail dismissiveness, but rather something more innocuous: it's simply the world interpreted through Tarantino's boisterous perspective."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
32%
|
Gangster Squad (2013)
|
"...it would seem so much was spent on waistcoats that no one could afford to go to Officeworks, as Gangster Squad's script - the foundation of every film - is an absolute mess."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
61%
|
Jack Reacher (2012)
|
"Unless you cast Yao Ming as Bilbo Baggins, what bearing does height have on a characterisation? Thank Christ that Cruise has an unwavering sense of self, as Jack Reacher is old school action dynamite."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
13%
|
Red Dawn (2012)
|
"If your film choices are dictated by what is in the $2 pile at Blockbuster, I imagine this kind of easily justified pro-war sentiment would go down a treat, especially with a bottle of cheap whiskey."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
52%
|
Trouble with the Curve (2012)
|
"It's a shame that Kevin Costner had already taken the title The Postman as it perfectly defines Curve - a film where every single plot development is telegraphed in advance."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
92%
|
Skyfall (2012)
|
"Skyfall does what all of the best franchise entries do: it makes you want to see the next one immediately. Consider me (physically) shaken and (emotionally) stirred."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
85%
|
End of Watch (2012)
|
"...one of 2012's best action films."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
78%
|
Dredd (2012)
|
"...Dredd is one of the year's purest, most gratifying genre films."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
96%
|
Argo (2012)
|
"...incredibly entertaining, lucid crowd pleaser. I'm [annoyed] that people may hear the synopsis and go 'Oh, that's not my thing', because Argo is everyone's thing: it's one of the year's best films."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
25%
|
Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)
|
"...Shulman and Joost forget to bring the scary - that low frequency noise and telegraphed pop-up scares have worn as thin as a communal durex."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
31%
|
Total Recall (2012)
|
"This new version of Total Recall is the cinematic equivalent of a vibrator: it is whirling, sleek, shiny and utterly artificial, yet it gets you where you need to go."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
65%
|
The Campaign (2012)
|
"The Campaign is an equal split of smart and stupid. Some people may be off-put by the wild detours into vulgarity, but I relished it."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
16%
|
The Watch (2012)
|
"The only arcs these characters encounter are in their pants."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
87%
|
ParaNorman (2012)
|
"...this is truly edgy for children's fare."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
94%
|
The Sessions (2012)
|
"The Sessions is a magnificent film. This tale of a profoundly disabled man's sexual awaking is not only a genuine crowd pleaser , but it also gives a cinematic voice to the marginalized."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
87%
|
Easy Money (2012)
|
"This Swedish thriller isn't just a great crime film, it's a great film, period. Based on the novel by Jens Lapidus, Easy Money is positively Dickensian in its themes and scope."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
67%
|
Lawless (2012)
|
"...[Hillcoat] has an ability to capture violence in a way that breaks through a century of cinematic desensitisation - when someone gets hurt in a John Hillcoat film you feel it."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
88%
|
Blue Valentine (2010)
|
"[Director] Cianfrance is not interested in the Hollywood fairytale, he want to show that love can scar."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
63%
|
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
|
"Like most guy-centric films these days, this film is ragingly homophobic and misogynistic, and you know what? These are some of the best parts. It is a testament to the wit of the writers and the charisma of the cast that we are never turned off."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
21%
|
Taken 2 (2012)
|
"The aversion to violent detail makes it appear as though Mills is applying light chiropractic manipulation rather than giving someone an involuntary dirt nap."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
40%
|
Mental (2013)
|
"...due to a mortifyingly miscalculated lead performance and haphazard writing, Mental is often as funny as a burning orphanage."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
53%
|
The Mechanic (2011)
|
"[Simon West] goes for headshots, stabbings and other dispatches that are the antithesis of modern PG-13 action filmmaking."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
49%
|
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
|
"Edward is cold and controlling: the archetype of an abusive partner and Jacob just acts like a rapist in training, he keeps trying to kiss Bella against her will."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
94%
|
Samson and Delilah (2010)
|
"Director Warwick Thornton's artistic choices alienated me as viewer and made me pray for the end."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
33%
|
Terminator Salvation (2009)
|
"Everything that made the Terminator films great is absent in this film. The violence, the terror, the basic fear is gone ... In this film, children defeat a terminator."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
61%
|
The Reader (2008)
|
"The film's exploration of the Holocaust's fallout on subsequent generations is harrowing."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
43%
|
Robin Hood (2010)
|
"I thought [Robin Hood] was going to be the best film of the year ... [it] never gels. "
|
Adam Ross
|
|
98%
|
Let the Right One In (2008)
|
"Let the Right One In eschews all the crap that has plagued vampire films for years. This is a dark, serious and twisted film. "
|
Adam Ross
|
|
99%
|
Toy Story 3 (2010)
|
"... this is [Pixar's] prison film, and they load it with suspense, clever references, invention and action. "
|
Adam Ross
|
|
95%
|
Star Trek (2009)
|
"... it pleases me to report that the new film from Director J.J. Abrams pulled me (a Trek newbie) in like a Romulan tractor beam."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
51%
|
Observe and Report (2009)
|
"This is one of the best comedies of the decade, and I suggest you check it out immediately - just don't take your grandmother."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
27%
|
Fast & Furious (2009)
|
"The tagline for this film is: 'New Model, Original Parts'. It should be: 'Are you dumb enough to pay for the same film twice?'"
|
Adam Ross
|
|
73%
|
Iron Man 2 (2010)
|
"I was predisposed to like Iron Man even if it starred David Hasselhoff wrapped in tinfoil ... Is it worth your time? Definitely. Is it the calibre of Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight? Afraid not."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
70%
|
Men in Black III (2012)
|
"The effects and direction make this a pleasant diversion, but with a bunch of clunky one-liners and half-baked scenes this is a film that won't be remembered long."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
71%
|
Margaret (2011)
|
"... it should be commended for attempting to tackle something as basic - and insurmountable - as a single human emotion."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
74%
|
Prometheus (2012)
|
"Very few films can create a genuine sense of wonder and discovery, and Prometheus manages it for its entire 124 minute running time ... almost entirely a sensory experience."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
81%
|
Beauty (Skoonheid) (2013)
|
"...Beauty is my least favourite type of film. An 'arthouse' film with a repulsive protagonist, Beauty is slow and, eventually, vile."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
34%
|
Battleship (2012)
|
"It's not satire, it doesn't play on two levels like Starship Troopers, it's just s---... As a piece of miscalculated, American wankery, it is almost unparalleled."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
78%
|
Brave (2012)
|
"While Brave is a mile ahead of other animated features hitting our screens, it does feel like a lesser Pixar work."
|
Adam Ross
|
|
41%
|
Rock of Ages (2012)
|
"Tom Cruise is monumentally good in this film. If this film was called Stacee Jaxx it might have been my film of the year. "
|
Adam Ross
|
73%
78%
61%
52%
26%
4%
