#QuickReview: The Sitter, 2011 - ★★

Essentially, this is Adventures in Babysitting reimagined for an Apatow audience. There are some nice scenes to find in amongst the mess, but they are too few and far between.

The Sitter is not terrible, but it’s a long way from good. Stick it on when you’ve had a few drinks, and you’ll probably enjoy it just fine.

#QuickReview: Super 8, 2011 - ★★★★

Borrowing heavily from Spielberg’s classics, Super 8 is not perfect, but it’s warmth is a rarity in the films of today. Importantly, the cast is superb. There’s no hint of ‘child actor syndrome’ here.

While we’ve been here many times before, Super 8’s familiarity provides a welcome rush of notalgia to family cinema.

#QuickReview: Clerks II, 2006 - ★★★★

Clerks II replaces much of it’s predecessors edginess with sentimentality. That’s not to it’s detriment, however, as this is a blast. Heart warming and gut achingly funny.

#QuickReview: The Avengers, 2012 - ★★★★½

The Avengers is every bit as good as I hoped it would be, and feared it wouldn’t be. It takes all the great qualities of the prequel movies, improves on that, and ditches the bad and unnecessary stuff.

The script is compelling, Joss Whedon plays this perfectly; the action sequences are superbly paced and importantly, not overly long and drawn out; every wise crack his the mark with the whole audience, not just me laughing as the only geek in the room; and the actors do a great job, with special marks going to Ruffalo for his Banner/Hulk and Hiddleston for Loki.

While I’m sure you’ll find better movies this year, I doubt you’ll find one more genuinely entertaining. Like the perfect fairground ride, my overriding thought as I left the cinema was, “can we go again?”

#QuickReview: The Incredible Hulk, 2008 - ★★½

While The Incredible Hulk is mildly entertaining, it’s unfortunately a long way behind the other Avengers movies in terms of fun and quality.

Norton plays Bruce Banner as emo rather than genuinely lonely and broken hearted, and the Hulk seems completely lifeless…unacceptable in these days of quality motion capture acting.

This is worth a watch for Avengers completionists, but otherwise it’s probably best left alone.

#QuickReview: Blade, 1998 - ★★★★

Smart, self effacing and energetic; Blade is a wonderful example of a low budget super-hero movie.

The punchlines stay just the right side of the cheeky/corny fence, the special effects don’t try too hard to wow the audience and the soundtrack has just enough bass to keep the heart pumping should the wonderfully choreographed action take a wee lull.

This isn’t classic cinema, but it is hugely entertaining, and about as cool a movie as you can watch without getting frostbite.

#QuickReview: The Cabin in the Woods, 2012 - ★

This is the worst movie I have seen in a long time. It’s horribly derivative, the plot was entirely predictable and worst of all, it was dull as dishwater. The “scary” bits didn’t make me jump, the “laughs” fell flat every time and the “dialogue” made me cringe.

Maybe the problem with Cabin In The Woods was it’s marketing campaign. It promised more than the standard b-movie teen slasher fayre. It promised to turn the genre on it’s head. It promised something cerebral. It delivered none of these…or anything else.

This is a shite movie that I have seen a thousand times before. It gets one star for the remarkable achievement that it managed to get a cinema release.

#QuickReview: The Dark Knight, 2008 - ★★★★½

A career high performance from Ledger (in fact, it’s a rare good performance) seals this as one of the best comic book movies of all time. His Joker dominates every scene he is in, chewing up the sets and instantly banishing Nicholson’s version of the deranged anti-hero to the past.

This movie is not just all about Ledger’s tour de force either. Epic city-scapes, wonderfully choreographed action scenes and another driven script from the Nolan brothers mean we are almost constantly engaged in this movie.

The Dark Knight isn’t perfect. It’s too long for a start, and this becomes evident in a second half lul, especially on repeated viewings. Bale’s Batman is a bit wooden (as opposed to dark and brooding) almost as if Nolan wasn’t really paying much attention to the titular character. These are fairly small gripes though, in what is a must-watch movie.

#QuickReview: Young Adult, 2011 - ★★★

Young Adult is a movie where the important journey travelled is that of the audience rather than any of the characters.

Charlize Theron does a great job of playing a shallow and dislikable Mavis Gary, yet we’re rooting for her all the way. Patton Oswalt deserves a mention too. His character is the most human and relatable, and with a bit more screen time, I think I would have enjoyed this movie more.

My biggest disappointment came after the climax of the movie. It just left me feeling a little let-down. Young Adult is pretty good, and certainly well worth watching, but don’t be surprised if a need for resolution is left unsated.

#QuickReview: Up, 2009 - ★★★★

That first ten minutes. Wow! It’s perfectly designed to get me going; love, life, loss, regret, missed opportunities, happiness, guilt and death. Wonderful cinema.

Up, however, isn’t a ten minute movie. And while the rest never lives up to it’s opening, it’s still beautifully animated, superbly entertaining, and a must-watch for kids and adults alike.