Review - Love & Mercy

I know NOTHING about the Beach Boys and their music, yet still this is one of my favourites films so far this year.

Love & Mercy is a biographical film about musician and songwriter Brian Wilson, of The Beach Boys, directed by Bill Pohlad and starring; Paul Dano, John Cusack, Elizabeth Banks & Paul Giamatti.

The film centers on Brian Wilson's life in the past and the future, played by Dano in the past and Cusack in the future, it shows Brian Wilson's descent into madness while trying to create "the greatest album ever made" meanwhile in the future part, a middle-aged Wilson, who is now a broken and mentally ill man under the legal and healthcare of Dr. Eugene Landy (Giamatti). Wilson meets a Cadillac saleswoman, Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks) and they fall for each-other, Melinda tries to save Wilson from Landy's manipulation.

Review - San Andreas

San Andreas is a action-adventure disaster film directed by Brad Peyton and  stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Alexandra Daddario, Carla Gugino, Paul Giamatti and Ioan Gruffudd.

San Andreas follows an Los Angeles Fire Department rescue-helicopter pilot, Ray (Johnson) and his ex wife, Emma (Gugino) as they search for their daughter after a devastating earthquake hits.

This type of film really isn't for me, disaster films are my least favourite genre, i just get bored from all the CGI destruction everywhere, my brain just turns off and my eyes glaze over, but i didn't mind San Andreas, i enjoyed it actually!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Official Teaser #2

Review - Furious 7

Furious 7 is the seventh in the Fast and Furious franchise, and unfortunately the last starring Paul Walker, who died tragically in a car crash in 2013. The film is directed by newcomer to the franchise, James Wan, who is taking over from Justin Lin, who directed 3-6 and ultimately made Fast and Furious the franchise it is today, by making it all about cool set pieces and car chases. The film has a wonderfully diverse cast, including, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris and newcomers to the series, Kurt Russell and Jason Statham.

Review - Get Hard

Get Hard is a comedy film, directed by Etan Cohen and stars Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Alison Brie, Edwina Findley and Craig T. Nelson.

When a new Will Ferrell film comes out, i tend to get very excited because he is a very rare comedic talent, his characters in film are usually the best thing about the film and transcend the film itself, with characters like Ron Burgundy, Ricky Bobby and Buddy the Elf, but he also doesn't have the best track record, and unfortunately Get Hard is another one of his forgettable films that is easy to miss.

The plot for Get Hard is very simple, James King (Ferrell) gets stitched up and gets sentenced to jail for 10 years in a maximum security prison, he runs into Darnell (Hart) a car washer, who James thinks has been to jail, simply because he is black, he asks Darnell to teach him how to survive in prison in exchange for $30,000, because Darnell is having money troubles he accepts even though he has never been to jail.
So the whole film is Darnell teaching James to toughen up, through various methods involving getting into fights, joining gangs and more degrading things you may have to do while in jail...

The most important thing in a comedy film is the humor itself, so how is it? It's incredibly low brow, all the jokes consist of jail rape and being a criminal because your black.
Saying this though, the jokes still hit, i was laughing all throughout the film thanks to Ferrell and Hart who are always trying in the film thankfully, especially Hart in a scene where he is playing several characters at one time. Lots of the other actors don't hit as hard, especially T.I who plays Hart's cousin Russell, who i didn't find funny at all, speaking of the supporting cast, most of them were wasted especially the hilarious Alison Brie, from Community, who they just make into a gold digging bitch in the film with no substance at all, Craig T. Nelson plays Brie's father and Ferrell's boss who is also not given anything to do, the only supporting member who was used well at all was Edwina Findley, who plays Hart's wife, who is the smart and level minded one in the couple who has a few stand-out moments.

Get Hard is a forgettable yet funny comedy film with two great leads that without them this film wouldn't have worked at all, the film is offensive and racist and i don't think they pushed the boundaries enough to be anything really different. Get Hard wasn't hard enough

3/5
What did you think of the film?
Comment and let me know!

Review - Focus

Focus is an American romantic 'dramedy' directed by  Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie.

I didn't know what to expect going into this film, Will Smith hasn't been at the top of his game lately and the trailers didn't hook me, but, this film is very good, i should of expected no less from directing duo who helmed the 2011 hit 'Crazy Stupid Love' and the beautiful Margot Robbie who has always been brilliant in whatever she is in.
The film is about Nicky (Will Smith) a conman who takes a young wannabe conwoman, Jess (Margot Robbie) under his wing to show her the ropes, but when there relationship gets too close for Nick he breaks it off, the story then picks up 3 years later when Nick is taking a new job and bumps into Jess. The story is very intriguing and you will not know where it is going until you get there.
The most interesting part of the film was the conman aspect, i couldn't trust either Nick or Jess in the film because they have been playing all the other characters throughout the film, which left me continuously thinking, who is lying in this scene? Is what Nick just said true? Is Jess lying? This made the film a lot more engaging for me and made me feel involved in the film.
The casting was also a highlight in the film, Will Smith and Margot Robbie were great in the lead roles, with some really great chemistry, Smith as a experienced conman that has had a bad upbringing and doesn't get too close to anyone, he plays the role very well, with his signature Will Smith performance, you know what your going to get with him but it works very well here and Robbie as a sexy inexperienced conwoman who really want to become great was also great, you immediately believe her in this role and her relationship with Smith's character . The supporting cast were also very good, with smaller actors like Adrian Martinez, stealing every scene he is in with his vulgar language.

Focus was a surprisingly good movie with a great cast, a sharp witty script and interesting characters that you don't know if you can trust and a script where you might be getting duped just like the targets the con-men are after.

3.75/5What did you think of the film? Comment and let me know!