Film Review: Vatican Tapes

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Cert: 15 cert

Director: Mark Neveldine

Screen writer: Chris Morgan  (based on a story by) and Christopher Borrelli (based on a story by) Christopher Borrelli  (screenplay) Michael C. Martin (screenplay

Starring: Michael Peña , Alison Lohman , Olivia Taylor Dudley , Kathleen Robertson , Djimon Hounsou , Dougray Scott , Michael Paré , John Patrick Amedori , Cas Anvar , Tehmina Sunny , Daniel Bernhardt , Peter Andersson , Alex Sparrow , Bruno Gunn , Noemi Gonzalez 

Running time: 1h 31min

Parents advised to read before viewing film as some scene may contain scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.

Sex & Nudity: References to oral sex and the main character's mother being a call girl.

A character grabs another character's backside briefly, however nothing happens because he is stopped.

A young woman starts touching suggestively an older man but this gets interrupted

Violence & Gore: A man smashes light bulbs into his own eyes (seen from behind), some blood is seen.

A baby is about to be drowned, but the would-be killer is stopped before anything happens.

A man is crushed by falling debris. There is some blood on the dead body, but the scene is not graphic.

A young woman cuts her finger with a knife and the wound gets infected. Blood is seen.

A scene in which several patients from a mental hospital start killing themselves shows a man being thrown down a balcony and a man hanging himself. Very brief, and no blood is seen.

A character makes several violent contorsions during an exorcism while being chained. In one very graphic scene, she breaks her own shoulder in order to set herself free. The sound of the bones breaking is graphic and the scene is fairly gross.

 Three men end up dying after an exorcism: Two get crushed by falling debris while the other one is stabbed (no blood is seen).

Profanity:  Very mild language, there are some religious exclamations and the words "ass" and "hell" are used sometimes.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: None


Frightening/Intense Scenes:  Demonic possession.

A fairly gross scene features dislocating limbs, and some very graphic sounds are heard.

Story: THE VATICAN TAPES follows the ultimate battle between good and evil - God versus Satan. Angela Holmes is an ordinary 27-year-old until she begins to have a devastating effect on anyone close, causing serious injury and death. Holmes is examined and possession is suspected, but when the Vatican is called upon to exorcise the demon, the possession proves to be an ancient satanic force more powerful than ever imagined. It's all up to Father Lozano to wage war for more than just Angela's soul, but for the world as we know it.

Likes : I really dont know what to say about this film to be honest, it starts off great with a creepy tone & atmosphere which set the mood but for some reason the film story had taken a different direction.
Not that the film was great it had its moment where certain scene would get dark & really creepy you out which is good because it adds tension to the film concept which is good for a horror film,the acting performance are good Olivia Taylor Dudley is the perfect casting for the victim of demonic possession, she does come off genuine which works for the film, along with the rest of the cast, but i can't help but feel this film could have been better as feels limited by is certification.

Dislikes : This is where this film went wrong, it start off great with a good atmosphere with a chilling dark concept which keeps it almost toward the end of the film yet, for some strange reason the story goes in a different direction which just complete destroyed the film concept.
The reason why i say this because the anti-christ is meant to be evil they've kind of made this concept like an angel doing good it was the wrong direction this film could of gone it, way the film is they might as well as made it a pg 13 - 12A film, because its slightly a bit tame but good in places but bad in others.

Overall : Great start but change of direction slight off, creepy atmosphere.

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 for entertainment / 6.3 out of 10 for concept.

Film Review: We are your friends

Genre: Drama, Music, Romance

Cert: 15 cert

Director: Max Joseph

Screen writer: Meaghan Oppenheimer (screenplay) Richard Silverman (story)

Starring: Zac Efron , Wes Bentley , Emily Ratajkowski , Jonny Weston , Shiloh Fernandez , Alex Shaffer , Jon Bernthal , Alicia Coppola, Wiley M. Pickett , Jon Abrahams , Molly Hagan , Brittany Furlan , Vanessa Lengies , Rebecca Forsythe , Joey Rudman 

Running time: 1h 36min

Parents advised to read before viewing film as some scene may contain scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.

Sex & Nudity: Discussion of sexual acts.

Few sex scenes (no nudity).

A scene in a strip club. Strippers are covered, though except one brief scene where a stripper leans towards one of the main characters and her breast glimpsed on the side of the screen.

A pool party scene, two women are shown topless.

Violence & Gore: Two scenes where a person gets punched, one results in a swimming pool fight.

Profanity:  "F*ck", "Sh*t", 1 use of c*nt. And their variants are used throughout.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: People are seen drinking alcohol throughout the movie.

Marijuana and PCP are used at some points. 

Frightening/Intense Scenes:  certain scene can be frighten as it deal in a drug related issue

Story: Cole is an aspiring DJ who spends his days scheming with his childhood friends and his nights working on the one track that will set the world on fire. All of this changes when he meets a charismatic but damaged older DJ named James, who takes him under his wing. Things get complicated, however, when Cole starts falling for James' much younger girlfriend, Sophie. With Cole's forbidden relationship intensifying and his friendships unraveling, he must choose between love, loyalty, and the future he is destined for

Likes : I can see why this film may have flopped in the cinema, to be honest watching this film even i could see this had a straight to dvd quality about it, but to say it a bad film is a little harsh, in some way this film does good in giving a little eduction on how music works to feed your emotion.
 Zac Efron puts a great performance as a guy that what to make something of himself so he dosent end up working in a dead end job, he does it in the way of music to become a famous DJ, until a tragic event happen he force to evaluate his life, his performance show just how good of an actor Zac has come.
The acting is good the story does have some kind of inspiration in a way that you should never give up on your dream no matter what life throws at you, it can be predictable in place but the storyline is a pretty simple teenage drama story.
which is why this might have final in the cinema, but i kind of like it, its a simple story to follow, it doesn't get complicated like much drama film's do, but there is inspiration in make music to not copy what has been done before but to find a new way of selling the music to people which this film portray perfectly. i couldn't really recommend this film as a must see but it still a good film to watch.

Dislikes :  i feel the story could have been better done for a more emotional story it may have had work, but still not a bad film.

Overall : Good acting, simple story, music based film.

Rating: 4.6 out of 5 for entertainment / 7.1 out of 10  

Film Review: The 5th Wave.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Cert: 15 cert

Director: J Blakeson

Screen writer: Susannah Grant (screenplay) and Akiva Goldsman (screenplay) &
Jeff Pinkner (screenplay) Rick Yancey (novel)  

Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz ,  Matthew Zuk , Gabriela Lopez , Bailey Anne Borders , Nick Robinson , Ron Livingston , Maggie Siff , Zackary Arthur , Dave Maldonado , Paul Ryden , E. Roger Mitchell , Charmin Lee , Parker Wierling , Madison Staines , Tony Revolori , Terry Serpico , Liev Schreiber , Derek Roberts , Geoffrey Kennedy , Alex Roe , many more......

Running time: 112 min  

Parents advised to read before viewing film as some scene may contain scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.

Sex & Nudity: Two girls talk about how a boy and a girl's 'parts go together'

Two girls talk about having end-of-the-world sex

A teenage boy offers to play strip poker with a girl

A girl watches a boy bathing in a lake, (not necessarily sexual in nature)

Two teenagers kiss and then lie down, we later see them asleep together, implying they had sex

Two teenagers kiss

Violence & Gore: A man is found bloody and injured in the back of a convenience store. He makes a disturbing comment to a girl about "his stomach falling out". Later, the girl shoots him. This may be a shocking scene. Not too graphic, though.

A group of teenage soldiers dig tracking devices out of the back of their necks with knives. Some blood.

A teenage girl is shot in the leg. We see the damage when she moves her bandages which causes her to bleed out, and later as it is stitched up and healing.

A room full of adults are killed, mostly offscreen but you see some shooting and hear the shots.

A disease spreads rapidly and many people die. We see many body bags.

Children are forced to try and kill off what they think are aliens. One child dies, but we see no blood.

A fistfight between members of a troop squad occurs. No blood.

One of the children orders another to shoot him somewhere not fatal. Off screen but we hear the gunshots.

Dark themes throughout, including aliens dressing up as humans and becoming contract killers.

Profanity:  A few uses of ass and crap, around 10 uses of shit, 2 uses of fuck but one is muttered and hard to pick up on. Most of the cursing is done by teenagers. Not as much swearing as there was in the book.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: Teenagers drink alcohol at a party

Cassie steps on a cigarette

Frightening/Intense Scenes:  Themes of threat and survival are prominent throughout the film

Children are forced to train and kill 'others', we see kids as young as 5 or 6 with guns, which could be disturbing or worrying to some.

Lots of use of guns and bombs.

Teenagers die and kill others, which could be unsettling

The first part of the film describes the 4 'Waves' which have destroyed the earth including loss of power, which causes a plane to crash, tsunamis and earthquakes and a deadly virus, which appears to have killed many this concept maybe frighting to some viewers.

Story: Four waves of increasingly deadly attacks have left most of Earth in ruin. Against a backdrop of fear and distrust, Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother. As she prepares for the inevitable and lethal fifth wave, Cassie teams up with a young man who may become her final hope - if she can only trust him.

Likes : All ive seen of reviews is basically throwing this film under the bus with bad negative reviews, well im not gonna review this film like that, ive never read the book, but im gonna judge this film from what i saw.

What people need to realise about this film is that this is a trilogy story which i done some research on, this will be a film like the maze runner, hunger games & twilight style of story in a series of film expanding the story over three or more film's with a sci-fi concept which the first story is (The 5th wave)
 
 The 5th Wave follows 16-year-old Cassie Sullivan as she tries to survive in a world devastated by the waves of alien invasion that have already devastated the Earth's population and knocked humankind back to the Stone Age. As one of the planet's last survivors, Cassie has to learn the hard way to trust no one.

The only thing that keeps Cassie going is the hope that she can save her 5-year-old brother, Sam, from a "training" camp established by the Others (the aliens). Cassie and Ben Parish, who was her crush in school, narrate a good majority of the story, along with several supporting characters who offer different perspectives.

The Waves were planned attacks used by the Others in their attempt to take over planet Earth, but the reason for their desire to inhabit the planet is much deeper than that and has a lot to do with humanity itself.

The second film will be based on the sequel book called (The Infinite Sea)
The novel provides detailed histories of the secondary characters from the previous novel. Instead of the majority of narration done by Cassie, as the previous book had, the narration shifts from the point of view of another teenage girl named Ringer as well as other members of the surviving rebels.

The second novel offers an extension of the romance between Cassie, Evan Walker, and Cassie's high school crush, Ben Parish. Cassie must find a way to keep her team together. Letting the remaining 1% of people on Earth succumb to the pains of humanity would be letting the Others win a sick game that they mapped out after decades of decoding the human existence. The goal is now to not only escape the Others, but also to defeat them.

The third & final film will be called (The Last Star)
The enemy is Other. The enemy is us. They’re down here, they’re up there, they’re nowhere. They want the Earth, they want us to have it. They came to wipe us out, they came to save us.

But beneath these riddles lies one truth: Cassie has been betrayed. So has Ringer. Zombie. Nugget. And all 7.5 billion people who used to live on our planet. Betrayed first by the Others, and now by ourselves.

In these last days, Earth’s remaining survivors will need to decide what’s more important: saving themselves . . . or saving what makes us human.

Character wise this film wasnt that bad with the acting, i feel like the review are a little harsh & unrated as the story itself is pretty good but i do feel as if something was missing, but apart from that i found this film to be interesting with it concept.
Ya i know the story is unoriginal but still this film has something working for it with its twist's in characters & the twist in the storyline that clearly some people could understand which is probably why they gave it negative reviews. i feel the twist plot is good although one character i pick up on before they were revealed as not being who they said they were, but their are point in this film that i never actually saw coming which was clever.

The character Cassiopeia Marie Sullivan played by Chloë Grace Moretz with a brilliant performance portray her character who is the protagonist of the novel. She is 16 years old, short, and has curly strawberry-blonde hair who is force to defend her self in harsh world turned up side down by alien invasion. I felt she came off very well on screen playing this role i look forward to see the next film.

Evan Walker played by Alex Roe, there isn't much i can say about this character as it would give away major plot point in the film if you haven't read the books but all i can say is that he boy from rural Ohio who lived with his large family. His family and girlfriend were all killed during the 3rd Wave of the invasion.

Ben Parish/Zombie played by Nick Robinson (who you will reconise from jurassic world) Same with Evan character there isn't much i can say about his character as it would give away plot point in the film but he play's young popular football player and honors student at Cassie's high school, who later get called zombie due to the situation of the world. i feel he pulls this off quite well on screen.
Commander Vosch played by Liev Schreiber there isn't much i can say about his character because his a plot twist characters in the film, the only thing i can say is that he play the general commander of the army that still standing.

As for the main plot of the film which is called the 5th wave is basically where an unknown force of alien appeared on earth nothing seem ordinary about it no communication from the alien until disaster strike in a attack with 5 waves each with disastrous result. The story itself is very character driven more than the story which is why most of the film feels less on story which is ok but i do feel could have done a bit more with action scenes.
The special effect are pretty short in certain scene but nothing fake looking, all great effect show disastrous events selling the film main alien invasion attacks, Although the film wasnt without its flaws. The film dose feel as if it missed alot out in places, the film does leave the film open ended which most people might be dispointed with if they dont realise it a trilogy story, its best if you haven't read the books to do some research on this film to get a better understanding of it. 

Dislikes : Some areas of the film can be a little slow, there is a scene in the film where your thinking like how did they get away with that without being spotted, some point are slightly predictable, but it does feel if something was missing from the first installment.

Overall : Great story, slightly average concept good acting, good special effect.

Rating: 4 out of 5 for entertainment / 7.6 out of 10 for concept.

Film Review : Concussion

Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport

Cert: 12A 

Director: Peter Landesman

Screen writer: Peter Landesman, Jeanne Marie Laskas (GQ article "Game Brain")

Starring: Will Smith , Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks , Gugu Mbatha-Raw , David Morse , Arliss Howard , Mike O'Malley , Eddie Marsan , Hill Harper , Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje , Stephen Moyer , Richard T. Jones , Paul Reiser , Luke Wilson , Sara Lindsey.

Running time: 123 min

Parents advised to read before viewing film as some scene may contain scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.

Sex & Nudity: In the beginning a woman in revealing clothing lies on an autopsy table. The main character undresses her, although it is not shown, but we do see her bare stomach and the bare underside of one breast, no nipple shown. Another man, somewhat older, is shown shirtless on the autopsy table and earlier he is shown in a car taking his pants off, but nothing is revealed.

Violence & Gore: A great many violent football hits are shown.

Several former NFL players commit suicide.

The film contains a brief scene of mild violence where a former NFL player lashes out due to his brain damage, but with no details or bloodletting visible

Profanity:  In the film, the characters use the expletive 'f**k' on occasion for emphasis. Other coarse language such as 'damn', 'sh*t' and 'bastard' are also used.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: The film has a very brief scene where an NFL player is seen sniffing a blanket. It is later revealed that the player was sniffing superglue to relieve the symptoms of his brain damage

Frightening/Intense Scenes:  Concussion is a drama about Dr. Bennet Omala, who discovers that the frequent concussions sustained by American football sportsmen led them to madness and eventual suicide. As a result, he faces pressure from the National Football League who attempts to deny and suppress the association. The film traces Dr Omalas path to eventual vindication.

By the end of the film, archival game footage shown of football players taking blows and falling on their heads becomes disturbing with the thought of how they are dangerously injuring their brains.

Story: Will Smith stars in Concussion, a dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known. Omalu's emotional quest puts him at dangerous odds with one of the most powerful institutions in the world.

Likes : Sorry ive got say this screw hollywood with their racist BS, Will Smith should get a oscar for this performance, this is his best performance to date portray Dr. Bennet Omala who discovered in 2009 a condition that wasn't found in any cat scan of the brain called chronic traumatic encephalopathy which is common in american football's for the amount of blows to the head during a game.
Now here what i didnt know the corruption in the NFL boss's choosing money over the health of the players, tried to actually cover it up & discredit Dr. Bennet Omala finding's over money, when clearly the injury sustained in a game is more dangerous to the player plus it ruin not only the players life but their families as well, this is the level of corruption in the NFL most people didnt know about.
This is a must film to watch, will smith is just phenomenal in this film portraying the character, the way its filmed is beautiful done it show that something need to be changed in the NFL they need to stop hiding behind money because players lives are at stake.
Without giving much consideration to the other performances (Luke Wilson, Alec Baldwin), the lead by Will Smith alone carries Concussion. Don't miss an opportunity to watch something beautiful on screen… an extremely talented African American actor achieving something which is beyond impressive. To so believably portray a Nigerian immigrant in such a way that comes across believable.. that is what made this film the powerhouse film of drama bio movies

Dislikes : The Corruption of the NFL is disgusting special trying to cover it up, it cost the lives of NFL players.

Overall : Compelling, brilliant portrayal , Outstand performance from will smith

Rating: 5 out of 5 for entertainment / 8 out of 10 for true story.

Film Review: Goosebumps

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

Cert: PG

Director: Rob Letterman

Screen writer: Darren Lemke (screenplay) Scott Alexander (story) & Larry Karaszewski (story)
R.L. Stine ("Goosebumps" books)

Starring: Jack Black, Dylan Minnette , Odeya Rush , Ryan Lee , Amy Ryan , Jillian Bell , Ken Marino , Halston Sage , Steven Krueger , Keith Arthur Bolden , Amanda Lund , Timothy Simons , Karan Soni , R.L. Stine , Caleb Emery . 

Running time: 1h 43min

Parents advised to read before viewing film as some scene may contain scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.

Sex & Nudity: no sex or nudity, some references (supposedly humorous)

Violence & Gore: scary monsters and violence

Profanity: none

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: reference to drugs

Frightening/Intense Scenes:  Some scene maybe frighting for younger viewers so viewers discretion is advised

Story: Upset about moving from a big city to a small town, teenager Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) finds a silver lining when he meets the beautiful girl, Hannah (Odeya Rush), living right next door. But every silver lining has a cloud, and Zach's comes when he learns that Hannah has a mysterious dad who is revealed to be R. L. Stine (Jack Black), the author of the bestselling Goosebumps series. It turns out that there is a reason why Stine is so strange... he is a prisoner of his own imagination - the monsters that his books made famous are real, and Stine protects his readers by keeping them locked up in their books. When Zach unintentionally unleashes the monsters from their manuscripts and they begin to terrorize the town, it's suddenly up to Stine, Zach, Hannah, and Zach's friend Champ (Ryan Lee) to get all of them back in the books where they belong.

Likes : Goosebumps is a 2015 American 3D live-action/computer-animated horror comedy film based on the children's book series of the same name by R. L. Stine. It was directed by Rob Letterman, and written by Darren Lemke, from a story by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. The film stars Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, Amy Ryan, Ryan Lee, Jillian Bell, and Halston Sage.

Financed by Sony, LStar Capital, and Village Roadshow Pictures, it was produced by Original Film and Scholastic Entertainment, and was released on October 16, 2015 by Sony Pictures Entertainment, under its Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation labels. Goosebumps received generally positive reviews from critics and has grossed over $119 million on a $58 million budget.

I have never had the pleasure of read a goosebumps book as it an american thing, so i can't review this based of the book because i have no idea how close this film is to the books, so im gonna review this film just on my observation.

Surprisingly most family film's are generic all the same type of themes, but this actually peek my interest in want to know what goosebumps is all about, im pleasantly surprised that this film is actually entertaining although weird i can easily follow the story without having to look up information on what going on.

This film reminds me of jumanji , zathura  in curtain ways but in book form, ya your think well this is just the same concept, well yes in theory it is but the concept is different, see jumanji is based on a jungle game, zathura is based on a sc-fi game, Goosebumps is based of horror books, this is where this holds it own.
T
he visual effect are stunning bring to life the creature from every horror story, i like the concept of the main villain of the story, gave it a very unique concept that was kind of creepy but was perfect for the theme of the film. The actors do a decent job throughout, i wasn't really a big fan of Jack black as i find his acting is a little over the top, but he really excels as R.L. Stine. Aside from him, the main cast is made up of relative unknowns, however they do an adequate job.

This is a great family film although parents should be advised that some scene maybe frightening for some younger viewer, as most of the monster do look frightening, this may give kids nightmares, but that dont to parent discretion with viewing this film.


Dislikes : i dont know if this was close to the actual material of the books so that down to those that do to make that opinion, but i didn't see anything wrong with this film.

Overall : Great concept, good family entertainment, great visual effect.

Rating: 5 out of 5 for entertainment / 8 out of 10 for concept.