The Falling (2015)

The Falling is a British Coming of age drama that stars Maisie Williams who is best known as Arya Stark in Game of Thrones. The film itself concerns the identity struggles and sexual awakening of young teenage girls(that's how I saw it anyway). It is constantly intriguing and prompts the viewer to think and question the things that are happening on screen. There is also a scattering of somewhat disturbing moments placed throughout, with one scene in particular that I'm sure will make Game of Thrones fans scream "No Arya Stark, what are you doing?!". It is structured and crafted well and has some good performance from it's main cast and all in all this was a solid movie that I enjoyed considerably.
***1/2

Unfriended (2015)

Unfriended from the get to go is quite an intriguing film, due to it being set entirely on a laptop screen. It is essentially a social media horror that critiques cyber-bullying. It actually utilises it's gimmick quite well, creating quite a fun movie.
The films horror aspects are actually a little weak, but the film really shines through in it's more satirical side, leading to quite a few laughs. The film also reveals little story details throughout the film in interesting ways, that really help keep your attention. The acting isn't exactly stellar, but considering all the characters are seen through webcams, it's hard to expect anything that great.
Overall while this film may not exactly be good for a horror, it's certainly and interesting and fun film in it's own right and worth checking out as something a little different.
***

Far From The Madding Crowd (2015)

The newest film adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic novel directed by Thomas Vinterberg. I myself have never read the novel and am not that familiar with it, nor have I seen the well regarded 1967 film version by John Schlesinger. What I can say though is that this latest film version is a really beautiful period drama, that I really liked alot. One of the films biggest strengths is definitely it's visual side, hats off to Vinterberg and cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen making the film look absolutely gorgeous. 2 hours of beautifully shot Carey Mulligan is definitely a winner in my book. This brings me on to the performances which were all really solid and good and helped make me care for the characters (something that doesn't happen often in these kind of period films). Overall this is one of the most enjoyable period dramas I have seen and is just a purely beautiful film. There's nothing more to say.
****

Monsters: Dark Continent (2015)

Monsters: Dark continent is the sequel to the well received first movie 'Monsters' a film that was pretty solid but not all that great. So with Dark Continent, we get a film that is only set in the same universe and has none of the characters from the first. From what I had seen beforehand, I was expecting something that could be fun, instead I got a film that was dull and depressing. Never have I seen a film try so hard to beat me in the face with it's sadness, turning it into a blood pulp of melancholy. Except it's emotional punches are so weak, they don't even scratch the surface and just you leave bored and irritated.(we get it war is horrible).
The films biggest problem is that it tries to be like the first film by minimising the use of monsters, but suffers from it rather than succeeds. The film feels like an Iraq war movie script, that had the Monsters added in later on. But it is the few moments involving the monsters that provide the only interesting parts of the film, the rest just feels dull and tries way too hard to be a downtrodden potrayal of war.
Overall this is a very disappointing movie, that just fails massively. I would have much rathered two hours of people fighting monsters in ridiculous ways, at least that might have been fun to watch. In the end though this film is everything it shouldn't have been.
*1/2

The Man in White (2003)

The Man in White is one of Takashi Miike's obscure and rare films that exist in his vast oeuvre. The best version I found to watch, was of particular low quality (above image is a screenshot of said version), especially the night time scenes that were barely watchable. Having said that those who have not been able to see this film aren't really missing out on much anyway, as this is just another standard Yakuza thriller, that has many familiar generic elements and conventions, as well as familiar actors that pop up in many of Miike's films (Ken'ichi Endo, Renji Ishibashi, etc.).
While it may not be that unique or different, the film is still has it's moment and is quite entertaining overall, I particularly enjoyed some of the ways it used a handheld camera. I would really only recommend this though to fans who love obscure Yakuza flicks and Hardcore Miike fans that want to see as much of his work as possible (like myself). Everyone else can just leave it alone.
The film also has a sequel which I shall also be watching at some point in the future, but for now the first Man in White stands merely as an enjoyable if average Yakuza thriller, it's just a shame a better quality version isn't available.
***

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

So here it is Avengers: Age of Ultron, the second Avengers movie and final film of Marvel's phase 2. I quite enjoyed the first movie (not as much as most people) and thought it was a very fun, solid comic book action film. With this sequel I feel exactly the same way except I think I enjoyed Avengers: Age Of Ultron more.The film provides better action, a more interesting main protagonist (I really like Ultron a lot) and is just overall a much more enthralling movie. The main issue though, is that anyone expecting something a bit different this time around will be hugely disappointed, as the film feels a little too similar to it's predecessor in terms of certain structural and narrative elements. Having said that there is still enough little characteristics and progressive elements, to make it stand out a little and the film is still thoroughly fun and entertaining, which will certainly be enough to satisfy most people.
So if your not a big fan off the superhero genre, you probably won't find much to enjoy here. But for everyone else, just sit back and enjoy the fun.
****

Vampire (2011)

Can I just start by saying the above poster(the only one that seems to exist for this film) is one of the worst and most misleading posters I've ever seen and is a perfect example of advertisers trying to grab an audience purely on its title, leading to much disappointment and misunderstanding.
'Vampire' does not contain any actual Vampires in a traditional mythical sense, nor is it much of a horror film. Instead Shunji Iwai's english language debut is a somewhat subdued drama with a really interesting main character that assists people with suicides by simply draining their blood, which he then subsequently stores and drinks for himself. Though, it definitely has its flaws, the film stays utterly compelling throughout and has a similar tone to some of Iwai's previous work, making it a film that alot of people will find hard to get into. But those that can are sure to find a solid film that presents an intriguing and different take on the vampire concept.