Let's Be Cops - 2014 ****

Two friends who are struggling in different areas of their lives dress up as cops for a Halloween fancy dress party - and get mistaken for the real deal. Instead of taking the costumes off right away they decide to have a bit of fun and temporarily stop mediocre crime that they see on the streets. It doesn't just end there however, as they then have to dodge Mafia-esque gangsters, drugs deals, drug addicts and insatiable prostitutes. It's absolutely hilarious and Damon Wayans is a stand-out. You can tell he has crazy brothers in the acting business. I really liked it, and it served itself well as an action packed comedy. Very silly. 

Mom at Sixteen - 2005 ***

16 year old Jacey is a student at school, with one big secret - she has a baby son. So as not to interfere with her studies or life her mother pretends that the infant is hers, with emotional results. It's quite a good movie, and obviously deals with a difficult though relatively common topic with ease, so with that in mind it's another to tick off the Lifetime list. 

The Family - 2013 **

Slow burner about a Mafia family who are put under the witness protection programme in Normandy after the father survives an attempted hit on him after aggravating a rival Mafia boss. It's supposed to be very funny and with De Niro and Pfeiffer surviving 'hilarious' gangster moments at every turn whilst trying to adapt to their new surroundings you would think you were onto a winner but you really aren't. There is 'action' but it feels a bit like the two lead stars are being coerced into acting their roles, without much thought or emotion. No one really seems to want to be there and it shows. I couldn't get excited or attached to any of the characters. 

Sexy Evil Genius - 2013 *

A disturbingly bad thriller, although I would have to call it a bad comedy. A group of men are all summoned to a bar to meet with a woman they have all been in a relationship with in the past. They are asked to arrive at different times, and for different reasons, but ultimately her goal is the same, to do them harm and get her revenge on the way they treated her. It's horribly acted, and the premise is forced, fake and utterly unemotional. Oh, and the lead is neither sexy, nor a genius.

Reclaim - 2014 ****

After finding it impossible to conceive their own child, Steven and Shannon decide to try and adopt a child from the recent Haiti earthquake disaster and go to an adoption organisation in Puerto Rico to do so. They meet with the adoption organiser and are introduced to Nina, a beautiful little girl in need of a good home. They take Nina with them to a hotel where they can finalise the adoption paperwork and all seems to be going well. However, when they wake up the next morning, Nina is gone without a trace, and further searching proves that the adoption agency has also disappeared, along with avast amount of the pair's money. What follows is a nightmarish scenario where the couple are forced to confront the fact that they have become victims of a horrific child trafficking scam , and will need to do whatever it takes to reclaim Nina.

Gripping and incredibly tense, this had me literally on the edge of my seat more than once, and great acting from John Cusack.  

The Wind Rises - 2013 ****

Although a sumptuous and beautifully styled film, we mustn't forget about the actual subject matter. A fitting way to end the career of Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki, this gorgeous anime focuses on the career of Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of several well known Japanese aircrafts during WWII. It might seem a strange topic for an anime, and although it does make you ponder the remarkable outcome of these flying machines and what they were used for, it's actually a very powerful and heart-warming story. It shows us the intimate relationship Jiro had with his girlfriend-then-wife Nahoko, who sadly contracts tuberculosis, as well as his close friendship with his best friend Kiro, who also designs these planes. (I do understand the controversy with using a warplane designer as the main protagonist, but I don't personally believe that it affects the film in a negative way.)

To top it off, the music is lovely, and really sets the scene. Although I usually despise dubbing in films this was actually done very tastefully, and I could still enjoy the story without getting frustrated at the usual over the top American accents that ruin films like this.