Michael (2026)

There have been few celebrities to cause the kind of reactions that Michael Jackson managed to cause throughout various stages of his career. Then there's the scandal that overshadowed the last decade or so of his life. It's a very odd and complicated situation (even those who believe him entirely innocent would have to admit that nobody would be asking for more evidence if it was Old Jimmy from round the corner building a park in his garden and inviting kids over for sleepovers). I always try to separate the art from the artist, I know that some seem unable to do that (for specific examples anyway), and Michael Jackson was quite a big part of my youth. I made multiple trips to the video rental store to rent the tape that had the full Thriller video, as well as The Making Of Thriller. I, like so many others, have tried to moonwalk. And, also like many others, I have failed spectacularly. I was about twelve or thirteen when Bad was released, and I spent some of my birthday money on a special set that had the album on cassette, and a branded pencil and notepaper.

Michael Jackson ruled the world for a number of years. I'm still not sure his fame wasn't the absolute pinnacle of that kind of thing for a solo artist. Maybe I was just more aware of it because of my own fan status. He was a genius, but he also had a best friend chimpanzee. He worked with top-tier directors to deliver astonishing music videos. But he also gave us Moonwalker. He was a big kid, but he should have been able to at least accept how his lifestyle and choices would look to a constantly watching public.

This movie gives a glimpse at the star that was Michael Jackson, but it's no more than the very smallest and superficial look at his life. Legal rulings meant that the film had to be reworked, at no small expense, and writer John Logan seems to think that viewers will be happy with a number of song-creating scenes that wouldn't feel out of place in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. I don't envy Logan his position, but he must have known what he was getting into when he took the job.

Jaafar Jackson takes on the main role (with Juliano Valdi playing the younger Michael in the earlier scenes), and he does what is asked of him. It's not a great acting performance, but it's a very good impression of Michael Jackson. It's a tribute act, which you could also say about the whole film. Colman Domingo is very good as the tyrannical Joseph Jackson, Nia Long is enjoyable as Michael's mother, Katherine, and the others worth mentioning as KeiLynn Durrel Jones (playing the main security guard assigned to Michael), Miles Teller (a strong-willed agent), and Mike Myers (playing a powerful exec who proves pivotal in getting MTV to change their policy on how much airtime was allotted to black music artists).

There's not much more to say. I'm surprised that Antoine Fuqua decided to direct this. I'm surprised that it runs for 127 minutes and feels like it gives you nothing of actual interest. Michael didn't have a great childhood, as the family were trained and exploited to make as much money as possible, but that's not a revelation. There's nothing here showing Michael leaning into his own imagination, perhaps because it was belatedly decided to end things just as Bad became a huge success. So we don't get any idea about the creation of Moonwalker. What's worse is that we don't get any look at the purchase of the property and development work that would become Neverland (that's a whole movie in itself, surely). Sadly, we also have to miss out on learning anything about the development of We Are The World, the hit charity song that Jackson wrote with Lionel Richie in response to the British Band Aid hit. There's also no mention of any women in his life. Okay, his marriages happened later, but I assume that neither Tatum O'Neal nor Brooke Shields wanted to be part of the story. Despite being part of the story. But, hey, at least there's screentime for "Bubbles". 

If you LOVE Michael Jackson and want to spend a couple of hours remembering some of his hits then this might be for you. I don't understand how even fans will be satisfied though, unless they specifically wanted something that was split evenly between depicting his victimhood and saintliness. With some time devoted to reminding us all about that Pepsi incident, that I admit I didn't realise was as serious and damaging as it seems to have been.

Maybe the life of Michael Jackson is best explored through books and documentaries, almost all of them with their own bias. Maybe it takes a lot more effort to weigh up his entire life, to consider everything he did for fans over the years and everything that then started to overshadow his public persona. I recommend a lot of other sources for those wanting to learn more. All you will learn here is how spineless and lacking vision the film-makers are. Although I'm sure they're figuring out how to prep a sequel already.

3/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews 

Eternity (2025)

When people think of the afterlife they usually think of some idyllic place where they will be reunited with loved ones. That's the afterlife that Eternity presents. You head to a short-term stay area initially, allowing you to get your head around your death, and then you pick whatever kind of setting you want to spend eternity in. Some people will choose to wait around for a loved one. Some people have had more than one love in their life.

Barry Primus and Betty Buckley are the first people shown to viewers here, playing Larry and Joan, a loving couple getting on in years. They don't have long left, although none of them know exactly how little time they have left, and Larry hastens his own demise due to his constant pretzel habit. When he ends up in the afterlife he's a much younger version of himself (played by Miles Teller), and Joan (now played by Elizabeth Olsen) soon joins him in her own youthful incarnation. Unfortunately, Joan's deceased husband, Luke (Callum Turner), has been waiting over 60 years to see her again, assuming they will spend eternity together. 

Co-written by Pat Cunnane and director David Freyne, Eternity is a sweet and entertaining romance that should please those who don't mind going along with the fantastical premise. At the heart of it is an examination of the difference between a love that is inextricably linked with the ups and downs of everyday life and the essence of love that can be locked within rose-tinted memory bubbles. A romance without the baggage of life attached to it is a fantasy, but fantasy can always tempt people away from the optional realities available to them.

Both Teller and Olsen do great work here, working together nicely and also feeling like older souls in young guises, and Turner is allowed to be viewed as perfect by others around him while he loudly denies it, which helps to make his character more than just an obstacle for Larry and Joan. There may be some predictability here, but keeping Turner an honest and decent bloke throughout is a good way to keep viewers on their toes. There aren't too many other cast members, but Da'Vine Joy Randolph and John Early are both very entertaining as afterlife coordinators, and Olga Merediz is delightful in the one or two scenes that allow us to learn a little bit about her character.

Although it's often fairly amusing, this is not something I would classify as a standard rom-com. The emphasis is more on the rom than any com, and Cunnane and Freyne have created a very nice cinematic springboard for conversations about what love really means. It can be threatened by the idea of perfection, because a loving relationship is very rarely ever perfect.

It's a bit too low-key, never really taking time to really have fun with the main setting, but Eternity has a surprisingly strong screenplay, fantastic lead performances, and a wonderful, and playful, score from David Fleming. You might forget it in a few weeks, but you should enjoy it well enough while it's on. And her . . . who says that Eternity has to mean forever?

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share 

The Gorge (2025)

I am not sure how often I use the word derivative to describe movies, but it may be quite often. It certainly seems that way lately. I should emphasise that I'm not always using the word as a criticism though. It's just a description. So when I start this review of The Gorge by mentioning how derivative it is I don't want you to think that I'm about to give it a kicking. I had more fun with The Gorge than many other star vehicles I have seen in the last few months. And, whatever you think of Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy, this IS a star vehicle for them, even if you only realise that as the end credits roll and you find yourself wanting to spend more time with the main characters.

Teller and Joy are Levi and Drasa, two very talented sharp-shooters. They don't know each other, but they end up inhabiting a tower on either side of the titular gorge. In the kind of summary that makes for a great trailer line, they soon find out that their job is not to stop anything from entering the gorge . . . but to stop anything from coming out. While they're not supposed to have contact with one another, Levi and Drasa soon start communicating via dialogue written on whiteboards. And they soon start to like one another. There's a huge gorge between them though, and something in it that seems to be eager for them to make just one small mistake.

I'm not going to pretend that writer Zach Dean is someone I am a fan of, you can check his fairly limited filmography to see a few films that nobody would ever rush to view, and the filmography of director Scott Derrickson is certainly a mixed bag, but this has the two men working together on something that ends up being a pleasant surprise, despite the obvious influences throughout. Anyone who has played The Last Of Us, Resident Evil, or Silent Hill will find some of the visuals and production design here very familiar, and there are sections that certainly feel like videogame levels, but the fact that it feels constructed with care, and takes a decent amount of time to flesh out the main characters before putting them into serious danger.

Teller and Joy, despite the distance between them for a lot of the movie, have great chemistry together, and it's more than enough to make up for their characters being a clumsy mix of clichés. The script develops their relationship nicely, using a nice sprinkling of humour to show them growing closer as they deal with the isolation and strange nature of their assignment. There are very small roles for Sope Dirisu and Sigourney Weaver, but the film basically rests on the shoulders of the two leads, which is perfectly fine when they're able to carry it so easily.

It's all silly nonsense, and there's even room for fun nods to both The Queen's Gambit and Whiplash, but it's pretty great silly nonsense. There's decent cinematography from Dan Laustsen, another worthwhile score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and some decent set-pieces that help to make the 127-minute runtime fairly fly by. I really enjoyed this, and I would quite happily watch it again any time. Which is more than I can say for the other films that Zach Dean has helped to write.

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing, and ALL of the links you need are here - https://linktr.ee/raidersofthepodcast
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share 

Prime Time: Get A Job (2016)

Written by Kyle Pennekamp and Scott Turpel, and directed by Dylan Kidd, Get A Job is, in many ways, exactly the standard comedy that you think it is. And yet, in other ways, it inadvertently stands out as a melting pot of attitudes and ideas that many people (myself included) want to see changing.

Miles Teller is Will Davis, a young man who thinks he has his life sorted. He has just graduated, his girlfriend (Jillian, played by Anna Kendrick) has got herself a great job, and his friends seem to be poised to fall upwards. Unfortunately, the job that he thought would be there for him, after a lot of hours put in as an unpaid intern, isn’t. Which means he has to decide between doing what he loves and doing what he has to do in order to earn a decent wage. And things get even worse for his father (Bryan Cranston), who finds himself unemployed for the first time in decades.

Work needs done. We al know that. Not every job is going to be fulfilling. But that doesn’t mean anyone should be undervalued. If anything, the “unskilled” jobs that are seen as less desirable should pay just as much as some of the more enviable, cushy, numbers that we see people striving for in movies. Get A Job doesn’t consider that though. It is too busy working with the motto of “find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” This is a fantasy film, basically, but it accidentally scatters some reality throughout it.

Here are the positives. You get a reminder of how crappy it is to have someone in an unpaid role. You get a reminder of how disposable you are to any big company (shown in the way that Cranston’s character so suddenly finds himself adrift with no idea of where he might be able to go next). You get to see someone applying themselves to fully show what they are capable of, albeit often in a way that also has them feeling a bit restricted and very bloody tired. And, arguably best of all, you get a nice mockery of that whole “I’ll make sure you never work in this town again” attitude that some employers still think can work. Having been on the receiving end of that line of bullshit myself some time ago, I can assure you that it’s very rarely a serious threat. It is the flailing claws of a wounded predator used to being at the top of the food chain, and you should never let fear of repercussions from an employer stop you from valuing yourself enough to move to a better position (for any reason, be it pay, location, working environment, etc).

The cast do well enough, although the supporting players are a very mixed bag. As the friends of our lead, Brandon T. Jackson is easily integrated into the awful world of stock market trading, Nicholas Braun is a teacher who would rather spend his time getting stoned and playing videogames, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse has a plot all about creating an app that is basically every stalker’s wet dream. These three aren’t great, but there are much better turns from Alison Brie, Bruce Davison, Jorge Garcia, Marcia Gay Harden, Greg Germann, and Iohn C. McGinley, all playing a variety of adults already established in their respective workplaces. Kendrick is completely wasted in her role, which amounts to little more than 5-10 minutes of screentime, but both Teller and Cranston are very good, with the latter having some great moments with a local barista (Cammy, played by Mimi Gianopulos) who turns out to be more supportive than any official employment advisors.

Predictable, cheesy, but also fun, I won’t ever feel the need to rewatch this, but I enjoyed it well enough while it was on. The technical side of things is competent enough, the plotting fits everything together in an amusingly snug way for the third act, and it at least serves as a reminder that you should give your loyalty and time not to a job you may feel worn down and frustrated by, but to the people you care about.

5/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Netflix And Chill: Spiderhead (2022)

Based on a short story by George Saunders, Spiderhead is an interesting little sci-fi flick that reunites director Joseph Kosinski with star Miles Teller (the pair having just previously worked together on the much more successful Top Gun: Maverick). I was looking forward to this, mainly because I have enjoyed the first two features from Kosinski, two visually impressive sci-fi movies (TRON: Legacy and Oblivion). It's a shame then that writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick seemed intent at every turn to fight against the darkness of the material.

Teller plays Jeff, a young man who is incarcerated in a fairly pleasant prison setting. It's an easier life than some prisons, mainly because he has agreed to be a test subject for a variety of drugs, all administered from vials placed in a pack that is attached to his back. The person running the many tests on these drugs, and acting like a friendly warden, is Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth). One drug can make you very happy, one drug can make you sexually attracted to someone else in a way that means you have to act on your urges there and then, and one drug plunges you into a sudden and deep depression. There are also some other drugs being tested, and there's a chance that the test subjects, who always have to approve each testing session by saying "acknowledge", don't realise what is really going on. 

The first half of Spiderhead is quite good. You get a fun selection of scenes that set up the scenario, the main characters, and the potential for things to quickly get darker than expected. Then things get darker, which is where it starts to come unstuck. Nothing here gets as dark as it should, and the action is still punctuated by strange attempts at humour and needle drop song moments (which were appreciated in the first third, less so in the finale). I didn't dislike it, thanks mainly to the lead performances, but I never loved it, and it came perilously close to squandering all of my goodwill as the last third played out.

Hemsworth is arguably the best thing here, playing his character with a wonderful blend of charm, forced attempts to be more of a friend than an authority figure, and sinister manipulation. Using Hemsworth's innate charm and charisma helps a lot, although this is maybe part of the reason why the finale doesn't work as well as it should. Teller is a solid "everyman" figure, and I'm happy to see him continue to appear onscreens this year. There's something about him that I like, although he looked at one point as if he'd missed his moment in the spotlight after the phenomenal Whiplash. Mark Paguio is also very good, playing the assistant to Hemsworth's character, showing someone becoming more and more perturbed by how the tests are being conducted, and Jurnee Smollett does well as one of the other test subjects/prisoners, someone who feels that she has committed an unforgivable sin. 

Although the lightness of tone is the biggest problem that the film has, it's also disappointingly uninventive and bland when it comes to the visuals. Say what you like about Kosinski, his films have usually been feasts for the eyes. This isn't, a problem that obviously stems from the heart of the material, but I can't help thinking that things could have been adapted to bring some more style and cool to the whole thing, especially if they weren't aiming for gritty realism.

Enjoy the leads, enjoy the songs dropped into the soundtrack, and enjoy some of the ideas at the heart of this. But you may struggle to enjoy the whole movie. As kind and forgiving as I am, even I ended up rating it as something JUST above average.

6/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

As much about Tom Cruise as it is about fast planes, and as much about the joy of old-fashioned blockbuster entertainment as it is about either of those things, Top Gun: Maverick may well be the proof that everyone just needs a bit of escapist fun now, more than ever. The praise for it isn’t entirely undeserved, and the great impact it is making on the 2022 box office total is something that has surely allowed fans of the cinema experience to breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that blockbusters on the big screen still very much have a place in our world, but I keep wondering whether this film is gloriously lacking in self-awareness or, as I suspect, absolutely self-aware throughout while just trying to pretend otherwise.

Tom Cruise is Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, still one of the top pilots in the Naval Air Force, but never destined to climb the ranks higher because of his attitude. After one more anti-authoritarian escapade, Maverick is given a new assignment, and it may be his last assignment. He has to train some younger hotshots to ready them for a bombing mission that will require a lot of low-level flying, numerous tight manoeuvres, and a generally unsafe amount of time trying to fly through an extensive . . . danger zone. One of the pilots being trained for the mission is Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw aka the son of ‘Goose’, which allows for two men to tackle their histories, both separately and together.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski, who previously directed Cruise in the enjoyable sci-fi flick Oblivion, this makes clear from the very beginning just what it wants to be. You love Top Gun? You’re going to love this. Don’t love Top Gun? You’re still going to love this, but the person you are seeing it with (who probably loves Top Gun) is going to love it even more. Aside from anything else I am about to mention, the flight sequences are incredible, with thrilling action moments that seemingly place viewers right in the cockpit with the actors. It’s even better than anything done in the first movie, but that is me just talking about the action. Just now.

The script, written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie, walks a fine line between groan-inducing cheese and fan-pleasing nods and winks. The fact that it succeeds throughout is astonishing, but the intertwining of the new main plot strand with the history attached to the first film is well-handled, even if it is overdone numerous times. The humour works, a lovely cameo hits the right buttons, and the pacing makes it easier to go along with the ridiculousness of it all. Taken individually, however, there are plenty of lines that are so cheesy that you might think the script was dropped in a fondue set.

The cast is a mixed bag. Cruise is great in his return to  what could easily be referred to as the iconic role of his career, and Miles Teller, despite rocking the silliest moustache since Michael Cera in Youth In Revolt, is very good as Rooster, helped by the fact that he looks as if he could be the offspring of Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan. Jennifer Connelly is a welcome addition, although her role is no more than the typical love interest/pep talk giver you’d expect in this type of film. Other standouts are Jon Hamm, playing the latest in a long line of military commanders having problems with Maverick, Monica Barbaro as ‘Phoenix’, Lewis Pullman as ‘Bob’ (yes, that is his callsign), and the super-charismatic Glen Powell as ‘Hangman’. There are also solid performances from Ed Harris, onscreen for only a couple of minutes, but his scenes are brilliant, Lyliana Wray, playing the daughter of Connelly’s character, and Bashir Salahuddin, an ally to our hero because he knows Maverick is, well, a maverick, but dammit he gets results.

There are no real risks taken here, even though simply making the film is a big risk in itself. You could write the plot beats out on a napkin before you start watching this and you would probably get everything spot on. Even when it looks like it’s going to make a bold move, the next moment will have you smiling in disbelief at your own cynicism.

I guess that is the biggest strength of the film, and something others may view as a weakness. It is completely uncynical, in terms of the surface-level onscreen content. Another time may have seen this as an object of ridicule, but the here and now positions it perfectly for people who perhaps want a break away from cynicism.

Oh, and you get “Danger Zone” on the soundtrack, great work from Harold Faltermeyer and Hans Zimmer, a belter of a song from Lady Gaga, AND another sequence showing off the characters as they play some beach games. What more do you want? Especially if you can’t help yourself from completing the phrase whenever anyone says “I feel the need . . .”

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

That Awkward Moment (2014)

That Awkward Moment is a rom-com aimed at guys. It has moments of bawdiness, but at heart it's just a sappy look at how love can affect even those who try to cut themselves off from it. Buoyed by some decent central performances, this is enjoyable, if forgettable, stuff. Despite the fact that I won't seek it out for repeat viewings, I will happily watch it again if it ends up playing in the background one day while I intended to focus on something else.

Zac Efron is Jason, the seemingly typical young man who starts to blanch whenever women try to define their relationship with him. He just wants to have fun. As does his friend, Daniel (Miles Teller). His other friend, Mikey (Michael B. Jordan), is settled down and happily married. Until the moment that he finds out his wife (Jessica Lucas) has been seeing someone else. Which leads to the three men hitting the town. Hard. They have an accomplice in the form of the lovely Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis), a pretty female friend who seems to enjoy helping them reel in more conquests, and there's only one rule they agree upon: no relationships. Which is when Jason meets Ellie (Imogen Poots).

Efron, Teller and Jordan have a lot of fun here, as is made even more obvious in some amusing outtakes that appear during the end credits. I've always tended to enjoy all three actors (despite Teller annoying the hell out of me in 21 & Over - which seems to have been a blip) and they work well here, both individually and whenever onscreen together. The ladies may be dream ideals, with tacit approval being given to some behaviour most would disapprove of, but Davis and Poots both manage to make the best of their roles. They may put up with more than most, but they also put the men squarely in their place when needed. Addison Timlin is another ideal girl, basically the female equivalent of Jason, and it's interesting to note that the only main female character not shown to enjoy the "cheeky charm" of the menfolk is Lucas, who plays a bit of a baddie.

Written and directed by Tom Gormican, this is the type of film that you should know beforehand whether you're going to enjoy or not. Yes, the trailer has most of the funniest moments in it. Yes, the whole thing is predictable from start to finish. Yes, it's also pretty unbelievable (especially the plot development that concerns the character played by Davis). It's also consistently amusing, moves along at a decent clip, and strides ahead of the other main Efron comedy of last year (Bad Neighbours AKA Neighbors).

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/That-Awkward-Moment-Blu-ray/dp/B00IVLRA9E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1421407623&sr=8-2&keywords=that+awkward+moment

You know how you can show your appreciation for bloggers? If you share and share then every additional reader helps. Connect through Google or Blogger or any way you can, and rest easy in the knowledge that you've made little ol' me a very happy man.

And/or you could also buy my e-book, that has almost every review I've written over the past 5 years. It's very reasonably priced for the sheer amount of content.

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.

Divergent (2014)

Based on a novel by Veronica Roth (the first in a trilogy), Divergent is another movie aimed squarely at the Young Adult market. It focuses on a young woman who ends up being trained for combat in a system that rewards those not up to the task with a type of banishment, or sometimes even possible death. It's also about a society ruled by people who may not always have the best interests of the public at heart. Despite these similarities, and one or two others, this ISN'T The Hunger Games. Even if it hopes to grab a piece of that pie. It's actually a bit better than The Hunger Games, in my opinion.

Shailene Woodley plays Tris, a young girl living in a society that is determined to avoid another major war. To ensure this, everyone is sorted in to one of five factions. There's a test to be taken just before you choose the faction, but you're still supposed to be able to choose a different faction if you wish. It just makes you stand out a bit if you don't follow on the path set down by your parents. The five factions are Abnegation (selfless), Erudite (intelligent), Amity (peaceful), Candor (honest), and Dauntless (brave). When Tris takes her test she is advised to pretend that she had to leave early after taking sick. It turns out that she's divergent, able to think more independently than most and not be so easily controlled. Divergents are viewed as dangerous. And Tris makes her situation worse when she goes to the choosing ceremony the next day and decides to give the Dauntless faction a go. She doesn't realise just how tough the training will be, and falling too low on the scoreboard is not an option when the consequence is being sent away to live outwith any of the factions.

Although it runs for over two hours (it's about 140 minutes, approximately), Divergent doesn't feel overlong or bloated. There are plenty of action beats that help to move things along, and the inevitable potential romance is evenly spread out throughout the second half of the film, making it less likely to induce vomiting. The screenplay by Vanessa Taylor and Evan Daugherty does a great job of getting, and keeping, viewers up to speed without grinding proceedings to a complete halt, although there are times when it's a very close call.

Director Neil Burger makes all of the right choices for the material. It's generally light, although one or two moments do venture into impressively dark territory, the soundtrack has some tracks that teenage girls should enjoy, the action is solid, although it doesn't get in the way of the character moments, and there are so many odds stacked against Tris that every small victory has the potential to make viewers smile/breathe a sigh of relief.

There's also the cast. Woodley isn't a particularly strong lead, but she's acceptable enough in the role. Theo James, as Four (a Dauntless man who takes a shine to Tris), is suitably strong and handsome, and Jai Courtney plays a bit of a git, which works perfectly considering how much I dislike him anyway. Miles Teller and Zoe Kravitz are the two other Dauntless recruits who stand out from the pack, for different reasons, and then there are supporting roles for Ashley Judd and Kate Winslet, with the latter somehow managing to be brilliant every time she's onscreen despite often appearing to deliver more exposition.

I hoped to get through Divergent without hating it, or myself, too much. It turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. So much so that I'm now looking forward to the sequel.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Divergent-Blu-Ray-digital-download-certificate/dp/B00GQQ77IU/ref=sr_1_6_twi_2_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420319217&sr=8-6&keywords=divergent

You know how you can show your appreciation for bloggers? If you share and share then every additional reader helps. Connect through Google or Blogger or any way you can, and rest easy in the knowledge that you've made little ol' me a very happy man.

And/or you could also buy my e-book, that has almost every review I've written over the past 5 years. It's very reasonably priced for the sheer amount of content.

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.

Whiplash (2014)

Jazz. Nice. I'm not the biggest fan of jazz music, but it's hard to deny that it's the type of music that often seems to require the most dedication and skill from those who practice it.

Whiplash is all about a young man (Andrew Neiman, played by Miles Teller) who wants to be one of the great jazz musicians. He's a drummer, and over the moon when he's picked out from his class at Shaffer Conservatory to take a place in the band being conducted by the famous Terence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons). It soon becomes clear, however, that Simmons won't settle for anything less than the best. He demands perfection from his musicians, hoping to push them to a point that makes or breaks them. More often than not, it's the latter result.

Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, this isn't highly original stuff, and some have complained that it's ill-informed and misguided, at best. The battle of wills between master and pupil, the musician dedicating so much of his blood, sweat and tears to his art, even a climax that leads to what you could loosely term as a final battle. Forgive the pun, this hits a lot of familiar beats. Yet it does everything so brilliantly that viewers won't mind, and may even embrace, the moments that seem stereotypical.

It's hard to decide who is better between Teller and Simmons. The former has alternately entertained and annoyed me in some of his roles, but he easily earns a lot of the praise that has been heaped upon him for this performance. It's a hugely demanding, physical role, and Teller nails every moment. Simmons would seem to have the easier role, he gets to cut loose and be an absolute monster for most of his scenes, but that should take nothing away from just how great he is. The movie lives and dies by their performances, and I think the effusive praise aimed at it from so many, including myself, tells you that they don't disappoint. Paul Reiser also does well, playing Teller's father. He may not be AS supportive as he could be, but he certainly wants the best for him, even if he's not sure how to go about it. And Melissa Benoist also makes a good impression as Nicole, a young woman that our main character falls for. But can anyone dedicated to something so passionately also maintain a relationship?

If you really dislike jazz, or drumming, then this may end up grating on you. It's unrelenting, as it should be, dragging the viewer alongside the main characters as practice follows practice follows practice. Blisters are covered over with band-aids, hands are dunked in ice water, and skin is constantly in danger of being broken, in more ways than one.

If you're after a fantastic film featuring two stellar lead performances then I have to say . . . . . . . . yes, you know what I'm about to say . . . this is hard to beat.

9/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share