Director: John Moore
Cast: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch, Mary Elzabeth Winstead, Yulia Snigir
Synopsis: John McClane is off to Moscow after tracking down his estranged son Jack, whom is facing a prison sentence due to various nefarious dealings. John is outside the courthouse when a major escape is attempted. Unfortunately, John intervenes and ruins Jack’s attempt to extricate another political prisoner, given that he is actually working for the CIA.
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks, Daniel Huttlestone
Synopsis: The film adaptation of the musical adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel. Jean Valjean (Jackman) is a convict, having served 19 years incarceration after stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s child. Unable to get ahead upon his release, he breaks parole to start a new life. This stars Javert (Crowe), a man of the law, on his trail for a story spanning many years. 
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Director: Rich Moore
Cast: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Ed O’Neill
Synopsis: An animation not only made for kids, but also for kids of the 80′s. Wreck-it Ralph is the bad guy in popular video game Fix-it Felix Jr. He gets little respect, not even from the other characters in his own game. So he infiltrates other games in the arcade seeking a medal to show that he can be the good guy too.
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Graham McTavish, Ken Stott, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Dean O’Gorman, Aidan Turner, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, Elijah Wood, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis
Synopsis: Based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien and prequel to The Lord of the Rings, this film is the first in a trilogy covering the exploits of a much younger Bilbo Baggins (Freeman). Gandalf (McKellan) introduces Bilbo to a band of thirteen dwarfs, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage). They are on a quest to reclaim their home of Erebor, The Lonely Mountain, which is now the realm of dragon Smaug.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman
Synopsis: It almost seems ridiculous to write a synopsis for the most anticipated film of the blockbuster season, but here it goes. The final chapter in Nolan’s Batman trilogy, the film is set eight years after the events of the Dark Knight. Bruce Wayne became a recluse, and retired his masked alter ego. Gotham City is in an era of peace, but all that is set to be ruined by Bane, a character ex-communicated from the League of Shadows. All this, and many subplots, result in Batman being needed once again.
Director: Marc Webb
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Sally Field, Martin Sheen
Synopsis: A reboot of the successful Spider-Man film franchise that many considered had come too early, this version follows the story from the original comic source much more closely. Similarities with Sam Raimi’s original film do exist, but these are always inescapable. Webb here manages to make a film that is clearly distinguished from its predecessors. Time shall tell which version, if either, proves the most popular.
I loved Sarah Polley’s impressive 2006 directorial debut film Away From Her. She showed a subtle hand in depicting an elderly couple dealing with the onset of Alzheimer’s without sinking into midday movie territory.
In her second feature film, Take This Waltz, the young Canadian actress, writer and director takes on the topic of marital infidelity.
Caution minor spoilers ahead.
What do you get when you take a bit of Truman Show, mix in a little Evil Dead and of course the secret ingredient; a whole lot of love?
You get; The Cabin in the Woods.
The film is the brainchild of geek-god Joss Whedon (Buffy, Avengers) and Drew Goddard (Angel, Lost, Cloverfield), with Goddard handling the reigns for his directorial debut.
The superhero movie to end all superhero movies, The Avengers has at the time of writing Hulk-smashed its way to gross over one billion dollars worldwide so most ROTFN readers have probably seen it, discussed it and seen it again, but I’ll offer my take on the film for those familiar and for, what surely must be a minority, the uninitiated.
The Avengers is the culmination of a plan by Marvel Entertainment to create a multi-film universe with each film contributing to the marvel tapestry and just as Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) is the right man to assemble the Avengers, writer/director Joss Whedon is the perfect man to assemble the film.
David Cronenberg’s latest film explores how the relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud gave birth to psychoanalysis.
It’s not surprising that Cronenberg the director of such violent, gory and mind-warping classics such as Videodrome and Dead Ringers would be interested in the dark complex world of psychoanalysis. What is surprising is that the film itself isn’t as violent or sexually explicit as fans of Cronenberg would expect.
A Dangerous Method opens in the year 1904 as a manic, troubled young Russian woman named Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightly) is being forcibly institutionalised into a clinic in Zurich. She is placed into the care of a psychiatrist named Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) who applies the methods of his mentor, Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) to treat his new patient. Although Jung and Freud have not met at this time Jung is familiar with Freud’s work in this field and will soon be invited to Vienna to meet him.
As Sabina recovers and actually begins to study psychology Jung is slowly drawn to her and they begin an affair. The affair and differing views on psychoanalysis leads to a rift between Jung and Freud.
Screenwriter Christopher Hampton adapting his own 2002 stage play ‘The Talking Cure’ (itself an adaptation of a novel by John Kerr called ‘A Most Dangerous Method’) gives plenty for the actors to chew on and thankfully the actors are more than up to the task. Mortensen, on his third collaboration with Cronenberg, is smooth and calculated as Freud but hints at more beneath the calm logical facade. Fassbender continues his incredible run of roles. Following on from his mesmerizing performance in Shame, here he plays Jung as man torn between his intellect and his sexual desires. In the hands of a less experienced actor we may have seen a more sympathetic Jung character but Fassbender doesn’t feel the need to invoke such characteristics.
Knightly’s physical performance, especially early on, may be very off-putting for some but others must shoulder some of the blame. From all accounts her performance is an accurate display of Spielrein’s physical ailments however Cronenberg places the camera so close to Knightly every physical tick or jutting jaw she makes is amplified ten-fold. Also the script doesn’t allow enough transition time for Spielrein to go from patient of Jung to student. However once that transition is complete, Knightly proves she is equal to her more experienced co-stars.
Vincent Cassell has a small, comical but pivotal role as a sex crazed patient of Jung’s who turns the tables on his psychiatrist and convinces Jung to give in to his primal urges.
Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender; left) and Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) engaged in thoughtful discussion.
Where the film really shines though is when Jung and Freud are on screen together. Their conversations inside Freud’s smoke filled apartment are humorous, engaging and thought provoking. There is a mutual respect between the two characters as well as a professional rivalry. The actors are very comfortable in their roles and the dialogue never feels like we are attending a lecture on psychoanalysis. It is a shame there are not more of these scenes between Freud and Jung. Perhaps that would have made a good film great.
There are many themes running through the film including anti-semitism and class systems and Cronenberg does well to subtly infuse his film with them. The film certainly looks and feels like early twentieth century Europe and credit must go to the production team and cinematographer Peter Suschitzky for bringing the era to life so vividly.
For those expecting a sordid, mind-bending erotic piece on psychoanalysis from Cronenberg (aside from a few Keira Knightly spanking scenes) you will be disappointed. But if it is a well acted and thoughtful adult drama you seek, then look no further.