Mean Girls

Director: Mark Waters

Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Rachael McAdams, Tina Fey, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert

Genre: Comedy

Year: 2004

Frequently remembered by many as one of the most iconic teenage girl comedies, 'Mean Girls' certainly manages to adapt the genre into a 21st Century setting, with an entertaining plot and memorable characters, despite not being superb on a technical level.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Director: Rian Johnson

Cast: Daisy Ridley, Mark Hamill, John Boyega, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Andy Serkis, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie

Genre: Sci-fi

Year: 2017

Star Wars: The Last Jedi continues the story from The Force Awakens and follows the individual paths of Rey, Finn, Poe and the First Order.

Rope

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Cast: James Stewart, Farley Granger, John Dall, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Joan Chandler, Douglas Dick

Genre: Thriller

Year: 1948

Proving once again as with every single one of his films that he is the 'Master of Suspense', Hitchcock constructs an incredibly suspenseful thriller, with effortless skill and brilliant directing.

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Director: Tom Shadyac

Cast: Jim Carrey, Courtney Cox, Sean Young

Year: 1994

Genre: Comedy

'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective' shows Carrey back in his prime and is also one of his standout films. Carrey delivers one of his most recognisable performances and completely wipes the floor with his insanely hilarious humour.

Thor: Ragnarok

Director: Taika Watiti

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Idris Elba, Anthony Hopkins

Genre: Action, comedy

Year: 2017

Thor: Ragnarok cleverly twists the notion of Thor by constructing a hilarious, riveting film with brilliant performances from almost across the board.

Blade Runner 2049

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Jared Leto, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks

Year: 2017

Genre: Sci-fi, mystery

Set 30 years after Ridley Scott's original science fiction classic 'Blade Runner', 'Blade Runner 2049 follows officer K (Gosling) as he investigates a dangerous mystery.

What makes a shot iconic?

** SPOILERS AHEAD **

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Cast: Tagon Egerton, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Channing Tatum, Mark Strong, Jeff Bridges

Genre: Action, comedy

Year: 2017

A sequel to the successful spy satire 'Kingsman: The Secret Service', 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' tries to deliver an equally unique film, and partly does so, but doesn't always know what it wants to be. 

Deepwater Horizon

Director: Peter Berg

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Gina Rodriguez, John Malkovich, Kate Hudson

Year: 2016

Genre: Drama, thriller

Based on the true events of the horrific oil rig disaster from 2010, 'Deepwater Horizon' recounts the tragedy through Mike Williams' (Mark Wahlberg) perspective.

Jaws

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Roy Schneider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw

Genre: Horror

Year: 1975

The film which officially put Spielberg on the map, with some timeless scares, iconic moments and a powerful, memorable theme, 'Jaws' remains a classic movie.

Logan Lucky

Director: Steven Soderberg

Cast: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough

Genre: Comedy

Year: 2017

'Logan Lucky' is Soderberg's first film since his supposed 'retirement' from making movies and it is an entertaining heist film, which unfortunately doesn't always deliver 100%.

Dunkirk

Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Fionn Whitehead, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Harry Styles

Year: 2017

Genre: War

In Nolan's newest film, he explores the impact the evacuation of Dunkirk in World War II had on people- those on the beaches, those on the sea and those in the air.

Spiderman: Homecoming

Director: Jon Watts

Cast: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau, Jacob Batalon

Year: 2017

Genre: Action, superhero

Tom Holland acts as Marvel's third Spiderman in this new superhero movie. It is fast paced, funny and incredibly entertaining.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood

Genre: Sci-fi

Year: 1968

A massive step in the sci-fi genre, '2001: A Space Odyssey' creates an awe-filled universe with some incredible special effects and is a spectacular, absolutely quintessential science fiction film.

Looper

Director: Rian Johnson

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels

Genre: Action, thriller, sci-fi

Year: 2012

An action film on the dangers of time travel, 'Looper' is a thrilling and thought-provoking movie which takes a more logical approach to how time travel might work in the future and some of its disastrous consequences.

Baby Driver

Director: Edgar Wright

Cast: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Jamie Foxx

Genre: Action

Year: 2017

Another film by Wright, 'Baby Driver' confirms how this director is one of the greatest of the present day. Wright makes another unique movie, this time being an action-heist film.

Prometheus

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Logan Marshall-Green, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba

Genre: Sci-fi

Year: 2012

'Prometheus' is Ridley Scott's own prequel to his original classic 'Alien' and it explores themes of creation and death. It is slightly more complex than the more straightforward narratives of the other 'Alien' films; however, it is a great example of what Scott can do in a science fiction film.

Panic Room

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart, Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam

Genre: Thriller

Year: 2002

In this Fincher film, he moves away from his previous gritty, ultra-violent movies such as 'Se7en' and 'Fight Club', yet instead goes for a unique fast paced thriller.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Francois Truffaut, Melinda Dillon

Genre: Sci-fi

Year: 1977

Another Spielberg classic which focuses on extraterrestrial life, 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (CEOTTK) takes a similar approach to the science fiction genre as did 'E.T. The Extraterrestrial' by exploring the more human element.

Austin Powers in 'Goldmember'

Director: Jay Roach

Cast: Mike Myers, Beyonce, Michael Caine

Genre: Spoof comedy

Year: 2002

Austin Powers is one of the most famous spoof editions of James Bond, yet throughout, it slowly deteriorates in terms of humour and doesn't fully understand what it is trying to be.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Director: Edgar Wright

Cast: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jason Schwarztman, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Kieran Culkin

Genre: Comedy

Year: 2010

This film showcases Wright's superb directing ability as well as his unique editing style, linked in with a funny storyline which subverts the stereotypes of a boy fighting to get a girl.

Aliens

Director: James Cameron

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn

Genre: Sci-fi, action

Year: 1986

Coming directly after Ridley Scott's revolutionary film 'Alien', Cameron manages to successfully maintain the brilliant concept, while increasing the scale of the franchise.

On the Waterfront

Director: Elia Kazan


Cast: Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J Cobb

Genre: Thriller, romance

Year: 1954 (b/w)

A mixture of suspense and romance, this film by Kazan is an absolute classic, depicting a man torn between love and crime, loyalty and justice.

Welcome

My name is Isaac O'Brien and I am passionate about films.

This blog was set up primarily to review films I have seen. The reviews are my personal opinion and occasionally might differ from popular belief. Similarly, feel free to disagree/ agree with me.
The reviews here will not all be brand new films; some you might have already seen, some you may not have even heard of.
The main purpose of this blog is for me to practice and improve on my reviews of films. It is also an expression of my love of film.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the content!

-Isaac