Leonardo DiCaprio was born on this day in California in 1974 – can you believe DiCaprio is only 39yrs of age? since his film debut in the scifi comedy Critters 3 in 1991 DiCaprio has established himself as one of Hollywood’s acting Elite, amassing 3 Oscar and 9 Golden Globe nominations – DiCaprio has already worked with the likes of Spielberg, Cameron, Mendes, Scott, Nolan, Eastwood, Tarantino and Scorsese (5 times) not bad eh! – The 3 movies pictured above in my view are Essential Leonard DiCaprio – they’re not only great films but they demonstrate Leo’s acting talent and his willing to portray diverse and interesting characters on the screen – recent performances have seen DiCaprio star as Calvin Candie a ruthless plantation owner in Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Jay Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann’s epic remake of The Great Gatsby – later this year reunites DiCaprio for a fifth time with director Martin Scorsese in The Wolf of Wall Street a true story based on the rise and fall of wealthy stockbroker Jordan Belfort, if the trailer is anything to go by then this will be another great Leonardo DiCaprio movie….
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THE LAST DAYS ON MARS (2013) – Movie Review ★★★½
Cast – Liev Schreiber, Elias Koteas, Olivia Williams & Romola Garai – a research team on Mars have nineteen hours before rendezvousing with their lander to take them home when a crew member’s discovery leads to an infection that turns it’s host into some sort of zombie like killing machine – VERDICT like most films that are based around an isolated scenario, it’s the character development that allows you to connect and get sucked into that particular environment, BUT in Ruairi Robinson’s feature debut there’s no real time allowed for character building, when this alien infection starts picking off the crew members one by one you find yourself not really caring who lives or dies – in my opinion the film could have done with another 30mins run time, fleshing out some of the characters and building the movie’s tension before that inevitable final killing spree – the illusion of Mars is captured perfectly by shooting on location in Jordan and that alongside the delightful camerawork are some real positives – THE LAST DAYS ON MARS is an enjoyable scifi yarn that draws obvious inspiration from the likes of Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey but due to the movies mediocre script and it’s short running time your left with the nagging feeling of what could have been….
WE’RE THE MILLERS (2013) – Movie Review ★★★¾
Cast – Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter & Ed Helms – a low level pot dealer gets robbed of his drug stash and money and in order to pay his debts to a local mobster he undertakes a job in transporting drugs across the Mexican border – to do this he decides to bring in the help of a fake family and that’s when the fun really begins VERDICT before watching anything with Jennifer Aniston I immediately think the worst, since playing Rachel in Friends back in the mid 90s her film career has been a mixture of the average to pretty dismal – but are we about to see a change? – We’re the Millers is not only one of the surprisingly fun films of 2013, but Aniston gives a performance full of gusto, sex appeal and delightful charm, very reminiscent of her days back at Central Perk – my favorite scenes in the movie include the couch kissing scene between Rose, Casey and Kenny, the garage strip scene and of course the Tarantula bite on Kenny’s genitals that reminded me of Ben Stiller’s Something about Mary – Rawson Marshall Thurber, the movie’s young director has lots of promise, he’s not only managed to get the best out of Aniston, but he’s crafted a really enjoyable comic romp that’s full of likeable characters and fun scenarios – overall We’re the Millers is well worth a watch!
If your a fan of the gorgeous husky voiced EMMA STONE then you would have watched Easy A, Zombieland and The Help – in my opinion they’re Essential Emma Stone – born in 1988 on the 6th November she made her movie debut in the 2007 comedy Superbad playing Jonah Hill’s girlfriend Jules – but it was 2009’s Zombieland playing Wichita and the delightful comedy Easy A in 2010 that catapulted Emma Stone onto the movie hot property list – in 2011 she starred in another two superb movies playing Hannah in Crazy, Stupid, Love. and Skeeter Phelan an aspiring author in the civil rights movement of the 1960s in Tate Taylor’s The Help – in 2012 she went back to her blonde roots to play Gwen Stacy in the movie remake of The Amazing Spider-Man and followed that in 2013 by re-uniting with Ryan Gosling for Ruben Fleischer’s Gangster Squad and using her husky vocal talents in The Croods the latest Dreamworks flick – It’s nice to start our Essential Top 3 with such a wonderful young actress and with upcoming movies such as Birdman alongside Edward Norton and the Spider-Man sequel with Andrew Garfield both landing next year it’s safe to say that the film career of Emma Stone has only just got started….
Ender’s Game (2013) – Movie Review ★★★★
Cast Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Viola Davis, Ben Kingsley, Abigail Breslin & Hailee Steinfeld – Based on the novel by author Orson Scott Card and directed by Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins) Ender’s Game tells of a young, brilliantly gifted kid called Ender Wiggin (Butterfield) who is recruited into a military program by Colonel Graff (Ford) who believes Wiggin to be the one who can save all human kind from the evil alien race known as the Formics VERDICT firstly I must say I’ve never read any of Orson Scott Card’s novels and unlike others who decided to boycott the movie due to Scott Card’s personal views that have been aired recently, I could not wait to catch the film on the big screen – the fact remains that Ender’s Game is an exciting story executed by a talented young filmmaker and delivered by a cast that encompasses some of the very best in young Hollywood and some of our finest movie veterans – the zero gravity scenes in the Battle Room are jaw dropping, the crews vision to pull this off deserves plaudits, along with the actors who worked for a month each having their own member of the famous Cirque Du Soleil team preparing them for their respective roles – all of the young stars in the movie excelled, they not only embraced the physical demands but their acting was top notch too, it was engrossing to watch the likes of Asa Butterfield onscreen sparring with the likes of Indiana Jones and The Mandarin and giving them as good as he got – overall the film is not only highly entertaining & visually superb but it’s a story built around some intriguing characters & ranks up there with the very the best scifi movies of 2013 – don’t wait for the Bluray or Dvd Ender’s Game should be viewed on the biggest screen possible with a jar of pepsi (diet of course) and a big tub of popcorn….
Runner Runner (2013) – Movie Review ★★★
Stars Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton and Anthony Mackie – A Princeton student (Tiimberlake) gets cheated out of his college savings whilst betting on an online poker game & decides to track down Ivan Block (Affleck) who is the owner of the Online Betting Company to get his money back but instead gets lured into Block’s lifestyle a life of Women, Money & Corruption VERDICT Brad Furman’s movie is pretty predictable – the characters although performed well by Affleck & Timberlake lack any humanity and you feel nothing for either of them – in my opinion the picture should have been more aggressive with a darker tone but instead it ends up being a satisfying yet forgettable slice of cinema – overall I would wait for it’s DVD release and not waste your dollar at the box office…
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