While all being a little bit Oirish, a superbly reserved performance by Saoirse Ronan and a cleverly well written screenplay by Nick Hornby escalate this movie into an enjoyable, if very basic, tale of emigration in the 1950’s and a young woman’s tribulations dealing with homesickness, love and the struggle of finding her place in a strange land.

Ronan is excellent as Eilis Lacey the wide eyed immigrant who starts as the quiet and reserved deer caught in the headlights. At a local dance she is approached by a local Italian man Tony Fiorello (Emory Cohen) who she reluctantly (at least initially) develops a relationship with. However as Ronan blooms into a strong headstrong woman her relationship with Tony also grows and her memories of back home slowly fade until family tragedy necessitates a return visit. With her new found confidence she finds herself as a big fish in a small pond and is torn between her two, very different, lives.

The key to the movie is it’s simplicity, there are no shocking scenes and very little melodrama which in turn makes the film very believable. But it Ronan who, quite rightly, stays the focus of our attention and who dominates the screen through each frame with two small exceptions, Julie Walters as Ronans housekeeper Madge Kehoe (rumoured to be getting her own TV spin off) and young James DiGiacomo as Tony’s brother Frankie, who both steal the scenes they are in and it’s a little unfortunate that they don’t feature more centrally.

While it’s not quite up to the same standards of some of the movies is was partnered with for a best picture Oscar it is a heartfelt and entertaining story of life in the 1950’s told from both sides of the Atlantic.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6 out of 10

Based on the real life tale of Chris Gardener, Will Smith plays a clever but unlucky father who, is extremely intelligent, especially with numbers, but who just cannot catch a break in life so he is trying to sell revolutionary new Bone Marrow scanners that, unfortunately, are not as revolutionary as Smith believes, while looking to lever his way into a brokerage firm. Eventually his persistence pays off and, thanks to a show of his mental acumen in quickly completing a Rubiks cube, he is offered an internship however this comes at a cost as there is no wage but the potential for a full time position is the dangling carrot and is one which Smith cannot turn down.

Smiths’ relationship with his wife Linda (Thandie Newton) is sparcely touched upon and she seems far too keen to leave with no obvious reasoning other then broken promises and dreams despite working long days in two poorly paid jobs which acts like a bit of a double negative. This leaves Smith to try and focus on his internship, his selling of the remaining scanners and keeping some form of roof over his and his sons head. This is where Smiths performance comes front and centre  as you feel each body blow received seemingly set Smith further and further back each time he gets anywhere close to reaching his goals. Sending him rapidly towards destitution, culminating in a night spent in the toilets of a subway station.

While the biological bond between father and son comes across well on screen the movie is saved by some great dramatic acting from Smith and the storyline that anybody can make it big in life once you stay true to yourself and overcome all obstacles thrown in your way may have worked back in 1981 when the movie is set, in todays cynical world its sorely outdated. This takes away from a good storyline of a man’s struggle to find his place in life which could have been cut by about twenty minutes as there is a lot of time wasted on showing Smith chasing people who have stolen one of his machines. This felt unnecessary as we already know how important the machines are to him and how far he will go to make his sales but overall it’s an average drama movie brought to another level by a terrific heart felt performance by Smith.

DJ Speaks rating: 5 out of 10

Gremlins meets The Griswalds in this Christmas comedy horror movie, based on the Bavarian folklore legend of a horned figure who, during the festive season, punishes children who have misbehaved in a polar opposite of the Santa Claus principal. While it has the feel of classic 1980 B-movie stock it fails to reach the heights of the classics of that era such as Night Of The Creeps or Tremors.

With acting talent such as Toni Collette and Adam Scott the script and dialogue are all very plain with more emphasis on the back story told by Scott’s Austrian grand-mother Krista Stadler leaving most of the acting talents wasted on screaming and wistful looks when the time requires. The best character is the obnoxious Aunt Dorothy, played by Conchata Ferrell in a similar vein to her role in 2 and a half men.

The effects are the one shining area of this movie as Krampus and his minions look great but most of the monsters are limited to quick close ups when it would have been nicer to see some more detail shown but the excellent the use of puppetry needs to be commended. It’s far from the worst movie of it’s kind but the humour takes away from the horror and vice versa so if director Michael Dougherty had leaned a bit further one way of the other (as he did with this previous effort Trick ‘R’ Treat) he may have had a cult classic on his hands.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4 out of 10

A true life movie based on a reconnaissance mission involving a scouting party of four navy SEALS (Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Taylor Kitsch & Emile Hirsch) who are tasked with locating a Taliban leader and his deputy in Afghanistan. Director Peter Berg manages to do this cleverly by creating an almost old Western like tale of men holding off a greater force of enemies against the odds.

The early part of the movie has a Full Metal Jacket feel with images of the intense training these men went through to become a member of the SEAL team and the early exchanges in dialogue show their loyal bonding and camaraderie which serves as their mantra. Where the story really picks up is when the men are dropped into enemy territory with the build up to the pending drama you know is coming slowly creeping on screen as they are perched, barely concealed on the side of a mountain. Once the action kicks in it does so with gusto. The action is kept intense with only short pauses from time to time as the men are pursued down the side of the mountain. Injured or incapacitated alone the way each man keeps fighting, for as long as he can still pull a trigger, in heroic fashion.

With survivor Marcus Luttrell working as a consultant to director Berg one can only imagine the story told is as it was although but the many spills and tumbles down the rocky, craggy mountain looked a lot more painful than the number of broken bones that were received on screen and the depiction of the poor planning that the mission showed, missing helicopters, poor intelligence and non operational equipment which were as much, if not more of, a part of the demise of these men as any action they may have taken along the way was quite frank

As expected, from the name of the movie, it ends on a somewhat high note but one stained with sorrow as the end credits roll and it cuts to real life photos of the men who were lost. It’s a well filmed mix of action and drama mixed with a tale of friendship and brotherhood holding fast in a desperate situation which will keep your interest throughout.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6 out of 10