Miracles From Heaven is based on a real event and is the tale of the Beams, a religious Texan family whose ten year old daughter Anna (Kylie Rogers) develops pseudo obstruction motility disorder, an incurable condition which eliminates her ability to use her digestive system correctly, thus she cannot process food for nutritional purposes and is faced with a very short future given the nature of the affliction.

But Christy Beam (Jennifer Garner), is a tenacious woman and is not going to watch her daughter die without a fight so she decides to stop putting her faith in God and heads to Boston Children’s hospital to engage the services of Dr.Nurko (Eugenio Derbez) a world renowned paediatric gastroenterologist who confirms her worst fears. Even then Christy must battle set back after set back along the way in order to try and find a way to not simply give up on her daughter, all the while struggling against the judgement of the rest of her family and friends all of whom believe that God is responsible for the situation and it is a test of Christy’s faith which will be resolved if she stays strong and believes that it is all part of His plan.

So while she initially struggles alone as husband Kevin (Martin Henderson) is also trying to keep his veterinary practice running in order to fund the mounting medical bills while their other daughters Abbie (Brighton Sharbino) and Adelynn (Courtney Fansler) are struggling with the lack of parental attention and supervision they are receiving, they all begin to realise that without their support Anna is struggling and they will need to pull together as a family unit in order to get through regardless of the outcome.

There is nothing wrong with the movie it just felt like a big budget made for TV film and aside from the excellent performances by Garner, Rogers and the Patch Adams like support from Derbez it was nothing worth shouting about. I’m sure there are many out there who will enjoy watching a mother fight for her daughter every step along the way and I’ve no doubt that tears will be shed by some. There are some scenes during Anna’s treatment which will hit hard and even the young girl has her moments of self-doubt all of which are excellently handled by Rogers and the scene where she is speaking about death with a girl battling cancer in the bed next to her is handled with a maturity beyond her years. But despite this the movie done nothing for me to elevate it into something above the Hallmark genre.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 Out Of 10

Based on the book written by Jean Hegland, Into The Forest is story of two sisters who live with their father in an isolated house on the outskirts of local civilisation but when massive power outages his the country they need to learn to let go of their need for modern amenities and utilise nature to survive in an increasing hostile situation.

Nell (Ellen Page) spends most of her time studying online for her upcoming SAT’s while Eva (Evan Rachael Wood) is a dancer who is struggling to compete with younger girls as she gets older and finds herself having to spend longer and longer practicing just to keep up. They live with their father Robert (Callum Keith Rennie) in a remote country house outside of town in the middle of a local forest and while they have all the modern technology, at times they find it difficult to deal with the isolation where the only physical link to the rest of the town is via their fathers jeep.

As news reports begin to appear on the television regarding power outages effecting the whole country it is not long until they too are hit by the same issue and left with only the use of a gas powered generator to keep the electricity running but, during a supply run into town it becomes apparent that this is a bigger issue than just a simple power problem as the supermarket is almost empty and all supplies of gas are already nearly depleted. The town is already showing signs of society breaking down and elements of lawlessness are creeping in but thanks to the resourcefulness of their father they are able to retain some semblance of normality despite their position.

When an incident occurs which takes their father from them the two girls are left alone to fend for themselves and as time passes with supplies becoming more sparse, the sense of isolation increases, their outlets of studying and dancing have been taken away from them and every decision can have major implications. Their relationship becomes strained but they must learn to put aside their differences and work together to ensure their survival but when Nells boyfriend Eli (Max Minghella) arrives at their house informing them of reports that power has been restored in Boston and that he and some others are going to take to the road further friction is caused as Nell is torn between leaving with Eli or staying with Eva who refuses to leave the family home and travel across the country on hear say.

While it’s hard to call this a post apocalyptic movie as we are never given details of the event it certainly has the feel of one especially as they months progress as we begin to see the increasing desperate situation the girls find themselves in but what the film does give is a look at how the family unit can be tested under pressure and particularly how sibling rivalry can manifest itself in the seemingly silliest of ways as tension grown and the situation becomes more precarious.

Both Page and Wood do an excellent job in portraying the sisters, Page initially looks like the head strong and purposeful Nell who knows exactly what she wants and is seemingly worst effected initially while Eva is more free spirited, has been the more effected by their mothers death and has put all her eggs in one basket in the form of her dancing but as they story progresses we see that they is more to both of these girls than meets the eye.

It’s a study at the human side of the situation and deals more in tension than action however but the couple of incidents that do occur are handled well and the impact of the does hit home so although it is key to the whole plot, the final third seems to drag a little and the fact that the ending can be interpreted in many ways depending on the viewers take on things will possibly frustrate some who were expecting closure. Nevertheless it’s still an interesting and well acted look at how human nature can quickly change once basic amenities are removed from every day life and the subsequent change in how attitudes and demeanor can quickly shift when the pressure hits.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 Out Of 10

Starring Scarlett Johansson, Under The Skin is a tale of an alien being who arrives in Glasgow, takes the form of a beautiful woman and spends her time luring men back to her lair where they become a food source, but as it interacts further with humans it seems to develop more human like emotions and strays from its mission in search of a seeming escape from its purpose.

But a more appropriate statement would be, what is the movie actually about? I’m still not sure and my opening paragraph is doing the movie an injustice but it was the best synopsis I could come up with. It’s potentially so much more than that, as you can take what you want from this film. For me it was a role reversal tale about a female predator and its’ praying mantis style hunting, which, despite any advances we may have made towards gender equality, pointed towards the notion that there is still a primal instinct inside man regarding the allure of the female form and the desire to mate.

Director Jonathan Glazer deserves credit for developing something so off center it’s almost unsettling and brings a voyeuristic feel as, with the exception of Johansson there are no stars, the men are regular guys in every day places going about their business, the only thing that feels like it does not belong is appropriately Johansson who is absolutely superb. Her English accent against the broad Scottish accent of everyone else, already points her out as alien without even needing to state it. The expressionless performance, except when she forces emotions onto her face in order to continue her fascade feels realistic, the brutality she shows in contrast to her softer side when on the hunt comes as a shock and her seemingly genuine curiosity as she experiences new events are spot on. For all the good movie she has done I have rarely seen her as captivating or original as she was here.

I like movies which are a little unusual and the big difference here is that there are no answers to your questions so when things are occurring and you wonder about events there is no exposition, no reasoning, no solutions and when the shocking ending comes it’s as surreal as the rest of the movie but it’s this uncertainty which is the movies best feature and while the dark and depressing feel of the movie can make it a bit of a grind it’s well worth sticking with as, for good or bad reasons, it’s a movie that will stick with you and will get just where the title suggests.

Vin Diesel stars as Kaulder, a man with nothing to live for since the death of his family, who we see cursed with eternal life by the witch Queen (Julie Engelbrecht) as he slays her during the time of the Black Death in the Middle Ages. We then jump forward to present day and Kaulder is working as a hunter for an organisation called The Axe And Cross, which acts as a religious military police of sorts and keeps the peace between witches and humans. Each hunter has a keeper and Kaudlers keeper the 36th Dolan (Michael Caine) is retiring so he is teamed up with a younger keeper in the form of the 37th Dolan (Elijah Wood). However, after the 36th Dolan is murdered by a witch Kaulder must turn to two young witches Chloe (Rose Leslie) and  Miranda (Aimee Carrero) for assistance but when they are attacked by Belial who seems to have powers that Kaulder has not seen since the middle ages, it is up to Kaulder and his young allies to battle the dark forces that are gathering to bring the Queen Witch back from the dead.

While there were times that it felt a bit like an adult Harry Potter movie, director Breck Eisner does a good job of creating a slow build up as layer upon layer is peeled back giving us a deeper look into this world of co-existence that we started off knowing nothing about and the lack of need for too much exposition into what is sold as an ancient society shows us what a good job he does in telling us all that we need on screen, at least until the very rushed feeling of the last third anyway.

Diesel plays to his strengths as the immortal slayer, brooding and gruff born of a confidence of eight hundred years or so on this earth, unable to die and the supporting cast, while not given a huge amount to do for most of the movie, support him well, although I didn’t really buy the supposed sexual chemistry between Diesel and Leslie.

While the movie has its flaws and I questioned the motivation for a few of the characters, if you enjoy fantasy movies and don’t pull too hard to the weak script threads then the movie holds together well as an entertaining fantasy, action, adventure film with a lead that fits the role perfectly. While there was no doubt that this was meant as a potential avenue into a franchise I don’t feel it was strong enough (or successful) to entice the studio into producing further movies but as a one off it’s worthy of checking out as long as your expectations aren’t set too high.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 Out Of 10