Maura Ellis (Amy Poehler) is a recently divorced nurse who’s always been on the straight and narrow with life and is eager to help others while her sister Kate (Tina Fey) is disorganised, living in her friends house and trying to keep in touch with her teenage daughter Haley (Madison Davenport) who is doing her best to keep one step ahead of her. When their parents Deana (Dianne Wiest) and Bucky (James Brolin) advise Maura that they are selling the family home they leave it to Maura to break the news to Kate as they know what the reaction is going to be. When Maura collects Kate from the airport and feeds her the information about the situation she is not pleased to say the least but when the sisters actually arrive at the house and they find that it is has already been sold and are devastated, furthermore their parents tell them that they need to have all their stuff out by the weekend so Kate convinces Maura to have one final blow out party in the house.

If it doesn’t sound like there a lot to this movie then you would be correct, it’s a very basic plot but as usual where the movie comes into it’s own is with how Poehler and Fey can bring humour to any situation but, what may surprise you is the emotional acting which both bring as the sisters recount their memories of bygone times, fight and argue as family always do but also act as a crutch for the other to stand on when things get hard.

Although it quite reminiscent of movies such as Bad Neighbours which base themselves around a central party event and (before Bad Neighbours 2 done it) give it a female twist while the party preparation threw me straight back into the similar themed movies of 1980’s without ever going full cheesy and the scenes where the sisters are trying on different outfits while getting ready was possibly the funniest of the film.

There are some very good supporting roles from John Cena as Pazuzu the local drug dealer and Maya Rudolph as Brinda as the former friend who keeps showing up and causing problems, while both Weist and Brolin have some great moments as the exasperated parents.

While it’s a little too by the numbers and a case of having seen all it before to be a really good movie, if you liked the previous outings from the duo, then you won’t be disappointed with their performances here and there are enough comic moments to make it worth checking out.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 out Of 10

Emma Roberts is Venus Delmonico, known as Vee to her friends who seem to be an everyday (if a little old looking) high school senior who’s talent for photography has earned her a place in a Californian college but who’s mother Nancy (Juliette Lewis) expects Vee to attend a local college near her Staten Island home as she does not want to be left alone since the death of Vee’s brother and this sets up the character very well. A nice girl but a bit of a wall flower who allows others to control her life, none more so that her outgoing, center of attention friend, Sydney (Emily Meade).

Sydney is currently engaged in an online game called Nerve where she is a Player and must act out dares as dictated by the people viewing the game, called Watchers. After one such dare Sydney begins to tease Vee about how she needs to let go a little and take a chance in life. When this leads to an incident where Sydney embarrasses her in front of a guy that she is attracted to Vee takes off and in a moment of rebellion decides to become a Player where her first dare is to kiss a stranger which co-incidentally leads her into the path of Ian (Dave Franco) who turns out to be a fellow player and so the Watchers turn them into a partnership as they are given dares which require them to work together to succeed.

As Vee becomes deeper and deeper involved she loses her shackles and begins to embrace the limelight however the dares get closer to the point where they become life threatening and when one particular dare almost causes the death of one of her friends she decides to pull the plug and report the game to the authorities, an act which brands her a snitch and thus puts her completed at the mercy of the game organisers. So with the help of her friends she must try and escape from the clutches of the unseen coordinators of Nerve.

As a concept the movie works very well, it hits the points of the all seeing, data heavy, social media world we live in where all information is, supposedly, accessible to anybody with the sufficient skills and equipment. The element of peer pressure worked well and the concept of instantaneous Internet celebrity stardom worked to bring a sense of reality to the situation. The chemistry between Roberts and Franco is good and the dares themselves are interesting and, while the motivation may have seemed a little far fetched to me, given the content on the Internet it never gets to a stage where it becomes implausible to believe anybody would go so far so when the dares are taking place there is a nice element of tension.

There were a couple of points which didn’t work for me, the nerdy friend Tommy (Miles Heizer) who is obviously in love with Vee and follows her everywhere but as usual she is oblivious to the fact that he doesn’t just want to be her friend felt a little tacked on just to serve a purpose. Nothing to do with the acting, but it was the one character in the movie who felt like and outsider trying desperately to fit in. Juliet Lewis as the mother was a waste of talent, with the exception of the opening scenes where she is shown as a smothering character which helps to build Vee’s submissive character she really doesn’t contribute a lot to the movie. One thread that wasn’t touched upon was the fact that Vee is portrayed as this person who never takes acts on impulse or takes control of situations but in order to rectify this she signs up for a game where she is dictated to by anonymous people. For me it was a nice little plot point but it was never mentioned. However, the main issue I had with the movie is that it is a little predictable, I spotted the twists coming and then ending felt like a bit of a cop out so while it did not ruin the movie it took some of the suspense out of the situation.

There have seem some comparisons between this movie and the book Daemon by Daniel Suarez (a great read by the way) in the way a program seems to be operating autonomously but I personally didn’t see the comparison as for me the game never felt self controlling and always had a big brother is watching feel especially since the Watchers often had a hands on participation in the dares but overall it was an enjoyable film and I never found myself disengaged while watching which is more than I can say for a few of the more recent, supposed big budget movies, and that in itself says a lot.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out of 10

Starting in 1850 with Author of the novel Moby Dick, Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) visits innkeeper Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson) the last remaining survivor of a last voyage by the whaling vessel Essex for an account of the events and while initially reluctant he is persuaded by his wife to recount the tale so we return to thirty years previous where Nickerson (Tom Holland) is a cabin boy on the newly fitted ship where the ship is being led by first mate, experienced whaler Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) and an inexperienced captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) who initially clash but must learn to put their differences aside in order to ensure that they do not cause both the sinking of the ship and the death of their crew. When their Atlantic search proves they decide to head to the Pacific where they are advised by a Spanish captain that the waters are much more fruitful but he also tells of a huge albino whale which attached their fleet. Unperturbed the crew head out to find their bounty but get far more than they bargained for in the giant whale and so it becomes a test of man versus beast and nature in order to survive.

The acting was fine in so far as the script would allow, with Holland holding his own as the likable cabin boy, Walker playing the under qualified but aristocratic captain well and Hemsworth taking center stage as the fat too overqualified first mate resentful of the position he is in. I was disappointed with the under use of Cillian Murphy as Matthew Joy, as the moments when he was involved his talent shone through, there were just too few of them.

You know when Ron Howard is in charge that, in general, you are going to get a good movie and in that sense he has provided an entertaining adventure on the seas where men must face their own fears which need to be conquered and must dig deep within themselves in order to survive so it that sense it works, but the question here is does the movie want to be a retelling of the tale that inspired Moby Dick, is it a survival tale based around the adventures of the Essex ship and its crew or is it a moralistic tale about the negativity of whaling? I found it a little of all, which was potentially the movies downfall. I was very much reminded of the situation in Apollo 13 when watching this movie although it never tugged the heart strings or has those edge of your seat moments of that movie and instead felt like a bunch of individuals who all had their own desires and agendas who were thrown into a situation but the camaraderie and bond I would have expected never really came through on screen.

It’s a watchable movie as the cinematography is superb and the ship scenes are very realistic, due to the fact that a full scale replica of the original ship was built for the film. The CGI on the whales is excellent and it never feels like the actors are not in the depth of the action when it occurs. There just a lack of spark in the movie which I can only attribute to the desire to be a tale of many levels instead of focusing on one area. It’s worth checking out if only for the excellent camera work but as for me I think I’d rather just watch Jaws again.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

Colleen (Claudia Lee) is a young woman who is being pestered by somebody leaving photographs at her grocery store which seem to depict images of dead girls but without being able to prove that they are dead and with no body count to speak of the local sheriff is unwilling to take action. Meanwhile in Los Angeles photographer and former Spearfish, South Dakota, resident Peter Hemmings (Kal Penn) is reading about the ongoing trend of the ‘Dead Model’ look, which he believes could give him a lucrative edge in the industry so he decides to head back to Spearfish to find out more with his assistant and entourage in tow.

When they bump into Colleen and Peter realises she is receiving the photographs he has seen online he decides to invite her to his holiday house for a party he is throwing which causes friction with her stifling boyfriend Ben (Toby Hemingway) but she decides to go anyway and finds herself warming to Peter’s assistant Chris (Kenny Wormald), when Peter offers her a job as a model she decides to throw off her small town shackles, chase fame and fortune and joins Peters group in his house for their final night before they head back to California but that is when Colleens stalker steps up the stakes.

Horror genius Wes Craven is listed as a producer on this film so with a beginning echoing back to the start of the original Scream movie, albeit not as dramatically and you can see his influences all through this movie, from the naive small town sheriff, through the stalker feel of the killer interactions with the main character and the clever use of camera work to show us hints of what is to come, whether we realise it or not but unfortunately all these elements are done to a lesser standard so his name that seems to be as far as the influence went as the other fascets of the movie just feel all over the place and it felt like the continuity was all wrong so perhaps some pieces were left on the cutting room floor that possibly should have stayed in.

I don’t normally talk specifics in movies but there are two particular moments in the movie, which won’t spoil it, that I noticed as being particularly bad and feel the need to point out as, unless I missed something they make no sense and add to my point above. One is when Chris first meets Coleen in the store and calls her by name, now while it is possible that he spotted her name tag she never reacts to the fact that this stranger calls her by name. Coincidence, maybe? But given this girl feels like she is being stalked I’d have expected some reaction to the event . The second is a text conversation where Coleen is texting a friend but the person on the other end is not who she thinks tit is and during the conversation Coleen mentions the party and meeting up to go, to which the reply comes that ‘I’ll see you there’ or something to that effect but Colleen never mentioned a time or place for the party that I spotted.

The plot and most of the acting are awful and the characters are all throw away, even the main ones. There was no sense of empathy towards Colleen as she didn’t seem to show any over concern for her missing friends and her reactions were very emotionless all through the movie, even Kal Penn couldn’t save some face and seemed to be phoning it in as the sarcastic photographer. I hope his stuff was ad-libbed as it certainly felt that way. Save for the excellent cinematography by Dean Cundey who brought all his experience from his work on the original Halloween and The Fog to liven this disaster up and a couple of good death scenes, which I would expect anyway in a horror film this is not good and unless you are really a die-hard fan of the genre I would recommend you give this one a miss.

DJ Speaks Rating: 3.5 Out Of 10

Maggie (Greta Gerwig) is a reasonably successful college teacher who is fully in control of all aspects of her life except that she is becoming desperate for a child but is unable to find the right man, so she decides to pursue the route of sperm donation and believes she has found a potential suitor in former college co-student Guy (Travis Fimmell) who was always a math wizard and now runs his own business, even if it is only in pickle selling.

But there’d be no New York tale if things all went according to plan so through a twist of fate she develops a relationship with John (Ethan Hawke) a fellow professor at her college who is developing a book and asks Maggie to read what he has written so far. John is struggling with his marriage to Georgette (Julianne Moore) a Danish Columbia professor who is cold hearted, matter of fact and basically a bitch, so John and Greta fall for each other as their initial relationship develops. We then jump forward a couple of years and Maggie and John now live together, have a child and are also bringing up Johns children from his original marriage but Maggie is beginning to think she has made a mistake as John is only in love with how Maggie makes him feel rather than her as a person and she is losing control of her life, so she develops an idea which she believes will re-unite John with his former wife and leave her free to raise her child alone, thus Maggie’s Plan is formed.

Gerwig plays Maggie to a tee, both clever yet gullible, carefree and hippie like yet meticulous about her life plan and in control yet so out of control she doesn’t even realise it. Hawke plays a role which reminded me of his performance in Before Midnight, just as a more mature character. It was Moore who, as she often does, that took center stage when on screen as she initially seemed to be playing a comic caricature but soon it became apparent that she had her own flaws and ideals despite her frosty exterior. There are also excellent performances from Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph as Maggie’s best friends who’s chaotic life is as polar opposite to Maggie as can be but who are probably the most grounded couple in the whole movie. Hader in particular comes in with some super lines at the right moments which brings great levity to some of the darker moments in the film.

Director Rebecca Miller has put together a very well intertwined tale which has the feel of a stage play but which translates very well to the big screen. The dialogue and character development are very reminiscent of a Woody Allen type movie but each of the three main stars feels well rounded and are given enough time to build a genuinity about them and ensures that you get enough of a laugh out of the almost sit com style tale.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

The Lobster is a black comedy set in a dystopian world where all single people are sent to a hotel where they have forty five days to find a partner otherwise they are transformed into an animal of their choosing to live the rest of their lives. David (Colin Farrell) discovers that his wife has left him for another man so he arrives at the hotel with his brother, a dog, and begins the countdown to finding somebody to spend his life with otherwise he will be turned into the animal of his choice which is a lobster as they have a long life cycle and because of his love for the sea.

The hotel is an awful place full of staged propaganda shows, almost militaristic daily rituals and full of regulations all of which are supposedly designed to enhance the possibility of developing relationships for example masturbation is forbidden and severely punished as a resident known as the lisping man (John C.Reilly) finds out, yet daily sexual stimulation by the maid is part of the routine. There is also a bonus round of sorts where residents go on daily hunts to capture ‘loners’, single people on the run who live in the nearby forest, and can extend their deadline by a day for each person captured.

It soon becomes apparent that finding a partner is not easy as there are expectations around compatibility, and one of David’s ‘friends’ known as the limping man (Ben Whishaw) in the hotel shows just how far people will go to ensure they are not transformed, followed by a series of tests afterwards before they are declared ready for return to society and when David’s time is running out he concocts a plan to find a partner regardless, but things don’t work out quite as expected.

Farrell is superb, in possibly his best performance to date, as David as his delivery of the script sounds almost forced giving the whole situation an almost dream like feel and when coupled with the voice over from Rachel Weisz you begin to wonder if this is an author telling a story or is it somebody recalling a real situation being told in flashback and this uncertainty last for well over half the movie giving it even more of a surreal feel which the tale itself is already doing a very good job of but at the same time the monotone delivery of the narrative seems no different than the conversation on screen so you are constantly unsure of the purpose of the narrator in the story.

I don’t want to give too much away in the review as there is so much which will surprise and shock in equal measures and most of the light hearted moments in a very dark movie are from the unexpected absurdity of how these single people are treated. There’s a performance from Lea Seydoux as the leader of the loners which is so dead pan it makes her appearance in Spectre look full of emotion but in this movie it was perfectly suited.

There is definitely a dig at society and how we are burdened with the expectations of life partners and children while being full of satire that is close enough to the bone to hit home. I enjoyed the movie when I watched it but now, having had a bit of time to digest it I think that this is one of the best movies I have seen in a number of years, it’s slow moving yet doesn’t drag as there’s always something happening, there’s unnecessary use of slo-mo but it sits perfectly with the strangeness of the situation and the fact that only the lead character is ever named adds to the eerie feel of the film. If you are looking for some quick entertaining then don’t try this movie but I can only give it a high recommendation as it’s a superb movie which really gets you thinking long after the credits have rolled.

DJ Speaks Rating: 7.5 Out Of 10