The Master (2012) - Paul Thomas Anderson

This reminded me of Scientology's origins, mixed in with a Manson-esque Family vibe, particularly with all the naked dancing and Amy Adams wanking Philip Seymour Hoffman off, only to call him Dad immediately after. It was an OK film. I don't think it deserves all the hype it's been getting; I found it difficult to pay much attention to it, and it dragged on a little.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

The Last Stand (2013) - Jee-woon Kim

Johnny Knoxville was not in it for long enough to deserve to be on the poster.
Arnie was cool in it. As per usual. But was that enough to make the film amazing? Hmm... The short answer is no. The longer answer is that scenes did not need to be the length they were, dragging on to give the film a length of a blockbuster rather than a cheese-fest, which is more what this film was.
The bad guy (Eduardo Noriega) was good, clearly taking inspiration from mass murderer Charles Manson, but with slightly more class and weaponry, supplied by his oodles of dollars, the reasons for which were only hinted at in the film. Perhaps if more time had been devoted to the villain's back stories, rather than Arnold Schwarzenegger looking pretty fly for a white guy, this film would have been more interesting to watch.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆