Dead Man Down (2013) - Niels Arden Oplev

I really should watch more films relevant to the exam I have on Friday, but I know I won't. Sadly, action is not one of the chosen genres, but as a thriller love story thing, this film is a doozie, yet I know it will go, sadly, forgotten by the masses, like many Colin Farrell films.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) - Wes Anderson

Fan-fucking-tastic! Took me a bit to appreciate it, but it's a realistic portrayal of how first loves feel about each other: against the world.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Bottle Rocket (1996) - Wes Anderson

As Wes Anderson's first ever feature film, it is lacking some of the stuff that makes the others so brilliant, but it is good in its own way. It has the tell tale quirks, not as much of the auteurship of the others, but hints at what is to come. A particular shot that shows his style is one where Luke Wilson climbs out of a manhole thing on to the roof, and it's just perfect symmetry. Another is where the two main characters go through Owen Wilson's plan for their life, and it reminds me so much of all his other films where they go through photo books or letters in the same unique style. So yeah, it's still a really awesome movie.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Iron Man 3 (2013) - Shane Black

This film was brilliant, filled with twists and turns galore. I enjoyed it a lot more than the other two Iron Man films, and it definitely sets up nicely for the Marvel phase two of the Avengers storyline. Oh my gosh, I am so excited for the rest of them now. Oh lordy!

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

SPOILERS The Place Beyond the Pines (2012) - Derek Cianfrance SPOILERS

I really didn't expect that Ryan Gosling's character would die half way through. It was like three short long films, all of which were brilliant. Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling were both amazing. I liked how their characters became not so nice and they became what they said they never would. There were so many comparisons between each character and way too much to write in a short review here. One day, I will do an academic essay on this film, and there's so much I could write about each individual shot. It's possibly my new favourite film. A! May! Zing!

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The ABCs of Death (2012) - Too Many to List

The directors I enjoyed the most were: Adrian Garcia Bogliano (B), Helens Cattet (O), Thomas Cappelen Malling (H), Marcel Sarmiento (D) and Jake West (S).
It's kind of difficult to analyse this collection of short films as a whole. IMDb seems to have the right idea, giving it exactly half. Some segments were good. Others were terrible. A lot of them didn't fit correctly together, and were too arty or dramatic in between very goofy ones, but I suppose that's the kind of thing that the producers wanted. I'd like to see more films of this type, possibly with the same director doing all of the segments, to give the audience many stories, but in the same vein of storytelling. It was very inventive, so I'll give it a:

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Meet Joe Black (1998) - Martin Brest

What a heart warming romance story! I enjoyed young Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins' onscreen chemistry, as well as the similarities between both of their characteristics within the film. Hopkins does sweet old father just as well as he plays cannibalistic serial killer, which is definitely a good talent to have. It went on a bit long, and some of the side plots were irrelevant and boring.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆