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.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ 

SPOILERS Evil Dead (2013) - Fede Alverez SPOILERS

There isn't very much to say on this film. It's not awful (I jumped a few times), but it no where near has as much love and craftsmanship as the original.
Many of the best parts were kept the same.
I particularly liked the part where the main character had to pull her arm off, and the allusion to the chainsaw hand from Evil Dead II (1987) - Sam Raimi, and there was a couple of comedy moments with the chainsaw actually.
The dog was completely unnecessary, except for to get pity from the audience. It would have been scary, if that had come back and started chanting or terrorising them. A bit of originality too, wouldn't have gone amiss.
I also liked the way the main characters had more reasoning to go out into the woods, and to be at the cabin in the first place.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Olympus Has Fallen (2013) - Antoine Faque

Gerard Butler is a genuinely cool guy. Love a good Brit playing an American hero. Makes me feel good about my country! Yay! Also, this is a really good film, and very relevant with the recent North Korea crisis.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Horrible Bosses (2011) - Seth Gordon

It's not a bad film, it made me laugh. A lot. Which is the point in the film, so yeah. It's good.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆