The Brown Note Movie Review

This Finnish action-adventure disaster is a true oddity from director by Jalmari Helander, for instance, what the living hell is Samuel L. Jackson doing here as the President of the United States. Awful and in a weird way.

The undoubted runt of the otherwise excellent four main Avengers films is purposeless and a near stand alone mess that almost interrupts the arc of the other three. Given all involved it is a surprisingly low-tier entry in to the Marvel movie universe. New franchise offshoots are set up to little effect and a potentially interesting artificial intelligence villain story-line is very muddied, plus the main crew don't really seem to care much this time out. Winters Soldier is the real fourth Avenger film.

Directed by Tony Mahony and Angus Sampson (who is also the lead actor) this Aussie drug smuggling comedy punches miles above its tiny expectations and is an absolute blast. Hysterical and with a hugely distressing toilet situation.

Brian Knappenberger presents a near perfect doco about the hugely inspiring Aaron Swartz, who traded in a life of wealth for one of political and internet activism. He showed the just like with Julian Assange, if you really trouble the people in power, the hammer of the gods will come down on you. Facing terribly excessive and punitive legal problems, he took his own life at 2 years old.

Alex Gibney is undoubtedly one of the most important documentary makers of this century but I felt like I'd seen it all before with his take on Scientology, something I feel is over-represented anyway.

Much like the franchise itself, I clicked into gear around the excellent Fast 5 and am quite the connoisseur of this guilty pleasure. Furious 7 will always be remembered as the last to feature star Paul Walker, Killed during a break in filming resulting in a box office supanova when it was finally released. Near maintains the high standard set by 5 and deals with the death of franchise lead in a soulful and non-histrionic or mawkish manner.

Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt turns in near fabulous directoral debut with a hugely relevant adult comedy about, well, modern relationships through the male prism of pornography. Scarlett Johansson is spectacular.

For Jason Statham fans this is a stop tier Statham film that flopped massively. A little narrative unevenness for sure but a great character (consumed by gambling addiction) and lead performance, in a fascinating setting, telling a compelling story, backed up by a great cast.

The yearly roundup. For some reason.

For me above Blue Velvet as the finest stand-alone movie David Lynch has ever made. A beguiling and, for its last act, heartbreakingly sad masterpiece on the destruction of optimism, hope and dreams. It asks a lot from the viewer and repays. Naomi Watts is unforgettable.