142. Spectre

I enjoyed Spectre. I'd go as far to say it's very, very good. It is similar to Skyfall in that Bond is planted firmly on planet earth and while this adds to the whole grounded feel of the film it is also it's biggest failing.

Spectre lacks spectacle. The big action set pieces in the final third, while exciting, feel a bit by the numbers and are not as inventive as I would have hoped and Christoph Waltz is utterly wasted in what should have been a classic Bond villain.

That said I'm off to see it again at the weekend. GO JIMMY!!!

141. Jurassic World

Top notch crowd pleasing Dinosaur fun. Really goes to show that the Park itself is the best thing about the franchise. While It doesn't stand up too much hole picking I really enjoyed the two hours or so I spent in Jurassic World.

After Mad Max this is the best of this summers blockbusters.

140. The Terminator

What is there to be said about The Terminator that has not already? Well after not watching it for a few years I'm really surprised and impressed on how lean it is - the first exchange between Arnie and the thugs and Kyle getting his Nike's all comes in, in under two minutes - it is a finely tuned James Cameron engine that never stops red lining until the 104 minutes running time is up.

It's a stone cold classic which has me dreading going to see Terminator Genisys even more...

139. Minions

Plenty of laughs and top quality animation still don't elevate this to anything better than a solid 'good'.

My 4 year old son's favourite moment: "BANANA!"

138. Lawless

It may be based on a true story but does it really need to be this by the numbers? 

Almost does something really neat with the 'invincible' tag but blows it and reverts to type. It certainly takes the award for 'the best cast in a terrible movie' as it is hard to believe that such stellar performers were part this piece of generic and cliché ridden bollocks.

137. The Equalizer

Essential geri-action viewing in which Denzel takes out the entire Russian mob without once breaking a sweat or getting himself into any kind of peril. Well, up until the last two guys anyway...

How or why it's over two hours long I have no idea...

136. Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Quality popcorn munching fare that is as impossible to dislike as it is to get totally excited about. A script full of snappy and crackling one liners but still ends up as the usual city destroying punch up. 

Not as good as the first instalment so a 'good but not great' although a weighty +1 for the lovely Veronica.

135. Godzilla

I just love the way that mankind is the backdrop as Zilla and Muto go at it. The sheer helplessness of the human characters is nicely played out.

Aaron Johnson is perfect as Captain Cardboard, although a better character/ actor would have been preferable. Oh and Bryan Cranston only appears for a minute; although it is a minute more than Juliette Binoche

Main Takeaway: Delivering a bullshit trailer in the internet age doesn't work.

134. Mad Max: Fury Road

Blimey! Mad Max Fury Road is a proper film in every way.

I feels like a real 80's action movie in terms of pacing, camera work and the resourceful running time. It's an unstoppable force from start to finish and is too road movies what The Raid is to action movies. 

Doesn't reinvent the wheel but adds about 2000 horses and a fucking great turbo charger to it. The best blockbuster of the year so far.

133. Shaun the Sheep

Technically proficient non-essential procession that had my son asking to leave 20 minutes from the end.

To be fair I think he needed the toilet.

132. Chappie

So after loving District 9 and really trying to enjoy Elysium, Neill Blomkamp seems to be on a similar career trajectory as Jason Reitman.

While Chappie maintains Blomkamp's visual and technical prowess, it has massive holes in the logic (the main supplier of robot policeman has no security whatsoever?) and a depressingly infantile script. 

It's tonally all over the shop and real fucking mess. Here's hoping he doesn't write the script for the Alien Sequel.

131. Captain America - The Winter Soldier

Epic marvel fun that is more James Bond than Iron Man. Does the right thing in putting boring old Cap in with a load of other characters to serve up the best bond film since Skyfall!

130. Big Hero 6

Superior family entertainment from Disney/ Marvel that delivers on all elements of the traditional superhero film.

My 3 year old sons favourite bit: "All of it and Baymax."

129. Guardians of the Galaxy

Chris Pratt channels pre-grumpy Harrison Ford to great effect in a movie that loves mixtapes and 80's nostalgia.

Slightly more heavy handed than I thought it would be and not quite the all singing all dancing blockbuster I was expecting. Although I am still marvelling (#seewhatididthere) at the supporting players Marvel get involved in these movie blocko-de-busters (Glenn Close, John C. Reilly etc.).

Main Takeaway: Chris Pratt can't dance for shit. 

128. Ex Machina

An enjoyable, well constructed piece of escapism with an excellent soundtrack that isn't as clever as it thinks it is.

A but like this 'review' really...

127. Gone Girl

To talk about Gone Girl is to ruin it; but needless to say Rosamund Pike is the motherfucking man! (Not a spoiler!)

It's a twisty turny thriller that is pitch black in tone, humour and execution (Again, not a spoiler).

126. Red Heat

Standard Arnie fair with a repellent James Belushi and one of the worst car/ bus chases in cinematic history.

Glorious.

125. Kick Ass 2

A sequel substandard in every way to its predecessor. It also, rather incredibly, manages to circumvent all of the qualities of its (albeit below average) source material.

A complete waste of time.

124. The Sweeney

Ray Winstone plays the guy off of the BET365 ads while Plan B plays the other prick in this joyless 'remake' that surely only got bankrolled due to it's name.

It's fucking hopeless from start to finish.

123. All Good Things

Feels like you're watching the highlights of a much better film than this unengaging, 'made for TV', sub-par thriller with a big name cast.

Main Takeaway: An alternative medicine for incurable insomniacs?

122. Martha Marcy May Marlene

Elisabeth Olsen moves in with a cult and things don't go well. She then moves in with her sister and things don't go much better.

An interesting study of the central character and the damage inflicted on her and her family.

Main takeaway: joining a cult is not the thing to do unless you are the guy setting it up.

121. Birdman

Birdman is an actor's dream. It loves actors. It has many actors in it and pretty much all of them are bringing their best actings to the table. It also contains a healthy bashing of superhero movies and plenty of belly based laughs.

Main Takeaway: Emma Stone still looks hot without make up.