Bad Teacher

Bad Teacher is a comedy about Elizabeth Halsey, a school teacher who gets dumped by her wealthy partner after he realises she's only after his money.

This film is not one that takes itself too seriously. Elizabeth's character (Cameron Diaz) is a female version of many a leading man we have seen in comedies lately. The self obsessed, weed smoking, could care less attitude is one we have seen frequently - although the school setting does give some mileage for new jokes and a different, if somewhat predictable, story of redemption.

Elizabeth's style attracts the attention of Russell Gettis (Jason Segel) who brings some genuine comedy to the movie - much of it centered around her attempts to woo a wealthy supply teacher Scott Delacorte (Justing Timberlake) who has family money, far too much sensitivity and a passion for dry humping. Atlthough Timberlake's character is clearly supposed to be over the top, he doesn't quite take to the role as well as he did as Napster founder Sean Parker in The Social Network.


Some of the smaller roles in this movie make for the best scenes. Lynn Davies makes an appearance as fellow teacher Phyllis Smith, and adds some nice balance to Elizabeth's wild ways with a genuine sense of nervousness and caution in her approach to life. It's supposed to provide a contrast, but there is some comedy, both intentional and unintentional, in their relationship.

Dolphin loving Principal Wally Snur (John Michael Higgins) plays his part well and interacts nicely with the other characters. The end of year speeches are a perfect reflection of the awkward work team address and his excitable, animated discussion with various members of the faculty are hilarious in parts.

Bad Teacher was never going to be a great comedy, but it's not particularly bad either. If you have a cinema pass like me an a couple of hours spare one evening you could certainly do worse.

Bad Teacher: 2.5/5

(I think I'm going to have to start rating out of 10...)

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2: Final Trailer

The final Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 trailer is up:



The long awaited final instalment of the Harry Potter story is out in cinemas on July 15th. A mystery website that appears to be signed by J.K. Rowling has appeared, along with a Twitter page which has tweeted a couple of updates about the release of some 'exciting news'. There is also a YouTube announcement page completing the video/website/social media triangle.

Speculation is rife (and one would expect that was the intention) as to what the news could be. After a successful book and film franchise one of the most popular suggestions is that it will be some form of online game.

Those excited that Pottermore might be a new book will be disappointed however, as Rowling's people have confirmed that the project is not going to be a book release.

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The Hangover Part II

Two years after the Las Vegas stag party the cast return to take another crack at what was an original and exceptionally funny first movie.

Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis pick up where they left off in Vegas, this time in Thailand for Stu's wedding to his fiance, Lauren. Stu has good intentions, but what starts as a quiet drink around a campfire picks up in a dirty hotel room in Bangkok.

While Ken Jeong makes a hilarious return as Mr. Chow and Galifianakis applies his comedic genius to the film I can't help but feel they could have done more. If you have seen The Hangover and loved it you'll undoubtedly love this, but the novelty of some of the gags has worn off. The plot is very similar and they go over a lot of ground previously covered.

I can't help but feel for Justin Bartha who once again sits this one out as the point of contact back at the hotel while the rest of the gang tear around Bangkok trying to piece together their night out and find Teddy, Lauren's younger brother.

Despite the lack of originality, it's still a funny film and some of the scenes are hilarious. It's a shame they couldn't do more, but unfortunately this just feels like one of those movies they make to cash in on the success of the original, and judging by the $80m budget and $86m opening weekend, it looks like they did just that.

I think The Hangover Part II warrants some praise, and that three stars is more than fair.

The Hangover Part II: ***

Check out the trailer below:



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X-Men: First Class

No pressure on X-Men as the first movie to be reviewed on the blog. I'm sure director Matthew Vaughn was thinking about this day when he finished filming.

The first thing to say about this movie is that while you could easily watch it as a stand alone, it's really a good idea to have seen the other movies, or at least the first two, to get the most out of it.

The references to the original films are great, and First Class works hard to help you understand some of the relationships and dynamic in the earlier films. I'm not sure if we can class this as a sequel (or prequel) because the cast in the film is almost entirely different from the other X-Men movies, even if Wolverine does make a cameo.

The cast is absolutely phenomenal. James McAvoy makes a charming and perfectly cringe worthy young Charles Xavier and although I think if his character was based on the older version he later becomes he wouldn't be quite so playful, the role fits perfectly in this film.

Michael Fassbender plays an angry and relentless young Magneto exceptionally well, and I can see how the swagger and arrogance would translate nicely into the Bond role he's being associated with after Daniel Craig hangs up his bow tie.

I'm a Oliver Platt fan so it's nice to see him make an appearance as the 'I'm with the government but I'm on your side' man in the movie. Young British actor Nicholas Hoult, who has just about shed the 'oh he's the one from About a Boy' tag makes a great addition to the X-Men family as genius/mutant Hank McCoy and does a great job of telling the story of Beast.

Overall X-Men: First Class is a wildly entertaining action with a surprisingly well thought out story. The action flows nicely and doesn't feel forced into sections of the film. The cast do a fantastic job of telling the story behind X-Men and I hope it's box office success to date encourages them to expand on this part of the story and make a prequel sequel.

I haven't decided on a rating system yet, but I guess marks out of five is the standard apprach and X-Men: First Class gets a well deserved four stars.

X-Men: First Class: ****

Check out the official trailer on Youtube:



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Unlimited Cinema Pass Goes Live!

Welcome to Unlimited Cinema Pass!

It's important to point out that:

- I never go to movie premieres
- I have no inside knowledge
- I haven't studied film for about six years
- I live in the UK, so I'm likely reviewing movies that have been out for a while elsewhere
- I have little writing skill and my grammar, punctuation and spelling are way below average

However, there is one point that makes up for all of this:

I have an unlimited cinema pass that I use all the time, sometimes up to four or five times a month! I'm passionate about film and I love to share my uneducated, biased and usually unwanted views with as many people as I can.