Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

There are times when I really enjoy Tim Burton's movies but this was mast definitely not one of those times.

I'm no fan of the original movie based on this story so for me this wasn't a case of a horrible remake of a beloved movie but for me it was just a horrible move, I guess to his credit at least Burton tried some new things instead of just copying what had been done before.

Shutter Island

See it, seriously just find the time to watch this movie.

Shutter Island was a movie I'd been meaning to check out for ages but for one reason or another it just never happened until yesterday and I have to say I really enjoyed it, I guessed what was going on pretty early on in the movie but I was wrong on the reason why it was happening but I was fine with that, this is a movie that pretty much demands a second viewing and hopefully I'll get to that in a reasonable time period.

I really don't know what to say about the movie without giving the plot away other than just see it, I'll be truly shocked most people don't enjoy this movie.

Looper

I like a good time travel story, in fact I just like a good story in general but I honestly can't decide if Looper qualifies as either.

I really liked the concept behind Looper and it had some nice moments sprinkled throughout the movie but there was this gnawing something that I can't quite put my finger on that just didn't really work for me.

There have been some reviews that I've seen that compare Looper to Inception but for me there is no comparison as Inception is a superior movie in pretty much every way and perhaps that's the problem I have.

In the end I think Looper is an entertaining movie that could have been much better if it's back story had been developed a bit more, for me bits of it just don't quite work but the performances were good and on a technical level the movie was well put together but sadly I think the story needed a little more work.

Despite it's flaws I still think Looper is worth watching if you get the chance.

Snow White and the Huntsmen

Up until last night I had never actually seen a movie featuring Kirsten Stewart and having now seen Snow White and the Huntsmen I think it's safe to say I need never see another one, her performance was both free of expression and charisma but then she is far wealthier than I'm ever likely to be so what the hell do I know ?

Godzilla (2014)

Well the long anticipated Hollywood Godzilla is here and I have to say it's pretty good and unlike Hollywood's previous attempt this is recognisably based on the classic Godzilla movies produced by Toho studios in Japan.

I guess the biggest problem this movie faces is being compared to last years Pacific Rim which was also a movie featuring giant monsters along with giant mechanical battle suits destroying huge cityscapes and while that also happens in Godzilla ( minus the giant battle suits ) I was hoping for a film that was perhaps a little lighter in tone and a little more fun, I loved Pacific Rim but I only rather liked Godzilla.

This new Godzilla has outstanding production values as you would expect, there has been some criticism of aspects of the redesign of the title monster but I rather like the new look myself, I'm sure they will tweak things a little in any future sequels but I'm hoping they don't change things too much.

The only thing I didn't like about this movie was Bryan Cranston's performance in it, I thought he was grating and very annoying and I usually find him to be quite likable as an actor, thankfully he didn't have to carry the entire movie.

Godzilla is a good movie but I don't think it will be known as great one, I think things need to lighten up just a little and have a bit more fun but this new franchise is off to a good start and seems to be in good hands.

Superman: Ending Battle

Basically this is the collected version of a multi-issue battle with no real plot and extremely average to poor in places art.

It might be someones idea of fun but it wasn't mine.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Blu-ray

I'm a big Star Trek fan and anyone who knows me knows at least that much about me, I own all the TV series and the movies but it always bothered me that the post 60s TV Star Trek series looked pretty crappy even on DVD, I never knew why but they just didn't look as good as I thought they should compared to other shows that had been released on DVD.

Well thank goodness for high definition I guess because sensing the opportunity to make a buck the powers that be in TV land have located all the individual elements used to make the show, dusted them off and reassembled the episodes again for a Blu-ray release and the result is rather impressive.

This is Star Trek: The Next Generation looking and sounding far better than it has before considering these episodes were made in the 80s, the have their flaws in places to be sure but I suspect this is as good as the show is ever going to or could look.

Is it worth the upgrade if you have he episodes on DVD ?, probably only if you are a big fan of the show, season one was pretty uneven in terms of story quality, the Next Generation team hadn't hit their stride yet in terms of storytelling or in some cases acting, there are some nice extras included with this set such as the feature length making of season 1 documentary but I imagine that will only appeal to hardcore fans of the show.

At the end of the day I'm glad I bought this set but it took me a long time to get through it, this isn't Star Trek at it's finest but this was the beginning of a new era for the franchise.