The Moviehole review-crew have been out, pens and papers clammered in their fists, checking out all the latest cinematic product over the past few days.

Here’s a look at some of our latest reviews.

Frankenweenie

Despite all the noise in the marketing about this being the first feature length stop motion animated 3D film, the only new aspect is the 3D. It’s a close cousin to Tim Burton’s 2005 film ”Corpse Bride”, so as usual we’re left with the question of whether the 3D adds anything.

There aren’t many pop-out-of-the-screen gimmicks, and the moods and settings of the film (the bright suburbs, horror-tinged stormy nights) are very high contrast in stark black and white, so there’s little of the muddiness that afflicts other 3D films. And just like Alice In Wonderland, where Burton disliked the 3D camera rigs, it’s been shot in 2D and retrofitted in post-production.

Aside from the marketing tags, it’s very much a Tim Burton movie, filled with the grotesque/gothic motifs, accoutrements and hallmarks that have made his work among the most distinctive and recognisable since Betelgeuse. [Read More…]

The Paperboy

Sometimes an actor just doesn’t seem to belong. If you looked at the cast list for ”The Paperboy” and thought ‘Zac Efron? That kid out of ”High School Musical” who tried to play a grown-up in the sappy, gilded melodrama of ”The Lucky One”?’, Lee Daniels (”Precious”) new film might just turn you around.

Of course, a character is made up of much more than just an actor – everything from the costuming to the tone wielded by the director and the presence of other performers all play a part, and Efron might still flail dramatically without such quality around him, but he’s right at home playing the lynchpin of this dark Southern morality tale. [Read More…]

Taken 2

What do you do after you’ve rescued your daughter from sex traffickers in Paris, killing pretty much everyone in your sight to do it? If you’re Brian Mills (Neeson), you give that same daughter driving lessons and worry about her new boyfriend. You also head to Istanbul for a few days work. But when the friends and family of the people you killed decide to exact a little revenge it might be hard to find a place to hide…even in Turkey!

Liam is back! And he’s bringing the family with him. Somehow inexplicably, four years ago Liam Neeson became an action hero. And he’s a great one because not only can he kick ass he can really act! Now back together in “Taken,” Neeson and his family find themselves wanted by the last Albanians still hanging out in the fertile crescent. And believe me, they’re pissed! [Read More…]

Pitch Perfect

If you’ve marked ”Pitch Perfect” as a feature length version of ”Glee” then it’s time to changed the record, because this college comedy will definitely be more in tune with your funny bone than it’s TV rival.

Following three competing a cappella groups at the fictional Barden University, Pitch Perfect focuses on Beca (Oscar and Tony-nominated actress Anna Kendrick of ”Up in the Air”, ”The Twilight Saga”) an aspiring DJ who’d rather be in LA breaking into the music industry than taking classes or joining college clubs. But it wouldn’t be much of a movie if Beca wasn’t coerced into joining one of these voice-only groups and so her story becomes intertwined with the mean, sweet and weird girls of the Barden Bellas; the all-female a cappella group having to rebuild their status after disaster struck in the previous year’s competition finals. [Read More…]

Also recently reviewed :
10 Years
Resident Evil Retribution
Toys in the Attic
Looper
Hotel Transylvania
End of Watch