MovieMuse
T
he MovieMuse Reviews (MovieViews) database is a searchable collection of films that the team have watched, providing a comprehensive guide on what to watch and what to avoid. It provides a link to an in-depth review or a short opinion on the film and a rating, as well as a link to the film’s poster or DVD cover. For more recent entries we are also including a link to the film’s IMDb page and a trailer from YouTube.
You can search and sort the list by individual film names, genre, reviewer, score and other variables to inform you on whether a film is worth your time, or to inspire you for your next movie night.
We will also use the database to create periodic lists of the recommended films in all sorts of categories. These lists will be shared on the website and some will even come with a video.
| Poster | Movie | Year | Genre | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Big Eyes | 2014 | 3, 5, 7 | An interesting true story of an artist and the husband who claimed credit for her work, turned incredibly dull by a director (Tim Burton) who should probably stick to the fantasy genre. | 5 |
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Boxtrolls | 2014 | 1, 2, 4 | Some good humour, but the story has been done a million times and the stop motion animation isn't perfect. | 6 |
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Whiplash | 2014 | 7, 12 | Like a Hollywood TV movie (in a good way). This drumming drama keeps your interest right through and is one of those great movies where you understand and feel for both the good guy and the bad guy. | 9 |
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Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) | 2014 | 4, 7 | A washed up actor turns his hand to Broadway. The epitome of a critics/awards film. It feels like Hollywood's in-joke that it doesn't fully share. | 6 |
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The Judge | 2014 | 5, 7 | Big city lawyer defends a rural judge accused of murder (who just happens to also be his father). Not sure if the ending is uplifting or depressing, but enjoyed it either way. | 8 |
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Captain Phillips | 2013 | 1, 3, 5 | Possibly Hanks' best performance to date. Falls foul of the usual America the brave vs the savages without giving any real understanding of the Somali life, but otherwise an excellent movie. | 8 |
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Philomena | 2013 | 3, 4, 7 | Coogan and Dench are wonderful as a journalist and a woman looking for a child taken from her by nuns. A erfect Sunday film. Funny, sad and uplifting. | 8 |
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Nebraska | 2013 | 1, 7 | At first I thought Bruce Dern's oscar nomination was because all the acting around him was so bad he looked good. I also thought shooting in black and white was a shame due to all the beautiful American countryside. But by about halfway everything clicked | 7 |
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Gravity | 2013 | 7, 17, 20 | Two astronaughts are stranded in space after an accident. Great to look at and a great performance from Sandy, but not a particularly exciting film. | 6 |
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American Hustle | 2013 | 5, 7 | Starts slowly but wins you over by the end. Good performances from the 3 leads as a con man and his moll are forced to work for the FBI. | 7 |
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The Wolf of Wall Street | 2013 | 3, 5, 7 | For the most part it is a very funny and perverse tale of excess. But then it becomes a dreary tale of dragging a film out to 3 hours so that it can be classed an 'epic'. | 7 |
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Dallas Buyers Club | 2013 | 3, 7 | Interesting story of an enterprising hustler who beats the system to help fellow AIDS sufferers get much needed medication. | 7 |
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Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa | 2013 | Action, 4, 5 | Alan Partridge is called on to help the police defuse a violent siege. Better than I expected, but not as good as I hoped. | 6 |
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Jobs | 2013 | 3, 7 | The lesser of the 2 major Steve Jobs biopics (by a country mile), it skips lots of the interesting stuff and doesn't make enough of what it does tell. | 5 |
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Frost/Nixon | 2008 | 3, 7 | Really disappointing to find that Frost was just a bumbling newbie who stumbled onto a scoop. An interesting story, told well, but it turns out the true story isn't as big a deal as first thought. | 5 |
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R.I.P.D. | 2013 | Action, 1, 4 | A team of undead cops try to bring down the man who killed their most recent member. A completely forgettable Men in Black clone. | 4 |
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The Place Beyond The Pines | 2012 | 4, 7, 20 | Like three movies in one where each gets progressively worse. I'd have enjoyed the first third made into a full film, but in the end I just felt it was all a bit pointless. | 5 |
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21 & Over | 2013 | 4 | A student celebrates his 21st birthday the night before a big college interview. Tries desperately to The Hangover meets Ferris Bueller's Day Off and fails on both counts. | 5 |
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Olympus Has Fallen | 2013 | Action, 20 | Pretty standard pro-America cheesefest that gets worse as the film goes from plot hole to plot hole. Its a shame as some of the action is well done. Not the worst film of the year but a not too distant runner up. | 5 |
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Welcome to the Punch | 2013 | Action, 5, 20 | A very average cat and mouse thriller as a criminal returns to London and gives his nemesis one last chance to catch him. Am surprised Ridley Scott put his name to it. | 5 |
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Django Unchained | 2012 | 7, 22 | A freed slave and a bounty hunter try to rescue a woman from a notorious plantation owner. Tarantino does his best to ruin what starts off as a good film and eventually succeeds. | 5 |
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A Good Day To Die Hard | 2013 | Action, 20 | Simple, stupid, fun. The first 2 thirds are better than the last, but it is 90 mins of non-stop action and you can't ask for more than that from a Die Hard film. | 7 |
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Resident Evil: Retribution | 2012 | Action, 11, 17 | Whilst not impressed by the 3D, I did find Retribution to be an enjoyable Resi film and a whole lot better than Afterlife. | 6 |
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Premium Rush | 2012 | Action, 5, 20 | An excellent chase movie where the protagonist is a bycycle messenger being pursued by a dirty cop. Some of the chase scenes are as good as in any car movie I have seen. | 8 |
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Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter | 2012 | Action, 9, 11 | Look past the seemingly silly premise and you get a fully thought through concept and a very entertaining film. | 8 |