MovieMuse
The MovieMuse team has set ourselves the challenge of watching 500 different films between us in 2017. Every new film we watch will be rated and given a short review as part of our MovieViews database.
This month maintaned the status quo for the most part, with a similar number of films watched. We’ve now passed the 60% completion mark with 4 months to go, which means we need to up our viewing rate a little for the remainder of the year but the target of 500 films is still achievable. This month saw us give the highest average rating to date (3.3) so while we may not have watched quite as many films, the overall quality was decent.
Below are the stats for the month, including each team members’ best and worst picks from the films they watched for the first time. You can also scroll down to see the reviews written by each team member for every film watched in August.
Overall Stats
| January - June | July | August | September | October | November | December | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Films Watched | 282 | 39 | 35 | 63 | 38 | 37 | 74 |
| Unique Films Watched | 258 | 32 | 32 | 51 | 36 | 36 | 66 |
| New Reviews Added | 231 | 30 | 30 | 47 | 33 | 36 | 61 |
| Average Rating Given | 3.30 | 3.09 | 3.29 | 3.25 | 3.03 | 3.08 | 3.18 |
| Challenge Completion | 51.6% | 58.0% | 64.4% | 74.6% | 81.8% | 89.0% | 102.2% |
Team Member Stats for July
| Gordon | Mat | Simon | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Films Watched | 20 | 12 | 3 |
| Unique Films Watched | 20 | 11 | 2 |
| New Reviews Added | 18 | 9 | 2 |
| Average Rating Given | 3.30 | 3.38 | 3.00 |
| Best Film of the Month | Clash | Safety Not Guaranteed | The Boss Baby |
| Worst Film of the Month | The Mummy | Sharknado 5 | Indiana Jones 4 |
Gordon’s Reviews
| Poster | Movie | Year | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
6 Days | 2017 | This dramatised telling of the 1980 Iranian embassy siege carries some real tension, but is ruined by its overplayed pathos and a dreadful performance from Abbie Cornish. | 6 |
 |
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night | 2014 | Despite its excellent style and minimalist nature, this Iranian vampire tale has too little substance to retain interest. | 5 |
 |
Along Came a Spider | 2001 | A thrilling and satisfying follow up to Kiss the Girls, but falls foul of the ludicrous technology plots of the time. | 7 |
 |
Atomic Blonde | 2017 | Theron oozes mystery and the film is dripping with style, but the dull plot descends into prolonged and over choreographed fist and gun fights to fill the gaps. | 6 |
 |
Beatriz at Dinner | 2017 | As much as Salma Hayek and John Lithgow are wonderful in their respective selfless and selfish roles, the film is too obvious in its liberal agenda, leaving the viewer despising one and disinterested in the other. | 5 |
 |
Chuck | 2016 | An entertaining and endearing tale of the man who inspired Stallone's Rocky Balboa. Would have benefited from more detail. | 7 |
 |
Clash | 2016 | An amazing insight into the Egyptian uprising in 2013 from the confines of the back of an 8m armoured truck. A fantastic achievement and a thrilling glimpse of the struggles going on elsewhere in the world. | 9 |
 |
Creep | 2014 | A creepy two man thriller that isn't easy to forget. I am not sure the improvised dialogue really works in the first half of the film, but some of the scenes in the second half more than make up for it. | 7 |
 |
Draft Day | 2014 | With all the big and brash production of a cable TV sports show, Draft Day transcends the dull nature of the sports business and creates an exciting piece of melodrama. | 8 |
 |
El Bar (The Bar) | 2017 | What starts as a slapstick comedy ends as a tense survival thriller. An excellent thriller/comedy that makes you think about your own actions in those circumstances. | 8 |
 |
Force Majeure | 2014 | A skiing trip becomes unexpected marriage therapy after a cowardly reaction to an avalanche. Deliberately slow with gratuitous shots of the snowbound scenery, this certainly isn't for the action film fans! | 7 |
 |
Gone Baby Gone | 2007 | Some early indications of Affleck's directing flair, but the screenplay is lacking despite its excellent portrayal of the central moral dilemmas. | 7 |
 |
La Haine | 1995 | 24 hours in the French projects after a violent riot. 20 years old but feels as contemporary as ever. | 7 |
 |
Run Lola Run | 1998 | Lola must run to get hold of a large amount of money in 20 minutes to save her boyfriend. Three different outcomes for the same scenario make this a quirky, unique and refreshing tale with an excellent soundtrack. | 8 |
 |
The Ghost Writer | 2010 | Awful accents from Ewan McGregor and Kim Catrall are only put to shade by Polanski's dreadful direction and the incredibly dull script. | 3 |
 |
The Handmaiden | 2016 | A stunningly shot thriller told in three acts where each appears completely linear until the next turns it on its head. Its explicit erotica means that it isn't a film for the easily offended. | 8 |
 |
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki | 2016 | The charming true story of a Finnish boxer who has his shot at the title, but sees his preparations disrupted by his falling in love. Gentle and infectious. | 7 |
 |
The Mummy | 2017 | Another reboot that no-one asked for bombs by not understanding why the original worked. The film gets everything from the casting to the comedy wrong and spectacularly fails to justify its existence. | 2 |
 |
Wakefield | 2016 | The tale of a man's breakdown, which causes him to secretly live in the attic, fails by not giving the watcher a reason to care for the main character until it is too late. Though this may be a deliberate parallel with Wakefield's own predicament. | 5 |
Mat‘s Reviews
| Poster | Movie | Year | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
An Education | 2009 | Not my thing at all, but kept my attention thanks to the charisma of lead actress Carey Mulligan, a witty supporting turn from Alfred Molina and a story demonstrating just how much what constitutes an acceptable relationship has changed over the years. | 6 |
 |
Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's Fantastic Four | 2015 | A fascinating, funny and engaging look at the impact of Hollywood Producers' wheeling and dealing. By the end you will want to watch the unreleased movie out of sheer sympathy for those involved in making it! | 8 |
 |
Elysium | 2013 | The shaky camerawork is a bit jarring at times and the story isn't developed as well as it could be, but Neill Blomkamp excels at creating a plausible dark vision of the near future, the acting is good and the action is enjoyably over the top. | 7 |
 |
Jaws: The Revenge | 1987 | The plot is ludicrous, the acting mostly awful and the shark looks worse than the original, but this is still more entertaining than the third film, mostly due to the unintentional comedy. | 4 |
 |
Ransom | 1996 | The actions of Mel Gibson's character are ridiculous and deplorable, but somehow that just adds to the appeal of this brilliant thriller, which also features an excellent performance from Gary Sinise. | 8 |
 |
Safety Not Guaranteed | 2012 | Some viewers might be disappointed that it doesn’t really deliver on its Time Travel premise, but this quirky, heartwarming and frequently hilarious relationship drama is much more entertaining than it would've been as straight Sci-Fi. | 8 |
 |
Sharknado 5: Global Swarming | 2017 | From the dire acting and preposterous plot to the cheap special effects, it's dreadful in almost every way, but still provides entertainment with a few laughs, surprising cameos and shameless nods to far superior films. | 4 |
 |
Spider-Man | 2002 | 15 years and two reboots on, Tobey Maguire remains the best incarnation of Spidey, and this is a cracking debut, blending origin story, high school comedy and action thriller to great effect. | 8 |
 |
The Colony (Colonia) | 2015 | A potentially interesting true story turns out to be generally grim and depressing, with indifferent performances from all of the main actors. Overall, unconvincing and rather boring. | 5 |
 |
The Loft | 2014 | There's an intriguing premise to this whodunnit and a decent calibre of acting, but none of the characters are likeable and as a result it's hard to stay engaged until the fairly predictable twist ending. | 5 |
 |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended) | 2001 | My favourite of the three films, a warm-hearted story of heroism and the power of friendship, with plenty of action and glorious visuals. The extended version gives further enrichment to Peter Jackson's vision of Tolkien's Middle Earth. | 10 |
 |
X-Men 2 | 2003 | Lighter on action than I remembered, and definitely a bit too long, but this remains one of the best movies of its type thanks to some scintillating dialogue, classy acting and plenty of drama. One of the more cerebral Superhero films! | 8 |
Simon’s Reviews
| Poster | Movie | Year | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | 2008 | A brave attempt to bring Indy back, and a much older Harrison Ford does OK as the famous explorer. There are some interesting set pieces, and the beginning is well done, but the story is inconsistent and ultimately it ends up disappointing. | 5 |
 |
The Boss Baby | 2017 | It is good how it is crafted through the world of babies and children, I liked the character and his interaction with his brother. Don't expect anything outstanding and enjoy it for what it is, a typical family animation that portrays the genre to a tee. | 7 |
 |
The Day the Earth Stood Still | 2008 | An interesting concept, and a thought provoking movie. Reeves is OK as Klaatu and the acting is acceptable, there is tension, and some action is good. Overall quite a watchable film. | 6 |