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 new MovieViews database. Once again we’re halfway through the next month, but here’s our February update!
February was a busy month for the whole team and that is reflected in the reduced number of films we watched compared to January. Nevertheless, Gordon and Mat still managed to watch more than the targeted number. Sadly Graeme has decided to no longer participate in the challenge after only managing to see two films in February, so the challenge just became a little harder for the remaining three members of the team!
Despite these setbacks, we’ve almost managed to watch a quarter of the films we need to complete our challenge in just two months, so are still making excellent progress. Our revised target is now 13 films a month per team member, which should be easily achievable.
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 February.
Overall Stats
| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Films Watched | 84 | 45 | 47 | 31 | 52 | 23 | 39 |
| Unique Films Watched | 78 | 36 | 39 | 27 | 42 | 18 | 32 |
| New Reviews Added | 72 | 37 | 40 | 25 | 38 | 20 | 30 |
| Average Rating Given | 3.21 | 3.27 | 3.29 | 2.73 | 3.23 | 3.22 | 3.09 |
| Challenge Completion | 15.6% | 22.8% | 30.6% | 36.0% | 44.4% | 48.0% | 54.4% |
Team Member Stats for February
| Gordon | Graeme | Mat | Simon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Films Watched | 22 | 2 | 15 | 6 |
| Unique Films Watched | 20 | 2 | 15 | 4 |
| New Reviews Added | 20 | 0 | 14 | 3 |
| Average Rating Given | 3.18 | 4 | 3.13 | 3.67 |
| Best Film of the Month | Paterson | - | In Bruges | World War Z |
| Worst Film of the Month | Counter Clockwise | - | Black Mountain Poets | The Purge: Election Year |
Graeme‘s Reviews
| Poster | Movie | Year | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Guardians of the Galaxy | 2014 | Not much was expected from the Guardians, a relatively little-known rag-tag superhero team from the Marvel universe. That the film is a total delight from start to finish is down to the charisma of its leads and the verbal interplay between them. | 8 |
 |
Star Trek Into Darkness | 2013 | No Review Supplied | 6 |
Simon‘s Reviews
| Poster | Movie | Year | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Big Hero 6 | 2014 | A really great animated film with a wonderful and lovable main character in Baymax. An uplifting story and great animation leaves you hoping for more. | 8 |
 |
Quadrophenia | 1979 | The seminal classic Mod v Rockers extravaganza. Great characters, a good story and well choreographed scenes add up to a slice of 60's life that many will remember fondly or with disdain. | 8 |
 |
Slap Shot | 1977 | A slice of 70s nostalgia and I find it a likeable, if somewhat linear experience. Paul Newman carries it but I quite enjoyed revisiting it after many decades since I last watched. | 6 |
 |
The Purge: Anarchy | 2014 | A worthy sequel. Taking the story outside is a good move and the suspense builds as it turn into a classic survival horror. | 7 |
 |
The Purge: Election Year | 2016 | I thought a third film might be taking this series too far but it was not bad at all. Pretty much more of the same but still with enough action and suspense along the way to keep you entertained. | 7 |
 |
World War Z | 2013 | From the breathtaking opening scene to the great visuals and stunning set pieces, WWZ is an exhilarating movie and an interesting take on the Zombie Genre. Recommended. | 8 |
Mat‘s Reviews
| Poster | Movie | Year | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Black Mountain Poets | 2015 | An interesting premise and a couple of good moments, but overall this film fails to deliver convincingly on the comedy or drama fronts, with mostly boring characters. | 4 |
 |
Collateral | 2004 | Both Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx excel in atypical roles in a gripping, incredibly stylish thriller with a superb soundtrack. | 9 |
 |
Eden Lake | 2008 | Grim, harrowing and shocking, this real-world British horror story is all the more disturbing because it seems credible. A gripping film, but not enjoyable in the slightest. | 6 |
 |
Hercules | 2014 | Despite the boringly predictable fight scenes, some genuine humour and an interesting twist on the story of this legendary character made this movie better than expected. | 7 |
 |
Hitchcock | 2012 | An intriguing and surprisingly witty interpretation of the story behind the scenes of the shooting of Psycho, which gives fascinating insight into the lives of its director and his wife. | 7 |
 |
In Bruges | 2008 | Outrageously funny, occasionally violent, yet surprisingly touching, this is undoubtedly Colin Farrell's finest performance and a film that was every bit as good as my friends hyped it up to be. | 8 |
 |
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | 1984 | Whilst it contains some of the most exciting action sequences of the series, an over-reliance on gross-out scenes and the grim, Occult-themed story make this the worst of the 80s Indy films. | 6 |
 |
Need For Speed | 2015 | Successfully adapts the videogame series in that all it consists of is a series of car races, which aren't enough to stop it becoming tiresome despite decent acting for a movie of this type. | 5 |
 |
Sixteen Candles | 1984 | A by-the-numbers 80's high school comedy that has a few decent moments along with some embarrassing racial stereotyping. Definitely not director John Hughes' finest hour. | 6 |
 |
Switchback | 1997 | An interesting serial killer thriller-cum-road movie with some great locations and characters, which would've been better if they hadn't given the killer's identity away before the final act. | 7 |
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Terminator Genisys | 2015 | Starts off well enough as an alternate version of the first film, but the plot is well and truly lost by the end. A few reasonable action setpieces help to subdue the confusing story. | 6 |
 |
The Reef | 2010 | A reasonably well shot shark attack thriller that often takes too long to build tension, becoming almost boring at times, until the inevitable payoffs. | 5 |
 |
The Ward | 2010 | Convincing John Carpenter to direct this film probably helped with its marketing, but even he couldn’t stop this mediocre psychological horror being instantly forgettable. | 5 |
 |
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil | 2010 | A unique and witty spin on the 'killer in the woods' horror film, with two very likeable lead actors. It runs out of steam in the second half, but the hilarity of the first makes up for it. | 7 |
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Universal Soldier | 1992 | Cleverly making the best of the two lead actors by not having them act much, this is a decent action film with an above-average story and even a touch of humour. | 6 |
Gordon’s Reviews
| Poster | Movie | Year | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi | 2016 | Whilst it is easy to commend Michael Bay for restraint, this is more a consideration of his past excesses than this films quality. Films of this type live and die on its leads characters and unfortunately I had little interest for these guns for hire. | 6 |
 |
20th Century Women | 2016 | Whether it is its arty-farty attempts to cover a multitude of 'issues' or the slightly dull characters, the film is a disappointing exploration of feminism and its impacts on a 1970s family. | 4 |
 |
A Man Called Ove | 2016 | Like a straight (but comedic) One Foot in the Grave where Margaret has died and Victor wants to join her, but the world conspires to stop him. Wonderful. | 8 |
 |
Bleed For This | 2016 | The boxing scenes suffer from comparison to Creed, but Teller is excellent in this amazing true life comeback tale. | 8 |
 |
Collateral Beauty | 2016 | Far too twee and sickly sweet, but not enough to ruin the film. Though in its desire to clear up all loose ends it betrays its main theme of grief. | 6 |
 |
Counter Clockwise | 2016 | Had it been a film school project it would struggle to get a passing grade. The writer, director and cast all think they are much better than they really are. | 3 |
 |
Fare | 2016 | An odd film that is shot entirely in and around the confines of an Uber. Part psychological relationship drama and part thriller, it all goes a bit unexpected and unexplainable towards the end. | 7 |
 |
Land of Mine | 2015 | An amazing piece of cinema that tells a little known true story of how the Germans POWs were treated after their failed occupation of Norway. Stunningly filmed and beautifully acted. | 9 |
 |
Lethal Weapon | 1987 | Apart from the pointless ending Lethal Weapon holds up extremely well and reminds us of how good Mel Gibson's psycho persona really is. | 7 |
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Lethal Weapon 2 | 1989 | A very dumb sequel, but also very entertaining. It Improves on the original, despite Patsy Kensit and introduces the South African movie villain with style. | 7 |
 |
Lethal Weapon 3 | 1992 | The action and the comedy are turned up a notch, while Gibson's performance is toned down. All adds up to a great 90s buddy cop flick. | 7 |
 |
Live By Night | 2016 | A mobster film with little in the way of action won't float many boats, but the drama is extremely well told and beautifully shot.. Another feather in Affleck's burgeoning director's cap. | 8 |
 |
Paterson | 2016 | A delightfully humdrum film about life's poetry. Surprisingly not in consideration for the major awards. | 8 |
 |
Silence | 2016 | Not the epic Scorsese was hoping for, but an extremely well told historical drama that leaves enough moral questions to reward your patience. | 7 |
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Slap Shot | 1977 | Not enough comedy to be a comedy or enough drama to be a drama. | 4 |
 |
Tanna | 2015 | Based on a true story and performed completely by actual Tanna tribespeople. But strip away the experimental nature of the film and you are left with an engaging but slight forbidden love story. | 6 |
 |
The Founder | 2016 | Another tale of how the American Dream is really the big guy kicking over the small guy's sandcastle. Well told, but Keaton is just Keaton so I am glad the early Oscar buzz petered out. | 6 |
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The Great Wall | 2016 | A run of the mill action adventure that is so light on plot and heavy on bad cgi that you will come away feeling dumber than when you started. | 4 |
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The Red Turtle | 2016 | A beautiful and mesmerising dialogue-less tale. Wonderfully written, scored and directed. My only detractor was that there were situations where words would/should have been spoken, but the device wouldn't allow. | 8 |
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The White King | 2016 | Don't believe anyone who tries to convince you this film has some kind of relevance with Trump's America. It is just a poor dystopia film with some of the worst acting outside of soap opera. | 3 |
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The Young Offenders | 2016 | This film has everything we love about Irish comedy. Great characters, hilarious situations and a killer soundtrack. Funniest film of 2016 and now has a TV series spin off. | 8 |
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World War Z | 2013 | Interesting and exciting, but a little too repetitive and convenient. | 6 |