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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Coming 2 America | 2021 | Comedy, Romance | Relying heavily on scenes and themes from the original film, this sequel adds an abundance of black cultural empowerment and entertaining cameos, but while it is watchable, it isn't especially funny. | 3 |
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Palm Springs | 2020 | Comedy, Romance, SciFi | This 21st century take on Groundhog Day doesn't really break any new ground in the time-loop romantic comedy stakes, but the acting is good and it strikes a nice balance between irreverent and heartwarming, with some decent laughs to boot. | 3.5 |
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The Lie | 2018 | Drama, Thriller | When a girl confesses to killing her friend, her parents try to cover it up in about the most inept way possible, making this more amusing than it was probably meant to be. The inevitable twist at the end was more surprising than expected though. | 2.5 |
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Willy's Wonderland | 2021 | Action, Horror | Demonic animatronic animals torment Nicolas Cage, whose completely dialogue-free performance is certainly interesting. Story-wise it is fairly generic and the supporting actors are average at best, but the visuals and soundtrack are well done. | 3 |
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The Losers | 2010 | Action, Thriller | Crams plenty of action into its short running time and the cast is good aside from a poor performance from Idris Elba, but the balance between action and comedy isn't quite right and the ending is odd, blatantly setting up a sequel that never happened. | 3 |
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The Ice Road | 2021 | Action, Thriller | Highly improbable and formulaic from beginning to end, but there are enough perilous action sequences to keep it entertaining and kudos to the producers for letting Liam Neeson use his real accent. | 2.5 |
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Antebellum | 2020 | Mystery, Thriller | An impressive, lengthy single-shot opening sets the tone for some great cinematography, but the story fails to deliver at the right time and comes across as a muddled Shyamalan-wannabe, which is no compliment given some of that director's work! | 2.5 |
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Cocoon | 1985 | Drama, SciFi | As heartwarming as it is seeing a bunch of senior citizens recapturing their youth, the story is flimsy and so little of significance happens that a number of scenes seem to be there just to pad out the running time. | 3 |
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Brothers in Arms (AKA Semper Fi) | 2019 | Crime, Drama, Thriller | Testosterone-fueled nonsense permeates the opening act and the Iraq war scenes have virtually no relevance, but the gripping, well orchestrated prison break sequence that closes out the movie makes it worth sitting throught the mediocre first half. | 3 |
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Anna | 2019 | Action, Thriller | Good acting, more twists than you can keep track of and a seriously sexy lead actress make for a decent action film that is somewhat spoiled by the annoying use of technology that never existed in the era it was set. | 3 |
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Masterminds | 2016 | Comedy, Crime | Hardly the career highlight of any of the actors involved and there are a number of cringeworthy gross-out scenes that lower the tone, but the verbal and physical comedy isn't bad and the fact it's based on a true story helps. | 2.5 |
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Ready or Not | 2019 | Horror, Thriller | Another variation on the theme of an unexpectedly resourceful female character fighting off a group of assailants, this has a great mix of black comedy and gruesome violence and while it doesn't really do anything new, it’s a lot of fun. | 3.5 |
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Timecop | 1994 | Action, SciFi | The cheesy dialogue, over-acting and gratuitious nudity place it very much in the 90s, but despite those shortcomings, the time travel story is well written and the action sequences are good. | 3 |
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The Man Who Killed Hitler and then the Bigfoot | 2018 | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy | Sam Elliott is his usual engimatic self in this film that takes a bizarre story and plays it dead straight, providing funny moments as a result. There's also some surprisingly heartfelt drama as the main character's back story is revealed via flashbacks. | 3.5 |
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Alpha | 2018 | Adventure | A brave idea, set in preshistoric times and using a fictional language, and while some of the CGI is below-par, the landscapes are spectacular and the story of how wolves theoretically began their journey to become domestic dogs is interesting. | 3.5 |
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Dead Poets Society | 1989 | Drama | Not the kind of film I would ever choose to watch myself, but Robin Williams is brilliant as the teacher inspiring his students to think outside the box. It's just a shame the downbeat ending makes it a far less uplifting story than it could have been. | 3.5 |
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Last Shift | 2014 | Horror | Story-wise it is generic and confusing, but if you're looking for an endless onslaught of terrifying scenes that tick all the horror boxes then this delivers them in spades. | 2.5 |
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Say Your Prayers | 2020 | Comedy, Drama | Amusing and a little tragic, this takes a very British look at religious fundamentalism and the lengths some people might go to doing their god's work, whilst also packing in quite a few funny scenes and some hilarious dialogue. | 3 |
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The Evil Dead | 1981 | Horror | The low budget shows in many ways and it is far less terrifying than it would have been 40 years ago, but some of the effects and camerawork are brilliant and the almost never-ending blitz of gruesome scenes is still quite something to behold. | 3 |
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Rambo: Last Blood | 2019 | Action, Thriller | This excessively violent revenge movie steals the plot of Taken for the most part and is incredibly generic, with the worst thing being that it doesn’t feel like a Rambo film at all and is an insult to the legacy of Stallone's iconic character. | 2 |
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Benny Loves You | 2019 | Comedy, Horror | Takes liberal influence from other 'demonic toy' films and the low budget shows in the acting quality and cinematography, but the special effects are generally quite impressive and the story and dialogue are amusing in places. | 2.5 |
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Disappearance at Clifton Hill | 2019 | Mystery, Thriller | This could have been a decent mystery film as the set-up is good and the acting is fine, but it's spoiled by the over-complicated story and simply horrendous freeform jazz score. | 2.5 |
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The Hidden | 1987 | Action, SciFi | The true nature of the antagonist is given away way too early and there is a fair amount of 80s cheese, but the acting talent is good and there's a decent mix of action and black comedy in this cult favourite. | 3.5 |
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His House | 2020 | Drama, Horror | A creepy haunted house story that also dwells on the isolation and loss of identity experienced by asylum seekers, this probably tries to cram too much into a 90 minute film but the acting is excellent and the scary moments are well executed. | 3.5 |
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James vs His Future Self | 2019 | Comedy, Drama, SciFi | Daniel Stern is the star attraction as the deranged older version of a man trying to convince his younger self not to invent time travel. An amusing movie that is less about Sci-Fi and more about learning to enjoy the lighter side of life. | 3 |