“Cabin Fever” was the film that got director Eli Roth (“Hostel”, “Green Inferno”) a lot of attention. This a movie that has some really terrifying concepts in it but ultimately, it’s a little bit of a mess. It’s not really clear what the film is trying to be as it’s all over the place.

A group of teens are celebrating their university graduation by renting a remote cabin in the woods. A seriously ill stranger approaches them for help. They fear infection so try to get him to keep his distance. As time goes by, they become increasingly concerned that they may have caught the horrible virus that eats away at the flesh of the host. This sparks friction with locals, who are determined to stop the spread of the disease.

The teens are not particularly engaging but they are not as bad as the teens in many horror films. The locals present a real problem in the movie. I had no clue whether they were meant to be scary, funny or some combination of the two. I don’t think the filmmakers are sure either. There are also animals in the movie that also present problems for those staying in the cabin. Eli Roth has a cameo as a stoner.

Clearly “Evil Dead” played a big part in inspiring this movie but it also reminded me of the film “Matango” from Japan with the sequences depicting the disease. The special effects for the disease are terrific. The movie does a good job at building tension but then it throws in bizarre comedic scenes that just don’t work. Also, the editing annoyed me with the constant fading to black. I think the movie is confused about what it’s really about. Is the threat the disease, the animals, the teens themselves or the locals? It throws way too much at the audience.

“Monkey Shines” is a sci-fi/horror from director George A. Romero (“Dawn of the Dead”, “The Crazies”). It definitely has a bit of “Re-Animator” feel to it along with some elements from “Rear Window”. I think parts of it are entertaining but the problem is that the film is just too darn long with way too much going on.

After a terrible accident, Allan (Jason Beghe “G.I. Jane”) becomes a quadriplegic. To help cope with his new physical state, his scientist friend (John Pankow “To Live And Die In L.A.”) decides to give him helper monkey Ella (Boo). However, this is no ordinary helper monkey as it has been experimented on.

Jason Beghe does a reasonable job as Allan. John Pankow is okay as Geoffrey. However, the star of the show is of course Boo as Ella. This monkey performer is pretty amazing as we see it carry out all forms of tasks. The sounds for the monkey were provided by Frank Welker, who is best known for his portrayal of Megatron in the original “Transformers”. The relationship that develops between Allan and Ella is initially quite heart-warming but it becomes rather intense by the end. The final confrontation between the two is hilarious.

“Monkey Shines” has some ridiculous scenes and lines of dialog dotted throughout but it also has more serious and tender moments. It seems like there was no clear decision about the tone of the movie. There are way too many plot elements in here and this movie could have been saved in the editing room. By far the most absurd plot point has to be the paranormal connection between Allan and Ella, which should have definitely been scrapped. If you are a big fan of George A. Romero then maybe you will like this and I can safely say that I enjoyed this one more than some of his zombie movies.

The Marx Brothers return for more craziness in “Monkey Business”. Unlike “Duck Soup” and “Horse Feathers”, people don’t mention this one as much but I enjoyed about as much as those two movies.

The Marx Brothers are causing more trouble and this time their stowaways on a cruise ship. There is no real plot as such but just a series of scenes that are excuses for the Marx Brothers to annoy as many people on the ship as possible. If you’ve seen any of the other movies with the Marx Brothers, you will know exactly what sort-of shenanigans to expect.

Groucho Marx is funny as always with his quick wit and great one-liners and I guess maybe I’ve grown to find the other brothers more tolerable; although he doesn’t do anything particularly funny, I didn’t mind the scenes with Harpo so much this time. Chico is mildly amusing as usual. Zeppo again plays the straight man so don’t expect any laughs from him. It’s amazing how poor their chemistry is (maybe that explains why they have so few scenes where they are all together) considering they are real-life brothers. The other characters are all simply there for the Marx Brothers to irritate with their whacky hijinks.

An interesting piece of trivia is that this film was banned in Ireland until 2000 over fears that it would cause anarchy among the public but for some reason, none of the other Marx Brothers films were banned. There are some genuinely clever scenes here such as one near the beginning where the four brothers are hiding in some barrels. If you like the Marx Brothers movies, this is worth checking out and for those looking for an old-fashioned comedy could easily get a kick out of this too. If you’ve never seen the Marx Brothers, I don’t think it really matters where you start as long as you don’t do what I did and watch “Love Happy” first.

“Mom And Dad” is a black comedy horror flick that contains various moments that seem to just represent the filmmakers begging for controversy. Parts of it are legitimately funny but a lot of it is very dull. For every goofy scene that will make you smile, there are two or three that decimate your interest in the overall product.

An unexplained phenomenon sees parents try to murder their own children. Carly (Anne Winters “Night School”) and Josh (Zackary Arthur “The 5th Wave”) struggle to survive when their parents (Nicolas Cage “Snake Eyes”, Selma Blair “Cruel Intentions”) do their best to kill them.

Let me perfectly honest by making it clear that I did not give a damn about the kids in this movie. The Carly character is a whiny brat and Josh has no discernible personality. The other kids in the film are not any better. Nicolas Cage is great when he is allowed to act completely insane but unfortunately, we have to wait until the last half of the movie before we get to see him let loose. Selma Blair is rather bland. The chemistry between the two is rather weak. Near the end of the film, Nicolas Cage’s characters parents show up so Lance Henriksen (“Aliens”) gets a brief cameo.

The violence in this film is pretty extreme. We see scenes of a parent trying to suffocate a kid with plastic bags, a mother trying to stab her new-born baby and a couple attempting to gas their children. All of this just seems to smell of desperation. The moments where Nicolas Cage is allowed to act like a wild animal are definitely the highlights of “Mom And Dad”. Aside from the Cage performance, it just feels like it’s mixing “The Purge”, “The Crazies” and “The Visit”. If that sounds like your kind of thing then check it out.

“Modern Times” is still viewed as a comedic masterpiece after all these years and that’s a testament to the brilliant Charlie Chaplin (“City Lights”, “The Kid”). The man knew his craft better than anybody and impressively managed to carry on doing his thing despite “Modern Times” being released several years after sound had revolutionised filmmaking.

The Tramp (Chaplin) loses his job at a factory and finds himself in a seemingly endless struggle to find work. Living on the street, he finds new meaning in his life when he befriends a young homeless woman (Paulette Goddard “The Women”). The two are determined to do whatever it takes to fulfil their dream of finding a home together.

Chaplin was incredibly weary of sound. He knew that the Tramp appealed to audiences across the globe precisely because he did not need to speak. In this movie, we do hear the Tramp but he only sings nonsensically. The scene where Chaplin roller-skates while blindfolded is truly iconic. There are so many other great moments with him just doing what he does best that I’m afraid that I cannot name them all. Paulette Goddard is good as the young woman that the Tramp finds himself falling for.

“Modern Times” has sequences showing automation and industrialisation that rival shots in “Metropolis”. It’s interesting that so much of the movie deals with technology because the Tramp’s struggles to extent mirror Chaplin’s own concerns and frustrations with the advances behind the camera. I think I prefer some of his other work such as “City Lights” but it does not really matter, “Modern Times” is another excellent film from Chaplin. The choreography, the wondrous contraptions and the emotive scenes of the Tramp and the young woman will stick with you. You simply have to see “Modern Times” because you should never miss an opportunity to see a Chaplin slapstick classic.

The second instalment in the original trilogy of “Mobile Suit Gundam” movies delivers more robot action. The first “Mobile Suit Gundam” movie marked my first exposure to the franchise and I have since seen some of the episodes of “Mobile Suit Gundam Wing”. “Soldiers Of Sorrow” is pretty much the same as the first film (the whole trilogy is re-edited version of the original anime series) but it’s not a problem when we are talking about more robots battling each other.

The war between the space colonies continues with the White Base warship having to routinely engage with the enemy forces as they make their way to the Earth Federation’s headquarters. Amuro and his fellow crew members will have their skills put to the test.

While the characters are not always fascinating, I do like the way the film shows you the toll that the fighting has on them. Every few scenes, we see them having to repel another attack from the Zeon forces so understandably, the White Base crew grows insecure, frustrated and tired. However, the highlights of “Mobile Suit Gundam” are the robots. There’s plenty of Gundam action and it just never gets old seeing the mechs battle one another. The animation is impressive considering the age of the movie.

I think I liked the first film a little bit more than this one just because it was the first time I had seen “Mobile Suit Gundam” so some of the novelty has understandably worn off the second time around. However, I still recommend you check out “Soldiers Of Sorrow” if you enjoyed the first movie as it continues the adventure of Amuro and the rest of the White Base crew. There’s an unbelievable amount of action scenes in here so be prepared for something intense. If you have not seen the first movie then definitely see that one before this.

“Mobile Suit Gundam” is one of the longest running anime franchises and it first became a hit in Japan when the original series was edited and re-released into three movies. This is the first of that trilogy and my first experience of the “Gundam” franchise. This is a fun and exciting sci-fi and for those of you unfamiliar with it, it is like “Transformers” meets “Star Wars”.

Set in the year Universal Century 0079, humans have colonised areas of space between the Earth and the Moon. A teenage boy by the name of Amuro becomes an important player in an interplanetary war fought between the colonies. He becomes the pilot of a new giant battle robot, known as ‘Mobile Suit Gundam’.

The Amuro character is actually really sympathetic. The movie is quite long and has lots of action sequences so we really get the sense of how tiring fighting a war can be and therefore we become understanding of the challenges Amuro faces. The other characters are okay but most of my attention was on the robots. Giant robots fighting makes everything more entertaining and we get to see them battle on land and in space. The animation is fairly impressive considering the age of the original “Mobile Suit Gundam” and the fact that this was originally for a television series and not a movie.

If you have never heard of “Mobile Suit Gundam” then do not be surprised because it certainly has not reached mainstream audiences. However, if you are remotely interested in giant robots fighting then you need to do some research. Fans of shows such as the original “Transformers” will find themselves right at home with “Mobile Suit Gundam”. I do get that a lot of people are not going to like this, which is a shame because it is surprisingly quite legitimately entertaining.

There are very few spy movies that can top “Mission: Impossible”. This a movie where that loveable sense of double and even triple crossing is present along with some immensely enjoyable action sequences that may well be silly but are very fun still.

The film has a confusing plot but the world of spies would be boring if it weren’t confusing. Near the beginning of the film, I.M.F. (Impossible Mission Force) agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise “Top Gun”, “Minority Report”) sees the rest of his team murdered during a mission but are they really dead? Ethan Hunt must soon prove that he is not part of weapons deal as well as stopping the bad guys get hold of names and codenames of agents across the continents.

Tom Cruise is either pretty good or horrifically over the top and here he’s pretty good. I was surprised at how impressed I was with Cruise’s performance though as I didn’t expect that what he’d have to work with be very good and I thought he’d overdo as this is an action movie. Jon Voight (“Heat”, “Transformers”) is reasonably good as Ethan’s boss, Jim Phelps. Jean Reno (“Godzilla”, “Leon”) isn’t too great as Franz Krieger. Most of the cast are so and so.

There is loads of sneaking around in “Mission: Impossible”, there is loads of action too. The finale has Ethan Hunt going after the bad guy on a moving train. A helicopter gets involved and there is a huge explosion. However, it wasn’t the action that is the best part of “Mission: Impossible”. I love the team effort in this movie. As great as some of the “James Bond” films are, he’s always the one who does all the work and very rarely does he get much help. Here, “Mission: Impossible” features earpieces and hackers so everything can run like clockwork, which I feel is a little more sophisticated kind of spy work.

The first “Mission: Impossible” had great action and a confusing enough story to really make you think. The second one was a little too goofy for my tastes but it was better than this one. “Mission: Impossible 3” isn’t as clever as the first and just becomes an average spy flick.

In “Mission: Impossible 3”, I.M.F agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise “Top Gun”, “Cocktail”) is called back into action in order to rescue a captured spy, who has vital information. Shortly after Ethan and his team go for the weapons dealer named Owen Davian (Phillip Seymour Hoffman “Moneyball”), who is behind all of it. After Davian escapes Ethan must race to save his wife Julia as well as evade his fellow spies as they think he’s gone rogue (again).

Tom Cruise is reasonably good here. He’s not laughably bad like he is in some of his pictures but he’s not great like he is in some of his other work. Phillip Seymour Hoffman isn’t very good as the villain. A villain needs to have charisma in order to be good, this is something I haven’t seen any in of the “Mission: Impossible” films. Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix”) is alright in this picture. Simon Pegg (“Paul”, “Star Trek”) is mediocre in this film.

“Mission: Impossible 3” is sadly just a mediocre spy flick. The action sequences are too reminiscent of a videogame with the way they are filmed too be considered entertaining. The plot seems to rehash too many of the elements seen in the first “Mission: Impossible” for it to feel original and I just felt the film was lacking as far as fun factor goes. Blowing stuff up is only fun when done right and “Mission: Impossible 3” doesn’t quite get that right, which is a shame as that would have probably won me over.

“Mission: Impossible 2” is inconceivably stupid and overdone at times. The film is so darn right ridiculous that it’s hard to take your eyes off of the madness of it all. The movie was directed by John Woo (“Face/Off”, “Hard Boiled”) so it’s not surprising.

In “Mission: Impossible 2”, we find out that a rogue agent (Dougray Scott “Hitman”) is on his way to steal a new genetically modified and lethal disease. He intends to use it to poison the world only so he can sell the cure to make a massive profit for himself. Then we find our favourite top secret agent, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise “Top Gun”, “Mission: Impossible”), is on the case after his holiday climbing up a mountain in a ridiculous yet fun scene is cut short. After his team is located, Ethan sets out to catch his villainous adversary. Also, on the way, he must choose between everything he loves and everything he believes in.

Tom Cruise is amusing as Ethan Hunt. He’s a generally likeable character but is overdone by Cruise’s acting. Dougray Scott is unmemorable as the villain Sean Armbrose, although he’s twisted and has a decent scheme and the performance is relatively good he blends in with the crowd of modern standard spy movie villains.

“Mission: Impossible 2” is unapologetically stupid and darn right weird at points but this spy movie contains some of the most entertaining yet ridiculous action scenes I’ve ever seen. When the good guy and bad guy, who are both on motorcycles, fiercely roar their engines and drive at each other and jump into the air and tackle each other, I was giggling so hard my sides were on the verge of splitting. “Mission: Impossible 2” is all-round an okay movie and a relatively average sequel but unless you really need to see the motorcycle scene, I say skip it as there are much better spy flicks out there.