Where to begin. She’s a fiercely independent interior designer from Boston with money to burn; he’s a (potato?) chef from the nether regions of Ireland, about to lose his pub to the debt collectors. She’s never heard of the little town of Wales (is it a country? Who even cares eh?), and he’s never heard of electricity. Are they meant to be? Har de har har, ooh of course they are, you eejits, pull us another pint!

Is that a plane, or a time machine?

Mrs I’m-From-America, aka Anna Brady (Amy Adams) is deliriously happy with her cardiologist boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) and as their four-year anniversary approaches, she becomes convinced he is about to get down on bended knee. He doesn’t (Ha ha oh the unexpected hilarity), and heads off to Dublin instead for a conference. Like a bastard. Anna hatches a plan to propose to Jeremy in Ireland on Leap Day cos, you know, that’s the only time you can do it if you’re just a rubbish girl.

However, her carefully plotted travel itinerary falls into disarray when bad weather forces the airplane to make a detour, far from her intended destination of Dublin. What’s a girl to do when she’s stuck in Wales? Where apparently you can only wear brown? Thankfully, handsome innkeeper Declan (Matthew Goode) promises to help her travel all of the way to Dublin in time for February 29, in exchange for the euros to save his ailing pub. The trek to the Irish capital is fraught with peril, and Anna and Declan fall victim to outrageous misfortune, most of which are cow and sheep based. They have to dodge the countless Irish-Catholics, fall into massive puddles, discover the wheel and follow the leprechauns to a pot’o'gold (or whatever), and along the way, shock and more shock, they start to feel some special fuzzy feelings for one another. Even the usual charms of Amy Adams can’t save the script, and considering Matthew Goode has already rinsed the film in interviews, it’s no surprise that he too lacks sparkle.

Once bitten…

It comes as no surprise that screenwriters Kaplan and Elfont were responsible for the Patrick Dempsey romantic comedy Made Of Honor, which painted Scotland as one big, bonnie, kilt-clad haggis-town. Expect nothing less from Leap Year, expect with a green lens instead of a tartan one. After the horror (the HORROR) of P.S I Love You, we hoped that Hollywood would give up the green-and-clovery ghost, but they’ve managed to outdo even that with this offensive, cliche filled monstrosity. Hollywood, you can’t do Ireland. Leave Ireland alone, OK?

Special Features

On the Set of Leap Year
Deleted scenes
Trailer

How were you affected by Leap Year? Let us know below

As ever, click on the pics to be transported to the trailer

Perrier’s Bounty

Starring Cillian Murphy, Perrier’s Bounty seems to be a pretty run-of-the-mill mobster chase, with Cillian playing Adam, an Oirsh boy who owes a thousand quid to a big bad mobster. He goes on the run with his lover and his Dad (Jim Broadbent) around the valleys of Ireland, but the bad guys are never far behind. Reviews are mixed, with some critics labelling this as a fun dark comedy, whilst others lamenting the lack of original story or pace. One to judge for yourselves, we reckon. At least the makers can be safe in the knowledge that, no matter what, it can’t be as bad as Leap Year.

Shank

Shank is a kidult action flick, set in a decaying London in 2015. A gang set out on a chase to avenge the murder of one of their own, with all the inner-city grunge and reebok trainers that entails. Initial reviews have been rather patchy, with talk of cliche set pieces and shooting above its budget, but it seems to have gleaned admiration for it’s realistic portryal of younger gang culture. It’s being billed as an action flick for the young generation, so if that’s your bag, we’d check it out.

Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang

Set in 1940s England, Nanny McPhee returns with a tale of warring families, in a battle between town kids and country kids. Maggie Gyllenhaal stars this time around, as the mum of 3 boistrous children, left to run a farm whilst her husband is at war. When three stuck up London kids are evacuated to her care, battle commences, and it’s only by calling in the world’s most terrifying nanny that peace might be enforced. Written and starring Emma Thompson, this seems to be a smart, interesting and colourful comedy for little ones who want a bit more from their film viewing than things exploding. Perfect family fodder.

The Blind Side

Sandra Bullock gives an (apparently) award winning performance in this sweet drama about a young homeless black kid who gets taken in by a well-off family. Through their care, funds and support, he discovers all he can be, cue American Football cliches and lots of soft focus lighting. The fact that it’s based on a true story adds a lot of bite to this fluffy story, but ultimately it seems that audiences are left a little baffled as to what Sandra actually won the Oscar for. (Read our review here)

Extract

Mike Judge bring us Extract, starring Jason Bateman as a man who runs an extract (as in vanilla, almond etc) factory. He’s stuck in a mundane marriage, a dull life and wonders (in this rather Coen-esque set-up) where his life is going. Enter Hot Young Girl (played by a wide-eyed Mila Kunis) and suddenly, the factory isn’t so dull anymore. It looks to be a low-key, clever little comedy, with a surprise cameo from Ben Affleck as a stoner best friend. We’re up for it.

See anything you like? Let us know what you think of the latest releases, we’re always looking to broaden our knowledge. Check back next week for our reviews!

Click on the pics for trailer-y goodness!

Alice In Wonderland

A film that needs no introduction. It’s finally here! After months of promos, massive arguments between Disney and UK cinemas and the biggest marketing push since Avatar, Burton’s Alice In Wonderland is actually hitting our screens. Initial reviews seem to be pretty bloody brilliant, with the only thing letting it down being a slightly C.S. Lewis-esque plot, and we can’t deny that we’re more excited than a fat kid in a lard factory. A very important date, indeed.

Anticipation Rating: 5/5

Case 39

Renee Zellweger stars in this horror as Emily Jenkins, a social worker assigned to a very odd case. Lilith, a ten year old girl, is put in her care after her parents try to kill her. Emily takes her in, and very odd things begin happening in her home. Slowly the young social worker begins to suspect that the young girl may be concealing a darker side, and perhaps even demonic tendencies. This seems to be a very silly shock fest, with most critics stating that it’s not worth your time. Sorry Renee.

Anticipation Rating: 1/5

Legion

God has lost faith in humanity. It’s time for some serious apocalyptic action, Angel Gabriel style. Paul Bettany stars as the main-angel in this cheery quest to destroy all humans, and there’s only one un-born child that can save us all. With scenes of wings being cut off, angels with machine guns and a serious lack of love for the human race, we can’t help but think Legion sounds an un-funny but blast-tastic Dogma, so we’re trying to stay hopeful. Which is more than we can say for God…

Anticipation Rating: 2/5

Motherhood

Uma Thurman stars in this ‘day in the life of a mom’ comedy, centering on the conflicts and sacrifices a modern mum has to make for her family. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last year to mixed reviews, but if Lady Uma is involved, we figure it’s well worth a look. She’s not a woman to enter into a project lightly. Even if the central theme is “what it means to be a mom”. Hmmm.

Anticipation Rating: 2/5

Ondine

This seems like an odd little drama; a tale of a fisherman who thinks the girl he meets is in fact a mermaid. Her presence stirs up relationships in a small Irish town, especially when rumours abound that a mysterious man is looking for her. But what is her story, really? Colin Farrell stars, so it’ll be nice to see what he’s been doing all this time. And it’ll be great to watch see a proper Irish film, seeing as we’re still reeling from the horrors of Leap Year.

Anticipation Rating: 3

Chloe

Here are two words we wish we got to say more often: Erotic thriller. Whatever happened to erotic thrillers? Well apparently, Chloe can re-ignite the fire, with a tale of a young female escort caught in the middle of a married couple’s feud. It stars Amanda Seyfried – who is like, so hot right now – as the escort paid by a wife (Julianne Moore) to out her husband’s (Liam Neeson) cheating, and is guaranteed to be a steamy look at how far people go to expose the ones they love.

Anticipation Rating: 4/5

Exit Through The Gift Shop

Shhh. It’s all like, secret and stuff. Crazy Old Banksy. The famous graffiti artist premiered his first film at this year’s Sundance, and by all accounts it seemed to go down well. Though that may be due to his signature “pop up out of nowhere” style than filmic substance. The film follows a film-maker determined to follow Banksy, who begins to get followed by Banksy himself… We’re a bit confused. But we’re intrigued. Will it live up to the underground hype?

Anticipation Rating: 4/5

Green at the gills

Where to begin. She’s a fiercely independent interior designer from Boston with money to burn; he’s a (potato?) chef from the nether regions of Ireland, about to lose his pub to the debt collectors. She’s never heard of the little town of Wales (is it a country? Who even cares eh?), and he’s never heard of electricity. Are they meant to be? Har de har har, ooh of course they are, you eejits, pull us another pint!

Is that a plane, or a time machine?

Mrs I’m-From-America, aka Anna Brady (Amy Adams) is deliriously happy with her cardiologist boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) and as their four-year anniversary approaches, she becomes convinced he is about to get down on bended knee. He doesn’t (Ha ha oh the unexpected hilarity), and heads off to Dublin instead for a conference. Like a bastard. Anna hatches a plan to propose to Jeremy in Ireland on Leap Day cos, you know, that’s the only time you can do it if you’re just a rubbish girl.

However, her carefully plotted travel itinerary falls into disarray when bad weather forces the airplane to make a detour, far from her intended destination of Dublin. What’s a girl to do when she’s stuck in Wales? Where apparently you can only wear brown? Thankfully, handsome innkeeper Declan (Matthew Goode) promises to help her travel all of the way to Dublin in time for February 29, in exchange for the euros to save his ailing pub. The trek to the Irish capital is fraught with peril, and Anna and Declan fall victim to outrageous misfortune, most of which are cow and sheep based. They have to dodge the countless Irish-Catholics, fall into massive puddles, discover the wheel and follow the leprechauns to a pot’o'gold (or whatever), and along the way, shock and more shock, they start to feel some special fuzzy feelings for one another. Even the usual charms of Amy Adams can’t save the script, and considering Matthew Goode has already rinsed the film in interviews, it’s no surprise that he too lacks sparkle.

Once bitten…

It comes as no surprise that screenwriters Kaplan and Elfont were responsible for the Patrick Dempsey romantic comedy Made Of Honor, which painted Scotland as one big, bonnie, kilt-clad cliche. Expect nothing less from Leap Year, expect with a green lens instead of a tartan one. After the horror (the HORROR) of P.S I Love You, we hoped that Hollywood would give up the green-and-clovery ghost, but they’ve managed to outdo even that with this offensive, cliche filled monstrosity. Hollywood, you can’t do Ireland. Leave Ireland alone, OK?

How were you affected by Leap Year? Let us know below

Click on the pics for trailer funsies!

The Crazies

The Crazies is an upcoming horror flick by Breck Eisner, and centres on a small town whose water supply is poisoned. Without knowing, every resident slowly becomes exposed to a mysterious toxin and death and insanity ensure. A man and wife try to survive the sudden outbreak of madness, but who can help you when even the police are going crazy? It stars Timothy Olyphant (of Scream 2 and Die Hard) and we’re probably going to go see it purely because Olyphant is the coolest last name we’ve ever heard.

Anticipation Rating: 2.5/5

Everybody’s Fine

In this ‘indie-film-with-a-blockbuster-cast’ flick, Robert De Niro stars as a man wanting to reconnect with his family. After his wife dies, he realises that he no longer really knows his now grown-up kids – played by Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, and Sam Rockwell. He decides to take them all on a bonding road trip, but of course, family matters are never that easy… Hopefully this is a loveable, well scripted Little Miss Sunshine esque hit, that shies away from relying on its big name cast.

Anticipation Rating: 4/5

Extraordinary Measures

Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford team up in this ‘based on a true story’ tale of a man who tries to help fund medical research to save his two kids from a rare disease. The initial response from the critics has been pretty negative, and it could be that a sad story has been forced into a trite and soft-lens-filled film mould. But Harrison Ford is in it! Surely Harrison wouldn’t let us down?!

Anticipation Rating: 1/5

From Paris With Love

The sexy, symmetrical, and nice-smelling James (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) has an enviable life in Paris and a beautiful French girlfriend, but he dreams of been a shoot ‘em up, boot em down secret CGI agent. Enter John F***ing Travolta, a loose cannon special agent, and Meyes’ new partner. Together they have to stop a terrorist attack, buddie-action style, and we bet that personalities will clash in hilarious ways. Sounds pretty generic to us, but as it’s Travolta, we’ll give it a whirl.

Anticipation Rating: 2/5

Leap Year

Amy Adams and Matthew Goode star in a horrible rom-com about a girl who plans to propose to her boyfriend (who’s a bit rubbish) but then meets Matthew (who’s dead nice) and begins to question everything (and will probably end up with the dead nice one in the end). And it’s set in Wales and Ireland, you know, the places where apparently electricity doesn’t exist yet. Judging by the trailer, it’s soupy, annoying, and bloody offensive to anyone from anywhere near Britain. Which is quite a lot of people. Please don’t make us go.

Anticipation rating: -78/5