Because Everybody Else Has One

I'm going to need to do a review roundup soon because Avengers: Age of Ultron isn't, in fact, the only halfway decent movie out there - which is something you may well think when you consider my most recent batch of reviews for Channel 24. Take this little masterpiece for example... This review is, as mentioned, up at Channel 24 . In my gleeful desire to rip Paul Blart several new ones, I did let a few grammatical errors slip through, so this "bloggified" version of the review should read slightly better. What it's about Paul Blart heads off to Las Vegas with his daughter in tow for a mall cop convention but, once again, they find themselves at the wrong place, at the wrong time, as she stumbles upon a gang of art thieves in the middle of a heist. What we thought Kevin James' losing streak of starring in terrible movie after terrible movie continues, as he once again dons the mantle of Paul Blart to deliver what is easily the worst mainst...

I have to admit, with the week's two biggies out of the way, I very almost forgot to do my usual roundup of the rest of the week's films. Anyway, it's a bit late, but here are some thoughts on a couple of films - one good, one, um, not. Lets start off with the good. Welcome to the Rileys is a fairly typical indie drama that mostly works while it's on but won't leave too much of a lasting impression. The story about a couple reeling from the death of their own child being drawn into the life of a wayward teenage stripper is elegant in its simplicity and it's certainly quite moving in parts but the almost fable-like story doesn't entirely gel with the cinema verite style in which it is filmed. For all of its problems, though, Welcome to the Rileys is a convincing study that allows its three main actors to really bring their A-games to the table. James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo are equally brilliant as parents broken by the loss of their child and the nu...