#57 Stand by Me (1986)

Directed by: Rob Reiner
Starring: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman

Everyone must have seen this so i'll keep my views on it short. 

Stand by Me evokes so many emotions. It's funny, tearjerking, tragic and heartwarming all at different times. It's a coming of age story that will make you cherish your friends and feel grateful that they're in your life.

It's well paced and each scene delivers something valid to the story. If you've not seen this, do so, you can thank me later.

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#56 The Mist (2007)

Directed by: Frank Darabont
Starring: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden

The Mist is one in a long line of Stephen King adaptations. The best of course, is The Shining, look out for that in a future review. This, however, seems to have split opinion amongst audiences and holds mixed reviews across the web.

Those mixed feelings sum up my thoughts on the movie too. One the one hand I feel that it's technically very good. The camera work and editing are all done very well and I really like some of the direction. On the other hand, however, I found the ending to be somewhat of a letdown and some of the characters annoying and underdeveloped. I'd recommend watching this and making up your own mind.

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#55 Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Directed by: Rupert Wyatt
Starring: Andy Serkis, Karin Konoval, James Franco

The original planet of the apes is one of my all time favourite films. Even some of the sequels weren't too bad, with beneath the planet of the apes actually being really enjoyable.

I was, however, sceptical about this reboot. The Mark Whalberg version was dreadful and I feared this would go the same way.

The performances here are decent without being outstanding. Franco suits his role well without ever really excelling. This goes for most of the main cast. It does look incredible though, with the apes being the standout feature. 

It's a strange film that makes the audience root for human extinction but this does exactly that. I found myself cheering on Caesar in his quest for freedom, even though I knew exactly what it would lead too.

In summary, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the reboot I always wanted. It looks great, has a well written script and a nicely paced story. It also, importantly, pays homage to and respects the original. Highly recommended.

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#54 Gangster Squad (2013)

Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone

Gangster squad features an all star cast. Man of the moment Ryan Gosling and one of Hollywood's current starlets, Emma Sone, promise a lot from this gangster film.

It's a difficult film to hate, in that it's immense fun to watch. From the very beginning to the end it really is an enjoyable ride, without ever being particularly great. I think had the cast been of a lesser standard i'd find this an easy problem to accept, but with the talent on show, it certainly feels like a missed opportunity.

With that being said, it's definitely a guilty pleasure film. One to watch when you want some mindless violence with a great cast. I just wish it had slightly more substance as it had the chance to deliver something really special. 

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#53 Broken City (2013)

Directed by: Allen Hughes
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Broken City has some big name actors and actresses and promised quite a lot. Unfortunately, while there is some good here, the script ruins what could have been a fine political thriller.

It holds together reasonably well and generally, there are good performances from the leads. The problem is that the material they are working with is extremely poor and some of the scenes seem to have just been stuck in as an after thought.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this, but it's certainly entertaining and an easy watch. The big name actors scrape enough together to avoid it being disastrous.

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#52 Piranha 3DD (2012)

Directed by: John Gulager
Starring: Danielle Panabaker, Matt Bush

I'm struggling to find anything good to write about this. While the 2010 version of Piranha was far from a masterpiece, this makes it look like the best horror film ever made.

Piranha 3DD takes the general concept of the first but fails to deliver on every level imaginable. The acting is atrocious, the gags unfunny and the script dire. I can't really bring myself to say much more about this so i'll finish with one word to sum it all up...

Garbage.

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#51 Piranha (2010)

Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Starring: Pete Goldfinger, Josh Stolberg

Piranha is surprisingly great fun. The acting is decent and the story moves at quite a pace. Some of the scenes do seem a bit laboured but overall I really enjoyed it.

It's gory, funny and never takes itself too seriously. The plot is as thin and basic as they come but that can be forgiven in the context of the films genre. Watch this with an open mind and it's most certainly an enjoyable, yet gory ride.

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#50 Dumbo (1941)

Directed by: Samuel Armstrong
Starring: James Baskett, Herman Bing

Dumbo pretty much sums up the phrase, short and sweet. With a runtime of 64 minutes, it's probably the shortest film I'll watch during this challenge.

I'll start off by saying that this looks simply made. The animations and art of the lesser characters are, at times, poor and not particularly detailed. The story is also pretty basic and you can see that Disney cut corners in the production of this, probably to save money.

With that being said, the film delivers on so many levels. The story is heartbreaking as well as joyous, bringing even grown men to tears! The characters are loveable too and show that it doesn't matter how much a film costs to make, it's success ultimately relies on it's narrative.

Dumbo is an all time Disney classic and probably my favourite ever animated picture. It's heartwarming as well as heartbreaking, but always extremely sentimental. By telling a simple story, it hasn't tried to be a masterpiece. However, by telling it so effectively, we get just that.... A masterpiece.

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