One in a Million (or at least in a few dozen..)

Albert (Seth McFarlane) is the quintessential misfit in the harsh Wild West – a well-read polished gentleman who tries to reason his way out of gunfights, much to the chagrin of bemused on-lookers who have come for a day’s entertainment i.e. watching one of the duelers die. Sheep farmer by profession, and spurned by gold digging girlfriend Louise (Amanda SeyFreid), Albert loses his heart to Anna (Charlize Theron), and almost his life to her husband – notorious outlaw Clinch (Liam Neeson). Hilarious in parts, crass in a few, eminently watchable and an unexpected winner overall – A Million Ways to Die in the West does not fail to remind you often enough that the Wild West really sucked..

14/20

Save the Forest

A dismissive Katherine (Amanda Seyfried) comes to visit her father Professor Bomba (Jason Sudeikis), who is apparently obsessed with the war between the Leaf-Men – led by Ronin (Colin Farrell) – protectors of the forest – and the Boggans – destroyers of the forest – led by Mandrake (Christoph Waltz) – all of which Katherine considers figments of her father’s imagination. The Boggans go one up on the Leaf-men by taking out the Queen of the forest (Beyonce Knowles), and it is up to a (much-diminished) Amanda and her father to bring in some timely intervention and save the trees and those that, well, protect them. Based on William Joyce’s The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs, Epic is the children’s movie for the ongoing summer holidays – not breathtaking or deep, just pretty well made

13.5/20

All the Time in the World

In the Orwellian In Time, people stop ageing at 25 – and post that, need to use time as the new currency, for consumption or for continued existence. While in the decrepit ghetto, inflation and daily-wage earning means that running out of time – i.e., dying – is a common occurrence, in other Time Zones, notably New Greenwich, the residents have an abundance of time at hand, in excess of hundreds of years. Enter protagonist Will Salas (Justin Timberlake), and a chance encounter with one tired Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer) in the ghetto, where the latter voluntarily hands Will a hundred years and then some. Will makes the journey to New Greenwich, pursued by the Timekeepers, led by the assiduous Jaeger (Collins Pennie). Will makes his way to the Weis family, and strikes up an unlikely bond with the daughter of the family - Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried) - in the fight for restoring justice in the world. We are not meant to live forever. Indeed

14/20

Crying Wolf.. and Again

In a village so isolated that its whereabouts itself are uncertain, the villagers have kept up a tradition of making offerings to the predatory wolf from the nearby forest, to keep the peace between man and wolf. When the peace is broken by the wolf itself, the villagers resolve to kill it – and ostensibly succeed. Enter Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), apparently a returnee to the village – with his little band of warriors, his torture device and cruel tactics – and a chilling revelation – that the village is up against more than it believes it is. But even as the needle of suspicion swings between protagonist Valerie (Red Riding Hood) (Amanda Seyfried), her grandmother who lives in the forest (Julie Christie), and her two suitors – Cesaire (Billy Burke) and Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), among others, the villagers must suffer multiple times at the hands of both the tyrant and the wolf, before the chilling truth is revealed. A movie released a while back to which critics have been unduly harsh, Red Riding Hood is a twisted and somewhat dark take on the eponymous children’s fairytale

12/20