What’s it about?
An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free after 200 years and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection. Hijinx ensue as he ‘adapts’ to the modern world of 1972.

What did we think?
Despite the wacky premise, this self-indulgent movie takes itself far too seriously. Some wicked performances but to be frank, you should watch the first 20 minutes, go out for a coffee/shop/lunch/whatever for 70 minutes and then come back for the final 20.

Maybe that way you’ll enjoy it.

2.5

What’s it about?
The original cast rejoin the war with Jim, Michelle, Stifler, and their friends reuniting in East Great Falls, Michigan for their high school reunion.

What did we think?
Now there’s an EIGHTH movie in the series. On the bright side, it’s the best since the original movie but let’s face it that’s not really saying much given the quality of numbers two through seven.

Diehard fans will enjoy the characterisations and misadventures but most of us have seen it all before. Too many times.

What’s it about?
In a dystopian future society, the ruthless Capitol forces one boy and one girl from each district to fight to the death in an arena as punishment for past uprisings. Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her sister’s place when she is chosen as the District 12 sacrifice.

What did we think?
Liz says: Having missed the bandwagon of The Hunger Games book series, I went into this film completely blind and came out a convert. The film is impressive in its scope and scale, and the alternate world created by the writers is intriguing and imaginatively detailed. The pace of the film never lags and the story had me interested right from the word go. Great performances from a relatively unknown young cast, with some older talent providing a nice anchor: I particularly enjoyed Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy and Lenny Kravitz as the futuristic stylist Cinna.

See the movie. Buy the books. Repeat.

What’s it about?
Violet (Emily Blunt) and Tom (Jason Segal) meet, fall in love and get engaged. But something always seems to come in between them and their big day.

What did we think?
It’s never a good sign when you find yourself thinking that a film feels long while you’re still watching it. However, a great beginning and great ending mostly make up for the pace problems in the middle. The chemistry between Blunt and Segel is a delight to watch and Alison Brie steals the show as Blunt’s hilarious sister (demonstrating a ‘so cute it’s ridiculous’ British accent in the process).

Despite the fact that the movie isn’t quite gross enough for Apatow fans and will be a little too silly for those expecting a straight-up rom-com, it’s still worth a watch, especially for Segal/Blunt fans.

What’s it about?
This flick follows the key people at a financial investment firm over a 24-hour period, during the early stages of the financial crisis.

What did we think?
The reviews that call this “the best Wall Street movie ever made” are not unfounded. It’s a taut, fast paced thrill of a film that has you shaking your head in disbelief at just how the hell Capitalism ever led to this.

Loved the fact that the positions of the actors in the company reflected their Hollywood cred from the big boss veteran Jeremy Irons, through middle man Paul Bettany, right down to underlings Penn Badgely and Zachary Quinto. Powerhouse performances by all.

What’s it about?
Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. brings together a rag-tag team of super humans to form The Avengers to help save the Earth from the demi-god Loki and his army.

What did we think?
Half an hour of exposition followed by two hours of rollicking comic action. Great fun. Some minor problems here and there but the ride is so much fun you simply don’t care.

Mark Ruffalo steals the show as the Hulk and it seems inevitable that Joss Whedon will get a greenlight for a sequel. And perhaps Ruffalo’s performance means yet another Hulk movie.

What’s it about?
Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Will they discover the truth?

What did we think? 
The Cabin In The Woods isn’t quite what it seems on many levels. It’s not quite a light comedy and not as two-dimensional as it tries to make itself out to be. Nor – despite the premise of college kids going away to a cabin in the woods for a weekend – is it cliched.

Sometimes playful, often funny and without excessive gore, The Cabin In The Woods quite simply isn’t your run-of-the-mill flick. It’s an intelligent film that simultaneously mocks and pays homage to the genre and shouldn’t be missed by any horror fan.

What’s it about?
An elite team of Navy SEALs embark on a covert mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent.

What did we think?
A bizarre mishmash of recruitment ad and feature film. Military enthusiasts will no doubt enjoy a realistic look inside some interesting operations but the average viewer may struggle with the staccato plot.

The discordance is heightened by the occasional switching to first person shooter view (ala Call of Duty games). The use of real Navy Seals has pros and cons but the fact it was often difficult to tell the two wooden main characters apart just shows how generic and cliched this movie is.

What’s it about?
A fleet of ships is forced to do battle with an armada of unknown origins in order to discover and thwart their destructive goals.

What did we think?
With characters that are both cliched and two-dimensional, a loose plot, a very clumsy forced tie-in with the boardgame of the same name and transformer-like alien ships… Battleship is more advertisement loosely disguised as a feature film.

And yet if you’re interested in mindless action over quality then there might actually be something here for you. Not for the discerning movie goer but it’s not a total shipwreck.

2.5/5

What’s it about?
A pair of underachieving cops are sent back to a local high school to blend in and bring down a synthetic drug ring.

What did we think?
A remake of a classic 80s TV show sounded like a bad idea. Making it a B grade comedy sounded like an atrocious idea. The trailer left me seething. And yet somehow this actually works.

With intelligent B-grade writing and some very insightful commentary about society and youth today, it turned out to very entertaining even as it respectfully mocked the series it’s based on. I liked it. Dammit.

B Grade but quality B Grade.