The contenders for movie of the month are:
The East: Brit Marling plays a former FBI agent now working for a private intelligence firm, she is sent undercover to infiltrate the East, an anarchist collective. A suspense filled thriller with a fantastic performance from Marling.
The Bling Ring: Sofia Coppola’s film based on the fame-obsessed teenagers who robbed the Hollywood homes of a string of celebrities. Emma Watson is great and the film has the dream like quality you would expect from Coppola, but it is ultimately dull and repetitive.
Chasing Mavericks: The true story of legendry surfer Jay Moriarity and the seminal summer when he trained to ride Mavericks. The film isn’t great but the surf scenes are really well shot.
Pacific Rim: Giant robots fight alien monsters in a movie written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, what more do you need to know.
The Frozen Ground: An Alaska State Trooper (Nicolas Cage) is on the hunt for a serial killer (John Cusack). Well acted but a bit dour and low key. Vanessa Hudgens gives a grat performance in a supporting role.
The Worlds End: Five school friends reunite to finish the epic pub crawl that defeated them 20 years earlier. The night is interrupted by an alien invasion. A fitting conclusion to the “Cornetto Trilogy”, it loses its way from time to time and not all the jokes work but on the whole it is fun and funny.
The Wolverine: A second solo outing for Wolverine is a massive improvement on the first film. Hugh Jackman is on great form in the title role and there is some great action, unfortunately there is also some bad CGI. Just enough of a taster to get me excited for Days of Future Past next year.
Frances Ha: Co written by star Greta Gerwig and director Noah Baumbach. There isn’t much in her way of plot, instead relying on some amusing scenarios and the charm of Gerwig. Directed with a soft touch that has been compared to Jean-Luc Godard than Woody Allen.
I am really tempted to pick The East or Frances Ha, but Pacific Rim was just too much fun and gets the July movie of the month award.
I VOTE FOR WOLVERINE!!!!!