Matthew's Midyear Movie Mayhem

So, after being on a film watching spree lately (well, a spree by my standards, probably not by your standards), I thought I'd do a quick and dirty review of each of them. NB: Reviews may not contain any dirt.

How many of these films have you seen? Score yourself out of four.

Argo (2012)

A nice "historical drama thriller" directed by, and starring, Ben Affleck. The film follows American embassy staff who are trapped in Iran and a CIA agent who creates a cover story involving a fake film studio to get them out. Based on events that occured during the Iranian hostage crisis, the film unfortunately minimises the Canadian input into the rescue plan and ignores the role of the British and New Zealand embassy staff. Don't worry though, we had the last laugh, because on 12 March 2013 New Zealand's parliament passed a motion that the house "...acknowledge with gratitude the efforts of former New Zealand diplomats Chris Beeby and Richard Sewell in assisting American hostages in Tehran during the hostage crisis in 1979, and express its regret that the director of the movie Argo saw fit to mislead the world about what actually happened during that crisis when, in reality, our courageous diplomats’ inspirational actions were of significant help to the American hostages and deserve the factual and historical record to be corrected." That'll show them!

The Hangover Part III (2013)

The third film of the series departs somewhat from the formula that made the first one such a success and that the second one blatently reproduced. Part III has more Mr. Chow, less Doug and no Mike Tyson. The film relies on the adventures of Phil, Stu and Alan to deliever an as-expected comedy that is satisfying but you probably won't remember in two weeks time.

Gangster Squad (2013)

Originally scheduled for a 2012 release before it was re-worked following the 2012 Batman theatre shootings, Gangster Squad follows a squad of LAPD police officers who are tasked with working outside the law to bring down the city's most notorious gangster. Vaguely based on true events, Gangster Squad features Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn and Emma Stone. The film is stylishly shot and, despite a perhaps slightly shallow plot, it will keep your attention throughout.

Fast & Furious 6 (2013)

The sixth film in the series finally reunites Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Michelle Rodriguez, along with Dwayne Johnson, MMA champion Gina Carano and most of the episode five's cast. The film builds on F&F 5's formula of moving away from a car film and towards a hiest film, with cars. Entertaining and with plenty of ridiculous action, this series isn't over yet as the movie clearly sets up a sequel. We went to a super enhanced viewing that included audience participation, which only added to the film's appeal.