2016 - X-Men: Days of Future Past

What I think is really unique about the X-Men series is how they've opened up the world, and technically done a reboot, but all the while still being able to use it with what they've done before.  This film is the ultimate bridging of everything we've seen in X-Men up to this point and it starts to put other pieces together.  Having Striker be part of the mix was great fun, as was seeing pretty much everyone from this world together in one film.  The story was strong - it was a little heavy on over-the-top action towards the end - but it also featured one of the best sequences of the entire series with Quicksilver set to Jim Croce's Time in a Bottle.  I won't ruin it for you - it's fantastic.  The film is full of fun references, including one to JFK being a mutant himself - which got a laugh (in a bad way) from the packed audience I was in.
What I most love about this instalment is that it used a classic X-Men story to find a clever way of fixing the sins made by X3 and anything else they want to tidy up.  They're now able to move forward pretty much however they want - which is really quite refreshing.  Could be the best film of the series, actually.  I dug it a lot.

1985 - The Prestige

My son has become quite interested in magic, and we were watching some David Blaine stuff on the weekend and it made me desperate to re-watch this.  I love the idea of magicians - part con-arts, part showman - it's a very exciting and thrilling thing.  This film features a fantastic cast set amongst this tragic story of greed and pride.  I love the way that Nolan weaves the story in and around - he's playing a beautiful magic trick on you of his own.
If you like films that make you think and keep you guessing, this is easily one of the best.  Top notch entertainment with a lot more going on beneath the surface.  A must see :)

1792 - Les Miserables

 Years ago I saw Les Mis on a school trip to London, England.  I even want to say that Colm Wilkinson was playing the lead still, but I can't recall for certain.  We got last minute seats and so I we were in the sixth balcony of this huge theatre, and even through shared binoculars the actors seemed like ants on the stage.  Needless to say outside of some great music I didn't really enjoy the experience as it was less than ideal.  So that was a great place to enter into seeing the film - my expectations weren't really anything.
This is a really great story - it's epic in scope and yet small and personal.  The performances are fantastic and arguably flawless in some areas.  Tom Hooper made a solid choice to film the ballads in mostly unbroken medium shots and it's inspired and beautiful - really allowing a true performance - and none is more perfect and heart-breaking than Anne Hathaway's.  I'm not an oscar-whore, nor do I take much stock in them, but if she doesn't get some recognition for her supporting role then it's a damn shame, I say.  Jackman is pretty great but I have to say that role isn't all that exciting to me - the stand-out male role goes to Russel Crowe as the complicated and conflicted officer of the law.  What happens to him is heart-breaking in a very bizarre way.  I want to say a lot more, but I won't and will leave that for you to discover. 
If you like musicals of epic scope you'll dig this.  I did find it a touch long in some spots - and some of the sing-songy dialogue I could have done without - give me a proper song and music or just speak dialogue, I say! 
But all in all, a hell of a show well done!  See it on the big screen with the big sound if you're going to see it at all.

1741 - X-Men: First Class

I was pretty late to this one, so I'm not sure how much more I can add to the conversation.  I love the idea of an X-Men film that takes place in the 60's. Lots of fun - and throwing it right into the Cold War was a really strong and clever move.  I thought that the re-introduction of characters were really strong.  I loved the nods the films already existing in the series, and I thought some of the re-boot ideas were really well done - the strongest being the relationship between Xavier and Raven (Mystique), and also her and Hank (Beast). 
January Jones is a constant surprise to me.  She just feels like such an flat and un-unteresting choice for this role.  She manages to become suddenly unattractive in this role.  Kevin Bacon was impressive in the opening scene but then he just kind of fell into a cliche jerk role for the remainder. 
For an origin story this works well and I quite enjoyed it.  It'll be interesting to see how the franchise continues.