Dumb and Dumber To review - Hardcore D&D fans only

Be warned: this is a movie meant only for hardcore fans of the 1994 original, and other moronic comedies in which plot, character and filmmaking coherence aren't important. If any fart joke makes you laugh, don't miss it. Everyone else probably already knows that they should avoid this movie, which is even more idiotic than it looks. Although for those forced to suffer through it, there's at least a strand of witty, absurd comedy faintly running through each scene.

After an utterly pointless 20-year practical joke, old buddies Harry and Lloyd (Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey) are once again a team, causing chaos everywhere they go due to their inability to understand pretty much anything that's happening around them. Now Harry needs a kidney transplant, just as he discovers that he fathered a child with Fraida (Kathleen Turner) nearly 23 years ago. So he and Lloyd head off to find his daughter Fanny (Rachel Melvin). She has been raised by a Nobel-winning scientist (Steve Tom) and his money-grabbing wife (Laurie Holden), who's plotting with the handyman (Rob Riggle) to steal his millions. All of them converge on an inventors' convention in El Paso, where Harry is mistaken as a genius, Lloyd falls in love with the wrong woman and everything climaxes in a vortex of mistaken identity and wacky slapstick.

While absolutely everything about this film is painfully stupid, filmmakers Peter and Bobby Farrelly have learned from making solid comedies (like There's Something About Mary and Stuck on You), and the script has an underlying wit to it that hints at a much better movie screaming to get out. But the Farrellys simply leave everything as mindless as possible, using a strangely clunky directing style that feels cheap and underplanned. While there's a steady stream of amusing throwaway gags, the plot and characters never develop into anything engaging, mainly because both Carrey and Daniels are encouraged to overplay every moment so badly that we begin to wonder how anyone could think this was even vaguely funny.

Everyone around them plays it relatively straight, staring gob-smacked at Carrey and Daniels' gurning, overwrought performances as if they're wondering how this could possibly work. And why they agreed to be in this mess. Then just when all hope is gone, something actually funny pops up where we least expect it, eliciting a stifled laugh. The plot may be blatantly predictable, the characters mere cardboard cutouts and the jokes obvious and inane, but it's all so breathtakingly stupid that it'll probably be a huge hit.

Night At The Museum - Secrets of the Tomb review - thin polt even by this franchises standards

Now in its third instalment, it's clearer than ever that this franchise is based on one joke that has been stretched far beyond the breaking point. And not too cleverly at that. Fortunately, this movie retains much of the deranged idiocy that made the second part rather enjoyable. So it's watchable even if there aren't many new ideas, and even if filmmaker Shawn Levy is far too happy to settle for unnecessary digital effects work where a bit of character comedy would have been much more engaging.

Back on the job as a night watchman in New York, Larry (Ben Stiller) is now orchestrating the museum exhibits when they come to life to provide spectacular shows for visitors who think this is all a special effect. Even his boss (the one dimensional Ricky Gervais) isn't sure what's really going on. But when a glitch in the magical Ancient Egyptian powers causes chaos, Larry learns that he needs to travel to London so he can reunite Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek) with his father (Ben Kingsley), who's on display at the British Museum. Larry's teen son Nick (Skyler Gisondo) comes along, as do his revived pals Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), tiny soldiers Octavius and Jedediah (Steve Coogan and Owen Wilson) and others. But in London, while sneaking around local night guard Tilly (Rebel Wilson), Larry's team awakens a statue of the knight Lancelot (Dan Stevens), who dives into their quest with rather a bit too much gusto.

Until Lancelot turns up, everything about the film feels oddly tired, from the starry cameos to effects work that strains to be clever. Then Stevens injects a badly needed jolt of blue-eyed charisma and warped comical timing that makes the rest of the movie rather good fun. Rebel Wilson's side-plot is also rather amusing, with some wonderfully ridiculous touches. And even the cameos get better, notably a scene on a West End stage that's genuinely inspired silliness. Coogan and Wilson offer some raucous banter to accompany everything that happens, and Stiller kind of hangs on for dear life. But the filmmakers don't really care about these characters; they're just trying to create something visually impressive that's also goofy fun.

The quality of the digital trickery is certainly impressive, most notably in some freak-out moments like a room full of broken statues trying to move with missing limbs. And a sequence inside an Escher painting is eye-popping. But there's little coherence between these set-pieces, and no real momentum to the thin plot. And there's also the problem that the filmmakers are clearly not interested in museums at all. They never make anything of the interaction with history or art (they don't even understand that a historical collection like the British Museum is unlikely to contain a dinosaur skeleton or an Escher painting). Instead they're just happy to provide a bit of high-budget, middle-brow escapism.

The Missing Series 2, more details and a twist to series 3?

Following the conclusion of the first series of The Missing last night, millions of viewers were given a surprise taste of a second series of the hit BBC One show. As the case of Oliver Hughes came to a startling conclusion - or did it? BBC One broadcast a cryptic trail revealing clues to a whole new series.

Made by New Pictures for BBC One, the series will once again be written by Harry and Jack Williams and will be told over two time frames but with a new case, new characters and new location.


Last nights trail was written by Harry and Jack Williams and was directed by Tom Shankland. It presented viewers with an intriguing, atmospheric sequence hinting at subtle clues pointing towards series 2. The sequence was accompanied by a voice over from the lead French detective, Julien Batiste (Tcheky Karyo):

“To lose somebody can destroy a person. But to find them again, when so much has passed... Well. Sometimes...that can be worse.”

Harry and Jack Williams, Writers (Two Brothers Pictures), say: “We always knew that the story of Oliver Hughes would have an ending. But in writing the first series we found there were many themes and issues we didn’t have the chance to explore. The response to the show has been fantastic, and we’re thrilled to be telling a brand new story which we hope will surprise and intrigue and tell an even bigger tale on an even more ambitious canvas.”

Charlotte Moore, Controller, BBC One, says: “The Missing surprised at every turn, weaving a gripping and complex story across two timescales which kept viewers guessing til the very end and demonstrated the range and ambition of drama on BBC One. I’m really pleased to announce that the incredible team behind the series will bring a new case to our BBC One audience and we can guarantee another challenging, contemporary story written by Harry and Jack Williams.”

Ben Stephenson, Controller BBC Drama commissioning, says: “Harry and Jack Williams’ original drama series has had the nation gripped for the last eight weeks and has proved both a critical and ratings hit with our BBC One audience. With a brand new and fresh case ahead - we can’t wait to learn what Harry and Jack have in store for series two.”

Now rumours abound this morning that series 3 has already been planned and that an idea being floated is that it may touch once more on Oliver and reveal he isnt in fact dead. Viewers didn't see what was in the van but assumed it was his body.. perhaps he was bound and gagged and in the hands of..well lets no go there but I am sure you could imagine.

See our interview with series one star James Nesbitt live on set, here

Hunger Games MockingJay,review and Jennifer Lawrence talks us through her character

'Mockingjay' storms the US box office yet again on its second weekend like we knew it would, but what has made this chapter of the 'The Hunger Games' storyline such a driving success among audiences? Leading lady Jennifer Lawrence had a few ideas.

'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' has so far managed to gross in excess of $254.4 million worldwide - not quite as much as its predecessors but still an impressive number as Katniss Everdeen's new challenges in District 13 captivate fans across the globe. The woman herself, Jennifer Lawrence, also being enamoured by Suzanne Collins' story, has a lot to say about what intrigued her so much about the story and characters and how it feels to capture a book character and bring it to life.


'It's interesting when you're playing a character that's based off a book because we're huge fans of the books, everybody making the movies, and I was a huge fan of the character that I was reading', she revealed at a press conference. 'But at the same time my job is still the same, I still need to show up on set and do what feels real and find what feels authentic.' The realism and authenticity of the story - despite its vibrant setting and unlikely dystopian world - has certainly been enough to help fans relate to the story, and is the reason why so many people hold these characters close to their hearts. These are real people, with flaws and complex relationships and reservations about doing the right thing.

'Something that I really loved about these books when I originally read them is that it's a fantastic story, but it's also a very important story to tell about how powerful just one voice can be', Jennifer points out. 'It can be scary; it is always easier to go with the more popular vote and to follow the person in front of you, it's really scary to stand up to a voice that's bigger than you.

And so on to the film..
This four-part franchise, based on the Suzanne Collins novels, turns very dark with this strikingly bold third film, which once again makes the most of perspective to recount a parable about normal people rising up against oppression. This may be a sci-fi apocalypse, but the story is packed with present-day resonance and messy characters who are sometimes unnervingly easy to identify with. So while things get very grim in this chapter, it's still a hugely engaging film, packed with real-life humour and emotion. And it makes Mockingjay Part 2 unmissable.

The story picks up not long after the chaos of the Quarter Quell, when Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) realised that she had been a pawn for a planned revolution that cast her as the iconic Mockingjay. Now in hiding, the rebels need her to assume the role publicly, but she has other concerns. So she makes a deal with rebel President Coin (Julianne Moore) and her sidekick Plutarch (Philip Seymour Hoffman) that she'll help them if they guarantee safety for the captured Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), who has apparently been brainwashed so he can be used for propaganda purposes by the Capitol's President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Working with her old hunting buddy Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Katniss takes on the Mockingjay role, locking horns with Snow as the rebellion grows in strength.

Once again, director Francis Lawrence vividly tells the story from Katniss' imperfect point of view. This is a teen consumed with anger and confusion, and she can't figure out why she's so inspiring to everyone who looks at her. But she's beginning to understand her impact and how she can use it to help the people she loves. This makes her heroism remarkably human, rather than the usual noble movie self-sacrifice. And Jennifer Lawrence brings so much depth to Katniss that the character transcends even the most jarring plot points. Her internal journey also makes this much more than yet another dystopian teen adventure.

It helps that she's surrounded by such a powerhouse supporting cast. Moore and Hoffman add gravitas and shadings as considerate but realistic leaders. Harrelson shines in a few very strong scenes as the now-sober Haymitch. And Hutcherson has some properly wrenching scenes of his own. Hemsworth finally gets to add a bit of physicality to the action. And Banks steals the show as the now-refugee Effie, stripped of her Technicolor wigs and outfits but doing the best with what she's got.


As the film approaches its conclusion, it's clear that this chapter is a transitional one. Katniss has moved from a hapless puppet to the iconic Mockingjay, leading a nation to a war against tyranny. The next step will be all-out battle, so the final film in this series looks like it will be a proper epic. And what makes this franchise so much more important that most is the way it tackles properly resonant issues: this film can be seen as the moment the 99 percent finally rise up against the dominant 1 percent. We can't imagine that happening, but history tells us it probably will.