#22 : Bel Ami

"Temptation, Seduction, Obsession"
 "Based on the classic novel"

Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kirsten Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci and Colin Meany

No reviews given.

This clearly has an all star cast, which makes you wonder why it's advertised on the buses.  It mentions that it is based on "the classic novel".  Not "a classic novel" but "the".  Presumably it is the 19th Century classic of French literature by Guy Maupassant.  I'm guessing that most people who the other films featured on the side of buses are aimed at have never heard of this, let alone read it.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Then again, they could just be trying to persuade the Twilight audience to go and see it on the basis that Robert Pattinson is in it.  If that's you then my money says he doesn't bite anyone's neck.

The latest IMDB user reviews for it are decent averaging a 7.1, but then we're still a week away from release, so it could be Twilight fans getting in early.  The breakdown of scores here is interesting in telling us something about IMDB users rating at this stage:


Rating Votes Percentage
   10       179         56.5
     9         22           6.9
     8         25           7.9
     7         17           5.4
     6         24           7.6
     5           9           2.8
     4           3           0.9
     3           6           1.9
     2           7           2.2
     1         24           7.9

Maybe I should update this in a few weeks to see how this has changed...

#21 : Safe House

Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds.

No strapline given.  No reviews given.

I don't remember the last Denzel Washington film I wanted to watch.  Then again I had no desire to see the Green Lantern or The Proposal in terms of Ryan Reynolds movies either.

The user reviews score of 7.2 at IMDB is decent enough, however the Metacritic total of 52 is less impressive.  I guess it really is just a couple of guys running around shooting and blowing things up.

A question for the UK audience is, do we really need guns used to advertise things here?

#20 : The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

No strapline given.

No actors named, but pictured are Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith and [looks it up] Tom Wilkinson. Also says it is "From the director of Shakespeare In Love"

"Utterly Charming   *****  Psychologies"
"Fabulously feel-good  ****  New"

So it's a British movie with an all star British cast.  The bus doesn't make it clear it's set in India, so they're going for the Slumdog Millionaire bandwagon, maybe with a touch of Top Gear-style colonial snobbery thrown in too.

The sources of the reviews were always something that I intended this blog to focus on.  "New" is, I assume, New Magazine.  Decide for yourself if that is a publication you'd trust for film reviews.  Off the look of things it seems to be a source of stories about the "stars" of The Only Way Is Essex.  As for the other review, Psychologies magazine, the "magazine for those who want to know more and grow more", doesn't exactly strike me as the most mainstream publication to dig for positive quotes.

Anyway, on to the real mass reviews.  IMDB has it as a 6.4, and the critics metascore is still to come in.

#19 : This Means War

"It's spy against spy"

No actors named (but Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy pictured), no reviews given.

 A movie that, when I saw the TV trailer, I knew I would see on the side of a bus very soon.  The number of buses on which it features was only limited by the ubiquity of Jack and Jill.

The reviews from IMDB seem to average higher than I expected with a 6.2, but the Metacritic score of 32 is very bad - and only pulled up by Entertainment Weekly as per usual!

#18 : Jack and Jill

"His twin sister is coming to stay  ...and it ain't pretty"

Adam Sandler

No reviews given.

This is the latest Adam Sandler vehicle where he must play both of a non-identical pair of twins.  I'm guessing there are "hilarious consequences".  Probably the brash dragged-up version turns out to be the saviour of the other twin's family at the end of the movie and everyone goes home morally enriched having learned not to judge people on how they are.  Or something like that.

IMDB users are giving it a score of 3.0 which is, I think, the lowest I have ever seen.  On the other hand the critics via Metacritic think that is over generous scoring a 23/100/!  No wonder it was on just about every bus in Leeds...