What I've Just Watched: Part 2

Michael Clayton (2nd view) - Very good, and it has one of my favourite death scenes in film. I don;t think Tilda Swinton deserved her oscar.

For A Few Dollars More (1965), after the success of A Fistful of Dollars (1964), a sequel was inevitable, and it hadn't even been released in America yet, it was a huge hit in Europe. Sergio Leone convinced Clint Eastwood to come back to Spain and Italy to make a follow up. It's a moody and atmospheric piece, with good cinematography and good performances and gripping action. It's actually better than the first film. It has two bounty hunters Manco (Eastwood) and Col. Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef) both seperately searching for a ruthless fugitive El Indio (Gian Maria Volontè). When they meet, they decide to pool their resources and split the money for El Indio's capture, but in order to get their bounty, they need to get into El Indio's gang. Manco reluctantly agrees to go undercover, as they learn El Indio is planning to rob the Bank of El Paso, which has a disguised safe that contains $1 million, it won't be easy, but Manco and Mortimer will get their man. It's exciting and Ennio Morricone's music adds to the mood. There is something very offbeat about Leone's method of directing but in a good way, he made the tired old western cool again. It feels modern in a way, it's a pity the genre still died out. 4/5



The Last Station (2009), directed by Michael Hoffman, best known for Soapdish (1991), Restoration (1995) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) comes this adaptation of Jay Parini's 1990 biographical book of the last year in the life of Russia's most celebrated author. It's a rich and romantic film, with some odd touches about it's person, but it has more than one good performance. Set in 1910, it has young Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy) being appointed as the new secretary to author and philosopher, Count Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer). He is dispatched to Tolstoy's country estate and the land that surrounds it. But, when Valentin get's there, he discovers there is struggles going on between Tolstoy and his wife Sofia (Helen Mirren), as it turns out that Tolstoy's lead deciple Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) wants Tolstoy to sign over the copyrights of his work to the people of Russia, meaning they would be in the public domain, which is exactly what Sofia doesn't want to happen, she's come to question Tolstoy's theories and philosophies, but she loves him for who he is. It's a good little low budget drama, with Mirren giving another great performance, and Plummer, always a reliable actor, giving Tolstoy a warm and eccentric manner. It doesn't scratch the surface of his life, but it shows him in a good light. 3.5/5

American Beauty (2nd view) - I first saw this on a plane almost exactly 10 years ago. Maybe it was the kid kicking the back of my chair constantly or whatever, but I really didn't take to the film at all. Much better this time though and Spacey is fantastic - 4/5




Novocaine (2nd view) - Worth watching for the great cameo from Kevin Bacon, but I've always liked Steve Martin in his more serious roles - 4/5

Solomon Kane (1st view) - With James Purefoy in the title role, a redeemed mercenary who must live a life of peace or his soul is damned to hell. Enoyable and surprisingly brutal at times - 4/5




Somers Town (1st view) - I still think that Once Upon A Time In The Midlands is Shane Meadows' best film, but this was a nicely told, is very slight, tale - 4/5*

A Scanner Darkly (2006), an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's famous 1977 novel had been going from director to director for years with the likes of Terry Gilliam and Steven Soderbergh all attached at one point or another, then Richard Linklater signed up to do it, he had a vision of how it should be made, and he was going to do it the same way he'd done his trippy film Waking Life (2001), and it works a lot better and is a great adaptation of a great book. Set 7 years into the future, it has undercover cop Fred (Keanu Reeves) who monitors the activities of drug users under the alias of Bob Arctor, these fellow users are James Barris (Robert Downey Jr.), Ernie Luckman (Woody Harrelson), Charles Freck (Rory Cochrane) and Donna Hawthrone (Winona Ryder). They all take a drug known as Substance D, which is illegal. Fred/Bob's job is to find out where this drug comes from. Then, Fred is asked to monitor his own movements when Barris comes in to report Arctor's drug dealings, soon Fred starts losing his identity, and left wondering who he really is. Is he Fred or is he Bob Arctor?? It's a sci-fi film without any of the futuristic stuff, this is set in a very real world. Monitoring other people is coming true now, and Dick was onto something with his book, which he based on his own drug experiences. Linklater does well with the material, and gives Reeves one of his best performances, and the support from Downey Jr. Harrelson and Ryder is compelling. Rotoscoping is a very novel way of making a film, it should be used more often, and it looks more interesting than mo-cap will ever be. 4/5



Fast Food Nation (2006), from Richard Linklater, a piece of "fictional truth", inspired by the book by Eric Schlosser, who co-wrote this script with Linklater, showing audiences what goes into our fast food burgers. The truth ain't pretty, and the film can be quite grisly to watch in places. But, it has a good cast and is very thought provoking. It's focused on fast food chain Mickey's, and executive Don Henderson (Greg Kinnear) is sent off to investigate claims that there's literal shit in the meat. He's sent off to a meat processing plant in Cody, Colorado, where he discovers the truth, but only half of it, there's also illegal immigrants sent over from Mexico to work in the plant, and an employee of a Mickey's restaurant Amber (Ashley Johnson) who gets involved with a group of activists against Mickey's. What Traffic did for drugs, this does for fast food, Linklater makes an anthology story, with a great cast including Kris Kristofferson, Avril Lavigne, Patricia Arquette, Paul Dano, Luis Guzmán, Ethan Hawke and Bruce Willis. It's about people's lives affected by fast food, it makes for compelling, and in some cases, unwatchable viewing. This is a film that will make people think twice before tucking in to a seeming nice, juicy burger from McDonalds or Burger King. :-| 4/5

Home For The Holidays (1995), Jodie Foster's second film as a director after Little Man Tate (1991), this is a sweet and offbeat little comedy-drama based on a short story by Chris Radant. It's a good little ensemble piece which focuses on the upheavals and stresses of a long American tradition, on the basis of this film, we should have it too. It has art restorer Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter) being fired from her job due to budget cutbacks, the day she's due to fly out to her parents home in New York for Thanksgiving weekend, her parents are Adele (Anne Bancroft) and Henry (Charles Durning), who are quite eccentric. Also rounding out this family gathering is Claudia's homosexual brother Tommy (Robert Downey Jr.) and his latest squeeze Leo (Dylan McDermott), and there's the other sister, the prudish Joanne (Cynthia Stevenson) along with her stuff husband Walter (Steve Guttenberg) and their two children, oh and there's their mad Aunt Gladys (Geraldine Chaplin). What a happy family they turn out to be over this period, as alot of truths come out and the family is on the verge of breakdown. It's a good little film, which has been forgotten about since it was first released, but Downey Jr. absolutely steals the film as the gay brother, and Bancroft and Durning are wonderful. Foster should direct more films on the strength of this film. 4/5



The Illusionist (2006), the other magician film of 2006, what alot of people forget is that this came out first before The Prestige (2006), and there is alot of comparisons between the two films, but while Nolan's film was deceptive and with twists, this doesn't quite pull off that same feet, and it feels more supernatural, and there's no answer for how all the tricks are pulled off. Based on a story by Steven Millhauser, this is about a magician in late 19th Century Vienna called Eisenheim (Edward Norton), who has been obsessed with the art of magic since he was a young boy. His shows astound audiences with his quite astounding tricks. Eisenheim falls for Sophie, the Duchess von Teschen (Jessica Biel), who is attached to the Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). Leopold is jealous of Eisenheim's fame and glory and demands to know how his tricks work, meanwhile Eisenheim learns that Leopold is involved in a conspiracy to usurp the Austro-Hungarian throne and take over the throne from his father, for it to work, Eisenheim finds a volunteer with the unwitting and reluctant Chief Inspector Walter Uhl (Paul Giamatti), but it also involves a murder conspiracy too, but is Eisenheim really a murderer?? It's a deceptive little piece, low budget but very well shot by Dick Pope. The locations used in and around Prague are quite beautiful and it has a good cast, Norton is quite and underrated actor and does well with this. Plus, look out for Aaron "Kick-Ass" Johnson as the young Eisenheim. 4/5

Chocolat (2000), directed by Lasse Hallström, best known for What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) and The Cider House Rules (1999) comes this touching and warm drama based on the book by Joanne Harris, which had come out the year before this. It's got a very good cast, and the chocolate in the film looks delicious. Set in the small French town of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes in 1959, it has Vianne Rocher, (Juliette Binoche) and her imaginative daughter Anouk (Victoire Thivisol) who come into town and open up a chocolaterie, rented from elderly local Armande Voizin (Judi Dench). However, she opens the store during the 40 Days of Lent, which gets opposition from the more puritanical members of the town, led by the mayor Comte Paul de Reynaud (Alfred Molina). There is a battle of wills between those who resist temptation and those who cannot, then a band of gypsies, led by Roux (Johnny Depp) get thrown into the mix, when the town fights against them. It's a gentle little romance, with some very good performances throughout including Binoche and Dench, and Depp's little cameo works wonders, with Lena Olin and Carrie-Anne Moss rounding out a literally sweet film. 4/5



Twins of Evil (1971), Hammer complete their The Karnstein Trilogy with this one, which was based on characters from the book Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. The film followed The Vampire Lovers (1970) and Lust for a Vampire (1971), and completed the set. It's a bit cheesy and laughable in places, but it ticks all the boxes with what you would expect from a Hammer Horror. It has recently orphaned twins Maria and Frieda (played by Playboy Playmates Mary and Madeleine Collinson), who move from Venice to the small German town of Karnstein, to live with their strict puritan uncle Gustav Weill (Peter Cushing), who with his posse of fellow puritans go around burning women accused of witchcraft and satanism, even though they have no evidence. Frieda, the more impulsive of the two twins wants to go to the nearby Castle Karnstein to see the mysterious Count Karnstein (Damien Thomas), who just happens to be a vampire, after he brought Countess Mircalla Karnstein (Katya Wyeth) back from the grave. It's a good little film, with some good moments of horror, the sets are well built and you can't believe there were puritan brotherhoods that did stuff like this back then, with them around, it makes it seem better to be a vampire. 3.5/5

I watched and thoroughly enjoyed Monsters vs Aliens yesterday. I found it both funny and exciting and probably the best non-pixar/disney/ghibli animated film I've seen.

This guy is brilliant



I need to see that film again


Dorian Gray (1st view) - In Prince Caspian, Ben Barnes had all the charm and charisma of a fried egg. Exactly why he was thought of as an ideal choice for this I'm not sure, but let's remember that Oliver Parker has screwed over Oscar Wilde once before, and unleashed St. Trinian's on the world (I'm sure that An Ideal Husband was a fluke). Anyway, Barnes is not better here and no amount of hedonism on display can make up for the sterilised world depicted or the lack of anything resembling a good gothic horror. Firth was more than watchable and the film's better when he takes centre stage, the the Gray story in LXG was better than all of this film.

From great animation to great action with Under Siege last night. What's kind of weird is Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey looking like they are having the time of their lives and having fun as the villains whilst Steven Seagal is so serious as hero Casey Ryback.

Be Kind Rewind (2008), Michel Gondry rides again, after the Oscar-winning success of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and returning to his native France for the oddball fantasy The Science of Sleep (2006), here he makes an offbeat yet heartfelt love letter to the good old days of VHS, some of it works, some of it doesn't. This has Jerry (Jack Black), getting his head magnitised, and accidentally erasing the video tapes at the video rental shop belonging to Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), With the store and it's buildings threatened with demolition, Jerry and store employee Mike (Mos Def), decide to remake the films, mainly for the benefit of dotty old lady Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow), using just a video camera, homemade special effects and alot of ingenuity, their remakes include Ghostbusters, Rush Hour 2, Robocop and 2001: A Space Odyssey. A different kind of film, don't believe the ads for it, it's got a darker streak than it claims, the remakes of top films are very good, but the bits inbetween can be a little too offbeat for their own good, but it has heart and good intentions. Maybe that's why Gondry has gone to do The Green Hornet. 3/5



Haunted Honeymoon (1986), Gene Wilder's 4th film as a director, and this was a film made on the fly in little over a month. It shows sadly, and the film ends up being more amusing than funny. It has a good cast, but unfortunately, they can't prop up the films shortcomings, despite having good ideas and slight gags, the film can never figure out what it wants to be. Set in the 1930's, it has New York radio actors Larry Abbot (Wilder) and Vickie Pearle (Gilda Radner) who are engaged to be married, but Larry has been showing signs of nervousness since he engaged Vickie. Larry wants to get married at manor house in upstate New York where he grew up. The head of Larry's mad family are Great-Aunt Kate (Dom DeLuise ), who wants to leave the her fortune to Larry, but then during this stay at the house, nothing is what it seems, there's a werewolf, murders and supernatural goings on afoot. The film seems to repeat alot of jokes from Wilder's directorial debut, The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), and despite a cast including Jonathan Pryce, Peter Vaughan, Jim Carter and Bryan Pringle, some jokes work, some don't and the scares don't work either. Wilder never directed again. Pity. 2/5

In the Electric Mist (1st view) - Crime drama that sees Tommy Lee Jones s detective in Louisiana, trying to solve the recent murder of two women, and also that of a man killed 40 years ago. In a role not all that different from his turn in Melquiades Estrada, No Country for Old Men and, maybe, In the Valley of Elah, Tommy Lee Jones still delivers and it's nice to see John Goodman in stuff that isn't approaching Speed Racer-levels of naffness. Not a bad little drama.





Johnny English (3rd view, 2003, Peter Howitt) - 3/5
It was this or the world cup, and you couldn't pay me enough to watch football.

Garden State (2004), the directorial debut of Zach Braff, who also wrote and directed this film. Made for a pittance and shot in 25 days, this is a likeable, moving and funny little comedy-drama. It gained a big cult following with people in America driving for miles just to go and see it, and it became a firm favourite on the film festival circuit in 2004. It has depressed jobbing actor Andrew Largeman (Braff) returning to his home town in New Jersey, as his mother has died. Andrew as a boy had accidentally paralysed her by pushing her over a dishwasher door, Andrew was put on heavy medication, and can't feel emotions. Back in his home town, he finds himself reunited with his old friends Mark (Peter Sarsgaard) and Dave (Alex Burns), where they catch up on old times. It is here, he also meets Sam (Natalie Portman), a pathalogical liar, who has quite and eccentric background, but the two form a friendship which later blooms into a relationship, while Andrew tries to patch things up with his estranged father Gideon (Ian Holm). It's a film which touches quite a raw nerve, and it's a wonder there's any laughs to be found, but there is with it's quirky tone and Braff's sharp writing. He's also a very good director, and he is able to get the best from his cast. It's a quite odd way to pass 100 minutes or so, I'd like to see Braff direct again, he showed good confidence here. 3.5/5



Away We Go (2009), Sam Mendes wanted a change after the darkness of Revolutionary Road (2008), and so with the threat of the Screen Actor's Guild going on strike, he quickly assembled a cast and crew, and went out and shot this film. It's not as good as it's cracked up to be, but it is a touching romance with the odd glimpse of quirky comedy shining through, and a good soundtrack. It's about Burt Farlander (John Krasinski) and Verona De Tessant (Maya Rudolph), a couple in their early 30's who are trying for a better life, then Verona announces she's pregnant. When it's announced Burt's parents, Gloria and Jerry (Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels), are moving to Antwerp, Belgium for 2 years, Burt and Verona decide to up sticks and find somewhere else to raise their child. They go from their home in Colorado to Phoenix and Tuscon, Arizona then on to Madison, Wisconsin, then Montreal, Canada, all these places have people from Verona's life in them, who they are hoping will be a role model for the child when born. It is a very quirky film, and it makes a refreshing change for Sam Mendes, as his 4 previous films to this have been quite dark, it has a good script by David Eggers and Vendela Vida, Krasinski and Rudolph make a likeable couple, and the cast is nicely rounded out by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allison Janney and Melanie Lynskey. 3/5

Bad Lieutenant (2009), not a remake of Abel Ferrara's 1992 cop drama, instead this is something quite original and mad, and it's by Werner Herzog, maybe the maddest director of them all, and certainly Germany's greatest export. Here he makes one of his more accessable films, and it could put him in good stead to finally cracking Hollywood. Set in New Orleans shortly after Katrina has hit, this has Lieutenant Terrence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage), who after saving someone is perscribed to medication for life after saving someone from drowning. The months go by, and McDonagh becomes more and more addicted to illegal drugs he claims from crime scenes. He finds solace with his prostitute girlfriend Frankie (Eva Mendes), and he's in debt with his bookie Ned (Brad Dourif). However, when 6 illegal immigrants from Senagal are found murdered, the main suspect is one Big Fate (Xzibit), but with one of the witnesses gone AWOL, and no leads, McDonagh decides to use Big Fate, and use him for his copious amounts of drugs. This is Herzog's darkest film, it's not the sort of film you'd think Herzog would do, but after you watch it, you can't imagine anyone better doing it. Cage gives his best performances in well over a decade, the glue that holds this mad, crazy decent into hell together. Plus, the bits from the animals POV just add to the film's unique strangeness. 4.5/5



Rescue Dawn (2007), Werner Herzog heads for Vietnam, a different kind of jungle to the ones he's frequented in South America. He'd actually done a documentary about this film's subject 8 years earlier with Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1999), but he wanted to expand and made those events into a powerful and moving film. Set in 1966, it has German-American navy pilot Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale) off the U.S.S. Ranger, gets shot down in his A-1 Skyraider over Laos, and is soon taken prisoner by the Pathet Lao, a communist group in alliance with the North Vietnam army. He's put into a POW camp with other American military personel including Duane Martin (Steve Zahn) and Gene DeBruin (Jeremy Davies), while there Dengler comes up with a plan to escape, rather than being released in exchange for signing a document comdemning America. Eventually all the prisoners do escape, but they all go their seperate ways, leaving just Dengler and Martin on their own to survive. It's a well made film, with the kind of natural imagery you'd expect from Herzog, the lush green of the jungle and forest is the kind of thing he knows how to capture. Bale gives a good performance of a man on the brink of snapping, but knows he has to keep going to survive. This is another of Herzog's more commerically viable films, but that's good. 4/5

Hellboy (2004), after finally having a hit with Blade II (2002), Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro now had the opportunity to make his dream project, Hellboy, created by Mike Mignola. It was a surprise hit, and put Del Toro on the road to greater things. It's a great, fun piece of fantasy filmmaking, with some good imagery and good action. It started with Allied American forces in 1944 discovering an infant demon which they call Hellboy (Ron Perlman), with occult specialist Professor Trevor Broom (John Hurt) becoming a father figure to this demon, who 60 years later is working for a top secret branch of the government called the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. When a resurrected Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden) wrecks havoc on New York City, Hellboy along with fellow agents Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) who has pyrokinetic powers, and psychic fishlike Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) go to put a stop to Rasputin's plan, and it was Rasputin who helped bring Hellboy into the world all those years earlier, plus Hellboy doesn't do things by the book. This is a fun and exciting action fantasy, with a brilliant lead performance by Perlman, who seems to be having the time of his life in this role. Del Toro keeps the action up and has a very good visual eye and imagination, which came to great use for his next film, Pan's Labyrinth. 4/5



Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Guillermo Del Toro does a brilliantly superior sequel to the first Hellboy film of 4 years previously, he'd recently had a big success with Pan's Labyrinth, he could have done anything he wanted, but he wanted to do another Hellboy, which was a brilliant choice. This time the gruff but good-hearted big red demon Hellboy (Ron Perlman), investigates into a society of elves, whose leader Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), is looking to wage war upon the human world, but he needs one piece of a missing crown to awaken The Golden Army, who will lay waste to the humans. Meanwhile, Hellboy is having relationship troubles with Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), who has a secret (or two), and there's a new boss at the Bureau with ectoplasmic medium Johann Krauss (voiced by Seth MacFarlane, whose voice steals the film), who Hellboy instantly dislikes. Hellboy II is a much more visually stunning, allowing Del Toro's imagination to go wild with weird creatures and brilliant sets. Perlman is a brilliant choice for Hellboy, and makes the role his. It's also got a good sense of humour as well, which suits the imagery and characterisations. Things can only get better in Del Toro's career, he might not be doing The Hobbit now, but for now, make another Hellboy movie please!! 5/5

Get Him to the Greek (2010), a spin-off from Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), focusing this time on Rock star Aldous Snow, played by Russell Brand. It does have some funny moments throughout, but it also has a serious edge to it, but there's still fun to be had and found in this film. It begins when Pinnacle Records head Sergio Roma (Sean "Diddy" Combs), needs ideas to make more money for the company, talent scout Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) suggests having once famous rock star Aldous Snow (Brand) do a 10th anniversary concert of a famous performance he did at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Snow has fallen out of favour after his song African Child was a flop, but Aaron is sent to London to collect Snow, and he has 72 hours, to get him from London to L.A. in time for the concert. But, Snow certainly isn't what you call punctual, and is out of control on drink and drugs, much to the misery of Aaron who ends up smuggling drugs for him, and even ends up being "Geoffreyed". It has some good moments in it, and while Brand is his usual self, Hill is a likeable presence as always, and Sean Combs is a revelation in the film, and it's also good to see the likes of Colm Meaney and Rose Byrne in the film too, and loads of celebrity cameos. 3/5



Starship Troopers (1997), after what happened with Showgirls (1995), Paul Verhoeven returned to the genre of sci-fi, one that had made him money with RoboCop (1987) and Total Recall (1990), he adapted Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 sci-fi novel for the big screen. It's violent, outrageous and over the top, but that's what Verhoeven is best at!! It's political overtones feel scarily relevent today as well. Set a few hundred years for now, it has high school kids from Buenos Aires, Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), his girlfriend Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards), and their best friend Carl Jenkins (Neil Patrick Harris), as they all join the Mobile Infantry to become citizens, this also means going to Klendathu, a far off planet on the other side of our galaxy to fight a race of alien bugs known as Arachnids. Carmen joins Flight Training, while another of Rico's friends from high school Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer), joins the mobile infantry, as she's in love with Rico, and then they find a colony of brain-sucking bugs on the neighbouring Planet P. It's what you'd expect from a Paul Verhoeven film, but it's also one of his best films as well. Alot of the performances are over the top, and it's undeniably macho, and only Verhoeven could do that shower scene!! But, Verhoeven once summed up the films message. "War makes facists of us all." How very true indeed. 4/5

The Sea Wolves (1980), directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, who also did Chisum (1970), The Wild Geese (1978) and North Sea Hijack (1979), this is a daring true story that took place during World War 2, and proves you're never too old to still have one last adventure. It has an amazing cast, and is a good story. Set in India during 1943, it has German U-Boats sinking British ships in the Indian Ocean, The Indian brance of British Intelligence think that information of where the British ships are located are being sent by radio transmitter to German ships based in Portuguese Goa, however, Portugal is neutral from the war, so to avoid any political altercations, British Intelligence sends a group of aging British expatriates based in Calcutta to do the job. They are Colonel Lewis Gordon Pugh (Gregory Peck), Captain Gavin Stewart (Roger Moore), Colonel W.H. Grice (David Niven), Jack Cartwright (Trevor Howard) and Major 'Yogi' Crossley (Patrick Macnee). They are members of the Calcutta Light Horse, part of the Cavalry Reserve in the British Indian Army. It's a good adventure film, and it's suspensful in places and also exciting. You don't get war films like this anymore, it even had a lot of the same crew who had worked on James Bond films of the time behind the scenes. 3/5



Little Children (2006), after the success of his debut film In the Bedroom (2001), writer/director Todd Field took on an adaptation of Tom Perrotta's 2004 novel Little Children. It takes a frank, honest look at suburbian life, it's got good performances in it, it feels real, and looks at the failings of human life, and there's something quite gothic and unusual about it all. Set in a Massachusetts suburb, it has English Literature academic Sarah Pierce (Kate Winslet), who feels out of place in this quite upper class suburb, and she feels out of place as a mother, and other mothers in the neighbourhood are quite snooty and in a loveless marriage. She meets Brad Adamson (Patrick Wilson), a former college football player who is a stay-at-home father, while his wife Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), brings home the money, but he wants to become a lawyer but has failed to pass the state bar exam. Sarah and Brad strike up a friendship which becomes a secret relationship and have an affair, meanwhile Brad's friend ex-cop Larry (Noah Emmerich) has a vendetta against local sex offender Ronnie McGorvey (Jackie Earle Haley) who is a misfit. It is a powerful and passionate drama of the darkness of seemingly perfect lives. Even though somewhere came look like a nice place to live, peel it away, it isn't always perfect. It has some brilliant performances, not least from Winslet and Wilson, and Jackie Earle Haley got an Oscar Nomination for his part, his first role in 13 years. 4/5

Rescue Dawn (1st view) - With the possible exception of Grizzly Man, this is easily the best Werner Herzog film I've seen, and it's certainly better than jis jungle exploits in Aguirre, Warth Of God - 4/5




The Naked Gun trilogy - I've seen the first film the most and I still think it's a 5* comedy classic. Frequently hilarious, the best thing Leslie Nielsen's ever done. Four stars and three for the next instalments. Still funny, but increasingly hit and miss.




The Savages (1st view) - Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney are both excellent as brother and sister who have to commit their father, Philip Bosco, into a nursing home. It's quite depressing but very good. - 4/5*

Woyzeck (1979), 5 days after the completion of filming Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), director Werner Herzog took the crew off to quickly film an adaptation of Georg Büchner's unfinished play from 1913. It's a slight piece, but with a powerful lead performance and imagery we've come to expect from Herzog. Set in a small German army town, it focuses on lowly private Franz Woyzeck (Klaus Kinski), he is the father of an illegitimate child by his mistress Marie (Eva Mattes), Woyzeck also earns money by doing odd jobs for the Captain (Wolfgang Reichmann) and he partakes in medical experiments by the town's Doctor (Willy Semmelrogge). One experiment is that Woyzeck must eat nothing but peas for a year, this takes it's toll on Woyzeck's already fragile mentality. Meanwhile, Marie tires of Woyzeck, and starts a relationship with the local Drum Major (Josef Bierbichler), who ends up raping Marie, but Woyzeck wants to fight back. Filmed in a mere 18 days in the picturesque historical town of Telč, Czechoslovakia, and edited in 4 days. This is a like a theatre piece put on film, there is something quite theatrical about it all, but Kinski's energy keeps the film together. It's not as good as Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) or Fitzcarraldo (1982), but it's a change. 3.5/5



Cobra Verde (1987), and so it came to this. This would come to be the last film Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski made together. Kinski had just made Kinski Paganini (1989), and was apparantly still in character from that film, and it marred the production of this one. It's the weakest of their collaborations, with little of the grandeur and ambition of Fitzcarraldo, it's still well shot though. This has Brazilian rancher Francisco Manoel da Silva (Kinski), who is also the bandit Cobra Verde, he gets a job with sugar baron Don Octavio Coutinho (José Lewgoy), and Silva manages to impregnate all 3 of his daughters. As punishment, instead of death, Silva is sent to re-opening the slave trade with Africa, which Coutinho knows will be an impossible task. But, Silva somehow succeeds, negotiating a deal with the tyanical King Bossa Ahadee of Dahomey (His Royal Highness Nana Agyefi Kwame II of Nsein), and exchanging slaves for new rifles. Silva sends slaves over the Atlantic to Brazil, but power gets to Silva's head, and he ends up leading the native women to try and kill King Bossa. Based on Bruce Chatwin's 1980 novel, The Viceroy of Ouidah, it's a very episodic film, sketchy and unsure, but it does have good moments with some scenes that stay in the memory. It brought down the curtain on one of the best actor/director unions of them all, and maybe the most dangerous too. 3/5

Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008), a documentary made by British screenwriter Sacha Gervasi, who wrote The Terminal (2004), and once upon a time, was once a roadie for the band in this film. It's quite upsetting and touching, and you do feel for the struggles Anvil go through, but there are some laughs to be found, but it shows how hard it is to make it in the music industry. Back in 1984, it shows 4 acts at the Super Rock festival held in Japan, Scorpions, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi and Anvil. 3 of them went on to sell million of records, Anvil sadly didn't, despite having a huge buzz about them. Cut forwards 21 years later, original singer/guitarist Steve "Lips" Kudlow delivers lunches for Children's Choice Catering in Toronto, while drummer Robb Reiner is in construction. They still tour as Anvil, and one tour of Europe left them short changed, but they're still determined, and write an album and give it to British music producer Chris "CT" Tsangarides, who see's potential. Lips and Robb won't give in. You do feel sorry for the position they're in, and their music is very, very good. You can blame bad promotion for them not being more famous than they are. Even the bad promotion they get on the European tour you see in the film is appalling. It shows the struggle some acts have to go through all the time. But, Lips and Robb are likeable and nice people. 4/5



Whatever Works (2009), Woody Allen returns to New York after his trips to London and Spain. He'd wrote this back in the mid-1970's for Zero Mostel, but shelved it when Mostel died. When the Screen Actors Guild threatened to go on strike in 2008, and faced with having to make a film earlier than planned, Woody revived this project, updated it and got Larry David in for Mostel's part. It makes for a winning combination and a very good film. It has embittered curmudgeon Boris Yelnikoff (Larry David), a Physics graduate and chess teacher, who rants about the state of the world with his friends Joe (Michael McKean) and Leo Brockman (Conleth Hill). He'd divorced his wife, and now lives in a run down appartment, he meets runaway Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood), from the deep south. Boris reluctantly lets her stay, and Melodie develops a crush on Boris, and they end up getting married. A year later, Melodie's mother Marietta (Patricia Clarkson) and estranged father John (Ed Begley Jr.) turn up, and they go off on relationships of their own, Marietta goes into a ménage à trois, while John becomes gay!! But as Boris says, "you have to find all the enjoyment that you can. Whatever Works." This is a very funny film, with some of the best comedy Woody has done in ages. Larry David, best known for Curb Your Enthusiasm, is a natural to do stuff like this, and the rest of the cast, Wood, Clarkson and Begley Jr. are all amusing. Catch this one, it's alot funnier than what the critics make out!! 4/5

Ryan's Daughter (1970), after the successes of Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965), David Lean went epic once more for this sweeping romance. It should have been his masterpiece, instead, it brought his reputation as the grandmaster of the epic vision crashing down with horrible opposition to the film. This is unfair, but at the same time, the film didn't need to be epic, when it's plot is quite small. Set in the small town of Killary on the Dingle Peninsula in 1916 Ireland, it focuses on the romance and marriage of middle-aged school teacher Charles Shaughnessy (Robert Mitchum) and Rosy Ryan (Sarah Miles), who is the daughter of local landlord Thomas Ryan (Leo McKern), who is an informer to the British camp posted nearby. Rosy is left wanting more out of her marriage, when she discovers it's not all it's cracked up to be. However, when WW1 hero Major Randolph Doryan (Christopher Jones) comes to take over the nearby army base, Rosy begins a clandestine affair with Doryan, but Charles turns a blind eye to it, and the townspeople then turn on Rosy. It's a very simple romance story against the backdrop of the Troubles, it does have some good moments, such as the storm when the village gather a cache of German arms. But, it is quite overblown and it's not the sort of story that suits an epic vision. Despite all good intentions, Lean should have made this smaller like Brief Encounter (1945) or Hobson's Choice (1954), then it would have been twice the film. 3/5



The Brood (1979), when David Cronenberg released this, he described it as his version of Kramer Vs. Kramer, that might sound flippant, but he was being serious, as he'd just come through a traumatic divorce and custody battle for his daughter, it was the closest to autobiography Cronenberg has come with his films, but it makes for a powerful horror film, and Cronenberg's first big success. Set in Toronto, it has maverick psychotherapist Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed) helping traumatised patients let their rage out in welts all over their bodies. One of Raglan's patients is Nola Carveth (Samantha Eggar), whose rage has caused her to asexually give birth to strange, mutated children, who via a telepathic bond, carry out horrible things whatever Nola's mood is at the time, this causes a nightmare situation for Nola's estranged husband Frank (Art Hindle) and their daughter Candice (Cindy Hinds), especially when Nola's deformed offspring go out to attack Frank, Candice and end up killing Nola's parents. It might sound like a load of rubbish, but it's far from it, the film starts off slow and the suspense and horror just builds until a shocking ending. The score by Howard Shore (his first with Cronenberg) is brilliant and eerie. It has brilliant performances from Reed and Eggar, and taut direction by Cronenberg. 4/5

What's New Pussycat (1965), produced by Charles K. Feldman, best known for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Casino Royale (1967), and directed by British director Clive Donner. This is a mad 60's romantic comedy, whose tone would be echoed in Casino Royale. It has laughs, but it has dated quite a bit, even though it was a hit at the time. Set in France, it has English playboy Michael James (Peter O'Toole) wanting to settle down with his fiancée Carole Werner (Romy Schneider), however, every woman he comes into contact with seems to fall in love with him including nebbish American (Paula Prentiss) and parachutist Rita (Ursula Andress). His psychotic psychoanalyst, Dr Fritz Fassbender (Peter Sellers), can't help either, as he's too busy trying to seduce Renée Lefebvre (Capucine). Michael is friends with Victor Shakapopulis (Woody Allen, who also wrote the film) who is secretly in love with Carole. Then everyone books into the Chateau Chantelle hotel, without knowing one another is all there. It's a mildly successful farce, with a good cast. But, when all is said and done, you'd have to be really big fans of the stars within this film to brave it, despite the noted theme by Tom Jones. It's enough to give anyone a headache. 2.5/5



The Last Movie (1971), after the success of Easy Rider (1969), Dennis Hopper was offered a deal over at Universal Pictures, as was Peter Fonda. While Fonda went off and did The Hired Hand (1971), Hopper went to Peru, he spent much of 1970 there and came back with about 40 hours worth of footage. He made it into perhaps the maddest film of it's day, too far ahead of it's time. No wonder it flopped and killed Hopper's career for a decade. It has Hopper as Kansas, a stunt co-ordinator of horses of a film being shot in Peru, when an actor is killed on set, Kansas quits the business and stays in Peru, living with local woman Maria (Stella Garcia), However, Kansas is asked to help with a dilemma the locals have, they're making their own "movie" with cameras and equipment made out of sticks, based on the film that Kansas was working on, and they're acting out real violence as they don't understand acting, and they need Kansas to help them out. You can see what Hopper was trying to do, and it's a film which blurs the line between fiction and reality. It's too much a head trip through, it's no surprise that Hopper's friend Alejandro Jodorowsky talked him out of doing a coherent cut and something more experimental. It's a film which tries, but not hard enough, despite appearances by Peter Fonda, Michelle Phillips, Samuel Fuller, Henry Jaglom and Kris Kristofferson. This is the Synecdoche, New York of it's day. 3/5

Pale Rider (1985), Clint Eastwood made his first Western in 9 years with this one, but alot of people had gone off westerns since the debacle of Heaven's Gate (1980), but Clint always knows best, and he made this a critical and commerical success, it is a good film with a mystical religious undertone to it's name. Set in the mountains of the old west, it has a band of impoverished panning miners led by Hull Barrett (Michael Moriarty) and they're being bullied, terrorised and shot at by the gang of local mining magnate Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart) and his brother Josh LaHood (Chris Penn). When Barrett is set upon by LaHood's gang, he soon saved by a mysterious Preacher (Eastwood), who becomes a hero amongst the mining campers. Preacher agrees to help them against LaHood and his gang, and even when corrupt U.S. Marshal Stockburn (John Russell) is sent with his deputies to protect the best interests of LaHood and their team, Preacher won't give in, he knows the panning miners are entitled to their land and he'll defend their right and honour. It's a good western drama with good action and visuals. Eastwood's character has a touch of The Man With No Name about him, a mysterious stranger who never gives in. It's locations in Idaho stand out beautfully and the final showdown is suspensful. 3.5/5



The History Boys (2006), after the success of The Madness of King George (1994), director Nicolas Hytner and writer Alan Bennett teamed up again for a play called The History Boys in 2004, and before long, a film version was made. It's a very funny with Bennett's deadpan humour on display, with a good cast who play believable characters. It is set in a grammar school in Sheffield, Yorkshire in 1983, where 8 friends Akthar (Sacha Dhawan), Crowther (Samuel Anderson) Dakin (Dominic Cooper), Lockwood (Andrew Knott), Posner (Samuel Barnett), Rudge (Russell Tovey), Scripps (Jamie Parker) and Timms (James Corden) get the highest marks in the school. To get into Oxford or Cambridge, they need to take a seventh-term entrance exam in History, they're taught by Hector (Richard Griffiths) and Mrs. Lintott (Frances de la Tour). When new teacher Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore) comes to assist, he encourages the boys to take a different spin on events, instead of focusing on historical truth in known subjects to look for objective truth. It's an amusing and well acted film with some very good performances from the 8 boys themselves, some have gone on to greater things. Griffiths and de la Tour are wonderful as always and it's a good little comedy-drama. 4/5

Secretary (2nd view) - Has James Spader ever been in a really good film? I can't think of one. He's not bad in this, but the film isn't up too much and I really don't like Maggie Gyllenhaal - 3/5




The Kid Stays in the Picture (1st view) - Documentary about Hollywood producer Robert Evans. He comes across as being quite unlikeable, but it offers some interesting insights into 70s cinema - 4/5*




Fantastic Planet/La Planète Sauvage (1st view) - Brilliant French science fiction animation, about giant blue creatures called Draags who keep tame humans as pets and methodically try and eradicate wild humans. Packed with surreal imagery, it's beautifully animated and oine of the best animated films I;ve seen - 4/5*




Con Air (6th view) - Testosterone overload in this. I don't think anybody besides Cusack and Buscemi even attempts to act, they just go around trying to out-posture everyone. Usually in slow-motion while things blow up around them. And is it morally acceptable to destroy half of Vegas in order to allow some dude who needs a haircut give his daughter a fluffy bunny? - 4/5





I Love You, Man (1st view) - Reasonably funny, but an awful lot of the humour falls flat - 3/5*

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes (1965), the title says it all, this is one of the most famous all star adventure caper comedies of the 1960's, this one is a love letter to the time of when aviation was in it's infancy, and it's still very funny 45 years on. Set in 1910, it has newspaper magnate Lord Rawnsley (Robert Morley), who sets up a bet for airplane enthusiasts to fly from London to Paris, the first prize is £10,000. Rawnsley's daughter Patricia (Sarah Miles) is in love with airplane pilot Richard Mays (James Fox) who enters the contest and is Lord Rawnsley's favourite to win, however, entries come in from far and wide, from America there's Orvil Newton (Stuart Whitman), who takes a liking to Patricia, there's German Colonel Manfred von Holstein (Gert Fröbe) and Frenchman Pierre Dubois (Jean-Pierre Cassel). There's also the dastardly cheater Sir Percy Ware-Armitage (Terry-Thomas), who has his servant Courtney (Eric Sykes) to sabotage the planes so he can win. The film is a great piece of family entertainment that has something for everyone, and is still funny and entertaining now with a brilliant cast, also rounded out with Benny Hill, Red Skelton, Tony Hancock, Sam Wanamaker, Maurice Denham and John Le Mesurier. Some of the stunts with the planes are amazing. 4/5



Predators (2010), back in 1994, Robert Rodriguez was asked to do another Predator film, that never materialised, but after the critical backlash to Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), 20th Century Fox got Rodriguez to revive it, Rodriguez would produce it, and he got Nimród Antal, who did Vacancy (2007) and Armored (2009) to direct it. It's a very good sci-fi action, suspensful, exciting and entertaining. It begins with a group of humans being dropped into a jungle on another planet, they are US Army Special Forces Operator Royce (Adrien Brody), Russian soldier Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov), Yakuza killer Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien), Death Row inmate Stans (Walton Goggins), United Front officer, Mombasa (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), black ops sniper Isabelle, (Alice Braga). doctor Edwin (Topher Grace) and Mexican drug cartel Cuchillo (Danny Trejo). They soon discover they're not alone in this planets jungle, then they discover what they're up against, and they they meet the crazy survivor Noland (Laurence Fishburne), who has been there for years up against the Predators. This is a very old school action film, it has some brilliant characters and some good moments of suspensful action. The Predators are well realised, and on the strength of this film, it won't be surprising if there's another sequel or two. This is cool stuff!! 4/5