What I've Just Watched: Part 2

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), a prequel to what was to come from the Planet of the Apes series, it forgets the 2001 reimagining, and it shows a real possibility of how it could have come to be for the series, only this one is aided by some very good motion capture for the apes which gives it's apes an added humanity. Scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) is working on a cure for Alzheimer's disease, by testing strains of antiviruses on chimpanzees. After one chimp, Bright Eyes (Terry Notary) is killed after going on a rampage, Will is left with Bright Eyes' baby, who comes to be known as Caesar (Andy Serkis), he grows from baby to adult chimp over 8 years, but he is very, very intelligent. But, he soon becomes aware of the world around him and wants more independence. Meanwhile, Will has started testing the drug on his father Charles (John Lithgow) who has Alzheimers, it works but it doesn't last long. Plus, Caesar's violence leads to him being caged up, but he soon manages to lead other apes in the enclosure in a revolution on the city of San Francisco, and Caesar steals the antivirus to make them intelligent as well. It's a good sci-fi adventure, and it's the best surprise of the year too. In a year of bad sequels and comic book films, this is a better reimagining than the 2001 film, and if there's any justice, Andy Serkis would get an Oscar for playing Caesar so convincingly too. The cast is nicely rounded out by Brian Cox, Frieda Pinto and Tom Felton. 4/5



Cowboys and Aliens (2011), based upon Platinum Studios Comic book, directed by Jon Favreau, and produced by Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, this is a good blend up of the old American west and alien invasion films. Only niggle is that there seems to be so much going on it's hard to keep up with it, but it's a good film and quite enjoyable too. Set in 1873, in Arizona Territory, an unnamed drifter (Daniel Craig) awakens in the desert with no knowledge of how he got there although he has a metal band around his left wrist. He ends up in the town of Absolution, where he overcomes bullyboy Percy Dolarhyde (Paul Dano), whose father is cattle baron Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), Absolution's Sheriff Taggart (Keith Carradine) locks Percy up, and the drifter up too, as he's identified as Jake Longegan. Then, alien spaceships begin attacking the town, and Jake brings one down with his wrist band, and some of the townspeople are taken, so Jake and Woodrow form a posse including Doc (Sam Rockwell) and the mysterious Ella (Olivia Wilde), the latter seems to know alot about Jake, even if he can't remember what's happened. There's alot of bangs for your buck here, it's good fun too, but between the first attack and the last stand, it does drag a bit as the posse look for the alien spaceship. It's a good ensemble too, with cowboys and Apache Indians teaming up to bring down the aliens. It has good action too, but you won't see anything like this for a while again. 3.5/5

Antz (1998), the first computer animated film done by DreamWorks, but it came right in the middle of a great fued between them and Disney/Pixar, who were about to release their insect related adventure A Bugs Life (1998), but Antz will always be better as it manages to have a good storyline, a grown-up one in a colourful animated world. Set underground in a ant colony, it focuses on Z (Woody Allen) a lowly ant who believes he's destined for better things and feels insignificant in the whole scheme of things. His friends, worker Azteca (Jennifer Lopez) and soldier Weaver (Sylvester Stallone) understand how he feels, but then Z meets Princess Bala (Sharon Stone), who has snuck out of the royal palace, bored by her royal life, and being engaged to the tyanical General Mandible (Gene Hackman), who has an agenda of his own. Z falls in love with Bala, and ends up as a soldier to see her again, and after an attack by parasites, is the only soldier alive. He gets to meet her again, and Z is exposed as a worker, he takes Bala hostage and ends up on the run, but soon come back to stop Mandible from destroying the colony. It's a plot that resembles Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, only with a colony of ants. But, it's very imaginative with some good design on display, and it's sharp and observant, with Woody doing his usual schtick brilliantly as an ant. 4.5/5



Paycheck (2003), based upon Philip K. Dick's 1953 short story which first appeared in Imagination magazine, and brought to the screen by action maestro John Woo. It is a very silly film, but it has all of Woo's trademark action on display and dispite a few changes, it's one of the few faithful adaptations of Dick's works in recent years. This has engineer Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck), whose job it is to study his competitors' technologies, and recreate it with improvements, however long it takes him, he is paid handsomely for it but his memory is wiped of how he did it for security reasons. He is approached by old college chum James Rethrick (Aaron Eckhart) to spend 3 years recreating a technology that looks to be revolutionary. Jennings does so, and his memory is wiped of how he did afterwards, he is owed $92 million, however it turns out he gave it away as company stock and an envelope of his personal possessions has been replaced with an assortment of random objects, but it turns out they're clues to what he's been working on, and with help from Dr. Rachel Porter (Uma Thurman), they discover what Rethrick has been working on, but Jennings is on the run from the FBI as well. It's a think piece, but it's not as intelligent as it looks, as it has Woo repeating action stuff from his previous films like white doves. a motorbike chase and a Mexican Standoff, but this is blessed with a good supporting cast including Paul Giamatti, Joe Morton and Michael C. Hall. 3/5

Donald McKinney wrote:

Antz (1998), the first computer animated film done by DreamWorks, but it came right in the middle of a great fued between them and Disney/Pixar, who were about to release their insect related adventure A Bugs Life (1998), but Antz will always be better as it manages to have a good storyline, a grown-up one in a colourful animated world.

What's wrong with the storyline in A Bug's Life




Sex and the City (1st view) - I have never, not once, been half as happy about anything as when Jennifer Hudson's character receives a handbag in this film. That kind of pleasure is perverse. Certainly not as good as the show - 3/5*

10,000 BC (2nd view) - I enjoyed it more at the cinema - 3/5




The Lincoln Lawyer (1st view) - Good legal drama - 4/5*




Dragonball Evolution (1st view) - Even by my standards, this was terrible - 1/5*

Primal (1st view) - A group of friends go and visit a remote cave painting, but after taking a swin in a nearby lake, one of the group becomes feral and cannibalistic. Some good shocks along the way but a very silly ending lets it down - 3/5*




The Fly (2nd view) - I know it's an established horror classic, but it's not a film I love. It's good and there's a lot to like about it - the two leads, effects, music (of course) - but it works better as a comedy than a horror - 3/5*




Rango (1st view) - Really good. Excellent vocals from all, espeically Johnny Depp, stunning visuals and lots of laughs - 4/5*

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (1st view) - I always like to see how ineffectual the human race can be in film when up against anything remotely out of the ordinary. You get the impression that the dweebs in this film couldn't have stopped worldwide domination by three hamsters in an exercise ball. This is probably the best Apes so far, but I don't really like any of the previous films that much, only the original novel and the TV series standing out until now - 4/5*

Tamara Drewe (1st view) - At its best when either Tamsin Greig or Roger Allam are in screen - 3/5*

Session 9 (2nd view) - A terrifically mundane horror about a group of asbestos removal men working in an abandoned asylum. There are one or two decent moments, and it should be applauded for trying to be a thoughful horror rather than splashing out on gore, but's its not very effective - 2/5




Fair Game (1st view) - Decent enough. I'd never heard of the people this film was about, I feel I should have - 3/5*




Fright Night (1st view) - Good fun when McDowell was on screen, but Chris Sarandon made for a rather unthreatening bloodsucker, and it's never a good thing when you're glad one of the good guys dies. I didn't know that the Brewster quote came from this film - 3/5*




Hour of the Wolf/Vargtimmen (1st view) - Creepy horror film with great performances from Max von Sydow and Liv Ullman. The more Bergman's of films I see, the more I like him. Admittedly, I have only seen six, so plenty of time for things to go wrong, but I like all of those six.

Death on the Nile (1978), after the success of Murder on the Orient Express (1974), it was inevitable that there would be another Poirot film. This brings together an all star cast from both sides of the Atlantic, and it makes for a very entertaining murder mystery that manages to have a sense of humour about it's proceedings. Set on a river cruise going up the Nile river, it has newly married couple heiress Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles) and Simon Doyle (Simon MacCorkindale) on their honeymoon, even though Simon's old flame Jacqueline de Bellefort (Mia Farrow) has followed them there, feeling jilted for Simon chosing Linnet over her. Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) is on board, and so's Mrs. van Schuyler (Bette Davis), Miss Bowers (Maggie Smith), Linnet's maid Louise Bourget (Jane Birkin), novelist Salome Otterbourne (Angela Lansbury), American lawyer Andrew Pennington (George Kennedy) and Colonel Race (David Niven). However, when Jacqueline shoots Simon, and then Linnet ends up dead shortly afterwards, it's up to Poirot with help from Colonel Race to find out who killed Linnet, but as everyone had a grudge against her, everyone on the cruise is a suspect. You don't get murder mystery films like this anymore, and you won't get a cast as good as this anymore, Ustinov is a perfect choice for Poirot, while Lansbury and Davis steal the film. It's intriguing and captures the 1930's really well, and it has good dialogue. 4/5



You Only Live Twice (1967), the 5th Bond film, and with the gargantuan success of Thunderball under their hats, producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman decided the next Bond would be the biggest and best on yet, it's certainly the best Sean Connery Bond film, (even for a time this looked like it would be Connery's last one), but it's very well made and it has a big epic scope. It would be a while before there was a big epic Bond like this for a while. The film follows James Bond (Connery) as he tries to investigate the disappearance of manned space capsules. But, he's just faked his own death, the reason for this is to ensure that his villain's THINK he's dead. The mission takes him around Japan, leading from Osato Chemicals in Tokyo to a hollowed out volcano, where evil organisation SPECTRE have been hiding, led by Ernst Stavros Blofeld (Donald Pleasence). With a deft and taut script by Roald Dahl, it has some of the best set pieces of the 60's Bond films, even if there's a big sense of excess about this one, but it's still good to watch, and the direction by Lewis Gilbert, cinematography by Freddie Young and best of all, the production design by Ken Adam are all perfect. Maybe we need a Bond like this again. 4.5/5

Four Lions (1st view) - The funniest film I've seen all year. I was in tears at times - 4/5*

Jarhead (2005), from Sam Mendes, his third film as a director after American Beauty (1999) and Road to Perdition (2002), this is based on the 1991 memoirs of U.S. Marine Anthony Swofford, who is the focus of this war drama that shows the madness and tedium of what war can really be like. Set around 1990 and 91, Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) has joined the U.S. Marines to fight for his country, and his unit is sent to the Persian Gulf to fight in Operation Desert Shield, where they have to get Kuwait back from the clutches of Saddam Hussein. Swofford is a Scout Sniper for Staff Sergeant Sykes (Jamie Foxx), who is tough but charismatic, and Swoffords sniper partner is Troy (Peter Sarsgaard), a criminal who lied on his application to get into the Marines. However, once they're out there in the desert, around the border with Saudi Arabia and Iraq, there's nothing to do but wait for further instructions, and wait....and wait... Tedium gets to the men, and then Operation Desert Storm begins, but it's still hard to find any action, only the aftermath of whats just happened. It's a good social statement on the pointlessness of war, and it comes across as a more straight faced variation of Three Kings (1999), but it does have the odd surreal moment in it's storytelling. 4/5



The Kingdom (2007), directed by Peter Berg, (Very Bad Things (1998), Friday Night Lights (2004) and Hancock (2008)), this is a thought-provoking and suspenseful action thriller, set in a foreign country where human rights are non-existant, and they have a very different way of dealing with crime. It should make viewers think twice before going there. In the American compound of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where there's oil being drilled, al-Qaeda set off a bomb and go on a shooting spree. FBI Special Agent Francis Manner (Kyle Chandler), who is based out there, calls his colleague Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) to send a team out there to investigate, including Agent Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper), Agent Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner) and analyst Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman) are given 5 days to investigate in this difficult and unforgiving land. They're placed under the care of Colonel Faris al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), but the FBI are only there to observe and advise with the Saudi's investigation, and their permissions to help are denied, even though they find several leads to who might be responsible for the bombing. It's a rare beast of a film, an action film with brains, intelligent enough even for the masses. It has good moments of action, it's very tense at certain points too, and it's a good look at a world we seldom see. 4/5

The Devil's Rejects (2005), after House of 1000 Corpses (2003) became a cult hit, it gave Rob Zombie the clout to make a sequel. But, it wasn't going to be a carbon copy sequel, it was going to be different in tone and style. Much darker, much grittier, with much more blood and gore, and it feels closer in tone to the 70's films it's referencing, but it's very uncomfortable to watch. Set a year later from House of 1000 Corpses, this has Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig), Otis B. Driftwood (Bill Moseley) and Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie), ending up on the run after Sheriff John Quincey Wydell (William Forsythe) seeks vengeance for the death of his brother, and gets an order to have the Firefly family arrested or killed. Only Mother Firefly (Leslie Easterbrook) is killed, while the Captain, Otis and Baby end up on the run with the law on their tail. Otis and Baby end up taking travelling musicians Roy Sullivan (Geoffrey Lewis) and Adam Banjo (Lew Temple) and their family hostage, meanwhile the Captain has agreed to find refuge with his half-brother, Charlie Altamont (Ken Foree) who is an African-American Pimp. It's very nasty, and while the House of 1000 Corpses was more off the wall and psychedelic, this is dark, raw and much like films such as Last House on the Left (1972) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). It's nasty, but it's got something about it... 3/5



Fright Night (2011), a remake of Tom Holland's 1985 horror, this one has a more modern, knowing attitude, but you can't help but think it was made to cash-in on the recent craze of vampire films. Either way, it's a very entertaining film with some good scares and a pitch black sense of humour about it. In the suburbs of Las Vegas, teenager Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) is intrigued by the new neighbour who has moved in next door, Jerry Dandrige (Colin Farrell), Charley's friend Ed Lee (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) believes that Jerry is a vampire. Charley doesn't believe him, but soon believes it when Ed goes missing and Charley discovers evidence that Jerry IS a vampire. Charley's mother Jane (Toni Collette) and girlfriend Amy (Imogen Poots) don't believe him. But, then more people in the neighbourhood go missing, and Charley goes to Las Vegas magician Peter Vincent (David Tennant), who is a specialist in the occult. He doesn't believe Charley at first, but soon believes him when Jerry tries to kill Charley, Jane and Amy. But, it turns out Jerry is a special type of vampire that'll be hard to kill, but Peter has an agenda of his own too. It's a very silly film, but it's good entertainment. Yelchin makes a good teen hero, Farrell plays it creepy as a vampire while Tennant apes Russell Brand. It's not perfect, but it's better than Twilight, and that's saying something. 3.5/5

Tapeheads (1st view) - Tim Robbins and John Cusack star as two security guards who get fired and decides to start their own music video company. They meet their childhood heroes, soul duo The Swanky Modes, and attempt to bring them back into the limelight. The also run afoul of the security team for a presidential candidate who wants to retrieve a sex tape that the two leads have mistakenly found a copy of. Far funnier than I expected, some great songs and it features the best advert for a Chicken and Waffle House ever made - 4/5*

Tequila Sunrise (1988), written and directed by Robert Towne, screenwriter of such films as Chinatown (1974), The Parallax View (1974) and Frantic (1988), this is a crime thriller that brought together many of the top players of it's day, who were at the top of their game at the time. Even though it reeks of the 1980's, it's got enough going for it to make it a good watch. Drug dealer Dale "Mac" McKussic (Mel Gibson) is trying to get out of the business and go straight, his close friend, Detective Lieutenant Nick Frescia (Kurt Russell) is bound out of respect to his friend, but Nick knows he is bound by duty to arrest Mac if her ever lapses back into the drugs business again. Meanwhile, Mac has become attracted to posh restaurant owner Jo Ann Vallenari (Michelle Pfeiffer), who is intrigued by Mac's past. However, Mac is lured back into the business one last time by Mexican drug lord Carlos (Raúl Juliá), but Mac knows what will happen to him if he goes back into the business, and he also has Drugs Enforcement Hal Maguire (J. T. Walsh) on his tail as well as Nick, plus he wants to get out of the business for Jo Ann. But either way, it's going to end in violence. It's a quite dated film, but it still has it's moments to keep you gripped throughout. Mad Mel knew how to make good choices back then, and you can never go wrong with Kurt Russell. It's just a pity Towne hasn't directed more. 3.5/5



The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), Gene Wilder had found great success with his friend Mel Brooks, starring in The Producers (1968), Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (1974). For this, he went solo, taking on the myth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but with a twist. It's a novel idea, it's not perfect, but it's an enjoyable way to pass an hour and a half. As the title suggests, it focuses on Sigerson Holmes (Wilder), who lives in the shadow of his brother Sherlock, or Sheer-Luck, as he calls him. Sherlock bequeaths a case to Sigerson when the super-sleuth is indisposed, Sigerson gets help from an eccentric Scotland Yard sergeant with 'photographic hearing' Orville Stanley Sacker (Marty Feldman) and a suspicious musical hall actress called Jenny Hill (Madeline Kahn). in a case which involves Professor Moriaty (Leo McKern) and Italian opera-singer Eduardo Gambetti (Dom DeLuise). Wilder shows good confidence as a director, even if the whole film feels a little bit like a Carry On in places, and other bits feel like the sort of material Brooks would come up with. But, it's well made with some good comedy sequences in it, (Marty Feldman is always funny, and so's DeLuise), and a good supporting cast including John Le Mesurier, Thorley Walters and Roy Kinnear!! 3.5/5

No Strings Attached (1st view) - Kevin Kline should be in better films than this - 3/5*




The Fog (2nd view) - Better than I remembered, but far from a great horror film - 3/5




My Little Eye (2nd view) - 3/5*

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), a sci-fi spoof directed by screenwriter W. D. Richter (Nickelodeon (1976) and Brubaker (1980)), this was originally intended as a new franchise, as it had been touted around Hollywood since 1980, but the film flopped and a cult film remains from it. This has scientist, physicist, neurosurgeon, test pilot, and rock musician Dr. Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller), testing out a new rocket car, which goes at the speed of sound, and he is able to drive it though solid rock, a mountain in this case. However, when Buckaroo comes out on the other side, he discovers an alien lifeform is attached to the car. Hearing of what Buckaroo has done, evil physicist Dr. Emilio Lizardo (John Lithgow) seeks vengeance for what happened to him 50 years ago, an accident caused by Buckaroo's mentor Dr. Hikita (Robert Ito), which left part of Lizardo's mind in the Eighth Dimension, which Buckaroo experienced when he drove the rocket car through the mountain. Now there's a race of alien reptiles known as Red Lectroids appearing on Earth, and with Lizardo up to no good, it's up to Buckaroo and his team to put a stop to it. It's a film which is all over the place, it mixes sci-fi with rock and roll and romance along the way, but it doesn't really give a good explanation for it's characters. Although the aborted sequels might have done it justice. 2.5/5



Lifeforce (1985), directed by Tobe Hooper, fresh off Poltergeist (1982) at the time, was offered a contract at Cannon Films (alarm bells ringing), but WAIT!! What's this!? Cannon actually spent more than $1.99 on the budget for this film, and it has a good screenplay as well, it's gripping and violent too. It begins with a space mission to Halley's Comet by the space shuttle Churchill, led by an Anglo-American crew, where the crew discover a spaceship embedded in the comet. On the return, mission control in Texas lose contact with Churchill, and discover that it's crew have all been killed, save one. Col. Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback) who got out in an escape pod, and on the spaceship are 3 naked humanoids in suspended animation, they are taken to a research facility in London led by Dr. Leonard Bukovski (Michael Gothard) and Dr. Hans Fallada (Frank Finlay). The female alien (Mathilda May) awakens and escapes by sucking the life out of the security guards, but then havok entails all around London as the vampires move from body to body, and it's up to Carlsen and SAS member Col. Colin Caine (Peter Firth) to put a stop to it. Hooper is one of the most underrated of directors, as he knew how to create mood and atmosphere. He has a good ensemble working together here and for once, this is a film by Cannon with good special effects for their day, it's just a shame Hooper chose to follow this up with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), also done for Cannon. 4/5

Gods and Monsters (1998), based upon Christopher Bram's novel Father of Frankenstein, written and directed here by Bill Condon (Kinsey (2004) and Dreamgirls (2006)) and produced by Clive Barker, this is a great study of one of the earliest pioneers of screen horror, although heavily fictionalised, it does paint a good picture of a confused artist. Set in 1957, it has ex-Korean War Marine Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser) who is now working as a gardener in Los Angeles, he has just started working for James Whale (Ian McKellen), a film director who has been retired for a decade, he lives with his housekeeper Hanna (Lynn Redgrave), who is scornful of his habits. An uneasy relationship begins between James and Clayton, and Clayton discovers the films James is famous for, Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and that James retired because he was betrayed by the studio system. James is also a homosexual, even asking a fan who comes to inview him to undress. But, James is very depressive and he contemplates suicide as well, but it's his uneasy friendship with Clayton that keeps him going, but James' homosexual tendencies mar the friendship. This is a good low-budget character piece of a great screen director who got forgotten in the autumn years of his life. McKellen excels as James Whale, this is a man you feel sorry for, even if he is lecherous, but Redgrave nearly steals the film as the long-suffering housekeeper. 4/5



Cars 2 (2011), it was inevitable that after Toy Story 3 (2010), the only way would be down for Pixar, and the fact they chose to do a sequel to their worse reviewed film Cars (2006) just smacks of vanity. It lacks the warmth and heart of previous Pixar films, it looks amazing but it's just too formulaic, and Pixar made a rod for their own back with this one. Racing car champion Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) returns home to Radiator Springs and is offered to race in the World Grand Prix set up by green energy tycoon Sir Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard), Lightning refuses but after being taunted by Italian F1 racing car Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro), Lightning accepts, and brings his best friend Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) along, whose behaviour puts his friendship with Lightning to the test. But, due to mistaken identity, Mater is thought to be an American spy car, and ends up on a mission of espionage with British spys Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer), which takes Mater to Paris, Italy and London, the main villian looks to be Professor Zündapp (Thomas Kretschmann), but nothing is what it seems in this mission. If the first film was Doc Hollywood, then this one goes by way of the old James Bond films, with cars. There's too little racing action in this film, and Lightning plays second fiddle to the stereotypical buffoonery of Mater. So close, and yet so far. Pixar won't be visiting Cars ever again. 3/5

Sixty Six (1st view) - 3/5*





Submarine (1st view) - 4/5*

Hereafter (2010), Clint Eastwood makes a film you wouldn't expect him to do, from a script by Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon), this combines what happens after death, with two big events that happened only a few years ago. Only 2 thirds of it really work, but it's good to see Eastwood try new things, but it some of it feels too sugary and maukish. It begins when Marie Lelay (Cécile de France), a reporter for France Télévisions is nearly killed in the 2004 Tsunami, and has an out of body experience, which she wants to investigate further. In San Francisco, factory worker George Lonegan (Matt Damon), who has psychic abilities, but he doesn't do readings anymore, as it has a big emotional impact on him, even though his brother Billy (Jay Mohr) is urging George to take it up again. In London, twin brothers Marcus and Jason (Frankie and George McLaren) are very close, and try and keep social services from having them taken away, but when Jason is killed, Marcus is taken away, but he still feels Jason is with him, and wants to contact him one last time, then he learns of George, who soon after, is taking time out in London. It's a very emotional film, and quite thought-provoking too. But, while it's highlights include the Tsunami and the 2005 London Bombings, the scenes in London are let down by bad acting and half-hearted writing, you'd have expected better there from Eastwood. You can't fault him for doing something different, but it could have been better. 3/5



The Way Back (2010), from Peter Weir, his first film since Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), this is based on a true story of survival in the harshest environments imaginable. While some of it does feel like a compendium of Weir's other films, it's visually beautiful, gripping and emotional and it's a reminder that Weir is one of the best directors working today. In 1941, Polish POW Janusz (Jim Sturgess) is sent to a Soviet Gulag, a tough, harsh prison in Siberia. The conditions are intolerable, but he makes friends who include American engineer Mr. Smith (Ed Harris), hardened criminal Valka (Colin Farrell), accountant Zoran (Dragoş Bucur), priest Voss (Gustaf Skarsgård) and actor Khabarov (Mark Strong). During a violent snowstorm, Janusz makes an escape with Mr. Smith, Valka, Zoran, Voss and along with artist Tomasz (Alexandru Potocean) and cook Kazik (Sebastian Urzendowsky). They make their way south through Soviet Russia, meeting farm girl Irena (Saoirse Ronan) along the way, who joins them as they walk to Mongolia, then across inhospitable desert to India, where they will be free from Communist tyrany. It's a hard hitting film about survival, but despite it's epic scale and jaw-dropping scenery, it's actually a small-scale film, but as our character go from snowy mountains to desert to more snow, you root for them to get to freedom. You can never go wrong with Peter Weir, this is a director who hasn't made a bad film yet. 4/5

The Informant! (2009), Steven Soderbergh has been trying to a film of Kurt Eichenwald's 2000 nonfiction thriller novel since Ocean's Eleven (2001), but he's worked on other projects since then, but with a little persistence, he finally got it made, and what could have been a dark, paranoid thriller is turned into a colourful and cheery black comedy, with a brilliant lead performance and the one of the best soundtracks ever which compliments the film wonderfully. It's the true story of Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon, with silly moustache and fat tummy), who in 1992, is a rising executive at Archer Daniels Midland, where cereal grains and oilseeds are processed. Whitacre finds himself in league with the FBI, blowing the whistle on the company’s price-fixing tactics. Whitacre ends up telling the truth, and alot more than the truth. Turns out Whitacre has bipolar disorder, and he might not be telling the truth, and his seemingly good deeds become his downfall. Soderbergh creates a serious comedy from a complex and bizarre legal case, but there are dark laughs to be found in this film. It's very offbeat with it's visuals, (it could have almost have come from the 1970's), Damon shows a brilliant comedic talent which he's seldom used. The best thing about the film is the light, breezy, jazzy score by the great Marvin Hamlisch, which is a contender for one of the best soundtracks of all. 4/5



The Men Who Stare At Goats (2009), based on the 2004 book by Welsh journalist Jon Ronson, and written and directed for the screen by Grant Heslov. This is an odd but entertaining film based on a true story, but it's premise is so unbelievable, you'll be thinking "that can't be true!", but the film says 'alot of this story is truer than you'd like to think." It begins with Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), a small town news reporter who after going through a messy divorce, is sent out to Kuwait and Iraq in May 2003 to cover the war for the newspaper, struggling to get into Iraq, he meets Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), who as it turns out, was part of a specialist wing of the U.S. Army called the New Earth Army. Founded by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), this unit was meant to train up 'psychic spies', but the dream all came crashing down when Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey) joined their team. Then, Bob and Lyn get into trouble when they cross over into Iraq. It's an odd little film, but it is very enjoyable due to it's novel idea for a concept, but it's hard to tell what's true and what was invented for the film, (apart from a couple of obvious bits), but Clooney, McGregor, Spacey and Bridges are all brilliant, and keep the film moving and entertaining. 4/5

Priest (1st view) - Some nice ideas and a good look to the film, but it feels as if there's a shedload of scsnes cut. Entertaining enough - 3/5*




Unknown (1st view) - I Diane Kruger. But this is Neeson's film. I like his new badass action roles - 4/5*

I've maintained that you could make a drinking game from Unknown by taking a swig of something strong everytime Liam Neeson shouts "I AM DOCTOR MARTIN HARRIS!!"

Blimey, you'd be in hospital before you get halfway!

Or it could be beer or cider, maybe a beer from Germany, where it's set.

Middle Men - Comedy drama about a group of men who create an online billing company for porn sites - 3/5*




Strictly Ballroom (3rd view) - Really good fun - 4/5




Red Riding Hood (1st view) - Seems like ages since Oldman's turned in an OTT bad guy performance. He's the best thing about this - 3/5*