The Black Hole, 1979 - Movie Review

Director: Gary Nelson
Starring: Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowall, Slim Pickens
Running Time: 98 minutes

Another great review by the mighty Paul S

Well, it was a quiet Sunday for me for once. All house tasks done, breakfast at 2 (full English of course) and I was reviewing the glossy TV guide. That's where i saw it, jumping out of the page in bold News-Of-The-World-glossymag font - The Black Hole, Channel 5 (who'd of thought it eh? five channels!), 15:35. OK then I thought, washing nearly finished I can make this.

But those that have seen the film will understand when I say my first thought was Maximilian. What a scary robot that was! I went to the pictures to see this. I understand it's a Disney production so we went as a family to watch it. I definitely fell asleep. My older brother on the other hand stayed awake, 'cos he had Maximilian as a trading card, whereas I had Oscar.

Anyway, the plot. Well, bit intense for a kids film. It's about a doctor that robbed a spaceship, gave out a distress signal, watched all the crew die, replaced them with robots, and hung around the edge of a black hole with a hard red robot for company. Oh, and also went a bit mad.

If I remember correctly (it was 3 wks ago man) a crew had to stop there for refueling/repairs and found the doctor. (on an aside, Im sure it's the same fella that played Hans Zarkov in Flash Gordon, can LFF work their wonder here? - Nope it's not that dude. In this one the mad scientist was played by Maximilian Schell and Hans Zarkov was played by Topol - LFF) with his robot staff. Oh that's it! He converted them into cyborg people to sustain their life.

Now Disney thought they could jump on the Star Wars newly-opened genre with this, but forgot that kids like explosions and fighters, laser beams and hyperspace! all this gave us was a trippy 10 min sequence when they entered the black hole. it was like 2001 for kids!

That aside, watching it as an adult on a Sunday with a beer and nice cigarettes (ahem) it was a different matter. I understood what the doctor was on about! The tension between them, the 'accidental' death (still a bit graphic for a kids movie), the token hot scientist. Visually it fine, but its more of a dialogue film, really well written to be honest. Kinda like Reservoir Dogs in space!

I haven't given it the justice it deserves here, I know. So re-watch it and post your response. I promise you won't be disappointed!

As a kid - 4/10
Re-watch as adult - 8/10

A hidden gem
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Public Enemies, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Johnny Depp, Marion Cotillard, Christian Bale
Running Time: 140 minutes
Score: 9 / 10

Another review for Public Enemies. This one by Pamela Fruendt.

Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies' is a visually stunning, emotionally satisfying and damn near perfect film shot in a crisp documentary style rarely seen today. You are not just watching John Dillinger and friends shoot it out in the 1930's. No, you're the proverbial 'fly on the wall' smack dab in the middle of it and along for the ride. Oh, and what a ride it is! From the shuffling feet and chains in the opening scene to the double hankie gut-wrenching ending ( And I don't mean Dillinger's death. ), 'Public Enemies' is a feast for the eyes and the senses.

Johnny Depp's Dillinger is a man's man full of grit and action and Depp ( 3-time Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor ) dazzles as always. His range of emotions shown throughout the film, particularly those following Billie Frechette's arrest, leaves no doubt as to his acting skill. Depp is the finest actor of his generation.

Marie Cotillard ( Academy Award Winner for 'La Vie en Rose' ) is perfectly cast as Billie Frechette, Dillinger's true love. Her strength and vulnerability and on screen chemistry with Depp is memorable. Cotillard appears in two of the film's most emotional scenes, including one where a chivalrous Melvin Purvis carries her to the bathroom when she can not walk after being brutalized by Chicago investigators. It was a scene I did not expect.

Christian Bale's performance resonates with just the right amount of restraint and 'get the job done' ideology. He is the perfect foil to Billy Crudup's pompous, manipulating J Edgar Hoover. Bale appears in far more of the film then I had expected. His one on one with Dillinger at the Crown Point jail is priceless. Their verbal barbs remind me of two tom cats circling one another looking for signs of weakness.

The supporting cast, generally left to unrecogizable actors in lesser films, is a kalidescope of known faces. Some linger on the screen. Others, you'll have to look for or you'll miss them. British actor Stephen Graham is outstanding as Baby Face Nelson. Never have I seen an actor take such pleasure in killing his fellowman. Those to look for include: Lili Taylor ( Arizona Dream ); Channing Tatum ( Fighting ); Emilie de Ravin ( Lost ); Giovanni Ribisi ( The Dog Problem & The Rum Diary ); and Leelee Sobieski ( 88 Minutes ). And don't forget the fantastic 'Public Enemies' extras - each and every one of them. They are the true fabric of the film.

Finally, are there gaps in the film? Of course. Is everything explained? No. But the audience is the 'fly on the wall' and we see enough. 'Public Enemies' is not your typical spoon-fed summer fare. You're going to have to work a bit with this film. Dare I say concentrate? Look at it this way, the R rating means you don't have to contend with children throwing popcorn and climbing over the seats. Thank you, Michael Mann. Thank you.

Check out my time at the Public Enemies press conference with Michael Mann, Johnny Depp and Marion Cotillard.

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Public Enemies, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Stephen Dorff, Billy Crudup, Channing Tatum, Stephen Graham, David Wenham, Jason Clarke, Emilie De Ravin
Running Time: 140 minutes
Score: 8 / 10

This review by me. Check out my report from the press conference.

John Dillinger. He seemed unstoppable and in the 13 months from his release from prison to his death he lived for the moment and became a legend. Paroled in May, 19933 and by July 1934 he was dead.

Michael Mann’s Public Enemies tells the tale of Dillinger and his pursuit by G-Man Melvin Pervis, the inspiration for the look of Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy.

My first thoughts on the film – It was good, but not a masterpiece as some are calling it. However, after watching it again that may change for the better, hell it may change while I get my thoughts sorted in this review. The reason being the way it was filmed.

Let me explain. We are all used to films from that era to have certain look and feel to them. That period sheen were you know, not just from the cars and costumes that you are looking at something from the past. The look that film can give you. However, Mann used HD cameras as he did with Collateral. As you know this has a contemporary immediacy about it. It can remind you of a home video or a documentary and lots of the shots in Public Enemies had a hand held look to them as you follow Dillinger and his gang on numerous bank robberies. What I am trying to get at is that this film seemed as if it was shot back then but with todays technology. It’s unlike any other period film that I’ve seen in that regard and it took me a while to get used to it. I found myself enjoying the film more as it went on. Hence if I watched it again I would probably get more out of it.

With that out of the way, let’s get on with it. Depp as Dillinger is superb. You get him straight away. He’s got out of prison after a lengthy sentence for a minor teenage crime. The world around him is full of colour, fun and opportunity and he wants it all right now and to hell with tomorrow. Johnny Depp plays him with a devil may care smile and you can see why the public loved John Dillinger. He played the PR thing before it was invented.

What got me was how cool he was under pressure. From walking around the Dillinger Task Force offices surrounded by photos of himself to breaking out of Lake County Jail with a gun he carved out of a chopping board he just didn’t seem to care what happened to him.

This Lake County breakout was one of my favourite scenes. Depp with his wooden gun takes a few guards hostage before driving out of the prison in the warden’s own car. The audacity of the man was amazing. If you feel that it was a little far fetched it turns out that Michael Mann toned it down from reality as in real life Dillinger took 13 guards hostage but Mann felt the audience would find that a little hard to believe!

The fact that this scene and many others were filmed at the actual locations where events took place makes it all the more realistic. It also went someway in helping the actors play the roles. Little Bohemia Lodge where the FBI surrounded Dillinger and his gang only for them to get away once again. The Biograph theatre in Chicago where Dillinger watched his final film, Manhatten Melodrama (where Clark Gable basically plays Dillinger), was renovated for the film and when Dillinger meets his end in the film, Depp falls in the exact same spot that Dillinger did.

Marion Cotillard is great as Dillinger’s girl, Billie Frechette. She has that wounded innocence that was seen in A Very Long Engagement and in an interrogation scene with the FBI she is wonderful. Like many of the actors she is not actually in the film for that great a length of time, but she lights up the screen every time she is.

Christian Bale plays Melvin Purvis. Hand picked by J Edgar Hoover (a great portrayal by Billy Crudup) the straight laced G-Man finds he has to bend his strict moral code to bring Dillinger to justice and you can see it cutting him up as the film goes on. Bale, as usual, plays it well. He oozes professionalism as the man who tracked down Dillinger and then the frustration as he escapes once again. There is no Batman growl, but he did keep the accent all through the shooting of the film.

Bale and Depp only have a few minutes of screen time together – Mann seems to like doing this with big names, Pacino and De Niro in Heat had a similar amount of time together – but they do it well. Two sides of the same coin. One buttoned down and in control, the other living for the moment, but both keenly aware that they are losing friends and that one day soon only one of them will still be alive.

Around these three big names are numerous other great actors. Many of whom are only on screen for a short time - Stephen Dorff as Homer Van Meter, Channing Tatum as a blink and you’ll miss him Pretty Boy Floyd, Stephen Graham (This is England, Snatch) was brilliant as Baby Face Nelson, David Wenham (300, Australia), Jason Clarke, Emilie De Ravin and many more. All of them were great. Yet sadly not enough time was spent on getting to know some of them. Some of the characters were long time friends of Dillinger, yet you don’t get a chance to know them before they disappear never to be seen again.

The look of the film is spot on. Everything looks authentic – cars, guns, clothes, buildings – and Mann directs with his usual aplomb. The gunfight scenes are all gripping and loud. This is to be expected from Mann whose gun battle in Heat is still one of my favourites.

My main problem with the film was that I felt curiously uninvolved in the first part of the film. This may have been due to the way it was filmed as I mentioned at the start, but it also felt as if you were dropped into the middle of things and then moved quickly to the next scene and then the next, before things settled down a little after the first third. This may have been intentional though to get you into the hectic life of the Dillinger gang, but it did make it hard to get a handle on the characters.

The look and feel of the film did remind me a lot of Arthur Penn’s Bonnie & Clyde.

It was 140 minutes in length but it flew by and I felt a little extra time spent on some of the minor characters would have added to my enjoyment. I definitely want to see it again though as I would appreciate the film more now I know how the HD camerawork affects the look of it all.

Don’t get me wrong, the film is well worth seeing especially if you are a fan of Mann’s previous work. Plus Johnny Depp is always great to see. Be prepared for the curious effect the HD has on the period look and you will enjoy it all the more.

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Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson
Running Time: 150 minutes
Score: 6.5 / 10

This review by Jinja. Spoilers ahead....

What's it about?

IMDB blurb: "Decepticon forces return to Earth on a mission to take Sam Witwicky prisoner, after the young hero learns the truth about the ancient origins of the Transformers. Joining the mission to protect humankind is Optimus Prime, who forms an alliance with international armies for a second epic battle."

Was it good / bad?

I probably didn't do myself any favours by watching the first one the night before seeing the sequel. But I did have my expectations very low due to a couple of friends mentioning their disappointment.

+ The CG again was phenomenal - but, I said this first time round, the transformations were overly complex.
+ The eye-candy in this movie was spectacular.
+ Giant transforming robots fighting!

- Unfortunately I think the CG is also what totally overpowered the flick.
- The story was overly ambitious and complex - not for the younger audience.
- There was unnecessary language, that again I wouldn't be overly comfortable with my 10 year old nephew hearing.
- Some gratuitous shots of Megan Fox and Isabel Lucas - now don't get me wrong I enjoy the sight of an attractive woman, but the bit with Megan Fox painting the bike at the beginning was ludicrous!
- Slow-mo overload!
- A robot that transforms into a human!?
- Way way to long.

Just another thought what happened to the characters played by Anthony Anderson and Rachael Taylor?

Coolest / worst scene?

Coolest scenes were Optimus going berserk (on a few occasions) on decepticons and BumbleBee kicking ass.

Worst, the ridiculous geography that goes on at the end. One minute they are at the pyramids in Cairo, then the adventure takes them to Petra in Jordan. Then from Petra they see the military parachute out and land near the pyramids...and within minutes they are driving to meet up with them (I know I've seriously paraphrased that). Now Cairo and Petra are around 251.1 miles (give or take) apart. Sorry no, that last part of the film all took place within the same 'evening' - I know this is a film about alien life-forms that transform from giant robots into vehicles but come on. There wasn't even a mention of the fact Israel even existed between Egypt and Jordan.

The Robots - What about the robots?

The twins were initially annoying, the half way through they were annoying and by the end you had enough of them as they were annoying and you hope the devastator kills them! A pair of street jive idiot punks, mildly ammusing but generally annoying - did I say that already?

The return of Megatron - acceptable, was expecting the whole cargo ship to transform rather than just the five overly suspiscious vehicles on-board. Unfortunately too many bad guys leaders, Megatron, StarScream and the Fallen, wanting screen time.

Soundwave - good idea as the satellite, but where was the voice!?

The Devastator - the biggest overly complex transform of the lot. Was just too big.

The Fallen - a lazy bugger who'd been hanging out on one of Jupiters moons for the past 17,000 years.

Did you laugh / cry / cover your eyes / walk out?

Laugh - yes, some very funny bits especially John Turturros paranoia and still some of the 'aliens out of place on earth' moments.

Cry - not even with laughter.

Cover my eyes - followed by a shaking head of disapproval at some of the continuity errors and pretty much the whole last half hour.

Walk-out - I didn't walk out of Vertical Limit (my current leader of absolute chod movies) so wouldn't walk out on this - worth staying for the visuals.

Anything we should watch out for?

You may miss it near the beginning, but the bit of an argument in China between the army and couple of Transformers. The governments manage to cover up the whole thing as a little earthquake or something...its complete and total destruction of downtown Shanghai!!! (BTW yes sarcasm set to very much high on that comment)

Why should we see / avoid it?

Big robots, lots of fighting, CG overload - your choice.

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Moon, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey
Running Time: 97 minutes

Another great review by Richard Bodsworth who is having a great time at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

Check out my interview with the director, Duncan Jones.

Transformers and Terminator Salvation are just two of the multi million pound budgeted blockbusters released this summer. We all love a good sci-fi film, but what the majority of the current crop neglect is a fundamental rule of filmmaking, a proper story with interesting and engaging characters. It is a well known fact that Michael Bay is more interested in blowing shit up rather than developing a character or having an intelligent plot. With his debut feature, MOON, Duncan Jones shows that a big budget isn't everything when creating a sharp, smart and frankly brilliant film.

With the Earth's immediate energy crisis, corporation Lunar have began extracting helium 3 from the Moon as a viable alternative. Rockwell plays Sam Bell, a lone astronaut stationed at the lunar base with only a talking computer, Gerty (Spacey) for company. His job is to oversee the helium 3 extractions. With only two weeks left of his three year tour, things take a disturbing turn when Sam finds someone else on the Moon. Is he hallucinating, or are the corporation trying to replace him? I don't really want to go any deeper into plot details in fear of giving anything away, but what ensures is a taught psychological battle and the one man Rockwell show.

At first glance you could easily mistake Moon for a Hollywood picture. It boasts some great visual effects and features two very well know actors in Rockwell and Spacey. I was shocked to discover the film is in fact an independent British film, with a reported budget of less than 5 million dollars, and that most effects were completed using models. The set built lunar surface is a beautifully bleak landscape, its desolation helps enforce the fact Sam is all alone in lunar base Sarang.

The film pays homage to some of the classic sci-fi films of the late 60's and 70's, at points you could be forgiven for thinking you are in the Nostromo. The environmental theme parallels with Silent Running and most people will quickly draw a 2001 comparison with the talking computer, Gerty. Jones direction however, stops the film from falling into a simple retro rehash. His razor sharp direction keeps the film fresh and a with the help of Clint Mansell's wonderful score, creates a eerily claustrophobic and ultimately uneasy atmosphere. Mansell is always an underrated commodity, but his scores often add that extra something as seen in his collaborations with Darren Aronofsky.

Sam Rockwell is outstanding as the astronaut slowly losing his sanity. It must be terribly difficult to be the only person on show, he is rarely off screen, but his intensity holds the audience like super glue and it is impossible to tear your eyes away. Going from bored worker, to emotional husband and father to mentally tortured, Rockwell delivers perhaps his greatest leading role. His performances in The Green Mile and The Assassination Of Jesse James amongst others have always been a personal highlight for me. Throughout all the tension he manages to give the film some breathing room with lightly comical interactions with Gerty.

For the whole 97 minutes there is not a boring moment and is paced just right. Although the plot is tight, there are points where you think you have the whole thing sussed but somehow it manages to make you doubt yourself. This is the thing I enjoyed and admired the most.

The lack of knowledge behind the Lunar corporation adds to the mystery, and if Jones continues with future films based in the Moon realm, there is vast amounts to build on. Moon is the perfect launch platform into a great sci-fi trilogy which, at the moment, the genre sorely needs. My only hope is that Jones sticks to formula that worked so well for him here, and doesn't jeopardise his outstanding work when offered a bigger budget. I implore everyone to see this amazing piece of British cinema, you will not be disappointed.

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The Hurt Locker, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, David Morse, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, Evangeline Lilly

This brilliant review is by Richard Bodsworth

It has been almost 18 years since Kathryn Bigelow brought us the 100% adrenaline thrill ride that was Point Break, and after a 7 year hiatus following K-19: The Widowmaker she is back with Iraq war set, THE HURT LOCKER.

Jeremy Renner stars as the maverick leader of the U.S Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit, charged with the dangerous job of defusing bombs in the unpredictable war zone that is modern day Iraq. Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty play the other key members of the EOD, struggling to adapt to their leaders gung-ho attitude in an environment where it could all go wrong in a split second.

Hollywood war movies these days usually focus on the dangerous nature of the job, an Action Man figure, scar and all, overcoming ridiculous odds to defeat a stereotypical villain in emphatic fashion, accompanied with emphatic explosions and gore. Bigelow manages to turn this on its head and present us with a gripping, psychological character study into the minds of the men on the front line. But that is not to say the film is void of any action, the opposite in fact. Bigelow directs the many set pieces with outstanding flair and tension without the use of an instrumental score and it works to perfection. Filmed handheld style, this usually unnecessary and overused technique is perfect for the harsh unpredictable terrain of the war zone. This style, accompanied by the authenticity of Mark Boal’s script, you almost get the feeling you are there, perspiring, as Renner attempts to diffuse a rogue device. Even with several disposal scenes, they manage to seem original and fresh and sometimes bloody terrifying. A brilliant example of tension is a silent standoff, peppered only occasionally with the sound of a sniper rifle. Renner directs Mackie's aim to the enemy as they remain under fire themselves. Another one of my favourite scenes is as Renner attempts to disarm a car bomb, Mackie and Geraghty scour the surrounding buildings panicking over possible conspirators watching on. Here Bigelow teaches a master class in building tension without the need of an instrumental score to bump it up. The enemy here are the actual devices themselves as we very rarely see an actual living enemy attack, this makes it all the more terrifying and is a nice twist for the genre.

The cast themselves are perfect. Renner excels in the lead role, stepping out of his usual supporting roles in the likes of SWAT and 28 Weeks Later. His performance as adrenaline junkie, William James, goes much deeper than normal as we are revealed to deeper problems in his psyche. His scenes with a local Iraqi child and the films final ten minutes or so would usually be omitted from you usual fare, but work so well to build an understanding of a fragile soldier under pressure. Geraghty is also well cast as the nervous member of the group, continuing to build on his indie status and Mackie once again shows he has what it takes to be a great actor. Following on from his standout turn in Half Nelson, he makes the most of a character who could have most easily developed into the stereotypical ‘angry black man’ .

I felt the film could have trimmed a slither of fat from the middle, and I was also left confused by the cameo roles of Guy Pearce, David Morse and Ralph Fiennes. These however are only minor gripes in a almost flawless film.

Time and time again Kathryn Bigelow has taken the Hollywood big boys on at their own game, and she succeeds once again. You have to wonder what she has been up to in the past 7 years and what the future holds. For me the film drew comparisons with TV mini series Generation Kill, showing the army as human beings rather than sensationalised heroes. However of all films set during any Middle East conflict, The Hurt Locker is one of, if not the best depiction. It was a great film to start my film festival run, and it will be very hard to beat.

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Tron 2 - Script Review - Spoilers

The first Tron film was excellent and the news of a sequel excited me when I first heard about it. Finally we have some more information about Tron 2 from this script review by CC2K. It is a great review of a first draft of the script. Lots and lots of spoilers so you have been warned - details on the plot and characters. Check out the full review though as there is lots more to see. First of all though, let's remind ourselves of the footage from last year.

Remember the Encom corporation? Well, they're hard at work on a new global information network called X-Net. They're pitching it as the world's only 100 percent secure information network. Encom code monkeys are working 'round the clock to get X-Net ready for launch, but a powerful virus keeps attacking their core system: a virus called Tron. Meanwhile, other computer viruses have been proliferating around the world, making X-Net a massive success before its launch. Everyone is terrified that the world's computer systems – from the Internet on down – are going to crash, and X-Net is the only solution.

Encom's evil CEO, named Sinclair in this draft, engineered the global virus attacks to frighten everyone (and I mean everyone) to get on board with X-Net so he'll have total control over all the world's information.

What happened to Flynn?

Years ago, Sinclair managed to use the lazer-digitizer thingy from the first movie to zap Jeff Bridge's character (Kevin Flynn) into the Encom system. Sinclair thought he killed Flynn, but Flynn has remained alive inside the system as a freedom fighter. Flynn used the Tron program as the base code for a powerful new app that's designed to take down X-Net.

What about Tron?

Pretty much a cipher. He doesn't have any dialogue, and Rush kills him about midway through the movie. His new look and new moves sound extremely badass, though.

The Characters:

Rush/Sean Flynn - Confused leading man and our proxy in the story. He eventually claims the Tron mantle.

Megan/Mega - The hot babe. I presume that Olivia Wilde is playing this role, and the thought of her in luminescent spandex sounds just fine.

Sinclair/Plexor - The bad guy. Indistinguishable from Dillinger/Sark in part one. Will John Hurt play this role?

Krod - A search program, and the movie's comic relief. Pretty funny, with lots of off-kilter dialogue.

D-Rezz - A powerful deletion utility that helps out the heroes. Has the potential to be pretty cute. He growls menacingly at various bad guys while clobbering them and dies in a scene sure to distress the kiddies.

I-Beem - A frazzled denizen of the cyber-world. I'm not sure what kind of app he is, but he can teleport from one place to another.

Kevin Flynn - The hero of part one. In this movie, Flynn's trapped deep inside the system and is the rougish leader of an army called the Finity Fighters. Jeffries portayal of Flynn isn't bad, but as a leader, Flynn is stuck saying a lot of sis-boom-bah, inspirational speeches that feel strange coming out of his mouth.

Rumor held for years that Tron 2 would follow the structure of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and that we would discover a Flynn who had retreated deep inside the system and lost some part of himself. Jeffries' script clearly includes an element of that idea, but it's missing two things:

1. Flynn hasn't lost his mind.

2. Flynn isn't a god.

It all sounds a little hit or miss at the moment. Think it is going to hang on the look and if the actors buy into the whole thing or not. It's the first draft though so things could change. If you read the above what are your thoughts on it?

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Looking for Eric, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Ken Loach
Starring: Steve Evets, Eric Cantona, Stephanie Bishop, Gerard Kearns, Stefan Gumbs
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Score: 7 / 10

This great review is by Jason O'Mahoney.

Loving both movies and football, I'm constantly disappointed that the beautiful game invariably goes down like a lead balloon or like Ronaldo in the penalty area when it makes the transition to the silver screen. Movie gods and football stars are like oil and water, seldom mixing and big screen adaptations of the game often end in tears, even with players of the caliber of Pele and Bobby Moore playing footballers, as they did in ESCAPE TO VICTORY (1982).

Paradoxically some footballers have gone on to become more successful as actors in non-football roles, most notably Vinnie Jones, who burst onto the scene in LOCK, STOCK & TWO SMOKING Barrels (1998). He was, apparently, paid more for his role in GONE IN 60 SECONDS (2000) than he made in his entire football career!

So as a Manchester United fan and one time devotee at the church of Cantona, it was with a mixture of excitement and trepidation that I went to see LOOKING FOR ERIC the new film from Ken Loach starring Manchester United legend, Eric Cantona.

The story follows Eric, a Manchester postman, played by Steve Evets, whose life is slowly slipping out of control. His second wife deserted him, his stepsons are out of control and the house was chaotic even before a cement mixer appeared in the front garden. Life is crazy enough, but it is Eric's own secret that is driving him to the brink. How can he face up to Lily, his first wife and the woman of his dreams? He once loved her deeply, only to walk out on her as soon as they had a child together. Despite the comical efforts and misplaced goodwill of his mates, Eric continues to sink and is becoming more and more depressed.

In desperate times, he takes a spliff and a special friend turns up to help him find his way. He turns to his hero, footballing genius, philosopher and poster boy, Eric Cantona. As a certain Frenchman says, "He who is afraid to throw the dice, will never throw a six," so Eric the postman, under the watchful tutelage of Eric the legend, learns how to laugh in the face of insurmountable odds and starts to play the game of life again.

The movie was shot entirely on location in Manchester and has a grainy and at times almost grim look to it and, while Loach's true to life directing style has never been known for its comedy, the film is a bitter-sweet and often hilarious look at life. It's a lovable film and a rousing crowd pleaser and both leads put in outstanding performances, particularly Evets as postman Eric. Die-hard football fans may be disappointed that the game is given relatively little screen time but the moments from Cantona's career that are presented are mesmerizing and a reminder, if any were needed, that football is truly a beautiful game! Film fans will love the picture, it's the most entertaining thing Loach has done in years, it's just a pity that it's impossible to bring back King Eric to Old Trafford. It's high time a true genius and footballing great were in control of the coveted number 7.

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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The Hangover, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Todd Phillips
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Mike Tyson, Jeffrey Tambor
Running Time: 100 minutes
Score: 7 / 10

This review by C-Younkin

"The Hangover" is the work of Todd Phillips. You know him. He made "Road Trip". He also made "Old School." Getting a bunch of buddies together and throwing in sex, drugs, beer, and all kinds of frat-boy hi-jinx is a formula that's served him well in the past and it does the same here. At the outset the movie is simple. One wild night followed by a couple days of trying to figure out what happened. It's a buddy comedy and mystery, reminiscent of "Dude, Where's My Car", except this movie happens to be funny.

The cast is mostly unknown but Phillips has worked with that before. Comedy is about chemistry, not big stars commanding big paychecks. Bradley Cooper (last seen in "He's Just Not that Into You"), Ed Helms ("The Daily Show") and Zach Galifianakis (idk, "This") play Phil, Stew, and Alan, three guys taking their buddy Doug (Justin Bartha) out to Vegas for his bachelor party. Phil and Stew are the best buddies, Alan is Doug's mentally-askew soon-to-be-brother in-law. After a wild night, the three guys wake up the next day to a trashed hotel room and several odd, unexplained phenoms. They find a baby in the closet, a tiger in the bathroom, and Doug is nowhere to be found. Other mysteries include why did Stew marry a stripper (Heather Graham), why are Asian mobsters after them, and dude, where's the car? The guys must retrace their steps to figure out the night and also find Doug.

Fresh surprises keep coming as the story moves along. Some, like the baby and the marriage to the stripper are missed opportunities, but for the most part they're pretty hilarious. The tiger is a great bit, as are the Asian mobsters. What happens to be lying in the trunk of the car is another good one. What powers it all is that the guys remember nothing of the night before. The movie is like a fish-out-of water tale, just replace the water with Jagermeister and roofies. Phillips ties it all together with crude laughs that nonetheless come off very funny. Masturbation, sex, drugs, stun-guns, f-words, condoms, and a couple of baby gags that I'm pretty sure will cement his place in hell but still make people laugh pretty hard are just a few things in his comic arsenal.

The three guys are great together. Allan is awkwardly clueless, unpredictable, and a little crazy. His speech, inviting the guys into his "wolf pack of one", is fantastic, as is what comes after that. The chubby and fully-bearded Zach Galifianakis is a scene stealer. Stew is the opposite, a guy so whipped into submission by his girlfriend that they might as well share brains. He's a nervous nerd prone to unraveling at the first sign of pressure. And Phil is the cool, clear-headed straight-man to the other two who get most of the laughs. Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis know their roles well and convince that these three very different guys could actually be friends. The supporting cast, which includes Rob Riggle, Rachel Harris, Mike Epps, and Mike Tyson (in a very funny cameo) help out as well, but the best one comes from Ken Jeong, playing Mr. Chow, leader of the Asian mob. His flamboyance and exaggerated speech make him a ridiculously quirky villain.

"The Hangover" is a comic adventure well worth taking and when it finishes, don't leave yet cause you'll miss the hilarious trip photos playing over the closing credits. The movie is fresh, lively, fast-paced, and the cast is all game. Drink it up. It's a lot of fun.

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Pontypool, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Bruce McDonald
Starring: Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle, Georgina Reilly

This review by Stephen Holden.

“Pontypool,” a small Canadian horror film that makes the most of its minuscule budget, is set almost entirely in the confines of a tiny radio station that operates from a church basement in rural Ontario. (The film’s title is also the name of the village that is home to the station, CLSY Radio.) Here, Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie - Nite Owl 1 in Watchmen), a growling talk-show cowboy who suggests a bottom-drawer Don Imus, holds forth each morning while swigging heavily spiked coffee. By his side are his producer, Sydney Briar (Lisa Houle), with whom he continually bickers, and Laurel Ann Drummond (Georgina Reilly), a resourceful technician who recently returned from serving in Afghanistan.

Directed by Bruce McDonald (“The Tracey Fragments”) from Tony Burgess’s screen adaptation of his novel “Pontypool Changes Everything,” the film captures the monotonous daily rituals of broadcasting from inside a studio that feels so sealed off from the outside world that nothing beyond the sound booth seems real. On this snowy Valentine’s Day morning, phoned-in reports of grisly events in the town seem as bogus as the Sunshine Chopper, a fictional traffic helicopter that is actually a truck parked on a hill.

The traffic reporter, Ken Loney (Rick Roberts), gives increasingly agitated eyewitness accounts of a mob surrounding the house of a local doctor, on top of another report of demented ice fishermen cannibalizing policemen. Because he is just a voice and never seen, they sound like an elaborate prank.

The first half of “Pontypool,” with its mixture of high-velocity banter and news flashes, suggests a deadpan spoof of “War of the Worlds,” Orson Welles’s notorious 1938 mock newscast describing a Martian invasion of New Jersey. But soon enough, the horror outside CLSY closes in on the station, and a zombielike mob arrives and begins banging on the windows.

“Pontypool” eventually makes a giant satiric leap into intellectual pretension, transforming William S. Burroughs’s notion that language is a virus into flesh-eating reality. The virus is not just any language, but English, the contagion spread through terms of endearment. To survive, Grant is forced to speak in broken French.

“Pontypool” barely develops a premise that has all kinds of implications about the mass media (talk radio in particular) and the degradation of language in a culture overrun with hyperbole, jargon, disinformation and contrived drama. But when one infected character is reduced to spouting gibberish as she suicidally hurls herself at the glass booth that has become a fortress against the zombie terror, the notion that we are all being driven mad by an incessant verbal deluge makes nasty comic sense.

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Diary of the Dead, 2007 - Quick Movie Review

Director: George Romero
Starring: Michelle Morgan, Joshua Close, Shawn Roberts, Amy Ciupak Lalonde
Running Time: 95 minutes

This review by Paul.

I caught this recently on TV. It was late, I was a tad tipsy (day before my birthday) and thought 'why not?'.

Now dont get me wrong, I don't usually like Zombie pics. Not that I dislike them, I just dislike Zombies. they scare me big time. Proper. Can't think of anything worse.

So I was feeling kinda bold when I decided to watch this, especially when the opener said it was Romaro's most gory film EVER, the most SHOCKING SCENES EVER MADE.

End up watching this and you will be very disappointed. I was looking forward to a shockgorefest but this failed to deliver. I didn't even wet myself once. It's difficult to recall what actually happened as the film was so bland. Considering the pedigree of the man I was surprised.

I know this is not a comprehensive review but that's because I dont have anything to say about it.

It was a non event.

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Terminator Salvation, 2009 - Quick Review

Craig over at the always excellent Movie Banter site let me post his snap review of the McG helmed Terminator Salvation.

Have a watch below.

Do you agree or disagree with Craig's review?

Thanks Craig

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V - Is the pilot for the new series any good?

Televisionary have a great review of the pilot episode for the new series of V.

This new incarnation of V, overseen by The 4400 creator Scott Peters also tells the story of the arrival of an alien race to Earth via behemoth spacecrafts that appear out of nowhere to hover above 29 cities around the world.

Calling themselves The Visitors, their leader Anna (Firefly's Morena Baccarin) quickly makes contact with Earth's leaders to deliver a message (in multiple languages) proclaiming that they come in peace and, in exchange for the use of Earth's water which they need to survive, they will provide the human population with technology, the curing of 65 different diseases, and universal health care.

After all, the world right now is not in a good place. Beset by economic meltdown, multiple wars, and rising discontent, our planet desperately needs a savior and The Visitors seem to have arrived at just the right time, bringing with them the very tools to our salvation. Or have they?

However, despite the populace's open-armed acceptance of The Visitors, not everyone falls under the spell of The Vistors' charismatic charms and studied propaganda. FBI Agent Erica Evans (Lost's superb Elizabeth Mitchell) and her partner Dale Maddox (Dollhouse's Alan Tudyk) are investigating a terrorist cell that could have links to the arrival of The Visitors but Erica quickly learns that the cell, whose chatter has increased after the Visitors turned up, may have informants within the FBI itself. Erica must also contend with her rambunctious teenage son Tyler (America's Logan Huffman) who feels himself drawn to The Visitor's cause. Against his mother's wishes, Tyler is tempted to join The Visitors' Young Ambassadors program and spread the "message of hope" that The Visitors claim to bring, partially because of his blatant attraction to Lisa (Smallville's Laura Vandervoort), an alluring young Visitor guide assigned to the New York mothership.

Elsewhere, Ryan Nichols (The Perfect Holiday's Morris Chestnut) is buying an engagement ring for his fiancée Valerie Stevens (Cashmere Mafia's Lourdes Benedicto) when The Visitors arrive. He seems extremely uneasy about the presence of The Visitors and is quickly drawn back into a conflict that he wants no part of when he is contacted by members of a covert group that could have ties to the terrorist cell that Erica and Dale are investigating. And then there's dashing news anchor Chad Decker (The Nine's Scott Wolf) who is able to use The Visitor's arrival to leverage a better profile for himself when Anna selects him for an exclusive on-air interview. Will greed overwhelm his instincts to question The Visitors' motives, especially when Anna tells him that they "can't be painted in a negative light"? Or will be fall victim to the lures of fame and fortune?

Meanwhile, Father Jack Landry (The 4400's Joel Gretsch) finds himself in a difficult position, having to explain the co-existence of a divine presence and an alien race among us. His job is complicated by the fact that the congregation of his small Manhattan church has suddenly ballooned with people turning to religion in the face of fear and uncertainty and his superiors are pressuring Father Jack to toe the party line and accept The Visitors as a miracle in itself. But Jack worries that gratefulness can quickly turn to worship... and worship to devotion. His fears are realized when he receives a package from a mysterious wounded man who dies after passing along a mission to Jack: he should fear The Visitors and take the package to a specific address.

SPOILER ALERT! It happens to be the very same address where Erica and Dale are themselves headed, after receiving a tipoff at a crime scene about a possible meeting of a terrorist cell. Erica agrees to go in undercover to the meet and, after meeting Jack, discovers just who these people are in a fantastic twist: they are members of the underground human resistance and membership to their group is depending on various conditions. One, that the candidates have been referred by someone they trust. And two, that they agree to be anesthetized and have a section of skin behind their ears peeled back.

Why? To prove that they are human as The Visitors are actually a reptilian race that has successfully cloned human skin, which they wear as camouflage. Worse still: The Visitors haven't just arrived, after all. They've been here for decades and have been fomenting dissent and chaos on the planet for years, destabilizing the markets, creating unnecessary wars, stirring up paranoia and persecution. The fact that they've now revealed themselves is a sign that they are moving into the final steps of their plan. That terrorist group that Erica and Dale were investigating? It's a sleeper cell of Visitors.

I won't spoil what happens next (sorry, I'm not going to give everything away!) but I will say that what follows is a rather obvious reveal (which can be easily fixed with some additional scenes perhaps), followed by a surprising plot twist that sets up a new direction for the series and creates an interesting situation that, I'm sure, will be mined in quite a lot of detail as the series progresses.

Be sure to check out the rest of the review as there is lots more to it. I'm getting quite excited about this after reading it.

Thanks to Mekka on the forum for pointing this out

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The Uninvited, 2009 - Quick Movie Review

Director: Charles Guard, Thomas Guard
Starring: Emily Browning, Arielle Kebbel, David Strathairn, Elizabeth Banks
Running Time: 87 minutes
Score: 4 / 10

This review by Jinja

What's it about?
Official blurb: "Based on Kim Jee-Woon's 2003 Korean horror film, Changhwa, Hongryon, The Uninvited revolves around Anna (Emily Browning - Lemony Snicket), who returns home after spending time in the hospital following the tragic death of her mother. Her recovery suffers a setback when she discovers her father (David Strathairn) has become engaged to her mother's former nurse, Rachel (Elizabeth Banks - Zack & Miri Make A Porno). That night, Anna is visited by her mother's ghost, who warns her of Rachel's intentions.

Together, Anna and her sister (Arielle Kebbel) try to convince their father that his current fiance is not who she pretends to be, and what should have been a happy family reunion becomes a lethal battle of wills between stepdaughters and stepmother. "

Was it good / bad?
Why do I expect anything from American 'teen' horror/thriller movies anymore!? The whole thing felt like i'd seen it all before (and I haven't seen the Japanese original!) with obvious 'make you jump' build ups, and a twist which makes the Sixth Sense feel like the Lawrence of Arabia of twists.

NOTE: I must point out at this point when I first watched Sixth Sense I was waiting for the twist until the credits started rolling, I feel it was all given away in the trailer!

Coolest / Worst scene?
I don't know if i'd class it as the coolest or worst scene in the movie, but when the potential boyfriend climbs through the window in the middle of the night. It starts off with you thinking the couple are going to get caught getting it on, she even takes his wet shirt off, but then the next thing you know 'dun dun daaarrrrrr' it suddenly all goes off!

Did you laugh / cry / cover your eyes / walk out?
I did laugh at some of the what now seem standard horror movie necessities (as mocked in Scary Movie and I suppose Scream), like why do they wait for the cover of darkness when any normal person would go in the middle of the day, and why don't they turn on the light!?

The jumpey bits (potentially about 6 of them) were completely ruined by the build up being so obvious - watch it and wait for the scene in the car, you'll understand exactly what i'm talking about.

Walk out? Nope, you have to give a film a chance. It could redemn itself by the end...unlike Knowing which I saw last week but thats another story....that was awful!

Anything we should watch out for?
Being stung for cash at the flicks if you don't go on a two for one night! Other than that its nothing special.

Why should we see / avoid it?
If you like the US remakes of pretty good Japanese thrillers you'll like this. Otherwise rent the original, A Tale Of Two Sisters, which I haven't even seen but must be better than this.

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OSS-117: Egypt, Nest of Spies, 2006 - Movie Review

Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo
Running Time: 99 minutes
Score: 8 / 10

This review by Jinja

What's it about?
"It's 1955 and after a fellow agent and close friend disappears, secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, a.k.a. OSS 117, is ordered to take his place at the head of a poultry firm in Cairo. This is to be his cover while he is busy investigating, foiling Nazi holdouts, quelling a fundamentalist rebellion, and bedding local beauties." - From IMDB

Basically a modern spoof of the James Bond-esque spy movies from the 50's. Not the Austin Powers 'in your face' humour, more subtle and if you know the style being spoofed probably more lasting.

Was it good / bad?
Throughly enjoyed this one. The makers must have watched a lot of movies from the 50's to get the style right and pick up on some of the 'usual' things they mock.

Coolest / Worst scene?
When OSS is chasing the Egyptian through the street of Cairo at night. Goes on to the point of not being funny anymore...then carries on until it becomes funnier than it ever was. Similar to the Austin Powers pee'ing scene in the first movie.

Did you laugh / cry / cover your eyes / walk out?
I did laugh, and I need to watch again as the French language can be so fast the subtitles also rocket along and you sometimes miss whats actually happening on screen.

Anything we should watch out for?
The chicken fight! ...and for the blokes, watch out for when Berenice Bejo ends up tied up!

Why should we see / avoid it?
Avoid if you don't like subtitled movies, otherwise get stuck in. A funny, retro, French spy adventure.

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Terminator Salvation - Early review sounds promising

Some early screenings of Terminator Salvation have taken place and it sounds like the trailers and footage we have seen so far have been bang on the money. This looks like it could be great.

Variety had this to say about it - Possible spoilers ahead:

McG exhibits an unexpected flair for the dreadful, abrupt and awesome. What we get here -- which was perhaps missing on the relatively sunny mental landscapes of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" -- is a sense of real horror: When humans are snatched up like Cheez-Doodles by skyscraper-sized Go-bots, there's no slo-mo relief or stalling. Stuff happens as it might were the world actually overtaken by demonic appliances.

Christian Bale, playing the "prophesized leader of the Resistance" John Connor, may have traded in the Batman body armor for "Road Warrior"-style outerwear, but one thing hasn't changed: He is, once again, a movie star playing second fiddle. Heath Ledger stole "The Dark Knight" away from him and Sam Worthington (who will appear in Cameron's "Avatar" this Christmas) heists "Terminator Salvation" from Bale, for the most ironical of reasons: In a movie that poses man against machine, Worthington's cyborg is the far more human character.

As a steel-beaded logo of Warner Bros. fades away, Marcus (Worthington), on death row for an unexplained crime, gets an 11th-hour visit from Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter), who wears the headscarf and pallor of a terminal cancer patient. She wants Marcus' body -- literally. She wants to turn him into a cyborg.

Wracked with guilt, resigned to his execution, Marcus agrees to sign the release in exchange for a kiss. "So that's what death tastes like," he says, as she leaves him to his lethal injection.

This is not your governator's "Terminator."

Bale, meanwhile, playing the adult version of the hero-to-be portrayed by Edward Furlong ("Terminator 2) and Nick Stahl ("Terminator 3"), is as purposeful and furious as anyone played by Arnold Schwarzenegger or Robert Patrick. One suspects he's been studying Linda Hamilton in "Terminator 2," although -- let's face it -- this is serious business. It's 2018. Skynet -- the "aware" machine -- has all but accomplished its self-appointed mission of destroying the threat of people.

But pockets of rebellion continue to operate even if, as in the case of a charred and rubble-strewn Los Angeles, the local contingent consists of just two kids: Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) and the mute/cute Star (Jadagrace).

Kyle -- given a slightly geeky and perfectly plausible portrayal by Yelchin ("Star Trek") -- will grow up to father John Connor after being sent into the future to meet Sarah Connor (if you haven't followed the "Terminator" time line, this is no time to be catching up).

Thus, he has to be preserved. So does John, given that it's been predicted since 1984 that he'll be the one to save the world. There's a lot at stake.

McG's direction is always intelligent. (He does seem to have a thing for "The Great Escape," which is referenced several times.) The script by John Brancato and Michael Ferris occasionally goes off the rails. Certainly, their insertion of an existential dilemma for Marcus -- "I need to find out who did this to me," he says, his chrome-plated plumbing having been exposed to the open air -- feels very late-inning.

And the obligatory borrowing from the previous movies ("Come with me if you want to live," "I'll be back ...") tend to upset the mood created within McG's bleached-out world, which is very deliberate and doesn't need the comic relief.

There are great bits though: The thrashing, centipede-like, killer-snake thingie, which has the personality of a wolverine, is a neat invention. So are the biker Terminators, which molt like malignant pinecones off their towering mother ‘bot. A Schwarzenegger lookalike -- it isn't clear whether it's the ex-actor CGI'd or a complete fabrication -- is funny, but in this case apt.

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Synecdoche, New York, 2008 - Movie Review

Director: Charlie Kaufman
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Emily Watson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Dianne Wiest, Tom Noonan.

Score: 7.5 / 10

This excellent review is by regular LFF reviewer, Sarah Louise Dean.

Its not often that once having seen a film, you need to consult a dictionary. Its even rarer to do so before the film. In fact, I needed to do both. Frankly, I was stuck at the title. For the uninitiated, Synecdoche (pronounced (si-nek-doc-kee) means, amongst other things, referring to one characteristic of something in order to refer to the whole. For example saying you have ‘coppers’ in your pocket when you mean you have pennies, which are made from copper.

Synecdoche -New York is both written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, he who wrote the beautiful yet absurd Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich. Be warned, this film is not a linear fairytale, but if you like being challenged then you should give this a go. The name of the film might be a little pretentious, but it is a clever and telling insight into a moving and multilayered story. Kaufman is asking whether, by focussing on one small part of your life, you can establish the meaning of life itself, and he doesn’t care if he alienates half the audience by doing so. Synecdoche is one of those films that asks many more questions than it answers.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is outstanding as Caden Cotard, a theatre director in the New York suburb of Schenectady (get it?) who is married to Adele (played by the wonderful Catherine Keener) an artist specialising in miniature paintings. The marriage is not particularly happy and one day Adele announces that she is taking their 4 year old daughter Olive and her best friend Maria (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to Berlin for an exhibition of her work. Whilst away Caden begins a flirtation with Theatre box office clerk Heather (Samantha Morton with a decent American accent and an impressive cleavage) whilst suffering a number of mysterious ailments, any of which may be life threatening, or merely psychological. Caden’s revival of Death of a Salesman starring Michelle William’s Claire is a resounding success and off the back of it he receives a seemingly limitless grant from the Macarthur Foundation (a real life body which anonymously bestows vast sums of money on creative ‘geniuses’). Caden uses his new found wealth and purpose to create an ever evolving reality-based theatre project. He hires actors to effectively live their own lives in a huge warehouse under his direction. Along the way Caden develops personal relationships with Claire (played by Williams as just the right side of ingénue) and Heather, whilst trying to make contact with Olive in Berlin. Caden builds his set to resemble his own apartment, hires Sammy (played expertly by Tom Noonan as a kind of Larry David with added pathos) to play himself and later Emily Watson’s Tammy to play Heather, and the lines between art and reality become increasingly blurry. Caden’s relationships with his wife, his lovers and his daughter grow, develop and ultimately flounder, whilst at the same time, the theatre piece remains unfinished and my not be shown to an audience. Is Caden a miserable failure, or is this his grand plan? Later a celebrated theatre actress arrives (Dianne Wiest) saying she wants to assist and relieve Caden of some of his burden.

Although the film is hugely interesting, the plot is not easy to wade through, and Kaufman expects the audience to have an appreciation of the theatre industry which most won’t have. As shown when Caden says to Claire “Today, I want you to play yourself”, and she looks completely perplexed, Synecdoche is not without humour, its just the dry kind. Its certainly a work of genius to create something just straightforward enough to mean something different to every viewer, and it has a clever ending. I’m just not sure whether I could stomach a repeat viewing, just yet.

Synecdoche, like a great deal of Kaufman’s work, also has an inexplicable sadness about it. It wrings out the poignancy of life in a blackly comical manner. But, in parts the film is just plain weird. I found it easier to cope by thinking that time is irrelevant in the movie, and that its normal for Heather’s house to always be on fire. But the questions kept coming. Is there some message in Adele’s work being on such a small scale and Caden’s being huge? What is happening to the world outside whilst Caden magnifies his internal life? But it is this Kaufmanesque weirdness that makes Synecdoche so pleasurable. The movie should also be praised for featuring countless well drawn female characters.

Synecdoche does not shy away from the bigger issues. Are we in control of our own destiny? Can we be absolved from responsibility by allowing someone else to dictate our choices? Many will already know if they want to see this film. Some will dismiss Synecdoche as nonsense which fails to entertain. But I’d respond by asking, surely isn’t this what modern cinema is all about? Visual puns, hyper-reality played out by professionals at the top of their game, and a film that you won’t see anywhere else, which all justifies the cost of your expensive cinema ticket. Ultimately I don’t care that I couldn’t work out exactly what it all meant – I was entertained and it made me think, and for that I am very grateful.

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5 Word Film Reviews

It has been a long time since I last posted some 5 word reviews but I thought I would start it up again. There may be spoilers.

Deliverance: Nightmare canoe trip with banjos - PaulaDauncey

Star Trek: Very good but not great - CaptArschkarte

The Day the Earth Stood Still: It should have kept moving - lenimandell

An Amercian Crime: Definitely not Juno, Keener great - UncompletedWork

Groundhog Day: Same Same Same Same Different - cultlabs

Pet Sematary 2: Worst film made bar Waterworld - allthingshorror

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Bad Past, Avenge Past, Forget - Hollywood_Trey

Sex & the City: Five undead women eat shoes - cultlabs

Role Models: Mentoring screw-ups with heart - lenimandell

Superman Returns: Superman perfect & everything else wrong - DVDsnapshot

Goodfellas: Pasta plus Cocaine equals jail - cultlabs

Twilight: Wow, Sunlight doesn't kill us - Hollywood_Trey

Crank: High Voltage - Spaz electrocutes himself, kills Chinese - CinemaSuicide

Memento: Boy kills girl, doesn't remember - moviegrrl

Perfect Storm: Rock the boat and swim - cybeam1

If you have any you want to share send them over.

Thanks to all the people on Twitter who sent me their reviews.

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The Da Vinci Code, 2006 - Movie Review

Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno, Ian McKellan, Alfred Molina, Paul Bettany, Jürgen Prochnow
Score: 7 / 10

This excellent review is by guest blogger, James Jacob of Basket Case.

With Angels and Demons being released next week, I wanted to re-watch and review the prequel / follow up - The Da Vinci Code. If you weren't already aware, the Da Vinci Code book is actually a sequel to Angels and Demons (they even reference it in the opening chapter!) but for the movie versions, this is reversed.

If you haven't seen the countless news stories already, The Da Vinci Code is based upon the cult phenomenon book by author Dan Brown about Harvard professor of religious symbology Robert Langdon (Hanks), who is called in by French detective Bezu Fache (Reno) to provide some insight into the death of a notable museum curator.

However, he soon discovers he was not there to help, but instead to become the prime suspect into the murder. With the help of the curator's granddaughter, Sophie Neveu (Tautou), they join forces to find out who killed her grandfather and why.

Meanwhile, we follow Bishop Aringarosa (Molina) and his own quest with the aid of albino monk Silas (Bettany) to find the key to... well, I won't ruin it for the one or two of you who don't know or haven't read the book.

The main thing that bothered me with The Da Vinci Code was the pacing. There are certain sections that flowed well, only to be undone with so much talking, explanation and lecture, I felt like I was back at University as my lecturers were giving a presentation. The pace was very much either on or off, no middle ground to move the plot along, it seemed if they weren't explaining the decisions made by Emperor Constantine then the main cast was on the run in a car.

Also disappointing to me beyond pacing, is the acting from such a talented cast. Firstly, Tom Hanks. As the leading man, and the one audience members follow, Hanks presents a character without much behind him. Most of the time, I can watch Tom Hanks get lost in his characters but here, I was looking at Tom Hanks, with a mullet, pretending to be a man named Robert.

And the same can be said for most of the supporting characters including Audrey Tautou, who is sorely miscast in a important role to play opposite an even diluted Tom Hanks performance, Jean Reno, Alfred Molina and even Paul Bettany (though I must admit, he was indeed pretty damn scary and certainly creepy).

For instance, and this is spoiler material here, Alfred Molina basically is a father figure to a psychologically disturbed Bettany, but I didn't feel the emotion between the two. Sure, Aringarosa was using Silas for the needs of the Opus Dei, but their outcomes had no resonance and therefore, the film as little impact in that area.

However, it's our very own Gandolf, I mean veteran actor Ian McKellan that delivers the best performance out of the bunch. It's not to say it's anything magical, but he was the only one I even remotely was interested in and probably saved this film from becoming a complete dog. His character is eccentric, full of energy and seemed to be the only one involved with the story with any sort of grandeur or amazement.

The Da Vinci Code is not a bad film but instead more... disappointing. Taking a good 20-minutes off the standard version would've made the pacing better, though then Howard would alienate the book's core base. This is why adapting a novel is difficult as books hold so much information that it is nearly impossible to include everything needed, so one wonders if this was the case here. I consider Code to be disappointing, not the major stinker that some around have trashed it.

You really have to remember that this is just a film however and not spend hours surfing the net looking for refernces to Opus Dei, The Priory of Sion and the Holly Grail. Here in the UK, a very much unliked ex-Education Minister is also an Opus Dei member - so take everything with a pinch of salt!

Lastly - to get you properly in the mood, below if the trailer for Angels and Demons.

Thanks for the review James.

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Gavin Hood
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Lynn Collins, Danny Huston, Ryan Reynolds, Dominic Monaghan, Daniel Henney, Kevin Durand, Taylor Kitsch
Running Time: 107 minutes
Score: 7 / 10

This review by the all powerful, all mighty, full of the awesome Live for Films...that's me.

Last night my Wife and I went to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I'm a long time comic book geek and have always enjoyed the adventures of Marvel's favourite mutant. We both enjoyed the X-Men films. I thought the second was the best and the third the weakest, but they never really capture Wolverine in his true berserker state that we have seen so many times in the comic.

How did Wolverine's solo film manage then? It does have its flaws (some pretty big flaws actually) but is a most enjoyable blockbuster film nonetheless. Apologies if this review skips around a bit, but that's how I roll and also how the film progresses.

As it started up we see a young boy ill in bed being tended by his father (the guy who played Shane in Neighbours) while another young lad with bad nails looks on. Bad things happen, claws pop and a howl to the skies puts the young Wolvie and Sabretooth on the run.

During the build up to the film I had been really excited seeing photos of Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber in character during the Civil War, the two World Wars and the Vietnam War. Schreiber is excellent as Sabretooth - menacing, psychotic and just plain nasty. You'll be pleased to know that his bounding lope type thing you see briefly in the trailer is a lot better and more convincing in the final film.

I thought they would spend a bit of time developing the relationship between the two feral mutants but instead there is a mad dash through the years during the Watchmen inspired opening credits. Seeing the extras and scale of these war scenes in photos and snippets shows that an awful lot of the budget went into these scenes but they are gone within the first few minutes, yet they have the most realistic feel compared to the rest of the film. Almost as if they blew the cash early on and then went "oops, we better reel it in a bit".

This leads to one of the main problems with the film. It all feels studio bound. Even with scenes that are outside it all feels like a set. Plus some dodgy green screen (the bits with Logan and Silver Fox in the van) and CG effects (the claws in the bathroom scene, and the de-aging of a character at the end) really pull you out of the movie. The recent leaking of the film onto the internet a few weeks ago was said to just be a workprint copy with unfinished effects. If that was the case they should have spent a little longer on them.

As with the dash through the years at the start of the film we are rushed through pretty much everything else. We never really get a chance to savour the moment and wallow in our comic book memories. The most time in one place is up in the Canadian Rockies where Logan spends his time with Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins).

After the credits Wolvie and Sabretooth are inducted into the Weapon X program by Stryker (Danny Huston - who uses the same speech pattern as Brian Cox which adds a nice bit of continuity), then we cut to them on a plane with Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), Bolt (Dominic Monaghan), Wraith (Will.i.am), Agent Zero (Daniel Henney), and Frederick J Dukes (Kevin Durand). Unlike the film I'll spend a bit more time talking about the pack of Mercs. There is some good banter between them and the mission we see gives them all a chance to shine. All are good although Agent Zero's actions, along with the later Gambit scenes, have some shoddy wire-work which again pulls you out of the film. Durand and Monaghan do a little but not a lot.

It is Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson who truly shines. He basically does the same schtick he did in Van Wilder and Blade Trinity, but he does it so well and it is ramped all the way up to 11 in this film. He is the best thing in the early scenes and it is a shame we only get to see him and, to a lesser extent, the rest for such a short amount of time. It would have been great to see them on a couple more missions to get a feel for them working as a team.

It is this rushing through the film that makes me feel the studio had more to say on the matter than the director, Gavin Hood. The whole film could have done with being another 20 or 30 minutes longer.

However, this is a Wolverine film and Hugh Jackman is great in the role. He's been doing it for a few years now so he is very comfortable in the skin of Logan. The weird thing is that he doesn't seem to have aged a day since he first appeared in X-Men back in 2000. Hugh is funny, scary, angry and confused at various points of the film and he acts his socks off. There are a few points in the film where you think he is going to pop a blood vessel as he is so worked up. The one fault with him though is that we once again, never really get to see him go fully berserk and become the scary beast he can be in the comic. I thought we would see this in his escape from the Weapon X compound, but he gets out of the tank (fully naked to the delight of my Wife) kills a couple of guards and is then out and away. I would have liked this to last a little longer and have us follow a few guards or something getting picked off from the shadows. The point I'm getting at is that they never really make Wolverine scary. I know that they are aiming for a younger market, but a few scenes to show just how scary it would be to face him or be to know he is hunting you would have been great.

Apart from Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool the other big name Mutant in the film is Gambit (Taylor Kitsch). He is okay, but I never really felt he was as cool as the character could sometimes be in the comic and some of the card effects were just not up to scratch. Just before he sits down with Gambit there is a pleasing nod to the comic book cliche of the heroes fighting first before teaming up and those kind of things really float my boat. There are a few others throughout the film - Holding a loved one while screaming "Noooooo!!!" to the heavens and calling people "Old Friend". If you are a long time comic book reader then you'll know what I am getting at and I felt they really added to the whole comic bookiness of the whole thing. I also liked the little nod to Superman with the Ma and Pa Kent types helping Logan.

The final showdown on the Island was good, although I kept saying "Where are all the guards" and it was nice to see lots of familiat Mutants as kids. The final showdown with Deadpool, Logan and Sabretooth doing his best impression of the Millenium Falcon at the end of A New Hope is pretty good, but very short. I still can't see how they will take the Deadpool from this film and marry it with the Deadpool from the comic if they decide to make a spin-off from the spin-off. I would have loved for the proper Deadpool to have been the one they were fighting with lots of chances for Ryan Reynolds to do his funny dialogue thing he does so well.

Reading back through this it does sound as if I did not like the film. It's not a Dark Knight or Iron Man, but I really did enjoy it. Like many of these kind of films you can pull them apart if you look too closely at it, but if you enjoy comic book movies then just sit back and let Hugh do his thing. Well worth seeing on the big screen. Don't forget to wait through all of the credits for the last little bit - I got the Japan ending (more news on the different endings here). I give it 7 out of 10 and my Wife would give it 8 as she said she would give Hugh Jackman one......Hold on a minute...

Have you seen the film? What did you think of it? What post end credit ending did you get?

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