Reviews

The true story of homosexual Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas (Javier Bardem) the film charts his eventful and troubled life attempting to do what he loves best in a 1960's Cuba where the regime brand him a counter revolutionary and traitor. Starting from his humble beginnings in a small village, his later life in the city where he befriends other homosexuals, writers and poets which leads to imprisonment and torture to the last part of his life in New York.

Javier Bardem is believable and excellent in the lead, Johnny Depp is also very competent in his dual roles and Sean Penn makes a decent cameo appearance. The cinematography is top notch, direction impeccable and score complements each scene well making them atmospheric and moving. Throughout we hear snippets of the writers poetry and musings which add to the emotionally charged nature of the film. A tender and well shot story of an important figure in Cuban literature, well worth seeing.

A middle class commuter belt couple Mr Bates (Denholm Elliot) and Mrs Bates (Joan Plowright) are duped into taking a charming young man Martin(Sting)into their house to help care for their catatonic daughter (Suzanna Hamilton). Martin claims to have been close to their daughter before an accident left her unable to communicate. As the film progresses the couple mistakenly start to trust Martin and dark family secrets are revealed.

Originally a stage play written by Dennis Potter the film is in turn engrossing, disturbing and claustrophobic. Denholm Elliot is as ever brilliant as the lonely and disturbed father figure, Sting puts in a good performance as a strange and demonic young man, Joan Plowright is very good as the maternal and naive housewife.

The two slight let downs for me were the music which I did'nt feel fitted in well with the film and the main fantasy sequence which did'nt stand the test of time well.

Other than that the film held my attention throughout, the direction by Richard Loncraine was extremely capable, all in all an intriguing and idiosyncratic piece which is well worth a watch.

Australia at the end of the nineteenth century a barren and hostile place where people have little respect for human life. Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) captures two well know crooks and rapists the Burns brothers Charlie and Arthur (Guy Pearce and Richard Wilson) after a shootout. The two men have a third brother who is part of the gang who Captain Stanley also wants to capture. Therefore, he lays a proposition onto the table that if Charlie kills his brother he will let Arthur go on his return. Charlie accepts and begins to seek out his brother, but will he return with the proof that he has fulfilled his part to the proposal?

I expected far more from this, it had been built up a great deal in advertising and had got favorable reviews so I had high expectations. Unfortunately this was a slow and dull picture that brought nothing new to the Western genre, it was a million miles away from matching the excellence of Sergio Leone Westerns. The film plodded along, coming to a very predictable end without satisfying at all. The acting was fine although John Hurt's fine acting skills were wasted on a stupid part and Pearce was 'safe' as ever in his role. The cinematography was good and shots of landscapes were nice to look at but thats not why I go to see a film. I wanted a unique story, diverse and idiosyncratic characters, a good score and something to remember that stays locked in your mind for a couple of days after. This was certainly not it, a boring conventional film that was a waste of time, I wish I had re-watched a decent Western like the 'Good the Bad and the Ugly' instead.

A rebellious 17 year old student (Tomas Lemarquis) is dissatisfied with his life in a remote Icelandic town. He meets a girl (Kristmunder Kristmundersson) who works at a petrol station and together they dream of a world away from the monotony of their small town existence.

This is only the second Icelandic film I have seen and I was extremely impressed by it. The acting was very professional, the cinematography worked well in creating atmosphere and the music, which I believe was by the director's band, was very apt for the story.

The story was very simple but I feel that simple stories can often work much better than a highly complex and over indulgent pieces.

The main characters restlessness probably strikes a chord with many people who as teenagers living in a small town yearned for somewhere and something different.

A Very well made and interesting piece which I would highly recommend.

Four English children are evacuated to an old country mansion during the second world war where they come across a wardrobe that leads to a fantasy world.

This was a huge disappointment for me, I loved the books as a child and expected this to bring back fond memories. Instead, I found it to be at best a cheap TV version not a high budget Disney affair. The acting was far below standard and the special effects where overall extremely poor and cheap looking. The story was not as remarkable and exciting as I remember, this may be because I am no longer a child, or because this version was just unimaginative and poorly made. Despite this being a 'children's film' it should still manage to appeal to both adults and children if it is an accomplished piece of work, as for example Harry Potter manages.

This is a badly made money-maker for Disney, they have brought a seminal children's book onto the big screen and it is a disaster from start to finish.

I was somewhat ambivalent about the thought of one of my favourite directors making a version of the much loved classic tale Oliver Twist. On the one had Roman Polanski crafts wonderful and moving films extremely well so I was intrigued to see how he would weave this one together. From his early 'Knife in the water' through to 'The Pianist' each has his trademark directorial stamp on it whilst still being truly incredible and individual films. On the other hand, the Oliver Twist tale has been screened to death both in two highly regarded films as well as multifarious TV versions over the years. In my opinion David Lean's version is fantastic, Alec Guiness superb as Fagin and the whole film experience has kept me going back from childhood through to adulthood.

So it was with great trepidation that I went to see this spanking brand new version and thankfully I was not disappointed. The character of Fagin, so crucial to the story, is performed with outstanding ability by Ben Kingsley. He really portrays this grotesque but somehow lovable character well from his slight mannerisms and movements to his vocal abilities. Also, finely performed were the parts of the artful dodger (Harry Eden), Mr Brownlowe (Edward Hardwicke) and of course Oliver Twist (Barney Clarke). There was such sadness and despair in his eyes throughout that he really captured the part well. Less convincing was Bill Sykes (Jamie Foreman) who was not right for the part nor performed well enough to stand up against the masterful Oliver Reed in a previous version. Foreman is a regular in gangster type films and for me did not really fit into the cast or film well here.

The recreation of mid 19th century London is done well with Polanski drawing on the visual inspiration of Dore prints of the period for authenticity. The cinematography is as accomplished as always in a Polanski film and the lighting helped to create dramatic moods well.

All in all a very competent and entertaining version with great acting, a fine pace and an outstanding final scene of Fagin finished and soon to face death gripping hold of Oliver tightly. I would highly recommend to adults, children and die hard fans of other versions. All great directors have different visions and Polanski has used his vision and experienced craftmanship in successfully remaking this much loved tale.

Coco, an unemployed 52 year old mechanic,lives with his daughter in her small, chaotic family home. Poor and unable to find a job he spends his time selling knives whose handles he has specially crafted. One day he stops to help a woman whose car has broken down by towing her 150 km to her parents home. Here he fixes her car and as payment he is given a large but rather beautiful dog called Bombom by her mother. From here Coco's life changes as he meets Walter Donado who trains him to be a dog handler with the belief that Bombom will win them lots of prizes at dog shows.

A really pleasant way to spend a Monday evening. I was astonished at the acting ability of this inexperienced group, especially the lead Juan Villegas whose kindly face was quite captivating. The story was simple, effective, humorous and kept me intrigued throughout. The Argentinan landscape was a pleasant, if at times bleak, one.

I really enjoyed this film experience and highly recommend it to others.

A mentally deficient man ,who has a knack for winning money at fish catching competitions, is left to fend for himself after his mother is run down and murdered. Fragile, innocent and alone he is targeted by crooks hell bent on taking some of his money.

A very well shot and acted film, I was surprised at how accomplished the main lead actor(Troy Garrity)was in portraying the character of Albert. The other actors played their parts well and the technical aspects were done well with the cinematography exceptionally good. However,at times the movie was very slow and caused me to lose my attention and become a bit dis-interested. Nevertheless a watchable effort that takes you away from the world outside for a while.

In a small Maori village in New Zealand, a young girl aims to prove herself worthy of being a chief, despite her grandfathers beliefs in traditional tribal gender divisions.

An engrossing and touching experience, this film is very powerful with excellent acting by an unknown young talent, Keisha Castle-Hughes, who achieves a marvellous performance. The story is a simple one yet very effective and transports you into the lives and culture of people who live on the other side of the planet. The cast were all convincing and acted their parts well especially the grandfather Koro (Rawiri Paratene)as well as the grandmother Flowers (Vicky Haughton) Cinematography, music and special effects were effective in creating a pleasurable enjoyable experience which was a breath of fresh air from the homogeneous U.S films that swamp the market.

Great acting, especially Keisha Castle-Hughes, a well made and impressive film, whose only disappointment lay in the chosen ending.

In a restaurant a group of play-writers discuss the dichotomous themes of comedy and tragedy in life as well as in plays and the cinema. One play-writer reconstructs the story of a woman ,Melinda, using the comedy genre, the other using the tragic one. We become immersed in the two narrative strands from the play-writers with each strand featuring different actors apart from the main actor of Melinda which stays the same.

I did not enjoy this which is a first time for a Woody Allen film. It was a wholly irritating film and some actors in it were absolutely appalling. I cannot stand Chloe Sevigny (Laurel) who always acts the same no diversity there, Jonny Lee Miller (Lee) is terrible and should give up acting, Radha Mitchell (Melinda) always reminds me of the nauseating Australian soaps she used to be in in the 1990's and I can't take her seriously. Chiwetel Ejiofor(Ellis)is not a bad actor but here he plays the token black guy whose character is unbelievable to say the least.

The stories were trite, unimaginative, dull, and mostly unfunny. In addition the film becomes unwatchable when you see how hard each actor is trying to do a Woody Allen, especially Will Ferrell who although the best of the lot still infuriated after a short time. I wish Woody Allen had been in this as it would have made it much more tolerable and less a waste of my money and time.

Really dislike this film, but hey I love the 12 other Woody Allen films I've seen so 1 bad egg in 13 is not bad going.

Elvis (Bruce Campbell)is alive and just about well, living in a nursing home in East Texas with a black man (Ossie Davis) who claims to be JFK. However, all is not peaceful as an ancient mummy is haunting the corridors of this drab home hell bent on sucking the souls out of the residents arseholes.

This film certainly stands out from the crowd of Hollywood homogeneity, in its sheer bizarre, quirky story and idiosyncratic characters. Bruce Campbell is excellent as Elvis and has a couple of very funny lines and actions. However, this film goes nowhere at all, becoming more and more silly as well as looking more like a B horror movie with poor special effects.

I admire the attempt by director Coscarelli to create something others do' not have the guts to make, but I did'not enjoy this film, it was good as a performance by an actor impersonating Elvis but this became tedious and irritating after a short while.

A teacher arrives at a boarding school for disruptive boys in 1940's France where he is able to tame his pupils through channelling their energies towards forming a choir.

I had high expectations of this as reviews had overall been extremely complimentary. However, I felt this was a fairly dull and unengaging effort which never really touched me at all.

The main actor was very good in his role, the children performed admirably and the other actors were also good. In addition the camerwork and overall style was proficient. However, it just seemed all a bit too smoothly done, feeling a lot more like a typical Hollywood film than your average French Film. There appeared to be no depth to it just a typically packaged film that tried too hard to appeal to ones emotions.

A top psychologist, the highly unconvincing George Clooney, is sent on a mission to restore order aboard a lonely space station where resurrected ghosts are haunting hapless crew members.

What a load of nonsense. George Clooney, the incredibly shallow actor, has unfortunately been cast in the lead role and what a horrific job he does in this dire remake of a classic Science Fiction film. It is unbearable to watch, you can tell he is acting all along, there is never a moment when you do not think that this is the pretentious George Clooney. The whole thing is a wasted exercise, it never holds attention and is a sheer dive of a film which should never have seen the light of day.

Two middle aged men (Paul Giamatti) and (Thomas Haden Church)go on a wine tasting tour around California for a week before one of them is to get married.

From the reviews I had read I was expecting a special comedy from the director of the masterful 'About Schmidt'. I was completely let down, as this was incredibly dull, dreary, over long and most importantly not funny. The acting was fine, the direction good and the film techniques used were generally satisfactory, but the story and characters where highly irritating and unimpressive. After half an hour I was looking forward to the end credits rolling up and getting out of the cinema swiftly.

Perhaps this film appeals more to older people who might be able to identify with the two characters desperation's, anxieties and middle age idiosyncrasies. For me this picture was about two pathetic characters that I was unable to empathize with, find amusing or find interesting. In addition the whole wine tasting/expertise jargon was pure nonsense, highly pretentious and a complete bore after a short while.

Really unenjoyable, I have no idea what the appeal of this film is to people, it was unfunny, depressing and a waste of my time.

John (Reece Dinsdale)is a smug copper who along with a colleague is assigned to go undercover to delve into the violent world of the football hooligan in 1980's East London. John becomes more and more obsessed and embroiled in this world until it becomes a part of him, which is certain to lead to trouble.

This is an extremely well made and engrossing film with top notch acting and some highly convincing characters. Reece Dinsdale, Sean Pertwee and Warren Clarke ,the pub landlord Bob, are excellent and ensure that this film is a success. We are presented with restless, dissatisfied angrey working class males whose way of letting out frustration is through football violence against enemy firms.

I have seen this many times over the years and it is a film I often come back to as it always guarantees excellent entertainment, a good story, great acting and characters. Definitely watch it

A couple are about to open their Champagne and have a picnic in the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside when an out of control hot air balloon descends into their field, and, in so doing it perhaps disrupts or radically alters their lives forever.

After an extremely well shot and directed opening the film then never managed to live up to the expectations created by such a prolific beginning. The story became the study of the insane adoration of one man for another, as well as philosophical questions with regards to the nature of love and how we can understand this huge but largely overlooked phenomenon.

The acting by Daniel Craig was again impeccable, he really portrayed his part well of the University lecturer who becomes obsessed with being obsessed by, and is surely headed for the big time if he wants it. Samantha Morton was brilliant as Craig's artist girlfriend, but less convincing was Rhys Ifans who I can never really take seriously which was a problem with the character he played here.

The film techniques were impressive, the music was a little dramatic but good, and the editing was very well done. I did not mind the detached and at times hand held camera-work, it gave it a realistic and authentic quality. This was a strange but refreshing film that had great acting, an OK story and more or less maintained my attention throughout.

Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton) is a perfect housewife, mother and all round do gooder in 1940's London. However, she has a secret that not even her family knows about that is sure to get her into a lot of trouble.

First off, I'm a great fan of Mike Leigh he is a British Institution with an incredible ability to make compelling, touching and stylistically competent films. However, this is a far cry from his masterpieces 'High Hopes', 'Life Is Sweet' and my favourite 'Naked'.

In Vera Drake he seems to be becoming more and more mainstream and less exceptional in his story and characters. I was unable to emphasizes with Vera Drake at all or her family. The family he created was so so romanticized a view of Working Class life of this period in Britain and was all too perfect and highly nostalgic to the point of being cringe worthy.

In addition, it seemed highly un-realistic that a woman or any person would have done this abortion procedure for free for so long. It all seemed very sentimental that she would do it out of the goodness of her heart for women whom she did not know and who were often drunk, rude and unappreciative of her help. Moreover, surely she could not have been so easily duped by her supposed friend into doing the abortions while her friend makes money off her back for almost 20 years!

The whole story and character did'nt work at all for me, it just seemed to be one dreary and uninteresting scene after the other, with the last 30 minutes being so drawn out and gloomy.

Leigh was trying to portray her as some kind of Saint, but how many women had her abortion procedure killed, in the film we saw her perform around 6 or 7 abortions and out of them one of the woman nearly died. Which means if she had been doing 7 a week for twenty years that amounts to 6720. A seventh of that makes 960 women meaning that the chances would be that a lot of the women would have died because of her procedure.

When the judge said she was sentenced to 2 years and six months, I frankly did not think that was enough for a serial killer!

Besides all of my problems with the story and characters, the acting by Imelda Staunton was good and the many domestic scenes were directed and shot extremely well.

However, I found this film to be a real let down as it was so unrealistic, romanticized and a highly unengaging film.

In the early 1900's two men meet, Jules an Austrian (Oscar Werner), and Jim a Frenchman (Henri Serre). As their friendship grows they indulge in more and more womanising, nearly always sharing their lovers. However, when Catherine comes into their life things change and Jules marries her, nevertheless, a few years later she starts to fall for Jim. Thus develops a bizarre love triangle which seems set to lead to a dramatic ending.

I'm a fan of many Truffaut films, 'The 400 Blows' being one of my favourite ever films, but I found this tedious, uninteresting and I was unable to emotionally engage with any of the characters. Technically it was very good and I realize that his style has influenced the finest directors of the contemporary cinema which we enjoy today.

However, in terms of story and the ability to allow me to empathize with characters it faltered. As the film went on I become more and more uninterested and even less enthusiastic for the film form and techniques Truffaut had crafted.

Perhaps this film is like Marmite, (or so the advertisers would have us believe), you either love it or hate it. For me it hardly sustained my interest and although I don't hate it the story failed to engage me whatsoever.

Young, bullied, unconfident, Manchester teenager Jimmy Grimble (Lewis Mckenzie)is all of these. However, when he is given a pair of old football boots his luck changes and he is transformed into a football boy wonder.

This is worth a watch, it has many of the familiar sports film clichés but is still a somewhat touching tale with a fine cast and fairly good cinematography. Typical sports films usually follow the same type of formula as far as I can see:

1.A team or person are lousy at the sport they play.

2.Along comes a factor in the equation to start to change this. For example an excellent or determined coach to change their fortunes.

3.The team still are'nt winning at first but they have more spirit and are improving. Eventually they win their first game or achieve something in the sport they have'nt before.

4. The coach has a love interest with a players Mum or teacher in Disney sports films. Or a player finds a love interest or struggles in his or her love life.

5. The team enter a competition and win their first game.

6.There are personal problems along the way with players, the coach etc.

7. Eventually the team gets to the final stage of the competition and after a terrible start to the game they look like losing. However, there is a determined fight back and they end up winning, shock horror, who could have predicted that!!

OK, so perhaps this is not the formula for all sports films but some or all of the factors are involved in most. Jimmy Grimble is no exception but I still enjoyed it more than others. The lead performs his part well and the coach is played well by Robert Carlyle who is in a rather subdued role for a change. Overall, this is watchable, even if you don't like football you should get some enjoyment out of it.

Average effort but entertaining enough