Reviews

I found Vantage Point to be one of those typical American action films that do nothing for you except reiterate the fact that in many American films, Americans come across as self obsessed, paranoid bullies who inevitably save the day – or Mr President.

The film was boring, the plot was boring, the fact that the film rewound every ten minutes or so is not only boring but downright irritating. The whole "war on terror" thing is boring and the fact that there are more and more of these dire "war on terror" films being released is boring. Give us something original for God's sake. The ending (I won't go too much into detail in case you want to actually sit through this tripe) made me want to throw up, but as the people sitting in front of me wouldn't hake taken too kindly to scraping my vomit off their necks, I decided it was best to suppress my initial need to puke. Looking back, I should have vomited all over the screen and Mr Presidents nice new blazer.

I sound like I'm anti American but I'm really not. There are lots of American films that I love but they tend to be the ones that involve an element of thought and do not involve gung-ho American hype. If you like patriotic crap and predicable American propaganda then this is the film for you.

My main gripe was that the film oozes cheese, real cheese served up the American way. I'd go as far to say that this film has more cheese than Switzerland. Especially the part near the end, where Spidey swings in to save the day and conveniently lands right next to a huge American flag – patriotic crap. Please spare me the American patriotic crap. And I think the film could also have benefited from the omitting of certain corny and needless pieces of dialogue. The cries of 'Awesome' etc from the watching crowds made me want to vomit. The story is pretty straightforward, as you would expect, and does enough to keep you entertained; although not enough to make you want to see the film again. In my opinion, Spiderman 2 is the best of the trilogy but this is worth seeing just for the sake of keeping up with the saga. The villains are OK, especially Venom. The parts where Venom consumes Parker were probably my favourite parts. For me, the film was too digitally enhanced, e.g. the parts where Spidey is seen swinging through the streets look too good to be true, so in my opinion, makes them look a tad fake. But on the whole, apart from the cheese and the overdone effects, it's not a bad flick, I suppose.

Don't waste your time with this drivel. Pathetic, diabolical, atrocious, embarrassingly unfunny, unimaginative, predictable, tiresome, cheap, tacky, boring and extremely bland, and they're the good points. I can't criticise this dirge highly enough. Due to the nature of my work, I get to see a lot of films and I'll go out on a limb and say this is by far the worst film I've ever seen. The plot is so thin it's transparent and the humour is so lowbrow, it's practically underfoot. And I thought the recently released Employee of the Month was bad!

I've seen a few films of this genre (the scary movies etc) and found them to be OK, quite entertaining and humorous in parts, but this film has no redeeming features whatsoever. I honestly didn't laugh once. If you find this film funny, you are either a moron or in serious need of a humour transplant. It's obviously just a cash in and no thought has gone into it whatsoever. It appeals to the lowest common denominator and the jokes are so bad and so ill thought out, they are cringe-worthy (chocolate river is actually a river of excrement - a bit like this film - hysterical. Man gets bitten on the crotch by a snake – genius). It makes me cringe to actually think that I actually sat through this mess. The best thing about the film is the running time, about 80 minutes (even though it feels like a lifetime).

I know the film is 12A but that is no excuse for a lack of plot or humour. There are many films of 12A or less that are far superior and funnier than this drivel. If you're thinking of going to see this film, don't. It really is that bad.

Being huge fans of the Stones - and Brian Jones in particular - my girlfriend and I eagerly anticipated the little publicised release of Stoned. We made the journey to our local cinema and sat side by side, hardly uttering a word throughout, and watched as the life of one of the greatest musicians our shores have ever produced, slowly ebbed away - we were not disappointed. Having read The Geoffrey Giuliano book documenting Brian's death, I felt the film offered an authentic portrayal of the weeks leading up to that fateful night when Brian Jones boarded a celestial plane to the other world – or in other words, was found face down in his swimming pool at Cotchford Farm.

Leo Gregory put in a fine performance as Jones - cruel, paranoid, vulnerable, needy, flippant, kind, fickle, sadistic, brilliant - and Paddy Considine was great (as always) as Frank Thoroughgood, the builder/hanger-on, riding first class on the Brian Jones gravy train. As the relationship between the two main characters developed, I must admit that I found myself feeling a little sympathy for Thoroughgood (but then I reminded myself that this was the man who robbed us of the founding member of the Rolling Stones), having to endure Brian's unreasonable demands, mood swings, mind games and mental humiliations. Thoroughgood however, seemed quite willing to put up with such behaviour for the sake of his new lifestyle, away from the mediocrity of normal life. As the film progressed, we watched as Thoroughgood's resentment and jealousy consumed him, culminating in the cold-blooded killing of Brian Jones – thus creating a legend.

The film is entertaining, well written and in my opinion, well acted. I was interested to read a previous review left on this site by an author who was rather disappointed with the film. Well, to counteract two of the author's points: 1 - This was not a film about the Rolling Stones, but a film about Brian Jones and the events that led to his untimely death. 2 - There was too much sex and nudity in the film? Nonsense! Brian Jones was a rock star who loved - and lived - the sex and drugs lifestyle, so much so, that his addictions and inability to cope with the trappings played a huge part in his eventual downfall. The sex/drug scenes were an integral part of the film and were undoubtedly there to show us the kind of lifestyle that Jones was leading at the time. I personally thought the scenes which showed Jones basking in the glory of his drug and sex fuelled existence were brilliantly done - hazy flashbacks, quick fixes and foggy mornings after.

The ending is a little odd, showing the ghost of Brian talking to Tom Keylock, and the soundtrack could have been better, but apart from that, a thoroughly enjoyable insight into the life and times of a true rock legend, the inimitable Brian Jones. Rock on!