Extremely disappointed in this film. It had everything going for it – vampires vs. werewolves in a guns’n’bombs age (great concept), Kate Beckinsale in black leather (for those who like that sort of thing), gothic mansions, an at least half-intelligent story, … So what went wrong? Well, nothing in the film was probably explained – […]

I was hugely looking forward to Serenity, and this probably resulted in my mild disappointment in the film. I guess I really should have watched Firefly first to clue me in, but I didn’t so there we go. There was nothing really wrong with it – in fact there was an awful lot right with […]

This is another of these trendy films in the vein of Lost in Translation, where not very much happens, no real reason is given for the whole film, and nothing is resolved at the end. It’s not a style of film-making I’m particularly fond of, although I did quite enjoy both Lost and this one. […]

Comme Une Image (altogether unsatisfactorily ‘translated’ to Look at me) follows the life and times of Lolita, her family, and random other people along the way. It’s a study of hero-worship really, and how people’s attitudes and attention vary enormously based on whether or not they are considering their hero. Young Lolita lives under her […]

What an unexpected delight. Failing to read the cover properly, and assuming that because it had Nicole Kidman in it was going to be another Holywood number (itself a strange assumption given the awesome Dogville), I was amazed when it opened with John (Ben Chaplin) recording his pitch for a Russian bride in St Albans […]

To be honest, not all that. I’d be the first to concede this might be in part due to the watching conditions, which weren’t very good – but I failed to be absorbed. It’s hard to put my finger on why. So much of the book had been left out or changed (which I suppose […]

It’s not very often that a trailer puts me off a film I had previously wanted to see, but the trailers for War of the Worlds managed it for me. “Another Tom Cruise film”, thought I, “that’s taken a perfectly good storyline and twisted into brainless hollywood fare.” Actually, that summary isn’t too bad – […]

This was a surprisingly good film, actually. The basic premise follows a young lad – Stanley – who is found guilty of theft, and is sent off to “Camp Greenlake” to dig holes in order to “build his character”. An interesting back-story of him and his family emerges, and we follow his trials and tribulations […]

What a very silly film; I hugely enjoyed it! It’s a film that’s quite tough to call between very funny and in very bad taste, but I think I just about slip onto the “funny” side. This is not a film with some deep message, although the satire does hold up a mirror to much […]

Theme music is so evocative, isn’t it? Whether it’s the sweeping orchestra of the opening bars of Star Wars, or the spine tingling ‘dings’ of Harry Potter – the semi-comedy trumpty sound of Wallace and Gromit never fails to light my spirits and bring a smile. DOO-do-do-DOO-do-do-DOOdoo da-da-DA-dada-DA-dadada-DA. Or something. Before I go any further, […]