film reviews

13 Going on 30 (2004)
Genre: Comedy

13 Going on 30 Yes, this isn't really anything serious, not going to win any awards, but was in the mood for some light fluff, and so got this from Netflix, whose prices have surprisingly and quite pleasantly gone down! The good thing about this is that Mark Ruffalo's in it, and he plays the love interest to Jennifer Garner's character Jenna. Anyway Jenna's about to have her 13th birthday, invites some cool kids to her party, they say they'll come in exchange for her doing some kind of paper for one of them. Jenna of course fancies one of the cool boys, who couldn't care less about her. Her best friend is Ruffalo who of course secretly pines for her, but he's kind of chubby and nowhere near as babelicious as the cool boy, blah, blah, blah. Can't remember Ruffalo's character's name; I saw this a few weeks ago, and it's now Guy Fawkes Day, which means tomorrow's my birthday.

Jenna is having such a hard time being 13 that upon being locked in a wardrobe by the cool gang, she wishes she was 30, and hey presto she is! She now finds she's an editor of a fashion mag, working alongside one of the cool girls that treated her so badly in high school. She of course is now apparently hard as nails.

The good thing about this? Some of the '80s music, and Mark Ruffalo. If you've nought else to do of an evening, and you want something not too taxing, go for it. Oh yeah, one more thing, Gollum (Andy Serkis) from LOTR is also in it. I think I preferred him as Gollum.

21 Grams (2003)
Genre: Drama

21 Grams Brilliant performances, no doubt about that, by Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro. For me Del Toro is an ugly good-looking man, in the same vein as Harrison Ford. Let me explain that. You may not necessarily look at them twice immediately, but if you do, there's just something about them. They may not be good-looking in the conventional sense, but it's there alright. Perhaps "ugly" is a little strong, but "ugly good-looking" is definitely a good thing!

Back to the film. Once I figured out that the director had decided to show me bits and bobs without explaining how they came together, I was slightly annoyed, but then as the story progressed and it was obvious how they came together, I was doing fine. Penn is Paul Rivers, a college professor who is dying. His wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) wants a baby. Christina Peck (Watts) has overcome her wild and destructive past to settle down in a family with a loving husband and two little girls. Jack Jordan (Del Toro) is an ex-con who's found Jesus, and is trying to live a new life with his wife and two kids. As the film progresses we see how these lives become intertwined.

I think I would have got more from this film had I watched it in one sitting, rather than in two halves. As I said earlier, the three main actors did a bang up job. However I found it unrealistic that a woman who had lost her husband and children would so soon after their death apparently come to love another and be calling him "baby", but what do I know? I was also uncomfortable with the way Del Toro's character twisted the Bible, or should I say misunderstood the Bible. Good gritty film. Probably should watch it again some time at a later date.

25th Hour (2002)
Genre: Drama

25th Hour Finally got round to watching this (5/4/04). It was okay. Edward Norton did a bang up job as usual, but I didn't really enjoy this film as much as some of his others. He plays Monty Brogan, a drug dealer since prep school, who is going to prison for 7 years in the morning. The film takes us through his last night as we see him with his two best friends, an investment banker and a teacher, his father, his girlfriend Naturelle (Rosario Dawson), his dog Doyle, and a host of other characters.

I was talking about this with Scott today and he reckons it's Spike Lee's commentary on post September 11th. The message Scott got from this was that you have to pay for your crimes. I never thought of it like that, but then I don't think of myself as a deep thinker. Perhaps I watched it in a hurry, I don't know, with lots on my mind as I am a little preoccupied at the moment, who knows? I must say though that I really wished there was some way he could avoid going to prison, but that would have been totally ridiculous.

8 Women (2002)
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Musical

8 Women I remember reading a review of this and deciding that I wanted to watch it. Finally got round to it this past weekend (9/10/04). The trouble with Netflix is that there are so many films, it's hard to decide which to place in your top three all the time. Anyway, back to the review. All I knew was that the film is French, stars Catherine Deneuve and Fanny Ardant and a host of others and is a murder mystery.

This film was truly out of my ordinary--totally not what I was expecting, and half way through I was like "this is so funny, and so strange, and some of the acting's so melodramatic, it's almost farcical, (Augustine's acting was particularly over the top) and now they're singing (and then I look at the sleeve note and read that all 8 women will each sing a song as the plot unfolds), and it's like a stage play, and what is this?", but you know what, I loved it! I was even singing along to Suzon's song.

The story is set in 1950s France in a country mansion, and I have to mention all the women as there are only 8 of them. Suzon (Virginie Ledoyen) returns home for Christmas and is greeted by her mother Gaby (Catherine Deneuve), the maid Madame Chanel (Firmine Richard), her grandmother Mamy, (Danielle Darrieux) and her younger sister Catherine (Ludivine Sagnier, the vamp in Swimming Pool, which I didn't like). Her aunt Augustine (Isabelle Huppert) also lives with them. Then there's Louise (Emmanuelle Beart) the new maid.

One of them (Louise, the maid I believe) discovers Marcel, the master of the house in his room with a knife in his back. Soon afterward Pierrette (Fanny Ardant), Marcel's estranged sister arrives and it soon becomes evident that the murderer is indeed one of the eight women in the house. I won't give the story away, but as I said I liked this a lot. It was just so different to what I'm used to.

A Handful of Dust (1988)
Genre: Drama

This stars another extremely talented actresss, in my opinion, the beautiful, Kristin Scott Thomas. Again I can't remember all the details, (it's been a few years since I saw it), but that's why we have the web isn't it? You can see that Tony Last, played by James Wilby, will come to a bad end at the hands of another, which is why the whole thing's so awful to keep watching. It's almost like watching a wounded animal die slowly, although I can't say I've ever done that.

Roger Ebert sums it up quite nicely thank you, when he says:

"This is a peculiar movie, but a provocative one. The performances imply more than the dialogue explains, and there are passages where we cannot quite believe how monstrously the characters are behaving. We Americans like to see evil in terms of guns and crime and terrorists and drug smuggling — big, broad immoral activities. We rarely make movies about how one person can be personally cruel to another, through their deep understanding of what might hurt the other person the most. A Handful of Dust has more cruelty in it than a dozen violent Hollywood thrillers, and it is all expressed so quietly, almost politely."

Mr Ebert on A Handful of Dust... Found out on the web that it's an Evelyn Waugh novel. (I don't get out much!)

About Schmidt (2002)
Genre: Drama, Comedy

About Schmidt This is quite a sad story and again like Igby Goes Down nothing much really happens, and yet so much is told, if you know what I mean. The film opens with Warren Schmidt's (Jack Nicholson) retirement, which has come because really it's time to make room for younger, fresher blood. Of course he was totally unprepared for this new change in lifestyle and so he feels lost. His wife then suddenly dies after 42 years of marriage, and his only daughter Jeannie is about to marry a major loser. His daughter is too busy planning her wedding to be emotionally there for him at this time, and so he's forced to go on a road trip in a huge Winnebago in a quest to find out what it's all about.

There is so much sadness going on in this story. He was married to his wife, yet there seemed to be no real connection after 42 years of marriage, his daughter is absent emotionally and physically, and he feels lonely. It's like you work all your life, get married, have kids and then at the end of it all, what is there? Out of sheer boredom I would say, he decides to sponsor, and begins to write to six-year old Ndugu in Tanzania, Africa. It is to Ndugu that he narrates his story.

Adaptation (2002)
Genre: Drama

Adaptation Adam was the one that recommended this, but of course it also got a lot of buzz around Oscar time. Finally got round to watching it on DVD. Didn't watch it in one sitting, which seems to be the norm with me nowadays. I can't say I really really enjoyed this or anything.

Okay, I guess I didn't get this film and it was too clever for me by half. I think I may not necessarily be a fan of the quirky type of film that this is. This is of course directed by Spike Jonze, who also directed Being John Malkovich, which I hated.

I read a synopsis of Adaptation on movies.com and apparently Donald Kaufman is Charlie Kaufman's fictional twin in it? Okay! Well, I know nothing about Charlie Kaufman, so I can be forgiven for not knowing he doesn't have a twin right? Anyway Nicolas Cage either put on weight or wore a fat suit to play Charlie Kaufman, a screenwriter who is in the process of adapting Susan Orlean's nonfiction novel, The Orchid Thief for the big screen. I only mention the fat suit/weight gain because Cage again really did a good job. The balding hair too was a nice touch. I mean you totally forgot about the reality of the fact that Cage was playing Kaufman, and the only time I thought about Cage was to think, gosh he's convincing as this slightly overweight, balding screenwriter. Victoria Alexander of FILMSINREVIEW.COM. says on rottentomatoes.com: "Sean Penn, you owe Nicolas Cage an apology."--I tend to agree with her. But back to the review.

I may have just watched the film at face value. Charlie Kaufman is having a really difficult time adapting the novel; he wants to do justice to the orchid theme of the book and seems to be fascinated by Orlean. At the same time his brother Donald goes for a screenwriting seminar and all of a sudden is able to pen this ridiculous screenplay about multiple personality disorders and murder which Charlie's agent then raves about.

Meryl Streep is Orlean and Chris Cooper is John Laroche, the orchid thief. I believe Cooper won an Oscar for this. Well-deserved. I loved the toothless in the front detail. If I recall correctly Orlean, before meeting him, couldn't understand why someone wouldn't try to correct not having your front teeth, but it can be attractive, depending on who's got it. I remember that in secondary school there was a boy in the local boys grammar school with no front teeth and he definitely had an impact on me, but then I've always liked the not quite ordinary. But back to the review.

I've just read the bit in the movies.com synopsis that goes "Charlie finally manages to finish the script, finding that in the process, he's incorporated himself and his writer's block into the story." I didn't realise the ending had become a part of the script. I mean I just found the whole thing at the end incredibly unbelievable. Since Charlie Kaufman is a real person I thought I better go and check whether or not some of the nonsensical happenings at the end really did happen. Not to give too much away, but they involved death in the Florida swamps or wherever the heck they were. Totally ridiculous. Did Kaufman have to have his brother killed off in the script/in his mind in order to be able to finish the screenplay?

Of course I know that after reading Adam's review, it will again be apparent that I am not at all a deep thinker and that I've totally missed the point of this film, but as I said I didn't appreciate Being John Malkovich and this kind of quirky doesn't move me.

Along Came Polly (2004)
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Along Came Polly The DVD sleeve note calls this "HILARIOUS". It's not!

I had seen the preview for this when I went to see "Something's Gotta Give" in the cinema with Patricia and a friend of hers. It looked funny, and I've had it on my must-see list for ages. Good job I didn't pay $9 to see it. Although I have a theory that's still not been fully pondered yet that you really need to watch a film at the cinema to get the full benefit. SGG was hilarious at the cinema, I mean laugh out loud funny, but at home, on the 10" it wasn't quite so funny. Watched this one on a 36-something inch telly, but that didn't help. But back to the review.

Ben Stiller is Reuben Feffer (I don't know why he likes to use these stupid-sounding names all the time) whose wife Lisa (Debra Messing) cheats on him on the first day of their honeymoon with Claude, the French scuba instructor (Hank Azaria). Back in NYC Reuben bumps into Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston) an old middle school acquaintance and starts going out with her. There's a lot of toilet humour, which just isn't funny.

The whole film was just kind of flat. The exceptions? Philip Seymour Hoffman as Reuben's best friend, Hank Azaria's love of saying "solide", bits from Jesus Christ Superstar and that's about it. There's something about Hoffman. Yes he's fat and gross in this film, but he's definitely got something. Along Came Polly though is definitely one to stay away from.

American History X (1998)
Genre: Drama

American History X In my opinion, Edward Norton is the most talented contemporary actor in Hollywood today. I was totally bowled over by his performance in this film. I'd seen Primal Fear and joined everyone else in saying what a knockout performance he gave, but that was it. When AHX came out I had wanted to see it because of the subject matter, but I never got round to it. Rented it from Blockbuster when it came out and thus began my Nortonisation. Then proceeded to rent all his films from Blockbuster. Actually sat through Everyone Says I Love You, (he sings too!), couldn't stomach The People Vs. Larry Flynt, in Rounders he played a very unsavoury character called Mole. Anyway, my emotions whilst watching AHX went from crying, to feeling physically sick, to sadness, to anger. For me the film was about fear which breeds hatred. Again, rent it today.

The point is that this man totally immerses himself in the character he's playing. He's very ordinary looking, kind of like the boy next door, but he's so convincing in the roles he's played. No-one has elicited (from me anyway) such emotions as he does when I'm watching him in a film. I did a speech on him in a Toastmasters meeting in university. Half, if not all of them, were looking at me blankly, obviously wondering who this bloke was that I was going on about, but it made me feel good.

It adds to the authenticity of his performances that we don't know everything about his private life, like we seem to about other actors, so you forget that his name is Edward Norton and think of him as Mole, (Rounders) or the narrator (Fight Club) or whomever he may happen to be playing. This is in stark contrast to the likes of Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts who always play themselves. Give her credit though, Roberts did a fine job in Erin Brokovich. Anyway I told a friend Fenny to watch AHX, even gave her my copy and she raved about it. She was instantly converted if you will, and Fenny is very picky when it comes to what kind of films she likes.

Anger Management (2003)
Genre: Comedy

Anger Management Jack Nicholson, Adam Sandler and Marisa Tomei star in this major piece of rubbish. I had not really wanted to see this, but when you go to Blockbuster with friends that don't have the same taste as you, you have to compromise. This film was painful to watch. I was like "why is this going on?" and "did they actually pay people to act these parts?" Jack Nicholson's sheer sadism seemed to be pointless, and so I just didn't get it. (It wasn't of course until the end that an explanation was given, and probably everybody else that's seen this film except Alexis and myself could see it coming. The painful part was that it was actually quite funny in parts, but I couldn't understand how I could be laughing at such ridiculousness, if you know what I mean.

The plot? Sandler plays Dave Buznik, a meek and mild, dormat-type executive assistant with no backbone to stand up for himself, and an aversion to PDA brought on by a humiliating episode in his childhood. Following an incident on a plane he is forced to enter an anger-management program run by Dr Buddy Rydell (Nicholson), who himself would appear to be in need of his own therapy. Tomei plays Linda, Buznik's girlfriend.

Around the Bend (2004)
Genre: Drama

Around the Bend I had seen a preview of this in the cinema and it looked mildly interesting -- I mean there was the phwoar factor of Josh Lucas and the incredible aura that is Christopher Walken. Michael Caine though, doesn't do it for me. Anyway Henry Lair (Caine) is old and lives with his grandson Jason, (Lucas) and great grandson Zach (Jonah Bobo). Unbeknownst to Jason, Henry has summoned his son, and Jason's estranged father Turner (Walken) to their house.

Anyway Henry dies, but not before leaving a detailed itinerary of Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants to be visited by the three generations of Lair, along with old Henry's ashes. At first this was incredibly slow, but I soon got used to it, and actually enjoyed it for the most part. I watched this a while ago (a few months ago now, I reckon, and it's now 26/7/05), and so I can't fully recall my feelings at the time, so this is just another review to go into the database that I'm working on.

On a semi-related note, I really need to get these reviews done in a more timely fashion. To tell you the truth, I always think I want to stop them, but then I'm like, well it would be a shame to, since I've put so much work into them, and then I get nice comments from Adam or someone else about them, so I try to keep going.

Bad Santa (2003)
Genre: Comedy

Bad Santa Had been looking forward to renting this, as I must say I like Billy Bob Thornton, and just the idea of a different kind of Santa appealed to me, but I guess I just wasn't in the mood. The bad language was just too much for me, and I couldn't get past that, so I nipped it in the bud and put on The Station Agent instead, at which point Silvio says "what's with all the midget films?" (of course I paraphrase, but that's basically the gist of what he said).

The story? Billy Bob and a little person sidekick play Santa and a dwarf every Christmas time in shopping malls, and then carry out robberies and don't see each other again until the following Christmas. Bernie Mac is the head of security who decides he wants to get in on the act. Also painful to watch was this little boy who thought Billy Bob was the real Santa.

Barbershop (2002)
Genre: Comedy

Barbershop There was a lot of noise made about this film, and not just because of the "Rosa Parks on the bus" comment. I had meant to go see it with my friend Kai, but he expressed surprise that I would want to see it, and then I just decided that we should see My Big Fat Greek Wedding instead. I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and I would see it again if I didn't have to return it to Blockbuster so soon.

The film tells the story of Calvin (Ice Cube), a barbershop owner, who due to the money he owes the bank, and his general disinterest in the whole endeavour, sells his barbershop to the local loan shark, Lester Wallace. His dream is to open a recording studio in his house, so that he can afford to buy a guesthouse for his wife, like the one Steadman probably has to use whenever he and Oprah have a fight. Anyway, after getting $20,000 for the shop from Wallace, he has a change of heart. The shop has been in his family for 40 years and it's a part of the community. Characters in the barbershop that bring it to life include Ricky (Michael Ealy), a young ex-felon who is looking at his third strike, Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas), who looks down on everyone else in the shop, and is always trying to out-speak everyone else with his diatribes, Dinka (Leonard Earl Howze), from somewhere in Africa, Terri, (Eve) a loud and feisty girl who's always on about someone having drunk her apple juice, and Eddie, (Cedric the Entertainer), who is responsible for the "Rosa Parks on the bus" comment. Very amusing film. As I said, I would see it again.

Barbershop 2 (2003)
Genre: Comedy

Got this out from Netflix, and started watching it with Zibu, but fell asleep half way through. She assured me it was not at all worth watching, so there you have it.

Bend It Like Beckham (2003)
Genre: Comedy

A major disappointment! I've wanted to see Bend It Like Beckham for a long time now, and have been waiting for it to come out here in America, which it finally did. Tried to get a group of friends to go see it with me, raved and raved about it, but only one was interested and then she couldn't make it after all. I went to see it with a friend's husband's cousin visiting from England, although he doesn't rate Beckham too highly, and really did not want to see the film, but he went along with me anyway. It was a major, major disappointment. It's billed as a comedy, but the funny bits were few and far between. It got funny only towards the end, and then it wasn't that funny. In fact the funniest bit was when one of Jess' grandmothers I think it was, said "Jess, a lesbian? I thought she was a Pisces."

I enjoyed the football part of it, and Parminder Nagra who plays Jess Bhamra, reminds me of my friend Seira. The wedding at the end looked like it was a lot of fun, as did the one in Monsoon Wedding. The clash of cultures theme though was not all that funny, mainly because for me, Jess' mother was not that funny. It really was done better in East is East as the friend I went to see it with said. And Jonathan Rhys-Meyers who plays Joe the coach? He was awful - he had on a permanent pout which was extremely annoying. He looked like he was about to start crying in many of the scenes.

So what did I think? A big let down. Totally over hyped. It's a good job all the friends I'd asked didn't want to see it. Charles, the friend I saw it with, had been slagging it off before we saw it, with me defending it. Came out of the film with the tables turned. He didn't enjoy it either, but he wasn't as harsh in his criticism as I was. I know it's not supposed to be some deep study of life or anything, but the ending was packaged in a box with a big bow on the top, which was a little too treacly for me. Yes it got excellent reviews, and I wanted to see it a lot, but in the end, I wasn't convinced. Maybe I'm taking it too seriously, who knows?

Birthday Girl (2002)
Genre: Drama

Birthday Girl Nicole Kidman is Nadia, a Russian computer mail-order bride, who's come to England to meet John (Ben Chaplin). She led him to believe she understands English, but then it turns out she apparently cannot speak English. Come her birthday, her 'cousins' (Vincent Cassel and Mathieu Kassovitz) walk in and take over their lives. This film was dumb, and the only reason I rented it was because I just got a new DVD player and needed to test it, and the other films I'd wanted to rent were out, and Larry at my local Blockbuster gave it to me free. Which is just as well. You think it may be a dark romantic comedy at the beginning, and then it just turns into drivel. Turns out she and her cousins are part of a scam involving sad losers who look for a bride on the Internet. What a load of rubbish!

Blow Dry (2000)
Genre: Comedy

Blow Dry Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson, Rachel Griffiths, Josh Hartnett and Rachel Leigh Cook star in this story about hairdressers. Not much else to be said really, other than it's Alan Rickman, and I got to look at those lips ... (but I digress). Josh Hartnett attempted a Yorkshire accent - it was extremely wobbly, but at least he gave it a whirl. Since this is supposed to be a review though, here goes. Rickman is Phil Allen, a former UK hairdressing champion, who gave up competing when his wife Shelley, (Richardson) ran off with their hair model Sandra (Griffiths), the night before the UK finals a decade previously. Now Phil lives with their son Brian who works in the local barber shop with him, while Shelley and Sandra own the local hairdressers. Phil hasn't spoken to Sandra for a good "ten year" (by 'eck!) and things are strained between Brian and Shelley. Things move along, and eventually Brian enters this latest competition, and then Phil does, and blah blah blah. Basically it was naff!

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Genre: Drama

Sorry, but I didn't get this. I've never read the book and I probably don't know what I'm talking about, but who cares. Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) came across as some kind of floosie, always on the search for some rich man to meet and marry. What was up with her getting $50 from men to visit the powder room? I found the whole concept of the film rather sad. I've always heard people rave about Breakfast at Tiffany's, but what's endearing about a woman basically prostituting herself with sleazy characters for the money? Totally passed me by, although I must say I do like Audrey Hepburn. I do concur with the general consensus that Mickey Rooney's turn as her long-suffering neighbour, Mr Yunioshi was painful to watch and totally unnecessary.

Breakin' All the Rules (2004)
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Breakin' All the Rules I'd vaguely read a review of this and it hadn't been all that good, so I forgot about it. Then Zibu and I saw a preview of it while watching something else and it looked funny, so I decided to get if from Netflix. Plus Sandra said she and Alexis had watched it and found it funny.

It was indeed only so so. Quincy (Jamie Foxx) gets dumped by his fiancée, and then in his hurt and anger writes a bestseller advising guys on how to break up with their girlfriends first, among other things. Quincy's cousin (the yummy Morris Chestnut) reckons his girlfriend (Gabrielle Union) is going to break up with him and so enlists Quincy to do it for him. It's so predictable that you can see from way way afar that Quincy's going to end up with the cousin's girlfriend and that the cousin is going to end up with Quincy's former boss's girlfriend.

So not a very good film in my opinion. The only redeeming element was Morris Chestnut's PHWOAR factor.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason Went to see this at Mazza Gallerie the night after it came out (13/11/04). Went with Kayode, and it was good to watch a film with him again as he used to be my cinema buddy.

This installment of Ms. Jones sees her--Renée Zellweger--now with boyfriend in the shape of Mark Darcy, (Colin Firth) working as a "serious" TV journalist, and still being given dodgy advice by her mates (Shirley Henderson et. al). It's all going along well, laughs here and there, Hugh Grant (being Hugh Grant as usual--yawn, yawn), back as Daniel Cleaver, and then suddenly we're in Thailand where she gets arrested for drug trafficking, and I'm like "hang about, I can't take this, are we supposed to carry on laughing?" As Adam is wont to say, I found it hard to suspend belief and actually agree that being in a Thai jail for drug trafficking would be the funny experience they were trying to tell me it was. Call me ignorant, but I've read articles about English girls in Thai jails, and I've seen Bangkok Hilton, and nowhere was it a Madonna-fest sing-along.

Course after this, you could see the plot coming a mile off, with Darcy, being the international human rights lawyer he is, coming to save her from languishing in jail. WHATEVER. I didn't read this particular book, and my boss at work assured me Thailand was in the book, so it's a good job I didn't read it. Of course you know she's going to end up with Darcy in the end.

For comedy, it probably did its job, but I still found the story a bit daft. The Thailand thing I just couldn't get over, and she and Darcy are so wrong for each other, and it's highly unlikely, as far as I'm concerned, that two such people would be in a relationship with each other in real life, but what do I know? Actually, the comedy wasn't half bad. The ski scene was hilarious.

Was nice to see Paul Nichols (the babe) who used to play Joe on EastEnders years ago. He's still sort of a babe, but has got a bit of flesh on his face now. Was also interesting to see Jacinda from the first Real World London (not sure if there've been others) playing Darcy's little bit on the side (or so Bridge thought). The music wasn't too bad either; though not quite everlasting enough to prompt me to run out and buy the soundtrack. Oh yeah, one more thing. This Bridge came across as not very bright. I mean what's up with the duck walk and the stilted speech? I still feel her accent isn't consistent. Verdict? Nice way to spend an evening with an old friend, even if the story wasn't all there.

One more thing. I reckon my theory about Colin Firth and his "no open-mouth-kiss clause" is spot on. Observe the difference between Bridge's kisses with him and her kisses with Daniel Cleaver. Oh yeah, Zibu was right. Colin is not a very good actor. Not a lot of facial expressions. I think he was born to play Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, in which he simmered and did not have to kiss anyone really in that film until the end when he kissed Jennifer Ehle, but they were going out with each other at the time. Last thing. Kayode thought Jacinda Barrett was beautiful.

Brown Sugar (2002)
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Brown Sugar Dre (Taye Diggs) and Sidney (Sanaa Latham) have been friends since first discovering hip hop on a New York street corner back in the day. He now works as a music executive for a hip hop label and she works as a music critic for a hip hop magazine. He suddenly marries this woman called Reese (Nicole Ari Parker) who is totally wrong for him, but of course he can't see that, but Sidney can, and Sidney loves him, but she can't tell him that. Sidney interviews this NBA star (the gorgeous Boris Kodjoe) and then accepts his proposal of marriage, knowing that she loves Dre, but wanting to move on with her life and find a little happiness herself, even if it means settling for second best. Of course you know that in the end Sidney and Dre will get their act together, but if they'd done that in the beginning, there wouldn't be a film now would there? I could not really relate to this film, and spent most of it telling myself that, and the rest of the time thinking that Boris Kodjoe is much better looking than Taye Diggs, and why couldn't Kodjoe have played Dre? Fickle, superficial me!

Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Genre: Drama

Catch Me If You Can Went to see this by myself in the new Georgetown Loews Cinema at Christmas (2002). It's based on the story of Frank Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio), who ran away from home at the age of 16 when forced to choose between his mother (Nathalie Baye) and father (the wonderful Christopher Walken) as part of their divorce proceedings. He managed to lead a very cushy lifestyle fuelled by his skill in the art of cheque forgery. In this way he amassed millions of dollars, and also had a lot of fun working as a doctor, a lawyer and a Pan Am co-pilot.

The incredible thing is he managed to pull it all off. The cat in this game is FBI Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) who is absolutely determined to catch him and stop him. The best bits? The scene where he pulls a fast one on Jennifer Garner, and there's another one where he pulls a fast one on Hanratty at the airport, and of course the scene where he's surrounded by the "air hostesses" is a charmer. Basically this guy pulled a fast one on everyone, and and did it with style. This film is a lot of fun. Go see it.

Cellular (2004)
Genre: Thriller

Cellular This was okay. Just needed to watch a film, so got this from Netflix. Stars some pretty boy (Chris Evans), Kim Basinger, William H. Macy and the gorgeous Jason Statham (love the whole bald thing!)

Kim Basinger did a very unconvincing turn as Jessica Martin, a distressed woman whose house has just been broken into my strange men (including Mr Statham), who take her somewhere and tie her up in some kind of attic, rip the phone from the wall, and demand to know where her husband is. Turns out they're LA cops and her husband inadvertently videotaped them doing some dirty cop business, like, oh say killing someone, so now they're after him to shut him up. Pretty boy is the unfortunate guy who Kim manages to get through to on his mobile after she somehow hardwires the broken phone in such a way as to get an outside line.

Obviously this film was never going to change the world, but it served its purpose.

Charade (1963)
Genre: Comedy, Thriller, Romance

Charade One of my colleagues at work said this was a good film, and since The Truth About Charlie has just been released (and I want to watch that), I decided to watch this first. The film starts with a man falling out of a train, and we soon learn his name is Charles Lampert. His wife, Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn), had been seriously thinking about divorcing him, but then, as it happens, she doesn't need to, since someone killed him first. She gets back to their apartment in Paris only to find that her husband sold everything in it at auction, for which he got $250,000, and he had been planning on leaving the country the day he was killed. So begins a search for the missing money, with all kinds of characters claiming it belongs to them, and apparently quite ready to kill to get it. Such characters include Mr Bartholomew (Walter Matthau) of the American Embassy, Gideon, Tex (James Coburn) and Scobie, as well as Peter Joshua (Cary Grant).

What I liked most about this film is the tongue-in-cheek flirting between Hepburn and Grant's characters. A particularly pleasing example is this:

Peter Joshua: Does he belong to you? [speaking about Jean-Louis, her friend's son]
Reggie Lampert: Well, it's hers....
PJ: Do we know each other?
RL: Why, do you think we're going to?
PJ: I don't know, how would I know?
RL: Because I already know an awful lot of people and till one of them dies, I couldn't possibly meet anyone else.

I also liked the fact that Reggie eats when she's stressed.

Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)
Genre: Comedy

Cheaper by the Dozen Got a free advance screening pass to see this at the Georgetown Loews. Went with Alexis who is a fan of the film and book this is based on. Stars Steve Martin as Tom Baker, a local college football coach, and Bonnie Hunt as his wife, Kate. Tom and Kate have twelve children. Alexis rightly pointed out that there's no way someone with twelve children is going to have a flat stomach like Bonnie Hunt has in the film, but who cares about details eh?

The Bakers (just realised they're called the "Bakers" and they have a dozen kids. How slow am I?) live in the suburbs of Illinois. Tom's dream of coaching football at a large college comes true, and he moves his entire family, against the will of all the kids. Kate has written a book about their life which finally gets published and so she has to go on a book tour and leaves Tom to handle the kids. Moving was supposed to bring them more opportunities and make them happier, but things don't actually turn out that way.

By the way, the girl who plays tough cookie Sarah Baker reminds me of my friend Seira in Nepal. Also I think it's Ashton Kutcher that plays the eldest daughter's boyfriend in a fabulous piss take of himself as Ashton Kuchner the actor. He goes on about how he gets gigs for (in this case) commercials because of his face and not for his acting skills. This is right on target, as I recently read an article about how he's doing a serious film at the moment, but production was held up because the director told him to go and get acting lessons.

Chicago (2002)
Genre: Musical

Chicago Went to see this in the cinema with my friend Sandra and her friend Amy. I'd read all the reviews raving about it and my friend Larisa had raved also about it. Very often those films that people rave about, where there's all this hype are the ones I end up not liking. This is one of them. I definitely wouldn't see it twice. I didn't understand why the women in the death row dance scene were wearing what looked like their underwear. Is that what women wear in prison? Also I found Renée Zellweger's puffy face on her skinny body a distraction - I couldn't help it. I kept on wondering how it was possible to be such a skinny minnie with a puffy face. The best scene in my opinion is the one where Billy (Richard Gere) has Roxie Hart (Ms. Zellweger) sat on his knee as a ventriloquist's dummy. That was good. For the most part, the film dragged on.

City of God (2003)
Genre: Drama, Foreign

City of God This, according to the end credits, is based upon actual events, and is, as everyone who reads film reviews knows, the gangster flick Martin Scorcese wishes he had made. The story is narrated by Buscape (Rocket), who grew up in the Cidade de Deus, but has managed to get out of it.

Buscape takes us through growing up in an environment where petty gangsters and drug dealers ruled the day. One such group, the Tender Trio even included his older brother, Goose. Buscape tells us how the Tender Trio started and how a little runt of a boy called L'il Dice tagged along with them, and eventually overtook them to become a ruthless killing machine. L'il Dice grows up and now wants to be called L'il Zé and along with his childhood friend Benny rules the kingdom of Cidade de Deus. It is however an uneasy kingdom, where the value of life seems to be nil and where drugs, guns and robberies abound.

I've never really felt any tenderness towards the Portuguese language, and this is probably in part due to my Spanish teacher at school telling us it was nothing more than a bastardised version of Spanish. However, I like listening to some songs in Portuguese, so what's up with that? Zibu though tells me that Brazilian Portuguese is way different from the Portuguese they speak in Portugal. Anyway I just couldn't stop thinking how appalling it is that life counts for nothing in much of the world. Growing up, Brazil was one of the countries I had wanted to live in, but after watching this film, I was like "no thank you". Of course the favelas are just a sub section of Brazil as a whole, but it was still harsh to watch.

The cast is largely non-professional, and was recruited from the streets. I actually liked the fast-paced camera shots and liked the detail of the spots on Buscape's face which the director made no attempt to soften.

Cold Mountain (2003)
Genre: Drama

This is a love story about a wounded Civil War soldier, Inman (Jude Law), who sets off on the long trek home to Cold Mountain, NC, to be with Ada (Nicole Kidman), the woman he left behind three years earlier. Ada, meanwhile has her own struggles back at home, and is eventually helped by wanderer Ruby (Renée Zellweger, who won the best supporting actress Oscar for this, and well she deserved it too).

This review is being written quite a few weeks after I saw the film, so I can't remember all my feelings. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and it was somewhat predictable towards the end I believe, but it passed the time. Ray Winstone was also in it, and I seem to remember his American accent may have been uneven.

Collateral (2004)
Genre: Action

Collateral Went to see this with Franco on Saturday (7/8/04). I enjoyed it, while he gave it two thumbs down. I actually bit two nails down to the quick in an effort to try to hold in the call of nature. I was dying to go to the loo, but I didn't want to climb over Franco and then have to try and figure out where my seat was on the way back. Plus he's not used to my loo-going antics yet, and I had been before the film started, so I didn't want him to wonder what was wrong with me. I must have spent a good half an hour squirming in my seat, looking back to count how far back we were and wishing I didn't need to go to the loo. Finally I had to go, 'cos I realised the film wasn't about to end anytime soon. Anyway, back to the review ...

Tom Cruise plays Vincent, a hit man who has five people to kill in one night before taking the 6am flight out of LAX. He happens to get into Max Durocher's (Jamie Foxx) cab, and persuades him to drive him around. It soon however becomes obvious that he's on a killing spree, so Max has to keep his wits about him, and at first try to figure out a way to escape, and later how to save an earlier fare (Jada Pinkett Smith) who's on Vincent's hit list.

Although it was a shoot 'em up film, and I was mildly uncomfortable with enjoying someone going around killing other people, this was good Hollywood entertainment. Tom Cruise's shooting scenes were loud and stylishly done. A particular scene in a night club where he shoots, kicks and blasts his way to his victim was very well done. Although Cruise was the baddie, because so much of the film was just him and Foxx, I found myself rooting for him, because after all he just had a job to do. Isn't that ridiculous? At the end when he was going after his last victim, I actually wanted him to find her, and kill her, so he would have carried out his mission, but then the better half of my brain would say "What are you talking about? He's the bad guy!" I actually thought he'd kill them all and then get the plane in time. Ridiculous!

I found the ending implausible, but I guess the baddie always has to die, even if his name is Tom Cruise. The same guy that was shooting them down in the night club just falls so easily in a subway train? I don't think so! Unless of course I missed something, which I probably did; i.e. his gun running out of bullets.

Mark Ruffalo was very good as a detective with slicked back hair; very different from his usual slightly off-beat love interest type.

I particularly liked the soundtrack to this film and remember being very aware of the fact that I liked the songs and wanted to go and buy the soundtrack.

Crash (2005)
Genre: Drama

Crash This is by far the best film so far of 2005. Saw this on 3/6/05, and it's now about a week later. Went to see this with Zibu. Afterwards she announced that it was one of the best films she's ever seen, and it may make her rethink Bollywood, since she didn't realise this calibre of stuff was coming out of Hollywood. Not sure whether the mention of Bollywood hasn't altogether wrecked her credibility to give this film a glowing report, but it was brilliant, and that's all there is to it. This kind of fell below the radar, but it got glowing critic reviews, which made me want to check it out.

This film boasts an all-star cast in a story about racial stereotypes, and how we all collide with each other at some point. It's set in LA shortly after September 11, 2001 and follows a two-day period in the lives of various people of different races. We have Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon), a veteran white cop who stops a black couple (Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton, although for some reason Newton's character talks about her being white in one scene, which neither Zibs nor I got) on their way back from a television awards show. He stops them because he saw them enjoying themselves, and he then humiliates the woman in front of her husband.

We have Officer Hansen (Ryan Phillipe), the rookie cop who watches and squirms while his partner is humiliating the African-American couple, seems to be the good guy in the situation, and then goes on to experience his own challenging moment. This is made all the more poignant by the fact that Dillon's character tells him he'll soon change, and his moment will come.

Brendan Fraser plays the mayor I believe, whose wife (Sandra Bullock) is angry at everyone and kicks up a fuss when Daniel, a Hispanic locksmith (Michael Pena) is fixing their front door locks. She reckons he's going to make copies of the keys and get his "homies" to come do the place over. Then there's the hardworking cop (Don Cheadle) who is sleeping with his partner (Jennifer Esposito) and has a junkie mother, and a brother who's in trouble with the law. Another storyline is of this Persian shopkeeper who buys a gun to protect himself and his wife, and who blames a break-in on the same Hispanic locksmith.

This was just really a very powerful film. I knew somebody was going to die, not just because at the beginning, someone's sneaker was lying by the side of a road, but also because somebody has to die in films like these, and I really thought it would be Daniel, the locksmith. There were two scenes that were particularly brilliant; one involved Kevin Dillon and Thandie Newton, and the other involved the Persian shopkeeper and Daniel the locksmith. The whole cinema spoke out, whether it was "Oh my God" or something else. Really, go see this today, and see it in the cinema. Don't wait for the DVD. (Zibu even said she'll buy the DVD!!)

Dear Frankie (2004)
Genre: Drama

Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
Genre: Comedy

Diary of a Mad Black Woman This was hilarious. I would never have gone to see it in the cinema, and didn't, but I'm glad Gloria rented it for me and my mum to watch. Of course it was a while ago since I saw it, so again this review is not going to be as on the ball as I would have liked.

Near her 18th wedding anniversary, Helen (Kimberly Elise) is kicked out of her house by her husband and replaced by another woman with whom he apparently already has children. To add insult to injury Helen thinks the new clothes in the wardrobe are a surprise from Charles (Steve Harris) her husband, tries on an evening gown only to find it belongs to the girlfriend, and then gets kicked and dragged out of the house in said evening gown. Terrible!

Anyway the story is predictable to a certain extent. It was so obvious that Helen would end up with Orlando (Shemar Moore), the guy hired by her husband to cart off her stuff--you could see that coming a mile off. So anyway, in the end Helen picks herself up with the help of family and friends, is even gracious and humble enough to look after her soon-to-be dirty dog of a husband when he is apparently confined to a wheelchair, and then before it's too late, is able to tell Orlando that she wants to be with him. I laughed and laughed during this film, but sometimes when a film's funny at the first viewing it never quite lives up to the hype the second time.

Dirty Pretty Things (2003)
Genre: Drama

Dirty Pretty Things Went to see this at the Bethesda Row Landmark Theatre by myself since no one I know is interested in this sort of film. It was time well-spent, and of course I cried. I cried because of what people make other people do when they think they can get away with it.

All the way through the film I kept thinking, "this is not the London I know." The London I know being the comfortable, no-worries London, and this London being the London of illegal immigrants, a place where you constantly have to be on your guard, one step ahead of immigration authorities who will track you down and try and deport you - a place where you live just to survive basically. In the U.S. the policy is more that they leave you alone as long as you stay hidden, and don't draw attention to yourself.

The story tells a tale of Okwe, superbly portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, an illegal Nigerian immigrant who was a medical doctor back home, but who is forced to drive a cab, and work the night shift at the front desk of a hotel. His bed is a sofa in the small flat of a Turkish refugee called Senay (Audrey Tautou), who works as a chambermaid in the same hotel. (Tautou's Turkish accent is unconvincing -- I have a Turkish friend -- but whatever!) One night Okwe finds a human heart stuffed down the toilet in one of the rooms, and so begins a world he could never imagine existed in London. He tells his boss Sneaky (the very excellent Sergi Lopez), who in a roundabout way shows him that he isn't going to call the police and report it since he is in London when he shouldn't be. So begins Okwe's journey, like it or not, to find out what exactly is going on. Here in America Audrey Tautou gets star billing, but the film is really Ejiofor's vehicle as far as I'm concerned. This is definitely a must-see. Definitely the best film I've seen all year. (It's now August). Knocks Phone Booth clear into oblivion.

One note on audience participation. I was sat on an aisle seat with an empty seat to my right, and in front of me. This elderly lady comes in about 15 minutes into the film, puts her hand on my arm and asks me if anyone is sitting in my seat. I'm like "yes!!" She then says she can't see a thing and stands on the stairwell. Five minutes later she tries again. I try to tell her there's no one in the seat in front of me, but she doesn't hear. She asks if the seat next to me is free, to which I reply in the affirmative and then, because it's going to take too long for her to climb over my feet, I budge up and let her sit in the aisle seat. I am now all squashed up like a sardine in a can with someone to the left and right of me. When the credits come on at the end, the woman with the man sat next to me pronounces that Audrey Tautou looks so different to what she looked like in Amélie ... NOT! She looks exactly the same, just with a different haircut and a mildly dodgy accent!

Dreaming of Joseph Lees (1998)
Genre: Drama

This stars an extremely talented and versatile actress, Samantha Morton. Saw her first in the series Band of Gold on British television, in which she played a prostitute in the north of England. It was a kind of gritty murder mystery thing, but with substance and heart. That was an extremely gripping mini series but that's another topic altogether.

Basically Eva (Morton) dreams constantly of her cousin Joseph Lees, whom she loves. Joseph Lees went off to Italy where he lost a leg following a quarry accident whilst working as a geologist there, but this only fuels her love further. Funnily enough, Rupert Graves, who plays Joseph Lees, was also in A Handful of Dust, although he was infinitely more likeable in Joseph Lees.

Meanwhile, Harry Flyte (Lee Ross) is very keen on her and she delights in his attentions, although of course pretending not to. Harry loves her madly and would marry her but she wants nothing of it, as she's still dreaming of Joseph Lees. She moves in with him however (I found this point hard to believe as this was in 1950's England, but then I wasn't around back then, so what do I know?), and settles for second best until she meets Joseph again. Only this time she's older and he takes her more seriously. Then her love was probably to him nothing more than a school girl crush, but now it's definitely requited.

I won't give it away, but you know she can't have her cake and eat it. The end was awfully clear to me, although others even more romantic than myself may choose to give it a different ending, but that would be stretching it a bit. Moral of this tale for me? You can't have your cake and eat it, and never, ever, ever settle for second best, because once you do, the best will come along and inevitably it'll be too late. I could see that nothing good would come of the film a mile off, but still I had to watch it. Watch it and feel down for the rest of the day. Awful story but gripping stuff.

Enduring Love (2004)
Genre: Drama

Enduring Love Watched this on DVD on 6/5/05. I had wanted to see it in the cinema, but as happens a lot with me nowadays, I never got round to it. The fact that it's with Daniel Craig and Samantha Morton was what initially drew me to it.

The story starts with a fatal accident involving a hot air balloon, which shatters an idyllic Champagne picnic in the English countryside. Joe and Jed (Rhys Ifans) are among the men who tried to help bring the balloon down. Back in London Jed begins popping up all over the place pleading with Joe to admit to what they share. At first you think maybe he wants to talk about the experience as it must have been quite traumatic, but then you realise this guy is slightly off his rocker. Joe, for his part, is going through feelings of guilt and Jed is not making it any better. Claire (Morton), Joe's live-in girlfriend doesn't really quite understand what Joe's going through as he doesn't share a whole lot with her. She suggests he sees a therapist to talk him through the whole thing, but he refuses.

Anyway Jed is obsessed with Joe, and begins stalking him. We see Joe and Claire's relationship deteriorate as Jed's stalking escalates. All throughout the film I was asking myself why Joe didn't just call the police and get some kind of restraining order against Jed, but where's the fun in that, eh? Also at one point I thought maybe Jed was a figment of Joe's imagination, and that it would be like The Sixth Sense, where only he was seeing Jed.

There is one scene near the end where my jaw dropped and my mouth stayed open for a LONG TIME! I totally did not see that coming. I enjoyed this. It was one of those little films where nothing really happens.

Enigma (2002)
Genre: Thriller

Enigma All the way through this, I was like, who is this guy? Is it Colin Farrell - doesn't look like him, but maybe it is. Turns out it was (of course) Dougray Scott, and I could have looked on the VHS sleeve for that!

Anyway, Tom Jericho (Scott) has been called back to Bletchley Park, in Hertfordshire, England, to work on Enigma, the unbreakable system used by the Germans during WWII. The problem this time is that the Nazis have changed the code key for the Enigma machine. The gist of Enigma is that messages are sent in plain text and then made into gobble-de-gook, and then converted back into plain text to be deciphered. It would take literally thousands of years to go through every setting to find the one that turns the code back into plain text, but Jericho cracked it before. Now he and the other codebreakers have to do it again before the Germans suss out where the Allied submarine convoy is. (I think!) Meanwhile his ex-girlfriend Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows), due to whom he suffered a nervous breakdown, has disappeared in very dodgy circumstances. Turns out the German machine is not the only enigma to be solved! Claire's flat mate Hester Wallace (Kate Winslet, looking very plain here) helps him (reluctantly at first), try to find her. They also have to dodge Wigram (Jeremy Northam) of Army Intelligence. Based on the novel by Robert Harris.

Enough (2002)
Genre: Thriller

[picture - www.sonypictures.com/movies/enough/] The title says it all! This is just another formulaic chick revenge flick, in which chick meets and falls in love with guy, marries guy, lives in marital bliss for a while, has a child, finds out guy is cheating on her, guy starts beating her up, chick escapes with child, guy sends heavies in hot pursuit, chick assumes an alias, chick moves from place to place, chick eventually wakes up, goes to the gym for some one-on-one kickboxing training, breaks into guy's house, and kicks his butt, after which guy conveniently dies (as chick couldn't bring herself to kill him) when he falls over banister into glass table below. In this case, chick is Jennifer Lopez (wake up Ben!), guy is Billy Campbell, delightful child is Tessa Allen, guy's bad buddy is ER's Dr Carter (Noah Wyle).

I found it particularly annoying that whoever wrote this tripe failed to say why guy chooses this particular chick to torment. I mean even Dr Carter asks him why he chose her and why he married her. More baffling still was why Dr Carter would leave the ER where he is most appreciated, and come and act as a baddie during his Summer break!! Most memorable moments? When Gracie (delightful child who has been told by chick that she can make up a new name for herself) tells her new teacher her name is "Queen Elizabeth", and when chick calls guy on his phone, and guy asks "Is this my little croissant?" ('cos he thinks it's his French bit on the side) and chick snaps "no, it's your loaf of bread." Forget about "enough", my question at the end was "why?"

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind This got good reviews and everyone who's seen it appears to have thought it brilliant, so I rented it from Hollywood as the Neftlix queue would have had me waiting forever. I of course don't really enjoy hyped films for the most part; this one being no exception. Well, okay, maybe that's a bit harsh. I did enjoy it, but I'm not about to start raving about it.

Joel (Jim Carrey, who did a good job, as did English Rose Kate) meets Clementine (Winslet), a wild child type with a penchant for bright hair dye, and they start dating. Then at some point Clementine decides she's had enough of the relationship and goes to this doctor (Tom Wilkinson) to have all memories of their relationship erased. Poor Joel finds out the hard way. Clementine has now moved on to Patrick (Elijah Wood), one of the technicians involved in the memory erasing. The interesting thing about this film is that although Joel and Clementine know how their relationship is going to end, they decide to go through with it anyway. Also interesting is how in the process of erasing his memories of their relationship, Joel begins fighting to retain them after a while.

The message? Who knows? Love comes with ups and downs and is worth something because it's not rosy all the time? It's good 'cos it's bittersweet? Adam reckons I'm "down with love" and that's why I didn't enjoy it. Not true of course! Also stars Kirsten Dunst and Mark Ruffalo.

Facing Windows (2003)
Genre: Drama, Foreign

Facing Windows I saw a preview of this and had been interested in seeing it. The story starts with a stabbing in a bakery in 1940s Rome and then moves to the present day. There was no dialogue or any subtitles in the beginning, and for a second I thought there was something wrong with my DVD player. It is only towards the end of the film that we are given an explanation for the stabbing that takes place in the beginning.

Cut to the present day and Giovanna (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) is walking with her husband Filippo (Filippo Nigro), when he comes across an elderly man (Massimo Girotti) who appears to be lost and can't remember his name. Giovanna and Filippo have two children and problems of their own; she's stuck working as an accountant in a chicken factory, while she'd rather be a pastry chef, and he's stuck in a cycle of night shift jobs from which he keeps getting fired. Despite this Simone (who later turns out to be renowned chef Davide Veroli), stays with them for a while, and it transpires that he's a concentration camp survivor with a story of his own. His story of a passionate but secret love affair somewhat mirrors that of Giovanna and her neighbour Lorenzo (Raoul Bova) across the street, as she re-evaluates her life. She is encouraged to pursue something with Lorenzo by her best friend Emine (Serra Yilmaz).

This film was okay; nothing brilliant, but I enjoyed watching it. Mezzogiorno was mesmerizing and sort of reminded me of Frank's girlfriend Maria Teresa. Bova in his designer glasses and dark hair looked a little too contrived for my liking, while Nigro was bald and hot. Love those bald blokes!! Joking aside though, I especially loved the soundtrack. Like Nowhere in Africa there was this recurring music that was so beautiful, and I have to look for the soundtrack.

Fear and Trembling (Stupeur et Tremblements) (2005)
Genre: Foreign, Drama

Finding Neverland (2004)
Genre: Drama

Finding Neverland Enjoyed this immensely. It was a nice little story as I like to call it; inspired by true events, and tells the story of how J. M. Barrie got inspiration to write the play Peter Pan.

Johnny Depp was very good as James Barrie, a successful playwright, stuck in a dull and passionless marriage with his wife Mary (Radha Mitchell). One day he meets the Llewelyn-Davies family in Kensington Park I think it is, befriends the boys and their mother Sylvia (Kate Winslet), and begins to spend an awful lot of time with them, to the detriment and eventual demise of his own marriage.

The story just seemed so innocent; Barrie meets family, everything's platonic, he's not cheating on his wife, he's getting inspiration for a new play. While it can't have been much fun for his wife to watch him connecting with another woman's family, I understood the joy that he brought to this family who'd lost their father.

It's fascinating to read the real story and to realise that the film only just touched the surface. Omitted from the film were such details as Sylvia's husband, who was still alive when Barrie met them, rumours of paedophilia (raised briefly in the film, and then dismissed just as quickly), and the charge that Barrie forged Sylvia's will to include him as the boys' guardian. Peter eventually came to resent Barrie, ended up a heavy drinker and eventually threw himself under a tube train and killed himself.

Also enjoyed Julie Christie's performance as Sylvia's mother, Mrs. Emma du Maurier. She appeared harsh and unyielding, but she was only looking out for her widowed daughter and grandchildren. I don't believe I ever read Peter Pan when I was little, so I'm not too familiar with J.M. Barrie or his life.

Flight Plan (2005)
Genre: Drama

Friday Night Lights (2004)
Genre: Sport, Drama, True Story

Friday Night Lights Saw a preview, looked okay, didn't fancy staying in, Franco wanted to see it, so went with him on the opening night (8/10/04). This is based on a novel by H. G. Bissinger about the Odessa Permian High Panther's 1988 football season. It stars Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gaines and a slew of young ones headed by Derek Luke as Boobie Miles, Lucas Black as Mike Winchell, Garrett Hedlund as Don Billingsley, and Jay Hernandez as Brian Chavez. It also stars Tim McGraw (I knew the guy looked familiar) as the alcholic ex-high school state champion father of Billingsley.

I'm not a fan of American football and had never even heard of these people. In fact for most of the film I was thinking how I totally could not relate to living and breathing football as the whole flippin' town did! I even had to ask Franco in the beginning if this was a college team, as they took it all so seriously. The whole town's football crazy, and both the players and the coach have the added pressure of all and sundry coming up to them off the field and talking about how much they all need them to win the state championship this year.

So anyway the story is that they are past state champions and really need to win this one. You've got the quarterback Mike Winchell who doesn't really love the game or anything, but is playing because his mother pushes him so. You've got James "Boobie" Miles the runningback who loves the game, and loves to prance and preen. Then you've got Don Billingsley, the something or other, whose father was a state champion and never stops giving him aggro for always fumbling with the ball and dropping it. (I've probably got all the positions wrong, but they're all the same to me anyway, so what care I?) I was thinking they had to win the championships, otherwise why make the film (this is Hollywood after all!), but they didn't win it, and the world didn't come to an end. They went on to do other things and made successes of their lives without football.

This was a good way to pass time on a Friday night. The crowd was obviously a football crowd; I mean they were cheering and clapping and all sorts. There was this whole row of about 10 year old boys with their red football shirts on who their father/coach/whomever had to keep ssssh-ing. The film quality was rather grainy--I think that was intentional. In fact so grainy was it that it looked like an amateur had put it together to me at times, especially during the non-football sequences, but I probably don't know what I'm talking about. I left wondering why anyone would want to play such a violent game, which was glorified by the loud music and multiple thumps and bumps with the volume cranked way up.

Garden State (2004)
Genre: Drama, Coming of Age

Garden State Went to see this on Wisconsin Avenue with Alexis and it was good to hang out with her again, and very good that she actually wanted to get out of the house. Anyway, onwards with the story.

This was written and directed by Zach Braff from the TV show Scrubs, which I don't watch. Had heard good things about this film and pleasantly surprised that Alexis didn't mind watching it, although in true Ally fashion, she declard she hated Natalie Portman before we went in to the cinema. However, upon exiting she declares that she didn't realise that was Natalie Portman and she in fact likes her!

Braff is Andrew Largeman, an LA actor who goes home to New Jersey when his mother dies, after an absence of 9 years. He has a strange relationship with his father (Ian Holm) who is also his psychiatrist and keeps him on a mulititude of prescription drugs. "Large" attends the funeral and hooks up again with old friends from his childhood including the very lovely Peter Sarsgaard (Mark). He also meets a kooky girl called Sam (Ms. Portman) who helps him see life in a very different light.

Alexis said she enjoyed this. I thought it was okay. Not as great as Adam and everyone else said it was. A male twenty-something coming of age film is how Lex summed it up.

Good Will Hunting (1997)
Genre: Drama

Never got round to seeing this when it was in the cinemas. Rented it from Blockbuster one night in their "if we don't have it, you get to watch it free" promotion. I tell you, fifteen minutes into this, I knew I was going to watch it again as soon as I finished it, which is exactly what I did. This was a brilliant film, in my humble estimation. It's a very simple story, and yet so powerful, and yet I can't say why. It just had an aura about it.

It's got one of those ambiguous titles though. Prior to watching it, and when I first heard it mentioned, I thought it was Good Will Hunting, as in "the hunting of goodwill". Of course it was only upon watching it that I realised it was good (Mr.) Will Hunting. That's kind of like The English Patient (well sort of!). I always said (and still do) The English Patient, with the stress on the word "English", whereas often I'd hear it stressed The English Patient in the trailers. Anyway to each his own I reckon. Just watch it. Again, there's a fair amount of profanity, which is unfortunate, but it's an excellent screenplay by Matt and Ben.

Goodbye Lenin (2004)
Genre: Drama, Comedy

Goodbye Lenin I've wanted to see this film for a while, and rented it with Franco, but neither of us never really got to watch it. I tried watching it very late at night with Silvio, but I was tired and so I never really finished it, and it was time to take it back to Hollywood Video, which is good enough reason to get NetFlix.

The film is set in Germany in 1989, and it's the story of a young man, who following his mother's heart attack and coma, has to make her believe that the Berlin Wall is still up and that things are still as they were in East Germany. (She was a great supporter of the Party). I really should give it a chance once I sign up for NetFlix as the whole premise sounds like a laugh in itself.

Gosford Park (2001)
Genre: Mystery

Guess Who (2005)
Genre: Comedy

This is a remake of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, the 1967 film starring Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn. This version is a comedy, rather than serious drama, and the black guest has been replaced by a white guest.

Simon (Ashton Kutcher) quits his job just as he's off to New Jersey to meet his fiancée (Zoe Saldaña) Theresa's father, Percy (Bernie Mac), for the first time. Percy of course is totally flabbergasted and gobsmacked when he sees that his daughter is going to marry a white guy.

Percy does his best to keep the two lovers apart, even going so far as to demand that Simon stay in a local hotel. When told that all the hotels in town are apparently fully booked, he agrees that Simon can sleep in his den in the basement. Percy, ever the vigilant dad seeking to protect his daughter, climbs into bed beside Simon, snores in his ear and they sleep legs and arms intertwined 'cos they both move about a lot when sleeping.

Went to see this on 27/3/05 with Emeka (who I may decide to call Meks), his two young cousins and Zibs. It was funny, but not super super funny. Not a waste of a ticket though like Meet the Fockers was. Was a good evening out. Was light entertainment in the same genre as Hitch, although I think I preferred Hitch.

High Fidelity (2000)
Genre: Comedy

I rented this film 'cos everyone was going on about how great it was. There's this guy that used to work in the shop part time in my building and I'd be like "you have to watch East is East, it's sooo funny", and he'd be like "no, you have to watch High Fidelity." Well Chay — watched it, wasn't impressed. Maybe the Nick Hornby book, from which it's taken is better, I don't know, and I don't wish to find out.

Basically it's about this guy who owns a record shop (the 45 inch and LP type) in Chicago. His girlfriend Laura chucks him, he ruminates on his top five (or is it six) breakups, ruminates on music with his two employees, and then gets the girl back in the end. The most remarkable thing about this film was the actress that plays Laura. I'd never heard of her before. I was waiting for the credits to roll at the end to see what her name was. It's Iben Hjejle. Anyhoo, she's Danish and is striking in an unusual sort of way. She definitely stood out.

Hitch (2005)
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Hitch Went to see this with Emeka on our second date on 14/2/05. I had wanted to see it as the previews looked funny, but it definitely wasn't laugh out loud funny or anything. Emeka really enjoyed it though, so that was fine.

Will Smith plays Alex "Hitch" Hitchens, a relationship guru type person who helps inept (for whatever reason) men get the women of their dreams. His latest case is a portly, clumsy guy called Albert Brenneman (Kevin James) who has set his sights on a wealthy heiress his company represents by the name of Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta). Meanwhile Hitch himself meets Sara (Eva Mendes) a gossip columnist, and you know they're going to end up together.

Was a good date movie. I totally agree, or should I say that I'm one of the 8 in 10 women who will rate the chances of a relationship developing based on the first kiss. Sounds harsh, but it's part of the decision-making process I reckon. Sara/Eva Mendes reminds me of someone I know, but I can't figure out who it is.

Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Genre: Drama, Historical

Hotel Rwanda Went to see this with Emeka on what was our first date, probably in early Feb 2005. It's the story of Paul Rusesabagina, an acting hotel manager in an upscale Kigali hotel, and how he saved the lives of over a thousand Rwandans during the genocide of 1994. I was humbled by this film, and felt guilty that I too, had heard the news on the telly, thought how awful, how can this happen and then gone back to eating my dinner. Man's inhumanity and apathy to man will never cease to amaze me, and I am guilty too.

Don Cheadle did a good job of portraying Rusesabagina as just a man who was caught up in an horrific moment. He did not seek to be anyone's saviour or hero, but had to take care of these people; starting with neighbours and friends and then anyone who came into the hotel for refuge. Man's apathy is brilliantly displayed when Nick Nolte, playing a Canadian UN Blue Beret, tells Paul, while not being able to believe it himself, that no help is coming from the international community, and sums it up thus: "To them, you're not even niggers--you're Africans, which is worse". Man's inhumanity is aptly shown when Gregoire, a Hutu worker at the hotel is driving Paul back to the hotel by the river road after getting food supplies, and the jolting of their bus turns out to be caused by the dead bodies they were unknowingly driving over.

On a lighter note though, it was refreshing to see Sophie Okonedo who plays Paul's wife Tatsiana, actually comb her hair for once, as her hair (and Zibu will definitely second this) usually looks a sight in various UK TV programmes I've seen.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
Genre: Comedy, Romance

[picture - www.howtoloseaguymovie.com] Absolute drivel, balderdash, nonsense. A waste of time. A load of bollocks. Was in a hurry in Blockbuster to find a film for my mum and I to watch. Wanted something light-hearted. Chose this. Only watched this to the end, 'cos I'd rented it so thought may as well watch it. Can't even be bothered to write a review about it, it was that bad! The world could very well have done without this film, and most of it did I'm sure.

Hustle and Flow (2005)
Genre: Drama

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2004)
Genre: Drama

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead Clive Owen--what more can I say mate? (I talk like this when I'm by myself!) He did however have this straggly beard and wild hair thing going for most of the film, but it came off at the end.

Owen is Will Graham, a former gangster who's retired and now lives in a van somewhere in the countryside, moving about, minding his own business. His younger brother Davey (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who thank God got rid of the pout thing he had going in Bend It Like Beckham) is a small time drug dealer to trendy young Londoners. Davey's on his way home to Brixton (definitely not trendy London) one night and he gets raped by a local big shot car dealership owner. He stumbles home and then gets in the bath fully clothed and slashes his throat.

Will comes back to London as his brother's not been answering his calls, is told he's dead, finds out what happened the night before and then goes about finding out who's to blame. Meanwhile there's a new gangster in town who reckons Will just being in London is stepping on his toes, and he starts to flex his muscles. Will is also getting flack from his former cronies/minions for not coming back and taking over again.

This film was alright. No great shakes or anything. A story about a man avenging the death of his little brother. And Clive Owen. The new David Beckham. (Inside joke)

Igby Goes Down (2002)
Genre: Drama, Comedy

Igby Goes Down I really enjoyed this film. I watched it during Hurricane Isabel (September 18, 2003), which in my neck of the woods, turned out to be nothing more than a few drops of rain, and a mild breeze, and for that we had two days off work. Wey hey! (I know, some people got hit harder than we did, but that's what it felt like!)

Igby Slocumb (spot-on performance by Kieran Culkin) comes from an extremely dysfunctional family, and the film centres on his attempt to free himself from said family without being engulfed by it all. His father (Bill Pullman) is a schizophrenic who's in a looney bin, his brother (Ryan Phillippe) is a condescending uptight young Republican, and his mother (Susan Sarandon) is distant and devoid of affection. Who wouldn't want to escape?

This is the kind of film I enjoy. No huge thrills or spills, sometimes nothing much happens, but it all weaves together to create an experience that has made you stop and think about things, or that makes you feel some kind of emotion, be it sadness or joy or all the other in-betweens. I watched About Schmidt a few hours before I watched this — I had to get them back to Hollywood Video — and that had a similar feel to it, although I preferred Igby.

In America (2003)
Genre: Drama

In America This is the kind of film I love. It's the story of an Irish family who come to America to start again after a tragedy back home. They have no money whatsoever and have to live in the roughest part of Manhattan, a place full of different kinds of characters and no working lift. The strangest of their neighbours is Mateo (Djimon Hounsou) who has painted "Keep Away" on his front door and looks very foreboding indeed. The story is told through the eyes of the older of their two daughters. It stars Paddy Considine as Johnny, Sam Morton as Sarah, and Emma Bolger as Ariel, the younger daughter, and Sarah Bolger as Christy. The funniest bit for me was when Ariel and Christy go banging on Mateo's door on Hallowe'en.

If there was such a thing as "in another life" then I must have been Irish, as I just love films set in Ireland and things Irish. Could of course also have to do with my having "Irish" cousins, but that's another review altogether!

I knew of course that Sam Morton's not Irish and her accent did fluctuate at times especially during an angry hospital scene towards the end, but I thought Paddy Considine did a good job and I thought, well he's got to be Irish right, especially with a name like Paddy, but in the DVD extras I love so much, he had an English accent. Sam Morton should blinkin' well get her Oscar soon is all I have to say. Oh, that as well as the fact that Emma and Sarah Bolger were perfect.

In Good Company (2004)
Genre: Comedy, Drama

In Good Company Went to see this with Sandra, who actually initiated the outing to the cinema, as she did when we watched Troy. Found out that Topher Grace who plays Carter Duryea, is in fact a sort of her "type", but only in this film, and not in the TV programme "That 70s Show". Apparently he's a little too skinny too, but his face did it in this film.

Dennis Quaid stars as Dan Foreman, an aging ad executive who finds himself not only demoted following a buy-out by another company, but also put in the position of working for a much younger boss, Carter Duryea, who's only a few years older than his eldest daughter Alex (Scarlett Johansson). To add to his problems his wife finds out she's pregnant, and his daughter wants to switch to NYU I believe it is, which is definitely more expensive than her current school. To add insult to injury, Carter and Alex start dating behind his back.

You think perhaps the film is going to explore the relationship between Carter and Alex once they start dating (well I did anyway), or rather that their relationship will be a kind of major sub plot, but it turns out it's the relationship between Dan and Carter that is explored more. I think I must have enjoyed this--it's been a while since I saw it, so I can't remember too many specifics.

In the Bedroom (2001)
Genre: Drama

In the Bedroom Young college-age boy is dating an older woman with two kids. He keeps telling his mother it's nothing serious, and she never took such an interest in any of his other girlfriends. She likes the girlfriend, but she is an older woman with plenty of baggage, so it's easy to understand why she doesn't want her son to get hurt. The girlfriend's husband ends up calm as you like shooting young boy in the head one evening. In a way, the story really starts after this. For me, the time before the shooting is just background to show us who this family is and how they interact with each other. It's pitiful to see a husband and wife who were so close and playful with each other before their son's death become almost strangers as they each deal with their loss in a totally different way. By the way, I, who know nothing about New England accents, think Marisa Tomei did an excellent job with her regional accent.

In the Company of Men (1997)
Genre: Drama

In the Company of Men Finally got round to watching this. A truly excellent, and disturbing film. Chad (Aaron Eckhart) and Howard (Matt Malloy) are two white collar executives who are to spend the next six weeks working on a project in a branch office of their firm in another city. The two of them are extremely frustrated with how life is treating them — both have recently been dumped by girlfriends and work is stressful to say the least. Chad comes up with this idea of finding a vulnerable woman (preferably with some kind of disability) who hasn't dated in ages, and who is at the point where she's not sure if she's still "date-worthy". They will both date her, manipulate her, and then dump her at the end of the six weeks. This will make them feel good about themselves and will somehow make them feel better about the women and job woes they've been experiencing.

They find the perfect girl Christine (Stacy Edwards), who also happens to be deaf. We know what they're doing, they know what they're doing, but she doesn't. Chad even manages to get one up on poor Howard, with not a care in the world that he's just backstabbed his so-called "friend". Aaron Eckhart did a brilliant job with Chad. Totally convincing. I actually began to hate him as Aaron Eckhart, and not as Chad.

Insomnia (2002)
Genre: Thriller

Insomnia Borrowed this from Silvio and watched it this past weekend (24/7/04). Al Pacino plays Will Dormer, a Los Angeles detective who is sent to a small Alaska town to investigate the death of a teenage girl.

At the beginning of the investigation his partner is shot, and Dormer blames the death on the suspect they were chasing. The suspect turns out to be Walter Finch (Robin Williams), a writer who knew the young girl. When I first saw Williams in this, I was thinking about what a funny man he is, and then I forgot about that and got into the story.

This was an okay film--nothing great. Thank God Al Pacino didn't go for his usual "hoo hah" histrionics. Nicky Katt (Mr Senate from Boston Public) was in it too, although I wasn't sure why they had him with a dodgy salt and pepper moustache. Also stars Hilary Swank. Turns out both the detective and the suspect suffer from insomnia.

Intermission (2004)
Genre: Drama

Intermission Whenever I read reviews written by Americans in which they discuss accents of their cousins across the pond and how difficult they are to understand, I reckon I'm going to watch the film. Had heard about this, but decided to wait till it came out on video. In this case the accent is Irish, and very different to the lilting Irish accent of films such as Waking Ned Devine. It's been described as an anti-Love Actually, as it's the story of 11 interweaving love stories and what people will do to get love.

This is an ensemble cast headed by Colin Farrell as Lehiff, a petty criminal who is quite simply a very nasty piece of work, who has no qualms whatsoever about punching women in the face. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint, he gets his comeuppance in the end. Then there's Jerry (Colm Meaney) a hard copper who lives to bring Lehiff and other lowlifes down, and who is himself a rather nasty piece of work too. Then there's Deidre (Kelly Macdonald) who is going out with Sam a bank manager who left his wife of 10+ years for her. Deidre's ex-boyfriend John (Cillian Murphy) works stacking shelves in a hypermarket with his friend Oscar (David Wilmot), who hooks up briefly with Noeleen, Sam's wife. And then there's Sally (Shirley Henderson), Deidre's sister who walks around with a mustache on her upper lip.

Obviously the stories are linked together, and in the end the intermission appears to me to have been the time Deidre and John spent apart with all the other characters coming in to play their part, as well as the time before Oscar and Sally discovered one another. All in all I liked this. It was funny in bits and harsh and gritty in others. Noeleen's fit of violence against Oscar in a belated reaction to Sam leaving her is harsh.

Farrell's rendition of The Clash's "I Fought the Law" during the closing credits is not half bad either.

Intimate Strangers (2004)
Genre: Drama

Intimate Strangers Saw this yesterday (8/9/04) with Franco at the last minute as always. He told me his boss saw it and said it was good. We saw the last showing of the day at Bethesda Landmark Cinemas, and there were two other people there besides us. I decided then to leave a seat empty between us, as there was really no need to be cramped in an empty cinema.

Sandrine Bonnaire is Anna, a married woman who made an appointment with a psychiatrist (Michel Duchaussoy), but instead mistakenly walks into a tax attorney's (Fabrice Luchini) office, only to tell him all about the intimate problems she's having with her husband. She soon susses out that William is not a doctor but a tax attorney, but only after two appointments with him.

I wasn't really enamoured of this film. Although I love slow films as much as the next slow-film-loving person, it was a little too slow for me. The only bits that really stood out for me were when William does a dance to Wilson Pickett's Midnight Hour in which he wasn't too bad strutting his stuff. The psychiatrist Dr Monnier is a bit of a trip too as he makes William pay 120 Euros for a visit in which he tries to find out Anna's phone number at the beginning of the film. Then Dr Monnier makes him pay for lunch on another occasion.

Anyway Anna and William spend the whole film doing their little ritual of him listening to her talk about her marital problems, she smoking a cigarette but blowing very little smoke out, him falling for her, but being unable to tell her, his ex girlfriend deciding she still loves him, her crazy husband making crazy demands ... and the beat goes on.

Although I thought I heard him sighing throughout it, Franco really liked this film. You could tell anyway 'cos he sat through till the very last credit had rolled and then began to discuss it. I on the other hand was just happy that I could keep up with the French without reading the subtitles.

[Le mot pour "shrink" c'est "psy"; le "p" étant prononcé--sinon, j'oublierai]

Japanese Story (2003)
Genre: Drama

Japanese Story Didn't really enjoy this one. I found it a little slow. Tony Collette is Sandy a geologist who has to take a Japanese client Hiromitsu all over the Australian desert. He spends his whole time taking pictures and generally being a pain. SPOILER ALERT!!

I didn't understand why when he jumped into a creek, she immediately began to panic. I didn't understand why he died just by jumping in the deep end, but then in the DVD extras (love them!) the director tells us that Australians would immediately know to panic like that whereas the rest of us would probably not get what the fuss was about, to paraphrase liberally of course.

Same could be said of this film. It had its tender moments, but I didn't really enjoy it. I found Toni Collette distracting for some reason. For me she was Toni Collette back to being Australian after playing so many American women. I even found myself thinking about how Portia De Rossi, another Aussie, obviously used to talk like that, but now she's all Americanised. Or more to the point, I've never seen her play an Aussie and never heard her speak as Portia, so what do I know.

Jet Lag (2003)
Genre: Drama, Foreign

Jet Lag This stars Juliette Binoche as Rose, a woman running away from a bad relationship (Sergi Lopez). She's stuck in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport as a result of the perennial strikes in Paris. She meets Felix (Jean Reno) who is on his way to Germany, running after a woman he believes is his true love. The two end up spending a lot of time together, even though they are polar opposites.

I watched this with Zibs and Adam, and it was an okay film. I think I missed a lot of the very end of the film, so I may have missed something substantial--I'm not sure. It was an okay way to spend an evening. No great shakes.

Just Like Heaven (2005)
Genre: Comedy, Romance

King Arthur (2004)
Genre: Action, Drama, Historical

King Arthur Wanted to watch this 'cos it's with both Clive Owen and Ray Winstone, who I will always remember from his remarkable turn as Kenny Fox when I was growing up. It also stars Keira Knightley (Guinevere), whose star is shining bright at the moment, and a brilliant wicked turn by Stellan Skarsgård. Antoine Fuqua who directed Training Day directed this one, and it has a slightly different slant to the King Arthur we all grew up with.

At the beginning of the film we see young men of 14 and 15 forced to go off and join the Roman army. Arthur (Owen) is the leader of a band of just such men, who are nearing the end of the required 15-year tour of duty, and awaiting their freedom so that they can go back to their families. Said time is just about up, but then Rome calls on them to carry out one last rescue mission of Roman officials left in a village in the north. Arthur and his knights face not only the Saxons who are attacking Britain, but also the Wodes in the north, led by Merlin.

Lots of battle scenes, and lots of scrumptious Clive Owen, who as a half Roman half British Arthur, was caught in some ways in the middle of all that that entailed. The only disturbing bit of the film was the short love scene between Arthur and Guinevere. I'm sorry, but all I could think of was the age difference between Clive Owen and Keira Knightley, and how yucky it was. She's young enough to be his daughter and I just couldn't get past that. Plus I thought of a similar situation where I've read that Scarlett Johannson talked about how she's acted opposite a lot of much older leading men, and wouldn't it be nice to get a gig with a younger man, now and again.

The DVD extras with a roundtable discussion between the director, producer and main cast members was very interesting. Watching the film I was convinced they hadn't actually learnt archery and the like, but they all did, and horse riding too. All in all I enjoyed this version of King Arthur.

L'Auberge Espagnole (2002)
Genre: Drama, Foreign

L'Auberge Espgnole

For some reason this took me forever to watch. I probably watched bits and bobs of it over the course of a week or so. I had overheard someone at work raving about it, so I decided to give it a go. This is the story of Xavier (Romain Duris) who spends a year in Barcelona as an Erasmus student, in an effort to brush up his Spanish before returning to a business job in Paris. He ends up living in a very crowded flat with a lot of other Europeans, and finds that by the end of his time there, he's learned a lot of new things and his perspective on life has changed. I missed a whole portion of the latter half as Franco came in and asked for my help with something, and to tell you the truth I wasn't all that interested in finding out what had happened. I didn't find this wildly great or anything, but then again I didn't watch it in one go. I remember thinking the French was easy to understand and I really should have turned off the subtitles, but I couldn't be bothered. I could totally relate to living with a bunch of people from all over the world as I did that when I spent a year in Moscow, and I could relate to the whole lifestyle that went with it. I especially could relate to what Xavier says when he first arrives in Barcelona looking for where he's going to live. He talks about how everything is foreign now, and he's a stranger but very soon, this strangeness and unfamiliarity will become familiar as it becomes a part of his life and his routine. Having got off the boat many times in many a different country, I can totally relate.

Ladybird Ladybird (1994)
Genre: Drama

Ladybird, ladybird fly away home.
Your house is on fire, your children all gone...

Directed by Ken Loach, starring Crissy Rock (Maggie) and Vladimir Vega (Jorge), and Ray Winstone, whom I love, but who played a very nasty piece of work in this film. This is the story of a woman who loses four children to the social services. She definitely messed up and the consequence is that her kids are taken away from her. She meets Jorge and loses more battles, this time more heart-wrenching than the previous ones because she is trying to make a fresh start. I won't give away the story because after all, there are still those who haven't seen The Crying Game.

Crissy Rock gives a brilliantly moving performance made all the more poignant for the fact that it's a true story and this sort of thing probably happens every day. She had no acting experience and was a former stand up comedienne and bar maid, but she was totally convincing. She totally draws you in. I was crying buckets throughout this film, at the unfairness of the whole situation. I was angry at Maggie for her own stubbornness and foul temper, and I was angry at the social services for their blind bureaucracy. Rent it today if you can stomach it. The swearing when she's really riled up is very disturbing but as I said this is a must.

Siskel & Ebert's "two thumbs up" for practically every film they review is so annoying and meaningless, but for this one, of Rock, they added that "there is probably not an actress in Hollywood who could come within ten miles of this performance", which was spot on. Rock was also the winner of the 1994 Berlin Film Festival International Critics Award, and the Best Actress Awards at the Berlin and Chicago Film Festivals.

Layer Cake (2004)
Genre: Drama

Le Divorce (2003)
Genre: Drama

Le Divorce In America, this was billed as a comedy. What I mean by that is that the scenes shown in previews gave you the impression that this was going to be a romantic comedy. Not so! I went in expecting one thing, and got another, so that kind of overshadowed everything else. I went with my friend Sandra and neither of us really enjoyed it. The film made her want to go to Paris and have a French lover, and I just thought how Marc Barr is still gorgeous, even bald, and my love for bald men was intensified. (!?)

The story? I really can't be bothered. It stars Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, and of course Marc Barr of The Big Blue. I was just looking through the web site, and they didn't even give him a mention. Unbelievable! My friend Stella read the book in New Zealand and thoroughly enjoyed it. Me? I never even knew there was a book.

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Genre: Children, Family

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events When a mysterious fire burns down their house and kills their parents, bookworm and photographic-memory whizz kid Klaus (Liam Aiken), inventor-extraordinaire Violet (Emily Browning), and delightful "chatty" Sunny (Kara and Shelby Hoffman) Baudelaire find themselves carted from relative to relative in a bid to find a new home for them. The first relative is a right schemer by the name of Count Olaf (Jim Carrey), who is interested in one thing and one thing only--their inheritance. Oh, and acting. I guess Carrey had fun with this film because his character is an aspiring actor, so he gets to play different parts for a reason, and not just for the sake of trying to be funny.

The thing I loved most about this film was Sunny. She's just a toddler, and so cannot speak, but her baby talk is subtitled, and it's hilarious. Also stars Meryl Streep as Aunt Josephine, Billy Connolly as Uncle Monty and Timothy Spall as Mr Poe.

Liam (2001)
Genre: Drama

Liam This is one of those gritty English films I love where the people are extremely plain looking, the story is depressing and it makes me think.

The story is basically about a working-class Liverpudlian family living on the brink of poverty in the 1930s. Liam (Anthony Burrows, who did a marvelous job) is a 7-year old Catholic boy with a speech impediment, who lives with his mum, dad, sister Teresa and brother Con. In order to just make ends meet, Teresa (Megan Burns) works as a maid for a rich Jewish family, and Con (David Hart) also has to work. Soon enough Liam's dad loses his job, finds it impossible to get another one, and joins the British Fascist party, who share his belief that England is for the English and things would be better if the Irish and Jews would just "go home". At one point Liam's dad even tells someone to "get out of my country". His joining the Fascist party has dire consequences that will affect his entire family.

Yes the ending was perhpas a tad melodramatic, but I still liked the film. It was written by Jimmy McGovern who also wrote Go Now, which was a brilliant and searing study of one man's struggle with Multiple Sclerosis.

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Again, I don't have the time or the inclination to give this a proper review, so I'll summarize. I enjoyed it. Didn't have to go to the loo once. Watched it with Kai again. Viggo Mortensen again looked just perfect, but only in this film. The cinematography was amazing, lots of interesting camera angles. It got a bit cheesy towards the end—Aragorn's little speech about peace upon his coronation was total cheese. The film was marred somewhat by the clap-happy teenagers (had to be) who insisted on clapping and cheering at every little turn, which then got the little girl behind us doing the same. It's a good job the volume's so loud at the Uptown and the surround sound is spot on, otherwise I would have been majorly annoyed.

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers This is not going to be a proper review of this film. If you want that, go read Desson Howe in the Washington Post, who by the way I'm pretty sure got off the same train as me at Friendship Heights last week. It looked like him, and I thought of going up to him (for about 1 second), but then I decided not to, which is just as well really as I'm not really sure how you pronounce his first name.

I thought this installment was going to be scary (I sat through the first one with my eyes closed half the time!), as the reviews I'd read had gone on about how much darker this one is. Anyway, I didn't have to close my eyes once. The things that particularly hit me while watching were that everyone seemed to have blue eyes, Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins did nothing more than wander about with his bright blue eyes in a constant state of wideness, and stagger about like he was drunk. Of course I know this was because of the effect the ring was having on him, but it made me laugh. Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn. Oooh er! Phwoar!! Major bit of alright! (But oddly enough, only as Aragorn).

It's funny I read one review where the person berated the director Peter Jackson for making everyone's hair (especially Aragorn) look like it was in serious need of a wash. I also read somewhere (Daily Mirror online) that Viggo Mortensen's girlfriend dumped him, partly because he didn't wash! Ooh I forgot - Gollum was really good.

Lord of War (2005)
Genre: Drama

Love Actually (2003)
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Love Actually Went to see this with Patricia at the Loews in Georgetown. Not exceptionally wonderful or anything, but definitely laugh out loud funny in bits (unlike Bend It Like Beckham), although I thought it had a lot of unnecessary nudity. Seeing Martin Freeman (Tim from The Office) naked playing a body double was surreal, as I'm used to him being the Fisher Price man.

Anyway, back to the story, which consists of various different stories about love in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Liam Neeson and Colin Firth's storylines stood out the most for me. Stars Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson and co. Billy Bob Thornton as the U.S. President was a hoot!!

Acting means making us believe something right? Colin Firth's kiss with his love interest, after all they'd been through, after him taking Portuguese lessons and her taking English lessons, was totally unbelievable. If you're going to do it, do it right, otherwise don't do it at all is what I say.

Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)
Genre: Documentary

Maid in Manhattan (2002)
Genre: Comedy

Maid in Manhattan Went to watch the sneak preview with Zibs at the new Georgetown cineplex. We got there five minutes before the start so found ourselves stuck in the very first row, which was not a lot of fun. This is a romantic movie starring Ralph Fiennes as politician Chris Marshall on the campaign trail for the Senate, and Jennifer Lopez as Marisa. Marisa is a maid in a swanky Manhattan hotel and Marshall mistakes her for a guest by the name of Caroline (Natasha Richardson). Marisa is supposed to be cleaning Caroline's room, but her friend and fellow maid coerces her into trying on Caroline's D&G ensemble, so of course Marshall doesn't realise she's a maid.

Basically it's a predictable fairy tale, and usually I don't rush out to see such stuff, but Ralph Fiennes is extremely easy on the eye, he reminds me of my friend Keye, I had nothing else I needed to be doing, and I wanted to see it with Zibs. There was no discernible chemistry that I could see between Lopez and Fiennes, but they did their job and went home with a pay cheque. As I said in my December 8 post, the giggly teenager next to us made the film fun.

Man on Fire (2004)
Genre: Drama, Thriller

Man on Fire I enjoyed this one, and don't know why it took me so long to get round to watching it. It stars Denzel Washington as Creasy, a former government operative who is hired as a bodyguard for 10-year old Pita (Dakota Fanning) in Mexico City. Pita's father is some hot shot someone or other played by Marc Anthony, so of course she is going to eventually get kidnapped. As it happens Pita *is* kidnapped one day, and Creasy, who at first was extremely reluctant to be friendly, sets out to find her and punish her kidnappers.

The epilogue made it seem as if it could be a true story, but Scott told me it isn't. I vaguely seem to remember while watching it that it was interesting to see Denzel Washington in a not-so-nice role. Yes I know he was not so nice in Training Day, but this was more subtle. On another note, Dakota Fanning is one of those child actors who seem adult already and so it's slightly creepy. The great Christopher Walken also stars as Creasy's friend and former colleague Rayburn. This has been an extremely disjointed and haphazard review, but I've got to catch up.

Maria Full of Grace (2004)
Genre: Drama

Maria Full of Grace Saw this yesterday (13/9/04) with Franco and it's probably one of the best films I've seen at the cinema so far this year, if not the best. I can't really say exactly as I can't remember every film I've seen at the cinema, but I'll certainly try to find out, 'cos I'm funny that way. Actually did a check, and yes it's up there with Mystic River which I thought was just tremendously done.

Catalina Sandino Moreno is 17-year old Maria Alvarez, a young Colombian woman who becomes tired of life in a small town, where she works in a rose plantation, and lives in cramped quarters with her mother, grandmother, sister and sister's baby. Bored to death with her life, she quits her job, and dumps her boyfriend after telling him she's pregnant. He offers to marry her and tells her she'll have to live with his family in even more cramped conditions than those at her mother's house. She can't face marrying someone who doesn't love her, and whom she doesn't love, and having been there, and done that myself, I can relate. What I can't relate to is being in circumstances that would push her to agree to be a mule and to smuggle heroin into the United States.

Joshua Marston wrote and directed this, his first feature-length film, and he certainly made it very real and very gritty, showing us how mules or "swallowers" prepare to carry drugs in their stomachs. In the build up to Maria meeting the drug trafficker and agreeing to be a mule, I was silently saying "don't, don't", but I knew she would, as that's what the film was about. Yenny Paola Vega plays Maria's friend Blanca who also becomes a mule and makes the same journey to New York as she does. Orlando Tobón, as Don Fernando plays himself, a real life source of help to mules and immigrants in Jackson Heights, Queens. He is also an associate producer. Check out his story here.

This film rightly won tons of awards, and is just a must-see as far as I'm concerned. As I am not one given to deep thinking, or writing deep reviews I was wondering why the film was called "Maria Full of Grace". On the official web site, it says "Her mission becomes one of determination and survival and she finally emerges with the grace that will carry her forward into a new life." Someone like Adam or Zibu would have figured it out all by themselves of course.

Just as an aside, Catalina Sandino Moreno reminded me of my friend Angela. She doesn't look like her or anything, so I wasn't quite sure why, but it was just the way she held herself most of the time. Then again, countless actresses (Jessica Lange, and Katie Holmes immediately spring to mind) remind me of Angela, so not sure what's up with that.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Genre: Adventure, Action

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Saw this at the beginning of 2004 with Steph and Patricia. I had gone in thinking I would be bored, but I wasn't. While it didn't really leave any lasting impression on me, I did like certain scenes. Steph had wanted to see it because he had read that it's the best film of its kind, whatever that means.

The film is set during the Napoleonic wars. Russell Crowe plays Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, whose orders from the British Navy are to intercept the French ship L'Acheron. Anyway the "Akeron" as the Brits call it appears out of nowhere and practically destroys their ship. They fix it at sea, and then Captain Jack is consumed with hunting the French ship down, whatever the cost.

The best bit of cinematography for me is when they have to leave one of the seamen overboard in the raging sea to drown. Russell Crowe, as always did a bang up job, but I felt his character didn't have any depth to his expressions for some reason. There always seemed to be something lacking. I remember thinking when he smiles, the smile doesn't reach his eyes. Also stars Paul Bettany as Stephen, the ship's doctor and Aubrey's friend. The film served to pass away a few hours on a Saturday afternoon with one friend whom I adore, and another whom I want to get to know more.

Matchstick Men (2003)
Genre: Crime, Comedy, Drama

Matchstick Men I'm not a huge Nicolas Cage fan. This has been the case since he divorced his first wife Patricia Arquette. I know neither of them personally, but I read their story somewhere and thought she sounded like a sweet person, and didn't like the fact that he'd moved on, but then it's really none of my business. Anyway, he's a good actor so I was able to put aside my dislike of him and watch this, and enjoy it.

Cage plays Roy, a professional con man who suffers from an obsessive-compulsive disorder. He has to open and shut doors three times and count as he's doing it, shoes have to be taken off in the house, he's really into keeping things clean and relies on a little pill he got from some dodgy doctor somewhere. His partner Frank (Sam Rockwell) knows him very well and works around his idiosyncracies. One day Roy's pill supplier disappears, so Frank hooks him up with a psychiatrist who gives him new pills to help with his disorder. Through this doctor he gets in touch with the daughter (Alison Lohman) he never knew he had, who's now 14. His very organised life is totally turned upside down by this new element in his life.

I wasn't expecting the twist, but I believe Adam was, and he found the whole thing too far-fetched to believe. I enjoyed this and will get round to seeing Adaptation soon, which Adam highly recommends.

Me Without You (2002)
Genre: Drama, Coming of Age

Me Without You This is a film about a friendship that spans about 28 years or so. It stars Anna Friel as Marina (best known as Beth Jordache from Brookie) and Michelle Williamson, formerly of Dawson's Creek as Holly.

The two girls live next door to each other, in houses that look like our house in Willesden, north London back in 1973 ... but I digress. They form a pact when young to always be together, best friends forever and all that. As they grow older the friendship that once was so strong, becomes destructive due to the controlling nature of Marina, who is able to literally turn the course of events due to her manipulation. Holly finds herself more and more trapped in a friendship that seems to bring more unhappiness than joy.

Incidentally, the DVD sleeve note says "If you liked Bridget Jones' Diary.... " This is nothing like that at all. This is not really a feel good movie. Yes, aspects of their friendship are great; someone who's always up for a laugh, someone who knows you inside out etc. etc., but in the end it becomes a love/hate type of relationship—I know the kind well. The ending for me is very disturbing.

Me, Myself, I (1999)
Genre: Romance, Fantasy

Me, Myself, I Definitely not to be confused with that awful-looking Jim Carrey film Me, Myself and Irene! I have rented this film so many times, it's unbelievable. The first time, I watched it twice over the course of the weekend. It was a great little story that sought to answer the age-old question, "what if?" I found it vastly superior to Sliding Doors, although I liked that too.

Basically Pamela Drury (Rachel Griffiths) is single, successful and incredibly lonely, and Australian, although that's obviously not a prerequisite to being any of those things. She meets by chance this guy called Ben whom she fancies, but then finds out he's as good as spoken for, so she gets even more depressed and lonely. She starts wondering what her life would have been like had she married her school sweetheart Rob Dickson. One day she gets knocked over by a car, and gets to find out the answer to her question. I know that if I were Pamela, I would take the husband and the kids, (as opposed to the lonely single life) and in a perfect world the husband would look like Ben rather than Rob, but you can't have everything can you?

I think I liked this so much, 'cos I'm in that broody place, where sometimes you think, what's happened to my life? The only slightly sickly thing about it, is the lingering message that you're not quite complete without a man.

Meet the Fockers (2004)
Genre: Comedy

Meet the Fockers This has got to be the worst film of 2004. I read a review which said it was a terrible waste of acting talent, and I ignored the review because Meet the Parents had had me in stitches, and so I'd been looking forward to this. Went to see it with Zibu on 22/12/04 and it was a total waste of time and money.

This time Greg and his girlfriend go to vis

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