Taxi - 1998 * * *

Formula 1 has hit the city.

My fiance recommended this movie to me and I must say it was a pretty enjoyable experience. It was very short and that certainly helped you not feel like it was dragging like some movies do. I didn't honestly really understand the story, but I thought the race scenes were fantastic. In short, the movie was basically a french Fast and Furious. I notice it was directed by Luc Besson who did La Femme Nikita which is on my list of 'to see' films, but I'm not quite sure if it really pushed me towards watching it or put me off.

A Royal Scandal - 1945 * *

Saucy and naughty

I am a wide collector and obsessor of old movies, and will be quick to jump in and defend them when anyone puts them down. This film however was dated. It hasn't aged well, and the jokes seem pointless and very unfunny now. I rarely feel this way about an old movie, and like the fact that the film is old, but there is a difference in watching a film that has been able to carry itself and it's story well through the years, and one that feels almost stuck in a time warp. That is what I felt with this one. Tallulah Bankhead was unforgettable however and I think that if she hadn't been in it this movie would have fallen flat on it's face. She has an amazing screen presence and I don't think anyone has ever been able to match her.

I wouldn't recommend this, it's neither funny enough, nor strong enough to contend as a good film.

Karla - 2006 * * * 1/2

Evil has a beautiful face.



I have a very morbid streak in that I'm interested in all types of murders. I have always been amazed at the pure evil and depravity of the 'Ken and Barbie Killers' - Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. There was speculation as there always is in killing partnerships that one killer influenced the other into commiting the crimes. By now we know that Karla was a willing participent in the murder of her sister, believing that if she did so she would gain Paul's eternal love. In fact she was willing to do anything to win his approval, even if it meant watching him rape girls in front of her and then murder them. Karla may not have commited as many murders as Paul, but she still had the ability to, and she was no less of a monster than he was. Letting someone kill somebody else is almost as bad as commiting the crime.
I really thought this movie was brilliantly acted, but there were parts that weren't truthful. Karla is portrayed in this film as a weak and pathetic excuse for a woman who clung on desperately to Paul regardless of how many times he insulted her or battered her. In reality Karla was a manipulative and vile woman who stood by and joined in while her husband performed vile acts on women - evn after being released she never once apologised to the parents of the victims. This movie did not stick to the real story but was still very captivating.

The Changeling - 1980 * * * *

An experience beyond fear.

I'd put off watching this movie for a long time. I've seen pretty much all the films that are known as 'really haunting' expect for The Innocents and didn't want the experience of seeing this to be over too quickly. However after watching it I was thinking about it or days afterwards and can honestly say that it frightened the daylights out of me. George C. Scott was brilliant in his role as the sad and lonely composer who moves into a large, old house after a fatal accident involving his wife and child. Soon he realises that he is not alone in the house and that something will not let him rest until it has made itself known.

I specifically waited until Christmas time to watch this to give myself an extra thrill and was shivering with nerves by the end.

Contrary to popular beliefs there are some similarities with the recent 'Changeling' (2008) although that is based on a true story.

I'm relieved I've watched this now and do think it is one of the scarier movies that I have seen in recent times. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to be scared and appreciates a film with no violence (except malevolent spirits) and sex.

The Dreamers - 2003 * * * *

All dreamers must eventually wake.

I put off reviewing this movie for quite some time because I honestly don't know what to say about it and I still find I am slightly lost for words. The acting is superb but the story is just like nothing I have ever seen before in my life. The film revolves around an American student who comes to study in Paris at the end of the 60s and strikes up a friendship between a brother and sister who live in a gorgeously overwelming yet empty house which is left free for them all to use after the parents of the siblings leave for a long 'trip.' They spend their days quoting movies, dressing up as their favourite characters and drinking wine (sounds divine). However dreaming is shortlived and along with awakening there comes reality. The American finds himself in a surreal menage-a-trois which hints at incest, which try as he might, he cannot tear himself away from.

There is some strong and graphic nudity here, some moments are too embarassing to watch but there is something totally compelling and addictive about this film. Whether it be the decade, the location or the soundtrack I don't know, but for one thing you will find it hard to tear your eyes away from the screen. Do not be put off by the mention of the word incest, for it is handled tastefully and surprisingly beautifully if that is at all possible).

For added fun try to guess the titles of the movies they quote before they answer, I got nearly every one.

Arachnophobia - 1990 * *

Eight legs, two fangs and an attitude.

My god this was a cheesy movie. I can't work out whether it was intentionally so or whether the actors just didn't know what they were meant to be doing. I watched it initially to try and face my fear of spiders head on, but actually this really did nothing for me one way or another. There were some parts where I had to check under various cushions nearby in case there was a lone eight legged freak but actually for most of the story I was smiling. If the film was meant to be taken seriously by anybody then it didn't do what it was required to do and to be honest I found the story pretty boring. There was nothing to gage my attention for long enough. A sure miss.

2012: Supernova - * *

The only thing that should have exploded was every actor on the set.

I found it very hard to review this movie. For one thing my partner and I sat down to watch it and after over an hour were starting to wonder why Woody Harrelson and team hadn't made an appearance. With horror we realised as the credits started to loom that we had been watching this movie instead of simply 2012. The Asylum company has produced nearly 200 rip-off movies of bad quality and awful acting and this was one of them. Nothing seems to happen in this movie. That bloke who was in Buffy runs around trying to save people and planets while his wife and daughter run around in the middle of the road trying not to get hit by flying cars and pieces of metal. There are a few people who you think are on his side and turn out evil but apparently that's just typical save-the world style movie-making. None of the actors look like they are particularly interested in what is going on and the lead character has a tendancy to run out from his hiding place without checking if the coast is clear when he hears familiar voices. Of course in the real world he would have been shot before he could open his mouth but yet again if you're in a movie about saving the world anything goes. Also the ending....What happened there? I'm not going to 'spoil' it (if thats even the right word) but you think to yourself ' how on earth could this possibly happen when we were so sure the other thing would happen, and in fact there is no way that the thing that happened could actually have happened in the realms of normality.' Obviously the director of the film totally lost the will to care about whether the scenes made any sense and I don't blame him, for while I was surprised at the ending I really didn't care two hoots about any of the characters and wished they'd all died at the beginning. This fake rip-off of 2012 hasn't put me off watching my original choice however which I am sure will be a lot better and have some proper acting to boot.

Coraline - 2009 * * * *

Some doors should never be opened.

Coraline is a movie that has been talked about a lot this year. It has been compared to Pixar films and also has been questioned as whether it is appropriate for children although it was released as a children's film. After watching it I think that maybe it is only appropriate for children over a certain age, i.e. 13. It is a bit like Harry Potter, for that was supposedly appropriate for children when in fact some scenes were far too frightening for it to be less than a 15. Coraline can be seen on two levels, one level that it is an amazing animated movie with some scary parts about a girl that discovers another world and the 2nd level that it relates to a young girl who finds it hard to cope with her annoying parents who don't seem to appreciate her and seeks solace in another world where her parents pay her more attention. Whatever way you want to view this movie it's very enjoyable and very well done. Dakota Fanning lends her voice to Coraline and a special highlight comes from Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French who play the 2 eccentric actresses that live below. The film has some dark elements to it and some parts actually freaked me out a bit, but all in all I just enjoyed it and went along with the ride. Maybe one that I would watch again but it would not be a regular that I would constantly take off my shelf like the Pixar's.

Fighting - 2009 * *

Some dreams are worth the fight.

I was appalled by the standard of acting in this movie, and yet the lesser acclaimed movie 'The Tournament' was of a totally different class and calibre. Tatum's performance is gastly, how he has ever succeeded as an actor of quality in this business I will never know, and to top it all off, his fight scenes are few and far between. For a film based around fighting you would expect it to be full of fights! However to my knowledge there were only three, and each one was so weak I myself could have packed more of a punch than Tatum. That mixed with Tatum's embarassing scenes with his love interest which make you feel like you are witnessing a teenage first date were enough to make me want to turn the movie off, but I persisted until the end and was more than happy to see the end credits roll. It just goes to show that you don't need talent to be an actor in Hollywood, just a pretty boy image and you're all set.

The Tournament - 2009 * * * * *

Only one will survive

This film hasn't really had that much critical acclaim to my knowledge. I cannot understand why as I was totally caught up in the plot and acting which was tremendous.

Robert Carlyle really stole the show for me in his role as the alcoholic priest who mistakenly gets caught up in the tournament.

The tournament is controlled by bookmaker Liam Cunningham who arranges his contacts to place bets on a small number of assassins who in turn fight each other until the death. When they die they are disqualified. Each assassin has a chip embedded in their stomach which tracks their movements which are transmitted back to the main tournament room where Cunningham and his contacts are watching their every movement on a large screen. Unknowingly Carlyle swallows one of these chips and is thrown headfirst into the tournament as an assassin.

The acting is superb and I think the ideal is totally original. Watch this if you want to be glued to the screen and blown away by some really astounding performances.

The Darjeeling Limited - 2007 * * * * *

'Do you think we would be friends if we weren't related?'

I know there was a lot of talk about the symbolism of this movie when it was released and people spent ages trying to work out what director Wes Anderson was trying to get at but I still think that even if you don't understand the film on a deep level you can still enjoy it as a sharp comedy with some good acting. Adrien Brody grows in my good books with every film I see him in and I have always liked Owen Wilson.

Three brothers, Francis Peter and Jack who haven't seen each other in over a year meet on a train bound for India where Francis hopes that they will travel to a secluded monastary to meet up with their mother. As none of them trust each other Francis, (Wilson) decides to steal their passports so that they can't leave the train until they have become closer. What follows is a series of humorous events involving pepper spray, old belts and deadly snakes where the brothers begin to learn more about each other than they ever thought or hoped that they would. The whole film is slightly surreal and the symbolism can occasionally get in the way of the enjoyment of the jokes, but on the whole it really delivers. There are also some very moving moments that almost made me cry and the whole thing wrapped up really nicely.

Irreversible - 2002 * *

Time destroys all things.

I'm actually going to go against the grain and say that I didn't like this movie. And not because of the violent and grotesque rape scene which is agonising to watch. I didn't find the unusual method of replaying the scenes from the end to the beginning helpful or 'wacky', instead I found it confusing and really jumbled up with no actually reason whatsover. There was no point to the way it was shot. There was no point to the horrible wobbly camera work which was worse that even Cloverfield (which is saying something), and no point to the detached and depressing awfulness of the whole thing. I understand we are supposedly being treated to 'reality' and 'if we don't want gloom then not to watch the film' etc but I personally wantto be fullfilled when watching a movie and this production could do nothing for me. If it wasn't for Monica Belluci's outstanding beauty the whole movie would have been a complete wash-out. I find myself comparing this to 'Antichrist' which was another awful excuse for violence and insult. However at least the acting in that film was amazing whereas this fell totally flat on it's very disturbing face. You could tell that the director was trying to be all arty and add in hidden meanings and metaphorical images but he got in such a mess that it ended up feeling like you were watching an amateur film-makers work instead of a well renowned and popular director.

Mommie Dearest - 1981 * * *

Joan Crawford, the illusion of perfection.

Faye Dunaway's portrayal of Joan Crawford is really staggering. She doesn't actually look that much like her but her mannerisms and voice are amazingly close. I'm a big classic movie star fan but had never known exactly how twisted and abusive Joan was to her children, Christina in particular. Her story reminded me a bit of Norma Desmond in 'Sunset Boulevard', not being able to cope with the fact that her movie star days were ending. Her life was the movies, her children came second. I don't actually understand why Joan decided to adopt a child if she wasn't prepared to take care of her and get her priorities straight. She was only interested in mentally and physically abusing her. It was like watching a movie based on a serial killer but realising that the person commiting the acts was actually a beautiful and well-known actress instead of a lonely and unknown individual. There will always be people who felt sorry for Joan and expected that celebrity life simply became too much for her to deal with but I cannot understand why anyone would behave the way she did, especially being in the public eye so much. Watching her films now will really be an odd and sad kind of hindsight - she should have known better.

James Dean: Race with Destiny 1997 * * *

Live fast, die young, but leave a beautiful corpse.

I am a massive James Dean fan and had been hoping to watch this dramatisation of his life for a long time. I don't believe that Van Dien's portrayal as Dean was very realistic as the dooomed star. He looked nothing like Dean and at times it was hard to remember who Van Dien was trying to replicate. Most of the movie centred around Dean's relationship with Pier Angeli, or 'Pure Angel' as James liked to call her and how their relationship suffered and deteriorated at the hands of Pier's controlling mother. We are 'treated' if thats even the right word to a shot of Dean's last drive with his companion and this confused me somewhat. In every book/website we are told that Dean's last words are ' that guy's sure to see us' right before he crashes, but how would we know these words if there were no survivors in the car. his quote is not included in this film which I am thankful for.

Worth watching for a glimpse into the life of the coolest man who ever lived.

The History Boys - 2006 * * * *

History, it's just one bloody thing after another.

On first viewing a few years ago I must say I was less than impressed. I couldn't relate to any of the characters or the plot which is weird because I was studying at university at the time. However on viewing it again now I was pleasantly surprised. I totally engaged with the characters, loved their passion for literature and education and found myself really caring about what happened to them. Richard Griffiths was superb as Hector, the wonderfully absurd and eccentric History teacher who teaches the boys all they could ever need to know about life. I loved the footage from Cambridge as that is where I am from and ironically I now work in one of the colleges that admits students like them.

This is a very inspiring and strangely motivational film which showcases some amazing talent that had only just come to light at the time but that now is a cert i.e. Dominic Cooper, James Cordon.

Baby Face - 1933 * * * *

She climbed that ladder of success, wrong by wrong!

I'd never heard of this movie until I stumbled across it quite by accident. I saw the title and the date and assumed it was something crossed with 'The Public Enemy' and Little Caesar'. It had no elements of gangster in it whatsover but I still thought it was brilliant and just about the right length. Stanwyck is amazing to watch on screen and always seems to play the strong-willed and independent women in her films. Her role here however was one of a different independence. After losing her beastly and abusive father in an explosion, Lily takes herself off to New York to make some money which is easily done when all you have to do is sleep your way to the top and break men's heart left, right and centre. Lily performs under the perception that because men have treated her badly in her past she has every right to make them suffer now. Unfortunately she devestates some of the men's lives when they leave their wives and fiances for her only to be told she's moved on. I can imagine men all to agree on viewing that she is a nasty piece of work and the women to support her actions fully, although myself a female I actually started to feel sorry for the men towards the end of the film. They fell so pathetically at her feet that it was painful to watch.
A brilliant example of Stanwyck's talent; you can tell that she will go on to be a tremendous actress which indeed she does.

AntiChrist - 2009 * * *

A Crying Woman is a Scheming Woman.

Let's get one thing straight, this movie was brilliantly acted, and its pretty hard to find a film with only two actors in it that can carry itself and make you stay gripped to your seat. I was gripped but I also felt like being sick a number of times. I am aware of the Dogme style of acting as I performed 'Festen' at university and so could understand the method. Certain scenes I felt were far too graphic to be shown and there were moments where I did want to turn the thing off. But I stuck with it until the end and despite being confused most of the movie it did what it said on the tin and made me think for a long time afterwards. I cannot pretend to understand the symbolism behind the film and think I would need to see it a few more times before it even started to make sense which is something I don't really want to do as I feel drained enough from one sitting. It is true what they say that a powerful film can really emotionally and mentally effect you and I've literally had to sit in silence for about half an hour just going over and over what I've seen. I guess in a way this film does work because there are so many ways you can interpret what you have viewed including feminism, sexism etc and I think really that it's up to you to understand it however you want to. This is one movie that I'm not sure how to rate. Usually I go on love or hate factor when I'm reviewing but on this occasion I just don't know how to react. I would give it full marks for captivating my attention but I didn't actually enjoy the story or what was happening to the characters. But then again I would also give it full marks for character performance. I think everyone (well people over 18 anyway) should watch this, but certain scenes including the ones towards the end will leave you emotionally disgusted regardless of whether you are a man or a woman.

Drag Me To Hell - 2009 * * * *

She's going to hell.

Having not been bowled over by the 'Evil Dead' movie that Sam Raimi directed I was hardly expecting that this movie would have much of an impact. However I was really surprised. The whole film is done pretty much with tongue-in-cheek and its great to see a director taking the mickey out of himself by making the film slightly comical. The idea of the story is fairly simple - a young woman with a prosperous job and nice boyfriend refuses to extend a loan to Mrs Ganush, a scary, haggard looking woman who comes to her bank begging for them not to repossess her house. The old woman, (who has a fake eye and delights in coughing up phlegm into her handkerchief)decides to curse her and unless the curse can be lifted within three days she'll be taken to hell.
It doesn't sound very scary as horror movies go but there are plenty of typical jumpy moments that you wouldn't expect and a really terrifying performance from the woman who plays Mrs Ganush. She really isn't somebody you would care to meet in a dark alleyway, or even a bright one. Plus the ending really makes you squeal, and for once it seems that horror movies do not always turn out happily ever after at the end.
I wouldn't go as far as to rate this movie as the best of the year (I really don't think I could rate just one film with that title anyway regardless of how good it was) but it certainly is worth a couple of watches to see a director who doesn't take himself to seriously.