Smiles of a Summer Night - 1955 ***

I have been waiting so long to watch this film, mainly because it is the basis that Woody Allen used for my favourite film 'A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy' which I absolutely adore.

I never really knew that Bergman could be funny, and in this he certainly threw in some light-hearted and humourous dialogue.

The plot is basically centred around a couple of couples ( haha!) one where an older man is married to a much younger woman and has therefore not consumated their marriage, whilst he carries on behind her back with an ex-lover, another couple consist of a woman who's husband is having an affair with the same lover as the first and her wife is aware of everything and therefore tries to flirt with the first husband, and then you have the first husband's son who is besotted it seems by the family maid who in turn seems to have a soft spot for the young wife... Confused? Believe me it's much easier to watch that write about. And it's quite light-hearted, but in my personal opinion not a patch on AMNSC. However I suppose I am comparing this movie to that which is probably not a good idea given that really the plot isn't the same, and so I will say that it has it's merits but isn't one that I would watch again.

The Haunting - 1963 ***

I'm going to seriously irritate horror fans when I say that I found this to be incredibly boring and non-descript. This is also one of the only times where I have enjoyed the remake much more than the original and it's almost embarassing to say so!

We are presented with a group of not particularly nice individuals who are all brought to a 'haunted house' by a man intent on showing the world that ghosts etc really exist.

We have Claire Bloom, a rather mean lady who seems to have a lesbian obsession with the other woman yet goes out of her way to taunt her, Julie Harris (who I think is one of the most annoying and whiny actresses I have ever had the misfortunate to see) a boring and spineless woman who cannot bond with any of the other people and seems to delight at being the centre of attention ALL the time, Russ Tamblyn ( that bloke from 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers') a smarmy and playboy type character who doesn't take anything seriously and lastly the Doctor who seems the most grounded of them all despite trying his hardest to prove that ghouls wander around the house.

They all stay in the house and hear some bangs and bumps and get scared out of their wits but we never really understand the cause or much of the history (whereas you do in the remake).

Far from being scared I was actually yawning at one stage so not a good sign. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't very good. Robert Wise the director has however made some excellent films in his time so hopefully this was just a one off dud.

(By the way before anyone rushes to criticise my opinion and say that I wasn't scared because it was an old film I suggest you take a look at the whole of my blog and see that that couldn't be further from the truth. My favourite films in the world are old black and white ones.)

The Pillow Book - 1996 ***

A somewhat bizarre film about a woman whose father used to write poems on her face every year in a beautiful calligraphy on her birthday whilst her mother read her pages from 'The Pillow Book', a collection of thoughts and musings. As she approaches womanhood and marries a man unsuited to her she understands the beauty and hidden meaning of the written word, and seeks to use it in any way she possibly can. One good thing about this movie is that you get a peek into Japanese culture which is always interesting, one bad thing is the presence of Ewan MacGregor, whose constant naked form is somewhat disconcerting. He doesn't need to be in this movie, or be showing off his genitalia in every which way and I think him being there lowers the tone of something which I think could otherwise be memorable.

Red Corner - 1997 ****

This was an unknown film to me, but I chanced it and found it really enjoyable. Richard Gere shines as a man in China wrongly convicted of a beautiful girl's murder, and finds he has to fight the jury system for his life. Ling Bai is astounding as his court-appointed lawyer who cannot decide whether he is guilty or innocent.

A highly charged political thriller from the late 90s, this deserves a watch, and raised Gere's acting skills sky high in my book.

Cleo from 5 to 7 - 1962 ***

Agnes Varda directs and stars in this movie. It's one of the 1001 movies to see before you die but to be honest to me it just seemed like a joyful saunter through lovely areas of France.

Cleo has been diagnosed with cancer and tries to take her mind of the looming test

results by visitngg to a fortune teller, going shopping and meeting her friend as well as a lover who all make her realise how much she loves life.

I suppose you could look at this film in the obvious ways, like making the most of the time you have etc but I just couldn't relate too much to her character. I loved the photography (reminded me a bit of the 400 Blows) but I didn't feel it really suited the storyline more than simply being aesthetically pleasing.

The Fourth Kind - 2009 ***

I'll admit, for a bit of this film I was convinced it was real. I thought that the footage and evidence were facts, and that it was pretty darn terrifying, and then I realised that it was so unrealistic that it couldn't possibly be real, and after that I sort of lost interest in it.

We are shown video footage of the 'events' happening, and are also shown the scene 'acted' out by real actors who are playing the parts of the real people ( if that makes any sense at all). Milla Jovovich starts off by introducing the film and telling us that she will be playing the part of the character but that all footage we see is real etc... I'm a sucker for films based on true stories so I am nearly always fooled when I find out that it's usually nothing of the sort.

I mean parts of this movie are scary, and disturbing, but at the same time there are areas which didn't even bother trying to hold my attention.

Not good enough for a repeat viewing.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - 2009 ****

I must say I enjoyed this a lot more than Toy Story 3. The story is simple, based around a young scientist named Flint whose inventions have all gone wrong ever since he was a child. He lives in a small town called Swallow Falls where the population are forced to eat nothing but sardines all day everyday and decides to invent a machine that will end the hunger of the town.

His invention mutates water molecules into food which in turn rains down on the town and the population can thus eat decent food for a change.

Meeting a shy intern weather-reporter named Sam whose weather report is ruined by falling hamburgers, Flint convinces himself that the best thing to is to continuously produce different food everyday for the residents, earning him favour with the town mayor despite the warning meter on his machine looking like it's going to explode. You know what's going to happen.

I won't say much more, except that this is a really original idea for an animated movie, and the characters are fun and memorable which is just what you want.

Worth a watch.

London to Brighton - 2006 **

I'd had a quick glance at this on Amazon and thought it might be worth watching and was hoping for some excellent acting and gritty drama. The gritty part was there but I didn't find the acting up to much. We follow a young runaway named Joanne and a hardened prostitute Kelly who have to make a sharp exit from London when Kelly's pimp is blamed for his boss's death and has to track the girls down for not keeping a deal with him. There's paedophilia, murder, blood, illegal activity, and everything else in between, and I can't say I enjoyed the film at all. The acting wasn't good enough to bring out the storyline and the storyline was far too depressing to stand alone unless supported by some good acting.

It's hard to believe that Georgia Groome would go on to star in 'Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging' a couple of years later so I suppose she at least had a fairly versatile approach to her acting career.

Toy Story 3 - 2010 ***

I really enjoyed the first Toy Story, and the second was nearly as good as the first, but I feel that by the time you get to the 3rd of any movie franchise that you have to expect it's not going to be up to par with the first.

Saying that I did choose to watch it and so was hoping it would be fairly funny. And it was. It was enjoyable, the characters were all there that I had remembered along with some new and unique creations including an eccentric hedgehog and a strawberry scented Teddy-Bear, and the plot was very reminscent of the other Toy Stories. But I just felt that something was lacking from the movie, maybe because I feel that Woody and Buzz are the stars of Toy Story and didn't receive enough 'screen time' in this one, or maybe because I found it weird that the characters were taken out of familiar surroundings 9 Andy's house) and moved somewhere else, but then again they did go all over in the last 2, so maybe I've just got a tad bored of 'Toy Story' now and feel they should have left it well alone with 2 films. But it wasn't a bad movie altogether and certainly made me chuckle which was the desired effect and so I guess it did it's duty. Hopefully Pixar will know when to stop though.

Suddenly, Last Summer - 1959 ***

2 things cannot be denied with the appearance of this film, one is that Elizabeth Taylor was one of the most beautiful women in the world and 2, that every performance Katherine Hepburn gives is unforgettable.

The story centres around Catherine (Taylor) who is supposedly insane and known for making up bizarre stories about the people in her life. On holiday with her cousin Sebastian he dies suddenly and she goes 'mad', and Sebastian's mother Violet ( Hepburn) is convinced that Catherine had evil and crazy intentions towards her son.

Monty Clift is the doctor called in by Violet to 'operate' on Catherine and dissolve her mania, but soon it becomes a case of him fighting on her behalf for her sanity.

Not one of Clift's better performances, and I can't say that Hepburn's was particularly amazing either, but as I mentioned above it was definitely unforgettable.

The hidden meanings in this film are huge and really to understand it fully you would need to watch it more than once to pick up on then, but for me I'm happy to watch it once and move on; far to many excellent movies out there.

Harper - 1966 ****

Paul Newman has never been so cool as he was in 'Harper' playing the no-nonsense Private Investigator who is asked by the glamourous and acidic Lauren Bacall to investigate her husband's disappearance. With the investigation however he becomes entangled by some very unsavoury people, and begins to realise that the family of the missing man are not quite what they seem.

Newman is just the epitome of cool, chewing his gum, blue eyes sparkling with danger and sarcastic drawl escaping his lips.

The film also has a brilliant cast, not just with Newman but with Julie Harris, Janet Leigh and Shelley Winters all finding their way into Harper's life at one stage or another.

A film to watch that just shows how versatile and excellent Newman can be.

Eraserhead - 1977 *

I cannot in my own opinion call this a masterpiece or a cult classic because I don't consider it one. The whole production is just bizarre. I'm not a big fan of films that are this disjointed or peculiar and the whole idea of the story just doesn't make sense to me. I would call this experimental film a bit of a mess really, but I wouldn't want to insult any David Lynch fans. You have to be certain kind of person to appreciate this time of film art and I can't say that I'm one of them. I'll stick to films that have a proper storyline with good actors which doesn't pretend to be something it's not.

Deep Red - 1975 *

A ridiculous, awfully acted and stupidly dubbed Giallo starring a man who couldn't be more English if he tried, this film got on my nerves almost from the start and continued that way throughout. I'm surprised that Dario Argento didn't take tips from 'Suspiria' when it came to shocking the audience, because it certainly wasn't scary, and the shocks were so obvious that they weren't even shocks!

Pointless movie, but I do think David Hemmings is an excellent actor in English movies.

The Green Man - 1956 *****

Alastair Sim, Terry Thomas, could you want anything more in a film? Nope.

My dad told me how funny the book of this film was and I decided I had to see what all the fuss was about. Very strangely although I am a huge fan of both Thomas and Sim I have never really heard much about this movie and therefore always overlooked it.

Bombs, affairs, dead bodies and vintage English humour, this movie has all of them. And also a rather amusing plot about a vacuum cleaner salesman who accidently finds a body in someone else's house and forms a friendship with the woman who lives there (much to her fiance's disgust). Alastair Sim also provides hilarious back-up as a would-be assassin who wants to blow up a Cabinet Minister whose affair has been uncovered and is about to be consumated at the Green Man Hotel, bumping into Terry Thomas at the same time and mixing him up in the whole sorry mess. Could it get anymore perfect?No.

Marty - 1955 ****

This is one of those movies that people either really like and relate to or find completely ridiculous. Though I didn't agree with some areas of the film, on the whole it was quite a heart-felt experience.

Marty is in his mid 30s and still not married. His mother is desperate for him to settle down and his friends are constantly trying to bully him into going on nights out to meet women and have fun. But Marty yearns for proper companionship instead of meaningless liasons with random females, and it is only when he has started to give up hope of having a proper relationship that he meets a woman whom he believes is just perfect for him, it's just that his friends don't agree.

Ernest Borgnine acts his heart out in this movie and really is one of the 'nice guys.' I've never seen him act in anything but his performance certainly makes me want to explore more.

The Tourist - 2010 ***

I think Johnny Depp is a great actor, and I find Angelina Jolie dreadful, so I figured this would be an interesting film. Jolie still performs like she has had too much botox and can barely move her face and that's about the extent of her, but Depp is usually on top form and highly versatile and I was dismayed to see that even he wasn't on par with this movie.

The film is basically an action/adventure production, throwing in some beautiful shots of Italy and Paris, but the storyline itself is a tad muddled for me. Jolie is a goodie who is also a baddie but is also a goodie (you know the ones) and Depp just happens to make her acquaintance on a train and is thus thrown into her hectic and dangerous life.

I don't think these two actors work very well together and it wasn't one of Depp's best efforts. There was basically no chemistry between them whatsoever.

Jolie should stop acting and Depp should go back to being brilliant, then we would all be happy.

Black Death - 2010 ****

Not a bad movie at all. Sean Bean playing the all too familiar character who, like in L.O.T.R verges on both good and bad sides of his conscience.

Enlisting the help of a group of his mercenaries, Bean goes with Osmund, an innocent but well-meaning monk to the only area that has been untouched by the Black Death. Going there, the group hope to find the only being who is rumoured to be able to bring people back from the dead, but what they find is something much worse.

The film is dark, eerie and somewhat gruesome, but it's definately worth watching, and brings the terror of the 14th Century plague to life (I'm not sure whether that's a good thing!) as well as showing some excellent acting from Sean Bean.

Certainly makes me want to watch more historical films.

Margot at the Wedding - 2007 **

As dull and lifeless as I had originally imagined this film to be, so sadly I wasn't impressed or blown away like I was hoping. Nicole Kidman has shot right down in my estimations as a brilliant actress and I felt she did very badly in this production.

The whole family in fact are very disfunctional and I didn't feel any empathy towards any of the characters, making it hugely difficult to watch scene after scene with them.

Kidman's Margot is a very weird creation, she almost has two personalities, neither of which I care for and her sister couldn't be anymore whiny and wimpy if she tried. Ironically Jack Black was probably the best character out of the lot for me, and that's saying something. Really.

Littel Ashes - 2009 ***

I'm not quite sure what to think of this film. My mum and I had wanted to watch it for a while and I had trouble tracking it down. I'm surprised more isn't said about the film, especially seeing as Robert Pattinson is the No1 heart-throb of modern day society.

I was interested to see the film because I hoped to learn about Lorca and Dali's life. We learn about them, but only from the romantic objective, and therefore I don't feel that their talent was expressed properly.

Pattinson's accent is ridiculous and his acting was quite embarassing, (I still don't understand why he was chosen for the part of a Spanish painter when a proper Spaniard would have been 10 times better). Javier Beltran was excellent as Lorca though and if you look at pictures of the original you can see the almost identical likeness.

I'm not sure how much of this movie is fabricated and how much is true but I was hoping for a film on 2 geniuses and what I got was a love story about 2 men who happen to be geniuses. Not quite the same thing.