Zoolander - 2001 ****

'Zoolander' must have the biggest number of celebrity cameos in any film I have ever seen. But when Ben Stiller is around anything is possible. And with Ben Stiller, you know that Owen Wilson will not be far behind.
Stiller is Zoolander, a vain and narcissistic male model who constantly rivals Hansel (Wilson) in the 'top model' stakes. At his latest award show, Hansel steals the title of 'Best Model' from Zoolander, mortifying him, and sending him into hiding (a mean article in the local paper by journalist Matilda doesn't help matters.)
Meanwhile, Mugatu, a prolific fashion mogul, (played campishly by Will Ferrell) decides that he needs to recruit a male model to assassinate the Prime Minister of Malaysia who is trying to put a ban on cheap child labour.
Before long, Zoolander is in the firing line as a possible assassin and can only save himself by recruiting his arch nemisis Hansel.
Rather over the top film, but packed full of humor and quirky moments (it is obvious that Stiller and Wilson are best friends off set, because their chemistry is spot on). Must see.

What's the Worst That Could Happen - 2001 ***

Relatively unknown comedy with Martin Lawrence as an experienced thief named Kevin, who meets his match when trying to burgle rich and crooked tycoon Max (Devito). In return for being burgled by Kevin, Max ends up stealing a precious ring that Kevin was given by his new girlfriend Amber. Desperate to get it back, Kevin enters into a cat and mouse game with Max, with hilarious results. 

I like both Lawrence and Devito as actors, so it was quite a pleasure to watch them both try to outsmart each other with their individual styles of comedy.

Little Nicky - 2001 ***

'Little Nicky' is a completely radical film. It's really funny, but also edgy and dark. Obviously you can't take it seriously. Adam Sandler is infuriating, but somehow the messed up, half devil half angel character he portrays actually suits him. His father is the devil, busy ruling hell with a fair but firm hand. When Nicky's two brothers escape through hellfire up to earth, it is Nicky's job to capture them and bring them back. His father meanwhile, is losing body parts in rapid time, and will eventually die if his sons are not returned.

Some parts are hilarious (I liked the superbowl scene) and Nicky's pal Beefy, a humorous and sarcastic pug adds other funny segments. 

Tarantino of course is the standout as the blind preacher Deacon who keeps finding himself falling down stairs, knocking himself out on streetlamps and tripping over tramps in an effort to get away from a strange, evil presence that appears frequently. 

Freddy Got Fingered - 2011 **

For such a cult film with a massive following I thought this was going to be hilarious, but in all honesty I can't understand what all the fuss was about, and only raised a smile a couple of times throughout the whole film. Tom Green overacts, but not in a clever, 'I'm taking the mickey out of this kind of film' way, more in a total lack of understanding what funny means. The famous quotes you hear bandied about come swift and fast, without really standing out (give me Bogart's last line in 'Casablanca' any day) and I was left straight-faced by the whole film.

Another Life - 2001 *** 1/2

'Another Life' is a film that I have wanted to see for a long time. As I have a great interest in the Edith Thompson/Freddie Bywaters murder case in the 1920s it was imperative that I watch this film based on it.

Edith Thompson is a bored housewife living with her uninspiring and stuffy husband Percy. She dreams of travelling around the world but is quashed by ever demanding Percy who believes her place is in the home only. Enter Freddie Bywaters, an attractive, mysterious and daring young man who immediately steals Edith's heart. Before long they are both plotting to get rid of Percy, at any cost possible. 

Well acted, painful to watch and very moving.

The Animal - 2001 ***

Rob Schneider is an odd creation. He's funny, but not insulting, and can get away with the majority of jokes that many other couldn't.
Here he plays a wimpish police officer who wakes up one morning after a hideous car accident with what appears to be supernatural powers. He has also started to relate to various animals and become able to mimic their habits and sounds perfectly. This gives him at big boost at work after he sniffs out drugs on a dealer at an airport like a dog and saves a boy from drowning like a seal. His partner on the force cannot stand him and will do anything to stop him working there.
Funny,worth a watch.

Read My Lips - 2001 ** 1/2

Vincent Cassel is a good actor but I found his performance here in this French thriller. Devos is a deaf woman working as an underappreciated secretary for an Architecture firm. Her boss suggests she hires an assistant to help with her heavy workload and she is surprised to find the agency sends her an ex-con. However she quickly realises that she is falling for him and wants to help him better himself, he on the other hand believes no one can help him.

(HORROR) The Suicide Club - 2001 ***

I have wanted to watch this for years and finally got the chance to see this and the sequel this weekend. Absolutely bizarre is all I can say. Japan really has surreal and disturbing horror down to a T. Some parts of the film really stick in your head for hours afterwards, such as the very first scene where 54 female students jump in front of a train set to strange Scottish music. Very weird. From then on the whole film tries to work out why suicides are happening all around Tokyo and what could lead such a large group of girls to commit suicide in happy unison. There isn't really an answer to this film, and it's more about what goes on beneath the surface than the exterior.
I actually quite enjoyed it. (Sick or what?)

The Devil's Backbone - 2001 ***

Guillermo del Toro is one of those interesting directors, because he can bring out either a masterpiece (Pan's Labyrinth) or a pretty dire effort (Cronos), as well as a load in between that don't sway you much either way.

The Devil's backbone was bizarre. And I won't deny that it had some very frightening parts, and one of the cutest little boys I've ever seen in a Spanish film, but the story didn't flow right for me, it didn't connect, and I think that is what let it down.

The young boy Carlos, is sent to an orphanage towards the end of the Civil War, and is given the bed of a boy named Santi who died due to a mysterious explosion in the orphanage years ago. Carlos begins to see him as a ghost, but no one else does, and he realises that this is Santi's way of trying to get Carlos to avenge his death, and in the process of doing so, he uncovers some rather terrifying facts about his new home, and the people who live in it.

Del Toro has obviously stolen quite a bit from this for his later work 'The Orphanage' which features several similar ghostly scenes which send shivers down your spine. The war going on around them is significant, but it doesn't quite overpower the story like it did in 'Pan's Labyrinth' and I feel too much time is taken up with pointless scenes that don't add much to the storyline.

Worth a watch for a die hard Del Toro fan however.