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Certificate: 
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Release Date: 19 October 2007
Tagline: This summer a star falls. The chase begins.
Main Cast:
Michelle Pfeiffer … Lamia
Claire Danes … Yvaine
Charlie Cox … Tristan
Robert De Niro … Captain Shakespeare
I really liked Stardust. It’s very enjoyable and a near perfect example of a family film. There’s plenty of humour in it (I especially liked Billy), the casting is very good (except for the abysmal Ricky Gervais) and there are lots of familiar faces for us Brits to look out for! It has a dark edge to it which raises it above the treacly sweet film it could have been.
Don’t be put off because it’s a family film. It’s well worth a look even if you don’t normally watch this type of film.
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Director: Robert Altman
Release Date: 5 January 2007
Tagline: Radio like you’ve never seen it before.
Main Cast: (many more than mentioned below)
Meryl Streep … Yolanda Johnson
Kevin Kline … Guy Noir
Ah… If only they were all more like this. Sadly though, this kind of film just doesn’t get made all that often because the majority of cinema goers are happy to watch dross. APHC is movie making at its best. The ensemble cast are perfect. There are clearly no egos vying for the most lines, the scene stealing moments etc. Robert Altman’s brilliant direction combined with the brilliant acting makes it all look so effortless.
I’m not going to bother to give you a synopsis. If you love films like I do then all you need to know is that it’s fantastic and that you won’t be disappointed.
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Director: David Silverman
Release Date: 25 July 2007
Tagline: See our family. And feel better about yours.
Main Cast: (voice)
Dan Castellaneta … Homer
Julie Kavner … Marge
Nancy Cartwright … Bart
Yeardly Smith … Lisa
I’m a big fan of The Simpsons (who isn’t?!) and doubted somewhat whether a film would work. It was obviously going to require some sort of plot to sustain the probable length of approximately 90 minutes (the film is actually 87 minutes), and I was unsure what they were going to come up with. Although I enjoyed the film (there are some very funny moments), I just couldn’t really get fully into it. The regular episodes all have believable plots (give or take a crazy moment or two), but the film strays from this somewhat! It also borrows heavily from overused storylines e.g. Lisa falls for another gentle soul who is just like her (his appearance in Springfield is rather Deus Ex Machina, which, oddly enough, they admit to doing in a different part of the film), and she’s on the environmental campaign trail once again. Ok, so this is The Simpsons, and a complex plot was neither expected or required. I just wish it had been a little more like real life.
So, did it work? Yes and no. It was an interesting experiment, but one that I don’t think needs to be repeated.
One last thing – if you watch through until the end of the credits, Maggie says her first word. Personally, I think this is a mistake. She should always remain the enigma that she is – has she not learned to speak yet, or does she just elect to be a wry observer who thinks that actions speak louder than words?
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Director: Akira Kurosawa
Release Date: 6 October 1980
Main Cast:
Tatsuya Nakadai … Shingen Takeda / Kagemusha
Tsutomu Yamazaki … Nobukado Takeda
Kenichi Hagiwara … Katsuyori Takeda
Due to reviews, I expected great things of this. Although I enjoyed it, I can’t say that it gripped me. I found it somewhat plodding, and 3 hours of a rather thin plot was stretched to the max. Although I will concede that such time was needed to portray the story effectively.
It looks great, and has a real feel of 16th Century Japan. It’s a very ’sweeping’ epic, and the central performance by Tatsuya Nakadai is very good. Obviously, I can’t comment on the acting, as I am unqualified to judge non English speaking actors.
If you are a film lover or a fan of this period of Japanese culture, then you’ll get something out of this. However, if you are a ‘blockbuster junkie’, then don’t bother.
This is a very simplistic review, and I’m sure that many people will disagree with me. And, in turn, I would not disagree with them. This is just a personal view, and I am in no way rubbishing Kagemusha
The best thing to do is to watch and judge for yourself.
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Director: Jon Favreau
Release Date: 03 February 2006
Tagline: A new adventure from the world of Jumanji.
Main Cast:
Jonah Bobo … Danny
Josh Hutcherson … Walter
Dax Shepard … Astronaut
Zathura is a fantastic film that deserves a tagline far greater than that above. Jumanji was released in 1995 – a whole eleven years before this – so how on Earth do they expect kids to get excited about the mention of an old film that they’ve probably never heard of before, let alone seen?
Anyway, let the review begin!
The film is very original, and presses all my buttons! It’s sci-fi, it’s about an old board game that has been discovered at the back of a wardrobe (so to speak), and it’s a great adventure.
I loved every minute of of Zathura, and I can’t imagine a child out there who wouldn’t. Unless, that is, they are devoid of imagination. Oh, and if they are very ‘girly’ girls who think that space and rockets and aliens are ‘boring’ and would rather play with their plastic pink princess castles & such tripe. Needless to say, I have nothing in common with these girls, and as such, it is very unlikely that I will ever be reviewing a crappy girlie or ‘teen’ movie.
But I digress (and not for the first time on this site!).
If you possess an imagination, and have the same buttons as I do, then watch Zathura – I don’t care how old you are!
It’s a film that I would happily watch again.
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Director: Kerry Conran
Release Date: 01 October 2004
Tagline: Join the Resistance.
Main Cast:
Gwyneth Paltrow … Polly Perkins
Jude Law … Sky Captain
I’m not sure how to rate this film. Visually, it’s very stunning, and I found myself enjoying it up until about half way through, when I lost interest.
It’s an odd mix between the 1940s and the future. I’m not sure that the children of today will understand the blend of the past and the future, however, that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be done. On the contrary, I hope that it will make today’s kids want to learn more about the past.
The film starts with a Zeppelin called Hindenburg III docking at New York City. Now, I don’t wish to be pedantic, but there never was a Hindenburg III, and no Zeppelin ever docked in this area. I only mention this really as it, along with a cinema screening of The Wizard of Oz (released in 1939) dates the film in the late 1930s / early 1940s. The original Hindenburg crashed in 1937, so one would assume that the film is indeed set around 1939. Of course, no children will care about this in the slightest, and it does at least open their eyes to the fact that Zeppelins existed, and how far removed they are from today’s technology.
Anyway, like I said, it’s not really a criticism as such, more of a quibble. I like things to be factually correct in films.
Overall, I think that this is a good all round family film and should keep most older children entertained. It’s not one for younger children as there will be nothing here that they would be interested in.
Oh, and the end of the film is very good!
Rating: 
Certificate:
Director: Brad Silberling
Release Date: 17 December 2004
Main Cast:
Jim Carrey … Count Olaf
Liam Aiken … Klaus Bordelaire
Emily Browning … Violet Bordelaire
Jude Law … Lemony Snicket (voice)
First of all, I know I said that I’d rather gouge out my own eyeballs than watch a Jim Carrey film, but I chose to watch this as it not a typical Jim Carrey vehicle (in fact, I’d go so far as to say that he should have third billing behind the two child leads), and also because Meryl Streep is in it.
I found this a disappointing film on several levels. Firstly, Count Olaf is an evil, murderous character, but Carrey hams it up so much that he comes across as more silly than sinister. At the start of the film, much is also made of how Violet is a brilliant inventor, and Klaus a voracious reader who can remember everything he’s ever read. These elements of the characters are sorely underused (although I have to confess that I have never read the books, so it may be that this is, in fact, as it should be).
Sadly, my attention was lost about a third of the way through, and I kept checking how much longer it had left to go, so that I could move on to something better.
A plus point though, are the children. Both Liam Aiken and Emily Browning are very good, and carry the film well.
As an adult who enjoys many chidren’s films, I found this strangely dull and tedious when it should have held my attention. I’m not even sure that the target audience will be enthralled by it.
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