Certificate:

Director: David Slade

Release Date: 16 June 2006

Tagline: Strangers shouldn’t talk to little girls.

Main Cast:

Patrick Wilson … Jeff Kohlver

Ellen Page … Hayley Stark

I can suspend disbelief, and I can just about cope with a plot hole (as long as it’s not a major one).  But these conditions apply only to otherwise great films. Hard Candy, however, is not a great film.

It’s totally unbelievable and ridiculous. If you couldn’t give a monkey’s toss about realism, then you might enjoy this. It feels like it wants to be intelligent torture porn, but the reality is that it is neither. Having said that though, I felt a bit tortured watching it.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Certificate:

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Release Date: 28 August 2009

Tagline: You’ll know when you’re in it.

Main Cast:

Jeremy Renner … SSgt. William James

Anthony Mackie … Sgt. JT Sanborn

Brian Geraghty … Spc. Owen Eldridge

I am at a loss as to why this film has been rated quite highly by film critics. I found it tedious and predictable and I didn’t find one single character in it that I liked and rooted for. Do US soldiers really behave like total twats, or are these characters  just stereotypical for this genre of film.

I will be more than happy if I never see this again.

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Certificate:

Director: Steven Spielberg

Release Date: 21 September 2001

Tagline: David is 11 years old. He weighs 60 pounds. He is 4 feet, 6 inches tall. He has brown hair. His love is real. But he is not.

Main Cast:

David … Haley Joel Osment

Monica Swinton … Frances O’Connor

Jude Law … Gigolo Joe

William Hurt … Prof. Hobby

I first saw this on its release, and I was left feeling rather ambivalent. The first half of the film is superb but then it sort of collapses somewhat suddenly into a sort of Blade Runner scenario. And then it gets even odder than that with the introductions of aliens.

One thing I was not left ambivalent about was Haley Joel Osment. He’s absolutely stunning as David and gives one of the best performances in cinematic history.

And then I watched it again and now I have an altogether different opinion of it. I found myself liking the stark contrast. I still think that it could have been less ‘neon futuristic’, but I was expecting it, and it made a difference. I also found myself liking the ending much more. David may not have got what he desperately wanted, but in the end he still finds peace and happiness, and it’s very touching.

Perhaps this film is one of those that ‘improve’ with a second viewing.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Certificate:

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Release Date: 31 August 1990 (UK)

Main Cast:

Cristina Sánchez Pascual … Yolanda Bel

Julieta Serrano … Abadesa Julia

Dark Habits is a completely bizarre film, and one that I think will either bore you or leave you thinking about it for a few days. I’m not sure if it’s a satire, black comedy, serious drama or even all three!

All of the nuns have very unique personalities and all have different reasons for being there. They are a very eclectic bunch!

Basically, the story is about a group of nuns who provide refuge for life’s waifs and strays. They offer no judgement on those whom they help, and with good reason.

Whilst this is not one of Almodóvar’s best films, it’s still very thought provoking and surprises you in many ways.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Certificate:

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Release Date: 6 April 1968

Tagline: Let the awe and mystery of a journey unlike any other begin.

Main Cast:

Keir Dullea … Dr. Dave Bowman

Gary Lockwood … Dr. Frank Poole

William Sylvester … Dr. Heywood R. Floyd

If ever there was a film to divide people, then this is surely it! For some it’s confusing and dull, but for others it’s a beautiful masterpiece that depicts the journey of the human race coming full circle. I’ve seen it about three times now during various phases of my life. As a child I was firmly in the ‘confusing and dull’ camp. In my twenties I had one foot in each camp. But now I’m in my thirties and have come to rest in the ‘masterpiece’ camp.

In a nutshell, it’s a film about the dawn of man and his evolution.

You can take from it what you will. Some believe that the journey is the work of aliens, and for others it’s the work of God. Either way is fine. It’s not about who is responsible.

Visually stunning with an absolutely perfect soundtrack, 2001 is a seminal film that deserves watching until the end (many people get frustrated at their lack of initial comprehension and give up).

I would advise watching it twice. After the first viewing, read up on what others believe the film symbolises and then watch it again. An excellent website can be found at The High Weirdness Project: 2001 and Beyond the Infinite.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Certificate:

Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan (co-director: India)

Release Date: 9 January 2009

Tagline: Love and money… You have mixed them both.

Main Cast:

Dev Patel … Jamal K. Malik

Saurabh Shukla … Sergeant Srinivas

Anil Kapoor  …  Prem

Freida Pinto … Latika

I’d like to start by mentioning the cast. The above list is really not fair – the children who play the main characters through much of the film are superb and really make the film.

Slumdog Millionaire has been referred to as ‘The feel-good film of the year’. In many ways this is just not true. Yes, the ending is uplifting and leaves you very happy, but the scenes of abject poverty and cruelty are anything but. Yes, Jamal lifts himself out of his awful childhood but most don’t,  and it’s very hard to watch knowing that countless children (and adults) live in such conditions. I spent much of the film feeling extreme sadness.

An absolutely unmissable film.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Certificate:

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Release Date: 23 August 2002

Main Cast:

Javier Cámara … Benigno Martin

Darío Grandinetti … Marco Zuluaga

Leonor Watling … Alicia

Rosario Flores … Lydia González

Not at all what I expected from an Almodóvar film, Talk to Her is a quiet tale of devotion and male bonding. It tells the story of two men who are each in love with a woman in a coma and how they both handle it.

I enjoyed it, but it didn’t set my world alight. Part of the problem, I think, is that I just couldn’t like the main characters very much and therefore it didn’t move me as it perhaps ought to have done.

Having said that though, I did enjoy it and if you are looking for a gentle film that is far from the Hollywood norm then you could do worse than to watch this.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Certificate:

Director: Christian Alvart

Release Date: 17 November 2006

Tagline: The Good is the Evil in it.

Main Cast:

Norman Reedus … Polizist Schmitz

Christian von Aster … Polizist Wagner

André Hennicke … Gabriel Engel

Antibodies is the thinking man’s Silence of the Lambs. It’s a quiet paced drama that gets slowly murkier and the lines between good and evil get somewhat blurred. It’s a far darker story than the above, and is, in my opinion, better. Don’t get me wrong – I really liked Lambs, but it was undoubtedly ‘Hollywood’. Antibodies is a far more disturbing experience. I like disturbing films. They really get under your skin and make you question not only life in general, but also aspects of yourself.

Can’t say much else really, as to do so would spoil the film.

It’s not perfect, but it’s a very good film and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Certificate:

Director: Thomas Alfredson

Release Date: 10 April 2009

Tagline: Eli is 12 years old. She’s been 12 for over 200 years and she just moved in next door.

Main Cast:

Kåre Hedebrant … Oskar

Lina Leandersson … Eli

Per Ragnar … Håkan

Patrik Rydmark … Conny

Let the Right One In, is, in a word, stunning. It’s going to be hard for me to tell you quite why it is, so bear with me. It is a story about love, loneliness and finding your place in the world. It’s a very tender and innocent film despite the fact that it is a film about a vampire. Indeed, to describe it as such is doing it a great disservice. It is so much more than your average vampire film. In fact, it’s not really about that at all. It’s about Oskar and Eli. Two children who are outcasts and share so much in common despite their obvious difference. You could even describe it as a love story.

It’s not like watching a film. Both Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson are so utterly perfect that it feels like you are watching real events. I can’t remember the last time I saw two young actors that are so talented and natural. And their on-screen chemistry is a joy.

It’s beautiful, touching and sad, and it deserved to be shown in more cinemas than it was. I live in a city, but neither of our cinemas (Vue and Odeon) showed it. Doubtless, there is not much money in showing ‘foreign’ films when most cinema goers lap up the Hollywood crap that is churned out at a frightening rate. I shake my head at those who say that they don’t watch a film to read. I bet the same people don’t read books as ‘if it’s any good they’ll turn it into a film’.

Rubbish like Marley and Me plays for weeks, but LTROI wasn’t even given so much as a single screening. I was fortunate enough to be in London during its release and was able to (after some searching) watch it there.

Wonderful.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Certificate:

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

Release Date: 18 May 2001

Tagline: Love. Betrayal. Death.

Main Cast:

Emilio Echevarría … El Chivo

Gael García Bernal … Octavio (as Gael Garcia)

Goya Toledo … Valeria

A horrific car accident connects three stories, each involving characters dealing with loss, regret, and life’s harsh realities, all in the name of love. And bloody marvellous it is too!

Although there are three stories, it never gets confusing as they overlap beautifully.

It’s not really possible to go into it any any great detail because it would take far too long. The above is really all you need to know!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars