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Certificate: 
Director: Andrew Adamson
Release Date: 26 June 2008
Tagline: A new age has begun.
Main Cast:
Ben Barnes … Prince Caspian
Georgie Henley … Lucy Pevensie
Skandar Keynes … Edmund Pevensie
William Moseley … Peter Pevensie
Anna Popplewell … Susan Pevensie
Whilst I enjoyed TCoN: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe I was not a huge fan of it. It looked very pretty, but seemed a bit bland to me. I must confess though, that I dislike ‘precious’ English children in films. They always simper a lot, and invariably can’t act. The actors that play the Pevensie children are no exception and I had an equally tough time watching them in this too. I did like Ben Barnes though as he’s not at all like the others. My dislike of English children aside though, I can’t say that I liked this any more than the first. I thought that at 150 minutes it was rather too long and I found myself losing interest. I seemed to ponder on how the Telmarine men (and possibly the women too) liked having beards. Even their masks had beards. Needless to say, Prince Caspian was handsomely clean shaven. I also never cease to be amazed at how quivers in the movies are magical – archers never, ever run out of arrows.
I should imagine that children from the age of about seven would really enjoy this, but the run time would almost certainly be too much for younger children to sit through. However, as I am reviewing this from an adult’s point of view, I shall rate it accordingly. I watch many children’s films, and I generally enjoy them (as you can see by my other reviews), so I don’t think I’m being unfair.
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Director: Peter Jackson
Release Date: 15 December 2005
Tagline: The eighth wonder of the world.
Main Cast:
Naomi Watts … Ann Darrow
Jack Black … Carl Denham
Adrien Brody … Jack Driscoll
A pointless remake of a faultless classic and utterly tedious as well. Jackson claims to love the original so much that he had to make this film. To think that you could improve on the original is pretty arrogant, I think. Hell, I love Star Wars, but I’d never remake it.
It’s at least an hour too long, and the scenes of peril on the island are so totally contrived that they quickly become boring. And considering that there are a lot of them, it takes some getting through.
King Kong is nothing more than a huge ego trip for Jackson and he should have left well enough alone.
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Director: John Patrick Shanley
Release Date: 6 February 2009
Main Cast:
Meryl Streep … Sister Aloysius Beauvier
Father Brendan Flynn … Philip Seymour Hoffman
Amy Adams … Sister James
Doubt is an undoubted masterpiece! A truly brilliant performance by Meryl Streep (no surprise there though, as she is one of, if not the best actresses of all time). A (main) cast of three with one setting makes for a very powerful film, and at no point did I find myself anything other than totally engrossed. If only there were more films like this.
Sadly though, Joe Public just doesn’t want to pay good money to see excellence. I went to my local Vue the first Sunday after release and they had relegated it to the back of the cinema in a screen that holds less than 100 people. I had a private screening too – nobody else bothered to go and see it. Shame.
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Director: John Favreau
Release Date: 2 May 2008
Tagline: Fully charged.
Main Cast:
Robert Downey Jr … Tony Stark
Terrence Howard … Rhodey
Jeff Bridges … Obadiah Stane
Gwyneth Paltrow … Pepper Potts
Comic book conversions… Some are good, some are bad and some are just average. Iron Man falls into the latter.
It’s shallow and very, very predictable. Now, I know that suspending belief is important when watching comic book films, but Iron Man is at times so ludicrous that this becomes impossible. Possibly the most implausible is the scene where the US Military locate Stark in the middle of the desert and don’t gun him down with friendly fire before he is identified (sorry… Can’t help myself from taking a shot at the trigger happy Americans).
I also think that it does nothing to calm the relations between the USA and Afghanistan. The ‘Jericho’ missile and the ability to wipe out the enemy through such means in the hands of the Americans is, apparently, a great thing. However, when the tables are turned, the man responsible for these weapons has a sudden stab of conscience when he realises that his own weaponry has been used against his country.
The criteria for a comic book that makes a good film are a) a strong protagonist b) great supporting characters, and c) a variety of great villains to pit the heroes against. Sadly, Iron Man has none of these.
The two best adaptations of comic books are Batman and Spider-Man. Both of these have all of the above criteron. Both Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker are characters we can identify with and warm to. Stark is just not likeable. He is a shallow character that you just can’t warm to. And Pepper is just a poor imitation of Spider-Man’s Mary Jane Watson.
The CGI is, however, very good and I really enjoyed the clever use of it.
I really can’t see how they can make a sequel out of this, but I’m sure they will.
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Director: Edmund Goulding
Release Date: 22 April 1939
Main Cast:
Bette Davis … Judith Traherne
George Brent … Dr. Frederick Steele
Humphrey Bogart … Michael O’Leary
Geraldine Fitzgerald … Ann King
Ah… Bette Davis. There is none finer. An absolute gem of Hollywood’s golden years actors and, arguably, the finest of them all.
Bette Davis was one of a kind. She took on the studios and fought for better roles and was more than worth her weight in gold to Warner Bros.
Dark Victory is not only one of her more well known roles but is also one of her finest. I prefer the grittier characters that she played (such as her marvellous portrayals of Julie Morrison in Jezebel and Margo Channing in All About Eve), but she is still magnificent in this. She turns the sentimental and somewhat average storyline into something worthwhile.
Quite why we had to endure so much of the maid in the closing scene is beyond me though. Why waste such time with an absolute nobody in the script when they could have been showing us the wonderful Bette is beyond me.
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Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Release Date: 1 July 1994
Main Cast:
Verónica Forqué … Kika (as Veronica Forque)
Peter Coyote … Nicholas
Victoria Abril … Andrea Caracortada
Àlex Casanovas … Ramón
Whilst not one of his finest, Kika is still very enjoyable. Almodóvar films are quirky and fast paced, and Kika is no exception. He has a unique way of making you laugh in situations that should not be in the least bit funny. You are never sure what’s coming next in an Almodóvar film!
I can imagine that Kika would not be to everyone’s taste, as there are a couple of scenes that are somewhat controversial, and many will not see the humour in it. If this is your first taste of one of his films and you don’t care much for it, it’s worth checking out one or two others before deciding if his style is to your taste or not (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is one of my favourites).
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Director: Ki-duk Kim
Release Date: 14 May 2004
Main Cast:
Yeong-su Oh … Old Monk (as Young-soo Oh)
Ki-duk Kim … Adult Monk
Jae-kyeong Seo … Boy Monk
Yeo-jin Ha … The Girl
SSAW&S is a pure joy to watch. It’s perfect in its simplicity and is simply perfect! It’s a film of understated beauty both in the visuals and the story, and it’s very hard to put into words just how good it is. It tells the story of a monk from childhood to adulthood and is all about the cycles of life and the journeys we take through it.
It’s visually stunning and so calm and peaceful that it creates a kind of serenity in the viewer (rather like the surface of the lake). There is hardly any dialogue and this just adds to the film’s brilliance.
I can’t even come close to doing justice to the film in this review. It really is an experience and should not be missed.
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Director: James Mangold
Release Date: 3 February 2006
Tagline: Love is a burning thing.
Main Cast:
Joaquin Phoenix … John R. Cash
Reese Witherspoon … June Carter
Ginnifer Goodwin … Vivian Cash
I’m going to start by saying that I’m not a Johnny Cash fan. Sure, I can listen to his music and appreciate his very unique style and even hum along sometimes. However, I’d heard a lot of rave reviews about Walk the Line and as I am a fan of both Phoenix and Witherspoon I thought that was three very good reasons to watch it. And I’m sure glad I did!
The acting and vocals (both sang and did not lip-sync) are astounding, as is the chemistry between the two. Even if you are unfamiliar with the life of Johnny Cash, it’s still a great love story (best of all though, it’s not remotely schmaltzy – I don’t think Cash was capable of it!)
It really felt like you were watching Cash himself – Phoenix is that good. At the time of writing, he has declared that he is retiring from acting. I sincerely hope he reconsiders as it will be our loss.
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Director: Paul Haggis
Release Date: 12 August 2005
Tagline: You think you know who you are. You have no idea.
Main Cast:
Sandra Bullock … Jean Cabot
Don Cheadle … Detective Graham Waters
Matt Dillon … Officer John Ryan
The first thing that struck me about Crash (no pun intended!) was how strikingly similar it is to Magnolia. If you loved that then you’ll love this. Even if you didn’t care much for Magnolia then don’t be put off by it.
Crash follows a series of individuals who are seemingly unconnected. However, as the film goes on, their lives begin to become intertwined. The film is basically about how racism, no matter how overt or subtle it may be, affects not only society as a whole, but us as individuals too. It often makes for uncomfortable viewing, not only for the more reprehensible acts of racism, but also because it makes us think about and question our own prejudices whether they be racially motivated or otherwise.
Crash has a fantastic ensemble cast (just three are listed above) and each and every one is brilliant in their role. A worthy Oscar winning film, and should be regarded as a must see.
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Director: Billy Ray
Release Date: 14 May 2004
Tagline: Read between the lies.
Main Cast:
Hayden Christensen … Stephen Glass
Peter Saarsgaard … Charles ‘Chuck’ Lane
Chloë Sevigny … Caitlin Avey
Shattered Glass is the true story of Stephen Glass – a journalist who fell from grace when it was found he had fabricated over half of his articles. Hayden Christensen is brilliant as Glass. All those of you out there who think he can’t act should watch this and maybe have a little rethink.
Despite the fact that it doesn’t sound all that interesting (I’d never even heard of Stephen Glass before) it’s one of those films that draws you in and keeps your attention from start to finish.
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