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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.
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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.
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Director: Sam Raimi
Release Date: 27 May 2009
Tagline: Christine Brown has a good job, a great boyfriend, and a bright future. But in three days, she’s going to Hell.
Main Cast:
Alison Lohman … Christine Brown
Justin Long … Clay Dalton
Lorna Raver … Mrs Ganush
It’s so good to see a Sam Raimi horror back on the big screen! He’s been gone too long (in this genre).
Drag Me To Hell is everything you’d expect from him – over the top “ewww” factor and funny scares. It’s great to see flying eyeballs back where they belong (so to speak).
Despite much of the horror being comedic, there are some genuine scares (not for a seasoned horror pro like me, but going by the squeals of the audience I can tell there was!) I spent much of the film grinning as I really like Raimi’s brand of gross-out horror.
We have, at last, another great Sam Raimi classic!
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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.
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Director: J.J. Abrams
Release Date: 8 May 2009
Tagline: The future begins.
Main Cast:
Chris Pine … James T. Kirk
Zachary Quinto … Spock
Karl Urban … Leonard “Bones” McCoy
Leonard Nimoy … Spock Prime
Eric Bana … Nero
I’m not a Trekker. I think that people who have learned to speak Klingon need to get out more. I don’t like the numerous spin-offs and the feature films (bar one or two) have been rather tedious. I do, however, like the original series, and was excited at the prospect of Star Trek re-imagined with all of the original characters.
It has a wonderful feel to it. The actors have really researched their parts well and the casting (especially Pine, Quinto and Bones) is excellent. I remain undecided about Simon Pegg (Scotty) though. His Scottish accent was, at times, somewhat dodgy to say the least.
So, they get a 10/10 for the look and feel of the film, but it has its faults.
This is very much a prequel to the original series. It deals with character introduction not only to us, but to each other as well. It therefore has to spend considerable time in scene setting (as did Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace). I really enjoyed this section of the film as I think that introduction to the characters is an extremely important part. If you don’t care for the characters (be it in film, book or TV series) then it won’t work.
With regards to the plot, I liked that they didn’t leap to the obvious enemy and went with the slightly lesser known Romulans (the Klingons will require more screen time and it was a wise decision to leave them until, at least, the next instalment). I did find myself a bit confused in one or two places, and I found that I lost concentration at one point in trying to work out what the Hell was going on, which was a bit of a shame. I would have preferred something other than the inevitably messy time travelling story. There are always so many loopholes when time travel is involved, and I’m really not a big fan of it. When you throw in a parallel universe too, it gets even messier.
So, despite its faults, now that the crew of the Enterprise has been established I expect the next one to have a much better story with more heart and depth to it.
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Directors: Matthew O’Callaghan and Todd Wilderman (co-director)
Release Date: 27 January 2009
Tagline: This time it’s pets against wilds. Weiner takes all!
Main Cast: (voice)
Joel McHale … Elliot
Mike Epps … Boog
If you haven’t seen the original you might wonder what on earth is going on, so I recommend you watch Open Season first. You’ll get more out of it if you do. Of course, being a kid’s film it’s not essential, but I like to watch films in the correct order and you’ll get a better feel for the main characters if you do.
Whilst not in the same league as Pixar (but then again, who is?) I found this to be a really funny sequel and not in the least bit disappointing. There is plenty to amuse kids and adults alike (it had my husband laughing out loud!)
The poor old bunnies get a bit of a raw deal, but they are scene stealers! Their expressions are priceless!
Good, solid entertainment and I would happily watch it again.
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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.
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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.
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Directors: John Lasseter and Joe Ranft (co-director)
Release Date: 28 July 2006
Tagline: Ahhh… It’s got that new movie smell.
Main Cast: (voice)
Owen Wilson … Lightning McQueen
Paul Newman … Doc Hudson
Bonnie Hunt … Sally Carrera
Larry The Cable Guy … Mater
I have no clue why this received lukewarm reviews on release as it’s a very charming, funny and engaging film. How the animators managed to get so much character into cars I’ll never know. Humans and animals are easy to inject with emotion, but Pixar are proving to be exceptional at showing emotions on just about anything that they can put eyes on!
The film opens with a thundering race scene and the high octane thrills are fantastic, but its real joy is in the gentle and close knit town in which Lightning McQueen finds himself.
My favourite character has to be Mater, and my favourite scene is when he takes Lightning ‘cow’ tipping. Pure genius!
Cars is a visually stunning gem of a film. What more could you ask for?
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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!
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