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Certificate: 
Directors: Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino
Release Date: 21 March 2008
Tagline: After all, a person is a person, no matter how small.
Main Cast: (voice)
Jim Carrey … Horton
Steve Carell … Mayor
Carol Burnett … Kangaroo
I always liked Dr. Suess’s books but have remained doubtful if any of them could really be converted to a film. After the utterly dreadful The Cat in the Hat (2003), I understand that his widow decided to no longer give permission for live action adaptations of the books.
So, is HHAW! any good? I’m pleased to say that yes, it is. It’s made by the studio responsible for the Ice Age films, which are very good, and is very charming and engaging from the start. Obviously, the target audience is for younger children, but any fan of Dr. Suess (such as myself) would find this entertaining.
Pure, simple and innocent fun. Fantastic!
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Director: Martin Scorsese
Release Date: 12 March 2010
Tagline: Someone is missing.
Main Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio … Teddy Daniels
Mark Ruffalo … Chuck Aule
Ben Kingsley … Dr. John Cawley
Max von Sydow … Dr. Jeremiah Naehring
U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who has escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island.
I really liked this. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you anything more about it, because it’s just ones of those films that you have to sit and watch for yourself. It’s worth your time though, as it’s easily one of the best films of 2010.
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Director: Andrew Niccol
Release Date: 20 March 1998
Tagline: There is no gene for the human spirit.
Main Cast:
Ethan Hawke … Vincent Freeman
Uma Thurman … Irene Cassini
Jude Law … Jerome Eugene Morrow
Many sci-fi films portray the future as a bleak place where humanity is in decline and/or some kind of place that is post apocalyptic and lawless. Gattaca is the exact opposite.
Instead of bleak hopelessness, we are given a future where we have refined genetic engineering, and perfect human specimens can be born. Those, however, who have been conceived and born naturally are deemed to be of a lower class, and therefore only suitable for menial work.
Vincent Freeman is a ‘faith born’. Genetically inferior and predicted to have many and severe health problems, Vincent has no chance of fulfilling his ambitions; at least not as himself. He takes on the identity of Jerome Morrow, genetically perfect but paralysed as a result of a car crash, to realise his potential, but he must pass rigorous and frequent tests to prove his genetic suitability.
On the surface, genetically engineered humans may seem like a good idea but wouldn’t we be creating elitism and damning natural borns into the bowels of society? Perhaps Gattaca is not the exact opposite after all.
I think that this was perhaps one of those films that seemed to pass by without too much notice but will find its audience in due time. Slick, subtle and with a strange feeling of clinical calmness, Gattaca is a very, very good film.
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![[REC] 2](http://www.greebly.co.uk/film-images/REC-2.jpg)
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Directors: Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza
Release Date: 28 May 2010
Tagline: Fear revisited.
Main Cast:
Jonathan Mellor … Dr Owen
Óscar Zafra … Jefe (as Oscar Sánchez Zafra)
Ariel Casas … Larra
Alejandro Casaseca … Martos
Pablo Rosso … Rosso
Pep Molina … Padre Jennifer
[REC] 2 is an absolute corker of a sequel. It follows on directly from [REC] and is just as creepy and scary as the first. The story takes a really interesting twist and also leaves a loose ending, so we may be in for a trilogy. There’s nothing really to review, because you have to see the first one as 2 would make no sense on its own. If you liked the first, then you’ll love the sequel.
Bloody marvellous!
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Director: Hoyt Yeatman
Release Date: 31 July 2009
Tagline: The world needs bigger heroes.
Main Cast:
Bill Nighy … Leonard Saber
Zach Galifianakis … Ben
Sam Rockwell … Darwin (voice)
Jon Favreau … Hurley (voice)
Nicolas Cage … Speckles (voice)
G-Force has guinea pigs in it. Talking guinea pigs. That’s two stars already! I actually really liked this, and don’t know why it has such a poor rating on the IMDB. It’s fast and funny, and although the plot is slightly bizarre and formulaic, it kept me entertained. Basically, a group of guinea pig special agents discover a plot to take over the world through household appliances (I told you it was bizarre), and they have to save the day. There are some really good gadgets, and I especially liked the exercise ball cars.
Whilst not in the same league as Pixar films, G-Force is still very worth watching both for children and adults.
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Directors: Michael Spierig & Peter Spierig
Release Date: 6 January 2010
Tagline: In 2019, the most precious natural resource… Is us.
Main Cast:
Ethan Hawke … Edward Dalton
Willem Dafoe … Lionel ‘Elvis’ Cormac
Sam Neill … Charles Bromley
Another good vampire film! First we had 30 Days of Night, and then Let The Right One In. Daybreakers has a very good look and feel (Edward Dalton reminded me of Constantine – a moody, chain-smoking antihero) and it drew me in very quickly. It has just the right level of gore and humour to balance it out, and despite its grim setting it never slips over the line into pretentiousness.
I liked the story and thought that it brought something new to the genre, which is quite hard to do as we all know the ‘rules’ concerning vampires (as ludicrous as that sounds!)
Yes, there was a formulaic side to it, but it was done so well that I didn’t mind. I’d be more than happy to watch it again.
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Directors: George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Richard Marquand
Release Date: 1977, 1980, 1983
Main Cast:
Mark Hamill … Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford … Han Solo
Carrie Fisher … Princess Leia Organa
David Prowse and James Earl Jones (voice) … Darth Vader
There’s no point in reviewing these separately. Star Wars is my religion, and George Lucas is my God! If you haven’t already seen these (and if not – why not?) then there’s something wrong with you.
I will say, though, that please, please watch the original versions and not the special editions. George Lucas may think that he made changes for the better, but he didn’t. If only he realised that you can’t improve on perfection.
Star Wars changed cinema. It also changed lives.
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P.S. Han shoots first.
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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.
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Director: Tim Burton
Release Date: 5 March 2010
Tagline: You’re invited to a very important date.
Main Cast:
Johnny Depp … Mad Hatter
Mia Wasikowska … Alice
Helena Bonham Carter … Red Queen
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are a marriage made in heaven. With Tim Burton you are sure to get a visual delight and a cinematic experience that is unique to him. It would also be rather remiss of me to neglect to mention Danny Elfman, whose talent makes up a fantastic trio.
It’s magical, fantastical, and utterly delightful! I also really enjoyed Helena Bonham Carter’s performance, although it’s rather disconcerting to see her head on a small body!
I never really liked AIW as a child (I didn’t like the Chronicles of Narnia either), so, for me, this was not as enjoyable as Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I love Roald Dahl). In that respect, I can’t really do a total review as I do not know the books. Perhaps an AIW devotee may not like this.
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Directors: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson (co-director)
Release Date: 9 October 2009
Main Cast: (Voice)
Ed Asner … Carl Fredricksen
Jordan Nagai … Russell
Christopher Plummer … Charles Muntz
I don’t know how Pixar do it, but they have raised the bar again with this glorious film.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried. Three times, in fact (and twice during the first twenty minutes or so!) Watching Carl’s life unfold is both joyous and heartbreaking. And then, along comes Russell to cheer us all up!
I could write for hours about what makes Up such a work of pure genius, but I won’t. You need to discover it for yourself.
Please, please do not miss this film!
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