Will Smith & Son Jaden Smith, star in a emotional tail, which is inspired by a true story of a salesman who's struggling to bring money to the table. When his long term gilfriend finally has enough and walks out, Chris ( Will Smith ) is left to raise his 5 year old son alone. With some determination Chris lands himself a unpaid internship in a seriously competitive stockbroker training program. Due to Chris having no money to pay for rent, they are evicted from their apartment and are forced to sleep on the streets, homeless shelters and in one scene Chris even locks him and his son behind the metro station toilets. With his son beside him everystep of the way, Chris rises above his obstacles to become successful again!

American Beauty (1999)

Black comedy of the deepest and richest darkness overlaid by constant intercutting of dreams that are forgotten in the action and become a normality; this dark, stylised films contains some genuine laughs, only to be overshadowed by winsing. Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is having a mid-life crisis. He's about to be fired from his job as the company takes employee cuts; his teenage daughter Jane (Thora Birch) holds him in a fierce grasp that only teenagers can acheive. Wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) has morphed into the quintistial housewife 90's style, work driven, OCD obsessed housewife with her perfectly moulded figure hides a volitile character. The Burnhams' friends and neighbors include Lesters rival Buddy King (Peter Gallagher), new kid next door Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley), who deals drugs and films everything; Ricky's dad, a marine hardman (Chris Cooper); and the guppie Jims (Scott Bakula, Sam Robards). And, of course, Jane's young cheerleader friend Angela (Mena Suvari), representing Lesters want to get back to the days of careless partying, leading him to radically change his life to have her dote on him.

Sonatine (1993) Film Review

Japanese director Takeshi Kitano does it again in this amazingly scripted and filmed mafia movie. Kitano is well known in Japan for his violent crime dramas and is apparently perceived to be Japans very own John Woo. Mr Kitano did not only direct "Sonatine", he also wrote the script and even and played the lead role as a Yakuza leader (Murakawa) sent to stop a turf war in Okinawa. Very early on after arriving in Okinawa things go wrong and bullets start flying. Kitano a man of his word and honour wishes to leave the mafia lead lifestyle behind but he knows that certain circumstances make that impossible. After the flying bullets come to a halt Kitano leaves the carnage with a few of his men hiding in a seaside villa. While there they enjoy their last days on a beach.



Kitano unlike many other action genre directors focuses on the reaction to violence;
He uses a static camera in nearly every scene while using the landscape backdrop for the violent deaths of his goons. These deaths are seen to be very abstract as the victims barely flinch in reaction to their own deaths. The near ending of the film is an extraordinary; it is presented in the real Takashi style. Kitano is seen entering a hotel where his bosses are having a meeting with an M-16 assault rifle. The camera remains on the street looking up at the top floor of the building, later flashes of gunfire is seen through the windows.

By Aris Sahin

This film is a gangster film based on the true story of Henry Hill, who is part of the mob and his life over 30 years. He starts to be more important to the 'family'. The storyline follows several different events over three decades. Not all of the events that are talked about and alluded to are shown, but the narrating voice of Henry helps you catch up with the story.

The use of violence and swearing in the film may offend some people, but it is in context and it works with the themes and ideas of the film. I would recommend it to people who enjoyed other Mafia based films, and any fans of Martin Scorsese's other big movies.

Sonatine (1993) Film Review

Japanese director Takeshi Kitano does it again in this amazingly scripted and filmed mafia movie. Kitano is well known in Japan for his violent crime dramas and is apparently perceived to be Japans very own John Woo. Mr Kitano did not only direct "Sonatine", he also wrote the script and even and played the lead role as a Yakuza leader (Murakawa) sent to stop a turf war in Okinawa. Very early on after arriving in Okinawa things go wrong and bullets start flying. Kitano a man of his word and honour wishes to leave the mafia lead lifestyle behind but he knows that certain circumstances make that impossible. After the flying bullets come to a halt Kitano leaves the carnage with a few of his men hiding in a seaside villa. While there they enjoy their last days on a beach.
Kitano unlike many other action genre directors focuses on the reaction to violence; He uses a static camera in nearly every scene while using the landscape backdrop for the violent deaths of his goons. These deaths are seen to be very abstract as the victims barely flinch in reaction to their own deaths. The near ending of the film is an extraordinary; it is presented in the real Takashi style. Kitano is seen entering a hotel where his bosses are having a meeting with an M-16 assault rifle. The camera remains on the street looking up at the top floor of the building, later flashes of gunfire is seen through the windows.

Hotel Rwanda, directed by Terry George depicts the catastrophic events that occured during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, caused by the conflict between two tribes; the Tsootsies and the Hutus.
The film is told through the eyes of a hotel manager (Don Cheadle) a courages character who strives to protect his family and everyday people around him, endangering his own life throughout. The superb performances from Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo only better the film and it's realism during the more moving scenes.
I really enjoyed the film and would highly recommend it, especially to anyone who enjoys films that portray actual events that have occured (for example 'Last King of Scotland.' Although the film wasn't action based, it was still fast paced and enjoyable to watch; althought at points barely endurable because of the sheer atrociousness of the content.

This film isn't the best comedy I have seen and there are no outstanding performances from the cast,yet they all have their entertaining moments.
The film is bursting into song Bollywood style, which is the only thing i really enjoyed.
Watch this film if you don't mind being disappointed.

South Park is regarded as a highly entertaining film, the film contains violence, racism and abusive language.
It is a musical type film which gives the film meaning. The whole point of the film is about mothers against some Canadian actors and their abusive film with a few twist offs which make the film more entertaining.
The main character is Kyle with his friends who have to stand up to their mothers, the victims are the Canadian actors Terrence And Phillip, Kenny who once again dies finds out the shocking truth of the Devil and Haddam Usain wanting to take over the world and gives information to Cartmen.
Whilst all this is happening there is other story lines about Stanley trying to get with Wendy.
Also the Devil and Haddam Usian want to go and rule earth but they have a shocking truth they have.
Overall a great film i think overall its worth watching.

This film was personally recommended to me, and with big names such as Josh Hartnett and Kirstin Dunst staring in it, I had high hopes for it being an enjoyable watch. Sadly, I was disappointed as straight from the off the film made no sense and did not appear to have an understandable storyline. Many strange events took place, such as one of the girls killing themselves at their birthday party, which was not explained and therefore confused the already hard to follow plot.
The film was presented as a rememberance of five sisters who all committed suicide, and looked at their lives and the events leading up to their deaths, however the people who were narrating the film had hardly any relationship to the girls at all, so it was unclear why they were recalling the story. Further more, from the start of the film it was made clear the sisters were all going to die, therefore I was expecting an exciting build up to this event, but the majority of the film was very random and skipped between ideas (not to mention it was very boring), and in the end there seemed to be no apparent reason why the girls killed themselves at all.
After being very disappointed with this film I would not recommend it to anyone. However, maybe you should watch it just to see if you can make anymore sense out of it than me!

Gangster No. 1 follows the wildly gruesome and disturbing life of a London gangster, played in two parts by Paul Bettany and Malcolm McDowell. The un-named young gangster is recruited into the ruthless gang of Freddie Mays - a well known London crime lord.

As more and more jobs come in, the young gangster becomes deranged and psychotic, and develops a lust for blood. This isn't enough though; the gangster wants Freddie's place as leader and eventually he gets the chance to turn a blind eye on his employer's planned murder. "The King is dead! Long live the king!"

The new school takes charge and from then on, the money comes rolling in. Hundreds of dirty dealings puts the young gangster on top of the world, but was it really worth it?

Gangster No. 1 is an incredibly violent in depth view of a psychotic young mind that experiences the serious side of a gangster's life. I would give this film ***** for the incredible concept of the film and Paul Bettany's performance which stood out and took the film to another level.

By Rupert Andrews.

I think this film is a very interesting watch, but its definately not for everyone. I would recommend this film to an audience who appriciate the different approach that world cinema has, like the different pace, which provides a nicechange to what most of us are used to. For me, being a fan of Pedro Alomdovar's previous/other films such as 'Volver' and 'talk to her' this film didn't quite live up to my expectations, these are possibly just my specific strange expectations though.
Two male fellow cathelic school students who experiance a 'Bad Education' meet up later on in life and attempt to create a film of their challenged childhood.
The film displays beautiful cinematography and a wonderful distructive storyline.
With Gael Garcia Bernal playing what turns out to be a misleading, part in the story the film takes on many twists.

Pulp Fiction


Pulp fiction is a story set in Los Angles and opens with two small time robbers sticking up a diner and sees “honey bunny” turn from sweet and simple girl into a violent and loud robber in a matter of seconds when she yells” Any of you fucking pricks move, and I’ll execute every last mother fucking one of you!” the next scene involves two hit men retrieving a brief case from a gang and the reading of a line of the bible to them then killing them. The next story is of a war hero hiding a watch up his arse for 7 years then giving it to his son. His son then becomes a boxer and gets paid by a mafia boss to lose a fight. One of the hit men (called Vince) is asked to take the Boss’s wife out to keep her entertained while he’s away. While taking her out she takes some oh his heroine thinking it’s cocaine and proceeds to over dose and starts to have a fit until Vince administers a shot of adrenaline to her heart they then swear never to talk about it. It then skips back to just after the two hit men when they have a near death experience and Jules decides to leaves the business and become a wander or as Vince outs it, a “bum”. The boxer decides not to do as he’s told and go down and end up killing the other boxer then running town and only by a chance encounter does he survive

In my opinion the best part of the film is the dialogue and the way all the characters lives blend together in a apparently unrelated way. The way the story plunges you so mercilessly into the characters life and only explains certain things through other characters stories. One of my favourite bits of the film is when butch is looking for a weapon to go and attack people holding Marsellus Wallace. The way he ranges from a relatively reasonable weapon such as a hammer all the way up to a unreasonable weapon like the samurai sword. It’s a incredibly funny part of the film to see the look in his eye when he spots it.

The way the film both ends and begins with the same scene also helps to demonstrate the way the film flows incredibly well. And how with out certain meaningless elements for one story are extremely important for other parts of the film.

Alex Tomkins.

Braindead is a horror directed by Peter Jackson. Its about a young spanish girl called Paquita who is looking for romance and believes that the young man who comes into the shop she works in everyday is the one, until one day her grandmother gets her tarith cards out and reads her future. She tells her that her destiny will be found by a star. Later that day a young boy called Lionel comes in and picks a pencil out of the pot. The pot tips over and a star is made from the pencils. Therefore she believes he is the one. Going straight at him he is nervous and doesn't no what to say. So they talk about her dog. They end up talking about the zoo and she says yes please to wanting to go. However while at the zoo Lionel's mother follows them however she slips on rubbish and gets bitten by a rat monkey. She then turns into a monster. This monster then goes killing other and creating more monsters. You will have to watch the film to find out the rest.

I found that the typical blonde brown haired girl thing happened. I enjoyed the begining however i felt that the end went on to much and got boring. I felt alot of the effects were good for when it was made. However if you watch it now it would seem quiet old. This film is rated a 18 however i felt that 18 was to high as it wasnt a scary film. It was quiet gory but not scary. I also found that some parts were unintentionaly funny.

This review was written by
Abbie Young

This film explores the lives of two men who grow a gay relationship whilst working together on the Brokeback mountains. You see their struggle to contain how they feel for each other along with their family back home. In the end however you see that living a lie is not as easy as they thought, as their relationships break down and tragedy strikes.

This is a well acted portrayal from Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. I would recommend this film for anyone who wants to watch a heartfelt movie, and doesn't mind possibly crying at the end. Although it begins slowly I stuck with it and enjoyed it.

This film is very good. No other film has made me question the very fibre of being. I recommend this film to everyone. The best bit is when Neo and Trinity has the Uzis and just kill everyone everyone in the room. yeah, see this film.

A film that's purposly made to confuse the audience, although by using this tactic its strangely captivating. With outstanding performances by Naomi Watts, Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro, the story follows our protagonists messed up lives, getting even worse, somehow finding their own lives intertwined. A film i'd definetly reccomend, although initially, very confusing. Unable to stop yourself feeling sympathetic for these misunderstood characters.

Directed by Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez and guest director Quentin Tarateno

This film is quite good with the use of black and white footage and bold blocks of colour being shown, which enhances and gives the film a very unique feel to it. The acting with in the film is very exaggerated, with an over voice going through the film telling you what the characters are thinking and what they could do next. There is a lot of Tarateno styled blood and killing action that is quite hard to understand why they are killing people in this way. There is 3 main story lines in the film and all of them are centered around love stories that turn out horribly wrong but get sorted by lots of killing and brutal beatings. The first watch is hard to get into the film and you don't really understand some of the things that are going on through the film, but it you saw it a second time it may seem much more understandable and the story lines ill make more sense.

Nicola Taylor

Whilst watching this, you can really see that The Devil's Backbone is like a rough sketch for Del Toro's later, more successful film, Pan's Labyrinth. From the very beginning, with the narrator questioning us what a ghost is, there is an eerie, uneasy atmosphere, and within five minutes of the film you're already asking questions.
The film revolves around the mystery of Santi, the ghost of a schoolboy who mysteriously died not long before Carlos, the main character, joins the poorly-run orphanage in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. The Devil's Backbone also dips into thrilling sub-plots involving money, deceit and sexual relationships.
Although it is mainly based on the ghost of Santi and the horrors that surround him, the film gives you a good insight into what being a child during the time of the Civil War was like.
With a storyline that is gripping from beginning to end, twists that you really do not expect and even some pretty horrific gore, this film is a definite must-see, especially for fans of psychological thrillers such as "The Others", "The Orphanage" and "The City of Lost Children".

'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' directed by Ken Loach, is about Ireland in the 1920s fighting for independence. The main character Damien, played by Cillian Murphy, is a doctor who leaves his profession to fight for his country he deeply loves. Winning 5 out of 18 Oscar nominations 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' gives a deep insight into the thoughts of the people caught up in the fight for independence, and their reactions to the treaties Britain presents them. A pivotal scene in the film which links its self with another is when Damien talks about giving the letters of a dead man to his relatives, and the relatives saying they don't want to see him again. Tied in with Damien's death and his letters, his brother gives Damien's letters to his relatives. The lack of background music shows how realistically based the story is, only using the music for the most intense scenes of the film. 'The wind that shakes the Barley' is a good historical film very close to the real story of Ireland's fight for independence.

'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' directed by Ken Loach, is about Ireland in the 1920s fighting for independence. The main character Damien, played by Cillian Murphy, is a doctor who leaves his profession to fight for his country he deeply loves. Winning 5 out of 18 Oscar nominations 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' gives a deep insight into the thoughts of the people caught up in the fight for independence, and their reactions to the treaties Britain presents them. A pivotal scene in the film which links its self with another is when Damien talks about giving the letters of a dead man to his relatives, and the relatives saying they don't want to see him again. Tied in with Damien's death and his letters, his brother gives Damien's letters to his relatives. The lack of background music shows how realistically based the story is, only using the music for the most intense scenes of the film. 'The wind that shakes the Barley' is a good historical film very close to the real story of Ireland's fight for independence.

Election? Doesn’t that mean democracy? Set in a typical American high school. Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) is a go-getter, ambitious candidate who will do anything in her power to win the next spot as the student council president. Her teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) ends up having to face the consequences of dealing with this over-achiever as one of his colleagues’ had his life ruined after McAllister found out that his friend and Tracy were both having an affair. In vengeance, McAllister decides to encourage Paul Metzler (Klein) a sidelined sportsman who is left with a broken leg to go up against Tracy and her solely mastermind plans.

While its very unusual to see elections bought in a mature but juvenile community. The political satire plot stands just as strong with the incredible performances played from the protagonists. The multi narration involving the views of each character is so mesmerizing that it literally tips the scale of the film. The script is somewhat mixed with intelligent and ethical issues that revolves around the individuals as the story progresses. You can just tell that there is a sense of justice in what their minds say. I admit it; it was well delivered and written.

The funny thing about Election is that it’s considered to be at the fullest extent, a black comedy. In some respect it’s true, the music that is constantly used in the film will range from a hazy light-hearted up-beat tone to a bizarrely contrived reggae style composition. Most importantly is the development of how the plot turns out. With McAllister committing what is formally called, adultery, (which ultimately contradicts his feelings at the beginning) and Tracy having a tantrum and stupefying to the highest degree of vandalism. It all turns out to be the red herring. Still, we mustn’t forget that this is a black comedy.

A dark horse candidate known as Tammy (a lesbian) has the particular intentions in reigning anarchism across the school. This was a very interesting take and twist for the film. The only unfortunate thing is that her part isn’t fully developed as the rest. Her snooty and gibberish behaviour had some likeability in contrast to her initial confidence at speech. The fact was that she was only a mere foil that could possibly disrupt the flow of the story.

As a whole, Election is like no other film that you will have encountered for a long time. It’s charismatic story and characters show a decency of remorse in the decisions we make and the sort of caricature people that we will meet in our very lifetime. If your looking for a fun heart-warming black comedy. Give Election its first vote!

Annie Hall, directed in 1977 by Woody Allen is about the up and down Romance between Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) and Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). The film is set mainly in New York with references to Alvy’s childhood in Brooklyn and Annie’s future in Los Angeles.

Although the film is quite slow moving compared to more recent films, I actually prefer this as it means the contents of the scenes are shown in more detail.
For example for a lot of the scenes long flashbacks are used to show the memories of the main characters. This gives the audience a better insight into the characters’ past.
I would say however that at some points of the film this made the order of the scenes slightly confusing but this could have been deliberate to represent the slightly random order of when Annie and Alvy were and weren’t together.

Woody Allen used quite a lot of unusual techniques in this film such as showing Alvy talking directly to the camera as if he were addressing the audience. For example in one scene he talks to the camera about a man behind him in a queue who is annoying him. The man then joins him in talking to the camera and they have an argument about their views on Marshal Mcluhen. The scene becomes even more surreal when Marshal Mchluhen joins them in their conversation.
This is a reference to earlier on in the film when Alvy mentions having a problem between fantasy and reality.
Similarly in a lot of the flashbacks Alvy and Annie enter the scenes and watch themselves as if they are reminiscing. This is quite a clever use of stylisation which I haven’t ever seen before in other films.

Overall I found Annie Hall enjoyable and funny with a witty edge and clever use of filming techniques, which probably reflect the character of Woody Allen.
The romance between Alvy and Annie is shown as comic but moving and often up and down. It reminded me of the beginning of the film when Alvy describes living under a rollercoaster as a child having an effect on the way he is when he’s older. I think this might have been a comparison to the relationship between Annie and Alvy.
The last scene of the film is my favourite, in which Alvy is reminded of a joke he knows about a man whose brother thinks he’s a chicken. He uses the joke to sum up relationships as ‘totally irrational and crazy and absurd but I guess we keep going through it because we need the eggs’.

When choosing or talking about films by the Coen brothers, The Hudsucker Proxy would not be an obvious choice to make. However, this film is a witty, satire take on corporate American businesses and American films made in the 1950s.

The story takes on a typical image, another college graduate from another town in the middle of America, who moves to New York City to become successful and to gain everything he dreams of. This man goes by the name of Norville Barnes, from Muncie, Indiana. He lands himself a job as a simple mailroom clerk at 'Hudsucker Industries', however, when the owner jumps out of the window and kills himself things start to change dramatically. The company needs a new president, so Norville Barnes is appointed, taking on the duty of the imbecile that owns the company, so the other board representatives can wait till stocks go to an all-time low and they can therefore be richer than ever before.

But then there's the newspaper reporter, who sees through this plan and through luck and her simple womanly attributes she is able to sneak her way into the company and get an inside view on things, at the same time publishing her findings in the newspaper she works for, witnessing a rocky road to success for Norville Barnes and Hudsucker Industries.

There isn't anything too complex in this Coen brothers film, the camerawork is pretty simple and the emphasis is on the characters and the acting themselves. The story is a witty one, and you can tell that the Coen brothers are simply mocking 1950s America, such as the fast talking and rapid hand movements- a necessity to 1950s acting. The whole film represents life at this time, the costumes and the settings are very accurate, especially the characters and the views they portray.

The characters have been established very clearly, you feel sympathetic for Norville Barnes and his idiotic mind and the character of Sidney Mussburger is just simply cold throughout and you realise that there is nothing nice about the man.

Overall I really enjoyed 'The Hudsucker Proxy', for it's witty take on 1950s American business and acting and of course the talented skills of John and Ethan Coen to be able to make a farce that isn't totally ridiculous.

If…
Directed by Lindsay Anderson
1968

British and ultraviolent, a lot like It's A Knockout.

If, or to give its proper name If.... is widely regarded to be a classic (if somewhat revolutionary) piece of British cinema. The film explores life in a 60's British public school as well as the groups that inhabit it and the hierarchy they are part of. Despite the film being a satirisation of public school life the characters feel very real and can be related to on numerous levels.

Even though If…. is now 40 years old it doesn’t feel nearly as dated as it should. This is probably due to the fact that the film’s themes are still relevant today, non-conformity and adolescent rebellion will always exist and as long as there are people willing to fight against social constraints and oppression this film will have it’s place. Ironically the films violent ending is similar to the current events of today rather than the time the film was made, with events such as the Virginia Tech massacre and the Columbine school shooting becoming more frequent occurrences in modern society.

This film is difficult to define in terms of genre, there are elements of drama, black comedy and surreal humour all coming together in a quirky yet very dark film, a cinematic sweet and sour, if you will.

I enjoyed If…. and found it to be an interesting film to say the least, at first I thought that the film would be more humour based and surreal than it was, in retrospect the film worked very well just as it was and given the choice I would not change it. I would recommend this film to fans of British cinema and anyone who likes their films with a little depth, but if all you want is to be entertained with something nice and simple this film probably isn’t for you.

Chris Ramsden.

One of The Coen Brothers latest film came to our screens the Coen's have adapted the crime novel by Cormac McCarthy for the big screen with breathtaking look into the Crime Thriller novel. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin. The ostensible hero is Llewellyn Moss (Brolin), a Vietnam vet who stumbles across the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong while hunting antelope in Texas. He takes a suitcase stuffed with $2 million in cash, Moss goes on the run. He realize that the suitcase is fitted with a tracking device. Following its signal is hitman Anton Chigurh (Bardem) armed with a cattle stun gun (which fires compressed air which he uses to kill his victims), Bardem's character has a menacingly calm demeanour which is portrayed very well in his scenes especially duing the scene with the gas station owner.

The birds was an amazing horror film if not slightly random. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock And starring Tippi Hedren as the lead actress. The film starts with main character Melanie (Tippi Hedren) pursuing a love interest ( Mitch) when all the birds of every kind start to attack people. When I read this on the blurb It sounded almost comical but was anything but. The scene that gripped me the most was when Melanie was outside waiting for a child (Mitch's younger sister) to come out of school . She was sitting on a bench with a cigarette and the children's singing in the background. When we start to see shots of behind her and on the children's play equipment is a crow, and then we see her and one by one, more crows appear behind her on the children's play equipment until the whole background school play area is full. She looks behinds her and slowly walks into the school to warn the children. The children come out of the slowly and are told be careful until she says run. As soon as the school, teacher says run , the birds attack the children violently.
This film was totally original and making something that seems so harmless completely terrifying. This movie builds suspense throughout and leaves the film on a cliffhanger . I thought it brilliant there was no sequel so we are left guessing.
The film is almost more scary when you can't see any birds because it builds that tension and silence.
I thought this a brilliant film and a complete original horror.

Donnie darko is the strange and surreal story of a brilliant and troubled teenager working through the strange goings on around his life.
Starring Jake Gyllenhall (The day after tommorow) and Jena Malone, this 1988 film is stunningly wierd and will get into your mind.
The effects used in this film are amazingly well done, from showing the life paths of the people in the film in a strange and unique way to the effect of ripples in an invisible wall. Not only do these effects help show how surreal the film is but the use of camera shots also helps show this. In one scene the camera rotates around showing how confused Donnie Darko's life is, and as the camera follows people all around the school you see the odd and yet at the same time normal lives of all these other students.

The plot of Donnie Darko will keep you watching till the end just to understand how all the events come together, The constant plot twists can become confusing but only add to the intensity of the film. Because of this you may need to watch it twice in order to understand the film completely.
At the begining Donnie seems like your typical troubled teen, but as the film continues you see him become darker and you are constantly wondering is what he sees is real or not, even by the end the audience still isn't completely sure if everything they saw was real or not.

The final song in the film is 'Mad world' is a beautiful song, and when you see it with the second to last scene it will send shivers up your spine.
The music in general is a good aspect to the film, with piano pieces playing everynow and again which give a creepy air to the film.

Donnie Darko is a beautiful and deeply physcological film, it will give you chills and is worth putting down as a film to see before you die.

"There's 8 million islands out here, why should they find this one?"Lord of the flies was an interesting film that was shot on a deserted tropical island. After a horrific plane crash this group of young innocent schoolboys were left stranded there, having to fend for themselves. In the beginning of this powerful story the boys elected Ralph to be their leader, but some of the other boys had a different idea. When Jack decided to start an alliance of savages that he called "hunters" who where covered in war paint and went out killing wild pigs and anything else they could eat that's when the group was divided. In this film the music played a big part because as the film progressed the music followed. In the end when the "hunters" burned down the jungle and were in pursuit of Ralph, the music sped up and the camera shots changed quickly which showed a lot of tension which was well directed. In this powerful fight for survival acting as children and not fully understanding the consequences of their actions, they started killing eachother with no hesitaion which in my mind brought the story to an emotional end. I think after the "hunters" killed Simon people joined the possessed savages out of fear not choice they thought that if they didn't join they would be killed along with Simon and Piggy who were only trying to help. This was an emotional film that was filled with violence, treachery, loyalty and death. This film was showed lots of imagination and I enjoyed watching it.

I walked into the cinema with high hopes for an intreguing fast paced action movie from a crytically acclaimed director (arguably one of the greatest visual directors of the last decade). I walked out of cinema thinking wow... I actually payed for that crap...

The plot of the sequal follows much the same outline as that of the original Hellboy, with the main character (Hellboy) facing some form of supernatural challenge, stuggling to overcome it and finally beating it. New characters are also introduced, and the plot helps to expand and deepen the 'Hellboy' universe, exploring new and colourful characters.

Hellboy 2 has been subject to mixed opinion, reviews ranging from 1 star to 9, but I can say with certainty that this is one of the worst films I've seen in a while. It has been claimed that this film is deliberatley over the top, that it is almost a parody of its own genre. Its not guys, give it up.

The thing that really made this film dissapointing... no... a complete waste of money was a combined effort by the writers and the actors. The dialogue was the worst I've seen in a film, as listening to conversation between characters (don't be fooled, there was little or no characterisation) became a chore. The dialogue simply didn't flow, and the acting was incredibly poor... comical even.

Guillame del toro's directing abilities, possibly the only reason I decided to see that film, cannot make up for such a poor story line, and with the exception of character design, I could not see much evidence of his influence at all.

The plot made no sense.... the ending of the film left me stunned, as all the characters quit there 'secret goverment orginisation' to, I quote, 'find a house in the country...' or some stupid thing... He's a GIANT RED DEVIL. His credentials include having a big fist and being red. Where the hell is he gonna get the money????

Knocked Up (2007)

Seth Rogen delivers another Hilarious hit comedy! They say that opposites attract ... Well for Super-Slacker Ben (Seth Rogen) and Career-Girl Alison (Katherine Heigl), that's certainly the case - at least for one intoxicated evening.

Two months and several pregnancy tests later, Ben and Alison go through a hysterically funny, anxious and heart-warming journey that leads to huge laughs in one of the most outrageous comedy's of the year!!

I found the film very appealing not because i am a fat stonner with a pregnant girlfriend from a one noght stand. But because Seth has Written the screen play for many other recent comedy hit movies. This cavalade includes: 'Super Bad', 'The 40 Year Old Virgin', 'Anchorman' and 'Pineapple Express'.

I really recommed giving this film a watch, because although the negative conotations that are attatched to it for being a 'teen stonner' style movie, it really does provide some mature humour. I am a big fan of Seth Rogan so i went into it knowing what to expect. Seth is not the only star of the movie though. Katherine Heigl who Co-Stars along side him prefoms the role of a pregnant women fantastically! She has really blossomed in the recent years, and has a wide variety of acting skills.

As the picture suggests, I bought the DVD which includes 3 hours of bonus features.

don't let my high aclaimation of the film be enough. I reccomend you go out of your way to see this film. I love the humour in the film and the ending. Without spoiling too much, there is a nice ending.

Josh,

well, there is not a lot to say about this, apart from it is insane people doing insanely funny things to each other/themselves, it was nomintted for several awards ad actually won one for "Most Flatulent Teen-Targeted Movie" rated 18 this film will either make you laugh or heave.

Jackass is not a typical film, it has no plot whatsoever, unless you include Bam's promise to make his mum swear by the end of the film, there is pain, vomiting and blood all mixed with comedy.

The scenes range from alligators in the house, to toy cars being put up someones rear end..., to firework rocket skates, this film is not for the squeamish, it is very entertaining and is certainly watchable if you want a good laugh

When Kidulthood was released in 2006, it caused a minor stir for its dark depiction of teenagers in contemporary Britain. Beginning with the suicide of a girl bullied at school, it showed a society where violence, drug-taking and casual sex were rife amongst the young. As the title suggests, Adulthod has grown up a little bit. The violence, drug-taking and casual sex are still rife - but now the film comes with a conscience.

Like Kidulthood, the action is set across one eventful day. Sam is now seeking to make amends for his actions. After visiting the grave of the boy he killed, he meets his old girlfriend Claire, only to find out she's now seeing another guy. He hooks up with Lexi, cousin to Becky, who has gone crazy since the events of the first film. Meanwhile Jay is desperate to avenge the death of his friend, Trife, while Moony just wants to get on with his life as a student and forget the events of the past.

While none of the urgency of the original has been lost, what does emerge from the film is a sense of regret, as though some - if not all - the characters have begun to realise their actions have consequences. Note the touching scene where Sam returns home to find the lock changed. "You make me feel so ashamed," his mother tells him, after he busts down the door in frustration. Meanwhile, new characters like Lexi, whose only friend is her cocaine habit, also show the dire results of hanging with the wrong crowd.

Despite the downbeat tone, Adulthood is still humorous in places, such as the scene when Lexi asks Sam if he'd like a drink. "What have you got?" he replies. "Water," she says. "Might have some Um Bongo in the cupboard." Or the sequence where dope dealer Jay robs his own customer: edgy but it still raises a smile. With Jaime Winstone's character absent from the film - a great pity, as she was the most memorable thing about Kidulthood - it's moments like this that keep Adulthood alive.

This was an intense and exciting film, when one man is on a brutal persute to find his daughter, who is kidnapped in france. As a retired CIA opretive agent he is equipped with certain skills which he finds extremely usefull in this brillint action film of the year. This film in my opinion has beaten james bond and the Bourne trillogy because it was very fast pace and it was quite emotional the fact that it showed you how much he cared about his daughter.

"The Eye" is a very enjoyable movie. Sydney does see dead people. As well as fragmented memories, she has also inherited her psychic donor‘s gift/curse of being able to see people‘s deaths just before they happen. This leads to several hair–raising moments and a couple of heartbeat–skipping ones as French directors, David Moreau and Xavier Palud, put all the classic horror tricks to good use, for example the camera sticking closely to a wall before turning a corner to find… Boo! Alba is very easy on the eye (pun intended) and needs to be for the technique of repeatedly having big close–ups of her face to obscure the thing in the background to work. However, her performance here is noteworthy too, creating an interesting dynamic between Sydney and the audience in that Sydney, having just regained her sense of sight, is afraid of what she can see, whereas the audience, while sympathising with Sydney‘s situation, is afraid of what they can‘t."The Eye" is a remake of the low budget 2002 Hong Kong film of the same name and the latest in an increasingly long line of Hollywood remakes of Asian horror movies. Normally the phrase "Hollywood remake" is far more horrifying for a movie fan than anything the film may contain, but "The Eye" is the exception that proves the rule. What the so–called "Extreme" Asian movies do best is put horror into familiar modern settings, in the case of "The Eye" – an apartment building. The 2008 version replicates this success then and uses its bigger budget to build on it through tried and tested Hollywood techniques. Prime L.A. real estate will never look the same again.

Dark, grim, haunting and visionary, "The Dark Knight" is nothing short of brilliant, the best and scariest comic hero adaptation you are likely to see this summer season, and perhaps during the whole year. At least two notches above "Batman Begins," this follow-up represents Christopher Nolan's most accomplished and mature work, and mind you, he is one of the few Hollywood directors who have never made a bad picture. Celebrating his first decade as a filmmaker, from the short, small-budget and modest noir" Following," through the clever and witty post-modernist noir "Memento," through the well-acted and skillfully shot "Insomnia," through the visual extravaganza of "The Prestige," Nolan has continued to sharpen his skills and now works at the top of his form. He is a unique director for whom bigger scale, larger budget, and more polished state-of-the-art special effects translate into all-around better picture; for most directors, it's usually the other way round.
This is not just a good comic book adaptation film, its a good action film.

If it’s not a giant gorilla or lizard, it’s a huge monster, that has smaller monsters falling off it! ‘Cloverfield’ is the third film that has introduced another 100ft sightseeing monster into Manhattan, destroying everything in its path! And that’s basically the plot. However this film had a bit more of a twist, in comparison to other monster- eating -everything movies.
The unique and original concept behind ‘Cloverfield’ had the potential to take the typical Hollywood film in a new direction. Filmed in the eyes of one man, using a hand- held video camera; the film produces an interesting array of shots. Intriguing shots, where you get small glimpses of the monster, from behind a building, as the camera whizzes past it. This combined with the special effects, gave the movie an aspect that hasn’t been seen before on such a huge level. Also the film’s great lighting gave it a real sense of panic and chaos, by often showing things creeping out of shadows and darkness. This brilliant forward thinking aspect of the film, clearly set itself aside from the usual ‘Godzillary’ type film. Sadly the rest of the film didn’t follow in this unique trend.
The step- aside this film took away from the usual Hollywood stereotype movie, wasn’t far enough, and heavily clashed with the typical convention of an American action film. The film was poisoned with a sickening love interest that leaned the film into a disappointing plot. Now rather than simply watching people flee the city in chaos, you find yourself lulled into a story of man rescuing the girl he loves, against all odds. This aspect of ‘Cloverfield’ along with the typical boring comments, made by the characters, that are far too calmly spoken, taking into account there’s a monster chasing them up the street, set the film down the same road most American films take. Very quickly the brilliance of ‘Cloverfield’ wears off, and you soon find yourself rooting for the monster, hoping it will sooner than later eat the script and characters, who’s only response to everything seems to be, “Dude…What is that?”

For an American action movie, visually it has stepped out of the stereotypical box, that most monster action movies stew in. This idea of a film, shot almost like a documentary, giving the feel of a realistic approach, could have made the film brilliant. But the disappointing storyline, revolving around a love interest, along with the unnatural lines, made this film not quite the original triumph as it possibly could have been.

Director: Matt Reeves
(contains spoilers)

After the tauntingly teasing trailers that Lost producer J.J Abbrams drip-fed us for months, was Cloverfield worth the hype? For some, the reaction, “Finally! An original monster movie!” To others, this was just The Blair Witch Project meets Godzilla, with more epileptic fits. To me, it was a surprisingly engaging movie, and though not a totally original concept, one that was well executed. I always welcome a challenge to genre rules and this film had a refreshing twist. Admittedly, the characters may have been less than lovable – you have a serious problem when your movie rotates around saving the life of a girl that the audience finds boring, not to mention a bit of a bitch. In fact, the only interesting characters to me were Marlena and Hud (Lizzy Caplan and T.J. Miller), one of whom was almost always behind the camera. Beth (Odette Yustman), on the other hand – was she worth two people dieing for? Was she in fact worth everyone dieing for? Most importantly – was she worth the hot girl dieing for? My answer….a big fat No. But, that’s just me.

However, technically I thought the movie was brilliant. It’s a tough thing, creating a giant CGI monster that won’t ruin your illusion of realism, but somehow these guys did it. The special effects of this film were almost always excellent, and the monster had so much character and life…more so than some of our heroes. I’d like to know more about the monster, the poor thing. And doesn’t Abbrams just know it? If Lost is anything to go by, the rumours and conspiracy theories surrounding this movie and it’s possible sequel are just the beginning (Damn it, Abbrams, you must be a really annoying, secretive person to be friends with. “Hey, J, where’s the keys?”…yeah, have fun un-riddling that answer). Anyway, I digress.

The camera-work and lighting were also excellent. There’s a fine line between realistic but unwatchable and squeaky-clean cinema, and they trod this line very well. Another highly dangerous line was the 911 line; reminding an audience of that event is a gutsy move, but was in this case effective. Background sounds were also very well used. After having no backing score, the sudden presence of music in the apartment-block lobby creeped me out no end, and it took me a moment to even realise why. But most of all, I think the un-sung hero of this film was the editor. With a picture that consists of so many continuous shots, it’s a skilful thing to know where to cut, and the flashback snippets to Rob and Beth’s old film was a beautiful touch. It kept us focused on the task at hand, made sure that their painful yet uninteresting relationship ran throughout the heart of the film and upset us with the fact that, like their lives, the footage was steadily being destroyed by this crisis. The ending clip was shamefully cheesy, but damn it, it creeped me out anyway, and fitted with the charmingly ironic tone that was our young couple (Michael Stahl-David, Odette Yustman) dieing at the hands of the Americans, after everything. Geez! They should never have gotten in that helicopter – haven’t they watched I Am Legend?

All in all, a very good effort and 85 minutes of my life well spent, but I pray to God there aren’t many sequels. Pirates of the Caribbean 4? More than one High School Musical? Even ONE High School Musical?! It makes me weep, it truly does.

Recently I watched the film Cloverfield. A film about a monster attack on the city of New York. Not the most original of cities since many other films have used the ''monster attacking New York'' story line, but it seems to work pretty well anyway. One of the things that made it work is the fact that the film was shot differently than most films. It was shot from the angle of a character stuck in the situation of the plot. I liked this idea and it seemed to give the film great originality but only since not many other films shoot it like that, if many films had before it then nothing would really make this film standout and it would just be another monster flick.
The acting for this film wasn't incredible but there wasn't many floors in it either. The characters did display a lot of terror toward the situation they are in, but sometimes they seem to be calmer even with New York falling down around them. Whether this was the actors not portraying enough fear or it was written in the script that at some points they were meant to forget about the monster, I was unsure. All I know is that if there's a giant monster destroying the city, I wouldn't stop and be as calm as these so called 'normal people' were.
The city of New York was being destroyed by a huge monster. For this to be achieved on screen there was a lot of CGI used for buildings to fall down and there to be explosions. The use of CGI in this film was very well done. I found that none of it looked very bad at all through the film and the CGI did help to create the feeling that the city really was being destroyed, and in the cinema it was an even greater effect.
Overall this film was quite enjoyable if you just wanted a good destruction film, the plot is nothing special. The same old ''man trying to save woman before the monster kills her plot''. But if you wanted to know what it would feel like to be in a monster attacked city Cloverfield is quite a good one to go to. Worth a watch I believe.

Synopsis: (spoilers)

Filmed entirely in the first person, the story begins with Rob introducing day break to New York, and his friend Beth to the audience. The camera is passed onto Rob's friend Hud, who is set the task of filming Rob's leaving party.
During the party there is a power cut, and roars accompanied by explosions are heard. Having seen the mayhem from the roof top, Rob and his companions set out to find an escape route from the island.
When their escape route is destroyed by the monster, Rob and his friends attempt to cross town to reach Beth, who had parted from Rob's party in a sour mood. After reaching her apartment, they rescue Beth and escape via two separate helicopters, but are attacked once more by the monster mid-flight and Hud is killed having crash landed.
Rob and Beth, the last two survivors, hide under a park bridge, make their final testimonials, and after a couple of military bombs are dropped near by, the camera starts to malfunction, and like before in the film, it starts showing a sub-plot, with Beth's face freezing on the camera screen, as it fades to black.

Review:

Matt Reeve's 2008 experimental, mysterious horror plays with the New York Monster cliché that films such as Godzilla had previously founded, but with more to it than just any ordinary monster movie.
With the time of day this film is set, all the lighting is naturally dark, naturally eerie, with what little light there is coming from buildings in the scenes. This aids the films genre, as a dark horror story.
The monster never has it's origins introduced or explained, which helps mystify and darken the story, and with the constant first-person point of view filming, this truly is a new sort of horror, albeit based upon a worn out and classic theme.

Film Review: Mean Streets

Info:
Film Title: Mean Streets
Length: 112 mins
Director: Martin Scorsese’s
Producer: Universal

“You don’t make up your sins in church. You do it on the streets, you do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it.”
The Godfather, Scarface made the mob a vicious, cut, brutal dog with a diamond necklace. Mean Streets removes the necklace. Scorsese’s grimy 1973 classic shows us crimal life lower down the food chain, were you risk getting slapped about and killed just to make a buck. Charlie Cappa (Harvey Keitel) is our anti hero, completely loyal to Jonny boy (Robert De Niro), but his insane ways keeps getting him dragged back in and Cappa follows…
Mean Streets is aggressive, raw and authentic and this is portrayed through everything, the lighting, characters, script and music: watching Keitel walk down the street to the sound of the Ronettes, or De Niro dancing solo in the street to ‘Mickey’s Monkey’, pure class.
Scorsese places these characters in a perfectly realized world of boredom and small joys, fights, death, and the certainty of mediocrity. His story emerges from the daily lives of these characters. They hang out. They go to movies. They eat, they drink, they fight, they fallout, they have women issues, it is them that make this film, all Scorsese’s does is add a big chunk of icing to a ruined cake in the form of a video camera. However I might add it contains a massively unconvincing bar fight.

"O Brother, Where Art Thou?", a spin on Homer's tale of the Odyssey, is full of humour and wit. The film, made by the Coen brothers ('No Country for Old Men' ), gives a great reinterpretation of Homer's Odyssey, setting it in the Southern States of North America during the Mississippi State Elections during the depression. George Clooney gives a great performance as the central character Everett McGill (Odysseus in the Odyssey), one of three weird and eccentric characters that escape from a chain gang and set off home... Clooney plays up the character but does not overdo it. Released in 2000, the film has amazing music and cinematic shots, and lots of humour, which hold the viewer's attention for the whole film. Nominated for two Oscars, it is a thoroughly satisfying but subtle film for all the family.

Michael Bay's most recent Blockbuster 'Transformers' was one of 2007's must see films. The film; which is nominated for three Oscars, also executively produced by Stephen Spielberg was the Sci-fi Action/Adventure epic about a war between Autobots and Deceptacons which finds its way to earth, when an unsuspected teenager (Shia LaBeouf) unknowingly holds the key to their destructive feud.

The film was based on the 1980's cartoon series which was a huge hit and generated large interest among viewers, sparking a series of toys and accessories which became readily available in shops. The thing that I find brilliant is how the two legendary directors made a kids cartoon show seem so appealing to all ages, not just the initial children's audience. I think this is because of the way they made the film a bit more sinister and visually realistic. Despite of this there are a few catchy one liners and comedy aspects of the film which satisfy the younger audience.

Although mainly being a fast paced action thriller, the film does have the love interest, as like most films do. This was played by Megan Fox (Mikaela Banes) a popular girl in their school who ends up falling for Sam. After playing different characters in smaller films and the American sitcom 'Hope and Faith', Megan finally got her chance to have a role in this big time Blockbuster.

The action scenes in the film are brilliantly directed by Michael Bay; who has also directed such memorable films such as 'Pearl Harbour' and the thriller 'The Island'. Also the wide variety of settings in the film like the Hoover Dam and New York make the film very visually entertaining to watch, no wonder it cost nearly 150 million dollars to make.

For me the film was very entertaining with stunning CGI visual effects, making the viewing experience more satisfying and making this a very worth while watch for people of any age.

By Phil Blackwell

Iron man is the next comic book movie that manages to blow its audience away with incredible elements such as soundtrack, performances, special effect and outstanding results from the director Jon Favreaus.
When a famous millionaire is kidnapped by terrorists, Tony Stark (Robert Downey) is forced to build a missile for a terrorist attack. Stark finds himself living off an electro magnet that is wedged into his chest keeping him a blink from death, as it’s preventing a shrapnel wound from killing him.
During this kidnapping Tony Stark and his other fellow kidnapped Prisoner (Yinsen) build a protective suit that can be used as a weapon and escape from the terrorists.
From there on the film becomes its usual "Shoot the bad guys and save the world" storyline.
It includes amazing graphics and a variety of pyrotechnics along with phenomenal CGI used to create the armour.
Iron Man has said to take the comic book genre to the highest level.
Without a doubt it is one of the top ten movies of 2008. A must see for all comic book movie fans.

From manga to anime, along with the last transition to live-action film. The Death Note Duology finally make’s its toll into the blockbuster network. This film was released back in 2006. Its main purpose was to bring our favourable manga characters to life and show the true meaning of the Japanese comic’s immersed plot.

Without a doubt, it did not disappoint. Death Note chronicles the life of Light Yagami, portrayed by Tatsuyama Fujiwara. As a bored prodigy teenager, he encounters the phenomenal note-book that grants him the power to kill anyone of a heart attack of whom he knows the name of and by visualizing the person’s face. The very idea of this psychological thriller has never made such a connection with its audience. A simple notebook that can eliminate any person at the user’s free will from the flick of a pen is almost too much to bear.

As the storyline roles on, another foil emerges. This time, its yet another virtuoso who has the exact intentions in confronting Light. With everyone mingling away in terror. The World’s greatest detective known as L is one of the most loveable and yet mysterious characters ever to be shown on screen. As you follow along, you will eventually begin to see the sheer ingenious plans that both L and Light have up their sleeves. The acting invoked in both characters is just as the fans would imagine from the manga. Light as a liberal constrained yet smart student and L with his cold, apathetic and meticulously obsessed demeanour.

With these two lead characters up in the stage, there was no telling how the story was going to turn out. It was practically unpredictable. The CGI produced in this film isn’t as bad as everyone would of expected. It was quite understandable due to the short schedule they had to produce both films. But in the end, they were able to lucidly create mere visualizations of the shinigami. As for the soundtracks, a lot of them were similarly composed of low-pitch suspense tones that really drew the tension out from the film. It really suited the scenes very well and it kept my interest flowing. This is what led me to the conclusion that the camera work was relatively simple and straightforward. Most of the time, the shots were focused at lengthy durations and it would always seem to pan with the characters. It also never seemed to cut too often or follow the 180 Degree rule that much. So as far as viewers are concerned, this sort of style isn’t unusual for a typical Japanese film.

In a nutshell, Death Note is a must see for those who prefer experiencing the likes of sub-genre thriller’s along with likeable characters and a solid plot. It ultimately brings the whole of Japan down to its knee’s while prodigy versus prodigy play away at their intellectual mind game. At the end of Part I, it’s the icing on the cake…

The story is based on a boy from a poor family, who comes across a beautiful young girl at a funfair, he then see's her around the small town that she is visiting to see her family.As the pair start spending a vast amount of time together, they begin to fall in love,with the pair coming from completely different backgrounds it is a shock to the audience when the pair find lots of things they share in common and soon begin to become crazy about one another.
Their strong bond progresses over the summer, whilst Allie ( Rachel McAdams ) is staying at her summer house with the family, Allie's parents however strongly disapprove of the crazy romance she shares with Noah and soon sends Allie of to school out of Noahs ( Ryan Gosling ) reach. Still Noah carries on trying to get in contact with Allie until finally, seven long years later, he gives up hope.Soon after he decided to give up, Allie then returns to Seabrook and must choose between her rich, handsome fiancee (James Marsden) and her first love, the equally handsome but not-so-wealthy, Noah.

I personally feel " The Notebook " is a fantastic film, i thoroughly enjoyed it as i personally love a tear jerker and it had a very unpredictable ending and i love the way their romance developed and their different social backgrounds forced their part, it's a romantic tale that has a fantastic twist! The notebook appeals to all age groups, as the film is set in the Second World War. The notebook presents growing up, loosing chances and the pain and problems that come with falling in love and also the happiness and the perfect fairytale ending that everyone wishes for. It's the ultimate " chic flic" or tear jerker!

The film is directed by Nick Cassavetes.

Before Cloverfield was officially released in the cinemas it had a lot of hype and it had therefore a lot to live up to.

The plot of the story is pretty simple. A twenty-something New Yorker (Rob) is leaving for Japan and his friends decide to throw a surprise leaving party for him. One of the people at this party is his friend Beth, whom he is also in love with. After a confrontation about her bringing another man to the party she leaves.

Suddenly there's a power cut, all of the party members rush outside onto the roof to see what is happening and it's there they see the head of the Statue of Liberty in the street. Inevitably there is talks of terrorist attacks and the usual screaming of panic.

The rest of the film is pretty predictable and a tiny bit boring. Rob, his brother and his girlfriend, Rob's best friend Hud (who is filming the action) and another random friend try to get away, but at the same time try and save Beth as she is in trouble. The story and events are all rather unbelievable, especially as they all stick together when they had the chance to save themselves. The rest of the film carries on with more cliches and events that have to be in a Hollywood blockbuster, raring to make millions.

The film is supposedly shot from a hand-held camera and with the constant flashbacks to a personal tape between Rob and Beth, it tugs at the heart strings and makes it a bit more personal. However, the fact that the film has emotion in it doesn't make it any better, it's still a slow film with predictable happenings and there isn't anything to it that makes it stand out, apart from the special effects which probably make the whole film and make it shocking and exciting.

Bridget Jones' Diary is a famous British 2001 film, based on the hilarious novel written by Helen Fielding. It stars Renee Zellweger alongside Colin Firth and the hunky Hugh Grant. Renee plays an overweight 30-something year old singleton, who flaunts herself at every opportunity. The title of this film gives the basic outline away. It is based around Bridget’s (Renee) single life diary that starts to alter when she begins to fall in love with her boss, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant). Her love life seems to be going smoothly. She is invited on a mini-break with Daniel and feels she has found true love at last. However her happiness with Cleaver is ruined when she finds a young skinny American sharing his bathroom. Meanwhile, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth, well known for playing Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice) forms an attraction with Bridget and tried to protect her from her ex. Subsequently, Cleaver and Darcy battle over Bridget. Bridget is then faced with a predicament. Who should she choose? The ‘bona fide sex god’ Daniel or the ‘aloof looking but sensitive man’ Mark?
Considering Renee is a typical American girl she employs a passable English accent, which is very commendable. Her amazing skills as an actor and a comedienne make this film. She adapts to the role admirably and convinces the audience of her English authenticity.
Colin Firth is so use to his roles in love films that we almost believe him to act this way in true life. He portrays an honest middle-class gentleman with a snooty upper class persona.
Hugh Grant plays the duplicitous Daniel Cleaver and suits this role extremely well. His interaction with Renee is very believable. He acts in a sultry, cunning way in order to mesmerize the viewer.
I was desperate to watch this film as soon as it was released and I do not regret seeing it. I have seen this film countless times.
I highly recommend this film to anyone who loves sexy romantic comedies and a sing-a-long soundtrack.

American history x Made a big impact to anyone who has watched it. As Edward Norton plays neo-nazi skinhead hating the world and ends up in prison being hated by white people and befriended by people of other races. The tag line of the film was "His father taught him to hate. His friends taught him rage. His enemies gave him hope."
The story is narrated by Edward Norton's younger brother played by Edward Furlong.
The film shows the extent racism can reach and the way it can change people to the extent they will murder anyone who is different from them.

Edward Norton in this film ends up murdering a black man who attempts to steal his car in the middle of the night. Norton humiliates him and pushes him to the floor and makes him bite the pavement and stamps on his mouth and crushes his skull. Also during the film he raided a local supermarket in the night with a gang of white skin head and torturing anyone of another race and choking them on different foods and hitting them , even the women. This shows the extent of his hate and makes it a very powerful and shocking scene on the film and played amazingly. The actions he has performed and they way he has been brought up leads him to believe anyone of a different rave from white is scum. These thoughts carry onto his younger brother , who tells the story of this brother through is school report.

One of the most powerful scenes was when Edward Norton was in prison having a shower and was raped by white men. And It was a black man who ended up helping him and supporting him through it. Edward Norton played this scene amazingly and showed real remorse and wanted to be forgiven by this black school teacher, You felt his pain and guilt in his performance. This is where his character changed. He came home and attempted to change his family , Him and his younger brother rips down all the posters of Hitler and Nazi's.

Edward furlongs performance throughout the film was outstanding and believable. Although he was telling a story about someone else. He was the star of the film , showing every emotion .

The brothers are brought closer together when Edward Norton returns from jail. And teaches his brother what he was taught in prison. To find out It was to late ending him in Edward furlongs death in his school toilets from a shooting.

The directer Tony Kaye was very brave to make this movie but put such passion and art into it by making all flashbacks black and white. It became powerful , moving and a film that would make even the strongest minded person to have a tear in there eye. Also this film is capable to making the audience think about reality and does this really happen in other places? does it happen when our backs are turned for a second? can we be so cruel as to judge someone for color and not mind?

I believe Atonement, directed in 2007 by Joe Wright lived up to the expectations built up around it. I thought it was a dramatic and deeply moving film with a clever choice of actors and actresses and high-quality scenery.
It is the story of a romance between Cecelia (Keira Knightley) and Robbie (James McAvoy) which is destroyed by Cecelia’s sister who accuses Robbie of a crime he did not commit.

The chemistry between Keira Knightley and James McAvoy works very well in this film and Keira Knightley’s acting which I personally thought came across as quite wooden in Wright’s previous film ‘Pride and Prejudice’, worked very well in this film and fitted the character of Cecelia perfectly. James McAvoy was also very convincing as his character and was the main focus in a lot of the most moving scenes.
The three different actors playing Briony (the younger sister) were also impressive as they managed to keep the character of Briony consistent despite the big age gaps.

The other aspects of the film I enjoyed were the music, which incorporated the sound of the type writer which is significant for a lot of the events that happen in the film. The camera work and lighting also created the right atmosphere for the film, and I thought the order of the scenes worked well as the backtracking meant the audience of the film could see different scenes from the point of view of other characters.

Overall I feel Atonement captures the essence of the 1930’s and Second World War while using contemporary filming techniques to give the film a more modern edge.
In conclusion, an enjoyable and captivating film.

The story starts by introducing the character Charlie Simms (O'Donnell) is a student at boarding School, but unlike his friends, he has very little money, and has to work through the thanksgiving holidays. He gets a job "babysitting" a retired Army Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade (Pacino).At first this guy seems to be amazingly arrogant, but it's a defense mechanism. He is fed up with life after an accident with a grenade that lost him his sight.

Before seeing this film, I knew it would be a very interesting film, as I enjoyed most of Al Pacino's work . After sitting through it though, I can fully understand why he won the 1992 Best Actor Award at the Academy Awards for this film. If I hadn't have known that he could see, I wouldn't have been able to tell that he was acting! That is just how good a portrayal he makes of the bitter, twisted Army Officer.

This film is absolutely unmissable. the film gets very serious, but it is perfectly balanced, with a solid plot, and an outstanding script. Which is perfectly demonstrated near the end when Pacino gives his speech which I found very interesting and also true.

The Butterfly Effect

I saw this film a few years back and decided it was one of my favourite films. I have recently re-watched it which reconfirmed its place as one of my favourites. It is a very complex film and it is not at all easy going but it is definitely interesting and I think that the story line is amazing. I think that, what partly helped this great film, were the actors amazing performances. I especially loved Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smarts performance.
The storyline was incredible and extremely moving, after watching this film I felt emotional and a little depressed probably because of the story line which was so traumatic. Nonetheless this makes me enjoy the film even more and want to watch it over and over so that I can begin to try and understand the characters.
The basic outline of the movie is about a young man (Ashton Kutcher) that blocks out harmful memories of significant and awful events of his life. As he gets older, he finds a way to recall these horrific lost memories as he learns this, he also learns a supernatural way of changing what happened, subsequently changing the lives of him and every one around him.
The film did not follow a predictable story line and was not linear as it kept skipping back and forth in time. I think that this was a very effective way to portrait this horrifically wonderful plot. The film has alternative endings, which is very strange, one of them ruins the film but the main one, which was shown in cinemas, was the best. I don’t think that they should have made so many endings to such a good film because it confuses people.
This film is immaculately shot and directed. The lighting is perfect all the way through; it’s never too dark or light. It really creates the right mood for the film.
The film has a great sound track which really suits it because of the lyrics and feel of the track. It plays in the last scene and brilliantly ended an amazing film.

By Sheridan Goff

Terminator 2 is the second part of James Cameron's Terminator quadrilogy (as of 2009 with the release of Terminator salvation), this was released in 1991 and is also the best in the series so far, this is because for the early 1990's the CGI was extremely good, the story was original and it is just portrayed so well by Mr Cameron.
I am not a big fan of sequals, but this film completely changed my feelings towards them. There is outstanding choreography in the fighting, amazing wit throughout and just sheer excitement from start to finish.
Settings and locations were brilliant, ranging from mexico to Cyberdyne Syestems HQ (a military company designing the Terminators.)
The choice of cast is brilliant, especially Edward Furlong who plays John Connor (the film's protagonist) and Arnie himself who even cracks a few jokes in this one.

This film is a must see for all sci-fi lovers, but make sure you watch the less entertaining 1st one before hand because otherwise the plot can be difficult to grasp, this is the only flaw of the film.

I relly enjoyed this film and could watch it indefinately because it is so brilliant.

The 1996 Hunchback of notre dame is certainly one of Disneys darker films. Featuring the voices of Tom Hulce (Amadeus), Demi moore, Tony Jay and Kevin Kleine, it is the fantastic tale of Quasimodo, the deformed bellringer.
Although not as dark as Victor Hugos orginal Notre dame de paris, the film still touches on the themes of lust, Jealosy and religious fanaticism. This means that the film is enjoyable for children and adults.
The animation in the film is exceptional and portrays the cathedral of Notre dame in stunning beauty, not only the cathedral but the city of 15th century paris. During the scene where the character of Esmeralda (Demi moore/heidi mellenhauser) is singing 'God help the outcasts' She moves around the cathedral and the audience can see almost every aspect of it, by the end of the song she is standing underneath the huge window and the light shining through shows a beautiful pattern on the floor.

While on the subject of songs, the music in this film is also another great aspect. The composer Alan menken has worked on the musical score for many disney films, and the music in this film is as good as any of his others. However, some of the songs do seem to drag on a bit and perhaps take up too much of the film. None the less the use of latin style hymns in some songs gives a really religious tone to the film.

More than ten years old, This film is as amazing today as it ever has been and is something definatly worth seeing again and again.

Clerks 2
Directed by Kevin Smith
2006

Clerks 2 rejoins Dante Hicks and Randal Graves several years after the events of the original Clerks. Due to the fact that this is the sequel to Smith's film debut and the first film of the ViewAskewniverse franchise, Smith's cult fan-base were expecting something special, something that would stay true to the appeal of his other films (me included). The fans of the ViewAskewniverse were not disappionted, Clerks 2 maintains the odd and somewhat disgusting charm created by the films that preceded it. Dante and Randal are still as amusing and enjoyable as they were in 1994, as well as the two protagonists the film also features the ever popular Jay and Silent Bob played by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith. As well as the classic characters from the original, Clerks 2 introduces Becky, a co-worker of Dante and Randal at Mooby’s as well as Elias, another co-worker who’s innocence and religion is the source of much mirth for Randal.

Despite the facts that the film is set in a different environment to the original and the storyline is more structured, the off colour humour and general tone of the film makes it have a very distinct, similar feel to the original. I would brand this film a must see for fans of Smith’s films, of course this isn’t only for ViewAskew fans, it can be highly enjoyed by comedy fans of all kinds.