Bobby

I love the weird sub sub genre of "films that takes place over a day where nothing and yet everything happens".
This is Emilio Estevez's directorial debut - and it is very good, with a shocking amount of great performances by a huge amount of stars.
I just wish that I knew a bit more about the events surrounding Bobby Kennedy's death before going to see this film.



6/10

Blood Diamond

It is clumsy at times and Jennifer Connelly is wasted as a token female love interest, however these don't lessen the impact of this film. With acts of violence carried out by child soldiers this is difficult viewing at times, but it is definitely worth going to see.

7/10 - I was almost tempted to give it an extra point for Leonardo DiCaprio killing a baboon with a knife and destroying his Romeo image forever (hopefully)

Them (Ils)

You can sometimes tell how good a horror film is by the amount of audience members who leave the cinema during the film. Half of the audience left last night. However this was because they "didn't come to the bloody cinema to read".

Its a shame they left as this French chiller is a bit good. There isn't much of a story - a couple are terrorised by unseen forces in their huge old house in the middle of a forest.

So far so cliché.

However, the beauty of this film is that it doesn't feel like horror by numbers, the digital photography, editing and lighting is excellent and the soundtrack is especially chilling. Where many horror films would give you the old "tense and shock" routine, this film goes for the "ramp up the tension and hold it there" approach.

Fans of the genre will love it.

7/10 - yet another reminder to not live in a scary house in a scary forest. Will people ever learn?

The Pursuit Of Happyness

The annoying spelling is explained very early on in the film. Which is good!

Will Smith again proves that he can act, however the movie is overlong and not as engaging as it should be. However, the understated, unsentimental ending redeems the film.

6/10

Smokin' Aces

It tried hard but wasn't as slick as it wanted to be.

An Ichi the Killer style ultra violent spin off featuring the characters called The Tremors would be pretty cool!


4/10 - lots of blood doesn't always make a film good


It sometimes makes a good rhyme though.

The Last King Of Scotland

This is why I go to the cinema!

I am really pleased that the British film industry is back on its feet and is making superb films like this.

I'm not going to babble on about this film - as there has been a lot of press about it. Just go and see it.

8/10

Apocalypto

"A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within." — This is the opening quote to Mel Gibson's Apocalypto.

The film has very little to do with this quote.

I enjoyed this film, but left the cinema feeling unfulfilled for some reason.

The first 30 minutes of the film were great - there was lots of humour as the tribe were introduced - then the (thin) plot had to start.

Eventually, this becomes a chase movie - a good one, but just a chase movie - where a forest hunter named Jaguar Paw must escape to save his wife and son.

My major concern was that rather then showing the Maya as a great civilisation, they were portrayed as little more than savages - not exactly showing the great civilisation mentioned in the opening quote.

Anyway, obviously ignoring the fact that Jaguar Paw was indestructible the film as it was was fun. I just wish it had a little more to it - a film about the Spaniards arriving would be interesting. I am very impressed that it was subtitled when so many films in the past have been in American English. Its just a shame that this intelligent (and shockingly non-patronising) move was used in an action film.

Still, it wasn't bad. It had black jaguars in it. And they didn't turn into Michael Jackson.

On a scale of tabby cat to black panther this film gets a rating of tired cheetah - 6/10

Miss Potter

This was my first film of 2007 and it wasn't a bad start to the year.
It was rather charming and girlfriend friendly.

I give it a solid 6 out of ten on the Manus scale of filmic comparison.

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Yes, that concludes my first review on this blog. I'm going to keep reviews short and sweet unless there's something noteworthy to mention.

There's an Odeon in the Merrion Centre in Leeds!

I stumbled across this info a few days ago...

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/3151/

It is a shame that the cinema has been left unused for thirty years