Ghost World (2001)

Cult comic book adaptation. Smart, a little odd and a wee bit endearing at the same time.

3.5 stars

Vantage Point (2008)

Mitch : Perfectly pitched Groundhog Day meets Anti-Terrorism thriller marketed for the masses. With each character's view of the same events, twists and turns abound. The film's pace never lets up in this Hollywood movie; but that's all this could ever be - just a Hollywood movie.
3.5 stars

Janck : Must rent Rashomon.
2.5 stars

Evan Almighty (2007)

Not as bad as you'd likely expect..

2.5 stars

Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi, a.k.a. Spirited Away (2003)

Endearing Japanese anime.


3.5 stars

The Good Shepherd (2006)

With a runtime of over 2 hours 30 mins, you'd be forgiven for thinking this is overreaching for De Niro. However, the end result is a well crafted CIA thriller which delivers some nice twists and turns amidst the mystery and intrigue.


4 stars

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Aronofsky, addiction and asses.

4 stars

Solaris (2002)

A visually beautiful and almost lackadaisical sci-fi remake from Steven Soderbergh, it does well to mix style and substance thus getting a thumbs up from me.

4.5 stars

Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)

Like a Seventies L O S T.

3.5 stars

The Mist (2007)

A film that suffers and succeeds in equal measures from it's B-movie credentials. Worth watching though, especially as Darabont doesn't provide a Zihuatanejo ending in The Mist.

3.5 stars

Wanted (2008)

Very average. Ridden with action movie cliches, and littered with plot holes. The action sequences are very impressive though. Teenage movie made for adults who should know better.



2.5 stars

Bobby (2006)

I think 'ensemble cast' best describes this effort from Emilio Estevez, with too many acting heavyweights to list here. There are some nice exchanges amongst many of the characters, but with so many sub-plots offered here, they do seem to pale into insignificance before the movie's inevitable climax.


3.5 stars

Teeth (2008)

Mitch : Far fetched cautionary tale of Vagina Dentata. The shock scenes are inevitable but are guaranteed to make any man wince. Then wince again. It's not totally two-dimentional though, a strong lead performance from Jess Weixler won her a Special Jury Price at Sundance in 2007.
3.5 stars

Janck : Sex satire with bite.
3 stars

Mongol (2007)

I originally heard that this movie was made by Kazakhstan as a riposte to the Borat film, a nice titbit of trivia if indeed true. Mongol itself is a very enjoyable and beautiful epic, which unfortunately let me down in the last twenty minutes.

3.5 stars

Jimmy Carter Man from Plains (2007)

Interesting documentary following Jimmy Carter promoting his controversial book, but not sure it justifies a two hour run time, perhaps an hour long TV special would've worked better here.

3 stars

Stop-Loss (2008)

Soldier returns home war-drama with a powerful performance from Ryan Phillippe. Thankfully this isn't too preachy on the war-on-terror, but prefers to focus on the aftermath of Iraq within small town Texas. Directed by Kimberly Peirce ("Boys Don't Cry").


3.5 stars

The Transporter (2002)

Guns and cars make this a pretty standard movie for the boys.. and when halfway through the pretty girl is replaced by Statham wrestling half-naked in oil and a man kiss The Transporter makes sure it caters for boys of all persuasions ;-)

2.5 stars

The Ruins (2008)

Decent enough horror fare, think Little Shop of Horrors meets The Descent.

3 stars