My Sisters Keeper

Release Date (UK) - 26 June 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12A

Country - USA

Director - Nick Cassavetes

Runtime - 106 mins

Starrring - Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin, Joan Cusack

Diaz plays the almost heroic family mother who sacrifices all for the well being of her daughter Kate who has leukemia. However this includes sacrificing the well being of her other daughter Anne who was genetically created to provide spare parts so that her older sister could live. But Anne decides she has had enough when a proposed kidney donation is the next operation on the list of this and takes her parents to court for emancipation, knowing that this will cause her sister to die. Unfortunately the film is told in an unexplained and confusing timeline as different periods are constantly switched between without titles making it very hard to fully comprehend the story.

The effects to make Kates leukemia ridden body are well done and the young actors and actresses play their roles very well, indeed it is the more experienced adult characters that feel slightly wooden and cliched. Cameron Diaz's character is simply too irritating for words and it gets to such a stage that her actions are too unbelievable, she repeatedly refuses to accept Kate situation and this is so unlikely that it feels she is only doing so to keep the story rolling on and on. More annoying than this is the fact that the film constantly piles sadder and sadder situations on top of one another until it just becomes a film thats sole purpose is not to tell a story but to make the viewer cry. The ending has been changed from the original ending of the Jodi Picoult book that the film is based on and it seems to have been changed just to make it even more of a weepy if that was possible.

Definetely not worth a watch

The Disappeared

Release Date (UK) - 19 June 2009

Certificate (UK) - 18

Country - UK

Director - Johnny Kevorkian

Runtime - 96 mins

Starring - Harry Treadaway, Tom Felton

This low budget British horror film is surprisingly watchable. Teenage Matthew (Harry Treadaway) cant get over the disappearance of his younger brother under his care. The film begins with Matt returning home (It is hinted that he had some sort of breakdown after the disappearance and it is only because the screening I went to had a Q&A after that I learned it was actually ater a suicide attempt which is not made explicit by the film at all). From there the film delves into the surreal as Matt tries to figure out what happened to his brother as he keeps imagining him and hearing his voice.

The horror is not at all predictable as it tends to be with such low budget films, and it really does make you jump if that's what your after. The music is well scored and fits well with the pace, perhaps the only thing that lets it down is some of the acting is not quite up to scratch and feels stilted, especially the scenes with Matt's neighbour Amy (Ros Leeming). Tom Felton as friend Simon is also not especially convincing as an estate dweller but it is more the fault of the script that is lacking a real sense of younger language here.

If your a horror fan then this is worth a try, but don't go if your only one for the blockbusters and big effects.

Public Enemies

Release Date (UK) - 1 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - USA

Director - Michael Mann

Runtime - 140 mins

Starring - Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard

The tale of John Dillinger has been told many times before on screen and Michael Mann has assembled a cracking cast to retell this story with Johnny Depp as Dillinger and Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis, the cop enlisted to hunt down 'Public Enemies' such as Dillinger in the crime ridden great depression.

I was really looking forward to a great film and I'm afraid this is a total disappointment. The direction completely lets the film down, tension isn't built up in the right places, and Mann just doesn't seem to have been able to draw any real emotions from any of the actors. Theres no excitement in what could have been a classic film with a star cast - it just fails miserably to draw you in to the plot. Cinematically its as if Mann wasn't sure to make a glossy Hollywood epic or something more personal and uncharacteristic as he flicks between carefully composed shots and handheld franticism.

The film begins with a prison breakout and then we follow Dillinger on a string of bank robberies whilst also following Purvis's pursuit of him. Dillinger's background and motivations are left unexplained and rather than add mystery or intrigue its just leaves the audience unsure whose side they should be on. He comes across as a Robin Hood character and seems to want to maintain a positive public attitude to him - not getting involved in kidnapping as he doesn't think the public would like him so much if he did but then doesn't seem to fell guilty plugging away with a machine gun at anything that moves in later robbery scenes. The relationship between him and girlfriend Billie (Marion Cotillard) doesn't quite ring true enough apart from perhaps in the last scene of the film and Dillinger's relationships with the various other criminals are not given enough if any context.

Bale plays Purvis the only way he seems to know how to, like a statue and although this at first seems to work as a man who cares for nothing but pursuit of Dillinger the lack of emotional involvement means that we care neither for him nor for Dillinger and are unsure whether we want Dillinger to be caught or not. Because of this the lengthy gun battles and shoot outs feel over-drawn and the film begins to drag.

It just doesn't work as a Gangster film and ends up coming off more as a costume drama, perhaps Mann spent too much time concentrating on the authenticity of the costumes, guns and props and forgot about story and character development completely. Not really worth a trip to the cinema unless all you want is to see some gun battles.

Sunshine Cleaning

Release Date (UK) - 26 June 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - USA

Director - Chrisitne Jeffs

Runtime - 91 mins

Starring - Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin

Rose (Amy Adams) is a struggling single parent who sacrificed a career when she fell pregnant as a teenager. The father Mac (Steve Zahn) chose another girl over her but their relationship has carried on over the years as an illicit affair. Struggling to make ends meet as a house cleaner Rose falls into cleaning up after crime scenes instead (which is much more highly paid due to the nature of the work) and starts her own business enlisting her chaotic sister Norah (Emily Blunt).

There are plenty of comic moments, the best coming from Rose and Norah's fathers Joe (Alan Arkin) schemes to raise money of his own buying and selling everything from popcorn to shrimp. The film is simply describable as 'pleasant' but it does become predictable with its almost stereotypical 'quirky' characters. Indeed Alan Arkin plays almost the same character as in Little Miss Sunshine so the film feels like it is coming off as a quick cheap attempt to make some money with the same characters and quirkiness. There is a message buried inside the plot somewhere about cleaning up peoples lives and how Rose must clean up her own which she eventually does by ending her affair with Mac, and Norah also decides to go live her life as well at the end.

Although this falls into the American Independent film category personally I still cant label a film with stars a independent and without the billing of Blunt and Adams I don't think this film would have gotten anywhere least of all outside America as although there are plenty of quirks and laughs there are no particularly deep life observations and messages here, and if it had been any longer then it would have really been stretching the story. Worth watching when it gets to TV for a relaxing film but not worth the trip to the cinema

Up

Release Date (UK) - 9 October 2009

Certificate (UK) - U

Country - USA

Directors - Bob Peterson, Pete Docter

Runtime - 96 mins

Voices - Christopher Plummer, Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai

This 3D animated feature was the first ever animation to open Cannes at this years festival and its not hard to see why it was chosen, Pixar have created a colourful, touching movie that has universal appeal.

The film begins with the meeting of Carl and Ellie, two adventurous children and the film then almost silently presents as series of scenes from their life together covering sad and happy events up until Ellie's death. This effective short montage already gets the audience so deeply invloved in the emotions of the characters that tears need to be stifled back just 10 minutes in to the film! Although the lack of dialogue here may bore some younger children it is so early on in the film that they should be still rapt in awe of the bright colours and 3D animations.

Threatened with a nursing home the now elderly Carl decides to fulfil his and Ellie's young adventurer dreams and using hundreds of helium balloon's, flies their house to Paradise Falls (as he promised Ellie he would when they were children). Part way he discovers that young 'wilderness explorer' Russell has accidentally joined him on the trip as he was trying to earn his helping the elderly badge, and the plot carries on from there.

The characters they encounter are highly original, from hilarious talking dogs to the quirky explorer Charles Muntz who Carl and Ellie idolised as a child. There are plenty of humorous moments but even these fit in with the gentle emotional pace of the film and are not brash gags. The bright colours and limited use of 3D make this film a lovely piece of artwork and I defy anyone to not enjoy it.

Although this premiered at Cannes and is out in the USA it doesn't come out here in the UK until October.. a delay seemingly caused by not wanting to compete in the summer kids films window of the pushed back Harry Potter and the release of Ice Age 3

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Release Date (UK) - 1 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - U

Country - USA

Directors - Carlos Saldanha, Mike Thurmeier

Runtime - 94 mins

Voices - Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Ray Romano, Seann William Scott, Simon Pegg

The friendly family saga of the Ice Age herd continues in a thoroughly enjoyable sequel. When the unsettled Diego leaves the pack a lonely Sid adopts some eggs he finds to start his own family and the eggs then hatch into havoc creating dinosaurs. The dinosaur's mother searches for her eggs and finds Sid, taking him and her babies back to the dinosaur valley under the ice and the film follows the rest of the herds journey to rescue Sid.

There are plenty of jokes for the adults to enjoy and children will easily understand the family themes and messages - Diego leaves and Sid want his own family as they feel slightly outcast as Mammoth Ellie is pregnant and these feeling will generate resonance with many young viewers. There is a lack of interaction with history as the previous melting of the ice in Ice Age 2: Meltdown has mysteriously stopped and I'm not to sure whether dinosaurs would have been around during the ice age! However this aside this is a very enjoyable sequel and I'm sure it will do very well over the summer even if it does have to compete with Harry Potter.

Simon Pegg's character is one of the funniest new additions to the Ice age cast as Buck who guides the herd through the dinosaurs land as they search for Sid. The visual gags from the side plot of the acorn hunting Scrat is developed more as the female Scratte appears and they fight over the acorn but I still always cant help feeling that this side plot would work much better if there was interaction between their acorn fighting antics and the main plot following the rest of the herd.

The film was clearly not made as a 3D film just converted for some screenings so there is none of the over the top jumping out of things from the screen which all 3D made films seem to need to repeatedly fill their films with. In this way its just a nice addition to the film and draws the audience into the film experience and story more while is something extra for all to enjoy.

Terminator Salvation

Release Date (UK) - 3 June 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12A

Country - USA

Director - McG

Runtime - 115 mins

Starring - Christian Bale. Sam Worthington

The latest episode in the Terminator Saga follows John Connors (Christian Bale) continuous battle to fight against Skynet and the Terminators rapid world takeover. Skynet have create a new part human breed of terminator in the form of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) but his human side means he is unsure whose side is he on as he meets the young Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin)and tries to find out who or what he is.

Not being a terminator fan I don't really feel qualified to comment too much on this film. Like the others this installment is instantly forgettable in my mind so I have no recollection of there plot in relation to this film. All I can say is its a harmless action film, just a series of fight scenes that got a bit boring to me but seems to have plenty of general action film appeal with lots of explosive scenes and a very basic plot in order to keep rolling them out. Only real comment I have is that some of the robots seemed to be a bit too coincidentally similar in appearance to transformers that I started to wonder about whether there had been some footage recycling going on.

The End of the Line

Release Date (UK) - 12 June 2009

Certificate (UK) - PG

Country - UK

Director - Rupert Murray

Runtime - 86 mins

Based on a book by Charles Clover this interesting and frightening documentary explores current fishing practices and consumption, alarmingly suggesting if we carry on the way we are currently then we will run out of fish very soon.

Focusing mainly on tuna stocks several analysts and experts present their view of how badly over-fishing over the past few decades has affected fish numbers. The film shows how fisherman are ignoring fishing limits and the affects that over-fishing can have on the eco-system. Some of the fishing scenes are shocking and as a pescetarian I did have to shut my eyes occasionally. I did tuck in to some Scampi last night without thinking about its source but think I will be buying only MSC approved fish from now on.

The film also follows Charles Clovers own quest to get celebrity restaurant Nobu to remove Bluefin tuna from the menu, so far not successful although they have now added a note to the menu saying this is an endangered species. However several sandwich makers have announced removing certain tuna products or changing suppliers in response to this film.

I couldn't help comparing this to the recent Age of Stupid which suggests that we'll have completely ruined the whole of the planet by 2055 which makes a lack of fish by 2048 seem almost irrelevant. The screening I went to was followed by a Q & A with the director Rupert Murray and a Greenpeace representative and the most interesting point was made by Rupert's local MP and was that at the moment the only people contacting their MP's to express their views on the situation are fisherman, so there local views are the only ones being expressed in Parliament currently.

The Hangover

Release Date (UK) - 12 June 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - USA

Director - Todd Phillips

Runtime - 100 mins

Starring - Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis

The new film from Old School director Todd Phillips tells the tale of four men who go on a stag do to Las Vegas and wake up not remembering what happened. The film then follows there journey to piece together what happened the previous night and try to find the groom, who is mising when they wake up, in time for his wedding. All of the main roles are played by then unknown actors (Bradley Cooper has already lined up a role in the forthcoming A-Team film) with a small role for Heather Graham so the distributors spent a lot of time and money promoting it before release to hype it up, and it seems to have worked as it has taken the U.S box office by storm.

After all the hype about how hilarious this film is I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting a toilet humour style film but there were only a few moments when I even actually laughed out loud, the lines were just far too predictable and obvious. There are parts of the plot however that went into new territory for this genre, Todd Philip's is obviously feeling his age as the film focuses more on settling down, Doug (Justin Bartha) is about to get married and Phil (Cooper) is already playing happy families. But then this this is counteracted by Stu (Ed Helms) who is tied down in an unhappy relationship and he discovers he married stripper Jade (Graham) on their drunk adventures. There was also a fresh take on the brat pack film with the fact that the film shows them trying to piece together what happened rather than simply showing a string of scenes of ridiculous drunken behaviour.

Obviously in a film like this you have to abandon all sense of realism but this film was made so cheap I'm not sure if they had bothered to have someone watch it before they got it into cinema's, there were so many noticeable flaws. The scene where Stu plays the piano the sound quality was unbearably crackly and badly recorded and the photos over the end credits were in completely the wrong order. Mike Tyson's scenes were also cringeworthingly awful, it almost seemed like he was trying to explain away his own past actions with 'everyone does stupid things' and then the 'whata nice guy' comments from the men almost felt like Tyson made these lines his conditions of being in the film. Also one of the worst turn offs for me is how American films have never had any problems with taking anybody with mental health problems as a point of comedy over and over again as they do with Alan (Zach Galifianakis) here, a comedy trend which I personally find insulting and intolerable.

So yeah, I didn't enjoy it, but if you love brat pack movies and crass humour then I'm sure you'll love it, there were a hell of a load of other people laughing throughout the film.

Looking for Eric

Release Date (UK) - 12 June 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - UK

Director - Ken Loach

Runtime - 116 mins

Starring - Steve Evets, Eric Cantona, John Henshaw

Ken Loach's latest film made a big fuss at Cannes and is a heart warming tale of middle aged postman Eric Bishop (Steve Evets). Eric has a minor breakdown after his daughter asks him to meet up with her mother (so that they can hand over the childcare of her child, their grandchild, whilst she is studying) but he hasn't seen her since he walked out on her many years ago. Eric seeks advice from a poster of his hero, Eric Cantona, and Cantona himself appears in Eric's house to counsel him.

Right from the start the jokes pour in and the film is almost too funny as lines are drowned out by the laughter of the audience. Eric's friends rally round to help him trying to cheer him up and John Henshaw as 'Meatballs', one of his friends, reads from self help books to solve all life's problems with hilarious results. Cantona's pearls of wisdom also translate into funny one liners although he is slightly incomprehensible at times.

The film concentrates on the relationship between Eric and his ex wife Lily (Stephanie Bishop) as they slowly meet for longer and longer and reminisce their life together and Eric finds the courage to explain that he abandoned her due to panic attacks. Meanwhile at home Eric struggles to exert any control over his step sons who live with him and their illegal activities spiral out of control and start to take over his own life.

There are some sad moments with constantly brilliant acting throughout as Loach once again delivers an excellent film. There's also plenty of football scenes for Cantona fans but there not too long, its not really a film about football or Cantona but more about Eric's personal relationships. Perhaps the success of the film is due to Loach's unusual sell out for an optimistically happy ending, but in the current climate you aren't going to get audiences in to the cinema with sad films about the harsher realities of working class lifestyles. Its definitely worth seeing and you will leave the cinema smiling.

Home

Release Date (UK) - 7 August 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - France

Director - Ursula Meier

Runtime - 95 mins

Starring - Isabelle Hupert, Olivier Gourment, Adélaide Leroux

Isabelle Hupert stars as Marthe, the mother of a French family who live out in the isolated countryside. Seeing as I didn't know what film I was actually seeing before I went to the cinema at first the film I thought the film was going to be some sort of story about their home life as it slowly introduces the slightly unusual but happy family - the oldest daughter Judith (Adélaide Leroux) spends her days sunbathing in a bikini and listening to loud music and is even open enough to bathe with younger brother Julien (Kacey Mottet Klein) whilst the younger daughter Marion (Madeleine Budd) is much more shy and refuses to even wear a swimming costume.

There idyllic lone house lays alongside an unfinished motorway road whose construction was abandoned ten years ago but one night Julien spots trucks and workmen. Before they know it the family's peaceful lifestyle away from society is destroyed as the motorway is re-tarred and opened. The film then follows their refusal to leave their 'home' and the effects the traffic has on them as their privacy is invaded by passing motorists.

Slowly the noise of the cars drives them all crazy, and there are hints that they live out in the peaceful countryside as Marthe couldn't handle life elsewhere, Marion obsesses over the effects of the pollution and one day they return home to find Judith has simply left. However even though the film hints at the mental problems of Marthe in the end it the father Michel (Olivier Gourment) who goes crazy, with a violent outburst trying to physically get them to leave their home and later after insulating the house to block out the noise he bricks them in completely.

There are some very funny moments but they sometimes just don't seem worth the wait of this very slow and bizarre film. 'Home' is trying to create questions of privacy and what a home can mean to us, and perhaps even highlight pollution issues but overall the unexplained questions just leave you feeling that the film is a bit too ambiguous. It is however beautifully shot and typically french in the open interpretations the ending leaves us with.

Gigantic

Release Date (UK) - 19 June 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - USA

Director - Matt Aselton

Runtime - 98 mins

Starring - Paul Dano, Zooey Descahnel, John Goodman

Paul Dano, of Little Miss Sunshine fame, is mattress salesmen Brian whose dream since the age of 8 has been to adopt a Chinese baby. Like the majority of the film this urge isn't explained; Brian's own family are quirky (one scene follows an annual male bonding trip to the woods to take magic mushrooms) but loving and Brian's maternal instinct may stem from hints that he struggled to cope as a child with his parents being older than average or perhaps a desire to have a younger brother of his own as he is the youngest of three.

The comic relief is provided by John Goodman, a hypochondriac who buys the most expensive mattress in the warehouse from Brian (in a hope to cure the back problems his specialist tells him are non existent). He later sends his daughter Happy (Zooey Deschanel) to pay for it and the plot seems to be heading towards a typical love story between Brian and Happy. However the focus of the film is more on their own personal relationships and decisions in life, urging the viewer to take a look at their own. Happy has so little contact with her mother she has to search for her phone number on the internet, and her father chastises her for constantly changing careers. Brian is repeatedly followed and attacked by a homeless man whose unaccountable actions leads us to believe he is a figment of his imagination, of personal demons he must overcome, although his wounds are real as they are questioned by others. Thus the film mixes the surreal with the real, and is neither a romance or a comedy as we're left unsure of what genre box to place it in.

The film leaves you still wondering afterwards; what part of Brian's Psyche did the homeless man really represent, and what on earth was 'Gigantic' - although the tagline gives a sort of clue here - 'When it comes to family and relationships, there are no small surprises' -suggesting the film is full of these gigantic life surprises for Brian which he seems to take in his stride, whether this be the the homeless mans' attacks, meeting Happy or the success of getting his baby. But that's the point of the film, to make us question our own motivations with a light hearted view on other peoples.

The pace is occasionally painfully slow but the gentle laughs are well worth the wait - Edward Asner as Brian's Father hilariously observes on modern lifestyles - however some audiences may get frustrated with the slow pace and lack of explanations - 4 people walked out of my sparsely attended screening but if you like a more independent style then its well worth a watch.