Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Release Date (UK) - 15 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12A

Country - UK/USA

Director - David Yates

Runtime - 153 mins

Starring - Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

Face it, whoever made them the Harry Potter films were never going to stand up to the incredible detail and length of the books. In this fifth installment Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) sixth year of Hogwarts begins and Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters are terrorising the world of magic. Meanwhile Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) enlists Harry's help to try and help defeat Voldemort by discovering how he has returned to power and destroying him.

This is perhaps the poorest Harry Potter film yet in terms of adaptation - there is far too much focus on love stories between the teenagers and the majority of the Voldemort story is missed - younger children will probably be quite bored for long periods as the various love triangles play out. So much is squeezed out that central characters are not introduced by name and I couldn't remember who they were as the last film was so long ago even Lavender Brown was barely named once and shes in a lot of scenes.

Obviouslly as the books are so intricate and the stories so well written there's no way that these films couldn't keep you gripped on the story but with adverts this one was so long I felt nauseous towards the end after having been in quite a stuffy cinema for so long. Perhaps the last book which is going to be made in two film installments will make for a better adaptation as there will be more room for plot but this one was thoroughly disappointing for anyone whose read the books, probably not so for those who haven't.

Just Another Love Story

Release Date (UK) - 24 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - 18

Country - Denmark

Director - Ole Bornedal

Runtime - 100 mins

Starring -Anders W Bertelsen, Rebecka Hemse

Jonas (Anders W Bertelsen) is a crime scene photographer who goes to visit Julia (Rebecka Hemse) in hospital after she is injured in a car crash that was partly his fault. She is in a coma and her family mistake him for her boyfriend Sebastian who they'd never met as Julia had been travelling and only just returned. Rather than explaining the misunderstanding Jonas goes along with it and ends up falling in love with Julia who wakes up blind and with amnesia so she herself is also convinced Jonas is Sebastian.

The 18 rating may put you off this but its only really there because of one unnecessarily violent scene at the end of the film. Its certainly not a predictable love story film and the open prologue scenes set that out from the start. its much more of a dramatic thriller and a first rate one at that. There are some funny moments especially when Jonas is having to pretend to be Sebastian but as Julia's memory returns and the story of why she fled the real Sebastian emerges the excitement really builds up. However for me there were far too many plot similarities to Almodovar's Talk to Her and I ended up wishing I was re-watching that as the direction lacks Almodovar's expert style and pace. Overall a good thriller but ruined by a far too long ending.

The Taking of Peham 1 2 3

Release Date (UK) - 31 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - USA

Director - Tony Scott

Runtime - 121 mins

Starring - John Travolta, Denzel Washington

Travolta plays Ryder, seizing a train and taking the passengers hostage with demands of a 10 million reward within the hour. To add tension to this basic heist plot he has also threatened to kill a passenger for every minute that the money is late. Denzel Washington is Walter Garbel, a New York subway official under investigation for taking a bribe so has been relegated back to a train dispatcher on the day that Ryder takes the train so he is the voice that Travolta speaks his demands to.

The direction is pretty poor as the plots flicks between scenes on the train and in the subway office with far too many overhead city shots in between to buff it out. The script lacks authenticity when it really needs it, especially in the phone calls between Garber and his wife. But mostly Tony Scott's use of camerawork makes you feel almost dizzy with extreme over stylization using blurred shots, speeded up sequences, and 360 degree pans. The best scenes are those with the New York Mayor, where the script finally provides something passable in the form of some funny one liners delivered well by James Gandolfin.

Unfortunately this film adds nothing new to the heist movie genre, so its predictable and for me boring. For fans of Travolta or Denzel then this film is a good watch for plain solid performances but there's not really any variation on their normal persona's. As pure action entertainment this film delivers - the tension is well built but there aren't many fight or explosions and with this focus on tension with repeated clock shots and time titles it feels like Scott is trying to appeal instead to the drama genre audience. Whichever this film is its nothing special or unseen in either.

Frozen River

Release Date (UK) - 17 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - USA

Director - Courtney Hunt

Runtime - 97 mins

Starring - Melissa Leo, Misty Upham

This compelling drama follows the story of Ray (Melissa Leo) who is struggling to cope to look after her two sons on a part time job after her gambling husband left her with the money she had saved up to buy a new home. Tracking down the car her husband abandoned before leaving she meets Lila (Misty Upham) a Mohawk who is using her car to smuggle immigrants over the New York and Quebec border crossing a frozen river around the Mohawk reservation. Desperate for money Ray collaborates, just so she can get enough to buy the new home she has promised her youngest son for Christmas. It turns out that Lila is also a mother but her child was taken away by her mother in law and she too is smuggling so she can get money so she can claim her child back.

The setting is beautifully and the film is well shot and so well acted that you feel that this could definitely be a real story going on somewhere in poverty stricken homes. Although the story is quite original the growing trend of immigration and smugging films is kind of an odd genre to be so popular, perhaps reflecting a growing trend in media attention on the subject - last years Trade and the upcoming Crossing Over and Sin Nombre are films that come to mind. Its the sort of film where you really root for the characters to succeed so if that's something you look for in a film then this is a great watch.

BurmaVJ

Release Date (UK) - 17 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12A

Country - Denmark

Director - Anders Østergaard

Runtime - 89 mins

DVB, The Democratic Voice of Burma is a media organisation based in Oslo that broadcasts uncensored TV and radio back into Burma. Their film footage is all shot in Burma by video journalist's (VJ's) who risk there lives by doing so as the brutal Burmese ruling Junta do not allow any filming and the footage has to be smuggled out of the country in order to be broadoast to Burma and the international media.

The (varying quality) of VJ's footage shown is mostly focused on the months of the 2007 Burma uprising as Monks led protests in the streets of Ragoon. These scenes are assembled into a linear narrative by focusing on 'Joshua' (names are changed and faces are occasionally blurred out for peoples own personal safety), a DVB filmmaker who had fled to Thailand and was coordinating the filmmakers back in Ragoon. There are reconstructed scenes of him organising the VJs and passing on messages as to where they should be filming as various protests and events occur but the phone calls and film editing scenes occasionally feel a little over the top, created just to heighten mood and tension, but they are definitely needed for the full story to be told well.

The footage of scenes of the uprising speaks for itself and the scenes build up from those of the peaceful political protests to scenes in the final quarter of the film of real brutality as the military attack the Monks and civilians. Here the shocking state of Burma really sinks in and the film will make everyone who watches it want to help in anyway they can - many of the VJ's in the film are now political prisoners and this film is trying to highlight the campaign to free them. Its great that these brutal scenes aren't pushed too heavily earlier in the film, up until then the concentration has simply been on the film journalists methods as otherwise it would be almost too harrowing to watch.

The only criticism of the film I have is in that it assumes a viewers knowledge of the basic history of Burma and doesn't really give any background info into the history of Burmas culutre and military rule. This unfortunately will limit any mainstream appeal it could have, and is perhaps a part explanation to this wonderful documentary's limited release.

The Proposal

Release Date (UK) - 22 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12A

Country - USA

Director - Anne Fletcher

Runtime - 107 mins

Starring - Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds

Career driven publisher Margaret (Sandra Bullock) bribes her assistant Matt (Ryan Reynolds) to marry him after immigration discover her Canadian visa is expired and try to deport her. Matt hates her and the comedy comes from the them trying to keep up a pretence of a relationship for immigration, before eventually they predictably fall in love. Whatever.

Matt takes her to meet his parents in Alaska and the majority of the film follows events and characters here. Characters like Matts eccentric Grandma (Betty White) make this feel like a Meet the Fockers remake far too much - a slightly wacky family living on a remote island... hmm I've seen this all before. Its a typical formulaic Rom-Com that is just about funny enough to entertain those its aimed it but its certainly not inventive or surprising. There are plenty of funny moments but even these are the usual cliches and stereotypes - most stemming from a highly questionable racial stereotype in the character of Ramone who seems to have countless jobs and almost becomes a slave figure. This also brings to the forefront other racial questions - In one odd scene that doesn't fit into the films plot granny and Margaret dance in the woods imitating native Indians - just what on earth is going on here as the film certainly isn't trying to raise racial issues. The fact that the immigration marriage plot needs to revolve around a white immigrant in order to save deportation again is worrying.

The film is covered in a layer of superficial gloss that is painful for anyone who has an interest in cinema, the repeated fake Alaska window shots are so badly lit it looks downright shoddy and Bullock is now so artificially young that when you consider the 20 year age gap between her and Reynolds the love story becomes even more ridiculous. Basically he falls in love after one brief conversation .. come on now!!

Only if you really really like rom coms should you even consider paying to see this.

Brüno

Release Date (UK) - 10 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - 18

Country - UK

Director - Larry Charles

Runtime - 83 mins

Starring - Sacha Baron Cohen

Sacha Baron Cohen's character Brüno is an Austrian overtly gay TV fashion icon whose outlandish behaviour (and Velcro outfit!) end up losing him his job. Desperate to be famous he tries to break Hollywood in a variety of hilarious ways, helped by his doting assistant Lutz (Gustaf Hammarsten). After TV networks reject his pilot show Brüno decides that he will never be a celebrity unless he is straight like other stars and spends the rest of the film trying to become straight, resulting in more ridiculous schemes.

Its not as funny as Borat, simply because there's less of a cohesive plot so the laughs don't build up and develop. This is not a film for the easily offended with an overabundance of penis and sex shots making it a very crass and crude film and the beginning of a new era of shocking cinema. At times Brüno's behavior is almost cringworthingly unwatchable - and you cant believe the things he dares to say to people. And this is where the staging element creeps in.

Whats staged and whats not is difficult to tell, and for some people this may ruin the film but for others the guessing game is part of the enjoyment. Scenes that are cut short as people outraged by Bruno walk out are the most enjoyable as they are obviously real. The satirical take on celebrity adoption in scenes where Bruno collects a baby at the airport are obviously contrived but the outrage of a TV shows' audience members feel genuine, even if everybody else there must have been in on it. Scenes of parents who are willing to go to any lengths to get their babies a photoshoot job Brüno plans also feel staged and leave us unsure whether they are actors or is it real - and if so surely they had to interview a lot of other people who walked out before they got to these really desperate parents.

The funniest jokes are implied subtler quips rather than the outrageous graphic sexual jokes and unfortunately most of the best laugh out loud moments are in the trailer. Throughout the film you almost feel guilty laughing though as you don't know whether to feel outraged or not, is it homophobic, does Cohen push things too far here and has he reached the limits of acceptability or is it all fine as most of the people are in on it.

The main problem is that the film is just far too short. According to IMDB the run time is 83 minutes but I think more scenes have been cut since then as I was only watching a film for 75 minutes and watched most of the credits - one scene that was widely publicised as being cut was a Latoya Jackson interview as there was a Michael Jackson quip where Brüno tried to get his number and Universal felt it was too close to his death to include it. It felt to me like there were supposed to be more celebrity bits - I'd heard rumours about all the people Cohen had got but apart from the credit sequence which features a host of music stars who are perfectly happy to play act along as Brüno doesn't insult or ridicule them here. Either there was a lot of untrue celebrity rumour hype or any celebrity's caught out all managed to stop him putting them in the final cut. Even the scene which features a Sears store employee which is still in all the official trailers wasn't in the final film! Thus the gay conversion part of the film feels far too stretched out as thought they had to fill the film with all this material as they were prevented from including more controversial scenes, whether they be featuring celebrities or brands like Sears or simply just behaviour that was a bit too outrageous to be acceptable on screen.