Film Previews and Reviews

Adventureland

2009-09-02T12:13:00.005+01:00

Release Date (UK) - 11 September 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - USA

Director - Greg Mottola

Runtime - 107 mins

Starring - Jesse Eisenberg, Kristin Stewart, Ryan Reynolds

The year is 1987 and Jesse Eisenberg is James, just graduated from college. He is a typical middle class American geeky teen, a romantic who wants to study in New York to be a travel writer, is girl shy and still a virgin. His gap year plans fall through when his father is demoted at work and cant finance his trip or planned studies. Forced to work for the summer and too underqualified, or perhaps over educated for most summer jobs he eventually gets a job at the local carnival 'adventureland'. What follows is a very gentle teen romantic comedy story, predictable but enjoyable.

James quickly falls for Em (Kristin Stewart of Twilight fame), but she is a typical confused teenager and is secretly sleeping with the much older park maintenance worker Connell (Ryan Reynolds). Meanwhile James' supply of weed and intellegence seems to make him friends very quickly at adventureland and even the 'hotty' of the park Lisa P asks him out. The obsession with drink and drugs is a little weird here - the teens all seem to have no problem at bars etc even though I'm sure they aren't supposed to be 21 yet and yet make a big deal out of getting stoned. They also are fine drink/drug driving, although some of the films reliability fall down as there are quite a few shots where people in cars are far too slouched in their seats to be driving. There's not much character depth or background info but the film manages to float off the surface plot quite well without being too heavy or detailed, Eisneberg's superb acting holds the film together well but Stewart is a little wooden, it appears she is perhaps just riding well off the back of Twilight.

What puzzled me is why was the film set in 1987? At first I thought perhaps that director Mottola may be reliving his own first love through the film but after checking this doesn't seem to be the case as he was 23 in 87. Although the film pays tribute slightly to the clothes and music of the period its not made particularly obvious that this film is set then, if you'd missed the opening title I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't realise this. The heavy focus on soundtrack here echoes the recent film 500 days of Summer in that it may well sell more copies than the film itself with its classics, here for people reminiscing the 80's. I assume this movie is attempting for the indie label with its offbeat story but it is a still a teen rom com however hard it tries.. I hate to use the word quirky but this film certainly isn't quirky enough for an indie tag. That said its a slow but often enjoyable film with some funny scenes, Bill Hader as the slightly crazy adventureland manager being one of the highlights.

The September Issue

2009-08-31T16:32:00.007+01:00

Release Date (UK) - 11 September 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12

Country - USA

Director - R J Cutler

Runtime - 90 mins

This documentary follows Anna Wintour, American Vogue Editor (and ice queen of the fashion world) and her staff as they put together the September 2007 issue of the magazine. Covering the photography and fashion content of this issue we see how fiercely Anna controls and vetoes what gets into the final magazine and the relationship she has with Creative Director Grace Coddington. We follow them to fashion shows, photo shoots, and also get glimpses into Annas own life with scenes with her daughter, who interestingly doesn't want a career in fashion or publishing, Anna herself having been born to be an editor being the daughter of big time newspaper editor Charles Wintour.

Instantly labelled the real life Devil wears Prada this film outshines it on so many levels. Its hilarious and also incredibly fascinating and gripping. Even if your not a fashionata this film is well worth a watch - for anyone interested in photography its a glimpse into the inspiration and process of idea to what actually gets into the magazine and the often ridiculous fashion items can get anyone laughing almost echoing the hilarity of Ben Stiller in Zoolander. This film is having a limited cinema release and then being released on DVD 10 days later, a tactic usually reserved for films nowhere near as great as this documentary and I'm really not sure why this is so. If its on at a cinema near you then go see it but I think a DVD purchase is only really necessary for fashion obsessives.

Funny People

2009-08-25T14:07:00.006+01:00

Release Date (UK) - 28 August 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - USA

Director - Judd Apatow

Runtime - 146 mins

Starring - Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen

Adam Sandler is George Simmons, a famous film comedian who discovers he is dying from a rare blood disease. Meanwhile Seth Rogen is Ira - a struggling, and failing, stand up comedian. As George struggles to cope with his diagnosis and returns to doing stand up gigs he meets Ira at an improv night and recruits him as his personal joke writer slash assistant. This slightly improbable relationship is the focus of a film that doesn't really go anywhere in terms of plot development but then what do you expect from the director of films such as Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin

As George reflects back on his life there is early footage of young Sandler himself and with Georges career in some slightly ridiculous movies you can't help feeling the irony here as we wonder whether Sandler himself echoes feeling about cliches of celebrity stardom voiced by George. One cameo laden scene highlights the negativity here towards fame as Georges' celebrity friends gather round after learning of his illness (playing themselves rather than fake celebrities) with a funny interchange between Eminem and George as Eminem says how depressed he's become with how restricting his fame is. Perhaps Sandler himself is tired of Hollywood and waishes he too could return to his days of stand up and Saturday Night Live.

Personally I've never found Seth Rogen funny and have been surprised how many people do, but in this film he's not character acting and just playing the comedian and I found myself laughing at this jokes throughout whereas I nearly walked out of Observe and Report. At 90 minutes this could have been an excellent comedy and one of the funniest so far this year, with high quality stand up and regular plot jokes much funnier than the very basic crude jokes in The Hangover but not quite as clever as the hilarious satire of In the Loop. However at this point the story moves to what basically is a Judd Apatow family showcase, with a boring and uninteresting side plot that goes nowhere but shows off Apatow's wife and two daughters. Georges illness has made him realise he was stupid to cheat on old girlfriend Laura (Leslie Mann, aka Mrs Apatow) and he goes to visit her with Ira to try and rekindle their relationship, even though she is now married with kids. There is even one awful cringe worthy scene where they watch a home video of the oldest girl, Mable (Maude Apatow) preforming in Cats, as Apatow basically gives his daughter screen time for her own personal showreel. How this got past studios execs still amazes me and this subplot ruins an otherwise funny film.

Inglourious Basterds

2009-08-15T13:27:00.008+01:00

Release Date (UK) - 19 August 2009

Certificate (UK) - 18

Country - USA / Germany

Director - Quentin Tarantino

Runtime - 153 mins

Starring - Brad Pitt, Christopher Waltz, Diane Kruger

Set in the second world Christopher Waltz is Col. Lans Handa, German detective turned 'Jew hunter' who ruthlessly hunts down Jews but for some unnknown reason in the opening French scene lets the Jewish Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) escape. Meanwhile the 'Inglourious Basterds' are a group of American soldiers led by Lt. Aldo Reine (Brad Pitt) who are dropped into France and their sole mission is to kill as many Nazi's as possible. The reality of history is quickly abandoned as Tarantino tells a story of bloodshed and revenge as both Shosanna and The Basterds plan to bring down the Nazis.

The plot is segmented into chapters and feature Tarantino's signature drawn out dialogue pieces which often can get boring but in this film there is plenty else to look at whilst this is going on as his attention to detail in the mise en scene is almost perfect. The dialogue full scenes mean that there is less action than you'd expect and there's not really much of the Basterds, but at a two and a half hour run time I'm guessing he must have filmed more and it has been cut out. The only major flaw is there is one point when theres a scene missing near the end of the film when Pfc. Smithson Utivich (B. J. Novak) is captured we didn't even know he was around to be captured as his involvement in this scene was not mentioned at all until this point so a bit of a bad cut here. There are almost too many stories and characters that Tarantino is trying to cram into this film - the two plots are really unneeded and the flicking between characters becomes disjointed because not enough time is spent with either side. Theres also a rather odd Samuel L. Jackson voice over which is so infrequent most people wont even pick up that its Jackson and although its used for comic affect, its totally unneeded, perhaps QT promised him a part for some reason and then didn't want to cast him so stuffed this in?

Chirstopher Waltz steals the show by a mile, and in my mind is even Oscar worthy in his frightening and convincing portrayal of a Nazi. Brad Pitt however does nothing special apart from a few comedy lines and Diane Kruger, as movie star Bridget von Hammersmark helping the basterds get to the Nazis, is not the most convincing of spies. This 'Project Kino' plot involves the Basterds accompanying her to the premier of a Nazi propaganda film and blowong up the cinema (run by Dreyfuss). This is a film of intertextuality - with constant references to german cinema, and by putting the cinem itself at the centre of the plot Tarantino's trying to be too clever here and it will go over the heads of most viewers. These cinematic references become quite annoying for anyone whose cineliterate but a bit forgetful.. my mind kept wondering as i recognised music and lines and it just distracted me for the rest of the film. The soundtrack, with mashing up of other film soundtrack is not put together as well as it was in Kill Bill and just echoes the disjointed narrative.

Altogether yes its totally worth a watch as Tarantino is a cinematic hero and the cinematic style is incredible, but the lack of action promised by the title and trailer let it down and the intertextualuity will just end up giving you a headache.

Moon

2009-08-11T16:24:00.005+01:00

Release Date (UK) - 17 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12A

Country - UK

Director - Duncan Jones

Runtime - 97 mins

Starring - Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey

Set not too soon in the future, a new fuel has been found which is mined from the Moon. Sam (Rockwell) is stationed on a station doing so on a three year contract which is about to end, with only a robot Gerty (Spacey) for company. However odd things begin to happen and after an accident caused by one of his hallucinations things get even odder as Sam is confronted with what appears to be a clone of himself. With a rescue team on the way after the accident together the two of them try to discover what is going on.

The Sci-fi genre seems to have died off in the current economic climate apart from the guaranteed blockbuster sequels like Star Trek, but this British film seems to have done quite well without massive budgets and effects and deservedly so, although much have the publicity about it seems to have been due to the fact that is the first film from Duncan Campbell, the son of David Bowie. The release was also very well timed to coincide with the anniversary of the moon landing and the publicity around that.

Although the story unfolds very slowly it is beautifully shot and you immediately grasp Sam's isolation and loneliness as he talks to his plants - he is just waiting for his three year daily routine to be over so he can finally see his family. When the clone arrives he is caught between confusion and relief as he finally has some company. The mystery of the plot aren't too complex as in some sci-fi, this film is much more a look at relationships than an analysis of technology and the possibilities it holds in cloning. There are also a few moments of quaint comedy from the relationship between Gerty and Sam, but oddly his position in whether he can help Sam uncover the truth seems to change from scene to scene. Apart from this confusion the plot unfolds nicely in this gentle observation tale which is a pleasant but not astounding watch.

The Yes Men Fix the World

2009-08-10T16:17:00.004+01:00

Release Date (UK) - 7 August 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12A

Country - France / USA

Director - Andy Bichlbaum & Mike Bonanno

Runtime - 87 mins

Starring - Andy Bichlbaum & Mike Bonanno

Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are the Yes Men, two political pranksters who target corporate companies trying to 'fix the world', mainly by making fake announcements as representatives from these companies that are more ethical or highlight how inhumane these corporations can be. This film follows several of their pranks such as Andy impersonating a Dow representative on the BBC World news channel apologising for the Bhopal disaster that killed thousands of Indians and promising to compensate those affected.

Its sometimes unwatchable as you cant believe they have the dare to come out with the things they do at such big conferences but the reactions of the people they announce their fake ideas too is the most interesting part of the film, from those who believe there absurd announcements are true to the reactions of the press when they discovered to be pranksters. This examination of reactions is similar to Sacha Baren Cohens' films but here the satire is questioned by the media backlash after their stunts. The Yes Men are highlighting some key issues, and the media have often criticised them for giving false hope to victims but Andy and Mike challenge this by going to visit the people they had supposedly hurt and their reactions are usually the opposite - they end up thanking Andy and Mike for highlighting their plight.

Though their actions are really interesting and this film is worth a watch as a documentary it doesn't really come together. There motivations are not explained (I got the feeling they may have worked for a corporate company in the past but this is a real stab on the dark) and between pranks there are bizarre constructed scenes of them discussing their plans which just feel odd and lack comic timing. This aside the film is an eye opener on certain corporations and is getting issues like the Bhopal tragedy the publicity it deserves.

Sin Nombre

2009-08-09T19:17:00.010+01:00

Release Date (UK) - 14 August 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - Mexico / USA

Director - Cary Fukunaga

Runtime - 96 mins

Starring - Kristian Ferrer, Edgar Flores, Paulina Gaitan

Sin Nombre is another immigration film, a topic which seems to be increasingly popular at the moment. It pieces together the threads of Willy (Edgar Flores) and Smiley (Kristian Ferrer), members of the notorious Mara gang and Sayra (Paulina Gaitan), a teenager trying to emigrate to America with her estranged family. They come together travelling through Mexico on the roof of a train as first time director Fukunaga illustrates how many desperate people try (and often die trying) to get in to the USA.

The gang scenes feature some very brutal violence, and although this film has been compared to City of God Its a very different style, it is very beautifully shot and the story is a lot slower. This film had the potential to be a great watch but there's just something missing here - you just don't feel very attached to the characters emotionally and up not really caring what the outcome is, even though the tension is built up to a grand finale. Having seen Trade recently where Paulina Gaitan plays basically the same character this film just feels like a much better shot version of the same film. Whilst watching plights of people in this countries can be eye opening this film seems to be more about teenage angst than what could have been an emotional story of immigration and its dangers.

Rumba

2009-08-06T12:50:00.005+01:00

Release Date (UK) - 31 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - PG

Country - France/Belgium

Director - Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon & Bruno Romy

Runtime - 77 mins

Starring - Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon

This delightful film tells the story of Fiona and Dominique, two teachers who enter dance competitions but after a car accident Fiona loses a leg and Dominique his memory. There is very little dialogue in this theatrical and mimical comedy piece, and is very reminiscent of the films of Jacques Tati in its clownish scenes.

The bold bright colours set the tone for the jolly mood of the film from the start, although there are slight dark undertones (their accident occurs after swerving to avoid the suicidal Gerard (Philippe Martz) ). The film follows a hilarious string of comic scenarios that they get into, from getting changed for a dance recital in their car whilst driving (reminiscent of a Mr Bean sketch) to Dominique's lack of memory leading him astray and taking his pupils into a bar. This is a wonderful, if short film and I would recommend everyone to go if you get a chance. Tip - stay till the end of the credits as there's a brief scene at the end.

The Ugly Truth

2009-08-05T13:02:00.003+01:00

Release Date - 7 August 2009

Certificate (UK) - 15

Country - USA

Director - Robert Luketic

Runtime - 96 mins

Starring - Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler

Katherine Heigl plays Abby, a successful female producer of a morning daytime TV show. When her boss recruits Mike (Gerard Butler) for the show for a segment called 'The Ugly Truth' where he offers up his misogynist views on sex and relationships Abby cant stand him and wants rid of him. But his advice instead ends up helping her start a romance with her new neighbour Colin (Eric Winter) but its not too hard to guess what the end result is in this predictable hate-turning-to-love-relationship rom-com.

Unfortunately the com element of this film is slightly flawed. Most of the jokes stem from Mike's crass misogynistic humour, which will appeal much more to men but the average romantic comedy audience is usually more female than male. None of the jokes are particularly clever and Heigl has no real comic timing. The obvious vibrating knicker gag (I'll leave that to your imagination) and frequent swearing have earned it a 15 rating as well which isn't going to help improve audience numbers. Boring, predictable and not especially funny its one for girls to drag the boyfriend to definitely - he'll think hes gonna hate it but will probably end up loving it more than you. It follows the same formula as the Proposal, which is funnier, so if you have the choice I'd suggest the Proposal is the better of the two.

500 Days of Summer

2009-08-04T13:18:00.008+01:00

Release Date (UK) - 4 September 2009

Certificate (UK) - 12A

Country - USA

Director - Mark Webb

Runtime - 95 mins

Starring - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel

Tom (Gordon-Levitt) works writing greeting card slogans and this is where he meets Summer (Deschanel) and promptly falls in love with her after dating for a while, but she isn't ready for that sort of commitment and soon dumps him. The film flicks frequently between the '500 days' from when he first meets her and his struggle to get over her. The fact that the story is told strictly from Tom's point of view and his interactions rather than just Summer's or a two sided affair is just the first of many un-cliched elements of this 'boy meets girl' story from first time director Webb.

The film is wonderfully fresh in its uniqueness and unpredictability, and as the narrator sets out from the start 'this is not a love story'. This infrequent narration which at first I felt was a little jilting ends up working quite well - its not the voice of any of the characters so the film doesn't over align us with Tom and its not too frequent to interfere with the plot. The almost random order of the days does become a little confusing but as long as you pay attention its quite easy to follow. More screen time is dedicated to Tom actually trying to get over Summer than the days of their dating relationship as the film takes an unusual look at relationships and the label of 'love'.

Both the stars are convincing and Gordon Levitt (who most people will recognise from his childhood days in 3rd Rock from the Sun) does so well I expect to see him many more films in the future. Unfortunately Deschanel seems to have been typecast as the quirky love interest so theres nothing I haven't seen her do before - Gigantic and Yes Man for example. However this quirkiness that is becoming popular lately in American Independent film is not all on her part as a scene where Tom and Summer play pretend house in Ikea is a lovely cutesy moment that will make you want to be in a relationship that's that much fun yourself.

There are some hilarious gags - the last line being the best but I wont spoil it and there is even a fantasy scrubs-style sequence when Tom bursts into a musical song and dance number after he spends his first night with Summer. The indie soundtrack is full of timeless classics (The Smiths, Doves, Simon & Garfunkel) that are well incorporated into the films themes as Tom and Summer argue over musical tastes, and I suspect the soundtrack may even do better than the film itself. Altogether this film is almost a new, and funnier Garden State. I hope it does as well.. go see it!

Antichrist

2009-08-03T12:18:00.006+01:00

Release Date (UK) - 24 July 2009

Certificate (UK) - 18

Country - Denmark

Director - Lars von Trier

Runtime - 108 mins

Starring - Willem Defoe, Charlotte Gainsborough

Antichrist is by far the most controversial film of the year. The critics at Cannes booed and walked out, and opinion is totally divided on whether Lars von Trier's film is a masterpiece or a gore fest in which he has gone too far. For me its a masterpiece, but a very flawed one. Its well known that von Trier had depression when he made the film and the dark story reflects this depression. However the film contains the most beautiful imagery I've seen in a long while and if it wasn't for the dark and slightly boring plot this would have been unrecognisably the most amazing film in years.

Defoe and Gainsborough, playing unnamed characters are a couple who are stricken by tragedy in the opening prologue when there young son accidentally dies falling out of a window. In the following chapters Defoe, a therapist, tries to counsel Gainsborough out of her grief and they go to 'Eden' their retreat cabin in the woods to try and overcome her grief and fears. There's not that much dialogue and the plot gets odder and odder when they arrive at Eden but the imagery outways the odd story and gore scenes. I wouldn't even term it gore, I don't know whether von Trier was trying to take the film to a new level of shocking cinema or whether his depression was so far deep that this was all he could conceive. There are graphic scenes of sex, violence and even genital mutilation that will disturb many people. I was perhaps the only person that didn't have to look away in the cinema, but after watching Salo at a young age no film has ever caused me to do so yet.

The film is dedicated to Andrei Tarkovski and its not hard to see why with the beautiful imagery and cinematography. The focus on nature is a key motif in Tarkovski's work and the beautifully held wide shots of the forest vividly evoke Tarkovski films particularly Ivan's Childhood. For any fans of Tarkovski this is a must but its to be avoided by even the slightly faint hearted.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

2009-07-30T16:57:00.005+01:00

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

2009-07-29T16:22:00.004+01:00

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

2009-07-27T17:14:00.010+01:00

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

2009-07-26T19:09:00.009+01:00

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

2009-07-15T12:32:00.008+01:00

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

2009-07-14T15:24:00.011+01:00

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

2009-07-02T14:41:00.012+01:00

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.

My Sisters Keeper

2009-06-30T11:30:00.018+01:00

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

2009-06-30T11:30:00.017+01:00

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

2009-06-30T10:13:00.001+01:00

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

2009-06-24T15:38:00.001+01:00

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

2009-06-23T15:08:00.002+01:00

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

2009-06-23T13:42:00.001+01:00

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

2009-06-17T16:02:00.001+01:00

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

2009-06-14T16:41:00.001+01:00

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

2009-06-14T11:23:00.001+01:00

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

2009-06-11T13:01:00.001+01:00

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

2009-06-04T11:23:00.003+01:00

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

2009-06-03T11:00:00.002+01:00

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.