just saw Stoned the other day, what a brilliant film! the performances were great and the soundtrack compliments the film as well! highly recommend this film.

The Beat That My Heart Skipped. Excellent French movie.

Transporter 2. Some good fight scenes, but rubbish story, and some big fat plot holes.

The Cement Garden 9/10
Andrew Birkin's chilling adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel is a disturbing tale of childhood survival in a moral wasteland. Fearing foster homes and adoption, four recently orphaned siblings decide to keep their mother's death a secret, burying her in a cement locker in the basement. The Lolita-like Julie, quickly adapts to the role of surrogate mother, caring for the younger children and picking up a thirtysomething boyfriend. Fifteen-year old Jack, however, is only concerned with his developing sexuality and his increasing infatuation with his sister. When the intrusive curiosity of Julie's boyfriend threatens to expose their secret, Jack finally assumes the mature role of family protector. As he slowly wins Julie's respect, their gentle flirtation results in a devastating and forbidden consummation. Fraught with sexual tension and suspense, The Cement Garden is a chilling look at unrestrained adolescent desire................ This film is quite disturbing mainly the last 5 minutes but its an excellent film with very good performances, well recommended

http://imdb.com/title/tt0106535/



Crazy/Beautiful 7/10
Nicole is the 17-year-old troubled daughter of a wealthy congressman who never met a rule she didn't break. Carlos is a grade A student with big dreams who endures a two-hour bus ride every morning to attend high school in an upscale L.A. neighbourhood. Their innocent flirtations quickly develop into passionate love, but Nicole's self-destructive behaviour threatens their relationship and puts Carlos' promising future in jeopardy. Will their intense passion keep them together despite the objections of their families or will Carlos be forced to plan his future without Nicole?............. This was a good film, well worth watching

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250224/

The Constant Gardener - Very good film

Flightplan - it's alright, not as good as it looks though

Big Daddy - I never get bored of watching this

Grosse Point Blank
Martin Blank is a neurotic asassin who is he=aving difficulty keeping the cold-bloodied killer mentality going. He's invited to a school reunion ten years after he left all who cared about him to join the army. Nobody plays curious misfit better than John Cusack as the quietly vulnerable Martin as he tries to deal with the crisis of his conscience as well as his kooky girlfriend (Minnie Driver) on top a Psychotic business rival (Dan Ackroyd) and a few FBI spooks on his tail. This film is surprisingly quirky and has the Cusack signature of picking some of the best songs of British music which would make me love him even more....if only for the fact he looks a little bit like my brother 9/10

Guess Whos Coming To Dinner 9/10
Old-line liberals Matt and Christina Drayton have raised their daughter Joey to think for herself and not blindly conform to the conventional. Still, they aren't prepared for the shock when she returns home from a vacation with a new fiancé: African-American doctor John Prentice. While they come to grips with whatever prejudices they might still harbor, the younger folks must also contend with John's parents, who are dead-set against the union. To complicate matters, the older couple's disapproving maid and Christina's bigoted business associate put in their two cents' worth. While Joey is determined to go ahead with the wedding no matter what people think, John refuses to consider marriage until he receives the unqualified approval of all concerned................ This was an excellent film and the performances were excellent also. well recommeded

http://imdb.com/title/tt0061735/



The Game 8/10
Director David Fincher followed the success of his dark and atmospheric crime thriller Seven (1995) with another exercise in stylish film noir, this time lifting the pallid atmosphere a notch to indulge in a fast-paced trip through the cinematic funhouse. Michael Douglas plays Nicholas Van Orton, a Scrooge-like San Francisco investment banker following in his father's Scrooge-like footsteps. On Nicholas's 48th birthday, his younger, free-spirited brother Conrad blows into town and gives Nicholas a special gift for "the man who has everything" -- a ticket to CRS (Consumer Recreation Services), a company that constructs games custom-fit for each participant to provide, as CRS salesman Jim Feingold cryptically puts it, "whatever is lacking." Nicholas's secure life begins a downhill slide as CRS masterminds a series of elaborate pranks, harmless at first, that quickly become malicious and life-threatening. Stripped of financial resources and convinced that he can trust no one, Nicholas begins to wonder if CRS is a front for a more covert operation, and if the game is in fact an attempt to steal his fortune and leave him for dead. Determined to fight back alone, Nicholas infiltrates CRS in order to "pull back the curtain and meet the wizard.............. This was a very good film, with an excellent performance from Micheal Douglas, well recommended

http://imdb.com/title/tt0119174/

quote:

Originally posted by archangel01:
Grosse Point Blank

Love this film, it's got one of my favourite Violent Femmes songs in it. Blister in the Sun. Plus the lovely Mr Cusack. *swooooon*

Road to Perdition. Good film.

The epic 'Das Boot' double DVD (the series condensed into one feature) & 'The Warriors' - which I hadn't seen in sometime and found fantastic! Why is Tony Scott remaking it?????

Harry Potter and the goblet of fire, FANTASTIC!

The Punisher - watched this last night, it was ok I suppose

Harry Potter - Brill.

Angles in America Chapter 1 & 2 - Awesome. No wonder it swept the GG and Emmy catergories for miniseries.

Harry Potter

The Libertine. It was AMAZING. See it.

The Wages Of Fear 9/10
Part road movie, part suspense thriller, the plot is high-tension simplicity itself. In the South American jungle, supplies of nitro-glycerine are urgently needed at a remote oil field. The unscrupulous American oil company pays four out-of-work men (Yves Montand, Charles Vanel - the creepy cop in 'Les Diaboliques', Folco Lulli and Peter Van Eyck) to deliver the supplies in two sets of drivers: a tension magnified thousand fold by the unforgiving heat, the lure of filthy lucre and the rough and rocky roads where the slightest jolt can result in agonising death. Which of the disparate, desperate desperadoes will survive the white-knuckle journey and claim the loot and the glory?................ This was an excellent film, well recommended

http://imdb.com/title/tt0046268/



Rambling Rose 9/10
Based on Calder Willingham's novel of the same name, RAMBLING ROSE is a domestic drama set in a small Georgia town during the 1930s. The main character is Rose , a lower-class girl with a troubled past who takes a job as a live-in maid for the Hillyers, an upper-crust, liberal southern family. Rose quickly wins over her employers with her warmth and spirit, but they are concerned about her promiscuity, which soon has every boy in town at her door. Struggling to resist her innocently seductive ways, the man of the house tries to curb Rose's behavior as she beguiles everyone in the household, including the young Buddy, whose sexual awakening is guided by her presence.............. I thought this was an excellent film and Laura Dern gives a excellent performance, well recommended

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102753/

My Name is Nobody on ITV4 and I'm still watchin it... terrific. If you haven't seen any Terrence Hill comedy Spaghetti westerns, seek them out at all costs. they're ace!

The Punisher
Enter the Dragon

Saw 2. Not as good as the first.

Swimming Upstream 9/10
SWIMMING UPSTREAM is a drama that tells the true story of Australian swimmer Tony Fingleton, who rose above his deeply troubled home life in order to become a national champion in 1950s Brisbane. Consistently tormented by his bullying older brother and his alcoholic father Harold, Tony leaned on his other brother John and his loving mother, Dora, for support. When Harold grudgingly takes the children to the local pool one day, he discovers Tony and John's very special gift. Soon, both boys are winning tournaments all over the country. Thinking this might be the way into his father's heart, Tony is shocked to discover that his success only sparks more animosity. Harold's notorious mood swings and alcoholism increases as Tony makes his way to the Australian Nationals, forcing Tony to find the strength within himself to become a bona fide champion............... This was an excellent film, Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis and Jesse Spencer gave excellent performances, well recommended

http://imdb.com/title/tt0326664/



One False Move 8/10
After stealing a large stash of cocaine and brutally murdering several people in the process, two Los Angeles outlaws--the intelligent Pludo, an African-American, and the psychopathic redneck Ray hit the road with Ray's biracial girlfriend Fantasia. Thinking that the killers might be headed to Ray and Fantasia’s hometown of Star City, Arkansas, two L.A.P.D. detectives travel there to await their arrival. They’re greeted by Hurricane Dixon, the town’s energetic police chief, who looks up to them as if they’re superheroes. When Pludo and Ray stop in Texas to sell their drugs, Fantasia continues on alone to Star City where she intends to reunite with her 5-year-old son. Once there, Hurricane tracks her down and she challenges him to confront the secret of their shared past, jeopardizing his marriage and career in the process. By the time Ray and Pludo arrive, a showdown forces Hurricane to draw his gun for the first time in his life............. This was a very good film, well recommended

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102592/

The Exorcism of Emily Rose, freaky stuff!

Films never normally frighten me but at one point someone behind me stood up and I almost jumped out of my seat!

The Princess And The Warrior - Excellent German film, very slick and stylish. Directed by Tom Tykwer who also directed Run Lola Run. This film stars Franka Potente as a nurse in a psych ward who finds the love of life after he causes an accident that almost kills her. When she tracks him down he wants nothing to do with her. He (played by Benno Furmann) is psychologically damaged after the death of his wife and can't stop crying. Although a little slow moving at times I definitely recommend this film. It's very well made, looks great and is very sweet at it's core. I liked the soundtrack too.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not - Twisty, turny French thriller starring Audrey Tatou as Angelique, an artist in love with a Doctor (Samuel Le Bihan). This film follows her attempts to make him leave his pregnant wife. First we see things from her point of view and then his. It's quite clever actually and very entertaining.

The Nest - French action/thriller. There is a group of uber-police escorting an Albanian crime lord to trial and a bunch of criminals out to rob a load of electrical goods from a warehouse.
They end up having to team up together when they come under seige from the nasties trying to free the crime lord.
Thoroughly entertaining and good fun. One might call it kick ass.

Albino Alligator - 3 petty criminals hole up in bar after their crime goes tits up. The Police mistakenly believe they are arms dealers who have murdered a federal agent. There is no way out of the bar so the criminals (Matt Dillon, Gary Sinise & William Fichtner) have to try and figure out what to do. I wanted to like this but I just found it terribly boring and the ending rather unsatisfying.

The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean - I stumbled onto this on telly late one night. I'm very glad I did. Paul Newman is an outlaw who sets up his own little town where other outlaws are not welcome and even the tiniest transgressions are punished by the rope. It drags a bit in the last third but is very watchable and has a great cast popping up in lots of cameo roles.

Men In Black 2 - The first one is better. This one feels like they marketed it before they wrote it. It feels like it should be longer and has none of the charm of the original. Meh.

Ong bak - Not my normal kind of thing but I wanted to see what all the hype was about. I thought it was pretty cool actually. The stunts are amazing. No wire-fu or CGI crap here. The plot and acting are reasonable but that's not really what you would rent this for. Bone-crackingly good.

My House In Umbria - Sunday afternoon fare. Maggie Smith stars as an romantic novelist who gets caught up in a bomb blast on a train. She invites her fellow survivors (Ronnie Barker, Benno Furmann & Emmy Clark) to recuperate at her house.
Giancarlo Giannini plays a detective trying to get to the bottom of the blast. That really is a secondary plot though because this film is all about the lush views and gentle strolls in the hills. Rather relaxing.

High Crimes - Ashley Judd is a lawyer who is happily married to Jim Caviezel. One day they are out shopping when he is arrested and it turns out he used to be in the army and might have taken part in a massacre in South America. Morgan Freeman plays the alcoholic, down on his luck attorney/investigator who helps her. Inoffensive but I've seen this stuff a hundred times before and they always seem to have Ashley Judd in them ! Zzzzz

The Sin Eater - I don't know why I bother with these religious horrors they always turn out to be a load of old guff. Heath Ledger plays a priest (ha ha) who goes to Rome to find out how the head of his order died. They belonged to some obscure sect of the Catholic church blah blah.
Shannyn Sossamon plays some mental girl/love interest. Mark Addy plays the best mate/cannon fodder. He does an awful irish accent. Peter Weller also pops up as a sinister Bishop. Heath tracks down the Sin Eater and hi-jinks ensue. An interesting idea poorly executed. It was too funny for me to take seriously and rather boring.

8 Women - Great stuff, it's cool watching these really famous French actresses play against each other. I love the crazy song and dance routines, and Isabelle Huppert almost steals the whole film (not for the first time). I haven't seen any other Francois Ozon films, but I might check them out if they're as good as this.

The Jacket - Pretty good thriller. It's been likened to Jacob's Ladder, I don't think it's as good as that, but it's a good story. Keira Knightley's best performance I reckon.

The League Of Gentlemen's Apocalypse - Very entertaining. Some really hilarious moments, and fans of the show would enjoy it. to make it more mainstream, a lot of the REALLY dark stuff seems to have been left out. Also, because they have to focus on only a handful of character there's not enough Papa Lazarou for my liking. But hey!