Be warned, this film will make you very angry. The first 30-45 minutes are exellent, there are some interesting messages, great performances (especially from Osment) and genuinely creapy moments. The next 45 minutes or so are also very good, but not quite that as the beginning. The last 30 minutes though are the most disasterously bad pieces of film-making you will ever see. I couldn't look at the screen as a great film was ruined right before my eyes. You can tell exactly what bits of the film were influenced by Kubrick (ie. the beginning and bits of the middle), but the end, which was clearly Spielbergs work (ie. very sentimental) was horrendous. I cannot believe that nobody working on the film didn't tap Spielberg on the shoulder and ask, "excuse me, but what the hell do you think you are doing?". Kubrick must be spinning in his grave, as his last waltz has been desicrated by an aged fool who needs to start watching his early works (and Schindlers List) to see how films are supposed to be made. I really don't know how to review this film, as I thought the first two thirds of the film were of a very high caliber, and the end just looked thrown on as a joke. I thought the end of Planet of the Apes was bad enough, but this!!........ I really can't give this film a mark, but I can give you a tip, walk out when you hear the voice over coming back after about 1 hour and 45 minutes, you will appreciate it.
Like High Fidelity, which is based on a book by Nick Hornby, as is this film, About a Boy is a very nice romantic comedy that will appeal both to men and women. Although this is a little schmaltzy (for the female audience), Hugh Grant's womanising ways and easy going lifestyle will appeal to the men. I didn't quite like this as much as High Fidelity though (probably because of that film's music angle), as this loses its way a little towards the end to a very slightly too cheesy finale (which also almost includes an horrifically shameless bit of product placement). Hugh Grant is very good here, in possibly his best role since Four Weddings, and quite different from most of his previous 'foppish' ones too. The rest of the cast are pretty good too, even the young lead (Nicholas Hoult) is reasonable, never getting irritatingly 'cute' like most child actors. It is slightly cliched at times, but at the same time quite different from a lot of romantic comedies, which is refreshing. Its certainly worth seeing, especially if you liked High Fidelity. 7/10
Straight from the title you can tell this film isn't going to trouble any brain cells and settles firmly in the 'B-movie' category, so reviewing it on any artistic or technical merit is pretty pointless. As a piece of cheesy entertainment it still doesn't quite satisfy though unfortunately. For action movie fans it sounds like the perfect combination and you expect a brutal battle of epic proportions but unfortunately theres not really enough Aliens on Predator action, and when there is, director Paul WS Anderson finds some way of messing it up with some ridiculous contrivance or mainly by just refusing to bother with any sort of tension. The action scenes just happen with little to no build up and the cuts are so quick that sometimes you can't even tell whats happening and lose any sense of excitement. That said, one or two of the action scenes are pretty good when you finally get what the title offers up, but towards the end when the circumstances of the battle change (I won't give it away, although this is hardly a plot you're going to be too interested in) the whole idea itself is even spoilt. Again, like I said at the start, its difficult to rate a film that originally sets out to be a cheesy action film and is just that, but even then it could have been a bit more exciting if it tried a little harder. For a DVD rental with plenty of beer, this would do the trick though I guess. 4/10
Almost Famous is a very likeable coming-of-age rock movie which suffers from too much sentiment. Being set in the seedy world of rock and roll following underage groupies and featuring a reasonable amount of drug use, you would expect this film to be a little nastier, but this doesn't happen. I think this is because the director is obviously in love with the era and setting (the film is supposedly based on Cameron Crowes' own experiences as a rock journalist), and his feeling just shows a little too strongly. However, this is still good stuff, with Kate Hudson and Billy Crudup perfectly suited to their roles as a famous groupie and lead guitarist respectively. The soundtrack is predictibly excellent coming from a rock critic (plus it features about six Led Zeppelin songs which is an instant bonus), and the script is pretty sharp, as is the attention to period detail. Overall, this is a nice, enjoyable feelgood film, which could have been a bit better. 6/10
From the director of the excellent Delicatessen and City of Lost Children, Amelie is equally as quirky and visually stunning as its predecessors, yet strangely not as dark. This isn't a bad thing though. Amelie is one of the nicest films I've seen for ages that isn't steeped in schmaltz. I think one of the main characteristics that stops it from degenerating into mush territory apart from the various surreal aspects, is the performance and physical presence of Audrey Tautou who plays the title role. She is impossible not to fall for as the reclusive Audrey Hepburn like Amelie. There are so many great touches to this film, I couldn't possibly pick a best one, and don't want to give any of it away. This is the sort of film its hard to walk out of without feeling good about yourself. I did find the film a little long though, the middle section should have been cut a little, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this. Theres nothing other than this and Moulin Rouge that are worth watching out at the moment, so I advise everyone to catch this if they can. 9/10
After much praise in America, I have been waiting for this to come over to England with great anticipation. Often when my expectations are high for a film, I am dissapointed by the end result, but not this time. American Beauty is a very rich, dark, funny, moving, satirical fable about suburban America. Many may yawn at this, thinking social satires about suburban life have been around for ages, even TV is saturated with them, but this is a startlingly original film, which is very hard to describe or label, so I won't bother.
All I can say is that you won't get much more out of any film than you will out of this one. It covers teenage angst, mid-life crises, peadophilia, death, homophobia, voyeurism, and probably many more issues under the surface that may require an extra viewing. The film sounds very harrowing, and is at times, but mostly is very amusing, and at times touching. The look of the film is highly accomplished too, and suprisingly from a theatrical director, I found the film highly cinematic. 10/10
Your opinion on this film will depend on whether you liked the first 'slice' (sorry) and whether you can ignore the flaws the film has and let yourself enjoy all the characters' missadventures. I personally liked the first film. Okay, some of the gags were a bit below the belt and it was hardly art, but most of the cast were very enjoyable to watch, they obviously all had a lot of fun, and also a lot of the situations in it were quite realistic (although sometimes over the top). The second film doesn't quite hit the mark though. Some of the cast members were still reasonable, but they didn't look quite as enthusiastic. Also lacking was the skewed realism of the first film, and the fact that at the end of AP1 not everything turned out perfectly. The female characters aren't nearly as strong this time round either. Most of them just pop in for a couple of minutes for a bit of eye candy then dissapear. All this said though, it is still fun to watch, and as I said, if you don't analyse the film too much, you will walk out with a smile on your face. 5/10
This is a funny and also often horrific film based on the infamous book by Bret Easton Ellis. Like Fight Club, American Psycho film is a study of masculinity, which can be taken in different ways depending what you think the ending was trying to say. I haven't read the book, but I've been told that whilst the film is quite a faithful adaption (the violence is less graphic though), the message seems to be different, as the book was more of a stab at the eighties. This is mainly due to the director and co-screenwriter, lesbian feminist icon Mary Hannon (I Shot Andy Warhol). The first hour or so of the film is outstanding, with some hilarious scenes (especially the business card rivalry) and also some very intense ones. The film started to lose its edge a bit in the last quarter, but never turns crap, and the final twist raises some very interesting ideas (it caused a long discussion in the car going home). Christian Bale is also excellent in the title role. Definately worth a look. 8/10
Easily the most original biopic I've ever seen, American Splendor is a curious little film charting the successes and failures of comic book author Harvey Pekar. It manages to be original by seamlessly blending interviews and footage of the real Harvey with a dramatic interpretation of his life and also with some of the art from his work. Its a low key film with a fair amount of dry humour as well as some more touching moments between Pekar and his wife Joyce. The reconstructed elements of the film are reminiscent of Ghost World, but focused on a middle-aged character rather than a teenager, and are equally as good as that film. Paul Giamatti does a fantastic job of not only doing a great impression of Pekar (no easy task when you share screen time with him), but also by creating a wholly realistic character that prevents the reconstructed sections from feeling just that... reconstructed. The rest of the cast are great too, Hope Davis (playing Joyce) and Judah Friedlander (as the ultimate nerd, Toby) especially create some wonderfully memorable characters. Using Pekar's story as a template, the whole film works (in a similar way to Ghost World) as a celebration of seemingly mundane suburbia, as Pekar's miserable outlook on everything undercuts his fairly successful and interesting life. Unfortunately, being about life's mundanity and featuring such a determinedly downbeat main character, its not always the lightest of films, but there is enough humour, warmth and originality to keep this head and shoulders above most mainstream fair. 8/10
Oliver Stone takes on American football this time in a stylish (obviously) half-stab-at-American-football-management, half-feel-good-movie (?). The film shows the dodgy goings on behind the scenes of American football, mixed with outstanding game scenes which, as anyone can expect from Stone, are made up of mind-blowingly fast edited mixtures of film stocks, with pounding, ever-changing music going on in the background mixed with animal growls. Unfortunately, a lot of the fantastic football scenes have been cut from the European release, but there are enough here to keep you going, and make the long running time fly by. The bits in between the games are well done too, with Pacino on fine shouting form, and James Woods, Cameron Diaz etc. all doing nicely. My only complaint is with the end, which suddenly reversed the trend for dissing the football industry, and reverts to feel-good, which would work in a different film, but doesn't seem to fit in here. 7/10
