Reviews by Lexi

''Without the loyalty between us, we are no better than the beasts at our door.''

An origins story centered on the centuries-old feud between the race of aristocratic vampires and their onetime slaves, the Lycans.

Michael Sheen: Lucian

The third outing for Underworld takes a number of new paths. One in the guise of its prominent new Director Patrick Tatopoulos, and another in the shape of it's prequel story. Yes, there is no Kate Beckinsale on display but another personified beauty in the role of sassy femme fatale, this being Rhona Mitra playing Sonja. Old characters are fleshed out and given their murky pasts emphasis and show, old favourites like Lucian and Viktor all return to their magnificent parts.
The main strengths of Rise of the Lycans is in it's fantasy, it's amazing costumes, vibrant battles and gore, and dark tones. However this is an entertainment strain of story, a benevolent product of fun. The cast and crew know it and don't try to make it something it's not, this is a part of a franchise and growing mythical world.

It must be said the romance feels abit forced and the battles feel too fast to be appreciated at times. Opting for blurry, heightened, rushing of sorts without being able to appreciate the glorious moments on offer. The violence seems to be not as bad as intended in the sense you're used to it by now if you're an Underworld enthusiast or fan.
Sadly,for me I miss the guns and modern feel the other films had, especially the original one.

''Sonja, if I were to leave, would you come with me?''

It must be said, that Bill Nighys Viktor is too good to be without, hence why he's stuck around for two films after his demise in the first. In this he shows a villain, whom is cold and merciless yet in moments compassionate and full of dread and regret for his ominous decisions. Like any Royal family of any kind, he has principles and wants to uphold traditions of old, and Bill Nighy gets these factors across magnificently.
Michael Sheen as Lucian also shines in his role, as Lucian, thus taking up his mantle of one of the first roles I ever saw him play. He has a passion, and fierceness to him that is resonant in all parts I've seen him play, whether it's Tony Blair, shady business men or monks, he always makes the part his own with his beneficial talents.
Rhona Mitra as Sonja, Viktors Daughter, effectively sinks her teeth into her role, making it similar to Beckinsale. Even her signature moves are a pastly echo of Selena, which is pleasing.
One sex scene that Sheen & Mitra have felt abit wooden I must admit, even a bit of a giggle with him hanging from a cliff, held by her thighs. If you aren't paying attention, then you might like I wonder what the hell is going on. I was certainly bemused by this.

The music, setting and era, are all dark and effective, similar to Legacy of Kain and Soul Reaver video game series perhaps?. Rise of the Lycans is a story anyone familiar with the previous installments will know already,how it will enfold. Yet some parts are enigmatically told in a fresh way, that we didn't know before.
It starts with little Lucian being born and spared by Viktor, and brought up and raised as a slave. The Werewolf people being servants for the Vampire kind. The Werewolf servants being called the race of Lycans, hence the title. The film proceeds to emboss things, facts and issues that were previously discussed on the other stories in the future. It's fun, and thrilling but I did manage to spot a few loop holes as weaknesses, but these aside, Rise of the Lycans is to be enjoyed and taken in for fans and newcomers alike.

Overall, this is a feast for the eyeballs. Fans of fantasy, romance, vampires, creatures and detailed costumes and settings will love it. Of course the gore, blood and fighting too also is a peak of excitement for all. So Rise of the Lycans is a valuable delving into Underworld mythology, and without a doubt, I loved it, despite flaws, I indeed Lycaned it...

''I have lived by their rules my entire life...I've protect them, envied them, and for what? To be treated like an animal...we are not animals! Is this what you want? We can be slaves... or we can be LYCANS!''

''THEIR grief? If you imagine I'm going to drop everything and come down to London before I attend to my grandchildren who've just lost their mother... then you're mistaken. I doubt there is anyone who knows the British people more than I do, Mr. Blair, nor who has greater faith in their wisdom and judgement. And it is my belief that they will any moment reject this... this "mood", which is being stirred up by the press, in favour of a period of restrained grief, and sober, private mourning. That's the way we do things in this country, quietly, with dignity. That's what the rest of the world has always admired us for.''

After the death of Princess Diana, HM Queen Elizabeth II struggles with her reaction to a sequence of events nobody could have predicted.

Helen Mirren: The Queen

Director Stephen Frear's The Queen faces the grueling prospect of displaying and showing one of the darkest days in recent years of a declining monarchy. A time when the death of a princess shocked the world and sent us into mourning, with an enigmatic Royal Family and Queen choosing to keep things private albeit hush hush.
Frear's paonts an intimate picture of a week in time, showing us glorious characters of consequence and stature. Giving them three dimensional layers and graces, flaws and strengths, conveying a sense of realism, life and symbolic importance for a monarch whom deserves her story told. For a monarch under-valued and misunderstood by her own people.



''Will someone please save these people from themselves!''

The Queen features a fabulous cast of veteran actors whom wonderfully flesh out their respective roles. We have the whole line up of Royals, politicians and famous icons of British culture on display here.
Obviously Helen Mirren's performance is outstanding, and deserving of the Best Actress Oscar she deservedly won for this. Every gesture, word, and unrelenting acting of resonance and royal stature is layed to bear by the woman, who embodies her majesty majestically.
Another character portrayed very well is the ominous Tony Blair, played by a wonderful Martin Sheen whom is a rising star of late. His mannerisms, and voice accurately captures the man. As the Queen warns him off future disrest also, we believe her and we also believe Mirren's charismatic ability.
We see a James Cromwell as Prince Philip, making his views heard with great amusement. He's actually on form here as a believable character whom isn't afraid to voice his views, he also makes alot of laughs happen without meaning too.
Alex Jennings as Prince Charles tops it off, as the benevolent Prince, who is flushed with good intention and future thinking for the family. He adds a weirdness to yet an apparent family barbarity, whom get the most joy out of stag hunting and the great outdoors. A life of prviliage isn't given, it isn't asked for, you are born into it's bussom, and it's shackles stick. All the members of the Royal Family are locked to this world the public cannot understand, and why would they? The aren't a part of it, yet in some ways they are an inexistent part, which a hereditary form of selection dictated the Monarchy, in the relic ridden past.

''Sleeping in the streets and pulling out their hair for someone they never knew. And they think we're mad!''

The music, cinematography, and acting all propel proceedings into a higher sphere of greatness. When these things come together, we the audience are in awe of it. The Queen waiting for her help as her car breaks down in a remote stream, is a pause, a breath of freedom, in the unrelenting drama of scandal and oppression. When she looks up and sees the Stag in the distance, looking this way in return, she exclaims its beauty and at the same time it's appearance and being there, symbolizes something greater. It is a symbol and metaphor of glorious hope, a hope for the future, a future not so distant, an evolution of tradition and regal formalities.
Later we see a Tony Blair and Queen, two months later after events, which shows us the mind set and bonding of the two giants of our time. We see the ushering of past merging with progress, tradition giving way to progress...yet the coin is flipped in the sense of progress still honouring tradition and mutual respect for an age old sovereign and Saviour of our people.

As for Diana, labeled the People's Princess, she was a Goddess among us, cruelly snatched away in the peak of her existence. Her vibrant energy and unrelenting essence was an inspiration to our world and a burning candle of hope and generosity. Charities, celebrities, royalty and countless people were all in awe of her, and if she was still around today I'm sure her good would still be generated in droves by her shining presence and influence. The week of her demise, shocked a nation and an onlooking World, it even shocked a private family mysterious to all, into action and remorse. A public ushering in their guidance and condolences to be shared with all and everyone.

Overall, The Queen is a miracle of performances, and a wondrous historical capturing of a few days, that feel like a lifetime of struggle. A journey of discovery and a capturing of one of the most powerful women of our time. An inspirational account that Helen Mirren beautifully captures on each frame she graces and is upon. The Queen shows us the greatness of England, of our Country, of our land. The United Kingdom, in all it's traditional, monarchy proud, shining beacon of hope instances. Even in our darkest hour, we can prevail, and Her Royal Majesty does just that. She prevails.

''You must show your strength. Reassert your authority. You sit on the most powerful throne in Europe, head of an unbroken line that goes back more than a thousand years. Do you think any of your predecessors would have dropped everything and gone up to London because a bunch of hysterics carrying candles needed help with their grief? Huh! As for that silly Mr. Blair with his Cheshire Cat grin...''

''I'm an old broken down piece of meat and I deserve to be all alone, I just don't want you to hate me.''

A drama centered on retired professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson as he makes his way through the independent circuit...

Mickey Rourke: Randy 'The Ram' Robinson

Darren Aronofsky has always been a Director whom has been close to my heart. Whether it was the film that blew my world away, the much loved The Fountain, or the cryptic puzzler Pi, or the emotionally entrancing Requiem for a Dream, whether it's any of these Darren always proves to be a man of vision. Why am I not surprised Aronofsky's latest, The Wrestler proves to be equally successful? It's because it's a firestorm of truth, a blur of sophistication and a hurricane of a man's struggle with his career and life.
Which is essentially a question of stop doing what you love and die, or keep doing it and go out doing the thing you love most.



Let's just say Mickey Rourke was born to play this part, Mickey is in my eyes The Ram, he envelopes the part and engulfs it as his own. It's magical, wondrous and dazzling without even breaking a sweat. The Wrestler isn't just about wrestling, but about a man, about this living, breathing being, whom is alone, and lonely. His passion is his hope, his hope is life and when his daughter doesn't want to know, and a potential new love of his life, he is a broken man. He has only one thing left, and age and a bad heart have caught up with him, he has to go back to the only thing he knows.
Rourke embodies the struggle Randy faces, and we're along every step of the way as he fights not just in the ring but outside of it also. I find myself in love with everything Rourke does, every syllable he mutters, every breath he takes. This is the role he was born for, he shines, and a film about Mickey is begging to be made.

''The eighties fucking ruled, man, until that pussy Cobain came and fucked it all up.''

Another shining light of The Wrestler is the gorgeous music by Clint Mansell, using a combination of rock and heavy composites, with dazzling results. Shots are used effectively albeit shakily, different to anything Aronofsky has ever done. The backward shooting of Rourke or his daughter is used effectively, as done in a part of Dark Knight, and numerous video games. It's an original way of panning and capturing a moment or series of events.
Acting wise Mickey Rourke is backed up by a wonderful array of fellow Wrestlers and fans. Not to mention two Actresses whom shine for this film and story.
Marisa Tomei as Cassidy really acts to perfection in this, also showing a duality mutual respect for strippers too, in the fact, that what they do is hard work too. Wrestling maybe hard, but pole dancing and dancing also is a complex grueling task. Her performance and chemistry with Rourke boosts this film into the stratosphere of love and new found love. The way she helps him find his daughter a present or the fact she cares enough about him to meet him outside of work is heart achingly real.
Evan Rachel Wood as Stephanie Robinson, plays the estranged daughter of Randy all too well. Shes resentful, hurt and mad at him, in the sense he hasn't been much of a father to her. Many of us may take her dispositon towards him as unpleasant but understandable considering her life without her father's influence. As he faces his heart complication, a chance for a rekindled bond between them emerges, and a one to one presents a new awakening for their love for one another. This however is short lived, as one thing leads to another and Randy let's her down yet again. A scene with the pair on the beach, gives us one of the most moving parts between a father and daughter.

Overall, The Wrestler is a very powerful film about love, passion and loneliness. A love for something you can't live without, a life that knows Wrestling, that sacrifice is not an option,where anything is possible no matter what the consequence. Mickey Rourke is the reason to see this film, his performance is the best of his career, his Sin City gravelly voice is a pleasure to hear and his body the pinnacle of experience and ripe for this role. Darren Aronofsky and Rourke etch out a place in time for a notch in greatness, the ending being one that leaves what happens, up to our imaginations, and Darren knows this is the cleverest way to play upon us. For leaving it open to suggestion and discussion, is to envision and emblazon one thing to us, and that is a message of hope.

''In this life you can lose everything you love, everything that loves you. Alot of people told me that I'd never wrestle again, the only one that's gonna tell me when I'm through doing my thing, is you people here.''

''Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60's. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted.''

Based on writer Susanna Kaysen's account of her 18-month stay at a mental hospital in the 1960s.

Winona Ryder: Susanna Kaysen

It's always easy to relegate a story or piece of art to a niche in the wall, claiming that it borrows or steals from other sources. In the case of Girl, Interrupted, it's very easy to say "It's a 'Cuckoo's Nest' with females." Looking at things on lower levels, one could argue that every tale steals from all those before. But the truth of the matter is that certain ideas are so fundamental, so classical, that they have applied to us for as long as anybody can remember. If basing a movie on a mental institution and its patients concocts discontent, then basing a movie on love is as much of a sin.



Girl, Interrupted pleasingly places us in the eyes of Susanna Kaysen(Winona Ryder), a teenage girl who suffers from depression and is signed into the custody of a psychiatric hospital after a failed attempt at suicide. Like most young people who suffer from this state, Susanna is unable to acknowledge the disorder that affects her. Seeing things from a practical point of view--believing in cause and effect--makes it difficult for her to understand what she suffers from when she doesn't understand what caused the condition to begin with.
Enter Lisa, faultlessly played by Angelina Jolie. Beautiful, savage, defiant, and extremely charismatic, she introduces Susanna to a new line of thought: - it's the world that's screwed up, not them. - The world is afraid of aberrations such as themselves -- people who create a bubble, in the perfect balance of their ideal mindset. Thus, they lock them up in mental institutions, and rejoice once that the problem is taken up by the hands of others after the exchange of a sizable amount of funding.

Susanna, needless to say, is enthralled by her new friend; Lisa is somebody who knows the inner workings of their world, someone to leech onto. And when one latches onto somebody else in such a way, either individually or in a group, self-expression and individuality are more often than not sacrificed. Susanna, who was once overwhelmed by the number of choices that confronted her in life, is now ecstatic at the simplicity of her new life in the ward, revolting with Lisa against an unfair system, an unfair world.

''I know what it's like to want to die. How it hurts to smile. How you try to fit in but you can't. How you hurt yourself on the outside to try to kill the thing on the inside.''

In my opinion, Mangold's directorial tricks are ones of illusionary truths, ones to be considered successful, such devices as the sound-overlap between present and flashback scenes, and the use of dull, toned-down colours until Ryder's singular moment of revelation(after which the bright, vibrant colours of autumn leaves and clear blue skies fill the screen)practically poke the viewer's shoulder with relentless insistence in their demand to be acknowledged.
Ryder's reasons for attempting suicide also seem remarkably indecisive – being diagnosed as having a borderline personality disorder is like being told you're nearly late when you're effectively early - she seems to suffer nothing worse than the average teenager, yet displays no characteristics to suggest that she suffers from a fragile mentality(which would at least explain why she breaks down when others wouldn't). Ironically, Ryder never really comes across as a troubled girl, and never really shows any horror or despair at being practically route-marched to the asylum without warning. The hospital itself is the kind of operation that would have bogus asylum seekers faking lunacy to get in. Jolie aside, there are no truly disturbed patients here, just eccentric(which in Hollywood parlance means loveable) characters; there's no despair in this institution, no desperation, no frustration, no boredom, all of which must have been endemic in such places.

At the heart of this film, however, lies a much more fundamental, classical idea: friendship... -- what causes it? -- how it can invigorate us in the worst of times, and its short and long-term effects on us. With a beautiful poetic grace, the movie states that it's not the duration of a relationship that matters, but who it is that you befriend, and the place that they earn in your heart while it lasts. Every relationship in our life is short-lived like a flicker of a candle, as we're continually moving forward in our journey towards a fulfilled existence, time does not stand still, and the film makes a conscious effort to constantly accentuate this concept, this aspect of mind.

''When you don't want to feel... death can seem like a dream. But, seeing death - really seeing it... makes dreaming about it fucking ridiculous.''

''Being with you. Being with Linda. Being with myself again. Hey, and I'm having sex and these muffins are great. That sort of thing.''

A drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman (Weaver) and a man (Rickman) who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.

Alan Rickman: Alex Hughes

Snow Cake is a tale of random lives thrown together, of fateful meetings that that are almost incommunicable with mere words, of the power of surreal bonds, of characters defying what is expected of themselves and sometimes of what they would expect of themselves, and of finding a strength inside.

Sigourney Weaver is from a different frame of mind, one not unlike our rational, emotional way. She's not fighting monsters from outer space this time or living in a strange village, but the world into which she brings us is as weird, and dazzling enough for my mind to alter after watching her for just an instance. Her presence leaps off the canvas with such vividness that, even though I had read the storyline, I knew it was going to surpass my expectations. Her character is fascinated by things that sparkle, can juggle numbers with unnerving rapidity, inhabits a universe of extreme precision that brooks no infraction, and no uncleanliness: and she's only barely tolerant of our world. This is the world of Linda Freeman, high-functioning autistic.

There are two sides to Linda: the world she lives in is undoubtedly extraordinary - her version of Scrabble leaves Alan Rickman's character(Alex Hughes) looking severely uninvolved - but it is balanced by her lack of empathy for normal people like us. What makes Weaver's performance so remarkable is that she conveys the logical certitude of Linda's position with such force that we, like Alex, start feeling unintelligent. Why do we go through such irrelevant rituals after a death? Why can't we feel the joy we felt as children when we discovered snow in our hands, or the thrill of a trampoline as our body is launched into space? Why do we struggle to remember simple facts? The drawbacks of Linda's world (apart from most people not being able to reach it) is that she cannot cope with the imperfections that the rest of us would shrug off. If the dog leaves a stain on her carpet she will have simply have to 'move house', and the only kind of job she can get is one where her obsessive need for order can find a simplistic outlet (she stacks shelves in a supermarket, with mathematical precision and attention). If Rain Man was the gold-medalist of autism, Linda Freeman is simply a non-glamorized regular sportswoman, and in that she conveys a more real person than any Hollywood-ised invention.

''Neurotypic people are obsessed with having friends. I'm only trying to help you get some.''

Alex(Alan Rickman) opens the film, flicking poignantly at a small photo as he sits out a long flight. We have no clue as to whom the being in the picture is, or why he seems to be encased in his own intense thoughts. Later, we see him in a transport café, approached by a bubbly young girl who is determined to break down his wall of silence. She wants to write a book and make loads of money - by finding the right areas of pain and suffering to focus on. Her apparent insensitivity is quickly tempered when she admits she admits she needs a lift but has picked the loneliest looking person because she really thinks he "needs to talk". Alex reluctantly gives her a lift. She is soon singing the 70's rock song All Right Now at the top of her voice, but things are far from all right. One car crash and an added truckload of emotional baggage later, Alex is arriving on Linda's doorstep and destined to be her guest for more than a few hours. Our storyline is further complicated by the seductively beautiful Maggie(Carrie-Ann Moss) who has her eye on Alex. He first assumes she is a prostitute, but accepts a neighbourly invite for a meal.

Rickman is at his best. The wry tongue-in-cheek humour seen in many of his films gives way to a sardonic realism that is even funnier because it is more true to real life. A very down to earth script ensures the laughs are grounded (Love Actually but with echoes of realism), even if in most cases Rickman is principally a foil for other characters: such as when Linda likens eating snow to an orgasm or Maggie breaks off dinner because she hates having sex on a full stomach.
We soon realize that Linda's childlike behavior thinly disguises a penetrating intellect, but her intelligence doesn't enable her to solve everyday problems such as putting the trash outside. She has emotional insight, even consideration, but her world is as isolated from ours as ours is from hers, even with her ability to reel off facts and figures. One is reminded of a recent study that suggested that emotional intelligence may serve people better in the workplace than a Mensa certificate.

Rickman's character struggles with Canadian distances in a typically British manner. "It didn't look far on the map," he says dismayingly sardonic. He is out of his depth geographically and emotionally but, obsessed with his own inadequacies, is open to seeing things differently. The landscape whiteness, at first cold and unwelcoming, starts to seem beautiful. Maggie allows Alex to open emotionally whereas Linda, through the intellectual effort he makes to reach her, enables him to rationalize the process and come to terms with his feelings. Linda is a doorway to seeing things differently - "I'm half outside, half inside," she says as she hovers on the porch and we puzzle whether she is being dippy or intentionally defusing a difficult situation. The mathematical way she describes needing a hug reassures us that she is human, but by then we have learnt a whole new attitude of respect. Snow Cake is a very personal venture, not an overblown piece of money making tripe, but a story which enriches the way we see ourselves, that makes us take an instant to look within.

''It's because those glasses don't look right on your face, you have a long face and those glasses make you look shifty.''

''I've been such a fool, Vassili. Man will always be a man. There is no new man. We tried so hard to create a society that was equal, where there'd be nothing to envy your neighbour. But there's always something to envy. A smile, a friendship, something you don't have and want to appropriate. In this world, even a Soviet one, there will always be rich and poor. Rich in gifts, poor in gifts. Rich in love, poor in love.''

Two Russian and German snipers play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad.

Jude Law: Vassili Zaitsev

It begins like a Saving Private Ryan rendition of sorts, bludgeoning us with narration, story and images of war, depicting a grizzly reality of turmoil. Now I was impressed with the opening scenes of battle, the random fighting we essentially seem to be thrown into.
As Enemy at the Gates continues, we get characters thrown together without any explanation or reason. It just happens repeatedly in an array of events, that seem to defy believability.
This being a Russian story, a Soviet tale, it does succeed in being a strange re-telling of history. The Russian Communist soldiers are depicted as expendable morsels, whom strangely all speak English, in strange ways. They shoot soldiers who retreat but don't have enough guns for all their people. Does this make sense? Clearly not. If they spent all that energy actually fighting the enemy rather than attacking their own grunts then they would of actually speeded up defeating the enemy.

Writer/Director Jean-Jacques Annaud, writer Alain Goddard, and cinematographer Robert Fraisse treat the subject matter with confusing strokes of bizarreness and splatterings of action and fighting. It's very tricky to capture certain aspects and some parts feel like they have mixed messages as to why they are taking place. Anyone who's read anything credible about the inhuman suffering the Russian soldiers endured during this battle will have no trouble filling in the gaps that the narrative leaves about their living conditions. The blood and gore shown during the battles is beneficial to the atmosphere. Rather than just expecting you to believe that a solider receives a bullet to the aforementioned head, they show you Nazi and Soviet heroes dealing out death and judgment, so we can relate to them.

''All these men here know they're going to die. So, each night when they make it back, it's a bonus. So, every cup of tea, every cigarette is like a little celebration. You just have to accept that.''

After Enemy at the Gates introduces audiences to the horrific street-to-street, house-to-house, factory-to-factory warfare with the massed armies pitted against each other, and showing German victories, demonstrating the awesome road to victory ahead, faced by the Red army, a subplot of the Stalingrad fight, becomes the plot of this story, killing key Nazi officers with snipers, in a guerrilla tactic maneuver.
The sniper confrontations revolve around the two principals, Vasilli (Jude Kaw) and German Major Konig (Ed Harris). Konig is brought on midstream to provide specialized help, after the sniper successes on the part of the Russians present, the Wehrmacht with problems, it is not trained to encounter. The psychological drama that develops, with no shortage of plausible acting, is among the most captivating and memorable aspects, in this field of film.

''Look at him with pride, because he's looking at you. The whole country is looking at you.''

The Germans' performance in the two World Wars is actually quite watchable, even though they were the losing side, considering their questionable allies and the size and strength of their opponents, Allied Forces. Nevertheless, the analysis is that they plan out every detail with a super organized approach, but make big errors, major errors of judgment, very basic is evaluating their opponents and taking on more than they can deal with. It is unlikely (actually, more like impossible) the Germans would have won WWI even had they occupied Stalingrad (they blew it the year before, by invading Russia too late), although it would have created more difficulties for the Russians (and the U.S. and U.K., heavily supplying them, heavily bombing the Germans, and fighting the Germans in North Africa).

But in any event, the character of Major Konig is not in the usual vein of the over organized, rigid-thinking German. He is steely, in the usual German way, but projects a quiet, more genuine confidence, and is trickier still than his enemies. No particular Nazi party man, he is a professional soldier, not a bad guy (in the evenhanded approach, demanded of modern War story telling, toward at least the common soldier) when he is obliged to kill a civilian, it climaxes a vendetta against him, without sadism or graphic display. He projects a feeling of command and invincibility so compelling that the viewer actually feels he will win, although knowing otherwise. This is no spoiler, of course, yet we are left with the aura that Konig was the better man. It would be a spoiler to say how it was done, and that is another positive for Director Jean-Jacques Annaud. Heroism reigns triumphant for both sides, which is another shining bonus for Enemy at the Gates.

Overall, it's a war film, not to be enjoyed for it's historical accuracy but for it's entertainment value and bemusing performances. We see Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins, even Joseph Fiennes whom seems underused, speaking these wonderful English accents, but when we see them they don't really seem Russian. This a Hollywood-ised version of History, which comes of more Patriot than Saving Private Ryan. I'm not saying it's not possible to make a film with English, looks at Boy in the striped Pyjamas and Schindler's List, but Enemy at the Gates makes them look somewhat silly.
Bonuses include battles, costumes, sniping, intellectual mind games and music that resembles Willow especially the German Snipers tune. Enemy at the Gates is a nice try at symbolizing and telling the story of Vassili Zaitsev, the struggle between two classes, socialism and capitalist fascism.

''He doesn't know you exist, but at that moment you're closer to him than anyone else on earth. You see his face through the sign. You see whether he shaved or not. You can see whether he's married if he's got a wedding ring. It's not like firing at a distant shape. It's not just a uniform. It's a man's face. Those faces don't go away. They come back and they get replaced by more faces.''

''This suit, where'd this come from? The power, feels good... But you lose yourself to it...''

A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge.

Tobey Maguire: Spider-Man / Peter Parker

The third outing for Spider-Man, the third film for our beloved hero, a third outing we waited for with baited breath. So what does Spider-Man 3 deliver to us? A mixed bag thats what. It's enjoyable yes but does it offer anything new? not exactly.
The story revolves around revenge, and revenge is a powerful emotion, yet a dark descent. Peter Parker believes it's a thing to be avoided as it has turned his former ally into his most deadly nemesis. However Peter himself finds himself sucked into the web of revenge and violence as it emerges that the man who police now believe killed his uncle has just escaped. A simple feat to bring him to justice? Perhaps, but Flinto Marko has also stumbled into some sort of experiment and has been transformed into the Sandman. While battling these two foes, Parker finds a use for a black, symbiotic substance that has attached itself to his Spiderman suit, giving him great power. But is the power from this alien source as innocent as Parker hopes?

After seeing the third Pirates of the Caribbean films and being very disappointed and bored, I was enjoying the prospect of a third Spidey film. Having been impressed by both of the other two Spiderman films I was quite disappointed to find an overly busy film that offered me very little apart from special effects. These were impressive as always but (as with POTC) the ability to do so much on screen should not mean that so much has to be done. Sadly here the effects sequences are overly busy and frantic and it was hard to feel involved in the action or build a tension, in a way it was often little more than a swirling video game sequence.

''We've all done terrible things to each other, but we have to forgive each other. Or everything we ever were will mean nothing.''

The disadvantage of the effects is that the whole film does feel quite artificial, something to be expected, from a summer multiplex filler, but not something that should be embraced in the way it is here. The most glaring issue is the void inside of characters in the film because this causes so many other flaws. Flow-wise each of these characters has to be introduced and mostly this is done by handy coincidence and lazy script loop holes... i.e. Venom hits Earth just as Parker is in the woods and doesn't jump him until he happens to be in his Spider-man suit, or how, guess what, now Marko killed your Uncle, or Eddie Brock happening to be in the church where Venom leaves Parker etc. One of these is forgivable but there are so many of them that it reveals the whole thing to be build on easy narrative devices that lack sense. The writing problems continue in the way that the theme of revenge is dealt with; it could have been a real strong base for the action but instead it is very superficial with no meat on the bones; the killer for me being when Harry forgave Peter simply because his butler said "oh yeah, forgot to mention, your Dad died of his own wounds, sorry for not mentioning it sooner", at that point I got up and did a back flip.

The lack of detail in the script but an abundance of characters also means that it flows at a basic level and a lot of the fun is gone. There are still some funny moments and JJ is still a great side character but it doesn't have the buzz and energy of the other films. The cast struggle with this as well. Maguire works at the same level as the script and his inner turmoil is just as superficial and seems to be switched on or off in each scene. It doesn't help that his "evil" look is that of a temperamental emo in a mood with the World but he can't find anything in himself to improve matters. Dunst and Franco are equally as basic and they act knowing that there are no "real" people on their pages, just 2D clones of the last two films. Church is rubbish for the same reason and his final scene was as bad as he was. Grace was a weird find but his fall to revenge was too quick and easy and it robbed his end of any meaning. Simmons can do no wrong, and produces one of the funniest tablet taking scene I can recall, although another one belongs to another Campbell cameo.

Overall then it probably has just about noise and popcorn appeal to pack them in and indeed it has broken opening weekend records in the US but this does not indicate a good film, which this certainly is not. With too much going, the potential is wasted and the ideas and themes are sketched, rather than detailed. This knocks through into everything else and produces little more than a video game with cut sequences. Not terrible by any means but a massive decline in quality compared to the previous two installments.

''Whatever comes our way, whatever battle we have raging inside us, we always have a choice. My friend Harry taught me that. He chose to be the best of himself. It's the choices that make us who we are, and we can always choose to do what's right.''

''The message Hollywood needs to send out is 'Smoking Is Cool!'''

Satirical comedy follows the machinations of Big Tobacco's chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, who spins on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his twelve-year-old son.

Aaron Eckhart: Nick Naylor

Thank you for Smoking was a lovely, wonderful surprise for me. Wasn't sure what to expect with this black comedy, and thankfully Thank you for Smoking didn't disappoint. Aaron Eckhart and Katie Holmes together on screen feels good, it feels like an echo of Dark Knight. But dreaming aside this is a very clever piece. It doesn't demote smoking rather it seemingly promotes the action, which seems controversial. As the film progresses we begin to wonder what the films purpose. Said purpose being that it's an evolution of ideas and characters revolving around the medium of smoking.

The aspects come across as a palette of colours. One hand we have a shady dark green which represents greed, red representing struggle and black showing a deathly conclusion. As the characters clash and interact we really feel ourselves bonding, especially to Aaron Eckhart's Nick Naylor. Nick becomes the center of our world, the anchor in which we experience scenarios and events with. Pleasingly as the middle looms, everything starts to fall apart for Nick and for his cause, Smoking. Which pretty much is the point, smoking is a dying pass-time, a relic of the past, an obsolete cancer. Yet for all its vices, it's not as bad as some things, which again beckons the magicalduality flip side of Thank you for smoking.
Cameron Bright as Joey Naylor, Nicks son, provides some awesome dialogue with Aaron. As does the rest of the cast, such as J.K. Simmons, Maria Bello, Rob Lowe and William H. Macy as a Senator.

''Robin Williger. He is a 15 year old freshman from Racine, Wisconsin. He enjoys studying history; he's on the debate team. Robin's future looked very, very bright. But recently he was diagnosed with cancer, a very tough kind of cancer. Robin tells me he has quit smoking, though, and he no longer thinks that cigarettes are cool.''

What Thank you for Smoking also provides us is an impressive blended score, crisp visuals, and most importantly clever surreal sequences that are genuinely captured and executed in dazzling composite ways. All these factors help get across the condemning of smoking, and the defense of its failings. As we come to the crunch, with a breath taking court case we come to what Thank you for Smoking is really about. It's a story not just about smoking but one in which a single man stands up for a cause, and for himself, and doesn't relent. A witty, persuasive master of spin and of twisting aspects, yet at the same time, speaking truth.

Overall, whether it be cheese, cars, aeroplanes that kill...smoking is something else that kills. Thank you for Smoking teaches us a very important lesson, and that lesson is indeed smoking is wrong but to stop people having free will and to stop people having a choice, is where democracy ends. So much money is made from smoking, so much from death, by the time we reach the conclusion, it's a clever twist of fate in which freedom isn't always risk free. We can't remove history but boy we can learn from it for a brighter future. Aaron Eckhart's narration and dialogue gets this message across all too well. Thank you for Smoking is a successful spin of entertainment and cleverness, which hits home with an important issue.

''That's the beauty of argument, if you argue correctly, you're never wrong.''

''So, if I look like his mother and you look like his father, this is what our son would look like. Pretty strong argument for birth control.''

A couple, cheated by a vile businessman, kidnap his wife in retaliation, without knowing that their enemy is delighted they did.

Danny DeVito: Sam Stone

Back in the 80s there were many examples of comedies and spoofs. Ranging from Overboard, Splash!, Beverly Hills Cop to Animal House, and Police Academy. This effort, this Ruthless People is another 80s comedy which strives upon it's faceted strengths and indeed weaknesses. One of them being a dual effect strength and weakness, the silliness,the unrelenting tone of the film. This tone shows us that this story and film is abit of fun, abit of a laugh not to be taken too seriously. The story consists of a couple whom wouldn't hurt a fly, being swindled by a malicious advocate, thus in retaliation they do something surprising. They kidnap his wife and demand ransom. The twist being this business man hates his wife and was planning to kill her himself. Ironically twist drops upon twist and predicaments arise in which the wife teams up with the couple.

Back in the 80s many of the cast were considered high profile actors. Bette Midler, Danny DeVito, Judge Reinhold...all big names in the decade, back in the day. They all act out the characters to the best of their ability and to the limit of the quirky script. Whats nice is that we have Danny DeVito playing an absurdly bad ass nemesis while Bette Midler his wife to start with is a similar kind of character. Her transition and weight loss that transpires within Ruthless People is another delightful bonus the story has to offer. Thankfully we are treated to funny sketches in every scene we see with her in and the other cast. Interestingly enough,a young dyed haired Bill Pullman playing Earl Mott, makes an appearance, upon researching we find this is first film.

''I mean, what the hell's the point of being a decent person when no-one is?''

Ruthless People bombards us with some hilarious dialogue and upsurd happenings. For instance, a ridiculous amount of police cars lined up following Judge, raises an eyebrow or two. A bedroom Killer plot thread thrown in, where he does a performance and dialogue that resembles something Heath Ledger watched for his Joker inspiration. The comparison arose for me,after watching yet again Dark Knight, see if you agree with these bizarre mother father referendums the character makes.
Another interesting fact about this film is that Bette Midler claims that Danny DeVito phoned her twice after the premiere: once to congratulate her, and a second time only twenty minutes after the first call, during which he and Midler both broke down in a nervous frenzy over how terrible the movie was, and how both of their careers were over. The film, ironically, went on to become a box-office success.
Which shows people did have a sense of humour and appreciation for comedies back in the hey day of funk and film. This is an evolution of the 70s, a dirty, big haired piece, that's got a black comedy vein to it. Indeed it seems this outing would of even set up inspirations for future films like Death Becomes Her or even Gump or Groundhog Day. Perhaps not completely inspirationally but on a impartial, diluted way and sense.

So overall Ruthless People is an enjoyment. My three star rating isn't a negative, but a positive balanced venture and appreciation for a film that isn't perfect yet knows it. This is a ballsy comedy with a lightly spread darkish tone. It has the funky 80s music, the dated clothes and hair, the spirit of a by gone era that seems like yesterday. Obviously this film still has a cult following and it's obvious to see why, this is a sort of Aeroplane! spoof of mild black comedy.
Granted none of the situations become graphic or are allowed to become overly serious or violent. But this is the nature of the film, and whether it be Short Circuit or any other 80s comedy fair, Ruthless People will always provide belly laughs and crack a smile on even the most serious of audiences.

''Well, let's face it, she's not Mother Teresa. Gandhi would have strangled her.''

''Remember, with great power. comes great responsibility.''

When bitten by a genetically modified spider, a nerdy, shy, and awkward high school student gains spider-like abilities that he eventually must use to fight evil as a superhero after tragedy befalls his family.

Tobey Maguire: Spider-Man / Peter Parker

Well back in 2002 Spider-man was a complete marvel, like Marvel Comics, to me and countless others. It had a favourite Marvel Hero, from Stan Lee & Steve Ditko's comics, brought to life on dazzling film, with an array of colours and boldness to die for. We all want a Hero to cheer for, and with Spider-man it was indeed granted.
Watching it now, it's all too clear to see some, if indeed many, of it's consequential flaws.
Whether it be some dodgy effects, impartial composing on certain scenes, or a villain that resembles the awful series Power Rangers, it still remains a very good film. Despite being dethroned by DC's beastly Batman Begins in 2005, as the best Super-Hero film to grace the screen, and bettered effect wise by later sequels and a bold Iron Man.

The dialogue and lines, are very poignant and meaningful. For instance the line, ''Remember, with great power. comes great responsibility.'' is very reminiscent of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone's Ollivander played by Ian Hurt,who says exactly the same thing. The point being it's an old saying yet very coincidental considering the films separate similar release dates.
With Spider-Man we get something unbelievable, with Marvel especially, the Heroes scream comic book surrealism. While DC's Dark Knight strives for realism, darkness and depth, this colourful, tale akin to Iron Man is loud, predictable and a rollercoaster of fun. Granted Spider-Man's origins are ludicrous, hence the whole bitten by a radioactive spider turns Peter Parker into the web slinger guardian thread. This story is one of imagination and creativity, it doesn't divulge in realistic temperament rather customizes upon it's otherworldly strengths.

As all this plays out, Spider-Man also has a romance aspect within it's spidery plot. Mary Jane played by a rosy, red haired Kirsten Dunst, gives us a childhood sweetheart, providing a love interest for Peter Parker and rival Harry Osbourne.
Wonderfully portrayed by geeky Tobey McGuire, Spider-man and Peter Parker's character is fleshed out by his potent performing. A beefed up McGuire dazzles us with a whiny, strong, Dual-esque, Super-man-like geek turning superhero.
While Harry Osbourne, is played by rising star James Franco, a sneery, sneaky, rude yet incredibly handsome, rich, young man. For one of his first roles Franco excels.
Throw into this affair other incredible cast members, such as J.K Simmons, Rosemary Harris, and awesome Willem Dafoe.
Which brings me back to a topic mentioned previously. The main villain of Spider-Man, the chaotic green goblin. The casting of Dafoe was an inspred choice, I mean this guy actually does resemble a Goblin. Just check out the guy's face for instance. The two things that let the film down, plus the Green Goblin character, is one, the terrible Power Ranger Costume he ends up wearing and two, the clunky dialogue and lines he ends up with. Some, granted, are excellent, while others are reduced to squalid, cackling, pantomime-esque taunting.

''Not everyone is meant to make a difference. But for me, the choice to lead an ordinary life is no longer an option.''

Overall, this is an origin movie. A film, a story to bring Spider-man to life. So does it succeed in bringing this legend to life? Yes and no. Does it manage to be entertaining, thrilling and a feel good film? Certainly does by far, it excels. If I want a perfected formula in origin movies, I have to turn to Nolan's Batman Begins, rather than Riami's Spider-Man franchise.
Danny Elfman also boosts this adventure with his impressive score. Whether it be a Burton film or a Desperate Housewives theme tune, Elfman can spark a memorable tune always.

So Spider-Man comes out to play, he comes out onto the big screen with heart felt, bounding leaps, and creates a sort of domino, like X-Men did for more heroes to be adapted to the screen. Hulk, Iron Man all followed suit, and adopted to jump on the band wagon they created with their daring creation. Raimi proves not only can he do horror, like his glorified Evil Dead trilogy but he can also do Blockbuster superhero entertainment for the masses.
Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi both started with humble horrors, now these creative masters have bound forth,with these big projects, adorned with a buzz of electric creativity.
So a recommended treat, and sure as hell, Spider-manis one web you won't mind being stuck in.

''Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: "With great power comes great responsibility." This is my gift, my curse. Who am I? I'm Spider-man.''