Reviews by Lexi

''I love this game.''

Ex-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world's most popular sport: a car race in which inmates must brutalize and kill one another on the road to victory.

Jason Statham: Jensen Ames

I wasn't sure what to expect with Death Race. On one side of the coin I was worried it may just be another vehicle action junkie driving film for Jason Statham, on the other I'd say from the trailer it looked like one hell of a rush with more action you can shake a massive stick at.
Death Race pleasingly falls into the latter and much to my surprise was very enjoyable and the time flies. For all it's seriousness it applies dark warped humour and injects proceedings with madness and action packed stunts.
This makes Fast and the Furious look like a paper bag, while Death Race pummels the shit out of bag with a heavy laden crowbar.

''Okay cocksucker. Fuck with me, and we'll see who shits on the sidewalk.''

The action packed Death Race offers us interesting characters within a prison complex, and a plot that has a simple premise. Drivers pitted against each other in a vehicle gladiatorial battle for freedom.
Old hand Actors such as Ian McShane, Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, not to mention the ultra sexy Natalie Martinez, all of them and more spice up the heavy onslaught of action packed carnage that arises.

The action and effects will have fans of this genre drooling and baying for more. I couldn't refrain from bursting out laughing throughout. Definitely some high octane shit going down. Plot wise it's hardly original, story wise it's predictable, it's highly unrealistic in places but you're hardly going to care when you have cars flying in the air flaming and heavy weaponry ripping the shit out of anything that moves.

Director Paul W.S. Anderson has taken the inspiration of Death Race 2000 and spat out this crossbreeded show of Running Man proportions with some ace heavy artillery accompanied cars.
Saying all this, and I haven't even got onto the music and Soundtrack of Death Race which is awesome. It had me banging my head in accompanying rhythm, bloody fantastic variety to say the least.

''Don't talk to the other drivers. Frank never did. Part of the mystique. Let the mask do the work.''

In conclusion, Death Race does exactly what it sets out to achieve. Which to excite, to electrify and to dazzle. It's the kind of action movie that doesn't require any thinking but the simplicity of seating back and going with the flow per say. Plus Statham gets another car movie like Transporter under his belt. A sheer colossus of a scorcher that accelerates right up till the end.

''You wanted a monster? Well, you've got one.''

''When you marooned me on that god forsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing, mate: I'm Captain Jack Sparrow.''

Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate "Captain" Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor's daughter, from Jack's former pirate allies, who are now undead.

Johnny Depp: Jack Sparrow

Pirates of the Carribean - The curse of the Black Pearl is one of the hits and most enjoyable thing to come out of a Disney collaboration for years. A return to form without a doubt.



The cast in Pirates was simply divine and they generously let rip with all the fun, becoming infectious for us, the audience.
Although they did not let this sacrifice one shred of dedication to their respective performances.
Jack Davenport, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, and outrageously talented Johnny Depp just swept us away.
Starlet Kiera Knightley, not bad given her young age, dazzles and shines in all her glory during the film.

Davenport, Rush and Depp all delivered reasonably complex characters despite the superficial story line. Norrington is ambitious but also has a strong compassionate streak. Barbossa's integrity is his evilness, yet we can also see his weaknesses and humanity. Sparrow is like that friend we all have who is a bad boy but would do anything for you in the end, along with the many other traits Depp built into this character. Depp, by far, is the one who jumped off the screen and grabbed you and pulled you into the show. It's hard to say more, the guy is just astonishingly freakin' talented.

''Put it away, son. It's not worth you getting beat again.''

''You didn't beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you.''

''That's not much incentive for me to fight fair, then, is it?''

I think that there were some nice themes in this movie. I especially liked the ending, given that Jack Sparrow spent a good deal of the movie in handcuffs, in jail, in the brig, walking the plank, stranded on an island, with guns pointed at him, on the gallows, etc. Combine all of that with his confession to Elizabeth (on the Island) of what the Black Pearl really is. Did we get set up to love that ending or what? I also like that the movie started and ended on the same song, and that Elizabeth at the beginning held the key to Jack's situation at the ending.

The scenes with Jack and Barbossa in them together were by far the best. It takes until about halfway through the movie until we get them face to face. Their exchange at the plank-walking was priceless, as was the "parle" on board the Pearl. But that sword fight in the cave took all! It's new and it's classic all at once and it just feels like what pirate-movie-making should be all about.

There's a lot of great action in the movie complete with sword fights and guns. The movie also boasts a hefty amount of comedy as well, mostly provided by a couple of goofy pirates who continuously bicker and fight and do all sorts of crazy things together. The highlight scene in the movie is when right before Captain Jack battles Barbossa, the undead pirates are coming from beneath the ships and revert from human form to skeleton form when the enter the moonlight.

''You're daft, lady! You both are!''

''Daft like Jack.''

Black Pearl is truly a classic, it's humourous, it's imaginative, and it's full of swashbuckling action. It must have been a gamble trying to make a movie laugh out loud action about pirates, but they pulled it off with shining results.
The special effects for this movie are breath taking for a Disney Film and the time. This is the best of the series in my opinion, but the sequels go downhill, for money and Box-Office, whereas this Gold offering retains originality.

Gore Verbinski has directed a memorable class offering that will be considered an unforgettable experience for generations to come. Black Pearl like Matrix for example shows how the original can exist on it's own without any need for a sequel.

''The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do.''

''No dream is ever just a dream.''

A New York City doctor, who is married to an art curator, pushes himself on a harrowing and dangerous night-long odyssey of sexual and moral discovery after his wife admits that she once almost cheated on him.

Tom Cruise: Dr. William 'Bill' Harford

Stanley Kubrick's last film results in an explosion of surprises. On one hand it is drenched with sex and revelations, ending up being even slower than any of his previous works. Yet on the other hand it captures imagination, secrets and forbidden relationships.



Kubrick has always given us the weird and visionary standards with his film making efforts. With Eyes Wide Shut it is a very human, very colourful study delving into the primal urges of sexual desire.
There is beautiful imagery, haunting penetrating music, and wonderful shots with clever cinematography.

The film unleashes a varied onslaught via frequent trips to the land of surrealism and mystery yet elevates itself with some unusual scenes.
The masked party seems to me to be the main point of interest in Eyes Wide Shut where Kubrick uses mystery suspense and a feel of foreboding in the proceedings yet it's feeling seems to fade once said scene is over. We see Cruise spiral into torment and sometimes madness as he tries to unravel the mysteries and puzzles.

Scenarios presented involve unfaithfulness, desire and an obsession with lust and sex. Nicole Kidman plays the troubled wife quite well with jealousy and emotion seeping from her character; She is subject to dreams and dark secrets of her own.

It is safe to say the film provokes more tantalizing questions than answers, yet we the audience, true to Kubrick, fill in the blanks with our own conclusions and imagination.
Granted Kubrick gets across his lustful, if what perverted disposition, which shows a mind of unrivaled proportions but it's the execution of Eyes Wide Shut that makes it appealing and one for countless debates.

When I reached the end conclusion I was bemused at the confusion and even more puzzled by an ending that is simple yet with dialogue that shows a marriage and sexual tension between two people.
Eyes Wide Shut was very clever and thrilling yet may leave behind anyone whom is unadjusted to Kubrick's psychedelic, trippy style.

Kubrick's last montage equals a piece which is his most human and perhaps in many ways his most psychological, his most disturbing, and his most artistic. The film is a 9 year marriage with seeds of doubts being planted, a masked party that turns into a warped orgy, one man's journey across the city to discover a moral and sexual answer to appease his mind and emotions.
Eyes Wide Shut is deviant, perverted and puzzling yet it is also a fascinating into the mind set of Stanley Kubrick in his final days. What a strange mind and portrait we end up with. Certainly one to be watched a few times and even then, you will pick up something different every time.

''I have seen one or two things in my life but never, never anything like this.''

''I never wanted to be away from her.''

A man coping with the institutionalization of his wife because of Alzheimer's disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man, Aubrey, a wheel chair-bound mute who also is a patient at the nursing home.

Gordon Pinsent: Grant Anderson

Away From Her was slow moving, a snail's crawl if you will, and just a tad confusing via the chronological sequence and no instruction on how to follow, plus the fact it goes on far longer than is required.
That being said there is some powerful performances on display and honestly made Away From Her an experience for me.

''I think all we can aspire to in this situation is a little bit of grace.''

I was rather disturbed by the fact that audiences could be moved or romanticized by AFH, which features a couple who supposedly are meant to be madly in love, married for forty years but the husband has had an affair, and then moves on to sleep with another woman which is fine because his wife has Alzheimer's and has taken to another man of her own. There is nothing sweet or romantic about the film and in fact results in a more confusing and rather odd scenario. Rather than being about a man dealing with his wife's increasing Alzheimer's, it's about relationships between four strains of aging people thrown together because of the condition.

''It's never too late to become what you might have been.''

Some of the photography of AFH does single out the director's relative inexperience behind said camera, which is more than replaced by the slow pace, mood and uncommon sincerity of the film. Polley may be learning how to capture the essence of a story, she's definitely has a viewpoint and stance on how to tell one, as witnessed by the aforementioned chronological mix-up narrative drive accompanied by a somber and minimized score that maintains the level of emotion until the end credits.
One hopes the young lady will stay behind cameras alot longer, if only to challenge other filmmakers to follow her example.
Having said that, this isn't the kind of film one would expect an emerging young director to create – particularly since it has aspirations of being a Bergman-esque chamber drama which, while fairly compelling and austere, clearly lacks the necessary depth which a master craftsman would otherwise bring to such material.

''I'd like to make love, and then I'd like you to go. Because I need to stay here and if you make it hard for me, I may cry so hard I'll never stop.''

In conclusion, Away From Her aims at expected peaks and goals and mostly ticks them off the list, but remember, this isn't a film about surprises and stultifying plot twists like memory twister Memento for example.
It is a sympathetic, affecting, uncompromising look at Alzheimer's effect on it's victim and surrounding people that know her, like family, husband etc.
So slow pace, grand performances and for Sarah Polley's screen writing and directing debut, it's a very impressive start.

''I never wanted to be away from her. She had the spark of life.''

''It wasn't logic, it was love.''

A New York writer on sex and love is finally getting married to her Mr. Big. But her three best girlfriends must console her after one of them inadvertently leads Mr. Big to jilt her.

Sarah Jessica Parker: Carrie Bradshaw

Sex and the City was never just a sitcom only women would just care to enjoy. Consisting of wit, warmth, intelligence and superb characters.
Even now, five or four years after it stopped airing, Darren Star's HBO effort stands out as one of the network's grand accomplishments and one of the most successful television comedies of all time.



People eagerly awaited the film, and the usual verdict is only fans of the show will like it.
Well, as a fan of the series I can say that's not actually true by comedy standards, Sex and the City: The Movie is amazing.

The movie effort is written and directed by Michael Patrick King, the best of the show's various writers, he was responsible for the final episode etc...

The series memorably ended with all four of the female protagonists obtaining a hard-earned happy ending, and that's exactly how we meet them again, four years later: Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) has two books, much like Candace Bushnell, whose newspaper articles inspired the program in the first place, is working on a third and is still happily involved with Mr. Big (Chris Noth), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is still married to Steve (David Eigenberg) and divides her days between the job and taking care of their son, Brady; Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Harry (Evan Handler) have adopted a Chinese girl named Lily, and former man-eater Samantha (Kim Cattrall) enjoys life in L.A. with her young client/lover 'Smith' Jerrod (Jason Lewis), though she can't resist the temptation to fly to New York and catch up with her dearest friends as soon as possible. In short, it's all going perfect, but disaster is never to far round the corner, to spice up proceedings.

''That's why you need a diamond... to seal the deal.''

It all goes slightly pear shaped when Carrie and Big decide to get wed.
Although there is fiery enthusiasm, the wedding turns into a mess, leaving Carrie heartbroken and her friends with no choice but to wonder whether their happiness will last indefinitely. Predictably, this leads to more twists, turns and complications.
Miranda dumps Steve because he cheated on her.
Samantha, pushing 50 and missing her old life, starts watching her next-door neighbour.
Charlotte is actually the only one in the movie who never comes close to losing anything.

Story-wise, SATC is in some ways a tribute of the best moments of the series.
Most of the main characters are involved in dilemmas and a fairy tale-like solution that looms into sight.
This tribute is reinforced by an actual montage that occurs in the film, when Carrie does a fake fashion show and wears her old clothes in front of the girls, who have to decide if they will be kept or trashed. The one outfit they all agree on keeping? The tutu Carrie wore in the series opening credits. Class.

SATC features a few errors. Surprisingly, the running time is not the biggest.
The memorable moments overlap the weaker scenes to the point that the picture hardly ever gets tired or lose momentum. However, that doesn't mean the weak bits aren't important.

''And we were dressed from head to toe in love... the only label that never goes out of style.''

There's plenty that make proceedings memorable, the writing is crystal clear as always been when left in King's hands, Parker's performance and voice-over are still as adorable as they used to be (and her duets with Noth are among the best ever filmed for a comedy), and Cattrall and Nixon still get the best lines (amazingly, though, the steamiest sex scene in the whole film does not feature Samantha).
Plus, despite the show's trademark quick wit, two of the biggest laughs originate from a physical gag (Samantha buys a dog - a female, worth noticing - that humps everything in sight) and a bodily function joke ("Charlotte Pooped her pants"), both of which work quite well.

Overall, this movie was such a breath of fresh air for me.
Everyone knows that TV show films are often result in disaster. But SATC is just so lovely and indeed right on the money with successful results.

If you're a fan, you'll love it! If you're not, who cares? Go and watch it and it then may inspire you to watch the show and fall in love with it all over again.

''You brought me back to life.''

[carrying his son through the camp]

''You are such a good boy. You sleep now. Dream sweet dreams. Maybe we are both dreaming. Maybe this is all a dream, and in the morning, Mommy will wake us up with milk and cookies. Then, after we eat, I will make love to her four or five times. If I can.''


A Jewish man has a wonderful romance with the help of his humour, but must use that same quality to protect his son in a Nazi death camp.

Roberto Benigni: Guido Orefice

Nicoletta Braschi: Dora

Giorgio Cantarini: Giosué Orefice

Life is Beautiful was an unexpected pleasure to watch and endure. To my surprise this inspiring, award laden story of humour love and struggle can for me be summed up as an oily piece of Art in film resulting in a modern creation that shows an alternative story from before and during the Holocaust.



Let's start by saying also that Life is Beautiful is set in the 1940s era WW2 which instantly attracts me, I love my WW2 films. Secondly it's a Foreign film and yes you have rightly guessed I love my Foreign films too. Right from the off the quirky fun tune that resides throughout the film also stuck with me. I'd say the first half of the film is light comical breezy and fun with imagination mixed with laughs and Guido's charm and his love of life. The latter half gets abit more serious and realistic which I found especially clever, the heavenly lifestyle of Guido and his wife and son is disrupted by them being ripped from their home and put in a concentration camp.
Does this stop Guido being funny and using his chirpy happy disposition for good? In a word no.

Roberto Benigni as Guido Orefice was very charming if what something of a joker, in his performance. Charming to see is fun antics in the first half and made me smile on numerous occasions at his comical capers he experiences.
Him and his Son Giosué in the camp later in the film is nothing short of what any father would do to save his boy at any cost. Giodo utilizes his talents all for his family and to save them. A scene that stuck with me was him carrying his son, saying the quote that I chose at the beginning of my review, as he walks through the shrouded mist in the camp and comes across the dead bodies of eliminated Jews. Was very emotional to watch yet powerful and the blues express the coldness.

Nicoletta Braschi as Dora was charming to watch not to mention beautiful and maintained her feelings with looks alone, not merely words.
Giorgio Cantarini as Giosué Orefice was the cute little boy who despite being innocent like his father is extremely bright and clever. His performance shows this effortlessly.

To conclude Life is Beautiful has been adored and honoured with an astounding level of acclaim from all regions with it's exceptional, utterly compelling story and rich unique feel. For a PG its powerful stuff to watch even for adults yet funny too on the flip side of the coin.

A Masterpiece that has captured my spirit and touched my heart in one effective barrage of love and courage.

''I don't know how to thank you.''

''Thank God, not me. He wants us to survive. Well, that's what we have to believe.''

A Polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II.

Adrien Brody: Wladyslaw Szpilman

Thomas Kretschmann: Captain Wilm Hosenfeld

When we think of human suffering, of loss and despair. What is it that we think of in human history, a great well of loss? The answer is simple, the holocaust.



The Pianist tells a wonderful story of one man's journey through a tragic period in time that is ultimately one of my favourite areas of interest. The level of detail is captured perfectly from every last stone and structure, from furniture, to the very fabric of characters clothes. Roman Polanski has triumphed and blazed with his masterpiece that shines.
The music that Pianist emits is haunting and mesmerising. The scene in which he plays for the Captain will stay with me all my life, where he doesn't just play from his heart and soul but for the desire that he still wants to live and clutch onto hope.

Adrien Broody plays Wladyslaw Szpilman like no one else could. We along side him take the Journey with him as we watch him lose his family but ultimately gain his freedom away from persecution.
Thomas Kretschmann appears later as the Captain, a friend who helps Szpilman, his performance reminded me of Downfall. He's a fave of mine who shows once again he's an amazing actor even with his small but important part.

We see human suffering displayed from a man getting thrown from his wheelchair out of a window, to a woman asking ''Where are you taking us? only to be given the ultimate answer, a bullet to her head, the fate of Jews in the eyes of Nazi's, Eradication...death...

Schindlers List did the whole suffering of a people alone but with Pianist it is now not alone, it is paralleled with greatness with soulful rapturous playing that shows hate can always be overcome by the faint glimmer of hope.

Roman Polanski has crafted a masterpiece which i love and am haunted by in the deep recesses of my being. Such soothing pieces and the Moonlight Sonata crammed in there too, a ghostly vision of beauty and a song i play too that shudders through me when i hear it.

When I think of Pianist i think of unsurpassed greatness and I want to play the Piano more to let out the hurt.

''There will be no rescue, no intervention for us. We can only save ourselves. Many of you know influential people abroad, you must call these people. You must tell them what will happen to us... say goodbye. But when you say goodbye, say it as if you are reaching through the phone and holding their hand. Let them know that if they let go of that hand, you will die. We must shame them into sending help.''

The true-life story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda.
A true story of a man who fought impossible odds to save everyone he could and created a place where hope survived.

Don Cheadle: Paul Rusesabagina

Nick Nolte: Colonel Oliver

Joaquin Phoenix: Jack Daglish

Hotel Rwanda(2004) in a way is the African version of genocide; On perhaps a similar wave-length as Schinder's List if thats a way of comparing or describing man's inhumanity to humanity.
Bold strokes and human conviction displayed in beautiful persecution, seriously spine tingling as propaganda driven Soldiers kill innocents, as a country is torn down the middle. Two different types: Hutu and Tutsi.
Rwanda 1994. The genocide of the Hutus and the Tutsis sadly commenced. The Hutu militia broke the peace of the country as they started killing any Tutsis in their sight as they called them cockroaches. This all relates and dates back to when Belgium took the country and sorted out the Rwandan people by shades of colour, nose size and this is briefly explained at the prologue of Hotel Rwanda.



The cinematography and editing are seamlessly achieved and shown in being unrivaled. The direction Terry George brings to the screen is a calm but strong feeling that sternly keeps you in the film as there is no place in the film without a small slight of suspense or tension. Even at some intervals of the story, the constant, building tension is relieved with some nice levity of jokes which balance matters out. Terry George and his partner Keir Pearson cleverly, beautifully bring their screenplay to life.
One aspect I loved about this film was during the most emotional scenes, the songs with the African children singers added to an already perfect atmosphere of sadness and emotional struggle. It was truly beautiful when these songs played accompanied by the actions of Paul and his wife at the same time.
It's amazing, gripping and heart crushing to take in.
Don Cheadle as Paul Rusesabagina displays such heroism, such compassion and shows that there are so many ways of fighting but none more important than battling using your heart and beliefs against the brute force of a Tyrant, of guns, of crimson eyed militia.

Frustratingly the Peacemakers cannot interfere, there in a sense no hope except in a man who wants to protect others, who is selfless.
Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix Jean Reno all churn out knock out supporting actors performances elevating the film even more with it's starry casting.
Hotel Rwanda is not only an amazingly done drama but is also educational. It shows the real life events with all the details showing how France, England, Canada, and the U.N helped during the disaster and at other moments showing how powerless they were to help. Nick Nolte plays Colonel Oliver, a Canadian soldier from the U.N who is there at the beginning of the film to help with the peace agreement. Later on, him and other Canadian soldiers are relied to help Paul and the rest of the people during the wars. His character is roughly based on the Canadian war hero Romeo Dallaire who wrote his award winning book, Shaking Hands with the Devil. Nick Nolte's performance succeeds in being believable as he brings Colonel Oliver to life.

Massacres, Machetes...a blood soaked land, reporters desperately try to show the world, while we the audiences wish through gritted teeth and bated breath for something higher to stop the atrocities. Despotism, savagery that show the world is far from at peace.
Paul sees the bodies of the killing in one moment of the story and it is gut wrenching to witness, to see his complete breakdown as he whimpers, cries and despairs from the chaos ensuing around him, from witnessing such evils.
Another great scene for me when the truck transporting the Tutsi is attacked by angry hordes; Intense to say the least.
The real story here is Don Cheadle. With his absolutely extraordinary role, he carries the film on his shoulders. Definitely an astonishing, breathtaking performance, which is one of the best of the year. Don Cheadle's performance is so moving, emotional and so remarkable that he is at his absolute best ever.
An arguing Paul and a General talking about Scotland was also memorable.

Overall, Hotel Rwanda is a truly moving, stunning and inspirational masterpiece.
On a closing note, I must say that I strongly recommend that all should view this masterpiece as it educates everyone on the disasters that occurred back in ten years before in 1994. If you truly believe and have faith, the extraordinary can be accomplished and Paul Rusesabagina proved this to us.
Hotel Rwanda delivers a message that man will forever be repeating mistakes unless we eliminate hate, despair and ultimately we must learn from a blood soaked past.

''I can't go home. Tessa was my home.''

A widower is determined to get to the bottom of a potentially explosive secret involving his wife's murder, big business, and corporate corruption.

Ralph Fiennes: Justin Quayle

Rachel Weisz: Tessa Quayle

Powerful, emotional, political; The Constant Gardner is an adaptation of astounding resonance of John le Carre's novel and behind the film Jeffrey Caine's screenplay and City of God Director Fernando Meirelles.
The story and journey of one man trying desperately to find an answer to the loss of his love; His wife. In truth, a nightmare and a love story that sadly entwines but you still feel through flashbacks, the resonance of something that can never be extinguished.



The performances and acting from its two lead roles Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes simply are incredible and wondrous to witness.
Ralph's performance and portrayal as Justin is top standards while Weisz as Tessa shines like she did in The Fountain and shows a performance worthy of the Oscar she plucked from her emotionally charged portrayal told sadly but effectively in past tense.
The romantic portion of the film was immortalized by the two characters Justin and Tessa(Ralph & Rachel). Their first meeting was dynamically presented as Tessa; a social activist verbally toying with Justin as he makes a political speech. When the hall was cleared, however, it was Justin who was actually comforting Tessa after her outburst. The juxtaposition of the placid, passive Justin versus the fervent, hyper-kinetic Tessa was brilliantly established in this scene alone.

The strands of thriller and social realism are inextricably tied together in the film. As a film noir detective piece; The Constant Gardener seeks to uncover what actually happened to Justin and Tessa on their African journey. At the same time, the main culprit that emerges is the heavy hand of greed as the pharmaceutical companies exploit helpless victims of tuberculosis for the purpose of testing and marketing an experimental drug. At one point in the film, it is disclosed to Justin that the pharmaceutical industry is no different than arms dealers.

This film truly rewards its audience as it works on so many levels. Like Crash you won't be able to stop pondering over every thing you've just seen. The politics here are engaging and bound to stir up even the most complacent viewer. What's even more amazing is that all of the timely political discourse and subsequent thriller aspects of the film,courtesy of the source material, John Le Carre's novel, are wrapped up in an immortal romance. We the audience join Fiennes on his journey across Africa, and we rediscover the love story between he and his wife that ties the film in a poetic realism usually reserved for movies with much less on their minds.

To top it off, it's all delivered in the maddeningly genius Meirelles style that took critics and audiences by storm in his debut masterpiece City of God. We have the shaky hand-held camera darting through vibrant and colorful third-world locales juxtaposed with jaw-droppingly gorgeous aerial photography of Africa in all its glory. Meirelles again shows us he is a true artist and visionary willing to show both the shocking beauty and abject horror of the people and places that populate his films. Again he delivers a message that people are doing horrible things to each other, everywhere.

With City of God he seemed to be saying the only hope is to document and record it. The Constant Gardener makes that argument again and takes it one brilliant step forward. We may not be able to stop a war or a huge global injustice, but we do have the power to help one person at a time. It takes a courageous film to make such a statement, and a brilliant film-maker to deliver it, and that's just what The Constant Gardener achieves.

Fine performances that reside in Constant Gardner not only come from it's two leads but come from Bill Nighy who manages not to be funny, Danny Houston who's in loads of good films recently, and Hubert Kounde who proves it's the quiet ones you got to watch.

The Constant Gardner often hurts to watch, performances yes it's five stars, but I think it's a movie that has so many levels of expressing the tragedy and materialism of human beings. The rarity being those two people; Firstly Tessa then later as he reveals the truth Justin standing against corruption. The catalyst being greed and the ultimate cure and salvation being love.
Losing a loved one is a very hard thing for anyone and to watch another man go through that pain, hurts beyond mere words.
The hopelessness, the injustice and that sometimes your enemy, the ones you were fighting are right back at home. In this regard The Constant Gardener is significantly masterful in it's wisdom and the message hits home with a bitter aftertaste and an emotional assault on our feeling and our fears.

''New lovers are nervous and tender, but smash everything. For the heart is an organ of fire.''

At the close of WWII, a young nurse tends to a badly-burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair.

Ralph Fiennes: Count Laszlo de Almásy

The late Anthony Minghella's The English Patient(1996) is a film and story that takes us back to the golden age of historical preference. It is vast and breath taking in terms of cinematography and acting, and yet so heartbreakingly intimate in its portrayal of human love and suffering.



Reminisce for a second, remember the 1997 Academy Awards; the film owned the night, taking home nine awards from twelve nominations, the most decisive cleansweep since another major favourite of mine Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor in 1988. Based on Canadian author Michael Ondaatje's 1992 Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, The English Patient is a touching meditation upon reflections concerning and addressing life, love and loss, tracing the history of a critically-burnt man in the aftermath of World War Two.

During the war, one man (Ralph Fiennes) is discovered in the burning remnants of a crashed plane. With his face scarred beyond recognition, seemingly suffering from amnesia, he is assumed to be an Allied soldier, and is simply referred to as the English patient. After the war, in the mine-ridden hills of Italy, a kind nurse, Hana (Juliette Binoche), whom has apparently lost everybody close to her, remains in a ruined monastery to look after the dying man. Over time, she comes to learn more and more about her English patient, who is actually revealed to be a Hungarian geographer, Count Laszlo de Almasy. Rather than losing his memory in the plane crash, we learn that this scar-ridden man has perhaps chosen by choice to forget his past, both to protect himself from persecution and to cure himself of the tragic memories of his past love. Through the usage of numerous flashbacks, we learn of Almasy's former exploits in the Sahara desert, and his romantic, passionate affair with a married woman, Katharine Clifton(Kristin Scott Thomas).

It's certainly a simple matter to see why The English Patient was so successful at the Oscars. It is such a dazzling film of beauty, blending the quiet serenity of the Italian countryside with the endless golden sands of the timeless desert. Cinematographer John Seale captures the landscape to perfection; not since David Lean's magnificent Lawrence of Arabia has a film shown the desert with such beauty and grandeur, making particularly good use of sweeping aerial shots from Almasy's plane. Even in the film's more intimate moments, excellent use of close-ups and lighting capture the emotion of the scene, coupled, of course, with the brilliant performances from all the cast members.

A long-time favourite actor of mine, 'The English Patient' might just contain one of Ralph Fiennes' finest roles, and, considering his history includes such films as favourites of mine: Schindler's List and The Constant Gardener, this flattery and credit is not to be taken lightly for consideration. His Count Laszlo de Almásy is initially a very sympathetic character, but, as we slowly learn more about his past, his likable qualities are eroded by his less-admirable tendencies towards others. Ownership is a major theme of the film. When asked by Katherine what he hates most, Almasy replies with "Ownership. Being owned. When you leave you should forget me." However, as the relationship progresses, and Katherine perhaps tries to distance herself from him, Almasy reveals a hint of arrogance, insisting that his love for her somehow entitles him to have her whenever he likes: "I want to touch you. I want the things which are mine, which belong to me."

Juliette Binoche, who received an Oscar for her performance here, is excellent as Hana, the lonesome nurse who fears to love because of the tragedies that have always harmed those close to her. After some time of caring for Almásy alone, she is joined by a dubious Canadian thief, David Caravaggio (Willem Dafoe), who lost his thumbs during the war, and who suspects that it was Almásy who betrayed him to the Germans. Hana also strikes up a tentative romantic relationship with Kip (Naveen Andrews), an Indian bomb-diffuser in the British Army. However, due to her past history, Hana is afraid that becoming involved with Kip will doom him to death, particularly considering his very dangerous line of work.

At 160 minutes in length, The English Patient wonderfully evokes memories of the classic romantic epics of old, successfully finding a balance of mystery, love, joy and tragedy. The ending of the film is heartbreaking and sorrowful, but also uplifting in its own way. Whilst some romantic relationships are doomed from the very beginning, others have a very good chance of bringing happiness. Nevertheless, in every case, it is always better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.