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We don’t often think about what our expectations are of a film, or how that might effect our viewing experience. But it’s something we certainly should think about a little more, I think. Especially in light of my experience with The Informant. BAsed purely on the DVD cover and a single trailer that I had seen, I was expecting an outrageous, laugh out loud comedy. But that’s not what The Informant is.

Rather it’s a compelling, if somewhat bizarre, story based on a real life whistle-blower. In fact, the highest-ranking corporate whistle-blower in US history.

Yet it was seemingly marketed as a comedy.

Sure, it does have humour and will have you laughing from time to time, but you won’t have a clue what’s going on for a while unless you have some inside information, also known as mild SPOILERS.  Read the rest of this entry »

Based on the award-winning, best-selling Millennium trilogy, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo takes a look at the fictional Vanger dynasty and an event that took place over 40 years ago. During a family get together, on an island owned and inhabited by this powerful but dysfunctional family, Harriet Vanger disappears without a trace. Her uncle is convinced that it was murder, and that the murderer is a member of the family, but hasn’t been able to find out who. Now drawing near to the end of his life he employs disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist and a tattooed, ruthless computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander, to investigate and uncover the truth to this mystery that has haunted him all these years.

Of course, other members of the Vanger clan are not too happy to have strangers snooping about in their back yard, especially as they are all waiting for the chance to take control of the family company when Harriet’s uncle passes.

Adding to this both Mikael and Lisbeth’s own personal problems and you have the making for a taught little thriller that covers some intense issues.  Read the rest of this entry »

According to the short blurb on the back of the Avatar DVD, those of us who haven’t seen Avatar yet, well we don’t actually exist. The DVD implores us to ‘Return to James Cameron’s Avatar – the greatest adventure of all time”.

As one of those nonexistent people who hadn’t seen Avatar at the cinema, I believe I’m not alone, and for the benefit of these unrecognised people, I’m going to give a brief rundown of the synopsis.

Basically a big bad mining corporation has been mining a precious mineral called unobtanium (sounds original, wonder where James got the inspiration…)on the distant planet of Pandora, they have a large military contingent to keep the locals (the Na’vi) from evicting them, but they need to find a better mining site, and the closest one is the Na’vi’s main village. Ooops. Fortunately for the big bad corporation, they have some scientist who have engineered Avatars in the image of the Na’vi and our main man Jake is going to try and be accepted as one of them so he can find out their secrets and make a corporate takeover of their land possible.  Read the rest of this entry »

I’m pretty certain that there is no one around that doesn’t know about The Fellowship of the Rings, but just in-case, here’s a quick rundown on the story;

In the fictional, peaceful land known as Middle-earth, where hobbits, dwarfs, elves and wizards live, a dark and powerful lord has combined the forces of evil to destroy and enslave everyone. This evil master, Sauron requires only one thing to grant him total power; a Ring that has been lost for centuries.

Fate however has given the ring to a small, un-assuming hobbit named Frodo Baggins, who along with his friend Sam and a fellowship of helpers, has to complete an arduous journey to mount doom, where the one ring can be destroyed, bringing peace and harmony back to Middle Earth.

Of course, Sauron is raising an army and has his evil minions on the lookout for the little band of heroes.

The fellowship however is only the beginning of the story, and we have to wait till the end of the trilogy to discover if Frodo is the little hobbit who could.  Read the rest of this entry »

Mary & Max follows the fictional tale of a neglected 8 year old from the Melborne suburbs, Mary, and her accidental pen pal, a 44 year old Jewish man living in New York , called Max. Each has their very own worlds – Max’s is a grey monotone, Mary’s is more sepia toned – and there own issues. Mary’s main issue, besides an alcoholic mother, is loneliness and lack of social skills, where as Max’s issues have to do with over eating and Asperger’s Syndrome.

How, you may be asking, did the two become pen pals?

Mary, looking for a way to escape her world picks an address by random from a New York phone book she is flicking through as she waits for her mother to ‘borrow’ something from the post office. Mary and Max seem to hit it off, though their relationship is always teetering on the edge of doom – mainly dues to Max’s Asperger’s Syndrome not allowing him to cope with some of what Mary writes about. But it’s a relationship that only grows stronger through their ups and downs and outlasts every other relationship Mary has in her life, including parents and her brief marriage.  Read the rest of this entry »

Catholics in the media are generally placed into one of two camps; child molesting perverts or wacky religious exorcists. Thankfully Apparitions sits firmly in the later camp, with not even a hint of the former, which truthfully is normally the realm of the tabloids. Fortunately also is that is television series is produced by the BBC and not some Hollywood special effects guru so we don’t have to put up with Keanu Reeves expelling hideously ugly monsters from the bodies of poor Mexicans strapped to their beds. Rather we have the more terrifying reality that most demonically possessed people are just that, people. There is no manifesting into twin horned, fire breathing hounds of hell, just the occasional outbreak of hematidrosis, levitating people and such like.

Apparitions follows the life of Father Jacob, a Catholic Priest charged by his church to go about proving miracles and making the case for sainthood. His long time friend and chief exorcist, Father Vincenzo, has other plan for Jacob, who he sees as a man with a hidden gift for exorcism, and who he wants to take over his role as chief so he can retire.

This has got the hounds of hell all hot under the collar, as they don’t want a man as honest and passionate about his work as Father Jacob to become an exorcist. Of course, it’s not only the demons that are out to get Father Jacob, but also his corrupt boss in the Vatican, who doesn’t like the negative image exorcisms cast on the Catholic church, and sees them as a barrier to himself becoming Pope one day.  Read the rest of this entry »

After watching MW I spent a while contemplating whether or not I actually liked it; because, on the one hand it was an enjoyable B-movie drama, but on the other hand I saw the potential it could have had but failed to execute properly.

Based on the comic book series of the same name, the story is about two Japanese men, Yuki and Garai, who survived the government issued covered-up slaughter of the entire population of their island home sixteen years ago; Garai (Takayuki Yamada) chooses a righteous path and becomes a priest, whilst Yuki (Hiroshi Tamaki), haunted by the massacre he encountered as a child, turns into a monstrous killer. In a tale of vengeance and blood-lust, Yuki singlehandedly aims to kill every person involved in the cover-up of the island massacre whilst revealing the truth to the World. Tamaki’s portrayal of the villainous Yuki is strong and very believable as a man willing to spill as much blood as possible to get what he wants. Yamada, on the other hand, is painfully annoying to watch as his portrayal of Garai as a weak, defeated priest is simply dull. The supporting cast’s performance is quite decent, given the fact that there was absolutely no character development whatsoever; with Kyoko (Yuriko Ishida), an investigative journalist determined to expose the cover up of the island massacre, and Lt. Sawaki (Ryo Ishibashi), a cop intent on catching Yuki before he can kill another “innocent” person, both putting in solid performances.  Read the rest of this entry »

You have to hand it to Nick Cassavetes, he puts a lot of muscle into eliciting your tears. He heaps on layer upon layer of constructed emotional garbage that has you crying in spite of yourself. If tears equaled bucks, then Cassavetes would be crying all the way to the bank with this one.

My Sister’s Keeper follows the beautiful blue-eyed Fitzgerald family as they each react to and are affected by the eldest daughter Kate’s slow harrowing defeat to her long battle with Leukemia. Her younger sister Anna is a test-tube baby, “designed” to be spare-parts for her sick sister.

Each family member has their story told which allows the audience to gain the perspective on how each cope with the inevitable decline of Kate. This is one of the reasons the book is so powerful, and it definately helps the film that Cassavetes retained the narrative style.

It is a very moving film, and the issues raised are important and interesting when placed into context with the dilemas facing the Fitzgeralds. Jodi Picoult (author of the book) deliciously highlights the topics of organ donation, stem-cell research and the moral dilemma of designer babies whereas the film focuses on the repercussions. when Anna decides she no longer wants to be her sister’s donor and sues for medical emancipation from her parents, the lines are drawn and so they begin their slow descent.  Read the rest of this entry »

Never assume you know what a film is going to be about. That is tonight’s lesson. I thought My Year Without Sex was a film about a British couple who, due to the growing size of their family, decide to have a year with no sex.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

It’s not even British, it’s Australian.

But it is quite good. It starts off slow, then hits you with an emotional punch to the gut that makes you realise that this is definitely not a comedy. But seeing as I was expecting it to be a comedy, it took me a while to get into the films groove, but once there I discovered a raw and honest look at love, faith, poverty and fear.  Read the rest of this entry »

GAH! I hate this film. I love this film. I’m so flippen frustrated by this film. So how the hell am I supposed to review this film? My wife loved it, tells me it’s a nice romantic movie. Romantic? Are you kidding me, the guy essentially seduces a little kid by reading her future adult diaries. That’s kinda creepy not romantic in my books. So I guess this is one of those films that girls love and guys don’t get.

Don’t get me wrong. I love romance, I’ll proudly say that I enjoyed The Notebook. (oh crap, I’ve just destroyed that tiny thread of credibility that I once thought I had as a film reviewer…. oooops).

The trouble with The Time Traveller’s Wife (IMHO) is that it utilizes time travelling to try and be clever and original. That’s all well and good if you’re a person who is going to watch it and only see the romantic love story – but for me – and I’m guessing many males – having the time travelling story-line only forces me to think. To dissect. To try and understand. To come to terms with every conceivable twist and turn created by time travel.  Read the rest of this entry »