This week's releases

Trance: Danny Boyle's latest film is a thriller set in the world of high price Art, where an unscrupulous dealer double crosses a criminal gang to get his hands on a priceless painting. He feigns no knowledge of where the piece is now kept after being caught so a hypnotherapist is called in to help. Starring Vincent Cassel and James McAvoy.

In the House: A French language film starring Fabrice Luchini, Ernst Umhauer and Kristin Scott Thomas. When a sixteen-year-old student begins to produce stunning essays, little does his teacher know that his new-found literary spark owes nothing to imagination, and everything to the young man's intrusion into a classmate's life.

GI Joe Retaliation 3D: Channing Tatum, Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson bulk up in the latest installment in the GI Joe franchise. This time the group are framed as traitors by the evil Cobra Commander who has just been released from prison and wants revenge.

The Host: Written by Stephanie Mayer of the Twilight saga she looks to replicate the same winning formula here with a sci-fi thriller about an alien that takes over a human body to try and dominate mankind. A love story erupts when the host and another human fight back.

Film Review: A Good Day to Die Hard

Director: John Moore

The fifth installment of the Die Hard franchise sees Jack McClane (Bruce Willis) travel to Russia to help out his son John (Jai Courtney) who is awaiting trail for murder. It opens up the script for some reasonably witty father-son remarks about how Jack was a bad father and why the McClane's don't hug each other. Aside from that it's a pretty tired format of someone not wanting to spend time with another person but being forced to so they can both survive. But then the Die Hard franchise is 25 years old so its not surprising it is a little tired.

John (Bruce Willis) and Jack (Jai Courtney)

Jack is asked to testify against political prisoner Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch) by Viktor Chagarin (Sergei Kolesnikov) who is a corrupt Russian official that wants a secret file from Komarov that has incriminating evidence against him. Jack is able to escape when Chagarin blows up the court house to hopefully kidnap Komarov but Jack takes Komarov and runs into his Dad John, from there they try to escape Russia.

A film with elaborate action sequences that overall as a film becomes more implausible by the minute, the plot tries to be too clever when actually it is seemingly obvious. In the age of impressive CGI, the action is engaging and visually impressive but overall it lacks the wit and political subtext of the previous, more successful Die hard films. Although some of the action scenes were a bit messy in how they were sequenced and were hard to follow exactly what was happening.

John and Jack with Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch)

None of the acting in the film is really worthy of merit, Willis is clearly too old to be plausible as an action hero anymore yet he keeps getting similar roles. The other Die Hard films were a cut above the generic action movies that are produced year in, year out but for its fifth and realistically final time it fails to distinguish itself which is a sad ending for an impressive movie franchise. Contemplating the film after it finished it made me think how few redeeming features it had overall.

1/4 A good day to watch something else

Film Preview: A Hijacking

The subject of pirates along the Somalian coastline is always a hot political topic, the country of Somalia which is said to be a lawless land that allows all sort of criminal activity has bred groups of men to become pirates. Looting ships that come through the Suez Canal and taking the crews hostage in hope for a ransom off the rich companies and countries that they come from. It's political hot potato that no country really wants to deal with until a crew from their country is taken hostage. The Danes have made a film that follows a crew in such a situation, something that is quite often overlooked in these situations in the news.

The crew of a Danish cargo ship is hijacked off the Somali coast and taken to land where they are held hostage as frantic talks with the Danish government in Copenhagen take place to secure their safe release.

A Hijacking is released in the UK on the 10th May 2013 and the trailer is embedded below:

Film Review: Bottle Rocket

Director: Wes Anderson

A 1996 Comedy film that is renowned for bringing Owen Wilson into the limelight as this was his acting debut, he also co-wrote the script and with his short hair it helps to make him look very young compared to the Owen Wilson we see today. This was also Wes Anderson's first film which like some of his other films struggled at the box office but received generally positive praise from critics.

Dignan (Owen Wilson) rescues his brother Anthony (Luke Wilson) from a psychiatric unit so that they can work on their elaborate 75 year plan that involves planning and executing a number of lucrative heists. They practice by robbing Anthony's house but manage to make a mistake which Dignan isn't happy about before they rob from a book store which doesn't quite go to plan either. When Anthony falls in love and other things go awry they have to examine exactly what they want to do in life.

Anthony Adams (Luke Wilson) with Ines (Lumi Cavazos) and Dignan (Owen Wilson)

Like many of Wes Anderson's films he creates characters that are like-able and easy to care for but on the downside his films often lack a sense of direction or urgency in the plot. Quite often this film idly drifted along with little happening to keep you interested. It's a film of many nice small moments that over the entire film don't really come together to produce much.

It's a reasonably familiar premise of young innocent men choosing a life of crime for which they are far too naive to be successful in. Owen Wilson is the best performer as the dreaming yet slightly off Dignan who appears to be the brain behind their schemes despite not necessarily possessing the smarts to pull it off. Bottle Rocket has the feel of a small independent movie but is too self-indulgent and surprisingly cost a lot more to make than you'd believe. I've never been a big fan of Wes Anderson's films and unfortunately Bottle Rocket did little to change that.

2/4 Some nice scenes but overall the film likes direction.

This week's releases

Stolen: Nicholas Cage goes down the Liam Neeson route in search of a new lease of life for his ailing movie career.

Full Preview here

Jack the Giant Slayer: A British reboot of the Jack and Giant Beanstalk story starring Nicholas Hoult and Ewan McGregor. An ancient war is rekindled when Jack plants his beanstalk that grows forth towards the sky and win back the land lost to the giants centuries ago.

Identity Thief: Businessman Sandy (Jason Bateman still getting work somehow) becomes the victim of identity fraud and will stop at nothing to restore his credit rating and bank balance. He is surprised when he runs into the perpetrator of this fraud, also starring Melissa McCarthy from Bridesmaids so this could be a front runner for worst film of the year.

Film Preview: After Earth

The latest film to be directed and written by M. Night Shyamalan, a director that seems to polarize critics and film fans alike. He is renowned for The Sixth Sense but many people think he peaked there and produced a lot of subpar films in more recent years. His next movie is a science fiction thriller starring Will Smith and his son Jaden. It was marketed by an online campaign through Google and Facebook as is the way these days.

Humanity was forced to abandon the Earth after a set of tragic events and re-establish itself on a planet called Nova Prime (not related to any Transformer). Cypher (Will Smith) and Kitai (Jaden Smith) embark on a mission back to earth a thousand years from now but run into problems which means they must finally learn to work together.

After Earth is released on the 7th June 2013 and the trailer is embedded below:

Film Review: Adulthood

Director: Noel Clarke

The sequel to Kidulthood that was released in 2006, it features much of the same cast with the addition of Ben Drew (Plan B) and Danny Dyer although he only plays a small role fortunately. Adam Deacon then made another sequel called Anuvahood which was more of an urban comedy about an MC wanting to crack the big time.

Sam (Noel Clarke) and Jay (Adam Deacon)

The events of Adulthood take place 6 years after the end of Kidulthood when Sam (Noel Clarke) is released from prison for killing Trevor. At a cemetery where Trevor is buried, Sam is attacked by a cousin of Trevor's who threatens him by saying that numerous people want him dead and they'll do it by the end of the day. We also follow Dabs (Plan B) as he is introduced to the world of crime through Ike and gets a job off Jay (Adam Deacon) to kill Sam.

The follow-up is very similar in tone to its predecessor although everyone is now in there early twenties rather than young teenagers still at school. It is less shocking from the outset but realistically it would have been hard to match 15 year olds bullying each other, swearing, taking drugs and being generally antisocial. It isnt a film worth seeing without watching the first installment as the story very much follows on with all characters re-appearing except Trevor who died at the end of the first and Becky who is just said to be missing. Would have been interesting to see what happened to Becky so it's an opportunity missed for me.

Dabs (Ben Drew/Plan B) is arrested

The lack of shock factor and the cliché view of redemption for the characters all moving onto something slightly better in their lives means this really isn't a great follow up. The revenge against Sam for the murder of Trevor was entirely predictable from the minute you start watching the movie and the build up to the climax is either uninteresting or wholly unbelievable. For me this was a film too far to try and build on the success of the first film.

1.5/4 Well worn plot of revenge and redemption is too predictable

Film Review: Kidulthood

Director: Menhaj Huda

It is the Daily Mail readers worst nightmare all brought together into one film. Written by Noel Clarke, who also plays the role of Sam, it is widely recognized as the film that brought him to prominence in the public eye. The film shows the young characters engaging in violent and criminal activity all whilst attending school in London.

Trevor (Aml Ameen) left

We follow a number of youngsters who are around 15-16 years old, Trevor (Aml Ameen) has impregnated Alisa (Red Madrell) which is the main storyline running through the film. The opening events shows numerous violent episodes as pupils are bullied by older and bigger students, the films events are triggered by the suicide of Katie (Rebecca Martin) who was aggressively bulled and the day of her funeral means the pupils have a day off before a big party that night.

Becky (Jaime Winstone)

The behaviour of the teenagers is supposed to be truly shocking but unless you've been living a sheltered life away from inner-cities it shouldn't come as a shock. The main criticism for the film is that the events take place inside 2 days but realistically show you the violence, drug taking, bullying and general lawlessness that you would see from teenagers in years. There is very little of the reality of teenagers hanging around being generally bored with little to do.

It does a great job of pushing the issue of young offenders and drug takers to the fore, the dilemma of whether they act like this because of their upbringing in the area they live in or because they know they have little future is a poignant one. If more was done to help these people would they change their ways or squander their opportunities? It's a question that is never answered within the film and it is better for having done that.

Sam (Noel Clarke) being threatened by Moony (Femi Oyeniran)

The dislike and yobbish naive behaviour of the teenagers within the film makes it hard for you to root for any of them or feel disheartened when something bad happens to them, you almost feel they deserve their fate at times which is difficult as the plot is slowly unwound. But you can't argue its a tight yet bleak at inner city youth today.

2/4 Interesting topics raised but hard to root for any of the characters or their futures.

The Rolling Picture Award Winners

With the Oscars now out of the way, its time to fill the void in between by announcing The Rolling Picture Award Winners. I'm sure there is much excitement throughout the film world about who will win these awards. Here is a link to last years winners: http://therollingpicture.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/rolling-picture-award-winners.html

Best Picture: Untouchable

Some truly great films were nominated here, Silver Linings Playbook and Detachment were two films I really loved but in the end Untouchable was head and shoulders above the rest. A french language film that is funny and incredibly sweet natured that is due to be ruined/remade by the Weinsteins. Omar Sy and Francois Cluzet are both excellent here.

Best Actor: Omar Sy (Untouchable)

This was a tough choice as the acting partnership of Omar Sy and Francois Cluzet was superb but there can be only one winner, Sy's character is more of the focal point of the movie as we see his tough background but surprising caring nature come to light.

Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Much like the Oscars and Golden Globes, Jennifer Lawrence wins the Best Actress award for Silver Linings Playbook. Her troubled and aggressive character adds much humour to the film alongside Bradley Cooper. Another tough category with strong performances from Naomi Watts and Jessica Chastain.

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

For the second consecutive year, Christoph Waltz wins in this category. He must have been in reasonably comfortable territory playing Dr. King Schultz with the German accented English he spoke. His mentor role to Django is endearing and his eloquent speech makes him a loveable bounty hunter.

Best Supporting Actress: Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

The Sessions was a sweet surprise of a film, John Hawkes is impressive but Helen Hunt is what really makes this film something beautiful to behold rather than something more seedy. Anne Hathaway didn't do enough aside from singing "I dreamed a dream" to be worthy of winning.

Best Director: Andrew Dominik (Killing Them Softly)

You could argue I made the same mistake as the Oscar judges in leaving Ben Affleck out of the nominations but Andrew Dominik is the undisputed winner here. Killing Them Softly from a directing standpoint is simply sublime, he crafts probably the most beautiful murder scene in cinematic history whilst producing set pieces that reflect the impressive dialogue of the scene. A film about much more than you see on the surface.

The Chris Rock Award (Best Small Role) Winner: Chris Tucker (Silver Linings Playbook)

Often over the top, Tucker is off the wall but more refined as he plays a man who has snook out of a psychiatric hospital that he should legally still be at. He is not over-used in the film which makes his moments funnier rather than grating.

Best Documentary: Undefeated

Easily the hardest category to pick a winner, The Imposter was a spine chilling true story that was told like a thriller. Undefeated came out as the winner showing the ideals that team sports can teach kids of all backgrounds whilst serving as an incredibly critical look at small town America. If you think America is the greatest country in the world then watch this film.

Best Soundtrack: Les Miserables

It was a closely fought battle with Marley but there had to be only one winner as the hit musical was finally done some justice on the big screen compared to the debacle that was released in the 90's. Some great songs performed by some greats singers.

Worst Film: Cosmopolis

A category with so many stand out films that were terrible, Beasts of the Southern Wild and Ted were probably not as bad as some others here but the fact they seemed to be universally loved despite being tedious and unfunny respectively meant they were included. Cosmopolis wins because it literally has no redeeming features and Robert Pattinson is cringeworthy his acting is that poor.

This week's releases

Welcome to the Punch: A gangster's return to his home turf gives his arch-nemesis in the police force the opportunity to take him off the streets forever. James McAvoy and Mark Strong go head to head in this tale of justice and revenge.

Red Dawn: The North Koreans have attacked America by taking a city in Washington State, a group of youngsters decide to fight back themselves and form a resistance group in a film which I'm sure will do little for public perception of the North Koreans.

The Paperboy: Set in a Florida backwater in the 1960's, investigative reporter Ward Jansen (Matthew McConaughey trying to claw his dignity back one film at a time) looks at a man on death row who is believed to have been framed. He works off a tip from Charlotte (Nicole Kidman) but the closer they come to the truth the murkier the waters.

Burt Wonderstone: Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) have been the main magical attractions in Las Vegas for as long as people can remember but they're reign of supremacy is threatened by the arrival of street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey).

Film Review: Inside Job

Director: Charles H. Ferguson

The financial crisis that started to occur in 2008 had a dramatic effect on the world we live in today, barely a day goes by where the financial plight of companies or entire countries seem to be in jeopardy or the words ''economic recovery'' or ''economic downturn'' are uttered by journalists. But considering how much it affected millions of people around the world, only a small percentage truly understand what happened to cause such a catastrophe beyond knowing it's about sub-prime mortgages. The film is narrated by Matt Damon.

Inside Job is a documentary split into five parts that begins by examining how de-regulation in 2000 affected Iceland who managed to dig themselves into such a huge financial hole. The five parts cover the entire cause from beginning to end, they are named: How we got here, the bubble, the crisis, accountability and where are we now. The film is mainly comprised of interviews with politicians, analysts, traders and economic lecturers from Universities but also shows examples of how much of the trading of derivatives worked to give you an understanding of where the risk came from in what was being done.

Prominent CEO's of major banks who ended up working for the Bush administration

Charles H. Ferguson has become one of the leading documentary makers of recent years after widespread acclaim for his previous film No End in Sight about post-war Iraq. Here he creates a well argued documentary that keenly explains the failings of the banking system in putting sufficient regulation in place to stop fraud and mis-selling to name just two. Here he crafts a documentary that is thrilling from the outset and is equally helped by the effective narration by Damon.

The findings at the end of the film about how Obama has hired many architects of the financial crisis to prominent positions in the White House and Federal Bank shows just how influential Wall Street etc is in political terms and how countries will always be at the mercy of the banks.The interviews feature many prominent and incredibly knowledgeable people who share their opinions and ideas although many of the people criticized in the film declined to be interviewed, but a few decided to answer their criticisms but either were exposed as blatantly lying or as incredibly obnoxious and arrogant.

4/4 fascinating documentary with painstaking research and interviews

Film Review: Shut Up and Play the Hits

Director: Dylan Southern and William Lovelace

LCD Soundsystem were a band that I'd always liked and listened to it but it was really kicked up a notch when hearing the song All My Friends, the full version is a 7 minute crescendo of clever lyrics and of a superb underlying beat that is just so infectious. My window of opportunity to see the band live in concert was squarely slammed shut when the lead singer James Murphy announced that the band would be retiring at their peak with one final 3 hour spectacular concert in Madison Square Garden.

The documentary is based around the 48 hours around the concert intercut with footage of some of their most popular song live from the concert and an interview James Murphy had with Chuck Klosterman. We follow Murphy backstage and for the hours before when he is in his apartment doing his favourite things of making coffee and tending to his dog. We slow begin to get an understanding of how this big dance rock band can end things on their own terms when so few before have managed to do so.

Cover Poster

The opening of the documentary is a strange mixture of the hectic backstage noise before the final gig at Madison Square Garden and James Murphy quietly sorting things out in his flat the day after the gig. It's one of many moments that shows the calm after the storm of the band that has been his life for the last decade finally ending. The only criticism I'd have of the documentary is that the reverence is very apparent throughout and it almost plays like this is the end of everything, Murphy will still go on to work on other projects (like producing for the new Arcade Fire album) but the documentary seems more like a funeral.

Like with much of the work the band does, the focus of the documentary is on James Murphy the frontman who plays most of the instruments for the albums but calls upon numerous musicians at times although this is mainly for playing live. LCD Soundsystem had always been Murphy's vehicle to express himself and he was always seen as a bit of a musical maverick with his alternative funk sound. The film explores his inspirations and ideas behind some of the songs that made them so popular. He also answers the important questions about why he wants to end the band so suddenly and did Daft Punk really play at his house?

3.5/4 Thrilling and beautifully shot music documentary.

Film Review: Jesus Camp

Director: Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing

Wherever you go, Religion is a highly emotive subject and one that is guaranteed to polarize opinions. Jesus Camp is a 2006 documentary that debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival which according to the distributor who bought the rights "doesn't come with any prepackaged point of view" and tries to be "an honest and impartial depiction of one faction of the evangelical Christian community". It was also nominated for Best Documentary at the 2007 Academy Awards.

Rousing praise for Jesus

The film focuses on the ''Kids on Fire School of Ministry" which is run by Becky Fischer and is a summer camp for Christian evangelists to go along to with their children so they can become submerged in the faith. Three children are distinctly followed throughout who are Levi, Rachel and Tory who are already being brought up in devout Christian households in out of town Missouri.  The kids are told to admit their sins and become good Christians all of the time and not just in the presence of other Christians, this shaming amongst other activities seems to produce a lot of crying and wailing from the children which is perceived as good by the parents.

The directors do an excellent job of just demonstrating what happens at these sort of religious camps, they don't openly question or judge what is happening and leave that to the viewer themselves. In many ways what is shown comes across as brainwashing children who are dealing with religious and moral issues with which they are not mature enough to understand. The children protesting against abortion are doing it because they are told that abortion is bad without being anywhere near informed enough to form an opinion on the subject. The reasons Pastor Becky Fischer gave for trying to promote the ideology in children were incredibly weak and just smacked of taking advantage of their naive tendencies.

9 year old Rachel protesting in Washington D.C against abortion

Many people involved in the camp criticized the film for showing it in a bad light which is a double edged sword, clearly the film makers left out bits where the children probably had fun and did more engaging activities but left in some of the clearly distressing emotional parts. But regardless of that it still shows that these children aren't necessarily being given a choice in their religious upbringing. The leaders of the camp claim to be purely working to get people in touch with God but have ulterior political motives which are revealed later in the film with apparently Evangelists having the power to decide elections because of their numbers (clearly didn't bother using those numbers in the last 2 elections).

Throughout the film there are cuts to a radio show called Ring of Fire which is hosted by Mike Papantonio who is also a Christian but displays much more level headed views and actually has Becky Fischer on the show during a phone-in. He openly criticizes her motives for targeting children and believes people should be allowed to make choices as adults, Fischer's response is honestly chilling and confirms any doubts you had about the camps motives being completely innocent.

3.5/4 Superb documentary that doesn't question or cast judgement

Film Review: Fahrenheit 9/11

Director: Michael Moore

Michael Moore has build himself a reputation as an excellent documentary maker who is not opposed to criticizing America and the American government. He is an active social critic and liberal activist who places many of the top political topics at the forefront of people's minds. Fahrenheit 9/11 is the highest grossing documentary of all-time and came just two years after Bowling for Columbine which helped make Moore's name in America.

The documentary looks at how President Bush got elected by claiming that Fox news ran a story saying that Bush had won the state of Florida rather than Al Gore and that Bush had ties with numerous people involved in the process of deciding election results in the state. It moves on to the topic of 9/11 and Bush's reaction after the event due to his numerous ties with the Saudi government and the bin Laden family themselves from his work running oil companies in Texas. None of the bin Laden family were interviewed about Osama before they were flown out of the country by the US Government.

The film finishes by looking at the war in Iraq which was started by Bush for allegedly bogus reasons about weapons of mass destruction and to deflect attention from bin Laden who was hiding out in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The topic of oil and the American companies that benefited hugely from the invasion of Iraq is investigated whilst the issue of the poorest families being the ones offered no career but the army is openly criticized.

The early parts of the film openly display evidence of Bush's involvement with the bin Laden family and the actions he took that were at odds with what he should have been doing to protect America rather than his own families interests. It speaks to a number of politicians and government workers from the time who help to bring credibility to what is being stated in the film. Later on the film leans more heavily on what could be seen as propaganda about the Iraq war and is seen as being incredibly one-sided in what it shows. There is no doubt that Moore is a skilled documentary maker and the fact this film is out there for the world to see creates the sort of debate that is needed on a topic like this.

2.5/4 superbly argued but loses its credibility in the second half

Film Preview: Mood Indigo

Michel Gondry co-writes and directs this French language movie based on the 1947 book Froth on the Daydream by Boris Vian. Gondry is known for his slightly surreal style in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep. 

Starring Audrey Tautou (Amelie) and Omar Sy (Untouchable), the film is in a strange and surreal world where we follow Colin and Chloe whose love and happiness is threatened by a bizarre illness where a flower is starting to grow inside Chloe's lungs which is a danger to her health. The French have produced some superb films in recent years and are renowned for pushing the boundaries of cinema so there is some intrigue and anticipation for Gondry's latest film.

Mood Indigo is released in the UK on 24th April 2013 and the trailer is embedded below:

Film Review: Sugar

Director: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck

From the duo that wrote and directed the thought provoking drama Half Nelson about a young teacher trying to help his students whilst dealing with his own turmoil comes Sugar. A film that looks at the lives Latino men lead in the minor leagues of baseball as they are shipped to America with little knowledge of life or the language. In a way Sugar deals with personal issues and problems like Half Nelson just against a different backdrop.

*possible spoilers*

Miguel ''Sugar'' Santos (Perez Soto)

Miguel ''Sugar'' Santos (Perez Soto) is a star pitcher in the Dominican Republic who earns a spot on a Major League teams roster which at the age of 19 sees him shipped to small town Iowa to play single A baseball. He lives with an old couple who welcome him in but he finds adjusting to life difficult as he struggles to learn English, except expletives he learnt in a bar, and finds out after a while that his arm isn't so special in the big leagues.

The adjusting to American life is delicately handled and shows how difficult it must be for people who emigrate without knowing the language especially when they are not handed a reasonably paid job like professional baseball. The frustrations that Sugar feels are genuine and avoids all the possible clichés of a rags to riches tale that so often doesn't come true in major sports. Most of his small pay cheque is sent home whilst his Ivy-league team mate who was drafted receives thousands of dollars.

Before his career gets even close to his dream of playing for the New York Yankees he struggles with injury and not being the star player anymore, frustrations that are felt around America as big players from high school find themselves matched at college. But the ending to the film feels completely lost and pulls the rug from under your feet which is a real shame even if it's not the Hollywood ending your expecting.

2.5/4 Touching look at adjusting to life abroad which slowly falls flat

This week's releases

Side Effects: Emily (Rooney Mara) takes a powerful new drug to cope with her increasing anxiety, she is given the new drug by her psychologist (Jude Law) as her husband is about to be released from a New York City prison. Her life is completely changed as the side effects of this new drug take their toll on her.

Parker: Jason Statham back in yet another crime thriller, this time he is a thief but who will only steal from people that he believes can afford it. But when he is double crossed by cunning criminals he has to break his own rules to get even.

The Guilt Trip: Inventor Andy (Seth Rogan) goes on a road trip to promote his new cleaning device and takes his mother (Barbara Streisand) along for the ride. Much embarrassment ensues as his mother meddles in all of his affairs.

Fire with Fire: A firefighter (Bruce Willis) is key witness to a brutal murder and is drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse as the killer attempts to hunt him down before he can testify. He could lose his entire life and career if he enters a Witness Protection Program.

Broken: A powerful drama about a young girl whose childhood world is shattered when she witnesses a violent attack in her own street in London. She is rapidly thrust into an adult world for which she is not ready. Starring Tim Roth and Eloise Laurence.

The Best of Short Films

Short films are an under appreciated medium against all the feature length films that are repeatedly churned out each year, a couple of band members from my favourite band The Gaslight Anthem have produced a short 15 minute film which shows the life of an LP record as it's handed from generation to generation. It's an incredibly sweet piece with a powerful score behind it. Here is a link to it: Every Word Handwritten.

The Oscars always nominate in two categories, live action short film and animated short film, which usually produces some impressive and often sweet pieces. Paperman is a short film that I believe has already been chosen as this years winner is an animated short film about a young man who sees a beautiful women on the train then tries to get her attention across the street from his office by throwing paper aeroplanes at her. It's a beautiful piece in black and white with no dialogue that is so simple yet incredibly well crafted. The film is embedded below:

Another film nominated at the Oscars but in the live action category is Asad, a fable about a Somali boy who is struggling in his war torn country. A poignant yet touching short film that is certainly well worth seeing.

The final film I'd recommend is Curfew, it follows a guy called Richie who is at the lowest ebb in his life when he receives a call from his estranged sister asking him to look after his 9 year old niece. What follows is  a slow shift from them not speaking to each other to slowly grow a mutual bond towards each other that is incredibly hard not to like.

Prometheus 2?

Following the reports that Noomi Rapace is on board if there is to be a sequel, she then confirmed that Ridley Scott has been working on a script for the past few weeks. Neither was giving anything away when discussing what direction the sequel would take, after the events of the first film it's difficult to see what will happen and considering the negative reception whether it is worth pursuing at all.

I actually liked Prometheus more than most (review here), whilst there were a few plot holes and a very similar premise to the original films in how it developed, I found it visually stunning in IMax with a superb performance by Michael Fassbender as the android David. With it being released as a big blockbuster it was always going to be more about the tension, visual effects and action towards the end than a particularly clever storyline which would be resolved by the films end. Ridley Scott now has an opportunity to save the franchise with an intriguing sequel but he has his work cut out.

Noomi Rapace as Elisabeth Shaw

The main question will be what will happen to the remaining crew of Shaw (Rapace) and David (Fassbender) as they are the only two remaining crew members who seemed to survive and escape the planet in an Engineer spacecraft. Obviously we saw the Alien offspring battle with the Engineer at the end which ends with an Alien creature bursting out of the Engineer's chest, presumably this creature is what develops into the nemesis for Ripley in the early Alien films. Whether they will re-appear in the Prometheus franchise remains to be seen but will Shaw actually get answers to why the Engineers wanted to wipe out mankind? Will David now be different as he is free from his masters commands? How will the relationship between Shaw and David play out based on what they now know? Lets hope this time we get more answers than questions.

Film Review: Amelie

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

A French language film that was released in 2001, it instantly became a cult hit with its offbeat comedy and incredibly sweet natured characters and plot. The film was set in Montmarte and instantly made it a popular place for people to live and visit with its whimsical view of Parisian life. It was nominated for five Academy Awards in 2002.

The story follows Amelie (Audrey Tautou) as she raised by slightly odd parents to her life as an adult living along in a flat in Paris. She works with some eccentric people in a local bar but at her flat finds an old box filled with children's toys so sets out to give it back to its owner. She sees the joy it brings the man to give it back to him so she sets her mission out to help those people around her and crosses paths with Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz) who collects photographs from photo booths who she instantly likes.

Amelie (Audrey Tautou)

The film features an incredibly offbeat opening 15mins with Amelie as a child introducing many characters by the random things in their lives that they like and dislike. It sets its stall out early as a slightly random yet quirky comedy. Based on the movies odd comedy and incredibly sweet nature it has made it a polarizing film amongst viewers, its generally best to set aside all convention and just immerse yourself in a different world set in a place you know well.

Audrey Tautou is excellent as the lead Amelie with her trend setting hairstyle and slightly naive and optimistic view of the world. There isn't that many films that have such a big influence on popular culture as this film did in France upon its release. The film slowly won me over in the first hour but the second half of the film does play slightly long and is a bit overplayed in Amelie' attempts to win the heart of Nino in a slightly bizarre manner.

3/4 sweet and funny but often lacks substance

Film Review: The Fifth Element

Director: Luc Besson

Throughout the 1990's Luc Besson was renowned for producing slick thrillers after he rose to fame with Nikita and built upon that with the impressive Leon: The Professional. He moved towards sci-fi for his next big production and got Gary Oldman back as well as Bruce Willis to star. Following this movie he spent a lot more time writing and producing movies with only a few films that he actually directed.

Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) and Leelo (Milla Jovovich)

At the outbreak of World War I, the Mondoshawns arrive to collect a weapon capable of defeating the Great Evil that could threaten Earth for safekeeping. The weapon is a collection of four stones (Earth, Wind, Fire and Water) as well as a Fifth element in the form of a human but they are forced to give the key to a priest after an accident. In the 23rd century the Great Evil appears and the military on Earth try to destroy it to no avail, Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) accidentally gets involved when Leelo (Milla Jovovich) crashes into his cab.

It is the film that is known for bringing Milla Jovovich into the public eye despite her inability to speak English through most of the film. The incredibly skimpy outfit she wears early on with her trademark orange hair is synonymous with sci-fi movies now and also a popular fancy dress costume as well. Bruce Willis is quite reserved early on in the film as the average taxi driver but goes into full action movie mode by the end in a role he is much more comfortable in which can also be said about Gary Oldman playing a quirky and slightly deranged bad guy.

The Mangalores

Over time I'd forgotten how many random funny moments are setup within the film, some work and some dont. Chris Tucker's character would have been incredibly funny and exciting had he been on-screen for about a quarter of the time, his high pitched squeals became quickly tiresome. The plot itself really isn't developed at any great length and actually disappears into the background for most of the middle act of the film. One of the saving graces is the visuals which were ground breaking at the time but look very dated nowadays with more sophisticated CGI being introduced, the dated looks gives it a redeeming quality which makes it very hard not to like. Its akin to playing old 90s computer game and trying to critique them on looks rather than just enjoying them.

2.5/4 plot isn't particularly entertaining but great 90's visuals gives it almost cult status.