The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (1st view) - Well,I loved it. I'm a huge fan of the previous films (even The Scorpion King) but I was unsure of what to expect here. Thankfully though, I had a ball. Yes, I know it isn't a great film by any standards, but I had a great time watching it, and that's what counts here. Really, the only downside to it was Maria Bello and her ever-changing accent. A fine actress but a poor show here. Other than that - Fraser and Hannah, mindless action, bombastic music and a host of CGi nonsense - just enjoyable hokum in its purest form. Roll on part 4! - 4/5

RocknRolla Very good well made crime caper with loads of energy. Guy Ritchie back on his Lock Stock and Snatch form. Gerard Butler (One Two) might be the star but the film is stolen by Toby Kebbel (Johnny Quid) and Mark Strong (Archie). Highly Recommended. 9/10

No Reservations (1st view) - You know where you stand with romantic comedies. A mismatched couple meet, one (or both) annoys the other but they gradually fall for one another, then fall out, only to get back together right near the end. It happens pretty much all the same, and I'm a sucker for them! I'm not the biggest fan of Catherine Zeta-Jones, she tends to annoy me and she did here, but at least we have the wonderful Aaron Eckhart. I've always liked him (ever since seeing him play the thoroughly horrible Chad in In The Company Of Men) and the film is best when he's on screen. Abigail Breslin also does well as the niece of Zeta-Jones, who she has to live with after her mother dies. It's a decent attempt to give the film a bit more depth, but the balance between the serious and the light-hearted never quite works. Still, it's an enjoyable way tp spend 90 minutes (though it is easily the lesser of the two big kitchen-based films released in 2007) - 3/5

Love On The Side - (fifth billionth viewing) I bloody love this film. Never fails to make me feel all warm and squishy. Has every element that a good chick flick needs. The main characters are likeable and the supporting cast are loveable. 5/5

The Bucket List (1st view) – With Rob Reiner at the helm, director of two of the funniest comedies of the last 30 years (This Is Spinal Tap and When Harry Met Sally) and Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson starring, folk with Oscar nominations pouring out of theirs ears, you’d expect some kind of masterpiece, so it’s something of a shame that it’s instead just enjoyable. But that’s no bad thing really as it is very enjoyable. With just months to live, Freeman and Nicholson create a list of things they want to do with their remaining days. It’s occasionally funny, more often the kind of funny that provokes a smile rather than a life, but it’s good-natured and, come the finale, quite moving as well – 4/5 Killers from Space (1st view) – A science fiction thriller from 1954, directed by W. Lee Wilder, brother of Billy Wilder. Dr Douglas Martin (Peter Graves) is a scientist working on atomic bomb -*test*-('")s. When his plane crashes he’s presumed dead, only for him to reappear hours later, unharmed except for a surgical scar on his chest and no memory of what happened. After he’s given a truth serum, he recounts a tale of being brought back to life by alien beings who want his help in conquering the world. It’s a typically paranoid 50s film, filled with laughable aliens, dodgy science and poor effects (particularly during the tiring 5 minutes sequence in which our hero’s escape is blocked at every turn by giant insects and lizards) but it rattles along at its own enjoyable pace and, at just 62 minutes, doesn’t outstay its welcome – 3/5 Lonely Hearts (1st view) – A film based on a real life duo known as the “Lonely Hearts Killers”, played here by Jared Leto and Salma Hayek. James Gandolfino and John Travolta are the detectives tracking them down and the film’s director, Todd Robinson, is the grandson of the character played by Travolta. Compared to some period real-life crimes film of recent years (Such as Zodiac) this seems rather laid back and tame, but the stars acquit themselves well and it end ups being a highly engaging watch – 4/5 The Dark Knight (2nd view) – It’s been about 5 weeks now since I first saw this and, as much as I loved it then I was a bit letdown. Thankfully, the problems I had seen to have vanished with a second viewing. This time the action is far more thrilling, the overall story more engaging. And everything else is just as good, it not betyer then before. Ledger is phenomenal as the Joker, Eckhart superb as Harvey Dent, the score gets the heart pounding and the finale just leaves you wanting more – 5/5 The Good Night (1st view) – Penelope Cruz, Simon Pegg, Gywneth Paltrow, Micheal Gambon and Danny Devito and all wasted in this muddled and charmless comedy. Martin Freeman plays a man who is ib love with a woman in his dreams and is highly surprised to discover someone who looks exactly like her in real life. There is more to it than that but that’s pretty much all I can recall from up from a film I saw less than 12 hours ago – 2/5 Revolt Of The Zombies (1st view) – During WWI, an oriental priest who possesses the power of turning men into zombies, is killed by Colonel Mazovia (Roy D’Arcy) who wants the secret for himself. Compared to modern films, these zombies are quite tame, simply men who have been hypnotized rather than the dead reanimated. Mazovia uses his power to drive a wedge between a girl he loves and her fiancé, but once he realizes he’ll never be loved by her, he relinquishes his power over all those he’s taken control of and this leads to the revolt of the title. I wish this revolt had occurred in the 5th minute rather than the 55th, as the whole thing would have been over so much quicker – 2/5

The Elephant Man (1980), following his debut Eraserhead (1977), David Lynch was entrusted with a real-life historical drama, and he delivered in spades. Set in Victorian London, it tells the story of John Merrick (John Hurt), a man with a severe facial and body deformity, which has made him an outcast from society. But, he is rescued from a carnival sideshow by the kindly Dr. Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins), who is determined to make him fit into society and bring back any dignity he once had, after much coaching, he becomes eloquent and intellectual, and is finally able to fit into society. It is a very tragic story but one which proves to be touching and beautiful, it's a pity David Lynch doesn't make more films like this, as he shows great confidence with his first big-budget film, and he brings out great humanity and gravitas from his actors, especially the leads, Hurt and Hopkins have never been better, plus he was able to get an all-star cast into appearing in the film, including Dexter Fletcher, Hannah Gordon, Michael Elphick, Keith Barron, Kenny Baker, Pauline Quirke, Phoebe Nicholls, Wendy Hiller with John Gielgud and a scene-stealing Freddie Jones. Watching the film again makes you want Lynch to make more films, and the cinematography by the late, great Freddie Francis is flawless. 5/5

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), now a decade old, this is the film that put Guy Ritchie on the map as a director, and made a couple of stars in the process. ;) The film has card expert Eddie (Nick Moran), getting involved in an illegal poker game, and his 3 friends Soap (Dexter Fletcher), Tom (Jason Flemyng) and Bacon (Jason Statham) bankrolling the game. The game is rigged and Eddie ends up owing £500,000 to porn king Harry Lonsdale (P.H. Moriarty). So, they decide to steal the money from a gang of thieves living next door who are planning to rob from a local drugs baron, but nothing goes as planned, and a pair of antique shotguns come into it. Alot of people are quick to dismiss director Ritchie because he's married to Madonna, but when he puts his mind to it, he is a good director, and this has some good performances, (best known for Vinnie Jones' cameo as Big Chris), and the Cockney rhyming dialogue is instantly memorable. Look out for cameos from Sting, (his wife funded the film), and a young Rob Brydon as a hapless traffic warden!! ;) 4/5

Rising Damp The Movie 7/10

Snatch (2000), Guy Ritchie's follow-up to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), with a bigger budget and a bigger cast. This film involves two complex plots, it begins with boxing promoters Turkish (Jason Statham) and Tommy (Stephen Graham), who are in debt to dangerously violent local crime boss Brick Top Polford (Alan Ford), as his prize fighter was severly beaten in a fight by Irish Gyspy boxer 'One Punch' Mickey O'Neill (Brad Pitt). To complicate matters even more, Turkish and Tommy become interwined with an on-going diamond heist involving an 86 carat diamond stolen from Antwerp by Frankie "Four-Fingers" (Benicio Del Toro), but has stopped off at London with it, as it's to be given to New York money-launderer Avi Denovitz (Dennis Farina). It's certainly not as good as Lock, Stock, which would be a tough act to follow, but it makes for entertaining viewing in the long term. Ritchie has a good visual style, and even with it's setting of the grimmier parts of London, he gets the best out of his actors, Brad Pitt is funny to watch, even with a dodgy Irish accent. The rest of the cast include Lennie James as Sol, Mike Reid as Avi's English cousin Doug, Goldie as Bad Boy Lincoln and Vinnie Jones plays Bullet Tooth Tony. :P 3/5 RocknRolla (2008), for the first time since the low points of Swept Away (2002) and Revolver (2005), Guy Ritchie rediscovers his mojo, and could put him in good stead for the future. It involves a property development scam going on, two streetwise gangsters One Two (Gerard Butler) and Mumbles (Idris Elba) end up owing money to local underworld kingpin Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson), so they decide to steal the money from another deal Cole has going on with Russian billionaire Uri (Karel Roden), and Uri's lucky painting goes missing as well, and Cole's druggie rockstar step-son Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell), persumed dead, gets involved as well. Ritchie has made up for the sins of his last 2 films, got it together and makes a good piece of entertainment. True, there's nothing very original about the film, but it makes for a good piece of entertainment for nearly a couple of hours. Butler makes a good gangster, but Wilkinson makes a better slaphead crime magnate. Ritchie also has a sequel planned, but first he's gonna do Sherlock Holmes, and on the strength of this, he'll do well with it!! ;) 3/5

He's actually got two sequels planned as it's the start of a trilogy :P

Really enjoyed it, but it wasn't as good as the TV version 7/10

Nothing (2003), a little-seen comic fantasy curio from underrated Canadian director Vincenzo Natali. Set in Toronto, it has two friends, Dave (David Hewlett), a loser in a dead-end job who ends up being sacked for embezzlement, and Andrew (Andrew Miller), who is afraid of going outside and works from home. When the world turns against them and wants their house, lodged between two flyovers, demolished. They somehow wish everything away, and the outside of the house is replaced by an endless white void, with a bouncy walking surface. They struggle to figure out what on earth is going on, and find themselves getting by as days pass. It's a very novel idea for a film, and it makes for a quite perfect antidote to the excesses of what a lot of big-budget sci-fi films have to offer. Natali is best known for making Cube (1997) and Cypher (2002), which were both dark pieces of sci-fi, this is much lighter in tone, despite the shades of darkness creeping in, it is a one of a kind film, Natali should be more famous, and even though this doesn't really go anywhere, it is very enjoyable and very funny in the long-term with two likeable leads. Charlie Kaufman would have KILLED for this idea!! ;) 4/5

Trespass (1st view) – Bill Paxton and William Sadler are two firemen who, while attempting to rescue an old man from a burning building, are given a map that leads to stolen loot hidden in a disused warehouse. They decide to look for the stolen goods but upon arrival find themselves witness to an execution performed by Ice-T and his gang, and soon they find themselves trapped and surrounded in the building. Pretty much the whole film takes place in this one location and director Walker Hill does a good job at cranking up the tension. This was never a film that was going to win awards for acting or writing, but it’s an entertaining diversion – 3/5 The Eye (1st view) – American remake of the Hong Kong film about a classical violinist (Jessica Alba) who has been blind since childhood. Following a cornea transplant, she starts to see ghostly images and becomes convinced she is seeing visions from her donor. The original was quite effective and scary at times, but something seems to have lost in the remake process, bit it remains watchable nonetheless. Alba can’t act for toffee though! – 3/5 The Cameraman (1st view) – The first film Buster Keaton made after moving to MGM, and one of the last over which he had control. It follows the misfortunes of Buster, who hopes to get a job for the MGM newsreel department in order to impress a girl who works there. As inventive as ever, it’s not on the same level as some of his other features such as The General or Steamboat Bill Jr. It’s almost as if there’s too much plot, the dialogue cards often interrupting the action. Still there are some fine comic set pieces, notably the recreation of a baseball game that Buster performs single-handedly – 4/5 Sleuth (1st view) – The final film from Joseph L. Mankiewicz is an adaptation of Anthony Shaffer’s play. It stars Laurence Olivier as a wealthy crime novelist who invites Michael Caine over to his country house, in the full knowledge that Caine has been having an affair with his wife. Going into the plot would spoil the fun, but it’s a cracking story, even if it is farfetched at times, but is worth watching for the two stars giving great performances – 4/5 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (1st view) – An HBO TV film, adapted from the final two chapters of Dee Brown’s book of the same name. It takes place after the Battle of the Little Bighorn and follows the assimilation of Native Americans. August Schellenberg plays Sitting Bull and Adam Beach is Charles Eastman, a Sioux who has become a doctor who tries to improve life on the reservations. You get the feeling that there’s a lot more story to tell here and perhaps a mini-series would have been a better format, but this is still highly interesting and emotional – 4/5

Pineapple Express - The la-*test*-('") offering by Apatow and co... and it's not quite up to his usual standard. It will no doubt appeal to its target audience and it does raise a laugh or two here and there. James Franco was undoubtedly the best thing in this, his was the only character who actually seemed human. I don't usually give films marks, on this occasion I'd have to say "must try harder".