Death Defying Acts The story evolves around a challenge laid down by Houdini to anyone whoever can tell him the last words of his dying mother with the promise of a $10,00 reward. All will be revealed as to why near the end of the film. As ever Guy Pearce gave a fine and affable performance as Houdini the film was lovely to look at and keep an eye out for Saoirse Ronan ( odd name indeed) as Zeta- Jones sidekick and daughter she was very good. I would have liked to have seen more of the stunts and to have found out more about Houdini's life but instead the main focus was on the love realationship between Houdini and Mary played by Guy and Catherine,which I thought was a bit mis-matched really. I enjoyed the film though and would still recommend a view,but it's no more than a three star film. Oh and I wondered where Guy had gone to get his fab perm :-o also he's certainly buffed himself up in this film compared to the drastic weight loss for The Proposition and Factory Girl.

Poster's a rip-off of Chinatown...

Yeah I thought that, but I dont think it's one they used as the main one I just chose that one as I liked it best.

So,it's worth a watch then,Madge? Pity it isn't more of a Houdini biopic really...Tom Cruise was attached to one some years ago that I was looking forward to but it never materialized...

9/10

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Liked it a lot. Pegg as usual is great as is Kristen Dunst whom he has great chemistry with. Also great support from Megan Fox, Gillian Anderson, Danny Hudson and Jeff Bridges. Loved the soundtrack as well. 8/10

4/10

How To Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008), Toby Young's memoir of his ill-fated time at Vanity Fair magazine is adapted for the big screen, with a few changes here and there, but it retains alot of the events described in the book. This has Sidney Young (Simon Pegg), a bumbling small-time London journalist and social misfit, who is invited by Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges, in a weird wig), editor of Sharps magazine, if he would like to work for Sharps in New York. Young agrees, and he immediately doesn't fit in. In fact, the only person who seems to be able to tollerate his stupidity is fellow writer Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst), but Young is starstruck on winning the attention of rising actress Sophie Maes (Megan Fox). The film is the old fish out of water story, but there are some very funny moments in this film, and Pegg is a likeable lead, (he proved that last year in Run, Fatboy, Run), and his performance is complimented by a good cast which also includes Danny Huston, Gillian Anderson, Bill Paterson and Miriam Margolyes. Alot of the situations Young gets himself into are fun, but you can't believe anyone can be THIS stupid!! :P 4/5

Cracking good seasonal family fun with a damn good soundtrack. 4/5

Appaloosa (1st view) – Western directed by and starring Ed Harris. He plays a travelling peacekeeper who has been working alongside Viggo Mortensen for over a decade. They are called to the town of Appaloosa to help rid the place of Jeremy Irons. Renee Zelwegger also appears as a widow who Harris falls for. She’s the weak link in the cast, and her storyline never really convinces. Still, when Harris and Mortenson (sporting some of the finest facial hair this side of Middle Earth) are on the screen it’s often a delight, both utterly convincing as friends, men of few words but who practically know each other’s thoughts. There have been better, more thoughtful, more energetic westerns of recent years, but this isn’t a bad addition – 4/5 Kill Bill: Vol 1 (3rd view) – Not seen this for a few years and after seeing Pulp Fiction last week I thought I’d dig it out. Better than Pulp overall, and Thurman is better than I remembered. Some completely absurd action scenes, it’s best to think of this as fantasy film in some ways. As ever with Tarantino, a fantastic soundtrack. Not bad at all – 4/5 Kill Bill: Vol 2 (2nd view) – Pretty much the same as above. More talk and less action this time round though, and overall it’s not quite as sharp as the first one. Still Pai Mei’s sequence is possibly the best bit from either film and, maybe because the thought of being buried alive bloody terrifies me, there’s one sequence here that I winced all the way though – 4/5 The Island (2nd view) – I love Michael Bay films. I love all of ‘em (well, apart from Transformers, which is just ok). Fair enough, they might be just flash and little else, but they sure are fun to watch. This one is probably his most thoughtful film, and buried deep within there is probably a nice little film about the ethics of cloning and human mortality, but such issues are brushed aside, and who’s to say that that’s wrong? This is really just a big silly action film, and it delivers the goods – 4/5

The Duchess - When it comes to period dramas, you can't beat the Brits at it... this is another example of the magnificence this country can produce. It's quite fashionable to tar Keira Knightley with the bad actress brush, but in this film she shows us that she can act when she wants to. She is backed by an excellent cast; Fiennes, Atwell, Cooper and Rampling leading an on form ensemble. The story itself paces itself quite well and you go through the episodes of the Duchess of Devonshire's life steadily and the film does not outstay its welcome. This will sit quite nicely amongst my dvd collection in the near future.

Grease - A firm favourite of mine, yet this was the first time I got to see it on the big screen... it certainly did not disappoint! We all know the story, the cinema experience just enhances it. Fantastic!

How To Lose Friends And Alienate People - Enjoyable enough if somewhat forgettable.

Sweet and Lowdown (1999), Woody Allen creates a freeform biopic of a forgotten jazz guitarist Emmet Ray, who had a very brief success with a few records in the mid-1930's before disappearing altogether, he was considered to be maybe the best jazz guitarist in the world, maybe second only to Django Reinhardt. He is played in the film by Sean Penn, and Emmet Ray is a coarse, boorish alcoholic. But, when he gets up to perform, he creates brilliant, beautiful music. The film also documents the loves of his life, including mute waif Hattie, (Samantha Morton, whose expressions say more than dialogue ever could) and the intellectual Blanche (Uma Thurman). It recalls the scrapes he gets himself into and his music as well. It's a very good film, but Woody really tricked alot of people who don't know better with this one. Emmet Ray doesn't exist!! It's all a creation of Woody!! It's a film he's wanted to make 30 years ago, but couldn't get funding, but it makes for a good evening's entertainment, Penn gives one of his very best performances, and Morton steals the show without even uttering a single word. Maybe one of Woody's best of the past 10 years... ;) 4/5 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Terry Gilliam took on the might of Hunter S. Thompson's allegedly "unfilmable" novel, and succeeded by pulling off what many felt was impossible, bringing the vivid, wild tales depicted in the book to life. It's based on true events, but you can't tell what's real and what isn't, but it has journalist Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) and his attorney Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) travelling to Las Vegas with a car full of narcotic drugs, as Duke has been assigned to cover the Mint 400, a cross-country motorcycle race. But, they mostly spend the trip whacked out of their minds on dangerous, psychedelic drugs, and the neon-soaked madness of Las Vegas is no place to be when you've taken "every drug known to civilized man since 1544 AD", (so Duke claims.) The book is perfect material for Gilliam, full of offbeat characters and accurate depictions of drug use, it might not be right, but after you see this film, you'll feel like how Duke and Gonzo feel in the film!! ;) Johnny Depp has never been better, with a bald head, slurred dialogue and facial and bodily ticks, he BECOMES Duke, and it's scarily believable, plus Del Toro is a disgusting slobbering monster as Gonzo, but he has great fun in the role!! With a TERRIFIC supporting cast including Tobey Maguire, Cameron Diaz, Christina Ricci, Ellen Barkin, Gary Busey, Flea, Michael Jeter, Lyle Lovett, Penn Jillette, Katherine Helmond and Harry Dean Stanton, it makes for a never boring, mind-blowing and always entertaing visual feast of a trip!! One of Gilliam's very, very best, and no finer film was made in the 1990's!! :D 5/5