Pennies From Heaven (1981), Dennis Potter's 1978 BBC TV serial was turned into a big budget MGM Hollywood musical by director Herbert Ross, the shows sprawling narrative was simplified for the film version, but it looks good. Set in 1934 Chicago, it has sheet music salesman, Arthur Parker (Steve Martin), bored in his marriage to wife Joan (Jessica Harper), he can't convince music stores to buy them, in one of these stores, he finds school teacher Eileen (Bernadette Peters), who he falls in love with, both them seem to live in outrageous musical fantasies when things get down in the dumps for them. Though it does look good, and the musical numbers owe alot to the films of the 1930's and 40's, they act as a smoke-screen for a quite dark story. This was Steve Martin's first dramatic role, and he does well with Potter's material and does even better with the song and dance routines. The sets were designed by the great Ken Adam, and look out for Christopher Walken doing an amazing dance!! :D 3/5 Tenebrae (1982), from Italian horror maestro, Dario Argento, comes this gory but intelligent psychological horror film, reportedly inspired when Argento was stalked by a die-hard fan. It has famous American author Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa), whose speciality are gory horror books. He's travelling to Rome to promote his la-*test*-('") work, Tenebrae. Whilst out in Rome, he is informed by the police that there is a serial killer on the loose, killing beautiful women in methods taken from his books. Whilst Neal is in Rome, the body count goes up, the police are baffled, the evidence draws a blank. So Neal, together with his assistant Gianni (Christiano Borromeo), do their own investigation, which draws them in uncomfortably. It is a very compelling but gruesome film, but Argento does make the horror and the killings within the film look stylish, (especially when one poor woman has her hand chopped off.) But, it's ending does seem a bit forced, but it does make for a very suspenseful, nasty and intriguing whodunnit. 4/5

I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2006), from South Korean director Chan-wook Park, best known for his more violent offerings like Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and Oldboy (2003), comes this surprisingly sweet and VERY offbeat romantic comedy!! :shock: It has Cha Young-goon (Su-jeong Lim), a young woman who starts to think she's a cyborg. She's committed to a mental hospital, where she refuses to eat, as cyborg's don't eat, but she soon falls for fellow patient Park Il-sun (Rain), a young man who hops around wearing a rabbit mask, and he believes he can steal people's souls. It's a very simple story, but it's beautifully made, and it's a surprising change of direction for Chan-wook Park, but it's a very welcome one all the same, although there are a couple of moments of excessive violence we've come to expect from him, but ultimately, it is a very sweet and innocent love story, think One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest reimagined by someone like Jean-Pierre Jeunet or Michel Gondry, and you have the idea!! ;) 4/5 Miller's Crossing (1990), for their third film, Joel and Ethan Coen followed up the mad comedy of Raising Arizona (1987), with this very violent and powerful gangster drama, a better one than The Godfather (1972), and more memorable. Set in a nameless Prohibition-era city, (filmed in New Orleans), it has Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne), longtime associate with gangland boss Leo O'Bannon (Albert Finney), getting caught in the middle of a potential gang war with rival Italian gangster Johnny Caspar (the always brilliant Jon Polito), who plans to kill crooked bookie Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro). But, Leo has given protection to Bernie, as Leo is in a relationship with his sister Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), who is also having a secret affair with Tom. It's a very complex state of affairs, but we've come to expect it from the Coen Brothers, this is a beautifully shot film, and it captures the era and the dialect perfectly, ("What's The Rumpus??"), plus it also contains the best scene the Coen's have EVER directed, the shootout done to Danny Boy with Albert Finney and THAT Tommy Gun!! :shock: :D 5/5

5/10

Personally,I think you were being generous there,Nic...

I'm with you guys. It's such an overrated film

Incendiary Shocking but very good drama about an adulterous woman ( Michelle Williams) whos life is torn apart when her husband and infant son are killed in a suicide bombing at a football match. 7/10

7/10

Incendiary - Powerful drama excellently executed by the leading trio. Michelle Williams in particular deserves recognition come awards season in her role as the young mother whose life is torn apart in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. This film certainly isn’t a barrel of laughs but it is one of the best I’ve seen this year. Go see it if it’s showing near you.

Candy (1st view) – Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish star is this tale of two young lovers who are addicted to heroin. The film is divided into three sections: Heaven, Earth and Hell, each one becoming increasingly despairing as the two fall deeper into addiction. Both stars are on fine form, but the film only really gets going whenever Geoffrey Rush appears on screen – 3/5 Burn After Reading (1st view) – A return to comedy for the Coen brothers after the dramatics of No Country For Old Men. When the memoirs of former CIA analyst Oswald Cox (John Malkovich) are found in a fitness club’s locker room, two employees, Chad Feldheimer and Linda Litzke (Brad Pitt and France McDormand) set about trying to blackmail Cox. Tilda Swinton pops up as Cox’s wife, and Coen favourite George Clooney appears as a serial womaniser. The plot’s absurd but often quite funny, with some hilarious dialogue. All the cast play well, but Pitt is the standout, a complete idiot with a penchant for dancing along to whatever music he’s listening to. Also of note is JK Simmons, always wonderful, and his few scenes are some of the funniest I’ve ever seen in a Coen film – 4/5 From Hell (2nd view) – Not seen this since the cinema. If you can get past the dodgy accents and Heather Graham’s lack of acting ability, it really is quite good. How it compares to the graphic novel I can’t say, but it works just fine on its on. The recreation of Victorian London looks suitably grimy and atmospheric, Trevor Jones’ score is evocative and there are plenty of fine performances. The main downside is, even for those who don’t know this particular theory of who Jack the Ripper was, it’s obvious who it as as soon as he speaks, so any sense of mystery is lost. Still, best Ripper films that I’ve seen – 4/5 Me and My Pal (10th-ish view) – Wonderful Laurel and Hardy short. Ollie is about to get married to the daughter of a wealthy businessman, an act which will make him an important manager of the company. Stan arrives, as best man bringing the rings and also a wedding gift, a jigsaw puzzle. Stan sets out to start the puzzle, but Ollie’s in a rush and needs to leave, but his curiousity is soon piqued and he settles down to help. Shorty, the two boys, a butler, cab driver, policeman and messenger boy are all working together to complete the puzzle. It’s a film that’s small on plot but big on laughs. Wonderful – 4/5 The Wiz (1st view) – 1978 film based on the Brodaway musical, that places the story of the Wizard Of Oz in New York. Diana Ross is Dorothy, Micheal Jackson plays the Scarecrow. I’ve been wanting to see this for years, even since it was mentioned in Scrubs with JD singing a few lines of the films signature tune, Ease on Down The Road. It’s a very strange affair. Ross isn’t that good an actress and I actually found her voice grating half the time, and despite being directed by Sidney Lumet (who seems to me to have been a weird choice. I was also surprised to see that Rob Cohen and Joel Schumacher were on board as writer and producer)) it looks quite amateurish. And yet, it’s the version of Oz that I probably like the most. I’ve seen The Muppet version (how the mighty have fallen!), the silent version that starred Oliver Hardy (thankfully, he would soonafter be in many, greater films) and the 1939 classic that everyone on the whole planet adores. Apparently they do anyway, but not me. Insufferably twee, teeth-achingly sweet and sickening, with a lead actress that makes me want to turn off the TV. Still, the Tin Man, Lion and Scarcrow are more than watchable, and they’re probably the best things about The Wiz as well –3/5 The Lightship (1st view) – Robert Duvall. A legend in my eyes. A pleasure to watch the man work, fills his characters with warmth and integrity. Never given a bad performance. Well, at least I hadn’t seen him give one until this. He’s the well-spoken leader of a group of criminals, on the run from the law when their boat breaks down, rescured and invited aborad the lightship of the title, captained by Klaus Maria Brandauer. Billed as a psychcological thriller (which seems to be the sub-genre for any film involving good guys, bad guys and lots of talking), this mid-80’s film looks incredibly dated, sounds incredibly dated (horrible elctronic score from Hans Zimmer) and is, well, just crap really – 2/5 La Nouvelle Ève (The New Eve) (1st view) – Romantic comedy that see Karin Viard play Camille, a single woman in her thirties, content to attend sex parties and have one night stands, despising all the things that couples do. But then she meets and falls in love with Alexis (Pierre-Loup Rajot). The only trouble is is that he’s married. So begins this intermittently humorous French film. It reminds me a bit of Bridget Jones crossed with Woody Allen, but despite good performances from all it just never really engages the way it should – 3/5 Frenzy (2nd view) – Hitchcock’s 1972 film, his first set in England for numerous years. A series of murders, perpetrated by the Necktie Killer, has taken place in London and suspicion falls on Richard Blaney, played by Jon Finch. As the innocent man on the run, Finch doesn’t hold the screen as much as, say, Cary Grant in North By Northwest, but he’s still an engaging hero, despite the fact we know he’s not the nicest man about. Not Hitchcock’s best film by a long shot, but the best film he made after Psycho. It also has a couple of excellent scenes that rank amongst his finest, my favourites being the sequences between the lead detective on the case (Alec McCowen) and his wife. She’s taken up cuisine cooking, and is offering him all sorts of strange food for dinner, all he wants to eat is sausage and chips. As he does his best to enjoy his food without offending his wife, they discuss the case. It doesn’t sound like much, but works well on film – 4/5 Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (4th view) – Right from the start, with the huge neon credits introducing the cast (SUPRA COSMICALLY, INTER- UNIVERSALLY, ULTRA ALPHABETICALLY, HYPER-STARRING TERRY JONES) you know what you’re in for. A collection of Python sketches, slighty reworked, performed live for an American audience. There are some absolute gems - The Ministry of Silly Walls, The Last Supper, The Arguement Sketch and The Lumberjack song. The weakest parts are prefilmed sequences, taken from some special the gang did for German TV, but these are more than overshadowed by the wealth of hilarity on offer. Whenever I see anything Python, I’m always a tad sad afterwards knowing that any chance of a reunion of the surviving members is pretty much out of the question, as I’m sure some great laughs would be had – 4/5 Jeremiah Johnson (1st view) Robert Redford plays the title character in this film by Sydney Pollack. More of a wilderness film than a western, Johnson longs to become a moutain man so sets off intio the Rockies. There’s no plot as such, just a string of events that occur and characters he meets. He finds the frozen body of a pioneer and takes his rifle, learns survival skills from a bear trapper, helps a woman bury her dead husband, rescues a hunter who has been left buried in sand by natives. On and on it goes yet it’s surprisingly effective. Granted, Redford doesn’t really have the look of a grizzled mountain man and there’s some awful songs that help relay Johnson’s tale, but this is interesting stuff overall, and the wilds of America have rarely looked so appealing – 4/5

Apocalypse Now Redux Quite possibly a bit too long and I probably prefer the original version,but this kicks the shit out of just about everything,no matter what version you watch... An absolute classic. 5/5

Ghost Town- Very witty and funny, but also surprisingly sweet... an engaging little gem 4/5 Zodiac DC- Exceptional and intrically plotted drama with great turns all over the show, and tension to spare 5/5 Marathon Man- Tense as hell, Hoffman and Olivier are excellent, very chilling and excellent 5/5

For me I thought this film was incredible and thoroughly deserved that Oscar and all the praise, a film of epic proportions and breath taking scenarios. Loved the story,the cinematography and especially the music,very haunting. I loved the ending and the truths that were confessed,just goes to show greed will never bring happiness. 5/5 The fabulous Miss Davis plays Mrs Skeffington who uses her beauty to manipulate her way through life.When fate hits a cruel blow as she contracts diptheria which robs her of her only attribute and without her looks she's lost. Bette earned her 8th best actress nomination for this performance and backed by Claude Rains as her devoted husband she's just on top form.. Loved it.. 5/5 Here Miss Davis gives us a moving yet never morbid performance of a dying heiress determined to find happiness in her few remaining months. Miss Davis apparently pestered Jack Warner to make this film and cast her in the lead role he did come around reluctantly but said "who wants to see a film about a dame going blind and die?" Well it would seem people did and it remains one of Miss Davis's biggest box hit and garnered her an academy award nomination in 1939. 4/5

8/10

7/10