Contra-2

Finally, finally, the stain of disappointment from previous attempts to do Dune justice on the screen has been wiped away by Villeneuve's vision and ability to execute. Here he channels David Lean's epic Lawrence of Arabia, bringing a sense of scale to a galactic conflict.

A terrific cast is anchored by Chalamet, he is ideal as the brooding, introspective Paul Atreides. The only person really miscast is Duncan-Brewster as Liet-Kynes - it was an error to choose someone so young to play the mysterious ecologist who has grown to know the ways of the Fremen. Max Von Sydow in this role was one of the few bright spots in David Lynch's version.

Fantastic visuals and spell binding music pull together a satisfying film. Ready and loaded for Part 2!

Overall I thought Bolt came together very well, hitting all the notes of humour, action and some genuinely poignant moments. The only area which I found a bit weak were the two voice leads, Travolta and Cyrus depend far too much on their physical personas in their acting to convincingly inhabit their characters, frankly they are a bit boring.

The exception was Mark Walton as the hamster Rhino. Who is this guy? He nailed his part, and obviously had a lot of fun with it, a very impressive performance.

As others have mentioned, this movie was much better than the trailers suggested. Or perhaps it is because the trailer itself didn't try to include all of the "best bits" of the movie, like so many do. Not a bad idea to tone down the trailer a bit so that the audience can still be surprised by the originality and spunk of the script.

The "Coming of Age" genre is so well worn, that when a movie like Y Tu Mama Tambien comes along, the frank authenticity can be jarring. Although the plot doesn't steer far away from convention, at each point the viewer's anticipation is deftly sidestepped, and the scene is injected with a dose of raw emotion that has little to do with Drama, and everything to do with reality. It is so refreshing to see characters behave in a way that resembles personal memory, if not actual experience.

The guys are by often banal, bratty and obnoxious – in other words, quite normal teenagers – but not without their charm. They float along in their privileged bubble, largely oblivious to the social tensions wracking their country, except for facile quips like "left-wing babes are totally hot". They have a lot to learn, and their trip with Luisa is a catalyst to confronting their adolescent fantasies and indolence with a dose of reflection.

As for the much talked about sexy bits, they are funny, erotic, and utterly non-pornographic. What a pity that such a candid portrayal of sexuality seems to be nearly impossible in American film.

Highly recommended.

It never ceases to amaze me that a studio can spend $100 mil on a movie, and seemingly forget to pay somebody to write a decent screenplay. In this case, the writers seem to have spent their time trying to figure out how to write around some awkward constructs that didn't make much sense in the first place. For example, when the director tires of hearing all this foreign language stuff, he needs the main character to start speaking their language. Solution: the main character learns this foreign language, apparently perfectly, in one night, by `listening'. Say what you will about the `universal translator' in Star Trek, at least it avoids this kind of stupidity.

Unfortunately, holes abound throughout the story. At several points, effort is made to show the viewer that the mythical aspects of the enemy are just that, mythical, and we get to see the trick, i.e. the scary bear teeth is just a mask, the glow worm is actually cavalry with torches, and so on. But all of this is undone at a stroke when all of the dead bad guys disappear like a wisp of smoke.

I like both epic stories based on historical facts and fantasies based on myth, but please, it shouldn't be that hard to keep some semblance of consistency.

This movie is a great example of what passes for originality in Hollywood these days. Sure, the angle is cool, but its interest lasts for about 15 minutes after the film ends. The version I saw on video had an exposition by the creators of the story's rules – too bad they could not explain the half-dozen glaring plot holes and inconsistencies.

True, Osment as the kid is every bit as good as everyone claims, but what is Willis doing here? I suppose if Tom Cruise can be tapped for Eyes Wide Shut, then anything is possible, but I can think of many actors off the top of my head who would be far more likely to be able to breath some life into the part.

Imagine for a moment that in the last couple of minutes of Star Wars, you found out that Hans Solo was really working for Darth Vadar all along, and that 3-CPO was actually a storm trooper. Would your reaction be, wow, cool plot twist, or, what the hell is Lucas doing?

This is the predicament offered by Entrapment. I defy anyone, to view the movie a second time, knowing the final conclusion, and find a single scene in the entire movie that plays with the slightest hint of truth. I like surprises and plot twists as much as the next person, but only if it does not blatantly contradict everything we have seen. Suspension of disbelief in an escapist fantasy action thriller is perfectly normal, but the ending of this movie is so unimaginably dumb that it makes my teeth hurt.

If you really want to see this video – and it does have its strong points – I highly recommend hitting the stop button a couple of minutes before the end, just before the meeting in the train station. Then at least, you will be left with just the usual stock of cinematic absurdities, and you will be spared being played for a complete fool.

Most thrillers employ plot twists to maintain interest, but the problem is that most Hollywood screenwriters confuse "surprise" with being blind-sided. In The Interview suspense is expertly sustained because each discovery is fully integrated into the story. The way that the audience is kept off balance is along the lines of the adage in Dune - "a feint within a feint within a feint". This makes the film far more interesting than better known films in the serial killer genre like Silence of the Lambs.

The direction is dark and moody, utilizing a variety of perspectives that echo the multi-leveled story. The two main characters are very well handled but the supporting cast is mediocre. But that is a quibble in what is overall a fine night's entertainment - I gave it a 9.

By the way, The Interview is an excellent example of a movie that is well rated in this database, but has under 100 ratings (surprising given that my local Blockbuster has four copies). It wipes the floor with many of the movies listed in the top 250.

This is the most disappointing film I have rented this year, and yes, I did see "Sphere". Granted, scriptwriter P.J. Hogan does have a somewhat novel idea: let's take the dumb, puerile behaviour that inhabits the typical high school and apply it across the board to suburban society - from corrupt local politician and suffering doormat wife to win-at-all-costs Olympic hopeful.

The result is about what you would expect - a ragtag bunch of obnoxious losers go through the motions of an inane plot, with broad attempts at humour that usually just end up being squirmy. Think Jerry Springer with his daily quota of trashy dopes who don't care an iota about their self-humiliation, cause heh, "I'm on TV", and you get the idea. As for the ABBA soundtrack, after the first couple of songs the joke has completely warn off, and it gets progressively more irritating as the movie meanders to a trite and predictable ending.

There is no doubt that Nunez is one of the sharpest new directors around. His visual sense is amazing, this movie, like his previous "Ruby in Paradise", is peppered with gorgeous compositions. He also has a knack for getting a lot out of his actors, and bringing some depth and meaning to what otherwise would be fairly generic stories.

What a pity it is then that he seems to refuse to get help with the script. It is laudable that he eschews the standard Hollywood formulaic approach (which produces a number of small surprises in the plot) and there is nothing wrong with his quiet, understated approach, but to pull this off requires two things - a strong narrative and engaging dialogue - both of which seem to be well beyond Nunez's capabilities.

One of these days Nunez will come up with another interesting story and shoot it beautifully and hire a good writer. The result will be a GREAT film. Until then, for people who enjoyed "Ulee's Gold", I might suggest renting another movie with a different story but many other similarities. "Running on Empty" has a great director in Sidney Lumet and sparkling cast in Christine Lahti, River Phoenix, and Judd Hirsch, in a slow moving, taut, family drama that is worth seeing.

P.S. As a former beekeeper, I can vouch that all of the stuff about bees is correct. It might bore a lot of viewers, but I loved it!

Witty, original, romantic - what more do you want? Definitely one of those "two level" films - you can enjoy it just for Murray's hilarious antics and the sharp script, but this a story that is really about something. Most attempts at the Redemption theme end up being either heavy handed or so platitudinous that you want to throw up. Here Ramis handles it so deftly you will wonder if this really is the same buffoon from SCTV.

If you have not seen it, I'm envious. Watch for the Jeopardy scene - an absolute classic.

There is something kind of sad about seeing someone who is so good at doing something try to do something very different ... and end up being mediocre. I was thinking about Jordan playing baseball, but the same applies to Steve Martin.

This movie is reasonably well acted and directed, but the script is a stinker. Martin did a great job adapting a classic story into a comedy in "Roxanne", but this effort to bring a Victorian drama to the contemporary scene smacks straight into a wall of implausibility. If you want to see an old story updated with some style, best to rent "Great Expectations".

To call this film slow is something of an understatement. Glacial is more like it. Yet it is oddly captivating and haunting. Got to hand it to the French, for a star like Gérard Depardieu to be involved in such a project would be unthinkable in Hollywood. Superb performance by Marielle in a very constrained role.

If your idea of a nice evening is listening to Yo Yo Ma by candlelight, you will probably love this movie.