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Yes cheese. Unbelievable. Cartoon characters. Over the top acting. Graphic fake fight scenes. Laughable dialogue. Did I miss anything? Oh yes the original was a bit cheesy too but it was watchable and the character played by Patrick Swayze seemed more believable then Jake Gyllenhaal. Jake looked like a pumped up cartoon character. Was that real or clever CGI? Kelly Lynch had a better part then Danielle Melchior. Best part was the bands but no one can compare to Jeff Healy. None of the bands were drawn out. No Sam Elliott. The cop dad of Danielle Melchior was why. His name was Big Dick. Was that because his name was Dick and he was Big. Or...... Connor MacGregor was OTT. He sounded like Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers flicks. And the guy who played Brandt was no Ben Gazzara. All of the fights looked so staged as to be laughable. Except the dialogue was even funnier, unintentionally of course. Many of the sub characters seemed contrived even if they were sympathetic. Hard to believe Doug Liman did this given his background with some of the Bourne films. I gave it 5 stars because I actually sat there and watched it through because I wanted to compare it with the original. Boring it wasn't. Maybe Gyllenhaal was just having a good time. Hard to believe he did this cheese. If Jean Claude Van Damme was in it, it might have been more believable. But a pumped up Jake? Well. The original was kind of fun but definitely not an award film even as it became a cult film. This one? This is just cheese. Not cult.

Too bad they didn't have the Razzies back then. This film would have been a sure fire nominee even winner. Ok sets scenery backdrop all great. But Grant Sinatra and Loren all horribly miscast. Goofy lines. Grant looked like he wanted to be anywhere except in this movie. Music over the top. Too bad Spagehti Westerns hadn't come. It would be perfect. And filmed on location in Spain. Even the battle scenes were mediocre. Ok Loren and Sinatra looked passionately at each other. Help. But she was a Trollope. She couldn't figure out whether she wanted the dashing British captain Grant or the Spanish fighter Sinatra. Sinatra Spanish? Even the kisses were totally boring. Maybe work better as a disaster movie. LOL. Everybody did a lot of looking at each other. Help what is this gibberish.

I came into this film less than 10 minutes in. It was of course on a streaming channel. I decided to watch, and I admit I was rather surprised. Oh yes all the poor "Taken" Liam Neeson actions fans are fuming because well this film is slow on the action. But that's what made it so good. You became interested in Jim (Liam) and the boy running from the cartel. And Jim's promise to the dying mother to get him there. The story is a tender one of the relationship between the boy and Jim. It had an ending that left me teary. Oh yes there was action but it limited and even that was low key. This film is the story of the relationship. The background of the cartel chasing them was an excuse for the picture. Nicely directed. Yes done a few years back it would have had Clint Eastwood playing Jim. Well worth the watch. Action fans stick with Taken.

Did I just watch a remake of the Magnificent Seven or a remake of Blazing Saddles. Ok I'm being tongue in cheek. But throughout this film which admittedly had good action scenes, was gritty, and was visually not bad but everything else screamed of Blazing Saddles. Instead of dirt poor villagers we get the good folk of Rose Creek. In Blazing Saddles it was the good folk of Rock Ridge, "people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons". No sorry no Hedy sorry Hedley Lamar played to the hilt by a comedic Harvey Korman. But we do have an over the top very evil Bartholomew Bogue played to the hilt by Peter Sarsgaard. When Chisolm played stoically by Denzel Washington rides into to town my thoughts turned to Bart played by Cleavon Little riding into town in Blazing Saddles. Any minute now I expected some crazy old dude to announce that the "Hey, the sheriff's a *** - Church bells clang". While watching Bogue's huge gang of cutthroats riding towards Rose Creek I expected any moment now a toll booth to pop up in the desert. While watching Bogue's men being blown up by dynamite I kept looking for men and horses flying in the air. Finally as Chisolm and Vasquez rode off into the sunset I wondered if they had a Cadillac waiting for them. Maybe the film could have used a little of a songstress played by Madeline Kahn to give us some romantic interlude. No such luck. Ok the film wasn't totally bad. Love the diversity touch of Chisholm's Seven even as I wondered where was a Robert Vaughn. Lee Byung-Hun was a nice substitute for James Coburn. Finally a nice touch at the end as they played the theme song from the original Magnificent Seven. Hopefully Kurosawa wasn't rolling over in his grave though.

A well done paranoid thriller from Steven Soderbergh. While watching it we were reminded of paranoid thrillers we've seen in the past. The shots of looking out at other apartments reminded us of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954). But it was the listening to the crime that brought to mind Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up (1966) even though that one caught the crime on camera. Hearing a crime made us think of Brian de Palma's Blow Out (1981) and then also Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation (1974). Paranoia dominated Alan J. Pakula's The Parallax View (1974) but we also thought of Sydney Pollak's Three Days of the Condor (1974). Finally paranoia also dominated Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut (1999). But then paranoia also dominated Alan J. Pakula's Klute (1971) and Roman Polanski's The Tenant (1976). Maybe this one doesn't quite belong up there with those classics but Soderbergh tried using a play on Alexa Amazon's cloud based voice service. Creepy. We just thought the characters weren't as strong as some of the above mentioned films but Zoe Kravitz gives it her all but the surrounding characters are never really drawn well. But still a worthy addition to the paranoia thriller.

I guess the most interesting part of this film is the premise of Siamese Twins separated at birth and then off to separate lives as well. Now someone has brought them together but we don't know why and neither do they. All we know is that the two of them wake up together and discover they have been sown together at the abdomen. Ok where they were sown together keeps moving around but hey it's a movie not real. So setting aside that bit of cheesiness we get to follow them as they attempt to unravel the mystery. And what a mystery they are led to discover. 6/10 is probably generous and I can understand why many rate it lower. But as the film progressed and we were slowly introduced as why they are sown together you begin to realize the horror of it all. And that's why I gave it a six rather than something lower because the mystery was fascinating even if the execution was a bit cheesy.

If Quigley Down Under had been made in the 1950's or even early 1960's it would look perfectly normal. This would have been a big movie back then. Instead in 1990 it is more like an afterthought. The type of rootin' shootin' hero is largely passé even in 1990.

Ok the film doesn't take place in the wild west but instead it takes place in the wild west - of Australia that is. We have the perfect despicable villain played brilliantly by Alan Rickman although basically he is reprising his role in Robin Hood as the Sheriff of Nottingham and in Die Hard as Hans the ultra-terrorist. He is certainly fun to watch.

Tom Sellick plays Quigley hired by Rickman because of his ability with a long gun and being able to hit targets a fair distance away. In another era it would have been John Wayne. But Rickman's reasons for hiring Quigley are quite nefarious. Apparently its big game as in those pesky Aboriginals who we suppose are busy all the time pilfering Rickman's cattle or is it sheep. Well Quigley does have some morals and rejects Rickman after having received his show up money in gold no less. Also along for the ride is Laura San Giacomo who harbours a dark secret. She hooked up with Quigley after he rescued her from dastardly braggards who had other designs on her and both of them rode out Rickman's ranch. She constantly calls him by another name and poor Quigley is just baffled by her but also clearly attracted to her. Got to have the love interest. Naturally we eventually learn Laura's secret and in the end Rickman gets his and Quigley gets the girl.

It's all a bit too neat and tidy and several times I found myself chuckling at the stereotypes and rolling my eyes at how things predictably turn out. Oh yes there are a few nasty scenes but really this is a film to bring some light on the treatment of the Aboriginals in Australia which has its parallels with the treatment of the Indigenous people of the Americas and slavery in the Americas. If you want grittier Australian western action check out John Hillcoat's The Proposition. But if you liked the neat tidy action of a 1950's western (set in Australia instead) then this is one for you. Even his hat didn't fall off. Well ok it did but then remember that this is just "fluff on the range". Not to be taken seriously. But boy Rickman was fun.

The Battle of the Scheldt was was a series of operations led by the First Canadian army in October/November 1944 in both the Netherlands and Belgium to take the port of Antwerp so as to open up a shipping route for the allies. It ended with an Allied victory but not before thousands of casualties on both sides and eventually upwards of 40,000 German prisoners. There were alone over 12,000 Allied casualties over half of which were Canadian.

The Forgotten Battle centered on the stories of a Dutch fighter now working for the Nazis, a British pilot and and a Dutch resistance woman. The Dutch fighter working for the Nazis was questioning where does his loyalties lie. In between was some of the most riveting, tense, brutal fighting ever put to film. Think Saving Private Ryan and Dunkirk all rolled into one. A real surprise at this time. Yes the pace can be slow at times but the story became more fascinating as the film moved on.

The Battle of the Scheldt was one of the lesser known battles of WW2. Showing it as it did with personal stories gave it a more intimate feel than many war films. This operation while led by the Canadians also had British and Polish units. This operation was occurring just after Operation Market Garden an Allied failed attempt to take the Netherlands in September 1944 and depicted in the film A Bridge Too Far (1977).

That the film centered on the stories gave it an unique personal feel rather than just centering on the how and the battles. It apparently is the most expensive Dutch film ever made. Highly recommended. A possible contender for Foreign Film Oscar?

It probably should be no surprise that there are a number of 1/10 ratings here on the IMDB. After all the Trump lovers and believers that the election was stolen continue to this day to buy into the lie perpetrated by Trump and his minions watch these shows as well and they will happily label the documentary itself as a lie.

Instead what we watched was stunning in its showing how a mob, and one can describe them as no more than that, tried to overthrow the government on January 6, 2021. Trump was clearly promoting the violence through his encouragement to "stop the steal".

This is a gripping film shot from hand held cams, cell phones and police cameras. There is no denying the violence that occurred. It was there, in your face, bold, riveting. This is not made up. Yes it is difficult working in interviews as clearly those being interviewed are going to be discussing their point of view or experience. Those that firmly believe about the steal and continue to this day were naturally not included in the interviews although there were some.

A reminder that history does not necessarily repeat but it can rhyme. In 1923 there was the famous Beer Hall Putsch in Munich led by Hitler to try and overthrow the government. It failed and Hitler and others did spend time in jail. That didn't stop them and 10 years later they were in complete power via the ballot box. In 1905 there was a revolt in Russia viciously put down. But again they reorganized and 12 years later they successfully overthrew the Czarist government in the October revolution.

One should never be complacent. These people will no doubt be back and the next time they may succeed thus triggering a civil war. Something that did not happen in 1933. A civil war did follow in Russia but the Czarist forces eventually lost to the Bolsheviks but at the expense of millions killed, injured or displaced. In 1861-1865 the US civil war had upwards of 800 thousand killed. Today that would translate into 6-10 million, a country destroyed and millions displaced.

In the classic 1967 Neo-Noir Walker (Lee Marvin) is left for dead. In the John Wick, John is effectively left for dead. Well Walker didn't die nor did John Wick. His protagonists wish he had. In Point Blank Walker set out to revenge his attempted killing and make the people who left him like this pay. In John Wick, John sets out to revenge the men that wrecked his house, killed his dog and left him for dead or at least that is what it looked like. In Point Blank the protagonists. Carol O'Conner, John Vernon wish he was dead. Michael Nyquist and Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy = Game of Thrones) also regret that John Wick didn't die

I confess I hadn't seen John Wick until now. I avoided it because I thought it was just a cheap shoot 'em up with bodies everywhere. Well it delivered that as well. That John Wick he goes beyond nine lives. The rest not so much. Anyway this turns out in the end to be a stylish neo-noir. Even some classic turns by Willem Dafoe and Ian McShane. Oh yes typical revenge flick but done with some decent dialogue, a story behind all the bodies and pulsating music. But gee the dog. What creeps. I might even look up John Wick 2 and 3.

Yes, what is a life worth? That's the premise of Worth recounting the story of the compensation for the victims and families of the 9/11 attack. It is a fascinating subject ably handled by Michael Keaton playing the lawyer assigned to the case to determine the compensation. But there is a problem because if law suits prevailed the amounts paid out could be so enormous as to "crater the U. S. economy".

So what to do with so many stories, so many victims and get this resolved within 2 years. Or in this case in 2 hours the average length of a film. And therein lies the problem with this film. It's a long process with many twists and turns and stories. Two hours doesn't do it justice but in this case two hours also plods along like the long case study this was.

This film ran like the TV movie of the week. Fascinating, well acted, well meaning but plodding as gain only snippets of the people impacted. And the issues involved that seem to vary and change depending up on the victim. Is the worth of the mail boys life any less than the CEO? And that is one of the questions of the film. No that is not to knock it but it was also one of its faults as let's face it something like this is not something that is dramatic film but it works as a TV movie.

But still worth the view.

Not sure where the negative reviewers of this film are even coming from. Maybe they don't like RomComs. I confess I'm not a big fan either but we saw a little tidbit and decided to take in the film. And it's Canadian too. Nothing like freezing Winnipeg in the middle of winter. No we are not from Winnipeg. But I grew up in Ottawa and it used to anyway have some doozy of winters.

What did we love about this film? Well the mostly first time actors did a great job. Was some of it improvised? It was also so relatable. Gee my second wife and I met. Then parted leaving at least one of us upset. Got back together but slowly. Parted again figuring this was not going to work. Then back again. Family (hers) upset over their daughters choice. I was still technically married at the time and she was considerably younger. So while circumstances were different yes it all eventually worked out in the end. We've now been married for 34 years plus another two living together much to the chagrin of her parents. And we're still in love despite many years of ups and downs. The film and the actors seemed so natural. I completely understood the family thing for Iris. You marry her and her family as well. The two had lovely chemistry and the rest of the supporting cast was good. Sure the film has it flaws but one can overlook them. No this is just a lovely story played out against the backdrop of Winnipeg in winter and you knew that somehow it would all end well. Ok isn't that how RomComs are supposed to end. But its the journey to get there that is the delight. And this was a lovely journey. Move over Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. Hera Nalam and Kristian Jordan are challenging. Brought a tear to my eye.

The question is how did this unexpected gem of a film get overlooked for so many years? The topic is raw. Sex slavery of girls in the world and in America in particular as depicted in this film. Yet shockingly it exists and continues to exist and it is very lucrative.

The story centers around a young 13 year old girl who lives in Mexico City with her family Adriana (Paulina Gaitan) who was kidnapped off the streets by Russian and Mexican mobsters. The purpose to sell her into sex slavery in the US. New Jersey to be specific. Also kidnapped at about the same time was Veronica (Alicja Bachleda) a polish girl lured to Mexico through her travel agent as a way of gaining entry into the US. A friend who was with her managed to escape her captors. Veronica did not have the same luck.

Adriana's older brother Jorge (Caesar Ramos) who made a living through petty crime in Mexico City managed to track down Adriana's captors who also had Veronica and followed them into the US. To get into the US he managed to sneak into the car of a private detective Ray Sheridan (Kevin Kline) hiding in his trunk and Sheridan unwittingly took him across the border sailing through with few checks because he was effectively a cop. Sheridan was seeking his missing daughter who had been kidnapped years earlier.

This film is both violent, disturbing and tender. Jorge despite his criminal life loves his little sister and will do anything to find her and track down her captors. Ray willingly hooks up with Jorge and the two of them set out to rescue Adriana. There are some brutal scenes along the way. But the ending will bring tears to your eyes. All the acting is superb particularly from Jorge and Adriana. The story is well paced and never lets up. We are in on the search and what will happen is never clear as they face constant danger in trying to rescue her from the mob.

Sex slavery is a big international problem and this film shines a light on it. A film that was overlooked it seems (it did come out in 2007) although it did win a few independent awards. If you find it see it.

Yes, the Spaghetti Western comes to Paris in this Jean Paul Belmondo gem. Belmondo is framed by French officials and left to rot in an African prison for two years. But he escapes and in a classic Spaghetti Western theme he returns to France/Paris to seek his revenge on those that put him there. Straight forward story telling as Spaghetti Westerns are.

It also has the facial close ups and wide scenes, surprises, suspense, great dialogue and of course the music of Ennio Morricone with a score worthy of any Spaghetti Western. A show stopper was the car chase along the Trocadero ending in broad daylight ending in front of the Eiffel Tower. We even had a duel just like in the Spaghetti Westerns complete with facial close ups. Only instead of a dusty Mexican town it was Paris and the horses were replaced with cars. It even had the requisite love interest. The baddies were replaced by desperate French officials trying to cover up what had gone wrong even trying to use a hot young lady to compromise Jean Paul.

Belmondo shines with his charisma and humour. Robert Hossein plays an utterly creepy police captain. But over and over again Ennio Morricone's music shines. This film is worthy of being in the top ten of Spaghetti Westerns but it instead is underrated. A ten all the way!

This is a great film. Quite possibly the best film of 2020 or at least the best I've seen. It is riveting, engrossing, engaging, relevant and just plain film making at its best. Yes it is depicting a real event and I am sure there are many parts where legal historians, and others will find places to nit pick and say that's not accurate or why did they leave this out. It's a depiction not a documentary. The cast was excellent from an unexpected turn by Joseph Gordon Levitt as the prosecutor to the always good Mark Rylance as the modest defense attorney, to Sacha Baron Cohen in a great turn as Abbie Hoffman. Eddie Redmayne was fine as Tom Hayden but standing out for good parts were Jeremy Strong as Jerry Rubin, Alex Sharp as Rennie Davis and John Carol Lynch as David Dellinger. But the two best were Yahya Abdul Mateen as Bobby Seale and Frank Langella as Judge Julius Hoffman. Langella was so powerful as the sleazy joke of a judge I wanted to hand him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He just seemed to dominate in every scene he was in. Mateen also put on a powerful performance. Others were also excellent in supporting roles and Michael Keaton came on in a brief turn as former Attorney General Ramsey Clarke. This was if nothing else an actors film. But the film went beyond that and spoke to today's deeply divided America right down to the police removing badges before attacking the protestors. This was an excellent film in many ways to the writing and direction in particular with a controversial topic. It should be seen by all.

Oh this film had everything. Tense, corruption in high places, high powered stars. It wasn't half bad, but....... Too bad the plot was full of holes and stretched our credibility as to whether this could really happen. Cher, is a gorgeous woman but I highly doubt an appointed court lawyer would look as hot as this, as something right out of a Paris fashion Mag and looking like a pinup. No great try Cher and you did do a good job but did I believe you as the court appointed lawyer? No. Dennis Quaid too is a bit of a pin up boy back in those days. But again he didn't quite fill the mode of what he was supposed to be. A Capital Hill lobbyist. How did he get on the jury in the first place? Good question. He's up on Capital Hill how would he get on a jury looking at the murder of a judges aid. And the two of them talking together even implied that they had an affair. Jury tampering. Not going to happen. Even Liam doesn't quite seem right for the part. And I thought he was both deaf and dumb. Got the dumb part right but the deaf part???? With better casting this movie would have been much better. It wasn't bad but.......

Our local festival theatre was showing Black Christmas for one night only so we decided it would be fun to go see it again. It was the 3rd time but the 1st on the big screen. We weren't disappointed. The film was shown in one of the larger theatres not the small venues they also had. The theatre was quite crowded although not full.

From the beginning where we follow the serial killer through his eyes into the sorority house the film packed a punch. Billy is truly one sick crap. No we never get know who he is nor do we ever see him except in one scene that was truly disturbing all we see are his eyes. At times there were shadows in the background that made no sounds. But we heard his voice and it was truly disturbing.

That the film does have a certain cheese element and lapses of logic does not take away from the fact that this film should rank up there with the best horror films. Suggestion and not seeing the killer are far better than seeing some crazed guy in a hockey mask come at you. It is not the first but many that came after pay homage to Black Christmas. Think Halloween. Before that there was Psycho and Peeping Tom (that ruined Michael Powell's career). And going back even further there was The Spiral Staircase (1945) where a deranged killer stalked girls with disabilities. Pretty daring for its time.

Margot Kidder in particular stands out in the cast. This was before Superman. One should also see her in Sisters another truly creepy film. Sadly she has passed away. Also good was Olivia Hussey and Keir Dullea was just creepy and disturbing. John Saxon also appeared as did Andrea Martin before SCTV.

But it was the atmosphere created an atmosphere of dread and the voice of a deranged killer that you never saw. Yes the ending was ambiguous leaving the audience shaken and up in the air. And the phone kept ringing. "The calls are coming from the house."

Hard to believe that TCM showed this nonsense. The dinosaur looked like Barney. You kept waiting for this hilariously bad rendition of a dinosaur would just eat everyone. Come to think of it in King Kong some did. Whoever made this film should have had their heads examined. King Kong it wasn't. Not even close. But it was funny in a bad sort of way.

What an amazing little film. Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke soar. They own the film. This is a wonderful heartwarming story of two people in rural Nova Scotia who in their own way overcome poverty to find true happiness. Oh it had its bumps and bruises and Maudie (Hawkins) does suffer in the early going at the hands of Everett (Hawke). Maudie is crippled with arthritis and she really does smoke too much but she has a special talent in her ability to see the beauty of things despite what she goes through. Everett also finds himself through his rough hewn ways and grows to love Maudie. This is a stunningly beautiful film, filmed in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. The land and the sea help ease the poverty of the region and the small minded pettiness of the towns people. Maudie because of her afflictions is constantly taken advantage of but she escapes to find herself and forge her life with Everett even as he abused her. A worthy winner at the Canadian Screen Awards including actor, actress, picture and director.

While it was spicy to become engrossed in another Agatha Christie whodunit what could have been an engrossing film was given a pedestrian feeling by the weak direction. Oh yes the acting was good generally all around naturally spiced up by the performance of Glenn Close and the presence of 60's film legend Terrance Stamp the film otherwise moved at a snails pace. The supporting cast was fine as well as solid character actors played the put upon Leonidas kids and the young actors who played the grandkids were especially perfect in their parts. If there was I felt a miscast it was Max Irons as the gumshoe. But then again since he had an affair with the enticing Sophie a much older man might have seemed out of place. Irons is just too good looking to give off that tired cynical gumshoe look. As my wife said "Boy was he easy on the eyes". And that was it. The entire film was easy on the eyes with great sets, a 1950's feel even noirish at times with shadows (where was the black and white) and period costuming. But I shouldn't have been checking my watch while watching.

Ok the special effects are something else which is the only reason I gave this a 2 rather than a 1. But believability? Zero. Story? Zero. Plausible situations? Zero. It actually had me laughing. Even wishing they would just die so we could end this misery. Can't believe it wasn't nominated for Razzies. You can either choose to avoid this film or if you really want a 2 hour time waster you came to the right spot. At the end Dwayne Johnson says "and now we rebuild". Begs why. And please don't say so we can do this this all over again. California Dreaming? Pfft!

It's a good thing that this film also didn't include smell. The drool was bad enough. But I would have loved to have been able to smell their breaths. Unbelievably inadvertently hilarious horror flick from the 1950's when monster horror flicks were popular. Mind you I was impressed with the special effects given that this was 1957 and not 2017. In that respect it is even more impressive. No CGI no 3D just plain old special effects from the people that brought you King Kong.

These are monsters that don't want to die. Of course they came as the result of a volcano that blew rather than nuclear mutants a theme that was popular back then. Absolutely hilarious when they grab people and you see their little arms and feet waving about before they are presumably eaten. They attack Mexico City. You are almost cheering for these monsters. The whole thing is a hoot. And of course you have the de rigeur love story in behind. In the end all is well that ends well and the lovers are off to we presume marriage bliss. Them remains the best of the bunch.

Rififi is a classic heist film that is right up there with the best of its peers - The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Yet in many ways it feels like it is overlooked. This is a great film worthy of inclusion not only with the best heist films but with the best noir films. The film is directed by Jules Dassin. Dassin brought us other classic noir films including Brute Force, The Naked City, Thieves Highway and the brilliant Night and the City. Dassin was also blacklisted and went to Europe where he successfully revived his career. Of his later caper films Topkapi stands out. The actual heist done in complete silence, not even any music, is classic. Subtitles.

Criminales e Angelis! That might as well have been the name of this film that oddly pays homage to the classic Spaghetti Westerns. Unsavoury characters, ultra violence, twisty plot, offensive scenes it had it all. You couldn't like any of these people. Even the supposed lawmen were unsavoury. One almost expected everyone in the film to be dubbed except for a few main characters. Dubbing might have helped (or subtitles) as it seemed that almost everyone mumbled but you got the drift.

A band of outlaws (criminales) rob a bank in some dusty unnamed western town complete with hoods. Innocent people get killed (they are just bystanders after all). They escape but one of them is hit as they leave town. From there on its a rough ride as they wind up holing up with a christian family and everything becomes twisty, and ugly with gore and scenes enough to make you cringe. But the sets are great and the feel of being trapped in a place with a band of outlaws, a screaming christian mother and the very unsavoury minister of a father with their two daughters.

To give it even better feel of a being a spaghetti western there is the Clint Eastwood connection. Clint's former live-in Francis Fisher plays a somewhat hysteric christian woman while the daughter of Clint's and Francis's years together Francesca Eastwood is the the Angeli of the title. And what an Angeli she makes. Francis Fisher also played Ruth Dewitt Bukater, Rose's mother in Titanic and Strawberry Alice in Eastwood's Unforgiven.

As gore piles upon gore and cringing scenes pile on cringing scenes and the body count rises one is reminded that others can do what Tarantino and Peckinpah have done before. You can't like any these characters but you do admire the way the actors play them making it all seem too real. Just like the old spaghetti westerns.

Ok I really wasn't expecting much when I lazed on the couch late one afternoon. I was actually kind of tired but I came across this on HBO and happened to see it from the opening credits. I wasn't giving it a whole lot of thought or hope. But I soon found myself drawn in to a wonderful little story of overcoming adversity and winning in the end.

Irene is the classic overweight unattractive star of the movie wonderfully played by Michelle McLeod. Yes she is picked on, laughed at and bullied. Her mother (Anastasia Phillips) doesn't help either. But Irene has spunk and what she really wants is to join the cheerleader squad. Well given her weight and looks that's not about to happen and a perfect bully (Aviva Mongillo) tricks Irene into an idiot act and Irene in retaliation decks her. That gets her, Avivo and her boyfriend into trouble with the principal's office and they are all suspended and must spend two weeks community service at a retirement home. And it is from here that the film gets fun. Rather than mope Irene sets out to wake up the seniors, wonderfully played by Bruce Gray, Joan Gregson amongst others, by getting them up and dancing and convincing them that they can do it. Irene is guided by her spirit Geena Davis who constantly reminds Irene that she can do it. Naturally in creating her dance troupe there is some pushback from the manager of the seniors home played with perfect bitchiness by Scott Thompson as only he can do. Irene pulls in some others including the guy working as a cook who claimed that when you get out of prison working at a retirement home is the best you can do. As well a friend from high school who looked and acted like Scott Thompson from his Kid's in the Hall days wonderfully playing a "screaming queen.

It all comes together with a wonderful piece of dance set to Milli Vanilli's Blame it on the Rain and Irene wins in the end. Yes it is mushy and sentimental but it is done so wonderfully you don't care. No, it is not fall down hilarious but it has its moments of nice chuckles. And it is so heart warming you overlook its many flaws. And it is all set against the backdrop of Hamilton, Ontario. Yes it's a Canadian film. And it is a wonderful little film.