Yaaawwnnn!

I must admit to yawning quite a bit through this Underworld copycat film complete with demons, vampires, werewolves…you know the standard sort of fare.

Its not that it was exactly a bad film, it had some interesting moments, just that I’ve kind of seen it all before. Apparently an original book by Cassandra Clare (yes very original) the first book of The Mortal Instruments series. I guess this means there will be some harry-potter-esque sequels in the wings (Actually having brought Harry into the mix, this is probably the thing I most disliked about about the film, all its silly spells and quests; but then I didn’t much like the Lord of the Rings either).

Sex appeal-wise Lily Colins (and indeed Lena Headey) were no comparison to Kate Beckinsale in a tight-fitting cat suit leaping about killing vampires. It was not frightening in the least; perhaps the most “creepy” aspect of the film would be that we find out (spoiler alert..look away) the young couple falling in love and kissing in the garden are actually brother and sister! (..well I suppose everyone knows this from the book anyway..)

A very interesting Iraqi war piece from director Brian De Palma (Dressed To Kill, Casualties of War, The Untouchables, Carlito’s Way, Mission to Mars etc.) loosely based on the 2006 Mahmudiyah killings in Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, when US Soldiers raped an Iraqi girl and murdered her along with her family.

The film goes to great lengths at its beginning to point out that it is fictitious and that De Palma is not saying this actually happened, just sorta. After all the US Army didn’t prosecute anyone so therefore, it only sorta happened…!

The film uses the now familiar handheld camera perspective with the lead character relating a video diary to his camera.

I didn’t notice that Brian De Palma had directed the film until the closing credits, so didn’t immediately make the connection with Casualties of War. Redacted was a far superior film: it was everything Casualties of War was not (Michael J. Fox frowning his way through two hours or so). The film asked a lot of the questions Western society is asking of just how American troops are acting in these theatres of war and the pressures that drive some of them to atrocities such as this.

Since just seeing this film recently I can’t stop raving about it to people. On the surface Cruising is a film about a Psychopath murdering homosexuals in the gay scene. Al Pacino plays a heterosexual cop (lots of bedroom scenes with Karen Allen to confirm this!) assigned to go undercover and find the killer.

This film pulls very few punches when it comes to depicting gay bars and the shenanigans that consenting male adults get up to in said bars, so if your a bit squeamish about being exposed to the gay leather S & M scene, maybe give the film a miss. However if you want to see an absolutely brilliant film by William Friedkin (also Director of The Exorcist and The French Connection) and can deal with sometimes confronting imagery give it a go.

I will not spoil the ending for you, but the realisation at the end of the film will you leave you thinking and wondering for days.

This is a very funny British film about a young man who is trying to become a journalist by writing an in-depth article about the practice of dogging (or having sex in cars in public while other perverts watch..to the more sheltered reader!).

Whilst the description sounds like a bit of a what-the-window-cleaner-saw-smut-fest, the actual Dogging is kept to a minimum on screen with more concentration on the comedy such a lifestyle is apt to produce.

Certainly not one for the not-broad-minded but very, very funny if you are. The end result is a sweet love story and people who realize they don’t need quite such a lifestyle to care about one another.

Blood is a very well made British film with a police story involving many twists and turns. With the worldwide success of television programs like The Sweeney and The Bill, the UK has something of a reputation for turning out high quality police drama without quite the sordidness of the American variety.

In Blood two policemen decide to take the law into their own hands after a 12 year old girl is found murdered. Whats unfolds is a very telling tale asking questions about mob justice in the face of anger.

White House has fallen Down Olympus Dying Hard

You may perhaps have seen a movie called Olympus has fallen? Its about a group of terrorists who take over the White house in America and try to launch some nuclear bombs. It contains lots of scenes of blowing things up and generally smashing the White House about.

Well not content with smashing the white house up just the once, this year we have almost the identical movie White House Down. I can only imagine it is “Please the Terrorists Month” or something because the timing of these releases is terrible with the two films and their story lines being almost identical. Maybe a couple of directors couldn’t agree on how to make the film, so they both had their own goes…

Either way White House Down is not a bad action film. If you have seen Die Hard (again pretty much the same storyline here) you will love this film, Channing Tatum dons the famous Die Hard white singlet and goes into action. White House Down is at least is original in asking us can we really trust the people in elected government? (in between lots of blowing things up).