#1 - EAST IS EAST
Stars - Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Jordan Routledge, Emil Marwa, Chris Bisson, Jimi Mistry, Raji James, Ian Aspinall
Director - Damien O'Donnell
Memorable Quote - 'Bastar'!'
Review - 'East is East' is kind of a strange film. Part of a British film scene that is gritty, sometimes shocking, sometimes funny, and always down to earth, it has joined others such as 'This is England' in gaining both notoriety and respect. The cast list reads like a who's who of British TV actors - Eastenders, Holby City, and The Bill are all represented, and many will be easily recognisable with those familiar with television broadcast at tea time. That isn't a reason to be put off, by the way. At times this representation of Muslims living in Britain will make you cringe, whether in sympathy for the pain of an operation or at the political correctness that seems to have gone missing a little bit. We have to sympathise with the children of the family, all but one of whom are utterly repressed. Not wanting to follow their father's traditions but being forced to anyway, it's clear from the word go that something big is going to have to happen for things to have any sort of resolution at all - someone is going to have to back down. Rude, honest, and full of laughs, 'East is East' still reverberates with our current cultural situation despite being set in the 1970s. My one criticism is the way it deals with domestic violence; although this is in the end meant to be a light-hearted film, it dismisses George's actions too easily, in a way that could be interpreted as a return to business as usual. At no point does he apologise or even suggest that he has learnt the error of his way, and this is something that I feel should be clarified more, if only to ensure that the less quick in the audience get the right message. 3.5/5
#2 - MY SISTER'S KEEPER
Stars - Abigail Breslin, Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin, Sofia Vassilieva, Thomas Dekker
Director - Nick Cassavetes
Memorable Quote - 'Most babies are accidents. Not me. I was engineered. Born to save my sister's life.'
Review - From the trailer alone you can tell that this movie will not be easy going. That you'll probably end up crying buckets by the end. And the trailer does not lie. Everything about this film is steeped in emotion - from the offset, the tragedy of this family's life is revealed before you, and the individual tragedies of a young girl fighting cancer and her sister who knows she was only born to be 'spare parts'. It's a tearjerker for sure, and most of the casting, most of the script, most of the scenes are perfect... with one exception. Diaz should not have been put into this movie. She is totally wrong for the role, simply playing the same character she always does in a way that here feels fake and annoying. We can see the fact that she is acting. This is a terrible casting mistake that almost threatens to ruin the entire movie, and it is saved only by the brilliance of the young members of the cast. The star character for me, if not the star turn, is the boy who Kate falls in love with, fellow leukemia sufferer Taylor. The most heart-wrenching moments in my opinion came when Kate began to complain that he had not contacted her; in your mind you already know why he has not, and the conclusion is not a happy one. Seeing her life through these flashbacks, you begin to understand why Kate has made her final decision - what kind of a life is lived in hospital, watching everyone you meet there die and knowing it is your turn soon, no matter how many operations you have? Worth a watch by anyone's estimation, particularly if you're able to blank out Diaz, without whom this would have been a five star film. 4/5
#3 - YOUNG GUNS
Stars - Emilio Estevez, Keifer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Terry O'Quinn
Director - Christopher Cain
Memorable Quote - 'He ain't all there, is he?'
Review - Well, there's nothing like watching Charlie Sheen play a crazy guy right after the world realises how much of a crazy guy he is. His death scene holds enough melodrama to outfit the rest of the movie, but it doesn't stop there! This is more of a caricature than a real Western, but that doesn't stop it being good, harmless fun. I have to say that it's quite amazing how many old films I've watched starring Terry O'Quinn since Lost finished, and you can't help but feel he must be double-crossing them in some way because of it; ah, the perils of taking strong roles later in life. Still, there's plenty to chuckle about here, joining the great American tradition of rehashing history into an action comedy, and the facts be damned. Even the little ending sequence about what happened to the gang members later in life is wrong, but hey, I guess if you wanted to know the facts you'd head to Wikipedia, right? There isn't much else I can say about this, except that if you want a nice easy night in, this is the way to go. 3/5
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