Stars - Colin Firth, Nicholas Hoult, Julianne Moore
Director - Tom Ford
Memorable Quote - 'Just get through the goddamn day.'
Review - This is such a beautiful piece of film work. It's so clear that this was directed by a fashion designer; the colours were so brilliantly arranged, with the characters even explicitly telling us the meaning of the casts over each scene, and the overall look is fantastic. Everything is so carefully put together, and the plot itself is both intriguing and emotional. The acting is, of course, fabulous - a glance at the cast list should tell you that - and I really can't praise it enough. As a directorial debut this is a pretty fine piece of work. Thoroughly recommended - and I would add that Hoult puts in something of a smouldering performance, that should not be missed by fans and/or admirers. It will raise your heart rate substantially. If you have not seen it yet, make sure you do. 5/5
#2 - SAW 3D
Stars - Costas Mandylor, Tobin Bell, Cary Elwes, some other guys, Chester Bennington
Director - Kevin Greutert
Memorable Quote - 'Game over.'
Review - I... used to like the Saw franchise. I did. I found it an amusing exercise in 'what would I do' situations. Then it was sort of amusing how the participants in each trap would do the exact opposite of what they should do, generally screaming a lot, and thus seal their own fate or that of someone else. However, somewhere along the line something seems to have gone wrong. I'll blame two things here - greed, because knowing people will give you money for a half-hearted effort might convince you to go ahead with it, and the advent of 3D, since that seems to be an excuse to put in special effects and forget about the plot. For that precise reason, I have not watched a 3D movie at the cinema; I watch them on my normal television screen, because I want to watch a movie, not a Disneyland ride. And truthfully, once the effects are taken away, there isn't much to this. Even the gore is unconvincing, right from the prosthetic body being severed in the first trap to each spray of blood. There are about five thousand goofs, Jigsaw is revealed to have had ANOTHER accomplice (seriously, did he even make enough traps to have that many people helping him without knowing each other?), and someone it was implied was very dead before just pops up like that, with no satisfactory explanation - simply some filler about Jigsaw being caring/evil again. Completely bored of this now, and I've just lost two hours of my life I can't get back. And why the hell was Chester Bennington in this?! Ridiculous. 2/5
#3 - SOURCE CODE
Stars - Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright
Director - Duncan Jones
Memorable Quote - 'What would you do if you knew you only had one minute to live?'
Review - Whew. This one is very exciting. Following Captain Colter Stephens, a helicopter pilot who must relive the same eight minutes of another man's live over and over again in order to find out who the culprit is behind a terrorist attack in which the man died, the film can at times be harrowing, at others touching, at others still it makes your heart race. You find yourself becoming the backseat detective, second guessing what he ought to do or what you would do in the same situation, all the while ultimately rooting for Stephens to save the day. With a couple of twists that will keep you on your toes, it does not stop going for a moment - only two points I would call into question: the explanation of the mechanics of the source code and how the events can change within a memory is not satisfactory, and a couple of lazy flashes in the middle where we do not actually see any action. Other than that it is perfect, pushing all the right buttons in the right ways, until you cannot help but cheer as Stephens takes his final ride into the source code. Gyllenhaal's performance is exquisite as ever. A superb film which needs to be watched. 4.5/5
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