I’ve always been a big fan of Horror movies. When I was a kid I would often sit up watching scary stuff on TV that was totally unsuitable for a child of my age (but please don’t go saying anything about this to my mum and dad as they were completely unaware of my viewing half the time!).

Saying this, there are a lot of Horror films that do not interest me at all. I have no time for movies that are unnecessarily gratuitous because I enjoy being frightened rather than revolted. In fact, I find some Horror films totally abhorrent. For example, I would never sit and watch anything like ‘Saw’, ‘The Human Centipede’ or ‘Hostel’ simply because I do not get any pleasure from seeing people being tortured… I’m funny like that. Another movie that really turns my stomach is ‘The Exorcist’. However, I made the terrible mistake of actually watching this one…

I don’t have a problem with ‘The Exorcist'because it is scary (loads of people think it is the most frightening film they’ve ever seen and I really don’t understand this one at all…). The reason I think this movie is distasteful is because it features a child behaving in a very inappropriate manner. I know that children are often an integral part of a good Horror story (‘The Sixth Sense’, ‘Poltergeist’), but should they really be expected to engage in lurid sexual acts for the sake of the camera??? Some people may feel that I’m being a bit prudish… until they think back to that infamous scene with the crucifix. And that really wasn’t very nice, was it?

As far as I am concerned, there is nothing wrong with making Horror movies and they can also work really well with child actors. The problem is how we make them. It’s the same as those horrid chunky gold rings you see in a jewellery shop ; the problem is not the gold rings themselves, it is how they are created in the first place. If a bunch of film makers are given a story to work with, it can go one of two ways – they can either put together a movie that is tasteful or they can go all out to shock instead. Unfortunately, shocking audiences appears to be a modern trend in Horror. And this is purely because it is a great way of increasing box office sales.

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Directed by Martin Scorsese Nominated for five Oscars and winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (Joe Pesci), Goodfellas is a film you will be handing down for generations.

Main character Henry grew up in Brooklyn, East New York, in a predominantly Italian neighbourhood. He quit school as a teenager to work for the local Mafia. After being slung into court for illegally selling cigarettes Henry is congratulated by the Mafia for not ratting on Jimmy and finally accepted into the gang.

The costumes are a feast for the eyes and the detail is accurate down to every last button. The costume designers obviously had their hands full with this movie, seeing as 4 decades are covered! The film also includes the longest scene recorded at once- the Copacabana club and kitchen scene. This shot alone is beatifully and sleekly done.

The film is full of humour- especially Joe Pesci’s character Tommy DeVito’s famous (or infmaous!) scene “Funny how?” This bit really is psychotically hilarious…you will just have to watch it to see what I mean. There are many ingenious one-liners and quotable content. Even when Henry’s wife points a gun to his head for cheating and Henry still thinks of himself saying he has more things to worry about than being “whacked” in his own home.

Chock full of drugs, women, dirty dealing, death and more drugs, Goodefellas certainly is a rollercoaster ride of a cinematic masterpiece. You wouldn’t expect any less of Scorsese.

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If you have not yet seen the film Carnage, then it is one that is worth putting down on your rental list for the future. I watched the film last night, and was amazed at how funny it was, especially since the entire film was located in one room and a hallway. If I had been watching the film without any sound on, I may have been more interested in the executive office furniture, than anything else.

The film stars Kate Winslet and Jody Forster, who perform excellent roles along with their male counterparts. The basis of the film is that two sets of parents have met up in their apartment to formulate a letter describing a fight between their two sons. This is where the film starts, and the dialogue right from the start is punchy and hilarious. All four actors do an excellent job of creating an atmosphere of tension, humour and at times insanity, and it is a credit to all of them that the film is such a success as there are no props, scenery, or other distractions, just them in a room.

The success of the movie is down to the constantly changing dynamics between the four people in the room, and as the film progresses, they all side with different parties about different issues. It is the uncomfortable nature of the situation that makes it so much fun to begin with, as one couple is clearly trying to leave, and they actually get in the lift to go, but somehow they end up back in the apartment again for a second time! As the conversation goes on, it gets wilder and wilder, helped along with a bottle of scotch! All in all, it is a simple, fun, and interesting film in which takes you on an emotional journey without leaving the room.

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Dennis does not want to grow up. Ever. He really doesn’t and he isn’t afraid of that. Thing is…his girlfriend is now about to become his wife. And this presents a problem…

Dennis stays upstairs…it’s moments before he’s set to head off and get married, and he is all a panic. He’s thinking of anything other than getting married, but it isn’t working! Then he feels himself legging it out of the house and away from everyone, and he keeps running until he can’t run anymore.

And he regrets it. That’s really where this film, featuring brit comedy hero Simon pegg, begins. It begins funny and it just gets funnier, and, with a cast featuring Thandie Newton and Dylan Moran, it’s worth your time if you enjoy a damn good laugh.

Whit seems like the complete package. Worse, you can throw anything you like at this man…

Oh, and did I mention his girlfriend was set to become a mother when he left her? No…no I didn’t, because I feel Dennis’s shame!

The story really gets going when Libby (Newton), who is now with Whit (an American who Dennis hates above all else), is proposed to at a party. This sets off a slew of hatred directed at Whit, and when Whit announces he’s going to run the London Marathon, out of shape Dennis does to.

Except he can’t even run to the shops. He’s a million miles away from being anywhere close to fit…

All this and Whit is possibly the most annoying man who has ever lived. With good looks and muscles, not to mention an irritating ability to win everyone over, Whit seems like the complete package. Worse, you can throw anything you like at this man; ask him to tell you what the latin name for Great White Shark is and he’s bound to know it. Ask him to tell you what the best Banner Stands are and he’s bound to have done an internship at a company that sold just that (and he’d probably recommend a top-quality roll-up number, such as available on Ebay!).

The scene for Dennis’s total destruction looks set half way through the film, until a scintillating finale pits the two men against one another for Libby’s affection.

A great film for family as well as adults with a soft-spot, watch Run Fatboy Run whether you love running and are in love or not.

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When advertisements for Super 8 hit the TV and the big-screen, I, like many people, was highly excited. How could I not be? As a life-long Spielberg fan I’d seen and loved them all, from the early ones to the more recent masterpieces (excluding the last Indiana Jones film, which was less fantastic than promised, unfortunately). And this…this film looked like it had all the hall-marks of a modern-day classic. In the style of The Goonies I had no doubt in my mind that this film was going to set a new bench-mark in cinematic history…

Then I sat down and watched the film in the cinema and held my head in my hands…yes the film was good, but a classic? I fear not.

I definitely expected much more than what director JJ Abrams delivered

Super 8, if you are clueless, begins when a group of kids in an un-named US town experience a horrifying train-crash while making their own Super 8 movie. Soon after that, the mysterious cargo leads to a series of startling revelations involving the military and one big monster-type-thing.

Be sure of one thing: the first half-an-hour of this film is magic. It recreates the era fantastically well and does a great job of establishing one hell of a mystery storyline.

The problem with Super 8 is that it’s an empty vessel; an exciting empty vessel, and one which has all kinds of twists and turns, but unfortunately one which won’t be as memorable as it should have been. And, just like the online running accessories shop which my friend started a few months ago, just because it looks flashy doesn’t mean that it’s going to really hold your attention for that long (sorry Fred, but I did tell you to get someone who knows about marketing involved!).

Maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but personally I expected much more than Spielberg gives us in Super 8. I definitely expected much more than what director JJ Abrams delivered.

So here it is: if you’re a die-hard Spielberg film fan then you will find very little not to love about this movie. The effects are great, the acting is wonderful and the production value is, as ever, out of this world. But, on the other hand: if you’re a fan of intelligent films which possess an incredible storyline without gaping plot-holes, then you may find yourself frowning throughout Super 8.

Thanks Steven, but next time I think you need to focus less on the explosions and more on reading between the lines.

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Inside Man begins when a bank – New York’s largest, in fact – is taken hostage by a seemingly typical gang of robbers. Clad in the same uniform, to start with we’re convinced this is all about the money. But as the tension increases and a detective (played by a well-casted Denzel Washington) gets closer to what he’s sure is the truth, deadly secrets begin to unravel.

I for one would have liked to see a bit more variety in the pacing of this movie

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Inside Man becomes a movie which seems to have little in common with the movies we first compared it to.

Inside Man, as well as being a heist movie, is a film about secrets and lies…power and deceit. It’s both serious and at times laugh-out-loud funny too; somewhere between a high-octane thriller and a mystery drama we’ve never seen before. By the end of it, the film has carved out a genre of its own, making it somewhat of an anomaly.

That’s not to say that the film doesn’t have its faults — big faults. One thing many have noted about the film is its smugness; intelligent as it is, you can’t help but think that at times it’s all a little too in-control for your liking. That is the point of the film, true, but I for one would have liked to see a bit more variety in the pacing of this movie.

There again, the ending is a good one and easily ratchets up the tension to make you glad you sat through it. More importantly than that, when the final secrets are revealed – right in the closing minute or two – there are a few plot points the majority of us did not see coming.

In this age of predictable Hollywood messes and CGI, it’s nice to know that the big movie makers still care about surprising us.

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This summer it’s all about of the superheroes; in fact every summer is about the superheroes, at least when it comes to the summer blockbusters. This summer Thor, Captain America, Cowboys and Aliens, Green Lantern, and Transformers are all being released! The movie that has stood out to me thus far is X-Men: First Class.
This X-Men movie is a prequel to the X-Men series which started in 2000. It explains how Charles Xavier and Eric Lehnsherr (who later become known as Professor X and Magneto) meet. In this movie Charles Xavier (who has hair in this movie) and Magneto help avert the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The crisis is all been engineered by the mutant Sebastian Shaw to cause the mutants to rise in place of the worlds superpowers. Magneto is after Shaw because he killed his mother. Magneto and Xavier work together with the CIA to prevent the crisis; they recruit a team of mutants to fight against Shaw and his mutants. They used Cerebro to find and recruit the mutants which seemed a lot easier than using hr management software.
There are several characters in the movie that are important to the storyline but the main drive of the film is the chemistry between Xavier (who is played by James McAvoy) and Magneto played by (Michael Fassbender). It shows how these two men meet, grow as friends and then are torn apart because of difference in ideology. The rest of the cast is excellent as well however the other notable performances are that of Mystique and Beast who explore accepting that they are mutants. The most interesting thing about First Class is that it takes place in the 1960’s with characters that have never been shown during that time period.
X-Men First Class is a brilliant prequel to a fantastic series. I look forward to many more movies to come.

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I had the good fortune of coming across this movie on some obscure TV channel purely by accident. And to be honest, when I realised that it was an adaptation of a Koontz novel, I did not hold out much hope… However, to my utter amazement it turned out to be an absolute corker!

To begin with, the screenplay has all of the same suspense as the novel. The acting is pretty solid on the most part (Molly Parker is maybe a little over the top at times…), although any minor faults are quickly covered up by the superb performance of John C. McGinley. Man, is he scaaary as Edgler Foreman Vess!!!! In fact, why even consider laser hair removal clinics when nutjob Edgler can make your whiskers fall out with fear? He really does fit the part to a tee!

If you are a fan of Dean Koontz’s novels and you’ve been hunting around for a decent film adaptation, then look no further than ‘Intensity’; it is most certainly the best of the bunch!

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I’ve been catching up with a few of the better comedy movies of 2010 which somehow managed to evade me. Date Night is in my opinion one of the most enjoyable films which last year had to offer.

Date Night features Steve Carell (star of the American Office) and Tina Fey (from 30 Rock) as a bored New Jersey couple, showing all of the signs that they are locked into a stagnant and monotonous routine. A misunderstanding at a restaurant sends them spiralling into a world of vice and crime which the duo are comically unsuited. The films themes of rejuvenating a stale relationship are clearly aimed at a relatively mature audience but the two main characters are engaging and endearing enough that it will hold the attention of a younger audience as well. Additionally, the jokes are universal enough that it will take you on an enjoyable journey even if you can’t directly identify with the protagonists.

The energy which Steve Carell brings to his performance helps the dialogue to zip along and the sarcastic yet effervescent manner which Tina Fey delivers lines is very funny and perfectly suited to the fun loving but world weary character which she plays. There’s a fair bit of excitement with some elaborate and dramatic action sequences and some good physical comedy mixed in for relief. The supporting cast also do a particularly good job, with a great tongue in cheek performance from Mark Warburg.

I was impressed that Date Night managed to deliver when it seems to aim at such a wide audience but it certainly is the perfect movie to revitalise a boring evening with your other half.

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All that said, I was dubious about the premise of The Loved Ones. From the synopsis I had the distinct impression that here was a film which follows all the formulas, and not necessarily in a good way. I was wrong. The Loved Ones is funny in places, horrifying in so many others, and somehow still manages to do this by confronting a slew of horror movie cliches in every scene. Even more limiting is the set. Instead of opting for expanses of rugged scenery to enhance the film, the majority of is is played out within four walls that could be anywhere.

As the girl on the bus – who works for laser hair removal bournemouth , and half the bus knew it – said, it’s a film which you don’t want to watch on your own at night. Even I found that hard to do in places, and it might have something to do with the drill and the skull…

The Loved Ones is not hugely inventive, be warned, but that isn’t essential when you have horror this finely produced, with a plot that can rival any thriller out there at the moment, is it?

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