Twilight

ETERNALLY condemned to walk the earth...and go to high school. It must be tough being a 17-year-old vampire.
Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer before it, Twilight appeals to its key demographic – by keeping it in the classroom.
The film tells the story of Bella, an overly sulky teenager whose two passions in life seem to be the macabre and her own internal monologues.
Naturally, when a pale, mysterious and moody boy walks – in slow motion of course – into the school canteen, an awkward love story begins.
With its setting and characters, Twilight plays right into the hands of its teenage fans but will appeal to most cinema-goers as it is fairly well directed and has a compelling story.

But don’t expect a Lost Boys clone. All humour and quirky charm has been replaced with adolescent sighs and frowns.
That said, the vampire love story offers a decent subtext about doomed teenage relationships – whether fighting against raging hormones or vampiric urges they tend to end in the same way – disaster.
The film did have a few problems though, most notably, the stunts. Whenever a vampire jumps, it is achingly obvious the actor is on a wire, slightly shattering the illusion.
The pacing too is a bit iffy with the edge-of-your-seat stuff only coming into play in the last half hour.
Also, true to the novel but slightly odd, when vampires are exposed to sunlight in the film they sparkle rather than burst into flames!
But forgive its flaws and you’ll find a film with real bite here.

The Day The Earth Stood Still

ARE we really worth saving?
That’s the question The Day The Earth Stood Still asks, and for people who have not seen the original movie, there is plenty of food for thought.
A twist on classic sci fi tale, it is about an alien invasion that has not come to obliterate the planet but rather to save the Earth from its wasteful human inhabitants.
Klaatu (Keanu Reeves), an alien who has taken human form, is taken into custody and warns scientists and Government officials that they only have themselves to blame.

It is a poignant green message, which is met with hostility rather than a desire to change — think a modern day Noah’s Ark story.
And just like Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator, it seems Reeves has found his perfect film role here. An alien with no concept of human emotion, Reeves’ wooden acting abilities fit the bill.
Some elements of the film were a bit unconvincing but it is an enjoyable wake up call for anyone who worries about the planet.
But since that wake up call was first told in 1951, are we really going to listen this time?

Zack and Miri make a Porno

ZACK and Miri are your typical, confused, platonic couple.
They are close housemates who rely on each other and feelings exist yet they have never been explored.
But when times get hard, they start looking at unusual ways to scrabble their way out of debt — and settle on the idea of making an amateur adult movie — as you do.
Cult director Kevin Smith once again merges the coarse with the sentimental...and somehow succeeds.
It would be difficult to think of any other filmmaker who could put you in the world of a rom-com one minute and then throw you into an altogether more sordid setting, the next.
But with his recurring characters Jay and Silent Bob now finally retired, Smith has had to take the helm without the comfort of his screen heroes.

That said, Zack and Miri does feel very much like one of the director’s New Jersey slacker films with the intro perhaps a homage to his debut Clerks, with Zack (Seth Rogen) stumbling around on a cold morning trying to get to his meaningless job.
A couple of old cast members get a look-in too, most notably Jason Mewes living up to all the innuendoes of his previous notorious character, Jay.
But this lacks some of the snappy dialogue that made Smith’s earlier films a joy and is a bit too cheesy.
Nevertheless, it’s certainly a refreshing take on the rom-com genre but only for those who can tolerate hundreds of swear words and a lot of bared flesh.

W

JUST how did a man like George W. Bush become the leader of the free world?
It’s been the question on people’s lips since the turn of the millennia as the world has slowly come to terms with a disastrous presidency.
With Bush’s eight-year reign due to come to a close in January, it is the perfect time for a film like ‘W’.
Not overtly political like Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, seasoned director Oliver Stone offers dramatised take on the life of the 43rd President of the USA, with Josh Brolin excellently portraying the bumbling leader.
Jutting between Bush’s early years and the post-9/11 meetings discussing going to war with Iraq, you get a good overall impression of the man’s life.

You see his transition from college cool guy to struggling worker to successful businessman to reluctant politician, with periods of him feeling hopelessly lost in between.
Fast forward to the presidential crisis talks and you see a leader who is on the periphery of his own meetings, easily influenced by his aides and more concerned with keeping egos in check, than the fallout of foreign policy decisions.
Despite Colin Powell (Jeffrey Wright) doing his utmost to persuade the President that the war is unjustified, Bush is adamant that he wants to ‘kick the ass’ of those who tried to kill his father.
In fact, Bush’s father (James Cromwell) is the overriding theme in both parts of the story. W is completely overshadowed by the former president and is stuck between his desire to be his own man and his obligation to continue the Bush legacy.
More sympathetic than critical, Stone’s ‘W’ offers a deep insight into a shallow man.

Quantom of Solace

BOND enjoys the international jet set life in his latest adventure on the big screen.
In the 22nd film in the 007 franchise, the British spy flits from continent to continent in hot pursuit of a phantom organisation called Quantom.
The result is a frenetic story that is as exciting as it is head spinning. It’s hard to keep up as 007 dashes from Austria to South America chasing leads and invariably killing villains along the way, to the disdain of his boss, M (Judy Dench on top form).
Starting just moments after the final sequence of Casino Royale, Quantom of Solace is the first Bond film to be a direct sequel.
And very much in keeping with its predecessor, Daniel Craig excellently portrays the same no nonsense, ruthless yet vulnerable agent that was critically acclaimed in 2006.
More Matt Damon than Sean Connery, Craig’s fantastic action sequences pay homage to the Bourne trilogy but look close enough and there are a few subtle nods to the cheesy Bond of old.
Following on from Casino Royale, you also get the continuity of the character’s struggle. Still vexed by the death of his former lover Vesper, 007 is motivated by anger and revenge — making his mission to hunt down Quantom leader Dominic Greene very personal.
An apt villain for our times, Greene is a faux-environmentalist with a hidden agenda. No cat on his lap, no super satellite or underground lair, just a cold hearted entrepeneur...and that sense of realism is the scariest part.

Burn After Reading

AFTER leagues of mundane Hollywood hits, it is always refreshing to see a Coen brothers movie.
The filmmakers have made a career out of twisting our interpretation of some of the industry’s biggest stars to squeeze out every last drop of comedy potential.
Take Burn After Reading. Chiselled poster boy George Clooney is transformed into a philanderous government agent (acting with his eyebrows as usual) while heart throb Brad Pitt takes the role of fitness geek, Chad, alongside his gormless fellow employee, Linda (Frances McDormand).
John Malkovich plays a bitter, drunken CIA analyst while Tilda Swinton completes the main cast as his cold hearted wife Katie (not that far removed from her turn as the White Witch in Narnia).

As far as the characters go, this is classic Coen brothers in the making, up there with The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona.
The story, too, will keep you entertained. It is a comedy of errors about ‘sensitive’ CIA documents that have fallen into the wrong hands.
It takes great pleasure in revealing its stars as great idiots, all connected through their illicit affairs, and the plot whirls out of control in a life all its own.
But at just 90 minutes, Burn After Reading seems to end almost as soon as its begun and there’s less laugh-out-loud moments than you’d hope for.
Yet give it a while and you may find this film sinking into your subconscious. Picture it in your mind and you’re sure to smile.

Tropic Thunder

BEN Stiller’s directorial debut had the promise of the comedy equilovent of a world war.
But after 107 minutes of luke warm gags, it seems Tropic Thunder can only muster that of a minor skirmish.
Some cinema goers and critics may have praised the film for its refreshingly different and inventive set up but a great premise is not enough when the film does not deliver on its most important commodity — laughs.
Here, real movie stars play fictional movie stars, who think they are shooting a Vietnam War movie, but are in fact hopelessly lost and in the dangerous territory of the ‘Flaming Dragon’ gang.
It starts well with fictional trailers of the stars’ other ‘recent films’, and then goes on to ridicule their spoilt self indulgence and egotism as part of a broad satire on the cult of celebrity.

The best character by a mile is ever-charming Robert Downey Jr’s Kirk Lazarus — an Australian who has a controversial cosmetic operation to bag the role of one of the black characters.
Also expect Jack Black, Tom Cruise, Steve Coogan, Matthew McConaughey and Nick Nolte — all great mates of Mr Stiller, no doubt.
With such a stellar cast, you’d expect the belly laughs to be as thick and fast as a hail of bullets but it rarely delivers.
Strangely enough, Tom Cruise (as you’ve never seen him before) is the funniest, whereas comedy stalwart Jack Black might as well have just stayed at home.
An accomplished disappointment, Tropic Thunder certainly hints at better things to come from director Ben Stiller...