Human Nature

A comedy about impulses, sex, civilisation and what it is to be civilised, which is more cynical than profound. The interplay of the main characters, their motivation and background is inspired, the cast brilliant, but what it lacks is a final unification to elevate it above the level of a sophisticated romp. You'll laugh, wince and maybe even cry, but perhaps you'll leave with the impression of having missed something.

Muppets from Space

The late Jim Henson is a hard act to follow. Recent Muppet movies have been souless affairs, and this is no exception. Love them though I do, the characters don't translate well into plot driven scenarios and should probably be laid to rest. Efforts to modernise them with Yeah's, Woo's & funky music form a schism between classic characters and the Nu-Muppetz, which can possibly only be resolved through civil war.

Silent Hill

The computer game, released on the old playstation, was a masterpiece of horror, a chilling, atmospheric, heart-wrenchingly terrifying experience. Obvious attempts to recreate this mood are apparent, but simply don't work. Perhaps the main problem is that it's too dark to see what we're supposed to be scared of - we know something nasty is approaching because there's screaming & evil music, but we can't see it and the scene cuts are too numerous to even try. This ties in with another problem of adapting a computer game to the screen - the sense of personal interaction is completely lost, so Silent Hill becomes just another horror film. The Witch Burning scene is too reminiscent of Monty Python to be anything other than funny, and that the climax turns into Hellraiser is unforgiveable.

The Little Mermaid

A remarkable film, in that it manages to cram everything I hate about Disney into a single feature - schamltz, laboured and unfunny comedy, characters we've seen in a million incarnations in every other opus and those agonising songs. However, what sickens me about Disney is that which has made it successful. Perhaps the scorn of a man like me is the best possible review a Disney film can get.

The Last Samurai

Of Tom Cruise, it seems pointless to say anything other than he is testament to mans capacity for self-deception. That out of the way, The Last Samurai takes a one-sided simplistic view of a complicated period and manages to make it suitably vague and inspiring. Historical and cultural accuracy is eschewed in favour of a shiny costume drama which isn't exactly rife with contradiction, but has enough direct hits on important places to defeat its point. Early Meiji Japan is depicted beautifully, but the end product is cheesier than a fondue party for mice.

The Devil Wears Prada

There are odd moments here when you think it's going to go beyond the formula and actually say something challenging. Sadly, this is a film all about the surface, and aside from a brilliant performance by Glenn Close, free from complexeties and even characters, with a couple of exceptions. Watch out for a couple of well timed speeches and a beautifully shot closing scene with the two main characters. Everything else is so last century.

Match Point

I'm in two very distinct minds about this. The absence of Allens ego is refreshing for one of his films, but this is replaced with a series of belched up English cliches, vague characters who wear the lines of an often lazy script like ill-fitting suits and equally loosely defined situations. In its favour, it looks lovely, there is some well observed sardonic and slightly cruel humour, and the closing scenes are noteworthy because something actually starts happening, albeit surprising, ragingly unsubtle and hardly worth the wait. The final twist is skillfully executed, but by that point I was glad it had ended.

Hoppity Goes to Town

At just over sixty years old, this film has aged well for the most part, occasionally delivering jokes that one can't help but laugh at since they sharply demonstrate how attitudes have changed. Animation is consistently detailed and imaginative, the songs catchy, and whilst from today's perspective, it's most definitely twee, the story is engaging, well paced, and at times even exciting.