Children of Men

This film has been praised for its' use of single-shot sequences, and these can be very effective when it comes to dropping the viewer right in the moment. However, there is nothing more likely to remind you that it's all just a bunch of actors on a well timed set, than a splodge of blood on the camera.

There is a body of science fiction that, once the premise has been set up, becomes a fairly hum-drum story that doesn't ask too many questions. Children of Men is by no means bereft of a message, but that which it offers could belong to any Dystopian Tale - moreover, the politics on display, although resonant with my own opinions, are far too vague to be anything other than a bit suspiscious. In fact, it's this "going for the gut" approach that detracts from the message, especially when that's a criticism leveled at the methods of other scaremongers. The ideas behind this story could have been presented in a film all to themselves, and it seems pointless to dress them up with this storyline, which just serves as a catalyst for the road movie genre.

Michael Caine makes a great hippy though.

Little Miss Sunshine

Amazing - there was little I found wrong with this film, other than I doubt very much I'll ever watch it again, hence the three pigs. The characters are magnificently maladjusted, and all the more loveable for it - that some get abandoned after establishment is unimportant because it's their interaction (which I'm almost sure any viewer can relate to) that makes this film as good as it is. Although the conclusion is, in retrospect, inevitable, the fact that the audience is made to care about the situation stands in its favour.

Pretty Woman

Even though this film was made in 1990, it came on the cusp of the eighties, a decade I spent on another planet it would seem - I have successfully managed to avoid several atrocities of those heady years, Top Gun & Dirty Dancing being notable examples...this film fell into the category of those which accompany the formative years of my peers like a special pet, one that I neglected. Years later, my purity intact, and as I have grown avoiding the Rom-Com genre as best I can, it becomes increasingly difficult not to hate the very thought of being ensnared by the glittering maw of this Hollywood rags-to-riches classic.

I was surprised...sometimes...in it's favour, Pretty Woman doesn't shy away from some of the difficulties faced by prostitutes, although it does this in a slightly hands off manner. It's also worthy as a tale of human decency, suggesting in days where "obscene" amounts of money bring wealth to the few and poverty to the many, that such Dickensian "miracles" aren't quite dead. It's best feature, however, is the constant vindication of the underdog.

I laughed once. This is the cheesiest film I have ever seen - surely by this enlightened period in cinematic history, horse riding at dusk had to have been consigned to the waste-bin? This is the ultimate fantasy of the last century, where powerful men commanding vast wealth and power sweep vulnerable but strong women off their feet and take them to a magical palace of comfort and love. Richard Gere is so suavely bland that I want to do something to mess up his hair, or thrust a custard pie in that chiseled face. I never ever want to see this film again.

A.I

This could have been one of the most amazing films ever. The glorious first section elegantly avoids the cliches of depicting the razzle-dazzle future, creates believable characters placed in unique situations and asks some uncomfortable, provoking moral questions of them and the viewer. Then suddenly, it abandons all of this, firmly placing itself in the "bright lights = the future" camp, with two-dimensional characters popping in and out of Ye Olde Quest Tale. Just when you think it can't get any worse, the final sequence, which could just as easily come from another film, soars in on Spielberg's' wings of love. I know this is what other people have made of A.I, but I wanted to see for myself.

Marie Antoinette

My, what a strange film. Maybe in historical drama, authenticity is the most important thing, and it certainly looks like it fulfils that need, but the hipster indie soundtrack is nothing short ofbaffling, especially when a string quartet arrangement of Siouxie and the Banshees' "Hong Kong Garden" erupts into the real thing. Direction of the cast is also a tad peculiar - you'd almost think that Rip Torn was deliberately trying to make the King of France sound like a Texan Oil Baron, and the only people even remotely French (who, of course, speak English with an accent) are but minor cameos. Since Marie Antoinette's demise occured long after the events ending the film, one might think that it's about the life at court, with it's sundry intrigues, but these aren't explored deeply, hinting only at malicious gossip rather than actual plots perpetrated by or against the Queen. It's a nicely looking, moderately engaging film that, just when it seems to start going somewhere, ends.