The Science of Sleep

Michel Gondrys latest offering is a rambly non-story leading the viewer from one strangely animated dream(?) sequence to the next. These are, as you'd expect from the director, really lovely and humourous, but in this film they just seem pointless. Moreover, the unlikeable main character makes you wonder why you should care anyway.

Some Kind of Wonderful

Expecting as I was, a Rom-Com from the eighties, this really surprised me. It's gently paced and, albeit a complete fantasy, pleasantly human. Although some of the characters stand out because they're so cartoonish, they don't ruin the smoothly delivered story. Great for playing the "Oh-wow-it's-that-actor-whose-name-I-don't-know-who-was-in-that-film-don't-they-look-young?" game.

The Forgotten

It's never a good thing to accurately prophesise the as-of-yet-unfolded plot with a joke. This kind of thriller requires nothing of the audience, save a sponge like brain, willing to soak up whatever is slowly dripped into it. Pah.

High School Musical

Bracketed with a nudge and a wink, High School Musical may promise more than it actually offers. There isn’t a trace of irony in this film – no pedestal of spin from which the postmodern viewer can mock the product created to entertain them. In that sense, it’s a refreshingly pure and unpretentious cinematic offering, but still the most excruciating thing I’ve sat through since my last trip to the dentists. Correction, the most excruciating thing I’ve sat through since Instinct.

The Bourne Identity

Matt Damon gradually blunders towards a conlusion that the audience was privy to within the first half hour of the film. Thank God for the locations.

The Secret Life of Words

Despite a slow start, there are one or two moments that hint at the film being good on the whole - a few strong characters (mostly through the supporting cast), played well, interacting in an interesting, claustrophobic environment could have been pretty good if it wasn't for the dismal story arc, which suddenly and rapidly descends into comparing emotional scars. The climatcic revelation has absolutely nothing to do with the context of the rest of the film, and appearing as it does at the end, like an obsecene sock puppet (referencing very real atrocities which have no place in a pretentious film) comes across as sensationalist, tactless and tasteless. Beautifully shot poignancy by numbers that might make you angry for entirely the wrong reasons.