Film News (31/10/2009)

I may have mentioned that I've been on tour and not been able to get to a computer recently. Or at least not enough to be able to read up on the news and report back. I am therefore writing this in the middle of half term with over three pages of notes regarding news stories that have come and gone over the last month and a half. I'm binning all updates on stories we've already reported on and just looking at the completely original incidents. With no further ado let's get on...

Gucci Biopic

There are few families from the 20th century which seem to be ripped out of a soap opera more than the fashion giants Gucci. There have been boardroom fist fights, celebrity hangers on, tax evasion claims and even murder. It's such a mad story it's going to need a barmy cast to bring it off... Anjelina Jolie as Patrizia Reggiano and Leonardo DiCaprio as her superflous husband Maurizio Gucci. Never mind the Dallas picture bring on the Gucci's.

Shoes are apparently not related to this post in any way...



American Rust

Described as a modern retelling of the underclass stories written by John Steinbeck in the pre-war years American Rust concerns two agricultural workers who leave their home town to find better jobs only to be caught in a maelstrom of violence and misunderstanding. Walter Salles has signed on to direct.

The Fly

I won't link to the 1986 version of the classic sci-fi about a scientist finding his DNA altered irreperably. Although perhaps I should because although there have rumours about a remake David Cronenberg has publicly stated that he will be behind the camera for any remakes. With advances in technology over the last 25 years the body horror elements will almost certainly be digusting beyond belief.

It's a Kind of Funny Story

Apparently it's a well-loved young adult story by Ned Vizzini about a suicidal teenager checking into an adult mental health facility. I don't know if the book is any good but I love the concept, and with Viola Davis signing up for a pivotal role you can count me in.

Melancholia

Lars von Trier is fed up with making deep arthouse pictures that divide audiences, so he's decided to make a blockbuster - a sci-fi disaster movie no less. Early plot details indicate another planet collides with the Earth. Don't expect a happy ending.

My Fair Lady

I love the original My Fair Lady, as a kid I was sat in front of it on almost every visit to my Grandparents. As such it is with trepidation that I approach the remake with Keira Knightly. The good news is that Emma Thompson is working on a script, which could make it very humourous. In unlikely casting Daniel Craig is being mooted for Henry Higgins.

Red Riding

To recap David Pearce wrote a quadrilogy of novels about corruption in the Yorkshire police forces during the late 70's and early 80's. Looking at the investigation into some teenagers murdered against the rise and fall of the trade unions. This was made into a TV miniseries, which was released in the states as 3 films - can anyone verify this, please? It looks like Columbia and Scott Free entertainment have picked it up to create one big movie. Could be a horrible mess.

Robert Capa Biopic

Michael Mann will be returning to the biopic arena for his next film, by looking at the famed photographer Robert Capa. The film wil focus on his early romances during the Spanish Civil War, so expect plenty of opportunity for Mann's sound editors to shine.

Securitas Robbery picture

Here in the UK we're just coming to the end of reports about the Tonbridge Securitas robbery. In essence it's a common story where the robbers kidnap the managers family and use that a leverage to get into the bank or, in this case depot. Only this time it's the largest haul in a robbery of all time with over 50m sterling taken. To make the story even more bizarre the ring leaders were mostly high profile cage fighters. It hasn't taken long for the studios to take an interest and I'm sure they're be parts for Danny Dyer in it.

X-Movies

The future of the X-Men franchise rumbles on. Like many of you I refused to cough up a fiver to see Wolverine, however lots of people did so expect a second installement of that offshoot as well as individual films for Magneto and Deadpool. Pruducer Lauren Schuler-Donner has also blurted out that we're likely to see an X-Men early years movie, like a mutant One Tree Hill. Can't wait? Personally I think the whole X franchise may have had it's day but we'll see. At what point do falling returns mean you stop production...


Box Office News

Release Date News

Taking Woodstock - Making November slightly easier to manage Ang Lee's 1960s set homocomedy has been moved back a week. Trip out with the flower generation on 13 November 2009.

The Girlfriend Experience - Steven Soderbergh's lo-fi experiment about the escort industry has slipped back another week into December. You can see the trailer this week. Pay over the odds on 04 December 2009.

The Boys are Back - Clive Owen's Oscar bid, based on Simon Carr's true story will still be showing in January next year but it is now a dirrent week. Learn to say yes on 22 January 2010.

Dear John - If the idea of watching a Nicolas Saprks novel adapted by Lasse Hallstrom makes you gag then you should seriously consider taking May as holiday. On the other hand we see an awful lot of Channing Tatum in the trailer. Write a love letter to Channing on 07 May 2010.

The Green Hornet - I'm hoping this is the last time Michel Gondry's comic book tome will be shifted back as the talent involved really intrigues me. Crime fight using a mysterious identity on 31 December 2010.

Untitled James L. Brooks Movie - It may be called How do you Know, it might not, but Brooks' return to the silver screen with Reese Witherspoon and lucky charm Jack Nicholson has chosen a prime date for the 2010 Oscar season. Have two men fight over you on 14 January 2011.

Straw Dogs - Two months ago I was concerned that the release date for Rod Lurie's retelling of the classic revenge thriller had disappeared into the ether, well it's back. Execute your wife's rapists on 11 March 2011.

Rango - It's not often I get interested in animated movies, however this reunites the Pirates trilogy director Gore Verbinski with star Johnny Depp. Plus it's about dogs. Fetch a bone on 08 April 2011.

Town Creek - They shifted it back further and further until ti completed disappeared. I can't say I'm sorry that I probably won't see the latest film from Joel Schumacher, but I'll keep an eye out in case it makes a limited release before it's inevitable appearance in DVD bargain bins.


Box Office Report

August and September both minor shocks in the top of the box office statistics, with a horror sequel conquering August and a South African actioners the champ in September. Although with the general lack of quality around in the late summer perhaps these two were positioned well.

August

1. The Final Destination
2. The Proposal
3. Inglorious Basterds
4. The Time Traveler's Wife
5. Aliens in the Attic

September

1. District 9
2. Fame
3. Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs
4. (500) Days of Summer
5. Surrogates



I thought I'd end this post with a picture of a prawn. Well done for persevering.

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Sally Kirkland

Happy Birthday to

Sally Kirkland

68 today

Sally may just be a footnote in acting history - a prostitute in JFK, another soldier in Private Benjamin - however her fashion sense, or lack thereof always needs to be celebrated.

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Out this Week (30/10/09)

It's an odd week for cinematic releases. Ultimately it doesn't matter about the relative quality of the releases I'm covering here, or how well they're going to do. In the end we all know that Michael Jackson will conquer the box office around the world, and as it technically a documentary I won't even be covering it. My pick of the week would be An Education.



Aladin

This Bollywood version of the classic 1001 nights adventure has been delayed at least once, so I'm not expecting great things.

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Dead Man Running

It's Danny Dyer again. I think I've lost count of the number of films he's been in this year. So far none have set the box office alight - don't expect things to change with this Cockney geezer story either. (Might just be the best of the bunch for Danny, though)

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An Education

Since it's debut in Sundance this has been one of the most anticipated releases of the year, with many a critic going gaga for the coming of age story. Carey Mulligan is said to give an Oscar worthy performance.

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The Horseman

This Australian road movie cum revenge drama has been turning quite a few heads on the horror fest circuit. Probably a very good example of that particular sub-genre if you're tempted.

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London Dreams

Some nonsense about a pair of Indian brothers coming to London to form a rockband. The trailers bland enough to make this instantly missable.

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Love Exposure

Shion Sono's 4 hour epic about teenagers falling in love against complex home lives and petty crime has been called a masterpiece by many who have had the priviledge to see it. Although I can only see 4 hours as a barrier here.

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9

Extended from his critically succesful animated short Shane Axcker's feature debut appears to have been a misfire. Maybe if the studio had given him more time to work on the story rather than rush through then he could have extended the mythology in a more constructive way.

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Tales from the Golden Age

The creative resurgence of Romanian cinema continues with this portmanteau movie about the end of Communism in the former Eastern European state. There's a comfortable mix of humour and high drama.

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Oh, and somehow I missed the release of the following two weeks ago:

Peraanmai

"PERANMAI" is a Tamil film by director S.P. Jananathan and stars Jayam Ravi. Ravi plays a forest officer who becomes a one-man army similar to Sylvester Stallone in the "RAMBO" series. The poster is quite cool, I'll give it that.

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Away We Go

2009. Dir: Sam Mendes. Starring: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Carmen Ejogo, Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels. ●●●●○



I've fallen behind somewhat on the reviewing, but hopefully I'm going to put that right over the next couple of days by letting you in on my feelings towards 3 films I've seen over the last 6 weeks. The flipside to that is that as time has passed I have become disconnected from my initial experiences. My reviews now will be low on specifics and more about the general feel of the film - any euphoria or crushing sense of disappointment will also have been muted by the delay. Nevertheless here goes with my review of the first of the films, which was also the best of the three.

Away we Go is a simple movie to describe, essentially a road movie with a pregnant couple looking for a new home to raise their child. As they travel from city to city each chapter introduces us to a bizarre selection of family and friends who are either sympathetic or highly neurotic. For every characterization you enjoy - Melanie Lynskey's college friend - there will be at least one that will make you want to leave the cinema - Alison Janney's screaming harpy.


Whilst the story may be pretty predicatable and episodic the film works as a whole due to the power of the central performances and the beleievable nature of the screenplay. Krasinski and Rudolph always come across as flawed people who are very much in love, and we can see them through each others eyes and as such we are able to forgive their foibles in the same way that we fall in love with the rough edges of our own partners. Every detail of the relationship between our protangonists is realistic and measured.

The ending itself is a testament to the power of love between this couple. They prove to themselves that having family and friends to support when the baby is born is good, but the most important thing is to have each other, to identify and nurture the love in your own relationship.

Some of the performances are better than others, and the lack of ambition in the story telling and direction shows, muting the overall enjoyment of the piece.

On the technical side the work by Dave Eggars and Vendela Vida on the script is perfect, even the grating characters seem to have been written in such a way that you believe in their existence. Kudos also needs to be given to Location Scout Sarah Crofts, who has found unique settings and feels for each of the cities on this extraordinary road trip.

Overall I'd say this was a minor success, pleasing and enjoyable, one which Mendes can be proud to add to his back catalogue.

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Winona Ryder

Happy Birthday to

Winona Ryder

38 today

After years of being in the shadows, surrounding her arrest and conviction for "accidental" shop-lifting, she's now back in the theatres. Her Spock's mother may have been brief but it's a good step back into the limelight. Saying that she needs to do more quality films to be able to stay there.

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Jane Alexander

Happy Birthday to

Jane Alexander

70 today

Jane has had a fascinating relationship with cinema and, especially with the Academy Awards. During the 70's nearly every performance she made got awards attention, including the blink and you'll miss it role in All the President's Men. Now, even when she makes impact on the sidelines, she is generally ignored. Nothing special coming up.

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Running - Coventry Half Marathon

I'm not really trainign at the moment. Next marathon will be in April, however I have been out with the others on the tour - Kirk is far faster than I am but only does shorter distances. Adam is about the same so we make a good running pair.

It's funny I never realised how competitive I am - even when just going out with mates. I always want to be keeping up with the others.

This competitiveness nicely leads me on to the Coventry Half Marathon which I completed on Sunday with 3 friends (Ian, Euan and Dave). Before the race started I was ever so anxious about getting in before them, or at least at a reasonable pace so I wasn't embarassed. I'm also still a fattie so I was hoping to get a good time in case the gusy thought my time for the Nottingham Marathon was made up.

In the end I did it in 1 hour 43 minutes 33 seconds. I think that's fair, but I know I can do better. Maybe try for a half over Christmas and plan to come in under 1 hour 40. What do you think?

... Oh, and I beat the others. I'm not over competitive at all.

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Peter Firth

Happy Birthday to

Peter Firth

56 today

Peter was the original Alan Strang in Peter Shaffer's pseudo religious Equus, his performance was so committed and so highly praised that the talkiness and faux intellectualism of the play was completely missed. He is now a key supporting character in British TV spy series "Spooks". Make of that what you will Daniel Radcliffe.

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Out this week (23/10/09)

It's half-term now, so I guess I'll have an opportunity to catch up with everything in the week - this will be helped by me not having any enthusiasm for any of this weeks releases. Great for staying at home and blogging like a mad man. If I had to choose, and I'd really rather not, I guess I'd go and see The Fantastic Mr. Fox.



Cirque du Freak: Vampire's Assistant

It's another teenage vampire movie. Except unlike the Twilight juggernaught it's for boys. With a kid joining a circus becoming a vampire and having to fight lots of bad guys. Trailer looks like it has a broad appeal to the youth of today, at least.

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Coffin Rock

Australian horror movie's have been increasing in popularity and exposure over the last few years, even if you can pretty much guess the plot. Add pregancy and deranged Irish drifter to the Outback wilderness and you get this story in a nutshell.

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Colin

Perhaps this film will go down as re-writing history. Not because of the quality, or the cultural impact this Zombie flick will have on the youth of today, but because it's budget was a mere £45. Filmed on mobile phones with all actors and crew paid with tea and biscuits it's a miracle that it's being released [albeit on a limited scale].

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The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wes (Rushmore, The Royal Tenebaums) Anderson's stop motion adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic has been getting warm reviews for taking the concept but not losign the idiosyncratic touch we've seen in his previous works. The stellar cast make this the top film of the week to watch.

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The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

If having the producers of Anchorman and Talledega Nights is enough to induce you to see this then I guess there is little I can say to deter you. Best comment I've read in a review "contains more offensive language [than Glengarry Glen Ross] but fewer laughs."

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Johnny Mad Dog

Picking up the Regard Hope Award in Cannes was a major milestone for this African-set war drama, focusing on the rise of a child soldier during bloody and relentless civil unrest.

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Saw VI

I don't know how the Saw franchise works, having never been tempted for a viewing of it's gratuitous torture porn, but they seem to have the profitability of the franchise in good hands. Knocking one out each year with scant regard for plot inconsistencies and with a couple of "where have I seen that face before" actors seems to be keeping it going.

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Kevin Kline

Happy Birthday to

Kevin Kline

62 today

Does anyone know for what role Kevin was sporting this faintly ridiculous beard - I can't find a still that looks at all similar, and he can't have wanted to grow one like this for himself, surely.

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Joan Fontaine

Happy Birthday to

Joan Fontaine

92 today

The second Mrs. de Winter has really proved Mrs Danvers and the rest of that strange household wrong by surviving well into her 90's. Last night I dreamed I went to Manderlay...

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Ken Watanabe

Happy Birthday to

Ken Watanabe

50 today

Ken is one of the few non-native English speaking actors who can comfortably move between his homeland cinema of Japan and Hollywood. The world is a better place because of it. Next up is a supporting, but pivotal role in Christopher Nolan's Inception.

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Tuesday Trailers - Nine

With more of my top 20 films of 2009 being dropped into next year nearly every week it's good to see the latest musical adaptation from Rob Marshall is still coming soon. OK, stylistically it's pretty much going to be Chicago 2, with a more diverse cast, and Daniel Day-Lewis singing, dancing and speaking with an Italian accent.



Nine opens on 27 November 2009.

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John Lithgow

Happy Birthday to

John Lithgow

64 today

As I've not celebrated the birthday of a man in over 3 weeks, I thought I ease myself back into it gently by saying happy birthday to a man oscar nominated for playing a transexual in The World According to Garp. Happy Birthday Roberta.

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Out this Week (25/09/09 - 16/10/09)

I am so horribly out of dates - it's almost unreal. I love touring, don't get me wrong, going into schools is great fun, but not getting close to a computer for 4 weeks is definitely frustrating. It means I have 20 days of news to catch up on and nearly 40 cinema releases to preview in the next 3 hours (the time it takes to cross the Irish sea). I have been making it to the mutiplex, mind, seeing 3 films since I last showed up here, which has made the non-computer time a little easier. Starting with the releases read on to see all the films that appeared in the UK in the last 4 weeks. I've ordered them by date with this week the most recent going right back to 25 September. The films of the week have been: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus



Zombieland



Ip Man



and The Soloist



16 October 2009

Aadhavan

Perhaps unsurprisingly the first film on the list is from Bollywood, and I know nothing about it whatsoever. It appears on the surface to be an upstairs downstairs family drama led by a powerful matriach. Probably has some singing in it.

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All the Best

Or All the Best: Fun Begins, which suggests it's part of a franchise of all the best films. Is that really a good thing? Should I really be writing about Bollywood anyway.

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Blue

I've just remembered it's Divali this weekend, hence the proliferation of Hindi releases. Blue concerns deep sea diving and has a cameo from Kylie Minogue so it's getting an extra blob for that.

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Couples Retreat

The concept of a comedy set at a tropical island for couples experiencing marital difficulties feels like it's been on every relationship based sitcom I've ever seen. Why is that?

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The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The last half a performance Heath Ledger gave before his untimely death is fantastically rescued by Terry Gilliam in his latest film. See Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell all try to be better than each other but not as good as Ledger as versions of the character. I actually really want to see this.

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Main Aur Mrs Khanna

Bollywood Release number 4 is a comedy about a marriage breakdown. The guy playing the third wheel in the relationship is very hot, so this may be worth seeing.

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Ong-Bak: The Beginning

Tony Jaa returns to direct and star in the prequel to his masively popular chops-socky comedy adventure Ong-Bak. Expect more superb choreography and darkly comic fight sequences.

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Pontypool

No, it's not a documentary about life in a small Welsh town, but a Canadian zombie movie. The interesting conceit being that the first half is set completely within a radio station as the DJ's pick up news of the Zombie attack via 'phone ins.

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Thirst

Chan Wook-Park (Sympathy for Mrs. Vengence, Oldboy) may appear to be the least likely director of a vampire movie, especially in the post Twilight age of hormonal blood urges, but this won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes as well as many devoted fans.

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Triangle

If it's not Bollywood this week, then it's a horror movie. And so it is with Triangle where Melissa George meets multiple versions of herself getting chopped into little pieces in the Bermuda Triangle.

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WMD.

Bland looking thriller about the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, and a lone MI6 agent who discovers "proof" there were no weapons of mass destruction. Seems a touch far-fetched to me.

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09 October 2009

Goodbye Solo

Much praised indie about the friedship between a suicidal old man and a Sengalese immigrant taxi driver. When people like Sasha Stone are raving then you know it's worth a look.

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Hallowe'en II

I don't suppose anyone actually believed that this would be even close to watchable, nevertheless the reviews have been incredibly venomous for Rob Zombie's return to the Michael Myers story. By the way, does Malcolm McDowel even read scripts any more?

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Katalin Varga

Revenge drama from Romania about a wife finding redemption for her wronged husband. Hilda Peter in the lead role carries the film on her shoulders with an extraordinary performance.

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Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee

When I first heard about this film I thought it was a joke, even now it's getting a release I'm not convinced. Shot in 3 weeks, with Paddy Considine as a roadie who's seen it all and get through to the other side. With Shane Meadows at the helm I'm sure it'll be steered well, even if it is ultimately slight.

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Love Happens

With each successive film I get more convinced that Jennifer Aniston should stick to TV and stop trying to build a cinema career for which she is clearly unsuited. This rom-com about grief seems to fail on so many levels.

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Up

Little needs to be said to introduce Pixar's latest offering, their tenth massive hit. Everyone's expecting this to be the first animation to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar since Beaty and the Beast, and having seen it last week it's easy to see why.

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Zombieland

Zombie's never cease to be cinematically interesting, and in Ruben Fleicher's American answer to Shaun of the Dead we see one's of 2009's funnest creation's in Woody Harrelson's undead killer.

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02 October 2009


Army of Crime

If you're not suffering from Nazi resistance fatigue then this French film about the Paris immigrant population who fought the invaders may make for an interesting addition to the genre.

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District 13: Ultimatum

Our second production from France this week is the follow up to the Luc Besson produced guilty pleasure. Leave your brain at the door and marvel at the parkour action and the dodgy acting.

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Do Knot Disturb

I think the hilarious pun in the title may just be the comic highlight for this little film about a businessman who just want's to keep his affair a secret.

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Driving Aphrodite

Nia Vardalos desperately wants to resurrect her career back to it's Big Fat Greek Wedding peak, unfortunatly this middling comedy about a tour guide falling in love in Greece won't be the way to go about it.

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Ghost in the Shell 2.0

Re-edited version of the classic 1995 anime, with addition CGI produced scenes. If you were a fan of the original then this update will be unmissable. For the rest of us it seems like a White Elephant of a project.

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Invention of Lying

I freely put my hand up to say I am not a fan of Ricky Gervais. I find most of his work coarse and off putting. It would have taken incredible reviews for me to want to see his latest foray into Hollywood. That hasn't happened.

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Ip Man

A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun, who included the legendary Bruce Lee among his pupils.

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Pandorum

Every now and then a sci-fi horror comes along which redefines the genre. Alien and Event Horizon being prime examples of this. This Dennis Quaid/Ben Foster starrer doesn't redefine anything.

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The Spell

British film about a girl coming to terms with her parents separation, and who finds that she's unwanted by either of her parents so leaves home at her earliest opportunity. (Unfotunately it then spins off into an occult thriller).

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Surviving Evil

Billy Zane is back in cinemas in this TV documentary crew who are chased by remote Philippine monsters. Make it stop, dear God, make it stop.

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Vinyan

The theme of the week appears to be films that start with a good concept, Emmanuelle Beart and Rufus Sewell lose their child following the Tsunami, but then drift into mindless horror rubbish. Best left alone, I think.

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Wake up Sid

Sid just wants to grow up, leave the family home and marry the girl of his dreams. His dreams aren't the same as his families though in this Bollywood rom-com.

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25 September 2009

Born in 68

This French soap seamlessly integrates the political and social upeavals between 1968 and 2007 to the changing lifestyle choices of it's central family unit.

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Creation

Charles Darwin is one of the few men who can truly lay a claim to changing society forever, his theory of evolution has changed the way mankind views itself. The film is getting decent enough reviews, but has suffered from the Cannes opening night curse and has failed to pick up US distribution.

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Fame

The original is not as good as you remember, so if you are concerned about the studios pissing on the memory of a clasic then please don't. That, by the way, is not a recommendation. Although the camp as Christmas supporting cast (Megan Mullally, Bebe Neuwirth, Kelsey Grammar) may be.

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Heart of Fire

This heart wrencing true story about a girl growing up during Eritrea's struggle for independence from Ethiopia deserves a much bigger audience than it will get.

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Jack Said

More from Danny Dyer. And as much as I like to get to know him up close and personal, I'm not sure he would know a good script it it smacked him in the face.

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Management

Jennifer Aniston and Steve Zahn meet up in this romantic comedy. They're an attractive couple so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

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Morris: A life with Bells on

In order to drum up a distribution deal the production company (Twist Films) toured round village halls and even got BBC Radio 4 on side. Shame the morris dancing expose seems duller than that story, even with Dominique Pinon among the cast.

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The Soloist

Joe Wringt comes off the back of consecuetive period hits Atonement and Pride and Prejudice with this adaptation of a LA Times article. It's a brave move, but with Jamie playing a mentally ill cellist and Robert Downey Jnr. as columnist Steve Lopez it should just about work.

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Surrogates

Jonathon Mostow (Terminator 3) and Bruce Willis (of the vest and bald patch) team up for this high concept thriller about a world where we all stay in and have our surrogate robots do the heavy work for us. Great idea, execution looks iffy.

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Thomas and Friends Hero of the Rails

It's a Thomas the Tank Engine movie. I'm guessing if you're reading this it's not the sort of film for you, and you can guess the plot.

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What's your Raashee

Bollywood like's to try interesting and new concepts with it's output, so this one looks at a guy trying to find love within a ten day deadline in order to ensure he inherits a fortune. I'm not sure I totally agree, as surely finding love is it's own reward, but c'est la vie.

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White Lightnin'

This has been categorised by Pearl and Dean as a pseudo biopic, I'm not even sure what that means, although it appears to follow the life story of a slightly unhinged dancer from the Appalacian Mountains. He probably is a real person, but this may not be his real story...

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Angela Lansbury

Happy Birthday to

Angela Lansbury

84 today

Not only has Angela won countless awards for her work on the stage and large and small screens, but she also holds the destinction of spearheading the world's longest running detective series. Between 1984 and 1996, with 7 additional years of one offs Jessica Fletcher unmasked nearly 300 mass murderers, not bad for a Miss Marple knock off.

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Tuesday Trailers - A Serious Man

The Coen Brothers are pretty hit and miss for me, I find a lot of their films to be just outside my comfort zone. This Jewish comedy is currently my top of the year, so I'm willing to give it a go. You've just got to love the repetitive beat of bashing a head against a blackboard and the "he didn't look busy" joke.



A Serious Man opens on 20 November 2009.

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Melinda Dillon

Happy Birthday to

Melinda Dillon

70 today

When people mention the great cast of Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia they often neglect to mention Melinda's sterling contribution, perhaps because her meek supportive wife gets only one scene to really let it rip, but when you next see it watch her eaction to Philip Baker Hall's confessions and tell me you don't feel pulled along by her conviction.

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Sigourney Weaver

Happy Birthday to

Sigourney Weaver

60 today

Will Avatar reap a bounty at the Box Office? Will it change the way we see movies forever? Quite frankly, who cares? When Siggy's in the movie that's all that matters to me.

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Mary Badham

Happy Birthday to

Mary Badham

57 today

In one of those rare examples of a child actor seeing the light and find a real job Mary, Scout to Gregory Peck's brilliant Atticus Finch, is now an Art Restorer. She still has a birthday though.

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Kate Winslet

Happy Birthday to

Kate Winslet

34 today

Kate Winslet is resting. After finally winning a oscar for The Reader earlier this year following her sixth nomination (that's one every 5.5 years since she was born, or every 1 in every 3 of her live action performances) I think she deserves the rest.

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Susan Sarandon

Happy Birthday to

Susan Sarandon

63 today

The sizzling liberal firecracker, who's been a classic pinup since her Rocky Horror/Atlantic City days, is on my radar for 2 upcoming performances. The first is as a boozy Grandmother in Peter Jackson's Lovely Bones adaptation where she'll be stealling every scene she muscles in on, then it's Shia LaBeouf's mother and conscience (educated guess) in Wall Street 2: Money never sleeps.

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Lorraine Bracco

Happy Birthday to

Lorraine Bracco

55 today

Best known as Tony Soprano's shrink, and proving I have impeccable taste in television as well as movies, let's all raise a cheer for her big day.

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Julie Andrews

Happy Birthday to

Julie Andrews

74 today

Mary Poppins, Maria von Trapp, Millie Dillmount, Gertrude Lawrence, Victoria Grant... so many star making musical performances from just one woman.

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