60-second cinema

9 out of 10 Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) is a Congressman: one who likes a drink, likes the ladies, knows many influential people and is owed favours by more than a few. His friendship with Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts) brings him into contact with the President of Pakistan and an impromptu trip to the refugee camps filled with hundreds of thousands of displaced Afghans. Witnessing the plight of these families first hand prompts firm action from Wilson in support of the Mujahideen, leading to the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989 and ultimately to the current situation in Afghanistan. The film itself is beautifully produced, the script is full of sparkling, dry wit delivered expertly by Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman who plays CIA man Gust Avrakotos. These are two very fine performances, supported admirably by Roberts and Congressman Wilson's all female office staff. The cinematography delivers powerfully, particularly during Wilson's first visit to the camp in Northe...

2 out of 10 I'm really struggling to find anything good to say about this film. The storyline was awful, the comedy weak, it did nothing to further the progress of animation and was filled with characters you wanted to stamp on. Dreadful. And I shall waste no more time on it.

6 out of 10 I'll start by saying I am a massive fan of the books, but given the tales of a rather turbulent production I was keeping my hopes for the film in check. The trailers had looked visually stunning, but I was concerned about how they would get such a complex story into a couple of hours. One thing that struck me pretty early on in the film was that the screenplay really wasn't up to the job. The story moved from scene to scene at such a speed that I imagine many who came to the film without having read the books would have been lost. The three main actors did fine jobs: Kidman proved to be an admirable Mrs Coulter, and Daniel Craig's brief appearances as Lord Asriel were also up to the job. The star though was Dakota Blue Richards, for a first-timer I thought she captured Lyra extremely well. The CGI was pretty impressive even if the bear fight, while visually spectacular, didn't really engage the viewer. Iorek was portrayed well and Eva Green produced ...

6 out of 10 The original Fantastic Four movie was not widely regarded as the finest of super hero outings. Personally, I found it light entertainment that required no thought whatsoever: a kids film. No match for the likes of Spider-man, but a wheeze none-the-less This second outing of the fabulous foursome introduces yet another Marvel character to the cinema-going public, a particular favourite of mine: The Silver Surfer. Let's get straight down to it, as a friend of mine said this is more Batman & Robin than Batman Begins. That about hits the nail right on; this is very much a kids movie, but not a bad one. The effects are good, they have done justice to the chrome-plated Surfer but just don't expect much depth to the characters or plot. The story, in brief, sees the world under threat from the mysterious surfer and the FF crew must join forces with an arch-rival to discover what is happening and how to stop it. The character of the Surfer is unveiled slowly, from ...