60-second cinema

8 out of 10 This is the true story of a college American football team based in Odessa, Texas. Friday Night Lights is based on the book of the same name. In the book, a journalist joins the team over the course of the season and you get to know the players, coaches, parents, and most of all what the game means to the people of Odessa. Firstly, the film does not work as well as the book. There is no history of the town, the rivalries between other teams or the corruption involved in getting high school kids grades to the level where they can spend all their time playing football. In fact the journalist is cut completely from the movie. It's understandable that cuts were made in these areas, as otherwise it would have been an hour or two longer. Instead the film focuses on the players and coach, the highs and lows of the season, the good, the bad and the desperate times. As the players are based on real people they never really slipped into lazy sterotyping. The performance of ...

7 out of 10 James McAvoy plays Wesley Gibson a wimpy, low level office worker who hates his soul sapping job (and in particular his overbearing boss), and has a girlfriend who is cheating on him with his best friend. Yes, his life truly sucks the big one. Then he meets the enigmatic Fox, ( Angelina Jolie ) who tells him that the father that had run out on him when he was a baby, was a great assasin and was murdered by a man who is now after Wesley. If you have seen Timur Bekmambetov's earlier efforts particularly Daywatch you will have had a little taste of the visual style of Wanted. It's a fast-paced movie that does not take itself at all seriously. At times it not only stretches the laws of physics but also of credibility. It's perhaps neither as clever or as cool as it thinks it is, but what it is however is great fun. As long as you are prepared to enter the spirit of a film (that was after all based on a graphic novel), then you should enjoy this... just don...

7 out of 10 Cronos is Guillermo del Toro's Directorial debut. An ageing Antique dealer, Jesus Gris, discovers a device that seems to prolong life. Unfortunately there are conditions tied to the use of the device, not known by Gris. To further complicate matters the device is being saught after by a dieing man, De la Guardia, and his son (played by del Toro favourite Ron Perlman ) Despite being a horror movie, the film's strongest moments are when Gris is with his granddaughter Aurora. This is particularly true of the latter moments in the movie and for me this is the aspect that will stay with me the most.

7 out of 10 I only saw this film because I was taking my 9 year old to the pictures and this was preferable to Fred Claus. I would rather have taken him to see Howard the Duck than this years seasonal family cash-in. Sorry, I digress, Stardust is a modern take on an old fashioned fairy story. It has good perfromances from its leads and the story is well paced. Many people (particularly men) will be put off by the fact that it is a fantasy, story with love as it's central theme. However I think it is similar in spirit to The Princess Bride and if you enjoyed that you should get a kick out of this too.

8 out of 10 This is a French film documentary set in a small one-room school. The cast are about a dozen children aged between 4-11 and their teacher (George Lopez). I'll be honest, I was expecting an overly sentimental (and probably pretentious) look at some nauseating French kids. I was very pleasantly surprised. It is simply a look at life in a small school. My favourite moments were the scenes at home with the family 'helping' the kids with their homework. Although this was no doubt influenced by my inability to help my 9 year old with his maths. The film ends appropriately at the end of the school year. The relationship between the children and Mr Lopez is poignantly illustrated when three of the children leave to go to middle school. Even my cynical 'heart of stone' was warmed. I found myself thinking how nice it would be to be a teacher ... of course I came to my senses later. However it is an indication though of how much the film gets under your skin...

7 out of 10 Day Watch is the concluding part of the story of Dark and Light started in Nightwatch The truce between the dark and light is under threat, when a member of Nightwatch (Anton Gorodetsky - played by Konstantin Khabensky ) is framed for the murder of a Dark Other. Anton also needs to prevent his trainee and love interest Svetlana ( Mariya Poroshina ) from meeting with his son. Both are incredibly powerful but have chosen different sides (Dark and Light respectively). Throw into the mix a legend of Mystic Chalk that enables the owner to correct previous mistakes, Vampires, body swapping and side plots that would be at home in any soap opera, it is very hard to give a synopsis of the film without it sounding silly. The daftness is overshadowed by the fact that it is completely compelling and good fun to boot. The visuals and effects are of a very high standard although the sound will not be to everyone’s cup of tea (loud heavy metal music is played whenever the vampires ar...

7 out of 10 The Warriors is a cult classic, and despite various recommendations I wasn’t really looking forward to it. Set in New York, the film starts with a mass gathering of gangs in The Bronx. When a gang leader is killed, the finger is pointed at ‘The Warriors’. What evolves is a tense chase movie as the gang attempts to get back to Coney Island with thousands of rival gangs and Police after them. It all sounds very macho, but it really isn’t as brutal as you might think. The film is shot like a comic book with transitions between scenes combining live action with a style that seems way ahead of its time. The violence is also very comic book; think the 60’s TV series of Batman or the A-team. The casting of unknowns works in the film’s favour, as the characters seem genuinely tough. None of the cast went on to become big names in Hollywood (although Twin Peaks fans may recognise the leader of the Rogues, a sterling performance from a young ...

7 out of 10 This is a teen comedy set in a High School in Idaho. This alone would be enough to put a lot of people off, however this is not your average high school comedy. I like to think of it as Forest Gump meets Saved by the bell (but in a good way). Like Forest Gump, the enjoyment of the movie will depend how comfortable you are laughing at the afflicted. As soon as you think too hard about it the enjoyment will inevitably take a hit. To truly immerse yourself in the weird world of Napoleon Dynamite it's best not to think. Napoleon Dynamite polarises opinion - it is adored by its fans and loathed by its critics. It seems appropriate that in reviewing a film about a guy who doesn't really seem to fit in, that I don't fall into either category. It had a few good 'laugh out loud' moments but it won't be something I will rush to watch again.

7 out of 10 Curse of the Golden Flower is director Yimou Zhang ( Hero , House of flying Daggers )at his most audacious. It is spectacular, dramatic and colourful (maybe a little to colourful for some tastes). The action sequences are used more sparingly than in either Hero or Daggers. Yet this is a positive for me as it meant that the story was stronger for it. The story itself is one of a family at war. However the main protagonists are so unlikeable that you don't really know who you want to route for and as a result the ending falls a bit flat.

5 out of 10 On the face of it The Brothers Grimm is a perfect match for the dark surrealism of Terry Gilliam . However it fails to live up to its potential. The brothers (played by Matt Damon and Heath Ledger ) are travelling con-artists who arrive in a village with a real fairy tale curse. For a Fairy tale the cinematography is very grey and brown. There is little of the Gilliam imagination that we might have expected. Most surprising of all is that the special effects ranged from the sublime (blobby gingerbread man) to the downright awful. A scene where a CGI scarf was floating down a river was particularly derisible. At times it seems that the script is a vehicle for referencing yet another fairy tale rather than to tell the tale that the viewer is actually watching. This is a shame because when the movie does get going there are moments to enjoy.

4 out of 10 This is Mel Gibson’s film about the death of Jesus, and a brutal death it is too. This is one of the most unrelentingly violent films I have ever seen. What respite there is comes in the form of brief scenes of Christ's life, but these are few and far between. I don’t know who this is meant to appeal to. Most people I know (whether Christian or not) are not going to want to sit through what amounts to two hours of a man’s sustained torture in glorious Technicolor. At least I seriously hope they don't. There is very little here for anyone familiar with even the most basic knowledge of Christianity. The great shame is that it is very well made, the performances are good, cinematography is amazing and it is a movie that raises issues that will make you think. You can't say that about too many films. However, I didn't really know what the point of the movie was. The focus on the torture and brutality was at the expense of any background to Christ...

9 out of 10 The Science of Sleep is the screen writing debut of director Michel Gondry. If you have seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , a film he directed with scriptwriter Charlie Kaufmann you will have some idea of what to expect. It is the story of Stephane who has had problems confusing dreams and reality. Stephane returns to Paris where he meets his neighbour across the hall, Stephanie. Like most films where romance plays a central theme the enjoyment you get out of the film will rest with the two main characters. A fantastic performance by the two leads Gael García Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg and the way in which their relationship develops makes this completely compelling. It has come under-fire as being pretentious and self-indulgent. However the film is visually stunning (as you may expect from a director that has made his name from making Music Videos), has an intriguing concept, three dimensional characters and is quite unlike anything else out there. If t...

7 out of 10 Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives an excellent performance as Brendon who after receiving a mysterious phonecall from his ex-girlfriend, decides to investigate her disappearance. Brendon enters a world where no-one is to be trusted but who he is reliant on for information. Brick is essentially a new spin on the film noir/detective movie genre albeit set in a High School environment with a ‘Twin Peaks’ vibe. This is Rian Johnson’s debut feature and it is highly entertaining, fast paced and totally absorbing, but not without its flaws. It is not an easy watch. It requires a lot of concentration from the viewer mainly due to lengthy dialog and a language that is very unique. For long periods of time I had no idea what they were taking about, I just knew it was very very cool. It is a film that demands a second viewing and I believe that this could well be a film I will return to in the future and wonder why I didn’t rate it more highly.