Latest News

07 / 12 / 2008
Fantasy Rally: The final Fantasy Rally results are in - we have a winner! See how your team fared or see the Rally GB results.

05 / 11 / 2008
Review: After the gruelling James Bond press junket tour, I bet Daniel Craig could use a Quantum of Solace.

23 / 10 / 2008
Review: Brad Pitt steals the latest from the Coen brothers: Burn After Reading.

23 / 10 / 2008
Review: Simon Pegg learns How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

23 / 10 / 2008
Review: Ben Stiller directs stars aplenty in Tropic Thunder.

12 / 10 / 2008
Review: A few words on some recent movies: RocknRolla,
Death Race,
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army,
Space Chimps,
Stuck,
The Babysitters,
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder,
Son of Rambow,
Jack and Jill vs the World,
Made of Honor,
Meet Dave,
Doomsday,
Pathology.

15 / 08 / 2008
Review: You can mess with Adam Sandler, but You Don't Mess with the Zohan.

15 / 08 / 2008
Review: Mike Myers tickles some chakras in The Love Guru.

14 / 08 / 2008
Review: Toot and come in, it's The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

14 / 08 / 2008
Review: You can stop watching the skies now, it's The X Files: I Want to Believe.

31 / 07 / 2008
Review: Batman Began and now continues in The Dark Knight.

24 / 07 / 2008
Review: The Chronicles of Narnia continue with Prince Caspian.

23 / 07 / 2008
Review: Pixar goes Short Circuit with Wall-E.

22 / 07 / 2008
Review: Jules Verne never envisaged a 3D version of Journey to the Centre of the Earth.

09 / 07 / 2008
Review: Jet Li and Jackie Chan team up in The Forbidden Kingdom.

09 / 07 / 2008
Review: Will Smith keeps the streets safe and smelling of booze in Hancock.

09 / 07 / 2008
Review: M Night Shyamalan's latest, The Happening.

09 / 07 / 2008
Review: Spanish creepy-creepy The Orphanage.

09 / 07 / 2008
Review: A quick catchup of movies that don't get the full treatment:
Be Kind Rewind,
Street Kings,
What Happens In Vegas,
Superhero Movie,
The Ruins and
Teeth.

08 / 07 / 2008
Review: Bend that bullet Angelina! Wanted.

01 / 07 / 2008
Review: Those cats were fast as lightning - Kung Fu Panda.

24 / 06 / 2008
Review: Don't make Ed Norton angry - The Incredible Hulk.

24 / 06 / 2008
Review: Carrie and Big's wedding, it can only be Sex and the City.

11 / 06 / 2008
Review: Everyone's favourite pot-addicts are back in Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.

04 / 06 / 2008
Review: Harrison Ford returns in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

04 / 06 / 2008
Review: Tube driver seeks suicidal man in Three and Out.

18 / 05 / 2008
Review: CGI fantasy motor racing in Speed Racer.

18 / 05 / 2008
Review: Your creases will fly away with Iron Man.

18 / 08 / 2005
Sudoku! Have a go at the online Sudoku game.

Plenty more
See the rest of the reviews here.

Angel-A

Cast: Jamel Debbouze, Rie Rasmussen. Written and directed by Luc Besson. Story: An angelic woman helps a fallen man. Black and white, French with English subtitles. Running Time: 1hr 30 minutes. UK Certificate 15.

Some names, when attached to a film, are a guarantee of quality - Luc Besson is one of them. Monsieur Besson directed, wrote and produced Angel-A, so you're in for a treat.

It's something of a departure for him, though. Most of his back catalogue consists of action with soul and there are some real classics in there. Nikita, Leon (a.k.a. The Professional), Unleashed (a.k.a. Danny the Dog) and the two Transporter movies - they're all must-sees for a movie buff. Angel-A eschews the action format in favour of an arty metaphysical story and it looks like he's been doing it all his life. Shot entirely in monochrome, in French with subtitles, we see a Paris that is harsh and unforgiving, yet romantic and vibrant. The tale is told with sensitivity and humour, all the while captured by the beautiful direction and inventive cinematography. Like Children of Men, there are special effects, but they're marvellously integrated and add to the realism instead of detracting from it. Hollywood still has much to learn from the Europeans in some respects.

The gallic actors are unfamiliar to us, but Jamel Debbouze in particular is fabulous as the downtrodden and desperate André, rescuer and rescuee to the mysterious Angela. Both are at their wits' end and in need of a miracle - maybe they can be each other's. Along their personal journey, they learn much about each other - the kind of stuff that makes a viewer's mind consider their own life during the movie. This can be something of a problem with a subtitled film - once you've snapped back into the story, you've lost the last couple of minutes of dialogue. It could certainly stand a second viewing to pick up the remainder, it's easily watchable enough, and if anything is a little short - it's not often I find myself saying that nowadays.

Angel-A is a captivating movie and well worthy of Besson's name. Don't be put off by the artiness of it - there's no moping around talking about Proust - it's simply more talky than tanky. Anyone who doesn't need a body count will find something to enjoy here, give it a try and surprise yourself.

I enjoyed this film: 5/5

I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: 4/5

Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: 1/5 - just a tiny tease.

To enjoy this film you should be: a thinker.