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

02 / 11 / 2008
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Japan are in - just one rally to go and still the lead keeps changing! See how your team fared or see the Japanese rally results. Any of the top ten could still claim overall honours!

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
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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
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22 / 07 / 2008
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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.

Into the Wild

Cast: Emile Hirsch, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Jena Malone, Catherine Keener, Brian Dierker, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Stewart. Directed by Sean Penn, adapted by Sean Penn from the book by Jon Krakauer. Story: The true story of Christoper McCandless, graduate turned hobo. Running Time: 2hrs 20 minutes. UK Certificate 15.

Hey, look at that, Sean Penn directed this one. On the face of it, he has a bright future as a director.

If you've seen the trailer for this one, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was Leonardo DiCaprio in the shaggy beard and lumberjack shirt - but no, it's Emile Hirsch, that all-grown-up kid from The Girl Next Door - that one whose name I thought I'd never need to remember. Shows what I know. Hirsch stars as the real-life chap Christopher McCandless, a promising graduate student who donated his worldly worth to charity and hitch-hiked away into the US wilderness, encountering many colourful characters on his mission to Alaska. Hirsch really is rather good, against expectation, but it's the scenery and cinematography that are the real stars of the show - they convey a beautifully haunting impression of the American outback. And it's nice for a change to see Vince Vaughn play something other than a smartass dick, even if his part does feel significantly trimmed around the edges.

I had no preconceptions about Into the Wild, so I didn't know what to expect. I was pleased to find the story capturing my interest for at least the first hour - but it doesn't half go on. After the second hour I was distinctly antsy and becoming increasingly confused by the time-line jumps; as the movie lost focus in the middle, I found myself doing the same - drifting away for a moment, then realising I'd missed a bit - so I think it could benefit from some midriff pruning (couldn't we all). Fortunately the final act goes a good way to remedying the mid-term malaise, thanks largely to a powerful performance by veteran actor Hal Holbrook as McCandless's protective grandfather figure. It's not for kids, primarily for the bum-numbing running time but also for brief moments of full-frontal nudity (from Hirsch and some anonymous nudist women) and a rather gruesome moose-maiming incident that is shown very graphically, in all its sinewy lunch-losing detail. Yuk.

Into the Wild is a great directorial effort from Sean Penn, but it'd be better if it was half an hour shorter. It gets lost in its own narrative outback, but gets back on track and is still an involving enough story that gives you plenty to think about. Worth a watch.

I enjoyed this film: 3/5

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

Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: 2/5 - we man, we make fire. Some unexpected nudity and animal entrails.

To enjoy this film you should be: in a very comfortable seat.