A-Z FILM GUIDE.Byline: DAVID EDWARDS4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS (Cert 15, 113mins) **** Starring: Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov A harrowing drama looking at the world of backstreet backstreet Noun a street in a town far from the main roads Adjective denoting secret or illegal activities: a backstreet abortion backstreet n abortions in communist Romania. Ultrableak but grips like a vice. ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS (Cert U, 91mins) **** Starring: Jason Lee. Voices: Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler The much-loved singing chipmunks become international sensations in this child-friendly movie - but do fame and fortune equate to happiness? Adults will be bored, kids will be utterly entranced. BEE MOVIE (Cert U, 90mins) *** Voices: Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick Yet another talking animal toon sees a young bumblebee bumblebee: see bee. bumblebee Any member of two genera constituting the insect tribe Bombini (family Apidae, order Hymenoptera), found almost worldwide but most common in temperate climates. Bumblebees are robust and hairy, average about 0. escape his hive and fall in love with a human florist. Passable stuff for the kids. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD (Cert 15, 117mins) **** Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman For other persons named Philip Hoffman, see Philip Hoffman (disambiguation). Philip Seymour Hoffman (born July 23, 1967) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. Biography Early life Hoffman was born in Fairport, New York to Gordon S. , Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney An entertaining twisting thriller about a robbery planned by two brothers that goes horribly wrong. As good a movie as you'd expect from director Sidney Lumet. BEOWULF (Cert 12A, 114mins) **** Voices: Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich The ancient poem of a mighty warrior who vanquishes a troll from a Scandinavian kingdom is brought to a life in an animated treat. Try to see it in 3-D if you get the chance. BRICK LANE (Cert 15, 102mins) *** Starring: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson Monica Ali's novel is turned into a poignant but not particularly interesting novel about a young Bangladeshi woman's life in London's East End. Good performances but a little bland. CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (Cert 15, 102mins) *** Starring: Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julia Roberts The true story of a US politician who helped arm the Afghan resistance following the Soviet invasion of 1979. A stagey stag·ey adj. Variant of stagy. Adj. 1. stagey - having characteristics of the stage especially an artificial and mannered quality; "stagy heroics" stagy , erratic movie but Hoffman is reliably superb. DAN IN REAL LIFE (Cert PG, 99mins) ** Starring: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook A lonely widower falls for his brother's girlfriend during a family get together. A rom-com that's neither romantic nor especially funny. EASTERN PROMISES (Cert 18, 101mins) **** Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts David David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. Cronenberg follows up A History Of Violence with a terrific - and terrifically violent - thriller exploring the world of London's Russian Mafia. ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE (Cert 12A, 115mins) *** Starring: Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish Following on from 1998's Elizabeth, this time the Virgin Queen must lead England's forces into battle against the Spanish Armada - not easy when she's falling for the charms of Sir Walter Raleigh. ENCHANTED en·chant tr.v. en·chant·ed, en·chant·ing, en·chants 1. To cast a spell over; bewitch. 2. To attract and delight; entrance. See Synonyms at charm. (Cert PG, 107mins) *** Starring: Amy Adams, James Marsden, Patrick Dempsey A young woman who falls for her Prince Charming is exiled to New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. by his evil stepmother. Starting out in 2D before becoming a live action adventure, little girls will love it. THE GOLDEN COMPASS (Cert, 116mins) *** Starring: Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards Philip Pullman's bestseller is turned into a variable fantasy epic. A starry cast, some great special effects and lots of talking animals can't cover up the fact that it lacks magic. HITMAN (Cert 15, 93mins) *** Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko An anonymous assassin finds himself set up after accepting a job to kill a Russian politician. For teens only - adults should give it a miss. I AM LEGEND (Cert 15, 100mins) *** Starring: Will Smith After a plague wipes out mankind, one man must fight to stay alive in a zombie-infested Manhattan. It feels like a work in progress with scenes that make no sense. Oh, and check out the dodgy CGI CGI in full Common Gateway Interface. Specification by which a Web server passes data between itself and an application program. Typically, a Web user will make a request of the Web server, which in turn passes the request to a CGI application program. . I'M NOT THERE (Cert 15, 136mins) ****H Starring: Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw A kaleidoscopic look at the life of Bob Dylan with no less than six actors playing the enigmatic singer-songwriter. A simply brilliant movie but don't expect your standard music biopic bi·o·pic n. A film or television biography, often with fictionalized episodes. biopic Noun Informal a film based on the life of a famous person [bio(graphical) + pic(ture)] . THE KITE RUNNER (Cert 12A, 128mins) **** Starring: Khalid Abdalla, Zekeria Ebrahimi The much-loved novel makes for an extremely patchy tale of friendship set in and around Afghanistan. Brilliant at times, underwhelming at others. LUST, CAUTION (Cert 18, 158mins) *** Starring: Tang Wei, Tony Leung Ang Lee's follow-up to Brokeback Mountain is set in Shanghai during the Second World War. Wei plays a Chinese woman who begins an affair with a hated collaborator in order to bring about his death. Explicit but mostly dull. MR MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM (Cert U, 94mins) ** Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman A less-than-magical fantasy revolving around a toy shop owner who plans to hand the keys over to a young worker. Tries very hard to be endearing but fails. PARANOID PARK (Cert 15, 85mins) ** Starring: Gabe Nevins, Taylor Momsen, An alienated skater boy has to keep quiet after a teenage prank leads to tragedy in Gus Van Sant's typically esoteric offering. For arthouse fans only. P.S. I LOVE YOU (Cert 12A, 126mins) ** Starring: Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Kathy Bates, Lisa Kudrow Based on Cecilia Ahern's bestseller, a grieving widow is cheered by letters left behind by her dead husband. Saccharine sac·cha·rine adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of sugar or saccharin; sweet. and deadly dull. RESCUE DAWN (Cert 12A, 125mins) *** Starring: Christian Bale, Steve Zahn The true story of an American pilot shot down over Vietnam and held in a prison camp. Bale brings his trademark intensity to Herzog's so-so drama. ST TRINIAN'S (Cert 12A, 101mins) *** Starring: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Russell Brand A passable remake of the classic 50s Ealing comedy sees the anarchistic an·ar·chism n. 1. The theory or doctrine that all forms of government are oppressive and undesirable and should be abolished. 2. Active resistance and terrorism against the state, as used by some anarchists. 3. girls trying to save their school from closure. Worth catching for the sight of Everett in drag. STAR RATINGS: ***** Must see at all cost **** Good *** Average ** Poor * Save your money CAPTION(S): THRILLS: Before The Devil Knows You're Dead; ERRATIC: Hanks stars in Charlie Wilson's War; ROM-COM: Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche in Dan In Real Life |
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