Night at the Museum Review

I wasn’t expecting to much from this little cinematic expedition, in fact I was expecting so very much less than that, don’t ask me why, I had barely heard anything about the film, but my head was telling me only bad things would happen. So when I came out of the cinema without ranting till I was blue in the face came as some what of a surprise….

The concept of the film is thus, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is in need of a job. If he doesn’t get one he wont be able to see his ten year old son, which is a bad thing, obviously. So he sets about finding employment and comes across a position working the late night security shift at the Museum of Natural History. On his first shift things go just a little bit crazy as all the exhibits come to life, and hilarity ensues. Things get a little bit more complicated when you factor in an evil Dick van Dyke, Egyptian curses and the obligatory crazy monkey.

The film takes about an hour to get interesting and even then it only just manages to hold your interest, everything that is going on in the film has been done before and most notably done better. Ironically when you consider the involvement of Robin Williams and Chris Columbus, Jumanji is a prime example of this.
The cast involved is a pretty star studded affair, as already mentioned you have Ben Stiller, Dick van Dyke and Robin Williams but add to that Ricky Gervais, Owen Wilson, Mickey Rooney and Steve Coogan. So it only adds to the disappointment when you realise that none of these actors come anywhere near to reaching the levels we know they can. Gervais is the biggest let down as he basically plays himself for about 5 minutes on screen, and is given only one gag to play with (oh the hilarity, we cant finish sentences). You know the only reason that he involved himself in this film is because he and Stiller are bosom buddies after working on Extras. Only the pairing of Coogan and Wilson really got me giggling, but it wasn’t enough to stop this film well below average.

So what we have here is a comedy/action/adventure type film ,that isn’t very funny and the action adventure bits have been done much better many times before.
But ignoring that, Alix liked it and she said she would hit me if I didn’t say something nice about it so…………….it had dinosaurs in it, and everyone knows they are cool!!

Matt/mapooo

A Creepy Fairytale Review of Pans Labyrinth

Pans Labyrinth- It’s basically a grown up fairy tale!

I went into this film knowing very little about it; I had seen a trailer on my spangly new mobile phone but obviously that doesn’t give too much away, and I knew that a few of my very good friends were saying very good things about it, so when I went to see this film I was basically going in blind. I didn’t even know it was subtitled until I spoke to the ticket guy before we sat down (no ticket was actually involved though, just one of the perks of having friends working in a cinema!), and trust me subtitles are not a fun prospect with a hung-over head.

Anyway, onto more important things, the small matter of the film itself. Set at the end of the Spanish Civil War the story follows young Ofelia as she moves with her heavily pregnant mother to live with her new adoptive father in a remote part of the Spanish country side. Of course while there her father, Captain Vidal, is fighting off a whole bunch of rebels who refuse to give up on the war. To escape this side of her life Ofelia wanders the grounds of her new home and comes across an ancient labyrinth, at the centre of which she comes across a faun. This faun proceeds to tell off how Ofeila is actually a princess and that to regain her rightful status she must complete a number a fantastical tasks, and from here we enter a world of fairies and extraordinary creatures and events. While all this is going her father, and to counteract the fantasy world, the Captain is fighting a brutal war with the guerrillas. Obviously thats not quite all the story, but i'm going to try not to spoil too much of it for you, but if I do, I wholeheartedly apologise.

This is easily one off the best film I have ever had the pleasure off watching, it manages to be both genuinely beautiful, and darkly disturbing while marrying the two completely different worlds seamlessly. The horror of the war, which is often brutally portrayed, is then juxtaposed with the gloriously realised fantasy world into which Ofelia descends.

The acting is outstanding, especially the young Ivana Baquero who plays the lead. Sergi Lopez, who plays Ofelias’ father, Captain Vidal, is also excellent and is a very threatening presence when on screen. Special mention must also go to Doug Jones, who plays the Faun and the Pale Man; he spends all of his time on screen trapped in his two costumes, and gives such life and believability to the characters.

Its not easy to work out who this film is actually aimed at, but in many ways this is to the films credit, any film that is to be considered truly great avoids following cliches and stereotypes and therefore fits into no one specific hole, and that is a true sign of when something can be considered true art.

Another great review by Matt Thomas

Saw 3 Film Review - Cult Press

Directed By: Darren Lynn Bousman
Starring: Shawnee Smith, Tobin Bell, Bahar Soomekh
Running Time: 107 mins
Reviewed By: Alexia Weeks
Rating: * * *_ _

A strained effort to compete with the extremities of Hostel, the third in the Saw series has noticeably less impact than the previous two. Is it wrong to be able to say moderate torture no longer horrifies me? The movie landscape and squeamish storylines are reaching a stage where real life snuff movies wouldn’t be out of place.

What Saw 3 does have to offer is best looked at apart from the first two Saws or its grisly competition Hostel. In this third helping of Jigsaw and his ‘Seven-esque’ mission to brutally educate the world, we follow the trail of blood left by Amanda (Shawnee Smith) as she continues her work for John Cramer (Tobin Bell) who is literally at death’s door.

Rumours that fully grown men fainted in their seats at the cinema is an encouraging sign and suggests we’re getting a decent helping of blood and gore. Bless them, it does prove that the film has some worth and ‘hits the spot’ for horror fans. It’s clear which scene of the film caused this but don’t worry – no spoiler here!

Go watch it, but don’t be surprised if you feel let down by the regurgitation of the same ole ‘games’ and ridiculous amount of twists…

Special thanks to Lexi for a great review.

Film: Borat

I've been a fan of Borat for a long time and hearing that Sacha Baron Cohen was turning his comic creation into a movie was just incredible. I thought it would be a movie that would never make it to the Cinemas and only survive on DVD but luckily for us the hype was intense and made the movie a 'great success'!

The introduction to the film sets the tone brilliantly, Borat introduces himself and takes us on a guided tour of his home town in Kazakhstan, we're introduced to his prostitute sister, his dear old mother, his larger than life wife, his envious next door neighbor and even the town rapist...

Borat is soon in the USA and conducting various interviews with people who should know better!, he manages to get under the skin of almost everyone, some don't take it and walk out while others keep their cool and endure his endless questions, these people clearly have the patience of saints.

Borat soon finds himself alone in a big city with no entertainment other than his TV, this is where he falls for the busty CJ of Baywatch fame, he sets off on a huge adventure to 'bag' him Pamela Anderson...

If you have watched most of the YouTube Borat clips from the movie you will find yourself disappointed from the lack of new material. The acting is painfully obvious in between genuine interviews and kills the genius of the film. Despite all this, the film is a must see. It defines a generation of self ridicule and don't we all feel so much better for it!.

7 / 10 CP