Who are cinema's best bad girls?

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 31 July 2008 by Don

Angelina Jolie's performance as deadly assassin Fox in Wanted stacks up pretty well against some of cinema's all-time baddest girls. Fox is certainly more menacing than Ang's previous roles as Beowulf's mum and the cartoonish Lara Croft. But the character probably lacks the sheer, chilling evil of a number of other femme fatales such as Juliette Lewis alongside partner-in-crime Woody Harrelson in Natural Born Killers; Anne Parillaud's La Femme Nikita; Uma Thurman's The Brid... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

James McAvoy lands a killer role in Wanted

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 31 July 2008 by Don

When James McAvoy signed on for the lead role in the action-thriller Wanted, he had no idea who his co-stars would be. The Scottish actor was thrilled when he learned Morgan Freeman had joined the cast...then blown away when Angelina Jolie came aboard. "I was quite shocked and stunned and wow," he said. "I really didn't think it was going to be that big.'" The star of The Last King of Scotland and period dramas Atonement and Becoming Jane wasn't an obvious choice... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Young Voldemort: a Fiennes family affair!

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 31 July 2008 by Don

Here's Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, who plays troubled Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Young Tom grows up to become the evil Lord Voldmemort played, of course, by Ralph Fiennes. Any relation? Yep, 10-year-old Hero is Ralph's nephew, but that's not why he got the plum role. "Primarily I went for Hero because of this wonderful haunted quality that seemed to bring Tom Riddle alive on screen for us," said director David Yates. "Even tho... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

The Square unearths hot new talent Claire van der Boom

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 31 July 2008 by Don

Making her feature film debut in The Square, Claire van der Boom is sure to gain admirers for her rare combination of beauty and innocence. The NIDA graduate plays Carla, who's trapped in a loveless marriage with an abusive husband, Smithy (Anthony Hayes), and seeks solace in the arms of middle-aged Ray (David Roberts). Ray’s moral limits are tested when Carla presents him with the proceeds of her husband’s latest crime. Do they take the money and run? Says produ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Punisher: War Zone brings a new breed of vigilante

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 30 July 2008 by Don

When The Punisher was released in 2004 I probably had something better to do that weekend, like watching the Swans. But I am curious to see Punisher: War Zone, described as a "re-imagining" of the comic book character, a ruthless, crime-fighting vigilante. It stars Irish-born Ray Stevenson (pictured) in the title role, replacing the monolithic Thomas Jane, and comes from ace action producer Gale Anne Hurd and director Lexi Alexander (although there are reports she's had a r... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

007 finds Another Way to Die

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 30 July 2008 by Don

Talk about confusing. Quantum of Solace, the title of the 22nd James Bond adventure, had some fans scratching their heads. Now it's been revealed that R&B singer Alicia Keys and the White Stripes' front man Jack White have recorded the film's theme song, entitled Another Way to Die. Not to be confused with that earlier 007 pic Die Another Day. The first ever duet for a Bond movie soundtrack, it was written by White, who also plays the drums and produced the sess... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Rapper-turned-actor Common is gunning for glory

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 30 July 2008 by Don

As a rapper, Common tries to serve as a positive influence on his fans. Which could be at odds with Common the actor, who's wielding a gun every time he appears on screen. Common sees no conflict between these images, arguing, "I definitely feel that I’ve laid a foundation to let youth know who Common is. I make it clear that I’m taking on a character and I’m not afraid to take on dark characters. As an actor, you don’t judge what you’re doing and you can’t worry about, ‘well, how do ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Dumbledore and Harry fight the Inferi

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 30 July 2008 by Don

Harry Potter and Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) are attacked by Inferi, re-animated and haunted dead people in this new still from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The resourceful Dumbledore unleashes a firestorm to fend off the dangerous, spooky creatures. "It's almost a biblical image," director David Yates told USA Today. "He's a bit like Charlton Heston when he parts the Red Sea." Yates has finished editing the film and will soon show it t... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Jason Statham sheds the action tag, almost, in The Bank Job

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 30 July 2008 by Don

Jason Statham was delighted when he got the script for the heist movie The Bank Job: there were no fight scenes. At last, thought the star of action movies Transporter and Crank, here's a chance to flesh out a character without resorting to fisticuffs. As it turned out, two weeks into filming director Roger Donaldson and writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais deemed it necessary to include one fight scene to emphasize the high stakes involved. Based on a true ev... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

A sequel to Tron--why bother?

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 29 July 2008 by Don

Do you remember Tron, the Disney film which starred Jeff Bridges as a computer programmer who finds himself trapped in a computer world and forced to fight in games he helped create? If you're under 35, probably not, as the movie was released in 1982. I remember it dimly, and not warmly-- so I wonder why Disney is doing a sequel, entitled Tr2n. The studio surprised attendees at last weekend's Comic-Con convention in San Diego by unveiling a teaser trailer which showed Bridg... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Actions speak louder than words for Wanted's Thomas Kretschmann

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 29 July 2008 by Don

Being asked to play the world's best assassin in Wanted was a no-brainer for Thomas Kretschmann. For one thing, he got to work with Angelina Jolie, who sets out to prove she's even more lethal than Cross, his character. For another, his role had little dialogue, which suits the East German-born actor who escaped to West Germany when he was 19. "I like not to talk actually in films," said Kretschmann, whose made his breakthrough in Roman Polanski's The Pianist. "I... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Land of the Lost: Will Ferrell stranded in Jurassic Park

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 29 July 2008 by Don

I never saw the 1970s US TV series Land of the Lost, but I believe the big screen version could be a lot of fun, with Will Ferrell as a bumbling scientist who gets transported back to the prehistoric era. Sucked back in time with him are crack-smart research assistant Holly (Anna Friel) and redneck survivalist Will (Danny McBride). Aided by a primate called Chaka (Jorma Taccone), the intrepid trio are attacked by dinosaurs, monkey-men and the murderous Sleestak while they f... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Apart from George, who's up for another Indy adventure?

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 29 July 2008 by Don

As Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull tops $770 million at the global box-office, it's no wonder George Lucas is talking up the prospects of a fifth Indy adventure. Lucas appears committed to another outing starring Shia LaBeouf and Harrison Ford, and it now hinges on whether he can persuade Steven Spielberg to come on board again. “If I can come up with another idea that they like, we’ll do another," Lucas told the UK's Sunday Times during an interview plu... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Del Toro bares his fangs as The Wolfman

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 28 July 2008 by Don

"You’ve done terrible things,” Anthony Hopkins says to Benicio del Toro as his hirsute, fanged son in one of the understatements of the 19th century in The Wolfman. The remake of the 1941 classic, which starred Lon Chaney Jr. as the nobleman-turned-monster, was previewed at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego. Make-up maestro Rick Baker said the movie is a nod to the original and uses conventional make-up rather than CGI to create the beast. Emily Blunt, who... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Watchmen's current battle: studio vs director

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 28 July 2008 by Don

Watchmen director Zack Snyder is quarrelling with Warner Bros. over final cut of the superhero movie based on Alan Moore's graphic novel. At issue is the running time and the dark nature of the content. Warners in insisting on 2 and a 1/2 hours, like The Dark Knight; Snyder is holding out for an extra 15 minutes. The studio views Snyder's current version as "too long, too sexy, and too violent," he said at the Comic-Con convention. Snyder, who has credits in the ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Terminator Salvation: a ''greasy, grimy, brutal world''

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 28 July 2008 by Don

Christian Bale as John Connor stands toe-to-toe with Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright in a tense confrontation in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. Bale snarls: "You killed my mother, you killed my father, you will not kill me!” Wright's reaction isn't revealed, but later exoskeleton hands are shown clawing at Bale's face while he exclaims "you son of a bitch!" and cries out in agony. Director McG showed that footage from his post-Apocayptic thriller at ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

X-Files fizzles, Dark Knight bright

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 28 July 2008 by Don

The truth is finally out there, and it's pretty ugly for The X-Files: I Want to Believe. The thriller starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson bombed in the US and Australia last weekend. The movie fetched $10 million in the US, just one third of the first X-Files movie's opening tally 10 years ago, when ticket prices were much cheaper; and around $960,000 here. The Monday morning quarterbacks have come up with plenty of reasons for the lack of interest in the latest Mu... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Sam Jackson: toilet humour in The Spirit

0 Comments | Posted on Sunday, 27 July 2008 by Don

Samuel L. Jackson's latest villain, the Octopus in Frank Miller's The Spirit, is one tough hombre. In a clip shown at the Comic-Con convention, the Octopus battles the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) in sewage. Octopus hits him with a severed head, a cinderblock, then a giant wrench. But the Spirit seems to get the upper hand, burying the Octopus into the muck...only to see the villain appear from out of nowhere and slam a toilet down on his foe. With the toilet seat ring stuck around the Spi... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

RocknRolla ''better than sex''?

0 Comments | Posted on Sunday, 27 July 2008 by Don

Gerard Butler delighted the crowd at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego by describing his new movie, RocknRolla, as "better than sex." The star of 300 and Phantom of the Opera quickly added, "But not with me." RocknRolla represents a return to his Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels heyday for director Guy Ritchie after losing his way with Swept Away. The gangster caper involving Russian mobsters and corrupt politicans also stars Thandie Newton, Entourage's Jer... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Mark Wahlberg takes it to the max in Max Payne

0 Comments | Posted on Saturday, 26 July 2008 by Don

Mark Wahlberg is leery of movies based on video games but after reading the script he jumped at the chance to play a maverick cop determined to avenge the deaths of his family and partner in Max Payne. After fairly passive roles in Invincible, The Happening and Peter Jackson's upcoming drama The Lovely Bones, Wahlberg said, "I needed to break some bones and crack some heads again. I get to yell, scream, cry and smash heads - all of it!" Clips shown at the Comic-Con conventi... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Keanu's an alien life force in The Day the Earth Stood Still

0 Comments | Posted on Saturday, 26 July 2008 by Don

For those who think Keanu Reeves' acting can be robotic, he's the perfect choice to play Klaatu, the alien who materializes on Earth in human form, in the remake of Robert Wise's 1951 classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. The new, updated version will differ in many respects from the original, which was set during the Cold War, including the depiction of Klaatu as a far darker character. At the Comic-Con convention, Reeves described Klaatu as "an entity trapped, or contain... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Twilight: Bella gets a love bite from James

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 25 July 2008 by Don

Pandemonium reigned at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego today as the cast of Twilight appeared on stage and a new clip from the vampire romance was shown. The crowd erupted as the footage showed Bella (Kristen Stewart) entering a ballet studio in search of her mother, whom she fears has been captured by the evil vampire James (Cam Gigandet). In the ensuing fight, Bella gets slammed into a pillar, her vampire lover Edward (Robert Pattinson) flies to the rescue and knoc... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Jackman gives first look at ''bad-ass'' Wolverine

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 25 July 2008 by Don

"It's big, action-packed and bad-ass," Hugh Jackman told excited fans in a surprise appearance at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego today. He was referring, of course, to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which is due to open next April. Jackman flew in just after filming had finished, and showed some hastily-assembled scenes, including footage of Logan and Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) before they morph into Wolverine and Sabretooth. The footage also showed glimpses... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

X-Files movie: how many believers are out there?

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 25 July 2008 by Don

For all its creepiness and the Mulder/Scully dynamic, The X-Files: I Want to Believe has none of the sci-fi shenanigans and conspiracies which made the series so popular. So will the movie have sufficient suspense and intrigue to hook the once-rabid fans of the series as well as non-believers? The truth will be out there on Monday when we see the weekend box-office figures in Australia and the US. In the US, the pundits are having a hard time reading the market, with projec... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Disturbia duo takes aim with Eagle Eye

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 24 July 2008 by Don

The combination worked brilliantly in Disturbia: now let's see if Shia LaBeouf and director D. J. Caruso can create something special again in Eagle Eye. The thriller, which opens in September, sees Shia as Jerry, a college drop-out whose over-achieving twin brother dies mysteriously. He discovers he has something in common with Rachel, a single mother played by Michelle Monaghan: They're both pawns of a woman they've never met, who seems to know their every move. Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Amanda Peet chills out in X-Files: I Want to Believe

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 24 July 2008 by Don

When director/writer Chris Carter offered Amanda Peet the role of an FBI agent in The X-Files: I Want to Believe, he posed a couple of unusual questions. Was she fit? And could she run in snow? "Yeah, I'm in shape," she replied, which was a little white lie. "I had given birth eight months earlier (to daughter Frankie, her first child with screenwriter husband David Benioff) and I hadn't exactly been running marathons," said Amanda, 36. The first four days of fil... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

The Square: brotherly love for the Edgertons

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 24 July 2008 by Don

When Joel Edgerton started writing the script of The Square seven years ago for his brother Nash to direct, not unnaturally he wanted to play the lead role. The lead character, Ray, turned out to be a guy in his 40s, so Joel unselfishly cast himself as Billy, a small time arsonist-- once he'd passed the audition which Nash insisted on, despite their brotherly love. "I just thought I would write the best script that I could write and if I happened to fit into it as an actor ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

The Savages: Finding laughs amid misery

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 24 July 2008 by Don

A movie about an estranged brother and sister who are forced to come together after their father's girlfriend dies and he succumbs to dementia sounds grim, right? True, but The Savages is funny, tender and touching, thanks to writer-director Tamara Jenkins' script and tour-de-force performances from Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. She plays Wendy, a wannabe playright who lies, steals and is having an affair with her married neighbour. He's Jon, a morose,... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Let's not rush to condemn Christian Bale

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 23 July 2008 by Don

I don't know whether Christian Bale assaulted his mother and sister, as alleged, in a London hotel on Sunday night. Nor do any of the tabloids and commentators who are rushing to condemn the actor. And I object to those so-called PR experts who are warning the incident will deter people from seeing The Dark Knight. One New York-based PR said: "Christian Bale being arrested shortly after Batman being released has huge implications for the Batman movie. Many ques... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Mulder and Scully: picking up the pieces in the X-Files movie

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 23 July 2008 by Don

The chemistry between Mulder and Scully seems so natural on screen in The X-Files: I Want to Believe, it's surprising to learn it wasn't easy for David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson to re-create their iconic roles- at least initially. Gillian had spent most of the six years since the series ended trying to distance herself from Scully. And director/co-writer Chris Carter (pictured right) threw her a challenge by asking her to shoot emotionally draining scenes with Billy Con... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

The Forbidden Kingdom: Another leap of faith for Jackie Chan

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 23 July 2008 by Don

Jackie Chan seldom makes Hollywood films for one reason: he claims he doesn't understand why they're popular. After he made the first Rush Hour, he feared his Hollywood career was over. And he wasn't confident Rush Hour 2 would be a hit either. So when he was offered the role of kung fu master Lu Yan in The Forbidden Kingdom, it required another leap of faith, this time in director Rob Minkoff (The Lion King, Stuart Little 1 and 2). Another attraction, apart fro... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Leonardo and Rusty in pursuit of Body of Lies

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 23 July 2008 by Don

Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and director Ridley Scott-- that's the potentially potent combination behind the new thriller Body of Lies. Based on Washington Post columnist David Ignatius' 2007 novel, the movie features DiCaprio as CIA agent Roger Ferris who's on the trail of a terrorist leader holed up in the Middle East. Crowe plays his manipulative CIA boss, Carice van Houten appears as Ferris' ex-wife and Mark Strong is the head of Jordanian intelligence. <... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

X-Files movie: I'm a believer!

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 22 July 2008 by Don

I wasn't an X-Files fan--but I saw X-Files: I Want to Believe yesterday, and as a stand-alone movie it delivers plenty of scary moments, an intriguing plot, a dash of romance and flashes of humour. In short, I liked it a lot, despite a too-convenient plot contrivance towards the end. Respecting the wishes of the filmmakers, I won't give you any spoilers. Suffice to say the story centres on the hunt for a missing FBI agent, and broadens out to other crimes. As we ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

From Batman to Terminator-slayer

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 22 July 2008 by Don

After The Dark Knight's record-breaking debut, I'm guessing that expectations for Christian Bale's next franchise, the re-born Terminator, just got higher. Here's Bale as John Connor in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, the first of a trilogy now shooting in New Mexico with McG as director. Connor leads the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators in a movie full of new gadgets such as Hydrobots that patrol the water, Transports that move human pr... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

''Look here young Potter, a tablespoon will do the trick''

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 22 July 2008 by Don

Here's one of the new characters in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Potions Professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) with his star pupil. After playing an academic colleague and friend of a certain Professor Jones in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Broadbent was a natural choice to don the robes, cap and tweed jacket as Slughorn. Harry is holding the Potions book, which was first owned by the Half-Blood Prince, which he receives on the first day... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

X-Files movie is no funny business for Billy Connolly

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 21 July 2008 by Don

Billy Connolly is a funny guy- so what's he doing as a tortured Catholic priest who may or may not be psychic in The X-Files: I Want to Believe? Connolly was surprised when he got a call from director/co-writer Chris Carter inviting him in for a chat. Then doubly surprised when Carter briefed him on Father Joe's dark secret. "When Chris told me about Father Joe, I knew I must do the part- and thus horrify my family and friends," he says. "The scariest thing for ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

The Dark Knight conquers all

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 21 July 2008 by Don

Move over Spidey, Batman is now the all-conquering superhero of our time. The Dark Knight delivered a record-breaking $158.3 million in the US last weekend, eclipsing Spider-Man 3's opening tally of $151.1 million. Along the way, the Batpic also set new benchmarks in the US for widest-ever release on more than 9,00 screens, biggest single day box office and biggest Friday take with $67.2 million. That’s more cash in one day than the entire opening weekends of Hancock, War o... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Gilliam aims a low blow at Warner Bros. over The Dark Knight

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 21 July 2008 by Don

Wouldn't an Oscar for Heath Ledger's mesmerizing role in The Dark Knight be a richly-deserved epitapth to his career? His fellow actors, critics and many fans think so. But rather than celebrating his achievement, Terry Gilliam, who was directing Ledger in The Imaginarium of Dr Panassus when he died, aged 28, has fired a broadside at Warner Bros. It seems Gilliam believes the studio is indulging in a cynical publicity stunt in the way it's marketed The Dark Knight. <... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Pineapple Express: a trip to pot-fuelled mayhem

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 21 July 2008 by Don

With a Judd Apatow movie, you expect to get sweet-but-nerdy guys, raunch and a lot of laughs. But violence? Yes, the Apatow stable's latest creation, Pineapple Express, is a trip- literally- into darker territory. The movie stars Seth Rogen and James Franco (pictured) as pot-addled losers who are forced to flee after witnessing a murder committed by an evil drug lord. In the ensuing chase, there's an orgy of stabbing, shooting, groin-kicking and head-smashing, p... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

The Dark Knight shows its might

0 Comments | Posted on Sunday, 20 July 2008 by Don

The Dark Knight is rewriting the record books in the US. The Batpic has already set two new industry benchmarks and looks like passing another milestone for the highest 3-day opening of all time. Christopher Nolan's dark superhero adventure stole $18.5 million in midnight-to-3am shows, smashing the prior record of $16.9 million set by Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith in 2005. Moreover, its estimated Friday bounty of $66.4 million ranks as the biggest s... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Eddie Murphy- a man of few words?

0 Comments | Posted on Sunday, 20 July 2008 by Don

For once in his career, loudmouth Eddie Murphy is playing a guy with little to say. Which may be a relief after his faux English accent and over-the-top antics in Meet Dave. In his next pic, A Thousand Words, Eddie is the money-grubbing head of a literary agency who discovers he only has a thousand words left to say before he dies. Which means he's literally speechless in the last half of the movie. “The whole second half of the picture, my character can’t talk... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Hollywood goes remake crazy

0 Comments | Posted on Saturday, 19 July 2008 by Don

Has Hollywood forgotten how to make original movies? You could be forgiven for thinking so, as nearly every week comes an announcement of a remake or update, sometimes of films that weren't so memorable in their first incarnations. Among the latest projects to be dusted off for fresh interpretation are 10, the 1979 film that launched the career of bodacious Bo Derek; and MGM's 1983 comedy Valley Girl. Hyde Park Entertainment Group is remaking 10, which also starr... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Watchmen: everyday problems for superheroes

0 Comments | Posted on Saturday, 19 July 2008 by Don

Alan Moore's graphic 1986 novel Watchmen was something of a watershed, treating superheroes as real people with real problems. Director Zack Snyder promises the Watchmen movie will be faithful to the novel, blending humour with what he describes as "heart attack serious" moments. Snyder, who proved he can fashion visually stylish action in 300, says the film will serve as a cool commentary on pop culture as well as appealing to audiences who enjoy superhero movies. Find out more...   |   0 Comments

The Dark Knight sparks fan frenzy!

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 18 July 2008 by Don

Just how much do we love the new Batpic? Heaps, judging by the furious action at cinemas showing The Dark Knight around the country. On Wednesday, $2.23 million worth of tickets were sold Australia-wide, which was the second biggest opening day this year behind only I Am Legend, which launched in January. Yesterday the total was even higher, reaching $2.45 million. That means The Dark Knight has made more in its first two days than the $4.1 million that Batman... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Can Vin Diesel get his career back in gear in Babylon A.D.?

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 18 July 2008 by Don

Vin Diesel isn't my favourite actor and his career has gone downhill since his brushes with fame in The Fast and the Furious and xXx; does anyone remember The Chronicles of Riddick or The Pacifier? But he may get the chance to re-establish his marquee value instead of languishing like a latter-day Jean-Claude Van Damme in the futuristic thriller Babylon A.D. Reasons to be optimistic: Babylon A.D. comes from writer director Mathieu Kassovitz, who did some distinctive work in... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Maggie Gyllenhaal puts some bite into The Dark Knight

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 17 July 2008 by Don

For those who think Katie Holmes was a weak link as a vapid Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins, it was no loss when she turned down the role. It was a plus, in fact, as she was replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal. No one would call Maggie vapid: the words spirited, edgy and brave come to mind when you consider the diverse parts she’s played in Secretary, Stranger than Fiction, World Trade Centre and Adaptation. She jumped at the chance to play Rachel, the assistant DA and Bruce Way... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Accenting the negative: Actors who mangle voices

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 16 July 2008 by Don

Eddie Murphy’s painful attempt at impersonating an alien who, weirdly, sounds like he was raised in England in Meet Dave is one of the worst mangling of accents I’ve ever heard—nearly as bad as Adam Sandler’s Yiddish gibberish in You Don’t Mess with the Zohan. What’s the most jarring accent you’ve heard at the movies? I’m not sure if Meet Dave or Zohan would have been funnier, or even funny, if the actors hadn’t butchered their accents, but arguably they’d have been no wors... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Christian Bale scales new heights in The Dark Knight

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 16 July 2008 by Don

In one memorable scene in The Dark Knight, we see Batman (Christian Bale) perched on top of the Sears tower in Chicago. That was Bale: no stuntman or trick photography required. That took guts- and so did the prospect of acting opposite Heath Ledger’s crazed, cackling charismatic Joker. The first scene together was in an interrogation room, and Bale immediately realized Ledger brought an awesome intensity to the role. "In the movie, Batman starts beating T... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Strap yourself in for some fast-paced action adventure

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 15 July 2008 by Ben

Wanted hits screens in cinemas Thursday July 31 and from the look of the trailer, this is a strap yourself in and hold on type of action film. With a touch of The Matrix and X-Men special effects, Wanted is a fast-paced, explosive adventure. In 2008, the world will be introduced to a hero for a new generation: Wesley Gibson. 25-year-old Wes (James McAvoy) was the most disaffected, cube-dwelling drone the planet had ever known. His boss chewed him out hourly, his girlfriend ignored him... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Gary Oldman: a force for good in The Dark Knight

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 15 July 2008 by Don

Gary Oldman has made a career out of playing conflicted characters like Dracula, Sid Vicious and Harry Pottter's sometime ally Sirius Black. So it's refreshing to see him reprising his role as Lieutenant Gordon, the one honest cop in corruption-riddled New York City, in The Dark Knight. "I'm sort of the moral centre of the piece really, he is the ultimate good guy," says Oldman, pictured centre with Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent and Batman. "He knows his fellow off... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Pierce crooning in Mamma Mia!- was it that bad?

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 15 July 2008 by Don

I'm sure audiences who are flocking to Mamma Mia! enjoy the scenes where Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan serenade each other. So do some critics, but not New York mag's curmudgeonly David Edelstein. Rather than applaud the former 007 actor's brave debut as a singer and dancer, Edelstein sinks the boot in. Brosnan's singing is the "best imitation I’ve heard of a water buffalo," Edelstein carped. And while he finds Meryl has a sweet voice, he wasn't won over by her performan... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Counting down to The Dark Knight: the best movie of 2008?

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 14 July 2008 by Don

Is The Dark Knight the film you've most looked forward to this year? It sure tops my want-to-see list. In the US, where the movie opens at midnight on Thursday, advance ticket sales for the Batpic are outpacing those for all the big films of 2008 including Indy 4, Iron Man and Sex and the City. Some US cinemas are adding 3 am and 6 am sessions to meet demand. I suspect the level of anticipation is reaching fever pitch here as the film launches on Wednesday. Gi... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Mammia Mia! rocks Australia

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 14 July 2008 by Don

Australian audiences said "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" to Mamma Mia! last weekend. The movie musical underlined ABBA's enduring appeal in this country, ringing up about $5.4 million to win the weekend by a big margin. Universal did a great campaign, capitalizing on the visits by stars Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Dominic Cooper, and the numbers suggest the movie drew ABBA's mature-aged fans as well as newer converts. Hancock placed second, making nearly $4 mil... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Eddie Murphy crashes to Earth in Meet Dave: was it that bad?

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 14 July 2008 by Don

After The Adventures of Pluto Nash crashed at cinemas around the world six years ago, you'd have thought Eddie Murphy would have been wise to steer clear of outer space. Pluto Nash, which featured Eddie as the owner of a lunar night club and retired smuggler, was the biggest bomb of his career. Alas, Eddie's return to sci-fi in Meet Dave has turned out to be his second worst disaster. The comedy with Murphy in the dual roles of a miniature alien spaceship and its captain, t... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

US showdown: Hellboy outmuscles Hancock

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 14 July 2008 by Don

In the battle of the superheroes in the US last weekend, Hellboy outmuscled Hancock- but only just. Hellboy II: The Golden Army raked in $34.5 million in its debut, driven by positive reviews and the growing reputation of director Guillermo del Toro. The movie starring Ron Perlman as the cigar-chomping, alien demon crime-fighter opens here on August 28. Will Smith's Hancock demonstrated great staying power in its second weekend, dropping by a mild 48% to $32 mill... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Finally, some progress on the Sex and the City sequel?

0 Comments | Posted on Sunday, 13 July 2008 by

As soon as the Sex and the City Movie became a worldwide hit, it was obvious a sequel was going to happen. So why has it taken so long for Warner Bros. and the rump of the gutted New Line studio to put the wheels in motion, as the film has grossed more than $350 million globally? The first official word came last week from Michael Lombardo, president of HBO's programming group, who said, "We're really heartened by the fans' enthusiasm. Absolutely, there is a lot of energy b... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Twilight: a dangerous romance

0 Comments | Posted on Saturday, 12 July 2008 by Don

How cool is Twilight, the movie based on Stephenie Meyer's young adult bestselling novel, going to be? Super-cool, judging by the imaginative approach of director Catherine Hardwicke, who made the provocative teen film Thirteen. "It made me feel again that giddy, dizzy feeling of a teenager falling in love, when you will do anything," she said when she first read the novel. Rejecting a script that had been developed for MTV Films, the director worked with screen... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Malfoy confronts his demons in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

0 Comments | Posted on Saturday, 12 July 2008 by Don

What's Draco Malfoy up to in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? The Slytherin student played by Tom Felton has been sneaking around the school, accompanied by his dim-witted accomplices, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Suspecting he's on a mission from Lord Voldemort, Harry is determined to find out exactly what Malfoy has been up to and put an end to it. Draco has been brought up to believe that he should want something, and when he finally gets a crack ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

The best musicals of all time?

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 11 July 2008 by

If you've seen Mamma Mia!, how does it rate on the enjoyment scale compared with other recent movie musicals such as Hairspray, Sweeney Todd, Across the Universe, Dreamgirls and The Phantom of the Opera? I'd be a lousy judge on that score, having had a basic problem, ever since I was a kid, with films where the characters speak and act normally, suddenly burst into song, then resume whatever they were doing. Moulin Rouge was visually over-bearing and musically banal, in my ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

M to Bond: ''It's time to go''

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 11 July 2008 by Don

"When you can't tell your friends from your enemies, it's time to go." That line, delivered by Judi Dench's M with her customary imperiousness in the trailer for Quantum of Solace, tells us 007 is offside, again, with his bosses. Bond's rejoinder: "You don't have to worry about me." The trailer sets up the confrontation between the super spy (Daniel Craig) and ruthless tycoon Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) who was responsible for the death of Bond's girlfriend ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Journey to the Centre of the Earth: a wild 3D ride

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 11 July 2008 by Don

In days of old, 3D cinema was a gimmick which sometimes made audiences feel a little dizzy or queasy, and the special effects were often used to dress up a plot that was, well, rather hollow. Brendan Fraser claims his new movie, Journey to the Centre of the Earth 3D, takes the 3D experience to a whole new level- and many critics agree. The update of the 140-year-old Jules Verne classic is an "epic adventure that takes audiences directly into the heart of our heroes' voyage,... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Battle of the superheroes: Hellboy vs Hancock

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 11 July 2008 by Don

This weekend sees a superhero showdown in the US as Hellboy II: The Golden Army squares off against the second weekend of Will Smith's Hancock. Most critics say the Hellboy sequel is a vastly better movie than the 2004 original, which was a modest box-office success, and director Guillermo del Toro's star is on the rise after Pan's Labyrinth and as he next takes charge on the two Hobbit movies. The sequel sees Ron Perlman's scarlett-skinned Hellboy and his colleagues from t... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

From superhero to super sleuth

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 10 July 2008 by Don

Before he suits up again for the Iron Man sequel, Robert Downey Jr. will travel back in time to play the brainy London detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Sherlock Holmes. Shooting will start in October, with Guy Ritchie directing. The film will draw not only on Conan Doyle's classic tales, but also the Sherlock Holmes comicbook, Variety reports. That's the second Holmes project being developed in Hollywood: the other, in a rather different genre, will see Borat... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

A romantic pay-off for Scully and Mulder in X-Files 2?

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 10 July 2008 by Don

As the filmmakers have been teasing us for months over the storylines in The X-Files: I Want to Believe, it's no surprise to see they're dropping broad hints of a hot and heavy Scully-Mulder romance. That from the lips of David Duchovny, who told TV Guide, "There's definitely some skin in this movie. And not all of it is being flayed or ripped apart. There's some Gillian skin, and some of mine." Further stirring the pot, the actor said his wife Téa Leoni is in for a surpris... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Finally, Eddie Murphy breaks cover on Meet Dave

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 10 July 2008 by Don

Eddie Murphy caused a few ructions when he pulled out of the Los Angeles premiere of Meet Dave at short notice- like 90 minutes beforehand. Not a great sign of his support for the movie, but his excuse was that he's working on another film, A Thousand Words. His no-show infuriated one publicist who was promoting Meet Dave, who told Defamer.com that kind of behaviour is why "Hollywood loves to see him fail" and why he didn't win an Oscar for Dreamgirls. Neverthel... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Blokes play second fiddle in Mamma Mia!

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 10 July 2008 by Don

It's a rare movie which has the blokes relegated to playing supporting characters. Nothing wrong with that, of course, especially in Mamma Mia!, where the plot centres on Meryl Streep, her two middle-aged gal pals, and her daughter. And Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård were quite happy to play second fiddles as Meryl's former lovers. “Nobody is really interested in our psychology. We are the bimbos in the film," laughs Stellan, who said he hadn'... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Liam Neeson, action man!

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 10 July 2008 by Don

Liam Neeson, action hero? Yes, the Irish actor brings all his intensity, and some sensitivity, to the role of an ex-CIA agent whose daughter is kidnapped on holidays in Paris in Taken. Neeson's character, Bryan Mills, discovers 17-year-old Kim (Maggie Grace) has been abducted by Albanian criminals who plan to sell her into prostitution. He figures he has 96 hours to find her. While there's not a shadow of a doubt he'll track her down, the manhunt through Paris is... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Why the long face, Master Weasley?

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 9 July 2008 by Don

Rupert Grint was evidently upset when director David Yates ditched the Quidditch sequence from the last Harry Potter adventure because he didn't think it needed another episode of that flying sport. So why is Rupert looking glum as Ron Weasley dons the Quidditch uniform for the first time for the Gryffindor team in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? Ron gets to play the keeper in what will be the last Quidditch contest, which doesn't feature in the final two Deathly Ha... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Meryl Streep: a classy Dancing Queen in Mamma Mia!

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 9 July 2008 by Don

Meryl Streep is one of my favourite actresses- and just about the least likely I'd expect to see singing, dancing, doing the splits, sliding down banisters, and jumping off a jetty into the sea in Mamma Mia! Sure, she proved she could sing in A Prairie Home Companion and Postcards from the Edge. And I'd read that she loved the Broadway musical when she took Louisa, her then 10-year-old daughter and a bunch of her friends to see it in October 2001, in the shadow of the 9/11 terr... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Justin Timberlake skating on thin ice in The Love Guru

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 9 July 2008 by Don

After watching Justin Timberlake hamming his way through the Mike Myers comedy The Love Guru, many critics offered him some free advice: Don't give up your day job. Which may be unfair, given the tough assignment: Playing a Canadian ice hockey star named Jacques 'Le Coq' Grande (pun very much intended). The singer and occasional actor says he couldn't pass up the opportunity to play the villain, complete with wig, fake moustache and French-Canadian accent, when Myers rang a... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Earth to Captain Eddie: what the??

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 9 July 2008 by Don

Ever wondered what goes on inside Eddie Murphy? Me neither, but Meet Dave asks us to believe Eddie's body houses a spaceship and its crew of aliens. And that Eddie, who loves multiple character roles, doubles up as the ship's captain. This is the set-up for what I'm sure is intended to be a series of hilarious sequences. Such as: When Dave takes his first-ever sip of water, a torrent of water drenches the crew. When Dave tries on some clothing, an innocent shirt becomes a ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Mamma Mia!- The Winner Takes it All?

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 8 July 2008 by Don

At the recent world premiere of Mamma Mia! in London, audiences clapped, cheered, laughed and sang along. Greater Union's Peter Cody, who was there, had never witnessed a reaction like that- and he's seen a lot of movies in the past 20 years. So it seems those Aussies who love ABBA as much if not more than the Brits can expect an exhilarating, fun-filled night out when the movie opens on Thursday. Judy Craymer, who produced the stage musical and the movie, worked... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

The Mummy 3: not your usual kind of Mummy adventure

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 8 July 2008 by Don

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor director Rob Cohen is a refreshingly straight shooter in Hollywood. He's accused producer Neal Moritz of "trashing" the Fast and the Furious and xXx franchises after he directed the first editions. He felt the last Mummy adventure was "overkill." He insisted all the location shooting for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor take place in China, despite the logistical difficulties. When Rachel Weisz said she wouldn't return as the wife ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Twilight makes an instant star of Michael Welch

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 8 July 2008 by Don

As one of the stars of the vampire love story Twilight, Michael Welch quickly discovered there's a rabid fan base for the books by Stephenie Meyer. One thing he learned: Don't describe Twilight as the "Hannah Montana of vampire books," as he did on one blog. He meant it as a compliment, and while fans didn't mind the reference to Hannah, they objected to any comparison to High School Musical. The novels are so popular, at one point this year, eight of the world's top 10 ac... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Puppy love: Beverly Hills Chihuahua

0 Comments | Posted on Tuesday, 8 July 2008 by Don

A live action/animated comedy featuring chihuahuas? Paris Hilton may find Beverly Hills Chihuahua funny, cute and adorable, but for the rest of us? Well, it is a Disney movie, and the director, Raja Gosnell, did some good work in Never Been Kissed, Big Momma's House and the Scooby-Doo movies. The plot follows a pampered Beverly Hills chihuahua named Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore) who is transported, Paris style, in a purse. On vacation in Mexico, she gets lost ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Heath Ledger's Joker: let the film speak for him

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 7 July 2008 by Don

Mercifully after all the hype surrounding Heath Ledger and his career-defining turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight, the Warner Bros. publicity machine has decided enough is enough: let the film speak for him. "I think we've said as much as we can about Heath," says director Christopher Nolan, who wrote a fulsome tribute to the late actor in Newsweek. "We want to do right by him. I'm proud of his work in this film, and I'm excited to have it seen, but I think in respect to him and his... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Real action and drama return to Gotham City in The Dark Knight

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 7 July 2008 by Ben

The Dark Knight is sensational. After seeing all the reviews start rolling in from film critics in the US, I couldn't wait to see the film as well as being very curious about Heath Ledger's last performance as The Joker. All I can say is it was well worth the wait. Ledger nails the role big time. The utter creepiness you feel when you hear that laugh or see the freaky make-up is thanks to Ledger's apparent obsession with the role and twisted character. Christian Bale shapes up pretty ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Where are all the Oscar worthy movies?

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 7 July 2008 by Don

By this stage of the year, you'd expect a sizable number of Oscar-worthy films would have emerged. Not this year. There's a lot of buzz for Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight, and in the US some pundits believe Pixar's WALL*E (pictured) could be a candidate for best picture, not just in the animated feature category. At the Cannes film festival, critics heaped praise on Clint Eastwood's Changeling, which stars Angelina Jolie as a single mother whose... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Hancock rules the world, confounds critics

0 Comments | Posted on Monday, 7 July 2008 by Don

How could anyone seriously doubt the box-office drawing power of Will Smith? Smith's superhero Hancock delivered huge numbers at cinemas around the world last weekend, defying the opinions of the majority of the world's critics and many commentators. Hancock rang up $103.8 million in the US, the third biggest July 4 holiday weekend opener of all time, behind only Transformers and Spider-Man 2 (which both posted more than $150 million, it must be said). And Sony's... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Stephen King isn't spooked by the X-Files sequel- so what?

0 Comments | Posted on Sunday, 6 July 2008 by Don

There's no doubt Stephen King is a master story teller- but should we care what he thinks about The X-Files: I Want to Believe? The writer of classics like The Shining, Misery and The Green Mile says he doubts the X-Files sequel will be truly scary. "The new X-Files movie looks big...but horror is not spectacle, and never will be," King tells Entertainment Weekly. "Horror is an unknown actress, perhaps the girl next door, cowering in a cabin with a knife in her hands we ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Who's watching the Watchmen?

0 Comments | Posted on Saturday, 5 July 2008 by Don

I haven't read Watchmen, the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, which Time mag listed among the 100 best English language novels since 1923. But I sure am keen to see the movie, directed by 300's Zack Snyder. For the uninitiated, the film is set in an alternative America in 1985, when costumed superheroes mingle among society and the Doomsday Clock - which measures the US's tension with the Soviet Union - is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. Jackie Ear... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Do you want to see a Hancock sequel?

0 Comments | Posted on Saturday, 5 July 2008 by Don

At Hancock's Los Angeles premiere, Will Smith was asked if he was optimistic about the chances of making a sequel. "Depends how on how this one opens — and it's looking pretty good," said Will. Well, the superhero adventure has earned an estimated $41.2 million in its first two and a half days in the US and looks set to reach $100 million by Sunday. Is that big enough to warrant a sequel-- and does the story lend itself to another chapter? I'm not so sure on eith... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Hogwarts face new foes in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 4 July 2008 by Don

A famous London landmark comes crashing down. The Death Eaters attack the Weasley's home. And there's an invasion of inferi, a swarm of undead creatures. Harry and friends have their hands full in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Pictured is one of the first stills from the movie, which opens in December. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix director David Yates is at the helm again. Making their franchise debuts are Jim Broadbent as Potions Professor Horace S... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

The worst on-screen smoochers? Puhlease!

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 4 July 2008 by Don

Defamer.com has compiled one of the most pointless and ludicrous lists I've seen: the 10 worst on-screen kissers. Says who? The pashees, allegedly. The partners of Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie and Harrison Ford would beg to differ, I'm sure. As would anyone who's been kissed by Leonardo DiCaprio, another supposed on-screen unromantic. The rest of us can just roll out eyes. For what it's worth, which isn't much, here are some of the dubious quotes trotted out by Defamer t... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Friends finally re-unite for a big screen adaptation?

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 4 July 2008 by Ben

Have the six egos been put aside for the big screen adaptation of Friends so many fans wanted when the show finished in 2004? After the recent success of Sex And The City which won over the ladies worldwide, its been reported that Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer have been inspired by the box office success of the 4 gals from New York City. An insider for Britain's Daily Mail newspaper said: "The box office success of Sex An... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

How good is Hancock?

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 4 July 2008 by Don

Hancock: Superhero or superzero? Its fans say it's awesome, judging by the feedback on numerous websites. To its detractors, it sucks. Others are in two minds. Some say it's darker than they expected, and that it loses its way in the third act, comparing it to the disjointed ending of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. How did you rate it? Despite those mixed reactions, audiences are voting with their feet. The unconventional superhero movie starring Will S... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Nancy Drew turns into a real Wild Child

0 Comments | Posted on Friday, 4 July 2008 by Don

Judging by the trailer, Wild Child looks like a mildly amusing cross between Material Girls, What a Girl Wants and The Princess Diaries. Which is fine if you enjoyed those teen comedies/romances, but not so appealing for the rest of us. Still, Wild Child comes from those smart creative people at Working Title, and the script is by Lucy Dahl, the daughter of the author Roald Dahl, who based it on her experiences at boarding school. Nancy Drew's Emma Roberts plays a spoilt, o... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

The Dark Knight: the conflict within

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 3 July 2008 by Don

I always regarded the Batman movies as escapist fantasy-- but the way Christian Bale tells it, The Dark Knight actually deals with a moral dilemma which relates to the problems America faces today. The conundrum facing Batman: His one rule is not to kill people; but that may be the only way to stop his most lethal adversary, the Joker. "Clearly that's very relevant to America: the question of what kind of deals do you do with the devil in order to solve a problem quickest,"... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

A robot named Wall-E saves the world

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 3 July 2008 by Ben

When was the last time you watched a movie where the main character/s couldn't speak? I struggled to remember but that was before I saw Wall-E. Wall-E can't speak but somehow draws the audience into his world where he is left on planet earth all by himself. As the story evolves, the oddly cute Wall-E meets Eve, a robot from space and falls in love. As we're taken along for the ride, we come to realise that Wall-E might just have the answer to save earth as we know it. The ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Hancock: a superhero slob worth caring about?

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 3 July 2008 by Don

The superhero in Hancock isn't just a troubled character- he's an airborne disaster. Hancock is a foul-mouthed, miserable, angry drunk who abuses small children, grabs women on the bottom and destroys buildings when he rescues people. The public hates him- so why should audiences root for him? I suspect they wouldn't if he were played by anyone other than Will Smith. It's difficult to think of another actor who could bring enough rough-hewn charm and fallability to the cha... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Is Eddie Murphy having an identity crisis?

0 Comments | Posted on Thursday, 3 July 2008 by Don

What's up with Eddie Murphy- and do we really care when he says and does these days? Last week the actor told the TV show Extra he wasn't ready to do another Beverly Hills Cop movie and that he'd retire from making movies and go back to his roots in standup. “I have close to fifty movies and it's like, why am I in the movies? I've done that part now. I'll go back to the stage and do standup," he said. After that caused a minor kerfuffle, not least with Brett Ratn... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

What are the best movies of 2008- and the worst?

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 2 July 2008 by Don

So far this year I've seen 42 films- some gems, some passable, and a few absolute stinkers. I hate year-on-year comparisons, but I reckon 2008 has delivered a pretty fair assortment of dramas, comedies and action-adventures-- with the promise of much more to come. The best dramas/adventures: There Will be Blood, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Kite Runner, I Am Legend, American Gangster, Cloverfield, In the Valley of Elah. Best comedies: ... Find out more...   |   0 Comments

Charlize Theron: a woman 'in love and lust' in Hancock

0 Comments | Posted on Wednesday, 2 July 2008 by Don

As a serial killer in Monster, a detective raising a son by herself in In the Valley of Elah or a miner battling discrimination in North Country, Charlize Theron has never been afraid to sacrifice her stunning looks in pursuit of character and story. In Hancock, she does get to glam up as Mary, the wife of PR executive Ray (Jason Bateman) and step-mum to his son-- but there's a dark side to Mary which drew her to the character. That, and the chance to team again with Will Smith in a H... Find out more...   |   0 Comments   |   buy tickets

Who are Hollywood's hottest new starlets?