Paranoid Park

Released: 28th April 2008
Best Price: £9.99 @ http://www.cdwow.com/

Paranoid Park is an amazing film with a quirky storyline, which creates a greater level of suspense as it explores the workings of main character, Alex’s behaviour.

Based on the novel of the same name by Blake Nelson, it features a cast of non-professional actors recruited through MySpace. After Elephant and Last Days, Paranoid Park forms the third film of a loosely knit trilogy which explores the world of disconnected youth at the point where daring childhood gives way to the awkwardness of adult responsibilities.

Paranoid Park tells the troubled story of Alex (Gabe Nevins), a Portland high school student who loves to skateboard. But after accidentally causing the death of a security guard, Alex must come to terms with the guilty feelings that are threatening to overwhelm him. Unable to tell anyone what has happened, including his best friend, Jared (Jake Miller) and his nagging girlfriend, Jennifer (Tayler Momsen), he keeps it all inside at the risk of imploding with guilt.

Fearing the consequences, he increasingly retreats into his own world of silence and isolation.Nevins presents Alex a likeable figure that the audience can relate to, in doing so he personalises an already, very intimate tale. Paranoid Park is a gorgeous, unforgettable film that captures the countless complexities



RATING: 5 Stars

National Treasure 2: Book Of Secrets

Released: 2nd June 2008
Best Price: £11.97 @ http://www.amazon.com/

Treasure hunter Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) embarks on a new adventure in director Jon Turtletaub's sequel to National Treasure Ben and his father, Patrick (Jon Voight), take great pride in their ancestors and their family's devotion to the United States.

When Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) produces a page from the diary of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth allegedly linking Ben's great-great grandfather as a key conspirator in Abraham Lincoln's death plot, Ben and Patrick set out on a path to clear their family's name. Ben also believes that the diary page contains hints to the whereabouts of a treasure map leading to an ancient city made of gold, and soon the hunt is on.

Tech expert Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and Ben's now ex-girlfriend Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) join the Gates in their quest, which takes them from Washington, DC, to Paris, London and the Black Hills of South Dakota.

It's true that the storyline and the actions of Gates and his team, which include breaking into the Queen's study at Buckingham Palace, sneaking into the Oval Office, and kidnapping the President of the United States, are completely unbelievable. But with a storyline built on true, interesting trivia and great locations, this film is an amusing, family friendly treat.

Cage has some great moments as Ben Gates, he is loyal, patriotic, fair to a fault, and very funny as he irritates Buckingham Palace security. Harris plays Wilkinson with just the right air of mystery and menace: is he after fortune, or does he just want to leave his own mark in history? Helen Mirren stars as Ben's mother and fit’s the role perfectly.




RATING: 4 Stars

Enchanted

Released: 7th April 2008
Best Price: £9.99 @ http://www.tesco.com/ (includes free booklet)

A classic Disney animated fairy tale meets with the modern, live action romantic comedy in Walt Disney Pictures' Enchanted.

Featuring an all-star cast, the film follows the beautiful princess Giselle (Amy Adams) as she is banished by an evil queen (Susan Saradon) from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan.

Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn't operate on a “happily ever after” basis, Giselle is now lost in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer (Patrick Dempsey) who has come to her aid, even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince (James Marsden) back home. She has to wonder: can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

There is plenty of giggles for the adult generation as much as for the kids. The combination of animation and live action works incredibly well and reminds us all that fairy tales can come true.





RATING: 4 Stars

St Trinian’s

Released: 14th April 2008
Best Price: £12.97 @ http://www.cdwow.com/

Starring a fantastic cast of young new British talent and the good old British favourites, St Trinian’s hits all the classics notes of a British comedy.

British Golden Boys Stephen Fry, Colin Firth and Rupert Everett, star alongside quirky comedian Russell Brand as well as outstanding performances from a range of up and coming young British Actresses including Gemma Arterton, Kathryn Drysdale and Lilly Cole. Many a famous and recognisable face pop up throughout the film.

St. Trinian's is the sixth in a series of films based on the works of cartoonist Ronald Searle. The previous five films include: The Belles of St Trinian's (1954), Blue Murder at St Trinian's (1957), The Pure Hell of St Trinian's (1960), The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery (1966) and The Wildcats of St Trinian's (1980).

St Trinian's is a school for "young ladies" with its anarchic policy of free expression, brings together a motley crew of ungovernable girls who, using their wit and creativity, save the school from bankruptcy.




RATING: 4 Stars

Juno

Released: 9th June 2008
Best Price: £12.97 @ http://www.asda.com/

The word 'quirky' has become the quick and easy way to describe a batch of recent films such as Little Miss Sunshine and Lars And The Real Girl that blend the lines between indie and studio films and comedy and drama. While Juno fits into that same category, this distinctive drama/comedy is in a class all of its own.

Ellen Page stars as Juno, a witty teenage girl whose boredom doesn't lead her to the mall. Instead, she makes a one time trip into the arms of her best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). When Juno discovers that she's pregnant, she's forced to grow up fast as she tries to find adoptive parents for her quickly growing child.

Juno might have a lot of strengths mainly Ellen Page's award-worthy performance, a perfect soundtrack, excellent direction from Jason Reitman--but it's the screenwriting debut of writer Cody Diablo that makes this such a winning film. Famous for her blog and her book Candy Girl - A Year In The Life Of An Unlikely Stripper, Diablo has a unique voice and an incredible ear for dialogue that led to her winning a Bafta and an Academy Award for Juno's script. But even the nearly perfect script wouldn't sound so good if it weren't for the talents of these brilliant actors, once again particularly Ellen Page. She won rave reviews for her first major role in Hard Candy, but this performance proves it wasn't a fluke. The rest of the cast, especially J.K. Simmons as Juno's dad, is just as worthy of attention.






RATING: 5 Stars

Alvin & The Chipmunks

Released: 14th April 2008
Best Price: £9.99 @ http://www.tesco.com/

This live-action/computer animated update of Ross Bagdasarian's squeaky-voiced cartoon characters finds the chipmunks (in CGI form) transported from their woodland habitat to the city, where they wind up in the home of Dave Seville (Jason Lee). Dave, an unlucky songwriter, realises the potential of a singing chipmunk pop act, and becomes an unlikely mentor and father figure to feisty Alvin, brainy Simon, and dopey Theodore.

Meanwhile, the threesome causes chaos in his life, leading to plenty of fun and frenzied scenarios. When a devious record executive (David Cross) enters the picture, however, Alvin and the Chipmunks must deal with both the trappings of fame and their loyalty to the good natured, luckless Dave.

Directed by Tim Hill (Garfield – A Tale Of Two Kitties), Alvin And The Chipmunks both modernises and pays tribute to the classic title characters, who first appeared in the late 1950s and became wildly popular in the '60s. While Lee (My Name Is Earl) is well cast as the permanently exasperated Dave, Long (Die Hard 4.0) steals the show as the voice of Alvin, who provides the group's lively spirit.






RATING: 4 Stars

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

Released: 2nd June 2008
Best Price: £11.99 @ http://www.amazon.com/

In this almost impossibly faithful adaptation, the film takes place in a small Texas border town in 1980. Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) has ruled the land for years without the use of a gun, but a new brand of reckless lawlessness has taken over his town. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is an innocent Everyman with a devoted wife, Carla Jean (Kelly MacDonald), but when he stumbles across a drug deal gone deadly wrong and finds two million dollars, he's determined to keep it for himself. There's only one problem. He's being chased by one of the most corrupt, evil psychopaths that the big screen has ever seen.

Wearing an absurdly embarrassing haircut and brandishing a pressurised weapon that's used to murder cattle, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) creeps forward on his mission to track Moss down and return the money to its rightful owners to save his own skin. As the tension mounts, the body count begins to rise, confirming Sheriff Bell's inability to battle this new wave of modern brutality.In a career filled with striking achievements, this might very well be the Coen Brothers' finest. It is filmmaking at its best.



RATING: 5 Stars

Condemned

Released: 24th March 3008
Best Price: £9.98 @ http://www.sainsburys.com/

With the stage set by a recent spate of films starring WWE wrestlers, including Glen 'Kane' Jacobs in See No Evil and John Cena in The Marine, The Condemned follows suit by building a story around the massive physique and expressionless manner of pro wrestler 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin.

Austin plays former military agent Jack Conrad’s top-secret mission to El Salvador goes a little off track, as the big man winds up on death row in a local prison. Meanwhile his associates back home conveniently forget about him. Conrad is offered a final act of kindness by the evil entertainment tycoon Ian Breckel (Robert Mammone), who buys up Conrad and nine other condemned men and forces them to participate in his murdurous new reality television show. The game is simple: the contestants are dropped on a remote island fitted with cameras, and instructed to kill or be killed over the next 30 hours.

At the end of that time, the sole survivor will be awarded his freedom and a large cash prize, and the whole event can be viewed online for £49.95. Conrad is not a murderer by nature, but is forced to defend himself against fellow contestants Saiga (Masa Yamaguchi), who is a Japanese martial artist; badass Brit McStarley (Vinnie Jones); and the deadly Ghanaian woman Yasantwa (Emelia Jones).

Meanwhile, Conrad's girlfriend back home (Madeline West) worries about his safety, and Breckel's own girlfriend (Victoria Mussett) develops some doubts as to the morality of their online venture. The film attempts to question the culture of violence that informs our media, but also works as a straight forward thriller, well equipped with tough guys, one liners, and non-stop violence.



RATING: 2 STARS

August Rush

Released: 31st March 2008
Best Price: £9.99 @ http://www.cdwow.com/

August Rush tells the story of a charismatic young Irish guitarist (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and a sheltered young cellist (Keri Russell) who have a chance encounter one magical night above New York's Washington Square, but are soon torn apart, leaving in their wake a child, August Rush, orphaned by circumstance.

Now performing on the streets of New York and cared for by a mysterious stranger (Robin Williams), August (Freddie Highmore) uses his remarkable musical talent to seek the parents from whom he was separated at birth.

After earning an Oscar nod for the script for In America, Kirsten Sheridan turns back to directing for this heart warming drama.




RATING: 4 STARS

Princess (Danish subtitles)

Released: 4th March 2008
Best Price: £7.99 @ www.hmv.com

Returning home from years of missionary work abroad because of the death of his sister, Christina, clergyman August begins to uncover the sordid circumstances around his sister’s death. Once a star of the adult film world, who after going from greatness to the gutter as the famous porn star "The Princess", has finally died of a drug overdose.

Leaving behind a five year old daughter; Mia in the care of Karen, a prostitute. August pays them a visit to bring Mia home with him and become her guardian. Burdened by sorrow and guilt, he decides to avenge Christina's death and brings Mia along on a crusade to clear his sister's name. The mission escalates into a brutal and violent strike as August attempts desperately to protect the only thing he holds dear, Mia. Forcing him to make a crucial decision.




RATING: 2 Stars

One Missed Call

Released: 24th March 2008
Best Price: £7.99 @ http://www.amazon.com/

Yumi is a teenager who gets freaked out when her best friend, Yoko, gets a call on her mobile phone...from herself, screaming, dated three days in the future. Three days later, at the exact time of the call,which had an ominous, strange ring tone, it all comes true, with Yoko screaming as she dies. The calls continue as Yumi's friends fear that they will be next to hear the ring tone that foretells death. Meanwhile, Yumi is joined by Hiroshi, whose sister was recently killed and who wants to get to the bottom of the mystery before more young women die.

From director Takashi Miike, responsible for such cult classics as the Dead or Alive trilogy, Ichi The Killer, and Audition, he is not one to shy away from the horror genre. Mixing in elements of Hideo Nakata's The Ring and Takashi Shimizu's Ju-on: The Grudge, Miike creates a scarefest sure to rattle even the most experienced horror movie lover.

The DVD was originally released in 2005 but is being re-released to coincide with the release of the hollywood remake, which will hit cinemas in late spring.



RATING: 4 Stars

Black Sheep

Released: 31st March 2008
Best Price: £12.97@ http://www.asda.co.uk/

Terrified of sheep and dosed up on therapy, Henry Oldfield returns to his family's farm to sell out to his older brother Angus, unaware that something baaaad is going on: Angus' reckless genetic engineering program. When a pair of inept environmental activists release a mutant lamb from Angus' laboratory onto the farm, thousands of sheep are turned into bloodthirsty predators.

Along with farmhand Tucker and the 'green'-minded young woman, Experience, Henry finds himself stranded deep on the farm as his worst nightmare comes to life. Battling their way to safety the intrepid trio discover there's worse to come: one bite from an infected sheep seems to have alarming effect on those bitten.

With Angus acting suspiciously sheepish, a delegation of international investors gathering at the homestead and a ravenous flock descending from the hills, Henry must find the farmer within to wrest control of the farm from his monstrous brother, defeat an ovine invasion and save New Zealand's greener pastures.



RATING: 2 stars

December Boys

Released: 24th March 2008
Best Price: £11.99 @ http://www.cdwow.com/

Based on the novel by Michael Noonan, December Boys is a touching coming of age drama set in Australia in the 1960s. Maps (Daniel Radcliffe), Misty (Lee Cormie), Sparks (Christian Byers), and Spit (James Fraser) are four best friends living in a Catholic orphanage, each hoping to be adopted by a decent family, but learning that dreams don't always come true and that adults often let kids down.


Because they were all born in December, they are the first group to be taken to stay with two of the orphanage's benefactors; Bandy (Jack Thompson) and Skipper (Kris McQuade) whoa are an older couple who have offered to house the kids during the Christmas season. As the boys frolic by the sea and experience other new and exciting things, they quickly discover that there is much more to the world than they had ever imagined.

However, when Misty overhears that Teresa (Victoria Hill) and her husband, Fearless (Sullivan Stapleton), are considering adopting one of the boys, their carefree fun turns to bitter rivalry as the boys compete for their affections. The only one not caught up in all the furore is Maps, who is too busy experiencing his first romance with Lucy (Teresa Palmer).

Filmed in Adelaide and on Kangaroo Island, and directed by long-time TV veteran Rod Hardy, December Boys features beautiful locales, a talented cast, and a terrific soundtrack.




RATING: 4 Stars

Hitman

Realeased: 31st March 2008
Best Price: £12.97 @ Asda

Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant) has been educated to become a professional assassin for hire, whose most powerful weapons are his nerve and a resolute pride in his work.

47 is both the last two digits of the barcode tattooed on the nape of his neck, and his only name. The hunter becomes the hunted when 47 gets caught up in a political takeover. Both Interpol and the Russian military chase the Hit man across Eastern Europe as he tries to find out who set him up and why they're trying to take him out of the game.

But the greatest threat to 47's survival may be the stirrings of his conscience and the unfamiliar emotions aroused in him by a beautiful, damaged girl...





RATING: 2 Stars

Rendition

Released: 24th March 2008
Best Price: £8.99 @ http://www.cdwow.com/

Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwalley), an Egyptian-born chemical engineer disappears on a flight from South Africa to Washington. His pregnant American wife, Isabella El-Ibrahimi (Reese Witherspoon), travels to Washington to try and learn the reason for his disappearance.

Meanwhile, Doug Freeman, a CIA analyst (Jake Gyllenhaal), is forced to question the ethics of his assignment as he becomes party to the interrogation of Anwar at a secret detention facility somewhere outside of the U.S.A.





RATING: 5 Stars

Chaos

Released: 24th March 2008
Best Price: £9.99 @ www.hmv.co.uk

Set in Seattle, this star studded bank heist thriller begins with the unfair suspension of Detective Quentin Conners (Jason Statham) following a shooting. Conners's next post has him assigned to rookie cop Shane Dekker (Ryan Phillippe).

After a deadly bank heist, Statham and Phillippe are drawn into a mysterious case where nothing is what it seems. Pulling the strings is a criminal mastermind (Wesley Snipes) who seems to kill without warning or reason. Abound with random acts of violence and deception - the only hope for survival is finding an order to the chaos.




RATING: 3 stars

Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

Released: 31st March 2008
Best Price: £9.99 @ http://www.hmv.co.uk/

An action western surrounding the private life and public exploits of America's most notorious outlaw, Jesse James (Brad Pitt).

As the charismatic and unpredictable outlaw plans his next great robbery, he wages war on his enemies, who are trying to collect the reward money and the glory that is riding on his capture. However, the greatest threat to Jesse's life may ultimately come from those he trusts the most.






RATING: 4 stars