Reviews

Do not waste your time searching for similarities between this hack script and the excellent Earthsea Trilogy (now 6 books...) by Ursula Le Guin. The scriptwriters have taken a beautifully formed creature, stripped it of all its flesh, and broken the skeleton into small pieces. They have then selected a few small shards of bone from the original, around which they have woven a thin tissue of totally new skin to cover their abomination.

We all know it is virtually impossible to condense a rich book satisfactorily into a film or TV format, but Lieberman and Scott have paid scant heed to Le Guin's original. Not even the characters' names have been respected and the roles they play are largely fresh fabrications.

Some poor adaptations can be justified insofar as they are, in themselves, worth watching. I am afraid this is not even true of this series. It is entirely derivative (but not, unfortunately, from the books from which it has taken its title).

The underlying theme to this film offered the opportunity for a taut, intelligent, and well thought-out appreciation of the activities of SWAT.

Instead, what we are served is typical Hollywood "Let's-take-a-premise-and-make-it-as-unrealistic-as-possible" hogwash. The movie was boringly predictable from the outset and the excellent cast failed totally to make up for the ridiculous story-line.

My recommendation? Take your money to see a different film; don't waste it on this one.

At last, this little gem of a film is available on DVD (only in French, no subtitles, but it is, in any case, a difficult film to enjoy other than in French), together with 2 hours of additional interviews.

This film is a wicked little satire on the differences (and, below the surface, the similarities) between the bourgeois LeQuesnoy family and the wastrel Groseille family. The artifice used is the switching of two children at birth by the unhappy mistress of the gynaecologist.

For many of the actors and the director, this was their first film, providing a stepping stone for greater things. But "La Vie est un Long Fleuve Tranquille" should not be missed. Many of its little jokes became catchphrases in the France of the eighties and early nineties, so cruelly apt were they.

And do not miss Etienne Chatiliez's later films, particularly "Tatie Danielle" et "Le Bonheur est dans le Pre".

You might not enjoy this film - some people clearly haven't. But I recommend you make the effort to decide for yourself. It will be worth it.

The special effects in this film were stunning, and therein lies the rub.

The focus in the two recent episodes of Star Wars has been too much on the effects and too little on the rest. "Attack of the Clones" has reached a new nadir. The dialogue was slow and clunky, the acting wooden, and the characters two-dimensional (at best!). Perhaps the difficulty of acting on their own against blue backgrounds has got to them, but none of the actors shone, here. If you closed your eyes, it sounded more like a poor quality radio drama, with the actors reading through their lines rather than playing them.

A big, too long and boring disappointment. If the remaining four episodes continue to decline at the rate of the last two, then audiences are going to start leaving in droves.

Sometimes sad, frequently funny and always heartwarming, it is difficult to believe that this fabulous film comes from the US of A. And, of course, it doesn't, not really. Made by Germans in America.

Notwithstanding, this simple story, spiced with a touch of madness and magic, is a total delight to watch and watch again. The acting of the two principals, Marianne Sägebrecht and CCH Pounder, as Jasmin and Brenda, is spot-on throughout, never over done. Even the extensive use of filters, to enhance the lighting, serves only to improve the film's ambience.

If you have not had the opportunity to watch this film, make it a priority! You will not regret it.

I have lost count of the number of times I have watched "37°2 le matin" since it first appeared. Each time I feel as though I am discovering it anew.

Although unable to encompass the full narrative of Philippe Djian's original novel, the film remains faithful at all times to the underling sentiment permeating the novel. Béatrice Dalle is exceptional as Betty, revealing to us her charms, vulnerability and the ultimate pain of her descent into madness. Jean-Hugues Anglade, as Zorg, is the mirror which gradually expands to absorb Betty's extravagant character into itself. The cinematography is superb, with startling lighting and colours, and the music fits perfectly into the background of the film (unlike the overblown orchestrations so popular in Hollywood).

This is a love story, but unlike any that could come out of Hollywood. It is a story about the passion and pain of love, with no holds barred. It charts the relationship from its outset, through the darkness of madness, to its bitter end. I do not know if there are dubbed versions of this film; I simply recommend you see it in its original French, to capture the force of the acting.

A combination of chance and coincidence bring together a number of events and personalities during 24 hours, leading ultimately to the death of one of them. A typical and excellent Lelouch film, mixing simplicity and surrealism to show us a little about "la vie humaine". If you like Lelouch, you'll love this.

At first sight, the premise is unlikely. A young man romps through the lives of three sisters (and their brother) and keeps them all happy. The success of writer/director Gerard Stembridge is in making this scenario real and believable. Adam, played by Jude Law lookalike Stuart Townsend, takes all of the characters seriously, a key factor in making this work.

This fresh and delightful film is worth watching, then watching again.

A fresh, light, summertime plot with a great soundtrack. What is Warner Bros' marketing department thinking of? Where are the DVD, the double CD of the soundtrack?

This is one of those rare teen shows where you want to see and hear more. If the opportunity arises, take it.