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Live Feed (2006)
Awful
An obvious b-grade effort to cash in on the Hostel/Saw buzz, my expectations for this film were low (really low!) and yet it still managed to disappoint on every level. The acting is so bad it's not even funny, the plot-line is non-existent and the only scare was realizing that I had wasted 1hour 21 minutes watching it! I'm surprised to note that 34 people gave it a 10 star rating. I can only suspect that 33 of these are Cast and Crew. The 34th is possibly the directors mother? - although I'm sure even she would find it hard to go higher than a 2! DVD extras include an hour long "making of" feature. Which raises the question, "Why?" (although perhaps it serves to demonstrate what not to do!). Avoid at all costs.
Aussie Park Boyz (2004)
Why? Oh! Why must you hurt me so?!
I'm not prone to ranting and my expectations were low to start with, but how did this seem like a good idea? Just because you have a camera, some big ugly friends for actors, and delusions of talent, does not mean that you should go out and make a film. This should have been the cinematic equivalent of singing in the shower, i.e. it should never have seen the light of day. However, somehow this rubbish found a distributor to help it escape the confines of a 3 by 4 foot cubicle. It goes from bad to worse. Talk about low budget, one torture scene consists of a guy getting a mug of coffee thrown over him while he's tied to a chair. Evidently this is very painful because the big baby proceeds to scream in agony....maybe he ordered decaf!! The acting is worse than wooden (I could possibly watch a tree for 30 seconds before becoming completely bored, if you can look at this rubbish for that long you're a better man than I!) and the fight scenes would be at home on a kindergarten play yard. Do not touch this movie, unless you enjoy pain (in which case you should try spilling lukewarm coffee over yourself). I'd like to say it's so bad it's good, but really this is just awful.
Munich (2005)
A great film. Spielberg and Bana at their best.
While being one the most eagerly awaited movies in recent times, there was also a real threat that "Munich" would become lost in the controversy which would surely surround it. The story deals with the Isreali response to the murder of it's Olympic athletes in Munich 1972 (i.e. to order the assassination of those considered by the Israelis to be responsible).
Spielberg deals with the story in a surprisingly unemotional manner, choosing to allow Bana to sculpt the tension in front of the camera rather than forcing it from behind. While it would have been easy to allow the story to descend into an emotional mess or an action flick, Spielberg walks the tightrope masterfully and delivers a fine movie which shall draw criticism from both sides of the conflict around which it revolves (and this in itself is perhaps it's finest commendation).
Other actors to impress are Ciarán Hinds, Geoffrey Rush and Michael Lonsdale who glide effortlessly under Spielbergs direction. The only chink in the movie comes in the form of Daniel Craig who wrestles with a South African accent throughout the movie (and ultimately looses!). Fortunately his lines are limited.
In short, a very good film.