Reviews

The cinematography in this film is truly mind-blowing. No really, the best I've ever seen; forget LOTR.

The acting is great. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall are totally believable as two bisexual cowboys in love. Ledger has gotten a lot of praise for his role as Ennis, and deservedly so, but I think in this Gyllenhall's performance has not received the praise it deserves. If anything, his character is even more believable than Ledgers, but since I've already said they are both totally believable saying that would see me contradicting myself. Oh well, I'll say it anyway. He's great in it, and both of them deserve the Oscar for best actor.

The story is just that, a story. If you expect it to be realistic, your expectations are not going to be met (note how I refrained from saying you'd be disappointed). The short story by Annie Proulx, on which the film is based, was a highly praised piece of work when it was first published. The film doesn't stray far from the story and consequently the story of the film is great too. If, however, you're going to be put off this film, or if you don't like it, because of it's theme (love between two people of the same sex), then you do not deserve to see a film as good as this. It made me cry. And I don't cry - not even at funerals.

You may have guessed by now that I quite like this film. Well you'd be wrong. I don't like this film...I love it. I love everything about it. It looks great. The acting is great. The characters are great. The story is great. But not everything in this film is great . The accents are so strong, I probably only understood about 50% of what was said....Oh what the hell...the accents are great too! That said, I might be wrong. I think everything was great, but I was so caught up in the whole film, enjoying every single second of it, I might not have watched it objectively. But then again, surely that's a sign of greatness? Yes, I am sure, the film is well and truly...great. (PS> I won't say great again, promise).

Maybe I'm over-reacting to this film because I can relate to the story really well. I don't care if I am. This is my favourite movie ever. It's really great.

Doh!

John Moody drives around Britain's cities in a Black Cab picking up customers. While this may sound like an interesting idea for a docu-soap type programme, this is not the end of the story.

Cash Cab is a gameshow. When the unwitting contestants step into the cab, thinking they're about to fork out a tenner for a trip down the road, they are instead greeted by flashing lights, screaming sirens and quizmaster come taxi driver John Moody. He explains to them the simple concept: He asks them questions, they get money for getting them right. Get three wrong before they reach their destination and they get booted out, win no money; but they don't have to pay the fare, so that's nice. If they get to their destination without losing all their lives they leave the cab with a healthy wad of cash, smiles on their faces, and a 15 minute stint on one of the most original and quirky gameshows in a long time.

Little Britain is a very funny sketch show but it is nowhere near as well observed as Catherine's masterpiece. Compare Vicky Pollard and Lauren. Many assume that Lauren is Catherine's attempt to imitate and cash in on Lucas's Pollard. But the character of Lauren was invented long before that of Pollard and is a far richer observation of today's inarticulate, low-aspiring youth. Pollard is a much more surreal character, someone who wouldn't be of place in Royston Vasey. Lauren however is scarily real.

Also the 'Nan' is possibly the second funniest 'Nan' creation in recent times, second only to the slightly more sublimity that is 'Nanna' in The Royle Family.

In fact, the majority of sketches on the Catherine Tate Show are very strong. It is just that people assume that a show that has so many different sketches with such a limited number of performers will be stale, but it's not. In fact, it's fantastic.