Review: The A-Team (6/10) - 2010: I Pity The Fools

Remakes are dodgy territory in my opinion, especially a series I grew up watching and loving. The cheesy one-liners, BA's susceptibility to drinking milk to get on a plane, Hannibal's cigar-smoking smile, Murdock's perfect insanity, and Faceman's seductive skills, coupled with flipping cars and bullets that never hit anyone were what made it such a phenomenal television show. So here is how I discovered this new film even existed. I was sitting in the cinema waiting to watch Inception, and the trailer for this film came up. I sat there with my head in my hands, to the point of breaking down in tears as to how they ruined a perfectly respectable show. The characters did not fit those I knew and loved: Mr. T is irreplaceable for one thing, and the new theme tune was nowhere near as good as the original.




Here's a tip to all you directors out there who want to produce a remake: Don't deviate too much from the original, or face the backlash! At least keep the theme tune from the original! I mean fair enough, in one section of the film they use the original track, but be consistent and use it in the marketing too!

The story centers around a group of Iraq War veterans looks to clear their name with the U.S. military, who suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were framed. The group consists of Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith (Liam Neeson), Lt. Templeton 'Faceman' Peck (Bradley Cooper), Sergeant Bosco 'B.A.' Baracus (Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson), Captain James 'Howling Mad' Murdock (Sharlto Copley) and also Jessica Biel as Charissa Sosa.

Watch the following trailer to see what I mean:



Flying tanks and general ridiculous storyline were one of the main reasons I did not go to the cinema to watch this film. In fact, I was on a five-hour British Airways flight on-board a flight from Cyprus, back to the UK. Unlike the more modern Cyprus Airways planes I normally fly on, I thought I had stepped back in time onto a plane with shared 16" isle box televisions. "Fair enough," I thought, as I was sure they would have a better selection of films on BA than on Cyprus Airways. I opened the entertainment guide and hey presto... The A-Team. 5 Hours stuck on a plan with no entertainment but this 117 minute pathetic excuse for a remake. I mean, I'm FAIRLY sure it was the Vietnam war, not the Iraq War where they met, not to mention BA usually wears tonnes of gold chains claiming that he "ain't gettin' on no plane," compared to "chopper". I was annoyed but thought I may as well give it a go.

You know what? Director Joe Carnahan actually did a decent job. I have no qualms in saying that the storyline was pathetically poor, as was most of the acting aside from Liam Neeson (as always), and newcomer Sharlto Copley (who is possibly the only person on earth who could possibly immitate Dwight Shultz' version of Murdock). Liam Neeson was as effective as George Peppard (who sadly passed away in 1994 with lung cancer). I thought "Rampage" was quite poor, but there seems to be this considerable trend in that wrestlers/cage fighters seem to think that they can act when they get the chance (aside from Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Steve Austin who are showing considerable signs of improvement). I have a gigantic crush on Jessica Biel, but recently I think she's been a bit wooden as an actress... but don't worry Jessica, I still love you. Bradley Cooper has been getting all the breaks since his hit film "The Hangover" (2009), and he does quite a good job of imitating Dirk Benedict's Faceman.

Overall I have rated this film 6/10, because as a stand-alone film, I did find myself really enjoying myself as it unfolded. I think the charm of ridiculous scenarios, coupled with a bit more violence and grit than the original, was a welcoming addition to this version. I do feel that it was totally unnecessary to show how the group met for the first time, as everyone knows that they were a unit. In a way it was nice to bring the story forward a few decades, but would have been nice to retain the original recordings of the narration and theme tune. Finally, I think that if I had never grown up with the original series, I would have enjoyed this a lot more, but simply because it was not the same feel as the original, it does not beat its charm and wit overall. I guess "I ain't gettin' on no BA Plane" to Cyprus again!

Review: Toy Story 3 (10/10) - 2010: To Infinite And Beyond!

The moment Toy Story 3 was announced, I was both extremely excited and extremely skeptical. The first in the trilogy is in my opinion still the best animation to date. Of course many people will go "but the graphics weren't great," or "UP was SO much better," or "Avatar destroys it in graphics field." No I disagree on this point on a multitude of levels. UP was a phenomenal film don't get me wrong. The talking dog was possibly the best part of the film (primarily as my dog is an uncanny replica to it), and the graphics were very similar in a way to Toy Story 1. Avatar in my opinion shouldn't really be described as an animation as it was too lifelike to the point that you were immersed in Pandora, thus eliminating the animated feel to the film. The whole magic of Toy Story was the realistic, plastic feel of the toys, despite the unrealistic human characters. Besides, you can read my review on exactly what I thought of Avatar, but for now let's concentrate on Toy Story.

The second installment in the film was extremely disappointing, and clearly a lucrative marketing opportunity just four years after the first in 1995. It's hard to imagine that I was just eight years old when the first one came out, so I'm sure you can imagine my emotional ties with the film. People say that you taste changes when you get older, but when I heard that Odeon were going to screen the first one again in 3D, I jumped at the chance with numerous other housemates and friends. I hadn't seen the film in a number of years, but wasn't disappointed. It was exactly how I remembered, allowing me to appreciate the film even more since I've been studying film and television.

The second film for me was a failure for a number of reasons. Firstly, I hated the new characters. Jessie is a terrible addition to the already perfect squad. Secondly, the storyline was very average. Sure it was nice to introduce the Evil Emperor Zurg, but the character didn't fit my childlike imagination. He looked more like a cross between The Devil, Snow White and Rita from the Power Rangers. It was just ridiculous really. Anyway, along with I'm fairly sure the majority of people I know, I thought it was rubbish, so in order to even contend with the first, Toy Story 3 had a lot of making up to do.

Toy Story 3 brings back the same old characters we know and love (minus Bo Peep, Etch & Wheezy, yet annoyingly keeps Jessie). Without giving away too much of the story, Andy (John Morris), is all grown up and getting ready to go to College. His mum asks him to sort out the toys to be donated to charity, and those to be placed in the attic. However, a mix-up occurs and all of the toys (bar Woody who is the only one chosen to go to College) are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center right before Andy leaves for college. As Woody was the only chosen one who could see everything at the time, it is up to him to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and that they should return home to their rightful owner.

The following is the trailer for this phenomenal film:



All I can say, is that Disney's Pixar simply hit the nail on the head with this 103-minute film. It was absolutely spectacular. It took them 10 years to develop and complete this film, and the time and dedication completely pays off. The soundtrack takes me back to when I was eight years old, and brings back that innocence we all once had. I guess a lot of people will think that I'm talking absolute rubbish, but it's a truly emotional film. The intro is possibly THE most intelligent introduction to a sequel I have ever seen, and I sat there in awe as it played out. If only more sequels took a leaf out of Pixar's book.

Originally, a sequel was planned when it seemed that Disney and PIXAR would split over creative differences in 2004-2005. Disney started up an animation division titled 'Circle 7,' which would have been in charge of churning out sequels for PIXAR films that would not involve the original creators at PIXAR. Entertainment Weekly published an article that said the original plot for Toy Story 3 was going to be about Buzz Lightyear having a defect. Buzz would then be shipped to Taiwan to be fixed, but the other toys find out that the toy company is just replacing the broken Buzz toys with new ones, so they ship themselves to Taiwan to rescue him. This script had to be canned when PIXAR and Disney made amends. Part of their agreement was not to further develop projects that had been planned during their fallout (IMDB).

I'm glad this didn't happen as this version is much more intricate. The soothing voice combination of Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) brings back the memories in an adventure of epic proportions. I cannot explain just how cleverly crafted this film is, with points in the film where you think "are they actually going to do this? Is this it?!" There are a magnitude of new characters in this installment, and I believe that unlike the 2nd film, they actually got them right this time. Ken was a brilliant addition to the group (and one that would have benefited in "fixing" the second film), but nonetheless, there were so many hilarious moments, both new and reminders of the past films. This is also the first animated film to make one billion dollars at the worldwide box office, achieving this on August 27th, 2010.

Is it better than Toy Story 1? Surely it must be for 10/10 you must think? My verdict is that it isn't as good as the first, but only marginally. I sat at the end of the film with my group of friends (all of whom kept their 3D glasses on even after the film, (we all did it) for obvious reasons. I contemplated the possibility that this may pip the title for my favourite ever animation. It was perfect in every way, from story, to content, to ending. I believe that the only reason this film didn't beat the first, was the recognisably of new characters. Arguably, the reason that Toy Story 1 was so successful, was because the majority of the toys (aside from Woody(?) and Buzz Lightyear were toys that my generation, and those before me genuinely grew up playing with.

There is a scene with an old toy phone in the 3rd film which I felt I associated more with than the other new characters, simply because I will have played with it at a nursery in my childhood, or a friend will have owned one, etc. I believe that seeing as the toys were in a day care centre through donation, surely they would be old-fashioned, disused toys we would have played with, compared to newly created ones? In any case, the story was still phenomenal, but I felt it was important to add my two cents on why I still think the first is the best of the trilogy. I believe that anyone who had an emotional connection to the first film so many years ago will adore this film. So go and watch it, 3D or not, because it is simply out of this world.

Indie Review: An Education (7.5/10) - 2009: English Accents That Are Simply Eargasmic

Through the Bournemouth Skillset & Media Academy (BSMA), I was given the opportunity to attend the The Sony Ericsson Film Lovers' Forum at the BAFTA's this year. Without having the opportunity to have heard of and/or seen the numerous films that were nominated for the awards, this would provide me with an enjoyable list of films to watch and learn from. This particular film did fairly well for nominations and wins.


This particular film saw the lovely Carey Mulligan win the BAFTA for Leading Actress and then come backstage to talk to the fans in the forum. At that point in time I unfortunately could not relate to all of the hype surrounding her performance other than by word-of-mouth as I had not watched the film. She seemed like a genuinely lovely person. (For more information on my time at the BAFTA's, click here).

This film was nominated for 3 Oscars, won one and nominated for seven BAFTA's, as well as winning the British Independent Film Award, among a total of 18 wins and 45 nominations.

Lone Scherfig was BAFTA Nominated for Director; Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey were Nominated for Best Film; Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey, Lone Scherfig and Nick Hornby were Nominated for Outstanding British Film; Nick Hornby was Nominated for Adapted Screenplay; Alfred Molina was nominated for Best Supporting Actor; Odile Dicks-Mireaux was Nominated for Costume Design; and last but not least, Lizzie Yianni Georgiou was Nominated for Make Up & Hair.

"An Education" (shot for BBC Films in Ealing Studios in the UK), is set in the early 1960's, where middle-class, intelligent and humorous 16 year old Jenny Mellor (Carey Mulligan) lives with her parents in Twickenham, London. Jenny's sole mission, as spurred on by her father (Alfred Molina), is to pass her A-Levels and receive the grades she needs to get into Oxford University; a dream he shares with her. Her life is ready to take a phenomenal twist as she meets David Goldman (Oeter Sarsgaard), a suave and sophisticated Jewish businessman over twice her age. The film concentrates on his intelligently calculated tact to integrate himself into Jenny and her family's lives. As Jenny increasingly gets to know David, she must make the hardest decision of her life; whether to live the life she could only dream of, or continue her journey to get into the University she had worked so hard to attend.

Click below to watch the film's official trailer:



I am not going to lie, but I was quite uncomfortable throughout the film, not too dissimilar to how I felt watching Stanley Kubrick's Lolita. The creative team were initially worried about casting the 22 year old Carey Mulligan in the role of a 16 year old, but were convinced by her screen test. This realism was put to the test where a number of scenes left me feeling rather uneasy. Whether or not this was the intention of the director, personally I found it quite effective. I recognise that the era of the 60's was completely different to nowadays, however I do find that Jenny Mellor's (Mulligan) father should have prevented any form of contact between his daughter and a male of his age. Perhaps it is my generation that has grown up to avoid strangers when younger, and it would take someone born in that era to fully explain if that was the norm, but as mentioned, it is not something I condone in the slightest.

I felt that the cast was picked superbly well by Lucy Bevan, with Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina and Peter Sarsgaard all contributing phenomenally powerful and commendable performances. You may have read my previous post concerning Sandra Bullock's Oscar winning performance in The Blind Side, however I believe that Mulligan's performance was overlooked almost entirely. You felt the naivety, the joy, the sorrow, and the development of the character as the film unfolded and developed. This can be said of Bullock's performance, but not on the same scale as Mulligan and I feel that she might be very hard done by not to have won an Oscar she actually deserved.

Alfred Molina, rightly deserved a nomination for his acting as his performance was impecible. Peter Sarsgaard potentially also deserved a mention for his role as the sophisticated, suave businessman. Without giving anything away, his realistic movements, dialogue and gestures indicated his every intention to the audience. I can quite rightly state that my general unease throughout the film can be put down to the combination of his performance, tied in with the superbly portrayed protagonist, Jenny.

It may sound odd, but the impeccably articulate use of grammar and accents was a major highlight for me personally. With no disrespect intended, British films constantly use lower class accents and scenarios as the forefront of their films in modern times (unless they are period pieces of course), resorting to violence and anger as a solution for every problem. This (upper) middle-class film was a refreshing indicator that these classes also have a place in modern British cinema outside Victorian era, a praiseworthy mention that can rest with director Lone Scherfig. She says that she experimented with giving the actors options during scenes. For example, she told Peter Sarsgaard that "if he felt like it, he could start a conversation with an extra playing a doorman in one scene despite there not being any written dialogue" (IMDB). This is a style that I also like to experiment with on my sets, and I feel that it relaxes the actor to produce brilliant results.

I feel that I must commend An Education; a film that does not contain seismic twists and turns, climaxes or shocks, or any noticeable action, plodding along at a steady pace; a film that somehow captivates and grasps the attention of its audience from start to finish.

I have rated this 100 minute long film 7.5/10 due to the aforementioned lack of pace as this is not a film that I would have gone out of my way to watch at the cinema, or even purchase. It is a film that I may have casually switched channels and noticed that it was on Film 4 a few years from now. I believe that the power of the BAFTA's is lost in translation with the majority of the public, and all I can say is that I'm glad that I managed to (almost force) myself to watch this excellent, British film, and that Mulligan's future is bright (no BAFTA-sponsored Orange pun intended).

Review: The Blind Side (7/10) - 2009: A True Story About Compassion, Values And A Little Bit Of American Football

There seems to be an unusual running trend for me writing praise for Sandra Bullock in recent times. She is someone who I openly criticised as a wooden, talentless individual (but nowhere NEAR as bad as Julia Roberts obviously). Her movie career spawned (in my opinion) abysmal films such as Miss Congeniality, Two Weeks Notice, and a list of films I don't think I've ever heard of according to IMDB (do they even exist?!).

Sandra Bullock however, is also someone who gracefully turned up at the Golden Raspberry Awards to pick up the worst actress prize for "All About Steve" (A film she co-produced), and as a goodwill gesture, arrived with a trailer filled with DVDs of the film to give to the audience.

"Something tells me you all didn't watch the film because I wouldn't be here if you really, really watched it and understood what I was trying to say," she said. As she handed out the DVD's to the cheering crowd, she went on to say; "I will show up next year if you promise to watch the movie and really consider if it was truly the worst performance. If you're willing to watch, I'll come back next year and give back the Razzie." (Click here to read more).

This was just one day before she was expected to win an Oscar for The Blind Side...which she did, and up against stiff competition in Carey Mulligan's performance in "An Education", not to mention the everlasting Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia; the "Queen" Helen Mirren in The Last Station; and the undiscovered Gabourey Sidibe in Precious. (Click here for more information on the Oscar winners).

"The Blind Side" depicts the true story of Michael "Big Mike" Oher (Quinton Aaron), a quiet, homeless teenage African-American youngster who hails from a broken home in a rough neighbourhood. Michael does not know who his father is and his mother is a drug addict of whom the State has previously taken custody of her other children. Michael has had little formal education and very few skills or motivation to help him learn, due to the societal dangers area of his upbringing.

Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock) and Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw), a well-to-do white family take him in as part of their family due to his unfortunate circumstances, with Michael's presence in the family's lives leading them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own. Living in his new environment, Michael faces a completely different set of challenges to overcome, both academically and physically, accidentally getting involved with American Football due to his natural, raw talent. Working hard to protect his family and with the help of his coaches and new environment, an All-American legend was born.

Click below watch the film's official trailer:



For those of you out there who think that this will be a sports film would be wrong as, in my opinion, it lacks the gritty action that would pick up the tempo of the film. I found myself becoming increasingly interested and excited as soon as there was a sports scene (but then again, I do enjoy sports). This film is more about the emotional attachment between Michael and Leigh Anne, and how they in turn, helped each other.

Once again, as with "The Proposal", I find myself complimenting Bullock's talented performance as both a tough business woman, and emotional mother figure. Quinton Aaron didn't particularly have many lines to learn for this film and his expression remained the same throughout the film, however it was very convincing in the sense that Michael was a quiet individual who did what he was told, and this came across very well. Tim McGraw's performance as the doting husband was very believable and SJ Tuohy (Jae Head), the younger son of Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, was a fairly convincing performance from this youngster. Collins Tuohy (Lily Collins), SJ's older sister, also put on a very good performance. One criticism can be made of Adriane Lenox, who played Michael's drug-addicted mother, as she did not act or give the impression that she was constantly under the influence. This can also be attributed to a fairly clean interior house set for a "junkie," and a lack of make-up.

Nevertheless, I have rated this heartwarming 129 minute-long film 7/10 and it is one that I definitely recommend that you go and watch. I believe that it required some more action, however the remaining aspects of the film were exceptional. A special mention needs to be made to the casting director (Ronna Kress), who picked a very similar cast aesthetically to the original individuals.

Review: Invictus (8/10) - 2009: More Than A Rugby Game

When I discovered that there was going to be a movie about Nelson Mandela, I'm fairly sure there were probably only two candidates to play the role. Morgan Freeman, and Nelson Mandela himself (and after some research, even Mandela himself agrees with my statement). Without reading any reviews or what topics the movie would depict, I instantly thought of Apartheid and Mandela's time spent in jail.

Obviously these are the two things that almost synonymously depict South Africa during the era around his election, and something that would be hard-hitting in a way people may not have understood in the past.

Hard-hitting however, is taken to a completely different level when the concept of the game of rugby is introduced to the film that was shot entirely in Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa. The screenplay was written by Anthony Peckham (a native of South Africa, who gave Eastwood a special insight to the story's era), and is based on John Carlin's book "Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela And The Game That Made A Nation."

The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) joined forces with Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), the captain of South Africa's rugby team, to help unite their country on a completely different level. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid, with the black South Africans usually routing against the Springboks and the white South Africans cherishing the team. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match. The story is told from the viewpoints of both Mandela and his backroom staff who helped him achieve a unified South Africa during his run as the first President elected in a fully representative democratic election.

Below is the trailer for the movie:



As the trailer depicts, the biggest shock for me can be said to be Matt Damon's performance. Matt has taken a lot of flack from people (myself included), not to mention every time I hear his name i think of the following clip from Team America.



I detested the Bourne movies and I don't care what people think or say, because I believe that it was a poorly acted, almost tedious James Bond rip-off, and time from my life that I cannot get back. I'll admit that the first film from the trilogy was decent, however the others were not. I think that criticism like this is actually unfair in hindsight after watching this film, as you cannot base whole perceptions of actors in one fell swoop.

We are all guilty of doing it and I guess that is what this business is all about: perceptions (See Ben Affleck's rise and fall, and eventual almost phoenix-like rebirth recently). We should also remember that Damon has won an Oscar for his role in co-writing Good Will Hunting (With Affleck), not to mention amassing a further 19 wins & 51 nominations throughout his career to date. The Talented Mr Ripley and The Departed are further examples of extremely, well-produced films.


Damon is simply phenomenal. Not only does he look like Francois Pienaar (above), but just like with Leonardo's Rhodesian accent in Blood Diamond, Damon is spot on with his South African accent. I literally could not believe that it was him due to his bulked up figure, bleached hair and acting talent.

Matt Damon made a visit to Francois Pienaar's home to ask Pienaar for assistance in preparing for his role. When Damon got to his house, Pienaar answered the door and for a few minutes they simply looked up at each other. Then Damon said "I look much bigger on camera." This broke the tension, and Pienaar prepared a gourmet dinner for Damon. Pienaar later claims he was impressed by Damon: "He's a great bloke. I was struck by his humility and his wicked sense of humor. He wanted to learn everything he could about me, my philosophy as a captain and what it was like for us in 1995. We also chatted about the game of rugby, what happens in training and about the technical aspects. We had a lot of fun" (IMDB).

Matt Damon informed Clint Eastwood about Francois Pienaar's distinct physique: "You know, this guy is huge!" Eastwood replied, "Hell, you worry about everything else. Let me worry about that." By structuring set-ups and camera angles, Eastwood was able to make the average-height Damon look about Pienaar's height (IMDB).

Furthering my rant on acting, Morgan Freeman, although the spitting image of Mandela, does not really manage to grasp the South African accent. Considering his voice is usually spoken in a way that could melt butter and send babies to sleep, and although his accent was slowed and accented to Mandela's, it just doesn't seem to work for me personally. His movements and mannerisms however, were almost spot on to Mandela's, thus restoring and saving his overall performance in my eyes.

Morgan Freeman, who has been a friend of Nelson Mandela for many years, prepared for his role as Mandela by watching some tapes of him to perfect his accent and rhythm of speaking. However, the most difficult part was Mandela's charisma, which could not be duplicated: "I wanted to avoid acting like him; I needed to BE him, and that was the biggest challenge. When you meet Mandela, you know you are in the presence of greatness, but it is something that just emanates from him. He moves people for the better; that is his calling in life. Some call it the Madiba magic. I'm not sure that magic can be explained" (IMDB).


Whilst Isaac (Zak) Feau'nati does not exactly like Jona Lomu in this particular photo, in the film his actions and aesthetics are extremely similar. He is a rugby union player for Bath Rugby in the Guinness Premiership and was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and has since retired in 2008.

Overall, the comparisons above proves that the Casting Director, Fiona Weir did a pretty good job in her selections overall whose other credits include several "Harry Potter" movies, as well as Brit-centric hits such as "Love Actually" and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age." I reckon I wouldn't give her any credit for Harry Potter... their casting is predominantly rubbish.

Personally I know of white South African's who have since had to flee their homes due to the increased violence shown towards them as a result of all the changes, so I think it would be very interesting to see their take on how this fantastic film unfolds.

Clint Eastwood is not only establishing himself as one of the top directors in the industry, but he is also challenging viewers perceptions. Arguably, he is increasingly concentrating on race and prejudice, not to mention challenging the norm through powerful visuals and intellectual dialogue on unusually emotional subjects. It can be argued that developing a story about an aging female boxer in the deep south would hardly bat an eyelid to anyone who has not watched. Changeling also challenged the parental nature in everyone's hearts and watching the dual-perspective films of Letters From Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers, not to mention the race-fueled rush that was Gran Torino, justify my claims.

Eastwood has won 4 Oscars,(Million Dollar Baby x2, The Unforgiven x2), and amassed 104 other wins, including being nominated for a further 67 awards. I can only think that this will increase as the years go on and I am becoming a genuine fan of his work. However I still believe that there is improvement needed on his directing of some actors of who, in parts, are unrealistic in their dialogues. They seem as if they were simply chosen off the street (e.g. Bee Vang's performance as the boy in Gran Torino).

Phenomenal scenes such as "Good Luck Bokke" and the cinematography of the rugby matches (especially with New Zealand) will be ones that will leave you clinging to your seats as I did. Unless you are an avid rugby fan, you will, like me, most likely be unaware of the main events leading up to and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

I love rugby however Cyprus didn't establish any form of rugby team until 2003 with the Nicosia Barbarians, followed by my first rugby club in 2004, The Limassol Crusaders (the 2nd independent rugby club established on the island). The sport was not played on television and even to this day is extremely limited in its viewing. The sport has since picked up with the locals and finally progressed to a Cyprus national side in 2006, consisting of South Africans (both white and Greek origin), British Expatriates and Cypriots. I take great pride in scoring one of the first tries for my club as a 16 year old winger, and only wish I'd had the chance to play for the country (if I had not gone to University, who knows?).

Anyway, enough about my life and on with the film. A few criticisms however can be attributed to the crowds who seemed quite fake, not to mention a fair few geographical and factual errors according to IMDB (Click here for the link). For more trivia on the show, click here for more information.

I have rated this film 8/10 and I don't think that any minor errors ruin the quality of this production as I genuinely believe that it was an extremely enjoyable film that lasts 134 minutes. I recommend that you give it a watch if you are interested in learning about both Nelson Mandela and South Africa as the man himself gave his blessings on the film being developed. What more could you ask for? Let's just hope England can when the next Rugby World Cup!

Review: Public Enemies (5/10) - 2009: Camerawork Is Criminal

When the first glimpses of Johnny Depp and Christian Bale's new onscreen adventure played out in the preview section before a movie I was watching in the cinema a while back, I was literally taken aback by the sheer quality of film the trailer promised me. Often a trailer can ruin a movie, but in other instances it can offer insight into the type of acting, filming style and music you will witness when sitting down to watch the movie itself.

This was possibly one of the first movies that, after watching the trailer, I had been excited to watch in a quite a while (aside from Inglourious Basterds which I've been waiting 4 years for),. The combination of suspense and drama of an old-fashioned gangster movie lasting a bum-numbing 140 minutes was exciting in itself as I really enjoyed Road To Perdition.

The film was directed by Michael Mann, who has previously produced the likes of The Aviator (2004) and more recently Hancock (2008), and directed Ali (2001), Collateral (2004) and Miami Vice (2006). Public Enemies' starring lineup include the likes of Johnny Depp and Christian Bale as mentioned, in addition to Marion Cotillard, Stephen Dorff and Stephen Graham to name a few.

The story follows the final years of John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), a notorious bank robber living in 1930's Chicago, who loved his trade and was constantly one the run from the authorities and FBI. The movie covers Dillinger's affections for Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), and their increasing love affair whilst the rest of the world flies by. Similarly, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), an FBI agent hired to track Dillinger down is added to the equation providing numerous gun battles, action scenes and solid performances from both Depp and Bale, that almost save this movie single-handedly from catastrofic production failure (in my opinion).

In order to envisage what I am trying to explain, please view the official trailer below:


At first glance this trailer promises the world to the viewer, and I expect that you, the reader are questioning my judgement and disagreeing with everything I've mentioned about the film so far (aside from the storyline). If I had not sat through the movie I would also agree with you, however I must insist that the way this movie is filmed, I believe a one-armed, blind chimpanzee could have caught the action (and even still shots) more accurately.

Every sequence seemed to be shot in zoom and on a handicam, not to mention super-fast editing from one zoom to another, resulting in mild epilepsy and nausia to the viewer. Parts of the gun-fighting scenes seemed poorly produced on an After Effects and graphics scale, and the lack of a steadicam in every single scene, apart from those lifted for the trailer, were abysmal.

Acting-wise I believed that Billie (Cotillard) throughout the movie was in-fact American until the final scenes, when it turns out this is not the case and her accent shifts to an Eastern European style, thus throwing her entire performance out of proportion. Stephen Graham's transition from 'This Is England' hardman to Baby Face Nelson was very well acted. Stephen Dorff was hardly recogniseable, which could be down to either good acting, or poor scripting for his character.

Johnny Depp needs no introduction in my opinion and whilst I do not believe that this was his finest performance, I could not find anything particularly off-putting about it either. Leonardo DiCaprio was initially to star in a leading role for this movie when it was put into development in 2004 (IMDB), and what an interesting combination that would have made (provided Depp or Bale were not removed in the process).

Similarly, Christian Bale used his stern, "hard-ass" acting ability similar to American Psycho, a character to which he portray's perfectly time and time again, thus saving the film from becoming a completely lacklustre production with a fairly hefty budget. The costumes used throughout the movie were extremely well selected, as were the automobiles and general scenery.

IMDB state that:

"The gunfight at the lodge in the woods was filmed at the Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, WI which is the actual location where the gunfight between Dillinger and the FBI took place in 1934. In fact, shell casings from the 1934 gunfight can still be found in the woods surrounding the lodge."

The film also provides a cameo appearance from Emilie DeRavin (Lost) early on in the movie. Click here for more Trivia or Goofs, but I must warn that they contain spoilers. In all, I rated this movie a 5/10 as to the way the entire cinematographical process was produced, as I keep mentioning (I seriously can't get over it). This inevitably led to the poor quality and constant headache that most people in the cinema endured, and if it weren't for solid script and acting from the majority of the cast and crew, the score would be a lot lower unfortunately.

Review: Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past (7/10) - 2009: Presently Funny

Forgive me for not posting a review in a while, but I have been extremely busy with summer in Cyprus and the limited time I have left this year to enjoy the finer things in life such as sun, sea, friends, family and Greek food. Anyway, when I was offered the chance to watch Matthew McConaughey in another "chick-flick" I almost threw up a little and wanted to almost go back on my plans to go to the cinema.


The thought of sitting through 100 minutes of his usual drivel disgusted me, however I always looked at Jennifer Garner as a pleasing bit of eye-candy. (Please excuse the male-ness in my tone, but it's true, she's pretty). In all, I had the choice to sit through this movie or watch GI Joe, and after hearing poor reviews about that movie, and good ones about this one (mainly from the beautiful Natalia), (not to mention that GI Joe had started already), I accepted my fate, took a big breath and walked into the cinema.

Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past was originally set up at Walt Disney Pictures with Ben Affleck selected to play the lead character. However, budgetary issues, and the failure of Gigli (2003) forced the studio to cancel filming one month prior to shooting (IMDB).

The movie is based on Charles Dickens' age-old fairy tale "A Christmas Carol" about Scrooge at Christmas who is visited by three ghosts (Past, Present and Future). The twist in the story follows Connor Mead (McConaughey) who is infact a modern day Hugh Heffner, with beautiful women on the end of his fingertips (with direct connotations to Scrooge and his money). McConaughey plays the role of a famous photographer who has the ability to use and disgard women as he pleases (an ability every man forced to watch this movie at the cinema will eventually learn to love and even inadvertently learn from).

His brother Paul Conner (played by Breckin Meyer) is about to get married and as taught by his late uncle (Michael Douglas) about weddings and love being superficial and nonexistent entities of life, McConaughey seeks out to "save" his brother from making the mistake of his life. The mistake being that being married, he would succumb to a life of manogamy, a concept of which McConaughey finds both disturbing and impossible to comprehend. He would then revisit his past, present and future to learn the errors of his ways and discover why he ended up the way he did, with the ultimate chance to change as a person for the better.

The following is the film's official trailer:


Now I'm not going to lie... I was virtually dragged kicking and screaming into the cinema to watch this film and I will hold my hand up and say that I actually enjoyed it. My views on McConaughey have dramatically changed and his role as suave ladies-man was a cross between Ryan Reynolds' wit and charm, with Owen Wilson's dry, relaxed style of talking. I found myself laughing at the pickup routines, come-backs and general banter that danced to and fro between Garner and McConaughey. Douglas' role made me (as well as the audience) laugh in almost every scene and played the role of the ultimate ladies-man guru extremely well.

I believe that Garner's acting was slightly wooden and quite similar to her other movies, however this did not deter the movie in the slightest and why I have awarded it an impressive 7/10. I believe the movie would have been a flop if Ben Affleck had taken the reigns as he does not fill the role as well as McConaughey in my opinion. I do recommend watching this movie if you enjoyed the Proposal or Wedding Crashers.

Review: Blindness (3/10) - 2009: Blind (Staff) Leading The Blind (Cast)?

When I visited my local DVD store, after browsing the shelves of the movies I've already watched, deciding what I could blindly pick (no pun intended), this was when this movie cover really caught my eye. I read the synopsis on the back, and the concept was very different to anything I'd come across in a long while.

The idea of a "White Sickness" where an airborne virus renders people blind without any visible signs of infection was extremely intriguing to me. Directed by Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener, City of God), inspired by José Saramago's novel, Blindness takes the viewer on a 121 minute deteriorating process of an infection, not dissimilar to 24 Days Later.

I have always thought Julianne Moore (Hannibal, Evolution) was a good actress and adding Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) and Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac) was an interesting choice of cast for this seemingly low-budget movie. Ironically scenes with empty streets and damaged property indicate that there was a higher budget than I originally expected, however this did not come across in the final production of the movie in my opinion.

The story of the movie as indicated begin with an individual suddenly becoming blind whilst driving home. This sickness spreads to the point of isolating the sick from the healthy in a hospital's blind ward, guarded by soldiers. An eye-doctor (Ruffalo) contracts the disease whilst treating the original victim, whilst his wife (Moore) is seemingly unaffected by the sickness. This renders her the only sighted person in the blind ward after refusing to leave her husband's side in his time of need, and feigning illness to allow her into the quarantined area. The storyline follows the individuals' plight in increasingly squalid conditions within the ward, with limited supplies and support on the way.

The following trailer shows the potential this movie has to offer:



Whilst Blindness was selected as the opening film at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, this does not automatically safeguard it from the numerous flaws and inaccuracies that the film exhibits. IMDB state that in order to prepare for acting in the film, all of the actors, crew and extras participated in so-called "blind camps". In these camps, participants were blindfolded, taken to an unknown location and left in the middle of the street to find their way around.

It can be noted that there was always someone on-hand to guide them, yet almost always, Director Fernando Meirelles claims that someone would always breakdown and give up. As with the training, the film lacks any realism when it comes to acting blind. Of course it is a hard skill, but there are always ways to make it more realistic, including blacked-out lenses for example.

I had high hopes for this movie and I felt continuously let down by the camera angles, poor musical composition and quality, and the way the movie seemed to drag on, rather than build up anticipation to an emphatic climax. Unrealistic scenarios that include an unsupervised blind ward are one of the many moments which suspend this movie from really working well, and I feel that in another world, developed by a different company, with superior cast, this film could have been a major blockbuster. This is the reason for the low 3/10 score I've provided it.

The numerous continuation errors and seemingly endless patience from Moore, when she could simply take charge of the entire situations she faced remaining as the only sighted person was almost petty. City of God was fantastic, but I feel that Fernando Meirelles did not reproduce the quality found in that production, with this movie. I find it increasingly frustrating that I cannot divulge into exact examples, which could ruin the movie for those who would like to see it, however I'd like to offer my view that I really do suggest that people give this movie a go despite what I've said.

The reason for this is that it is a completely new concept, it is exciting and unpredictable at times, and if you put aside your differences with the acting and the unrealistic scenarios mentioned, (among many others) it can be an enjoyable experience. I think for a film like this, it may be down to the individual, but in my opinion it was a poorer-executed 24 Days Later.

Review: Horsemen (6/10) - 2009: Riding Into Twists And Turns

Despite looking like a bemused Gordon Ramsay lookalike in the poster, Dennis Quaid in fact pulls off a solid, powerful performance throughout this 90 minute crime thriller. Produced by Michael Bay and directed by Jonas Åkerlund, this movie offers much potential and provides well in certain areas, yet it can be mentioned that it lacks disappointingly in others.



The story follows Aidan Breslin (Dennis Quaid) as a detective who has become increasingly distant from his two sons after his wife died of cancer. The chain of murders are based upon the Biblical prophecies surrounding chapter six of the Book of Revelations that include the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse described below on par with the movie:

The White Horseman (Pestilence) - The white horse of the apocalyptic four may represent polar qualities of evil or righteousness, depending on interpretation. Some interpret the rider of the white horse to be the Anti-Christ, whereas others believe it is Jesus Christ himself.

The Red Horseman (War) - The rider of the second horse is generally held to represent War. The red color of his horse represents blood spilled on the battlefield. He carries a great sword, which represents battle and fighting.

The Black Horseman (Famine)- The third horseman riding the black horse is called Famine, with the colour black also being a symbol of the dead.

The Pale Horseman (Death) - The fourth horseman, usually said to ride on a pale horse, is explicitly named Death. Of all the riders, he is the only one whose name is easily distinguishable. Generally, he is usually followed by Hades (Gravedom). The color of the horse has been translated as "ashen", "pale", or "pale green".

Aside from the Biblical references, Ziyi Zhang, most notable for her roles in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House Of Flying Daggers, pulls of a phenomenal and scintilating display as Kristin, an adopted daughter of a murder victim. Prior to this movie I assumed that she was unable to speak any English due to the nature of her previous movies being purely in Chinese, however she performs very well from this point of view.

I have wouldn't be suprised if Lou Taylor Pucci, starring as Alex in the movie, will be awarded a few more contracts in the near future. Despite looking almost identical to a younger Mark Owen (from Take That), his role as disgruntled teenager working as a stand-in father whilst his real father works all day and night is amicable, not to mention some later scenes in the movie. In fact, the majority of the actors and extras performed very well in the movie.

It can be noted that the movie's soundtrack was extremely echoey and of poor quality, not to mention very average in terms of musical composition. The music volume often matched, or was higher to those speaking during scenes, often ceasing for no reason, which was extremely off-putting.



I noticed that this movie had similar characteristics to Se7en (1995); perhaps in style of writing, ending technique, or biblical references such as with Se7en's 7 Deadly Sins concept of death by gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, wrath, pride and lust, taken from Roman Catholic Virtues.

I've rated this movie a 6/10 because whilst the film sends you on a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns as the story unfolds, there was something missing from the almost too-sudden ending. This blog is described in a way so as to encourage movie-going/renting and purchasing where possible without ruining plot-lines and endings, so forgive some sections that may appear lacklustre in detail.

So without giving too much away, in my opinion, the script could have included a certain therapist into the script to provide further substance and depth to the outcome of the movie, along with more of a detailed scenario about what would happen next. This is the reason that this particular movie did not perform to the full potential it initially held whilst watching it.

Review - The Proposal (7/10) - 2009: Sandra Bullock Proposing More Laughs Than Usual

I am an avid fan of Ryan Reynolds and know that no matter what movie he's in, I'm guaranteed his quick-witted humour and laughing until my sides hurt (See Just Friends, Van Wilder, and Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place to name a few). However the dilemma for me was the simple fact that Sandra Bullock would be co-starring in a movie with primarily two characters.



The reason the movie "Crash" didn't affect affect me so badly was the fact she only starred in about 2-3 scenes. She is the same, whiney actress in nearly everything she does and I was almost debating giving the movie a miss because of it. You may think it's harsh, but I'm really not a fan.

I'd like to think that I'm right a lot of the time, but on this occasion, her performance was superb. This could be down to the fact that her role was a stuck up ice-queen Margaret Tate, an executive editor-in-chief of a major book publishing company...but this is besides the point. The movie surrounds Bullock, a Canadian-national working in America, who's visa has expired and suddenly faces deportation.

Her plan includes blackmailing her personal assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her in order to avoid the deportation process, therefore making her a legal American Citizen. He grudgingly accepts, under the condition that he is promoted to the position of editor. The story continues with Reynolds' trip to Alaska for his grandma's 90th birthday party where the "couple" aim to announce their "engagement". As always, Reynolds performs solidly with numerous facial expressions, catch-phrases, and actions to make this a very enjoyable Romantic Comedy.

The following movie trailer indicates things to come throughout the movie:



It was reported that Reynolds was shocked to discover that he would be sharing an exposing scene with Bullock at one point within the movie. He initially believed that the script would be re-written to exclude the scene, as he didn't think she would agree to filming it.

I'd like to mention however that this movie was not as successful as Just Married for example as the missing ingredient was Reynolds' dialogue. I don't believe that he was provided with a completely solid script, in the sense that his humour almost seemed forced and trying to compete with roles in previous movies. Nevertheless, I rate this movie 7/10 and found it an extremely enjoyable romantic comedy and highly recommend it for a good night in with the other-half (or lots of popcorn and ice-cream if you're on your own).

Review - Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (4/10) - 2009: Transforming From Bad To Worse

I remember sitting down on a Saturday morning throughout my childhood, waiting for my weekly dose of Transformers...and the cartoon soundtrack "more than meets the eye". I even remember purchasing my first Optimus Prime from Tip Top (a local toy store), including the Transformer collection where you connect five other Transformer toys together to produce a Super-Transformer. It fills me with a sense of nostalgia looking back, and when I first heard that Hollywood had decided to make a human version of the series, I was extremely sceptical at first and didn't want to watch it.

With the fond childhood recollections of this well-written (from what I remember at least) series, anything that could ruin these memories was a risk I was unwilling to take at first. However, after numerous positive appraisals from a lot of people I decided to watch the first one. I wont delve into complete details but I will admit that it was much better than I had previously expected. With this in mind, I was far less reluctant to watch the second movie. Of course it had its flaws but like the sequel I believe this was down to the actors selected.

Shia LaBeouf. Where do I start on this actor? I'm not being funny but every single film he's been in (as with Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter), he has the same look of bewilderment throughout the entire 150 minutes. I do not understand what Steven Spielberg sees in him as an actor, as there are far more capable of doing a better job. I don't like to slate individuals, because in the movie Disturbia, I thought his acting was realistic and suited the part.

This was all until I discovered that it wasn't really tailor-made acting for that film, but more his actual generic acting itself. Regardless, I refuse to critique him for Disturbia, or Holes as I feel he did a good job. Unlike Radcliffe however, Shia has not progressed as an actor his age might have hoped. At least Radcliffe moved from specked-bewildered-with-mouth-open acting to much-more-realistic-specked-bewildered-with-mouth-open acting.

Megan Fox is potentially the most beautiful actress to come on to the movie scene in a long time but even this will not deter me from describing how I see her acting abilities. I will take my hat off and admit that her seduction techniques worked on nearly every male in the cinema and were almost too realistic for most to stand up during the half-time interval, however hey may as well have cast Carmen Electra for her similar "acting" qualities.

Besides.. the day I see someone who looks like Shia LaBeouf walking around with a Megan Fox and being so cocky as to believe that she wouldn't leave him for a Ryan Reynolds lookalike...I'll eat my words. Is this just a sad state of affairs that Hollywood has resorted to in recent years? What happened to the James Dean's or Joaquin Phoenix's (in Gladiator) of the world where every movement and spoken word is more believable than skin-deep looks of beauty?

Similarly with the first movie, I felt the special effects and graphics were phenomenal and explosions worked in sync with the post-production graphics expertly. I don't like to be completely negative about movies from an overall aspect as I believe that credit will be due where it is deserved, and the special effects team saved this movie almost single-handedly.

The following trailer for Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen provides a taste of things to come throughout the movie:



As the trailer gives away, the cheap (almost forced) humour is a massive no-no and fail in almost every situation except for perhaps one part of the entire film. I don't understand what Michael Bay/his writers were thinking when developing an Action-Comedy-Sci-Fi-combination within a single film. I am unsure if these writers wrote the roles specifically with the chosen actors in mind or not, because Shia LaBeouf tends to have the similar goofy lines in the majority of his recent movies.

Furthermore, the slightly racist connotations of the twin robots stereotypical urban black personalities has been overlooked by most people, yet it even made me chuckle at how a Blockbuster could write this into the script. Maybe I should take my own advice from a previous post in that I should watch these movies with a pinch of salt rather than the underlying meanings of things.

My flatmate accurately described how the movie was written before I watched it and I can agree with his quote: "You know when you're a kid and you write a story and you're locked in a massive battle where your team is losing... but suddenly, you forgot to tell people, that you own the Sword of Elzar with the capabilities of destroying everyone that would have been previously impossible, but is now easy because of the weapon I just told you about just then"... Well this is basically how the movie is laid out, so if you like an easy-to-watch, CGI-fuelled action-movie, with intense graphical scenes, Megan Fox (mmm) and (err) comedy thrown in, by all means go ahead...But seriously...robot heaven?!...come on.

It's not all bad for Paramount and Dreamworks however, as the movie did score the best opening day ever for a Wednesday release, with an estimated $60.6 million domestically (USA). Furthermore the movie has also earned an estimated $201.2 million, bettering Spiderman 2's $152.4 million to become the second biggest five-day domestic gross of all time, not to mention becoming China's biggest box office hit ever by earning 400 million Chinese yuan ($59 million).

I've rated this movie 4/10 based on the reasons mentioned. Don't take my word for it if you don't want to, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Review - Defiance (2/10) - 2009: Daniel Craig's Resistance To Acting Properly

Now I will hold up my hand and admit that in Layer Cake, Daniel Craig was star of show and well worth the DVD purchase for repeated use. However, is it just me that has noticed that ever since he won the race to the role of the first blonde 007 (this can be an entire post in itself about how I disagree with this concept...but anyway), he simply retains the fixed pout throughout every scene, standing upright and praying his new-found muscles through his James Bond training protrude through his clothing. I wonder if he had a vain enough request for a topless scene denied?

Arguably however, his Russian accent I must admit was fairly accurate, and the fact that he attempted to even speak Russian was admirable and virtually provided the 1-2/10 that I've rated this movie. This does not mean that he was solid though, as every now and then he slipped back into a British/Scottish accent. Now don't get me wrong, Blood Diamond and The Last Samurai were two fantastic films directed by Edward Zwick, Blood Diamond being one of the most intense films I've watched in a long time, and The Last Samurai's superb Hans Zimmer soundtrack, however this film tries to describe a rushed version of the horrors the Jews faced during World War 2 in German-Occupied Eastern Europe in ironically, 137 minutes.

Sure it was nominated for an Academy Award...albeit for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score (James Newton Howard), rather than the actual film itself.

The story follows four Jewish Belorussian brothers, lead by Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig) and his brother Zus Bielski (Liev Schreiber), who escape the slaughtering of their village, in addition to Soviet bounty-hunters selling live Jews to the Nazis in exchange for cash, whatever their condition. The majority of the film is situated in the forests of Belarus, where the brave survivors intend to reclaim their lives as free men and women and set up a new home in the woods, including calling a truce with the neighbouring Soviet partisans through the infamous Bielski name borne through their various acts of defiance (the name really gives it away...) against the Nazis.

The movie sounds fantastic on paper, however it is extremely far-fetched, to the point that the houses they have made include metal door hinges, windows, enough food and water to supply a thousand people (how?!) and most probably central heating with a jacuzzi. Furthermore, the defiant band of Jews find it extremely easy to break in and out of Nazi camps holding the Jews and don't ever seem to follow them into the woods.

It can be mentioned that it is nice to see Jamie Bell finally escaping his Billy Elliot image, and whilst he did not hold the award for "Best Russian Accent" out of all the refugees in the forest, he put on a solid acting display. It can also be mentioned that Schreiber's performance was also admirable. See below for the official trailer to the movie and you can make your own judgement.



This movie has been rated a very low score because of the reasons mentioned above and not one I'd recommend sitting over two hours through, considering the camera-lense filter seemed to be set permanently in the dark (whether this was to add to the realism of the forest or purely accidental I don't know), not to mention Daniel Craig's wooden performance. it can be argued that there were a few action scenes that gripped the audience, albeit for a few minutes or so.

The Holocaust was an event unimaginable to anything that occurs in this modern day and age, and this movie does not intend on reducing the impact of these brave individuals, however they do not seem to make it convincing enough, which is a sad scenario to comprehend.

Review - Brüno (8/10) - 2009: This Movie Is SO Gay!

Excuse the pun within the title, but this is my first official movie review (in the world of blogging; minus the foul language, bad grammar and slang), so let's see how it goes.

Sacha Baron Cohen is once again at the height of controversy in the movie world dating back to his original mockumentary character Ali G, originally cast in 1998 during "The 11 O'clock Show." Whilst Ali G was less risqué in his interview methods, it showed potential for things to come later, as with the hysterical Borat Sagdiyev (2006), and of course this latest installment in Cohen's repertoire.

The story follows Brüno, a 19 year old homosexual fashionista who wants to "make it big" in Hollywood by becoming a celebrity, and will do literally anything in his claim to fame. When the synopsis for the movie first came out, I'm sure that nearly everyone, myself included, would sit through a funny movie on the scale of Borat, but perhaps slightly a bit more uncomfortable through homo eroticism. This went beyond most boundaries I could even imagine, even so much as to cut out numerous scenes with graphic images in Arabic countries, leaving the film much shorter than the worldwide 81 minutes run-time, and was recently banned in the Ukraine.

Surely this is the type of coverage Cohen wished for, which started off with the infamous Eminem publicity stunt at the MTV Movie Awards (see below):



Admirably, in a mark of respect to Michael Jackson, a scene featuring La Toya Jackson was removed from the final edit around a week before cinema release. Some people may disagree with Cohen's overall intentions, however this act shows that he does in fact, have moral standards.

While Borat was nominated for an Oscar, I feel that Brüno does not contain the secret ingredient to compete in the same category. Numerous activists have complained that the film promotes homosexuality, whereas others argue that it in fact promotes homophobia. It is down to the individual how they feel about the issue. However, I do believe that if people could just sit down and watch the movie and take each of the scenes with a pinch of salt, rather than delve into the depths of morality and potential underlying meanings and connotations, they'd enjoy life a lot more.

I personally did not notice a single person who wasn't enjoying themselves during the cinema's premiere locally, however the most graphic of scenes did leave the majority of cinema-goers clasping their mouths with their hands and trying not to look, wondering just how far the imagery was going to go. This movie is not for the feint-hearted and a certain swinging full-frontal section of the movie will haunt my dreams for a long time, regardless of how prepared for the movie I was or not.

For those who have not seen Brüno, or would like to see if they could handle all 81 minutes of similar humour, below is the official trailer. However, I must warn you that it does contains spoilers and if you simply want to remain breathless, startled and in hysterics throughout the film, I recommend that you skip this link.



I have rated this film 8/10 because I think it is potentially the most shockingly graphic movie I have ever watched at the cinema, whilst remaining extremely intelligent throughout interviews that involve real people, and retains the comedic genius and laughs throughout as found in Borat.