The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Doctor Parnassus leads a travelling show around the streets of London, where he invites people to step into their own imagination.

Unfortunately I think the film will always be remembered for being Heath Ledger's final film, but his performance is nowhere near as good as in The Dark Knight, that said it is not a criticism of him the character he has is not the same as playing the joker which you can do so much more with. Personally I thought the stand out performance was that of Andrew Garfield, who we will see in the forthcoming Spiderman reboot in which he will be the title character.

The visuals of the imagination are fantastic, the occupier must always face the choice while in their own imagination to go with salvation or damnation, salvation and they will come out a better person, damnation and they will lose their souls to the devil. The loss of Ledger forced Terry Gilliam into some inspired improvisation, while having completed the real world scenes before his passing the imaginarium scenes were left unfilmed, step in Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to save the day, surprisingly this works really well, showing different sides of the Tony character and maybe exposing him as the person he really is.

Good that is was, it wasn't quite the trip I was expecting from the director of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.

I give this film 3 out of 5.

The Road

With so many films that focus on the end of the world as we know it, I'm looking at you Roland Emmerich, this film chooses to focus on how people deal with the after effects. The reason for the earth being in this post apocalyptic state is never given, I guess it is seen as being irrelevant, which I though was a nice touch, you don't need to know why this has happened just that it has.

The film follows a father and son on their way south where they believe the weather to be warmer and the food to be more plentiful. Their main concern is a band of Hills Have Eyes style hillbilly cannibals that have resorted to eating people because of a massive food shortage and they will kill women and children with out a second thought.

The film was touted as an Oscar contender before its release but fell a bit flat at the box office and got forgotten about and I can see why, the scenes with just the father and son can feel overly long at times, but not that its a slow film it just could have been a bit more entertaining.

I give this film 3 out of 5.

Anvil: The Story of Anvil

For those who know and love This is Spinal Tap, Anvil: The Story of Anvil could well be the real world version. In case you've never heard of them, and most people haven't, Anvil were a heavy metal band that hit their peek in the early 80's. Noted as a major influence for bands such as Metallica, Megadeath and Slayer to name a few, these are the guys that fame and fortune passed by.

Now in their 50's and working normal jobs, Steve 'lips' Kudlow and Robb Reiner, yes I thought that was a joke too, still believe in themselves and that fame and glory could come at any time, so like Spinal Tap they embark on a disastrous tour of Europe. You truly feel for them when they get to the Monsters of Transylvanian Rock Festival, where they are promised a crowd of 10,000 people in a 20,000 capacity venue and then only 174 people show up, it leaves the wondering why they put themselves through it, but for them the answer is simple, they love the music.

They carry on plugging away as they try to get their 13th studio album recorded and released, with constant infighting it doesn't prove easy, but with this fighting you can see their passion for what they do come through and win you over. Surprising funny in places this I loved this movie as it had something Spinal Tap doesn't, heart, and lots of it.

I give this film 5 out of 5.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

I made a conscious decision not to see Fantastic Mr. Fox at the cinema having seen the trailers and thought I wouldn't quite like the style of animation and therefore would not enjoy this, how I was wrong.

Mr. Fox (George Clooney) is having trouble settling down to family life after his life of chicken stealing, but when he moves in to his new tree, he finds three villainous farmers as his new neighbours he gets drawn back in for one last job.

The stop motion animation works perfectly for this with director Wes Anderson purposely using a slower frame rate to film it in so as your attention is not drawn away from the animation artwork. The tone of the film is excellent mixing humor, and it is quite a funny film, with heartfelt sentiment of a much loved children's book.

There were influences of the directors other films, most notably The Royal Tenembuams with the dysfunctional family and Mr Fox's struggle to find common ground with his son Ash (Jason Swartzman). Watch out for former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker's cameo halfway through with a brilliant musical highlight, I also thought the use of blueberries to take out guard dogs was particularly in genius.

An animation of a children's book this may be but I cannot see a child taking any thing from this as it is largely an adult affair. Over all an excellent, humorous adaptation of a Roald Dahl classic.

I give this film 4 pop corns out of 5.

Alice In Wonderland

Many years after Alice's first adventure in underland, a now late teens Alice returns to thr magical place that feels like a strange dream for her.

I cannot say I've read the original book, so I can't comment on how far it strays from the story, I do understand that this was meant as a kind of sequel rather than a straight adaptation. Tim Burton has definatley put his own touch on the characters, of which I thought Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen was the standout winner, even over a usually crazier than anyone Johnny Depp, the Mad Hatter, who seemed to me more of a manacly depressed hatter. I found myself routing for the Evil Red Queen over the strangley goth like White Queen in Anne Hathaway, as she was much more entertaining. I particulary found amusing the Red Queens abuse of animals, playing Croquet with flamingoes and hedgehogs and using a pig as a footstool, also everytime someone anyoed her she would shout "off with their head".

I also have issues with films that were never supposed to be in 3D from day one and then decide to go 3D as an after thought, when done properly 3D can really add an extra dimension, if you will, to a film but when added at a later date it feels gimmicky, like the film companies are just using it as a way of charging an extra £2.

Unfortunately I think I set my expectations too high and was sorely disappointed with a very mediocre film.

I give this film 2 pop corns out of 5.

Whiteout

As formulaic as it gets really, it starts with a pre credit scene in which a Russian plane crashes in the Antarctic in the 50's. We skip forward to present day and US Marshall Stetko (Kate Beckinsale), who is trying to escape an incident from her past which reveals itself in a series of flashbacks, she stumbles upon a dead body in the middle of nowhere and it all begins to lead back to the precious cargo on the crashed plane.

Very predictable and uneventful, where the most amount of tension comes laughably from the protagonist and her assailant clipping and unclipping themselves onto a series of ropes to prevent them getting swept away in the treacherous conditions. All the action comes about 15 minutes from the end which leads to a massively boring and unfulfilling ending that seems to have been ripped straight from Point Break. I couldn't help, while I was watching this, comparing it to other films of the same setting like The Thing and how much I would rather be watching a superior film like that.

Overall not totally terrible but there are many, many better thrillers and could have done with a better lead rather than the always dull Kate Beckinsale.

I give this film 1 pop corn out of 5

Sherlock Holmes

I really enjoyed the new Sherlock Holmes, at the centre of which I found to mainly be a look at the relationship of Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law), than any other plot line in the movie. The main characters play well off each other, I must admit not being a Jude Law fan I was quite dubious that he was the best choice out there but I cannot fault him as his Watson is exactly what I wanted from the role.

I believe that working with such established characters the movie didn't stop to introduce them, instead we move straight into an excellent pre credit scene where we see the evil Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) unveiled early on, with his supposed super-natural abilities that are later revealed to be the illusions they are. Unfortunately Mark Strong, with whom I have high hopes for if he continues his recent run of form, was massively underused considering his natural talent for playing the bad guy.

Guy Ritchie's take on the late 1800's London is dark and dirty, but sets the tone perfectly with a half built Tower Bridge catching the skyline and being the setting for the movies climax. The action scenes have had some scrutiny in some of the articles I have read but I don't see it, I feel they fit the films pace and subject, as he is a detective after all and he wouldn't get very far by blowing everything up. I particularly liked Holmes plan of attack, step by step going through each strike and assessing the damage it would do before executing them.

It is left wide open for a sequel with Holmes' primary enemy Professor Moriaty seemingly pulling the strings behind Irene Adler's (Rachel McAdams), Holmes old flame, involvement. Over all great value entertainment and one more notch on Robert Downey Jr. blockbusting belt.

I give this movie 4 pop corns out of 5