Superman Returns Trailer

OK, so I went to see X-Men 3 again. What of it? It's not as good as the first 2 X-Men movies but still enjoyable nonetheless. I was going to see something else, but have you ever gone to the cinema and the next unseen movie was over an hour away? I chose the easy option and went to see the film I'd already seen and knew I would like. Maybe it was to satiate my superhero cravings until Superman Returns is released, I don't know.

As a kid I often wondered what would happen if he got shot in the face or the eyes. The trailer finally answers that question. Wow!

Thankyou for Smoking Movie Review

Or "thankyou for eating", was what I was thinking for the first 39 minutes of this movie. Sitting opposite me on the other side of the aisle was the loudest popcorn muncher I've ever heard.


Anyway, to the movie: it's a satire about the cigarette industry quite unlike "The Insider." Nick Naylor, excellently played by Aaron Eckhart (Erin Brockovich, In the Company of Men). He plays "the Sultan of Spin" for Big Tobacco, the VP for the Academy of Tobacco Studies. A lobbyist who, by his own admission, has "a moral flexibility" that most people will never have.


He is a likeable fellow, so likeable in fact that even "Cancer Boy" is making friends with him on a talk show, when Nick's employers sell the very things that made the boy ill.


Nick has regular lunch meetings with "The MOD Squad" (Merchants of Death), a group of 2 other lobbyists who represent the alcohol and arms industries, competing for the highest death toll.


Playing another reporter, Katie Holmes (Batman Begins) tempts Naylor into divulging more than he would ordinarily. She asks why he does what he does. Indeed, everybody seems to think the same thing. Why a man of his intelligence and verbal dexterity would work for a company responsible for killing 1200 Americans daily. Is it just to pay the mortgage as he suggests, or does he enjoy the Machiavellian scheming?


Deep down he seems to be a good guy, taking his son on trips with him (he is divorced), teaching him what he knows: "If you are argue correctly, you are never wrong". A very rugged Marlboro Man is Sam Elliot, dying of cancer. Not content with just trying to pay him off to gag the sick man, Nick then goes onto teach him to spin the situation to the best effect.


Rob Lowe is great in a small role as a Hollywood big gun who Nick tries to sweet talk into putting cigs into the hands of film stars. Not much sweet talking is necessary, as Lowe says his place is not to judge. Unfortunately this doesn't pan out, we don't see film stars with fags in their hands, in those movies or even within "Thankyou for Smoking".


This is an intelligent movie that is laugh out loud funny, definitely worth a watch. An interesting aside: The popcorn muncher turned his phone on before the end of the movie was finished, just in time to be left a little note about the possible danger of cellphones in the future. :)

X-men 3 : The Last Stand Movie Review

Having heard that Brian Singer, director of the first two X-men movies, had gone off to film the new superman returns movie, and left this in the hands of Brett Ratner, I was not expecting too much from this. Not that Ratner's previous movies (Rush hour 1 & 2, Red Dragon) are that bad, but because I enjoyed X-men 1 & 2 so much.

It opens with two flashback, one 20 years ago filling in the some of the backstory with Jean Grey, and 10 years ago introducing a new character, Angel, to the audience. One of the problems of the X-men films is that there is just so much material in the comics, where does one begin. A director has to really love the material to be able to pull this off. New mutants are introduced, Multiple Man, a lesser known character of the Marvel universe, and Juggernaut, I'm sad to say, played be Vinnie Jones, who seems to be wearing a musclebound suit. I cringed every time he opened his mouth. Nightcrawler from the second movie, is notable by his absence, although I though I glimpsed him on a church roof, but it might have been the Lizard.

This 'episode' centres on the return of Jean Grey aka Phoenix, a possible cure for the mutant gene, and tries to tie up multiple story threads nicely together. I don't think it quite works but would happily sit through another viewing.

If someone had suggested Dr Frasier Crane to play a muscly, furry, blue mutant I wouldn't have taken them seriously. But Kelsey Grammar does a great job (like the voice casting of David Hyde Pierce in Hellboy)playing Beast an intellectual mutant in the Cabinet. Is it a token acceptance? Mutants seem to be accepted, but ever ready to shake things up is Ian McKellen, delivering another serious but theatric performance. Like his character Magneto, I think that McKellen enjoys these over dramatic fireworks. Why transport a number of mutants on a few cars, magnetically clamped together when you can move the entire Golden Gate bridge? Less is more with some forms of art, but more is definitely more with Magneto. His (and Pyro's) particular brand of Molotov cocktails near the end of the movie amused me.

The setting of San Fransisco seems apt, as the mutantcy question has undertones of comparing it with homosexuality. Mutants are divided, some see it as a gift, while other a "corruption of healthy genes", a curse to be removed.

I first heard of the Phoenix character when reading the Secret Wars comics in my teens and the strongest image imprinted in my memory is of an apocalyptic kaboom in the shape of a phoenix firebird rather than a mushroom cloud. I was wondering if this would be represented in the movie, but alas, (or maybe just as well) didn't appear. Some things that work in comic books don't translate to the big screen a vice versa. Some of the costumes are better than in the comics, while others seem oddly reminiscent of Charlie's Angels.

Wait until after the credits roll until you leave the cinema because something X-tra special is waiting for you. Will this "Last Stand" be the last X-men movie, the comic fan in me hopes not.

China Pulls the Da Vinci Code

The Chinese government has put a stop to screenings of the Da Vinci Code.
It grossed over $13 million before being pulled. It had only be released for 3 weeks!
The Chinese authorities have not given a reason for their decision and are not expected to.
Is the movie "culturally polluting" or maybe the authorities saw the movie and agreed with most of the downbeat reviews.

The Omen 666 Movie Review

I know, I know: 3 days late posting this. That was intentional for all those hexakosioihexekontahexaphobics out there (afraid of the number 666). So the 6th June has passed and nothing really, really bad has happened ( at least not to my knowledge).

It was a warm summer's evening last night, not hot as hell, but pretty warm in the packed cinema. How packed? Anyone's guess but I'd venture the high six hundreds, although I have been know to exaggerate.=P People were coming in during the trailers and even 5 mins into the start of the screening, standing up blocking views. An annoying woman was using her mobile phone intermittently throughout the showing. Not quick calls but one was quite lengthy, until thankfully she was warned by someone closer, before I did my fire and brimstone bit, breathing fire down here neck. No doubt the dialling code she used was prefixed with a +666. The chap directly to my right agreed with me and disliked this intrusion; unfortunately he had a "whistley nose", the type with bad sinuses who would probably snore like satan at the drop of a hat.

Anyway the plot as you probably know is a mix of babyswapping, politicians, numbers on heads, a small scary dark haired boy, and big scary dark haired dogs dripping saliva.
Nothing seems too surprising watching the movie, other than the few seat grabbing jumps. This is probably because I've seen the original, but it remains very watchable, due to the fine actors, Pete Postlethwaite, David Thewlis, and Liev Schreiber, who I last saw in the Manchurian Candidate. Schreiber plays the Gregory Peck part from the original, and Julia Stiles plays the Lee Remick character. Styles is a little, ok a lot wimpy in this. She just didn't seem to have a lot to do, or maybe I was a little annoyed that she didn't seem to have a inkling her Son had Satanic origins, when even the monkeys in the zoo could tell.

After a 'freak' accident in Italy, Schreiber takes on a job as ambassador to Britain. The couple move to a big house in England. "Bad big?"Stiles asks, no just "big big" says her hubby. But as we find out later, "big big" is definitely "bad big". Born or 'placed' into a political family, "the eternal sea" in prophecies, Damien is well positioned for world domination unless he can be stopped. Not really surprising that; whenever a politicain says that "there is nothing to be scared of, I promise," start to worry.

Nicely shot we see dusty hues of Rome, and stark red and white dream sequences. Red is also used in Thewlis' photography darkroom. More for production design I think than reality, as other light from windows is getting in. He uses digital and film cameras, so there should be no need to show darkroom shots, but there is still something magical about seeing an image appearing in a bath of developer. Jaws 2 always springs to mind when I see that in movies.

Using brief snippets modern day footage of the twin towers and floods seems to cheapen these events, just to use them in a marketing tie in is a touch indelicate in my view. Is this film essential viewing; not really, but enjoyable all the same. The updated effects make it much less hokey than the original. I'll bet a sequel is being made for next year, only when will they release it? on 06/06/07 or 07/07/07. Now is there a word for a 777phobic ?

Movie Trailer: United 93

Afterthought: while going to see the Da Vinci Code there was a trailer for United 93. We all watched the trailer which included real news footage from that tragic day. Afterwards there was a stunned silence in the movie theater. Was the lack of noise a hushed reverance for the memory for all of the people who last their lives almost 5 years ago? Possibly, but I think not. It seemed to be a very strange quiet as everybody in the cinema sat there thinking "That's a really bad idea."

Half a decade on and the events of 9/11 are still strongly felt. This film will probably attract a lot of people, but it still seems to soon to be making this kind of movie while tensions have not dissipated and conspiracy theories abound. For example, take a look a 911 loose change.

Hopefully it will do justice to the fallen, what do you think?

16 Blocks Movie Review

Bruce Willis and Mos Def star in this capable enough movie. A very tired Jack Mosley, (Willis) has to transport a prisoner called Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) to the court to give evidence. What Def knows puts both of them in danger. But can they survive long enough to deliver the goods? After all the courthouse is only 16 blocks away, hence the movie title.

Solid performances from everyone, even though Mos Def adopts a whiney, nasal voice, which, even though we are used to hearing it from many Glasgow neds, does grate a little at times.The excellent David Morse, also appears as the bad guy/former partner of Willis.

Bruce looks very old in this movie, it's really quite amazing how a moustache can age a guy.