BURLESQUE

A young girl fed up with waitress-ing in a diner in some God-forsaken place in the Midwest, decides to pack it all in and get a one-way train ticket to LA to seek her fame and fortune.  She stumbles on the Burlesque Club run by a fading Star that features a lot of very scantily clad girls dancing their tushes off lip-syncing: a dying art in a dying business that is about to be closed by the Bank unless a miracle happens. 

Christina Aguilera plays the young girl, and the Star who is past her prime (!) is the fabulous Cher.  This piece of trite trash is intended as a vehicle to show us what a stunning actress Miss Aguilera is as she plays the undiscovered talent that not only wins everyone’s heart, but naturally single-handedly saves the Club too.  Trouble is that her she’s very one dimensional: great singing voice BUT its exactly the same in all the (endless) numbers that are indistinguishable from each other: and she really has only four different dance moves in what must qualify as one of the worst choreographed musicals ever.

Cher is Cher.  Just older than last time.  And like Ms A she gives no facial expressions at all; in her case its due to being physically unable with that new face of hers, but in her co-star's case it is because she simple doesn’t know how to.

It has some funny touches with the scenes with Stanley Tucci (who seems to have captured the movie market in playing very camp middle-aged stooges these days), but not enough to rescue this lame duck.

RTV If you love Cher, and like Ms Aquilera scantily clad going on and on and on (the 2nd half so drags).  Or just wait for the DVD and then you can fast forward all those really bad bits.

★★★★

RED RIDING TRILOGY.

This totally stunning series of films are from a quartet of novels that fictionalized a series of horrific crimes including those committed by the Yorkshire Ripper an infamous serial killer, and also unprecedented widespread police brutality and corruption that shook the UK in the late 1970’s /early 80s when it all came to light.

Shot in three made-for-TV movies (but which also had a US theatrical release) by 3 leading directors (inc. one Oscar Winner) and filmed with an equally impressive cast that includes the likes of Paddy Considine, David Morrissey, Rebecca Hall, Warren Clarke, Sean Bean, and the future Superman,  Andrew Garfield. 

The Trilogy has the intensity of the hit 'Prime Suspect’ series and the sensational violence of Steig Larsson’s 'Millennium Trilogy' and although it took me way out of my comfort zone on several occasions with its incessant cold-hearted bloodiness, I was transfixed on the edge of my seat throughout the whole experience. You do need to see all the movies for it all to make real sense, but trust me once you are hooked you will want too.

R.T.V.   One  (or 3!) of the finest British crime thrillers that I have ever seen

★★★★★★★★★

8 : THE MORMON PROPOSITION

On November 4^th 2008 the joyous news of Barack Obama’s historic victory being elected the 44th President of the US was tinged with great sadness for most gay men and women as on that same day as Californians, by a small majority, voted to overturn their State Supreme Court ruling that had permitted same sex marriage.  The notorious Proposition 8 on the Ballot Paper asked voters to affirm that only marriage between a man and woman was valid and recognized,  and it was the battleground for a major and costly fight between warring factions that resulted in us waking up depressed and disheartened on the very day we should have been in the streets celebrating the end of the Bush era.

This highly emotional movie examines the successful campaign against gay marriage that was heavily financed by the Church of Latter Day Saints who have always been implacably opposed to homosexuality at any level and made this issue their personal crusade.  They fought hard and very dirty mixing their lies and mis-information with some $22 millions of dollars to stage a massive media barrage that succeeded in scaring enough people to swing the vote their way. This made California the first state in the US to take rights away from people by changing its Constitution.

R.T.V. Written and directed with great conviction by Reed Cowan, and with fellow Mormon, the Oscar wining screenwriter Dustin Lance Black narrating this movie, this is essential viewing for not just gay men and women but for anyone else interested in how wealthy tax-exempt churches can wield so much power to distort the truth and perpetuate their own bigotry.

I would just mention that the film does not touch on the weaknesses of what its now considered a lack-luster campaign by the No Campaigners, or even make much shift in the fact that despite the massive budget Prop 8 was only passed with a slim majority, but somehow these omissions do not in any way distract from the authenticity and the power of the piece. 

This battle may have been lost, but the war is far from over.

★★★★★★★★★

MADEMOISELLE CHAMBON

Jean, a bricklayer, is invited to the class of his son Jeremy to talk to the kids about his occupation.  Although he is very happily married and content with his lot in life he soon falls for Veronique the teacher,  but both of them are slow to act on their mutual feelings. 

When it looks like it may lead somewhere, suddenly Jean's wife announces that she is pregnant: an unexpected spanner in the works, which leads to much soul-searching by the lovers.

This quintessential French movie, gentle and thought provoking, dwells so beautifully on the whole issue of exploring desire, and the subsequent consequences of acting upon them.  There is an added fizz to this one, as the actors playing Jean and Veronqiue were once married to each other. 

R.T.V The train station scene at the end makes it almost feel like a French ‘Brief Encounter’.

★★★★★★★★

BOMBER

Eighty-year-old Alistar plans to take a road trip to a village in Germany to apologize for the fact that he accidentally dropped bombs on them as RAF flyer on his first mission during WW2 when he was just 18 years old.  He is now a crotchety old fart constantly bickering with his long-suffering spouse and endlessly putting down his son Paul who is forced to drive them when Alistar crashes his own car.

After considerable conflict on route when they reach their final destination it is far from the cathartic experience Alistar had dreamed about and with an unexpected twist at the end, the trip tears apart the family.

There are too many glaring inconsistencies with the plot to make this wee comic drama believable.  None more so when the son, who cannot hold down a job or keep a girlfriend, suddenly becomes a touchy-feely marriage counselor to his parents.

R.T.V.    If you are not uncomfortable hearing an octogenarian woman demand regular sex from her grumpy uptight spouse

★★★★★

THE WINNEBAGO MAN

In 1989 the Winnebago Company set out to make a series of informational films about their famous RV’s, and hired Jack Rebney a respected broadcast journalist, to write and present them.  By the second day of filming the crew realizing how volatile Mr. Rebney was as every time the filming broke down or Rebney called a halt, he exploded with a verbal torrent of wall to wall four letter words, so they just kept the cameras rolling to capture all of this.  When the Shoot finally finished they patched all these outtakes together and put them on a VHS tape just for their own enjoyment.  But it never stopped there, as everyone who viewed it loved it and made another copy and passed it on, and then fast forward to the present time and Jack Rebney is an mega viral hit seen by over 2 milion people on You Tube where he is now known by all and sundry at 'The Angriest Man In The World.'

When filmmaker Ben Steinhauer got a copy of the tape in 2006 he was intrigued to know if Jack Rebney, who had disappeared off the face of the earth, was in fact still alive, and more importantly who was this guy, and why did he get so angry.  This fascinating quirky movie is about that journey and although he quickly realizes that 80 year old Rebney still uses the 'f' word more than liberally in every single sentence, he never really discovers the reason of why Jack is like he is.  Nevertheless it does turn into a delightful and touching portrait of an irascible eccentric old man who, under all his bluster,  is actually quite likable.  And I really liked it, and not just because I seem so calm and sweet in comparison to Mr Rebney!

★★★★★★★★

WILD TARGET

Victor Maynard is a middle-aged snobbish Brit who is a professional assassin at the top of his game and in great demand.  One day instead of killing his latest victim he inadvertently saves her from another assassin and starts a whole train of events that set the pace for this very gentle and typically English comedy.

This one is distinguished by the fact that Maynard is played perfectly by the inestimable Bill Nighy, and although Emily Blunt does a nice turn in this (her first comedy) there is something discomforting and unbelievable in the May-December romance that develops between the two leads.  Add to the mix the two Ruperts. First Mr. Grint now grown up, fresh from playing Ron (Harry Potter), as the Hit-Man’s apprentice; and then Mr. Everett as The Baddie with a beard that (almost) covers up his dreadful new face that some plastic surgeon has left him with.   But it’s the indomitable Eileen Atkins who steals the show in her cameo role as Maynard’s overbearing mother : she must have been so relieved to be able to get out  of those historical costume dramas she's in and for once end up toting a sub machine gun from a wheelchair!

The movie opened up with very little fuss in the UK (and even less here), which kind of fits this wee film directed by Jonathan Lynne (creator of 'Yes Minister') which won’t either enflame any passion or dislike, but it does make for a pleasant afternoon and feeling awfully British.

★★★★★★

WAITING FOR SUPERMAN

This powerful new documentary by Davis Guggenheim (Oscar Winner for ‘An Inconvenient Truth’) contends that the American educational service is failing, and failing badly. Something we have heard many times before but usually from rabid aspiring politicians bandying around their own distorted dogma whilst seeking to get one over their opponents.  However Mr. Guggenheim is much more specific, and armed with the reality of some rather alarming facts and figures, does not shirk from telling us what is wrong and what is right.

Guggenheim relates that a common problem with most schools are the teachers who get tenure after just two years and then they cannot be fired no matter how dreadful they are.  In N.Y. the Authorities deal with this by taking the really bad ones out of the classroom and make them hang out in a ‘rubber room’ doing absolutely nothing all day and collectively costing the City some $65 million a year.

He is quick to demonstrate that it is not all doom and gloom, and points out that there are some bright spots on the horizon (albeit not many) and the movie focuses on two of them: Geoffrey Canada an awe-inspiring man who deliberately chose the poorest part of Harlem to open his Academy, which has been an unqualified success. And there is Michelle Rhee a fiery young woman who was appointed the Schools Chancellor in Washington DC and fearlessly pursued real change and progress with the whole local Education system seemingly pitted against her. 

And than there are Charter Schools, not perfect in anyway, but compared to the generally poor achievement levels in many urban Public Schools, they offer a glimmer of a hope and a chance for disadvantaged children to get ahead.  The trouble is that places at such schools are few and far between, and so by Law the schools are required to run a lottery to decide who gets in and who doesn’t it.  The film follows the hopes of 5 young people and their families right up to the actual lottery, and I would defy anyone not to watch the outcome without reaching for a Kleenex or two.  To see some kids whole future being determined by a numbered ball dropping into a Plexiglas box is heartbreaking; if you cried watching the kid's anguish in 'Mad Hot Ballroom' then you’ll bawl your eyes out here.

All said and down Guggenheim may tap on our emotions rather heavily to make his point, but the facts more than justify this.  Eight years after Congress passed George W's infamous 'No Child Left Behind Act, still only most States have between 20% & 30% proficiency in maths and reading, and 70% of eighth graders can not read at grade level.  Among 30 developed Countries, the US ranks 25^th in maths, but is that not really surprising in a country that spends over twice as much on keeping an inmate in jail than on educating a child.

R.T.V. Superb movie should be compulsory watching for all, even FOR others like me whose views on children are generally unprintable, but even I care that everyone gets the best chance they deserve.

★★★★★★★★★★

SOLITARY MAN

Ben Kalman’s life has finally caught up with him.  He’s lost his once successful car dealership by cutting corners; he cheated on his wife and disappointed their daughter; he is cheating on his current girl friend who he is only dating cos her father can help him set up a new business, and after charming a college student into offering him some life experience, he betrays him too.  It is no wonder that he ends up alone.

This singular unconventional comedy focuses on where Ben Kalman’s life can go from here (Michael Douglas in one of his best ever performances) and is a very sensitive and highly nuanced movie with its character-led plot so well served by an exceptional pool of talent that includes Sarah Sarandon, Danny Devito, Mary Louise Parker and Jesse Eisenberg.

There are two things that Ben Kalman is very good at selling  viz. cars and himself.  And by the end of his story, you are ready to buy both.

★★★★★★★

RINCO'S RESTAURANT

Rinco, a young Japanese girl, runs away from home (and when you catch sight of her mother you soon know why), and she is bought up by her odd but nice grandmother who instills in her a real passion for cooking.  So much so that by the time Granny dies she scrapes together enough money to open her own restaurant which her cute boyfriend then absconds with and then destitute Rinco has no where to turn too but her Ma’s.  Her mother lives in a remote village in a small house that she shares with her pet pig Hermes who she totally dotes on.  Penniless Rinco sets about clearing her mothers shed and making that into a restaurant with one single table, and without any menu serves up lovingly prepared dishes which she claims will grant the hearts desire of the diners who seemingly appear from nowhere.  Meanwhile her mother, dressed up to the nines, works (?) in the village bar which never has more than 3 patrons, and where she claims that she is still a virgin and that Rinco was the result on an immaculate conception: which I can so relate too!

R.T.V. This is a delightful quirky and wistful wee movie that has quintessential Japanese eccentricity and magical fantasy about it, which makes it so utterly charming.  And with so much beautiful photographed cooking it is a must for any real foodies … but eat first, otherwise you'll be dribbling … just as I was.

★★★★★★★

NOWHERE BOY

At 8 30 am on a bitterly cold January morning in Park City, Utah I sat clutching my Starbucks watching a wonderful period piece movie when the teacher on screen bawled out a name and then I suddenly remembered why we had decided to make this film part of our Sundance schedule.  It was Nowhere Boy: a re-telling of John Lennon’s late teenage years in Liverpool in the 1950’s, and is anything but another rock-star’s biopic per se (which evidently has ruffled the feathers of some diehard fans) but it is a wonderful and touching account of John discovering his emotional maturity at an interesting stage of his life.

He had been abandoned by both of his flighty parents at the age of 5 and brought up by his straight-laced aunt Mimi who was ferocious in her determination to ensure he got both a solid education and a healthy dash of respect for her way of life.  This was a great contrast to the attitude of his good-time party-girl mother, who turned up again and unsettled the apple cart.

The remarkable Kristin Scott Thomas in a powerful performance as ‘Mimi’ is probably the reason why this potential hit movie has been held back for release in the US until Award Season, as she so deserves a nod for this one.  So too does Anne-Marie Duff as Julia the mother.   Whereas the delightful Aaron Johnson as young Lennon, who will send a shiver down your spine more than once, and who is undoubtably destined for a very big things, has already received one award already.  Sort of.  At 19 years old he is now dating the Director,  46 year old Sam Taylor Wood, who has just given birth to their baby.

R.T.V. This reminds you of how good Brits are at making period pieces, and this one has the added edge for many (?) of us in being able to even remember this particular time in our own culture/lives.

Click For Trailer 
★★★★★★★★

THE LIFE OF REILLY

The late great Charles Nelson Reilly had a tough start to life: a lobotomized aunt, an institutionalized father, a loud-mouth racist mother and he was the only gay kid on the block in the Bronx back in the 1940’s.  Who would have guessed then that he would have ended up as Tony Winning Actor, acclaimed Broadway Director, one of the earliest big stars on TV, extraordinary acting teacher, and an Icon for a whole generation?  What his upbringing did give Mr. Reilly was the start of wonderful rich vein of stories that he hilarious re-conveys in his one-man show ‘Keep It for the Stage’.  He had an amazing life and career, which was constantly filled with encounters which really enhanced  his very existence.  Such as going to drama school with a group of other very young actors  and future Academy Award, Tony Award and Emmy Award major actors (‘who couldn’t act for shit’)  such as Steve McQueen, Jason Robards, Gene Hackman, Hal Holbrook etc, and his stories about Mr. Holbrook alone, which are viscously funny, are worth the price of the movie .

I sit through more movies than I care to mention in the course of my year, and by carefully considering my selection I see a great many excellent and very good films.  THEN ONCE IN AWHILE A MOVIE SUCH AS THIS COMES ALONG AND IS IS AN UNQUIVOCAL SHEER JOY; the Director had the sense to have his cameras just follow Mr. Reilly around the stage in this his very last two appearances ever, as he told his stories and bared his soul for all of us to see.  And what stories: and what a man.  We won’t see the likes of him again: so DON'T MISS THE MOVIE.  Made in 2006, it has just been released on DVD: so check out Netflix/Love Film

One final word.  Every time Mr. Reilly introduces someone else from his life in a story, he has already cast which Star will play them when his life story is filmed. (Sort of thing I do in my sleep!)  He tells us in the beginning that his mother would be played by Shirley Booth (3 Time Emmy Winner and star of TV sitcom 'Hazel').  Flash forward many years when he is Hollywood with his mother who is being her usual nasty self at a party where they meet Ms Booth who tells Charles ‘what an absolutely dreadful women you mother is’, and without a moments hesitation he agrees and adds ‘BUT what a great part for you!’   And what a even greater part to for someone to play Mr. Reilly.

★★★★★★★★★★

LETTERS TO JULIET

Sophie, a young gauche American woman is in Verona for a pre-honeymoon trip (?) and is abandoned by her fiancé, a budding chef who prefers hanging out in kitchens and wine cellars than doing the usual tourist sites.  She comes across a wall where desperate women attach letters to Juliet (Shakespeare’s one) bitching about how love has done them wrong, and each day they are taken down and are answered by a bunch of  local  biddies known as Juliet’s Women.  Sophie helps them and finds a letter that got stuck in the crevices of the wall some 50 years ago and decides that she wants to discover if that set of lovers ever did get it together.

R.T.V. It’s a very trite, light movie that was more effective putting me to sleep on my Virgin fight than my usual (Dr prescribed!) fix. But the sad part about it is that the old lovers are played by none other than Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero who should never have to waste their remarkable and extraordinary talents in such trivia.  I can only think they needed the money: my tip is,  don’t waste your $10 at the movie theater on this, ( or God forbid $20 on the DVD) send the money direct to Ms Redgrave and to Mr. Nero and you will feel so much better.

Click for Trailer

★★★★

INSIDE JOB

I think this is the first film to provide a comprehensive analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly resulted in a global financial collapse. Through well-documented research and extensive interviews with key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics, the excellent film traces the rise of a rogue industry, which has corrupted politics, regulation, and academia.

I will confess that I do not understand all the finer points of derivatives and other complicated ponzi-like schemes the money men made up to gamble our money on and meanwhile somehow pocket sky high fortunes for themselves, but I do know they are morally and ethically wrong.  The part I did get was that there  is seemingly not one single honest man amongst all of them, and they will all go to the ends of the earth to avoid being regulated, investigated and made accountable for wrecking so many people’s lives with their greed and dishonest.

It’s another 'must see' movie, although it will make you as mad as hell.  And as I sat there stunned and totally horrified about all that I was learning, the real knee to the groin came when I realized that all these perpetrators that got astronomically rich on George W’s watch ARE STILL IN POWER as Obama has taken then in as part of his Team!  The very man who as a presidential candidate promised us faithfully that he would make Wall Street accountable, and yet  now condones the continuance of all their crooked ways.

I actually even felt sorry for Elliot Spitzer who as NY State Attorney was the solitary figure  to actually try and take the bad boys on, and in turn they made sure that his weakness for hanging around in Hotel rooms during the day with 'ladies' in a state of undress, was exposed and orchestrated   to ensure that it ended his career.  After watching this excellent documentary I felt totally frustrated and disillusioned (not like Mr Spitzer I must add quickly).  and  still not enough to join the Tea Party, as one actually needs to drink something much stronger than that when dealing with this reality. 

★★★★★★★★★

I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS

This is the almost unbelievable true story of a con-man who ditched his wife and ended up in jail where he fell madly in love with another inmate which seemed to spur him on to an even more ridiculous crime spree when they were both released.  The plot then gets even more far fetched and sillier but somehow also remains quite endearing

R.T.V. Part bio-pic, part comedy and part romance this really good movie is particularly exceptional because it is a gay love story very sensitively played out by two major Hollywood mainstream stars: Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.  Yep, I know in the intro to this Blog I vow that I would never ever watch a Carrey movie, but he actually turns in a great performance …. the critics (who do go see all his work ... poor souls!) claim it’s his best for years.

It was a big hit in Sundance 09, and was well received in Cannes that year, and then nothing more was heard of it as the Studios seemingly got really cold feet.  It surfaced in the UK for a blink-or-you’ll-miss-it-run in March this year, and was scheduled to be shown in US theaters in April BUT was pulled out one week before without any explanation. Now surprise surprise it's being scheduled to open in the US on Christmas Day.  What would the baby Jesus think?

P.S. And part of the story is set, and also filmed, here in Miami Beach 

★★★★★★★★

I AM LOVE

In this saga of the Recchi dynasty, who are one of the leading aristocratic families in Milan, we see a way of life that is fading like its dying patriarch as they struggle to come to terms with contemporary society.  As wealthy as they are.  and waited on hand and foot at every juncture, their story is not about rich vs. poor, but much more about old vs. new.

And in midst of all this luxury is Emma (Tilda Swinton) the wife, and mother, of the next generation who sits serenely and somewhat coldly as the new family matriarch.  Until that is one day when a chance encounter with her son’s best friend …. a handsome young chef … sparks off more than a light, and is the start of a sensuous and passionate affair.

R.T.V. Add to the mix a lesbian daughter with a love of her own, some business machinations pitting brother against brother, and you get the makings of a superbly rich melodrama in a style that only Italians can do so magnificently and all with a very over the top score that soars in every scene  (with more than a nod to Visconti’s masterpiece 'The Leopard').

It is Tilda Swinton’s show, with her alabaster white skin in an array of expensive elegant clothes, but so firmly keeping her visible emotions underplayed and in check: totally sublime, it is a stunning performance worthy of every Best Actress Award going.

P.S. And you cannot fail to miss Marisa Berenson in one of her rare forays onto the screen these days as Allegra: still very much a stunning beauty.

★★★★★★★★★★

HELENA FROM THE WEDDING

A newly wed couple in their late 30’s are hosting a New Year's Eve party weekend at their cottage in upstate New York when into their close knit group of friends comes Helena a pretty (and single) acquaintance which causes at least a couple of the men to make real fools of themselves.

This is one of those soul-searching angst-ridden comic dramas about yuppies having to deal with creeping middle age and all its imagined horrors as they eat, drink excessively and snort cocaine.  It’s not a new story by any long shot, and aside from the fine acting by some first rate actors, it left me feeling as cold as the snow steeped high outside the cabin.  I wasn’t falling for Helena’s charms esp. as for some totally unexplained reason she had the most ridiculous fake British accent!

★★★★

THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST

Lizbeth Salander our tough girl heroine fights for her very life with a bullet lodged in her brain, and if she does survive the Police are about to charge her with the attempted murder of her father after she took an axe to his head. And that’s just in the first few minutes of this, the final part of Steig Larson’s Millennium Trilogy, and it would be a gross understatement to just say that then the plot thickens.  It does far more than that, and like the previous superb two movies it twists and turns so violently (literally) and has you totally transfixed on the edge of your seat, part in disbelief and part in sheer horror.  You don’t have to have seen the first two movies to know what’s what as there are more than adequate flashbacks that give you an insight to the characters and the plot (s) so far, and aside from that each one is a complete entity in it’s own right

Like the earlier two, this movie trades on the spectacle of female suffering, but what makes this most remarkable is the fact that it is met and dealt with by Ms Salander, without even a hint of emotion, let alone regret.

R.T.V. I stepped out of my comfort zone to view these violent and bloody thrillers, and I am so pleased I did because they are superbly crafted movies, which focus on character-led plots, which really push the boundaries and make for intensely rich story telling.  Played by real grown up actors and not adolescents, they are all a joy to watch.

★★★★★★★★

FOR COLORED GIRLS

This is a melodrama about 14 different African-American women loosely connected who are united by their color and all the bad things men have done to them.

Based on an award winning Play from the 1970’s (full title For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf), which was technically a choreo-poem, i.e. a piece that combined poetry with dance which has now been adapted, lengthened and directed by Tyler Perry.  Mr. Perry is somewhat of a bete noir with critics generally for his whole slew of mega successful Madea movies, and it is the fact that his talent and fame had allowed him to make this movie that has been it’s main controversial talking point.  

True, it ambles along at parts (particularly in the first half) and plays up many of the stereotypes, and is more than a little dated, but along the way it provides a vehicle for some of our finest black actress to give outstanding performances that make it so easy to engage in this piece.  They include Loretta Devine, Phyllis Rashid, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington and special mention to Kimberley Elise who surely deserves an Oscar nod for her work here.  Badly served is Whoopi Goldberg who overacts as much Janet Jackson underacts (Manola Dahrgis, the usually no-holds barred NY Times Critic was un-characteristically generous with her comment ‘Miss Jackson is, to put it gently, an actress of limited expression'.)  She’s sadly out of her depth playing a Black 'Prada Devil' as she doesn’t have the same body of work as Ms Streep to carry it, but she has had work done on her body (hence the face that can only stare),  but saying that I do wish I could get biceps that big.

P.S. I checked out most of the critic’s reviews on this one and (excuse the pun) they were all very black and white.  Some really hated it whilst others totally loved.  I’m definitely veering to the ‘love’ corner if nothing else for the sheer beauty of the poems, and they very eloquent way they were delivered.

★★★★★★★★

FAIR GAME

Once all the gung-ho members of George W’s gun slinging gang of cronies decided to go to War in Iran on the most misguided of excuses they need a pretext to justify their actions.  Scrabbling around to uncover any minute bit of evidence they seized on reports that Niger, an African nation, had sold uranium to Iraq.  The CIA sent out Joe Wilson, a former US Ambassador to investigate, and he reported back that there was absolutely no truth in the rumors.  But when did facts and the truth ever get into the way of government policy, so we went to War regardless with Bush quoting the (non-existent) uranium sales as a justifiable reason.

Joe Wilson sat watching on the sidelines for some time and then when he could bear it no longer wrote an Op-Ed article for the NY Times reporting what he actually had found in Niger i.e. nothing, and the Bush Administration went ballistic.  They leaked to the Press that Wilson was married to Valerie Plame and outed her as a top covert CIA operative with dire consequences for all her contacts in the field and irreparable damage to Plame’s livelihood which ended up almost wrecking her marriage too.

This is a stunning movie of a potent real live drama that factually demonstrated the sheer lengths that the Administration … and particularly Vice President Cheney  … would go to cover up the distorted facts as to why this country (readily abetted by Tony Blair, the UK ’s PM) entered into an unjustifiable war that resulted in so many needless deaths.

R.T.V. Naomi Watts and Sean Penn are terrifically convincing as Plame and Wilson and this is as much a story about the Wilson’s relationship as  it is about the political shenanigans.  Brilliantly directed it is a stunning movie and the only reason that I hesitate to use the term ‘very entertaining’ is because you never ever stop thinking that this great story is not a figment of some talented writer’s imagination and it is very much real life, scary as it is.

★★★★★★★★

DUE DATE

Peter Highman is a fastidious highly-strung architect is catching a fight from Atlanta to go home to L.A. to be at the birth of his first child when a noisy and somewhat nonsensical encounter with Ethan Tremblay, a very affected aspiring actor, is overheard by the Flight Crew who have both men whisked off the plane as a potential security threat, and they are subsequently placed on a NO Fly List and the only way they have to get to L.A. is by rented car.  Trouble is Peter’s wallet is still on board with his luggage so he is forced to share the ride with the Ethan who he now hates.

I can honestly say that this is one of THE worst ‘road movies’ I have ever had to sit through. Clichéd, excessive, puerile, patronizing trivial: do I need to go on?  And I now think that the grossly annoying Zach Galifianakis is not the great new comic talent that his is hyped to be. Even the fact that Peter was played by the fabulous Mr. Downey Jnr. who did managed to make my occasional grin, but even he could not redeem his otherwise piece of ridicules nonsense.  Indeed he is the only reason I stayed to the very end: that and the fact that my friend Marc who chose the movie, was buying dinner.

R.T.V. Skip the movie, and go straight to dinner then maybe pick up either 'Iron Man' or "Tropic of Thunder'  at the Video Store to see Mr Downey really shine.

★★★★