Reviews

Earth is dead. The survivors of the human race travel in to space to set up home on a new planet. Astronauts Lieutenant Payton (Dennis Quaid) and Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) wake up from cyro –sleep to find that their 60,000-strong passenger ship is deserted and in a bad state of repair. They do not know who they are or what their mission is. They cannot contact any other crew members. They are alone. Payton stays in the control room while Bower traverses the ship to repair the reactor. They talk about Pandorum, a condition caused by cyro-sleep which results in delusions, hallucinations and paranoia. On his travels he encounters strange mutant cannibals who have taken over the ship. This is a dull movie. It never really gets going and there is not much to keep you interested.

This has to be the most bone-chilling film I have ever seen. Written and directed by Oren Peli, we are transported to the home of Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat), who have been hearing strange noises overnight, so they set up a camcorder to record any strange goings-on. They document each day and leave the camcorder set up overnight up in the bedroom to record what happens when they sleep. Each night it gets worse! Shot in the same vein as Cloverfield, Blair Witch and Rec, the entire film is camcorder footage, hence the $15,000 budget. It took seven days to film. When night comes you feel yourself getting tense, looking everywhere for anything that might be out of place. It is all about how scary you make it for yourself. A lot is left to your own imagination. We never see what causes the disturbances, which makes it all the more frightening! Very creepy!

Brought to us by the director of "Adaptation,""The Soloist" tells the true story of an unlikely friendship that grows between homeless Nathaniel Ayers and LA Times columnist Steve Lopez. Lopez is looking for a story, and after a cycling accident, comes across Ayers, a Julliard dropout and cello prodigy, now suffering from schizophrenia, living on the streets, and resorting to playing a two- stringed violin. The attraction of this film is certainly improved the fact that this is a true story, so to see what Ayers actually has gone through in his life is heart-rendering stuff. It is great to see the social improvements he makes as the film progresses, from moving into an apartment to developing a friendship with Lopez and playing the cello again. The excellent performances from Foxx and Downey Jr only add to this film's appeal.

With the great casting and stunning location, this musical love story has to be the feel-good film of the year. In fact, it is up there with the feel-good films of all time! Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) invites 3 men (Pierce Bronson, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgard) to her wedding, one of whom is her father, only she is not sure which one. When Donna (Meryl Streep),her mother finds out, comedy, romance and music ensues. Abba's greatest hits were perfectly synchronised into the script. It gave a natural flow to the story. Performances from Donna's old partners in crime (Julie Walters and Christine Baranski) provide the most fun. Julie Walters is particularly good casting. Highlights include Streep's emotional rendition of "The Winner Takes It All" and the female cast members singing and dancing along to "Dancing Queen." And don't forget to watch the credits for a great performance, especially from the male stars. This is a great, fun, light-hearted film which will have you smiling from ear to ear.

Written and directed in his usual excellent style, this is Quentin Tarantino back to his best. You get the same dry humour, the clever direction and arty feel, and the typical soundtrack, in that you can tell from the first few bars of every song that this is a Tarantino film. Set in 1944, in Nazi-occupied France, a group of Jewish soldiers with the aim of killing as many Nazis as possible, and in the most gruesome ways, scalping them all, travel around France, creating a disturbing reputation so the Germans come to fear them. The Allies hear of Lt Aldo Raine and the Basterds and recruit them to help in the assassination of high-ranking German officials, including Hitler, at a movie premiere in Paris. Performances are fantastic all round, in particular from Christophe Waltz, playing "The Jew Hunter," Col. Hans Landa. He is extremely menacing and charming all at once. Pitt, Kruger and Laurent also play their parts with gusto. The unusual casting of Mike Myers as General Ed Fenech left me a little flummoxed. It was difficult to detach him from his comedy roles and see him playing a serious, if somewhat camp, role. It had a silly feel to it – is that what Tarantino intended? I expect so! This is a must-see and it is great to see Tarantino producing another piece of cinema history.