Marley and Me

YEAR 2008

DIRECTOR David Frankel

STARRING Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston and Eric Dane

 WRITER Scott Frank (screenplay), Don Roos (screenplay),

OVERVIEW A family and their adorable, but naughty and neurotic dog.

OPINION  Heart -warming tear- jerker… a family, a dog, children –yep it ticks all the boxes. I was at a loss to watch anything else the night I saw this movie on the box. Lovely stuff. It helps the material to have Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston though . They work together perfectly.

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Borat

YEAR 2006

DIRECTOR Larry Charles

STARRING Sacha Baron Cohen

 WRITER Sacha Baron Cohen (screenplay), Anthony Hines (screenplay

OVERVIEW Borat is dispatched to the United States to report on the greatest country in the world. With a documentary crew in tow, he searches out Pamela Anderson.

OPINION  Cohen is so clever. He is faultless. I cringe when I think of the poor folks at the bed and breakfast and the poor bastard in the China Shop. Laugh or cringe… ther is no denying the intelligence.

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Walk the Line

YEAR 2005

DIRECTOR James Mangold

STARRING Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon and Ginnifer Goodwin

 WRITER Johnny Cash (book), Gill Dennis

OVERVIEW A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

OPINION  Joaquin Phoenix is a genius. One of a handful of actors who manage to bring to life any part they undertake…the other four fingers include…Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Tom Hanks,  John Travolta and Ryan Gosling.  If he is gone - then the arts have lost a wonderful artist.

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Hanna

YEAR 2011

DIRECTOR Joe Wright

STARRING Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana   

WRITER Seth Lochhead (screenplay), David Farr (screenplay),

OVERVIEW A 16-year-old who was raised by her father to be the perfect assassin is dispatched on a mission across Europe, tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives.

OPINION  Brilliant. Story, directing, locations, costumes…everything excellent. Don’t miss!!!  My 18yr old son DRAGGED me, kicking and screaming, to this. I could not think of anything worse than a ‘spy kids’ lookalike movie. This is notable from the opening ‘shots’. All acting 5 star. Jackson cast teen; Saoirse Ronan (Hanna), with the intent of having an "unknown" play the lead role of Susie Salmon, The Lovely Bones (2009), but things changed when in the middle of his filming, Ronan was nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe for her performance in Atonement (2007). This girl will be the leading star of the future.

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The Trip

YEAR 2011

DIRECTOR Michael Winterbottom

STARRING Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Claire Keelan, Margo Stilley, Rebecca Johnson, Dolya Gavanski, Kerry Shale WRITER Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon

OVERVIEW Coogan and Rob Brydon play fictionalised versions of themselves undertaking a road trip around the UK, ostensibly working as restaurant critics but mainly winding each other up and indulging in immature battles of impressionistic one-upmanship.The film was put together using footage from their BAFTA award winning series of the same name.

OPINION  It is sheer happiness to watch a ‘documentary’(?) that has dialogue so witty that it is unfathomable as to whether it is scripted in any way- if at all. Pure happiness. Not since ‘In the Loop’ have I been so happy. Sheer brilliance. Impersonations of Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Woody Allen, Billy Connelly, Michael Sheen, Al Pacino Michael Caine. The food is never important, although beautiful ….although it appeared very important to the chefs and food servers. Was it a joke to have scallops in every meal?

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The Devil wears Prada

YEAR 2006

DIRECTOR David Frankel

STARRING Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and Adrian Grenier

 WRITER Aline Brosh McKenna (screenplay), Lauren Weisberger (novel)

OVERVIEW A naive young woman comes to New York and scores a job as the assistant to one of the city's biggest magazine editors, the ruthless and cynical Miranda Priestly.

OPINION  Glossy chick flick. Loosely based on career of Anna Wintour (Editor of Vogue). A slickly offered morsel. I have (female ) friends who class this as their favourite movie. I like it. I’ve seen it 4 times but personally, the romance in the movie, for me is like putting cream on the fruit salad. Kinda like  ‘Working Girls ‘ for girls who like dressing up for work. Maybe Streep and Blunt make this movie more than the sum of its parts ?

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Sexy Beast

YEAR 2000

DIRECTOR Jonathan Glazer

STARRING Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane

 WRITER Louis Mellis, David Scinto

OVERVIEW Brutal gangster Don Logan recruits "retired" safecracker Gal for one last job, but it goes badly for both of them.

OPINION  Superb acting. The tension is carried throughout the movie. Winstone/ Kingsley combination is a piece of genius.

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