Reviews

It's been almost 6 years since I saw this film at the cinema and it still makes me smile. I'm a big fan of Anthony Hopkins, and his performance as the eccentric Dr. Kellogg is even better than his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter. I can give no greater compliment than that.

The film takes a snapshot of American "priviliged" society at the turn of the last century and shows how ridiculous it really was with it's extremist views on health, sex and animal rights. Enemas were the cure for almost everything, according to Dr. Kellogg.

Some of the lines were memorable: "Masturbation is the silent killer of the night", "An erection is a flagpole on your grave", "Flat-chested women are a danger to themselves". Ridiculous. Crude. Hilarious. There were many more, but as I said, I haven't seen it in 6 years.

This is probably a "love-it-or-hate-it" film, depending on your sense of humour. I loved it.

After watching "Lock Stock" my first reaction was, mmmmm, not bad. The more I thought about it however, the more I realised that it really IS bad. It tried to be so many things at once - violent, funny, ultra-cool, unpredictable, cutting edge, etc. In my opinion, it generally missed the target.

Yes, it did have moments of humour, but these were generally when glorifying violence, or through characters acting "hard". It was certainly violent in places, had a few neat twists towards the end, but ultimately left you thinking that the director Guy Ritchie was just trying to be Britain's answer to Quentin Tarantino - well sorry Guy, you lack the characterisation and humour. Remember Pulp Fiction? We all laughed when John Travolta shot that guy in the face - to laugh in the face of shocking violence takes the work of a genius - Guy Ritchie has two goons being shot by an unseen airgun marksmen with the ultra-violent "boss" shouting "will everyone stop getting shot". Yeah, hilarious.

The acting was TERRIBLE. Everyone sounded retarded - I've been to London, nobody speaks like that! And that amber hue to the picture just did my head in. 3/10

It could be said that "This Year's Love" is for Britain what "Friends" is for the USA. Three guys, three girls, swapping relationships and having a laugh along the way. What makes "This Year's Love" different is that the characters are flawed in a way that prevents them from finding true happiness.

Though arguably an acquired taste, this is a BRILLIANT film. The acting is superb, the characters so very different. There are many moments of humour, though it is not laugh-out-loud, and plenty of sadness, some of it almost disturbing.

So to the story. Set in London's Camden Town, we follow the Glaswegian couple Danny (Douglas Henshall) and the gorgeous Hannah (Catherine McCormack) on their wedding day. Danny learns than Hannah has been sleeping with his best mate and storms out.

Hannah gets drunk and falls into the arms of Cameron, (another Scot) a struggling artist with a penchant for preying on vulnerable women. We then meet Cameron's flatmate Liam (Ian Hart) a naive, obsessive Liverpudlian who scrapes a living selling collectable comics. He "seduces" Sophie (Jennifer Ehle) a high-society drop out with child. Danny, meanwhile meets self-confessed "fat bird" Mary (Kathy Burke), but all three relationships deteriorate quickly.

I won't say much more - you'll have to see the film for yourself. But be warned, there is no "Hollywood" ending, though some people find happiness. This film has lived in the Shadow of "Brit-hits" such as "Four Weddings", "Notting Hill" and "Lock Stock..". Do yourself a favour and see this film, it is far superior. 10/10

A better film than I was expecting. After 20 minutes I was wishing I'd stayed at home, but once the action moved to New York the plot found it's feet.

This is not a classic but there are some very funny moments - my favourite was seeing the 10 year old kids vomiting after their first legal drinking session. I think us brits appreciate toilet humour a little more than our trans-atlantic cousins, so this hit the spot. A lot of the film was celebrity spotting (I wasn't able to spot Michael McKean of Spinal Tap fame). The relative big-budget feel to the film was also an unexpected surprise.

The let down was Sandlers a-la-Waterboy speech defect. Why???? And Patricia Arquette wasn't fooling anyone into believing she's dowdy - you just cannot hide that kinda beauty.