Triangle

Written & Directed by: Christopher Smith

Starring: Melissa George, Liam Hemsworth, Robert Dorman, Rachel Carpani.

Rating: 6/10

A group of friends set sail off the coast of Florida, presumably towards the Bermuda Triangle, though this is never mentioned. All seems well except for Jess (George) who shows up haunted and exhausted. She is vague when asked about the whereabouts of her son and despite her best efforts is having trouble socialising. Soon, they have found themselves victim to a storm, leaving them shipwrecked. Eventually a ship arrives and they board it, expecting salvation but receiving a mess of time loops, murder and identity crises.
As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that despite how messy the plot seems, the script has been written with great care and thought. As each twist unfurls, it nicely fits into the questions that have previously been set up. As is often the case with time loop stories, Triangle seems unsure of how to end itself. However, it does manage to bring about a decent denoument, though the final scenes don’t quite explain themselves as nicely as it could have.
The film’s weakness lies in its tired premise. It is decidedly similar in design and tone to a particular episode of The X Files (incidentally called Triangle) and feels like an episode of The Twilight Zone except it’s dragged out for an extra hour, or the entire plot of Lost squeezed into a movie. There’s nothing cinematic here, therefore nothing to justify another time loop story making its way to the public. The amateurish CGI doesn’t help either!
Having said that, the film does entertain and it maintains a nice level of paranoia. Melissa George’s performance is consistently cold and distracted, always keeping the audience wondering what had happened before her arrival on the boat. As the third act begins and everything begins to make sense, Jess’s primal maternal urges begin to make sense and thus the film becomes an insightful psychological thriller.
This is my no means an original story, nor is it the most satisfying but it is a decent thriller and credit must be given for the careful script, the melancholy tone and the snappy pacing. It’s not one for repeated viewing, but if you’re a fan of mind games, this is actually rather satisfying.

- Charlene Lydon

Away We Go

"I can't believe you told your mother about my tilted uterus!"

Written by: Dave Eggers & Vendela Vida

Directed by: Sam Mendes

Cast: Maya Rudolph, John Krasinski, Maggie Gyllenhaal

From Sam Mendes, the Brit who dared to deconstruct and disintegrate the American Dream in his classic American Beauty and in last year’s profoundly tragic Revolutionary Road, comes a story that in some ways criticises several conventions of the modern American family but most importantly, at its heart, it shows great hope for the future of the America.

The story follows young couple, Burt and a very pregnant Verona, as they travel to various places in America and Canada in search of a place to start their family. Burt and Verona are very much in love. They share a very close friendship, respect and appreciation of each other. A relationship of that calibre is a rarity in these cynical times and it is lovely to see it portrayed without being overly-sentimental. It uniquely shows the audience a couple who make being in love look easy. This is indescribably refreshing.

Burt and Verona travel from place to place meeting an assortment of crazy friends and family, each with their own quirks and issues. They try to decide what kind of parents they want to be and what kind of children they want to raise. Being earthy, borderline hippie, but sensible people, they try to find the balance between normal and special. A main plot point is Verona’s reluctance to get married. She doesn’t believe in it. This fits in with themes in Mendes’ previous work of marriage as an unnecessary stunting bind between couples. In a touching scene towards the end, the script deftly resolves this issue while making an interesting statement about the institute of marriage in an increasingly secular world.

Mendes truly struck gold in his casting choice with Rudolph and Krasinski. Maya Rudolph positively glows throughout the film and manages to be both super-cool and accessible. Warm and wise, she radiates love and contentment…but not in an annoying way. John Krasinski tones down his nice-guy persona to a nice-but-quiet guy. His character is warm but quiet and charmingly sensitive. Their chemistry is remarkable and with both of their CVs being full of comedy it’s nice to see them handle the drama and subtleties so beautifully.

You may think this sounds unbearably sentimental and touchy-feely but I assure you there’s enough bite in this script to ensure that it doesn’t get bogged down. This is definitely a feel-good movie, but it is so maturely handled that it never descends into corny!

With its lacksydaisy pacing, its heart on its sleeve and its striking visual style, this ranks with Mendes’ best work, though far simpler than his previous films. Highly, highly recommended.

- Charlene Lydon

District 9

"Get your fokkin' tentacle out of my face!"

Directed by: Neill Blomkamp

Starring: Sharlto Copley, Vanessa Haywood

Rating: 9/10

It’s mid-August, summer blockbuster fever is at its peak in the U.S. and along comes this scantily marketed, starless alien movie from and unknown director set in Johannesburg and bullets straight to the top of the box office! Sounds like science fiction to me. District 9 boasts only one star name and that is Peter Jackson, who produced the film.

The success of District 9 is certainly deserved but mystifying nonetheless. The story begins with the legally dubious evictions of aliens (yes, extraterrestrials) from a camp they have lived with since their arrival on our planet. They are being moved from mixed race slums (slums they share with humans) to an alien-only camp. As has been seen in human-kind for so many years, when underprivileged people are stuck into a slum, it soon becomes a ghetto and often, the minority is treated as a villain. This is the case here as the so-called “prawns” are villainised by their neighbours. The first act is a harrowing exploration of the very un-humanitarian treatment of the prawns during the eviction. However, as the second act kicks off, our hero (if this film could boast one) Wickus gets squirted by some alien black oil and begins to turn into a prawn. Most of the second act is a chase as Wickus, in all his dim-witted confusion tries to escape the giant corporation who want him to activate the alien weapons now that he shares their DNA.

There is no one thing that District 9 does right. I does everything right. It is a harrowing drama, it is an inter-species buddy movie, it is a wonderfully gory sci-fi flick and it is a killer action movie. In fact it is hard to imagine anyone who wouldn’t enjoy it. I can imagine some people might have trouble with the upsetting parallels between the “prawns” and some of our very own species’ more impoverished people and the treatment of them by society; especially in the gruesome opening act, where these refugees are murdered with such relish by the MNU (Multi-National United).

Kudos must be given to the film’s star Sharlto Copley, a South African actor in his debut role. His character of Wickus is so multi-layered and morally ambiguous that it would take a genius to pull off the role. Copley gives it socks and although we see the big bad G-man at the start trying to prove himself, his character develops to reveal an unsure, big-hearted young man who tries to break the chains of his own prejudice throughout the film. His performance is hilarious and, this might not be the P.C. thing to say but the South African accent is probably the most amusing accent in the world.

This is the perfect anti-dote to big Hollywood heartless blockbuster (G.I. Joe, I’m looking at you!). Although it feels like Hollywood and its special effects and CGI have set a new standard for the big studios, this is very deliberately an anti-Hollywood movie. It has political subtext aplenty and it ensures that audiences can see that blockbusters can have the perfect balance of brains and brawn. Never descending into preachiness, District 9 gives us politics but never at the expense of brilliant gore and fun.

- Charlene Lydon

Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1

Written by: Abdel Raouf Dafri

Directed by: Jean-Francois Richet

Starring: Vincent Cassel, Ludivine Sagnier, Mathieu Amalric

Rating: 9/10

The second part of Jean-Francois Richet’s epic telling of French modern-day outlaw Jacques Mesrine’s complicated, compelling life picks up where the first left off; with Jacques being extradited from Canada to France. Where the first film focussed on his audacity and wily ways, the second part focuses on his growing addiction to fame and notoriety. The first part of the film begins with a note on how every story has many different perspectives and that this is just one perspective on this man’s life. This is re-examined when Jacques becomes so infuriated at General Pinochet stealing his spot on the front page of the newspaper that he decides to write an autobiography. The script, whose source material is the autobiography up to this point, calls the books authenticity into question and suggests that Mesrine exaggerated a lot in order to garner more attention for himself.

As Jacques Mesrine begins to age, he begins to get more and more desperation to give his life meaning or, it could be argued, media relevance. He dreams of being considered a revolutionary and tries to make his crimes politically engaged, most notably the kidnapping of a notorious slumlord and the murder of a right-wing journalist. However, the film takes great pains to ensure that the audience knows that Mesrine’s motive is purely self-promotion.

Most of the film’s third act leads up to Mesrine’s death scene (which we have already seen at the start of the first film). A remarkable climax ensues, which shows the police setting up an extremely elaborate scenario in which to assassinate him. A now pudgy and still short Jacques Mesrine walks down a street and we see hiding policemen cower in fear beside him. This is an interesting view of his stranglehold on the world and how intimidating a figure he had made himself. The sequence follows his every step, quite monotonously and tediously, until we see in gruesome detail the aftermath of the police’s assassination.

The second part of this film doesn’t quite live up to the breathless exhilaration of the first part, but it keeps building on the character and allowing him to change and develop which is admirable. As in the first movie, Mesrine shows a soft side, only to prove it doesn’t run very deep. This happens on a number of occasions and it suggests on several occasions that although he may know that to be human means you have to love and be loved, Jacques Mesrine is not capable of it, as much as he tries.
This is a brilliantly made film. Stylish, yet never at the expense of the story. The performances are top-notch and there are enough political and spiritual implications here to keep this movie on your mind for days afterwards. However, politics and spiritualism aside, this is a cool movie with lots of gore and lots of action. It is by no means short of entertainment. As with the first film, I whole-heartedly recommend this to anyone, even those of us who aren’t fans of the genre.
- Charlene Lydon

Mesrine: Killer Instinct

Written by: Abdel Raouf Dafri

Directed by: Jean Francois Richet

Starring: Vincent Cassel, Cecile de France, Gerard Depardieu

Rating: 10/10

On it’s release in France last December, Mesrine: Part One – Killer Instinct grossed an incredible €18,000,000, pushing a certain High School Musical 3 completely out of the box office equation. Telling the story of France’s most notorious gangland superstar Jacques Mesrine, Killer Instinct has garnered huge praise in its home country and has been wowing festival audiences on the international stage.
Killer Instinct begins as so many biopics begin, with the main characters death scene. Mesrine notoriously died in his car under a hail of bullets from unknown assassins on a busy Paris street in 1979. It then skips backwards to Jacques as a soldier in the Algerian War. The sequence, while a little out of place is a great starting point in getting to know this very complex character. After his return to France, Mesrine soon becomes involved in the swinging sixties decadence of Paris and the sinister underworld that comes with it. It is clear that he has a certain moral greyness to him and also a quick-witted resourcefulness that moves him quickly up the ladder.
After a whirlwind romance, he marries a beautiful young Spanish girl and they quickly start a family. This prompts a brief attempt at trying to go straight, but Jacques quickly returns to his criminal gang and any romantic notions of being a husband and father are soon blown away.
The action moves to Quebec, Canada in the third act where Jacques and his new flame Jeanne (Cecile de France) get in most spectacular trouble with the law. The film’s denouement brings the audience through one of cinema’s most memorable prison escapes, memorable in its simplicity and audacity.
It is difficult not to compare this to Michael Mann’s recent Public Enemies but this is not an exercise in style as Mann’s film was. Although visually engaging, this film does not get bogged down in being “cool”. The film is concerned only with bringing the audience into the murky world of Jacques Mesrine and the film attempts the very difficult task of making us understand this vicious, heartless, romantic, arrogant, self-obsessed, sensitive gangster.
The cast is flawless. Each character is memorably played, especially the women in Jacques’ life. Vincent Cassel puts in the performance of his career (and that’s no easy task for an actor as accomplished as he) as Jacques Mesrine. The film clocks in at just over two hours and it is one of the most intense, exciting and brutal pieces of cinema you’ll see all year.
The film ends as Mesrine is just becoming the notorious superstar he eventually rose to be. With much of the story left to be told, the filmmakers leave us panting for more. Luckily there is not a huge gap in the release dates between movies.
Mesrine has universal appeal. It is not just a genre piece. It is an exciting, action-packed examination of a truly fascinating man. With flawless performances and unrelenting pace, Killer Instinct should have you hooked from the first scene to the last.

- Charlene Lydon 21/8/09

Inglorious Basterds

Written by: Quentin Tarantino

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Christophe Waltz, Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurier, Daniel Bruhl, Diane Kruger.

Rating: 6/10

Wouldn’t life be so much easier if there were only good movies and bad movies? Mr. Tarantino has, yet again, frustrated the hell out of this reviewer by delivering a film which is in equal measure both exhilaratingly clever and incessantly indulgent. That’s the conundrum of Quentin Tarantino. We all know he’s got skills, and he’s got a certain trademark visual and rhythmic style but does he always have to sell his trademarks so heavily in every movie?

Inglorious Basterds is a particularly frustrating piece of work. The plot of the film follows a bunch of American Nazi hunters, the titular Basterds and a female (incognito) Jew who runs an art cinema. Both factions are, unbeknownst to each other, plotting to use a particularly high-falutin’ film premiere to blow up several of the most important Nazi leaders, including Der Fuhrer himself.

The plot is beautifully woven and the stories are intertwined nicely and delicately. Mathematically, everything in the script fits neatly together perfectly. However, as the long, drawn out scenes of Tarantino’s trademark witty banter continue to slow down the film, the audience can’t help but lose interest somewhat. The film feels as if it is compiled of about twenty very long dialogue sequences, and at a running time of over two and a half hours, one can only feel that there’s nothing but benefit in cutting a good 45 mins of useless, but oh-so-edgy dialogue out of it. Each sequence does push the story along, but only after putting the brakes on the pacing for at least ten minutes.

Negative aspects aside, there’s plenty to admire about Inglorious Basterds. The best thing, by a million miles, is Christophe Waltz’s maniac Nazi Hans Landa; a brilliant character, an even more brilliant performance and a crazy twist in the tale that truly makes it all worthwhile. In fact, it is all the European actors who stand out in the film. The supporting cast are great for the most part, despite a very conspicuous and unfunny cameo from Mike Myers. The American actors are quite irritating in their brashness (though I’m sure that’s the point). Brad Pitt’s southern drawl grates after about two minutes and his is a one-joke character. He’s a meat-head and a brute and likes to say “killin Neeeh-tzees” a lot. Tarantino insists, again, on casting his friend Eli Roth, who is actually a worse actor than he is director, as Donny Donowitz a notorious Nazi killer. In fact most of the scenes of the Basterds play out like Team America.

The cinematography in this film deserves definite mention, Tarantino sticks to his signature palette of rich primary colour and it works to tremendous effect here, with the cameras eye particularly focussed on swastikas, which appear in almost every scene. The film’s design, costume and movement are beautiful and luxurious to behold. As usual, Tarantino goes for the pop culture soundtrack which is jarring and doesn’t work as well as it does in his previous films, most likely because this is such a period setting. He also chooses to do things like introducing certain characters with their own freeze frame with their name blasted across the screen, and a very intermittent narration from Samuel L. Jackson. Because of their sporadic nature, these features seem really out of place and work to no great effect. As usual, style over substance.

Stuck in development hell for years, it’s a dreadful shame that the director couldn’t just rein his ego in enough to pare it down and make it the brilliant film it should have been and very nearly was. Some poor choices aside, it has a really great plot, a fantastic breakthrough performance from veteran German actor Christophe Waltz and beautiful cinematography. A very strange ending may leave you either stumped or exhilarated, depending on your mood by the end.

- Charlene Lydon

A Perfect Getaway

Written & Directed by: David Twohy

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Steve Zahn, Timothy Olyphant, Kiele Sanchez.

Rating: 7/10

How much you like this film depends on how much you like films that sell themselves solely on the fact that there is going to be a twist at the end; and how much you enjoy the twist when it inevitably occurs. The set-up is classic. A couple of newlyweds, Sidney (Jovovich) and Cliff (Zahn) decide to spend their honeymoon backpacking to a paradise beach in Hawaii only to find on their arrival that there has been a grisly murder and police are looking for a young couple as suspects. They have, of course, encountered two other young couples, both of whom are oddly threatening, but possibly harmless. There’s Nicko and Gina a fun-loving, outdoorsy couple, but Nicko’s tall tales of being an “American Jedi” and Gina’s ability to gut a goat soon raise Sidney and Cliff’s suspicions. There’s also the creepy and clearly disturbed Kale (Hemsworth) and Cleo (Shelton) who are shadowy and suspicious, but are they dangerous?

The setup creates immediate tension and it’s only in retrospect that I realise how few scares there are in this film and how few actual threats appear throughout. The sense of looming fear is built up through the audience’s own paranoia as they try to figure out who the murderous duo is. Credit is due to writer/director David Twohy for managing to create this much tension without the cover of night. The entire film is set during the day, and in perfect sunshine. Few other films have used this conceit successfully and there’s irony to be found in the fact that this is the director of Pitch Black which works upon the opposite gimmick of being stuck in the dark.

Apart from some very irritating and sooo 90’s ironic dialogue about movie structure and plot devices between the characters this is a decent thriller with a lot going for it. However, I personally found the twist to be a little hokey and when the third act got into full swing it just started to get ridiculous. However, ridiculous can often lead to some really cool gore, which was the case here. An average suspense-thriller with a better than average cast (Olyphant and Sanchez are particularly great as the couple with the ever-evolving personas), A Perfect Getaway is by no means a great film but it is definitely an entertaining one.
If you’re looking for something to watch on a Saturday night you could do far worse than this.This is definitely an enjoyable piece of cinema, if not the most challenging. After a good first and second act it descends into madness in the third act and all plausibility goes out the window. On the other hand, it is well-crafted, nicely acted and delivers the tension required for a thriller of this kind.

- Charlene Lydon

Orphan

"I'm not your fucking Mommy"

Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra

Written by: David Johnson

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder.

Rating: 7/10

Orphan is a remarkable thriller, one of the most sadistic to hit the cinemas in a long time. There have been so many evil children movies that it’s hard for one to set itself apart. This bizarre mix of ridiculous schlock and intense family drama is difficult to swallow but never fails to entertain.
The Coleman family are introduced as a picture perfect American family. A beautiful house in Connecticut, beautiful parents Kate and John and beautiful children Daniel and Maxine. Kate had recently suffered a stillbirth and in order to soothe that pain, they decide to adopt a child. They find a perfect addition to their family in a local orphanage in the form of beautiful, creative, charming Esther, a 9 year-old Russian girl. However, soon after they bring her home they start to notice some strange things about Esther.
What happens next is a series of nasty events that divide the family. The sense of “other” surrounding Esther allows the audience to believe that John could keep excusing suspicious events and slowly but surely start to believe that Kate has gone mad. Esther wears strange clothes, speaks with a foreign accent and has different mannerisms than her American counterparts. This sense of “otherness” is most evident with respect to the Coleman’s eldest child Daniel. He is disgusted with Esther and refuses to tolerate her quirks. Immediately a division is caused in the family.
The remarkable thing about this film is the sense of unease created by domestic dramas. The veneer of perfection at the start quickly peels away to reveal that Kate is a recovering alcoholic whose actions led to an accident which left Maxine deaf and it is suggested, it caused their child to be stillborn. It also becomes apparent that John has been unfaithful and that their sex life is suffering as a result. This family drama acts as a wonderful way to build tension, as if a murderous child isn’t enough.
The third act is where things start to get really weird! Esther’s true intentions are revealed to the shock of the audience and there’s a killer twist which in some ways explains the outrageousness of the events of the film.
This film is genuinely creepy with some delightful gore and an ice cold colour palette that suits the tone of the film really well. The filmmakers clearly went to great pains to create a clinical and very polished world within the film. The design of the Coleman family home brings to mind 1980’s David Cronenberg with its grave austerity and chilling lack of comfort. Apart from visually, the film also delivers a stern, smoothly pace. It moves slowly, but never at the expense of entertainment or drama. At almost two and a half hours, this is a slow burner and one that ultimately pays off as it reaches its climax.
From the stunning opening sequence to it’s very bizarre conclusion this is a striking film, but be sure to check your disbelief at the door as this is one preposterous story! Ultimately it is enjoyable and boasts some fantastic performances from its leads particularly a 12 year old Isabelle Fuhrman who, I must say, must have very obliging parents to allow her to play this extremely risky role. If you want a good slow-burning thriller, there’s a lot to like about Orphan. However, be warned, it gets very, very strange.

- Charlene Lydon

RIP John Hughes

"Demented and sad...but social"

Seriously folks, was there a better writer in the history of Hollywood? I know, I know, he made kids movies and he made teen movies and some of his latter year work was sub-par at best but if one looks at the actual quality of his writing, during his glory days John Hughes' contribution to cinema is hard to fault.

On hearing about his recent death at age 59, I felt more incredibly sad than I thought possible for a has-been filmmaker who was well past his sell-by date. "Why?" I asked myself. And then I started thinking about those films that have been part of my life for as long as I have existed. Those films that I enjoyed as a kid, but also the films I found later in life that just feel like home to me. John Hughes is known for being in touch with teen angst and writing realistic teenagers but what I really think his skill was, was writing people. Every character he wrote was charismatic, interesting, unusual and each character no matter how small was full of quirks and...well, character. Think of such people as Mr. "Bueller, Bueller". Or Long Duk Dong. Or the inimitable Duckie. Or Edie McClurg's chirpy car rental agent in "Planes Trains and Automobiles". These characters are memorable. But most of John Hughes' appeal was his ability to create characters you really care about. No matter how quirky, small or downright unlikeable his characters are, you still care about them.

In "The Breakfast Club" he manages to do the impossible and create characters who are stereotypes but write them as real people who, despite their labels are fundamentally the same as each other. Boiled down to their lowest common denominator, this jock, brain, prom queen, criminal and weirdo are just teenagers, dealing with all the crap that comes along with it. How's that for a statement on humanity? You may think that John Hughes made films for the MTV generation but what set him apart was his ability to find the tragedy and the joy in every character. His power as a writer was that he could show all manner of human stuggles wrapped in the fuschia taffeta prom dress of a teen comedy. Just because Duckie is the nice guy friend, doesn't mean Andie will necessarily choose him over rich-boy Blaine. And it doesn't mean that Blaine is a bad guy. Convention was a tool for John Hughes. A tool which allowed him to reveal the more unpoetic aspects of human nature.

What about the dark side of children as "Home Alone" shows how far an innocent little boy will go to protect his home. OK, so it isn't "Straw Dogs" but I can tell you which film made me laugh, cringe and cry more. Possibly his most gloriously multi-layered character is Ferris Bueller. How much do we all love Ferris? It's impossible to think of a more revered movie character. Yet, look at him. He's a total brat. He whines that he got a computer instead of a car for his birthday. He terrorises and abuses his best friend Cameron and he shows no regard for anything or anyone except himself. So what makes him likeable? Who knows! It's that magical ability that John Hughes had for creating characters and fleshing them out so well that you feel like you know them. Despite his flaws, there's not a person alive who doesn't want to take a day off with Ferris Bueller.

Apart from his undeniable skills as a writer, it's also important to note his skills as a director, particularly in relation to actors. Again, let's consider "The Breakfast Club", almost completely set in one room with five characters. Works a charm! John Hughes is known for "finding" people and making them stars. Just looking at his repertoire of actors it is difficult to deny this fact. But look at how many of his actors have gone downhill since he found them. The cast of "The Breakfast Club" is a prime example. Correct me if I'm wrong but for all concerned this was the peak of their creative work. Same goes for "Weird Science", "Ferris Bueller" and "Sixteen Candles". And as huge a fan as I am of Steve Martin, it has to be said that the performance Hughes pulled out of him in "Planes Trains and Automobiles" was darker and deeper than Martin usually goes, and he's also on the top of his comic game.

Reflecting upon John Hughes post-humously it strikes me that he may seem like the 80's equivalent of Judd Apatow or even Robert Luketic, but the fact is, he's the father of them all. He effortlessly weaved heart into his stories, rather than forcibly throwing in a sappy third act. That was John Hughes' power. And not only that but let's not forget the power to entertain!

- Charlene Lydon

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

"Once again Harry, I must ask too much of you"

Written by: Steve Kloves

Directed by: David Yates

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman.

My rating: 9/10

Many years ago, when the Harry Potter phenomenon had first begun, I made a promise to myself that I would stick to the medium of film and enjoy the films as they emerged, without reading the books first. I am pleased to say I have stuck to this and having really enjoyed the films I find it frustrating at times to resist the temptation of picking up a book and continuing the story instead of waiting for the next cinematic instalment. However, given the overall quality of the films, it has definitely been worth my while. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a definite pay-off for those of us who use the films as our way of learning Harry’s story.

Half Blood Prince picks up almost immediately after The Order of the Phoenix left off. It highlights Harry’s celebrity status and the fact that it is now widely accepted that he is the one chosen to destroy Lord Voldemort. The film follows Harry in his quest to stop creepy emo kid Draco Malfoy from carrying out Lord Voldemort’s wishes. There are many distractions in the form of raging hormones for all concerned. Ron has become a sports star and is now therefore surrounded by women. He learns the hard way that girlfriends are more trouble than they’re worth. Meanwhile, Hermione is not happy to see Ron enjoying the attentions of other girls and Harry has his own distraction in the form of Ron’s sister, Ginny.

This film stands out as one of the stronger of the series, not only because it balances so nicely the darkness and bleakness of the story with the cutesy teenager antics, but also because it truly is a well-made film. The Harry Potter films in general tend to suffer from the fact that they are very obviously adapted from books, often leaving the audience to fill in some blanks that there just wasn’t time to fill. This film has that vibe somewhat, but it still tells a very strong story and never loses its way structurally. The introduction of new character Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) was well executed and he is a welcome addition to the weird and wonderful elite faculty at Hogwarths.

It seems to me that as the years progress, the young actors involved have really honed their acting skills. Each of the lead actors here are dealing with difficult material and are dealing with it well, convincing us of their sense of peril, their acceptance of the very real threats to their lives, and also convincing us of their chemistry as a group of friends. Harry’s relationship with Dumbledore progresses nicely and his fatherly presence in Harry’s life is enhanced, and Dumbledore’s respect and admiration for Harry is one of the film’s more touching elements.

The cinematography and design of the film is outstanding, it’s colour palette recalling that of Alfonso Cuaron’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Dull grey, green and blue hues give the film a magical, murky and beautiful look throughout. David Yates does a great job of creating the world of Hogwarths and never patronises his audience or his characters. It is clear that as the series continues the characters are allowed to grow up and the situations are allowed to become progressively more dire with each instalment.

This is a grown-up children’s movie with enough depth to keep the adults involved and enough magic and wonder to prevent the kids from being left out, though they may be left traumatised by the rather grim third act. Definitely worth a watch! A thrilling, emotional, scary, wonderous and delightfully wicked sixth instalment of an ever-improving franchise.

-Charlene Lydon 9/07/09

Rudo y Cursi

Directed by: Carlos Cuaron

Written by: Carlos Cuaron

Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, Guillermo Francella, Adriana Paz, Jessica Mas.

My rating: 9/10

The first film from the newly formed Cha Cha Cha Productions, consisting of Mexico’s finest filmmakers Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Rudo y Cursi is a hugely enjoyable warm-hearted genre piece which re-teams the writer and stars of Y Tu Mama Tambien, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna.

Though, admittedly, not my greatest area of interest, there is always something very engaging about the sports movie. This film is a shining example of the genre. It tells the story of two poor country brothers, Tato and Beto. Tato dreams of becoming a pop star and Beto dreams of becoming a goalie. However, when Tato gets picked up, by random happenstance, by a soccer talent scout, Beto is horrified. Tato sees it as an opportunity to become famous and therefore get a record deal. Soon afterwards, Beto is given a shot at being a pro at a different club and they both become soccer sensations. Trials and tribulations ensue and the whole film builds up towards the inevitable climactic game with everything riding on it; brother versus brother.

On some level this is an entertaining rags-to-riches story like all the other ones that have come before it. But there is a deeper level of sentiment at work here that allows the audience to engage fully with these characters and love them and hate them as necessary. The tragedy of simple men being seduced and quickly destroyed by fame is examined here, and to great effect due to the nicely rounded characters and undeniable chemistry between the two lead actors.

Writer and director Carlos Cuaron (who co-wrote Y Tu Mama Tambien) does a fantastic job here. There is not a superfluous scene in the piece and the dialogue is not only hilarious but also snappy and natural. The screenplay flows along so nicely that by the time the film ends, you wonder where the two hours went and feel sad to be leaving these characters.

A major problem with the film, particularly as a genre piece, is its lack of actual football footage. Most of the football is off-screen for some reason, perhaps the actors just aren’t very good footballers. This hampers the excitement and the build-up of the third act somewhat. It is a huge pity because with so much invested in the characters, it seems a shame to take the excitement down a peg by not showing the matches. This is however merely a tiny problem in an otherwise splendid film.

This is an impossible film to dislike. Devoid of sentimentality yet consistently heart-warming throughout, the lead and supporting characters light up the scenes throughout with subtle quirks and elegant tragedies. As dark as the story can sometimes get, it is never bleak, and always rousing. What more could one want from a summer popcorn movie?

- Charlene Lydon

The Last House on the Left (2009)

"It's the last house on the left in case you forgot."

Directed by: Dennis Iliadis

Written by: Adam Alleca, Carl Ellsworth

Cast: Garret Dillahunt, Sara Paxton, Monica Potter, Tony Goldwyn

Rating: 6/10

Naturally, when a remake is released there is a tendency to compare it to the original and point out how the new version fails in comparison. However, I have seen the original 1972 Wes Craven film which left me feeling somewhat nonplussed. A decent b-movie with a shocking rape thrown in but hardly deserving of its super cool tagline (it’s only a movie it’s only a movie it’s only a movie...). So, it was easy for me to put that film aside and watch the remake as a stand-alone rape-revenge thriller. However, as the film kept going it became clear that the grit and ugliness of Craven’s original is what gave it all its shock value. It became obvious to me that Hollywood just can’t do this kind of thing with any real punch.

The plot follows the Collinwood family, Emma, John, and their daughter Mari as they prepare to spend the summer in their secluded lake house (not a house for 6 miles so God knows where the title comes into it). Mari spends some time with her freewheeling friend Paige and they wind up smoking pot with a young stranger, Justin, in his motel room. You know the rules, never do drugs in a horror movie...you’ll pay with your life. Justin’s family come home and they happen to be fugitives so they must dispose of Justin’s new friends in case they rat them out. So, they take the girls out to the woods where they sadistically rape and torture them and leave them for dead. As awful as any rape scene is, it takes away some of the grit when it becomes clear that the actor is not allowed to show the actresses breast so he clumsily tries to keep his fingers under her bra. This is the kind of thing that shows that Hollywood ain’t cut out for real shock value. Apart from the mannered choreography, the rape scene is hideous and the young actress played it well, her innocent eyes giving the audience the empathy it needed.

So, naturally, an incoming storm stops the criminals, led by the particularly nasty Krug, from hitting the road so they stop into a nearby house for hospitality. What are the odds that this is young Mari Collinwood’s house? Well, it is. What follows is a turnaround in behaviours. When the Collinwoods figure it out it’s not long before they find themselves as sadistic and murderous as their enemies.

As a plot, this one is why we watch horror films. As Wes Craven himself says “a little bit of horror is good for the psyche”. Watching a film like this, you can’t help but meditate on the nature of human morals. Why not just tie up the perpetrators and let the police deal with them? Why not shoot them in the heart? No, these people are out for blood and they want revenge for what happened to their daughter. The gore is hit and miss, some of it is gratuitous but mostly it’s just the same old blood n’ brains.

The cast handle themselves well, even two of the dullest actors I can think of, Monica Potter and Tony Goldwyn manage to pull of their characters nicely (their characters seem to be hopelessly dull people). The ever-wonderful Garret Dillahunt is wasted in his role as Krug. He’s extremely nasty but that seems to be all there is to him.

This film is an aptly-made, if a bit hollow. There is some nice tension developed throughout and although it doesn’t really shock and it has a severe lack of imagination, it does leave one thinking about the fragile nature of the human psyche.

- Charlene Lydon 9/6/09

The Jonas Brothers: The 3D Experience

"So this is where the story ends, A conversation on IM, Well I'm done with texting, Sorry for the miscommunication"

Starring: Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas, Kevin Jonas

Directed By: Bruce Hendricks

My rating: 2/5

The Disney machine has done it again. A money-making machine of epic proportion! They own the Jonas Brothers, they made millions from ticket sales on the Jonas Brothers Burnin’ Up World Tour and now they’re making many more millions from a 3D movie that cost next to nothing to produce. All money made off the brothers Jonas goes back into the machine. Much like Ms. Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers phenomenon has proven to be very lucrative. Unlike Hannah Montana however, the Jonas Brothers aren’t cute bubblegum pop. They are faux-rock stars complete with skinny jeans and Jagger strut. I can’t say how irritating these charlatan musicians are to grown-ups. There’s absolutely no appeal to people above the age of 15, hence the lack of airtime on the radio. On the other hand, their own demographic pump enough money and hysteria into them to make up for the rest of us.

The 3D concert experience is every 11year old girl’s dream. The sexually charged men who are supposed to appeal to pre-adolescent girls is kind of creepy and the sexy looks and winks straight into the camera looks are very uncomfortable in 3D! I was lucky enough to attend the press screening with a group of school children who had also been invited along. I say lucky because how much you like this movie completely depends on your feelings on the Jonas Brothers. These girls really allowed me to gauge the reaction of its intended audience and if they’re anything to go by, the kids are going to lap this up! They sang and squealed and raised their arms in the air and clapped and cheered like they were seeing the real thing. I thought this was charming, if a little too much like brainwashing, because seriously this music is godawful!

The movie is roughly half concert, half documentary about a day in the life of the boys. However, I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that much of the “documentary” segment felt a lot like an episode of The Monkees only without the humour or charisma. There were scenes where the guys had to make a mad run across Manhattan from a bunch of screaming girls and had to eventually be taken away by helicopter, their only means of escape. It’s a shame because I bet a day in the life of the brothers would actually be very interesting without the fiction added in. The 3D has very little function except to feel a bit more up close and personal with the boys and a few little effects like the crowd being hosed down with foam (insert nasty allegory here) and Joe throwing his sunglasses at the camera. However, it is all part of the fun and the kids I saw it with were enthralled.

The music is awful, Joe, Nick and Kevin are smarmy and dull, but don’t underestimate the power of the Disney machine to use hyperbole and peer pressure to create hysteria about a product. The Jonas Brothers are that product and 3D is just another gimmick to get bums into seats. My guess is it will work a charm, but there’s definitely nothing here, except frustration, for anyone who’s not a fan.

- Charlene Lydon 23/05/09

Cheri

Directed by: Stephen Frears

Written by: Christopher Hampton

Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, Kathy Bates

Rating: 6/10

At the core of this costume drama is an examination of the pain and gracelessness that come with the loss of youth. Michelle Pfeiffer, who could not be ageing more gracefully, gives a classy performance as Lea, an ageing courtesan who falls for a former colleague’s 19 year old son, Chéri (Friend). The couple, although scandalous, share an idyllic, pressure free love but as reality begins to catch up with them Lea must face the fact that she cannot be anything to Chéri but a mother.

Chéri is forced into a marriage by his mother and the middle part of the film is taken up with both lovers trying to get along without the other. As it becomes clear that they cannot do this they are drawn back to each other but have drifted further than they thought.

A glorious balance of cynicism and romance, the film truly believes in love, but accepts that reality can often get in its way. The start of the film is rather snappy and trite. You’d be forgiven for feeling like you had seen all this before. However, as it progresses, the level of intimacy heightens and the story becomes more engaging.

The film fails on some levels. It seems to focus more on sumptuous visuals than character. The actors have very little to go on, particularly the title character who never really gets anything to do than display his melancholy and disillusionment. He changes his attitude at the drop of a hat, much to the confusion of the audience. Rupert Friend does what he can with a role that is more about the female gaze than developing a romantic lead. Lea’s fascination with him as her last chance to grasp youth and beauty is second only to her need for a son in her reasons for falling in love with him so hard. She has never had a son and he has never had a proper mother. This strand of the story is the most interesting. They need each other as mother and son but they know that this relationship will stunt their ability to grow as human beings.

The end of the film is very abrupt, tying up the story in a lazy voiceover. This nonchalance regarding the plot, coupled with the final shot of the film, a lingering close-up of Pfeiffer examining her wrinkling face, reinforce the true aim of this film; to examine the effects of ageing on someone whose whole life has been dependent on beauty. To this end, Michelle Pfeiffer’s performance is extremely moving. As someone who is never seen looking haggard, it is lovely to see her face finally ageing. Radiant and still very sexy, her crows feet and sagging brow line are starting to become apparent. Her performance is sad and beautiful, definitely the high point of the film, and probably what will make this film stand out from the usual costume drama fare.

This is a flawed, but in some way profound story. It looks wonderful and is worth the price of admission for Pfeiffer’s performance. It is mercifully short and although the plot is sparse, there is enough emotional engagement to keep the audience invested and entertained.

- Charlene Lydon

State of Play

Directed By: Kevin McDonald,

Witten By: Michael Matthew Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, Billy Ray;

Starring: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Penn, Helen Mirren.

My rating: 8/10

State of Play was adapted from the highly regarded British television series of the same name. When it was decided the political drama would not be returning for a second series, Hollywood picked it up and cast Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in the lead roles. The world rolled its collective eyes at the prospect of a big budget Hollywood attempt to squash such an intricate web of plots into a two hour film. However, somehow, it worked. Clearly, the importance of writing a script that would do the story justice was a high priority for the filmmakers. The writers who were brought on board; writers who have been responsible for Michael Clayton, Breach, The Bourne Ultimatum and Lions For Lambs, some of the greatest political thrillers of the past few decades, put together a simple, fluid and admirably neat screenplay which underplays every plot twist and allows the audience to be led by the story and enjoy the ride, rather than the expected Hollywood sucker punches.

There’s not really any way to synopsise this plot, so let’s just outline the basic setup. A homeless black man in Washington DC is shot dead after having stolen a very important suitcase. An ill-timed passer-by is also shot and put in a coma. The next morning a beautiful young political researcher meets with an “accident” in the D.C. Metro. As it turns out she worked for, and was having an affair with Senator Stephen Collins (Affleck). Collins’ former roommate Cal McAffrey (Crowe) is a grumpy old reporter with the Washington Globe and tries to uncover what’s really going on. He is teamed up with young blogger (McAdams) and they become embroiled in a very complex, very far-reaching plot to privatise homeland security for the sake of profit. This is the basic setup, but must be viewed as a basic jumping off point for almost constant twists and turns and outward growth of the story.

After both Brad Pitt and Edward Norton dropped out of the project, two rushed replacements Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck were drafted in. Luckily, this worked out very well. The script does not focus on character. It sets up the basic caricature and it’s up to the actors to reveal the rest subtly and slowly. The importance of a good cast in film like this cannot be underestimated and as an ensemble piece, it worked really well. Even Ben Affleck, who we all have reservations about, proved here that he is capable of delivering a strong, restrained performance. Russell Crowe is also impressive. His chemistry with Senator Collins’ wife (Wright-Penn) is electric and also the platonic relationship between him and Rachel McAdams’ character Della is great, avoiding the usual romantic traps.

The film deals with some interesting themes of fearing and unwillingly facing the future. This is highlighted by the pairing of old school scruffy journo and fresh young blogger. Also, the shadowy corporation at the centre of the conspiracy, Pointcorp echoes the name of the company, Mediacorp, who have recently bought the Washington Globe. It’s paranoid touches like these that make this film stand out. It is definitely a film that will keep you entertained for two hours, but it is also a film that manages to fill that void left by The X Files in making audiences consider the frighteningly shadowy depths of U.S. politics.

- Charlene Lydon

Race to Witch Mountain

"You know what aliens look like. They are like little green people with antennas, and say "Take me to your leader, Earthlings."

Written By: Matt Lopez & Mark Bomback

Directed By: Andy Fickman

Starring: Dwayne "not The Rock" Johnson, Carla Gugino, Anna Sophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig

Rating: 6/10

Disney has been churning out Witch Mountain movies for decades. I’m sure I’ve seen one at some stage of my life on a random, bored Sunday afternoon. Not so much an update of the franchise, this film continues along the same lines as the others. It is on the same level as the older movies, entertaining children’s nonsense which neither offends nor delights.

Dwayne Johnson plays disillusioned cabbie Jack Bruno. He lives a meagre existence in Las Vegas, on the run from gangsters who seen to be angry at him because he gave up NASCAR racing. He picks up a fare from two kids Sara and Seth, who pay in cash for a ride to the middle of the desert. Naturally this embroils Jack in a string of adventures. These kids are in fact aliens trying to find their spaceship and return home to convince their planet that Earth should not be destroyed. Evil G-man (Ciaran Hinds) wants to stop them from leaving and refuses to feel empathy for them, insisting that they are only children on the outside.

The action sequences are really good and they are pulled off rather classily. A harrowing train accident is particularly exciting, and kind of darker than what one usually expects from the House of Mouse. The child actors are very good and incite our sympathy. As usual, Dwayne Johnson displays a natural wit and charm that endears him to the audience and allows us to root for him. Hot off Watchmen, Carla Gugino plays a serious UFO expert, finding it hard to be taken seriously because of the crazies who seem to inhabit her field of expertise. She comes along to help the kids and have her work legitimised all in one fell swoop.

The problem with this movie is that is spends all of its time setting up characters’ backstories and setting up a love story and never follows through. I know, I know, it’s a kids movie and we shouldn’t get into structural problems, but it really does waste our time setting up Jack Bruno’s lack of accomplishment, despite great talent but by the end of the movie, nothing has changed. How very unsettling that the Disney machine seems to have a glitch in it.

Annoyingly underwritten subplots aside, I found this very entertaining and pretty likeable. The pacing never lets up and the set pieces are imaginative. It may be irritatingly cliche, but it is a load of fun and definitely worth an hour and a half of your children’s Saturday afternoon.

- Charlene Lydon

Buffy - a Retrospective

This retrospective was originally written for an entertainment website but it ended up waaaay too long and I had had to edit it to death. I thought it would be nice to post it here so that my hard work might find a home. It's very long but enjoy!

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

Into every generation a slayer is born...

From 1997-2004, Buffy Summers, vampire slayer, saved the world. A lot. Born from the unlikely seed of a poorly received teen flick from the
early 90's Joss Whedon refused to give up on his heroine. Instead of
conceding defeat, he kept going and didn't rest until Buffy was given a
new home on the small screen.

Over the years, Buffy has matured and changed, fallen in love with two
vamps and even died...twice, only to prevail as the most profound and
elegant heroine in the history of television. Always fun, balanced with deep levels of darkness and always surpassing expectations, it seemed like Team Whedon could do no wrong. They did all the usual “Jump the Sharks”; going to college, killing off main characters, spin-offs, musical episode, killing and resurrecting he protagonist and the classic, introducing a previously unknown sibling.

No TV show or has ever matched the level of wit and clever use of convention. The use of the ironic segue, however often it is used (e.g.: Buffy: “nothing is going to happen”. Cut to: Willow and Xander walk down the street. Willow: Something’s going to happen”) is delightful and really sets Buffy’s tone. The show uses humour in abundance and it may be argued that humour is Buffy’s power. Language is important to Buffy, her level of wit often mirroring her confidence when facing a foe.


Season One: Buffy Moves to Sunnydale

The first season of Buffy picks up where the film left off. Buffy has been disgraced after burning down her high school and her Mom packs up and moves her to Sunnydale, a small town where nobody knows them. The twelve episodes of the first season are certainly as trite as Buffy gets. It started off simply; it introduces the characters, sets up the main plots for the next few seasons and gives us a lot of fun and evil monsters to play with.

Buffy quickly makes friends with Willow, a nerd and Xander, a goofball. She spurns the attentions of Cordelia, the popular girl and so is, in turn, spurned by the entire popular crowd, thus damned for all eternity to the land of the outsiders. Speaking of outsiders, it isn't long before Buffy finds herself falling for dashing vampire, Angel. But it's ok, because due to an old gypsy curse, Angel has a soul. He lives for eternity in torture, his conscience burning from the evil things he had done in his past. Naturally however, Xander is in love with Buffy ad Willow is in love with Xander. And so it goes, for most of high school.

Soon after her arrival, Buffy meets stuffy British librarian, Giles, who informs her he is her new watcher (Donald Sutherland was her old watcher but met an unfortunate fate in the movie) and that Sunnydale High is built on a Hellmouth, a gateway between dimensions, between Earth and the demon worlds. They have a personality clash due to Buffy's brash, American ways, and Giles' stiff upper lip. But they sort out their differences to some extent and learn to work together. Apart from these little set-ups and introductions, Season One of Buffy was typically focused on stand-alone episodes such as "The Pack" and "I Robot, You Jane". A huge part of the first season was exploring the innocent people who become involved in evil and the human cost of living on a Hellmouth. It also explored Buffy's tried and failed attempts at balancing slayage and a social life (see “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date”, “The Witch”). By the end of the season she has accepted her fate, and even died for the first time (oh yes, there are more deaths to come, this is the Buffyverse, after all).

Buffy started as it meant to go on by exploring an over-arching plot throughout the twelve episodes, involving the first of the Big Bads, The Master, who plans to open the gates of the Hellmouth on (you guessed it) junior prom night! Each successive season has a new Big Bad, and several little Bads.

Season Two: Buffy Loses Her Virginity

Ok, so this was where the world started to sit up and pay attention to the little blonde, sharp-tongued slayer. You'd be forgiven for passing the first season off as fun and witty, but not much more. However, once the second season hit, it became apparent that there was a whole lot of dark left for Team Whedon to explore. This season keeps with the high school dilemmas of the first season by dealing with the trauma of losing one's virginity. In the second season, Buffy and Angel take their relationship to the next level on her 16th birthday. Buffy loses her virginity and Angel loses his soul. Unbeknownst to the lovers, the gypsy curse is lifted when Angel enjoys a moment of pure perfect pleasure (e.g. orgasm with someone he truly loves). Enter the new Big Bad, Angelus.

The other big development this season is the introduction of Spike and Drusilla who come to town, all punk and gothy and kill The Anointed One, The Master's young protégé. They are now the biggest baddass vampires in town and aim to take over, with the help of a resurrected demon, The Judge who cannot be killed by any weapon forged. When Angel becomes the evil Angelus, he joins Spike and Drusilla and terrorises Buffy and the Scoobies, including the hideous murder of Giles’ new love Jenny Calendar (a descendant of the gypsies that restored Angel's soul) and the torture of Giles himself.

Other characters introduced this season are Oz, Willow's guitar-playing boyfriend and part-time werewolf, and Kendra, a slayer who was called when Buffy "died" in Season One. Much to Giles' pleasure and Buffy's chagrin, Kendra is a perfect slayer, disciplined and cold. She has no time for friends or softness. Buffy sees a reflection of herself, or how she could be in Kendra and begins to appreciate how her connection to the Scoobies has helped her in her slaying duties.

The grand metaphor of the season, the fear of betrayal after sex, is hard-hitting and dark. Buffy is not afraid to keep it's heart on it's sleeve and go deep and dark in it's emotional torture. Between Buffy's heartbreak and Giles' loss of the first woman he's loved in a long, long time, this season is a rollercoaster. The climax of the season shows Buffy successfully kill The Judge (luckily bazooka's weren't forged in his day) and learning that the only way to thwart Angelus' plan and close the gates of hell is to spill his blood on the gate. Buffy goes head to head with Angelus and finally prepares to kill her true love and send him to live in a hell dimension for all eternity. However at the last minute, Willow's spell to restore his soul works, and Buffy finally sees the man she loves come back to her. However, a slayer's gotta do what a slayer's gotta do and after a passionate kiss and a few tears, she plunges a sword into him and sends him to his demise (this is the Buffy verse remember, there are no limits as to how many times people can die). After killing Kendra, Drusilla and Spike skip town, leaving the cops to blame Buffy for the murder. Along with everything that has happened, Buffy's mom finds out about her daughter’s double life and takes it badly. Unable to deal with the horror her life has become, Buffy runs away to start a new life, away from the heartbreak that Sunnydale has inflicted on her.

Season Three: Growing Up and Leaving High School

The first episode clears up Buffy’s disappearance. She decides to come home and face her life in the very first episode. After that, the rest of the season is concerned with the fear of leaving high school and the need to determine one’s identity before facing the real world. This season’s Big Bad is Sunnydale’s mayor, and his head henchman happens to be Snyder, the slimy little principal of Sunnydale High, who has had it in for Buffy since day one. Having the principal as the villain of the series not only reinforces the metaphor of the nightmare of high school but also makes way for Buffy to obliterate him at the end of the season. Wish fulfilment, anyone?

After the death of Kendra a new slayer, Faith, is called. She arrives in Sunnydale all cocky and full of attitude. She is a loner and a rebel, the complete opposite of Buffy. At first Buffy is in awe of her and they go out on the tear, but it soon becomes apparent that Faith is little more than a cold killer. She and Buffy fall out and Faith turns to the dark side, aiding The Mayor in return for a caring father figure. The character of Faith is a huge part of Buffy’s realisation of who she wants to be and how she feels about her role as the slayer. She begins to appreciate that her power as a slayer needs to be respected and while she appreciates Faith’s bombastic nature, she figures out that her Scoobies are a huge part of why she is such a great slayer.

This season is probably the one with the best set of standalone episodes. Particularly strong are The Wish and Doppelgangland in which a parallel universe in unleashed wherein Buffy doesn’t exist. In The Wish Cordelia wishes Buffy never came to Sunnydale and so the town is overrun by vampires, Willow and Xander are like an evil power couple of vamps and Oz, Giles and co. are the only people fighting the good fight. In the end, normality is restored and all is well. However, in Doppelgangland Willow’s evil other half crosses over to our dimension unleashing havoc and being a wicked, sexy, gothy Willow. Chaos ensues and when all has been wrapped up Willow comments that she thinks evil Willow was “kinda gay”, foreshadowing her change of sexuality in season four. Other episodes of note are The Zeppo, a Xander-centric episode where he goes out on his own and saves Sunnydale from evil zombies, without anyone ever knowing, and another standout, Band Candy, sees the grown-ups turned into teenagers when they become addicted to evil candy. Giles has sex with Buffy’s mom. Everyone feels queasy.

And then, of course, there’s The Prom. This episode starts off the trend, in the last few episodes, of showing a bond between the student body of the graduating class. Buffy finally gets to the prom, after having saved the town from vamps and her peers present her with a surprise award; “Class Protector”. They say they don’t know what she does but that they know she saves them every day. Their graduating class has had the lowest death rate in Sunnydale High history. The season ends with the entire graduating class banding together to save the world from the evil Mayor, who has now turned himself into a giant snake. Teenage rebellion in overdrive!

Season Four: Buffy Goes to College

What typically happens when a TV series is forced to go to college? Every cliché in the book? Correct! As always Buffy challenges the idea of the cliché by embracing them all with open arms and giving them a new spin. Hero feeling lost and alone? Check! Roommate from hell? Check! Disastrous overindulgence in alcohol? Check! Sexual experimentation? Check! The Scoobies go through huge changes, going their seperate ways to a large extent and feeling inadequate out of their comfort zone.

This season’s Big Bad is Adam, a Frankenstein-like monster created by Buffy’s professor Maggie Walsh, part of a military vampire-slaying operative called The Initiative. This group are working for the common good in some ways but are threatened by Buffy and the Scoobies' unorthodox and unruly ways. However, it does introduce Buffy to new love interest, corn-fed Iowa boy, Riley Finn. He is part of The Initiative but believes in Buffy and slowly turns from the corruption of his military friends.

Willow has her heart broken when Oz falls for a fellow werewolf and runs off to the desert to “find himself” and get in touch with his inner wolf. After this heartache, Willow begins practicing witchcraft to a much greater extent and slowly falls in love with her fellow witch, Tara. There are a lot of magic/sexual experimentation metaphors and Willow’s powers as a witch accumulate quickly.

Xander decides not to go to college and works for a while as a barman in the college bar, but then moves into the area of construction instead, all the while keeping up a relationship with reformed vengeance demon Anya, who is slowly learning how to be mortal. A huge development occurs when The Initiative capture Spike and put a chip in his head which prevents him from harming anyone. He is now defenceless, but still as snarky and annoying as ever.

A huge part of going to college is getting used to the politics of being part of such a huge institution. It’s all way bigger and badder than in school and seems frightening at times. This is represented by the introduction of The Initiative, which is connected to the college through Buffy’s professor. Although, essentially, the organisation is trying to do good by ridding the world of vampires, they are more frightening than the vamps themselves because of their cold, regimented ways. Buffy is used to being in charge of her Scoobies and they are Sunnydale’s last word in vampire slaying. The grandiose plans of The Initiative are beyond Buffy’s capability and they are so shadowy that they present her with a foe that she has no idea how to deal with. Thankfully, as the series progresses, the Scoobies find that they must combine their powers to save the day, therefore reuniting them all after their year of doing their own thing.

There are some real standout episodes this season, most notably Hush, an episode in which evil ghoul's "The Gentlemen" come to town and steal eveybodies voices. A chilling epsode and notable not only for its really, realy gross and creepy villains, but also for the fact that for nearly a whle hour, there is no talking, allowing a really accomplished musical score to provide the drama.

Season Five: The Meaning of Life

Quite literally, the fifth season deals with what it means to have a life. In the past Buffy has explored what makes someone human what with Angel’s struggles with his soul, and Spike having to turn into a good guy because of the chip in his head that won’t allow him to harm humans. What does it mean to be good? What does it mean to be human? This season takes this to a whole new level in a number of ways. First of all, Buffy gets a sister. To the shock of the audience at the end of Buffy vs. Dracula (my 4 year old niece’s favourite episode), Buffy’s sister Dawn is revealed. She is introduced as a character who has always been there and whom everyone is familiar with, as if she has always been Buffy’s sister. It turns out that Dawn is "The Key", a big ball of energy that some monks turned to human form and sent for protection to the slayer, implanting false memories so nobody suspects she’s not real. Evil goddess, Glory, has come to earth searching for her "Key" so she can, you guessed it, open the gates between dimensions and have chaos envelope the earth. Dawn’s revelation that she is not a teenage brat, but rather a ball of energy in human form allows the writers to explore the meaning of love, of family, of the fundamentals of being human.

In further domestic horror, Buffy’s mother Joyce dies. She dies of a plain old brain aneurysm. Nothing evil, nothing gory, she just died of natural causes. Joyce’s corporeal body is examined and considered in the episode The Body. The episode is a harrowing examination of the long, horrible day when Buffy finds her mother dead. The episode has no music, no plot, and no witty banter. It follows the cast as they deal with all the things that must be done after the death of a loved one. Willow frets over what she should wear, Buffy is in denial, regressing to an almost childlike state, and in one particularly moving scene Anya struggles to understand death. Being a new mortal, it’s all a bit foreign to her and she cannot come to terms with someone she cared about just being gone forever. This interlude in the series allows the characters to meditate on life and family and sets up Buffy’s final sacrifice to save the life of her sister. Having been dropped by its network, the creators intended to kill Buffy off. The gates of hell can only be closed by the blood of "The Key" and, in keeping with the theme of family, Buffy decides that her blood is the same that runs through Dawn’s and so she sacrifices her own life for her sister’s.

A seemingly silly episode in which future Big Bad Warren makes a robot girlfriend, questions again the nature of living and being human. The audience learn that Warren is not satisfied by his perfect robot girlfriend and is, in fact, trying to escape her in favour of his flawed human girlfriend. Sympathies deepen for the robot as Buffy has a heart to heart with her. The plot thickens when Spike, realising he’s in love with Buffy, orders Warren to make him a Buffybot.

At the end of the season, Buffy lies dead, the world is saved and the Scoobies are devastated. Luckily, Fox picked up the series from Season Six so the writers had to bring back the heroine. Thank God for the Buffybot…

Season Six: Buffy Resurrected


...Of course Buffy wasn’t a robot for the rest of the show’s run. They did use the Buffybot for slaying duty for a small part of season six, but only until Willow figures out how to raise Buffy from the dead. It wouldn’t be like Joss Whedon to simply give us our hero back. He brought her back, devastated after being pulled from the peace of heaven. Darkness ensues as Buffy comes to terms with being back in this awful world of pain and sadness. She keeps her distress secret from her friends, all except for Spike. She tells him her deep sadness at having been resurrected and they enter into a sordid, destructive sexual relationship, starting in "Smashed" where they literally bring down an entire house with their sexual antics. Buffy finds solace in her relationship with Spike. She clings to the darkness because she feels so detached from her friends. All is revealed however in the musical episode "Once More With Feeling". An evil dancing demon casts a spell on Sunnydale so everyone is forced to sing and dance. Of course, trite and all as it seems the writers took this opportunity to raise issues with all the characters and using the honesty of song as a sort of catharsis. With the words “There was no pain, no fear no doubt til they pulled me out of heaven. So that’s my refrain. I live in hell since I’ve been expelled from heaven” Buffy spills her secret longing to return to her grave. With that Willow bursts into tears, devastated that her actions have actually caused so much pain.

This season boasts two Big Bads, well technically four. The Trio, which consists of nerds Jonathan, Warren and Andrew who push their fanboy geekiness too far by deciding to become super-villains. They use contraptions and hokey magic to try to inflict pain and death on the Scoobies with little motive apart from wanting to be super-villains. Despite their very real threat to humanity, the gang doesn’t really take them seriously. That is, until a stray bullet from their gun aimed at Buffy kills Tara. This event sets off the introduction of the real Big Bad, Willow. Having wrestled with an addiction to magic, Willow was on the mend thanks to Tara’s support and love. Now that Tara has been killed Willow is back with a vengeance…for vengeance. One particularly gruesome scene shows her flaying Warren who is tied between two trees. She is trying to demonstrate to him what it feels like to experience pain. She then goes off on a mission to rid the world of pain and suffering. However, in a world of flawed human beings, there is no way to achieve it. She decides there is too much pain in the world and she can’t stand it so she wants to destroy it. In an unusual turn of events, Xander is the hero of the season. He talks Willow down by unabashedly proclaiming his love for her and reminding her that despite all the pain, there’s also love and friendship. Schmaltzy, but moving.

It is notable that this season is where Fox took over from Warner Bros. and it is well known that Fox are far more lenient on sex, violence and sexual violence than most other networks (HBO and Showtime excluded). This is very apparent in the treatment of Buffy and Spike's relationship and in one harrowing scene where Spike loses control and attempts to rape Buffy. Also, the lesbian relationship is allowed actual physical contact, rather than the metaphorical allusions it had been given before.

A key episode of the series is Normal Again, an episode in which Buffy is given a hallucinogen and hallucinates that she is a normal girl coming in an out of a catatonic state in a hospital. Her parents are there and the doctors are informing them that Buffy has created a whole world in her head where she is a powerful warrior and is surrounded by friends. Her parents try to get her to come out of this state but Buffy chooses her responsibilites in Sunnydale. But is this the hallucination, or is her life as the Slayer the hallucination. This is left unsaid, leaving the audience to form their own opinion. Television á la Whedon!

Season Seven: The Final Battle


This season is probably the weakest of the bunch. It seems to only be concerned with ending itself. The Big Bad of this season is the mysterious First Evil. This is a non-corporeal spirit that can take any form and uses this skill to terrorise Buffy and the gang. Because the First Evil is non-corporeal, they are faced with a problem. They cannot kill it.

The First Evil takes on a sort of corporeal representation in the handsome shape of Caleb, a man of the cloth, played by Whedon’s golden boy, Nathan “Captain Tightpants” Fillion. He becomes a visible foe for Buffy and it soon becomes clear that the First Evil’s master plan is to open the Hellmouth and unleash hell on earth. Since Buffy cannot slay the First Evil, she can only ruin his plans. Throughout the series Buffy and the gang summon all the potential slayers (girls who may be called in the event that the slayer dies) from around the world. In a burst of feminist inspiration, the writers decided that the best way to save the world is to have Willow cast a spell to activate all the Potentials. With all their powers combined they can fight the good fight and storm the Hellmouth, sending the Ubervamps back to hell. They manage to succeed, losing Anya and Spike along the way. The Hellmouth implodes leaving a giant canyon where Sunnydale used to be. The surviving Scoobies stand on the precipice and discuss where to go next. Giles suggests Cleveland because there’s another Hellmouth there.

Apart from the big, epic story, very little happens in the way of an over-arching plot. Willow gets a new love interest, a potential slayer, Kennedy. Xander loses an eye. Dawn is still a brat and Buffy promises Angel she’ll be ready for a relationship some day. Meanwhile she continues her affair with the newly ensouled Spike.

By the end of the series Buffy and her friends have grown from awkward teenagers into superheroes, all of them with their own special powers. Some are more obvious than others. Buffy’s powers, Willow’s witchcraft, Giles’ book-smarts, Angel and Spike’s warrior-like ability to fight and never get killed, and although not so obvious, Xander’s big heart, and bravery. Over the years, Buffy gave its audience humour, trauma, romance, killer action sequences, sexy encounters, wonderful Broadway numbers, and some of the cleverest stand-alone stories in television.

To say Buffy is missed from our screens is an understatement. Luckily Joss Whedon followed through on his promise of Season Eight in comic book form. It’s not perfect but at least we know how things are going for our friends.

It has managed to examine more philosophical subject matter than any other series has even attempted. Hardly an episode goes by that doesn’t deal with, in some manner, an important spiritual or philosophical issue. Much has been written on the subject of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, even university classes have been dedicated to it as part of cultural studies courses. There is also a prominent and very interesting online journal called Slayage (http://slayageonline.com/) and there have been numerous international academic conferences on the subject.

So, although the show may be dead and buried, we all know that this does not mean the end on the Buffyverse. Buffy lives on in comic book form, through academic study and of course through re-runs on 3e, FX and Sky One. Thanks be to Whedon!

- Charlene Lydon 8/4/09

Fifty Dead Men Walking

Written & Directed By: Kari Skogland

Starring: Jim Sturgess, Ben Kingsley, Rose McGowan

My rating: 7/10

My expectations for this film were not particularly high; a film about Northern Ireland made by a bunch of foreigners...with big phony accents. Sounded like trouble. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. The story of Martin McGartland was well publicised by his very successful autobiography. He was a young scallywag living in Belfast, when he became a double agent going between the IRA and the British police. The most interesting thing about the film is Martin himself. His character is so personable and conflicted that you never doubt for a second that he is genuine in everything he does. He wants to save people’s lives. Sometimes it goes right, sometimes horribly wrong and his anguish and frustration is evident when things have gone badly.

The start of the film shows the Brits targeting Martin because of his happy-go-lucky nature and his seeming lack of involvement with either side of the war. He sells stolen clothes to neighbours but just wants to serve his community and stays away from the “troubles”. The way the higher powers manipulate his good nature is interesting. They convince him that he can save lives by being a turncoat. However, many of his best friends are in the IRA and, of course, things get complicated. There is no black and white in war and that’s what this film tries to get across.

Jim Sturgess is absolutely fantastic in the lead role. His accent is immaculate and he perfectly wins our hearts as the selfless, confused, McGartland. I wish I could say the same about Rose McGowan who hurricanes into the movie halfway through as super-sexy IRA operative. Her role was a total joke, her accent was plain silly and her brilliantly bad acting only works in the tongue in cheek schlocky movies she usually sticks to. Luckily her role was small.

As the story twisted and turned and built to an incredible finale I was hooked. I was really entertained by the plot and stimulated by the unbelievable complexities of Martin McGartland’s situation. The relationship between Martin and Fergus (Kingsley) was a really nice faux-father/son thing and the actors had great chemistry. Kingsley’s role had an unusual lack of scenery-chewing, but he gave the character heart and a hint of melancholy that made him instantly sympathetic.

This is an interesting story, well executed and it is worth catching Sturgess in this small film before he starts sky-rocketing to superstardom in next few years.

- Charlene Lydon 8/4/09

The Damned United

Written By: Peter Morgan

Directed By: Tom Hooper

Starring: Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Colm Meaney.

My rating 8/10


The writer and star of Frost/Nixon and The Queen have teamed up again to help us understand yet another British enigma. Although maybe not as notorious as David Frost or Tony Blair, football manager Brian Clough is a great character to bring to life on the big screen. As usual, Michael Sheen is so full of charisma and so nifty with nuance that he nails this character instantly. And, as usual, writer Peter Morgan skilfully tells the story with grace and intimacy.

Brian Clough was the manager of flailing football team, Derby County. He elevated them from the bottom end of the 2nd Division to top of the 1st Division in a miraculous time as their leader. This was well-publicised and Clough became an enormous public figure for a time. He moved to their rival team Leeds United (the “United” of the title) and this went disastrously wrong, putting an end to both his reign as football manager supreme and also an end to his notorious arrogance. The Damned United centres around this period of his life, telling the story of his great and undignified downfall.

You’d be forgiven for wanting to avoid this if you aren’t a football fan. You’d be preaching to the choir here, but as a complete anti-footballist I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It’s not about knowing or caring about the politics involved in the sport, it is about characters and an interesting little story that amuses and entertains throughout. The performances are great, with Michael Sheen yet again proving that he is THE best actor to come out of Britain in a long, long time. Tongues have been wagging about him possibly being cast as Bilbo Baggins in Guillermo Del Toro’s The Hobbit. We can only dream! This is a man who deserves some more attention. The supporting cast are also wonderful, with Colm Meaney doing a wonderful job as Don Revie, Clough’s arch-nemesis.

This film has everything going for it. It’s a small story, but very involving. It’s fascinating to see the background of football politics written in such a way that one doesn’t have to be familiar with teams or names to understand. Quality talent, quality subject matter, quality film. Go see it.

- Charlene Lydon 8/4/09