Film Reviews by JD

I was hoping for more; but a catalogue of antisocial unecological and selfish acts performed by certain businesses is difficult to present in an interesting way. To present it as a sociopathic person is just not enough.

This is a pretty straightforward horror film. Some average acting by McShane and Zellweger, but an impressive performance by the girl Cooper. Like most horror the point is not a plot that hangs together, but the shock factor. For shock this is pretty good. The producers have so clearly left scope for a Case 39 part 2 that it made the end a bit inconclusive.

Based in a poor area of China where the bath house is a central part of daily life for a number of the community. This is a beautiful reflection of life values. It is impossible not to reassess one's own priorities during this touchingly gentle film.

The fresh smell of the country side fills the nostrils and gives a wonderful feeling of clear sweet rural pleasure. I don't think romantic drama really does it justice. The element of romance is much more than boy meets girl and is more to do with the isolation of immigrants. A feel good film with hobnail boots on. It is a simple film but well filmed.

Unfortunately true stories told accurately are a bit messy and do not have a neat conclusion. I think this is even more difficult to follow as it is Korean. It is however an interesting film on many levels. As a historic piece about South Korea in the 80's, it is also a comment on police methods of the 80's, and as a contrast with Western cinema. I enjoyed the almost comedic over acting and the gentle unravelling of the plot. The characters are not lovable but genuine and complex enough. It has no real end but is an interesting angle on a serial killer.

The series was a brilliant new idea. A spoof, police, eye-to-camera documentary. The structure is clearly loose, the main weakness possibly or possibly the acting. There are very funny moments (not many) and several scenes of comic greatness (a hold-all full of diarrhoea stolen in a snatch robbery, a commissioner holding a parcel of his own dead dog and a police driver reversing into a passer by) but most of it is poor, boring and even irritating.

As a romantic drama it achieves its ambition. Three awards is generous. The pace is slow to match the rural American setting but this does not make it particularly watchable. Petty rivalries jealousies and competitiveness do not make for great cinema. Watch if romantic drama is your genre but not otherwise.

It is difficult to think of a more heavyweight topic than the rehabilitation of a paedophile. This subject is seen from the angle of the paedophile, the angle of a sympathetic friend, an unsympathetic work colleague, a gang and finally a child. The paedophile's attitude to another paedophile was the most explosive moment, but the scene with the child was brilliantly acted by both. The direction is very neutral and unbiased and deserves greatest praise.

There are lots of themes and messages to this plot. Fame is a babe magnet, a chance at fame brings out the worst. What do you say if you're famous and have bad news, do you hide it or not? Essentially many problems relating to being famous. But Adam Sandler is not a great actor in a semi-serious role and it always felt a bit undramatic and casually acted. Too much "actors introspection" to make it funny for me. In a word, bland.

The acting, atmosphere and filming are distinctively French. The humour varies from slapstick to pathos. Some of the plot is quite poignant like the treatment of alleged sexual harassment of male homosexuals by females. Most of it however is risibly amusing and charmingly acted.

An interesting but rather aimless and 2 dimensional comparison of east and west. Some of the characters are absurd some of the acting is poor. The main character is a Belgian whose struggle to cope with eastern etiquette leads to her breakdown. For her performance alone it is quite compelling.

This is the problem with watching world cinema. You feel that the reason you're not enjoying it is because you have not immersed yourself enough in the cultural origins. Japanese films of this genre seem to me to be very slow moving and to concentrate on repressed emotion expressed only in subtle facial movement, otherwise only to be guessed at. Do not watch if you are tired or in any sort of hurry. For Japaneseophiles only.

Black dead pan humour was not something with which I had mentally endowed the Swedes. I had previous seen an Argentinian film which was marvellously extreme in its deadness of pan. This matches it. Which means you have either to embrace it and lose yourself unreservedly to its obscure pleasure or it is just a series of poorly linked sketches. I was alone in my enjoyment.

His ultra-obscene language, and sustained diatribe on sexual abuse is supposed to create humour through shock. I did find it shocking how unpleasant he was to the front row of the audience. Why does everyone take so much ridicule with a smile? I find his style of humour wears off after a few minutes which is why he is well suited to panel games. After an hour it is sickening. How can he live with himself? Poor Frankie.

Many films are based around singers or musicians because of the obvious advantage of musical interludes. I find it distastful when the actors have obviously never seen the instrument before or when the singer makes little effort to mime convincingly. When it is a film with very average actors you hope that they are in fact musicians. In this film there are few musical interludes, which is a blessing as they are poor.

Why did this film get so many accolades. Probably back-handers, but also some interesting understated acting in a desolate and boring setting with a slow plot makes for a surreal experience.