Film Reviews by Pete W

A group of (mainly) British actors give a restrained, dignified set of performances. Colin Firth dominates the film and is in practically every shot. An interesting story line with a number of twists and turns kept me engaged. I agree with a previous reviewer - the "gay" tag is irrelevant.

A weak storyline and characters who are uniformly unsympathetic made for a pretty tedious film. No redeeming features really.

Poor old Liszt. Transformed by Ken Russell into a rock star, Liszt battles against the proto fascist Frankenstein meets Dracula figure of Richard Wagner. A bit of Metropolis, Strangers on a Train, Chaplin and Harpo Marx thrown in for good measure. I missed the kitchen sink but it must be there somewhere amongst the writhing naked bodies and phallic symbols. None of the stars or guest stars can act to save their lives with the possible exception of Paul Nicholas. The silliest Ken Russell film I've ever seen and that's saying something!

Malle tackles the difficult subject of collaboration in the second world war in France without taking a judgemental approach. He illustrates how fate can lead an uneducated and weak French peasant boy to back the wrong horse and collaborate rather than join the resistance. Good performance by the amateur Pierre Blaise (sadly killed soon after this film)as the title character. Warning to animal lovers - several scenes of animals being killed, showing the unsentimental way in which the peasant boy treats death.

Unlike a previous reviewer, I felt that the performance of the two boys in the major roles was outstanding. The development of the relationship between them, from enemies to friends who share a dangerous secret, is very well handled. The film confronts but does not necessarily judge the reality of French collaboration with the Nazis.

Three girls out for some fun in the Med fall in with a group of guys on a yacht. Plenty of booze and drugs follow along with some fairly explicit sex. Coitus is interruptus by a shocking act of violence which is the trigger for even more violence as the mainly unlikeable guys get what is coming to them at the hands of the girls. Claustrophic setting on board the yacht at night helps the suspense.

Jamie Bell is wasted in this peculiar film as a deeply disturbed young man with murderous and voyeuristic tendancies. Weak storyline which goes nowhere. I persevered to the end of the film but got close to giving up on it and switching off a couple of times.

I've come to the conclusion that I must be allergic to Jim Carrey as I don't find him either funny or a good actor. In fact, Ewan McGregor acts him off the screen in this one and is much more convincing as a gay man. The film would have worked much better as a drama about a con artist - it doesn't need Carrey's constant gurning. Anyone expecting a laugh a minute comedy, as advertised in the blurb, is going to be disappointed.

Although this film got dreadful reviews, I think it is a good attempt at a biographical account of the life of Tchaikovsky. It's mid way between the understated Russell biopics of Elgar and Delius and the overblown Mahler and Lisztomania. Richard Chamberlain is surprisingly good and, if he isn't actually a concert pianist, he certainly knows how to act convincingly like one. Watch him bash out the first piano concerto!

First class account of the tragic 60s indie record producer Joe Meek and his descent into paranoia. Con O'Neill is outstanding but well supported by the whole cast including Kevin Spacey, Pam Ferris and JJ Feild in the unsympathetic role of blond bombshell Heinz. Even James Corden isn't bad. Particularly good at the evocation of London in the early 1960s - I want a red Ford Classic!

While Conan Doyle would recognise quite a few of the elements of the story (Irene Adler as Holmes' femme fatale, Watson as a gambler who needs his chequebook locked away, Holmes shooting VR into the wall of his rooms) I doubt whether he would be too pleased with the end result. So Holmes fanatics steer well clear. But anyone who enjoys a good thriller will enjoy this - well acted by Downey and particularly Law. But I think Holmes and Watson were ripped off by the hansom cab driver who took them from Baker Street to Pentonville nick by heading South across London Bridge. And the sewers of the Houses of Parliament must be extensive indeed if they emerge on the Thames by Tower Bridge.

Thriller which sets the hunt for a serial killer against the background of the bomb plot against Hitler and post war neo Nazism. O'Toole plays a suitably unhinged German general who is a fanatical supporter of Hitler - but is he the killer? Good support from a range of British actors with only Omar Sharif slightly miscast as a German intelligence officer.

Despite a fine cast of British character actors, I'm afraid I found this tedious and rather unfunny. A grave disappointment after Shaun of the Dead.

Forget the "gay cowboy" tag, this is just a quality film. Stunning cinematography, score and script. Ledger is absolutely outstanding - I would never have expected a performance of such depth and nuance from him - and Gyllenhaal runs him close. If you are looking for an action movie, you will be disappointed. But if you want a drama that is thought provoking and emotionally gripping, watch this film. I challenge anyone not to have a little weep during it. Once you've seen the film, you won't stop thinking about it - and it doesn't matter whether you're gay or straight or anything else.

I'm afraid this left me completely cold. I was expecting a vaguely historical story about Ancient Greece but got "Lord of the Rings" meets "Oiled up muscle marys in their pants". Since when was the Persian warrior king Xerxes a giant with an unfeasible number of piercings? Not my cup of tea at all.