Sliding Doors

Sliding Doors is a 1998 film that explores two potential strands of a woman's life. Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) is fired from her PR job and heads home. When going down the stairs to jump on a tube home the film splits; on one strand she is obscured by a small child and misses the tube, but the other half sees her just making it. One half of the story sees her meeting James (John Hannah) on the train and then catching her partner Gerry (John Lynch) cheating on her with Lydia (Jeanne Tripplehorn). The other side sees her getting mugged and getting home late, just missing Lydia and beginning a hectic life of working numerous hours to keep bringing in money in order to support Gerry's 'novel'.

The premise of the film is very interesting, and very like the Lionel Shriver novel The Post-Birthday World, this time with a far more likeable main character. Peter Howitt, who both wrote and directed the film, kept it moving along nicely and managed to keep it clear about what strand is going on; even if this occasionally relies on tricks like having Paltrow have different hair in each section.

As Helen, Paltrow is certainly endearing and this is only the second film I've actually seen her in (the other being Shakespeare in Love), she certainly is fun onscreen; even if her English accent is slightly irritating. John Hannah is also wonderful as Hannah's potential love interest; his final scene with her is heartbreaking. The rest of the cast isn't served so well, John Lynch is fine although is saddled with a totally unlikeable character and Jeanne Tripplehorn has an amazing last name, but basically floats around looking glamorous.

Sliding Doors is certainly interesting in its dealing with all the 'What Ifs' that haunt our lives and is done in an easy to follow and understand way.

The Shawshank Redemption

There are a great many 'great' films that I haven't watched, and I'm aiming to rectify this. So, why not start with no doubt one of the most famous and well-loved films, The Shawshank Redemption. The film follows Andy Dufrense (Tim Robbins) who is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, and is thrown into Shawkshank Detention Centre. The jail is run by Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) and Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown), and the only rule is that the 'Lord's name shouldn't be taken in vain'. When there, Andy meets Red (Morgan Freeman) and his friends and begins to find a form of solace in various ways in the jail.

The Shawshank Redemption, based on a story by Stephen King, certainly has a wonderful plot. The film raises some very interesting points about how serving long prison terms can affect people when they leave the walls of the prison, particularly through the wonderful character of Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore); in addition to discussing how it is that people keep their heads when they are behind bars; be it through films, board games or books. Whilst the film is frequently grim, the whole premise is based on a gross miscarriage of justice, and violence, from both the inmates and the guards, is unflinchingly portrayed. Through Frank Darabont's directing and writing, the film keeps ticking along, despite years passing; representative of the character's own disbelief about how fast time is passing.

The two central performances are both great; Tim Robbins brings a real everyman quality to Andy and Morgan Freeman is, as always, an enigmatic screen presence and of course, his voice during the narrative holds huge gravitas. It was also nice to see him in a film which means that I won't always look at him and just think "God" (thanks Bruce Almighty). Bob Gunton is also great as the hypocritical Christian hideous prison warden; aided by Clancy Brown as a very creepy prison guard. I also loved William Sadler as Heywood, one of Red & Andy's friends and Gil Bellows as Tommy, a brave young prisoner who brings Andy some hope about proving his innocence.

Although Shawshank certainly has its dark moments, it is also full of dark humour and is ultimately a hopeful film that really does deserve its place as one of the best films.

Bright Star

Bright Star is a 2009 Jane Campion film which follows the romance between poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). Fanny meets Keats through the Dilke family, who occupy one half of a double house. In the other half, Keats lives with Charles Brown (Paul Schneider), a fellow writer. At first, Fanny and Keats' attitudes seem polar opposite; Fanny is flirtatious and bold, whereas Keats is slightly more aloof. However, time progresses and they seem fond of one another, until Brown sends Fanny a Valentine card in jest, but Keats refuses to believe this. However, as history tells us, Keats and Fanny are reunited and fall deeply in love, leading to tragedy with Keats' untimely death at the age of just 25.

This film reminded me a little of Possession, although actually (probably) true, what with the slightly possessive best friend in the shape of Charles Brown and a partnership which is generally frowned upon by those around Fanny. Of course, tragedy mars entire film, as we know that Keats died of tuberculosis. Campion doesn't allow for the romance to grow too passionate and unbelievable, it is gentle but remains passionate and really lovely; Whishaw and Cornish had great chemistry as the central character. Keats is one of the (few) poets whose work I really enjoy; you can feel emotion in his beautiful poems and hearing it dispersed throughout the film was lovely, especially the titular 'Bright Star' sonnet, which is beautiful.

I loved the 'look' of the film as well; whilst it could have been just a BBC adaptation, Campion and I would guess cinematographer Grieg Fraser, leant a dream-like quality to the film that made it even more perfect. Janet Patterson's costume design was lovely as well; Keats staying in pretty much the same clothes throughout pointed out his economically troubled situation, and Fanny's constantly changing dresses and hats showed her creativity and interest in fashion. Plus, Mark Bradshaw's music really added to the film, and wasn't overly violins and overly used.

Abbie Cornish's performance as Fanny is wonderful, she has a flawless English accent (she's Australian) and she brings a gentle passion to her character, and her pain at the loss of Keats is wonderfully realised. Opposite her as Keats, Ben Whishaw is also great, I could watch him in anything, he manages to bring a seriousness to the role as well as having a sense of humour; randomly dancing jigs in a pretend kilt or playing with Fanny's siblings (Edie Martin & Thomas Brodie-Sangster). Another great performance was Paul Schneider's who despite being American has a great Scottish accent and was good as Brown, a seemingly cruel and overbearing presence in Keats' life, who ends the film almost as distraught as Fanny herself.

I highly recommend Bright Star; it's a lovely little film about a gorgeous relationship with added literature elements.

Milk

Milk is Gus van Sant's 2008 film which follows the rise of Harvey Milk from living a somewhat bohemian life to becoming the first elected gay official in California; and it is really brilliant and should be watched by as many people as possible.

The film starts with Milk (Sean Penn) recording some of his will in 1978, which is then interspersed throughout the film. We then go back to 1970 in New York, where Milk meets his young lover Scott Smith (James Franco) on his fortieth birthday. They both travel to San Francisco, hoping for more acceptance from the local community. The neighborhood where they live would become known as The Castro, a predominately gay area. Milk uses his background in business to become a gay activist and attempted to run for political positions numerous times before finally being elected in 1977, during which time Smith left him and he took up with another man, Jack Lira (Diego Luna). During his time as a member of the board of supervisors, Milk meets Dan White (Josh Brolin), a conservative former police officer & firefighter, and they develop a rather uneasy working relationship. Milk's work leads to Proposition 6, supported by Christian fundamentalists and Senator John Briggs (Denis O'Hare), which dictated that gays and lesbians could be fired from teaching in California schools, being defeated. Only a few days later, White shoots both Major Moscone (Victor Garber) and Milk dead, and eventually served only five years in prison for both murders.

Van Sant's film intersperses real footage of riots, the Castro and of Anita Bryant (the fundamentalist behind Prop 6) with the film itself. At first it felt a little slow and I was worried that the hype was unfounded, yet by the time Milk began to make moves in political circles I found the film increasingly gripping and by the end I was left with the feelings of utter thrill when Prop 6 was defeated, and van Sant's film manages to make all see the injustice that the people faced without being overly sugary.

Sean Penn was very good at bringing to life Harvey Milk, indeed, he won an Oscar for his performance but for me the more Oscar-worthy performance was that of Josh Brolin who was brilliant in my opinion as Dan White. Good work also came from James Franco as Scott Smith, who remained playing a key role in the movement and also from Diego Luna who brought a level of humour to the self-destructive Lira. Allison Pill as the lesbian campaign manager Anne Kronenberg was also very good, as was Emile Hirsch as the young Cleve Jones.

I would really, really recommend this film. The real footage of people suggesting that gays would 'recruit' children to their lifestyles made me feel a bit ill, as did the horribly fundamentalist views that were represented. The film was released to coincide with a vote on Prop 8 in the US, which bans gay marriage, and which still hasn't been fully defeated. It is really very sad to think that more than 30 years after Milk's death such homophobic views are still so prevalent, if not even more so.

Inception

I've finally watched probably one of the most hyped films of last year. I'm thrilled to say that it in no way let me down. Christopher Nolan's film follows a team lead by Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) who work within people's dreams to gain information from them. The film really kicks off when Saito (Ken Watanabe) asks Cobb to plant a thought (to incept) in the mind of an energy tycoon heir Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). However, as the team goes deeper into the subconcious of Fischer, the thoughts of Cobb become ever more entwined.

I don't really want to talk much about the plot, in case there are others who haven't seen Inception either, but I loved the originality of the idea and the fact that you really had to listen; but there was still plenty of action. I'd admit that sometimes watching people explain how the 'dream within a dream' got a little boring, but it was all key to your ultimate understanding of the film. It seems to me quite suprising that Inception got such little recognition from the awards committees-especially in regards to Christopher Nolan not even gaining a nomination at the Academy Awards (I now think him or David Fincher were superior to Tom Hooper's direction), when good direction is why the film never drags, or gets overly complicated.

The performances help this as well. The ensemble cast are uniformly great. Leonardo diCaprio does seem to be bringing an awful lot of his performance in Shutter Island with him to Cobb, but it works. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy both offer strong support, and Ellen Page proves that she can do more than just Juno (although I haven't seen Hard Candy, so I'm sure she's proved it before). Plus, as always, Marion Cottilard is wonderful as Mal.

If you haven't seen Inception yet, I really urge you too. It's a great film, and not as overly complicated as some people have made out (although the ending is a bit...interesting).

Easy A

Easy A was released in 2010, and follows the story of Olive (Emma Stone), a perfectly ordinary student who gets good grades and is pretty much invisible. However, a lie to her best friend Rhiannan (Alyson Michalka) about sleeping with a college student, soon gives her a reputation around the school; and she attracts the attention of Christian extremist Marianne (Amanda Bynes). The situation is worsened when Olive agrees to pretend that she has slept with her gay friend Brandon (Dan Byrd) in order to stop him being bullied; an act that soon leads to numerous socially-awkward guys asking her to let them say she slept with them.

It's certainly an interesting and new premise for a film. Bert V. Royal's script has some laughs, and is genuinely interesting in dealing with the idea that guys as well as girls feel socially-insecure during their teenage years. It also brings to life quite wonderfully the 'rumour mill', where things spread very quickly, thanks to mobile phones, Facebook and just gossipy people. The film also uses a 'vlogging' format, to introduce the different 'parts' of the story, which was quite an interesting an idea.

The best thing about the film was probably the performances. Emma Stone is very relatable and as 'normal' as an attractive Hollywood actress can be, and she brings wonderful humour to the central role. Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson are wonderful as her parents, and Dan Byrd is very good in a role that could be the stereotypical 'gay best friend' role. I think I was most suprised by Lisa Kudrow as Mrs Griffiths, the guidance counselor, who totally shook off the 'Phoebe' tag. Although to me, the performance of the movie was Amanda Bynes as the Christian Bible-basher Marianne, who probably got all of the best lines.

It is not quite the 'next Mean Girls' as it was dubbed; but it was pretty funny and made for a nice fluffy film that ended happily and was a nice way to spend an afternoon. Plus, it has references to Nathaniel Hawthorne and Mark Twain (who is invovled in one of the best gags), which is wonderful for Literature geeks :)

Date Night

Date Night is a 2009 film that stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey as average working couple Phil and Claire Foster, who put aside a certain day for 'Date Night's', where they go out together to the same restaurant and talk about pretty much the same thing. Spurred by the news that their close friends (Kristin Wiig & Mark Ruffalo) are getting a divorce, Phil and Claire decide to take a break from the norm and attempt to get into the upmarket restaurant Claw. In order to get a table, they steal another couple's reservation and soon get involved in a mafia blackmail plot.

It's an okay film. It was by no means brilliant, and with Carell and Fey both involved I did expect to laugh more than I did. A lot of the humour came from the set-up part of the film; the parts that show the average life of the Foster's, with book clubs and children running around everywhere. Once the action starts the humour somewhat dies down, although the action is most definitely tongue-in-cheek. The one scene that made me almost want to fast forward was when Claire and Phil pose as strippers in order to access the person that is being blackmailed; for me the scene wasn't funny-it was just cringeworthy

Carell and Fey have good chemistry in the lead roles, and are believable as their characters. The other cast members are all pretty underused; Mark Wahlberg appears as a James Bond-type security expert but does little other than not wear a shirt, Mark Ruffalo has just about three lines in the film, James Franco as the real Tripplehorn also appears for about a scene; the only cameo performances that make much impact are Mila Kunis as the real Mrs Tripplehorn who proves that she can do some acting and Ray Liotta as the mafia boss (who appears to be wearing purple eyeliner).

All in all, Date Night is an okay film. I wouldn't rush out and buy it on DVD, but it's pretty short, less than 90 minutes, so it would be worth watching if it came up on television or something.

Shutter Island

Shutter Island is a 2010 Martin Scorsese-directed film, based on a novel by Dennis Lehane. It follows Teddy Daniels (Leonardo diCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) who got to Boston's Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital which is a hospital for the mentally ill. The hospital is run by Dr Crawley (Ben Kingsley), who insists on referring to the inmates (as they are pretty much locked in) as patients. There are there to investigate the disappearance of Rachel Salando, a woman who drowned her three children. However, the investigation seems to hit dead ends when Crawley won't reveal the information that Teddy needs; and Teddy himself becomes plagued with flashbacks of his dead wife Dolores Chanal (Michelle Williams)and the events that happened when he was present at the liberation of one of the concentration camps in Germany, and his investigation into the disapparence of Rachel Salando becomes tied to his personal desire to find Edward Laeddis, the warden of the building that he lived in with Dolores, and who started the fire that killed her.

That's pretty much all I can say about the film without giving it all away. I will just say that nothing is as it seems; and there is a fairly massive twist about 3/4 of the way through the film.

This is the first Scorsese film I've ever watched, so I cannot really comment on whether its style is similar to his previous works or not, similarly, I read a lot of reviews that compared Shutter Island to Hitchcock films, and I've never seen any of those either (based purely on prejudice that I know he Hollywood-fied Rebecca). I do think it was very well shot; the scenes on the Island were good, although my favourite thing about the filming was the flashback/hallucination sequences, which were very well done and left little hints about the twist that was coming. That said, I'm in two minds about said twist. It is surprising, and somewhat heartbreaking when you find it out, but it does seem a little...contrived to make a point about mental illness that I think could I have been explored in a different way.

That being said, the performances were pretty good. This is the first film I've seen with Leonardo DiCaprio in where he plays a proper deep character (I've only seen him in Titanic and Romeo & Juliet) and he was brilliant, especially as Teddy comes closer and closer to the edge. Mark Ruffalo was also good as Chuck, as was Ben Kingsley. I also enjoyed Michelle Williams' slightly deranged appearances and Emily Mortimer's cameo is good as well.

Unfortunately I really can't expand much more on the film, because of it's rather gigantic twist. I think I enjoyed it; although I disliked how the change in plot came from out of nowhere (I'm guessing if I watched it again I could spot points in the story where it was suggested), but that same plot gave DiCaprio the chance to really shine. All in all, I'd recommend it for its quite interesting explorations of mental illness, and its great performances; but I'd advise going into it with an open mind and preparation for it not really being a scary Scorsese film.

The Fall

The Fall is a 2006 film, directed by Tarsem Singh, which was recommended to me by my French teacher last year, and thanks to LoveFilm I have finally got my hands on it.

The film follows a little girl, Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) who has broken her arm and is staying in a hospital in 1920s Los Angeles. She befriends Roy (Lee Pace), who is a stunt man who breaks his leg in a fall. In order to get her to smuggle him morphine, Roy tells Alexandria a fantasy story featuring a Bandit (Pace), a bomb expert Luigi (Robin Smith), an Indian (Jeetu Verma), an ex-slave Otta Benga (Marcus Wesley) and Charles Darwin (Leo Bill), all united in their quest to kill Governor Odious (Daniel Caltagirone).

It's a wonderful film, and the story begins to mingle with reality as Alexandria uses people around her as characters within the story, and she herself eventually enters the story of as the Black Bandit's daughter. To me, the clear example of that was when Roy (an American) talks about an Indian meaning a Native American, yet Alexandria (who apparently comes from Eastern Europe) pictures him as a genuine Indian, based on a man who picks orange with her. The other characters are also based on people around the hospital, including an orderly (Bill) and a kindly nurse, Evelyn (Justine Waddell) who appears as a love interest for the Black Bandit.

The design for the film was incredible. The costume designs by Eiko Ishioka are stunning and the cinematography, both in Los Angeles and in the tale were both wonderful, very cinematic and embodies the childhood imagination.

The two central performances by Pace and Untaru are both wonderful. Pace, who I'd only seen every so often as Ned in the comedy Pushing Daisies brings a lot of depth to the character of Roy, who has a much darker edge. Untaru gives the performance of the film; she gives the character a natural edge which is sometimes missing from child actor performances. The pair have a brilliant chemistry together, there are some very touching scenes with the pair together.

Other good performances come from Marcus Wesley as the ex-slave, Leo Bill as Charles Darwin, Elvira Deatcu, who appears very briefly as Alexandria's mother and Camilla Waldman as a grieving mother.

I really recommend this film, although not necessarily that much happens, the central relationship is lovely, and is worth watching.

The Princess & The Frog

The Princess & The Frog is a Disney film that was released in 2009, and marked a return to the more traditional animation that hasn't been seen from Disney for quite a while. It also marked the creation of Disney's first African-American princess-which is a little astounding if you ask me.

The general plot follows Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose), a young African-American girl living in New Orleans, who is desperately trying to save up money to buy her own restaurant, by working numerous shifts at different restaurants, inspired by the hard work of her father. Into Tiana's world comes Prince Naveen (voiced by Bruno Campos) with his valet Lawrence (voiced by Peter Bartlett), who is here to marry (against his will) Tiana's wealthy childhood friend Charlotte (voiced by Jennifer Cody). However, Naveen and Lawrence are distracted by the voodoo man Dr Facilier (voiced by Keith David) and Naveen is transformed into a frog, whilst Lawrence takes on the appearance of Naveen. Now a frog, Naveen hunts out a princess to try and turn him back into a prince-in Charlotte's house at a masquerade ball he finds the dressed up Tiana, and, believing she is a princess asks her to kiss him. Tiana complies and, surprise, finds herself turned into a frog as well.

I'm not going to get into the full plot, but as it's a Disney film it is probably clear that there will be a happy ending. I quite enjoyed this film, which had a wonderful score written by Randy Newman which builds on the jazz music from New Orleans, allowing for Noni Rose to show off her lovely voice.

As with most Disney films, there are supporting animal characters in the form of Louis (voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley), a trumpet-playing crocodile, who dreams of playing jazz music, and in the form of Ray (voiced by Jim Cummings), a firefly who is in love with the North Star. An unfortunate event involving Ray almost had me in tears, which I think goes to show the strength of the characterisation in Disney films. Tiana is a strong-willed character, who has no real desire to find a husband, she really just wants to make her restaurant dreams come true, on the other hand, Naveen is far from the traditional charming prince, with his desire to remain carefree and he is highly arrogant in addition to this. The majority of the laughs come from the spoilt Charlotte, who is desperate to gain a handsome prince.

Whilst the animation is glorious; especially the flash forwards to Tiana's restaurant conjured by Dr Falicier, and whilst Falicier is a very interesting villain, especially with idea of conjuring shadows, there is one thing that really niggles at me about the film. Whilst I know that Disney are not really known for being historically accurate; this is a film that only scratches a tiny bit at the idea of how life would really be for African-Americans. Maybe I'm too much of a history nut, but showing groups of white girls falling over themselves to get a black prince to love them in the 1920s was a little bit too much for me to believe.

That aside, I think that The Princess & The Frog is a lovely film, harking back to Disney's heyday in the late 1980s-1990s. It has also made me more excited about Tangled, which hopefully I'll be seeing soon.

Bobby

Bobby is a 2006 film, directed and written by Emilio Estevez (who is also featured in the film) which is set on June 4th-5th 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. What is significant about this, is that in the early hours of the 5th June, Robert F Kennedy was assassinated in this hotel.

Whilst this event hovers other the background of the story, Estevez's film focuses on a collection of characters who are all in the hotel on the this historic day. These include retired doorman John (Anthony Hopkins), fading star singer Virginia Fallon (Demi Moore), the hotel manager (William H Macy) and his wife (Sharon Stone), Mexican-America busboy Jose (Freddy Rodriguez), young couple Diane (Lindsay Lohan) and William (Elijah Wood) and the wealthy campaign donors Jack (Martin Sheen) and Samantha (Helen Hunt).

Every couple, or individual that the film focuses on is dealing with their own problems, these include, alcoholism, mortality, adultery and depression. In addition to the personal issues, the film also depicts well the changes of the late 1960s in America, with the rise in protests against the Vietnam War, the continuing struggle for equality for Hispanics and for African-Americans in the aftermath of Martin Luther King's death; all of which is piqued by the hope injected into the young and old by Bobby Kennedy's election campaign; which calls for a move towards equality and away from the hugely unpopular war. Of course, the tragedy is that the audience is well aware that Kennedy will not be president, and that the 'next President of the United States' is going to die pretty soon.

Estevez does a good job of keeping the pacing moving along quite nicely, there are some times when the film drags a little; Laurence Fishbourne has to give a couple of monologues that seem to go on a bit, and some of the characters are a little stereotypial; for instance Ashton Kutcher's drug dealer, but on the whole it's quite an interesting film.

I really enjoyed Demi Moore's performance as Virginia, a woman who is pretty much falling apart. Good work is also done by Freddy Rodriguez as Jose, a busboy, a character clearly based on the man pictured in the image of Kennedy after he has been shot. I also enjoyed Lindsay Lohan, who gives a promising performance here, which makes me hope that she will pull herself around soon, because she is obviously a good actress away from the booze and drugs. I'd also like to mention that I quite enjoyed Shia LaBeouf as one of the campaigners who gets sidetracked by drugs and Nick Cannon as the African-American Dwayne, searching for something to believe in after the death of Martin Luther King.

Bobby is a good historical drama, with some strong performances that, whilst aspects of the events were perhaps exaggerated (no one other than Kennedy died), it remained a solid film.

The History Boys

The History Boys was released in 2006, and is the film adaptation of Alan Bennett's 2004 play of the same name, and features the original stage cast.

Set in the 1980s in Sheffield, the film follows a group of boys who have achieved their schools highest A-Level results yet. In a bid to gain the school a better reputation, the headteacher (Clive Merrison) orders that they all spend the next term in school, studying the admissions test to Oxbridge. In addition to being taught by the strangely inspirational and loved Hector (Richard Griffiths), and the History teacher Mrs Lintott (Frances de la Tour), the headteacher hires a new teacher, Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore) in order to invigorate the boys into passing their test.

Essentially, the film is a debate on teaching styles, on what history actually is, and on whether or not the truth is really what matters. Irwin teaches that it doesn't matter if something is factually accurate, so long as its interesting and makes you stand out from the other applicants, whereas Hector is appalled by this and instead wants the boys to receive a more rounded, 'old-school' education.

The other issue dealt with in the film is sexuality. Posner (Samuel Barnett) has an unrequited crush on Dakin (Dominic Cooper), who in turn, despite having a girlfriend (Georgia Taylor), finds himself becoming more and more attracted to Irwin. There is also the rather dubious issue of Hector's habit of fondling the boys when he offers to give them a lift home, which adds an extra dimension to the film when he is spotted by a lollipop lady who reports his behaviour.

To me, the film felt more like a television drama than something that could be watched in the cinema, it feels quite 'small', although this is probably a result of it having been adapted from a play, that would have most likely been all set in one place.

The film is a great ensemble effort, with all the performances being solid. Stephen Campbell Moore and Richard Griffiths both give great performances as men who are the total antithesis of each other; with Campbell Moore embodying the 'cool young teacher' role, whereas Griffiths is good as the eccentric and slightly morally skewed Hector. As for the students, Dominic Cooper gives a solid performance as the bundle of sexual-confidence that is Dakin, Russell Tovey brings a casual confidence to Rudge-a boy known more for his sporting achievements than his academic ones and Jamie Parker is good as the religious Scripps.

However, one performance stood out to me above all the others and that was that of Samuel Barnett as Posner. He played the role without letting it slip into stereotype. There were moments when the slightest little look could portray a bundle of emotions. One scene in particular, where it was just Posner and Hector on screen reading a poem (I cannot remember its name), but Hector reads a line about a hand reaching out, and when the camera pans back we see that Posner has edged his hand forward. It was just tiny details like that that made me really enjoy Barnett's performance; it was good to see that he received Olivier & Tony nominations, as well as Drama Desk & Whatsonstage Awards for his work on stage.

All in all, The History Boys is a quite enjoyable film, the results of which have remained in the back of my mind since I watched it. Think of it almost as an English Dead Poet's Society.

The King's Speech

I went to see this film with the news that it had received 12 Academy Award nominations, and as a film it has dominated the categories at the BAFTAs as well. Pundits now claim that the race is between this film, and The Social Network.

So I had high hopes. And I, as indeed with The Social Network and Black Swan was not disappointed.

The film follows Bertie, the future George VI (Colin Firth) who suffers from a serious stammer. His wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham-Carter) has searched high and low for a doctor who will help him get over this problem, but to no avail, until she comes across Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian speech therapist whose eccentric methods work wonderfully. I don't think that's a spoiler, as it is pretty much history. His appointments take place against the backdrop of a succession crisis on the death of George V (Michael Gambon), and the accession of Edward (Gareth Pearce), who is more interested in marrying Wallis Simpson (Eve Best) than performing his duties as king which means 'B-B-Bertie' ascends to the throne.

David Seidler, the screenwriter, and Tom Hooper's biggest challenge here was to make a story that everyone knew the resolution of, as we know history, and make it compelling. They succeed wonderfully. I was sort of expecting the actors to carry the piece, but the writing and directing mean that the audience is gripped by the story as well as the performances. I really wanted Bertie to succeed in giving his speeches, and even in the final speech-which you know will be complete-I felt almost on the edge of my seat with hope that Bertie would manage to get through it.

Of course, Colin Firth's performance has been written about a million times, but it deserves all the hyperbole. Firth's ability to make his character sympathetic, despite some flashes of prejudice is brilliant; as is his grip on the stammer that his character fights against. There are moments when his frustration almost reduces him to tears, and Firth really knows how to pull at the audience's heartstrings. As with the wonderful A Single Man, he takes another step away from his performances as Darcy-esque characters.

Geoffrey Rush is also very good, which makes me assume that Christian Bale must be simply fantastic in The Fighter. Rush brings an utter calmness to the role of Lionel; he almost acts like a father figure to Bertie, and manages to get under the skin of the Duke of York as a person, as opposed to just a figurehead. Rush is also gifted with some of the film's best one-liners. As Bertie's wife, Helena Bonham-Carter is also good, and other able support comes from Guy Pearce as a totally spineless Edward, Derek Jacobi as a rather smarmy Archbishop and Timothy Spall, who on paper seems a rather unlikely Churchill, but who manages to bring the right physicality and vocal work to the role.

It was also quite fun to see Jennifer Ehle, who played Elizabeth opposite Firth as Darcy in the BBC adaptation of Pride & Prejudice popping up as Lionel's wife, and also Ramona Marquez, the young star of Outnumbered, doing a similarly cute performance as Princess Margaret.

I didn't expect to enjoy this film quite as much as I did, so I would suggest that you go and catch this if you can. It is a truly moving, character-driven piece.

Black Swan

Wow. Darren Aronofsky's film Black Swan grabs the viewer, and hits them over the head with one of the most powerful films I've ever watched. Which is also probably my first (and certainly not my last) psychodrama.

The film follows Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina at Lincoln Centre, whose life is consumed by ballet. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother (Barbara Hershey) who wraps her up in a pink, toy filled bedroom, and almost controls the day-to-day life of her 'sweet girl'. Meanwhile, the company's old prima ballerina, Beth (Winona Ryder) is retiring and so the director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) announces his search for a replacement to dance the role of the Swan Queen, Odette, as well as the Black Swan, Odile in a new version of Swan Lake. Whilst he picks Nina, channelling the role's darker part causes her to become more and more obsessed with perfection, and her paranoia surrounding new soloist Lily (Mila Kunis) threaten to consume her wholly.

I'd been looking forward to watching this film since it was first announced, and it did not disappoint. The performances are all fantastic. Portman thoroughly deserves all the accolades she has achieved and should and hopefully will sweep the Leading Actress categories this year. Hershey as the terrifyingly overbearing mother was also strong, and Cassel brought a weirdly charming, creepiness to the role of Thomas, who seems to revel in his power over multitudes of young women. Kunis doesn't really have to do that much, other than be good-looking, and the polar opposite to Nina, but her character of Lily is hugely important. Lily comes to represent part of Nina; the part she is keen to repress, and the part that threatens to eat her whole by the end.

The plot is pretty clear to any one who is familiar with the plot of Swan Lake, with further exploration of the idea of a duel personality. However, the way that Aronofsky delivers it is incredibly powerful. Nina begins having an eating disorder and problems self-harming, but it all seems (relatively) controlled. Yet it is not long before she begins thinking she's seeing doppelgangers in the street (normally dressed in black), her reflection moving differently to her, her reflection even doing the self-harming to her, and her face in place of Lily's and in place of Beth's. The fact that the whole film is from her perspective, the viewer almost feels a sense of self-doubt when it's finished-I know I began to question whether or not certain scenes were actually real or whether they were just figments of Nina's imagination.

The sound design was also phenomenal, it was the only time I really thoroughly noticed it and it added so much the film. The use of feathers, of swan noise of the music from both Swan Lake and newly composed and the accentuated sounds (especially the clicking of toes and feet), all build up alongside the jumpy visuals to create a truly wonderful film.

I'd advise you to go see this.

Starter for Ten

Starter for Ten is a 2006 film, based on a novel by David Nicholls (who's best-selling novel One Day is currently being filmed), starring a young James McAvoy.

The film follows the story of Brian (James McAvoy), the son of a widowed single mum (Catherine Tate) who is driven to escape his sleepy seaside town and head to university in Bristol to study English in 1985 by wanting to 'know everything', something that he began to be connected to through watching University Challenge. When he arrives he meets the Rebecca Epstein (Rebecca Hall), a Jewish activist against the changes in Thatcher's Britain and Alice Harbinson (Alice Eve), a very posh and very attractive young woman. He also finally manages to muscle his way on to the university's University Challenge team, much to the chagrin of the captain Patrick (Benedict Cumberbatch).

I quite enjoyed it. There are flares of comedy, as can be expected from Nicholls, whose novels are among my favourites, as well as a touching examination of family, friendships and relationships. Brian is driven by the memory of his father to succeed, and his interactions with his friends from home Spencer (Dominic Cooper) and Tone (James Cordon) show the way he is moving away, and yet is attached to his friends. Spencer and Tone are also representative of the growing unemployment rate of the 1980s, a situation which is being mirrored here. Brian is also 'a typical guy' in his attraction to the pretty but vacant Alice, over the lovely Rebecca, and it takes the majority of the film for him to realise that Rebecca was his soulmate.

McAvoy's performance is very good as a lightly comic but driven young student, and it was interesting to me to see him do a proper comedy, considering the only films I've seen him in tend to be more dramatic, such as Atonement. Again, I really enjoyed Rebecca Hall's understated performance, and Dominic Cooper is brilliant in the supporting role of Spencer, a guy who we get the hint of being quite smart but who lacks the motivation (or support) to do anything with his life. I also enjoyed Benedict Cumberbatch playing the obsessive, smarmy Patrick, and Mark Gatiss' cameo performance as the legendary University Challenge host Bamber Gascoigne.

All in all, whilst it is quite a small film with a gentle comedy edge, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind begins much like any other typical romantic comedy. An uptight guy and a spontaneous girl have an instant connection, it seems like a typical case of opposites attract.

However, Charles Kaufman's screenplay takes a totally different approach. When the next seen switched to Joel (Jim Carrey) bemoaning the fact that Clementine (Kate Winslet) had broken up with him I assumed perhaps we were going to see the relationship in reverse. Which is what we see, but with a very unique twist.

In the world that Joel and Clementine live, there is a company named Lacuna Inc, owned by Dr Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson) which can remove memories of people from someone's mind. Joel is heartbroken to find that Clementine has had him removed, and decides to have the same procedure in order to rid her from his mind. Yet whilst the procedure is being carried out, Joel realises that despite the pain they cause him, he wants to keep these memories that he has with Clementine intact, and the film follows his attempts-in his mind-to preserve the memories he has with Clementine, who is similarly aware of what is happening and they attempt to hide deeper and deeper in Joel's past.

At the same time, we are exposed to the lives of the Lacuna Inc employees. Patrick (Elijah Wood) is an intern, who falls in love with Clementine when they are removing Joel from her mind. He is currently attempting to win her over, by using the same words that Joel used. On the other side is the main operator Stan (Mark Ruffalo) who is dating the receptionist Mary (Kristen Dunst).

As well as dealing with the nuances of relationships; exploring what draws people together and in turn what draws them apart-as well as examining what really happens when 'opposites attract', Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind also deals with the issue of the importance of memories to who we are. To me, whilst there are aspects of my past that I would like to forget they have made me the person I am, and this seems to be what the character of Joel discovers. The whole ethical dilemma facing this kind of company is revealed towards the end of the film where Mary, having just initiated a kiss with Howard, is informed (by his wife) that she has already had an affair with him-but she agreed to have the memory removed in order to carry on with her job. Mary responds by sending out the files of all the clients back to them-the scenes where Mary, Joel and Clementine listen to the tapes that describe the person they want to get rid of is one of the sadder moments of the film.

Personally, I find Jim Carrey grating a lot of the time-perhaps because I have only seen him in films like Bruce Almighty, Son of the Mask and Ace Ventura-but he gives a wonderfully quiet performance as Joel in this, a character that the viewer never fully understands. Similarly, Kate Winslet manages to bring a vibrancy and humour to Clementine that she undercuts with a level of insecurity. Other good support is provided by Kristen Dunst, in a slightly underwritten role, and Mark Ruffalo, who brings humour and awkward tenderness to the role of Stan.

Whilst this a film that gets confusing if you look away for a moment, as you try and grasp to whereabouts you are in Joel's mind, it is a lovely, gentle, intelligent exploration into relationships and how the past affects the present.

The Social Network

The Social Network is the 2010 film about the creation of the hugely popular site Facebook; which now has around 500 million users worldwide.

The film introduces us to Facebook founder Mark Zukerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) as a self-involved, nerdy computer science major at Harvard. Zukerberg is a guy who sits in his dorm room and drunkenly rants to his LiveJournal about how horrible his ex-girlfriend (Rooney Mara-who has landed the Lisbeth role in Dragon Tattoo). Wanting to take his mind of being dumped, Zukerberg sets out creating 'Facemash', a site that allows Harvard students to vote on who they think is the hotter girl, by comparing two photos after hacking into the college websites, with the help of best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield).

When Facemash crashes the Harvard database, rowing champions Carmen & Tyler Winklevoss (Arnie Hammer) and their friend Divya Narenda (Max Minghella) select him as a talented programmer who could help them create Harvard Connection, a website that would allow people to view profiles of only people that went to Harvard. Zukerberg accepts the job, but heads home and creates his own version-The Facebook-with money from Saverin.

When The Facebook goes live the Winklevoss twins and Narenda are not at all pleased, but are unable to get in touch with Zukerberg. The Facebook takes off pretty swiftly, soon expanding to include other top universities including Yale, Columbia and Stanford. When it reaches Stanford, it attracts the attention of Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the founder of Napster, who instantly wants to get in on the success of the site. He effectively sweeps Zukerberg off his feet with his flashy lifestyle-despite crashing out both of his previous online ventures-and makes 'his biggest contribution to the company' turning The Facebook into simply Facebook.

Parker convinces Zukerberg to move to Los Angeles, where he lives it up in a house with a pool (funded by Eduardo), and is virtually seduced by the idea of billions of dollars that could be made. Although he had ignored Eduardo's previous attempts to gain advertising revenue (ironic, considering Facebook is covered in them), Zukerberg accepts Parker's idea of going to people like hedge fund managers to gain investments.

Pretty swiftly, everything turns sour. Saverin is cut out of the company (his share drops to something like 0.3%), despite his investments and personal relationship with Zukerberg. Plus, when the Winklevoss brothers discover that Facebook has expanded to England (specifically at that time to Oxford, Cambridge & LSE) they finally snap. Both then file lawsuits against Zukerberg.

On paper, this doesn't sound like enough to fill out a full film, or indeed if it did, it would not be very interesting. However, in the hands of Aaron Sorkin (writer of The West Wing) and David Fincher (director of Fight Club and the upcoming American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) it is transformed into a very quick, snappy film that makes even things like hacking into networks exciting, with the help of some very good sound design. It flicks between the story of the founding of Facebook, and the

The performances also give the very electornic story a human side. Einsberg is brilliant as Zukerberg, a man who I pretty much hated throughout the film. He is a character who is incredibly self-involved, and who seems motivated by his rejection by his girlfriend and by the secret clubs at Harvard, that Eduardo managed to get into. However, in the final scenes of the movie, Einsberg gives Zukerberg a human edge as it is revealed that although he is worth a huge amount of money, he still doesn't have the girl he wants.

Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin is also wonderful; Saverin seems totally supportive of his best friend, despite being told things by him like his admission to the secret clubs being based on the fact that he is Jewish and making up the diversity numbers. Although it could be argued that Saverin was incredibly jealous of Sean Parker's influence on Zukerberg, it is understandable, Saverin is the guy who comes up with the first mathematical code for Facemash and it would have been horrible to see his best friend and the company he has worked on fall away from him.

Justin Timberlake was a huge suprise to me as Parker, he gives a fine performance as a guy who I disliked even more than Zukerberg. Other great performances came from Arnie Hammer playing both the Winklevoss twins, who attempt to go through all the bases before they think about sueing Zukeberg and Max Minghella (son of the late Anthony) as their slightly more militant friend. Some humour came from Brenda Song as Christy, Eduardo's slightly mental girlfriend.

I really enjoyed The Social Network, and I hope it does do really well when it comes to awards season as the performances and writing were all brilliant.

Les Miserables-25th Anniversary Concert (DVD)

I saw the Claude-Michel Schonberg/Alain Boubil/Herbert Kretzmer musical at the beginning of its 25th anniversary year. In addition to a new international tour starring John Owen-Jones and Earl Carpenter, Cameron Mackintosh put together a huge cast at the 02 Arena in October to perform a concert version of the show, akin to that which was put together starring Colm Wilkinson and Philip Quast at the Royal Albert Hall.

Centering around the life of Jean Valjean (Alfie Boe), a one-time chain gang member who breaks his parole to change his life-and who is being pursued relentlessly by the unmovable Javert (Norm Lewis). In his life, he comes across the factory-worker Fantine (Lea Salonga), who turns to prostitution after being sacked by Valjean's foreman, and who Valjean promises on her deathbed that he will take care of her distant daughter. This takes him to the home of the Thenardiers (Matt Lucas & Jenny Galloway), pub landlords turned crooks, who are probably the real bad guys in this story. Here he takes Cosette (Mia Jenkins)away from being treated appalling, whilst the Thenardiers dote on their daughter Eponine. Years later, in Paris, the students-led by Enjolras, are preparing to lead a revolution against the oppressing regime in France. Here, we see the Thenardiers as mere pickpocketers, and their daughter Eponine (Samantha Barks) being hopelessly in love with Marius (Nick Jonas), a student. He, in turn, meets Cosette (Katie Hall) and they fall in love instantly. The revoluton begins, infiltrated by Javert, who is discovered by the street-urchin Gavroche (Robert Madge). Javert and Valjean meet again, but Valjean releases him, refusing to kill him. The revolution destroys all the revolutionaires-including Eponine, who dies in her beloved Marius' arms-with the exception of Marius, who Valjean carries to safety through the sewers. Javert desperatly tries to stop Valjean, but eventually caves, and decides he cannot keep living forever in the 'debt of a thief', and throws himself into the River Seine. Marius and Cosette are reunited and are married. Valjean reveals his true identity to Cosette as he dies, guided to heaven by Fantine, Eponine and the souls of those who died on the barricades.

The cast are mostly wonderful. Alfie Boe, a man known most for being an opera singer, is a stunning Valjean; he sings the role with ease and his rendition of 'Bring Him Home' physically stopped the show and gained him a standing ovation. Norm Lewis, known primarily for his Broadway work but currently starring in the West End production, delivers a wonderful 'Stars' and is the perfect stiff-upper lip foil to Boe's Valjean. Matt Lucas and Jenny Galloway (who also played the role in the 10th anniversary concert) are fine as the comedy villains of the piece, with a roaring 'Master of the House'. Lea Salonga, who played Eponine in the 10th anniversary concert & who originated the role of Kim in Miss Saigon, is stunning as Fantine, her 'I Dreamed A Dream' almost had me in tears. Samantha Barks, a finalist on the BBC's I'd Do Anything, is an equally good Eponine and Katie Hall makes for a feisty and wonderfully sung Cosette.

The only flaw in the casting was that of Nick Jonas as Marius. He is easily outsung by pretty much everyone else on stage, and does very little in the way of acting. His casting is strange to me, it is obviously an attempt to draw in other audiences, but the average Jonas Brother fan would have been outpriced by the ticket prices to see the show live. However, the DVD features an annoucement that the feature film version of Les Mis is in the works, so it could be that he's been emarked for the film.

Other mentions should go to the stunning Ramin Karimloo's (currently playing the Phantom in Love Never Dies) performance as Enjolras, the student rebel leader, whose voice and charisma makes him an able leader. He is ably supported by Hadley Fraser as Grantaire, whose voice is equally amazing.

The concert is very well done. Conducted by David Charles Abell (who directed the 10th anniversary concert), the massive orchestra gives a truly symphonic sound to a score that I personally believe is one of the best. A use of screens sets the time and a use of video fills in scenes that couldn't be done of the 02 stage and lighting is used to represent the famous barricades.

As part of the extended curtain call, the current West End company, the international tour company and the original 1985 company all joined together on stage. Colm Wilkinson, Simon Bowman, John Owen-Jones and Alfie Boe all joined together to sing a beautiful version of 'Bring Him Home', the original cast (with the help of Ramin Karimloo) joined together to lead the company in 'One Day More' and the Epilogue was reprised with casts of various student productions of Les Mis.

All in all, the 02 concert is brilliantly recorded on DVD, and one dud performance doesn't get in the way of the stunning music and wonderful other performances.