My Friends, My Loves review

Release - 2009
Country - France
Rating - M
Runtime - 95
Director - Lorraine Levy
Cast - Vincent Lindon, Pascal Elbe, Virginie Ledoyen, Florence Foresti, Tom Invernizzi


I have to say that I'm a sucker for french cinema. For the most part there just seems to be something so intriguingly honest about it.

My latest foray into the world of the frenchies was through the recent film, My Friends, My Loves. This lovely gem of a flick revolves around the lives of two middle aged single fathers who also happen to be best friends. The film is set in "Frog Alley", Central London, where the two pals decide that two dads are better then one. The fun begins once the men and their children share a flat.

My Friends, My Loves has been compared to a modern day odd-couple but with children. This description may not be far off especially when considering the extensive list of rules that the somewhat fussy clean freak, Antoine, comes up with. These rules become the main cause of catastrophe and hilarity that the films main core is built on.

The central character of, Matthias, is beautifully and believably played by the charming, Vincent Lindon. This highly accessible character is fraught with a host of eccentricities the most detrimental being his acute vertigo.

Each of Matthias' relationships are gorgeously established whether it be with his daughter, best friend, ex-wife or girlfriend.

My Friends, My Loves is a simplistic but wholly enjoyable study of human connections and the joy and sorrow they can bring.

One of the funniest most heartwarming films I've seen in a long time. Highly commendable.

8/10

- Lesley Rickman

G.I Joe: The Rise Of Cobra review

Release - 2009
Country - USA
Rating - M
Runtime - 118
Director - Stephen Sommers
Cast - Channing Tatum, Ray Park, Dennis Quaid, Christopher Eccelston, Sienna Miller, Marlon Wayans


It all started in 1964 with the toy company Hasbro, after seeing the popularity of the Barbie range they decided to make a military figure for the boys. The popularity of this spawned a cartoon in the 85's, then a movie in '87. Thirty two years on we see the live action release, G.I.JOE: Rise of the Cobra.
If you're a fan of action movies, you're going to love this. From the very beginning, to the end credits there is very little that isn't exploding. Complete with ninjas, submarines, jets, car chases and a myriad of flashbacks, this movie still fails to break any new ground.

G.I.JOE is a secret international military organisation, with the task of protecting the world from terrorism. When all else fails, they don't. An evil organisation rises from within America led by a Scottish arms dealer, James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston), who has created a new weapon capable of destroying entire cities. He plans on using this weapon to essentially bring about world peace by attacking major cities in China, America and Russia.

New to the Joes, ex-military Duke (Channing Tatum), and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are part of a group tasked with taking down this menace.

The story follows a pretty predictable path, the good guys gets the girls, the ninja gets revenge, the bad guys are locked away and we fade to black for credits and the inevitable sequel. This movie is plagued by inconsistencies, and jokes that don't make you laugh. The scoring and soundtrack for this movie aren't terribly noticible and the special effects, though impressive in parts, fail in others. All these problems still don't stop the film from being somewhat enjoyable though. If you're tired of thinking and just want to switch off and watch stuff blow up, i can recommend this, however. If you don't like action, stay away from this one, because it offers little else.

5/10


-Morgan Gilmour

The Ugly Truth review

Release - 2009
Country - USA
Rating - M
Runtime - 101
Director - Robert Luketic
Cast - Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner, Cheryl Hines, John Michael Higgins


Recent romantic comedy flick, The Ugly Truth has earned more then its fair share of controversy. The Premise of the film is simple. Arrogant, egotistical TV personality offends female producer with his non too subtle opinions on the fairer sex. Despite their differences, the pair find themselves in the middle of a romance. It's not exactly covering new ground but I have to say that Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butlers performances somewhat make up for this. The pair have a strange chemistry which makes for enchanting viewing.

If only there were a little more enchantment in the script. The often crude humor, while sometimes just, seemed out of place during much of the 101 minutes show time.

There were, for me, parts of the film that I felt were only included to get a rise from its audience. While not always a bad thing, The Ugly Truth just didn't seem to know when to quit. As far as romantic comedies go, I've seen better.

That's not to say it goes without it's merits. Besides the aforementioned chemistry there were moments of pure joy for its audience; including, the somewhat graceless 'happy dances' performed by Miss Heigl. Which, boys, I feel it my duty to tell you are quite an accurate interpretation of what many of us girls feel the need to do when overcome with excitement.

If you're looking for an intelligent, stimulating piece of cinema then perhaps give this one a miss but if you're in need of a quick (often cheap) laugh and shallow glimpse into both the male and female psyche then The Ugly Truth might be worth your time.

6/10

-Lesley Rickman

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince review

Release - 2009
Country - UK
Rating - M
Runtime - 153
Director - David Yates
Cast - Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Tom Felton, Jim Broadbent


The Harry Potter franchisee has all but taken over the western world. J.K Rowling having started something of a marvel and a monster with her addictive seven book childrens series. For me the films have always been something of a sore point. I strongly believe they should have waited until all the books were released before even attempting a film adaptation. The film series have always seemed clumsy and uninterpretable with none of them making very much sense for those viewers out there with no background knowledge of the story of the world in which it takes place.

Surprisingly the films, while still below par, seem to be getting increasingly better with each consecutive one. The Half Blood Prince being the most enjoyable yet.
The sixth film sees the young actors we've come to know so well being almost unrecognizable having hit that awkward stage of puberty where you're no longer a child but certainly not an adult either.

The Half Blood Prince is not only a tale of dark wizardry and peril but that of a coming of age story, with the three main characters all dealing with new feelings of both lust and love.

The films have always been awash with famous British actors including, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters, Michael Gambon and Robbie Coltrane and The Half Blood Prince is no exception with the inclusion of Jim Broadbent as Proffessor Slughorn. Broadbents inclusion to the cast was one of pure genius. His highly lovable approach to the somewhat misunderstood character is charming at least and classic at best.

For fans of the films this is a must see. For fans of the book I honestly think it's more a take it of leave it scenario. The actors are getting less cringe-worthy as the grow older and the scripts are becoming more tolerable. All good things but as far as award winning cinema is concerned I think they still have a ways to go.

6/10

-Lesley Rickman