Having read the books (Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy), I was expecting it too be ok but not great as are most films based on books. But, I was very wrong. I was surprised at how close to the book The Golden Compass actually was… a part from the title because the book is called Northern Lights.

The story follows a young girl called Lyra, played by Dakota Blue Richards, through a world of witches, daemons and armoured polar bears on the search of missing children. The cast is all-star with Daniel Craig playing Lyra’s uncle Lord Asriel and Nicole Kidman in the enemy role as Marisa Coulter.

It’s a fantastic film for anyone who likes a bit of fantasy adventure with all the trimmings. A must see. Definately!

Three words: worst film ever.

The best bit about 10,000 BC is the trailer that made people want to go and see it. All I heard when the credits came up was various people saying things like: “that was rubbish” and “what a waste of money”.

A young man called D’leh voyages out into the unknown world to find his girlfriend, Evolet, who had been kidnapped. The film depicts his inner journey from being the son of a former leader who betrayed their community to the new leader who is respected by all.

The fact that nothing adds up from one scene to the next is quite confusing. For instance, one scene shows D’leh and his friends wrapped in animal furs to keep warm in a snow storm and the next scene shows them in a tropical rainforest with giant ostriches chasing them!

Utter rubbish and I think that anyone who has been to the cinema to see it will agree with me.

Ratatouille is a feel-ggod film that anyone and everyone can enjoy. Many make think that when Disney and Pixar are involved in producing a film that it will be quite childish but they would be wrong for this one.

Remy is a rat who had the eating habits of a human while the rest of his family enjoy eating rubbish (literally!). He moves to Paris and befriends a young garbage boy, Linguini, who wants to know how to cook and, thanks to Remy’s expertise in the kitchen, the two of them become a great team who produce culinary perfection.

Definately one of the best animated films of the past few years. Funny mixed with sadness at some points. You really feel for Remy and Linguini who are both quite unhappy with their lives until they meet each other.

Ahem…I have to say that I did not see this film out of choice. It was ‘a boyfriend forcing girlfriend and moaning about it over a two week period’ sort of situation!

Rambo IV is the fourth is a series of films that all have the same name and all feature Sylvester Stallone doing his best at shooting big guns, blowing up bombs and killing lots of people.

This time Rambo starts off in Thailand where he lives before being persuaded to take a group of mercenaries into Burma (not a good move). The Burmese civil war obviously makes the country a very dangerous place which the whole cast find out after they get kidnapped for helping a group of villagers. Finding out that the group have disappeared, Rambo sets out to find them.

Not for the faint hearted because the blood and guts are very vivid, look very real and make the film quite disturbing in some parts. The way the Burmese torture their own people is also shown in the film and is quite horrifying to watch.

As I was one of three girls in the whole cinema, I’m guessing it’s more of a man film!

Disaster meets horror meets the unknown… and all filmed by a hand-held video camera! If you can get over the nausea of the camera swinging around in every direction for two hours, you will probably enjoy it.

A group of friends enjoying a party are suddenly interrupted by screams and what seems like and earthquake but when they venture outside they realise that something is wrong and that an unknown creature is attacking the city. The guy that had been filming at the party continues to do so throughout the film which is the only aspect on things the viewers have.

We all know monsters attacking big American cities have been done and done again but Cloverfield still stands out thanks to its Blair Witch Project aspect of filming.

Though not particularly horrific or terrifying, there are still quite a few moments where you find yourself jumping an inch of the seat.

No very well-known actors appear but I think that if the line-up would have been star-studded Hollywood at its best, the film wouldn’t be as enjoyable somehow.

Cloverfield is more of a big screen film that a buy the DVD and watch it yourself because of the large scale of things that are going on. The eerie feeling you get when coming out of the cinema into the darkness of the city is quite strange…you keep looking around and listening for the same thing to happen to you!

 

I can only think of three words that describe this film: Laugh Out Loud. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the funniest film to be released as yet. You know when a film, meant to be a comedy, is actually in fact funny when the packed out cinema is in stitches!

Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) is the boyfriend of TV star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) who gets dumped and replaced by a British rockstar (Russell Brand). To try and escape from the city and the constant reminder of his ex, he goes on holiday to Hawaii only to find out the woman who recently broke his heart is there too with her new love interest.

At first, the thought of Russell Brand being on a big screen for a feature length film was quite awful but, surprisingly, he plays his part really well as, should I say, basically himself!

Street Kings is the best film I have seen this year by a mile. Keanu Reeves is in his element playing a LAPD policemen who has been set-up by his boss, played by Forest Whitaker, who in turn has turned all his staff against Reeves.

This film is a must see for anyone who likes suspence and definately surprise because the end is a shocker!

This is the role of his career for Reeves as he proves that he is a quality actor by outdoing all the young actors in the film like co-star Chris Evans.

As far as films about dancing go, Step Up 2: The Streets is pretty good. It’s one of the rare films where the sequel is actually far better than the first one (in this case, Step Up).

It’s a feel good film where a disadvantaged teenager goes against the odds to get the outcome needed to stay in her home town and escape going to Texas. It’s predictable is parts and a few similarities to other films of the same type are noticeable but over all it’s an easy and pleasant watch.

The talent in the film is quite amazing as the dancers are obviously professionals and the routines they do are extraordinary.

I would recommend this film to anyone who likes a bit of romance, dancing and drama all mixed in together. And, for those who have seen the prequel, don’t think it will be the same because, a part from the title, they are nothing alike.