MATCHSTICK MEN [2003]

Director Ridley Scott takes up an interesting change of pace with the comedic con-caper drama  Matchstick Men.
Nicholas Cage portrays a mentally troubled con artist who has him and his partner's long con shaken up when he discover he's the father to a 14-year old girl who wants into his crime-riddled life.  Scott's smooth eye makes for a clever little film that absorbs the viewer into it's multiple character arcs that play out better than the actual story their based around.  Cage does a fine job at giving a lot of heart to the film but still tires with his "I'm crazy" shtick, whereas Alison Lohman excels as Cage's energetic teenage daughter who might be too curious for her own good.  It threatens to wander off the rails more often than I'd like but it's overall an enjoyable film that proves Scott can still tell a human story that isn't outrageously epic.

3 cans of tuna out of 5

Beowulf (2007)

The Beowulf poem was penned in English but not any kind of English you’d recognise. This CGI version is in modern day language, except for the occasional respectful nod to the archaic. Leaving aside differences elsewhere, as a film it does a lot of things well: Grendel is brutally violent but also owns our sympathies; Beowulf himself is flawed and his role open to interpretation; and the fights are dramatic as hell, using the freedom of movement that a virtual environment allows.
The animation succeeds in being realistically lifelike (especially Jolie's face), so if that kind of thing pleases you then you should have no complaints.

3½ belching Thanes out of 5

BIG FISH [2003]

Tim Burton's most mature work to date, an adaptation of Daniel Wallace's novel Big Fish is a fantasy flavored Southern Gothic tear-jerker that is sure to please fans of the director's work.
Like most of Burton's personal films, he ditches the idea of a standard narrative and tells it like a fairy tale vingette layered over a bigger picture as the heart of the picture, almost like a zanier version of Forrest Gump.  It's themes of father & sons, the curious mysteries of a bigger world and determination for what you believe all join each other seamlessly and will form a lump in your throat as you realize this.  It relishes itself in fantasy and larger than life storytelling but never loses touch with reality enough to insult your intelligence or lose your belief in it all.

4 soles in Spectre out of 5

DRAG ME TO HELL [2009]

Director Sam Raimi returns to form in the high-budget b-movie Drag Me To Hell. Alison Lohman stars as a loan officer who is cursed after evicting an elderly gypsy woman from her home.
Raimi channels his Evil Dead days, laying the campy horror and humor down like nobodies business. The scares are incredibly startling and hilarious, leaving some viewers confused as to what to think of it all. The story is a huge mess and the characters are pretty flat, but it's the cheap thrills and chills that we paid for and Drag Me To Hell delivers on those by the vomit buckets.

3 nosebleeds from Hell out of 5