The King's Speech (2010)

The Duke of York, son of King George V, has a stammer that makes public speaking both problematic and terrifying. With his inaugural speech on the wireless looming, he seeks the aid of speech therapist Lionel Logue.
The grand settings are nice, but the real beauty is in the relationships that develop. With that in mind, Colin Firth doesn't get the credit he deserves as an actor; he proves once again that he's more than up to the task of carrying a lead role and giving it the nuances it deserves.
Geoffrey Rush as Lionel is great, too. His interactions with the Duke humanise the royal, showing him as more than just a privileged and pompous figurehead that the public at large were conditioned to respect and revere.
I wasn't at all surprised to discover after viewing that parts written for the stage were incorporated into the screenplay - they're easy to spot.

4 mouth marbles out of 5

HARRY POTTER & THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2 [2011]

Director David Yates & the rest of the usual suspects brings the Harry Potter film franchise to a thrilling close in the 8th & final film, The Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Long gone are the innocent Quiddich days of yesteryear, now it's full-on war at Hogwart's and the body count is beginning to rise at a terrifying rate for both characters and long-time fans of the series.
It's a wonderful conclusion to an already wonderful series, however the previous two films lacked any sense of magical wonder but all is put back in it's right place from the very get go.  Start to finish, the beautifully shot TDH2 is excitingly mysterious, darkly enigmatic and most of all deeply enthralling.  
Farewell, Hogwart's.  'Twas a bloody brilliant, if not bumpy, time.

4 dragon-riders out of 5

HARRY POTTER & THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE [2009]

Director David Yates really lays down the dark & dismal in the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series, The Half-Blood Prince.
With Voldemort & his Dark-Eaters waging war on both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds, Harry learns more about the Dark Lord and how he came to be, as well as discovering disturbing evidence of how much the two are actually alike.  While the previous films were a healthy balance of style and substance, this one leans more towards the striking visuals making it  just too damned dark to be much fun.  When it does have a bit of a laugh it breaks the tone and feels ridiculously out of place.   Even the actors, apart from Alan Rickman and Jim Broadbent, don't seem to be up to par with their previous performances.  Still, it is perhaps one of the most important chapters in the series, seeing as it's tragic ending leads to the explosive conclusion.
I like to consider this the calm before the storm.

3 bumpy bridges out of 5

HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX [2007]

Director David Yates steps in for his first of four (and final) Harry Potter films, The Order of the Phoenix.
After Lord Voldemort (exquisitely played by Ralph Fiennes) came into full physical form in the previous installment, no one believes Harry, forcing him to band together a secret rag-tag army of Hogwart's students to help him fight in the inevitable war of magics ahead of them.  The film is a great deal different from it's source material, seeing as the book is the longest in the series but the film is the shortest of the eight cinematic outings.  No matter, Yates & co. carefully stick to it's heart, core themes and main story arcs resulting in a wonderful dissection of the British school system and a comparison of similarities & differences of adult and youth.  It's the most grimly sinister of the series so far yet and let's us know it's only going to get darker and more grave as the body count begins piling up more and more.  I'm squeamish with delight.

4 horrifying Maggie Thatcher/Queen Lizzie II hybrids out of 5

HARRY POTTER & THE GOBLET OF FIRE [2005]

Director Mike Newell brings his knack for seamlessly brisk pacing to the fourth film in the Harry Potter film series, The Goblet of Fire.
Hogwart's is host to a very dangerous international tournament amongst the Wizards & Witches world, while the gang first encounters puberty (Ron is hilariously revealed to be an ass-man), firmly graduating the series from children's films to young-adult oriented in both subject matter and tone.  The series gets darker with each installment but Newell manages to insert enough humor to keep it fun enough amidst the doom 'n gloom.  Like always the adult stars are a joy to watch as they have a grand ol' time getting into their quirky roles but it's the kids that make a vast improvement from the last film with their emotional acting chops.  At least half of the novel is left out but doesn't matter seeing as it still fits like a glove in the series without missing any important story arcs leading into the future films.

4 PULPy Radioheads out of 5

HARRY POTTER & THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN [2004]

Director Alfonso Cuarón gets darker and weirder for the third Harry Potter film, The Prisoner of Azkaban.
It's back to Hogwart's and that means trouble is brewing, as Harry discovers a prisoner has escaped from the wizard's prison and means to put an end to the boy wizard.  The film is significantly darker and actually scarier than Chris Columbus' previous films, as it dives deeper into the heavy emotions that are beginning to weigh Harry down more and more as he grows older and more powerful.  The core characters are becoming more complex as is the storytelling, which finally begins to spiral into something more fleshed out and interesting than it ever was.   Cuarón brings a visual flair to the series which gives it a unique character all it's own, without straying too far from the tones that have already been established.  This is definitely the Potter film that finally proves the series deserves all the praise it's received.

4 snarky shrunken heads out of 5

Ali G Indahouse (2002)

A very shaky beginning made me think I was going to regret sitting down to watch Indahouse, but after some readjustment of expectations the funny won me over. I'm still not sure giving the character an actual plot driven story was a good idea, but Cohen is such a natural comedian and his jokes so well-delivered that I got some genuine belly laughs from it. Taking the piss out of British politicians is a productive way to waste time.

2½ booyakashas out of 5

QUARTET [2012]

Actor Dustin Hoffman makes his directorial debut with Quartet, a good-natured drama about an old age home for retired musicians.
It's fairly predictable, probably a mite bit too quiet for a lot of folks and it's filled with a gaggle of fussy old English farts that will most definitely drive off the average movie-goer.  However if you've got an open mind, you'll be rewarded with a sharp and funny script, packed with wonderful performances, particularly Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins.  I expected it to be sappy and emotionally manipulative but it's far from it, as Hoffman keeps it level-headed and nothing more than a genuine lazy afternoon delight.

3½ Bettie Davis quotes out of 5

The Omen (2006)

A remake of the 1976 Richard Donner film of the same name. Did they use the same script? There are some minor differences, but ninety-nine percent of it is identical. Why bother? It’s not like the original was a turd. I don’t blame the director. He got offered a job and he took it. I blame the producers.
Exploitation isn't just a genre in Hollywood; it’s a way of life.
Liev Schreiber is fine, but he’s no Gregory Peck. Mia Farrow and Pete Postlethwaite put everyone else to shame, except the wonderful Michael Gambon who unfortunately only got about two minutes of screen time.

1½ revelations out of 5

SLEEPY HOLLOW [1999]

Director Tim Burton and Se7en screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker loosely adapt Washington Irving's The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow and turn it into a slasher flick homage to the Hammer films.

It's visually stunning, musically powerful and features a top-notch performance from Johnny Depp, but a script that stinks of multiple rewrites and an awkward performance from Christina Ricci drags it down a bit, sometimes brining nearly bringing the pacing to a complete halt.  

It's not quite a film to lose your head over but enough to please Burton/Depp fans.

3½ bleeding Trees Of Death out of 5

Layer Cake (2004)

A successful drug dealer who likes to keep the lowest of profiles gets an order from his boss to do a dumbass task, one that will put him squarely on the radar of the kinds of people he hates. It's a British crime drama with too much unnecessary plot that leads to a pointless ending, but the journey to get there is fun. Michael Gambon is fantastic and it's the only time I've ever enjoyed watching Daniel Craig act.

3 make hay while the sun shines out of 5

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

A thrill-seeking fox not content with family life can’t resist one last raid on the local farms, but his thieving antics don’t go unnoticed.
I love stop-motion. It may be a dying art. but in FMF it’s alive and well. With not one second wasted on pointless exposition or boring exploding robots it’s a joy to watch. My face felt like it was on LSD I was grinning so hard. Voice work is perfect. The titular fox is given life by George Clooney; throw in Bill Murray, Michael Gambon and Willem Dafoe and the magic is sustained.
The musical score is also fantastic. See here for a review.

4 Are you cussing with me? out of 5

The Book of Eli (2010)

It’s post-apocalyptic. It’s overtly religious. It’s bullshit nonsense.

Strip away the religious skin and underneath is a plot so full of holes even Jesus would laugh, and he’s the King of contradictions.

Unsure if it wants to be an action movie or a thinking movie, it fails at both.

1 bald kitty cat out of 5