TWILIGHT
RATING: 2/5
DIRECTOR: Catherine Hardwicke
TAGLINE: When you can live forever what do you live for?
STARRING: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson
THE GIST: A vampire falls in love with a mortal. Plus cheese and more cheese.
DAILY TELEGRAPH SAYS: I watched Twilight in a cinema full of young girls who, when they weren't texting friends and guzzling soft drinks, giggled, sighed and exhaled with a passion that was not only endearing, but a measure of its emotional truth.
I SAY: There is a lot to hate in the way this film was made – awful scoring, ineffective cinematography, amateur effects, and subpar direction. But the film rose to the occasion by banking on the charms of Stephanie Meyer’s cheesy love story. It may not possess the perfect formula to capture the adoration of snotty critics, but it is more than enough to make the fangirls swoon.
FACTORY GIRL
RATING: 2/5
DIRECTOR: George Hickenlooper
TAGLINE: The Fame. The Spotlight. The Scandal. The Party's About To Begin.
STARRING: Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Hayden Christensen, Mena Suvari, Jimmy Fallon
THE GIST: Enter Andy Warhol’s infamous Factory and meet his muse, Edie Sedgwick.
SUN ONLINE SAYS: It's Sienna Miller's star that shines brightest in this heartbreaking cautionary tale.
I SAY: Still an engaging true-to-life expose on the 1960s young elite and underground art society despite some inconsistency issues.
FIGHT CLUB
RATING: 4.5/5
DIRECTOR: David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Se7en)
TAGLINE: Losing all hope is freedom.
BEST LINE/S: Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
The things you own end up owning you.
STARRING:
Edward Norton (a property of insomnia, chronic frustration, and dementia)
Brad Pitt (pronounces anarchy as eloquently as The Joker)
Helena Bonham Carter (as fucked up as a sex maniac’s love doll)
NEW YORK TIMES SAYS: [Fincher] finds a subject matter audacious enough to suit his lightning-fast visual sophistication, and puts that style to stunningly effective use.
I SAY: Fast-paced, stylized, and bloody good!
CRASH
RATING: 3.5/5
DIRECTOR: Paul Haggis (In the Valley of Ellah )
TAGLINE: Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other.
BEST LINE/S: It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A. , nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.
STARRING: Thandie Newton, Matt Dillon, Ludacris, Brendan Fraser, Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Terrence Howard, Ryan Philippe, Michael Peña
THE ACADEMY SAYS: Pulls a surprise Oscar victory in 2006 (against frontrunner Brokeback Mountain ) with three golden statuettes for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing.
I SAY: It has its big moments (I would like to single out the car explosion scene of Newton and Dillon. Tear. Tear.) but it could have tackled the issue on race relations and racial discrimination in LA more subtly.
MATCH POINT
RATING: 3/5
DIRECTOR: Woody Allen (Scoop, Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
TAGLINE: Passion. Temptation. Obsession.
BEST LINE/S: The man who said "I'd rather be lucky than good" saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net, and for a split second, it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck, it goes forward, and you win. Or maybe it doesn't, and you lose.
STARRING: Jonathan Rhys Myers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer
THE GIST: Boy A is with Girl A. Boy B is with Girl B. Boy B likes Girl A. Boy A breaks up with Girl A. Girl A disappears. Boy B and Girl B marry. Girl A returns. Boy B and Girl A have an affair. Girl A wants to elope with Boy B. Boy B can’t. The unthinkable happens. Boy B is one lucky bastard.
NEWSDAY SAYS: [The film is] suffused with a Fitzgeraldian glow of bittersweet romance and ruefulness among the elite.
I SAY: A blistering ménage-a-trois of deceit, obsession, and desire. The role that luck plays in the process, and why luck is more important that either wits or skill.
ALMOST FAMOUS
RATING: 3.5/5
DIRECTOR: Cameron Crowe (Vanilla Sky, Jerry Maguire)
TAGLINE: Experience it. Enjoy it. Just don't fall for it.
STARRING: Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup, Jason Lee, Frances McDormand, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Anna Paquin, Zooey Deschanel, Jimmy Fallon
THE GIST: An aspiring Rolling Stones journalist gets his chance to tour with and write about an up-and-coming rock band.
ROTTEN TOMATOES SAYS: With its great ensemble performances and story, is a well-crafted, warm-hearted movie that successfully draws you into its era.
I SAY: It celebrates rock ‘n roll with the fervor akin to a groupie, while at the same time, mocking the ‘manufactured’ state of the music industry.
