Sweet, smart, funny and charming but with many flaws. This could describe both the main character Juno MacGuff and the film as a whole. Billed in places as a clever feel-good comedy in the vein of last year’s Little Miss Sunshine, Juno has some of those qualities (the comedy and the feel-goodness) but is nowhere near as great as LMS. (read more…)

Grindhouse is a double feature film conceived by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez as an homage to the low budget B-movies of the 70s and 80s which were often shown in pairs. I’m too young to remember that carry-on but I certainly enjoyed this one. (read more…)

#5 – “Marry Me” – St. Vincent

St. Vincent (real name Annie Clarke) used to play in the backing band of Sufjan Steven and her debut solo album contains some of the same quirky instrumentation and lush orchestration found in Sufjan’s work. But with differences. She shreds a mean electric guitar for one and this juxtaposes with her sweet vocals. (read more…)

Missed this in the cinema during the summer but watched it today. I think a lot of animated films have received undue praise in recent years and this joins that list. Ok, it’s better than rubbish like Shrek but I still thought it was weak. (read more…)

Pre-WW2, some spoiled little bitch pins a crime on some lower-class dude, not realising the enormity of her false accusation. The dude (James McEvoy) gets shipped off to the army while his hot new girlfriend (Kiera Knightly), the older sister of the bitch, becomes heartbroken. (read more…)

The finale of ‘Extras’ was on HBO a couple of nights ago, a couple of weeks before it airs in Britain. Like the creators’ predecessor The Office, this final episode Xmas special comes on the back of two excellent seasons and brings a poignant and satisfying end to the series.

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Some shit goes down in New York because of some experimentation on a virus and now Will Smith is the only dude left in the city. (Grrr, those dastardly scientists! Always causing trouble!) (read more…)

‘Le Scaphandre et le Papillon’ is a brilliant French film based on the true story of Jean-Do Bauby who was the successful and vivacious editor of Elle magazine until he suffered a stroke at the age of 43. He became almost entirely paralysed, only retaining movement in his left eye. Inside, his brain still functioned. He could still see and hear people. It is what’s known as ‘locked-in syndrome’. (read more…)

‘His Dark Materials’ is a trilogy of novels in the fantasy genre by Philip Pullman. I haven’t read them yet but intend to do so when I get the chance. ‘The Golden Compass’ is based on the bulk of the first book. I’m not going to try detailing the plot. Suffice it to say it’s based in a world similar to our own with many added fantasy elements and it serves as an allegory to our world. Oh and polar bears fight each other! (read more…)

On deciding to take a break from watching films about fake girls, I watched two films today called “Lars And The Real Girl” and “All The Real Girls”. The three pertinent questions of (i) whether the films are related in any way, (ii) is it significant that they both star Paul Schneider and Patricia Clarkson and (iii) is there a reason I watched them both on the same day can all be answered with one word – no. (read more…)