Jamie's Talk

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Great sequel. The four friends are still trying to get back to New York zoo but their plane crashes in Africa, where Alex (lion) is reunited with his family. Marty (zebra) finds out he is not unique and Melvin (giraffe) finds out he is in love with Gloria (hippo). Funny scenes e.g. when they get attacked by a group of New York tourists on safari.

Knowing

A school girl puts a list of numbers into a time capsule. When the time capsule is opened 50 years later, a MIT professor discovers that the list predicted global disasters - the date, the location and number of fatalities. There are 3 future dates, but what happens when the numbers run out? Good cast and storyline. Good special effects. The movie is exciting and will have you on the edge of your seat until the end. The ending was very lame. It's like A.I. good movie, until the last half hour. If you like disaster / thriller movies like Unbreakable, Final Destination, Mercury, Deep Impact or A.I. you will like this movie.

Marley & Me

Comedy about a couple who get a dog that takes over their lives. The trailer gives a lot away. I like the storyline as it is realistic and believable about how life isn't always how you planned it to be but somehow you get through the highs and lows. Good performances from Jen and Owen. The ending is very sad - be warned.

Valkyrie

A number of attempts were made by Germans to assassinate Hitler. This movie tells the story of one of these plots. Tom Cruise leads a group of men to assassinate Hitler but it fails. Even though you know that Hitler committed suicide in real life, the movie makes you wish the outcome was different. Good story and cast. Only problem - everyone uses their own accents.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

This movie has had a lot of hype with all the award ceremonies. The storyline is good and Brad and Cate give brilliant performances. Brad Pitt is Benjamin who was abandoned at birth because he was deformed. He had a condition that meant he was born old and got younger. He is brought up in an old people's home which makes him fit in. He meets Cate the love of his life but it is years before they get together due to their age difference. I found the movie long and slow going. The make up was very good to make them look old and young. However, I didn't agree with Benjamin's reason for leaving.

He's Just Not That Into You

Funny rom com about dating and falling in and out of love. The movie follows the lives of three female oo-workers Gigi (who is desperate and can't get any guy), Janine (who married her college boyfriend, who happens to have an affair) and Anna (who has been dating the same guy for 7 years and he doesn't want to get married). You think from the title of the movie that this is a man bashing movie but quite the opposite. The men turn out well in this movie (apart from Bradley Cooper who is married to Jennifer Connelly and has an affair with Scarlett Johansson. But who wouldn't pick Scarlett?!) Anyway, the women in the movie are de-ranged, paranoid, insecure and freaky. In comparison the men are quite normal and straightforward. Good cast. I was disappointed Drew Barrymore didn't have a bigger role as she is great in rom coms. Scarlett looks amazing. Jennifer Connelly usually plays more serious roles but does well in this movie. Jennifer Aniston is in her element in her stereotypical rom com role. She has a great frame but her face looks drawn and older (maybe her real love life was taking its toll at the time the movie was made). Kevin Connolly and Justin Long are nice guys in this movie. Ben Affleck's character is a gem. If you liked 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' you will like this movie too. Everyone will be able to identify with at least one of the characters. There's a mixed bag.

The Reader

Warning - don't read this if you don't want to know what happens in the movie. It isn't often that I give the plot away but I reckon not everyone will want to or will get the chance to see the movie, but I want to share my review as I was very touched by this movie. It is not often that I cry at movies but if you were touched by 'Schlinder's List' or 'In Love and War', you will find 'The Reader' as difficult and heart breaking to watch. In fact everyone in the cinema was silent all through the movie. So here goes... The movie is set over a period of time from WWII to recent years in Germany. A teenage boy called Michael is sick on his way home from school. An older women Hanna helps him get home. He has scarlet fever and is bed ridden for months but when he is better he goes to find her to thank her. They start an affair over a few months, which seems very inappropriate due to the age difference. Much of the start of the movie focuses on their affair - a lot of love scenes, readings and baths. Hanna is a bus conductor and she gets a promotion to an office job, but decides to pack up and leave her home without any explanation. Michael does not see her again. Michael goes to university where he studies law. One day his lecturer takes the class to a trial, where 6 former SS guards are on trial for murder in the concentration camps. There Michael sees Hanna for the first time since that summer. When she left that summer, she went for a job as a SS guard. The other women gang up on her and rather than admitting that she cannot read or write, she admits that she was the ring leader. She is sentenced to life in prison. Michael could have spoken up and could have helped her with an appeal as he knew she could not read so could not have signed any reports or been the head of the group of guards. But he was cowardly and didn't do anything. He eventually marries and has a child but their relationships are strained as he never got over his first love. He goes back to his home town to tell his mother he is getting divorced. While he is there he discovers all the books he read to Hanna that summer during their affair. He records her audio tapes of all the books and sends them to the prison. Hanna learns to read and write from the audio tapes. She writes to him but he never writes back or visits her. 20 years pass and he is contacted about her parol and her opportunity to be released from prison. He relunctantly goes to see her and organises a job and place for her to stay. Before he comes to the prison to collect her, she commits suicide. I felt that the ending was so sad, as they finally had a chance to resolve any issues they had with each other but it never happened. The movie is not graphic about the concentration camps but the witness and survivor accounts in the trial are enough to pull your heart strings. Hanna seems naive about her role as a SS guard, as she felt it was her job and did not take any moral stand. Yes she should be punished for sending the Jews to their death but she was no worse than the other guards, yet they got off lightly. Michael is a complex character perhaps still angry with Hanna for leaving him, he does nothing to reach out to her until it is too late. Just like 'In Love and War' it seems that two souls who could have been together, ultimately weren't because of circumstances and their own selfish pride. The movie is well made. Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes give great performances. Kate deserved to win the Golden Globe and BAFTA, and hopefully an Oscar too for her acting ability, although I am troubled by the choice of character, that she should win for playing the role of a SS guard.