Snapvine's Talk

Man of the Year

williams plays a tv talk show host, very similer to jon stewert, who after bringing up, maybe i should run for president,,, he does, he secures his nomination and goes to work, using his razor sharpe wit to woo the tv audiance and anyone who will listen,but the new polling booth computer voting system is faulty and maybe rigged, so if he wins and ecomes president is it a genuin win, a worker for that company speaks out, and her life is targeted for ruin, wyes this oviously is based on events in u.s when bush came from nowhere and won, as some say due to balled voting fixing, so a interesting concept, williams is great also, doing some great scenes of stand up, to get him self noticed, williams does this perfectly, and is a joy to watch, its never clear wether he will win and take up office, as story is told well and not predictable, and final outcome may be a little mushy for some, but it gets its message across well, a relevent for whats happend in recent past, and great to see williamsfinding great roles again

Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?

morgan spurlock follows up super size me, with a look at relations between middle east and the u.s, and wether laden is alive and can be caught, he travels to these places to get the thoughts of the people, not as funny as super size me, but some amusing moments do arise, and a interesting concept for a film, documentery,

Home of the Brave

a interesting story, showing troops during and after theyve returned home to america after serving in irak in the current war, from samuel l jacksons surgeon, turned alchololic, to jesssica alba coming to terms loosing a hand in a attack, and variouis other troops turned civilians, and the events they have to face and prepare for, the story is well acted throughout, and all storys are engageing to watch, sometimes comes off as a tv movie of the week, but direction is solid, and is never dull, and film starts great when in irak, a firefight breaks out, a good opener.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

great early effort from scorsese, and showing he can handle a strong story with a women lead, some nice scorsese tricks on show, and his usual knack of putting great music in, a strong acting role from ellen burstyn and a young jodie foster, and harvey keitel also showing once again, he is a scorsese muse, scorsese went on to great things after this and mean streets, and this shows his early work as vital as his later work

My Best Friend (Mon meilleur ami)

danieli auteuil, is great here as a french antiques dealer, who has no friends and is quite arogant in his ways, but through a bet needs to produce his best friend, which he doesent have, so goes on the lookout, to produce one out the blue, and on his mission runs into pierre aussedat, who plays a taxi driver, and as he seems capable of doing the friend thing well, is taken board to help him out, but could this taxi driver be the one and a genuin friend, a great friendship movie, great performances from all concernced, tipically french in its ways, but certainly a story thats fresh in som,e way, no looking for ladys here, just a friend, story moves along nicely, and even though the tipicall 3rd act goes all drama, and morals come into play, its a interesting watch

Rise of the Footsoldier

a acount of a thug growing up in essex, going from a football hooligan and rising up the ranks to a leader of his own crew, and business dealings, this film shows a interesting story of crime, and part of this story is actually based on a actual acount of 3 crooks getting killed in the countryside, here we see those charactors as supporting charactors, and concentrating on a another charactor, who gets involved with these charactors, a very violent acount, of events, quite gruesome in parts, from the foootball hooligan violence, guys with hammers/axes crunching into flesh, to gun violence, later on, its really violent and like scorsese and casino, showing it for what it is, its not a easy watch. the film flows along, moving through the years in a interesting way, like goodfellas, and of course casino, a voice over, going throughout, comes off well, a worthy adition to crimeland britain on film

Mala Noche (Bad Night)

IM NOT SURE IF THIS IS 2007 OR A 1980S EARLY GUS VAN SANT FILM....gus van sant effort very low budget shot around portland, concerning a gay guy, who hooks up with a illegal mexican new to town, one knowing what he wants, the other not, and a bit of fun to be had. performances are good for such a low budget, and direction promisingand showing many aspects of van sants work

Mala Noche (Bad Night)

IM NOT SURE IF THIS IS 2007 OR A 1980S EARLY GUS VAN SANT FILM....gus van sant effort very low budget shot around portland, concerning a gay guy, who hooks up with a illegal mexican new to town, one knowing what he wants, the other not, and a bit of fun to be had. performances are good for such a low budget, and direction promisingand showing many aspects of van sants work

In Bruges

colin farrell in a rare situation, actually using his irish acent, to great comic affect, sent to bruges with fellow hitman played by brendan gleeson, to wait for news on a hit, gleeson wants to do tourist things, farrell hates it, and just weants do drink, and be any where but brudge, full of irish wit, with farrell, on fire, as his irish sence of humour comes full flow, full of witty observations, on amung things, americans, and this dull town, and dwarfs, he a joy to watch, but gleeson also, there to reign things in, but also bringing humour out, some great comic violence, and some serious stuff going on too, which balances out nicely, even ralph finnes trys his best ben kingsley from sexy beast, but not so good, but doesent spoil it, some nifty set pieces also, anda film with no easy outcomes

Interview

directed by bushimi, a two hander between 2 actors, miller and bushimi, both do a great job, as actress and reporter, who really dont want to be there, but events turn, and maybe the job will get done, a brief running time helps, and the film is never dull, as the topics discussed, moves along nicely, plus a lot of bitching

Persepolis

based on a graphic novel, about a young girl growing up in iran, and also going to school in austria, and growing up iranian, this film shows in a fasinating way, events from irans past from a young girls view and beliefs coming into her view, from how she lives, it really shows you, what the shaw, a dictator put these people through and goverments after, and what its like for not only a young women to live there, but how culture, especially western culture, is not tolerated, great animation going on here, geting the sence of a comic book feel, a eye opening film, that doesent talk down to its audiance, and treats its issues with respect, even if it is from a childs point of view

Deception

ewen mcgregor is great to watch, even though his american acent isnt spot on, in a nice little thriller, its even really predictable, but theres something about mcgregor that gets you hooked and want to see him suceed when events turn sour, jackman is also a bit slimey as a know it all businessman setting mcgregor up, story runs along smoothly. and is never dull or boreing, great direction too, shame the title is so dull, i heard this was originally called the tourist, a much better title

The Mother

a honest acount looking at a older women, in her 60s,falling for a much younger man played by daniel craig, and there turbulent relationship, afterwards, and how it affects her family, both leads are great, really showing emotion and settings and drama, realistic in aproach, a really honest film

Avatar

on the big screen, simply stunning, the 3d digital picture looking simply superb,the forest scenes,with all the plant life coming alive, but oviously its more than that to make a great film, and it has so much more, jake inthe body of a navi,isquite simply one of the best examples ofdigital work ive seen, along with other charactors. bringing the full emotion a digital charactor can,watch the navi he falls for,played brillantly by zoe saldana for proof of this. the story it self. humans coming to the navi world, playe relent to todays climate,and is interesting throughout. and love story works,evenif it is 2 c.g.i charactors,which isthis films main sucess,and of course coming from cameron theres the action,some great moments, the starwars prequels showed for me, cgi done badly both in creature design and other worlds and backgrounds, not here, everything is spot on, wil i enjoy it as much on small screen, who knows, but for this review, a epic viewing on big screen

Fargo

best film from the coen brothers, william h macy stars as a car salesman up t his neck in det, who then hires steve bushimi and peter stormore to kidnapp his wife, so he will get the ransom money, but through a murder commited by bushimi, frances mcdormond as a pregnant cop, is brought into the fold, who then makes her way to macy, who car was in the possession of bushimi, like a lot of coen brother films, this has great wit, and dialogue, only the coens can do properly, as a thriller this not convincing, simply because, its one of the most funniest films around, black comedy, top of its game, i hated this when first watched it, but then realised who the coens are, and watched it as a black comedy, genius, everyone is great, macy as the guy in deep over his head, this where i discovered the guy, mcdormond as the cop, v funny, and of course bushimi, hes got this down really fine, a great setting, looks very cold, and an outcome that is typical coen, great dialgue toull be quoting all year, and in my personal top 5, please check this out

Blood Simple

superb debut from the coens, and showing how there career could have gone, considering there latest no country for old men, is closest in style to this, very tense moments, and red hairings will hae you on the edge of your seat, a young francess mcdormond doing great job, a harh texas setting, with a great score backing it up, they went on to fluffy fair next with raising arizona but just shows the talents they are

Goongnyeo (Shadows in the Palace)

Sure, palace politics was sexier and more fun in Curse Of The Golden Flower or The Banquet but where else can you watch Koreans usin fingernail torture? Some genuine storytellin here, unlike the mainstream South Korean shyte that flood the market. Complementary supernatural twist included.

Happy-Go-Lucky

sally hawkings is great in this mike leigh comedy drama, hawkins plays poppy a very happy primary school teacher, but with no man in her life, while hanging around with her mates, not a care in the world, very well acted throughout, and great scenes of comic value, especially scenes betwen her and driving instructure, well constructed comedy moments of temper and flierting, also the film isnt short on good solid drama, with some good messages to be had