Vacancy

Release date: 20 April 2007 (USA)

This film was good. I say that to start as I wasn't expecting it to be good. I was expecting a horrid little horror full of torture and blood. What I got, instead, was a tongue-in-cheek thriller that was variously funny, suspenseful, engaging and - well - good. Whether or not Director Nimrod Antal planned that or not is another matter. Vacancy stars Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale as David and Amy Fox, a bickering couple who find themselves overnighting at a strange motel in the middle of nowhere when their car breaks down. When David turns on the TV in their motel room to watch a video, he realizes to his horror that the snuff/slasher video he is watching was filmed in the very room he's in. What ensures is a game of cat and mouse as David and Amy try to escape the motel with creepy frontdesk man, Mason (played brilliantly by Frank Whaley) in pursuit. Vacancy never takes itself too seriously, and is more fright and jump then slash and gore, and that's what makes it work.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Turistas

Release date: 1 December 2006 (USA)

An absolute wreck of a movie. Horrible in every sense: the "acting"; the horrific story (involving a sick Brazilian doctor who entraps western tourists in his remote jungle home only to harvest their organs for in-need Brazilians); the formalistic directing; and worse, the fact the film seems to take itself so seriously. I'm actually loathe to bother writing a review except to say avoid! This obscene film should be censored and every copy ever made burned.

My rating 0 out of 10.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Release date: 25 May 2007 (USA)

Well, here we have part three of this adventure. How writers Elliot and Rossio are able to squeeze yet one more story out of a storyline that was essentially done after movie one is beyond me. In this latest (and please Lord, final) installment of the Jack Sparrow adventure directed by Gore Verbinski, the usual crew of pirates and such (Depp, Bloom, Rush and Knightley) must face the combined forces of Davey Jones and Lord Cutler Beckett in a battle to end all battles (yeah, right). After releasing Sparrow from Davey Jone's Locker, the nine Pirate Lords meet to decide whether or not to release Calypso (who has been played ever-so-well by Naomie Harris) who may then aid their cause. All manner of this and that occurs as the Pirates gather and then all's well that ends well ... or gawd, I hope so. The first movie of this installment is still the best but bully on Disney for continuing to draw dollars out of our pockets .... that studio is the ultimate pirate ... and there's the rub on this franchise.

My rating 5 out of 10.

Fahrenheit 9/11

Release date: 17 May 2004 (Cannes Film Festival)

It's interesting to watch Michael Moore doing his usual shtick - this time with Geroge W Bush, September 11 and the invasion of Iraq on his mind - six years after the events and 3 years after its premiere at Cannes. He meticulously lays out Bush's illegal seizure of the Presidency thanks to corruption in Florida, his panache for holidaying, his connections to the Saudis and Bin Laden, and his inept ploys (which Americans for the most part swallowed) that led the US off the hunt for Bin Laden and on to a crusade against Iraq to keep his oil friends on side. Moore's obviously dislike of Bush aside, the film makes for compelling viewing, though feels dated now since much of what he alleged in 2004 is known to be fact today. The best part of Moore's film, simultaneously brilliant and disturbing, are the slow motion clips of Bush being told (in Sarasota) that America was under attack on the morning of September 11th. Never has a president looked more ridiculous then in those few minutes of film. Never has a president looked more dumb and useless.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Disturba

Release date: 4 April 2007 (USA)

D.J. Caruso directs this very good, very fun and occasionally very creepy homage to Hitchcock's Rear Window, updated to the suburbs and the world of 2007. Disturbia stars Shia LeBeouf as Kale, a messed up teenager confined to home via electronic monitoring after assaulting his Spanish teacher. When his mom (Carrie-Ann Moss) disconnects his Xbox, email and TV, Kale takes to watching his neighbours to pass his 3-month sentence. In the process of spying, he comes across new girl on the block, Ashley (Sarah Roemer) and a creepy neighbour Robert (played by David Morse), whom he starts to suspect is a serial killer. What makes this film interesting is despite the fact you know what's going to happen, you continue to watch, and more, feel a connection to the characters (Carrie-Anne Moss aside). Kudos to Caruso's direction and the acting for this. And while there's plenty of holes and leaps-of-faith in the storyline, the ride makes it all worth it. Caruso does a great job giving us a tongue-in-cheek updating of Hitchcock's classic and will make you take a look at the teenagers and neighbours in your own quiet suburbia in a different light.

My rating 8 out of 10.

The Kite Runner

Release date: 5 October 2007 (Scottsdale International Film Festival)

Based on the wildly popular novel by Khaled Hosseini that everyone in the world - save me - has read, The Kite Runner is one-third a remounting of Annie (set in Afghanistan), one-third an episode of 24, and one-third The Pianist. Unfortunately, collectively these thirds don't amount to much of a movie. At its core, The Kite Runner is a film about the ties that bind us all - ties of culture, of family, of duty. The strength in this movie is its opening third. The filming, the story and the acting of the boys Amir (Zekeria Ebrahimi) and his best friend, the son of his father's servant, Hassen (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) are great. The story and acting slip however - moving from what could have been profound into mere sentimentality - as the movie moves to America and Amir realizes he has a debt to pay to his childhood friend and half-brother by returning to the Taliban-controlled Kabul to rescue his nephew. Homayon Ershadi, as Amir's father, is outstanding, especially when he moves to America. The real challenge with the film is that it suffers a 'you-can-see-it-all-coming-miles-away' problem. When Amir carves the letters in the pomegranate tree with Hassen as children, we just know we'll be revisiting that tree later in the film when Amir returns during the Taliban regime. So who's to blame? The writer or the director? ...

For showing us what Afghanistan used to be like (and hopefully will one day be again), and for conveying the hope all immigrants have when leaving what they know for any new country to start again, my rating 5 out of 10.