Young Adam

Release date: 16 May 2003 (Cannes Film Festival)

Beat poet Alexander Trocchi's novel gets a treatment in this David Mackenzie-directed film. The film is exceedingly introspective, taking us inside the mind of boatman Joe Taylor (Ewan McGregor) as he struggles whether or not to come clean with his knowledge of the death of his girlfriend Cathie (Emily Mortimer) while carrying on an affair with the wife (Tilda Swinton) of his employer Les (Peter Mullan). The performances in this film are both studied and fine and Mackenzie does a superb job creating an atmosphere to match. Despite this though, the film fails to engage its audience and is an example of greatness just missed.

But for giving us a glimpse of both Tilda's breasts and Ewan's penis, my rating 5 out of 10. Sex sells afterall.

Couples Retreat

Release date: 25 October 2009 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Director Peter Billingsley was brought in to direct the dumb screenplay by - among others - Vince Vaughn. Premise has 3 couples in varying degrees of challenge heading to Fuji (St Regis Bora Bora Resort) - okay, that's good - to partake in a couples retreat. Despite the B-star power brought into this shipwreck of a movie - with Jason Bateman at the helm - Couples Retreat is both so far fetched and so, well, bad it makes one long for abandonment on a island without access to any films again. If crudeness is your cup of tea, saddle up to the trough, you'll love it.

Only watchable because of the gorgeous scenery in Bora Bora gives this mistake masquerading as a movie, my rating of 3 out of 10.

Deception

Release date: 24 April 2008 (Australia)

You can tell from the very first moments of the film that accountant Jonathan McQuarry (Ewan MacGregor) is going to be had by lawyer Wyatt Bose (Hugh Jackman). This is both unfortunate; and not. Director Marcel Langenegger is not subtle so we see it all coming; ditto when our femme fatale S (Michelle Williams) arrives on scene. We know she's not quite what she seems. So sure the story is full of holes but thankfully the acting of this trio staves off complete ruin. The film's premise is, well, just silly and the segway into the sexual escapades of the rich and idle via a swingers club - "Are you free tonight?" - doesn't help. The wee twist at the end makes the going somewhat worth the journey ... but barely.

My rating 5 out of 10.

Lost in Translation

Release date: 29 July 2003 (Telluride Film Festival)

Lost in Translation was Sophia Coppola first venture as a director and screenwriter and my, what a marvelous entry to the world of film. Quiet and subtle, it follows Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) and Bob (Bill Murray) as they roam the Park Hyatt Tokyo and its New York Grill bar/restaurant in search of something they know they need but can't quite grasp: grounding. The film is deep on oh-so-many levels as both struggle with the language of their lives - the obvious struggle of fathoming Japanese and the even deeper struggle of communicating with their spouses. The comfort they discover with each other bridges these language barriers. Lost in Translation is a wonderful tome on loneliness and the importance of friendship and Sophia does an outstanding job showing North American audiences the subtlety of Zen existent in modern Tokyo.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Orphan

Release date: 21 July 2009 (Westwood, California)

Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard star as husband and wife Kate and John Coleman, who, after a miscarriage, adopt a wee Russian lass, Esther (Isabella Fuhrman) with a whole lot of baggage. Brought into their existing home with younger daughter Max (Aryana Engineer - [dreadful name]) and older son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett), Esther sets herself promptly to work sowing seeds of distrust and fear among the family, and lusting after her new papa. As the story unfolds, we learn Esther has a history of wrecking havoc and a disorder that actually makes her look younger than she actually is. Director Jaume Collet-Serra does a good building the suspense, even though we see it all coming and the inherent problem with the film is its slowness in developing Esther's back story. Farmiga is great and wee Fuhrman is amazing playing a 30-year in a 9-year-old's body. Props to Collet-Serra for giving us an unconventional non-Hollywood ending vis-a-vis papa too.

My rating 7 out of 10.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Release date: 5 March 2010 (Canada)

The mind of Tim Burton continues its unparalleled ability to birth fantastic worlds, in this case a retelling of Lewis Carroll's classic Alice in Wonderland. The version stars Burton regulars Johnny Depp (as the Mad Hatter), a simply brilliant Helena Bonham Carter (as the Red Queen - "I need a pig here!") and Mia Wasikowska as the now 19-year-old Alice returned to Wonderland - her memory muted - to do battle with the Jabberwocky (the voice of Christopher Lee) once again. Like all Burton films, the look is everything and the look here is mesmerizing and alone, worth the price of admission. That, and enjoying the gushing over-the-topness of Carter. While not groundbreaking or epic, Alice in Wonderland is fun, funny and fantastically fabulous.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Four Christmases

Release date: 26 November 2008 (Canada)

With a stellar cast of Hollywood hot properties, Four Christmases ought to be a runaway hit. Many reviewers however thought differently and were, in several cases, unkind. Yet, despite its flaws Four Christmases works magically well as both a cautionary Christmas tale of the bonds our families wield and the facades we build about ourselves in the quest for a perfect relationship. Hardcore never-getting-marrieders, Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) have spent their years together outright lying to their dysfunctional families about their whereabouts at Christmas. Unwilling to face the trauma of doing the rounds, they make-up stories of overseas good-deeding in third world countries while secretly vacationing in Fiji. But this year they are caught out in the fib and must tour Kate and Brad's wonky families including Paula (Sissy Spacek) and Howard (Robert Duvall) - Brad's folks - and Kate's parents Marilyn (Mary Steenburgen) and Creighton (Jon Voight). Seth Gordan directs this hodgepodge that, despite its really bad bits (and there are plenty!), comes off revealing the complicated emotions pent up in Kate and Brad with a truism that is both well written and expertly portrayed.

There is a great moral here as all great Christmas films must have, and for that my rating 8 out of 10.