Reviews by Kyle Ellis

While I slightly prefer Planes, Trains and Automobiles, this along with Ferris Bueller's Day Off is one of John Hughes' better films. It isn't a perfect film I agree as admittedly the characters are clichéd and there are minor logic lapses, but here's the thing- the more I see The Breakfast Club the more I like it. It still has its freshness, and while I never had a detention when I was in school even from what I've heard from people who have this actually makes detentions cool. And it is still relevant not only to the teenagers back then but now too, it does ring true a vast majority of the time what with its justified grievances, self-pitying whinges and hard-hitting home truths. The cinematography is nice and fluid, typical Hughes really, and the soundtrack adds to the film's coolness. Hughes directs wonderfully, and the script and story are well written and I think memorable. While their characters are clichéd, that I agree, the cast do a great job with what they have. Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall and especially Molly Ringwald give very appealing performances and interact well together. In conclusion, I love this film, while not perfect I like it more every time I see it. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I really enjoyed Clueless... I found it fun, charming and easy to like. It is loosely based on Emma, and while some of the book's issues are put across here, like social standing, the story was updated to make it appealing for teenagers, and it ticks almost all of the right boxes. A perfectly cast Alicia Silverstone positively sparkles in the title role of Cher, and she is further advantaged by a funny well-written script, a classic heart felt story, and very good performances from her co-stars, such as Brekin Meyer and Brittany Murphy. The direction by Amy Heckerling was also spirited. The film looks lovely, with very nice costumes and locations. My only two criticisms are that the film is a little long, and once or twice only when the story almost falls into predictability. Overall, a fun, engaging and well acted film, that I would definitely watch again. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Other than this version, the only other version I have seen of the beautiful book is the 1949 version with June Allyson, Margaret O'Brien and Mary Astor. While that version was very good, I think I marginally prefer this version. It is a little too slow at the beginning, but other than that I had no problems with this version of Little Women.

The film looks wonderful, the scenery is lush, the costumes are lovingly rendered and the cinematography is fabulous. Plus I loved The Laurence mansion here, so imposing yet beautiful. The music score is a real jewel, really poignant and soothing, and the screenplay is honest, funny and touching. In terms of adapting, the film does a very good job, all the crucial elements of the beautiful story are there and have the same effect here than they do in the book. The 1949 film may be a little more nostalgic and perhaps more cosy too, but this version is truer to the book.

The direction is adroit as well, and I loved the acting. Christian Bale is dashing and handsome as Laurie, and Trini Alvarado is a beautiful Meg. Claire Danes is a touching and compassionate Beth, while Kirsten Dunst is great as young Amy, likewise with Samantha Mathis as her older self. Mary Wickes in one of her last roles before she died, was suitably fussy and formidable as Aunty March, and John Neville gave a very good performance as Mr Laurence. Two performances in particular stood out though. One was Winona Ryder, who is a revelation as Jo, she is tomboyish yet ambitious, headstrong and well-meaning and I felt Ryder was better than Allyson at showing these traits to Jo's character. The other is Susan Sarandon, whose Marmee is less sincere yet more maternal. I also felt Gabriel Byrne was an improvement as Mr Bhaer- Rossano Brazzi was charming yet too Italian for my tastes. Byrne was an initially curious casting choice but he does very well.

Overall, I loved this adaptation, and as a film it is pretty much stunning. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I read the book and watched the film recently, and I really liked them both. The book is beautifully written, with flawless narrative detail, though at first it isn't very easy to sink your teeth into. The film on the other hand is beautiful to watch, wonderful cinematography and excellent period detail. The music was quite nostalgic, and I suppose positively hypnotic. The screenplay was wonderful to start with, but the last part's narrative did lose its way a little, and despite the fact that I thought Briony's portrayal was fine on the most part, when she first finds that Lola is being hurt by who she suspects is Robbie, I didn't find her as comforting as she was in the book. The library scene I thought was more believable in the book, it just felt thrown in in the film. I will say, the performances were wonderful, with Kiera Knightly at her loveliest and James McAvoy very handsome and heroic as the two lovers who embark on a complex love relationship. Also worth of note are the performances of two great actresses, Vanessa Redgrave and Harriet Walter, who didn't disappoint here. Atonement is beautifully done, well performed, and fairly faithful as an adaptation. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I'll start with the good things, the scenery, costumes and cinematography are fabulous, the battle sequences are very well staged and the score is wonderful. However, everything else didn't work for me. The film does suffer from a number of things(similar problems I had with Braveheart actually), and the historical inaccuracy is pretty much the least of its problems. This film does distort history, and badly, but it also suffers from too many subplots that prove superfluous in some cases, trite dialogue that make little impact and a truly pantomimic villain played by the usually excellent Jason Isaacs. The direction is nothing special, the pacing is too slow and the film is 10 minutes too long. The acting is lacking too, Mel Gibson tries hard with a very one-dimensional and unlikeable character but he struggles. In fact, only Heath Ledger gives a glimmer of hope and that is because he is the only character you feel sympathy for. Overall, I tried to like it, but too many flaws brought it down. 3/10 Bethany Cox

When I heard that The Hurt Locker had won Best Picture, I was keen on seeing if it lived up to my expectations. So I watched the film with my dad, brother and sister, and while there were some good things, such as the direction and how it was made, I was left disappointed as well. I really wanted to like this film, but the thing was it didn't completely grip or excite me.

VISUALS: Definitely what made the movie. The locations and scenery gave a real sense of authenticity, and in general the camera work was good. Though in some scenes, there was a little much of the hand held camera stuff, unless it was intentional, some of the camera movements were rather shaky. The special effects were very good though, and there are some terrific looking set pieces.

SOUND: The sound is wonderful. If you have the film on the highest volume, the sound the bombs and guns make is close to deafening. The sound as well as the visuals added to the authenticity.

DIRECTION: Kathryn Bigelow's direction here is astounding. It is secure and focused and avoids red wire/yellow wire cliché and manages not to preach too much.

ACTING: I will be explaining later how disappointed I was in the character development, but I thought the acting was reasonably good with what they had. Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty are believable and display good chemistry together. David Morse and Ralph Fiennes do what they can, which admittedly isn't much, in smaller roles. Evangeline Lilly looks lovely, but she doesn't do or say much other than be another person that one of the characters knows.

MUSIC: I am probably alone in this thought, but the music for me was a disappointment. There are parts where it is generic, and others where scenes are very dramatic where it felt somewhat intrusive.

SCRIPT: The actors don't really have that much to work with. Sure it focuses on the contrasting attitudes and philosophies of the three soldiers, who are aware that any job they do can be their last. The script doesn't do that to convey this though, some of it is clichéd and it felt like every 20 words when one character uttered an obscenity and then another. Plus it doesn't really say that much.

STORY: The story structure felt rather episodic in this film. Immediately after the characters do something they are immediately doing another thing without hesitation. After seeing half an hour or so of shooting guns I did start losing interest, maybe it was to do with the uneven pacing, and not even the final 10 minutes managed to excite me.

CHARACTERS: The characterisation is disappointingly thin here, and to almost all the characters I was indifferent to. Other than the fact they are soldiers and one of them has a wife and baby back home, you don't learn that much about the characters. Throughout they feel rather thinly sketched, perhaps it would've helped if the film had a couple of back stories like they do in Lost. That way I would have felt differently.

Overall, worth watching by all means, but I was expecting more. I am not going to make up your mind for you, but while there were some good things it didn't work for me as well as it could've done. 5/10 Bethany Cox

As we all know, the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 was a major event in history, so why not do a film version? I do applaud a film that takes on a very ambitious project, and this film is indeed that. However, I was hugely disappointed in this film, it had huge potential but it doesn't work.

Well there are some good things. Visually and technically the film looks phenomenal, the attention to detail is wonderful. The sets are realistic looking, the costumes are fine and the cinematography is stunning. The music by Hans Zimmer is pretty darn good as well, it really gives power to the climatic scenes. The action and special effects are very well done, the actual attack which forms the film's middle act is utterly riveting.

Sadly, everything else doesn't work. Shame really that one truly brilliant scene, a great score and wonderful visuals are literally gone to waste by a bloated plot, cardboard characterisations, questionable historical accuracy and an awful script.

Pearl Harbor is very long at 3 hours. Don't get me wrong I have absolutely no problem with long lengths, what was the real problem was the pace. It was so slow, that the slower scenes were close to tedious and there were parts at the beginning where I was finding it hard to keep awake. The plot is also very bloated, a lot is crammed in including a love story and old-fashioned heroics, but for a long film I was expecting a lot of attention to plot. But Michael Bay seemed to be concentrating a lot on the visual aspect of the film and seemed to have forgotten about the story. Consequently these details were underdeveloped, and the film is full to the brim with historical inaccuracies. The actors are undeniably talented, but they are given very little to work with. I had real difficulty empathising with any of the characters here, for me they seemed rather cardboard and clichéd. Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale both give lifeless performances and their chemistry is non-existent. Jon Voight is wasted yet again as Roosevelt, somehow he felt more like Dr Strangelove, and out of the cameos Dan Aykroyd especially is completely out of place. Bay's direction is also uneven, there are parts like in the attack itself where it is great but others where it is sloppy. But the worst asset was the script. It was AWFUL! It gave the actors very little to work with, and some of the dialogue instead of moving turned out to be unintentionally cheesy.

All in all, this film was disappointing. There are some good moments, but a vast majority of it doesn't work. 4/10 Bethany Cox

The Town was one of my most anticipated movies and while it wasn't quite as great as I thought it would be it was still very good with some outstanding areas. The sex scene I agree was over too soon and needed a more rounded finish, and the film does get sappy and draggy toward the end.

In a sense too, The Town is not much new in concept, but the way everything is written and delivered I found this easy to forget. It is a slick and stylishly made movie, complete with some smart scripting that made me chuckle at times as well as on the edge of my seat, confident direction and a taut and suspenseful story.

For me, The Town also contains some of the best ensemble acting of 2010. Ben Affleck is surprisingly subtle, and Rebecca Hall and Blake Lively manage to be cute and sexy without their performances being overly reliant on these factors. John Hamm, Chris Cooper and Pete Postlethwaite also give fine work, but it was Jeremy Renner's brooding intensity that captivated here.

All in all, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox