Reviews by Kyle Ellis

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When people ask you what your favorite film is or what you think is the best or greatest film you have ever seen, you can give all sorts of reasons such as every time you see the specific film. I choose American Beauty as what I believe to be the greatest film ever made because I have seen a vast number of films and it's unlike any other film I have ever seen so far. To put it shortly, it's certainly the most original film I have ever seen.

It tells the story of Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a middle aged magazine executive who decides to change his life by ignoring his overachieving domineering wife Carolyn (Annette Bening), smoking pot, quitting the job he hates and also developing a sexual attraction for his daughter's friend (Mena Suvari). The acting is completely flawless. I have never seen acting in a film where both the supporting cast and the lead cast are all brilliant. Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening are a powerful team and together they create two of the best performances in the history of cinema. The supporting cast consisting of Wes Bentley, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper, Peter Gallagher and Allison Janney, are both well cast and well immersed into their characters to the point where you believe they might as well be playing themselves. The characters in this film are just flawless. Lester played by Spacey is a really great character; a man who knows he should be set free and be rid of his domineering wife Carolyn played by Bening. If there was one character that I would describe as my favorite, then I think I'd go with Angela played by Mena Suvari. She is so nasty, so overconfident and so repugnant yet strangely that's what makes her more interesting and it makes you want to know so much more about her and her past. I also think Mena Suvari was Oscar worthy but then again, you can't have everything. Originally American Beauty was written by Alan Ball as a play and in the film, there are traits of play like material. But I personally think it's better off as just a film on it's own. The wordplay is brilliant, the story is very well constructed and the satire that Ball creates on 1990's suburbia is very well executed.

From a technical point of view, American Beauty is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. The sound design and the editing is great, the visuals are neat, the music score by Thomas Newman breathes new depths into modern film score, but above all the cinematography by Conrad L. Hall is the best technical part of the film. It's not only the shots and movements of the camera that are great but there is certain magnificence to the colour that Hall uses on the houses and on the outside shots. If there is one thing I admire above all both technically and non-technically then it would be the direction by Sam Mendes. Originally a West End Theatre Director, Mendes was hired to do American Beauty after the Steven Spielberg saw his Broadway version of Cabaret. I can only imagine that going from being a theatre director to helming a film awards contender, must have been one of the most daunting experiences of anyone's life but Mendes did brilliantly. You can tell a well directed film when you see actors in complete control and when every shot and every scene looks exactly how it should in order to create a straightforward narrative/plot. For a debut, it is just incredible to see Mendes at work and he proves himself to be quite the chameleon allowing himself to brilliantly direct Theatre and Film. American Beauty is a brilliant, bold, magnificent take on life in the 1990's. It is compelling, darkly funny and the greatest film of all time.

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This review is for the Suspiria Blu-ray by Nouveaux Pictures.
Suspiria (1976) was made by Italian horror director Dario Argento. I had no idea who Argento was before I saw Suspiria. This is a very powerful film experience, especially in the department of looks and sound. I is also very original, I haven't seen another movie like this. The plot is simple enough: an American Girl, Susie Banyon (played by a young Jessica Harper), arrives to Germany to join a dance academy. The academy is run by witches. The story feels closer to fairy-tales, like Grimm brothers, than usual gore/horror.

The strength of Suspiria is how it looks and sounds: the colors (vivid red, blue and green) are fantastic and create a very fairytale-like effect (similar in style to Argentos sequel: Inferno). Very important is also the soundtrack by Goblin, incredibly well fitted into the movie and creating a scary atmosphere. The settings are also fantastic: the house with it's huge doors and extreme wallpaper designs, the lightning effects etc. All in all, Suspiria looks incredible and should really be seen on a large screen. I watched the Blu-ray on a projector (100") and it looks excellent. There are some flaws here and there in the picture, some unfocused moments etc, but this doesn't seem to be a fault in the transfer but rather problems with the film itself. But the major part looks incredibly sharp and with rich colors. (I have the DVD-version as well, and it looks almost as good as the Blu-ray).

There is a commentary track with Argento/horror film experts Alan Jones and Kim Newman. This is excellent and the two gentlemen have a really good time. They drop so many interesting observations about every aspect of the film: the looks, the music, the actors, the director, references to other movies (there are two or three references to Psycho) etc. Very informative and well worth listening to again.

This is a horror movie, and if your'e very sensitive to blood you should of course be aware of that. But: the effects, blood and violence is not very realistic (the blood ususally looks like bright red paint, and probably is!). As the commentators say: Suspiria is not about fright and gore as much as about style! Actually, I think the "18"-label is a little exaggerated.

Highly recommended to anyone interested in cinema!

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A lovely story, showing its age a little, and enjoyable.
Poor Jack just wants to do something nice and different. However, it turns bad but things are soon sorted.
Lovely story for Halloween or Christmas.

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A lovely story, showing its age a little, and enjoyable.
Poor Jack just wants to do something nice and different. However, it turns bad but things are soon sorted.
Lovely story for Halloween or Christmas.

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I'm completely aware that this is a kids' film and everything, but this is a film I've liked since my childhood, and even now at the age of 19, I enjoy watching this classic film.

It's a great film to watch on Halloween (Halloween daytime mind you. On Halloween night I prefer to watch real horrors), and it's also the perfect film for children to watch on Halloween, as it's a kid's horror. I remember watching this one on Halloween about ten years ago now, and to me at the time it gave a brilliant atmosphere.

It has a good cast of characters such as Bette Middler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker as the Sanderson sisters.

The film begins in the year 1693, when a boy named Thackery Binks wakes up early one morning to find his younder sister Emily missing. He spots her heading towards the woods along with one of the Sanderson sisters Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker). Thackery has a friend of his get help while he chases after Emily, where he is lead into the Sanderson sisters' cottage.

The Sanderson sisters are witches and have grown old. They've decided to decrease their age so they can be young again by making up a potion. The nasty part is that they need Emily (or any other child for that matter) to drink the potion so they can suck the life force out of her, thus killing her and returning themselves to young age (though they're still ugly. Especially Winifred with those teeth of hers).

Thackery attempts to stop them and save Emily, but fails completely. As punishment they transform him into a black cat and give him immortal life, so he can eternily suffer with the guilt of failing Emily.

The Sanderson sisters are then captured by the townspeople of Salem and the Sanderson sisters are hung. But before being hung however Winifred (Bette Middler) casts a spell. If a virgin lights the black flame candle on a Halloween night, then the Sanderson sisters will return.

The film skips ahead 300 years on Halloween in the year 1993, where the story is legendary. The part of Thackery is a mystery to the people of Salem, as they never found out what had become of him. It has also been rumoured that a black cat guards the Sanderson house every Halloween, making sure that nobody brings back the Sanderson sisters.

A boy named Max Dennisen who's just moved to Salem from Los Angeles and isn't at all happy about it finds the story perposterous and not in the least bit interesting. That evening he's forced to go trick or treating with his 8 year old sister Dani. That evening he runs into a girl he fancies named Allison. In an attempt to impress her, he decides the three of them can visit the Sanderson house. At the house Max (despite the warnings and assuming the story is a load of crap) lights the black flame candle, and is horrified when he finds the legend is true.

The Sanderson sisters return and are ready to continue what they started. They have that one evening to brew up another potion (the same they made 300 years earlier) and drain the life of a child.

Thackery has a lot of info about the witches and teams up with Max, Dani and Allison. The fate of Salem and the kids of that town rests with them. If they succeed in stopping them, the Sanderson sisters will be gone for good, but if they fail, then the Sanderson sisters will be back for more than just that evening. They'll be back for ever unless of course they are hunted by someone. The only problem is that no one they confide to with regard to the Sanderson sisters believes them and some take it as a Halloween joke. Great film.

 I'm completely aware that this is a kids' film and everything, but this is a film I've liked since my childhood, and even now at the age of 19, I enjoy watching this classic film.

It's a great film to watch on Halloween (Halloween daytime mind you. On Halloween night I prefer to watch real horrors), and it's also the perfect film for children to watch on Halloween, as it's a kid's horror. I remember watching this one on Halloween about ten years ago now, and to me at the time it gave a brilliant atmosphere.

It has a good cast of characters such as Bette Middler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker as the Sanderson sisters.

The film begins in the year 1693, when a boy named Thackery Binks wakes up early one morning to find his younder sister Emily missing. He spots her heading towards the woods along with one of the Sanderson sisters Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker). Thackery has a friend of his get help while he chases after Emily, where he is lead into the Sanderson sisters' cottage.

The Sanderson sisters are witches and have grown old. They've decided to decrease their age so they can be young again by making up a potion. The nasty part is that they need Emily (or any other child for that matter) to drink the potion so they can suck the life force out of her, thus killing her and returning themselves to young age (though they're still ugly. Especially Winifred with those teeth of hers).

Thackery attempts to stop them and save Emily, but fails completely. As punishment they transform him into a black cat and give him immortal life, so he can eternily suffer with the guilt of failing Emily.

The Sanderson sisters are then captured by the townspeople of Salem and the Sanderson sisters are hung. But before being hung however Winifred (Bette Middler) casts a spell. If a virgin lights the black flame candle on a Halloween night, then the Sanderson sisters will return.

The film skips ahead 300 years on Halloween in the year 1993, where the story is legendary. The part of Thackery is a mystery to the people of Salem, as they never found out what had become of him. It has also been rumoured that a black cat guards the Sanderson house every Halloween, making sure that nobody brings back the Sanderson sisters.

A boy named Max Dennisen who's just moved to Salem from Los Angeles and isn't at all happy about it finds the story perposterous and not in the least bit interesting. That evening he's forced to go trick or treating with his 8 year old sister Dani. That evening he runs into a girl he fancies named Allison. In an attempt to impress her, he decides the three of them can visit the Sanderson house. At the house Max (despite the warnings and assuming the story is a load of crap) lights the black flame candle, and is horrified when he finds the legend is true.

The Sanderson sisters return and are ready to continue what they started. They have that one evening to brew up another potion (the same they made 300 years earlier) and drain the life of a child.

Thackery has a lot of info about the witches and teams up with Max, Dani and Allison. The fate of Salem and the kids of that town rests with them. If they succeed in stopping them, the Sanderson sisters will be gone for good, but if they fail, then the Sanderson sisters will be back for more than just that evening. They'll be back for ever unless of course they are hunted by someone. The only problem is that no one they confide to with regard to the Sanderson sisters believes them and some take it as a Halloween joke. Great film.

Quite interesting to hear the different studio tracks and to understand why they have been discarded. Her voice was always perfect. Nostalgia.... :-)

I have seen a lot of bad movies, some have novelty value, some are guilty pleasures and some are downright atrocious. As inept and as appalling as The Room is, for me it belongs in the unintentionally funny/complete train wreck category. The film in my opinion is quite badly made. The settings are dull in the lighting and feel very limited and overly-compact, while the cinematography and editing are some of the worst I've seen in a while. The music feels jumpy and doesn't fit with some scenes, while apart from one classic "I feel like I'm sitting on an atomic bomb waiting for it to go off" the dialogue is inane and painfully cheesy, the story is thinner than a sewing thread, the direction is one of the most inept directing jobs I've encountered in recent years and the film in its pace is painfully slow in many spots. The acting is also atrocious from everybody involved. Tommy Wiseau is a big reason why The Room is so bad, he shows little talent for writing or directing, while his acting fares even worse as I can't remember a single moment where he didn't make me cringe. All in all, a truly inept film, might have some novelty value, but even that can't hide how appalling The Room is. 1/10 Bethany Cox

I do agree Hobgoblins is a terrible movie. But the worst movie ever made? Not for me. However, that isn't saying much, it is a milestone in film-making but not in a good way. If you want every single thing that makes a bad movie bad, look no further than Hobgoblins. Look for the ropey effects. Look for the poorly designed Hobgoblins, who aren't scary or funny in the slightest. Look out for terrible dialogue. Look out for incoherent storytelling. Look out for non-existent direction. Look out for bad pacing. And to add further insult to injury, look out for horrendous acting. Hobgoblins has every single one of those. In conclusion, terrible and one of the nadirs of the 80s along with Garbage Pail Kids Movie. 1/10 Bethany Cox

Troll is not as bad as its sequel, which is horrendous(yet you sort of get some entertainment at how bad it is), but I would be lying if I said it wasn't a terrible movie.

The production values are quite shoddy, the cinematography is slip-shod while the costumes are hokey. The sound effects range from okay-ish to truly bizarre, and the story is weak and quite predictable. That's not all, the direction is sloppy, the script is dreadfully corny but somewhat hilarious in the way that it doesn't know which direction to take, and the acting from all involved is terrible. Oh, and the troll is more silly than scary.

Yet I actually got some entertainment out of it, also it is quite short, has a cool score and goes quickly, so overall it is not a complete waste of time. 3/10 Bethany Cox