Review

The CIA, its predecessor the OSS, the Skull & Bones fraternity, MI5, the KGB, the Cubans, World War II, the Cold War that quickly followed in its aftermath, the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the Kennedy era, Matt Damon, Robert De Niro (also directing), Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Joe Pesci, spies! Espionage! Cloaks (or at least trenchcoats) and daggers! Bad guys and conspiracy theories! It all sounds like a list of ingredients for a bloody and good action-spy flick, a popcorn pleaser, doesn’t it? But alas and alack, it is nothing of the sort. The Good Shepherd is a careful and slow paced look at the origins and early development of the CIA. And when I say slow, I do mean it - it is a good hour too long, most of which is taken up by long apparently meaningful shots of Damon looking… flat. Emotionless. ...

Deja vu: Good police-case movie with a sci fi twist that is totally unbelievable if you actually care to think. Still, the tension is good. ★★★ Blood Diamond: Brilliant and visceral movie with some great acting and engrossing albeit predictable plot. Leo goes from strength to strength and Jennifer Connolly just looks good :) Djimon Honsou really needs to find different roles though… ★★★★ Smokin’ Aces: Gun action turned up to 11. Mostly a by-the-numbers Mafia movie, but does have its moments. Alicia Keys does surprisingly well, and Ryan Reynolds shows he can act serious convincingly. Still, let down by some needless violence and bland predictable characterisation. ★★☆ ...

This is a story about a man and his wristwatchwe’re told by the narrator. Harold Krick is a mild-mannered everyman who works at the IRS (the American Tax Office). He goes about his daily life like clockwork, until one day… Ah, a twist. Cue standard plot device. Well, it’s hard to say if the over-arching plot rises above the standard - mild-mannered man, influenced by outside factor/plot twist turns his life around - the trick here is that it all gets a little Kaufmann-esque: Harold starts to hear his narrator. And the narrator tells him that he will soon die. ...

Max Barry is one of those rare writers - able to weave humour and a thick plot into high-paced action, and to do so consistently. Previously, he’d written Syrup, largely unheard of and unnoticed, and Jennifer Government, his “break out” novel that took branding to the extreme. Company, his latest, continues the fine tradition of corporate satire with serious plot. Jones is a new graduate joining Zephyr Holdings - the reason for joining being the drop-dead-gorgeous receptionist who drives an Audi - but he doesn’t really know what Zephyr does, per se. And since there’s a hiring freeze due to budget restrictions, he’s being paid from the copy paper budget. He starts to ask questions that make his co-workers, Freddy the sales assistant who hasn’t been promoted in 5 years, and Holly the fitness freak, a little bit uncomfortable - they’re all thinking it, but no-one asks out loud, until Jones at least. ...

Mumble is an emperor penguin with a problem: he can’t sing like the other penguins. Indeed, his singing is so bad, he’s practically an outcast. Also, he has this funny thing going on with his feet, and this is causing all sorts of upset to his parents, and the tribal elders. The elders cast him out, saying his destruction of their traditions is what’s responsible for their “god” witholding fish; he finds a group of smaller penguins and with them goes and finds the cause of the lack of fish, the “aliens”, penguins with flabby faces, no beaks or feathers (i.e. humans). The humans see how cute his dancing is, they think the penguins are trying to send them a message, see the error of their ways, and they move on banning fishing in the Antarctic zone, and all’s well that ends well. ...