J.C.V.D. (2008)

Jean-Claude Van Damme. The Muscles From Brussels. Wham Bam, Van Damme. More than likely after hearing either his stage name or famous nicknames you will already have a preconceived perception, and high chance it isn't a very impressed one.

I remember when I was first introduced to the movies of Van Damme (born Jean Claude Van Varenberg), I was 11 years old and it was a primary school mates dodgy pirate copy of A.W.O.L. (aka Lion Heart aka Wrong Bet) on VHS. It blew me away. I had grown up on healthy doses of Sly and Arnie and this guy was just what the doctor ordered. My mates and I fell in love with Van Damme instantly, renting the likes of Kickboxer and Bloodsport over and over again and if we weren't watching Van Damme's celluloid rise to fame we were play fighting, re enacting fight sequences and mimicking moves we had seen in his, Sly's and Arnie's movies. The tough, violent and action packed high testosterone of his movies was simply tailor made for what us young men wanted from movies. And although I had seen many action sequences in movies before, I had never seen someone move has amazingly as Van Damme. He didn't need boxing gloves or a machine gun and hunting knife like Sly nor a robot skeleton like Arnie, Van Damme "WAS" the lethal weapon, using his whole body, legs, arms, knees, elbows and head, and most impressively and effortlessly lifting himself up six foot in the air and spinning around to round-house kick some poor schmuck in the face. It was amazing, It didn't even look possible, it blew me away. Van Dammage was awesome!

Now, nearly twenty years on and Van Damme has been reduced to a straight to DVD action star, along with another former 90's big action star Steven Seagal. As a dedicated fan of Van Damme's, I still make sure I get a copy of each of his straight to DVD movies, and each time they seem to get worse and worse. He had lived the American dream, arriving in the USA in the early 80's after leaving Belgium, hardly able to speak the English language he worked and worked trying to get noticed and materialize his childhood dream of become and international movie star and he achieved it becoming a house hold name world wide only to be seduced by the temptation of women and drugs and sadly let it all slip away far to soon. Now reduced to mega low budget production line action movies and seemingly trying his hardest to do the best he can with extremely weak scripts, incredibly low budgets and directors that couldn't direct them self down a straight road. But I still get something from watching these uninspired movies, each time it feels like I am catching up with an old friend, seeing how the years have treated him and remembering what I used to love about him so much. Always secretly believing that Van Damme was also far better than the tosh he had to work with.

As he never reached the dizzy heights and longevity of success that Sly or Arnie have enjoyed, the future was looking pretty dim for our Hero from Belgium. His private life had become extremely public at the end of the 90's as he famously become a drug addict and had several failed marriages and even remarried one of his previous wives. in recent years Stallone has made a big comeback in Hollywood with the Rocky and Rambo sequels and the forthcoming The Expendables looking to big quite a success too and it has become quite respectable to like Stallone again but I still had to keep my passion for Van Damme close to my chest, I mean, who would take me seriously as movie lover once I blurt out that one of my favourite movie stars is Jean Claude Van Damme? Well....2008 became the year to change that forever....

It almost feels like his born destiny to make this movie, as though all the movies he has made through the last twenty years was to serve to sole purpose to give this move the full impact it delivers. At a time where I am starting to grow sick and tired of so many movies being so unoriginal and complete clones of one other, and getting bored of knowing exactly how the movie will pan out by the end of the first act, JCVD is a sucker punch to the senses of a movie that kicks everything that could be mundane about a movie right into the sky! From the superb credits opening sequence, a one shot scene of Van Damme working his way through a host of baddies and saving a girl through a war zone and at one point facing the screen and looking bored and tired of this same old old, all set to a song that hasn't left my heads since, I knew this was going to be as special as the trailer I had come across on the Internet a few weeks earlier had made it look.

JCVD is pretty much a french language subtitled movie where Van Damme is literally playing himself, so painfully honest that a lot of the facts about him are mirroring his real life very closely. The basic lay out is that our washed up-has been action star has made his way back to Brussels to get away from things in the US for a while but has to stop into a local post office to wire some money urgently to his Lawyer as the cheque he made out to him bounced, unlucky for him, what seems like a menial choir is going to turn out to be one of the craziest days in his life.

The movie tilts, twists and turns with flashbacks and pulp fiction-esque out of order sequencing helping to make this more memorable and involving than your usual cinematic experience. The Director has admitted to the movie only being 70% scripted the rest ad libbed, giving it a very natural and earthy quality to the acting and just wait for the one take sequence where Van Damme is removed from the heart of the movie by being raised up out of the set and he pours his heart out to the audience bringing himself to the verge of tears with a monologue that is one of the most uncomfortably genuine and surreal scenes you are ever likely to witness.

JCVD succeeds on almost every level that it works on, from the brutally honest and sincere portrayal of it's lead that never shines an artificial or over flattering light to the laugh out loud very clever script and in jokes that are mostly at Van Damme's expense. Creating a tone that is lighthearted and fun yet bitter sweet and emotional, it is a movie that is a pleasure to experience. Virtually drained from any colour and given a gritty and realistic look along with some of the finest, smooth and adventurous directing I have seen in a long while, from writer, Director and long time Van Damme fan Mabrouk El Mechri. Clearly, this is the pinnacle of Van Damme's career, the finest project he has worked on and arguably the greatest achievement of any actor who had hit a rock bottom as hard as Van Damme had, my only worry is that it might not have the same effect it had on me to some one who has not not followed his downward spiralling career and been able to thoroughly be blown away by this refreshing fun almost mockumentary like movie that clearly looks set to earn cult status and be one of the most important movies of the decade.

JCVD remains involving and inspired until the very end, never retreating and following suite of the usual climax of a standard action thriller keeping it very brave and bold. Most importantly, despite sitting for 90minutes with my jaw virtually open at how much of a treat this was for a dedicated Van Damme fan, it lingered and grew in my mind immensely over the course of the following weeks. I can not praise this movie enough, for what it is and for what it stands for and for the brand new light it shines on Van Damme. I am thrilled it has received consistently positive reviews and Van Damme is being praised for his utterly convincing and heart string pulling performance, his comedic timing was spot on and his pure devotion to the role of himself let alone how much it tells us about the star for agreeing to star in a movie that at times gets close to virtually humiliating him, it fully proves how grounded and he has become and what I have quietly known for many years, he really can act.

So don't be majorly fooled that this is just your average run of the mill straight to DVD Van Dammage, this is a treat that you would be at an extreme loss to judge by the cover.

J.C.V.D "Van Damme's finest performance in a genuine, unique, fun and touching power house movie that is as refreshing as it is exhilarating to see Van Damme finally get the break he so clearly deserves." **** 1/2

The Lives Of Others (2006)

Wow. I get so excited when I come across a truly great movie. A movie that eases its way into my subconscious and lingers in my mind for days, or in the case of this movie, infiltrated my dreams and virtually left me with no sleep the night I watched it. A movie, that through all the trite you watch, all the Hollywood fare that gets flung in your face, appears like a diamond in the rough and makes you remember how fantastic the medium can actually be.

I believe that in the right hands, cinema can be a great art form, but to me, what I want primarily from a movie, is plain and simply, to be entertained. Of course there are many levels of being entertained. I am quite happy to slouch on my couch with a drink and pop my brain on the side and enjoy Jean Claude Van Damme high kicking his muscular frame through 90 minutes of uninspired, unoriginal straight to dvd action nonsense, but I am also geared up to sit with my wife Caroline and focus on a deep and passionate subtitled epic that bursts with imaginative originality and blows scenes right off the screen with it's edgy dark fantasy and touching war time drama such as the fantastic Pan's Labyrinth, but it is movies like the latter that smash their way into my infamous top 100 and earn their place as one of my favourite movies of all time and stand as evidence to why watching flicks is my most treasured pass time.

I had had a copy of The Lives Of Others in my collection since The A-Man first raved about it when it was released but it had just merged with a collection of over 100 movies that I have in my possession that I need to get around to watching at some point. It wasn't until Kristina, a very dear friend of mine text me and expressed her feelings about it the night she watched it, that I decided it was time to blow the dust off of it and give it a spin. I love movies, but am pretty crap on history, so through a series of texts, Kristina brought me up to speed with the history to the film, of which is set in East Germany in 1984 six years before the Berlin wall came down, that there 175000 spies for a population of 17 million, less than 100 people per spy with their stated aim to know "everything about everybody." It was clearly very personal and touching to her because she originates from West Germany and was aware of what was going on in East Germany at the time.

The Lives of others, or Das Leben Der Anderen as it is known in Germany, is director, writer and producer Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck's first foray into feature film territory. And man, does he hit the nail on the head perfectly. The movie tells of how Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler, played very skillfully by Kevin Spacey doppelganger Ulrich Muhe, a member of the East Germany secret police, known as the Stasi, is assigned by Minister Bruno Hempf (Thomas Theime) to conduct a surveillance on Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch), a successful playwright and his long time actress girlfriend Christa-Maria (Martina Gedeck), to confirm if they are involved in any anti-communist activities.

Although outwardly communists, the effect the surveillance state is taking on their lives, especially after the blacklisting of fellow theatre director and close friend of Georg, Albert Jerska (Volkmar Kleinert), leads to suicide, Georg and a small group of friends decide to put together a document that is to bring to light factual evidence that the DDR Government are covering up the high suicide rate in East Germany. All the while Hauptmann is listening in on this, but after realising the strain and unfairness put into the lives of Georg and Christa-Maria, and warming to them as people, will he put forward the evidence that would lead Georg down the same doomed path Albert Jerska?

The movie grabs you instantly. Brilliantly scripted and with some of the finest performances from a cast of talented actors and a stirring and intense direction from Von Donnersmarck, topped of with a harrowing story that is brutally told, this movie is bordering on perfection. The movie begins as a disturbing political thriller but soon opens up into a very tense character driven drama that has several great moments of edge of your seat excitement and thrills as well as scenes of tear inducing dramatic intensity. The transition of Hauptmann from isolated and lonely devoted employee to self doubting yet passionate guardian angel is depicted beautifully as through the manipulating and bully he witnessess, realises that there might just be more to life than Law and rules. A great supporting cast with strong characters and several captivating scenes help carry the narrative forward where it could possibly have become slow at times.

I am thankful that this gem is of a low budget and German origin, because in the hands of Hollywood, I am convinced this material would have been raped and the hard impact lost in favour of more over the top thrills and far fetched characterization. It is brought to us very grounded and honest letting the truth be enough to evoke our emotions without having to tweak at it too much if at all.

The Lives Of Others "Absolutely fantastic. A hard hitting, intense and very emotional piece of East Germany's history, this movie, is at the top of it's game on almost every level. " *****

Mamma Mia! (2008)

Not in a million years did I ever think I would write about this movie on my blog! In fact, I have a couple of movies I have been desperately wanting to share my opinions of and write about on here over the past two weeks but just haven't got around to it, what with two of my children's birthdays and our 5th anniversary in the last week. And it is down to our 5th anniversary that I am about to write about Mamma Mia as it was one of the presents I had bought for Caroline.

I was very lucky this year, as when I was just a lad, me and my old mate, Darthwoodbine (Chris, to his family) would go the cinema up to 40 times a year but as the years have rolled on and I work, and have a family to look after, I don't go to visit the big screen a fraction as often, last year, I only went to the cinema twice, yup, you heard that right, two times, and I call myself a movie fan! Tut tut.

Well this year I have been grateful to have had the opportunities to go and see all the movies I wanted to see, the Dark Knight, the Incredible Hulk, The Crystal Skull, Rambo etc etc, I have got around to seeing them all on the big screen, the way they were intended to be seen (although I now can watch them on my wall mounted 50 inch via Blu Ray at home, the spectacle and event factor just isn't quite the same). All the time revelling in my joy of being exported into another world thanks to some of Hollywood's finest movie makers, and of course, my darling wife Caroline, of whom has accompanied with me on most of this journeys. Of whom, wanted to see Mamma Mia very much, but sadly didn't get around to doing so due to sacrificing it to see what I wanted to see. Yeah I feel guilty, I would quite happily of endured it for her but we went and saw Hell Boy: The Golden Army instead as we were both fans of the first Hell Boy movie and of course, the cinematic genius that is Guillermo Del Toro. So I was dead cert to buy it for her as soon as it was available and to be a true gentleman, I watched it with her the night we got it.

Although The Dark Knight is this years biggest hit globally, and also peaking as the 4th biggest grossing movie of all time almost reaching the $1 Billion mark, Mamma Mia was the biggest grossing movie in this country. It didn't too badly world wide either, knocking up well over $600 million. And it isn't really a surprise. I was quite up for watching it, I had no expectation as it clearly wasn't my cup of tea, just below horror, Musicals are my least favourite movie genre, but was quite open about it, well I had to be or I would have sat for 100 minutes pulling my hair and banging my head against the wall, but get this sports fans, it isn't that bad!

At first, I was cringing due to the pungent smell of cheese that the movie was omitting but the movie, so convincingly effortlessly, was very light heartedly comedic and toe tappingly fun. You can't hardly disagree that like them or not Abba have one of the most consistently, longest running popularity of all time, all ages, every party or wedding, everyone knows their music and will get up to dance. I have never bought an Abba CD nor would voluntarily listen to an Abba album but was familiar with 90% of the songs sung in the movie and with the sporadic dance numbers and absolutely beautiful locations, the movie is set on a gorgeous Greek Island, although all the scenes shot at the top of Villa Donna were filmed on a sound stage, tropical trees, Brilliant blue sky and beautiful exotic blue sea is the order of the day and with young bouncy dancers in their hoards filling the screen the whole jolly uplifting experience sure as hell starts to rub off on you. The actors clearly have a lot of fun too, Meryl Streep as Donna, is as brilliant and dedicated as usual with fine supporting performances from her "side kicks", Christine Baranski as Tanya and Julie Walters as Rosie, her best friends and former group members who are attending the wedding of Donna's daughter Sophie, played sweetly by the girl next door beautiful Amanda Seyfried. Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard play the three former love interests of Donna of whom one of them, according to Donna's old diary that Sophie has found, is her father....

The story is clearly and unashamedly a thin excuse to put together an extensive string of musical numbers sang by pretty much all of the major leads throughout the movie. Director Phyllida Lloyd is hailed as a first time director, although she is an accomplished theatre director and her credits include the stage version of Mamma Mia itself. She does an absolutely perfect job bringing it from the stage to the bring screen, and watching it on Blu Ray, I was blown away at how crisp and beautiful the image was, clearly one of the best looking Blu Rays on the market, if someone wanted to see how much better Blu Ray was than DVD, I would arguably chuck this on to get their visual juices flowing! It is so vibrant and sharp, it looked as though you could step into the screen and the join the cast in Greece!

So, despite being one of my least favourite genres and quite simply, a chick flick, you can't knock it for doing exactly what it does on the tin. Caroline was blown away by it and has ranked it in her top 5 movies of all time, and it is obvious why, it will stand the test of time, joining Dirty dancing and Pretty woman, as the leading chick flicks for many generations to come.

Mamma Mia "Cheesy, simple, but extremely effective, precisely conceived to look genuinely effortless, it achieves what it goes out to do in transferring one of the most successful theatre shows in recent years into a rollicking blockbuster musical. Women will love it, and guys, secretly, you won't hate it either." ***

In Bruges (2008)

I'd be the first to admit, there are some movies I just avoid, simply because of who is starring it. I know it is easy to by pass a movie because of how it looks in the trailer or by being of a genre that doesn't stimulate you much, but for years I would steer clear of movies starring either Russell Crowe or Colin Farrell. A mix of their bad boy rep in the tabloids and reports and how overrated I believed they were as actors. I famously found Ridley Scott's Gladiator to be a very glossy but deeply shallow with a deadly flat and wooden performance from Oscar winning Russell, but after years of carefully missing his pictures I watched American Gangster and 3:10 To Yuma virtually back to back and his great, natural and diverse performances in both finally buried the unfair grudge I had long held against him, of which I am very pleased about, as it means I am open to more movies, which to me, is a great thing.

I also felt a little bitter towards Farrell as he was of similar age to Ed Norton and Christian Bale, two of my favourite actors, and for many years received the success and fame I think they both clearly deserved too. I had also watched a fair handful of his flicks and found them to be boasting big budgets and, well not much else. I threw away my grudges with Farrell and dived straight into In Bruges after a few friends had recommended it to me...

British director/writer Martin McDonagh brings us his second movie in four years. Following on from Six Shooter (a movie I haven't seen yet but judging from what I have read about it, it seems to be in a similar vein in style and substance as In Bruges, of which in my opinion would make him and up and coming Guy Richie wannabe) It is a gently paced Irish/British gangster flick set in Bruges, where two hit men are sent and awaiting instructions from their crime Boss. That is the simple layout of this slick little independent movie, that starts off quite slow and with it's excessive use of shaky handheld shots makes it quite hard to get into, but given 20 minutes you soon find where you are with the humour and relationship between the two central leads, Farrell as Ray the slightly slow and new to the business hit man and the ever brilliant and sturdy Brendan Gleeson as Ken the wise and seasoned veteran.

The back story for the characters unravels at a slow but intriguing pace and is a solid idea and adds to quite a nice amount of depth to the main characters. A few funny set pieces and sub plots help to liven things up until the plot thickens, if predictably, to why the guys are actually in Bruges. At this point, we are introduced to The crime boss, Harry, played enjoyably and completely over the top by Ralph Fiennes. The movie picks up pace here as it speeds along to it's climatic violent conclusion.

Throughout the movie, I started to feel I was watching something that was very special indeed, McDonagh has a brilliant sense of humour in the same style of Ritchie and Tarrantino and some of the intial scenes are laugh out loud funny and made a perfect bitter sweet mix blended with the touching back story. The main highlight of the movie for me was how blown away I was by Farrell's performance, he nails the character, the young and willing criminal that doesn't quite have the streetwise mind yet and is pretty doomed form the start, a character that is almost obligatory in a gangster movie, has never been as perfectly polished as it is here rounded with McDonagh's clever wit and Farrell's pitch perfect performance.

The only let down is the main plot, of which moments before the climax, becomes completely obvious and not half as clever and thrilling as it is set out to be but extremely violent and a tad silly. You realise that while you were enjoying and getting into the main characters and their shenanigans this clunckly collection of ingredients had shamelessly been added to the mix one by one serving no real depth or purpose other than solely for their turn in the movies final scene "twist". A whole character, his clothes and quotes mentioned all come together so predictably and and totally implausibly that it really does shave a lot of the movies strengths off in the closing moments.

Still, it is a pretty decent watch if you aren't too offended by excessive bad language and occasionally bloody and shocking violence. This still stands as a success simply because it is only McDonagh's second picture so he clearly has lots and lots of room to grow and that is an exciting thought.

In Bruges "Superb casting and at times a very strong and brilliant script, let down by a very shoddy and over worked out plot climax, this is definitely worth a watch for Farrell's best performance to date, alone" ***

Chasing Amy (1997)

It's funny really, as my mate The A-Man and I were talking the other day about Kevin Smith and we agreed it was pretty fair to say that the man himself, love him, hate him, or more than likely, don't know him, he is still more famous than any of his actual movies. He has made his way on to countless DVDs, either interviewing stars or joining the cast on audio commentary or just generally appearing in bonus featured documentaries, (mainly in Comic adaptation movies) plus he has released two stand up comedy/interview DVDs. He is most definitely one of the most successful cult movie makers of the last ten years. His movies, always finding their little dedicated audience, never grossing more than $40 million dollars State side, up to now that is, what with the soon to be released over here "Zak and Miri Make A Porno" which stars comedy star of the moment, Seth Rogan, of which is getting heavy TV promotion at the moment.

I Loved Smith's first movie, Clerks, found his 2nd movie Mallrats to be pretty poor, then along came Chasing Amy, an offbeat romantic comedy drama that blew me away, and still now, after repeated viewings, can knock me off my feet. I sadly don't hold much hope for Smith's forthcoming movie as each and all of the movies that followed Chasing Amy were mostly childish, and at best average adult comedies, which is such a disappointment as Chasing Amy gave promise that Smith was going to be a movie maker to watch out for.

It is a pretty low budget affair, made on $250,000, and clearly shows that a bit of heart in a movie can be so much more effective than a flashy production. Still flawed by some clumsy directing and over acted and mellow dramatic scenes and at times a convoluted script, this movie still holds it's own to remain a pretty impressive and unique movie. The movie starts off with the same feel and humour of both Smith's previous efforts, with lots of the same references to comics and contemporary pop culture and is very funny too, but if you aren't experienced with the works of Kevin Smith, be ready for some almost shockingly rude, crude and direct dialogue of which would never find its way into a run of the mill romantic comedy. Although this in no way makes the movie special nor ruins it, it is just the staple diet of any Kevin Smith movie. This movie excels where his usually fail because of its genuine substance of a relationship, something that also wouldn't be caught dead in your usual romantic comedy!
An up and coming, goatie-ed Ben Affleck plays Holden, a laid back and unassuming comic book writer who lives with his best friend and "inker" Banky, played by TVs My name is Earl's Jason Lee, who's life is in turmoil as he dedicates his time struggling to protect his best mate from getting hurt as he sees him slowly fall in love with Alyssa, played very well by Joey Lauren Adams, of whom the movie was mostly based on as she was a former girlfriend of Smiths. Sadly though, if I am honest, a lot of whether you dig this movie or not, relies on how you take Adams. She doesn't bother me, but she does have what can only be described as an irritating, screechy voice and I know my wife Caroline wont watch this movie with me any more because she simply can't handle her annoying voice. That aside, a whole host of bright characters fill the screen as we follow Holden as he sinks deep into a relationship that was doomed from the start.

The music (of which I have no idea what it is called or who it is by) that opens the movie sums up the movie pretty well, it is offbeat and kooky yet very gentle and emotional and sticks with you long after you have heard it. Unlike your usual rom-com flicks with their pretty predictable Boy falls for girl, boy falls out with girl, boy gets back together with girl 3 act structure, Chasing Amy turns that on its head and not only because it is about a guy who falls in love with a Lesbian, but because the genuine and honest third act doesn't go where you expect it to and I found that incredibly refreshing and realistic. I guess where most movies end, is where this movie continues into its 3rd act, after the "happily ever after" schmaltz and where real relationship issues prevail, such as in this movies case, the insecurity of a partners past. This is handled with beautifully, as it eats away at in love Holden, of whom begins to feel totally inadequate and doesn't know how to handle his feelings and the situation, but from the beginning of the movie to the last frame, we can see the journey Holden has been on, through this relationship and how much he has grown and matured and learned through this harsh on his heart, lesson in life.

Chasing Amy "Writer, Director Kevin Smith's finest hour, a sweet, if naive little movie that seems also contradict itself with its harsh honesty and maturity. A movie that will always hold a place in my heart. A must see movie" **** 1/2

The Station Agent (2003)

I taped this little movie late one night on BBC1 a few months ago after a mate of mine recommended it to me, and I finally got around to giving it a going over last night. I had an idea of what it was about but my pre concieved perceptions of it were very wrong. Although a modest budgeted independant movie, it is a lot more digestible and comercial than I had expected it to be.

It is a very gentle and bitter sweet light comedy drama about a very lonely and ostracised Dwarf of whom is left an unused train station in the will of his only friend. Finn heads out to Newfoundland, New Jersey to live in solitude and spend his days trainspotting. While there, he meets young at heart Cuban, hot-dog stand vendor Joe, played brilliantly breezily by Bobby Cannavale, who is running the business while his dad is very ill, and Olivia, a middle aged lady of whom tragically lost her child 2 years earlier and is in the middle of a crumbling relationship with her husband, played to perfection by Patricia Clarkson. The motley crew find solace and comfort with each other and bond through their flaws and struggles with life.

First time director and writer Thomas McCarthy does a superb job at subtly bring together these characters and the world they are in, all the time bringing in enough sweet and delicate humour to keep the movie from ever feeling too heavy thus keeping it a very satisfying experience. A brilliant little cast including the magnificent and stunning Peter Dinklage as Finn, help bring the movie to life and drive it your heart.

A very creditable and harmless movie is even more poignant to me for its bringing to light the life of a dwarf. See as a movie fan, if I think of Dwarfs on film I think either of them being terribly and constantly type cast as Ewoks or little aliens/wizards/talking ducks in George Lucas movies or as bait for a host of terrible and offensive jokes in Austin Powers movies. Here, we really get to see and feel how much crap is thrown at poor harmless Finn every single day, just to and from his way to work, kids laughing and sniggering at him as he passes and shout out comments about snow white and the seven dwarfs, and these scenes that open the movie brought a lump to my throat. It is hard enough struggling through life when you don't have any physical inadequacies and through modern cinema such as Me myself and Irene, we are led to believe that dwarfs and midgets "like" being "humiliated" about their stature, well The Station Agent and Peter Dinklage's deep and heart felt performance confirm that people with dwarfism are very much emoting human beings too.

The Station Agent "A fine and enjoyable first effort for writer, director Thomas McCarthy who brings a lot of heart to this gentle and wonderfully acted light hearted drama" *** 1/2

Rambo (2008)

Did the world need another Rambo movie? Well after the impressive box office and critical success of 2006's Rocky Balboa, former Hollywood Heavyweight Sylvester Stallone believed that we did, and if I am honest, he had me convinced too. With 9 out of 10 franchise movies these days being drastically toned down in violence and language to help obtain the all important pg13 certificate (12a over here in the UK) to hopefully bring in a bigger world wide gross at the box office, for instance Alien vs Predator parts 1 and 2 , Terminator 3 and Die Hard 4, Sly steps up to the stand as writer, director and star of the most shockingly violent and explosive movie of the year.

You definitely couldn't accuse Sly of selling out when he clearly could have grossed another $50 million with Rambo had it have had a lower certificate but Sly sticks to his guns, literally, to give us the movie he wanted to make. Where the recent Die hard and Indy sequels didn't really bring much new to their franchises, Rambo trades what the original first blood trilogy had with a bare chested athletic younger John Rambo with a bitter, extremely brutal and hardened character that more than convinces the viewer that the tortured Vietnam Vet hasn't softened over the years. back in 2007, Stallone released a self edited 3 minute trailer that was to help promote the movie for an overseas distributor, it also left me and most of mates gobsmacked! RAMBO was most definitely back! No more are bad guys being shot and beaten to pulps enough for the legendary green beret, this time his enemies were having their throats ripped out by his bare hands and being gutted by a self made machete! Wow. This is the action movie throw back we had been waiting to see for almost 20 years!!!!

So, did the movie deliver the promise that the trailer had made? Well, as Stallone went out to make an old fashioned style action movie, with next to no CGI but using old school action sequences, stunts and explosions, it definitely delivers. With a running time of barely over 80 minutes, it flies by at a break neck pace heading towards a climatic battle that brilliantly and brutally goes on for almost ten solid minutes and I enjoy every second of it, cheering at the screen as each of the evil, nasty and short Burmese soldiers are blown to pieces or decapitated one by one, blood soaking the screen, this movie is not for the faint hearted, although once you get used to the idea of the extreme violence it increasingly becomes easier to digest.
Pulsating, mindless macho action aside, this movie sadly brings very little in the way of a plot or decent story development. Had Sly put a little more thought in it, it could have been quite an epic movie. Instead, its story is pretty much a mix of those of Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III and it takes up only the first 20 minutes to half an hour of the movie, then is left on the river bank as Rambo takes his rag tag mercenaries up river to Burma to kick some ass! Another very noticeable flaw is Sly's inability to create any remotely rounded or interesting characters. A whole collection of flat two dimensional characters support the lead character as he comes to terms once again with who is, what he was born to be and what he is trained to do.

I think there is only one female lead with dialogue and I found she really had no meat to chew into in regards of a decent relationship with John Rambo. I know Stallone can write pretty deep and amazing characters, a re watch of the original 1977 Rocky establishes that fact instantly but here and pretty much so in Rocky Balboa too, we are given a one man show where all the attention is pretty much aimed at how one man feels, thinks and acts. As this movie is based on what life is really like for the people of Burma, its deeply upsetting torture scenes and village raids, of which Sly researched immensely to make it as realistic as possible are enough to leave you shocked and horrified at what is actually going on over there, also helping make this movie more relevant and meaningful than your average shoot-em-up flick. Composer Brian Tyler brings back Jerry Goldsmiths classic theme "It's a long road" from the original First blood movie and brings his own stirring and emotional score to help bring a heightened level of sympathy to many of of the documentary like scenes of torture and brutality of innocent villagers. Giving credit where credit is due, I think Sly did a brilliant job with directing this movie, where he lacked in story telling and character development he brings a very gritty and grainy rough feel to the screen and lots of hand held camera work make you feel part of the picture and at Rambo's side, if not, being the man himself, lots of rain and brooding colour drained shots really capture the tortured beauty of the earthy locations, I think it is a shame Stallone isn't as respected a director as he clearly deserves to be.

Stallone fully achieves what he sets out to do, bringing back to the big screen, a masculine, pumped up old school action movie with a message, bringing a serious issue to light but solves it in a way that is very satisfying to watch if totally impossible.

RAMBO "Doing what he does best and proving he has still got it by the bucket load now in his 60s, if it is a fast paced ultra violent action fest you want to fill 80 minutes of your time, RAMBO, is your man!" *** 1/2