Q: This film is like a 1950-version of Ettore Scola's Brutti sporchi e cattivi. Less sex and less realism, but a tale with great humanism and warmth. I wouldn't call this a neo-realistic picture. It's very sentimental and more like a fairy tale, and should probably be classed as a comedy, although it deals with serious matters (a little like Chaplin or 1930-comedy). Typical Italian though, very emotional, and hard to resist except for a stone cold person. The sentimentalism is a letdown, although this picture was not meant to be a realistic drama. It's not a masterpiece like Umberto D or The Bicycle Thief. But it is a lovable and hilarious comedy, with good music.

7/10
A: positive
Q: This has to be one of the best comedies on the television at the moment. It takes the sugary-sweet idea of a show revolving around a close family and turns it into a quite realistic yet funny depiction of a typical family complete with sibling and parent spats, brat brothers, over-protective fathers and bimbo sisters. I'm almost surprised it's Disney!

To its credit, '8 Simple Rules' knows it's a comedy and doesn't try to be more. Too many shows (eg, 'Sister, Sister' and 'Lizzie McGuire') think just because its lead characters are now teenagers then they should tackle social issues and end up losing their humour by being too hard-hitting. This is a trap '8 Simple Rules' has avoided; it does tackle some issues (such as being the school outcast) but it has fun while doing so. In fact the only time it has really been serious was understandably when it sensitively handled the tragic death of John Ritter and his character.

And I think, although John Ritter will be sadly missed since he was the reason the show made its mark, '8 Simple Rules' can still do well if it remembers its humour and doesn't make Cate's father a second version of Paul Hennessy.
A: positive
Q: STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

The American military has just launched a major new stealth fighter plane that can evade detection unlike any other. A renegade pilot (Steve Touissant) steals it and plots to hold the US government to ransom with it. So they are forced to send in their best man John Sands (Seagal, who else?) to stop him, in exchange for his freedom from a detention centre where his mind was to be wiped of all the incriminating information he's learned over the years.

I skipped Attack Force because I could tell from the cover and all the post production tampering that had occurred that it would be crap and when all the negative reviews and low user rating came pouring in it just confirmed what I thought. But I decided to give FOF a go because Shadow Man (by the same director) wasn't bad and, what the hell, Seagal was my favourite action star once and maybe, just maybe, he could make a great film again. Oh what a fool I was.

Dubbing, horrendous stock footage of aerial stealth fighter jets, awful camera work, cheap production values, risible, unconvincing fight scenes that have become Seagal's trademark and a boring, sleep inducing plot that doesn't go anywhere.

Thankfully his next film, Once Upon a Time in the Hood (which I'll be skipping), apparently marks the end of his contract with Sony, meaning no more of these awful European lensed action films and his next film Prince of Pistols might mark a return to theatres. Hell, he's done it before and Stallone will have managed to do it before him (Rocky Balboa.)

This isn't a Flight of Fury. It isn't even a flight of fun. It's a flight that fails to even take off the ground. *
A: negative
Q: Deliverance is John Boorman's 1972 horror/thriller movie about a group of four Atlanta businessmen (Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty and Ronnie Cox), that undertake a canoe trip down the Cahulawassee River before the river is dammed. Along the way, a raft (no pun intended) of unpleasant things happen to the men. Despite the nasty happenings in this picture, Boorman captures the natural beauty of the river nicely. The location was really chosen well. Indeed, this would still be a very nice film to watch, had the canoe trip gone smoothly. The lush forests and gentle landscape only make the horror more horrible. Not only is the location scenic, but also beautifully shot thanks to cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond. It has been said that Burt Reynolds' performance as the outdoorsman, Lewis, is the star acting role in this film. I reckon however, that Jon Voight steals the show with his role as the suburban family man, Ed, who is rapidly forced to change his demeanour in order to survive. In fact, the scene in which climbs the cliff was not a stuntman. It was Voight himself. To cut costs the filming wasn't insured and the actors did their own stunts. The soundtrack is particularly noteworthy. Eric Weissberg's and Steve Mendel's performance on guitar and banjo as part of the Duelling Banjos sequence remains one of the most awesome pieces of soundtrack in the history of cinema for the sheer intensity of its performance. At a couple of other points in the movie, we are treated to more, softer, banjo music which provides a very pleasant accompaniment to the trip down the river For all the good points of this film, I did find it a little lacking in purpose. It doesn't build suspense very well and it isn't really as gruesome as we have been led to believe. The plot itself is somewhat poor and it doesn't really go anywhere. Nevertheless, this movie has enough good points to get my recommendation. I did like it but for fans of gore, there isn't really much of it. None really, in fact. It isn't so much a horror film as an adventure film that turns a little bit sour. Think of it like Rambo: First Blood meets Three Men In A Boat. Look out for a very young Charley Boorman as Ed's son. I did like this movie, the soundtrack, cinematography and acting earns it a well deserved 7 out of 10.
A: positive