Sean and I saw a tonne of movies in the past little while. I am no film critic and nobody reading this probably cares what I think of these films but I’m going to give a mini review of each anyway. 
Atonement: I was really looking forward to this film. It started off beautifully and the cinematography was gorgeous. I felt it lost something when James McAvoy’s character went off to war. It slowed down a lot for me and there were times where I was lost, especially the long shot of the soldiers on the beach. I had no idea what the real significance of that shot was. Yeah we get it, the war was tough, but I didn’t really understand the purpose of that in context with the story. From what I’ve been told they didn’t pull off the ending as it was supposed to be portrayed in the book as well as they should have. I would recommend seeing it though as the little girl who plays Briony gives a wonderful performance and the first half of the film is beautiful and intriguing. ***
No Country For Old Men: Had me just as terrified as the scene in Fargo where the killers are chasing down that couple in the snow. Josh Brolin is fabulous in it and Javier Bardem is one scary hitman/psycho. The Coen brothers have done another fabulous job with this intense and intriguing story. Go see it. **** 
Into The Wild: Dear God! Emile Hersch glorifies and herofies an overall stupid young man who frustrated the hell out of me all the way through the film, but he played it well. I left this film thinking about it and was disturbed for days afterwards. You will fall in love with the character and you will get emotionally involved in his world, so much so that you want to jump into the screen and shake his stupid neck. Based on a true, heart wrenching story and directed by Sean Penn, Into the Wild is a wonderfully cinematic and heart breaking film which you should see. However I warn you, it will affect you. *** 1/2
I’m Not There: HA! I am not a Bob Dylan fan to say the least. I admire the man, think he wrote brilliant songs and agree he is a legend but cannot stand his voice and find him very hard to listen to. Therefore seeing this movie was kinda strange but Sean is a huge Dylan fan and dragged me along. I was interested to see how Cate Blanchett would pull it off and she ended up being the one actor who impressed me the most. I found the Christian Bale /Bob Dylan to be excruciating to watch and felt they could have completely done without him, but then I’m not a Christian Bale fan either.
I have harbored a lot of guilt since hearing of Heath Ledger’s death because I originally stated some quite terrible things about his acting in this film after seeing it. I said he was not stretching himself at all and just played himself as usual. So yeah, I felt a little bad to then find out the guy had died. People even said he had read what I had said about him! However, I did enjoy that story line in Dylan’s life, but mainly for Charlotte Gainsburg. She was very good in this film. My favourite part in the film is the scene with Cate and The Beatles. It actually made me laugh out loud. Her portrayal is the best thing in it. If you’re not a Dylan fan, its not something I’d rush to see. ** 
The Darjeeling Limited: Another brilliant Wes Anderson film! A feast for any photography loving film goer with delightful characters and lots of funny moments. Owen Wilson is his usual hilarious self while Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman compliment the triangle of brothers perfectly. A true journey movie which picks up on the glorious wonders of India through vibrancy and the ever present Anderson colour pallet..quirky and fun with a hint of drama and sadness underneath. One of my favourites of the summer. **** 
Juno: Juno apparently is a teen movie. I would never have imagined that it was a film that appealed to 11 and 12 year olds, but the cinema we saw it in, was full of them. This fact made me a little on edge as they totally disrupted the whole watching of the film, as it clearly wasn’t a movie made for kids. Juno is not the usual kitsch film with the up and coming stars and pop culture references. It is very indie, however the dialogue is spot on and there is quite a sinister storyline laying underneath. Ellen Page is brilliant… yes she is sarcastic, but not the kind of sarcastic that puts you off. I am a big Michael Cera fan and an even bigger Jason Bateman fan, so the film was a treat. Note that most of it appeared to be shot in Sean’s hometown and at one point he murmured,”I think I grew up in that house.” Great dialogue, witty and fun..even if it is about a teenage pregnancy. One for the DVD collection. **** 
Sweeney Todd: If musicals aren’t your thing, you could cope with this. Sean is not a musical fan at all, but he quite enjoyed this film as the singing and dancing is done almost tongue in cheek. Johnny Depp..what can I say? The guy is a genius. Although, Helena Bonham Carter outshines even him in this film. She’s brilliant and her portrayal of Mrs Lovett is so fabulous that you want her to succeed in her “business” more and more. It’s not as blood thirsty as I had heard it was so its bearable if you’re a little squirmy. Oh and Sacha Baron Cohen is perfect. See it. ***1/2
