If you have not yet seen the film, there may be some spoilers in here for you! :O
But then I’m pretty sure millions of you have read the book, and therefore have some idea of what the film is about.

Choosing to see the Da Vinci Code was no way intentional, but when Catherine won free tickets to go see it at our local cinema, I was not one to give up the chance.

Directed by Ron Howard –Of Splash, Willow, Cinderella Man and hosts of other films- Starring Tom Hanks (Robert Langdon), Audrey Tautou (Sophie Neveu), Ian McKellen (Sir Leigh Teabing), Jean Reno (Captain Fache), Paul Bettany (Silas), Alfred Molina (Bishop Aringarosa), Jurgen Prochnow (Andre Vernet) and Jean-Yves Berteloot (Remy Jean).

Well unlike the 60 million people that have bought copies of the book, I am not one of them, and so I write an unbiased view; the film mainly telling the story of Robert Langdon (Hanks) who is caught up in a conspiracy of the whereabouts of the Holy Grail; along the lines being offensive to Christian’s claiming that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and that they had a child together; this mystery/thriller takes the protagonists across Europe in a final resolution in pretty much the death of the main antagonists, while Robert and Sophie live happily ever after finding out the ‘truth’ that they were searching for.

Aside from the fact it seemed like a rather long film, it has to be said that it is a film for those with patience; no stereotyping here, but after it ended the amount of men complaining how boring it was, was unprecedented. While all of the women thought it was rather good, no problems with its length.

The obvious saving grace for the film was most definitely Ian McKellen’s performance, as the witty old Englishman, otherwise no other performances were shining out, which was surprising seeing as it had quite a few decent actors thrown in there.

The story seemed pretty much like a standard thriller, not exceptionally brilliant, but neither did it come off as awful. There is a lot of press on the film damning it as the worst film this year, but how can you say that with the Date Movie’s and Big Momma’s Houses out there?!

One thing I can say that I felt looked a tad cheesy were the effects showing ‘old’ London etc, and although I know a couple of critics loved these effects, I thought that they looked pretty much ridiculous, especially when Robert and Sophie was walking through them. The same can be said when Robert was working puzzles out, I just thought that it all looked too silly. Otherwise it seems pretty hard to remember what was bad or good of the film, and unfortunately I can only give it a low score and not explain myself, obviously the film did not shine out to myself as exceptional, or perhaps I would remember certain points.

Overall it was a decent thriller, similar to silent hill, it would seem that only the critics have given the film a bad time, whereas normal folk seemed to have liked it.

Cptalbertwesker Rating – Orthodox 6 ½ /10
Undoubtedly the best part of the film was watching the religious discussion had at the end; which was highly entertaining.

If you have not yet seen the film, there may be some spoilers in here for you! :O Hide your vision if not!

The Fantastic Four was not a film that I myself would have volunteered to see at the cinema. It’s the sort of comic film that could never really seem to be doable.

But apparently they completed a film, and it is comic based.. and seeing as I’m a fan of The Thing I sorta had to go see it.

Directed by some guy called Tim Story- of whom I’ve never heard of- Starring Ioan Gruffudd (Reed), Jessica Alba (Susan), Chris Evans (Johnny), Michael Chiklis (Ben) and Julian McMahon. (Victor)

The film begins by following the comics rather closely, showing the Fan 4’s lives and the event that changes them all. While they are off discovering what they have become Victor Von Doom (McMahon) plots to get Reed Richards (Gruffudd) back for ruining his life. The good guys win, Von Doom is shipped back to his country (Latveria) Only for him to be still alive.. like we didn’t see that coming :P

It seemed like an MTV kids action movie than anything else. With loud obnoxious music, snowboarding and motocross its probably a great film for the youths of today. Unfortunately I am not so interested in all of that. Though Fortunately for me Michael Chiklis did a great job with The Thing, and seeing as he’s my favourite of the four, I couldn’t really care about the others :P.

But I should probably comment on them :/ What can I say… Chris Evans was suited for his role, he seemed to act pretty much like Johnny –a spoilt brat, as well as the spats between Ben and Johnny which were more than frequent in the comics.
As for Ioan Gruffudd I do not think he was right for the part, and the same goes for Jessica Alba. They both felt way out…
The same goes for Julian McMahon, Dr Doom was a poor example of one of coolest villains created in the Marvel Universe. They butchered him, he had his moments, but most of the time he seemed like your usual clichéd bad guy.

But Michael Chiklis is by far different to all those present. His performance as The Thing was excellent. Reminiscent of comics, he played his character perfectly and convincingly as the ever loving blue eyed thing. But as I said, he was the only real good part of the film.

Onto the screenplay MARK FROST?! What? For those you of you that don’t know who he is.. he wrote Twin Peaks with David Lynch. Along with Michael France they both wrote the screenplay of what could be expected of such a film, not what I would expect of Mark Frost though.

I don’t really have much to say about the film. It was better than I thought it would be… hell, it could have been miles worse, thank god they kept The Thing of real materials, rather than a CG monstrosity. So what was good about it?
Well as I keep saying, The Thing was the best part of the film (he’s one of my favourite comic superheroes) I liked how they kept to the comics and everything.

As for bad points- I could say the acting from the other cast members were not excellent. The CGI for Reed was not the best, it had one shinning moment, then looked kinda crappy the rest of the time. But then it was needed, else Mr Fantastic would be unable to stretch..

Overall it was a film you’d perhaps go see to be entertained, not particularly life changing, or profoundly deep, its just some harmless fun-filled entertainment. A family movie, with a great performance by Michael Chiklis, other than himself, an all round ok, but nothing special cast.

Cptalbertwesker Rating - 5/10
Was actually better than I expected, pretty close to the comics. Merits half marks.

If you have not yet seen the film, there may be some spoilers in here for you! :O
With such a film as Silent Hill I will most likely rip it apart and constantly compare it to the series, so if that is not want you wish to hear, then I am not forcing you to read, but perhaps you will be interested to see how I felt the film was.

Well obviously, like most other films I see there was a reason, and the reason for watching Silent Hill was simply because I am an extremely big fan of the video game series; that put forth intriguing plots and twisted ideas into a media that does not always get such great ideas.

Directed by Christopher Gans -of The Brotherhood of the Wolf, which I have yet to see; though it can be said that I have actually heard of him- Starring Radha Mitchell (Rose), Sean Bean (Christopher), Laurie Holden (Cybil), Deborah Kara Unger (Dahlia), Kim Coates (Officer Gucci), Tanya Allen (Anna; who reminded me quite a bit of Christina Hendricks), Alice Krige (Christabella) and Jodelle Ferlan (Sharon/Alessa; whom I found extremely annoying).

The film is basically a re-telling of the story that the prolific Silent Hill set out to tell - except with a load of changes along the way, leading to pretty much overall confusion, but leaving you with the satisfying feeling that you have witnessed the telling of a story of Silent Hill.

Someone that knows little of the franchise could probably see the film as pretty much a moderately successful horror film, the film's premise and middle are altogether a great cinema outing, though I believe past the story of Alessa the film falls on its knees..

As I have already mentioned; I could not stand that of Jodelle Ferlan (Sharon/Alessa) now, if you know me -I badger on about it time and time again- if there is one thing I cannot stand it is child actors; now there are exceptions, I did not mind Dakota Fanning in War of the Worlds, and you cannot possibly hate Drew Barrymore in E.T, or Natalie Portman in Leon. but Silent Hill is a horror film; and if there’s one thing horror films succeed it, it's creating -'stupid, I'm really evil'- children that I cannot help but roll my eyes at (be careful more ranting is in store). Now that all of that nonsense is out of the way, Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean and Laurie Holden were bearable, I could not stand Dahlia, but then I could never stand her in the game either; she always had a big case of overacting, and suffice to say I do not think there was much acting present that I could call outstanding.
Except of course -enter fan girlish pathethicness- that of Pyramid Head. Now I am extremely unsure if they were using a real actor, or if he was CG, but he was awesome; amazingly capturing the raw strength and atmosphere that he sufficiently deems in Silent Hill 2 (the videogame).

As for the screenplay, I'd have to say the film faired pretty well; other than the whole cult thing (which was really silly if you ask me) the film had a pleasant vibe of Silent Hill.
When it came to the soundtrack it was the one part of the film which could never fail; but then again, I was expecting full on Yamaoka, after all one of the most memorable parts of any Silent Hill game is its music. Though I must say I was a little put-down by what the film had to offer, only being given a few tracks thrown in every now and again; lyrical songs on the radios, and composed ones popping up at the most inappropriate of times, making it feel at times uncomfortable because it just didn't feel right. I suppose they should be given props for actually including some of the Silent Hill series' best tracks.

The film probably fairs well in this review because it’s based on the fictional town of Silent Hill; and anything and everything that they throw at me is held in high regard. The story seemed very different to that of the game, which was refreshing; though I would have much rather preferred a straight out original tale of Silent Hill. The acting was ok, the music was good, and the ending was... well... confusing. The film had some lovely set designs, and some nice CG going for it; the other side of Silent Hill looked magnificent and the endless supply of fans, mesh fences and rust was a warming sight; the strange cult members in their gasmasks were also a rather nice overall touch. There really isn't so much bad as there is good, which surprised me for a series that I feel so strongly about.

Ok, ok, now stop me if you've heard this before. But if there is one thing I cannot stand its child actors! I do not care if they are good actors or not, it is just that their portrayal or all-round characters always end up getting on my nerves... I think two films that summarise my hatred are Identity and Pet Cemetery wherein a child takes down an adult three times their size; it’s just ridiculous and stupid. (If you ask me)
Now I realise that Silent Hill needed Cheryl (or rather Sharon in this case) but I just couldn’t stand the girl -that whole stupid “I’m on fire” thing just seriously irritated me. Secondly on the same note, audience’s are going to be leaving Silent Hill thinking they have just seen some sort of Japanese orientated film, now of course on a few levels it is, but they made Sharon to look like a “ghost-girl” as my media class would say, which irritated me just as much as the fact that she was a small girl.
The only other problem I have with the film is the third act; completely unnecessary, I did not need to know about the cult or anything else, the film could have ended just fine at the telling of Alessa's tales of woe and I would have been satisfied, but instead they needed more of the ridiculous cult; with no mention of Samael, and all their stupid witch burning, but I shall not dwell, because ultimately Silent Hill is my least favourite of the series.

Although the critics have really attacked Silent Hill; strangely I have not heard any untoward comments of it. Specifically of people I know, loved the film... so it completely baffles me as to who will like the film. Though if you are a die-hard fans of the series, it can most definitely be enjoyed as more of a Silent Hill story, than a remake of the original, though I suppose if they had set it on Silent Hill 2 and butchered it, I would be up-in-arms, but then who is that really going to benefit?

Cptalbertwesker Rating - Orthodox 7/10
Although the film went off on a tangent after about an hour and a half it faired pretty well, and as a stand-alone film it was pretty good. I would be very pleased to hear any opinions non-players had of the film, or if you were simply able to get along with the film, regardless of the fact you were watching it with no prior knowledge to the series.
Nice little anecdote here; apparently the directions that Rose has to memorise are none other than, that’s right, the Konami Code!!!

If you have not yet seen the film, there may be some spoilers in here for you! :O

Breakfast on Pluto was seen as a celebration to the end of my art exam, it was sheer coincidence that a friend had watched it a week before it was showing at our small independent cinema, so there was no question towards our visitation.

The tiny screen was packed full of people –namely 50s plus, and yet they were watching the film blind without prior knowledge to the film… how do people do that?

Directed by Neil Jordon –who up to this point I have never heard of, though upon researching (as I always tend to do) he is a rather prolific Irish director, who also directed Interview with the Vampire among numerous other films- Starring Cillian Murphy (Patrick (Patricia) 'Kitten' Braden), Liam Neeson (Father Bernard), Ruth Negga (Charlie), Laurence Kinlan (Irwin), Stephen Rea (Bertie), Brendan Gleeson (John-Joe) and Gavin Friday (Billy Hatchet).

The film follows a busy time in Kitten’s (Murphy) life as he/she attempts to find his/her mother, the film is most definitely a road movie of sorts as Kitten’s journey take us across many colourful characters and scenarios. Oh and did I mention that Kitten is a transvestite in the form of a very feminine Cillian Murphy, whose lips make him look like he was born to play the part.

The film itself is strange, it starts a little corny with talking birds and such then mildly tracks Kitten growing up comedy-esque, then we follow Kitten around when life seems to get a lot more serious, as does the tone, with perhaps some distressing scenes of terrorism, all the while continually popping back to innocent fun. So it would really appeal to anyone; as road movies usually do. If you strip it down to the bare minimum, Breakfast on Pluto is a dramatic comedy set in 60s and 70s Ireland/London.

A comment to the actors, they were great! Knowing Cillian Murphy from extremely different roles I was flabbergasted at how greatly he portrayed Kitten, Murphy is definitely an actor with great potential and large diversity for films!
The supporting cast was also rather good, but then with Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson and Stephen Rea you couldn’t go wrong!

Being based on a book, sometimes effectiveness is lost in the translation, and such sometimes a film comes off as awful compared to the book. Though with Breakfast on Pluto I felt that the film could not get any better (and so I can imagine that it perhaps did justice), lines are delivered perfectly –usually by Murphy- and the film has a great quality, in that you will never know what will happen next.

I felt the soundtrack was awesome, some great tracks fit amazingly with the feel of the film, and without them the film would not have been the same, though it did seem a little loud compared to the film’s sound.

Well besides the good acting, and the great soundtrack there were many a humorous situations throughout the film. I think its safe to safe the best part of the film involved Cillian Murphy as secret agent, deep throat, great stuff!! As well as Kitten’s short lived period at school.

I honestly did not enjoy the robins, I realise the old ladies behind me did, but I didn’t, what else did I not like? It is sometimes a little hard to understand Irish persons, especially when they are extremely softly spoken as Cillian Murphy played this particular role. Though this was not a bad point to the film, it made it a little difficult to understand, especially when the whole cinema was cackling (yes, cackling!) with laughter on a line that I could not hear...

Overall the film was fun, it was probably the most fun film I’ve seen in a while, because it was pure dramatic comedy at its best, and the actors involved simply improved the experience. It’s a film that pretty much anyone could enjoy, and I recommend it to you all!

Cptalbertwesker Rating – 7 ½/10
Breakfast on Pluto was an outstanding road movie with a great cast of actors and a rather strange story to boot, its one of those feel good movies, where everything turns out ok, though with many twists and turns on the way. I only rate it a half from an eight for the robins, which I disliked, but do not let them fool you that the film will remain just as that, trust me. It gets better.