Personally, I don’t think actors who start to direct their own movies all of a sudden is a good idea per se. Sean Penn’s directorial debut, The Pledge, starring Jack Nicholson, was rather blurry and disappointing and George Clooney’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was overly pretentious ‘ though listed among the most well-rated films 2002 (sorry for the guys over here who adored it ‘ it did nothing to me). So when I heard about the directorial debut of John Malkovich, The Dancer Upstairs, the prejudices started running through my veins. Not a fair way to approach a movie you hardly know anything about. The only thing there was left for me to do was clear my mind and enter the movie blanco. So I did.

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Did I like this film or not? I can’t answer my own question, I’m afraid. It’s somewhere in the middle. I only rented it for Samuel L. Jackson as I can’t even look at Ben Affleck without think J-Lo anymore, but although Affleck was not without his good moments, it wasn’t enough to make me actually like this film by Notting Hill director Roger Michell.

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Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and a stellar supporting cast aid director Anthony Minghella in trying to bring Charles Frazier’s best selling novel to the screen. Sadly he messes it up in some crucial areas, which is kind of disappointing.

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This latest film from Gus Van Sant touches on a subject that continues to shock and baffle not only people in the USA, but, sadly, people everywhere. When students at Columbine High School shot down many of their classmates at random, Michael Moore attacked the weapons industry and the gun lobby as well as the US government for their participation in creating an environment where such a thing could happen. Elephant attempts to gaze at it from the inside but if you are looking for answers, accusations or insight, you have come to the wrong film…

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Honesty forces me to admit I was rather sceptical when I heard about The Last Samurai, because of the combination of Tom Cruise and director Edward Zwick (once responsible for the overly dramatic, inevitable ‘weepy’ Legends of the Fall as well as war drama Courage Under Fire). The first time I had started considering Tom Cruise as a serious actor was only after his small, though impressive, role in Magnolia and this was recently re-acknowledged by Minority Report. But this flick, albeit long in, was definitely worth the bucks…

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A suburb of a Danish town, present day. Six people. Their paths cross. And for various reasons they all get involved in an Italian language course at the adult education centre. A subtle, nice comedy by Lone Sherfig. The poster is totally misleading. It doesn’t show what the film is about at all.

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One of the reasons the architects of the 1978 movie Halloween wanted Jamie Lee Curtis so badly for the part of babysitter and damsel in serious distress was because she was the daughter of Hollywood actress Janet Leigh, who after Psycho never dared step into a shower again in her life. The then 20-year old Jamie Lee wore her own clothes and make-up due to budgetary restrictions and was unknown at the time. And, although it’s apparent Curtis could have spent some money on acting lessons and, despite a large sense of amateurism, Halloween is pretty enjoyable.

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