This is an advance look at a movie that isn’t even on shelves yet. So I have to be a little more careful than usual, lest I give something away. And there’s more than a little to give away, too.

So what we have here is what I like to think of as “The Super” gone horribly, horribly awry. We’ve got a slumlord running a rent-controlled building and looking to sell. Considering he dies within the first five minutes, you can tell we’ll be going a totally different angle here.

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Being a rather unappealing title, Assault on Precinct 13 is a remake of a 1976 John Carpenter thriller, which on its turn was an adaptation of a 1959 Western called Rio Bravo. Not having seen either of them, the only thing I could do was stick to the 2005 remake, directed by French director Jean-François Richet, and give my judgement on its own (messy) merits.
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What makes a good romantic comedy? Well, it has to be funny, thus taking care of the comedy part, but on-screen chemistry between the leading actors is vital. The combination of the completely likeable and charming Will Smith, together with the sexy and sassy Eva Mendes is believable from start to finish in Hitch. It might not qualify as an all time great, but there’s enough wit and style to make for a thoroughly enjoyable evening out at the movies.
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Hotel Rwanda is the first serious attempt at portraying the awful massacre that took place during the 1990’s in Rwanda. Centered around the biggest genocide since World War II, by the means of the personal story of a hotel manager, Hotel Rwanda openly shows how the world turned away from the conflict between Hutus and Tutsis because it totally lacked an economic purpose. It would be unfair to compare with Schindler’s List, as many media have, since it would not do either Hotel Rwanda and Spielberg’s magnus opus justice.
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Enduring Love is the latest film by British director Roger Michell, who was also responsible for a wide range of different movies including Changing Lanes and his film that received most kudos, Notting Hill. With Enduring Love Michell aims at a mixture of relational drama and psychological thriller. Thanks to the magnificent cast, Enduring Love is a brave attempt to show how a traumatic experience can have a major influence on a romantic relationship.
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This is possibly one of the most colourful films to come out of the 1990’s with its bright red, yellows and blues sparkling in an unusually warm summer in South London. The characters are colourful too and endearing in this small, feel-good film about two teenage boys coming of age and coming out in the rather homophobic surroundings of their Thamesmead council estate.
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In a selfless act to explore the murky depths of obscure films, I have taken on the gruelling mission to submit myself regularly to what cinema has to offer on the lowest shelf and in its darkest recesses. Normal rules don’t apply here, neither do good taste and common sense; this is Cinema Obscura.

It might seem unjustified to add a person like Steve Oedekerk to this ill-famed section of CoP, since he has been involved mostly in mainstream cinema. As writer/producer/director he was responsible for several successful movies like Bruce Almighty, The Nutty Professor, Kung Pow, Patch Adams, Ace Ventura and the comedy TV series In Living Color. Nevertheless, Oedekerk has his own pet project that grants him a place in this darker side of cinema: his infamous Thumb Stories.

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Every now and again, a new generation of action stars stands up to replace the old weary dogs who have entertained audiences for years. Arnie has gone from Terminator to Guvernator, Harrison Ford is really getting too old and Dennis Quaid recently proved in Flight of The Phoenix that he’s is still alive, but barely. Then there is that other action star: Bruce Willis. I quite like Bruce Willis: he knows his way around with roller coaster action stuff, comedy (not always) and is quite a decent drama actor. With movies like The Last Boyscout, The Fifth Element and the Die Hard-series he proved himself worthy of action Walhalla. With this movie he seems to try and recover lost ground, but to little avail.

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Ever since I saw Miss Congeniality (2000) I have wanted to get a long bag for my living room. When Sandra Bullock, as FBI agent, Gracie Hart, comes home from a hard day at work and lets loose on the punching bag; I thought to myself, “yes! Anger management can be sexy and fun!” The movie was just that, from start to finish. Behind the glitz and quick wit, there was a “sock it to ‘em” girl power message that made it one of the best straight forward entertaining comedies of that year. So it really scared me to hear that they were coming out with a sequel.
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So if I told you that this movie is about a convicted paedophile, just out of prison and trying hard to find redemption and live a normal life while the odds stack up against him, you’d think it was a drama that required a large amount of tissues, right? Wrong. It’s actually a thriller of the most unusual kind. For there are not really any elements present that usually define the thriller-genre. Except for tension, lots of breathtaking tension.
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