Pan’s Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth is a wonderfully mythical tale set against the backdrop of fascist Spain, where innocence must grow up, challenge authority and fulfil her destiny.

Ofelia is forced to journey with her pregnant mother to live with her new father, a man she does not know or trust. Set in the hills of rural Spain her new ‘father’ is determined to destroy the last vestments of the Spanish resistance and shows his true colours early on as he beats to death an innocent farm boy.

With harshness and cruelty abounding, Ofelia withdrawals to a world of fantasy that only she can see.

But is it fantasy? [more]

The Illusionist

The problem with a movie like The Illusionist is that it was preceded by a movie called The Prestige. The Prestige entertained us with a fast moving story of two duelling magicians, trying to out do each other, whist paying each other back for a perceived wrong in their past.

Both The Prestige and The Illusionist are movies about magicians – showmen who use slight of hand and other optical tricks to wow the audience. But both movies are also very different.

Instead of a fast paced thriller, The Illusionist traveled the road of a character driven drama, where the viewer must be on the watch for signs of reality, because in essence, nothing is what it seems. [more]

Atonement

Atonement starts off as an average period piece drama, with the well to do Tallis family living the highlife despite the looming spectre of a war with Germany. Thrown in the mix is garden hand and semi adopted son, Robbie, who incidently, is in love with the eldest Tallis daughter, Cecilia.

Trouble is, the younger Tallis daughter, Briony, has a childish crush on Robbie, and doesn’t understand why her older sister should be the one to receive his love.

To get revenge on Robbie for loving her sister she blames a heinous crime on him, not realising what the outcome would be, and the budding relations ship between Robbie and Cecilia is brought to a grinding halt as Robbie is taken away and put in prison. [more]

The Descent

The Descent starts off looking like it’s going to be a very low budget affair, with some cheese and lots of predictability. But that’s just the start, a little bit of back history to set the scene.

Whilst not a big budget movie, The Descent’s director Neil Marshall has spent wisely putting the money into the most important shots, and crafting a tightly shot movie that manages to keep you freaked out and hugging the edge of your seat from the time things start to go wrong, right up until the credits roll.

Once we descend into the cave system, all thoughts of a budget slasher are gone, much like the hope of survival for the band of adventurous girls, who must now contend with more than just sub terrain dwelling creatures, but also paranoia, distrust and claustrophobia. [more]