Average Rating:

.

The Water Horse - Legend Of The Deep [2007]

starring: Alex Etel, Emily Watson, Ben Chaplin, Brian Cox, Carl Dixon
directed by: Jay Russell

June 30, 2008
i was so happy to see this film. It was a poignant and breathtaking tale of a mythical creature - the water horse ' Caruso' and his secret friendship with Angus, the boy who discovered Caruso and brought him up from an egg. This lovely tale is set during the second world war and is even more emotional because of the sideline events which are also happening. A guaranteed heart churner, this is a lovely film for everyone.

Average Rating:

.

The Remains Of The Day [1993]

starring: John Haycraft, Christopher Reeve, Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Caroline Hunt
directed by: James Ivory

October 22, 2001
"Remains of the Day" will be regarded as one of the great film masterpieces of the Merchant-Ivory team, now tragically ended with the untimely death, earlier this year, of Ismail Merchant from cancer. Their films were the quintessential cinematic epics respectful of both the settings and characters adapted from both period and contemporary novels, blessed frequently with elegant scripts from their literary partner Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and of course superb acting from their casts. "Remains of the Day" excels in all of these categories, as a spellbinding, faithful adaptation of the Kazuo Ishiguro novel, with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson as the star-crossed would-be lovers and servants of the pacifist Nazi sympathizer Lord Darlington (James ... Read More:

Average Rating:

.

Bloodrayne [2006]

starring: Kristanna Loker, Michelle Rodriguez, Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Matthew Davis
directed by: Uwe Boll

May 12, 2008
This is great entertainment. There's a good cast, a lot of vampires to slice up and a great looking woman leading the way. I don't know why Uwe Boll gets dumped on so much by the gamer geek community. I enjoyed this hugely and it has all the right ingredients and does them right. Great fun.

Average Rating:

.

The Thin Red Line [1999]

starring: Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, Jim Caviezel, Ben Chaplin, George Clooney

June 12, 2000
Yes it is a bold statement to make but this really is the best film I have seen.

The great cast, the way it was filmed, the music, the emotion - it just has it all. Cannot fault it whatsoever.

Let's hope some day they release the full six hour version on DVD!

Average Rating:

.

The Truth About Cats And Dogs [1996]

starring: Uma Thurman, Janeane Garofalo, Ben Chaplin, Jamie Foxx, James McCaffrey
directed by: Michael Lehmann

February 04, 2002
If your'e looking to unwind and have a romantic bone in your body you'll love this film. There are no belly laughs, but I guarantee you will smile from begining to end. You may even blush as well.

Personally as a man, I dind't find Uma Thurman remotely drop-dead gorgeous which is assumed throughout. But I'm probably in the minority and her performance is immaculate. Everything else about the film is pretty much perfect. Light entertainment at its best.

Average Rating:

.

Murder By Numbers [2002]

starring: Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling, Michael Pitt (II), Agnes Bruckner
directed by: Barbet Schroeder

January 20, 2003
Sandra Bullock stars as Cassie Mayweather, a tough police detective who's investigating a murder with the help of her new partner (Ben Chaplin). There are a lot of clues that just don't add up, until Cassie begins to suspect two smart, rich, and very arrogant high school students (Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt).

Actually, we know who did it from the first moments of the film; the fun lies in seeing how Cassie will connect the dots and catch them. This is terrific movie, full of suspense and action. Bullock's character wears a mask of bravado but is really quite wounded from a tragic incident in her past; this makes her vulnerable and very likeable, and she has great screen presence. Chaplin holds his own with her, mixing detective work with inevitable romance, ... Read More:

Average Rating:

.

Game On: Complete Series 1 - 3

starring: Matthew Cottle, Ben Chaplin, Samantha Janus, Neil Stuke
directed by: John Stroud

August 23, 2004
the first two series are great. the third is ok. the problem is while it did get more serious in the second series it still worked. the third series was too serious and therefore got more depressing than funny alot fo the time. the vacuum cleaner scene is hilarious though. i cant decide which series is best out of the first two. one scene that sticks in my mind is the reservoir dogs re-enactment by matthew. it is hilarious. i love how he cuts the teddies ear off and then sticks it back on but on top of its head instead of the right place.
buy it for the first two series!

Average Rating:

.

Chromophobia [2005]

starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Ian Holm, Penelope Cruz, Rhys Ifans, Ben Chaplin
directed by: Martha Fiennes

April 07, 2008
This is a beautiful film, very understated but the resonance stays with one for a long time. Emotionally gripping, superbly acted, it has two strands of storyline with no apparent connection between a lawyer (Damian Lewis) with a high-powered city firm and a call girl (Penelope Cruz) dying of cancer, and their various friends and relations. At the opposite ends of the social spectrum, they are equally vulnerable and the ending for both of them is unbearably poignant. The symbolic high point is a deer shoot in Scotland at which point I had to pause the DVD and go away for half an hour before I had the guts to press play and face the final scenes. Brilliant!

Average Rating:

.

The Basketball Diaries [1995]

starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lorraine Bracco, Marilyn Sokol, James Madio, Patrick McGaw
directed by: Scott Kalvert

December 04, 2000
Leonardo DiCaprio is brilliant as is Lorraine Bracco as his desperate mother. If the scene with them either side of her door with him begging her for money doesn't make you cry then you are probably already dead. It is the story of a good boy (with a good Italian Catholic mother) going wrong and then turning it around. Starting with a bit of petty theft it saunters into drugs then freefalls into a state of desperation. Very moving.

Average Rating:

.

Stage Beauty [2004]

starring: Claire Danes, Billy Crudup, Ben Chaplin, Zoe Tapper, Tom Wilkinson
directed by: Richard Eyre

December 27, 2004
It's London in the 1660's when women were forbidden by law to appear on the stage. Female roles were played by male actors who were raised and trained for this specialty. The greatest of them is Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup) and we meet him on stage while he's playing Desdemona's death scene. Maria (Claire Danes), his dresser, wants two things...to be an actor and to have Ned. When Charles II issues a decree that henceforth women only may play women's roles, Ned's world crashes to the ground. As he says, "Where's the art in a woman playing a woman?" Maria's world changes just as radically.

Stage Beauty is a terrific movie about theater and gender. Kynaston is a man who plays women who now must learn to play men. He's gay, he's straight, he's bi, and he doesn't think seriously about all that...only ... Read More: