Wall.E

An animated film of exceptional quality from the Disney/Pixar stable. I was so impressed by

this film! A fairly standard sci-fi plot - loosely based on the Noah's Ark Biblical tale. We open on earth many generations in the future. It is devoid of human habitation, Wall.E is one of the few remaining robotic machines invested with the task (apparently insuperable?) of compressing the huge quantities of rubbish that have accumulated in ages past. It is a lonely existence - the only fellow creature that he has is a cockroach. In between collecting and compacting Wall.E watches Hello Dolly with Michael Crawford on an endless loop. He has no conversation, but makes a series of electronic noises. One day a space ship lands and into Wall.E's world steps Eve - another robot - well armed, feminine and collecting and analysing 'life' on earth. Wall.E is fascinated, frightened, obsessed and desperate for the love of this new creature. Eve returns to the ship and as it leaves Wall.E becomes a stowaway in his determination to be with Eve forever. Eve turns out to be one of the regular probes from Axiom one of the many vessels sent into space 700 years before with the aim of preserving the human race. The inhabitants of this ship have been looked after by machines for so long that they have lost the use of their limbs, spending their time floating on little vehicles constantly starring at screens, never having any human interaction. The film then, with much suspense, excitement and humour follows Wall.E and Eve as they battle against the robotic controllers of this ship and achieve the revealation of the human population that they need to return to Earth and regain a proper life. Although a U certificate this is a film enjoyable at all levels - funny, moving, a love story, a romance, a parable, action, adventure and thought-provoking. The animation is truly outstanding so deserves a rating an 8/10.

Mama Mia

Now this film probably isn't to everyone's taste and has certainly got extremely mixed not to say poor reviews - especially from male reviewers, but I just love this movie! It makes you feel so uplifted and it is fun, fun, fun. Really the story doesn't matter terribly much, but lets go through

it. Sophie is about to get married, and her mother (played by Meryl Streep) a former member of a 'girl band' running a run down hotel on a remote Greek Island can't be certain which of three men she slept with 21 years ago was her daughter's father. Sophie reads her mother's diary for that fateful summer and invites the three contenders (including Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan) along for the ceremony. Julie Walters is one of Meryl Streep's friends who is along for the ride. The tumultuous two days are illustrated by a string of ABBA hits - sung by the main actors (not dubbed) and Meryl Streep is an absolute revelation, and belts out the fast numbers with aplomb, and the slower songs with feeling (Slipping Through My Fingers is emotional). Neither Colin Firth nor Pierce Brosnan are your conventional singers - but that doesn't detract from the performance - it seems somehow more endearing - and Colin's rendition of Last Summer, made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Bennie & Bjorn (the composing duo of ABBA) really did write some truly cracking stuff - and the whole essence of pop songs is that they resonate and are associated with moments in your life - and ABBA songs have always been a commentary on mine - maybe Mama Mia will become part of the soundtrack of a new generation. A feel good rating of 9/10

The Visitor

The story of widowed academic, Walter (Richard Jenkins) disaffected from his work, and seeking some kind of connection with his late wife - a classical pianist. He goes to his rarely visited flat close to a conference he's attending in New York and discovers it has been unwittingly and illegally occupied by Syrian Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Senegalese girlfriend Zainab. Walter allows the couple to remain (I found that slightly unbelievable - you walk into your own flat and enter your bathroom containing a naked stranger having a bath who screams prompting her boyfriend to pin you to a wall, but you then naturally welcome them both, befriend them and let them stay). Anyway, Tarek teaches Walter the drums (not your classical timpani or rock drumkit) and the two of them become buddies. Then Tarek is arrested for a minor charge on the subway and he turns out to be illegally in America (as well as in Walter's flat). He is sent to a detention centre and his mother turns up from Michigan and Walter and she become emotionally entangled. The film is a bit preachy, there is overuse of ironic symbolism - notices in the detention centre waiting room proclaiming the postive gains of immigration, the statue of liberty, etc. Perhaps this is a theme that is done better in the UK, but there were moments of entertainment and enjoyment here, and fortunately sentimentality and mawkishness were avoided, for once. Rating? 6/10

Female Agents

Another excellent French film starring Julie Depardieu, Sophie Marceau and Marie Gillain. It is the Second World War and in the days leading up to D-Day a British geologist has been lost in France. SOE sends a motley group of women agents to find him and bring him back before he is captured and spills the beans about where the landings will take place. The agents include the former mistress of a German local head of military intelligence in Normandy. Unfortunately the mission to re-capture the geologist isn't the entire picture and the women have to go on to Paris to assassinate the German colonel. This isn't your average war movie, it is thoughtful, the violence is well balanced, the suspense terrific, and the whole thing is extremely well paced. It is all very believable, and is another insight into the part played by women in the resistance in France. Rating 8/10

Couscous

A very dusappointing film. Far too long and rambling, the director seemed unclear of his purpose or the point he was trying to make. Set amongst the North African community in a port in Southern France it centres on a dysfunctional family. They seem to be constantly arguing, being unfaithful, the women are universally haradans or victims, the men cheats, liars, lazy and worthless. So what's not to like? The length (nearly three hours) to describe the setting up of a restaurant on a boat with redundancy money was just tedious, because you knew from the start that the central character would be systematically let down, betrayed and humiliated by the two families he's involved with - and thereby proving to the native French that the North Africans have nothing to offer. Surely there's more to this community than this film would lead us to believe. Rating - a grudging 4/10

Un Secret

Another wonderful French film. Francois is a thin and physically weak child of a gymnast father and elegant swimmer mother. The film opens in the 1950s and it becomes clear that he is a grave disappointment to his parents. Cutting to the present (and to black and white photography) father Maxine has disappeared following the death of his beloved dog, believing he his to blame for the dog's death. Gradually the film goes back into the past of Francois and his parents. The boy had made a discovery in the attic realising that his cold and detached parents do not want to talk about their past, the truth is revealed by a friendly adult who has known the couple throughout their lives. The secret is a pretty massive one, involving betrayal, death and dishonour. Suffice it to say the early realisation that the couple are Jewish gives a hint of what might be to come. The story line is a bit clunky in places, the frequent cutting backwards and forwards requires great concentration, but the passion comes through with looks and few words. Immensely believable and oh so tragic - the audience at the showing I went to (mainly of older patrons) were deeply moved, and some were in tears at the end. The mother, Tania, is played with just the degree of elegant aloofness that belied the underlying suppressed emotions. An interesting technique of showing some sections in black and white didn't entirely come off, but still worth a 8/10 rating.

Priceless (Hors de Prix)

Jean (Gad Elmaleh) is a barman in an upmarket hotel in the South of France. One evening Irene played by Audrey Tautou (a high class hooker or gold digger) walks into his bar and mistakes him for a millionaire. Unfortunately for them both her sugar daddy (Jacques) discovers that they have had a night of passion, and he ditches Irene just as he was due to propose marriage - her meal ticket for life. Jean is besotted.

Irene finds out the truth about Jean's lack of money, and when he pursues her to her new 'target group' in Nice she takes her revenge by emptying his bank account and abandoning him. Fortunately for him a passing rich woman takes him on as a gigolo. Irene sets about teaching him the ropes - showing how he can exploit the situation financially, but at the same time beginning to fall in love with him. This film is so typically French, and very funny. I keep asking - why don't they make British films like this? Perhaps the situation is uniquely Continental to use an old-fashioned phrase. Rating: 8/10