The Men who Stare at Goats

Journalist Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) reporting in Iraq -to impress his estranged wife - may just have stumbled on the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) who claims to be a former member of the U.S army's First Earth Battalion. A 1980s unit that employed paranormal powers in their missions. ie: Men who can stare at goats till their hearts stop.

Based on Jon Ronson's book, it's a satirical comedy in the style of the Coen brothers.
Tagged with the title that that 'more of this is true than you realise' you are led into a story of hippie soldiers, psychic spies, Jedi warrior all quite endearingly woven together with off-the-wall characters. A list actors with some terrific moments, the film meanders but ultimately never reaches a satisfactory conclusion. The kind of movie that leaves you scratching your head. However, if you get the chance - read the script because then you'll see how funny this film really is.
3 Elephants
Best line: It's ok, you can "attack" me...
What's with the quotation fingers? It's like saying I'm only capable of ironic attacking or something.

Thank you for Smoking

Satirical comedy about tobacco lobbyist, Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) who spins on behalf of cigarettes while at the same time tries to be a role model for his young son.

Okay. So the protagonist lobby's on behalf of people that cause 1200 deaths a day, so we hate him - right? Er. No. Somehow we are drawn into liking this morally, reprehensible character. He's slick. Has an answer for everything and ties his opposition up in knots. But he also has a point. It's not a good point. But it's still a point. Education starts at home and everyone should be educated enough to make up their own minds as to whether they smoke or not. This movie is brave and witty. Satirical and sentimental. But hey. Don't take our word for it. Make up your own mind.

Best line in the movie: ' That's the beauty of argument, if you argue correctly, you're never wrong.'

3 elephants

The Informant

The U.S government investigate price-fxing in an agricultural business giant based on evidence given by their star witness, company vice president Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon).

It's set in the 70s, no, 90s. 70s? 90s? Oh, wait. It's set in the 90s and filmed like it's in the 70s with a warm glow. Ah, hence the Marvin Hamlisch score.
Our protagonist conducts a narrative throughout the movie. Factoids that occupy his mind and ours, too. He is unbalanced, yet likeable. Is he a good guy? Yes. Mostly. Does he tell the truth? Sometimes. Is he playing out his role as if he's in a Hollywood movie? Definitely. He even calls himself '0014' - twice as smart as 007. As we follow Whitacre's role in bringing down his company from the inside we find ourselves engaged yet slightly confused. But how refreshing to find a movie that made us think and kept us thinking long after it had finished. And how does a polar bear know his nose is black, anyway?

3 elephants

Ghost Town

Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) isn't a people person - at all. After he "dies" for seven minutes during a routine colonoscopy he discovers he has the ability to see dead people. Dead people, chiefly Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), who need his help. Frank thinks he is still on earth because he needs to protect his wife, Gwen (Tea Leoni) from her new fiance Richard (Billy Campbell) and pesters Pincus until he helps him break them up.

We thought it was going to be an out and out comedy, with one gag after the other, but it turned out to be a sweet and gentle story about three people coming to terms with who they are in life - and death. We adored it. It was funny, moving and beautifully put together.

4 elephants.

Burn After Reading (Watching!)

Osbourne Cox is fired at the CIA. His wife wants a divorce and expects her lover, Harry, to leave his wife. A diskette of Osbourne's falls out of a gym bag at a Georgetown fitness center. Two employees there try to turn it into cash: Linda, who wants money for cosmetic surgery, and Chad a nice, but dumb, guy. They try to sell the disc back to Osbourne, then the Russian embassy. But it all goes stupidly wrong.

Burn After Reading - huh! Burn after watching would be our advice. Our opinion is that this is rubbish. It said side splitting funny on the dvd box - whoever wrote that surely didn't watch the movie. The only remotely funny thing about this movie was Brad Pitts character 'Chad' and they killed him off well before the movie ends. This movie leaves with you a 'what was that all about' feeling. The shame of it is some of the characters are good and it is undoubtedly well acted by its all star cast, but the story is weak and stupid and makes little sense. We don't do this often but Saturday Night Bright are going to give this a great big fat 0 elephant.