Yes Man

Life for Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) is going nowhere until he enrolls on a personal development programme based on a simple idea "say yes to everything." Suddenly life becomes perfect -- for awhile, anyway.

We liked it but we didn't love it. It's a ton better than a lot of other movies we've watched and there are moments that are really hilarious. Sometimes Jim Carrey's gurning gets a bit old, but then who else could possibly do that as good as him? The very best character in this movie is Norman (Rhys Darby) Carl's nerdy boss. He steals every scene he's in. Come to think of it this isn't a bad movie at all, the story line was just not strong enough. However, we'd watch it again.

3 elephants

Jackie Chan's First Strike

Jackie Chan takes part in a sting operation on an international spy ring. But when one of them gets away he is chases him, and a missing nuclear warhead, to Australia.

We had this 1990's Jackie Chan movie sitting on our shelves gathering dust and had never watched it. So this weekend we decided to give it a view. It's only 88 minutes long but it's packed lots of action and the obligatory fight scenes Jackie is so famous for. In these depressing times when all everyone talks about is the economy and swine flu you can always reply on Jackie Chan to entertain and make you forget your problems.

3 elephants.

Wall-E

The future. Earth has been abandoned by mankind because it's just one great big rubbish tip due mostly to the waste from products sold by a multi-national company called Buy N Large. WALL -E is a garbage collecting robot who has been left to clean up the mess. He is all alone except for a little cockroach, until a reconnaissance robot called Eve is sent to earth to see if life is once again sustainable. WALL-E falls in love with Eve and shows her a little plant he has found amongst the rubbish. As she is programmed to do so Eve takes the plant and shuts down except for a bleep while she awaits collection. When the space ship returns, WALL-E follows Eve on board because he can't bear to be apart from her. For the first time he sees humans. Discovering the plant, the ship's captain announces to his passengers that they can go back to earth, but the ships computers have other ideas.

A delightful, magical movie of high quality that all the family will love. Little dialogue at first but it doesn't matter because we are skillfully drawn into the story and before we know it WALL-E has captured our hearts.
4 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.

Quantum of Solace

Bond and "M" discover an international network of power and corruption. After an assassination attempt on "M" all roads appear to lead to a shady character called Dominic Greene(Mathieu Amalric). Greene, a developer of Eco friendly technology, is helping General Medrano stage a coup in exchange for a piece of barren Bolivian land. Only Bond assisted by his latest beautiful side-kick Camille(Olga Kurylenko), stand in Greene's way.

Daniel Craig reprises his role in this latest of the James Bond franchise. This James Bond seems hard and callous. He wouldn't take candy from a baby he'd shoot it in the head. We understand where his bitterness has come from (the death of Vesper in Casino Royale) but sometimes this Bond just seems a bit too nasty. But having said that it is a great movie and in many ways perhaps this edgier Bond is more appropriate for the times we live in.

3 elephants.

Eagle Eye

Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBouef) is a loser with a super successful twin brother. When his twin dies, strange things start to happen to Jerry at a dizzying pace. Soon Jerry and a complete stranger, Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) receive mysterious phone calls which throws them both together and pushes them both into ever increasing dangerous situations as they are chased across American by FBI Agent Thomas Morgan ( "musician" Billy Bob Thornton).

Eagle Eye was not on our list of must-see movies, but we are very glad we decided to watch it. This is an edge-of-your-seat thriller with an original script that holds your attention right to the end. The kind of movie that is so fast paced you are in danger of going into cardiac arrest. We loved it! A stampede of elephants could have raced across the room and we wouldn't have noticed.

We give it 4 elephants