Shooter

Ex-army marksman, Bob Lee Swagger, is living in exile when he is persuaded back into action after learning of a plot to kill the president. But ultimately framed for the attempted assassination he goes on the run to catch the real killer and find out who has set him up.

Rambo meets Jason Bourne. Which means lots of heads and arms being shot off but with a good story to accompany the blood lust. Basically one man's struggle against a powerful and corrupt system bent on framing him for something he didn't do. Who could he trust? Hell. We didn't know. The movie made us feel as uncertain as Swagger did himself. It kept us guessing. Would he outsmart the bad guy as he stepped into one trap after another? A movie that involved it's viewer - always a good thing. It's sustains tension and kept us guessing. And we so wanted Swagger to come out on top.

Best line: "You can's shoot me, I'm a U.S. senator."
"Exactly."
pow!

4 elephants

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?

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The International

Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and Manhattan D.A Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) investigate one of the world's most powerful banks. Uncovering illegal activities that include money laundering and arms dealing, their investigation takes them across the world as they try to bring to justice a bank that will stop at nothing to continue to finance terror.

You must watch this film if only for the gun battle in the Guggenheim museum in New York - awesome! We watched this film a couple of months back and it was so impressive (not) we can't remember anything about it apart from that massive shoot out. So hardly a memorable film, then?

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The Invasion

An alien life form attaches itself to a space shuttle that crashes back to earth. Anyone coming in contact with debris from the shuttle and therefore the alien life form, becomes infected and contagious. When they fall asleep their DNA is recoded and they are robbed of all emotion. (Obviously this happened to Nicole Kidman before the film started!)

If you can get past Miss Kidman's frozen features and Daniel Craig's hair (was it a wig???) there is a one in a million chance you might enjoy it. This remake starts off well enough but come the third act it just seems the script writers ran out of steam and just thought 'c'mon guys, let's wrap this up asap.' The resolution was pathetic. And while we're at it, Nicole Kidman's running -- well, she just shouldn't.

1 elephant (and that's being generous)

Inside Man

From a cell, Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) tells us he carried out the perfect bank robbery and invites the audience to watch how he did it. But while he was committing the crime he had to outsmart Detective Frazier (Denzel Washington) and just to throw a little something else into the mix, the bank's president had something in the safe deposit box he was eager to protect. Enter Madeleine White (Jodie Foster) a high-powered fixer or as we like to think of her role ' the token bitch.'

Not your run of the mill cops and robbers film. The plot was fast paced, smart and very clever. The only spoiler - Jodie Foster's role in it. It could have been played by any actor. As good as Jodie Foster is, somehow she didn't bring anything to this film. Nevertheless, we loved this movie for it's originality and are pleased to hear they are making a sequel.

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