Untraceable
4 August 2009

Diane Lane plays a tough FBI geek/agent tasked with finding a nutso serial killer (nutso is probably redundant there, I suppose) who is killing people online using page views to dish out the pain.  The more hits his website gets, the more acid/hot lamps/whatever are inflicted on the victims.  It’s a horrendouse and fascinating idea and I wonder if the voyeuristic compulsion to watch shown in the film is something that would really happen (I am afraid that it probably would).  The film was a good quality.  Shame we have already seen it at the cinema and therefore wasted a Lovefilm choice!!  The first of two wasted choices in this five film selection!

Syriana
12 August 2009

Matt Damon and George Clooney are about as dependable as it comes to this sort of film.  They didn’t disappoint.  IMDB.com descibes the story as:

A politically-charged epic about the state of the oil industry in the hands of those personally involved and affected by it.

It was riveting and well written, directed and acted.  I may well see this again although it is not something I will probably rush out to see again.

Into the Wild
12 August 2009

The problem with Lovefilm is that you add a load of films to a list and then 6 months later some films are still there, wainting to be sent in the meantime you have forgetten all about adding it to Lovefilm and you go out and buy it.  Then exactly the next day (it is always the next day or at least very soon after), the Lovefilm envelope arrives and oops, a wasted choice.  That said, I have of course seen this (since I did buy it) and it was amazing.  It really blew me away and was so beautiful and stark and emotionally engaging.  Emile Hirsch was fantastic as the college graduate who decided just to leave the life expected of him and go in the wild which was based on real events.  I don’t want to say too much about it because if you haven’t seen it, I don’t want to spoil it.  Go and watch it as soon as you can!  I will be watching this over and over.

Baby Mama
15 August 2009

A total chance of pace from the previous film, Baby Mama does exactly what it says on the tin.  It’s a zany comedy with probably my two favourite US comediennes. Tiny Fey wants a baby but can’t have one.  Amy Poehler would like some cash.  Hilarity ensues.  It won’t win any oscars but it was charming, funny and I am not sure there was a funnier site for in 2009 than Amy Poehler weeing in a sink.  That may sound like a sad thing but I promise you, it really is a funny scene (which is in the trailer, fyi).

Awake
8 September 2009

What a complete let-down.  I saw the trailer for this a long while before adding to the list and I thought the film was going to go a different way than it actually did.  What I thought was going to be a court-room drama about some medical malpractice was actually more a cheap thriller.  Hayden Christenson did ok but Jessica Alba was plain irritating (although maybe she is just an excellent actress since her character was vile).  At the end of the film, my first thought was ‘pointless’.  I have not revised this opinion with time.  I won’t be watching this one again.  Fact.