THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL (12A)

10:52am Wednesday 12th March 2008

WHY is it that three quintessentially English roles have gone to a couple of Americans and one Australian? Having just won two substantial Oscars this year it must be plain for any idiot to see that Britain has talent. So when this film's director Justin Chadwick says they were just perfect for the roles because "they're great actors", it sticks in my craw. Though it is fair to say the Australian Cate Blanchett did a fine job as Queen Elizabeth I, I still think that it is insulting to Americans to assume they would be unable to cope with an unknown name in the lead, but it is an even greater insult to us. We have a treasure trove of talent in this country that is struggling to get noticed in a profession in which 88% are out of work. But we also have a myriad of big names as well, so shame on you Mr. Chadwick.

THE COTTAGE (18)

10:47am Wednesday 12th March 2008

ON THE back of the success of director Paul Andrew William's first film London to Brighton (2006), which won several awards including Best New Director at the Edinburgh Film festival, comes a very different offering.

Reader comments (2)

	Standard cinema reviewer Clare Shepherd's Top Ten films of 2007
	9:08am Fri 1 Feb 08
	THE PAINTED VEIL (12A) Afraid of being left on the shelf Kitty (Naomi Watts) marries Walter (Edward Norton). Bored, she soon has an affair, but when Walter discovers the truth he accepts a job in a remote cholera infested village in China and takes her along. It has a haunting score and is a film that stays with you long after you have seen it. Don't miss it.

	ALIEN VS PREDATOR: REQUIEM (15)
	9:30am Wed 23 Jan 08
	THERE is a company in America that specialises in ripping off Hollywood blockbusters. The Asylum makes a film with a very similar title to the original, for example Transmorphers (Transformers), for a tiny fraction of the budget and releases straight to DVD. The quality of the films is questionable but their entertainment value is high. The great thing about The Asylum is that they are knowingly making a bad likeness of a film. The problem with Alien VS Predator: Requiem is that someone actually took the concept seriously and released it as a mainstream movie. The film is a sequel to a dire film based on a series of Dark Horse comics, themselves based on the respective Alien and Predator films, which had long become dire in their own right. One wonders why they bothered at all.

	CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR (15)
	9:29am Wed 23 Jan 08
	SET in the early 1980s this film is based on the true story of hard drinking womaniser Charlie Wilson, who also had a penchant for coke. He was the liberal Democrat congressman from Texas said to have been totally responsible for organising the biggest undercover operation in the history of the United States. This involved supplying the Afghan Mujahideen with arms during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the success of which unfortunately was the beginning of a very tricky future for the Afghan nation.

	Top Ten Films 2007
	11:28am Wed 19 Dec 07
	THE PAINTED VEIL (12A) Afraid of being left on the shelf Kitty (Naomi Watts) marries Walter (Edward Norton). Bored, she soon has an affair, but when Walter discovers the truth he accepts a job in a remote cholera infested village in China and takes her along. It has a haunting score and is a film that stays with you long after you have seen it. Don't miss it.
	Reader comment (1)

	Top Ten Children's Films 2007
	11:24am Wed 19 Dec 07
	CHARLOTTE'S WEBB (U) Wilbur the piglet (voiced by Dominic Scott Kay) is saved from slaughter by the farmer's daughter (Dakota Fleming). Now too big for the house, Wilbur is sent to live in a barn where a clever spider (voiced by Julia Roberts) saves him again. Adorable.

	Enchanted (PG)
	10:15am Thu 13 Dec 07
	This classic animated fairy-tale comes from Walt Disney Pictures with a twist. Fifteen minutes in everything changes and it becomes a live action romantic comedy set in the modern day world.

	The Golden Compass (12A)
	1:59pm Fri 7 Dec 07
	The film adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy was always going to be fraught with difficulty. It was sold as a children's book but was written by a man who wanted to challenge preconceptions of faith and religion. It created a great deal of controversy with the more extreme sections of the Christian faith.
	Reader comments (3)

	The Assassination of Jesse James (15)
	10:25am Mon 3 Dec 07
	In England we have Robin Hood as our favourite outlaw and in much the same way the Americans have taken Jesse James (Brad Pitt) to their hearts. I am not sure that either of them is worthy of such idolisation, but they have both spawned countless books about their colourful lives.

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