Title=A Sound Of Thunder
Score=2
Summary=A Sci-Fi film can be goofy and dumb and yet still be fun at the same time. But A Sound Of Thunder fails at every level that you can think of. Nothing works in this movie and I can easily predict that this movie will be making my “10 worst movies of 2005” at the end of the year.

Title=The Constant Gardener
Score=5
Summary=A movie that I SHOULD have liked, with good people in front of and behind the camera that ground itself to a halt almsot from the very begining and failed to ever get me to care about the people in the film or the issues they were struggling with.

Title=Dominion: A Prequel to The Exorcist
Score=9
Summary=A strong and subtle story, building heavily on the characters and in particular Merrin. Providing a lot more focus on his crisis of faith, the person he is, and his slow realisation on his first meeting with a Demon. A much better movie than the other Exorcist film. Also includes a short discussion of the Paul Schrader Q&A session afterwards.

Title=MirrorMask
Score=4
Summary=A very weak story which develops little throughout, this movie is a visually driven film heavy with effects and many scenes with no real connection to the initial story. Good performances from the leads, but little enjoyment from the story.

Title=The Dark
Score=6
Summary=A by the numbers scare movie for the first half, then the second turns into a creepy psychological horror that just doesn’t quite hit the mark. The sheep are really not that scary, but Bean is superb once again with Bello providing an equally good performance, together they have a good onscreen chemistry. These two, and the last twenty minutes, really do bring the movie back from the brink.

Title=The Cave
Score=5
Summary=Very little expectation going in to seeing The Cave. On the one hand I was quite excited about seeing Piper Perabo again (oh my goodess that’s an attractive woman)… but other than that… there wan’t much in the way of marketing to get me excited. It ended up being a little better than I thought… but even that’s not saying much.

Title=The Brothers Grimm
Score=4
Summary=The dialog in the film is a joke, the character direction was horrible, the visual effects look like they were done in 2001 and all of the supporting characters were such extreme 1 dimensional goof balls that I kept wishing I had to go to the bathroom to give myself a good excuse for leaving the theater if even for just a moment.

Title=Serenity
Score=9
Summary=Sharp, clever and quick dialogue between well written characters in a hugely entertaining movie with loads of action. Very true to the original series, yet a bit darker with more complexity to some of the characters.

Title=Voices of Iraq
Score=9
Summary=Strong, insightful documentary. Whatever your views on editing footage, the resulting film shows a strong, intelligent and understanding Iraqi people. A people who show the contradictions in the news we are receiving, and give a clear voice to why the fighting is still in Iraq. A voice that should really be heard. Hard hitting, funny, thoughtful and emotional. A superb documentary.

Title=36 Quai des Orfèvres
Score=8
Summary=Impressive cast with a fantastic performance from Depardieu. The cinematography and score are superbly combined and with the strong script makes for a really good movie, particularly the opening and the various raids. Let down in places by a poor plot device and some weak emotional scenes from Auteuil. Well worth watching.

Title=The Descent
Score=9
Summary=Scary, dark, and full of surprises and scares. A strong cast with realism rooted throughout the script and performances gives for an excellent horror film. Missing a little more depth (pardon the pun) but still a superb movie from Neil Marshall. You’ll be scared and on edge. A must see.

Title=Twist of Faith
Score=10
Summary=One of the most powerful documentaries I’ve seen. Painful and tough to watch, but there are personal rewards to be seen and hope to be gleaned. Very intimate, personal, and real. Wonderfully edited and pulled together to tell a tough story of a surprising normal family still affected by sexual abuse.