The Bank Job

In September 1971, thieves tunneled into the vault of a bank in London's Baker Street and looted safe deposit boxes of cash and jewelry worth over three million pounds. None of it was recovered. Nobody was ever arrested. The robbery made headlines for a few days and then disappeared - the government ordered a press gag. This film reveals what was hidden for the first time. The story involves murder, corruption and a sex scandal with links to the Royal Family - a story in which the thieves were the most innocent people involved.

Martine (Saffron Burrows) offers Terry (Jason Statham), owner of a local chop-shop, a lead on a foolproof bank hit on London's Baker Street. She targets a roomful of safe deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewelry. But Terry and his crew don't realize the boxes also contain a treasure trove of dirty secrets - secrets that will thrust them into a deadly web of corruption and illicit scandal.

I thought the premise of this film would be rather simple, but it soon became hard to follow who was who. Who were the good cops? Who were the corrupt cops? Who were the M5 or M6? It's a twisted tale with many blokes involved, but none the less I really enjoyed the film! It's a great bank heist flick and best of all based on a true story. Check out The Bank Job!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Doomsday

Maybe it was my low expectations, but this movie turned out to be...not so bad! I had fun watching it. The acting wasn't so bad, and it had a post-apocalyptic theme much like the Mel Gibson's Mad Max and Road Warrior films. There was also a splash of Escape from New York.

In fact, I wonder if the main protagonist Katherine Sinclair's (Emma Cleasby), loss of her eye was a nod to Kurt Russell's Snake Pliskin. At least everyone in the movie didn't keep saying, "I heard you were dead!" Sinclair's only tick was that she regularly bummed a cigarette.

The movie starts out with a super "Reaper" virus killing thousands of people around Glasgow. So they build a steel wall and separate Great Britain in half, leaving everyone north of the wall to die. But several survive the virus and create their own societies. One of them led by Kane (Malcolm McDowell).

Several years later the virus breaks out again and they send in Sinclair to find a survivor in the original containment zone. She leads a team of commandos and they battle with the cannibalistic warriors that live there. They only have 48 hours. Emma Cleasby reminds me a lot of Kate Beckinsale and her Underworld character, Selene.

So if you are a fan of the Road Warrior movies, post-apocalyptic films, or human barbeque, then by all means dye your hair purple and check out Doomsday!

10,000 B.C.

Well it has Mammoth's, Sabre Tooth Tigers, and a sloth for a script, but it's not Ice Age III, it's 10k BC. I thought the costumes were fabulous and the sets were epic. The story and plot were a little weak but over all it was a fun film. There were some intense scenes.

Director Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow") brings us an tall tale about an age old story. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy chases girl, boy get girl!

In a remote mountain tribe, a young hunter named D'Leh (Steven Strait) has found his heart's passion - the beautiful Evolet (Camilla Belle). But when a band of slavers raid his village and kidnap Evolet. D'Leh leads a small group of hunters to pursue the evil men through jungles and across deserts. As they venture out to strange lands for the first time, the group finds there are other tribes that have suffered a similar fate as their own. So they join forces.

They brave the elements and man eating dodo birds (this was so stolen from Ice Age!) to follow Evolet to the end of the Earth by following a star in the sky. At their heroic journey's end, they uncover a massive civilization that worships a god. Here they make a stand against the tyrannical god who has brutally enslaved their own.

The film was fun, but I'd try and catch a matinee. Check out 10,000 BC!

Vantage Point

For an hour and a half we see the same scene replayed over and over but each time from a different...Vantage Point. About the second to last time they rewind the scene to play it again I was thinking to myself--"If they rewind this one more time, I will be over it." I was ready for the film to move forward. With each replay, we get more and more pieces of the puzzle till it all comes together in the end.

Was this gimmicky style interesting enough to hold my attention? To get me involved in the story and the characters? Well Like I said, about one more time and I would have been frustrated. But as it was, the story was easy to follow. It was a simple plot and unfolded nicely so that you didn't have to think to hard. In fact the script was almost too tidy. They throw in a little twist here and there but again, easy to keep up with.

The film stars, Dennis Quiad as secret service agent, Thomas Barnes, Matthew Fox as agent Kent Taylor, Sigourney Weaver as a news producer, Forrest Whitaker as a tourist, and William Hurt as the president. The President is in Spain for a summit against global terror. (And surprise, the terrorists are there too!) But before he can say a word, he is shot on stage. That event is replayed over and over based on about seven or eight different people's perspective.

I thought it was an interesting idea, but some people will find the "rewind" annoying while others will be teased and engrossed while waiting to see where it will all lead. The actors did a good job, although there was no room for getting to deep. They each had their single motivation and followed it to the end. They try to add a little depth, the tourist has family issues, the secret service guy has taken a bullet for the president before and is just coming back on the job, the Spanish cop (Eduardo Noriega) is worried about his brother, and the news producer is dealing with ornery reporters and camera men.

Overall it was a good story, with a very intense ending! If you don't mind the replaying of the opening scene and find it alluring, then you will enjoy this movie. So check the batteries in your cam corder and check out Vantage Point!