Captain Corelli's Mandolin
****¼
An excellent film version of Louis De Berniere's brilliant book about the contrasting Italian and German occupations of the Greek island of Cephallonia during the 2^nd World War. For me, this heavily criticised film captures the feel of the book and is not patronising towards the uneducated Greeks on the island such as Madras. It also has more humour in its first half than the novel and is only let down by the sudden cop out of a happy ending. The acting is brilliant and the 4 leads - Nicholas Cage, Penelope Cruz, John Hurt and Christian Bale - superb even though Cage isn't quite my image of Captain Corelli. Also brilliant is David Morrissey as a German officer who befriends the Italians and is devastated by their execution once the Germans take control of the island. Although the film misses out or waters down the last quarter of the book, it is a good and valid adaptation of the rest and very much worth seeing.
Released - 2001
Seen by me: 16.11.03 (with Naomi)

Casino Royale
**

I haven’t seen a new James Bond film for years and have never shown much interest in the franchise till I heard that Daniel Craig was going to play the new Bond.  I’ve always liked Craig and was quite appalled by the campaign against his appointment by ignorant, die-hard Bond fans who were condemning him without even having seen a scene from the new movie.  Expecting a Bond with a bit more sensitivity and gravitas than before, I took my seat.  How disappointed I was…
Casino Royale was full of (admittedly very well done) action scenes with virtually no depth to the story or characters whatsoever.  Even worse, Daniel Craig’s Bond reduced himself to the smarmy one-liners so beloved of Roger Moore.  Was this really the same man who played Geordie Peacock so brilliantly in Our Friends In The North 10 years ago?
Furthermore, Casino Royale fell into the same trap of most quality blockbusters being brought out at the moment in being about 20 minutes too long with the central card playing scenes being most ripe for further editing.  Intended to be something of a back-to-basics move for the Bond franchise, the only real 60s imagery were the brilliant retro title credits – the highlight of the film for me which kind of says it all really…
Maybe I’m being too harsh on CR as I’m not really a Bond fan and there are some signs that James will develop into a slightly more sensitive soul in the next Bond movie.  I’m not sure if I’ll be taking my seat to see it though…
Released:  2006
Seen by me:  9.1.07  (with Naomi)

Chaplin
****
Excellent biopic of Charlie Chaplin directed by Richard Attenborough.  Covering his whole life, it has an absolutely brilliant central performance by Robert Downey Jr. who plays Chaplin from a young comic genius to an old man movingly returning to the US to receive a lifetime award after being forced out 20 years earlier in the McCarthy witchhunts.  There’s also an excellent supporting cast including one of Charlie’s real daughters Geraldine who plays his mother.  An excellent film with several memorable scenes.
Released:  1991
Seen by me:  11.6.05 (with Naomi)

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
***1/2
Eagerly awaited new film version of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka.  If there’s one director and star who you would want to recreate the spectacular extravaganza of the chocolate factory and its flamboyant yet reclusive owner you would be talking Burton and Depp yet, though the film is good, it’s not quite as wonderful as I had hoped. 
The factory is quite a spectacle and Depp is good as the complex Wonka with slightly more joie-de-vivre than Gene Wilder’s rather sinister portrayal in 1971’s Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.  The nut cracking squirrels in the current film are also a cute improvement on the original’s egg laying geese though the story in the new version arguably doesn’t hold together quite so well and computer-generated “cloning” of one Oompa Lumpa rather than using several actors is just modern laziness and doesn’t really work. 
Comparing both versions overall, I would provably give the earlier film a very slight edge though they both get the same star rating.  Charlie & The Chocolate Factory is enjoyable though not quite as wonderful as I hoped it was going to be.
Released:  2005
Seen by me:  30.7.05  (with Naomi & Tracy)

Chicago
****
A new film version of the famous kitsch musical set in a prison in the 1920s.  Starring Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger in farcical over-the-top roles, Chicago is highly entertaining with spectacular dancing and singing by the leads and supporting chorus line.  Excellent performances by the three leads with the superb, versatile Zellweger the star of the show – quite why she was categorised as a supporting actress with the inferior Zeta-Jones as lead I don’t really know.  Chicago is a fun and entertaining film though, as musicals go, not as good as the more surreal Moulin Rouge.
Released - 2003
Seen by me:  20.11.04 (with Naomi)

Chronicles Of Narnia:  The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe
*****
Utterly enchanting and brilliant version of CS Lewis’ book where four sibling children, evacuated to a sinister country mansion during the Blitz, are transported to the magical land of Narnia through the back of a wardrobe.  Despite a major indiscretion by the younger brother, they are eventually greeted as heroes, who under the leadership of the lion Aslan, lead the climactic battle against the evil witch and her followers.  Humans, centaurs and real-looking animals with computer-generated movements fight side-by-side for good against evil in this incredible spectacle.  Good wins, evil is banished and the four siblings live on as leaders in Narnia.  The film ends with them as adults stumbling across some undergrowth leading to a long forgotten wardrobe door…
The Chronicles Of Narnia is a magical spectacle with superb effects and excellent performances by the four young leads.  In my opinion you can forget the violent Lord Of The Rings and excellent, but predictable Harry Potter – the Chronicles Of Narnia is poised to become the ultimate serial blockbuster.  Lets hope the sequel lives up to The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe.  A wonderful film.
Released:  2005
Seen by me:  22.12.05  (with Naomi and Amy)