Importance Of Being Earnest
***1/2
Merchant-Ivory-ish type period comedy starring Rupert Everett and Colin Firth as two young scoundrels who invent alter-egos to give them separate identities in London and the country.  The Importance Of Being Earnest is faithful to Oscar Wilde’s intricate comic play of class and etiquette.  It features Judi Dench, Anna Massey and others doyens of British acting and is a whimsical, entertaining romp.  Not a classic but well worth seeing.
Originally released:  2002
Seen by me:  28.12.05 (with Naomi)

Inconvenient Truth, An
****
Film of a frequently given lecture by Al Gore which has played a major role in making the United States more aware of the terrible environmental catastrophes facing the world.
Not surprisingly, Gore is an eloquent, persuasive speaker as he mixes personal reminisces with scientific data to prove his case over the politicians and business leaders who deny that this is all really happening.  Maybe these often rather arrogant people need “one of their own” to put the message across for them to believe in its severity.
Whilst watching An Inconvenient Truth it struck us that maybe Jeb Bush ultimately did the world a favour.  If Gore had become President rather than George W, he would probably have had his wings clipped by the all-powerful oil, automobile and other lobbies and not been able to put this even more important environmental messages across.
An Inconvenient Truth is an excellent, vital film which, despite its very serious message, does have some humour from its (unbeknown to me) long-term environmental campaigner.  Watch it – then try to do something!
Released:  2006
Seen by me:  31.1.07  (with Naomi)

Incredibles, The
****
CGI animated film where all superheroes are banned and have to revert to a modern life following a scandal.  Several years later, a former fan has turned villain and the heroes are called out of retirement to fit their latex suits over a middle aged spread and save the world.
The Incredibles is about a superhero couple and their equally specially gifted children.  It is fast-moving with some wit but more violent than most other modern in-your-face animations.  
Made as something of a tribute to the superhero comics and TV cartoons of yore, The Incredibles is very good though, in this age of extremely high expectations, not quite up there with the likes of Shrek and Toy Story.  Still it’s certainly well worth seeing.
Released:  2004
Seen by me:  8.1.06  (with Naomi)

Italian Job (2003)
****1/2
Like most viewers, I’m not a big fan of remakes as most second versions are a pointless and inferior modern re-telling of a period piece classic.  The makers of The Italian Job were clearly aware of the pitfalls and handled them much better than most in that there are very few similarities between their film and the classic Michael Caine / Noel Coward romp.  There is a thrilling climactic escape in Mini’s and similar names to the lead characters but that’s about all.  What we have instead is an excellent slick modern heist thriller.
Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) and his gang pull off an intricate robbery only for one of the gang Steve (Edward Norton) to turn traitor and hold up the others for the loot.  Charlie’s spiritual father, the veteran safecracker John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) is killed in the melee.  Cue forward a year and Charlie and the others reconvene to plan their revenge. To help them, they have recruited Bridger’s real daughter Stella (Charlize Theron), who has inherited her father’s talents, though has previously used them for non-criminal means.
The viewer finds him/herself routing for these likeable “moral criminals” as they hatch a complex heist to rob the treacherous Steve who is deliciously played by Norton.  The characters are well defined and played excellently in this superb film which proves that remakes can be remodelled successfully whilst staying true to the original picture.
Released:  2003
Seen by me:  29.7.06  (with Naomi)