Yossarian-

Like a few other Australian entries from 1999, 'Strange Planet' is gorgeously filmed but appallingly scripted and acted. The story sees two sets of three friends (three girls and three guys) who stumble to and from bad relationships. In a nutshell, that's basically the plot. Spanning a year, the film certainly covers a lot of time. And neatly too. Each new month is visually introduced by some stunning time-lapse sequences of Syndey. However, once plot and character development come into swing, then the movie just falls flat on its face. Dialogue feels too sparse and wanna-be offbeat, not to mention being so predictable and underdeveloped that it feels more like a synopsis than dialogue. The 'witty' nihilist-turned-romantic banter about relationships is anything but. The plot likewise feels all too familiar, and the ending comes paradoxically unsurprising and undeveloped, so undeveloped that the last shot (an overhead of the six eating breakfast) feels like an insulting attempt at gratifying the audience. Yet another sad triumph of of style over substance. Try 'The Big Night Out' for similar results.

2/5

Although initially difficult to watch, with a blur of confusing plot turns and twists, The Big Lebowski is a movie that really rewards repeat viewings. Things become clear. The Coen brothers' quirky sense does wonderful things. Donnie becomes the true hero of the film. It's a great movie, one of the funniest I've seen in the last few years, with some truely humorous visuals. 4/5

Against my better knowledge I went and saw Mission: Impossible 2 shortly after it premiered, armed with what turned out to be a suitably a cautious mindset. I didn't really like the original Mission: Impossible (not that these two have anything whatsoever in common, apart from Cruise and the title music) though I do respect that it was a stylish and expertly crafted film. John Woo's sequel is unfortunately not. Yes, it does have a checklist of action clichés (explosions, bikes, guns, cleavage, etc), but the delivery is just so frustratingly plain.

The plot revolves around Cruise and Co finding a vial of deadly virus, though the plot is far from the strongest point in the film. My big complaint was that M:I-2 just didn't come together well. It shuddered and jolted through predictable set pieces. Visually each piece was shot well, though there was no linking continuity. Sydney looked nice (think Water Rats + multimillion dollar budget), though perhaps The Matrix portrayed it better.

There were a few nice touches: the scene inside the research building in particular with the glass and neon lighting. However, every good point is countered by several bad ones, such as the tragically masculine 'courting' car chase, the slightly heavy-handed white dove symbolism, the final showdown between Cruise and the archetypal South African villain that dragged on and on, and so on.

In conclusion, I found M:I-2 a predictably bad action, virtually devoid of inspired filmmaking. Please don't go see this one, it's already raked in enough profit. Try Gladiators if you're in the mood for some epic action.

Two Stars (from 5). To throw around that amount of cash the end result has to be darn good (or marketable).