LadyGrace0

I'm one of those people who usually manages to enjoy even really awful films in an ironic "so bad it's good" kind of way. But The Avengers is something else. It is so mind-numbingly terrible that I have only one word of advice for anyone thinking of watching it, especially if they were a big fan of the old TV series - DON'T!

Nothing about this movie makes sense - apparently due to bad test screenings a lot of scenes were cut, so perhaps this explains why the plot is so choppy and impossible to follow. In the scenes that survived and were cobbled together to make this diabolical mess of a film, the dialogue is awful, the actors look bored and bemused and the cinematography is dull. In other words, the whole thing falls flat on its face and fails to provide any entertainment or amusement whatsoever.

I really have no idea what Sean Connery, Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman were thinking when they agreed to appear in this film. I'm a big fan of Ralph Fiennes and he's been in some excellent films (The English Patient, Schindler's List, The End of the Affair) so why he wasted his time on this dire rubbish escapes me. His performance as John Steed is almost as bad as the movie, and there is absolutely zero chemistry between him and Thurman as Emma Peel, who is also totally useless in her role. Aside from the Bond movies, Connery's been in a few turkeys but I never thought I'd see him play such a badly written part in a film this awful.

I think I've got the point across by now - AVOID THIS MOVIE! If, however, you've read this and you're still going to give The Avengers a go, by the time it's finished I guarantee that your opinion of it will be the same as mine - this film is abominably bad!

A Place in the Sun really is a beautiful movie - but modern audiences must remember when watching it that it's also a film of its time, and as a consequence it does seem rather dated both in the way it looks and also the attitudes and values of its characters. If you can accept and appreciate this, you'll probably enjoy watching A Place in the Sun, even though it does plod a little through some of the story and at times the script isn't fantastic.

The plot is pretty simple - the protagonist, George Eastman (sensitively played by Montgomery Clift), is given a job in his wealthy uncle's factory, with a view to him becoming part of the family business. Although he is ambitious and hardworking and desperate to make a good impression on his affluent relatives, he breaks the rules and starts dating one of the factory girls, Alice Tripp (brilliantly played by Shelley Winters) and gets her into, as she puts it, 'trouble'. At the same time, he is being introduced to the upper social class his uncle belongs to and he meets the stunning Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor in one of her few truly great roles) and falls deeply in love with her.

George's dilemma is beautifully shown by director George Stevens - he knows that the decent thing would be to stick by Alice and support her and their child, but he is magnetically drawn to Angela by her beauty, wealth and social standing, and the fact that it is her, and not Alice, that he really loves. When Alice's humdrum life, frumpy style and drab, downtrodden character are compared with Angela's ravishing beauty, fancy clothes and opulent surroundings, there really is no comparison to be made.

The audiences' sympathies are torn just as George's are - you feel sorry for poor Alice, but Clift and Taylor are so irresistible as a young couple in love that you want them to end up together. The soft-focus close ups in their love scenes are breathtaking as they heighten the emotion and dream-like qualities of the film, and the rest of the cinematography is just as effective, especially with the gorgeous scenery of California's Lake Tahoe as a backdrop. Nothing is lost visually by the fact that the movie was shot in black and white - it simply gives it a certain subtlety and an almost film-noirish style that couldn't have been achieved as easily if the film had been shot in glorious Technicolour.

Inevitably, George's dilemma reaches a tragic conclusion and there's an absolutely heart-wrenching scene when he and Angela say goodbye for the last time. Both Clift and Taylor are superb in their roles, as is Shelley Winters, and they are backed up by a good supporting cast, especially Anne Revere, who gives an understated and moving performance in her small role as George's mother.

If you like classic old movies, A Place In The Sun is perfect to watch on a rainy afternoon, curled up on the couch with a box of chocolates and - if you cry easily at movies - a pile of tissues!

I had very mixed feelings when I heard that Red Dragon was again going to be made into a movie. I saw the 80s adaptation of it, Manhunter, and found that to be rather lacklustre despite being based on such a great book. I expected to be disappointed, especially after the turkey that was Hannibal - but to my great surprise I wasn't, as Red Dragon is a terrific film.

The story is flawless and highly intelligent, and you are literally gripped from the first minute to the last. Every single character is totally enthralling and extremely well-developed, which I find very refreshing as so many movies today seem to have such one-dimensional characters.

The cast are all brilliant, with Anthony Hopkins reprising his role as Dr Hannibal Lecter for the third time. He's not as menacing as he was in Silence of the Lambs, and he definitely camps it up for laughs more in this movie, but he still has a sinister air that serves as a vital reminder that this charming, well-mannered gent is in fact a pyschopathic serial killer.

Ralph Fiennes is also excellent as Francis Dolarhyde, the shy, disfigured photo-lab technician whose abusive childhood has turned him into a monster - the Red Dragon, and Edward Norton is pretty good (although not up to his usual standard) as Detective Will Graham, the man hunting Dolarhyde.

But Emily Watson by far outshines them all, and almost steals the movie from Hopkins and Fiennes. She is fantastic as Reba, Dolarhyde's blind love interest, and her performance is utterly compelling and totally believable.

Red Dragon isn't as good as Silence of the Lambs - which seemed to possess a whole other dimension that not a lot of movies reach - but it is definitely a movie worth seeing, and with such a stellar cast I think few will be able to resist taking a look!