agoodair

And yet again Kenneth Branagh does the unthinkable with Shakespeare, and gets away with it! People are far too ready to show undue reverence to Shakespeare's plays, and to deride any attempt to make them more accessible; what they forget is that Shakespeare was writing for the people (not a small cultural elite), thankfully Branagh has understood this. Compare his version of Henry V to the Olivier original, both have their merits, but I feel the Bard would identify more with the more recent version - let's face it, if he was alive now, he'd probably be writing scripts for Eastenders!

In "Love's Labours Lost" Branagh has captured the fun of the play; the updating works (although just barely), and the choice of music is inspirational (kind of a Bard version of "Singing in the Rain", if you can forgive the pun)! Yes, many of the actors had never done this sort of thing before, but you can see they had fun trying!

It seems invidious to single out any performances, but there were a few that stood out; every review I have ever read heaps unstinting praise on Adrian Lester, and they are right to do so. However, let us not forget the incomparable talents of Nathan Lane, the joy of seeing Timothy Spall have a chance to go completely over the top (makes a change from all the Mike Leigh films!) and the sheer radiance of Natascha McElhone, with whom I am now totally besotted! And a special mention for another fine performance from Richard Briers, as Kenneth Branagh helps him prove (yet again) that he is so much more than Tom Good.

Kenneth Branagh is often accused of being a 'luvvy' (an image which he lampooned so well in the recent Harry Potter film, well done Ken!); he's much more than that, he's a genuine original, somebody with a passion for film and theatre and the ability to share that passion with the rest of us. This film is (along with "Amelie") one of my never-failing pick-me-ups; I look forward to whatever he has next in store for us!!!

Well, I'd read the reviews, I loved "Delicatessan" anyway, so I thought I'd give this a go! And boy, am I glad I did!! This little gem of a film is funny, smart, sweet and just a really fun way to cheer yourself up when you're feeling down; already one of my Top 10 films.

Do yourself a favour, if you haven't seen it yet then go now; be spontaneous, after all, Amelie is!!

Well, I read some of the reviews before I took my 7 year old son Joseph, and really was not looking forward to seeing this film; we're both long time Thomas fans and, as an ex-manager of the Harrods Childrens Book Shop, I met the Reverend Awdry on a few occasions, and desparately hoped that Britt Allcroft hadn't totally destroyed the magic.

Well, I must have been seeing a different film from the other reviewers (especially the person who complained about Thomas' American accent, which sounded English to me!)!! As long as you accept this is a kids film (Joseph's verdict was "Brilliant!!") this is a good fun film for younger families. I must admit it was slightly bizarre to see Peter Fonda talking to Thomas and, let's face it, Alec Baldwin has made some strange career choices; however, it was a good showcase for Mara Wilson (star of 'Matilda'), but let's hope she doesn't get typecast in 'magical' childrens films, as this is an actress with a great career in front of her.

And incidentally, if anybody wants to meet the 'real' Thomas they should visit the Nene Valley Railway near Peterborough, England. They run a small blue tank engine who was renamed 'Thomas' by the Rev Awdry (he used to be one of the local vicars), making him the official Thomas!!