Ada_Lovelace

All right, it's silly, and a little bit lame - but this film is entertaining... The sight of Mordred's soldiers, going through the rift as skeletal ghosts is genuinely freaky - but fun. The friendship between the children was a little bit sudden, but nice - and there was genuine suspense, and as is to be expected with Rik Mayall as Merlin, the film is funny. I found it genuinely entertaining. It was great to see so many women in important action-filled roles, and Tia Carrera's villainous woman scientist was a convincing portrayal. Craig Sheffer's scenery-chewing is great - he obviously had a wild time making this film, and there are elements of comedy in his over-the-top portrayal of Mordred. In some ways, the film seems to be trying to achieve contradictory aims - comedy and horror and they don't seem too well-melded. Yet, I still consider this a good evening's entertainment.

I admit I'd seen some negative comments here about Arlington Rd, so I didn't expect much - but this was a brilliant film! It was subtle, clever and unpredictable. Tim Robbins was as usual, the stand out actor, and Jeff Bridges failed to ruin the film, as his wooden acting and over-emoting usually does... In fact, his tendency to chew scenery was quite appropriate in this case. Joan Cusack was splendidly creepy, as was Hope Davis as Brooke. Arlington Rd is unique in dealing with American domestic terrorism, which is refreshing, not a 'Reel Bad Arab' in sight! The ending which has been criticised, was I thought, good - and the alternate ending on the DVD would not have been quite as effective - and there's that word again, creepy. I gave it max point (and I'm very pleased with the last 3 we've seen!)

I didn't quite know what to expect - the science was a bit dodge in places, and lacking in logic. However, the characterisation is excellent.. and unlike many similar "disaster flicks", The Core didn't seem to have the need for a villainous character who'd sabotage the efforts of the others.

The death toll was a bit predictable - I mean didn't we all know that the viewpoint character and the woman would end up as sole survivors? But even so, the overall impression of the movie was very good. The stand out actor was Tcheky Karyo - Hilary Swank was also excellent. Delroy Lindo as as Brazelton was also great - his death was one of the more hideous, but justified - and for once the black man was not the first to die! The vessel was one of the stars, and Rat's hacking, while a bit improbable, provided a few moments of great suspense.