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A girl walks across a road. She's wearing her Father's Belt and her Mother's blouse…she's looking out into a field…and this pretty much sets the tone for the entire film.

Stoker is very much a slow burner, but an intriguing and engaging film all the same. We follow India Stoker, an introverted soul, mourning the loss of her father, living with her mother in a large house. It's not until her Uncle turns up, to throw the family into a subtle disarray, that we start to see their family life unfolding.

Charles Stoker is besotted with India, taking a very keen interest in her in a way which constantly feels awkward and a little bit wrong, whilst forging a friendship with his Brother's widow.

But it's India's character arc which is the main focus, and what a journey she goes on. I cannot say too much about her character without giving too much away about where the film goes, you'll just have to watch it for yourself.

Director Chan-wook Park delivers a visual spectacle, with long sweeping camera shots, swift angle changes and a very typically clear colour palate to bring everything together. India is surrounded by blacks & whites and greys whilst her Mother is very much enveloped in a mustard and light orange glow, which fits in well with Nicole Kidman's hair colour.

The script is also well written, and Prison Break's Wentworth Miller clearly knows his craft well, bringing a very slick text to these characters.

Stoker is not a drift-in, drift-out movie, it's a "watch and see what happens" type, driven by great cinematography and dialogue. Matthew Goode's Charlie is sinister even when he's being nice, and Mia Wasikowska's downplayed part comes across well.

Chan-wook Park brought us one of the greatest Korean films ever in "Oldboy" and he definitely delivers in this, his first ever English Spoken film.

Enjoy!

Check out my review on my Blog at http://fameasserlufc.wordpress.com

Dysfunctional is definitely a word I would use to describe this film.

"I Give It A Year" follows the trials and tribulations of a young couple who, after marrying shortly after meeting, struggle through married life for the first year of their new lives. Rafe Spall and Rose Byrne are the couple in question but as their lives take a turn away from each other and into the arms of ex-girlfriends (Anna Faris) and business colleagues (Simon Baker) everything turns to turmoil with hilarious results.

Awkward is another word I would use to describe this film. Much of the comedy stems from the wrong thing being said at the wrong time in front of the wrong people. Steven Merchant's best friend role is one he plays to perfection as it's not too much of a stretch from his normal self as Ricky Gervais' right-hand man.

Spall is great fun in the film and has to carry a lot of the comedy himself, having a very quirky relationship with his Ex, where Byrne is a more serious person and the situations she finds herself in lend themselves more to the "should she or shouldn't she" question.

It's not the funniest film ever made, but it's well worth a chuckle and I can't help think that the film would have benefited more from a full cinema, rather than a 7-person screening (yes I was the odd one out). Comedy films tend to work a lot better when there's more people watching.

That being said, the first third of the film and the last third definitely have moments which are very funny and "Laugh Out Loud" but the middle section does seem to focus more on which way the characters will turn than the comedy aspect.

Worth a watch, by maybe a DVD viewing in a year or so rather than making a special trip to see on the big screen.

Read this blog and others on my Blog : http://www.fameasserlufc.wordpress.com

John McClane is back! And this time he's On Vacation.

Following reading a lot of reviews that dubbed Die Hard 5 as boring and subtitling it "A Bad Day To Die Hard" I wasn't expecting much from the fifth instalment in a series of films which I thought peaked with the third and fell away with an average fourth film.

But I was pleasantly surprised by Willis' latest outing in the white vest.

The story centres around McClane's son, Jack, who is working as an undercover CIA agent who is aiming to stop all out carnage between two men. Naturally John is looking for his son and stumbles across him at the most inconvenient of times, slotting himself slap bang into the middle of the action.

Bruce has still got it. Sure, he's older, but the craziness still exists. There's plenty of comedy to be had mainly revolving around the disfunctionality of McClane's family life, but the film really comes to life during its action sequences which are as good, if not better than they have ever been.

One early sequence involving a huge chase through the streets of Russia is insane and ends awesomely, and TW climax of the film is much more explosive and fun than anything in Die Hard 4.0.

Forget the horrific reviews the critics have given this, go see the film and judge for yourself. Is it the best of the series? No. But it is entertaining and will raise a few chuckles as well as a lot of "Woah!" moments.

Yippie Ki-Yay Mother Russia!