ozone

I watched this on Sky last night as there was nothing else on, and although I saw it through to the end, I was disappointed that it wasn't faithful to the book. It was as though they had used the name of the film, a few of the characters and a few other basic premises and then over-dramatised and Hollywood-ised it almost beyond recognition. Although I haven't seen it, I'm now keen to see the 1956 version if I can get hold of it, if you search the IMDb you will see it has a significantly higher rating. I would not waste my time watching this again unless perhaps there really was nothing else on - and even then I would be tempted to go out and hire something else.

I saw the Motorcycle Diaries with a friend on its final night, we'd been putting it off for a while and were glad we went. I was kind of expecting more of a road trip type of movie but it turned out to be much more than that. Although I was not really aware of Ernesto "Che" Guevara's political career I am now and this movie depicts what drove him to get involved in his chosen cause. Although I do not support communism I could definitely see how seeing the poverty and suffering of the poor in South America could galvanize a person into action. A few friends of mine have been to South America and have commented on the poverty they saw there, I guess this film was perhaps intended to be a social commentary as much as it was meant to be entertaining. In spite of all this heavier content there were still plenty of comic moments and conversation to be enjoyed as well. Definitely worth seeing.

See this New Zealand film - it probably won't make you laugh, it might bring you close to tears but see it anyway. This is small town New Zealand with a huge web of intrigue showing how through misunderstandings wrong conclusions with tragic consequences can occur. The breakdown of family relationships through communication problems is also highlighted, and I could relate it to my own experience where the death of a family member did not serve to bring the family closer together but broke us further apart.

But on the upside it's also about sharing dreams and goals and looking for something better than what your current setting can offer, whether that be small town Otago or middle Eastern trouble spots. There is some beautiful rugged New Zealand scenery to be enjoyed, although don't expect it on the same scale as in LOTR, it's more just the icing on the cake here.

Definitely see it if you can handle a moderate amount of swearing, violence, sex and drug use. If you're just looking for a laugh, don't see it.