BLOGS

Written by Robin Bell

It's been a year since this blog started, kicking off with a generous review of Iron Man. Highlights for myself have included my harsh but fair review of Wanted, a glowing review of Watchmen, a review of the Frightfest horror film festival which highlights some great scares from the horror scene all over the world and the blogs which highlight hidden gems - We have already unearthed Dan in Real Life and Severance and there's much more to come. If you're stuck over which film to watch you couldn't go wrong with checking out one of those or looking at my top ten films from 2008.

So where next for this blog? Well there's plenty to discuss, we have a whole summer of exciting films ahead and blockbuster season is already underway with Star Trek (see previous blog). Also, Cannes has just been and gone, previewing Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds and Pixar's Up along the way. The Palme D'or was claimed by Michael Haneke's new film The White Ribbon, building anticipation for the Uk release of his follow up the extraordinary Hidden.

I've also managed to catch two tremendous films during the last couple of weeks. Firstly, Henry Selick's adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel Coraline. The film looked fantastic in 3D and was sufficiently scary for adults and children alike. Some people may worry it's too scary for kids, but they're wrong - if anything it's too scary for adults and the kids will love it.

Secondly, another British production and an adaptation again, but this time by the original author, of the book Awaydays. The story concerns The Pack, a bunch of football hooligans in 1979 on the Wirral. The film has a great soundtrack and subverts expectations and people expecting a Football Factory imitation will be surprised by the tender love story woven into the violence.