The first installment of Lars von Trier's "USA - Land of Opportunities" trilogy, Dogville, was a crowd divider. Against the arty scenery and the one set-sans-walls, there was a certain artlessness in its dialogue and its blatant concepts of injustice, vulnerability and the exploitation of power. The heroine turned out to be an anti-heroine, a kind of idealistic cynic armed with virtues, a gun, and posse of gangsters (no, really). Despite the starkness of the production, Nicole Kidman pulled it off.

Five years ago, Fast Food Nation was a book written by a relatively unknown investigative journalist named Eric Schlosser. It was well researched and very insightful, and like Morgan Spurlock did a few years later with his movie along the same vein, it got people talking about what they were eating.

There are 2 billion emerging rich in China and India who care about the environment as much as I care for brussel sprouts. There are industry lobby groups and Australian governments and swift boats and this hanging Chad guy all standing in the way of the little guy wanting to do the right thing.

Mr. Gore: my question is this: What message of hope can you offer to a down-and-out, cynical young man, that everything is going to be ok and that my efforts to fix things for my generation won’t be trampled by those more powerful and wealthy and numerous than me?

“Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man”. This Jesuit maxim, together with the belief that one’s background predetermines one's future, was the inspiration behind arguably the first reality TV program, “7-up”. It began when “World in Action” interviewed a group of seven year old school children from different socio-economic classes during Thatcher’s Britain, and then followed them every seven years charting their life. “49-up” is the latest release in the seven part series.

Becoming Jane is a surprisingly charming film that manages to conscientiously adhere to the formula of love stories whilst still maintaining a degree of fiery autonomy that makes it more than the typical Romeo and Juliet clone. A tale of love found, lost, found, and lost again, it takes known facts about Jane Austen’s life and, with a bit of imaginative extrapolation, challenges the common perception of Jane Austen as an austere spinster who was obsessed with propriety.

Impending death is commonly an opportunity to cleanse or the catalyst to fight. In A Time to Leave, Romain (Melville Poupard) chooses to run towards death at full tilt, cleansing himself of all that is emotionally complex or physically involved. With the exception of his grandmother (Jeanne Moreau), Romain tells no one of his terminal condition and spends the first half of the film attempting to provoke a response from those around him, resulting in more hurt and pain. His grandmother is his solace, as she is one who is 'also close to death'.

Wildly entertaining and side-splittingly hilarious, Little Miss Sunshine is a movie that celebrates the inner loser in us all. It isn’t an underdog story where the slow kid wins the race, or where the ugly ducking becomes the beautiful swan, or where the small kid gets the best of the bullies. The slow kid stays last, the ugly ducking stays ugly, and brother, you better believe that that small kid will get his underwear pulled right over his head. Twice.

Delve into the world of crime in Sydney – corrupt, crooked and disturbingly realistic. Meet Jack Barrett (Colin Friels), the protagonist, introduced in the opening scene as he carves up a cadaver, so expertly. He then drops it, piece by piece into the sea, finally vomiting. The job is done.

Just because it is a quintessential Hollywood film doesn't automatically mean its crap. So what's it about? Four guys go into a New Yorker Bank and take hostages. The Police arrives and waits outside for them. A cat and mouse game begins and lots of twists happen from now on. Who wants to play for time? The police, the bank robber, or both?

Director, Spike Lee, mainly concentrates on crafting a story but also leaves space for developing characters. His aren't simply black and white stereotypes, with even smaller roles being well developed.

could tell you that the performances of this film are consummate, outstanding, subtle. I could tell you that the cinematography is stunning, innovative, affective, and decisively employed. I could tell you that the direction is sure-handed, natural, brilliant, etc., and I could think up all sorts of adjectives to describe the editing, the soundtrack, and all the films composite parts in turn. And it would all be pretty much true.
But that would be stupid. Go see the movie. It will testify to its quality far more eloquently than I ever could.