Some examples of my non-commercial writings: -

Film review of Sherlock Holmes -

Robert Downey Jr. is now, at last, getting the recognition, and roles, that befit the greatest film actor of our time. Much credit is due to Sherlock Holmes director Guy Ritchie for securing the immense talent of Downey Jr., who bestrides this movie with all the swagger and assurance of a master craftsman who is still young enough to have his best roles ahead of him. But the direction is no slouch here either. Ritchie skillfully blends cutting edge film techniques with a carefully woven and multi-layered plot, a rare enough mixture in modern movie making. It's so rare to see both elements given such deft balance. Jude Law is very much in his comfort zone as a superb Watson - another brilliant piece of casting.Take Downey Jr. out of the equation and you would have a film about equal to the sum of its parts. But add in the native New Yorker and you have a Golden Globe winning performance that holds your attention like few others can. But that's bread and butter to Downey Jr. who, on this evidence, has the potential stature of Olivier, yet with even greater role versatility.

Film review of Knowing -

To paraphrase the old Monty Python Australian wine sketch: "This is not a film for watching, this is a film for laying down and avoiding." Yet another disaster movie, in every sense of the word, Knowing adds nothing new to the genre and fuels suspicions that Nicolas Cage reads the words and figures on his doubtless huge paycheck with much greater discernment than those contained in his scripts. The plot of Knowing features several implausible and highly convenient coincidences. We suffer through Cage's rather faux interpretation of an MIT lecturer whose son just happens to be the one handed a coded message from a 50 year old school time capsule that Cage soon decodes as predicting many disasters like 9/11 and Lockerbie. He then sets off on an irritating and gratuitous tour of various special effect-fest accidents like a Boston plane crash and a New York underground train derailment. He soon discovers that the code predicts the end of the world by a giant solar event. Then aliens enter the fray and start talking to his son, and, wakeup!, oh I lost you did I? Yes we've seen it all a gazillion times before and this highly forgettable film probably handles it worse than most. And I for one am tiring of Cage spending his movies running around the set like a headless chicken with an almost constant tortured expression that suggests some kind of intimate and unwelcome bodily intrusion.

Film review of Chaplin -

The "Michael Jackson" uber entertainer of his era, Charlie Chaplin led a fascinating whirlwind life, itself not without controversy. Robert Downey Jr's movie career has also been a rather tortuous path, due to a now apparently extinct substance abuse problem that for a period literally rendered him uninsurable with the major studios. In Richard Attenborough's Chaplin he scales acting heights that few have ever come close to matching, leading one to speculate on other big roles he might easily have won, had he not so enthusiastically answered the clarion call of the Colombian marching powder et al. From Chaplin's early performances in English music hall, to his arrival in America and the subsequent scaling of unprecedented heights in the then new Hollywood, to his eventual deportation from the United States, Downey Jr. gives a consistently brilliant portrayal of the first genuine world superstar. Attenborough's reverential direction style creates some wonderful period scenes, which only amplify Downey Jr's tour de force performance. An unmissable treat that you will return to again and again.

Film review of Top Gun -

Top Gun arguably drowns in its own testosterone by the end of scene one, but has latterly metamorphosed into a timeless classic, save for the fact that the planes and rock soundtrack - arguably the real stars here - are probably going to look and sound very ancient on reruns in 2040. But that never harmed the repeat fees for Battle of Britain. The usually mercurial Val Kilmer gets a very ordinary role as Tom Cruise's biggest team rival in the air and the film is noticeably lacking in great acting performances. But that misses the whole point about Top Gun, a movie that will forever symbolize, nay celebrate, the superficiality of the 80's and the omnipresence of the many blockbusters of that era. DVD Special Edition owners should, for once, actually watch the bolt-on material, specifically a well-crafted "how we last-second edited it and avoided an embarrassing sequel" film.

Flim review of Downfall -

"Here's a movie with a microscopic window for character sympathy. You know these horrible Nazi creatures are going to meet with their death and you spend the film wishing it would happen in the next scene. Arguably as close to obvious as film making gets, because we go into it knowing exactly what will transpire, this is a story with the oddest of happy endings - the main character dies and his nation capitulates, and not a moment too soon. Comparisons with other teutonic movies such as Das Boot are irrelevant - those were sailors caught up in the sturm und drang of war and the victims of circumstance. In Downfall we get to see the very welcome demise of the ring leader, who is rightly portrayed as a weak fool on the downward spiral and a totally inadequate human being to boot. There are definitely better ways to spend an evening than witnessing this admittedly well produced movie with some creditable acting performances"

Film review of King Kong -

"Peter Jackson has some brilliant touches as a director, but suffers from a severe case of celluloid diarrhea and would most likely make a four and a half hour epic out of escaping from a crisp bag. That Kong trundles on for as long as it does is a stellar triumph of indulgence over common sense, because here's a movie that should never have wandered into 100 minute+ territory. What started as nagging concern that the Lord of the Rings trilogy was made in the land that time management forgot, finally reaches a full blown yawn as Jackson actually tries to create clumsy and ill-conceived love interest between damsel in distress and hairy monster. The "climax" depicting the inevitable demise of our giant furry friend at the Empire State Building is only likely to engender tears of the sheer joy variety as this 187 minute sorebumathon finally approaches a very welcome end for those hardy souls planning to rush out of the auditorium for the last bus home and a soak in the bath."

Film review of 2001 -

"Kubrick's penchant for the obtuse might have led to this film being called Marmite, for it seems that you either love or hate it. 2001 is a real child of the 60's, belonging to the "it's more about what you leave out" school of cinema. No-one would be brave enough to make it in the same challenging way today, but thank goodness Arthur C Clarke's ideas were in the hands of a movie maverick who had the guts to allow the audience to draw its own interpretation of events on screen - a proposition too frightening for the accountants of Hollywood to even contemplate in today's world of unnecessary remakes and superstar vehicles. This was made abundantly clear in the Kubrick-free, acting-by-numbers "sequel" 2010."

Film review of Benjamin Button -

"The somewhat preposterous but intriguing plot of Benjamin Button provides an entertaining, if a little over-long, examination of a life in reverse gear. The storytelling is somehow strangely reminiscent of Forrest Gump and Pitt yet again rises to the occasion and delivers another excellent and mature performance in a career that is increasingly likely to be remembered for its overall acting substance than the aesthetics of the pin-up years."

Film review of The Doors -

"Val Kilmer's almost scary devotion to his roles may now be matched by an apparently equal dedication to those rolls found in fast food, but before the VK waistline grew we were all treated to this stunning movie, which if it doesn't replicate what it was like to be Jim Morrison, for sure seems like it. Kilmer is quite simply magnificent in the title role. He IS Morrison to all intents and purposes and it is hard to remember a more convincing performance by anyone, anytime in movie history, save for the way that Olivier made you feel he WAS Henry V all those years ago. The Doors music is elevated to even higher levels by the sheer class of this film, which stands as a fitting tribute to Morrison's monumental legacy as a musician and pied piper of West Coast counter culture"