Some movies I've seen lately

I haven't really had a lot of time writing reviews for every single movie I've seen, so here's a brief description of films I've seen recently.

Body of Lies: After doing a month long tribute of Alfred Hitchcock, I really appreciated what a good thriller is. "Body of Lies" is a failure in almost every way, it lingers too long on plot description which makes everything seem implausible and overcomplicated, the actors are slumming around not seeming to know what to do. This seems to be new low for director Ridley Scott and this may be his worst film. (although I have not seen "Legend"). 1 and a half star out of 4.

Amal: A Canadian film that takes place in India involves a friendly rickshaw driver who only thinks of other people. One day he has a grumpy old man as a passenger, and Amal takes him as a grain of salt and is nothing but kind of him. Well guess what the grumpy old man turns out to be a millionaire who dies and leaves all of his estate to Amal. the problem is trying to track down the rickshaw driver before the millionaire's greedy offspring aquire his fortune. The story may seem contrived in parts, but the acting by a relatively unknown cast is top notch and the it becomes a heartwarming fable of the importance of money to one man. 3.5 stars out of four

Lakeview Terrace: An underrated thriller featuring one of Samuel L. Jackson's best performances as a homicidal cop who goes ballistic when an interracial couple moves next door to him. The film was criticised for being too tame however I disagree. The film is rated PG-13 although the subject matter should have pushed it to an R rating. The film uses the suspense genre to examine the more complex story of racism on both sides. I don't understand why this film was criticised as much as it was. 3.5 stars out of 4

Passchendaele: This film has been getting a lot of big press in Canada for being the most expensive Canadian film ever made. It cost 20 million dollars and you can very much see the money on screen however in many ways it shows the wrong direction Canadian film is going. The story is about a very famous battle led by Canadian soldiers in the first world war, however the film spends too much time on a cliched love story with the most wooden dialogue since "Attack of the Clones". The battle scenes themselves are the only impressive thing in this film, however it doesn't pull off what it set out to do, and that is be a loving tribute to Canadian solidiers who died. Writer/director/co-producer/star Paul Gross who is sort of Canada's answer to Tom Hanks must deserve most of the blame since this is his baby. I intend to discuss this film in more detail and Canadian films in general in an upcoming blog. 2 stars out of 4