Okay, so the first time you heard or read the title of this film, you probably thought "huh?", and you might have been even more puzzled when you heard that this was a kung fu movie directed by super classic Sense and Sensibility's director, Ang Lee. I mean, did the man go insane? And what do tigers and dragons have to do with anything?

I personally don't think the change of genre is that odd. After all, with the excellent and so cynical The Ice Storm, Lee had already produced a very different kind of film and had proven that he was as comfortable with Jane Austen's 19th century England than with 1970s New England and swinger married couples. So what if he wants to do kung fu now? If he does it half as well as his two previous films, I'm all for it. And he does.

Crouching Tiger is based on a popular Chinese novel (so I'm told), telling the story of Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat), a fighting master, who decides to retire and give away his beloved jade sword to a good friend in Imperial Peking. He entrusts another good friend Yu Shu-Lien (very nicely played by Hong Kong star and ex-Bond girl Michelle Yeoh), herself a fighter with this mission, but the plot thickens when the sword is stolen and a very old enemy of Mu Bai's, The Fox, reappears in the city.

I'm not a big fan of kung fu movies... actually, the most kung fu I've seen on screen was probably in the Matrix, a couple of Jackie Chan film and in Xena, whose OTT fight scenes are directly inspired by Hong Kong movies. But this is probably martial arts movie at its best - even if it's not really one. Crouching Tiger is a beautifully crafted epic, containing all the ingredients of a popular story : love, intrigues, heroes and villains, thieves and cops, and fights. Lots of fights. Incredible fights. The most surprising one is probably the first one, between Michelle Yeoh and the ninja-like thief, and the incredible flying chase over the roof tops that precedes it. You might find it silly, but not for long, especially when you see how these guys fight.

The fight scenes are as carefully crafted as the rest of the film - costume, sets, music - and are really poetry in motion - with a wicked ass-kicking angle. One of the most impressive fights is the one between the two women at the end, and of course, all the ones involving Chow Yun Fat, whose character's austerity but ultra precision make the fights even more exciting.

The almost fairy tail-ish atmosphere - re-enforced by the flying, the period costumes, and the use of Chinese language and subtitles - makes the film a completely original piece, miles away from anything you've seen in the past few years, and not only served by a gorgeous photography, but also a nice humor and a very strong cast - where female characters play a very important part. Of course, not everyone will like this - a few people left the cinema halfway through the projection when we went to see it - but if you're ready to enjoy a very well made film for what it is, a very beautiful tale, you'll want seconds. After all, that's not that different from Sense and Sensibility, now, is it?

Don't miss the official site where you'll find nice downloadables, interviews, and behind the scenes goodies.

Nine months after its US release, and while it's already available in DVD Region 1 format, Pitch Black finally hits the UK screens. To tell you the truth, and although the trailer was catchy, this delay had me a little worried... was the movie so bad that it couldn't find a distributor in Europe? I don't know the answer to this, apart from the fact that, no, the movie is not bad. Not bad at all, actually.

As soon as the film starts, the action starts with it. No time wasted in introducing the characters at length. A commercial space ship is damaged in a meteor shower - or something similar - and soon crashes on a nearby planet. A lot of passengers die, but a handful of survivors - including a very dangerous convicted murdered with neat eye implants- find themselves stranded on a desert planet with no food, no water, and more importantly, no night. The planet indeed has three suns, and as soon as one sets, another rises. Which would be bad enough if the planet wasn't also home to a nasty breed of big creatures, a cross between the Xenomorphs from Alien and Starship Troopers' bugs. But hey, you shouldn't worry too much about those, because they are afraid of the light and seem to stick to darkness, underground, which is kind of OK on a three-sun planet.

Well, that is, of course, unless there is an eclipse. And that's when things get more complicated. Well, complicated is not exactly the right word, since the plot from then involves the remaining characters to go from point A to point B while staying alive and then attempt to leave the damn rock. Alien, it ain't, but Pitch Black is a very entertaining and well made film, that borders on the cult movie status, with weird camera angles, neat photography, great special effects and tongue-in-cheek humor.

The actors are for the most part unknown - the most famous ones being Claudia Black of Farscape fame and Vin Diesel whom you might remember from Private Ryan... I didn't. Oh, and yes, the imam guy that you must have seen in a few movies without ever knowing his name. The story is pretty weak, and the characters development poor and unbalanced, but the pace is high, although the editing sometimes a bit choppy, and images such as the sight of one of the characters surrounded by shapes of hungry creatures on an otherwise pitch black screen should be remembered. A good, solid sci-fi/horror film that sure didn't deserve to wait this long to be seen by European movie-goers.

Memento is a murder story with a big twist. Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) is tracking his wife's killer, and will not rest until he has found and kill him. Or will he? Because you see, things get a little more complicated when you learn that Leonard, following the attack that cost him his spouse, has been left with a "condition", as he puts it, and has no longer any short-term memory. In other words, Leonard does something and forgets about it 5 minutes later, has no recollection of it, or meets someone and next time he sees them, he can start all over again.

In order to reach his goal, Leonard has adopted a very strict procedure of writing everything down - on the most durable of places, his own body! - and to take pictures of everything. If he doesn't, then how will he remember that Natalie is an ally or Teddy a liar who cannot be trusted?? Simple, you think? Well, not quite. And so that you can see how complex things can get, British director Christopher Nolan has decided to make his audience experience what Leonard is going through by turning his storytelling upside down and starting... with the end. But fear not. As you'll struggle to remember with each ending sequence where the previous one started, you'll discover that the start is even better than the ending. Confused yet? You will be.

Guy Pearce (of Neighbours and LA Confidential fame) is outstanding as a quite endearing and strong-willed but in the end completely lost Leonard who desperately clings to pieces of papers and photographs, hoping that they will replace his broken memory. He is supported by the always excellent Joe Pantoliano (Bound, The Matrix) as the untrustworthy Teddy, and Carrie-Anne Moss (everybody will remember Trinity from The Matrix) as the cynical Natalie, who will help Leonard "out of pity". But in this tale, no one is as they seem and Leonard must make sure he writes things down as soon as he finds out about the others' true nature... unless he forgets to do it, of course. And even if he does, can he really trusts his own words?

Memento is like a puzzle, and a wicked good one too. Dark, confusing, desperate, and very smart, it'll have you think for a while after.

Official site cleverly named otnemem.com - unusual, but interesting. Better visit it after seeing the movie though.

Eleven year-old Billy Elliot lives in the North of England, with his widowed dad, his bully big brother Tony and his granny who's losing her mind. It is the 80s, and the miners are clashing with Margaret Thatcher's police on a daily basis. Billy's father and brother struggle to feed the family during the minors strike, but still manage to pay the weekly 50p for Billy's boxing lessons. The only thing is... Billy sucks at boxing and soon discovers the fascinating world of Mrs. Wilkinson's ballet class. Without telling anyone, he starts paying the 50p to his new teacher who sees a lot of potential in the young boy, and trades his boxing gloves for dancing shoes.

Of course, the premise of the film and its social background are reminiscent of other British movies such as Brassed Off or The Full Monty. It doesn't overplay this side however, and it's a good thing. Although the dramatic social crisis is omnipresent in the story, it is subtlety woven into the plot and make Billy's story even more enticing. The film cleverly avoids the clichés, painting portraits of simple but honest and good people, that do not beat up their children even when they find them dancing at night in an empty gym with friend Michael dressed in a bloody tutu, and are even ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to see their little boy's dream come true.

Supported by a wonderful and solid cast (Julie Walters and Gary Lewis), Jamie Bell as Billy simply shines and switches in the blink of an eye from the quiet and sometimes grumpy boy, the loving son and grandson, to the passionate dancer or the disarmingly honest and cheeky pupil. And his dancing ain't bad either. Billy basically wants to be left alone. He doesn't want to be a boxer, or a miner, and although he likes ballet, he's not gay either, contrary to his best bud Michael (wonderfully played by young Stuart Wells). Billy just wants to dance, really, and wouldn't mind going to the Royal Ballet Academy although his thick Northern accent and his lack of refinement do not make him the ideal candidate.

Very well written, with very funny but also very touching scenes, Billy Elliot is a must-see, and I wouldn't be surprised if the movie got an Oscar nomination comes the new year. A very nice treat.

The official site is quite nice for a British film - but then again, it is distributed by Universal...

Danish director Lars von Trier does it again and after the beautiful Breaking the Waves and the controversial The Idiots delivers another piece that screams originality. Awarded the Palme d'Or in Cannes this year, Dancer in the Dark tells the story of Selma (Björk), a Czech immigrant in the 60s US who works night and day in order to save up enough money for her son Gene's eye operation. Because, like herself, Gene suffers from a condition that will no doubt leave him blind. Selma herself is about to lose her sight completely, but nothing will take her away from her goal, for which she is ready to commit the ultimate sacrifice - and she will.

In the gray and dull environment of factory work, Selma escapes through her vivid imagination and her love of musicals, using any sound, any rattle of machinery, to create musical numbers where factory workers dance around and sing with her, suddenly seeing and star of the show. Her world will however take a terrible turn when, because of her misplaced trust in another desperate human being, she falls into a trap from which she can't and won't escape.

Dancer in the Dark is no ordinary musical. Trier's original style mixed to Björk's unique singing and musical talent are combined into a sometimes grim, sometimes uplifting, but always surprising film, more reminiscent of Jacques Demi's more dark pieces than Singing in the Rain, or even Björk's own "So quiet" video. This will not be everyone's cup of tea, and the last part of the film is at times very hard to watch, but the sheer originality of the whole endeavor makes it worth it - not mentioning outstanding performances by Björk (Best performance award in Cannes) of course, but also a very solid supporting cast, among which Catherine Deneuve (who returns to a musical many years after Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, also Palme d'Or in Cannes), Jean-Marc Barr (in almost all of Trier's films), and the excellent David Morse.

Don't expect The Sound of Music (although you'll see glimpses of it), but give it a try.

In a "not so distant" future, a war is about to break out between mutants and the rest of humanity. Mutants, we are told, are all around us, and have been for quite a while, product of an evolution leap no one could have forseen. Their presence bother some, including senator Robert Kelly, a conservative politician who would like to "yellow star" all mutants, fearing their powers will become out of control and threathen the rest of mankind.

As the movie unfold, we realize that, indeed, mutants are all around us, and we follow the battle between the good mutants (lead by wheelchair-bound Professor Charles Xavier) and the bad ones (i.e. a very pissed off Magneto and his henchmen). On the good guys side, the movie mainly focuses on Wolverine, whose dark and unexplored past will no doubt make for a neat sequel, teenager Rogue, Jean Gray, Cyclops, Storm, and of course, Professor X and his Mutant Academy.

One of the best assets of the film is the fact that the actors chosen to play the comic books super heros/vilains really look the parts. Patrick Stewart, especially, seems to have been born to play Professor Xavier (unless Stan Lee knew Stewart when he first thought of Prof X), as well as Australian actor Hugh Jackman who does a really impressive Wolverine - without the yellow spandex but certainly with plenty of very sharp claws...

I'm not sure if the true fans of the comics are really impressed by the movie, but if you're an X-Men novice or a "light" fan like myself (I used to read my older brother Stan Lee's comics when I was little and didn't understand all of it), you should definitely enjoy it. It's fast-paced (although a little slow to start), cool-looking, with solid performances and great special effects, and enough left unsaid to make way for the unavoidable sequel. Not to miss.

Also check out the official Web site: very classy.

Right. So if you've seen the trailer, you know that this is about car. About fast cars, cool and pretty nice car thieves really, and fast cars, and cool music... Oh, and yes, it has Nick Cage and Angelina Jolie in it. Which in itself should justify you buying your ticket - which, by the way, should take you longer than it took them to steal... your... car.

Let's be honest. No one goes to see a Jerry Bruckenheimer production for the meaningful dialog and the Kafkaesque plot. Like with The Rock, or Armageddon, you expect famous actors - you can even get good ones - great photography, fast-paced action, stunts, and tons of fun. Well, if that's the reason why you're going to this one, you won't be disappointed because fun, it is. And did I mention it had Nick Cage and Angelina Jolie??

Cage is a former car thieve (a real good one) who is forced after 6 years of retirement to go back to his old occupation to save his brother from the clutches of the Villain - who is English, of course, but not a posh one, for once, a bad boy with a Northern accent. Memphis (Cage) has 3 days to steal a list of 50 cars or his bro (Phoebe's brother, btw) gets it... so he gather a team of experts (among which Jolie and Robert Duvall) and they go steal cars, while being closely watched by a pair of cops who know their business and even drive a cool car.

And... that's pretty much it. But it's well done, entertaining, and (almost) avoids the deep sentimental scenes of brotherly love and has a great car chase scene with a Ford Mustang... mostly a movie for guys, but fun anyway.

Official Web site here, with tips to avoid having your car stolen. Why did you have to buy a flipping BMW anyway???

Rob Gordon (John Cusack) is a thirty something vinyl store owner, obsessed with music and lost loves, who spends most of his time moaning selfishly about ex-girlfriends - among which his current one, Laura, who's just dumped him for Ian (Tim Robins), a ridiculous New Age hippy that, granted, would annoy anybody. Doesn't sound like much like that, but High Fidelity happens to be one of the best films I've seen this year.

Directed by English director Stephen Frears and based on a novel by the same title - novel that I will be quick to say I have not read - High Fidelity is a delightful tale of rejection and trendy alternative music, served by a ensemble of complete neurotic characters. This is the same team that signed the excellent Grosse Pointe Blank a few years ago, lead on-screen by John Cusack. Add to that his sister Joan - and I must say I would go and see these two even if they were starring in a Czech remake of Showgirls - and a great supporting cast, from the shallow but supposedly cool ex-girlfriend (Catherine Zeta-Jones) to the abusive but hilarious Barry (Jack Black, the good son from Mars Attacks!), Rob's so-called employee, and you've got an awesome film.

Sharp dialog (one top 5 list after another), great script, neat monologues, excellent actors - after Being Grosse Pointe and John Malkovich, Cusack is starting to become my favorite actor - High Fidelity is a gem. And thank God in the midst of summer, definitely NOT a teen-flick. After all, do under 20-year-olds know who Marvin Gaye is ??

Official site here : Pretty neat, looks like Rob's store from the movie, with all the usual stuff, plus cool stuff like all the film's top 5 lists - my favorite: Rob's Top 5 Dream jobs! - and more...