Reviews • Real World

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Everything in the news these days seems to be doom and gloom so why not cheer yourself up with a quick trip to the cinema. If you'd rather stay all comfy at home, get some friends round to watch one of the latest great DVD releases. We've got lots of reviews coming up in the next few weeks so ke ep checking to find out what's hot, what's not and what's really Real World!

MADAGASCAR II: ESCAPE TO AFRICA

In which our friends Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo finally get to leave Madagascar due to the ingenuity of those pesky penguins who manage to repair King Julien's damaged plane (oh, and he comes along for the ride too). However, instead of ending up back at New York Zoo, the animals crash land in Africa, hence returning to their roots.

JULIA

Although there's a barn-storming performance from Tilda Swinton in the title role this movie is disappointing - promising much but failing to deliver. Julia (Swinton) is, in the words of her AA sponsor (Saul Rubinek) Ôan out of control, suicidal, blind alcoholic. With her life a car crash of broken promises and empty bottles Julia has no idea where she is going or how to get herself back on track.

FOUR CHRISTMASES

This year's Christmas comedy is a rather poor cousin to Meet The Parents - a film it very obviously strives to emulate, yet fails to do so, for whereas Meet The Parents had characters you actually rather liked, those in Four Christmases lack charm and warmth. Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) have been living together for years and have managed to dodge spending time at Christmas with their families by flying abroad...

THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES

There's a distinct whiff of 'Fried Green Tomatoes' about this tale of a young white girl, Lily (Dakota Fanning) and her family servant Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson), taken in by a honey-making group of black sisters (Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo) after running away from Lily's abusive father. Set during the 1960's, at the height of the Civil Rights movement, its political agenda is flagged from the start when Rosaleen is beaten up by racist police as she goes to register to vote.

LAKEVIEW TERRACE

We've had plenty of neighbours from hell at the movies before, but probably none quite as self-righteous as Los Angeles' policeman Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson). Woebetide the person living in Turner's cul-de-sac who doesn't park close enough to the kerb, or puts their rubbish out on the wrong day for he will take action against them. When young, newly married couple Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) move in next door they unwittingly unleash the worst of...

CHANGELING

In 1928 single mother Christine Collins (Jolie) arrived home from work in LA to find her nine-year-old son Walter had gone missing. With no reported sightings of him and no leads the police force were at a loss as to what had happened to him, then five months later they informed her that Walter had been found and arranged what was to be an emotional reunion in front of the press.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

This injoke about the film industry, and Hollywood in particular, has so many cameos by so many famous faces, blink and you might miss one. It's a tale of egos, bitchiness, in-fighting and point scoring and Robert De Niro relishes every moment he is on screen as producer Art Linson who finds himself right royally shafted by Brit rock and roll director Jeremy (a fabulous Keith Richard's caricature by Michael Wincott). Having seen Jeremy's 'arty' version of his film the head of the studio...

THE WACKNESS

This is the second film Sir Ben Kingsley has starred in this year in which he shows off his astonishing range and depth as an actor. Set in New York, 1994, Kingsley plays Dr Squires, a psychiatrist so mentally screwed up he's scoring dope off one of his patients as well as self-medicating on prescription drugs. The patient is the equally screwed up teen Luke (Josh Peck) who feels his life is futile. patient is the equally screwed up teen Luke (Josh Peck) who feels his life is futile. Luke whiles away his hours by being a small-time dope pusher to his...

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