Total Recall

It's going to be pretty easy to keep a somewhat object view about this movie, namely because I have not yet had the pleasure of watching its Arnold Schwarzenegger predecessor. That being said This review isn't necessarily about singing this movies praises.

Colin Ferral plays Douglas Quaid A man, who after dreams involving Jessical Biel thinks that his meaningless factory working life is meant for bigger things. The likeness of this being true for most of us is rather slim, fortunately for Quaid the odds are in his favour as he takes a trip to Total Recall in an attempt to live out his Jessical Biel fantasy.

Things don't go quite as swimmingly as Quaid imagined, as the Recall process is inturrupted by the law enforcement before they can really begin. Things from there take a real turn for the bizarre as loving wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale) starts playing the role of a woman scorned when she unsanctimoniously tries to take down her husband. Enter a list of other characters including.... Wait for it..... Woman of his dreams Jessica Biel, or in this case Melina.

The main villainous plot felt lost surrounded by all the clues that our protagonist was trying to find, the nail biting cat and mouse chase and the stylistic hand in hand combat performed especially realistically by faux-wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale). When the characters started talking about a resistance the only thing that came to mind was.... What are they resisting against.

A very good thing about the movie was its ability to keep you holding your breath as you tried to decipher whether or not you would end up with a Josh Kirby... Time Warrior! type finale... I'll let you ponder that thought as you wait for this movie to be released on Sky Movies.

The Dark Knight Rises

And Rise he did. As Christian Bale reprises his role one last time as the masked crusader back to defend the unluckiest city in the world from a new band of terrorists. The film had a few unexpected twist and turns but overall ended on a high for our deep voiced crusader and paved the way to superheroism for a new do gooder.

Anna Karenina

Joe Wright is back with the usual suspects, shuffle the deck slightly that turns lovers to siblings, the British Countryside to the Stiffening cold backdrop that is Russia. Finally, tweak the social standings of our main cast; from slumming it in a house that makes the Weasleys look flash to luscious ballrooms that can only be fit to house Aristocracy and thus we set the scene for Anna Karenina.

The Story focuses primarily on the story of Anna Karenina, though in the book of the same name (of which this film is based) she is a Princess, that isn't made evident, so instead she is percieved of the "Serena" of Russian Society. She is contently married to Alexei Karenin (Jude Law) and has a son, but all of these things seem to be of little importance to her when, on a visit to help sort her brothers marital problems she is soon aquainted with Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).

Things from her take a mind and body of their own as Anna and the Count begin their not so secret affair and help to entangle everyone in the web of complications that arise from their snubbed relationship.
A second strand is woven into the tale Anna, that of Konstantin Levin. His story is an opposing parallel of Annas as he rises up from his inital misery at the start of the film to find happiness in a range of ways that he never thought could happen to himself.

The prime appeal of this film to me was the theatrical form in which it was filmed, it added its own excitement completely separate from the surrounding storyline yet at the same time managing to add something emotional to the movie. It kept you on your toes as you wondered where you would be from one scene to the next. It helped take you on the adventure with the characters on the screen