Robert Rodriguez sparked a mass of internet buzz in 2007 with a faux trailer for a B-movie called Machete – more buzz, you might say, than the Grindhouse double-feature Death Proof and Planet Terror that accompanied it. While I personally loved watching stunt-woman Zoe Bell  kick the crap out of Kurt Russell in Death Proof and witnessing Black Eyed Peas’ front-woman Fergie get mauled by zombies in Planet Terror, Grindhouse fell flat at [...]

Defying the sceptic inside all of us, James Cameron’s long-awaited sci-fi epic Avatar does the impossible by actually living up to the lofty expectations set by the director’s own inflated ego and the record-breaking success of his previous endeavour Titanic. Coating classic romanticism with breathtaking 3D visuals, Avatar transports us to another world for 162 minutes of sensory bliss, a place difficult to leave once the credits roll. Every cent of the film’s $300+ million budget can be accounted for, and I’m betting every cent will be recouped in box-office takings before the new year.

The word “the” must have been faulted for making the pronunciation of The Fast and the Furious too slow, a contradictory quality that certainly doesn’t appeal to the film’s intended audience. This explains the more streamlined title of the fourth film in the franchise, Fast & Furious. Just like each unnecessary sequel before it, the film offers fast cars, hot women and explosive action that results when brawny men mix with each of the above. But if it’s not fast and furious automotive action you’re after, hoping instead for a cohesive character driven plot, then you’re likely to just get furious pretty damn fast.