Of the various adjectives and nouns I would use to describe myself, without a doubt two of the largest looming in my mind would be, “cinephile”, and an as-yet unconfirmed word that encapsulates “obsessive and sad Star Wars fan”. Which is why, when so many people I know groaned upon viewing the trailer for Fanboys, I leapt for the moon and planets in my nerdish joy. While this fact may make me a somewhat unreliable reviewer in this case, I’ll do my best. At any rate, you know that this particular piece of prose won’t be half-hearted!
Directed by Kyle Newman (this being his first film worth noting in any significant way) and written by Ernest Cline and Adam F. Goldberg, Fanboys is quite obviously the work of exactly that: fanboys. Set in 1999, just before the release of The Phantom Menace, the film tells the story of four life-long friends, whose relationship is defined by their passionate love of all things Star Wars. Linus (Chris Marquette), Rush-loving Hutch (Dan Fogler), Windows (Apatow regular Jay Baruchel) and the estranged Eric (Sam Huntington) decide to follow through with their 5th grade plan to road-trip across the country to steal an early print of the long-awaited prequel from one of the most heavily-guarded places on Earth: Skywalker Ranch.

There’s something to be said about the fact that Terminator Salvation is directed by a man called McG. Call me prejudice, but when the name of a film’s director sounds like a new burger offering from McDonalds, it’s hard not to go in expecting ‘junk food’ cinema. You know the type; a big-budget-in-your-face-action-packed blockbuster with added cheese. Sure enough, Terminator Salvation is a big-budget-in-your-face-action-packed blockbuster with so much cheese you might as well bring along some crackers. But as with all junk food, no matter how much you know it’s bad for you, you can’t help but enjoy it anyway.

South Africa’s Apartheid and its aftermath remain popular subjects in Australia’s literary mainstream today, widely accessible through the works of Bryce Courtenay and J.M. Coetzee. The latter, an Adelaide resident since 2002, now has his Booker Prize-winning novel Disgrace translated to the screen, an intriguing film from director Steve Jacobs which deals with animal cruelty, family relations and racial tension.

Ever since the Japanese horror film Ringu translated into the box office smash The Ring in 2002, Hollywood  has attempted to remake any Asian text it can get its grubby little hands on. The Uninvited is their latest attempt, originating as the acclaimed South Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters in 2003. Thankfully though, not everything good about the source material was lost in translation.  The film might be as formulaic as the pages of a cook book, but strong performances and slick direction manages to craft The Uninvited into a brooding and suspenseful horror regardless.

What can I say? I’m a sucker for period drama, especially if it involves Colin Firth, stunning dresses and a grand English mansion. No, really – what could be better than a decadent manor house, gorgeous 20’s fashion and a brooding Colin Firth to top it all off?

Of Time and the City was commissioned last year to celebrate the decision to make Liverpool the European Capital of Culture for 2008 (I know, I know). Rather than a portrait of shellsuit wearing scousers nicking hubcaps we’re presented with a very personal documentary from Liverpool born and bred director Terence Davies with a poetic elegance in both its imagery and narration. Davies traces the growth of his city and juxtaposes it with his own adolescence where he grapples with his sexuality, religion and taste in music.

Upon uncorking the classic underdog story that embodies Bottle Shock, the first thing you’ll hint at is its undeniable charm.  Based on a true story, Bottle Shock depicts the rise of Californian winemakers in the 1970′s, a time when it was considered that the only good wine was produced in France. Held accountable for opening the industry’s proverbial eyes is British born, French residing wine snob Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman).  Spurrier sets out to the US of A to test the local wines and bring back a selection fit to go head to head with France’s best in a blind taste testing competition.  Upon arrival, he meets struggling winemaker Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) of Chateau Montelena, whose livelihood rest on the success of their latest batch of Chardonnay. With the help of his hippie son Bo (Chris Pine), long-time employee Gustavo (Freddy Rodríguez) and the newly hired grad student Samantha (Rachel Taylor), the team at Chateu Montelena help enlighten Suprrier as to the superior quality of the local wine industry.

Scandinavian films aren’t exactly known to portray the world from a joyful, lighthearted perspective. Maybe it’s something to do with the short and grey winter days, or the hardworking social welfare systems that end up keeping everybody sort of ‘same-same’. Denmark and Sweden usually rank highly in lists of suicide rates, Finland hosted it’s latest in a spate of school shootings a few months ago and semi-Scandi Iceland is in economic turmoil.