“Final Destination” is a slasher movie without the slasher villain. Imagine “A Nightmare On Elm Street” without Freddy Krueger or “Halloween” without Michael Myers” and you have “Final Destination”, a movie so corny and over the top that you cannot take it seriously.

A teenager (Devon Sawa “Slackers”) has a vision that he and his classmates will die in a plane crash. He starts shouting before take-off so he and several others are thrown off the plane before it bursts into flames moments later. The ones that got thrown off are now dying in ‘accidents’. Can any of them discover a way to cheat death again?

I did not care about the characters in this film at all. They are murdered in the most ridiculous of scenarios. I cannot explain just how insane some of the death sequences are because some of them are just so far-fetched that they resemble the complexity of the board game “Mouse Trap”. There seems to be no killer as such, occasionally there is as a sort-of blur thing that goes across the shot but no actual character to speak of. As bad as some of the slasher movies are, at least they had to come up with a way for the bad guy to kill people but here any combination of objects spontaneously will cause your death.

“Final Destination” invents a rules system that ensures that there can be sequels as even if you survive one of these ‘accidents’, you still are not safe. In some ways, I suppose the movie is more intriguing than another flick with a knife-wielding maniac but I was not entertained by this film at all. Horror movies are meant to scare us but all “Final Destination” can do is make us chuckle at how cartoonish its death scenes are.

“Fight Club” is a confusing and twisted ride from director David Fincher (“Alien 3”, “Panic Room”) and starring Edward Norton (“American History X”) and Brad Pitt (“Meet Joe Black”). Fincher and Pitt worked together on the gruesome crime thriller “Se7en”, which was a movie I really didn’t care for, so I was surprised by how much better “Fight Club” is.

An insomniac officer worker (Norton) spends his time attending support groups to benefit from the pain of others when disaster strikes, rendering him homeless. He befriends a soap maker by the name of Tyler Durden (Pitt) and the two form the underground ‘Fight Club’, which soon becomes something much, much more sinister.

Edward Norton gives a really great performance as the unnamed main character. I’m not a fan of Brad Pitt and I probably would have preferred somebody else in the role but he does a decent job. The interactions and the relationship between the two characters are very, very interesting. Helena Bonham Carter (“The King’s Speech”) does a good job as Marla. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the other characters and I thought testicular cancer survivor played by Meat Loaf was just strange.

“Fight Club” has some really interesting ideas but it isn’t a flawless masterpiece as there are some noticeable problems. These problems include some of the explanations near the end of the movie being a little too convenient and while I think the film’s twist is genuinely quite clever, the very last few minutes of the movie are a little underwhelming. “Fight Club” sort-of reminded me of “Barton Fink” in the way that it creates tension and the battered house where much of the picture takes place, made me think of the peeling wallpaper in “Barton Fink”. This is an unusual movie with some clever filmmaking tricks thrown in (such as the single frames inserted throughout the film), Norton’s performance is fascinating and the direction of the story is very creative at times.

“Fiend Without A Face” is the kind-of horror film they only made in the 1950s as it’s all about atomic radiation creating killer creatures. Even when 1950s sci-fi films aren’t very good, there is still a charm to them. “Fiend Without A Face” is neither as good as “The Day The Earth Stood Still” nor is it as bad as “Attack of the Giant Crab Monsters”.

In “Fiend Without A Face”, some strange invisible creatures are going around killing people by removing their brains and spinal cords so of course they get referred to as ‘mental vampires’. It turns out that the creatures were made by the combination of atomic radiation and a scientist meddling into the sort-of thing that should be reserved for a deity and it’s up to a small group of soldiers and civilians to fight the invading creatures.

The characters in “Fiend Without A Face” speak without emotion pretty much all the time. Marshall Thompson (“It! The Terror from Beyond Space”) is the star and is pretty much interchangeable with the leads in any other film of the genre and era. The creatures are invisible at first and I suspect that was for budget reasons but when they’re finally revealed they look great but they’re not quite as laughably genius as the creatures in “Robot Monster” or “The Giant Claw”.

“Fiend Without A Face” is fairly slow in a lot of parts but the final act is fairly impressive with the strange creatures flying all over the place. The film isn’t quite as funny as the hilariously bad but somehow brilliant “Plan 9 from Outer Space” and it isn’t as thrilling as “Forbidden Planet” so it sits at the same level as something such as “Earth vs. The Flying Saucers”. If you want to see an old sci-fi with some creative monsters then “Fiend Without A Face” isn’t bad, it just isn’t particularly good either.

“Field Of Dreams” is a lovely movie. It is all about baseball but it never shows you one single match or even people playing it for more than a few minutes at the most. No, “Field Of Dreams” is about baseball and people’s baseball dreams. I do not watch sport on television and I don’t know much about baseball but I like it and I liked it when I played it but “Field Of Dreams” presents baseball in such a way that you don’t need to know anything about the sport.

“If you build it they will come” Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner “The Bodyguard”) is told by a mysterious voice. This leads to him building a baseball stadium in his field and then ghosts of legendary players including Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta “Goodfellas”) appear and start playing but not everyone can see them. Ray then meets up with writer Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones “Star Wars”, “The Lion King”) in order to complete the next phases of Ray’s task.

Kevin Costner is good as Ray Kinsella, Kevin Costner is great at playing that ordinary guy type person and that’s just what he does here. James Earl Jones is great as the writer Terrence Mann. The two have good chemistry. Shoeless Joe Jackson is played well by Ray Liotta. Amy Madigan provides some comic relief as Ray’s wife Annie.

“Field Of Dreams” is a beautiful movie with some great concepts about healing wounds and doing what’s in your dreams and it’s in all via baseball. The movie doesn’t spend a lot of time try to show you how the game works but it gives you a clear image of how people can fall in love with it. “Field Of Dreams” gave me an experience that I can’t quite explain but I loved it every minute of it.

“Fiddler On The Roof” is a musical based on the hit stage show of the same name and it is one of the greatest musicals ever made. It is a long film and at times, it feels rather uneventful but there is something so wondrous about it that I just could not resist it.

Set in Tsarist Russia, “Fiddler On The Roof” follows the life of a Jewish peasant by the name of Reb Tevye (Topol “Flash Gordon”). He is tasked with marrying off his three eldest daughters but as time goes on, he begins to feel the pressure of the growing anti-Semitic sentiment brewing in the nation.

Topol gives one of the most memorable performances in movie history as Reb Tevye. Tevye is a simple man that often discusses his life’s problems with God and he likes quoting the holy books to those around him and this allows him to create some of the finest humour ever put onscreen. It’s also interesting to see his gradual loss of control as his daughters marry a tailor, a Marxist and a goy, showing that there is a deeper emotional aspect to the character. Topol’s singing is terrific. The other actors all give good performance and the singing is all great.

The music is memorable, the humour is truly splendid, the film focuses on an interesting place and time in history and the Reb Tevye character is magnificent. If you like musicals and have never seen “Fiddler On The Roof” then you are missing out on one of cinema’s greatest gifts. I know many people can’t stand musicals (especially one that is so long) but I think “Fiddler On The Roof” is so good that it must be worth a try even for those that feel sure they won’t like it. The only thing I will warn people about is that there is much fiddling on rooftops for a film with such a title.

“FernGully: The Last Rainforest” is a disappointing movie from Disney as it fails to capture the greatness of tons of their other titles. “FernGully” is very preachy movie that sadly forgets about acting, dialog and character development along the way and it also manages to churn out some mediocre at best songs.

In “FernGully”, Crysta (Samantha Mathis “American Psycho”) is a fairy who lives in FernGully, a magical rainforest. A logging company isn’t far away though. One of the logging company’s men Pips (Christian Slater “True Romance”) is shrunk by Crysta’s magic and the duo set out on a mission to stop the logging company once Pips discovers the magical aspects of the forest. Sadly, though the logging company have accidentally released a smoky villain named Hexxus (Tim Curry “Home Alone 2: Lost In New York”).

It’s sad to see how bad the acting is in this movie. Crysta and Pips are both voiced horribly and their dialog is truly awful. Tim Curry is a great actor in my opinion but he’s treated badly in this movie and unfortunately doesn’t get to shine. The biggest disappointment though is seeing Robin Williams (“Flubber”) get taken down too though.

“FernGully” is not a horrible movie and I like its magical setting and the animation is decent but the film feels very preachy and that’s not what you want to see in a Disney movie. The acting as I’ve said is poor, the dialog is even worse and the characters are bland. This is a major misfire by Disney that I hope they use a reference on how not to make a Disney movie. If you have very small children they may enjoy this movie but why not treat them to one of Disney’s better movies such as “Toy Story”, “Pinocchio”, “Fantasia” and “The Lion King” as I’m sure they’d enjoy those movies much more.

This was a really hard decision for me. Although it tries to be “Fearless” isn’t as good as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” or “Hero”. “Fearless” doesn’t do anything badly as such but I’m not sure it was that good.

“Fearless” tells the true story of Huo Yuanjia (Jet Li “Hero”, “The Expendables”). Huo Yuanjia was the founder of the Jin Wu Sports Federation. Aside from that the movie was just a heck of a lot of fighting and a pleasant segment that showcased rural China. There was also a bit about the westernisation of China but as I say it’s quite hard to explain the plot to someone.

Jet Li does a good job as always and I was really impressed by some of the fighting. Jackie Chan (“Rush Hour”, “Police Story”) is definitely more inventive and fun with his approach to fighting but Jet Li offers simple martial arts, executed brilliantly. Although it utilizes the “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” style at some points most of the movie has just Jet Li and the other actors fighting. We seem him and the others actor do an awful lot including fistfights, swordfights and my favourite is when he takes on a gigantic American fighter.

“Fearless” has some fantastic action scenes and I much approved of the sequences in rural China but the movie as a whole feels a bit messy, it’s unclear what the plot it is, there is probably too much fighting for there to be any really story and development and I just felt confused as to whether I liked it or not. The movie doesn’t give enough detail as to whether Huo Yuanjia is fighting for himself, his family, his father’s honour and/or his country as lots of the film just seems to give you hints. It’s not a polished martial arts flick but it has some great action scenes so if you’re a fan of this style of film then maybe it’s worth a look.

Thought to be lost for many years, “Fear And Desire” is the first film directed by the legendary Stanley Kubrick (“2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Full Metal Jacket”). Kubrick was apparently very embarrassed about this early effort and sought to destroy every copy of it. The film is shocking because it is rather underwhelming and mundane from a man that you do not associate with anything but the best.

Set in a non-specific war, “Fear And Desire” follows a small group of soldiers that find themselves trapped behind enemy lines. They try to figure out the best way to get back but pressures of the war get to them in different ways.

The characters in this movie are rather bland. You can see there are moments that are trying to be deep and meaningful and even parts that are trying to be shocking but the writing makes it hard for one to care sufficiently. I also think the decision to not make clear when or where the conflict is a poor one because we are sat wondering who bad guys are and what country we are in. You can argue that the point is that this could happen anywhere, anytime and involving any nations but I would still prefer it if we knew the proper context.

“Fear And Desire” is a rather weak film and it is unsurprising that Kubrick wanted to bury it. His later work includes some of the greatest films I have ever seen. Fans of Kubrick’s more famous films might want to check this out just for curiosity’s sake but I doubt anybody else is going to want to see it. It is not a terrible film but it’s below average low-budget affair. If you have not seen any of Kubrick’s pictures then I strongly urge that you hunt down classics such as “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “A Clockwork Orange” and “Eyes Wide Shut”.

“Fargo” is often considered to be the best film by the Coen brothers but I prefer both “The Big Lebowski” and “Raising Arizona” but this film does feature some very entertaining sections, it’s a real shame there are some less enjoyable components here.

“Fargo” is based on a true story as we find Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy “Jurassic Park III”, “Magnolia”) hire hit men (Steve Buscemi “Reservoir Dogs”, Peter Stormare “Bad Boys II”) to kidnap his wife so he can raise enough ransom money for his phoney hostage situation to pay his debts but things go wrong, people die and who will be left is unclear.

William H. Macy plays the role of Lundegaard brilliantly and appears very realistic. I also enjoyed the performances of Buscemi and Stormare although not as much as Macy. The real problem with the film is with the female police officer Marge Gunderson played terribly by Frances McDormand (“Almost Famous”) as she seems as if she is meant as comedic relief but not only is she woefully unfunny and annoying but she spoils some of the great drama found in other scenes of the film; thankfully she isn’t as big of a role as she could have been but she could have also been a lot smaller.

“Fargo” is a violent movie but it has lots of tension for the most part and in a lot of ways is a great film but the fact is the Marge Gunderson character solely serves as a means of distracting us from the tension and that’s a real shame because a good female police officer character could have done this film so real good. My favourite scene in the film is not the climax involving somebody in a wood chipper but rather the part where the hit men are pulled over by a policeman and have to do what it takes to escape the situation.

“Far Cry” is another videogame adaptation from the infamous Uwe Boll (“Alone In The Dark”, “Postal”). I have spent very little time with one of the “Far Cry” games so I’m the wrong person to ask if you want to know whether or not the film follows its source material. Despite a fair number of explosions, this is a really bad action film where I did care about anything that was going on.

Jack Carver (Til Schweiger “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”) is an ex-special forces soldier that now runs boat tours to see whales. He gets hired by an investigate journalist (Emmanuelle Vaugier “Saw II”) to go to a remote island with secret military installations. On the island, a mad scientist (Udo Kier “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective”) is trying to create his own army of super soldiers.

The characters in this film are really forgettable and the acting is appalling. I did not care about Jack or anything he did. He is easily one of the worst main characters in an action movie. Valerie the journalist was only marginally more interesting. The big disappointment is how poorly this film makes use of Udo Kier as the villain. The super soldiers are really lame. The only character in the movie that was even remotely entertaining was the comedic sidekick Emilio (Chris Coppola “Beowulf”).

“Far Cry” is awful. I do not know how you make a chase scene involving cars and helicopters that ends with a helicopter crashing and a car flying off a cliff dull but somehow this movie manages it. I have yet to hear fans of the game or anybody else rush to its defence so I guess that tells you a lot about how popular this mess is. It’s maybe not Uwe Boll’s worst film but it is still pretty darn terrible.