“Enemy Mine” may have some issues but it is done is in the same vein as the original “Star Wars” movies and another film by director Wolfgang Petersen “The NeverEnding Story”. It’s amusing and a fun film to look at.

A soldier from Earth named Willis Davidge (Dennis Quaid “The Day After Tomorrow”, “The Parent Trap”) crash-lands on an alien world and finds a surviving alien from the Drac race Earth was fighting. The Drac called ‘Jerry’ by the earthling and played by an unrecognisable Louis Gossett Jr. (“The Punisher”, “Jaws 3”) and Davidge try to learn one another’s language and fighting the elements.

Dennis Quaid is reasonable as Willis Davidge. Louis Gossett Jr. is good the Drac. The two have some amusing conversations and arguments (the one involving Mickey Mouse is simply fantastic). The only thing that is it bit silly is that because this is a movie and they didn’t subtitle anything the Drac seems to talk more English than Davidge talks Drac. The other characters are really disappointing and let the film down big time. He creatures on the planets look just like something from “Star Wars” or “The NeverEnding Story” and it’s that kind of special effects I deem the most creative and the best.

“Enemy Mine” is really good in the first 30-35 minutes as we see a good space battle and the first encounters of the two species, it declines slightly for the next 25-30 as they try to go a bit deeper into the characters without especially succeeding, it’s still entertaining but goes massively downhill in the last third as we see some really goofy moments that bring the film down a lot. Another huge issue that hurts the film is that there is an awful lot of bad language for a film obviously intended for a younger demographic. If you’re a big fan of “Star Wars” and/or “The NeverEnding Story” then you won’t enjoy this one anywhere near as much as those films but you’ll have some fun (for the first hour at least). It’s surprisingly good to start with and surprisingly disappointing for the finale.

“Enemy At The Gates” is a terrific war movie that combines the large-scale battle sequences with a one-on-one conflict. Based on a true story, it really is one of the most impressive war films I’ve seen and a lot better than “American Sniper” and that’s really saying something.

In “Enemy At The Gates”, Soviet sniper Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law “Spy”, “Hugo”) finds himself becoming a leading propaganda figure during World War II. It isn’t long before Nazi Germany send in another highly talented sniper (Ed Harris “The Abyss”, “The Rock”) and the two find themselves playing a deadly game of cat-and-mouse… whoever loses is destined to go to an unmarked grave.

Jude Law does a good job as Vassili; he makes the character seem believable. Ed Harris is very good as the sort-of villain of the picture. Both characters show a kind-of respect for one another and both understand that each other is doing what they’re doing for their country. I like how the conflict between these two guys is taking place during the chaos of World War II as the fight for Stalingrad rages on. Rachel Weisz (“The Mummy”), Joseph Fiennes (“Shakespeare In Love”) and Bob Hoskins (“Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”) are all good in supporting roles.

“Enemy At The Gates” is beautifully filmed at points. It is highly intense in both the big battles and during the sniping sections and that’s why it is so great. The sort-of love triangle between Vassili and the characters played by Joseph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz is interesting and Ed Harris provides a very good performance. I just loved this film from beginning to end; it is the type of war film and arguably the type of film in general, I think we should see a lot more of. Great performances, great intensity and a great narrative make “Enemy At The Gates” truly special.

Directed by Peter Hyams (“Outland”), “Enemies Closer” is a seriously disappointing action film that has some interesting ideas in it but the execution is rather lame. The movie’s poster and marketing would lead one to believe that Jean-Claude Van Damme (“Universal Soldier”, “Cyborg”) is the film’s star but he’s not.

In “Enemies Closer”, a plane carrying a shipment of drugs crashes near the border between the United States and Canada. Henry (Tom Everett Scott “Race To Witch Mountain”) is a park ranger that has to team up with Clay (Orlando Jones “Evolution”), a man that blames Henry for the death of his brother, when a group of French-Canadian drug gangsters turn up to collect the goods.

Henry is one of the most boring main characters that I have ever seen in an action film and Tom Everett Scott’s performance is quite frankly abysmal. Clay is marginally more interesting than Henry and the performance from Orlando Jones is not completely terrible. Van Damme plays Xander, the leader of the gang and he is also a militant vegan (I’m not kidding). He’s quite eccentric and feels the need to bring up his veganism and environmental politics at every conceivable moment. The first action scene shows that Van Damme can still pack a punch but only serves to tease you because most of the action sequences are rather boring and do not involve Van Damme.

A lot of “Enemies Closer” sounds great on paper with the characters on an isolated island, an uneasy relationship between the two protagonists, action scenes involving boats, a fistfight up a tree and so on but so much of it feels underwhelming. The whole veganism thing is totally bizarre and adds very little to the film but at the same time, it is the only thing in here that does not come across as generic. Fans of Jean-Claude Van Damme might like to see him play the villain here but there are also likely to be disappointed at how little he actually appears in the movie.

“Ender’s Game” is visually impressive but it’s the lacklustre story-telling and mediocre at best acting that ruins the film. At times the film will make you feel as if you are watching somebody else play a “Halo” game; why is it that people try to make movies like games and games like movies?

In “Ender’s Game”, Asa Butterfield (“Boy In The Striped Pyjamas”, “Hugo”) is Ender Wiggin, a smart boy sent away along with many others to help the human race win a war against an alien species. The film is practically “Starship Troopers” without the humour as we see Ender struggle through various training experiences until we reach an ending that leaves you feeling underwhelmed.

Asa Butterfield might be a good actor but here he’s delivering lines that make him see weak and pathetic. Harrison Ford (“Blade Runner”) is the guy in charge yet he seems to lack any emotion or care in his performance. By far the worst is Ben Kingsley (“Gandhi”) because his character is made interesting and mysterious but ultimately goes nowhere. The aliens make only a few brief appearances and are ugly and unimaginative, it seems the days of “Alien” and “Star Wars” are truly behind us.

“Ender’s Game” features action sequences that seem as if they’d be better incorporated into videogames rather being scenes in a film. The morals of the film seem very conflicting and misguided, if only they’d spent less time adding the special effects. If you like “Ender’s Game” then that’s fine, some will feel the mere spectacle is enough while others will like its conclusion but I didn’t. It’s like “Dune” only less confusing (most of the time) and with a much slicker look. I am surprised and in many ways that there isn’t the “Ender’s Game: The Game” to play.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (“Predator”, “The Running Man”) stars in this bizarre movie about the end of the world. It leaps around from being a fun and action-packed Schwarzenegger movie to be a sick and psychotic horror movie to being just one plot hole and special effect after another.

In “End Of Days”, Schwarzenegger is an ex-policeman, who must protect a girl named Christine (Robin Tunney “Vertical Limit”) from the Devil himself (Gabriel Byrne “The Usual Suspects”, “Ghost Ship”) in order to prevent the creation of the antichrist. The movie has scenes of the corny action we’ve come to expect from Schwarzenegger but then it features ridiculous mathematical equations as to why Satan is here now such as 666 is upside-down for 999 and then magic a 1 out of nowhere for 1999.

Schwarzenegger is good here but unfortunately he’s placed in a movie where there are so many shots and scenes that feel totally wrong for a movie starring him. The Devil in this movie is totally pathetic as in human form he reacts pretty much the same way to bullets as the T-1000 in Schwarzenegger’s “Terminator 2” but then in his true form seems almost unstoppable (why not just be in that form to fight Schwarzenegger?). The girl in the movie is forgettable.

“End Of Days” features some really good stunt work and some good explosions but what’s really disappointing is that we see sickening scenes such as a man with religious paragraphs carved into his back and a dream involving the Devil sleeping with a woman and her daughter and then proceeding to merge the two into one. Also the film does give us a bunch of lousy explanations about the Devil and the ‘End of Days’ itself. The movie’s ending is weak though and just an excuse to use a load of effects. I wanted a real silly action movie where Schwarzenegger goes one-on-one with Satan but instead we get elements of horror, pointless special effects and dumb calculations thrown into the mix.

Steven Spielberg (“Minority Report”, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”) directs the simply incredible “Empire of the Sun”. This is an unforgettable film yet hardly ever gets mentioned when discussing Spielberg’s filmography and that’s a genuine shame.

In “Empire of the Sun”, a young British boy by the name of Jim (Christian Bale “Batman Begins”, “The Machinist”) is living in China during the Japanese invasion in World War II. Jim finds himself separated from his family and ends up in a POW camp where he makes some unlikely friends as he tries to endure the occupation. This is a great tale set during World War II.

Jim is a great character with a real obsession with flying as he loves to see the fighter jets whether they’re friendly or not. Christian Bale does an astounding job as Jim; it’s amazing at such a young age, what a terrific performance he is able to give. I absolutely adore the scene in which Jim bossing around a Japanese soldier that can’t read a map properly. John Malkovich (“Burn After Reading”) is great too. The interaction between the two is fantastic. Nigel Havers (“Chariots of Fire”) is good. The other characters are entertaining and the performances are good. I don’t really think there were any characters that I disliked.

“Empire of the Sun” is a wonderfully touching film. It isn’t as intense as some other war movies because it doesn’t really focus on the war side, it focusses on innocent civilians caught up in it all. The scene where Jim loses his parents is incredibly well done. I think it’s a real pity that this film doesn’t get talked about more, it is magnificent, it is by a truly masterful director, it stars big names and it has everything you could want. “Empire of the Sun” is one of Spielberg’s best pictures and one of the best World War II films.

Neill Blomkamp delivered the somewhat intriguing but ultimately disappointing “District 9” and now he’s back with “Elysium”. The two films feel very similar with equally bleak sci-fi futures on display and while I think “Elysium” is slightly better, it isn’t very captivating.

In 2154, Earth is overpopulated and polluted while the richest people live on a planet-like spaceship paradise by the name of ‘Elysium’. Max (Matt Damon “Saving Private Ryan”, “The Bourne Ultimatum”) is a factory worker, who is exposed to radiation and realises his only chance for survival is to somehow get to Elysium so he can be cured; that’s going to be easy said than done.

Matt Damon is okay as Max but he doesn’t have a lot to work with. The character basically turns into one-man army when he’s given an exosuit. The movie then becomes reminiscent of “Johnny Mnemonic” as Max gets a ton of code relating to Elysium stored in his head and that’s when I felt they were trying to just do way too much with this character. Jodie Foster (“Inside Man”) plays a ruthless Elysium politician seeking to seize control and she’s pretty terrible here. Sharlto Copley, who played Wikus in “District 9”, plays a crazy sleeper agent and delivers a very over the top performance. The other characters are not very exciting.

“Elysium” has a few interesting parts here and there but it’s not filmed very well, the special effects are surprisingly generic and many individual components seem lifted from a handful of better sci-fi movies including “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Soylent Green”. If you liked “District 9” then there’s a good chance that you will also enjoy “Elysium” but I think most moviegoers will be better off with something else. I think the movie’s fatal flaw is that it seems to want to be a social commentary on issues such as immigration and healthcare but I think something went wrong and its messages come across as awfully simplistic.

Horror movie hostess Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) gets her own film with “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark”. You have to admire this film because it fully commits to its style and it refuses to be ashamed of what it is. This is a terrific comedy with a great star.

When one of her distant relative dies, Elvira inherits a mansion in a town in Massachusetts. The locals do not take kindly to Elvira and hope to chase her out of the town. Meanwhile, Elvira has to deal another relative, who is trying to get his hands on a magical book that is now in her possession.

I was not really familiar with the Elvira character before seeing this movie but she is wonderful. She wears a gown not dissimilar to Morticia from “The Addams Family” and is not afraid to showcase her assets. However, what makes Elvira more than just an attractive woman is that she has a quirky personality and is very funny to watch. There are of course frequent jokes about physique and I think almost every breast gag in existence is in this film. The other characters are okay and it’s somewhat amusing watching the uptight townsfolk.

This is a silly movie and it not only knows it, it is proud of it. “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark” is a really charming comedy with many hilarious moments. The film actually reminded me a lot of “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” (Cassandra Peterson actually has a cameo in that) so if you had fun with that film then I think you will also really enjoy “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark”. Those that criticise this film for being too cheesy are completely missing the point, this is meant to be goofy so if you accept that, you will have an amazing time.

I don’t know why everyone seems to be so keen on “Elf”. It just doesn’t appeal to me. I’m not quite sure what it is about the film but I’m sure there’s something really weird and even a little bit disturbing about “Elf”.

“Elf” follows a human in an elf’s world by the name of Buddy (Will Ferrell “Step Brothers”). When he is told by his adopted father that he Buddy was adopted he sets on a trip to New York to find his real father (James Caan “The Godfather”). Not understanding the new world he’s in Buddy unleashes a horde of unwanted Christmas joy and what I and any sane person would consider very bizarre behaviour while searching for his father. Also on the way Buddy finds both family and love.

Buddy is given lots of energy by Will Ferrell but that’s it. I find him a bland character and an incredibly goofy one. Like I said there’s something a little bit disturbing about the movie “Elf” and his character and/or performance might just be it. Although he’s memorable it’s sadly not in a good way. Buddy’s father, who is on Santa’s naughty list, is at least an interesting character and played quite nicely by James Caan.

I just don’t get what’s so good about “Elf”. Sure it has a cute concept but I really don’t enjoy the execution. I do like how it takes some inspiration from old Christmas specials including “Rudolph” but that’s about as far as it goes. Sure “Elf” isn’t a particularly bad movie I just don’t think it’s that great and with all the other great Christmas movie including “It’s A Wonderful Life”, the original version of “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” and even movies like “Gremlins” so why bother with “Elf”? I can maybe see young kids (5-8yrs) enjoying “Elf” but that’s as far it goes.

“Eight Crazy Nights” is quite possibly the only Hollywood Hanukkah movie and it’s a real shame because there are so many Christmas movies to pick from and so many good ones such as “It’s A Wonderful Life” and the various versions of “A Christmas Carol”. This animated abomination is not just one of the worst holiday movies ever made but one of the absolute worst movies I have ever seen (it’s up there with “The Interview”).

“Eight Crazy Nights” focuses on a mean-spirited alcoholic by the name of Davey (Adam Sandler “Happy Gilmore”, “Big Daddy”). He hates Hanukkah and Christmas and is about to go to prison when an old basketball referee called Whitey, who is also voiced by Sandler, offers to take him under his wing.

Adam Sandler is one of the worst comedians of all-time. Many of his movies including (but not limited to) “Punch-Drunk Love” and “Hotel Transylvania” caused me some real pain. His voice acting is unbearable as both Davey and Whitey. The Davey character is so cruel that in one scene, he covers the Whitey character in excrement and then freezes him and in another scene, he inserts the old man’s finger into one of his orifices. There are few scenes featuring some deer, who manage to produce a great deal of excrement in one scene. The animation throughout the picture is disgraceful.

You might think this a family movie because it’s animated and features music numbers but the comedy is more in tune with the worst parts of “Jackass” and the product placement in this movie is unbelievable. The film is truly disgusting; it features lots of bad language, ghastly animation, a truly nasty tone, horrendous music numbers and the jokes are so unfunny that you more likely to be amused by going to a funeral. This movie is actually so terrible that it surprised me that even Adam Sandler could sink this low. This is not a film for kids and it’s not even a movie for anybody besides Adam Sandler.