“Dirty Harry” is brutal, tough and reckless police film that definitely features its fair share of memorable moments but it is hardly the classic it is often deemed by moviegoers and critics alike.

A vicious rooftop sniper calling himself ‘Scorpio’ (Andrew Robinson “Hellraiser”, “Cobra”) is killing randomly. Rule-breaking officer Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood “Hang ‘Em High”, “High Plains Drifter”), who has been nicknamed ‘Dirty Harry’, is on the case and he’ll stop at nothing to beat this criminal. The stakes are raised when a teenage girl is apparently buried alive. Later Callahan apprehends him but due to using excessive force the bad guy is released and now he’s kidnapped innocent schoolchildren.

Dirty Harry is a very overboard character in a very realistic movie and that makes the violence and humour even out a little. Clint Eastwood has given this character a memorable performance and several of the character’s lines not just in this one have gone onto make cinematic history (e.g. “Do I feel lucky? Well do you punk?”). I quite like the bad guy in it although he definitely isn’t one of the most memorable villains I’ve seen. The other characters were very by the book so that made for some great interaction when Callahan was in the scene.

“Dirty Harry” is really gritty yet reasonably amusing. The movie isn’t a cinematic classic like what I hoped it was but it contains memorable moments and it’s a great standalone picture that has a decent ending. I was impressed with how authentically they capture real-life crime as when the criminal gets released because Callahan used excessive force it reminded me of several news stories that weren’t all that different. If you like Clint Eastwood films or you enjoy hardnosed thrillers then you should give “Dirty Harry” a watch as although it has its fair share of problems it’s satisfying.

“At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul” is the first instalment in the “Coffin Joe” franchise and apparently, it’s also the first horror movie from Brazil. It’s hailed by many as a pioneering horror film with its shocking violence for the time that it came out. However, I found it incredibly boring. I don’t care if it’s a gory black and white flick.

In this film, a gravedigger (José Mojica Marins) prowls the streets of his town in search of a woman to bear his child. He fears that there is no point in life if one does not have a child to carry on his bloodline and he grows increasingly violent to anybody standing in his way during his desperate hunt.

José Mojica Marins stars as Coffin Joe. He also wrote and directed the movie. I like the look of Coffin Joe with his sinister stare and large hat. He’s a real menace as he murders people and even rapes women. He’s a sick and twisted brute. I also think his motivation is quite unique as far as horror film characters go. It’s a shame such an intriguing character is in such a terrible film. Maybe he gets to shine more in the other entries in the series. The other characters are completely forgettable.

“At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul” caused some offence upon its initial release in Brazil not only because of its violence and sexual content but also because the movie contains some blasphemous moments. Numerous scenes depict Coffin Joe cursing God and one scene has him eating meat on a Friday despite Catholic rules at the time. It may be an important movie in Brazil but for me, it was just painfully bland. There are a few gruesome death sequences and that’s about it. Nothing in here really grabbed me and it fails to create a great atmosphere like some of the Universal horror movies from the 30s and 40s.

Time and time again we see lifeless romantic films with endless amounts of sobbing but no real passion or energy. However, “Dirty Dancing” gets it right with some very impressive dance sequences and a relatively smart script.

In “Dirty Dancing”, while staying at an expensive holiday camp with her family, Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman (Jennifer Grey “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) falls in love with dance instructor Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze “Road House”, “Ghost”). Despite coming from different backgrounds the two bond as Baby fills in for Johnny’s dance partner. As their relationship grows so does the disapproval of Baby’s father and we see the film become more clichéd but it gains more and more spirit.

The dancing scenes with Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze and simply electrifying because we feel as if we get the same kinetic energy of a live performance mixed with the technical bits (e.g. camera angles) only films can deliver. Jennifer Grey is reasonable as Baby, the character isn’t too complex. I really liked Patrick Swayze as Johnny; I find it odd to see how limited Swayze’s filmography actually is as he appears to be a good actor. I also liked the small part by Wayne Knight (“Rat Race”), which you may want to try and pay some real attention to because it is spot on.

“Dirty Dancing” could have been a real chore to sit through but it just radiates with fun and while it isn’t a great accomplishment in movies, it certainly is a fun watch. It thankfully doesn’t feature any really soppy moments that usually murder this kind of pictures and instead hits us with a really energetic vibes. To say it’s original or something special would be wrong but if you want to have some fun with movies then “Dirty Dancing” can very easily hit the mark.

If you thought “Pokémon: The First Movie” was bad, wait until you see “Digimon: The Movie”; this is anime at its worst. This could have been an intriguing movie for children about monsters in a digital universe but it’s just a messy clone of various other anime shows.

The plot is all over the places as the film features three separate stories, that all take place years apart and have different settings. The plot is basically just “Pokémon” with computers as a bunch of kids battle evil Digimon with their good Digimon in a bid to save the planet’s technology. This is a dull plot and all of the three stories rehash this same concept with very little difference.

The characters are really dull. I didn’t expect much though as this is very similar to “Pokémon” and as you all know I wasn’t impressed as far as their characters were concerned. The worst thing is that there is no real development as after a little bit it changes to the next story. This is a bad concept and makes your connection with the characters excessively weak as this is a short film anyway so each story isn’t very long. I hate to say it but I found the characters in “Pokémon” more exciting.

The action scenes are really dull; they even make a rabbit with machineguns for hands boring. The “Digimon” theme plays enough to make you sick and there is too much popular yet random music used as well, I don’t see why they couldn’t have done some new music for the film. This will probably entertain fans of the show but for anyone else, this is a bland anime film that will make your relationship with anime a bit ‘shaky’ for a while. Kids are more likely to enjoy “Pokémon” than this.

“Die Hard” is an example of the perfect action film. Although it is just a straight-up action flick it is does so exceptionally well that even if you’re not a big action movie fan you’re still going to love this one.

In “Die Hard”, N.Y.P.D. officer John McClane (Bruce Willis “The Sixth Sense”, “Hudson Hawk”) comes to visit his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia “Presumed Innocent”) during the Christmas season. Terrorist take-over the skyscraper where a party is being held forcing McClane into danger. With no real help coming from outside the building it’s up to McClane to save the day.

Bruce Willis is one of the greatest action movie stars for a number of reasons. He has more personality than Arnold Schwarzenegger (“Commando”), Sylvester Stallone (“First Blood”) or Clint Eastwood (“The Enforcer”). Willis likes to play ordinary guys as well; he’s never some elite commando or a cyborg from the future. He’s also is famed for adding bits of dialog that weren’t present in the script. Alan Rickman (“Galaxy Quest”) is good as the leader of the terrorists Hans Gruber. I love the conversations and interactions McClane and Gruber have throughout the film. The other cast members are alright but they’re not exceptional.

“Die Hard” never really stops once it gets going because as soon as one problem is dealt with, the hero immediately faces a new obstacle. It’s like a train with once it gets going it never slows down until the journey is over and we the viewers are the passengers. “Die Hard” is explosive, fun, thrilling and has you on the edge of your seat because it isn’t just an action movie, it’s the action movie… it isn’t all that bad at being at Christmas movie either so I guess you’re getting a two-for-one deal with “Die Hard”.

“Die Hard: With A Vengeance” is a smart movie that decides to put the hero in a different kind of danger making for a much more intelligent sequel than the one we saw before.

In “Die Hard: With A Vengeance”, police officer John McClane (Bruce Willis “Die Hard”, “Cop Out”) is forced to play games made by the cunning man known as Simon (Jeremy Irons “Dead Ringers”, “The Mission”) in order to save the city from more bombs. Along the way McClane gets help from a racist named Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson “Avengers Assemble”, “Snakes On A Plane”). Together these two misfits must find a way to save the city.

Bruce Willis is good as always as police officer John McClane. Samuel L. Jackson does a good job as Zeus. It’s nice to see McClane have more interaction and someone to work with; this does however make it feel more like a buddy cop film. Jeremy Irons gives an alright performance to a good character as he gives McClane interesting tasks to complete. The twist with the bad guy is predictable but good still. The rest of the characters aren’t too impressive but they don’t really need to be.

I don’t feel “Die Hard: With A Vengeance” isn’t as explosive as it perhaps should have been but with its wits it makes for a more than satisfying entry into the series. The first two movies have a very similar premise as in the first terrorists take control of a skyscraper and with the second one it is in an airport but this third instalment has something completely different that doesn’t deviate from our expectations. It’s a great sequel that you should check it out if you’re a fan of the series or just an action movie fan in general.

First off, what’s with the bizarre title? “Die Hard 4.0” couldn’t feel much less like a “Die Hard” film than it does as I’m convinced character John McClane (Bruce Willis “The Kid”, “Armageddon”) has been attached to the wrong kind of script.

In “Die Hard 4.0”, a group of hackers are tearing apart the United States in what is known as a ‘fire sale’. Police officer John McClane has to bring in a potential suspect named Matthew Farrell (Justin Long). Together the two must track-down the baddies and salvage the system before it is too late. Get ready for some high-stakes action.

In the first “Die Hard” film, John McClane was not invincible and did not just walk away from things. Even in the second and third outing he’s not a superhuman but here no matter how much pain this old guy gets given he finds himself with a mere flesh wound thus ruing some of the magic behind his character. Matthew Farrell is a very dull character that really doesn’t work when partnered with McClane. Kevin Smith (“Clerks”, “Dogma”) makes a small appearance but it’s far from being good. Computer hackers for bad guys in a “Die Hard” film, are you serious?

“Die Hard 4.0” has the wrong kind of action and the wrong kind of story for a “Die Hard” film. Although I’m glad it doesn’t rehash any of the earlier pictures the storyline feels a little too deep and high-tech for the franchise. The movie looks exceedingly expensive but all that money seems to have gone to waste. This is a film that might be enjoyed by those who weren’t so keen on the earlier films in the series but if like most people you enjoyed some of the older pictures you’ll want to steer clear of “Die Hard 4.0”.

Bruce Willis (“The Fifth Element”, “Hudson Hawk”) returns to his signature role of John McClane in the action-packed sequel “Die Hard 2: Die Harder”. The title of the film appears to have very little effort gone into it but really it gets you fired up for some serious terrorist busting.

It’s the Christmas holidays again and police officer John McClane is in Washington’s airport as he waits for his wife to arrive. The world’s biggest drug dealer named General Esperanza (Franco Nero “Cars 2”) is being extradited and will arrive shortly so a group of terrorists lead by Colonel Stuart (William Sadler “The Green Mile”) have taken complete control of the airport, this means no plane can land there resulting in a bunch of them circling the airport whilst low on fuel. John McClane is the only one with enough sense to take them down.

John McClane is a great action hero. He’s spurts out bad language like no tomorrow, he disobeys orders and he’s reckless but he’s also good at heart and can get the job done. Lightning must strike twice with McClane as he must do the same thing as before, fight terrorists around the holidays; even he can’t believe it. The bad guys aren’t too memorable but they’re still relatively good. One character that makes me giggle a bit is a reporter named Richard Thornburg (William Atherton “Die Hard”, “Ghostbusters”) but on the downside, he does drag the film a little.

The action scenes are really good as we see fights on the wings of planes, snowmobile chases and lots of other stuff. “Die Hard 2” gets the explosive and action-packed side right but unfortunately it seems to drag a little so the action loses some of its power as it is spaced out a little too much. It’s worth watching but it’s nothing too amazing.

I do not know with this one, I just do not know. Do I recommend it saying that you only walk into the movie expecting cheesiness? Or do I say don’t go and see it as only the people who like cheesiness will want to see it? I liked some aspects of it and I feel the director and star Warren Beatty (“Reds”) has created a very stylized world but I do have a lot of issues with it.

In “Dick Tracy”, we meet the police officer Dick Tracy (Beatty). Tracy is hitting hard on crime as the mob now lead by the vicious Big Boy Caprice (Al Pacino “Heat”, “Scarface”) are trying to take over the city and kill Tracy. Over the top and quite frankly ridiculous action are waiting.

Warren Beatty is sadly only just okay as Dick Tracy. The fact that the main character isn’t too impressive does hinder the picture a bit. Madonna (“A League of Their Own”) does a surprisingly good job as Breathless Mahoney. Al Pacino is awful as the main villain Big Boy Caprice. The real issue I have with this movie is the villains as although they’re meant to look silly and repulsive I just don’t think it works particularly well. The character named ‘Kid’ (Charlie Korsmo) is alright at best.

Although the action is decent, the bad guys are creative and the sets look good, it’s all so cheesy. Sure, it brings to life the character from the comic strips but that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone. I enjoyed quite a few bits of this picture but I was also really disappointed in some of aspects of it. For the reasons I’ve mentioned I’m not going to recommend this picture but anyone who wants to see a larger than life, stylized gangster movie then you’re in the right place.

This is a movie about the universally-loved Princess Diana during the last two years of her life. The movie’s appeal or downfall according to many audience members and critics is that is relies on the fact people lived during the time Diana was around but I wasn’t even born until after her death so I could never really engage the film and give it a proper review.

“Diana” tells the story of a less than basic portion of the life of Princess Diana, played here by Naomi Watts (“King Kong”), as she has a relationship with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews “Grindhouse”). It also highlights the problems with the press she had.

I can’t really comment on Naomi Watts’ performance apart from visually as I believe I have failed to ever hear the real Princess Diana ever say so much as a single word. Visually Naomi Watts bears some resemblance and other people with have to make their own mind up as to whether she makes a good Diana on the other areas of the performance. I don’t know how anyone is supposed to judge whether the Hasnat Khan here is very accurate as he was a very private man (according to this film) but the real Hasnat Khan has come out and also bashed this picture.

“Diana” is a movie I’m not fit to give a substantial opinion on and I’m not going to pretend that I can do it. I myself saw the film and thought it was average but you’re required to have some sort of emotional attachment to enjoy it but that seems to be the reason why it’s been hated so much. It’s in many ways wrong to love someone you do not know but it’s right to follow someone addressing the world’s serious issues and that’s what people did with Diana; I have never and will never be able to experience this film the way many have. This is one movie where my thoughts are invalid.