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Can a Crap Pack of super-zeroes save the world? The Mystery Men arrive.
01/08/1999. A new film has just been released in the US that aims to do to the image of the superhero genre what Dumb and Dumber did for the intellectually challenged market. 
Captain Scarlet by Barry Gray
01/12/2003. pub: Carlton/Silva Screen FILMCD 607. Price: £ 9.99 (UK). 118minutes.
 Casino Royale (Frank's take)
01/01/2007. The movie world's greatest super agent is back and assuming a whole new attitude if not a physical makeup, finds Frank. Gone are the vintage days of Bond-era sophisticates Sean Connery and Roger Moore. Also, let's not forget the trivial pursuit reminiscences of one-time Bond wannabe George Lazenby.
Casino Royale (Mark's Take)
01/12/2006. This is probably the best James Bond on film and probably the best James Bond film, finds Mark. Daniel Craig's James Bond is gritty and mean and a lot more real, albeit still too much a superhero. He has human fallibility and he gets hurt. The story, closer than usual to the novel for a Bond film, is more like a serious spy novel and less like a children's television show.
Catwoman: Frank's Take
01/10/2004. In watching the curvy Oscar-winning Halle Berry don the skin tight suit in the sassy anti-superhero saga Catwoman, one must admit that this special eye candy is something that cannot be denied. And director Pitof does in fact lend this picture its glossy and mysterious allure in a unique manner that's inescapable to ignore. Beyond these couple of minor observations, this cosmetic kitty with the conflicting personality doesn't quite cut it as the escapist comic caper it could have been.
 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Mark's Take)
01/08/2005. This is the high-sucrose story of a good little boy who, along with four bad children, gets a much-coveted tour of a mysterious candy factory, says Mark. Roald Dahl's now-classic story is a cheerfully hypocritical children's cautionary tale gone weird. Tim Burton gives us his visually creative approach to the story with effects that frequently do not deliver. Still, it is a tale told with imagination and exuberance.
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (Frank's Take)
01/08/2004. The concept of throwaway entertainment comes in all forms, shapes and sizes. And as everybody and their grandmother already knows, an exceedingly high dosage of boisterous brain-dead eye candy is what usually satisfies the majority of giddy moviegoers during the summertime blues.
 Chicken Little (Frank's Take)
01/12/2005. Frank discovers that in the innocuous Disney digitally animated feature Chicken Little, director Mark Dindal (The Emperor's New Groove) serves up a cute and cosy tale about a tiny bespectacled bird saddled with all kinds of paranoia and self-doubt.
Chicken Run (Berge's Take)
01/07/2000. I can't imagine this film not being a major summer success with kids of all ages. In fact, I can't imagine anyone not liking this movie a whole lot, girls, guys, kids, teens and adults alike.
 Children Of Men (Mark's Take)
01/02/2007. How would universal infertility affect the human race? How would people react to a death sentence in sixty years or so? How exactly is society different without children? These and many other fascinating ideas are foregone in Children Of Men, says Mark, in order to give us a very prosaic action film. The film is diverting, but empty.
 Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: Collector's Edition
01/08/2005. DVD: Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment CDR 26501. 131 minute film plus extras spread over 2 DVDs. Price as cheap as: £ 7.99 (UK) if you know where to look). stars: Richard Drefus, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr and Francois Truffaut.
Cloverfield (Mark's take)
22/01/2008. There have been dozens of Japanese films depicting giant monsters attacking large cities, says Mark. Cloverfield tries to show what such an event would be like more realistically. The results are violent and frankly unpleasant to watch, but deliver on what they promise: a realistic depiction of what it would be like if a giant monster really did attack Manhattan. The photography is jarring, but not as jarring as the realism.
Code 46
01/03/2004. In this movie Mark finds a very odd piece of science fiction; it is a film with some very nice material that tries some interesting ideas, but ultimately Code 46 fails to capture the viewer.
Code 46 Movie Review
01/09/2004. Mark discovers that Code 46 is a very odd piece of science fiction. It is a film with some very nice material that tries some interesting ideas, but it fails to capture the viewer. Its flaws outweigh its virtues.
Cody Banks 2: Destination London
01/05/2004. The misguided adventures of the awkward junior secret agent continue in the mind numbing and anemic sequel Cody Banks 2: Destination London. Quite frankly, Frank reckons that Cody & company need to consider quitting the spy business altogether.
Cold Creek Manor
01/11/2003. The creepy contrivance that takes the form of director Mike Figgis's haunted house hokum Cold Creek Manor definitely wants to develop the goose bump response for its anticipating audience. Unfortunately, this stillborn by-the-numbers movie of terror is reductive and just plods along.
 Colossus: The Forbin Project
01/11/2006. DVD Region 1. Universal Studio Selections 26204. 101 minute film with no extras. Price: £3.00 (UK). stars: Eric Braeden, Susan Clark and Gordon Pinsent.
 Constantine: Frank's Take
01/04/2005. There are many considerations—both good and bad—that you can drum up when describing the captivating but convoluted supernatural comic book thriller Constantine. On one hand, music video-turned-motion picture director Francis Lawrence helms a stylish, overextended action-oriented sacred meditation of gothic imagery that stimulates the visual senses.
 Crank (Frank's Take)
01/10/2006. So folks, posits Frank, ready for another high-voltage convoluted crime drama that overdoses on its adrenaline rush faster than a junkie at a pharmaceutical convention? Well, co-writers/directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor thinks so in the monotonously mindless but colourful caper Crank. Balding British badass action star Jason Statham is at it again doing what he does best-kicking butts and aimlessly taking names.
Crime Traveller Volume 1 and 2
01/08/2003. pub: Video: Revelation PAE 61172. 200 minutes. Price: £19.99) stars: Michael French and Chloe Annette. Crime Traveller Volume 2 Video: Revelation PAE 61173. 200 minutes. Price: £19.99) stars: Michael French and Chloe Annette
 Curse Of The Golden Flower (Mark's take)
01/05/2007. This is a Faberge egg of a film, finds Mark. It is exquisitely beautiful, but the story is not one of Zhang Yimou's best. It is an overwrought melodrama set on a background of impressive beauty. The story is theatrical and not especially deep so as not to distract from the visual. An emperor and empress struggle for power against each other in a story of sex, drugs, and murder, all set during the chrysanthemum festival. This is a beautiful film, but the characters are weak and disappointing from Zhang.
 Cursed: Frank's Take
01/04/2005. Well, this absurd horror movie’s title says it all, folks. Cursed is a rancid boofest that wouldn’t scare a claustrophobic out of a dark and dank cave. It’s hard to believe that veteran fear-monger Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street) and resourceful screenwriter Kevin Williamsom (Scream) couldn’t come up with an inspired creepy collaboration given their previous capable track records working together.
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