The Reader

Director: Stephen Daldry
Writers: David Hare(screenplay), Bernhard Schlink (book)
Release Date: 9 January 2009 (USA)
Genre: Drama, Romance,

Movie Plot: Middle aged German barrister Michael Berg recollects to himself his lifelong acquaintance with Hanna Schmitz, a relationship with whom he never disclosed to anyone close to him. Michael first met Hanna in 1958, when he was fifteen, she thirty-six. The two had a turbulent summer long love affair, dictated by Hanna that their encounters would begin with him reading to her followed by lovemaking. Michael next encountered Hanna in 1966, when Michael, now a law student, attended the Nazi war crimes trial of six female former S.S. concentration camp guards, one of whom is Hanna. Through listening to the testimony, Michael comes to the realization that he is in possession of information which could save Hanna from a life in prison, information which she herself is unwilling to disclose. In deciding what to do, Michael is torn between his differing views of justice. Written by Huggo

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Director: Mark Herman
Writers: John Boyne (novel), Mark Herman (screenplay)
Release Date: 28 November 2008 (USA)
Genre: Drama, Thriller, War

Movie Plot: Young Bruno lives a wealthy lifestyle in prewar Germany along with his mother, elder sister, and SS Commandant father. The family relocates to the countryside where his father is assigned to take command a prison camp. A few days later, Bruno befriends another youth, strangely dressed in striped pajamas, named Shmuel who lives behind an electrified fence. Bruno will soon find out that he is not permitted to befriend his new friend as he is a Jew, and that the neighboring yard is actually a prison camp for Jews awaiting extermination. Written by rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Dear John

Director: Lasse Hallström
Writers: Jamie Linden(screenplay), Nicholas Sparks (novel)
Release Date: 5 February 2010 (Canada)
Genre: Drama, Romance, War

Movie Plot: While John is on leave in his hometown, he finds Savannah, a college student visiting the town. Although love was unexpected, it doesn't mean they didn't find it. With the knowledge of John having to leave for the army, their love still lives, until his re-signs on due to the 9/11 attack. Troubles invade and their love put on hold. One cannot bear it anymore; can the other? Written by Fiona Anderson

Doomsday

Director: Neil Marshall
Writer: Neil Marshall (writer)
Release Date: 14 March 2008 (USA)
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Movie plot: A lethal virus spreads throughout the British isles,infecting millions and killing hundreds of thousands. To contain the threat, acting authorities brutally quarantine the country as it succumbs to fear and chaos. The quarantine is successful. Three decades later, the Reaper virus violently resurfaces in a major city. An elite group of specialists, including Eden Sinclair, is urgently dispatched into the still-quarantined country to retrieve a cure by any means necessary. Shut off from the rest of the world, the unit must battle through a landscape that has become a waking nightmare. Written by Nicolettea

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Director: Patrick Tatopoulos
Writers: Danny McBride and Dirk Blackman
Release Date: 23 January 2009 (Canada)
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller

Movie Plot: When the human son of a werewolf is born in a cell, the evil leader of the clan of vampires, Viktor, spares his life and names him Lucian. He then forces him to transform other humans into the new breed - Lycan, and raises him as a slave wearing a leash to control his ability. Along the years, Lucian becomes a brave warrior with a great leadership over the other Lycans. He protects the aristocratic vampires during the daylight against the vicious and infectious breed of werewolves that are unable to take human form ever again. However, Viktor's daughter, Sonja, and Lucian are lovers and they secretly meet each other every now and then. Lucian unleashes and transforms in a werewolf to save the life of Sonja in a battle against the werewolves. However, Viktor sentences him to be brutally whipped thirty times and then imprisons him in the dungeon. Sonja saves Lucian and he escapes with other prisoners to the woods. When Viktor discovers that Sonja is pregnant and in love with Lucian, he locks her up in her room to force Lucian to return to the castle to rescue her, in the beginning of the feud between the two bloodlines. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Englishman's Boy

Director: John N. Smith
Writers: Guy Vanderhaeghe (novel, screenplay)
Release Date: 2 March 2008 (Canada)
Genre: Drama, Western

Rreview by : ram-30 from Dillon, Saskatchewan

De-glamourizing Hollywood's Wild West
How fitting that Guy Vanderhaeghe's novel about Hollywood's misguided love affair with Cowboys and Indians has finally made it to the screen, even if it is the small screen. The two part TV movie has many great strengths. One strength is its glimpse into Tinseltown's treatment of First Nations people. The Louis B. Mayerish producer (played by Oscar nominee Bob Hoskins) is determined to have his way to show a realistic Cowboy movie. When an underling suggests rounding up some Mexicans to play the Indians (which was what happened in those days), Mr. Chance insists they get real "Indians". This is a huge irony as the movie mogul is not concerned with the real truth. He wants Tom Hardwick to be the hero in his film, when in fact the real Mr. Hardwick is shown, through Shorty McAdoo's flashbacks, to be the villain in the actual story. The real hero is Shorty McAdoo, a wrangler and stunt man who is already upset with the movie mogul after a young co-worker is seriously injured by Mr. Chance's hazardous practices. He is the one who's life history is the background for Mr. Chance's Western called "The Besieged". Another of the film's strengths is the casting. Besides Bob Hoskins, we have ubiquitous Canadian TV man R.H. Thompson. Thompson, who usually plays the Canadian hero, plays the villain here. The hero is played with unusual restraint by Nicholas Campbell, who will be a familiar face to many viewers. Harry Vincent, the man who tries to convince the movie mogul to tell the real story, is played by Michael Therriault. Therriault is a relative newcomer to the screen although he has previously starred as Tommy Douglas in the last great Canadian prairie TVM. Anyone keen on Prairie history will appreciate a film that depicts the Cypress Hills massacre. Unfortunately, great First Nations performers like Tyrone Tootoosis (BIG BEAR) and Tantoo Cardinal (DANCES WITH WOLVES) do not have much to work with here. One other great strength of this movie is the parallels made between Shorty's witness to the insensitivity of his cowboy boss Mr. Hardwick during the 1870s scenes and the insensitivity of the movie boss Mr. Chance in the 1920s. The drama weaves effortlessly in and out from flashback to present history (in this case, the Silent Film era) . Some may dismiss this film as an attempt to cash in on the recent popularity of Westerns like 3:10 TO YUMA on the big screen and successful small screen efforts like Spielberg's "Into the West" and AMC's "Broken Trail". Truthfully, the novel was written a decade ago and was in the works for years. I just call it good timing... and good entertainment.

Changeling

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Release Date: 31 October 2008 (USA)
Genre: Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller

Plot Summary: Los Angeles, 1928. A single mother returns from work to find her nine-year-old son gone. She calls the LAPD to initiate a search. Five months later, a boy is found in Illinois who fits the description; he says he's her son. To fanfare and photos, the LAPD reunite mother and son, but she insists he's not her boy. The cops dismiss her as either a liar or hysterical. When she joins a minister in his public criticism of the police, they in turn use government power to silence and intimidate her. Meanwhile, a cop goes to a dilapidated ranch to find a Canadian lad who's without legal status; the youth tells a grisly tale. There's redress for murder; is there redress for abuse of power? Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}