SCI FI PI

Released Jan 10
Starring Louis Owen Collins, Emily Watson, Brian Cox
Directed By Jay Russell
Rated PG




A combination of familiar elements for those who scour the genre, The Water Horse is, however, able to stand on its own two flippers and be more than just a boy and his monster kids’ movie.

There's a reference to E.T. on the poster and it's not unjustified - the story mirrors that one quite closely, and the heart-tugging is of similar ferocity, although in the end, it’s not half as saccharine.

Released Jan 1
Starring Reiko Aylesworth, Steven Pasquale
Director The Brothers Strause
Rated MA 15+



This is a requiem indeed – for the death of a franchise.

You’d have more fun sticking your hand down an ant’s nest than watching this – it’s a logic fricassee that replaces tension and originality with comic-book stupidity.

If you’ve seen all the Alien movies and the Predator movies and even Alien Versus Predator, you may be forgiven for wanting to go and see Requiem. Let us save you the money and the agony by suggesting you go see something else.

Released Jan 3
Starring Will Smith, a German shepherd, Alice Braga
Director Francis Laurence
Rating M



The end of the world was nigh - for three years now. Will Smith must cope with a world filled with no one but himself, his dog - oh, and an army of ‘darkseekers’.

This is the kind of movie that you really should see on the big screen – in fact the bigger, the better. The images of an overgrown and empty New York have startling power, even as the keen-eyed viewer pics up the CG constructions and additions. It is this CG use, in fact, that is the film’s Achilles heel, and the one weakness in a Sci Fi film that approaches classic status.

Released Dec 26
Starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Dakota Blue Richards
Director Chris Weitz
Rating PG



Phillip Pullman’s remarkable alternate universe is rich and dark in the filmed translation – perhaps a bit too rich.

Whilst not quite Harry Potter, Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy has been a staggering literary phenomenon, creating an ocean of devoted fans. The buzz surrounding the release of the first story, Northern Lights, as The Golden Compass was met with great approval, and now the wait is over. But was the wait worth it?

Released Dec 26
Starring Amy Adams, James Marsden, Patrick Dempsey, Susan Sarandon
Director Kevin Lima
Rating PG



It’s a live-action Shrek with Disney mocking its own rich history of animated features.

Hard to believe it, but Disney was once famed for a corporate culture so lacking in humour and humanity despite its wholesome image, it was referred to by ex- executives as ‘Mauschwitz’ and spawned the Dinsey-baiting Shrek.

Whilst knowledge of the turnaround in corporate culture is neither here nor there when viewing the end product, it certainly makes this experience a richer one when you see this tremendous self-immolation. What’s really astonishing is it is actually funny. It’s not twee or annoying or just amusing for the kiddies, Enchanted is filled to the brim with often cynical worldly humour that will appeal to the dark-hearted parents and precociously evil children in the theatre. Where Shrek lampooned fairytales, Enchanted actually goes through the Disney back catalogue, to tremendous effect.

Released Dec 20

Starring Nicolas Cage, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, Ed Harris
Director Jon Turtletaub
Rating PG

This isn’t in the ‘it’s so bad it’s good category’. This is in the ’it’s so utterly stupendously unbelievable, you just have to go with it’ category.

The key to enjoying this film is to be aware that it is a treasure hunt. Anything to do with plot, characters, reality or logic are merely afterthoughts to a story engine that differs from the traditional script structure in that you have an event, that leads to an event to another and another and another as each subsequent act becomes either more complicated, fraught with danger or far-fetched.

It’s been a while, but in June of 2008, we will finally see the next film in the Narnia Chronicles - Prince Caspian. It’s been three long years since The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe came out in 2005, but looking at the trailer, it seems worth the wait!

AWESOMENESS HAS A STRANGELY SWEET-SMELLING NAME

If you've been under a rock lately, then you may not have been infected with buzz caused by JJ Abrams' pre-Trek extravaganza, now finally entitled Cloverfield. In the name of all things good and holy, SCI FI is proud to bring you the latest trailer for what could quite possibly be one of the coolest giant monster attacks New York movies, ever.

The film opens in Oz on January 17, a day before the US (on the 18th - hah - sucks to be them!). Be patient. More updates (and trailers!) will be posted as soon as they come to hand.

Released Dec 13

Starring Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman
Director Zach Helm
Rating G

For a G rated movie with such a title, you’d be forgiven in writing it off as the most abominable pap, hardly worth a sneer, and certainly not your hard-earned movie-ticket cash.

Fret not, however, those of you dragged to this fraptabulous film by the under four footers. It’s not that bad – in fact, it’s actually quite good, bringing to mind the sense and sensibility of the grand old days of live action kids movies personified by Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Released Dec 6

Starring John Cusack, Samuel L Jackson
Director Mikael Håfström
Rating M

There comes a moment in every horror fan’s life where they have to stop for a minute and say, hey, why do I love horror?

If the answer is ‘watching people get drilled in the head’, then perhaps 1408 isn’t for you.

That’s not to say that 1408 doesn’t have the prerequisite sharp pointy bits and nasty gruesome things to look at – it’s just that it’s a ghost story, and ghost stories often happen to be on the warm and fuzzy scale of the horror movie spectrum.