Batman Begins

Batman Begins; An origin that leans heavily into the comics & the psychological aspects of the Batman mythos. Plays characters and world as if it were real, grounding it in what would most logically replicate the fiction in reality. Cleverly uses two rogues new to the films to serve Wayne’s story; A

RocknRolla

RocknRolla; Has all the elements of a Guy Ritchie film that is enjoyable. Quick dialogue, kooky cast of characters, banging soundtrack, kinetic action and lots of laughs. Only seems to suffer from an emotionally unmemorable story arc and a thankless female lead role; B-

Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton; A dynamite virtuoso acting class from the entire cast. A grown up film with moral and personal dilemmas guiding character’s choices and motives. Excellent script will keep you interested right up to the ending shot; A-

The Full Monty

Directed by:  Peter Cattaneo
Starring:  Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Addy, Steve Huison
Running Time:  1h 31min

Now this film is funny, yet hard to explain why it's so funny.  First of all the concept.  Unemployed steelworkers stripping to make some cash.  Add to that a gnome napping scene, a British sense of humour, and a Tom Jones tune and I think you get the gist of it all.  But the main reason why this works is that they try to play it real.  These are real, down and out people who have issues of pride at hand.  Each stripper has their own motive to doing what many find so degrading.  And it isn't a Demi Moore Striptease reason, with zero acting skills.  These guys actually see stripping as their only alternative to the other disastrous consequences.  Go rush out and see this movie, and you can keep your hat on too!

Grade: A-