This is the last month of releases before summer begins and the schedules are dominated by big budget bollocks so I have made a point of seeing a few releases that wouldn't otherwise get a release in the summer months. Just to balance out my film going karma as I will no doubt be sick of the whole thing come August.

Finally also this month were some cinema releases worth seeing, Can you believe that before In Bruges came out the last time I went to the cinema was beginning of March!?!?. Seriously there was a major drought in the UK which is why Step Up 2: The Streets has done so well no doubt.

On a separate note, Lost Season 4 kicks ass. Anyone who walked away from it in Season 2 because of the constant flashbacks will be kicking themselves come the end of this season. The answers are coming slowly but surely and season 4 episode 9 is an episode that makes all the patience pay off. Battlestar Galactica season 4 is also really good and as grim as ever, I'm still really upset that this isn't on BBC 2 or something as its one of the best TV shows ever and shakes off the Sci-FI channel series stigma to be essential viewing. I cant believe its coming to an end soon.

Anyway in April I saw: ***SPOILER WARNING***

Hallam Foe: This is an interesting quirky little film about a confused young man who likes to watch people whilst wearing his dead mothers clothes and make up. After shagging his step mother (A SMILF if you like,played by Claire Forlani) he moves to the city where he becomes obsessed with a HR employee where he works and watched her through her windows on the rooftops. If that description puts you off then please trust me this is far from a seedy perv fest, its actually a really well done study of grief and how we cope and manages to be quirky and funny as well as sad. Jamie Bell is really good as the main character and Sophia Myles is also believable as the girl he falls for. Great soundtrack too. Probably will appear on FILM 4 in a couple of months and hopefully will gain some fans.   ****

The Brave One: Ah Revenge, the revenge movie has been done to death over the last 5 years and this arrived at the ass end of the craze. Its a movie that seems a little out of its time, its set in New York for a start which has put the violence of the 1980's behind it but is presented here as a sleazy metropolis full of people who would shoot you for a couple of bucks. Despite this the film works quite well. Jodie Foster is part of the reason this works keeping it grounded rather than escalating into chick melodrama, playing a character who feels threatened by the outside world after a terrible tragedy and takes comfort in having a gun. This becomes an addiction after she kills an armed robber and eventually leads to her becoming a vigilante and a sort of hero to the people of the city. This causes her to unravel mentally as the nightly desire for revenge turns to guilt. The great Terrence Howard plays a cop who comes to sympathize with her and the film builds towards a surprising climax. This is kind of underrated and is certainly better than Death Sentence which was too much of a cartoon to really make us care. ****

The Condemned: When I was wasted recently I saw the trailer for this in front of Saw 4 and me and my equally buzzing friend turned to each other and agreed it was sure to be one of the best movies ever made. Even though it had Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vinnie Jones in it,these seemed like plus points at the time. When it finally arrived through the door from Lovefilm I was so excited I was nearly sick, this was going to be the best Friday ever! Inevitably I was disappointed. Its quite a fun cross between Battle Royale, The Running Man and Series 7 but instead of having a bunch of badass prisoners kicking each others heads in, it spends too much time behind the scenes of the reality TV program with bad actors having a moral crisis of conscious.This may have been good for a bigger budget movie made by a daring visionary director but not in a B Movie starring someone from the WWE whose catchphrase for a time was WHAT? The prisoners turn out to be mostly a bunch of pussies too, the lot in Con-Air would have eaten them for breakfast. Anyway there is some nasty violence and fights if you want that kind of thing but Stone Cold looks a little fat and probably should have done this about ten years ago when he was in his prime. Stone Cold is no Dwayne Johnson. ***

The Invasion: Y'know despite all the bad reviews and rumors of re-shoots etc this was good fun. Its not the best re-telling of the body snatchers story by a long way, its not even as good as Abel Ferrara's 1993 version or The Faculty but its entertaining pap. My only qualm with this is the way that they resolve the situation. One minute its all doom and gloom with Nicole Kidman trying to stay awake but failing miserably and her kid quaking in fear and then the next minute its all 'Come outside its all okay after all' , you aren't supposed to get out of the body snatchers takeover, that's the best thing about the story, its as bleak as The Thing or The Mist. I enjoyed this on a day where I was exhausted after a 4 hour train ride from Liverpool standing up the whole way and 4 hours sleep. I had a beer and a pizza and was in the mood for something crap. You could do worse than rent this on a Friday night after the pub.  ***

Enchanted: I really dug this, it was a harmless easy watch that I really needed after having the worst night of bad dreams I have ever had in my life, dreams that made me feel I was losing my very soul. Anyway its good, Amy Adams is lovely, James Marsden is very funny and Susan Sarandon is strangely hot. If you have kids no doubt this is even better. Has some great musical numbers too and will do doubt become some sort of stage show in a few years. ***

Into the Wild: At the end of last year three films had very low key releases, This film, the below film on this months list and Rescue Dawn. Had they have gotten more hype and publicity that was enjoyed by the likes of There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men then I think these three titles would have ended up higher on everyone's Best of 2007 lists. Into the Wild is a film that could become as important to a generation of teenage film fans as Trainspotting or erm Dirty Dancing, seriously it is that good and already #125 on IMDB's list of all time best movies. Chris McCandless was a nice young man who had promising prospects, came from a rich family and never wanted for love. He decided that he didn't want to go the usual route of, graduation, college and then a job. Chris decided to change his name to Alexander Supertramp and go and live off the land in the wilderness of the USA. He meets several characters on his journey all played to perfection by the likes of Vince Vaughan, Catherine Keener and in particular Hal Holbrook who is just heartbreaking in this and justly received an Oscar nod. As Chris disappears deeper and deeper into his new life we see through flashbacks told by his distraught sister back home that home life wasn't all it was cracked up to be with domestic violence flaring up between his parents played by William Hurt and Marcia Gay-Harden. Chris eventually reaches Alaska and is faced with the harsh reality of the life he has chosen which leads to one of the most moving endings of recent times. Emile Hirsch here proves he is one of the most exciting young talents on the scene as Chris McCandless. Over recent years he has managed to be very likeable (The Girl Next Door) and a slimy little shit (The Lords of Dogtown, Alpha Dog) here he goes back to being likeable as the tragic hero of this story. The most surprising thing about this film is the fact the Sean Penn has become one of the best directors working today which he has threatened to do previously with films like The Indian Runner and The Pledge. With Into the Wild, Penn has perfectly captured on film the feeling you get when you travel and wander off the beaten tourist path, suddenly you are very aware of the world and just how small you really are. Penn obviously learnt a lot working with Terrence Malick on The Thin Red Line. Together with cinematographer Eric Gautier they have perfectly captured that feeling on film. I love this film, its quite possibly one the best films of the last few years,I will be able to tell you for sure after a few more viewing's. I haven't even mentioned the perfect score and songs by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam yet! *****

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: Sometimes I feel truly blessed to be a film fan, within a couple of days of watching Into The Wild I saw this film as well. As this was so well reviewed by everyone released at the end of last year I expected it to be a disappointment. Then when it didn't win any Oscars I thought maybe it would turn out okay. This film is a masterpiece. Its beautifully shot by Roger Deakins, the music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis is fantastic and the performances,good lord. Brad Pitt was cruelly denied an Oscar for his scary performance as Jesse James, a man who is a legend and is in real life always on the verge of suicide, despair or an outright frenzy of violence. Casey Affleck as Robert Ford is the revelation here though, coming across as creepy for most of the film. After he kills his hero he suspects that he will become the man he always deserved to be but when he doesn't and becomes a despised figure you feel genuine sympathy for him. Jesse James was a hero to many people despite being a cold blooded killer and the man who killed him should have been in a perfect world with a perfect moral landscape an even bigger hero. Its reminiscent of the situation in the UK with Ronnie and Reggie Kray. Go to the East end of London and in any greasy spoon cafe you will find a seventy something year old sitting in the corner chain smoking who will tell anyone willing to listen that the Kray's were good for the east end. This is all very well and good except that they were also murderers and the men who put them away aren't revered with tales of how they were good for London, nobody even remembers their names. Its a situation that echoes through our tabloid dominated society with people like Amy Winehouse recently being nominated for best female role model or something completely undeserved, its a world going to hell I tell you. Anyway back to the film. Andrew Dominik also directed Chopper which put Eric Bana on the map back in 2001 a full six years before this film. Lets hope he doesn't wait that long again as here he has proven Chopper was no fluke and has made one of the best western's of all time. *****

Black Sheep: I was hoping this would be another Braindead which is what the makers of Black Sheep were also hoping no doubt. It doesn't quite get there and probably has too much money for the creators to go truly innovative with their effects and action scenes. It also has an ill fitting and overly epic score as well which was a curious decision. It has some cool set pieces though including a hilarious scene where a sheep drives a jeep and a scene where a bunch of ravenous sheep massacre a bunch of people at a farm and the make up effects work by WETA is decent. More an amusing curiosity to watch late at night on TV, that's probably where the movie will eventually find its cult audience.For a similar thing done better I can recommend Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror which I cant seem to stop watching on DVD. ***

Hitman: "An organization so secret that no one even knows it exists", erm that doesn't make sense you just told us about it so you know and your a member of Interpol. I hope whoever came up with that zinger got fired. I was willing to give Hitman the benefit of the doubt, it had a great trailer, it had Sheriff Bullock aka Timothy Olyphant and it also had rumors of the director being fired and the whole thing being re-edited. Sadly despite a good first half hour and some cool action sequences the film becomes a confusing mess.It seems desperate to be Bourne crossed with John Woo's Hong Kong output but sadly has a script that if I understood it correctly centers around a conspiracy for Agent 47 to go wipe out an entire family for no reason. Its not as bad as Tomb Raider or Street Fighter though and gets two stars for the first half hour and the action scenes. **

In Bruges: Hooray for political incorrectness!! I love the fact that this film exists and rips the piss out of almost every nationality and minority and sexuality there is. No one escapes. The film also reminds us why there was so much hype around Colin Farrell at the beginning of the decade. Remember Tigerland and how good Farrell was there? Then he lost himself in overblown big budget movies like Alexander and Miami Vice. He recaptures some of that original promise here as a hitman who is basically suicidal after his first hit goes tragically wrong but at the same time still has some spark left in him and a fascination with midgets. Brendan Gleeson is also great as usual as his comrade who is slightly more honorable and the two of them have some witty banter which doesn't try and mimic Tarantino or Richie even though the film comes from the UK. Despite the characters being basically despicable you will find that the last twenty minutes, when scary Ralph Fiennes shows up; very tense as their lives are placed in danger just as Farrell's character is finding a measure of redemption. Lucky for us the film has made a bit of money in the UK so perhaps we will see producers willing to take a bit more of a risk on edgy material. ****

Rescue Dawn: Back in the late 80's filmmakers didn't care about World War 2, all their efforts were on the most recent of conflicts at the time, Vietnam. Its been 6 years since the last movie about Vietnam and Rescue Dawn has been pretty much forgotten about and completely overlooked as I guess the Vietnam war isn't in vogue anymore. This is a tragedy as Rescue Dawn is one of the better films of last year. Its got cracking performances from Christian Bale, Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies who all look so skinny they are no doubt near death. They play POWs who are close to starvation and madness but also have a desire to escape their imprisonment. The film is really well shot by Director Warner Herzog, when we are in the camp the film is tense with all the dialogue being spoken in a whisper then when outside the camp the film gets more claustrophobic as they make their way through dense jungle. Its a credit to the director that he keeps things tense despite the fact that you know ultimately the main character escapes (its based on a documentary about the real life pilot that was shot down). Apart from the last 5 minutes which lapse into cheese this is one of the best films about POWs out there, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.****

Forgetting Sarah Marshall: The latest film from the Judd Apatow comedy stable is perhaps the weakest so far, its not up to scratch with the likes of Superbad or Knocked Up, having said that its a likeable comedy with a good central performance from lead Jason Segal and strong support from Bill Hader,Kristen Bell, Russell Brand playing himself to perfection and the mega hot Mila Kunis. In particular I like the way that although our sympathies lie with the dumped character we also get to see why Sarah Marshall dumped him in the first place making us sympathize with her if only for a few minutes before she becomes an out and out shrew. Its made some money so the cast will work again but you will have forgotten it by the time you get to your car, it wont stay with you like Knocked Up does. Good news is the apparently ace Pineapple Express is only 3 months away! ***

We Own The Night: Director James Gray previously directed the somber gangster affairs, Little Odessa and The Yards. We Own The Night seems to be his attempt at an action movie and was perhaps a bit of a left turn for him leading to all the negative reviews. It doesn't deserve those bad reviews at all, its entertaining as hell and never slips into cheese as it easily could have done. There is some cracking dialogue and a great car chase action sequence set on a rainy New York street. Overall I can recommend this as a good Saturday or Friday night rental. The only reason I can give it three stars and not four is the set up and ending are a little too convenient. Put it this way; previous similar thrillers like LA Confidential, The Departed and Training Day dealt in shades of gray and made you question your own standpoint on what was necessary to get the job done. We Own The Night is a film that is completely black and white where there could have been an uneasy moral argument with Joaquin Phoenix's character who enjoys a huge amount of success as the story begins and you suspect he might find his loyalties divided. When it all comes crashing down with the involvement of the Russian mafia then he doesn't hesitate for a second to do the right thing. ***