Reviews

Che Part One is an interesting and enjoyable film about the Cuban revolution, that focuses on the infamous Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. The story follows Che from his first meeting with Castro, to the climactic battle in Santa Clara, where Batista's army makes its last stand against the revolutionaries.

This battle scene is filmed guerrilla warfare style in an urban environment, with short bursts of action followed by silence as soldiers move into newer/better positions. It all feels very tense and realistic, which makes a nice change to the shaky cam explosion fests that we're used to. This style works well throughout the rest of the film but swaps the city for the jungle.

The flash forward scenes where Che is interviewed and later addresses the United Nations, help to give the story, and Che, more depth and background, whilst giving us insights into his personality and ideology. Along with the battles, these scenes also help to break up the slower parts of the film.

Cinematography in the film is good and occasionally great, with some stunning shots of the Cuban landscape. The black and white scenes are also well shot, without feeling out of place.

On another positive note, Benicio Del Toro does an excellent job portraying Che. He is understated and believable as the man who wanted to change people's lives, focused on doing what he thought was right.

Unfortunately though, I had trouble caring about or even remembering most of the other characters, as dialogue between them isn't particular memorable. Sometimes you almost feel like you're watching a documentary that's trying to teach rather than entertain and this can start to wear, especially when you're reading subtitles. Che may also be shown in a better light than some would like, although honestly I feel the film is fairly accurate in its portrayal of the man and the history.

I'd definitely recommend this film to anyone interested in Che or the events in Cuba. Even if at times things do get a little slow, it's still a rewarding and informative experience.

As an atheist I love documentaries like Jesus Camp which show both the dark and absurd sides of religion. This happens to be one of the best and is scary, upsetting and at points quite funny.

The scares come in the form of some pretty shocking mental child abuse in the form of brainwashing. As pointed out by fat Harry Potter hating Preacher, Becky Fischer, children are easy to influence at young ages. She openly admits that this is what she does, and what should be done to all kids. With worldwide hatred against child abusers stuff like this gets ignored and that's frightening.

What's worse is that this is taking place in the 'land of the free'. I can't imagine many of these children were free to choose what they wanted to believe (or not) in. If they were then they'd be outside having fun with other kids, or inside reading Harry Potter and The Orgy of Filthy Sin.

The upsetting parts come from seeing very young children being shouted at to the point of tears in some cases, by a fat woman, a creepy drill sergeant/paedophile and a guy with a terrible Hawaiian shirt.

There are amusing parts too, what with Becky's cringe worthy, vomit in my mouth "what about the rest of me" line and the insane teaching tools for the long haired wannabe Jesus, Levi. I couldn't help but dislike him and the younger girl as they come across as preachy little know it all's (probably not their fault I know). They clearly have no understanding of the world and their ignorance is plain to see, although this might have something to do with the fact that the boy at least, has been taught that the earth is 6000 years old and people used to ride to work on Dinosaurs.

If you're into Religious documentaries then you should defiantly check this out. Oh and one final thing. Harry Potters a Wizard, not a Warlock. You Stupid B*tch.

With There Will Be Blood I was expecting to see something truly epic and memorable. What I actually saw was an excruciatingly long, often boring and not at all memorable let down. It's been a while since I've been in a cinema and people have walked out before the end of the film, but it happened twice during the movie and I wish I'd joined them.

What began as excitement at seeing this film quickly evaporated and turned to mind numbing boredom, inter-spaced with occasional moments of entertainment. However these are few and far between and you'll be left wondering when the story is going to start and your mind is going to be engaged by what's happening on screen. The plot is uninteresting and incredibly slow and nothing seems to connect very well. At the end (if you survive that long) you will be left wondering what the point of it all was as well as what the hell happened and why.

The movie is also accompanied by a truly horrible soundtrack which plays far too often and really grates. Imagine nails chalkboard annoying and you're almost there. The final nail in the coffin but also the one saving grace of the movie is that the serious bits of the film are actually really very funny, but be wary of laughing too loudly because you may annoy the people that are pretending to enjoy the film.

As much as I wanted to love this film, I will always think back on it as being a hugely prententious disappointment and thats a massive shame, especially when you look at all the acclaim it received and in my opinion didn't deserve.