The Final Destination 3D, The Hurt Locker and Dorian Gray

Having seen the three previous movies, the prospect of the new Final Destination being in 3D did have a certain appeal. However, I find the effects created just to use this formulae as being just that. Something that hurtles towards you out of the screen somehow loses it's impact. Where it does succeed is surprising. Crowd scenes at the racetrack come to life as do disasters on a building site and an escalator in a shopping mall. The story is the same as ever, young people escaping death due to a premonition, only to have death on their tail. A good idea that has probably now run it's course.

The Hurt Locker is almost a great movie. The one problem that becomes evident from the start (38 days left for the tour of duty) is that this film has no plot. It is just a series of events in the life of an elite team of bomb disposal experts in Iraq. Having said that, it is a quite brilliant nerve jangling experience. Kathryn Bigelow has always been one of my favourite directors. Here she brings us up close and personal with these particular heroes. as they tackle IED's or improvised explosive devices. Jeremy Renner should come close to an Oscar nomination for his role as the almost renegade Staff Sergeant who disarms the bombs. Congratulated on one occasion by a senior officer, he finally reveals just how many devices he has attended. Like the film, awesome.

Oliver Parker likes Oscar Wilde. His third attempt, after An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Ernest, is a much darker piece. Or rather it should have been. There seems to be a superficial gloss added, perhaps for the female audience? Ben Barnes is miscast in the title role. Handsome though he may be on the surface, he fails to convey the inner depravity that goes with this territory. In fact, the acting is decidedly patchy. Even the wonderful Rebecca Hall seems to go through the motions. Colin Firth is an exception as Gray's corrupter Henry Wotton. The script was good, as were the sets, costumes and photography so plenty to enjoy. Just a shame it could have been even better.