A Perfect Getaway, The Time Traveller's Wife and Ingloriuos Basterds

Apart from the gorgeous Hawaiian scenery, the first hour of A Perfect Getaway is fairly pedestrian. OK, it has to introduce the characters and set up the twist at the end, but we have to wait until the final third for tension to ramp up. And the last half hour is action packed, but was it worth the wait? Just about.

Successful novels are more than ever reaching the big screen. I just loved The Time Traveller's Wife when it came out in paperback, so I was looking forward to seeing how it was adapted into a movie. I wasn't disappointed. The sensitive treatment completely reflected the feel of the book. Rachel McAdams was terrific in the central role, Eric Bana not quite as good. Some people who don't know the book may find it quite dull. I found it a warm reprise of a well loved story. Next up is The Lovely Bones.

I was rudely awoken from the warm glow of the previous film when I went to see Quentin Tarrantino's Inglorious Basterds. It could not be more different. To begin with, as expected, it is absolutely packed with dialogue. The screenplay must be one of the longest ever, with the film running over two and half hours. Tarrantino must have worked for a long long time to write it all down. It is really a western set in World War Two France. There are so many obvious references to old cowboy movies, and movies in general. For the opening shots, just change horses to motorbikes. Christophe Walz takes the acting plaudits with the central role as the Nazi "detective". Brad Pitt seems to be acting in a different film altogether. Some of the minor roles are just fantastic. Melanie Laurent is brilliant, and Michael Fassbender and Mike Myers not far behind. The soundtrack was a disappointment, but David Bowie's superb Cat People (Putting Out Fire) playing over Melanie Laurant making herself ready is both poignant and ironic, and Tarrantino's best music sequence since the Jack Rabbit Slims Twist Contest. Yes, this is his best film since Pulp Fiction. I would definitely see it again if there were not so may other autumn releases I want to see.