Shameless Self Expression

This is a cops-and-robbers tale set in the Boston suburb of Charlestown, said to have been the breeding ground of more robbers than any other part of the United States. Ben Affleck is one such crim, leader of a gang that includes his best friend Jeremy Renner, who is reckless and volatile, whilst Affleck is cautious and even-tempered. Their latest gig sees them kidnap Rebecca Hall, a bank employee. They subsequently let the woman go unharmed but nonetheless Affleck begins to tail her so as to make sure she doesn’t communicate with the authorities, principally dogged FBI agent Jon Hamm, who is pressing down hard on her to remember anything she can about her temporary captors (who were all wearing masks at the time). Unfortunately, the more Affleck follows Hall, the more interested and attracted to her he becomes, and this interest might just be their downfall, especially considering how close by she lives. Pete Postlethwaite plays the robbers intelligence man, who has a day job as a...

Dustin Hoffman is the lisping, wild-haired, apparently 243 year-old title character, an inventor and owner of a ‘magical’ toy store. Literally, it’s magical. Mr. Magorium has decided the time is right for him to depart this world, hoping to leave the reigns of the store over to assistant Natalie Portman. Portman isn’t so thrilled about this, she’s a child prodigy who is starting to feel too old for the store and thinks about picking up her piano playing again. She also doesn’t think she is qualified to run a ‘magical’ store. Jason Bateman is the well-meaning, but humourless accountant Mr. Magorium hires to look into the store’s financial affairs (seemingly about a couple of centuries behind in the books) and clean things up before the time of his departure (A departure he is nevertheless cheery about. Mr. Magorium is the epitome of the eternal optimist). This fish-out-of-water is contrasted with Portman’s young friend Zach Mills, an avid visitor to the store, who doesn’t seem to fi...

Med students Diane Neal and Jason London are examining a charred dead body when someone calls to offer to take the body off their hands for a large monetary offer, but instead they take it to an abandoned house on the advice of Neal’s disabled professor boyfriend Craig Sheffer. The body turns out to be a vampire (Stephen Billington), naturally, and Sheffer seems to think he/it would make for a cool test subject in some kinda clearly non college-sanctioned experiment. Meanwhile, a roguish priest (Jason Scott Lee!) turns up with motives only slowly revealed (And by that I mean you have to wait until “Dracula III: Legacy” ). John Light plays Sheffer’s seedy cohort, Brande Roderick is another student, whilst Roy Scheider and David Gant play religious authoritarians. Remember when Miramax were the awards darlings who were responsible for such acclaimed films as “sex, lies, and videotape” , “Pulp Fiction” , “Shakespeare in Love” and “Good Will Hunting? Remember when Dimension relea...