Life of Pi

SF: I wasn't totally sure what to expect as I haven't read the book, it never really appealed. However before going to see this I had seen the trailer about one hundred times which really put me off long before it was released. This might taint my view but I tried to keep an open mind. After all most Ang Lee films have brilliant cinematography and this film certainly delivered visually. The story is fairly simple, a young boy survives a ship wreck and is left adrift with a few animals. These sort of films are very hard to engage with because they tend to be character driven and not very fast paced. This however was a nice blend of quirky and endearing. The tiger is incredible, as soon as I got home I had to find out how much was real and how much was CGI, as I could not tell the difference at all. Even more impressive is that this is the guy playing Pi's first film; he'll be one to watch in the future. My main critique would be that the film whilst lovely didn't evoke any emotions (it is probably just me). On the whole Life of Pi delivers everything your expecting, it is a charming, beautiful story of hope. 7/10

50 Eggs: Wow I really disagree with SF's point about this not evoking any emotion...for me this is one of the most emotional films I've ever seen. I was exhausted by the end of it. Unlike SF I had read the book and whilst I rate it very highly, I think this film is even better. It's beautiful, funny, scary, upsetting and thought provoking. All the acting was great but for me Irrfan Khan stole the show in his supporting role as adult Pi - in one scene he actually took my breath away. The effects were also brilliant and it's the first film I've seen where I've actually felt that the 3D was improving it. If I have one criticism it's that I didn't like being spoon fed the meanings of the metaphors right at the end...it dumbs it down a little and I don't remember the book doing that. But overall this is a triumph. 9/10

DonkeyB:  Titanic with animals - note that this is a review of the trailer not the actual film.

Overall: 8/10