Film Reviews by TB

German servicemen were intensely patriotic many of them right to the end of the war regardless of party politics. This TV version though entertaining and looking authentic, seems to portray the Kriegsmarine as modern Germans would like to see them. Courageous (certainly) but the mutinies, defeatism, desertions and surrendering en masse simply doesn't ring true, especially for the time period in question - late '42, early '43. The darker side of the German occupation of France is effectively rendered through the eyes of SD commander Forster and the 'enemies of the state' he ruthlessly pursues.

Overall, it's a well crafted production but, like 'Generation War', it takes a slightly 21st century liberalised view of the ordinary men of the armed forces in wartime. They were not victims, they were a dictatorship's foot soldiers.

Kate Atkinson is one of my favourite authors, especially her series of detective novels featuring Jackson Brodie. 'Case Histories' takes three of these books and condenses each one into a well edited two hours. Jason Isaacs is superb as the amiable roguish protagonist and there are a wealth of characters and mystery and separate strands expertly weaved into one complex web. An excellent TV adaptation.

I won't order this series since there is a glaring error; despite the totalitarian regime for which they fought, Luftwaffe aces such as Hartmann, (352 kills) Marseilles (158 in the west) and Schnaufer (121 all at night) far outclassed their Allied counterparts. Over a hundred German aces shot down more than a hundred aircraft. This series needs a wider outlook.

Feels like it's made by re-enacters. Tedious, badly scripted, cliched, poorly acted. The only good thing about it is that the film is a mercifully short 68 minutes long.

I pretty much love Juliette Binoche in anything but this, for a thriller, was plodding, pedestrian and achingly slow. The director must have been half asleep at the time. I'm not the kind of fast-forward moron who needs blood and guts every five minutes but virtually nothing happened till the last few minutes. Deeply disappointing and totally forgettable.

This is an authentic looking western with some fine acting but the premise and the preacher's relentless sadism on the protagonist (Dakota Fanning) is mind numbing. I'm not a wimp when it comes to man's inhumanity to man on film but Guy Pearce's character was almost a cartoon character in his unashamed wickedness and even I found his 'God-given' cruelty to too much to bear.

This is a charming little movie with great performances from young Mackenna Grace and Chris Evans (Lindsey Duncan was something of a tight-lipped stereotyped Brit). The central premise - how does a child prodigy fulfil her potential but still have a childhood - is excellently handled.

Beautifully realised coming-of-age film featuring the lovely Monica Belucci. The unrelenting hostility of the townspeople is perhaps a little overplayed