Unstoppable (out 24th Nov)

Chris Pine managed to make Captain Kirk even sexier than Shatner so I had high hopes for some cheeky heroic charm when I settled down to watch this. All I knew was that there was going to be a runaway train, and that Chris and Denzel Washington were involved.

Old timer Frank (Denzel) and new conductor Will (Chris) are spending their first morning together doing... some stuff I don't understand. Riding on the railway tracks in a little engine and picking up some carriages, and then measuring pressure or some such... yeah, it all went over my head. Anyway, they're good with trains. That's all we need to know.

Meanwhile, the fat goofy brother from My Name is Earl is being fat and goofy over in a railyard, doing something else I don't quite understand, and somehow ends up causing a locomotive with carriage after carriage of toxic chemicals to leave the depot with no driver and no air brakes. The train gathers speeds quickly and is soon powering down the tracks, heading straight towards a infamous sharp curve over a town, where it is certain to derail and explode. After a serious of failed attempts to stop it, it's up to spunky train dispatcher Connie (Rosario Dawson) and our everyday ordinary humble (but also buff, brave and ingenious) guys to save the day.

I was pleasantly surprised that the film was geniunely very exciting. Every time the train powered through a crossing or near another train, my heart missed a beat. The characterisation was kept to a minimum, but that helped keep the pace of the film. Due to the fact a) this was inspired by true events and b) my own knowledge that lots of people are morons, I think I now have a fear of trains.

The tagline sums it up pretty well "1 million tons of steel. 100,000 people at risk. 100 minutes to impact". Should have just copied and pasted that.

Let Me In (out 5th Nov)

Chances are, I could be a bit biased about this film. I did watch it on Halloween, so I was definately in a mood for spooky thrills, and it also stars my new hero Chloe Moretz - the super cool Hit Girl from KickAss.

Owen is a skinny shy boy, slightly smothered by his fragile mother during his parents divorce. He spends his evenings alone, sat on a climbing frame and scoffing sweets. Naturally, he is a target for bullies at school. One evening he spies a man and his daughter Abby moving in to their apartment block. The girl is pale and beautiful, the man a little sinister. Both are anti-social, mysterious and only seem to leave their flat after nightfall. Their arrival also coincides with a spate of violent ritual-style killings.... hmm. All the clues point to something so obvious that everyone overlooks it - vampires.

This is a remake of the Swedish film "Let The Right One In", based on a novel of the same name. World cinema remakes are usually very annoying - people that are too lazy to read subtitles shouldn't get to watch amazing films, and studios should be investing money into exciting new films instead. At least here, the writer has added his own take to the story - the origins and nature of Abby's mysterious guardian are very different, chunks of her past are missing. Matt Reeves, who also directed Cloverfield, seems to have mastered the balance of what to show the audience and what to hint at off screen, with ominous fleeting glimpses. The cinematography is stunning and horror has claimed back vampires from the ridiculous tweeness of Twilight - vampires don't avoid daylight because the sunshine makes them glitter and sparkle, they avoid it because otherwise THEY BURN TO DEATH. Just the way it should be.

8.5/10