Reviewed by Caleb Starrenburg

Watching Night Watch (Nochnoy Dozor) is a little like descending into a vodka-induced haze. Actually, I’m not sure that it is, but I thought it necessary to preface any review of contemporary Russian film with clichéd reference to vodka.

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov and based on the novels by Sergei Lukyanenko, Night Watch concerns an ancient battle between the forces of good and evil. As the film’s prologue explains (curiously narrated in English; the rest of the film is subtitled), in the world there are humans and ‘Others’. Others, who can pass as humans, possess all sorts of crazy supernatural powers. The Others are divided between those serving the dark and those who follow the light.

Reviewed by Kim Lesch

A FEW 'w' words on John Maybury's Love is the Devil: whoopie, wowzers, wonderful.

A few 'p' words on John Maybury's The Jacket: plotless, pointless, painful.

A few more words on The Jacket in general: I like Sci-fi films. I sat through all of Omega Man AND Soylent Green. I think Logan's Run rules the roost – but The Jacket simply pales in comparison to what it is essentially striving for: terrific 70s Sci-fi flicks. The sort that have a twisting plot, mysterious philosophical circumstances, and a pretty girl who needs saving. Keira Knightley (The Girl) doesn't exactly 'need' saving as much as she needs to eat a goddamn sandwich, but I digress.