REVIEW BY TIM HARPER

American Psycho

American Psycho was always bound to attract controversy. Numerous publishers due to the protest of women's groups rejected the novel on which it is based over the graphic violence inflicted on females in the book. This issue has been neatly side-stepped in the film version by the fact that the director is a woman. But, more importantly, the violence has been toned down, and the film focuses more on the satirical side of Bret-Easton Ellis's novel. Patrick Bateman is the psycho in question.

He is an outwardly sophisticated Wall Street banker, with a position of great power but little to no actual work.

His spare time is consumed by an almost religious devotion to keeping himself in perfect physical condition, and when he isn't exercising he is killing anything or anyone.

He is utterly insane but can hide his insanity in the emotionless world that he inhabits.

Christian Bale does an amazing job of bringing Bateman to life. His portrayal is of a man who has no actual emotions but functions on basic, selfish motives and in doing so reveals the dark underbelly of that worst of social groups, the 80's yuppie.

But the film is not without its violent moments. Its not a film for the squeamish, but the context in which the murders are presented are more black comedy that slasher flick and there is an ultimate intelligence in the script that raises it above other films of the genre.

There is also a surreal shine over the film that will leave some viewers a little bemused towards the end. My advice, as with most adapted films, is read the book first then you will actually understand what is going on.

But don't be put of if you haven't because American Psycho remains a remarkably stylish and occasionally funny film. Well worth watching.

REVIEW BY TIM HARPER

The Beach

You know exactly what to expect from the team who bought you "Trainspotting", "Shallow Grave" and "A Life Less Ordinary". Expect an adaptation of a cult novel, a great visual film, a cutting edge soundtrack that will rank among the best of the year, and a healthy amount of rumour and controversy to fuel the promotion machine.

All the elements are present and correct for their latest film, an adaptation of Alex Garlands The Beach, but it has the extra pulling power of Leanardo DiCaprio in the lead role.

The book was a massive success with readers due to the exotic, adventurous nature of the plot and the intelligence of the writing. The story remains exactly the same for the film.

Richard (DiCaprio) is an American traveller in Thailand searching for new experiences away from the cluster of the tourist traps. His dream is answered when the heavily unstable Duffy (a manic cameo from Robert Carlyle) hands Richard a map to an island paradise which has remained a secret from mankind except for a chosen few.

Richard enlists the help of a french couple, Etienne and Francoise, who happen to look like they have escaped from the centre pages of Vogue magazine.

Francoise and Richard form a bond during their journey which could have the potential to ruin the paradise they seek. And as this is more "Lord of the Flies" than Wish you Were Here, you can guess that not all goes smoothly. But Richard's affairs of the heart are only the tip of the iceberg as events slowly turn from bad to worse, and the idyllic life they found slowly turns against them, and threatens to destroy the not just their relationships but their sanity.

Garlands novel delved much deeper into the dark side of human nature and therefore gave a more believable partial of a man going of the rails. And although the film does do a stylish and effective job, DiCaprio looks like he's auditioning for a modelling job, and the camera seems to love him a little too much when it should be concentrating on the psychological aspects rather than his big blue eyes!! But his is probably down to my general disliking of DiCaprio, but don't let him put you of, this is probably his best film yet!!

The end product is a mixed bag. You wont see a better looking film all year, and the atmosphere it creates makes you wont to pack your bags and ship of to Thailand to take on the world. But it isn't without flaws. The end seems rushed and the script sometimes backs out of exploring Richard's decent into madness as fully as it could. But these are minor gripes for a film which really will make you feel alive. And you cant ask for much more from a film than that!!

REVIEW BY TIM HARPER

Three kings

Three Kings is essentially a war film. But it is also much more besides. Along with the usually portion of boys own war action there is a cynical sideswipe at Americas involvement in the Gulf conflict, and a fair helping of black humour which helps make the film all the more enjoyable.

Goerge Clooney leads his band of men into the outer regions of Iraq in search of Saddams stolen gold towards the end of the Gulf war. With him are Mark Whalberg (fish out of water) and Ice Cube (level headed brother) and Spike Jonze(good hearted idiot).

Together they encounter various obstacles which are destined to come between them and the gold. Three Kings manages to get its message across without being preachy. This is mainly due to an intelligent and witty script and some exiting cinematic tricks (check out the surreal shoot outs and gun shot wound scenes).

The script keeps the pace of the movie going along at a breakneck speed which sweeps you along and gets you totally involved in the action. What also grabs the attention is the return of the Goerge Clooney we got a glimpse of in "From Dusk Til Dawn".

Clooney once again shows that he can carry of the cool anti-hero whilst holding his own in the acting department. But Three Kings is most definitely a group effort.

It is an example of all the elements of a movie combining perfectly to produce an original an polished product.