All The King's Men - Dir: Steven Zaillian

This remake of a classic 1949 movie should be amazing. An accomplished writer and an amazing cast including Sean Penn, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins and James Gandolfini. Surprisingly it all ends up being blander than bland and leaves you with a vaguely pointless feeling. Sean Penn is always great to watch but there's a sense of not knowing really what he's trying to accomplish. It's hard to get away from seeing Gandolfini as Tony Soprano and Hopkins as Lecter in moments of boredom. It looks beautiful and the direction is solid enough, but it all ultimately feels as if it leads to nowhere. This is a JM THUMBS DOWN.

Flushed Away - Dir: David Bowers / Sam Fell

With an Aardman movie, a good level of quality is assured. You can always guarantee great attention to detail, great visuals and a pacy story. You certainly get a great deal of that here, but something seems to be missing which may just be the the final layer of Aardman fairy dust that has been sprinked on some of their other fun movies. Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet certainly add star power but perhaps aren't the most recognisable of voices. Maybe it's just because the movie centres around rats that it felt less heart-warming. A cut above many animated movies out there, and one for Aardman fans, but don't expect too much. This is a JM SUCK IT AND SEE.