Death Proof - Dir: Quentin Tarantino

This was a massive disappointment. There were problems with audiences not going to see Grindhouse but I'd assumed that was merely down to massive running time. I didn't ever think that it would be because of the extreme poorness of Tarantino's movie. He is reknowned for his witty culture referenced filled dialogue but here it was bland and just seemed to drag on forever. It just seemed really over indulgent and flabby. The two great scenes involving the Death Proof car and its driver Stuntman Mike played by Kurt Russell literally steal the show. It's not hard though to be honest to steal this show. One of the stunt girls, Zoe Bell is so gratingly bad it makes you want to walk out. She is a stunt woman in real life and should have stuck to it. This is a JM THUMBS DOWN.

Poseidon - Dir: Wolfgang Petersen

If anyone can pull off a big sea event movie you would think it was director Wolfgang Petersen after his successes with Perfect Storm and Das Boot. Ultimately however it ends up as one of those 'why did they bother?' movies. Let's face it, the 1972 version of this disaster movie was a classic. For sure, in 2007 we can bring a bundle of new special effects to the table and indeed the big wave scene that flips Posiedon over is pretty cool. Unfortunately the acting, script and general ambience that goes with it is pretty poor. Stars Kurt Russell. This is a JM THUMBS DOWN.