The Glass House - stars Leelee Sobieski, Diane Lane, Stellan Skarsgard

There's nothing better than sitting back and watching a flick with no preconceptions, agree? You haven't seen a preview, haven't heard of it other than seeing the title on the shelf in the local. Great stuff. I was really impressed by this flick in many ways, but mostly because it took a plot that has been done before, probably far too much like anything else, and gave it a sense of uniqueness, I can't say I've seen anything done like it. I'll keep thinking as I go on.

Ruby (Sobieski) and Rhett are siblings orphaned when their parents are killed in a car crash. The will provides for the Glasses (Lane and Skarsgard) - family friends for years - to take custody of the children in that event, yet this sits very uneasily with Ruby, who even though sixteen has a street-wise sensibility about her. Rhett meanwhile is easily bought off with playstation and nintendo and settles in straight away. So what's up with the couple-Glass, there's just something off about them, Ruby begins to unravel what lurks beneath.

Its a very well told story from start to finish, I can't emphasise that enough. There's no getting bogged down in side-plots and as the movie climaxes you can kind've see what's coming, you're just not sure where, how, exactly who and how deep it runs. Its not edge-of-the-seat, but it definately earns its Thriller moniker. Plush settings (the house is amazing, coincidentally...NOT! its full of glass), genuine characters and again, a well told story set this apart from the usual crap that defines the genre. Fine effort, 3 and a half stars.

Vertical Limit - stars Chris O'Donnell, Robin Tunney, Scott Glenn, Bill Paxton

Somewhere along the way, Hollywood forgot that Cliffhanger was exactly that, so they made another one. I know I shouldn't make that comparison, but you'll forgive me I'm sure, its the first thing that comes into my head when I read the blurb.

Reality gets checked at the door when part of a group of climbers survive an avalanche by inadvertently hiding in a crevasse and they are tracked down by a rescue team armed with nitro, cigarettes and a seemlingly endless supply of energy...and oxygen. They are on K2, the most dangerous mountain in the world. Something. The countdown is on, will the rescuers get there in time.

Its actually a very exciting, very watchable, very enjoyable movie. You just gotta stay away from letting a few facts spoil a good story. Much better on the big screen, though still gets the blood pumping in the lounge room. 3 and a half stars.

Rose Red - stars Nancy Travis

Drop everything, Stephen King's in the building! Any fans of King out there? Do you like the way his stuff gets brought to the big screen? Were you impressed by the screen adaptation of The Stand? If you answered yes to all these questions, please read on...

Rose Red tells the story of a piece of haunted property. Strange things have been happening on the property even before building commenced early in the century. And it seems to have been "asleep" for a while now. Enter Dr Joyce Reardon, a professor of child psychology whose focus has morphed into paranormal psychology, much to the chagrin of her peers. She has tracked down a group of psychics who posess unique gifts to eachother and convinced them to enter Rose Red on a field trip. Her thoughts are that the heightened psychic powers of this group will bring Rose Red's paranormal activity to life, she can record it using the right equipment, her position on paranormal psychology will be vindicated and she can stick it up the lot of 'em. Sounds like a plan, but she gets more than she bargained for.

Doesn't this just read like another "8 people go into a haunted house and get ripped into a million pieces with only one survivor" crock that Hollywood churns out by the numbers every other month? I thought so too. I tell you what tipped us over the edge though. Stace had been picking it up and putting it down for months, mostly keeping it to herself. Then during a phone conversation the other night with Trace (and we won't mention birthdays or anything will we ;) ) who said it was really good and to go get it now. What we didn't work out though is that part of Tracey's story involved putting a second disc in. Then when Stacey decided it was break time at 6am (I'd fallen asleep well before that) and finally read the cover which said "Running Time: 260 mins", things started to become clear. Its loooooooong, but well worth it if you're into King's work.

And for the record, I'm not into King's work. Something about it that really makes it hard reading, he goes forwards then backwards the leaps sideways into a parallel universe, quite frustrating for mine. Having said that I enjoy Lustbader's work...I'll move on. I can't really go further into the plot other than what I've told you already. It is a brief outline I know, but if I was to go further it would spoil the intricacies of the story and characters that you really will enjoy discovering yourselves. Two thing I will mention: 1) This screen adaptation was designed as a mini series for TV, expect fade outs and ad-break-caterers, 2) King always does a cameo when his books go to screen, keep an eye out for him here again.

As far as completeness of story and the theme itself, this thing is A1 and forgives as such the occassionally thin-acting (aka overacting) and drawn out silences and musical sequences not involving plot. You know those shots that pan across some scenery from the film as a segue into the next scene yeah? You know, like when Baywatch showcased a song and just had chicks in bikinis running around and the story didn't get advanced during it. Like that, er, only not. 4 stars.

BH