Emily Browning

ph: Brian Higbee

Pompeii (2014)

A slave-turned-gladiator finds himself in a race against time to save his true love, who has been betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator, and, as Mount Vesuvius erupts, he must fight to save his beloved as Pompeii crumbles around him.

Below-average historical catastrophe drama full of age-old cliches; one is relieved when the volcano finally erupts.

Maltin**1/2: "Special effects are the star attraction in the kind of sword-and-sandal epic that was once a staple in Hollywood. This is pure, hokey fun for the nondiscerning, even if Sutherland's bad-guy performance is a bit monotonous."

Sleeping Beauty (2011)

A haunting portrait of a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires.

Although it is tries very hard to be artsy, the movie has nothing but the beauty of its main character and some style to offer, otherwise the result is very sleazy.

Maltin*1/2: "...this kinky dirge is depressing and pointless beyond endurance...That this exploitative, demeaning material was written and directed by a woman is a real head-scratcher."

New Stuff: Sucker Punch O.S.T.

While watching the movie the soundtrack with its cover version sof popular songs caught my ear, it's got Björk and Emiliana Torrini on it, and Emily Browning ain't bad either.

Sucker Punch (2011)

A young girl is institutionalized by her abusive stepfather and by retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the mental facility.

Wildy offkilter, but strangely fascinating fantasy, which drifts off into surreal dreamscapes with a videogame aesthetique and reveals a bleak vision of the real world.

Maltin**: "Genuinely weird, broadly played, comic-bookish film is all style, with little substance that isn't laughable. Will it inspire or empower dowtrodden adolescent girls...or will it just make them want to play video games?"

Emily Browning

Emily Browning

Ghost Ship (2002)

A salvage crew that discovers a long-lost 1962 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea soon notices, as they try to tow it back to land, that "strange things" happen.

Standard horror fare with some slightly gruesome touches.