Dear Frankie  (2004)    87/100

Rating :   87/100                       Treasure Chest                     105 Min        15

The Red Dragon challenges you not to be moved by this film. ‘Dear Frankie’ tells the story of a single mother living in Greenock, played by Emily Mortimer championing a pretty convincing Scottish accent, and her deaf child (Jack McElhone) and the scenario she has created to explain the absence of the boy’s father. Emily Mortimer was the perfect choice for the role as her performance fully embodies a restrained and possessing sadness and indeed the entire cast display real emotion throughout, with touches of comedy from Mortimer’s mother in the guise of Mary Riggans, and the appearance of a certain well known Scottish actor whom you may be able to recognise from an early voice-over… Reportedly receiving a fifteen minute standing ovation at Cannes, the film retains the feeling of a real scenario throughout, and watch out for possibly the longest ‘pause while you think about doing it’ scene in cinema history.

Diary of the Dead  (2007)    3/100

Rating :   3/100                                                                         95 Min        18

Tragically terrible and one of the worst examples of the handheld genre, featuring people being attacked by zombies whilst their camera wielding buddies stand by and do precious little to help. The fact that there’s a thread of satire, and it’s written and directed by legendary zombie master George A. Romero, does not save it from being less worthy of your time than sipping on a two-day old tea of salty dog’s bollocks.