ONE DAY

"Based on the best selling novel"... words that can either strike fear into the heart or make it do cart wheels to the reader of them and a fan of the original source.

2 years ago, author Nicholls' One Day started to appear on shelves and laps of ladies everywhere (and secretly men as well.) The tale of "Twenty years. Two people" is brought to the screen by "Two people" that should equate to an experience that should last for over "Twenty years" - director Scherfig who delivered An Education, and the author himself writing the screenplay.

Unlike Hornby's High Fidelity, the action is kept in the original locale - Edinburgh and France coming off as beautiful locations to match the friends high points, whilst London as the people-swallowing city, appears somewhat grubby and rain-soaked to match their individual downward spirals.

Their is a problem though with the narrative structure though. By keeping the year-jumping style of the novel, the relationship between the characters never fully grabs hold of the heart strings as at times you feel that you've come in half way through the film and missed something. For a film that is all about the two of them getting together, the fact that their "consummation' is mentioned in what feels like a throw-away line of dialogue and not seen upon the screen, feels like you've been cheated somehow. For you to invest in their future together, you need to see them together, and here that feels slightly disjointed with the jump-in/jump-out yearly focus. The themed of friends becoming more will always be held up to the pinnacle that is When Harry Met Sally and here there is still no moving it from the top spot.

Hathaway is the light and soul of the film, keeping it grounded and believable as the slightly shy, love weary girl whose crush on a boy never really goes away but it's her object of desire that causes the uncertainty during the time frame. Sturgess' has the unenviable job of playing the role of someone who, as one of her ex's describes him as "not worthy" of Hathaway's affections. Everyone loves him but doesn't like him, including his own mother, which does make it hard to root for him and her throughout his drug-fuelled and alcohol-heavy exploits.

Probably more grounded in reality than other romances, this makes One Day feel light on the heart wrenching, love-inspiring moments that other movies have to help them worm their way into the memory of the audience. Apart from a significant scene in the film at the beginning of the third act that turns everything on its head, it doesn't deliver any stand out scenes apart from the little known fact that all great relationships should begin by a river or canal.

Nice and warm, but for a time-based love story you should head to (500) Days Of Summer or the daddy of them all - "I'll have what she's having!"

UK release date: 26.08.11

Certificate: 15

THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE

It was a tradition a long time ago that the UK brought their best loved small screen characters to the big screen. This didn't really do any favours for cinema with bad memories of the likes of On The Buses and Bless This House.

Yet, luckily for fans and first-timers alike, this is no Kevin & Perry Go Large fiasco. It seems that the makers of the surprise hit Ch4 comedy have decided to stick closely to their roots and not stray too far from the formula that made it a much-loved modern piece of TV viewing.

It always prided itself on the fact that somewhere during its episodes, you would be able to relate to what the four friends were going through. And here, despite opening up the canvas to encompass the world - well, Malia at least but for them it may as well be! - the film that ends the stories of the misfit bunch of mates, never cashes itself in.

There's no real learning curve for the lads. There's no "boys to men" moment where you finally see that these socially inept guys will be OK in the future because they've moved up any ladder you care to mention - socially, intellectually etc. And there's the winning tactic. It might have got a cheer from the audience if during one scene where one of the boys is challenged, he were to fight back or try and land a punch, but then, that's not them. That wouldn't fit with our understanding and love of them and would have come across like abit of Hollywood-isation.

Yes, it does feel like a long episode but that's not a bad thing. Especially when the writing has been pretty much spot on and continues as such here on the big screen. Like alot of episodes, the film has its moments where the humour stops and the absence of laughter feels all the more prominent due to the fact that you've been snorting your popcorn out all over the place beforehand, but the jokes then start up again and keep on coming.

The cringe factor remains high throughout, especially for Simon who continues to mention his ex, Carly, to the girl who likes him despite him being a "dick to her." Jay delivers all the sex-related lines of dialogue which will be repeated throughout summer (but cannot be typed here!) and Will continues to be a "foot-in-his-mouth" know-it-all who can talk himself out of losing his virginity without realising it. The "nearly an epiphany" moment strangely goes to Neil whose words of wisdom turns the holiday round from disaster - "I stopped worrying when I realised that God is just dog backwards. Now I just have fun." That's as deep as it gets, and rightly so!

A fitting ending to a group of lads that deserved to be loved by viewers and will remain fondly in our hearts and minds for a long time. Proper filthy!

UK release date: 19.08.11

Certificate: 15

COWBOYS & ALIENS

Over a year ago, crowds at San Diego's Comic Con were whipped up into a frenzy by early footage of James Bond and Indiana Jones teaming up to battle aliens in the Wild West. It's been a long year but it's time to saddle up finally...

Anticipation can be a double-edged sword. Ask audiences of Avatar, Inception etc and you'll receive mixed opinions influenced by whether they feel it lived up to the hype or not. Director Favreau's genre-meshing movie would appear to be a victim of it's own marketing campaign as the so-simple-how come-its-never-been-done-before idea of cowboys vs aliens struggles to live up to its ideas and the baggage that its stars bring with them.

Mainly Craig's vehicle rather than Ford, here he brings the same rugged but emotionally-lacking performance that made his take on Bond more grittier and grounded than previous incarnations. It worked well there but here in the Old West, his memory-challenged anti-hero needs some warmth or humanisation to it in order for us to want to see him come through all of it in the end. Any emotion is therefore left to the likes of Ford - mean, surly but then a true hero who changes his ways during the course of the adventure - and Rockwell - who brings scared and relatable everyday guy to the party.

Its set pieces are as good as you'd expect from the guy that gave you Iron Man, but maybe that's where part of the slight disappointment lies. That was fun. This feels average with some of the twinkle and life sucked out of it. Where there should be a tongue-in-cheek moment or a humorous interaction between the two iconic-playing actors, we get a slow-paced delivery of sub-plots and an over long drawn-out fragment piecing together of Craig's wiped memory. It walks then it should run and hovers when it should soar.

What it could have, or should have been was a nod towards Firefly/Serenity where Whedon successfully mixed the genres of Westerns and sci-fi together. There it was about emphasis on characterisation and beautiful dialogue to sit with the beautiful vistas, which is what Cowboys & Aliens lacks.

For most, it will be a typical summer blockbuster that ticks the unchallenging, standard boxes that are associated with films released during this period, but for those who want more emotion - be it humour, tension, fear - then they will find it lacking somewhat. It's not a bad film, but the potential of the sum parts - capable director, reliable actors, inventive idea - meant that it could have been a great film. And that is the bitter pill that has to be swallowed by some of the audience. When you care more for the strangely loyal dog more than the humans, be they ones fighting the aliens or abducted by them, something surely is off kilter...

A somewhat wasted opportunity to be alot of peoples new fave film, it's still worth seeing despite the flaws.

UK release date: 17.08.11

Certificate: 12A

CONAN THE BARBARIAN

29 years ago, Robert E. Howard's creation came to life on the screen with Arnie as the sword-wielding, revenge-seeking barbarian. Now, after a long, interesting journey, the re-imaging of the tale of Conan the Cimmerian finally slashes its way into cinemas.

Fantasy has proven a tough nut to crack where films are concerned. Apart from the phenomena that was Lord Of The Rings, no franchise has ever been able to grow - even the original Conan spawned only one sequel then bowed its head and quietly went away. And, unfortunately, Nispel's version more-than-likely won't be able to buck this trend.

Sword and sorcery is a genre that, for audiences to connect, invest and believe in, has to work harder than others to overcome its fantasy roots and the possible limitations its characters bring with them. They have to overcome such questionable dialogue as "I fight, I love, I slay. I am content." For it to stand a chance, the film would need to have some kind of tongue-in-cheek quality to it or embrace it's uphill struggle and go all-out OTT camp for the fun of it. Sadly, neither path is chosen.

With an over-long intro to the young, head-strong, savage-killing Conan, Nispel takes the plot and pacing and chops it up with Cimmerian steel and jumps from location to location without so much as "pack your bags, we're leaving" to have bland set pieces appear to break up the horse riding. The finale of Conan's life quest for vengeance of his fathers death, will surprise no one who ever watched Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom - the molten lava pit, the damsel over it on a tilting platform, the hero trying to save said damsel whilst fighting off the baddies... it's all there except with no tension or drama created by caring or worrying for the individuals up on the screen. Willie Scott may have been an annoying screamer but Indy cared for her, so in turn did you. Not here though.

Physically perfect for the barbarian, Momoa easily fits into Arnie's sandals/shoes but he's never given any intelligible yet alone memorable dialogue to shine or to steal the audiences hearts. Even the normally mesmerising Morgan Freeman's narration at the beginning is lost through an over loud musical score and nonsense ramblings making it hard to follow what little set up there is.

There are moments that shine during it's running time but overall it's let down by its over-seriousness, its hacked-up plot and its awfully useless 3D.

UK release date: 24.08.11

Certificate: 18

CINEMA: A CELEBRATION

A trip to the movies... for all of us, this cultural phenomenon will touch ALL our lives in at least one category mentioned below.

For some it's a date experience - the uncomfortable fumblings in a darkened room hoping to God that you're not thrown out by a roving attendant - whilst for others it's a family thing; whether it's you as the leading figure of the family unit or whether it's the rose-tinted spectacles of memory as you're led into the auditorium for the first time by an adult to watch your first silver screen induction.

Then, for others, it's the smile-inducing, nostalgic-laden trip where friends - past and present - bring up memories of that viewing to the local ABC cinema to see that awful-but-you-love-it film. Ever since it's disturbing but never-the-less popular beginnings back in 1895, the art, as it was called back then, of movie-making has spell-bound viewers throughout the world.

Embraced by nearly every culture and country the world has had to offer over the last century, films have shone their light on peoples dreams, hopes, aspirations and their history, no matter how clean or ugly it may be.

So, yet another challenge for your is this: what are you willing to admit about your life-influencing experiences with the silver screen? What do you think has helped shape you into the individual that you are today? Or does something else have a hold on you instead? Look back and focus...

FIRST FILM YOU SAW, or remember seeing....

Walt Disney's The Rescuers (1977) and Star Wars (1977)

Both films were milestones for me because I saw them without my mother. The Rescuers was in the ABC Elephant & Castle with my Auntie Pearl and my cousin Donna, and Star Wars was with a single-parent organisation - The Gingerbread Club - in a dark, bustling and frankly scary Leicester Square. I remember having to hold hands with some snotty-nosed kid I'd never met before as we made our way through the crowded Square.

FILM YOU'VE SEEN THE MOST, in the cinema...

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and Jurassic Park (1993) - both 4 times each.

Ah, the age of independence and disposable income! A time where youth allowed you to spend on such things as the cinema without too much worry about the financial consequences and where such things as alcohol and just "hangin'" hadn't yet become that important as to take precedent over a group outing to the flicks.

FILM YOU WISHED YOU'D SEEN IN THE CINEMA, upon its initial release...

Jaws (1975) and Airplane! (1980)

To this day, both are considered classics and the foundations of the genres that they helped define over the intervening years. If you think that you're enjoying these films when you either put them on or, and always the test of a great movie, leave it on if you discover it whilst flicking through the channels one evening, think how much more iconic it would have been to sit there amongst people who were watching it, and reacting to it for the first time... The scares, the shocks, the laughter... damn it would have been good to be there.

FILM YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN WITH THAT SOMEONE SPECIAL, be it child, adult etc...

Beauty & The Beast (1991)

My non-existent daughter or existing God-daughters should have been opened to the world of magical story telling in a full-to-capacity but hushed cinema rather than a hastily-played DVD. The first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture Oscar, this still retains the punch and creates the bond for the audience that any adult should be proud to pass onto the young.

Jerry Maguire (1996) or An Affair To Remember (1957)

"Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at hello." Or "Where will you be in six months?"

Either one of those films are ideal as the movie to have in your memory that brings to mind your significant other half. To have those lines to share with them as you watched them for the first time together in the darkened auditorium would be solid gold!

YOUR FIRST DATE MOVIE, without your parents in tow...

The Karate Kid, Part II (1986)

Ah... the checking you have the money to pay for both of you; the worry of what to wear; the thinking of things to say; the choosing of what movie to see... All the decisions that need to be made and raked over continuously in your mind, and that's even before you find yourself in the cinema wondering about the holding hands or the arm around the shoulder... and all the while Peter Cetera sang in the background about "The Glory Of Love" as Mr Miyagi looked on.

So, what comes to mind for you on those fields then? Will you tell? Will you share?