Requiem For A Dream

If there’s one thing that Darren Aronofsky is very good at, it’s showing people go slowly bonkers. On this occasion, the Black Swan director has Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly lose their grip on reality as various forms of addiction take hold.

Ellen Burstyn is an ageing widow who receives a phone call telling her she’ll be a contestant on her favourite quiz show. She frets that she can’t fit into her favourite dress, so starts taking diet pills. Meanwhile, her son (Leto) and his girlfriend (Connelly) are junkies who hang out with fellow heroin addict Marlon Wayans and dream of breaking out of the street dealing hell they live in. Over the course of six months, each character’s addiction spirals out of control, leading each to make increasingly dangerous decisions. 

Blood Diamond

I’ve always liked Leo DiCaprio, even when I was bored sick of him. I think it’s because I saw This Boy’s Life and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape long before Romeo + Juliet or Titanic. I have him fixed in my mind as a gifted and versatile actor, so it’s good to see him in an unstarry role where he just gets to play a part well.

5 Reasons Every Child Should Watch Labyrinth

Most kiddie-fare is propaganda, whether it’s Harry Potter telling you racism is bad or Twilight telling you sex is bad. While you might think that Jim Henson’s muppety fairytale with the Python jokes will do no more than implant into your little princess some worrying feelings about middle-aged pop stars, it’s actually teaching her something else entirely:

1. The good guys aren’t always good