HomeAuthorsGraham Young

Graham Young

Graham Young

30 Days Of Night (18)

SETTING a vampire movie in an Alaskan town enduring 30 days of darkness is a good idea. Josh Hartness plays a rather young-looking Sheriff Eben Oleson who stays behind when the sun disappears. The film is no classic, but director David Slade offers lashings of blood and a two-disc special edition DVD includes an exclusive 30 Days Of Night graphic novel. Out to buy for £19.99 (Blu-ray £24.99). Read

BBC WM Radio DJ's Phil Upton and Paul Franks

Radio presenter tells of crash nightmare

POPULAR radio presenter Paul Franks today spoke for the first time about the terrible day he was involved in a fatal collision. Read

A Walk In The Park: White Out!

AFTER going to bed at midnight on Saturday, I miraculously woke up at 5am thanks to a dripping tap! Read

Shine a Light

Shine A Light (12a)

JUDGING by this Martin Scorsese film, The Rolling Stones' energetic legacy will live on for eternity. Read

Tolkien tower is tall order

CLIMBING landmarks has always held a certain mixture of fascination - and fear. Read

Gala Fish Bar, Bearwood Road, Bearwood

ACCORDING to one of my dictionaries, 'Gala' stems from an old French word for rejoicing - which is exactly how I felt after trekking all the way to Bearwood on an empty stomach. Although it's on a nightmarishly busy road, this shop is attractive both inside and out and my friendly server scooped up an endearing little-and-large mixture of lunchtime lip-smackers. Read

Rescue Dawn (12)

THIS is a tough Vietnam thriller about a US fighter pilot trying to escape from a prison camp. After The Machinist, chameleon star Christian Bale again sheds weight post Batman Begins to play Dengler who is shot down on a mission over Laos. Having always dreamed of being a pilot, he refuses to give up on freedom, too. If you fancy a true story involving maggots, leeches and insect larva welded on to big screen escapism, Rescue Dawn does the job better than Rambo. Also available to buy for £19.99, the extras include seven deleted scenes and a featurette called 'Unfinished Business: Telling Dieter's Story'. Read

The Darjeeling Limited (15)

AN ADMIRABLY different sort of 'road' movie on rails. Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman play three brothers trying to recreate their love on a spiritual train journey across the Indian deserts of Rajasthan. Wes Anderson's most accessible film to date will features enough eccentricity to appeal to his fans, too. Also available to buy for £19.99, the DVD includes the tedious 13-minute short, Hotel Chevalier, a preface to events of The Darjeeling Limited, which explains the strained relationship between Jack and his ex-lover (Natalie Portman). Read

Enchanted (pg)

DISNEY'S best film for years is a must-have for families everywhere. Opening as an animation, the multi-layered story is about a girl called Giselle (Amy Adams) who is sent into the unforgiving modern world of Manhattan by the evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon). After meeting divorce attorney Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey) who seems to be already spoken for, her animated intended Prince Edward (James Marsden) catches up with the two of them in the Big Apple. What will he want to do about Robert - and what plans will the evil Queen have for all of them? A thoroughly-modern classic with three Oscar-nominates songs, this will delight audiences of all ages. Also available to buy for 317.99 (Blu-ray £23.99) the extras include six deleted scenes. Read

Son of Rambow (12A)

THREE, two, one and... action! Son of Rambow is, at last, a film for Graham Young to write home about. Read

Never Back Down (15)

THE only frightening thing about this 'thriller' is that it glamorises the unpalatable subject matter so seductively. Read

Funny Games U.S. (18)

DIRECTOR Michael Haneke deservedly enjoyed international success with his last film in 2005, Cache (Hidden) - all the more surprising, then, that he should now be remaking his 1997 Austrian movie Funny Games directly for the American audience. Read

Awake (15)

THIS has to be one of the silliest thrillers for years...and the inherent stupidity is the single biggest reason why film critic Graham Young quite enjoyed it. Read

Harborne Fisheries, Northfield Road, Harborne

WHEN you're the only customer, and a first-timer, you might expect to be treated like a potential No 1 fan. Read

Midland Arts Centre

The final cut for Birmingham's Midland Arts Centre projectionists

PROJECTIONISTS Phil Fawke and John Brockington became screen stars themselves today. Read

Birmingham's Amy Booth-Steel is voted off I'D Do Anything

ANDREW Lloyd Webber said she had "bottled out with the intonation... the tuning that is". Read

Black Sheep (15)

A NEW Zealand farm has been experimenting with 'Frankensheep'. Read

Breach (12)

CHRIS Cooper gives one of his finest performances to date as veteran FBI operative Robert Hanssen who is suspected of being an extremely dangerous mole. Trainee Eric O'Neill (played by Crash star Ryan Phillippe) is unwittingly promoted to try to quickly bring him down. Based on a true story, this low-octane thriller hums with fabulous, slow-burn tension. Out to buy for £19.99. Read

Hitman (15)

FRESH from starring opposite Bruce Willis in Die Hard 4.0, Timothy Olyphant is much better than the plot as Agent 47, a ruthless killer resembling a mutant cross between Keanu Reeves and a shaven-headed David Beckham. The gun-for-hire strays into the middle of a political coup and becomes a target for both Interpol and the Russian military, while Nika (Olga Kurylenko) offers her own temptations. Read

The Assassination Of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford (15)

NOT even poster boy Brad Pitt could turn this sprawling cowboy film into a big cinema hit. Pitt plays the famous outlaw and Torquay-born Roger Deakins' Oscar-nominated cinematography is brilliant throughout the overlong 153-minute running time. But this is Casey Affleck's film as Robert Ford, the nobody who ends up close enough to make his fatal mark as a somebody - before writer-director Andrew Dominik continues the story beyond its natural limit. Available to buy in various forms from £16.99. Read

Author Profile

Award-winning Film Editor Graham Young has covered the Midlandsý radio and TV scene for two decades. The father of three is also the Mailýs reviewer of pubs, parks, family days out and chips and a keen photographer.

Get involved

We want your local stories, videos & pics.