I should probably start this review by saying that Dogma was forced on me by my best friend, an avowed Kevin Smith fanatic. Having only seen Chasing Amy before (and enjoying it a great deal), I was quite ready to dip into a movie by the same writer. It stirred up a fair bit of controversy at the time, although having watched it I can say it's not actually that controversial. Indeed, it's embracement of all 'ideas' comes almost perilously close to schmaltz. Saying that, this is exactly the kind of screwball humour I love. See, there are two disgraced angels (Damon and Affleck) who find a dogmatic loophole through which they can re-enter Heaven, thus ending the world by proving God to be fallible. So it falls upon Linda Fiorentino's lapsed Catholic, as recruited by The Voice of God (Alan Rickman), to put a stop to their dastardly plans. Along the way she's aided by prophets (Jay and Silent Bob), the forgotten 13th apostle (Chris Rock) and a muse (Salma Hayek). All against Jason Lee's horn-headed baddie.

The humour comes thick and fast, with some absolutely classic scenes involving Damon's Loki exacting vengeance on a board meeting, Alanis Morissette's God doing handstands after defeating the apocalypse and some very very brilliant pop culture references. The acting is also crucial, with particular stand-outs including Damon's most freewheeling role yet, Fiorentino treading a fine line between the serious and the comical and Affleck proving that with the right script and a role that doesn't reek of self-satisfaction (Pearl Harbour anyone?) he can be a very likeable, good, performer. It of course goes without saying that the supporting cast is uniformally excellent.

Still, the script does pander to vulgarity several times, which you'll either lap up or resent given the nuance, interesting humour of the rest of the movie. Smith also has a slight tendency to over-talk his script, as if to constantly to remind us that this is a satire and not something to be taken seriously. Whilst he points out in an ironic foreword that this should be evident ten minutes in, he still feels the need to hammer it in a little too much. Saying that though, the serious elements of the story are mostly done very well, thanks in no part to Fiorentino. Destined to become some kind of cult classic among Smith fans, this is a much smarter and funnier comedy than any of the one I've seen this year yet. So, whilst not brilliant perhaps, at the very least Dogma is witty, vibrant and original.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 was brilliant and definitely one of the most exciting, pulse-pounding cinema treats of last year. Heavily influenced by kung-fu flicks, Tarantino set expectations at an unusually high level for the second part, promising itself to be a Western pastiche. Of course, Tarantino is hardly a conformist and what initially struck me when watching Volume 2 was that it seemed to take great glee in undermining all my expectations of the Western elements I was looking for. Take the promised backstory to the massacre at the chapel - we get a tense work-up with Bill coming to visit The Bride and then we hear but never see the massacre that ensues. Take Budd, a bloated has-been who sits in his trailer guzzling beer and wearing a cowboy hat, the very picture of a genre truly dead and buried, past its glory days. It's clear from here that Tarantino's toying with his audience's expectations, becoming a true master of suspense (notably in the scenes with Bill) and showing us what 'Western' means today. It's not cops and robbers and epic gunfights but trailer trash violence Jackass-style where old-school warriors are misfits in a dead landscape.

Still, Tarantino's not lost his love of retro-pastiche and these still provide his most entertaining sequences. The fight with Daryl Hannah is hilariously brilliant, with the two heroines reduced to fighting with foodstuffs and toilet bowls. This and the training sequences between The Bride and Pai Mei. Using the zoom shot, the begrudging cruel master and cheesy fight scenes, Tarantino manages to give his love for the genre with a touch of humanity when we get to see how The Bride uses her teachings to break free of a coffin in which she has been buried alive.

The main criticisms levellled at Volume 2 seem to be that it is slower than Volume 1 and has a masochistic attitude towards women. The first is admitedly true in sequences and this never reaches the freewheeling fun of Volume 1, though once it gets going, Volume 2 is just as much a force to be reckoned with and is certainly anything but stale. The second is a hard one, especially seen as The Bride is put through just about every kind of punishment possible, be it torture, near-death or the loss of her daughter. In particular, the resolution, where an assassin grants her life because she's pregnant might seem hokey. But Tarantino pulls it off to make this self-proclaimed 'roaring rampage of revenge' exciting and fun enough to get past any sentimentality. A lot of people sneered at her love for Bill, but surely this was levelled by the apparent respect she had for him and Tarantino's acknowledgement that love cannot be simply transformed into hate so simply. Thurman gives it her all as well, proving that she's one of the best actresses of her generation in a role that will probably define her for years to become. She's impressed in her roles in Pulp Fiction and Gattaca, but never before has her performance been so determined and committed. Of course, she's helped by a superb supporting cast. Carradine exudes a surprising degree of menace and Daryl Hannah and Michael Madsen are both a hoot.

Okay, so Volume 2 isn't perfect, but along with its first part, it's the one of the most interesting, thrilling cinema treats in a fair while and even if the style isn't really your cup of tea, it's sheer exuberance (not to mention Tarantino's obvious talent and attention to detail) should be applauded.

Anyone who's a fan of Hole would be exhilerated about any new Courtney Love project. This, her first solo album, has her collaborating with Linda Perry (who also assisted Pink and Christina Aguilera relaunch their careers with phenomenal success). A lot of criticism has been levelled at Love for 'selling out' with an album that's over-produced and not nearly as raw as Pretty On The Inside or Live Through This. Whilst a lot of this might be fair with respects to how the album sounds, the lyrics are still as raw as ever. In particular, Life Despite God is a stunner lyrically, and you can tell Love's handiwork throughout the whole album just as much as you can tell Perry's. If anything, this album proves that Love is a talented musician in her own right after the complaints that Billy Corgan wrote a lot of Celebrity Skin and the rumours that Kurt leant a hand on Live Through This. If anything, the songs that sound the most 'pop' - Sunset Strip, Hello, Almost Golden - belie the misery and sadness in songs such as the aforementioned Life Despite God and Uncool. For me, the stand-out track though (apart from the brilliant Mono), is I'll Do Anything. This is writing of the best type, a self-deprecating but ultimately truthful description of who Love really is. In the Nirvana days she was overshadowed by Kurt, and later on, by her own excessive celebrity. This song sums all that up perfectly.

Whilst this never reaches the highs of any of her previous albums simply because it IS too over-produced and the recruitment of Linda Perry might have been a mistake in some respects, America's Sweetheart (what a wonderfully self-conscious title!) is enjoyable and interesting in its own right. If musically sometimes it falls into cliché - Hold On To Me sounds like your typical rock ballad - it's a nice counterpoint to what Courtney is usually known for and doesn't destract from an album where there's not one duff song on here. Sure there are some that don't quite gel as well as they might, but the punk-pop approach genuinely works for the most part, and this is an exciting, interesting album from an exciting and interesting artist. Finding her feet by herself she might have made an album that's not as up-to-scratch as some Hole fans might like, but this has enough in it to satisfy most people and shows all the nay-sayers that Love can do it alone. I look forward to her second solo album.

I'm surprised to see so many reviews that hated this movie considering the fact that over here in the UK, Cabin Fever was pretty well received. Okay, so the story's an old staple - a group of kids rent out a cabin in the woods only to find a zombie-like infection as scary as the locals is waiting to ensnare them.

Director Eli Roth clearly knows his horror movies, because this movie plunders a lot of them. The only real problem is that he doesn't really know what direction he wants to take with it - campy fun, retro Evil Dead pastiche or straight horror. There are elements of all three, used to varying degrees of success. I was recommended the movie by quite a few Evil Dead enthusiasts, so it would appear to work on that level. As straight horror there are some genuinely horrible moments, notably a character shaving her legs in the bath deserves to be an instant gore classic. However, a lot of this seems to be undermined by the black humour of it all, mingling to produce a film nearly as nasty as reality-TV horror My Little Eye, though not as good and certainly not as consistent. For instance, characters such as the stoner at the beginning disappear early on and a walk-on from a hilarious cop on a push bike who like to 'party' is cheapened by a second appearance. Saying that, some of the gags definitely work, especially the anti-racist joke at the end, which had me in stitches. Yet before you've even finished laughing there's a shot of a dead body, making you feel more than a little uncomfortable. Whilst it could be argued that the mixing of modes is daring and interesting (and this IS better than Wrong Turn, which played it entirely straight), it comes across as uncertainty on the part of a director who didn't know what they wanted.

Still, that doesn't mean it doesn't have its moments. It does. The unknown cast are all great value for money, though you suspect that we'll probably never see them again. In particular, the guy at first coded as the jock turning into a fey scaredy-cat is great stuff. There are also enough good moments to suggest that Roth could make a much more consistently good movie in future. Saying that, as zombie movies go, Night Of The Living Dead, Evil Dead and even the recent 28 Days Later, still reign supreme.

After the reported fiasco involving Ryan's intended Love Is Hell full-length being deemed too depressing by his record company, it was released as two EPs. After the brilliance of Part 1, we now also have Part 2, which is equally brilliant. Marking a very distinct sound from the more upbeat Rock N Roll, which seemed to be disregarded by a lot of critics but personally, I thought was great fun. One of the main criticisms levelled at Ryan Adams seems to be that he has a tendancy to ape other artists, whether it be his rock and roll heroes on his last album, Bob Dylan on Heartbreaker or, in this case, Jeff Buckley. Of course, this criticism would be more relevant were Adams not so good at what he does. If he wears his influences on his sleeve, so what? And whilst this never reaches the highs of Jeff Buckley's Grace, Love Is Hell Part 2 shows what a gifted musician Ryan Adams is.

There are a few instant classics here, most notably I See Monsters and Hotel Chelsea Nights. Heartfelt and melancholy, this is the album most fans will cherish as a return to form. And rightfully so. Whilst Gold and Rock N Roll were both fantastic records in their own rights, this is the first to match the mastery of Heartbreaker. The only real downside (and why I'm giving it 4 rather than 5 stars) is that it isn't the full album, which has finally been released. Given the amount of hype surrounding the release of Love Is Hell, and the way the record company treated the material, it's quite insulting to have it finally released as a full album after forking out for two EPs. It's even more infuriating because the LP doesn't include the bonus tracks from Love Is Hell Part 2 - F*ck The Universe and Twice As Bad As Love - or his collaboration with Leona Naess, Caterwaul, from Love Is Hell Part 1. If you can, try to track down the EP with the bonus tracks, as they're good if not better than the rest of the album. My only regret is that all the tracks weren't included on an LP in the first place, as the two parts work together remarkably well. But as it is, this is only one half of a great work of art.

Reviewing Angel's second season is very hard indeed. As a big fan of everything Joss Whedon's done (particularly Buffy, but also the late, lamented Firefly), it's all too easy to give this boxset 5 stars. However, to be honest this is the one season of either Buffy or Angel that didn't really gel for me. After a much more episodic structure in its first season, Angel moves into its second season with a few carefully constructed plot arcs involving the return of Angel's sire Darla, as well as the gloriously insane Drusilla. Unfortunately this doesn't work nearly as well as it does on its sister show here, and its much more a case of individual episodes shining rather than how any one story arc is dealt with as a whole.

In particular, the story involving Angel losing his faith in humanity and himself could have been so much more resonant than it is here and, although comparisons with Buffy seem unfair, her breakdown in series 6 was a lot better than Angel's here. In addition, after Darla is 'vamped' again, her character becomes little more than a conventional villain, which is an insult to the history her and Angel have. Yet to be fair, their history is treated with a remarkable amount of detail and respect in the earlier episodes. By far the most infuriating aspect of this season though is the long-awaited return of fan favourite Drusilla. Gone are the Victorian outfits and poetic language and in come pink polo necks and often silly turns of phrase. These come off as somebody writing Drusilla who doesn't know her character very well, which is a shame considering just how good she was in season 2 of Buffy. For me though, the most aggravating part of the season was its end, where the gang travel to Lorne's homeland of Pylea to rescue lost librarian (and future cast member) Fred. Though there are a few laughs to be had here - notable Angel's response to the sunlight that doesn't burn, and Joss Whedon's cameo as a dancing demon - it's just too hokey for the most part.

Don't get me wrong though, I didn't hate the series, all I'm saying is that it had its faults. There were some great points to it, and if the story arcs didn't work together quite as well as they might have done you are at least safe in the knowledge that they were essential to the later series and retrospectively were crucial to the overall story. In particular, the character development of Wesley and Cordelia here proved big stepping stones for what they'd have to face in series 3. There was also the addition of a few new faces, namely Fred and karaoke bar owner Lorne. Whilst both were yet to find their feet on the show, it was nice to see them branching out with an ensemble cast. A few stand-alone episodes are also good, in particularly Darla (companion piece to Buffy's Fool For Love), which tells a good dose of backstory on everyone's favourite vamp-turned-human. Drawing a strong performance from Julie Benz, it stands as one of the best Angel episodes even now. Other instant classics include the opener Heartthrob, 20's pastiche Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?, Wesley stand-out Guise Will Be Guise and social commentary The Thin Dead Line. It's these that lift the series above nearly everything else on TV. Unfortunately, that's not always enough to feed a fan with already high expectations of a series that delivered last time around and, after this shaky second season, really delivered some of the best entertainment around in its next 3 seasons.

To sum up, Angel is a fantastic, classic piece of programming, of which season 2 isn't a very good example. To complete anyone's collection it's a must, but for any first time viewers, any of the other series of the show are a better introduction to why this is so critically acclaimed. The extras are also much better than those on most TV boxsets, and the commentaries and documentaries are genuinely insightful. All in all, better than most you'll find out there, but compared to what Joss Whedon can normally pull off, it doesn't quite cut it.

Whatever your thoughts on the original movie, last year's The Italian Job has very little in common with it, only referencing the former once when talking about car chases. If anything, this seems to have been influenced by Ocean's Eleven more than anything else in it's efforts to be achingly cool. Unfortunately it just doesn't succeed. The plot is minimal, but that's not really the complaint given the fact that you don't go and see this kind of film for the plot. You go to see it for the action, and here's it's pretty stinted and unexciting. The direction is so sloppy that virtually no tension is built up in the various heist sequences, and the beautiful Venice backdrop is barely utilised at all. More importanly, the return of the Mini chase sequence is distinctly lacklustre. In recent years both The Rock and The Bourne Identity have given us much better car chase scenes, and this one really falls flat.

In many ways it's a shame this isn't any better, because its cast really is superb. If you can forget about the wooden star quality of Mark Wahlberg, then you've got Oscar-winner Charlize Theron and Oscar-nominee Edward Norton is supporting roles. Unfortunately both actors aren't given nearly as much screen time as you might like, Norton's role amounting to little more than a cameo. Contractually obliged to take the role, this is least distinguished role yet, a shame given the fact he is such an astounding talent. Anyone wanting to see him in better roles would do better to check out American History X or 25th Hour. Perhaps surprisingly, the best performances come from the minor players of the crack team. Seth Green really hits his stride here, capitalising on his Austin Powers and Buffy fame to give the few laughs the film contains. Jason Stratham is also very good, though his persona from Snatch may wear thin before too long.

Like I said, the main problem with The Italian Job is that it's so boring, overlong, cheesy and unexciting. There are heaps better action movies out there - Speed and True Lies spring to mind - and as far as heist movies go, Ocean's Eleven, and even the uneven The Score, have this beat. This is bland anodyne Hollywood stuff, and it's particularly offensive for its waste of good talent.

The Gift is destined to always be a three star out of five film, though don't let that dissuade you from watching it, because that's not to say that it's worthless. Far from it. Co-scripted by Billy Bob Thornton, The Gift relates the rather straightforward story of a woman (Cate Blanchett) haunted by her psychic visions of the murder of a young girl (Katie Holmes) from the backwater town she lives in. Red herrings abound, almost to the point of ridiculousness where you begin to suspect pretty much every character bar Blanchett's.

What lifts the movie out of its mediocrity is the fact that it's cast does so much with the slight material they've been handed. Blanchett proves that Elizabeth was no fluke, giving a typically strong performance of a woman on the edge of breakdown. Given her recent casting as lead in movies such as Charlotte Gray and Heaven, along with some high profile supporting roles in Lord of the Rings and The Talented Mr. Ripley, this is one actress who's undoubtedly going to go far. Every bit as good as Blanchett though is Giovanni Ribisi, playing a deranged man-child who forms an unwholesome attachment to Blanchett. His weepy yet electrifying performance rivets the movie in place in a much more powerful way that Keanu Reeves' bearded psycho could ever manage. Surprisingly, director Sam Raimi has also managed to garner Oscar-winner Hilary Swank who, despite turning in a solid performance, gives the impression that Boys Don't Cry might have been the best role she's ever likely to get in a while if she's taking relatively small roles in something like this.

Whilst this never reaches the highs of other recent ghost stories (The Sixth Sense, The Others and the Japanese version of Ring are all much better), this is nothing short of a solid effort from the director of zombie classic Evil Dead, and is rarely short of compelling. If it lacks a little originality in the script give it some credit; there's a place for small-ish movies like this, especially given Raimi's latest blockbuster Spiderman. In short - good, but no classic.

21 Grams came to UK shores with a bundle of critical acclaim and and an Oscar nomination for Sean Penn. And it pretty much lives up to the good things people have been saying about it. Directed by the man behind Amores Perros, you can immediately tell from the way this is filmed that it's not a typical Hollywood melodrama. The colours are bleached out and the time out of synch. However, this doesn't mean 21 Grams doesn't have something in common with such films. The centrepiece of the story is a terrible accident that affects the movie's other characters. Watching the movie at first is slightly confusing, as it shows us glimpses of things that are yet to happen in the longer sections. This technique has been used by various directors, notably Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan. Yet it is the latter director with which 21 Grams shares so much, particularly his little seen first independent affair, Following, which also had very short clips from the future to break up the drama of the main story. The scenes used for this come across as short exclamations of passion and horror; a dying man covered in blood, a post-coital cigarette and a woman taking drugs in a bathroom. Whilst it's true that if it weren't for these scenes the movie might be shown as the pretty simplistic drama that it is, this doesn't make it any less compelling or any less good. For anyone's who's seen the Australian movie Lantana, this will certainly ring a few bells.

What makes the movie though, besides the almost poetic direction, are the performances. Sean Penn got a lot of credit for his role and deservedly so, though the rest of the cast also give nuanced and complex performances. Benicio del Toro is superb as the heavy-religious ex-con, depicting a whole range of anger and self-loathing behind his furrowed brows. In addition, Naomi Watts really comes into her own as the lonely woman falling apart. It would have been easy to give a shouty, tear-stained performance, but she really lends a desperation to this that is tangible.

Any other year, 21 Grams would have probably sweeped the Oscars, were it not for the phenomenal success and achievement Peter Jackson demonstrated with The Return Of The King. Whilst it's true to say that in hindsight it's not really as good as it would perhaps like to be, nor as original, it's still a brilliant movie in its own right and one that any fan of intelligent, adult cinema should try to see.

Kill Bill Volume 1 has the hallmarks of a moviemaker falling in love with making movies all over again, and with his cast and crew doing the same. The plot's a basic revenge scenario, with The Bride(Uma Thurman) seeking vengeance on the Deadly Viper assassin gang, headed by the Bill of the title, who created a bloodbath of her wedding and left her childless.

For anyone well versed in Tarantino movies, this is very recognisable as one of his movies. The film references are perhaps a little more obvious here than in Pulp Fiction, with Kill Bill using the kung-fu action movie as its mould and then working from there. The narrative style is also very Tarantino-esque, jumping around in a non-chronological order and playing with the audience's expectations. And of course no Tarantino film would be complete without a killer soundtrack full of obscure tracks from obscure bands. It's all here, and with a panache that must surprise even the most cynical viewer.

Uma Thurman gives the performance of her career, adding a carefully judged humanity to her character that could easily have been two-dimensional - check out her reaction when she realises she's lost her baby. Not only can she pull off the stunts, but she's also got a real personality behind her that few actresses can pull off (perhaps Geena Davis and Fairuza Balk spring to mind). Here she's even better than she was in Pulp Fiction. And that's saying something. Crucially, she's backed up by some great supporting players. Lucy Liu really proves that she's a big star in the making, building on her Charlie's Angels role so well that you wonder whether she could be the best breakout TV star since George Clooney. Also definitely worth a mention are some incredibly brief but tantalising roles for Bill Carradine, Daryl Hannah and Michael Marsden, all of whom appear in Volume 2.

What's great about Kill Bill is that it really lives up to the promise that Pulp Fiction gave us. Whilst Jackie Brown fleshed out Tarantino's characters, and his script for True Romance was one of the most fun road movies in ages, there were also the relatively successful but mostly disappointing scripts he produced for Dusk Til Dawn and Natural Born Killers (significantly the latter was disowned by Tarantino himself). Whilst Kill Bill could never be as influential as Pulp Fiction in terms of how it structures its story, or as shocking as Reservoir Dogs was at the time, it's still one of the most exciting, enthralling cinematic treats of last year. The way it's filmed screams of a master - impressive, since this is only Tarantino's fourth film in the director's chair - and the anime sequence is particularly impressive. Whilst it's true to say that if violence isn't your thing, steer clear, and that it's filmed in a way that makes you perhaps worryingly unaware of how violent it really is, Kill Bill Volume 1 is a rollercoaster of a movie experience and makes you long for part two. This is brilliant, brilliant stuff, that blows the remakes and tired adaptations that seem to have flooded our screens recently, out of the water.