BEST MOVIES

A tale of heroes, bonded together by friendship, it's the very special friendship between hobbits Elijah Wood's Frodo and Sean Astin's Sam that touches us most of all.

Standing out amid an excellent cast is Elijah Wood, stymied by tweeness in the earlier films but here convincingly developing the character of Frodo as the embodiment of valor and self-sacrifice.

After revisiting Pandora via Blu-ray transmission, I have to state the obvious: this is some serious movie-making. There's good reason it's the highest grosser in film history.

Rebirths the old fashioned action epic in a era of soulless marketing machines, desensitizing shock pieces, and overrated indie-art imposters. Cameron's vision exceeds the hype.

If you're not fond of country music (I'm not), then Crazy Heart may sound like the kind of cracker-barrel movie you should avoid. Bridges will change your mind.

A solid (if unremarkable) script presented in a straightforward, restrained manner but enlivened by naturalistic, honest acting, Crazy Heart is more than the sum of its parts

Not one of Eastwood's best, but at times the story is quite moving. And, you can't help but cherish the performance by Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. Nicely done, Morgan. Paul Chambers, CNN

As Mandela, Morgan Freeman is suitably statesman-like and makes light of a difficult accent to give a convincing performance. Less convincing but still serviceable is Matt Damon.