The Bourne Identity
Identity and action
Starring Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper and Clive Owen.
Rated M.
Reviewer :: The Big Irish Git

More than 20 years after Robert Ludlum penned the classic spy thriller with a twist, Universal Pictures digs it up, dusts it off and gives it the big-budget, seat-of-the-pants treatment it deserves.

Panic Room
If you’re claustrophobic, don’t watch this
Stars Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker and Jared Leto. Columbia TriStar.
Rated MA. 107 minutes.
Reviewer: Sue Caddaye

Certain movies make people stand up and take notice – this is one such movie.
Panic Room is a fast-paced thriller that cleverly relies on just six main characters and one location.

Crossroads.
Stars Britney Spears, Justin Long. Roadshow.
Rated M. 93 minutes
Reviewer: Cpl Mark Eaton

If you’re a big fan of Britney Spears and you’d like to understand the teenager in your family a little better then Crossroads is the film to watch.

The Brotherhoods: Inside the Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs
Arthur Veno, 2002.
$29.95, 277 pages

Reviewer :: Brian Hickey

Hells Angels, Gypsy Jokers, Bandidos and Comancheros. Most people have pretty strong views on what a bikie is, what they look like and, more importantly, why you should stay away from them.

Meet the greatest gladiator
As It Happened: The Real Spartacus.
Saturday, October 12 at 7.30pm on SBS.
Reviewer: Ben Caddaye

I have a confession to make – I hated the movie Gladiator. I thought it was superficial, clichéd and grossly inaccurate.

That’s probably why I couldn’t take my eyes off the hour-long SBS documentary The Real Spartacus.

This is the real story of ancient Rome’s greatest gladiator.

Spartacus, the documentary explains, was one of history’s greatest commanders.

Sold into slavery and forced to fight in front of Rome’s masses, Spartacus ended up escaping with 70 fellow gladiators, taking on the world’s finest army and holding it at bay for two years.

The Real Spartacus takes us inside the colosseums of ancient Rome and into the lives of its gladiators – considered the lowest forms of life at the time.

It also puts the spotlight on one of the greatest warriors the world has ever seen, and highlights how he fought right up to his very grim demise.

Forget Russell Crowe – this bloke’s the real Gladiator.

Reuniting refugee families
About Us: In Limbo.
Friday, October 11 at 8.30pm on SBS.
Reviewer: Ben Caddaye

Given the recent immigration debate, In Limbo is a timely piece of television which will screen during national Refugee Week.

It reveals the harsh reality of immigration as one man, Hoi Trinh, struggles to reunite refugees with family members in Australia, Europe and the United States.

“Getting the Minister to agree on reuniting the families – that’s the hardest bit, the rest is easy,” Hoi, a Vietnamese-Australian lawyer concedes.

The “easy” part of Hoi’s work is a mammoth task involving complex negotiations with immigration departments around the world.

In Limbo follows Hoi from Parliament House in Canberra, where he meets Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock, to Oxford University in England, where he studies on a scholarship, using the opportunity to lobby EU countries on the issue of immigration.

One thing viewers will discover as they follow Hoi is that many immigrants hoping to make a home in Australia with their families are truly waiting “in limbo”.

A thought-provoking documentary, In Limbo is worth an hour of your time..