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From reading the mixed reviews, I expected Cloud Atlas to be an incomprehensible, wildly uneven mess of a movie, but that could not be further from the truth. It is an ambitious triumph of film-making audacity. If you pay attention, there is a strong theme - that in life one must make choices, and these choices are irreversible . Those that make courageous choices are celebrated. We also see that the consequences of brave choices are variable, but that each choice a person makes has consequences that ripple out across whole worlds of people. The concept of spiritual connectedness is explored in great depth throughout all six interrelated stories. The ending is very moving. If you are contemplating seeing Cloud Atlas, but are afraid it will lose you in its complications, don't be. It is one of the few complicated epics I've seen that really works, even if you are left with questions afterwards. A really fine return to form for the Wachoiwski siblings and Tom Twyker, and a wonderful, sophisticated movie-going experience.

Very well made and acted, The Debt is a thriller with a definite European style and an intellectual point to make. Many thrillers skirt the issue of whether or not the "hero's" actions can be justified - whether the ends justify the means. This movie sets about the task of asking the question directly and provides an existential answer. There is true suspense in this film, and it is unrelenting. I was entirely engrossed. If you liked "Tell No One," you'll really like this.

The American is a stylish, very European film in the style of art cinema of the 1970s. Had this film been directed by a Bergman disciple like Woody Allen, or by someone like Michelangelo Antonioni, it would have been hailed as a masterpiece. In fact, it is suspenseful the way Blowup was - you're not sure what is happening until you realize you'll have to fill in the blanks yourself, and the questions are far more numerous than the answers. If you can savor a slow-moving film and give yourself over to some introspection you will be rewarded by an expertly made, engrossing film of the kind they don't make enough of anymore. Highly recommended.