I've joined the Movie Group on the Social site on Kidspot.com.au. Basically I can get free movie tickets if I review the movie. Sounds good to me.

The first movie was Tenderness and I went to see it last night with my friend C. We were the only people in the cinema which is kind of sad since I quite liked this film. Here's what I wrote for Kidspot:

You could say Tenderness is a love story about a girl who wants to die and a boy who wants to kill. But I don't really think it's a love story, just a story about people trying to connect.

It's a thriller in the real sense of the word; you just don't know what's going to happen next and it kept me on the edge of my seat. The relationship between the two young characters is beautifully played out, the tension building and building.

Tenderness touches on many of the dark parts of the human condition and at first I wondered what the title was referring to. But later it came to me that there are many small moments of tenderness throughout this film, not only the tenderness sought by the killer during the murder (as discussed by Crowe's Detectice Cristofuoro towards the end of the film). The tenderness between the Detective and his sick wife, between Lori and her dysfunctional mother, between Eric and his aunt. The small tender gestures which are the glue of life.

This is not an "entertaining" film as such. It is slow and dark but it is beautifully written, directed and acted. It is a "small" film in the best sense of that word. A film that wants to tell a story without all the usual cliched storytelling which tends to come out of Hollywood.

I probably wouldn't recommend you run out to see it at the cinemas but I would certainly recommend it as a DVD rental later in the year. It is well worth watching.