Movie update: Vanishing of the Bees; Halloween II; Goodbye Solo

Oct 15 2009

Vanishing Of The Bees (15)

Narrated by actress Emilia Fox, this documentary by George Langworthy and Maryam Henein celebrates one of nature's most productive workers. The honeybee single-handedly pollinates one-third of the Earth's food supply, which in turn generates around £200 million. Yet last year, a third of all of the hives in the UK were lost, and millions of honeybees are dying. Filming over a period of two years in Europe, Australia and America, Langworthy and Henein meet various experts from the study of beekeeping as they speculate about a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder and the grave repercussions for the near future.

Halloween II (18)

Following on directly from his 2007 remake, Rob Zombie's bloodthirsty sequel centres on Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton), sister of psychopath Michael Myers (Tyler Mane), who barely survived the horrors of the first film. Clinging onto her sanity, she faces her cleaverwielding brother once again alongside Sheriff Lee Brackett (Brad Dourif) as the hulking murderer hacks up friends and neighbours. Meanwhile, psychologist Dr Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) keeps a close eye on his patient and Michael is plagued by visions of his dead mother Deborah (Sheri Moon-Zombie).

Goodbye Solo (15)

The third movie from independent film-maker Ramin Bahrami is a story of an unlikely friendship that forms between a taxi driver and his passenger. Senegalese immigrant Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane) works long hours ferrying strangers around. With his cheery demeanour, he soon puts his passengers at ease, not least Southern gent William (Red West), who offers Solo a large sum of money to take him to a place in the mountains called Blowing Rock. With a long drive ahead of them, Solo engages William in conversation and soon learns of his passenger's intentions when they arrive at the destination.