The resume of filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan makes interesting reading. At 31, the man who eschewed medicine for moviemaking has made five films – acting as writer, director and producer on each. The man who had the cherubic Haley Joel Osment whisper ‘I see dead people’ also wrote the screenplay for the children’s hit, Stuart Little. He showed critics that Bruce Willis can act – not once, but twice – and has proved that it’s possible to make popular mainstream films that are actually about something.

For most of us, our ability to see is something we take for granted. We judge, make decisions, come to conclusions based on what we see. Seeing is believing, they say. But in the romantic drama, At First Sight, there's more to sight than seeing with the eyes.

Ok ok, so I like animations. Well, really like them. But let me say that Antz isn’t your typical kid’s production. To begin with, this is no toon. Antz is a computer animation with a difference. Dreamworks and PDI are positively enraptured by their new technology, particularly the facial animation at work in Antz. And it is very good. The ants and other critters (fortunately no spiders) are so ‘real’ they are almost tactile. In fact after a while they don’t seem like ants at all...

We're a long way from Rodgers and Hammerstein with the latest version of The King and I, now titled Anna and the King. This American production of the much-loved tale is a visual feast, which isn't afraid to show a bit of bloodletting. A more sombre offering than the popular light-hearted musical, this one's not for the kids...

Get ready for a full dose of whimsy, sit back and enjoy the tidy drawing room comedy, An Ideal Husband. Thoroughly Oscar Wilde in tone and feeling, this is a tale that eschews the grim realities of life outside the upper classes and focuses on the eternal themes of love and marriage, trust and deception and integrity and reputation.

Frank McCourt’s Pulitzer Prize winning auto-biography has resonated with readers around the world. But making a film from such a well-loved book has more than the usual share of problems. So does the film of Angela’s Ashes do the memoirs justice?

If American History X represents one tenth of reality, it will make you glad not to be American. The film depicts a society utterly drenched in hate, violence and racial tension. Education - championed as the last glimmer of hope that Americans can escape their racist past - is near paralysed by it. Throw guns into the mix and even the simplest playground misadventure must be framed with the ever-present threat of death. At the time I write, the ghosts of Columbine High can't but haunt the footnotes to this film.

Part comedy, part thriller, American Beauty is a difficult film to pin down. To describe it as a thriller fails to accommodate its ironic humour and angst. To label it a comedy betrays its tragic core. Deliberate in its avoidance of genre stereotyping, this portrait of suburban life in middle-class America is fresh and satirical viewing with a sting in its tail.

Michael Mann's new film Ali, almost joining the ranks of epic as it too goes over the 150-minute mark. But unlike the other summer blockbusters Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, Mann sets out to tell the whole story in one hit. And it's not just any story - it's the life story of possibly the biggest name in the world today, Muhammad Ali.

It's a common preoccupation of science fiction films to explore what it means to be human. When there's a situation where robots are virtually identical to people, how can they be differentiated? What is it that sets people apart? The question of what distinguishes humanoids from humans has been asked before – notably in Blade Runner and Bicentennial Man. It is posed once again in the Spielberg/Kubrick collaboration, A.I.

Pearl Kantrowitz (Diane Lane) married young and now in her mid thirties has two children. Every year she and husband Marty (Liev Schrieber), mother-in-law (Tovah Feldshuh) and children Alison (Anna Paquin) and Danny (Bobby Boriello) head off to the Catskills for the summer with a dozen other Jewish families.

Cinema does faith badly. Faith is one of those things that are all but impossible to depict accurately and sympathetically. It's hard to show something so interior to a person's heart and soul. When movies feature Christians they’re usually members of the clergy not ordinary people. The Roman Catholic Church is popular in film because there’s great cinematic appeal in the confessional and the whole celibacy issue adds another dimension of interest.

The distinctiveness of the Christian faith. Easter, like Christmas, provides us all with the chance to take a refreshing break from the routine of daily life. It also offers a unique opportunity for us to reflect on God's interaction with his world.

The Bishop of Western Sydney, Rt Rev’d Brian King has called on the community to get behind ANGLICARE and their neighbours in this time of uncertainty at Christmas.

Sydney's west is a region of great opportunity and hope, offering its people a closeknit sense of community and a rich multiculturalism that makes us one of the most interesting regions in Australia.

Reassurance amidst change. We live in a different world this Christmas to the one in which we lived a year ago. The changes amount to much more than the use of the number "'2000" in our date.

Easter remembers the great sacrifice of Jesus for all humanity. And, with this year’s extended holiday due to ANZAC Day, it’s also an appropriate time for us to reflect on the great sacrifices made in defence of our country by the ANZACs of the past. We also remember the brave men and women currently representing us in East Timor and in other peacekeeping forces.

Christmas - love amidst violence. Christmas can be a great time of year. Many of us have a few days off work to enjoy time with our family and friends. The weather is warm; the cricket (for those of us who enjoy it) is on; there is plenty to do.

Seven Anglican Chaplains are involved in the East Timor INTERFET Force - 5 Army and 2 Navy. Four of our Chaplains come from Brisbane, two from Sydney and one from Tasmania. As Anglican Bishop to the Australian Defence Force, I am in regular contact, by e-mail or post, with these Chaplains. One of them is in Major-General Cosgrove’s headquarters.

Childhood friendships can be fragile and curious things. The latest film from independent English director, Shane Meadows, takes a funny but also chilling look at boyhood relationships. Based on his own childhood friendship with fellow screenwriter Paul Fraser, A Room for Romeo Brass is a funny and frightening film about the importance of friendship and family and the vulnerability of relationships.

The translating of Shakespeare’s dramas to another era has proved a successful way of popularising his plays. Baz Luhrmann’s high energy production of Romeo and Juliet, the delightful Kenneth Brannagh version of Much Ado About Nothing and the brilliant Fascist retelling of Richard III proved there were good reasons to fiddle with the Elizabethan originals. Thus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream finds itself in good company. But while the intention is good and the movie is mostly enjoyable, director Michael Hoffman’s production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (that’s really the title) fails to make the conversion.

Audiences love a good courtroom drama, and with films of the calibre of A Civil Action it's no surprise. Based on a true story, this legal drama traces not only the trial in question but also the effects it has on those involved.

Films about mathematicians promise little in the way of action and adventure. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s screenplay (Good Will Hunting), about a maths genius from the wrong side of the tracks was both a popular and critical success, but the nature of Will’s intelligence was secondary. It was essentially a movie about relationships.

In 1964 a group of seven year olds were placed in front of a movie camera. Ever since, neither our lives nor theirs have been the same.

The connection between Hollywood and rehabilitation is nothing new. Numerous actors - it seems - are in and out of treatment in between films, fights and car crashes. In 28 Days, starring Sandra Bullock, Hollywood does rehab.