Cady (Lohan) understands all about "survival of the fittest" - she lived in Africa, after all. But when she returns to America and goes to a high school for the first time, having been home schooled her entire life, she realises that "survival of the fittest" is a whole new thing. There are a number of rules about how to fit in, such as how to wear your hair (and how many times you may wear a pony tail), and what to wear.

Cady makes friends with two nice students, Damian and Janis, but when three girls, dubbed 'the plastics' take an interest in her she is confused about what to do. Damian and Janis suggest she pretends to be friends with 'the plastics' to find out hidden secrets. Regina, Gretchen and Karen help Cady become a 'plastic', but eventually Cady falls for Regina's man - that's breaking the rules in plastic land! The question is, who really are the Mean Girls?

If you are looking for some light humour, I would definitely recommend this quirky comedy. It's got the makings of a traditional 'high school/ bimbo' flick, but with a deeper message to it. All in all, it makes for some fun viewing.

Based on the dark political satire of the same name by George Orwell, Animal Farm is a thinly veiled look at the Russian Revolution, as played out by a group of animals in a farmyard. For those with knowledge of the events portrayed this is an interesting and intellectual take on it. For those with little knowledge of Trotsky, Stalin and Marx it is simply an emotional and engrossing look at the dangers of totalitarianism and revolution.

While it is a cartoon, it is certainly not one for children. Cutesy characters and cheery animation make way for relatively graphic depictions of violence in parts. In this way the film uses its animated style just as Orwell used the seemingly harmless farm animals to show the dangers of taking anything at face value.

Animal Farm does contain a different ending to Orwell's, one which is more upbeat and not the extremely dark ending that Orwell originally penned. Perhaps Britain in the 1950s was not ready for a cartoon that was any darker than the one we see presented here. Some critics have suggested this softening devalues the entire film - whatever the case, this is a film worth experiencing.