Category Archives: Hollywood

Dec 31 2011

Top Ten 2011

So readers, here it is.  After much deliberation, list-making etc, I have finally come up with my Top Ten, comprised of the best movies I have watched this year.

Note:  Some movies may be older than 2011.

1.     Black Swan

2.     127 Hours

3.     Julia’s Eyes

4.     I Saw The Devil

5.     Source Code

6.     Despicable Me

7.     Monsters

8.     Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

9.     Easy A

10.   The Loved Ones

I think this year has been very memorable and offered up some very interesting and unique movies.  Of those that did not quite make the above list, I would also recommend the following:  Tangled, The Fighter, Insidious and Hanna.

Dec 31 2011

2011 a look back – part four

…and so we reach the final quarter, and with the last three months, some gems appeared and a few not so gem-like…. enjoy.

October  – December

October started off with the enjoyable but underwhelming Scream 4 that considering the long gap between that and the last movie, delivered clever ideas, but not much new.  Revisiting the Star Wars saga continued with four of the six movies being viewed and reviewed, which was exhaustive to say the least, but very memorable … and documentary-style sci-fi drama Monsters impressed with great performances and a very convincing atmosphere.

Drive Angry was a fun road-movie come horror actioner, with a great Nicolas Cage and a sexy-as-hell Amber Heard.  Not a bad way to start off November.  Justine Timberlake made for a credible action hero in sci-fi thriller In Time, and Spanish chiller Julia’s Eyes delivered tension, good performances and brilliantly executed scares.  It was great to view The Lion King again, in pin-sharp Blu-ray, and also a second viewing of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds proved it to be a better movie than I had originally realised.  The Strangers however was disappointing and predictable, and really, the premise was done better in French horror Ils (aka Them).

December kicked off with David Lynch’s classic Blue Velvet, a creepy and erotic masterpiece.  It was good to see Terry Gilliam back on form with The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, which proved he’s lost none of his bonkers brilliance.  And although I usually avoid remakes, The Thing showed that revisiting a classic and throwing in a few new ideas and a good cast, can make it work.  On Christmas Eve I checked out the much hyped Super 8 which despite aiming for 80s family movie nostalgia, just felt old-fashioned and lacking in its own identity.

So, now you must be asking yourself, with all these movies in mind, what will make the final Top Ten.  Well, you will just have to wait until later today.  Happy New Year!!

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Dec 29 2011

2011 a look back – part three

With the year really in its stride now, my viewing habits once again danced between old favourites and new titles.  Hope you see something you might have otherwise passed by…

July – September

The summer movie season being in full swing, I spent July mostly trawling through the remainder of The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.  Sucker Punch may have not made a great deal of sense, but with plenty of ‘cool’ and scantily clad women wielding swords and machine guns it was still a lot of fun.  Then Christian Bale impressed as a drug-addled ex-boxer training up younger brother Mark Wahlberg in the very absorbing The Fighter.   Brit-gangster drama Brighton Rock disappointed though with a unconvicing cut-throat lead and a bordering-on-pathetic female co-star.  The English seaside however, was captured nicely.  Thankfully the Coen Brother’s award winning True Grit made for a great western, if not necessary that deep a story, but child actor Halee Steinfeld was very good indeed.

August kicked off with gory grindhouse action-comedy Hobo With A Shotgun.  Rutger Hauer may be great but supporting cast and surrounding film was more gross-out bad taste than b-movie classic.  Jake Gyllenhaal in Source Code was great, with the movie equal parts Hitchcock and Quantum Leap, and all round entertaining.  Costume caper Super may have had plenty of ideas, but felt a little deja-vu and even the excellent Ellen Page couldn’t save it.  A movie-light month ended brilliantly though with the clever and exhilarating Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Pre-teen killing machine Hanna appeared in September and surprised by how heart warming and less bad ass it ended up being.  Yet much of the month was dedicated to rediscovering the Star Wars saga, from the prequels right through to the older movies, in order – and it was brilliant.  Comedy Hall-Pass was one of the better comedies in recent memory, with genuine laughs and plenty of surprises.  And ending the month was Hole 3D, a great throwback to the likes of Gremlins and The Gate, scary, freaky and a great deal of fun.

So onto the final quarter.  Coming very soon indeed!

Dec 26 2011

2011 a look back – part two

Continuing my look back over my viewing habits on this blog in 2011, we have now reached the second quarter that brought some definite highlights and some very welcome old favourites.  Hope you enjoy reading…

April – June

April continued my rediscovery of all things Kung-fu, with Korean actioner Chocolate, that although low-budget and rough around the edges, did deliver some remarkable fights and a great physical performance from Jeeja Yanin.  Nicholas Cage made a sort-of return to form with the semi-remake of Bad Lieutenant, and delivered the kind of zany, method-actor intensity Cage has been lacking for some time now.   Yet it was Mickey Rourke in his Oscar winning role of The Wrestler which really turned my head, and proved that director Darren Aronofsky hadn’t just fluked it with Black Swan.  I also finally got to see the final part of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy with The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest, but with a sidelined Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) and a court-room heavy plot, this was a disappointing conclusion.  Thankfully the teen comedy fun of Easy A washed over such feelings making for a smart and  enjoyable movie, with a star-making turn from the brilliant Emma Stone.

May kicked off with scary-as-hell supernatural horror Insidious, which although proceedings got a little silly towards the end, had some of the freakiest and scariest moments of 2011.   Thor launched the block buster season in grand fashion with a comically likable Chris Hemsworth and some great action, effects and a decent villain … whilst Disney’s 50th movie Tangled made for a classically gorgeous fairy tale adventure with a great comedy horse, plenty of personality and enjoyable songs – what more could one wish for?

June saw the summer really get into its stride for me, with sci-fi sequel Tron Legacy impressing on a visual and aural basis, even if the movie itself lacked that special ‘something’.  Thankfully comic-book actioner X-Men: First Class stepped up to show how effects-laiden event pictures should be done, and personally, I found it the best X-Men yet.   Then the fun and frolicks came crashing down to earth with a bump with the stunning I Saw The Devil, possibly Korean’s boldest take on the serial-killer movie genre yet … blood soaked, brilliantly acted and with exhilarating direction from Jee-Woon Kim.  Then an old favourite paid a visit in the form of the blu-ray extended cuts of The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, and rediscovering these modern  classics was a sheer joy.

…Stay tuned for the next part in my 2011 reminiscing, coming imminently.

Dec 24 2011

2011 a look back – part one

Thought I would take a look back at the last twelve months on this blog and offer up a definitive review of the year.  It is going to be split into the four quarters of the year, and will conclude with my final Top Ten.  Hope you enjoy reading the following highlights and disappointments…

January – March

January kicked off somewhat underwhelming with Sci-fi horror Splice, which although entertaining, didn’t make for a particularly memorable movie overall.   That couldn’t be said of the gore & tits fest that was Piranha 3D, certainly one of the most immediately entertaining movies this year, even if it’s b-movie styling means some may pass it off as rubbish.  Scott Pilgrim Vs The World was another highlight, with its clever camera-work and comic book meets video game style, and as ever Michael Cera was a joy.   Disappointing was the Sylvester Stallone, Jason Stathan, Dolph Lundrgren testosterone orgy The Expendables, case of a great idea badly realized … Perhaps Stallone should have left directing honours to someone else?

Once we hit February however, one of the best movies was Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours; a stunning achievement in taking a true-life tale of survival and making it both powerful, gut-wrenching and funny, with a startling central performance from James Franco.  Then as if something was in the water as far as movie releases were concerned, we also got Black Swan, a heart breaking, chilling exploration of madness with a brilliant turn from Natalie Portman and top-class directing honours from Darren Aronofsky.   It was no surprise that Portman would then scoop Best Actress at the Oscars the same month.  Of course such a run of top-class movies couldn’t last long, and the enjoyable Paul starring the usually excellent Simon Pegg and Nick Frost crumbled slightly under its reliance on one gag … a funny smart-mouthed alien.  Thankfully February concluded nicely with the surprising The House Of The Devil, a great throw-back to 70′s occult horrors like Rosemary’s Baby and The Omen, and despite a low-budget, really delivered.

March seemed to be the month I (albeit briefly) got my kung-fu movie loving mojo back, and offered up two impressive examples namely Donny Yen starrers Ip Man & Ip Man 2, expertly and stylishly directed by Yen himself and both offering fascinating tales of a true-life martial arts master.   Animated comedy Despicable Me was a gem, and in my opinion outclassed Toy Story 3 for pure entertainment, and with a heart-warming story, really impressed.  Takers, a heist movie starring Hayden Christensen, Idris Elba and Paul Walker was a satisfying if unimaginative take on movies like Heat.  The Disappearance Of Alice Creed offered up a gritty brit-thriller with a brave, revealing turn from Gemma Arterton, and concluding March was Ozzy toungue-in-cheek horror The Loved Ones, offering up stalkers, unrequited love and cannibalistic ex-boyfriends!

…Stay tuned for my run down of the following three months soon.