The Best Movies Of 2010

Once again I present my favorite films of the year. As usual it's important to remember that this isn't the BEST films of the year, rather the movies that I've found the most entertaining; not necessarily the best crafted, most awards worthy, or most powerful dramatically, as a professional film critic might see them.

Personally I'm looking for a re-watchablity factor in all these films (do I want to purchase it on DVD for future multiple viewings?) There's a longevity factor to consider as well; I might love the film now but will I still love it in a year from now, or ten years time? Finally there's that highly subjective personal factor that means a film might have a look, or theme, or a story, or characters that talk to my tastes as an individual, more than it might to others who have viewed these films. What I'm trying to say is, this is my list. If you don't like it, go and compile your own!

As a year in movies, 2010 was disappointing. That's not to say the 20 movies listed here are poor; they're not. Primarily I wanted to see better quality blockbusters. There were so many let-downs from the studio tentpole movies; Knight & Day, The A-Team, Alice In Wonderland, Clash Of The Titans, Robin Hood, Prince Of Persia, Sorcerers Apprentice, Jonah Hex, The Last Airbender and Iron Man 2...mega-budget blockbusters all, and every one falling far short of their potential. These are the kind of movies I truly love, and wish to see succeed, and these are the ones that let me down. And there were so many that were merely "pretty good" but not great; Predators, The Wolfman, Green Zone, Expendables, Harry Potter 7, Salt, Cop Out, Piranha and From Paris With Love. All solid entertainment but nothing to get too excited over.

So, moan over, here we go:-

20/ Splice
A modern twist on The Fly and Frankenstein, Splice is a first class monster movie. Less a horror film, and more of a science fiction drama, it explores the family dynamic of 'mummy' (Sarah Polley), 'daddy' (Adrian Brodey) and 'child' (Delphine Chanéac). Great effects, lovingly designed and intelligently told.

19/ Whip It
The Drew Barrimore directed sports movie starring Ellen Page failed to convince me in it's opening scenes, only to become one of the most enjoyable dramedy ensembles of the year. Touching, exciting and very funny, Whip It breaks the sports genre mold and confirms it's director as a rising talent to keep an eye on.

18/ Jackass 3D
If you've seen the other Jackass movies you'll know what to expect with the second sequel as it's practically critic-proof. With the added bonus of 3D photography and ultra-slow motion, the gags are as disgusting, bone-crunching and gut-bustingly funny as you can get in a comedy movie.

17/ The Last Exorcism
Yet another entry in to the hand-held camera genre of horror films, but a unique, intelligent and gripping one never the less. Shot from the perspective of a priest trying to debunk the Catholic exorcism myth, Last Exorcism keeps you guessing as to whether the events are supernatural or not. Great turns from Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell make this both amusing and freaky too.

16/ The Social Network
There are probably few directors that could have turned a story about social networking site Facebook into one of the years most enjoyable films, but auteur David Fincher did. Combined with a spot on cast, a great Trent Reznor score and Aaron Sorkin's multi-layered and amusing script, there simply is no bad here.

15/ Fantastic Mr Fox
A 2009 release I caught this year, indie film maker Wes Anderson turns Roahld Dahl's beloved children's book into a off-beat, too-good-for-kids animal adventure movie. The young ones will love the manic situations and adults will adore the quirky, well timed humour and subtly casual dialogue. The old-skool hand animated puppet-style makes this unique to look at too. There's nothing out there like it.

14/ The Town
It turns out that frequently derided movie star Ben Affleck is a great leading man given the right material and the right director; in this case himself. Who'd have thought that Affleck would be making crime thrillers approaching the level of Mann and Scorsese. He's not there yet, but if The Town is anything to go by he's a master craftsman in the making.

13/ Never Let Me Go
This delicate science fiction drama is perhaps the saddest films of the year. Once the relationships are established between the three exceptional leads (Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightly, Andrew Garfield) and the plot twist exposed it explores life love and death to full heartbreaking effect. It's a crime this is being ignored this awards season.

12/ The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson was heavily criticised for the heavy fantasy elements in his afterlife murder thriller, not to mention the way he soft-peddles the more disturbing aspects of the book on which it's based. A very theatrical movie, it's less real-life and more of an uplifting bedtime story. There's some standout sequences including one of the year's best when Lindsey breaks into Mr Harvey's house (a creepy Stanley Tucci) to solve her sister's murder. Under-rated.


11/ Buried
A one man movie. Well, pretty much. Take one Ryan Reynolds, bury him in a coffin with a pencil, a gas lighter and a mobile phone for 90 minutes and see if he escapes. Reynolds proves his movie star status in one of the years most tense thrillers which explores its intimate location to the maximum while the suspense unrelentingly snowballs.



10/ The Human Centipede - First Sequence
It wouldn't be an end of year movie list without a stomach churning European horror film included. Human Centipede takes the usual genre conventions of the strangers who have broken down and then knock on the local nutters house for assistance. Add one barking mad scientist and one of the most disturbing images of the year and you have a twisted classic. Remember kids, never go ass to mouth.

9/ Centurion
The top 20 is a largely worthy affair, but my enjoyment of certain 'low-brow' genres compels me to include some of the best examples of 'pure' entertainment. Centurion is Neil (The Descent) Marshall's forth film, considerably improving on 2008's Doomsday. A beautifully shot, stripped down to basics, action packed, raw chase movie with brilliant movie star performances from Dominic West and Michael Fassbender

8/ Let Me In
The Americanised remake of 2008's Let The Right One In was for me an improvement of the brilliant, but emotionally distant original. 15-20% less subtle, less real-life, less realistic and 15-20% more stylised, more overtly emotional and more polished than it's counterpart, Let Me In took a great story and made it 'more'. Atmospheric, moving and compelling, this reboot was more in tune with my tastes.

7/ The Losers
Tango & Cash, Passenger 57, Commando. If you didn't think they made them like that anymore then think again. Creative direction, a witty script and a charismatic cast (Chris Evans steals the show), complete with over-the-top sarcastic villain, made this the mercenary movie of choice in 2010 over The A-Team, The Expendables and Red. Utter, utter bullshit...which it thankfully revels in, The Losers is the most shameless guilty pleasure of the year.

6/ Black Swan
Take a simple tale of an ambitious, but emotionally naive, ballerina who wishes to have the lead role in a new, reinterpreted production of Swan Lake...and then add the dark, twisted imagination of Darren Aronofsky. A psychological thriller that uses an ambiguous art house style to tell it's tale, Black Swan may confound some, while others will revel in it, just as I have. If there's any justice in the world Natalie Portman should walk away with the best acting honours during this awards season.

5/ Toy Story 3
Put simply, nobody does it better than Pixar. Their forth straight mega-classic in a row after Ratatouille, Wall-E and Up, Toy Story 3 completes the trilogy of child Andy and his toy collection. The darkest of the three movies, and all the better for it, it's an emotional rollercoaster of stupid humour (Barbie's Ken / Spanish Buzz), tender moments (the climactic tear-burster) and white knuckle action (the incinerator). Classical storytelling for all, of the highest order possible.




4/ Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
A love it or hate it film from Hot Fuzz's Edgar Wright, Scott Pilgrim shows young love through the eyes of the manga/game console generation. What's astounding is that it manages to balance the whirlwind manic-ness of the direction with the grounded, flawed, realistic relationships of the characters. The editing is beyond exceptional, the humour-filled fight sequences unlike anything else and the dialogue fizzy and vibrant. Edgar Wright is officially A-List.

3/ Kick Ass
There's so many different takes on the superhero genre at this time that Matthew Vaughan's Kick Ass comes as a brutal breath of fresh air. A more realistic, darkly comic look at what it would really be like to dress up as a costumed vigilante, Kick Ass's masterstroke is that it has a extremely strong, well told story to tell. The violence is sometimes shocking, but Vaughan always pulls you back into comic strip territory; this is the coolest film of 2010.

2/ Tron Legacy
Many will be surprised to see the belated Tron sequel on my top 20 list, let alone at number 2, but this is a very personal film for me that encompasses everything I love about movies...even more so than the critically praised Avatar. I love hard-sci-fi more than nature based adventures, I love the electronic score pushed high into the sound mix, the way the story echoes the original film, the multi-layered themes of the film about mythology, responsibility, identity and parenting, the restrained Fincher-esque direction, the anti-authoritarian vibe and the reimagined lightcycles. This is pure catnip to a self confessed 80's sci fi geek and I make no apologies.

1/ Inception
Nothing came close to the enjoyment I got out of Christopher Nolan's Inception in 2010. Not only is it film making of the highest order possible, from every single level of it's production, but it pushes all the right buttons for me personally too. Take a classically filmed heist drama, add an original science fiction twist, make it a complex character study and add layers upon layers of meaning, subtext and thematic material. Not only does it demand multiple views to clarify the perfectly structured plot but it even suggests alternative stories that exist outside of the movie's narrative. Challenging, emotionally engaging, exciting (the action exists on five levels of dream space simultaneously!) and very moving (the final shot is powerful whilst being the most debated single take of the year) there isn't a film around that could touch Inception. And it made over $800 million at the box office to....let that be a lesson to Studios who still peddle vacuous blockbuster turds. Roll on 2011.



Not quite making the top twenty, and in no particular order were:- An Education, Predators, Easy A, Shutter Island, Hot Tub Time Machine, Daybreakers, The Crazies, Paranormal Activity 2, Despicable Me, How To Train Your Dragon

The Worst Movies Of 2010

Here's my bottom ten for 2010. This year I haven't included several ultra-low budget horror films (Perkins 14, Torment, The Hills Run Red) because, to be honest, I can barely remember anything about them

10/ The Tooth Fairy
Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson goes family friendly once more, but makes the mistake of going over to 'the dark side' with The Tooth Fairy being produced by Twentieth Century Fox. That means a well made production that equals blandness, boredom, zero laughs or any kind of fun in the entertainment stakes.

9/ Skyline
Just like The Brothers Strause previous affront to humanity, AVP:R, Skyline has some wickedly good effects and a glossy contemporary sheen. But once again they forget about an interesting narrative, remotely likable characters or an ending. So near yet so far.

8/ MacGruber
Poor Kristen Wigg battles valiantly as the only person working on this wretched MacGuyver spoof trying to raise a laugh. She's sabotaged by inept, so-called comedian Will Forte and three has-been action stars (Ryan Phillipe, Val Kilmer and Powers Boothe). There's two gags in the whole film that work, which places it higher than other comedies on this worst-of list.

7/ A Nightmare On Elm Street
Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes works it's evil once again by completely arsing up the long awaited remake of Wes Craven's 1984 classic. Boring, murky, forgettable and shock free. When will Platinum Dunes realise their folly and stop making films?

6/ Dinner For Schmucks
The talents of director Jay Roach, Steve Carell and Paul Rudd can't generate any humour out of a premise which should be a blast. Did they take the money and run? Were they replaced by alien imitators? Who cares?

5/ Takers
Any movies starring R&B artists Chris Brown and T.I. as well as lunk heads Hayden Christensen and Paul Walker would be difficult to like, but this crime thriller was plain obnoxious. The R&B of heist films; all attitude, swagger and flash but no substance or soul.

4/ Bangkok Dangerous
If there's one thing you can count on in a bad Nicholas Cage movie it's a great Nicholas Cage performance. Just look at Ghost Rider! But with Bangkok Dangerous Nicky lets everybody down. The directors and screenwriters are asleep at the wheel...and so is Cage. Dull.

While the previous movies on this list are pretty bad, they have many redeemable features that make them feel like missed opportunities that could have been corrected if the circumstances were right. The final three movies on this list have no such redemptive qualities and can be considered hateful works.

3/ Furry Vengeance
Take everything that's awful about talking animal movies...the unbearably cutesy creatures, the childish gags that are too babyish for an embryo to laugh at and the shameless mugging by over-qualified actors that are too good for this crap...and multiply it by ten. Even the animal effects are cheap and ineffectual. If the U.S. want to cut their military spending, all they have to do is ship boxes of Furry Vengeance DVDs out to the Taliban. Game over, man!

2/ Twilight Full Moon
Why did I watch this abysmal film? Because I'm an optimist, that's why. I felt that there was no way that Twilight sequel New Moon could be worse than it's dull predecessor. Dear God was I wrong. Much, much slower in pace...very little happens...and third wheel Taylor Lautner can be content with delivering one of the most wooden, unconvincing performances of the year. Worst still is Kristen Stewart's Bella who qualifies as the most selfish, irritating bitch in modern movie history.
It's like the film has a sticker pinned to it's back saying "Hate Me!"...which I'm more than happy to do.

1/ Dinocroc Vs Supergator
How could Dinocroc not be at number one? The intent of most film productions is to make a great movie, no matter the experience or talent of those involved. Alas, the film makers behind this shoddy Roger Corman production just wanted to go to Hawaii and have a laugh. They evidently succeeded as the joke appears to be on us. What they didn't realise was that exploitation movies can be good, if you try and make them that way. Alas, no one tried, particularly the cast comprising of Corey Landis and chums who either ham their way, or stare vacantly through, the tongue-in-cheek-free narrative. If I lived next door to a psychopath I'd request he kill me before setting eyes on this death wish rolled up as a TV-transmitted poison pill.

The Best Soundtracks Of 2010

2010 turned out to be a vintage year for film scores...and there hasn't been a year this good for a very long time. Since Hans Zimmer established himself in the early 90's, new composers (including those that Zimmer has mentored himself) have flooded the market changing the overall style of mainstream film scores. This is nothing new as you only have to look back to the 70's to witness the deluge of funky guitar/jazz based scores which dominated the film industry then...or back further to pre-1950's cinema to see how melodramatic most soundtracks were.

What has bummed me out ever since the 'Zimmer Revolution' is two-fold;-
1/ While everybody (from new composers like John Powell, Trevor Rabin & Steve Jablonsky and established masters like Danny Elfman, Graham Revell and John Debney)has been copying Zimmer's lyrical mix of orchestra and electronics, very few of them were doing it anywhere near as good as the master.
2/ As a consequence, traditional orchestral film scores, like that of John Williams, John Barry and Jerry Goldsmith have taken a backseat. Traditionalists like Howard Shore and James Newton Howard infrequently make an impact on the industry these days and previous masters like James Horner and Alan Silvestri have, frankly, lost their talent to a large degree.

So, where as most years have seen a singular lonely 'great' score rise to the top (if we're very lucky), this year we have seven to celebrate. They are:-

7/ Cop Out - Composed By Harold Faltermeyer
Director Kevin Smith wanted Cop Ot to be part of the DNA of the comedy/thriller police movies of the 80's like Beverley Hills Cop, Tango & Cash and Kuffs. What better way to achieve that style than to get composer Harold (Axel-F) Faltermeyer out of retirement to work his old retro-synth magic. And he does.



6/ Doctor Who Season 5 - Composed by Murray Gold
When Stephen Moffatt took over scripting duties on the revamped Doctor Who TV series, regular musician Gold was asked to come up with new themes. The results are better than anything that's come in doctor Who before.



5/ Kick Ass - Various Artists
Director Matthew Vaughan took the unusual step of hiring four composers to work on his revisionist Superhero blockbuster. Not only is the soundtrack quite hip, it's got some uplifting and melancholy stuff too.



4/ Alice In Wonderland - Composed by Danny Elfman
Elfman is the biggest old-skool composer who has sold out his distinctive style to the more modern, blander electronic percussion scores. Terminator Salvation, Hellboy II, Wanted...all weak, forgettable scores...until his 2010 collaboration with Tim Burton produced one of his best ever works.



3/ The Social Network - Composed By Trent Reznor & Aticus Ross
This is the second of three brilliant scores which suggest that the 70's/80's synth, or electronica, style is coming back as a legitimate score type. Riffing on the film's 1980's setting, the score doesn't sync to specific events in the movie but provides a cool vibe for the drama.



2/ Inception - Composed by Hans Zimmer
Despite my earlier Zimmer rant, there's still no one that has more consistently produced more truly great film scores over the last 20 years than Hans Zimmer. Inception once again breaks from his usual box of tricks, this time introducing a brassy 007 vibe into the mix.



1/ Tron Legacy - Composed by Daft Punk
Like The Social Network score this is a stunning retro-electronica score mixed with a full orchestra. Every single track works brilliantly, both in the film and as a album selection on it's own. Perhaps the single most listenable movie soundtrack of the last decade...perhaps even longer.

The Best Albums Of 2010

10/ RPA & The United Nations Of Sound - "United Nations of Sound"
The latest offering from The Verve's Richard Ashcroft won't be to every ones tastes, it being overblown orchestral and in the running length of the tracks, but there's no denying the unique soulfulness of his style of rock.
[Standout track = Royal Highness]

9/ Stone Temple Pilots - "Stone Temple Pilots"
I have no idea whether lead singer Scott Weiland is off the sauce or not, but this album from the reformed grunge legends is one of their best. A little more laid back and commercial from what we're used to, it hasn't a bad track on it.
[Standout track = Take A Load Off]

8/ Skunk Anansie - "Wonderlustre"
Another reformed band from the 1990's featuring the vocals of Skin, one of the greatest female vocalists of all time. On a par with their second album Stoosh, it's brilliantly written and performed with a surprisingly restrained performance from all involved. Mellow. Glad to see them back.
[Standout Track = My Ugly Boy]

7/ Morcheeba - "Blood Like Lemonade"
Morcheeba have been going since the mid-90's, but kind of lost their way when they departed company with iconic vocalist Skye Edwards. Now she's back and that chillout magic has returned. Jazzy, funky, bluesy, poppy, rocky, hip-hoppy cool.
[Standout track = Self Made Man]

6/ Chemical Brothers - "Further"
I've always admired from afar The Chemical Brothers...until now. Further takes the electronic vibe of both theirs, and The Prodigy's, work and fuses it with a lyrical ambiance worthy of a Vangelis film score. Hypnotic, groovy and raw.
[Standout track = Dissolve]

5/ Avenged Sevenfold - "Nightmare"
The same can be said of Avenged Sevenfold; I've always liked their sound and love a few songs, but there's not one album I adored until Nightmare came alone. Song writing of the highest order combined with flawless musicianship and vocals. This is one to turn up loud and proud!
[Standout track = Buried Alive]

4/ Airborne - "No Guts No Glory"
After Airbourne's magnificent debut album a couple of years back I feared the AC'/DC sounding Ozzie rockers may be a one-album wonder. Not so as No Guts No Glory just builds mercilessly on what they've achieved before. Modern classics done in a timeless retro way.
[Standout track = Back On The Bottle]

3/ Monster Magnet - "Mastermind"
If Mastermind wasn't up to scratch as an album there would be hell to pay as Monster Magnet are official my favorite band ever. As you'd expect it's meatily produced Sabbath riffs combined with Dave Wyndorf's soulful vocals.
[Standout track = Ghost Story]

2/ Rob Zombie - "Hellbilly Deluxe II"
Good old Rob Zombie, probably the most fun you can have listening to rock music. Virtually every track is a radio friendly track and it gets better, and catchier, everytime I listen to it. Several bonus tracks in an extended edition didn't hurt either.
[Standout track = Sick Bubblegum]

1/ Lostprophets - "The Betrayed"
The 'Prophets are a band whose style and quality has fluctuated over the years, but it wasn't until The Betrayed where both crystallised with the brilliant The Betrayed. Lushly produced with every single track being catchy as hell, this album is firing on all cylinders from start to finish. It all has the quality of every track being a different style or tempo or attitude, showing off the versatility in their song writing. It took me weeks and weeks to drag me away from the stereo with this album.
[Standout track = For He's A Jolly Good Felon]

Ultra Cool Snow Movie!!!!!!

You don't always need to get a big budget or a great cast, crew or script to get an entertaining movie. Sometimes all you need is a great premise. Saw, Buried, Adrift, Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity prove that if your central idea is strong enough and you have enough imagination to fully explore the premise you can get a strong movie out of it. Hell, look at the late 80's and early 90's...Die Hard is one of cinema's great movies and that's a "hostage drama in a skyscraper" that explores a primal concept and asks it's audience, "So then, how do they get out of that?". Simplistic brilliance.

Frozen is another simple but great premise. Three teens get the last chair-lift of the day in a weekend ski resort, and through various mis-communications by the staff get stuck there, with it becoming increasingly obvious that they won't be discovered for a week (by which time they would have all frozen to death.) In true high concept fashion the screenplay explores absolutely every obstacle that faulty machinery, the weather, the wildlife and the 60 foot high location can throw at them. And frankly that's all you need for a suspense filled 90 minutes.

The cast are solid with The Walking Dead's Emma Bell being the most non-decrepit participating actor. Better are Wrong Turn's Kevin Zegars as her cocky boyfriend and X-Men's Shawn Ashmore as his quick-to-anger best mate. The direction and dialogue is nothing special either, both handled by Adam Green, but it gets us from A to B with competence and efficiency. Well worth checking out, you'll be gripped by Frozen from start to finish with two questions to occupy your time; will they survive and, if so, who? Sometimes that's all you need.

I've Grown Up To Hate Grown Ups

After the laughter occupied zone that was You Don't Mess With The Zohan, I was prepared to accept that the normally unfunny Adam Sandler would start making comedy that contained proper humour; in essence, stuff that would make me laugh. I wrote off 2009's Funny People as another attempt by Sandler to stretch his dramatic side, but fully expected his return to mainstream blockbuster comedies to be on a par with the excellent Zohan.

I couldn't have been more wrong. What makes it worse is that Grown Ups is an ensemble comedy featuring Sandler's closest pals from regular collaborator Rob Schneider to Kevin James, Davis Spade and Chris Rock. All that talent and nothing to laugh at. It's as if the very concept of them all sharing the screen would be enough for audiences to roar with laughter and so a script was never required. Perhaps they decided that the comedy would be the result of some magical ad-libbing and improvisation...but it that's the case, the only people that finds this group funny is each other. In fact the only person to actually be funny is Steve Buscemi in a small , but well timed cameo.

There's no story to speak off. What you get instead are a dozen subplots hanging on the weak premise of five blokes who've been reunited after 20 years. It's also a weak PG-13, sentimental family comedy as well, so any attempt to raise a giggle by swearing or any other daringly inappropriate behaviour is off the table. Grown Ups is safer than safe. It's a baby smothered to death by an over-protective parent that now finds itself cradling a rotting corpse of a movie. Still despite that unappealing image it's still has more likability as a 'comedy' than Dinner For Schmucks or Funny People, but I'd recommend you don't watch this unless your kids have demanded you see it one Christmas Day afternoon or if it's one of your Iraqi hostage takers demands.

Cthulhu In Love

When I first heard about Gareth Edward's low budget science fiction movie Monsters, I had the feeling it would be very similar to District 9...quarantined, intelligent aliens living next to a major world superpower. But when I got to eventually see the festival darling, what I got was a different kettle of fish. I was bored. Now that might have got to do with the quality of the film's presentation or the fact I was distracted by others in the audience at the time. So given it's mainstream acclaim on its wide release this December, I felt obliged to check it out again.

Unfortunately I was still bored.

That's not to say Monsters has nothing to offer as it has has a great, moody look, an eerie, atmospheric score, a fantastic premise and layers upon layers of subtext. In fact the social commentary is the film's saving grace. If anything it's about communication, or more importantly, the lack of communication between people, parents, nations, cultures and even species....and what devastating effects that can have. There are parallels to the separation of the Israeli and Palestinian states as well as the rising tensions regarding illegal immigration from Mexico into the United States and it also explores the morality of the media during crisis situations.

Where the film falls down is the central relationship between engaged, rich girl Sam and the impatient, cynical photographer, Kaulfield, who's assigned to escort her from central America to the USA, avoiding the alien infected quarantined zone inbetween. It's quite cool that the events in the world reflect their volatile friendship; both characters are so stupid that as a viewer you don't really care if thy hook up or not. Scoot McNairy's Kaulfield is such an archetypal dick that you wish he'd just leave Sam to her own devices.

What you get is a well made, well meaning film with little heart and without a heart, all you're looking at is a carcase for 90 minutes. And where's the fun in that?

A Shane Black Xmas #2 - Lethal Weapon

Ah, Lethal Weapon. Shane Black's masterpiece...and everybody else involved for that matter from Superman director Richard Donner and Mad Max star Mel Gibson. It's the grand-daddy of buddy movies, a rib hurting comedy, a pulse raising action movie, a warm family drama and a tough-as-nails crime thriller all rolled into one slick ride.

Despite everybody being on the top of their A-game it's Black's endlessly quotable script which pushes this into the stratosphere. While the sequels got progressively weaker, they were never able to top the original story due to the powerful focus on Martin Rigg's suicidal streak and how that's resolved through the family and partner that adopt him. Without that story arc Lethal Weapon would just be another entertaining cop movie (er, Lethal Weapon 2), but by showing the narrative from the perspective of both Riggs and Murtough, we learn to love them and want them to resolve their differences.

Three things that stood out on this, the 750th time, that I've watched the movie:-
1/ The score is a classic. Using Eric Clapton's bluesy guitar to represent Riggs and David Sandborn's laid back sax to represent Murtough, with Michael Kamen's orchestra being the gel that binds them, it gives a new, much needed (in 1987) twist to the tired Lalo Schifren-style cop scores of old.
2/ The shooting range sequence is one of my all time favorite scenes ever. Not only is it essentially there to provide a large exposition dump, it builds the growing camaraderie between the two lawmen as well as providing some of the biggest laughs of the film.
3/ The version I watched was the special edition with many of the early character building scenes reinstated. While they're interesting and fun in the way they set up both Riggs and Murtough (especially a tense school sniper sequence), it ruins the flow of a perfect movie. It's best to watch the theatrical release if you've never caught this flick before.

As with all classics, it's the kind of thing that you want to rewatch the moment it's finished. And I've sure done that a few times back in the late 80's with this beauty.

Release The Pause Button...

Of the recent movies that used a 'found footage' perspective like Cloverfield, Quarantine, Diary Of The Dead etc, the Spanish film REC was one of the best. Raw, immediate and frantic it captured the feeling of trapped in an apartment building during a zombie outbreak. And now, the team that brought you REC give you a follow-up that takes place immediately after the original.

As I'd hoped REC 2 is shot with the same frenzied energy of the first film, in exactly the same locations referencing events, rooms and characters to make you feel right at home. From a story perspective, it has positives and negatives. On the downside, the story is more fragmented meaning we don't get an outsiders viewpoint that we got with TV newscaster Jennifer in the original; not only was she cute as hell, but her vulnerability added to the tension.

The script is also structured in to three acts. The first following a SWAT team on a classified mission is superb as the team stumble into something they are ill prepared for. The second, weakest act sees a group of unlikable kids and a fireman gain entry to the building, only to be picked off one by one. In the final act, we see a familiar face and a great twist is revealed, finishing off this sequel with a flourish.

Where REC 2 stands tall is an early unexpected revelation that not only alters your perspective on the film before you, but taints your viewpoint of the events in the original too. It's brave, arguably a little hokey, but the documentary style sells the concept and, as an audience, we have little time to dwell on the 'science' of the infection's origin as were fighting off hordes of the undead.

Brutal, ballsy stuff.

Buried In Ryan Reynolds Hole

There aren't many movies with a one man cast. For two thirds of I Am Legend Will Smith had to cope with the blood drinking infected New York population on his own, before being relieved by Alice Braga and son. But it's rare. Rarer still is the gimmick of keeping the action within one location. Reservoir Dogs did it for 80% of the running time...44 Inch Chest did it for 90%. But until Buried I've never seen a film with only one, onscreen actor taking place 100% inside a coffin.

That man is Ryan Reynolds and it's a testament to his star power that he manages to make us like him enough to be able to put ourselves in his shoes and acting ability that he's able to convey the whole range of emotions, from fear, anger, humour, despair, bravery and calm, of what it's like to be buried alive.

The script is amazingly paced, giving kidnapped Paul Conroy an array of challenges and obstacles so that he may overcome his seemingly inescapable situation and escape. Armed with a mobile phone, a pencil and a lighter, Conroy goes through all the questions we'd ask ourselves in that situation; how long will my air last? Who do I call? Can I dig my way out? And thanks to the inventive direction of Rodrigo Cortez we are kept on the edge of our seats in real time as the gas in his lighter, and the battery power on his phone, slowly dissipates. Sometimes less is more. And while Buried takes the cliched hostage drama to it's absolute minimum, he takes tension and suspense to the absolute maximum.

Banksy's Got His Eye On You

I'd gotten the wrong end of the stick about the documentary, Exit Through The Gift Shop. I was under the impression it would chart the rise and rise of notorious, Bristol based street artist Banksy...but that's not the case. Although it's assembled by Banksy, it's about French shopkeeper Thierry Guetta who focused his obsessive-compulsive need to film EVERYTHING into the subject of street art...which covers everything from commonplace graffiti to street installations...most of which are unauthorised and illegal. As we follow Thierry, from his acceptance by the big names in worldwide street art to the big man, Banksy himself, we see him get more seduced by the 'art' world, finally seeing the tables reversed as he becomes street artist Mr Brainwash.

The documentary is insightful into the rarely documented world of street art, a glimpse behind the thoughts and working practices of the legendary Banksy himself (constantly hooded, face and voice obscured) as we see how his graffiti is prepared and pranks that didn't quite work out. It's funny, cheeky and gives you a feeling of the fun and seriousness of this branch of the art world.

AS Thierry's work is prepared for a massive L.A. show, the documentaries themes come to the fore? Is 'street art' proper art? What is good art and what isn't? If you're an anti-authoritarian artist and culture uncontrollably enters you into the mainstream...have you sold out? And what is a reasonable price for an artist's work? Is art pretentious and an essential part of our culture or is it just a big load of bollocks that shouldn't be taken seriously? At once, this quirky and likable movie both shows the art world exposed and gently mocks it too.

Is Thierry's story 100% true or is this all another Banksy piece of art. I'm not sure, but like all Banksy's other stuff, it's bloody enjoyable and has a lot to say.

Frogs Legs Are Better Than You Think

They say they don't make 'em like that anymore. And if it wasn't for the influence of Pixar head honcho John Lassiter over the Disney executives then the traditionally 2D animation Princess and the Frog might not exist. Disney chief's believed that after the runaway success of CGI animated feature like Toy Story, Shrek and Ice Age that the age of hand drawn 2D films was over. But people like Lassiter, and Dreamworks Jeffery Katzenberg, thought that was nonsense. They believed that an audience was still willing to watch 2D features...as long as there was a great story worth watching.

And so Princess and the Frog was born. Recalling the second classic age of Disney animation (1989's The Little Mermaid 1989 to 1999's Tarzan), Frog captures that same blend of catchy songs, energetic characters and astoundingly beautiful hand drawn animation that hasn't been seen for a decade. The American, deep-south setting allows for a unique setting for a cartoon whether it's Louisiana paddle steamers, crocodile infested swamplands, jazz, voodoo, Cajun fireflies, rednecks, and for the first time in a Disney cartoon, a largely African American cast of characters.

Up there with the rest of them, Frog can be recommended if you have kids or just a plain animation enthusiast. It's cheerful, funny...and Jennifer Cody's Charlotte is one of the best animated cartoon characters I've seen in years. Somehow a CGI interpretation wouldn't do her justice at all, and that makes this retro effort all the more worth while.

Have You Heard That Black Swan Is The Word?

Black Swan is Darren Aronofsky's best movie to date. So far he's ventured to the extremes of arthouse with The Fountain and of gritty human drama too with The Wrester...not to mention the inbetween weirdness of Requiem For A Dream. Black Swan inhabits the middle ground, telling the story of Nina, an ambitious ballerina who's given the plum assignment of performing the lead in a presigious reworking of the ballet Swan Lake. However Nina is required to play both the White Swan (a task to which she's paricularly well suited) and the vivacious Black Swan (the emotional understanding of which is unfamilar to control-freak Nina).

As Nina struggles with the practicing and development of her performance as The Black Swan, she's troubled by various characters that intersect her life. Her smoothering, over-protective mother (Barbara Hershey) who projects her lost career ambitions onto her daughter, Vincent Cassel's creepy, manipulative director who may or may not be taking advantage of Nina for his own gratification and Mila Kunis' carefree spirit who is next in line for Nina's star role should she not be up for it. These stresses begin to manifest themselves in the form of physical aislments and possible hallicinations which haunt Nina.

The thing is the audience is never aware of whether what's going on in Nina's naive and paranoid mind is real. For many, this ambiguity will make them hate Black Swan, much as the final shot of Inception planted ambiguity to great critical commotion. But that's why it's such a good movie. Nina doesn't know what's going on either, and by experiencing the surreal imagery through her eyes we can better understand her fears and frustrations.

While the supporting cast are all excellent, this is Natalie Portman's film through and through. Not only has Portman severely lost weight for her role as a ballerina (the gaunt look helps sell Nina's frailty) but she loses herself inside the part. Nina is reserved, frightened and unsure of herself much of the time and Portman delivers this side of Nina with conviction. But as her journey towards understanding The Black Swan progresses we gradually see a more agressive and independant side to Nina; Portman makes the transformation look effortless. This is your Oscar frontrunner, right here.

Despite the radically different settings and opposing styles in direction, Aronofsky's The Wrestler is similarly tragic to Black SWan in it's story and themes. Both build to a point where the main character has achieved what they want, and embraced the consequences of that decision, dire though that may be. Neither film may be an easy watch, delivering a visual and emotional rollercoaster, but they're some of the most original and riviting movies around in the last decade. Here's hoping the Acadamy are taking notice in 2011.

Lightcycles, When You Positively Have To Derez Every Mofo On The Grid, Except No Substitutes

After a year of marketing and high hopes, Tron Legacy has been critically mauled on it's cinematic release this week. While some of the criticism is fair, much of it has been from lazy, wingeing fanboys who expected something different. Quite what that something is, I cannot say, but the Tron sequel blew me away.

1/ It. Looks. Stunning. Not in the way Avatar did which was a revelation in how realistically computers can animate nature, but in the way CGI can bring to life a completely alien world...just as Steven Lisberger and company did back in 1982 with the original Tron. If you're prone to getting a 'semi' from visuals alone then this is pure Playboy (I know visuals alone do not a satisfying movie make, but they sure go a long way.)

2/ While a great score can never save a movie it can certainly elevate a lesser movie to great heights. Part of the reason I like trash like The Black Hole, King Solomons Mines, Rambo III and Battle Beyond The Stars is because their outrageously brilliant scores elevated the storytelling of solid, if silly movies. In an age where a good film score is a rare beast, Daft Punk's soundtrack is masterfully original. Both 80's retro and 21st Century cutting edge it dominates the movie's soundscape helping define the tone, style and emotion of the movie from the opening frames. It's a heady mix of John Carpenter, Jean Michel Jarre and James Newton Howard and it's effectiveness cannot be underestimated.



3/ Part of it's appeal is that is a genuine sequel to the original Tron rather than a cynical remake of that movie. As such, events in the movie have weight to those that have seen the first film (I still have vivid memories of seeing it with my parents at the local fleapit). Kevin Flynn, CLU, Dillinger, Dumont, ENCOM, Lightcycles, Identity Discs, Recognizers...all are featured or name checked adding texture to this weird digital universe. There are some cute gags referencing the original too, such as when hero Sam breaks into Software corporation ENCOM, noting the same "big door" as the original film. It's also great to see Bruce Boxleitner back on the big screen. Consigned to cheap DVD fodder, TV movies and cable TV series (the stupendously excellent Babylon 5) it's cool to see Bruce back, if only for an extended cameo.

4/ The script is where Tron Legacy falters. Storywise this is another mythic take on Star Wars...which itself was derived from Joseph Campbell's book "Hero With 1000 Faces" which noted that most tales can be distilled down to a few basic structures. Originality isn't the issue though, after all the 2009 Star Trek reboot retold Star Wars, and that was a blockbuster classic. No, it's not what you do but the way that you do it. Legacy stumbles but it gets the job done. It's problem is that it's undisciplined and overlong. Greater thought should have gone into how to communicate the masses of exposition in a visually compelling way, and structuring it so that the story builds to it's logical conclusion. Inception and The Matrix are two classic examples of movies with complex back stories and multiple layers of subtext, which are streamlined in such a way that they're involving and exciting. It's not that the content of Tron Legacy is poor, far from it , just that its script is muddled and poorly paced at times. Then again, that's a complaint leveled at the original too.



5/ While many critics have complained about the 'style over substance' present in Tron Legacy (an argument I rarely subscribe to...style IS content), I strong disagree as there's a lot going on under the surface. Rather than go into detail here, I'll direct you, via the highlighted phrases, to a couple of blogs which have given these themes much more consideration than I. Legacy has something to say about freedom of information in the modern world, then there's the religious subtext (The Father/Kevin Flynn, Son/Sam Flynn, and Holy Ghost/CLU) complete with sacrifice and rebirth, plus themes of Fathers, Sons, and what you leave behind once you're gone, and an examination of the need for individuals to discover their own identities (and how that ties in inescapably to ones parents).

6/ While the original gave us the immortal iconography of Lightcycles and Recognizers, the sequel has different visual imagery to burn in our brains. Cyber babes. Both the gorgeous Olivia Wilde, as Quorra, and Beau Garrett as Gem devour the screen when they appear. Wilde has the best part in the movie being naive, playful and a warrior babe combined. Garrett, with synthetic robo-voice, mechanical movements and odd contact lens is also completely alluring in her digital catsuit. If she's the future of household appliances then put that on my Christmas wishlist for next year.

7/ In 1982 the original Tron's groundbreaking effects were the creation of the digital universe itself. With computers now the norm in visual effects creation, the showcase CGI to marvel at in 2010 is the CGI de-aged Jeff Bridges. Building on the Oscar winning effects from 2008's Benjamin Button, Bridges head is digitally reconstructed to look like he was in the late 80's. Unfortunately the effects aren't advanced enough to make him convincing as young Jeff looks unsettling plastic and fake. The skin appears unnaturally synthetic, the upper features stiff and the eyes flat and lifeless. Still, the film mostly gets away with this as young Kevin Flynn appears mostly in shadows and his computer alter-ego CLU is a cyber doppelganger who needn't appear 'real' anyway. Still, it's a disappointment they couldn't make it work.

8/ And the rest. Joseph Kosinski directs with a great eye and a restrained hand. The tone is less fun the the original and more sombre and subdued like The Matrix. Michael Sheen goes wildly over the top in a small role but it fits in asthetically with the bizarness around him. Garrett Hedlund is solid in the hero role, far better than Hayden Christensen was with performing his "sci-fi teen with issues" and Bridges picks up where he left off 28 years ago with Kevin Flynn now a cross between a hippy dude (no not The Dude...Kevin Flynn came first, 'tards) and Obi Wan.

Tron Legacy is one enjoyable ride. Like the original it's visuals will be celebrated for years to come and it's story will be complained about for eternity. But like the first Tron, this sequel will be rewatched to death by geeks like me for it's visual splendor and ability to provide a unique escape environment from the real world. For the people who demand a great story too, I understand your position, but I decline to agree.
End of line.

This Yank Is Messing With The Dumb Kids

You've got to give it to George Clooney. After nearly killing his own career in the monstrosity that was Batman & Robin, Clooney's made a choice to only star in projects with quality and integrity. That means no bullshit. And for an A-List movie star that's one big risk. While most serious actors are quite content to sell out and do a Jerry Bruckheimer movie every 4 or 5 years, Clooney resists, opting for more highbrow, mainstream fare like the Oceans movies. Everything else that Clooney does is in great danger of being ignored by the dumbed down masses due to them having a serious or sophisticated tone (Michael Clayton/Goodnight & Good luck), arty direction (Solaris/Fantastic Mr Fox) or retro sensibilities (The Good German/Leatherheads). Yet because of his integrity and his high standing in the Hollywood community, Clooney is still in a position to churn out A-List movies.

His latest, The American, is no different. It's the familiar tale of a professional hitman who comes to realise he wants out of his dangerous lifestyle. It follows the standard genre plot trajectory right through to it's obvious conclusion. But The American isn't a movie about 'story', it's about character. Using the minimal amount of dialogue possible combined with a restrained, static directorial style the film is a slow-burn character study of a man that has nothing in his life apart from his work (in many ways it's a subtext close to Clooney's Up In The Air). Through his actions, and interactions with the local town Priest where his Assassin is hiding out...along with the various women who intersect his life, we gradually see a man in his own personal hell; he's good at what he does, but the loneliness and the mistrust off all other human beings has taken it's toll. Through tiny, barely registering looks and gestures, Clooney communicates Hitman Jack's ever increasing unease with his situation.

Anton Corbijn directs with a minimalistic sophistication, Martin Ruhe's cinematography is lush and gorgeous and the various women are Euro-classy and to die for. There's little action, little chit-chat and the plot is wafer thin but The American is well worth your time if you know what you're getting yourself in to.

Film Making For Schmucks

After the comedy disaster that was Date Night earlier in the year I was hoping that Steve Carell's follow up comedy Dinner For Schmucks would be a return to form. After all Date Night was produced by the legendary screw-up studio Twentieth Century Fox and directed by Shawn Levey, he of the offensive Pink Panther remake... I should have seen that one coming. But with Fockers/Austin Powers Jay Roach directing, and his Anchorman co-star Paul Rudd by his side, Schmucks should be much, much better.

It's not.

Dinner For Schmucks is tedium incarnate. Whenever you see Rudd onscreen (an actor I quite like) there's always the nagging feeling that Rudd is standing in for Ben Stiller. It's the kind of thing that Stiller was engineered for...the everyman who digs himself into a hole of social embarrassment, faltering professionalism and a crumbling relationship. Stiller does it in his sleep but frankly, Rudd struggles.
Worse still is Carell as the idiot Rudd befriends. Since we know Carell can do stupid up there with the best of them (Brick Tamland), he should have knocked it out of the park, but here he's restrained and uninspired. The script is weak and joke free and the climactic party is about as clear of humour as you can get without watching Precious and The Road back-to-back.

Only Flight Of The Concord's Jemaine Clement impresses as an self obsessed artist, as does token love interest Stephanie Szostak, but nothing else does. If there were laws against humourless Hollywood comedies then Dinner For Schmucks would get a life sentence.

Takers Has To Answer To The Great Maker

I suppose if you want to see the definitive gritty heist move you need look no further than Michael Mann's Heat. But that hasn't stopped film makers from trying to top that movie's success. Ben Affleck gave it a pretty good shot this year with his Boston set heist drama The Town which got a critical praising and bofo box office. Affleck learnt that to make the story work you had to make it believable and get the audience invested in the characters...no matter what side of the law they're on.

Alas this didn't even occur to the makers of Takers resulting in one of the very worst thrillers of the year. Takers is the R&B entry into the heist/crime genre. It features great looking women as eye candy only (poor Zoe Saldana), men who posture like they're both tough and good looking (but are neither), greedy, unlikable characters congratulating themselves on their greed born out of other peoples misfortune and a level of shallowness reserved for the most airheaded in society. That's R&B the music, and that's Takers the movie. Shallow, obnoxious; flashy, arrogant and completely unlikable. The cast are charisma free non-entities comprising of ex-rappers come wannabe actors (T.I. / Chris Brown) and failed action stars (Paul Walker / Hayden Christensen). It's only Idris Elba and Matt Dillion that walk away with their acting chops intact, but even they're hamstrung by a pathetic script cobbled from cancelled cop TV shows.

On the 'street' I imagine this is the dictionary definition of a 'dope', 'gangsta' movie. To the rest of us it's just irritating shit.

The Unstoppable Tony Scott

It's been well documented in this blog about my disdain for the current output of Hollywood studio Twenieth Century Fox. Usually going for the populist cheap buck, Fox movies are engineered by committee to appeal to key demographics. They either hire talentless hacks (Tim Story/Brett Ratner/John Moore) to film their stuff or recruit talent (Joe Carnahan/James Mangold/M Night Shyamalan) that they can bully into watering down their artistic visions into something blander and more palatable to the idiotic masses. What Fox REALLY need is a talented director that can churn out mass entertainment in their sleep.

Enter Tony Scott. Unstoppable is the best Fox movie since Avatar. It's a stripped to basics, action filled, high concept roller coaster perfectly suited to Scott's frenetic talents. The concept is simple; a 70mph, 2 mile long, driverless locomotive goes out of control and it's up to heroes Denzel Washington and Chris (Captain Kirk) Pine to save the day. There's not an ounce of originality here but Tony Scott is a seasoned pro. You've got the best stunts, photography, buddy movie relationships, cast (Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Dunn in fine support) and action money can buy. It's woven together with an increasingly tense series of set-pieces that leave you glued to the screen rooting for Chris & Denzel to stop bickering and catch that choo choo.

That's all you need to know really. Very, very simple and very, very effective. I suspect it's the idealised model for every movie at Fox. Thing is, there are very few directors of Scott's calibre that can pull this kind of commercial wackiness off. Knight and Day, The A-Team, Percy Jackson...all failed to deliver artistically and commercially this year. So even though Fox have found their true love, I suspect that Scott isn't interested in a monogamous relationship with just one studio.

A Kung-Fu Chop Off The Old Man's Block

I was never the greatest fan of The Karate Kid movies. Some of it had to do with it being a teen version of Rocky (and I loved Rocky) and partly to do with it being a film series about bullying (and where's the fun in that). As a result it's taken me a while to get round to seeing the 2010 remake. It turns out this big-budget reinterpretation is one of the better films to have come out of a very disappointing summer season.

Some significant changes have taken place in this reimagining. For a start there ain't no Karate. It's Kung Fu. That's because of the relocation of the action from Japan (in The Karate Kid - Part II) to mainland China. And the age of the protagonist has been reduced to allow for the casting of Jaden Smith, son of box office titan Will Smith. And it all works very well thank you very much; a surprise considering it comes from the director of Pink Panther 2 and Agent Cody Banks.

The locations are sumptuous, richly detailed and epic, the story exciting and character focused, even giving the supporting characters (from trainer, girlfriend, bully and mom) opportunity to grow. It captures that underdog spirit of the original, the Hollywood feelgood factor of striving to win against all the odds, and some fight sequences that are tense and dazzling to watch.

Apart from Harald Zwart's cinematic direction, the film also benefits greatly from the casting of it's two leads. Jaden Smith is a chip off the old mans block. He really is like a mini Will Smith having the charm, attitude, charisma and acting ability to carry a movie of this scale...and at such a young age too. I've got to admit it, but the young lad's gonna be a movie star. He's partnered with Jackie Chan who gets to deliver the full range too; kick ass fight sequences, a moving back story and tons of humorous banter between him and his protegee.

The weakness is in an over-familiar script that borders on, but doesn't quite tip over into, sentimentality at times. It's a little over long too, with perhaps too many subplots occupying the plentiful running time. But it's not a major complaint as the plot and tension snowball into the satisfyingly tense, climactic tournament scenes. The same old inspirational sports story, but a pleasingly good one.

December Pick N Mix

Starting a bumper Pick N Mix month, we have an Aliens inspired twist on the ending of AVATAR...



A rather inspired reworking of the ending of The Assasination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, done by a couple of the animation team from the upcoming Yogi Bear movie...



A nicely edited Next Generation spoof...



This just goes to prove how frequently Nic Cage goes bugnets in his movies...



An entertaining Oscar Awards clip from 1989 as Pee Wee Herman faces off against RoboCop...



And, another marathon compilation, this time showcasing the infamous Arnie scream...



Merry Christmas. Ho. Ho. Ho.

A Shane Black Christmas #1 - The Long Kiss Goodnight

You can't go wrong with a Shane Black script. It's gonna be a buddy movie. One buddy has to be a trained expert...the other has to be from a social minority. And it has to be set at Christmas. There are currently four movies (Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), all penned by Black, that fit this description. So in the Christmas spirit (and since I can't face watching The Polar Express or The Grinch) I've decided to have a festive revisit of The Shank Black Experience starting with The Long Kiss Goodnight.

Here's what I noticed:-
1/ After her rather ineffectual star role in Cutthroat Island, Geena Davis steps up to the mark, in her dual roles, as an amnesiac suffering school teacher and as super-assassin Charlie Baltimore.
2/ Not surprisingly with Renny Harlin directing, Long Kiss is the biggest scale of the four movies (the Niagara Fall stuff is MASSIVE) and the most bullshit in tone. Of course, there's nothing wrong with a bit of bullshit action, especially from a director in his prime.
3/ It seems bizarre to me that I forgot just how incredible Sam Jackson is as Mitch Hennessey. Give the man some great dialogue, a tough attitude and a licence to swear and no one can top Jackson in a role like this. Perhaps it's because he was playing the sidekick...maybe because Davis gets top billing...but Sam runs away with this movie.
4/ Black's one-liners still induce stomach cramps from laughter. If you haven't seen it (or even in a while) those witicisms just kind of sneak up on you and sucker punch you.
5/ Patrick Malahide and Craig Bierko were never the best villains but there's a great supporting cast including Brian Cox and David Morse.
6/ Despite girlies kicking arse in everything from Total Recall to Mortal Kombat, this was the first movie to convince me that a woman could be a convincing, no-nonsense action hero. When Davis spits, "Suck my dick!" at the film's climax, you know it's a declaration that women are now toe to toe with male action stars. Since then women action stars are mainstream, from Tomorrow Never Dies Michelle Yeoh to TV's Buffy. All the girls be kung-fu fighting.

Great preposterous action, great actors with a great, script laced with profanity strewn humour, The Long Kiss Goodnight is a frequently watched action classic. And that's pretty good considering it ranks forth out of four of Black's movies.

Give The Brand A Hand

Approaching Get Him To The Greek, there were two big concerns:-
1/ Would director Nicholas Stoller and producer Judd Apatow (whose last team up Forgetting Sarah Marshall was unfunny enough for me to turn off 20 minutes in) be able to deliver the comedic goods this time?
2/ Would flamboyant comedian Russell Brand be able to carry an entire movie with his poncing around?
The answer to both questions was fortunately yes!

While Greek still has the rambling qualities of all Apatow movies, there's enough R rated jollies packed into this buddy movie to justify watching it. Jonah Hill is the affable record company man that has to get irresponsible rock star Aldous Snow to the concert at the Greek Theatre in L.A. in 3 days. Comic set-pieces happen, relationships are re-evaluated and people swear aplenty.

Apart from getting to throw up every 15 minutes, Hill plays the hapless straight man to everybody else who's pushing the boundaries of taste and silliness. Sean 'P Diddy' Combs can't act for toffee but his dead-eyed, ranting delivery makes him perfect for delivering deadpan humour. The cute Rose Byrne proves she can play comedy playing Brand's slutty pop star girlfriend, complete with gormless Cockney accent too. Brand himself is a movie star in the making...never really acting...just playing a bravado version of himself with enthusiasm and conviction. It's on his shoulders that the movie rests; without his likability and talent for improvisation the film would collapse.

There's some nice cameo's from Lars Ulrich, Pink, Zoe Salmon, Tom Felton and Kristen Bell (playing themselves) and some groovy musical interludes as well. All in all a very silly and funny comedy that far exceeds Apatow's last effort Funny People. If you don't like Russell Brand, chances are you won't like this, but if you do, like me you'll be looking forward to his remake of Arthur in 2011.

If The Bandidas Said "Stick 'Em Up", I Would...

When green lighting or distributing a movie, the potential backers of the film have to weigh up certain considerations. On paper you could see why a film distributor might have a problem with a Western (a commercially dubious genre), set in Mexico (not the more bankable U.S.) starring two women (wasn't the Wild West supposed to be a male dominated world) and written by a Frenchman (nuf said). But when it was revealed that that film would star Latino hotties Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek, they should have been clamoring to get that puppy into theatres. That movie was Bandidas and, alas, it was released straight to DVD.

The fools. Bandidas is from the minds of Robert Mark Kamen and Luc Besson, the team behind The Transporter, Kiss Of The Dragon, Danny The Dog, Taken...and the whole sub-genre of bullshit Euro-thrillers that are fun, fun, fun. This Western is certainly no different, blending a buddy action movie with the sophisticated European direction that defines all the above movies. Much less brutal in tone than something like Taken, this is a light adventure film in the vein of Mask Of Zorro that would make a great Boxing Day afternoon treat. For it's $35 million budget it's a rich, sumptuous film and doesn't disappoint on the action front.

Best of all is the interaction between it's leads. The gorgeous Cruz (playing the poor, uneducated, feisty partner) and the voluptuous Hayek (playing the rich, sheltered, feisty partner) are great, putting their heart and soles into a female buddy dynamic that's rarely seen in cinema. And as a bonus, you get the goofy Steve Zahn bumbling around, as the beautiful ladies squabble for his attention.

Fun, sexy as hell and sadly overlooked.