Best Movies Of 2011

Once again I present my favourite 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!

20/ Real Steel
Rocky with robots is essentially what Real Steel comes across as. But it’s character driven, looks like a billion bucks, has a great star turn by Hugh Jackman in the lead plus some of the most gripping boxing sequences since Balboa squared off against Ivan Drago.

19/ Paranormal Activity 3
The simple premise of having CCTV camera’s pick up the spooky goings on in a suburban family house doesn’t outstay its welcome for the third installment. In fact, with a more knowing script, a mischievous director and a change of setting to the early 1980’s, Paranormal Activity 3 is even more suspenseful than the fantastic second film.

18/ Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt 2
David Yates might be a classy, mature film maker but the meandering scripts of the last two Potter films didn’t allow him to show off his best work. Fortunately Deathly Hallows Part 2 is pretty much all climactic gravy to the saga. Beautifully staged, often powerful and (as with all Yate’s efforts) elegant, it’s a very fine capper to a hit and miss franchise.

17/ 127 Hours
Not many directors could have pulled off a drama where most of the action takes place down a crevasse where its protagonist’s hand is pinned under a boulder, but Danny Boyle does. Not the dour, miserable experience we were expecting but a vibrant, experimental, uplifting celebration of living.

16/ Hugo
A Children’s story that’s far too good for children. Scorsese turns his attention to a different genre an typically masters it, and then som. A lively and moving tale of the interconnectedness of all things (and people) while celebrating the art of cinema from it’s days of conception to the present day of digital projection, CGI and 3D.

15/ True Grit
A much darker and gritty take of the story that won John Wayne an Oscar. Jeff Bridges makes for a gruffer, but equally brilliant, Rooster Cogburn but it’s young Hailee Steinfeld that steals the film as the story’s true lead character. Impeccably shot and scored, this is now my favourite Coen Brothers movie.

14/ The Human Centipede 2 – Full Sequence
Last years original started many with it’s gross central concept, but this years sequel trumps that tenfold with a rawer, nastier, more primal take on the premise. It’s more intelligent too with a post modern look at the effect the original might have on a ‘troubled’ individual. Centipede 2 pushes the boundaries of horror into uncomfortable places…but that’s what horror’s supposed to do. Never has the phrase “Never go ass to mouth” been more appropriate.

13/ Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol
Brad Bird gives the Mission Impossible franchise (and Tom Cruise’s career) a much needed kick in the rectum with this globe hopping, ultra entertaining spy adventure. It may not be the best in the series, but by golly is it the most fun, with witty banter, stunning non-CGI stuntwork and a cast firing on all cylinders. It’s also has the best, most suspense fill set pieces of the year that put most other action flicks to shame.

12/ Super
Super takes the premise of Kick Ass one step further and places an everyman in the position where he becomes a real life superhero/vigilante. To make things interesting, he gives the hero psychologically ‘troubled’ and gives him a diminutive psychopath sidekick. Raw, quirky and told with an abundance of director James Gunn’s signature black humour.

11/ Thor / Captain America – The First Avenger
I still can’t decide which Marvel Studios superhero movie is better Thor or Captain America so I‘m going to cheat and include them here as one film. One is an intergalactic Shakespearean family drama the other a World War II man on a mission movie. Both are action packed, respectful of the source material, bags of fun with two great leading men in the title roles. Equally enjoyable but for different reasons.



10/ Drive
Take the classic western structure , dress it up with some 80’s neon, synth score and retro fashions and dump it squarely in the crime genre and you’ve got Drive, a sleek, stripped down thriller. It’s a bold mixture that might never have worked in lesser hands but director Nicolas Winding Refn nails the tone immediately. The cast are supurb too with Ryan Gosling owning the screen as ‘the man with no name’.

9/ The Adjustment Bureau
It’s been a great year for high concept, intelligent science fiction. One of the best is this Matt Damon starrer as he battle the forces of destiny to be with his one true love. Sound corny? Bollocks to that. Emily Blunt has her star wattage set to overload, it’s brisk, thought provoking, haunting, amusing, exhilarating and original.

8/ Attack The Block
The poster says it all; Inner City vs. Outer Space. Attack The Block lovingly references the golden age of b-movie, alien invasion flicks while fusing it with an urban hipness. The characters are well defined, the monsters iconic, the jokes all character based and well timed and the action super slick.

7/ Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy
An tense, elegant, old fashioned spy thriller that’s as densely plotted as a collapsed dwarf star and faster paced than a speeding comet because of it. Gary Oldman turns in a beautifully lowkey and nuanced performance as the ‘spy’ of the title but each and every member of the supporting cast deserve an Oscar as much as he does. Exquisitely mature work.

6/ The King's Speech
If Real Steel is Rock with robots then The King’s Speech is Rocky with public speaking. Telling an absorbing true story with an abundance of wit, an economic directing style and two leads with nuclear chemistry it’s a small drama with high stakes drama that made its Best Picture win at the Oscars more than deserved.

5/ Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
Coming from studio 20th Century Fox and following their disastrous 2001 reboot of the Apes franchise ‘Rise’ simply shouldn’t have worked. But what you get is an exciting, intelligently directed science fiction thriller with cutting edge effects and a brilliant central performance (Andy Serkis doing mo-cap, not James Franco).

4/ Tangled
Despite it’s trubled production history and astronomic budget Disney re-enter the animated fairy tale arena with this gorgeous reworking of Rapunzel. The songs are pretty good and it looks great but it’s the witty banter, stunning comic timing and brilliant comic performances from it’s animated stars that make this the funniest film of 2011.

3/ Super 8


A thrilling and moving monster movie that trades off the Amblin films of the 1980’s as well as 50’s science fiction B-movies. Pleasingly character centric with fantastic performances from it’s child actors, particularly Ellie Fanning who proves she’s just as much as an acting freak as her sister, Dakota. Not quite perfect, but it’s emotional power over-rides is defects.

2/ X-Men First Class


Bryan Singer’s movie X-Men univers gets a 1960’s reboot coutesy of Matthew Vaughan who delivers the most exciting and the most fun franchise entry to date.
It’s a retro-Bond adventure crosses with a modern superhero sensibility with a fantastic ensemble cast that’s dominated by the ultra cool Michal Fassbender.

1/ Sucker Punch


Hated by the critics and largely ignored by audiences, this may be a controversial number one for anybody who’s not me, but sod it. It’s The Shawshank Redemption for the X-Box generation with director Zack Snyder making the case for the power of imagination over hopelessness using pop culture references from comics, musicals, manga, computer games, pop music, cinema, theatre, music videos, etc. By far the most inventive and visually rich piece of cinema this year backed by an outstanding soundtrack of reworked pop classics. An exhilarating assault on the eyes with a powerful emotional sucker punch to back it up. Love it.


Bubbling Under
Source Code, Hobo with A Shotgun, Cell 211, Rare Exports, The Woman, The Ides Of March. The Guard, Moneyball, 50/50

Worst Movies Of 2011

10/ The first 90 minutes of Transformers 3
The last 50 minutes don’t count as it’s far too visually stunning and action packed, but the first two thirds of this film are perhaps the most bored I’ve been in a movie theatre this year. Oh, and replacing Megan Fox with Rosie Huntingdon Whitley might make sense if wanking were publicly allowed in cinemas…but since it’s not her participation in this is truly embarrassing.

9/ Pirates Of The Caribbean– On Stranger Tides
If this turd cost $250 million I’d like to know where the money was spent ‘cause it ain’t up on the screen. After a promising start the small scale adventure spends most of it’s time lurking around in tiny sets and gloomy, night time jungle locations. Johnny’s antic get tired fast and there’s barely a scene that sticks in the memory.0

8/ Bad Teacher
If 2011 had a trend to remember it’s that of the return of the smutty R-Rated comedy.
Unfortunately, most of them weren’t funny at all. Like Bad Teacher which had a shit your pants funny trailer that completely misrepresented the film itself. Very, very unfunny…ever the trailer gags failed to work in context.

7/ I Am Number Four
Twilight with aliens was what this big budget chase movie was all about. However the male lead, Alex Pettyfer, was loathsome and the film uneventful and totally forgettable. Even a late turn by the cute, sarcastic and kick ass Teresa Palmer couldn’t shake the feeling that it was irredeemably shite.

6/ F
This low budget British horror/thriller was touted as a siege movie like that of John Carpenter’s Assault On Precinct 13. But it wasn’t. What it ended up being was painfully slow, poorly directed, suspense-less exercise in irritating your core audience. Me. And they killed off the British Soap Awards Sexiest Female Awards Winner (3 years running) when Roxanne McKee gets it. I mean, who does that? Really?

5/ Shark Night 3D
A dumb, glossy, Hollywood horror film that’s diluted by a bloodless PG-13 cut, a terrible cast playing very, very, very stupid people where nothing interesting happens anytime ever. No amount of cute girls in bikinis could hide the fact this is supposed to be a crazy exploitation flick that has no exploitation in it whatsoever.

4/ Due Date
Once the master of R-Rated comedies (Old School / Road Trip), now director Todd Phillips is the man we’ve grown to fear. Proving that School For Scoundrels was no fluke, Phillips shits out another laugh free comedy featuring a struggling Robert Downey Jnr and the mirthless disaster zone that is Zack Galifinakis. Stop them. Stop them now! *Too late.

3/ My Soul To Take
Wes Craven must stop making horror films where a bunch of characterless teenagers are picked off one by one by a masked killer or a death obsessed supernatural force. Especially if the cast are non entities, there’s no tension in the story or set pieces and if the whole thing makes no freaking sense. At all. Oh wait, that applies to an awful lot of Wes’ work…but never more so than this.

2/ Gulliver’s Travels
Twentieth Century Fox might have had a few critical hits this year but that didn’t stop them remaining true to form with this dire family adventure. It’s movie making by committee as Gulliver Travels moves so quickly through it’s story in order to tick all those boxes that the audience is left way behind, not giving a shit, a piss or any other kind of bodily sewage.

1/ The Hangover Part II



*Todd Phillips strikes again with a film so over-hyped and so unfunny that Middle Eastern countries may descent into several millennia of warfare just to get the fucker out of its system. There’s nothing in the story that’s of interest as it rework the originals same, boring quest. The cast are even more talent less than before, and adding 2001’s Fuckwit Of The Year, actor Ken Jeong just makes things more terrible.
Nothing at all is funny, not even the smutty lady boys sequence which should be a riot. When classics Like Zoolander and Anchorman are denied sequels due to lack of funds, it’s made even more frustrating when a studio can chuck a shit load of cash at this painful rectal scab. Just fucking awful.

Close, But not quite:- Hop, Yogi Bear, The Smurfs, Insidious, The Amityville Haunting, In The Name Of The King 2.

Top Albums Of 2011

10/ Social Distortion - Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes
9/ Megadeth - Thirteen
8/ Everlast - Songs Of The Ungrateful Living
7/ Royal Republic - We Are The Royal
6/ The Nightwatchman - World Wide Rebel Songs
5/ Trivium - In Waves
4/ Sucker Punch - VA
3/ Terrorvision - Super Deluxe



2/ Anthrax - Worship Music



1/ Foo Fighters - Wasted Light



Bubbling Under - Beady Eye, Noel Gallagher, Mastodon, Theory Of A Deadman.

Top TV Of 2011

Another year. Another twelve moths of watching the box. As usual this list represents the shows that I've been most glued to this year, for better or for worse. Most of them are science fiction or fantasy related shows (hey, I'm a geek) but there's some straight comedy and political satire throw in for good measure too. Of course, there's plenty of good shows on the air that I haven't had the time to watch that might have made the list if I had...but there's always 2012.

As for my top show, I think it's had the most crazy, original season that it's ever likely to get in it's very long history and that's something to be be savoured and applauded. However, with the excellence that my number two show has demonstrated, and the promise of quality escalation next year and beyond, I think it's time to be recognised is very near indeed.

20/ Homeland
19/ Beavis & Butt-head
18/ Terra Nova
17/ The Daily Show
16/ Real Time With Bill Maher
15/ Primeval
14/ New Girl
13/ Robot Chicken
12/ Sherlock
11/ 30 Rock



10/ Castle
9/ Family Guy
8/ Spartacus Gods Of The Arena
7/ Death Valley
6/ Black Mirror
5/ The Walking Dead
4/ Being Human
3/ Fringe
2/ Game Of Thrones
1/ Doctor Who

Bubbling under:- Top Gear, Once Upon A Time, Life's Too Short, Torchwood.

Pet Private Dick Is Still Alrighty Then

Ah, Ace Venture Pet Detective is the film that started Jim Carrey's movie career. And while some of it has dated quite badly (the fashions, the soundtrack, Courtney Cox's face) it is a very fine example of what Hollywood can do if it fully embraces its juvenile side.

Carrey is perhaps the best he's ever been with a character based on that of a bird (strutting, preening, eating seeds, bright and exotic plumage) with catchphrases (loser, like a glove, alrighty then, take care now...bye bye then) that amuse to this day. The plot's appropriately bonkers, there's some terrific set pieces for Carrey to go wild (gotta love his Captain Kirk impression) the cast are game whether it's pre-Friends Courtney Cox, Tone Loc, Dan Marino or Sean Young.

Bloody damn funny this is still a wacky gem to be treasured. With Hollywood's obsession for reality based, Judd Apatow style comedies, why can't we have more bizarre stuff like this? After all, Anchorman and Zoolander all have massive followings although the less said about MacGruber the better.

Mr Poppers Pot Of Pickled Penguins

Thank you Jesus. Thank you Allah. Thank you Buddha. And thank you any other supernatural deity for the gift that is Mr Poppers Penguins. I thank thee not that it is good for it is just as average a film one would expect from the grubby mauls of the Twentieth Century Fox marketing department, but I thank thee for the animals talk not!

That's right, the penguins that Mr Popper (Jim Carrey) looks after in his lavish Manhattan apartment do not talk. Ever. Yep, there's the odd bit of CGI to give each of his six pets distinct personalities (one bites, another shouts, another farts, etc) but not one of those feather cussers utters a single word throughout the film. And that is something to be celebrated. That means the screen writers can focus on the human characters and produce something much more relateable than those sodding chipmunks.

Unfortunately, that opportunity is never exploited. While it has the same old plot of asshole, career obsessed father reconnecting emotionally with his divorced wife (the lovely Carla Guigino) and two kids the character arc the screenplay places Carrey on is not that resonant. Popper is not that big a dick to begin with and the obstacles placed in his way to achieve new found happiness are not that terrible, meaning the emotional journey we're asked to embark on is not that riveting. In someways you could argue that by having emotional restraint it's not pandering to the lowest common denominator family crowd, and that's admirable, but it sure makes for one dull story.

But the film isn't irritating, Carrey is playful which is always a good thing in his films and Brit Ophelia Lovibond is a scene stealer with her obsessive prim pronunciation of the letter P. Probably the best animals movie for kids in 2011 but I'd still rather take 'em to see Thor!

50% Chance Of Survival. 100% Chance Of Loving This Movie.

Hell knows what possessed me to put 50/50 on the box. Maybe it was the unrelenting misery of Warrior that made me switch to a cancer themed comedy. Or maybe it was the desire to squeeze in just one more 'worthy' film before 2011 came skidding to a halt. Either way I'm really glad I dis as it's one of the most down to earth, unshowy, naturalistic film I've seen this year.

Based on the real life experiences of co-writer, co-star Seth Rogan it features Joseph Gorden-Levitt as an average 27 year old who get diagnosed with a rare form of spinal cancer. The title refers to his chances of survival. What could have been a bleak and depressing examination of trying to beat the big C is actually a touching, honest and frequently amusing drama. It's the expected mix of over protective parents, cheating girlfriends, inappropriate behave mates, dying fellow patients, emotionally detached doctors and medical students who have gotten in over their heads...but it's dealt with in a unmanipulative, relatable way that keeps you hooked from start to finish.

Gordon-Levitt is fast becoming one of the go-to guys of his generation and his sympathetic and often very reserved performance anchors the movie in reality. Anna Kendrick brings a geeky awkwardness, Bryce Dallas Howard makes her character sympathetic despite her choices,m Angelica Houston baits the awards folk and Seth Rogan brings the laughs as the best friend we all wish we could be if the situation arose.

A beautifully judged directing effort from Mandy Lane's Jonathan Levine, 50/50 is a warm, touching dramedy that's far more watchable than you'd ever expect.

Cage, Thou Shall Not Trespass Against Us

God knows why acclaimed actress Nicole Kidman wanted to star in the low budget thriller Trespass. It couldn't be to receive an acting masterclass from Nicholas Cage, could it? It definitely couldn't be to work with Batman & Robin director Joel Schulmacher who has long been far from the top of his game. And it most surely isn't the twisty script which is terribly paced, structured with bland, predictable dialogue.

At first glance Trespass looks promising. A dysfunctional family get robbed at home with the heavily armed band of intruders demanding entry to the home safe and the promise they'll be gone in 20 minutes. What follows is very theatrical as the film rarely leaves the confines of Cage and Kidman's isolated modernist habitat. Cage tries to outwit the robbers then the robbers try to out think Cage. By the end everybody tries to outwit everybody else leaving you drained, detached and apathetic to the fate of just about everyone.

Of course it looks good and there's value to be gained in watching Cage go bugeye every 20 minutes but it's a long way from the genius of Resevoir Dogs for a single location crime thriller.

Dummies Guide To Slaying A Dolph

Ever since the double whammy of Postal and In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale I’ve not been able to watch another film by uber shite-master Uwe Boll. But when the synopsis of In The Name Of The King: Two Worlds came to my attention I couldn’t resist having a peak at what new levels of shitness Dr Boll has sunk to.
I mean, it not only has the naff, nonsensical sword and sorcery stuff of the first film (complete with terrible mis-cast z-list movie stars) but it has an action hero travel back in time (from contemporary Vancouver!) for some fish out of water shenanigans! To top it off that action hero is Dolph Lundgren (making you wonder how many Expendables actors Boll is planning on working with in this franchise).

Unsurprisingly Boll has not improved creativly. This movie must have a budget smaller than the average Canadian half hour TV drama with the cast moping around a pine forrest, a pine forest by a lake or a pine forest by a fake castle gate. Impressively they go all out for the introductory and climactic battle scenes for some hand to hand combat in a cramped Vancouver kitchen and bathroom.

I jest of course. This sequel is the worst thing to happen to exploitation films since Steven Segal got fat. Dolph tries to be gung ho but comes off like a wanker (in fact his scarf is more sympathetic than he is), Natassia Malthe adds sex appeal but detracts credibility with a shitty English accent and Lochlyn Munro is the most unmenacing bad guy since Nuclear Man stomped around the set of Superman 4.

Shit. But you already knew that.

Do Not Feed The (Talking) Animals

Going solely by the trailer, The Zookeeper could have been freaking unbearable. In a year that has brought us Yogi Bear, Hop, Alvin & The Chipmunks 3 and The Smurfs, yet another talking animal movie seemed like cruel and unusual punishment for global audiences to endure. Fortunately, perhaps because it's produced by Adam Sandler, Zookeeper has a story aimed more at adults than the toddlers making it a tad more bearable.

Sure, it's rigidly playing the universal romantic comedy playbook with Kevin James in the title role obsessed at getting back together with his bombshell ex-girlfriend Leslie Bibb when we all know he ought to be getting together with fellow animal lover Rosario (never lovlier) Dawson. But, that's far more welcoming than squeaky, irritating rodents entering a talent contest or trying to steal picnic baskets.
The gags aren't funny, the slapstick poorly timed and ineffective and the script laborious and mediocre, but it's well made with impressive animal animatronics and has a smirk inducing scene with a gorilla* in a TGI Fridays. Not much to recommend it I know, but at least you don't have to fear it.

* Nick Nolte makes for one fucking terrifying ape.

Dream House, Dream Cast, Nightmare Movie

Dream House seemed like it had everything going for it. An acclaimed director in Irishman Jim Sheridan, an A-list cast with Danial Craig, Rachel Weitz and Naomi Watts and a creepy, twisty turny horror plot to give The Sixth Sense a run for it's money. Then came the rumours of a major, studio initiated re-edit and reviews of a film that truly sucked arse. So it came as a bit of a shock that most of Dream House is actually pretty bloody good. Most of.

The first act is where most films of this type get it right (including the terrible Insidious) with Craig, Weitz and their two young girls moving into an idyllic suburban house. There's some strange goings on, a tense atmosphere is maintained and a mystery is slowly and intriguingly unraveled. Amazingly the film overcomes what could have been a fatal flaw quite early on by revealing a major plot twist...something I'd worked out ten minutes earlier. Rather than let the mystery drag out the screenwriters come clean and admit a major truth, changing the focus of the movie and maintaining the momentum of the plot. Nice one.

All is well with the film until the final quarter of an hour when it bottles out of making a bold plot choice and instead goes for the lovely, Hollywood friendly ending. To make matters worse it introduces a feeble crime/whodunit element very late in the day which majestically obliterates all the good work achieved in the first 80 minutes. I've heard this argument made incorrectly about lots of other films (like Identity and From Dusk Till Dawn) but this I feel a true example of a plot twist destroying a film completely. Was this twist in the plot originally or was it a re-shoot? Either way, it's hard to imagine, even with Sheridan in the editing suite, anybody making this story convincing with the conclusion as it was filmed.

(Really Not) The Amityville Haunting

The Amityville Haunting is a movie so fucking cheap and awful it can't even afford to use the original, iconic Amityville House...even though the house itself adorns the poster for the movie. There's no getting round the fact that this film is ever so, ever so shit.

With the success of the Paranormal Activity films over the last two years or so, putting webcams and CCTV into that infamous location and constructing a story around it is an inspired and admirable idea. But when the production company responsible is The Asylum, then you know that terrible acting, boring, meandering plotting unbelievable dialogue, and a who-gives-a-shit ending are coming right at you. Not only can they not afford to shoot in the proper house, the stingy fuckers can't even afford convincing screenwipe and static effects to simulate video camera footage, something I can achieve for zero dollars on the very PC i'm writing on right now.

Movie website IMDB don't list the fuckers name who plays the dad which is fortunate for him. He's fucking terrible. A cunt to begin with before descending into ludicrous histrionics come the end. The Asylum, I hate you and all who sail in you. Now fuck off.

You're Under Arrest, You Fecker

The reason I watched The Guard was because I believed it to be written and directed by the same team that gave us the inspired In Bruges a few years back. After having seen the film, I now discover that writer/director John Michael McDonagh has got nothing at all to do with the 2008 crime/comedy classic which is something of a surprise as The Guard has the same wonderfully cynical tone and black humour.

The Guard refers to Brendan Gleeson's Irish Police Sergeant, an unconventional but dedicated, foul mouthed, racist copper with a love of the booze and of prostitutes.
He's teamed with Don Cheadle's rather uptight FBI agent on the trail of some local drug smugglers who have been responsible for a recent spate of murders in Gleeson's sleepy county. If it weren't for the excessive profanity and violence you can see this being a top quality cop serial for the UK's channel Four. It's witty, character based, involving and features one of the more amusing cop pairings since Riggs met Murtaugh way back in 1987. Darkly funny, great characters, memorable dialogue with a touch of the western genre thrown in for good measure, The Guard is a bang tidy little gem to be sure.

Et Tu Clooney?

Thanks to Aaron Sorkin's suburb work on TV's The West Wing, I'm now entranced by American Politics. Compared with British politics, it's more extreme, more polarised, more brutal and far more stupid. Which leads me to George Clooney's third directing effort The Ides Of March, which of course gets its title from the politicking of William Shakespeare's infamous play Julius Caesar.

It stars rising star Ryan Gosling as a lead campaigner for George Clooney's Presidential candidate in the Democratic primary elections. An intelligent man, he's never the less unprepared for the dirty techniques his rival campaigner Paul Giamatti, boss Philip Seymour Hoffman, ambitious Senator Jeffery Wright and ruthless journalist Marisa Tomei will employ in order to get their way. However, Mr Gosling learns fast.

It's an absorbing look into the machinations of a Presidential campaign, from how the decisions of a select few can swing the outcome of a major election, to a character study of what's needed to live, thrive and survive in such a cutthroat world. Classily directed by Mr Clooney and wonderfully performed by all concerned, this is a film I'd like to see on the awards shortlists come the new year.

The Skin I Live In (aka The Rapey Movie)

I have to be honest, but despite his legendary status in the global film community, I haven't seen any of Pedro Almodovar's films until now. It may be a bit mad and a bit melodramatic, but his latest The Skin I Live In is most definitely a horror film.
With a more than a dash of Frankenstein in it's DNA, it's the story of mad scientist Antonio Banderas who defies the law by working on a burn resistant skin replacement for burn victims. The women in his life don't seem to have lot of luck, whether it's his mother, daughter, wife (whom he lost following a fire related incident) and the woman he experiments on, Vera. In fact, this might be a bit uncomfortable for some given that there are a couple of rape scenes in the film (all handled with a cool detachment) which emphasise the treatment of women in the narrative.

Told intriguingly out of sequence, we get to learn about the past misfortunes of these women as well as the future of the mysterious Vera with whom Banderas seems to be very protective of. The film is heavily stylised, having a hyper-real quality to it, and when the connections between the characters are made and the revelations finally exposed for all to see, it's hard to deny the story is a bit bonkers.
The cast are all superb, particularly Banderas who shows he's still got more to offer than voice-overs for fairy tale cats, and from the stupendously attractive Elena Anaya as Vera who is ultimately the big narrative puzzle at the heart of the film.

A beautifully made but nutty horror tale, The Skin I Live In is a fine work exploring the dynamic between what you look like and who you actually are inside.

Put Kill List On Your Kill To See List

Very often the best films are the ones you know very little about and didn't see coming. Kill List, a low key British thriller, fits that description with Neil Maskell starring as Jay, a family man with a young son and a beautiful wife (The Descent's MyAnna Buring). The cleverly structured script keeps us always one step behind at vall times. The first act gradually reveals the turmoil of Jay's domestic life and the love/hate relationship he has with his wife. We're also introduced to Gal at this point played by the cheeky Michael Smiley, as his best friend, colleague and ex-army buddy. This is raw, uncomfortable, kitchen sink drama stuff that you might find on a late night channel four drama.

The second act takes us into more conventional thriller territory where it's revealed that Jay and Gal are hitman with a mission to take out three names on a kill list; a priest, a librarian and an M.P. Again, the audience is playing catch up as we discover more and more about Jay's mental stability (or lack of) and the unusualness of the job they've taken on.

Again, in the third act, the film subtly shifts genres once more...this time heading into the horror genre. To reveal what happens would ruin the surprise but it's definitely off-kilter, unsettling and weird. Kill List is a modest but intense little movie that keeps the brain engaged and the nerves on edge throughout. It may frustrate some with an ending that's ambiguous, but it's a creative choice that's consistent with the rest of the story.

Your Mission, You WILL Choose To Accept

The greatest thing that Tom Cruise (as a producer) chose to do when shepherding the Mission Impossible film franchise was to select a director with a signature vision to helm each movie. This would mean that unlike the Bond franchise, each film would feel fresh and have the added bonus of each film being bloody good (sorry Mr Bond but having John Glen direct Octopussy, A View To A Kill and Licence To Kill is neither fresh or good). This has meant that every time a new Mission Impossible movie opens, opinion is general split between those that think it's 'OK', and those that think it's the best thing since sliced bread. This has caused some much heated debates in pubs and bars around the world as movie fans bicker and squabble over Brian DePalma's Hitcockian cold-war stylings, the mythic escapism of John Woo's sequel or the family/office dynamic of JJ Abrams third entry. All are extremely entertaining and there are valid opinions, for and against, for each individual movie.

Five and a half years after number III, Cruise is back as super spy Ethan Hunt for a new adventure, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, this time directed by animation maestro Brad (The Incredibles) Bird.
Bird proves to be a great choice. His visual film language isn't as distinctive as Woo, DePalma or Abrams (although it does have a pleasingly clean, bright, hi-tech sheen) but tonally MI4 is bang on the money delivering the lightest and most 'fun' film of the franchise to date. The plot is on a much larger, Bondian, world domination scale, the character interactions of the team are much more down to earth and jokey, and more humour is injected into each of the capers the team embark on throughout. In fact this is the nearest this franchise has ventured into Bond territory so far.

The set-pieces are nicely varied from foot chases, slow suspense filled break-ins, chaotic break-outs, dizzying skyscraper high acrobatics, deceptions using seduction, deceptions using photocopiers, car chases in dust storms, exploding national monuments, cruise missiles, and so on. They are all beautifully handled, mixing suspense, humour, exposition, character beats with an old fashioned, steady editing style which kicks the arse out of 99% of action movie editing today. It also helps that the team are using faulty, second hand equipment which ups the tension and the jokes dramtically.

If the film has a fault, or two, it's in the script department. As with MI3, the story was shaped by JJ Abrams (here serving as a producer), and the plotting is just as flabby as it was with Abrams third movie. You just get the impression the whole thing could have been tightened up by 20 minutes or so with some scenes being merged with others to streamline the flow of the narrative. The other issue is that it feels like Cruise's Ethan Hunt feels like a less central character this time round.
That's probably to do with the need to introduce and place Jeremy Renner's analyst Brandt in a prominent position in the event that his character takes over from Cruise's. While each of the four members of the team all have personal issues to deal with making this more of an ensemble piece, this never has the same dramatic weight that was placed on Cruise's shoulders alone in the previous three films. Because of this MI4 feels lighter and less intense in the character department.

There are plenty of things it does get spot on. With Cruise less in the limelight, he's given a much more enigmatic and mysterious role that can be equated to that of a Western hero. After a cool introduction shot, it's revealed that Etan Hunt has been out of civilization for some time (jailed actually), has had to shun much of his private life in order to accomplish his job and finally disappears once more at the finale...giving him that classic, slightly tragic, gunslinger vibe.
The rest of the team are very impressive. Pegg is pure gold here as the comic relief of the team, the gorgeous Paula Patton should be the next female action star based on what she does here, and Jeremy Renner stops brooding for once to display charisma and a deft talent for comic timing that previous roles have not exploited.
I'm now convinced; this lad is a leading man.

A very, very entertaining and fun ride that's far better than Abrams third film from 2006. But, for me both Woo's sequel and DePalma's untouchable first film are still the top dogs in this franchise. That may be disappointing in some ways, but to get to a forth film and still be excellent takes some doing.

This Disease Isn't Going To Catch

I wanted to love Contagion so much. After all Steven Soderbergh was directing, it has a top notch cast including Matt Damon, Kate Winslett, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Elliott Gould and Gwyneth Paltrow. Years before Sir Ridley Scott had tried to do a serious take on how a real life epidemic would start, spread and infect a global population with The Hot Zone, but the movie failed to materialise. And that left us with the frighteningly bullshit Outbreak to single handed carry the killer disease genre for two decades. It was time someone did it properly.

Unfortunately Soderbergh only gets it half right. Technically Contagion is fascinating, tracking in a realistic fashion, the spreading of an unknown killer disease from one individual (Paltrow) to millions of people worldwide, and the subsequent efforts of families, journalists, scientists and politicians to deal with the threat as it explodes into day to day living. Where it surprisingly stumbles is on the human level. All the stories (many of the characters don't even meet) are decent enough in their own right, whether it's Damon's protective father, Law's crusading blogger or Cotillard's kidnapped researcher...but none of the stories ever real amount to much, and so neither does the film narrative as a whole. Yes the whole film does have a rather gloomy, apocalyptic in-built tension as the human species seems in mortal danger, but it dissipates in the final third leaving the audience with a 'so what' kind of feeling.

Miles better than Outbreak, thank Odin, but still a missed opportunity.

Moneyball Is The Money And The Balls

I can't say I know much about Baseball, either how it's played or how a team is managed, and after seeing Moneyball I can't say my knowledge has expanded that much either. But I can say this is one of the best baseball movies I've ever seen.

Co-writen by Oscar winning screen writer Aaron Sorkin, with all the wit, intelligence, politics and complex jargon that made The West Wing and The Social Network so mesmerising, it's the true story of Brad Pitt's General Manager who runs the major league team with the smallest budget in the league. When Pitt, frustrated by not being able to compete with the wealthier clubs in an unfair system happens across Jonah Hill's statistics analyst who's figured out how to beat the system.

It's brilliant. It's yet another socially relevant tale about income inequality in our society, about resistance to change from both those at the bottom who are frightened of losing what little they have as well as the big boys who are terrified their reign at the top is at an end. And it's also a finely crafted character piece, with Pitt at the absolute centre, who struggles with trying not to be a loser all his life. Pitt is great at what he does and his quite, unshowy charisma is perfect fit for carrying this story.

Moneyball is a fascinating little man against the system tale, with a very human centre. It's also quietly haunting and exciting too, in the most subtle of ways, which sets it above and apart from most other underdog sports movies.

Occupy Chronos Street

It's nice to see 70's distopian science fiction thrillers alive and well in the work of Andrew Niccol who after giving us Gattaca and S1m0ne, is back with In Time which replaces time itself as the single currency of mankind of the future.

As a piece of social commentary this is pretty strong stuff, particularly it's relevancy to the ever accelerating wealth gap between rich and poor in the western world, how the economic world is rigged in favor of the mega wealth and how banks control it all. It's the Occupy movements wet dream and all the better for it. It's maturely directed, has a distinct clean, but bleak look, thanks to its inventive use of the architectural style of the L.A. river system and has an effective cast with Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy (in bad guy mode), Olivia Wilde, Alex Pettyfer (perfect as an arrogant twat) and Mad Mens's Vincent Kartheiser.

What's not so great is it's predictable Robin Hood/Bonnie and Clyde plot and also it's lead Justin Timberlake. Now, so far, I've been a fan of Timberlake's movie work since he's wisely confined himself to lighter, more comedic roles to which he's perfectly suited. However, In Time requires something both deeper and tougher from the guy which he just can't deliver on. The next action superstar he is not. But in a year that's produced strong science fiction movies with the likes of Source Code, The Adjustment Bureau and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes it's a worthy companion piece.

Rom Com Bomb

There's got to be a darned good reason if I'm gonna watch an out and out romcom. Fortunately What's Your Number? has two...Anna Faris and Chris Evans. Both are under rated actors that have been in leading or supporting roles for years but haven't quite settled on the A-List, even though they have the range, looks and charisma to make it big time.

Unfortunately What's Your Number? isn't the movie to cement their talent in the minds of the general movie going public. It plays the romantic comedy rulebook step by step and, like a lot of comedies this year, doesn't exploit it's R-rating to the full. The other big complaint is that it rarely exploits its leads abilities to the fullest. Evans is roguish and charming and Faris is often goofy and out of her depth, but for two actors that can push roguish and goofy to far more entertaining extremes (Evans in Fantastic Four / Faris in House Bunny) this seems like a half arsed, wasted opportunity, probably watered down by a studio cutting off all the ruff edges.

The Curious Case Of The Hammy Detective

Nearly everything about Guy Richie's Sherlock Holmes sequel, A Game Of Shadows, is better than his 2009 original. The plot (a Bond-style yarn which sees Europe being maneuvered to the brink of war) has much more urgency, the villain is now more than a match for ol' Sherlock (virtually every encounter you're led to believe Holmes will lose)and the pace of the story (once it gets going) is much faster paced.

Technically it's stronger too. Guy Richie is let off the leash more often (although still not often enough if you ask me) and gets to play around with ultra-slow motion photography, ramped up frame speeds, split screen and all his usual box of tricks to sensational effect. This is particular showcased in an explosive escape sequence as our heroes are pummeled by artillery fire as they flee through a forest; it's pretty remarkable stuff and leaves you wanting more of the same as the film progresses. The look of the film is grittier and more contemporary, Hans Zimmer's score has more weight and is more robust in the action set-pieces, the effects first rate and the beautifully textured, highly detailed production design awards worthy. Even the cast, especially Stephen Fry as Holmes' amusingly care-free brother and Jared Harris as an intellectually imposing Professor Moriarty give this outing many more flavors than the first film offered.

However, where it falls down for me is it's star. Sherlock Holmes is obviously Downey's attempt at doing an eccentric hero in a period adventure film, much like Johnny Depp did with Pirates The Caribbean; both Depp and Downey get to arse around while everyone else plays it straight. The thing is, while Depp disappeared convincingly into Captain Jack making him feel like part of the world everybody else was living in Downey never really convinces as Sherlock. It's like it's not an eccentric detective but Robert Downey Jr being silly and putting on a foppish English accent. Therefore when he's doing his daft, pantomime shtick with Jude Law the movie grinds to a halt. When he adopts a more serious tone, the film shifts back into gear and the enjoyment begins again.

A rollicking adventure film that needs less arsing around from it's leading man and required even more arsing around by it's director.

You Go, We Go, Hugo

There is a small handful of kids films that are way too good for kids, either thematically or stylistically. Things like A Little Princess, Wall-E, E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial and The Iron Giant all have central characters that are kids, or are cute enough to appeal to kids, but are told in a way that communicates their subtext in a way that only a world wise adult would fully appreciate. Martin Scorsese’s Hugo also falls into that category with a mature, old fashioned style combined with rich thematic layers all wrapped up in a fast paced adventure yarn.

The performances are all strong, particularly Asa Butterfield as the title character and Sacha Baron Cohen in a comedic villain role which appears to have been hilariously ad libbed somewhat. However the story really belongs to Ben Kingsley’s Papa Georges and it’s his moving portrayal as the broken toy stall owner that adds real depth to proceedings. Technically the film is a marvel, especially from a production design standpoint, which is glorious in its combination of Victorian, Industrial and Gothic Parisian architecture.

But it’s the combination of this particular story with this particular director which makes the film such a joy. Scorsese has long been regarded one of the masters of cinema and is famous for constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation as he does here using digital image capture technology and 3D techniques for the first time.

Story wise, Hugo has a subtext which is essentially a love letter to cinema itself; how it was invented, how it’s made, its early history and the pioneers in front and behind the screen. Cleverly the director weaves iconic images from the silent cinema era with reinterpretations of similar images using all the flair that modern CGI and 3D can offer. It’s like Scorsese is saying “Hey guys, look at this! Isn’t the invention of cinema bloody marvellous and look what we can do these days. Pretty bloody great, huh?”…or something like that.

Clockwork is also a recurring image throughout Hugo, whether it’s the wind up toys in Kingsley’s shop, the mechanics of the Train Station’s clocks or the intricate metal mannequin that propels the plot forward. It’s all subtext for the inter-connectedness of people and life and how we all depend on each other. Like every cog in a clockwork mechanism must have purpose, it’s that search for purpose that provides the deepest emotional rewards in Hugo making the film a feel good family movie (but thankfully lacking in the irritating sentimentality that graced Spielberg's Twilight Zone for example).

A deeply satisfying film experience that's enhanced the bigger the fan of cinema you are.

A Soggie Moggie

Stephen King's films, whether original works like Maximum Overdrive or adapted novels like Pet Semetary, traditionally have ended up as being utter rubbish (unless directed by Frank Darabont, of course.) But there is enjoyment to be had out of these dubious horror tales whether it’s the good (Christine), the bad (anything by Mick Garris) or the average (Salem’s Lot…yeah, get over it, I don’t like it very much, never did, never will!)

One of those average mid 1980’s efforts is the anthology Cat’s Eye which takes three separate tales and links them by including a cat somewhere in each story. Each segment is quite distinctive from the other, each having a strong central concept, and is enlivened by some strong casting with James Woods, Kenneth McMillan and Drew Barrymore headlining the different chapters. The Woods segment, about a private anti-smoking clinic that goes to elaborate lengths to get its clients to give up tobacco, is the most memorable, the most twisted and the one with the best ending. The others lack the strong plotting and decent twist ending of Wood’s chapter but at least the final Barrymore segment is made more colourful with some great visual effects and a great Carlo Ramboldi creation.

Margin Call (Or How To Stop Worrying And Love The Financial Meltdown)

Margin Call has a bloody impressive cast, probably drawn by a script which handles the hot topic of “Wall Street Bankers Are Tossers, Aren’t They”. You’ve got your Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Stanley Tucci and Star Trek’s Zachary Quinto leading the charge with Demi Moore, Jeremy Irons, Martin Baker and Mary McDonnell bringing up the year in considerable style. It focuses on a small group of employees of a successful and powerful, 150 year old Wall Street Investment Firm during a 24 hour period on the brink of a major Financial System collapse (2008 springs to mind). While the film is riveting stuff, it’s very static, visually unremarkable and uncinematic to the point where you realise it’s basically a stage play.

If you’ve worked in a big business of any kind, you’ll spot the cutthroat management attitude immediately (Baker/Moore/Irons) as well as the unsuspecting guys at the bottom and the middle management who are trapped between their greed and their conscience (Tucci/Spacey). While there is some tension in the early section as Quinto gradually uncovers the meltdown that’s about to occur it’s traded in for a calmer, more apocalyptic atmosphere as they assess how big a shit is going to hit the fan...and whether the fan will, in fact, survive. Everybody involved in the cast delivers sterling work, especially Spacey as the morality torn manager, but it’s not remarkable enough on any other front to be a credible awards contender come year end.

Pearl Jam, Ram Jam, Thank You M'am

Having a documentary of one of the greatest bands of the last two decades directed by one of the most distinctive and talented film makers of the same period would seem to be a gift to music and film lovers around the world. But it’s not. Pearl Jam Twenty directed by Jerry MacGuire’s Cameron Crowe is an often fascinating and enjoyable look at one of the Grunge scene’s most enduring creative rock bands...but it’s oddly lacking something. Much of the early history of the band is captured in engrossing detail (it’s amazing how much home video footage there was of the band in the early 90;s). But when Pearl Jam’s later career is referenced, important information is tantalising mentioned with the conclusion of the situation ignored. Frustratingly it’s a cock tease with plenty of unresolved drama like the band bordering on splitting in the early noughties...but with no soul searching, pondering or answers as to what made them decide to stay the course and stick together.

Of course, information and drama be damned at the end of the day. This is Pearl Jam we’re talking about and the music, ranging from pre-formation Temple Of The Dog tracks to classics of the present day, is utterly stunning, and we thankfully learn a little bit about the genesis of some of their biggest hits.

A mixed bag then, made better by the music of it’s subject matter.

Inbetweeners = Split Your Spleeners

When it comes to populist, youth comedy I’m not always aware of what the cutting edge stuff is, usually catching up with it a couple of years later. A prime example is Channel 4’s hit series The Inbetweeners which follows the bungling attempts of four British High School misfits to fit in, get on and get laid. “Watch it”, people said, ”It’s totally your kind of thing” they’d taunt.
But no. I ignored them. And just like Spaced which I also ignored initially, it’s jolly funny stuff. Now there’s a movie spin-off of the property which see the lads go to a holiday resort for sex, sand and booze in their unquashable dweebish style.

And if you’re a fan of the series this is more of the same; underdog characters in socially embarrassing situations, crude sexual references, shit and vomit gags and lots of cute girls. That’s right, even if you’re not into the juvenile silliness there’s still pouty lipped, plumy Laura Haddock to admire seemingly auditioning for the next Tomb Raider movie.

The Inbetweeners Movie was a big hit in the UK and one of the funniest films I've seen this year (as long as you find shit hanging off someone’s nose amusing!)

Mission Impossible Woo

It might of made a tidy packet at the box office back in 2000, but Mission Impossible II is usually the franchise entry to get snobbily dismissed by audiences. "Unbelievable" is what they say of the hyper real style that famed Hong Kong director John Woo employs. "Corny" and "dumb" are also thrown about a lot when describing the more commercial and action orientated sequel.

I couldn't disagree more. Sure Woo’s earlier English language films didn’t quite hit the mark, Hard Target being far too shallow and trying to hard to be American bollocks, while Broken Arrow, while more polished, is too restrained to be great Woo. MI:2 gets the balance just right capturing Woo’s trademark mythic bullshit, all captured in beautiful, balletic slow motion and combining it with themes of personal identity, honour, and equals & opposites that litter much of his work (as well as a few white doves, obviously.)

The monster virus plot is pretty straightforward but it’s the love triangle between star Cruise, brilliant bad guy and renegade spy Dougrey Scott and the object of their lust, the never cuter and supremely plumy Thandie Newton. But it’s Woo who’s the star of the show; the sweeping dolly shots, the rhythmic, poetic editing, the borderline abstract slow motion, the two handed gun play, the dirt bikes in flight and more bullet squibs you can shake a stick at. It’s brilliant, and when combined with Hans Zimmer’s pounding, guitar driven rendition of the classic Mission Impossible theme it’s as though the sub-genre of Bullshit Action Movie has attained its apex (well, at least for a Western movie anyway). Brilliantly bollox!

December Pick N Mix

New Thing Aint No Thang

Well at least you can say that the 2011 version of The Thing is that it's not 'bad'. The problem is that the two version's that preceded it, Howard Hawks' The Thing From Another World from 1961 and John Carpenter's The Thing from 1982, are outright classics which makes any effort that doesn't measure up a complete letdown.

Much of the production has the same vibe about it that the recent Conan The Barbarian remake had which was this; the individual elements that make up the film are adequate but are inferior when compared with the original versions. The spanking new CGI 'things' are pretty good (apart from some dodgy, Scorpion King, ropey human faces) but not as good as Rob Bottin's prosthetic creations, Joel Edgerton's blunt helicopter pilot is OK but no Kurt Russell's McCready and the story, while sticking pretty close to the 1982 version, lacks the memorable scenes that makes it such a classic (instead of the blood test there's an equivalent scene that's devoid of suspense).

Of the cast only Mary Elizabeth Winstead emerges with any credit. With her drab 80's hair style, stern and direct attitude and shoulder slung flamethrower she's got the same vibe as Sigourney Weaver's Ripley did in 1979...but much cuter. Everybody else disappears into a forgettable stew of under written, American/Norwegian characters with little time to establish relationships, let alone job roles.

The biggest flaw is the move away from the psychological horror of Carpenter's film (which this film is most definitely a prequel) where the tension was created from paranoia and mistrust, to physical horror where the new 'thing' can barely be arsed to hide and just prowls the corridors for prey it can absorb and replicate. There's also some pretty illogical stuff going on here from the 'things' suicidal attack in a chopper to the way the crashed UFO is miraculously fit for flight again.

To top it off the climax just isn't, running out of steam with weak action and a so-called twist you can see coming 10 minutes away. There's no great ending either in the way that Carpenter's ended with the nihilistic "Let's wait awhile and see what happens" or Hawks ending of "Watch the skies". Just fade to black and a inter-credits coda linking this prequel to Carpenter's.

The 1982 version was shunned by critics and audiences at the time but has since become a classic. I can't see that happening with the 2011 version years from now.

Original Who Goes There Has Still Got Flair

It might be 60 years old but the Howard Hawks produced version of The Thing (From Another World) still rocks my world. Watching it, one can't help but compare it to John Carpenter's 1982 version, and see where Carpenter was influenced for his film, but also for stylistic touches in the rest of his body of work. There's the camaraderie of a group of men, the tough female, the isolated siege plot, the sci-fi/horror angle at the heart of the plot and the chilling ending.

Of course, much of it has dated. The interplay between the soldiers is a little old fashioned, as is the awkwardly formal flirtation between the hero and the gal on the Research Base. The monster (amusingly an eight foot tall vegetable man) is nothing more than a Frankensteins Monster clone and there's a rather static, stagy feel to the way it's shot (in rather cool, B-movie black and white).

But what still works, works really well. Dimitri Tiomkin's score is wonderfully menacing, there's a real sense of wonder and fear of the discovery that the explorers make (the scene where they realise the crashed craft is a round flying saucer is stunning), the geography of the base is better communicated than even Carpenter's version manages, the banter between the cast makes them memorable and endearing and there's a very real feeling of end-of-the-world urgency about the whole plot. The monster is seen very little which makes it all the more menacing and when it does show up, moody lighting and dramatic fire and lightning effects make things pretty frenzied.

Finally, along with the Carpenter film, this has one of the great endings to a movie ever as the news reporter radios back to the rest of the world with him ominous warning, Watch the skies!" Classic.

We Take The High Lane, The French Take The Low Lane

With nasty movies like Inside, Frontiers and Switchblade Romance leading the way it would seem the French have got their mojo together and started producing quality horror films. Worth checking out is Vertige, or High Lane in it's translated English language form, which is a cross between Deliverance and Cliffhanger. You know the drill...group of kids go hiking and encounter an axe wielding redneck. Death soon follows.

It's well shot, has an in-your-face realism which makes things more intense, there's some character conflict withing the group which spices things up and there's lashings of blood to keep gore hounds fixated. Also, like Neil Marshall's The Descent, there's a great deal of suspense wrung from the perils of mountaineering as well as the bloodthirsty nutter on the loose. It's nothing original but it is tense, raw and gripping.

The Warriors Way Or The Highway, I Say

If Bunraku is a lesson in not how to produce a hyper-stylised, Western/Chinese, comic book mash-up then The Warrior's Way is the proof that the concept can indeed work. A revisionist Western, it has Chinese master swordsman, Dong Gun Jang, flee to America to save the life of an infant who his clan has sworn to kill. Living the quite life (Clint Unforgiven style) in a rundown township of ex-circus performers it isn't long before he's forced to return to his old fighting ways.

The Warrior's Way is ultra cool, great looking with memorable action, characters and moments. Painted with a similar CGI brush that 300 was blessed with it allows for some super human swordplay, gunfights and battles. Kate Bosworth makes up for her shabby Lois Lane with a spirited turn as a vengeful local girl, Danny Huston delivers his villain masterclass once again and Geoffrey Rush is both quirky and cool in a role that's much smaller than the star billing would suggest. This was largely ignore on it's US release. Hopefully, overtime, that will change.

The Upside Of The Change Up

It has not been a good year for film comedy. 2011 was supposed to herald the triumphant return of R Rated comedies to Hollywood studio release schedules when, somewhere along the line, turds like Bad Teacher, Horrible Bosses and the ugly Hangover Part 2 completely cussed it up. So with poor reviews and disappointing box office returns in the US signaling its arrival, I didn't have a great deal of enthusiasm going into The Change Up. Which was quite nice because the film kicks is hefty boot square in the comedy testicles.

The Change Up revives that eighties high concept of the body swap; two people with totally different lives swap bodies, love it for a bit and then discover that they liked who they used to be and find out something about themselves and each other in the process. Simples. It stars two of my favorite comic actors, Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds, who are finally given a script and a director (The Wedding Crashers David Dobkin) that can do their sizable talents justice. Both are excellent as their own characters and as each other when the body swap occurs...but it's Reynolds playing the lazy slob that amuses the most. It's crude, sweary and full of boobage but Dobkin makes it all feel rather nice and lovely too...sort of without the rough edges of a Kevin Smith or Judd Apatow film.

Add to that you've got the exquisite Olivia Wilde in a supporting romantic role who confirms the seductive and cheeky star status Tron Legacy promised last year. Yes, it's the same old shit, but isn't it always? There's elements of romcom in it's tired body swap premise but, hey, wasn't Airplane! a romance at heart too?
Thank you Universal Studios. Thanks to you I haven't given up on the R Rated comedy just yet.

5 Days Of Bore

Ah, the highs and lows of Renny Harlin's career. He came from humble Finish roots to America directing low budget horror movies like Prison and Nightmare On Elm Street 4 before going on to direct mega budget epics like Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger and Cutthroat Island. After royally screwing the pooch a decade ago with Stallone starrer Driven, Harlin returned to his smaller budget roots with the likes of the dumb (Mindhunters), the dumber (The Covenant) and the dumbest (Exorcist 4).

With 5 Days Of War, Harlin attempts to get his mojo back with an action drama that relives the Invasion of Georgia back in the summer of 2008. Told mainly from the viewpoint of a pair of independent TV journalists, it's a critique of the apathy of the international political and media community who were much more interested in showing the opening ceremony of the Chinese Olympics than the inhumane atrocities that were occurring at the same time. The film is certainly big in scales with tanks, attack choppers and battalions of troops filling the screens on occasion in authentic rubble strewn locations.

But the script and the cast are often quite lacking. Despite the invasion that forms the background to the plot, the drama is rarely gripping. It's not helped by the casting of Rupert Friend (where the cuss did they find this stiff) as the lead journalist and Emanuele Chriqui as a local Georgian girl he's determined to see to safety. Fortunately the supporting cast are up to some heavy lifting with Richard Coyle, Heather Graham, Andy Garcia and Fatty Fat Fat Kilmer all great in their roles.

Harlin still hasn't lost his touch for composing a striking image or a strong action sequence but in an attempt to remain relevant he's sacrificed a lot of his trademark visual style for a more contemporary and predictable hand held feel. That technique might go hand in hand with the video journalists of the script and the more serious nature of the story but one can't help but wish for the high octane bullshit of his past triumphs. Worthy but annoyingly dull.

Hanks Retains The Crowne

Larry Crowne appears to be a movie willing it's audience not to like it. Co-written and directed by Tom Hanks it's a slight tale of a divorced man having to completely reinvent his life when he's made redundant. It's a comedy drama where the comedy isn't broad and the drama isn't very powerful and for a while, in the early parts of the film, reaching for the remote control's off button is a serious option.

But along the way something happens. You begin to care. About Larry, about Ms Tainot his constantly pissy Community College teacher and about the friends he meets. And by the end you realise you actually get a kick from this low key, old fashioned, horribly nice and decent little movie. What you in fact realise is that you've been watching is Tom Hank's version of a Cameron Crowe movie...a poor man's Jerry MacGuire, if you like, and that's no bad thing.

Tom Hanks, as Larry, plays on his nicest guy in the world persona, and proves to the world why he's the best at this kind of thing. Julia Roberts, as his teacher, has fun stomping around in a strop before, she too, activates her star wattage that we've come to know and love. In fact Hanks gets great performances out of all his actors from Cedric The Entertainer to Bryan Cranston as Robers porn obsessed husband...but there's two actors that really shine here.

The first is Star Trek legend George Takai in a cameo as Hank's economics professor and is clearly relishing the opportunity to flex his comedy muscles. The second is British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw (from the BBC's Doctor Who and JJ Abrams' failed TV series Undercovers) who wows as Larry's guide and inspiration in his new college life. Like Rosario Dawson in Clerks 2, Anne Hathaway in Princess Diaries, Sandra Bullock in Speed, Rachel McAdams in The Wedding Crashers or Julia Roberts herself in Pretty Woman, here is an actress that exudes youth, sex appeal, charisma, energy, charm, a girl next door quality mixed with that indefinable x-factor. Here is a movie star in the making, mark my words.

Larry Crowne might be a slight movie, but it's warm, immensely likable and lots of fun.