Second half
Jan. 2nd, 2010 12:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rich_jackoFollowing on from the first half, here's a round-up of the films I saw over the last six months of 2009:
2012 - Every disaster movie cliche in the book and more cheese than a mountain of pizza, but it's all done with tongue firmly in cheek and gleeful destruction on an epic scale. The sequence with a limo outrunning an earthquake as LA implodes around it was worth the ticket price alone. ***
9 - Sackcloth dolls come to life in a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with giant killer robots. As cool as it sounds. ***
Adventureland - Teen romantic comedy set in an amusement park in the '80s. Better than it sounds, thanks to a likeable cast and a realistic depiction of the awkward immaturity of teenagers and the crappiness of summer jobs. ***
Aliens in the Attic - By-the-numbers kids' flick. Remote-controlling people via joypads is funny, and provides plenty of amusing slapstick, but otherwise this is fairly forgettable. **
Avatar 3D - Intellectually I know this doesn't deserve five stars, but it's oh so pretty, and action-packed, and full of Jim Cameron doing what Jim Cameron does best, and here's a full review I did earlier. *****
Creation - Paul Bettany plays Charles Darwin, surrounded by moronic atheists who want to use his book to kill religion and moronic Christians who see it as blasphemy. The Darwin family are well-rounded characters but the rest of the cast come across as just, well, moronic. ***
District 9 - Humans as the baddies in alien movies seemed to be a theme for 2009. However, this documentary-style (which for once doesn't just mean shaky camera-work) film is unique. Never has sci-fi been so good at suspending disbelief. Everything feels real. You suspect this is exactly how the human race would react in this kind of situation, and it ain't pretty. *****
District 13 - Not a new film, but one I hadn't seen before![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kaickul put it on at The Showroom this year. Essentially a French Jackie Chan movie: ridiculous gangsters, a nuclear bomb, and lots of jumping off things. Silly fun. ***
Enter the Dragon - Another oldie I'd somehow never seen before. I suppose I should be more generous as this set the template for so many later films, but by today's standards it really isn't anything special. An OTT Bond villain makes it entertaining enough. ***
Fantastic Mr Fox - A bit too Americanised, but hey, it's stil a Roald Dahl story; it's got wit and charm; and it's nice to see studios still using stop-motion animation. **
The Hangover - A stag weekend in Vegas goes horribly wrong, as the group of guys wake up the next morning to find the hotel suite trashed, the keys to a car that isn't theirs, a baby in the cupboard and a tiger in the bathroom. Gradually they piece together what happened. Every gag is perfectly set up and perfectly told. I haven't laughed so much at a film in ages. Genius. *****
Harry Brown - Billed as the British version of Gran Turino, with Michael Caine as the old grouch taking a stand against young thugs. But where Eastwood's film had warmth as he gradually learnt to relate to his neighbours, there's none of that here. Caine is very good and the film is well-made, but it's just far too downbeat and depressing to be enjoyable. **
Ice Age 3 3D - Ice Age is still fun, especially thanks (as always) to the poor, tortured soul that is Scrat. The addition of Simon Pegg works well, plus you can't really go wrong with dinosaurs. But the franchise is wearing a bit thin now. **
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Mostly famous for being Heath Ledger's last role. His character turns into Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell at various points so that the film could get finished. That this seems perfectly normal tells you how bonkers the rest of the film is. Good though. ****
Inglourious Basterds - Tarantino back on form. The story (two parallel attempts to assasinate Hitler) is a little thin for the running time, but as always with QT the joy is in the dialogue and in the tense face-to-face confrontations. ****
Law Abiding Citizen - Gerrard Butler as a vigilante killer and Jamie Foxx as the guy trying to stop him. The tricky moral questions would have worked better if we'd got to see the full impact of Butler's character's actions. As it is, one excellent courtroom scene and a genuine "made you jump" moment are all that stands out. **
The Men Who Stare At Goats - The supposedly true story of the US military's dalliance with hippyism and psychic powers. Feels like a Coen Brothers film but isn't (though I'm sure George Clooney and Jeff Bridges have just wandered in from one). Some fanboy amusement to be had from Ewan McGregor's Jedi dialogue. ***
Moon - Clever sci-fi story that loses steam a bit after the big twist is revealed. A bit slow but worth a watch. ***
My Sister's Keeper - The pitch for this (girl - conceived to be a doner for her elder sister - sues family for medical emancipation) sounded corny, but it turned out to be a mature, complex and involving story about a family gradually being torn apart by cancer. Recommended. ****
Ong-Bak: The Beginning - aka "Tony Jaa Beats Up Everyone". That's pretty much all that happens. You don't have to read many subtitles. Ends unexpectedly quickly. **
Orphan - Creepy moppet story that's all the more disturbing because it doesn't (for the most part) go over-the-top or silly. Much better than I expected it to be. ****
Public Enemies - Johnny Depp and Christian Bale go head-to-head in Michael Mann's latest crime epic. A bit soulless as we never get to understand any of the characters in any depth. **
Sin Nombre - The story of disparate groups trying to sneak across Mexico to escape to the US. The look and feel, plus gangsters and young love, are all reminiscent of Cidade de Deus. This isn't as brilliant as that, but it's still pretty good. ***
The Soloist - The true story of a homeless street musician and the journalist who befriends him. Good performances from Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr, but the overall impression I got was that everyone behind the film was trying too hard to be Oscar-worthy. I found that really distracting. **
Up 3D - It's a sign of how high Pixar have set the bar that I feel slightly let down when they make a movie that is merely very good indeed. Not as awesome as The Incredibles or WALL-E, but a charming little adventure nontheless. Special mention for the talking dogs and the "Collar of Shame"! ****
Where The Wild Things Are - A whimsical tale about learning to play nice. The Jim Henson creatures are great, and bits of it are fun. Overall though, there's just not enough going on to fill a whole film. Disappointing. **
Zombieland - A fun film about killing zombies by the rulebook, one boy's coming of age, and one man's search for twinkies. A cameo from a certain star steals the show. ***
All-in-all, the second half's films were much more average than the first. There was nothing quite as brilliant as Låt Den Rätte Komma In, but then there was nothing anywhere near as abysmal as Revenge Of The Fallen either.
On the subject of films, does anyone fancy going to see either Sherlock Holmes or Avatar 3D with me some time next week? (Yes, I've already seen the latter, but I want to watch it again, okay?) I think my regular movie buddieslittlejenny123 and grok_mctanys have already seen them.
2012 - Every disaster movie cliche in the book and more cheese than a mountain of pizza, but it's all done with tongue firmly in cheek and gleeful destruction on an epic scale. The sequence with a limo outrunning an earthquake as LA implodes around it was worth the ticket price alone. ***
9 - Sackcloth dolls come to life in a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with giant killer robots. As cool as it sounds. ***
Adventureland - Teen romantic comedy set in an amusement park in the '80s. Better than it sounds, thanks to a likeable cast and a realistic depiction of the awkward immaturity of teenagers and the crappiness of summer jobs. ***
Aliens in the Attic - By-the-numbers kids' flick. Remote-controlling people via joypads is funny, and provides plenty of amusing slapstick, but otherwise this is fairly forgettable. **
Avatar 3D - Intellectually I know this doesn't deserve five stars, but it's oh so pretty, and action-packed, and full of Jim Cameron doing what Jim Cameron does best, and here's a full review I did earlier. *****
Creation - Paul Bettany plays Charles Darwin, surrounded by moronic atheists who want to use his book to kill religion and moronic Christians who see it as blasphemy. The Darwin family are well-rounded characters but the rest of the cast come across as just, well, moronic. ***
District 9 - Humans as the baddies in alien movies seemed to be a theme for 2009. However, this documentary-style (which for once doesn't just mean shaky camera-work) film is unique. Never has sci-fi been so good at suspending disbelief. Everything feels real. You suspect this is exactly how the human race would react in this kind of situation, and it ain't pretty. *****
District 13 - Not a new film, but one I hadn't seen before
kaickul put it on at The Showroom this year. Essentially a French Jackie Chan movie: ridiculous gangsters, a nuclear bomb, and lots of jumping off things. Silly fun. ***Enter the Dragon - Another oldie I'd somehow never seen before. I suppose I should be more generous as this set the template for so many later films, but by today's standards it really isn't anything special. An OTT Bond villain makes it entertaining enough. ***
Fantastic Mr Fox - A bit too Americanised, but hey, it's stil a Roald Dahl story; it's got wit and charm; and it's nice to see studios still using stop-motion animation. **
The Hangover - A stag weekend in Vegas goes horribly wrong, as the group of guys wake up the next morning to find the hotel suite trashed, the keys to a car that isn't theirs, a baby in the cupboard and a tiger in the bathroom. Gradually they piece together what happened. Every gag is perfectly set up and perfectly told. I haven't laughed so much at a film in ages. Genius. *****
Harry Brown - Billed as the British version of Gran Turino, with Michael Caine as the old grouch taking a stand against young thugs. But where Eastwood's film had warmth as he gradually learnt to relate to his neighbours, there's none of that here. Caine is very good and the film is well-made, but it's just far too downbeat and depressing to be enjoyable. **
Ice Age 3 3D - Ice Age is still fun, especially thanks (as always) to the poor, tortured soul that is Scrat. The addition of Simon Pegg works well, plus you can't really go wrong with dinosaurs. But the franchise is wearing a bit thin now. **
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Mostly famous for being Heath Ledger's last role. His character turns into Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell at various points so that the film could get finished. That this seems perfectly normal tells you how bonkers the rest of the film is. Good though. ****
Inglourious Basterds - Tarantino back on form. The story (two parallel attempts to assasinate Hitler) is a little thin for the running time, but as always with QT the joy is in the dialogue and in the tense face-to-face confrontations. ****
Law Abiding Citizen - Gerrard Butler as a vigilante killer and Jamie Foxx as the guy trying to stop him. The tricky moral questions would have worked better if we'd got to see the full impact of Butler's character's actions. As it is, one excellent courtroom scene and a genuine "made you jump" moment are all that stands out. **
The Men Who Stare At Goats - The supposedly true story of the US military's dalliance with hippyism and psychic powers. Feels like a Coen Brothers film but isn't (though I'm sure George Clooney and Jeff Bridges have just wandered in from one). Some fanboy amusement to be had from Ewan McGregor's Jedi dialogue. ***
Moon - Clever sci-fi story that loses steam a bit after the big twist is revealed. A bit slow but worth a watch. ***
My Sister's Keeper - The pitch for this (girl - conceived to be a doner for her elder sister - sues family for medical emancipation) sounded corny, but it turned out to be a mature, complex and involving story about a family gradually being torn apart by cancer. Recommended. ****
Ong-Bak: The Beginning - aka "Tony Jaa Beats Up Everyone". That's pretty much all that happens. You don't have to read many subtitles. Ends unexpectedly quickly. **
Orphan - Creepy moppet story that's all the more disturbing because it doesn't (for the most part) go over-the-top or silly. Much better than I expected it to be. ****
Public Enemies - Johnny Depp and Christian Bale go head-to-head in Michael Mann's latest crime epic. A bit soulless as we never get to understand any of the characters in any depth. **
Sin Nombre - The story of disparate groups trying to sneak across Mexico to escape to the US. The look and feel, plus gangsters and young love, are all reminiscent of Cidade de Deus. This isn't as brilliant as that, but it's still pretty good. ***
The Soloist - The true story of a homeless street musician and the journalist who befriends him. Good performances from Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr, but the overall impression I got was that everyone behind the film was trying too hard to be Oscar-worthy. I found that really distracting. **
Up 3D - It's a sign of how high Pixar have set the bar that I feel slightly let down when they make a movie that is merely very good indeed. Not as awesome as The Incredibles or WALL-E, but a charming little adventure nontheless. Special mention for the talking dogs and the "Collar of Shame"! ****
Where The Wild Things Are - A whimsical tale about learning to play nice. The Jim Henson creatures are great, and bits of it are fun. Overall though, there's just not enough going on to fill a whole film. Disappointing. **
Zombieland - A fun film about killing zombies by the rulebook, one boy's coming of age, and one man's search for twinkies. A cameo from a certain star steals the show. ***
All-in-all, the second half's films were much more average than the first. There was nothing quite as brilliant as Låt Den Rätte Komma In, but then there was nothing anywhere near as abysmal as Revenge Of The Fallen either.
On the subject of films, does anyone fancy going to see either Sherlock Holmes or Avatar 3D with me some time next week? (Yes, I've already seen the latter, but I want to watch it again, okay?) I think my regular movie buddies
littlejenny123 and grok_mctanys have already seen them.
