Saturday 28 February 2009

No Reservations (2007)

[Movie 96 / Day 59]

Romcom set in a professional kitchen. Catherine Zeta Jones is fairly bland. Aaron Eckhart is as good as he is in every movie of his I've seen so far.

It's an entirely unoffensive, totally predictable story, yet it's enjoyable enough.

My rating: 6.2 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.3 / 10
Running time: 104 mins
IMDB link

Appaloosa (2008)

[Movie 95 / Day 59]


Ed Harris directs and stars in this western. It starts off brilliantly, Ed Harris's character is a total bad-ass and Viggo Mortensen sports a marvelous moustache. However, it seems to bog down in sub-plots and actually gets a bit boring in places.

Uncouth I may be, but I was left hoping for much more in the way of shoot outs.

Still, it's pretty good.

My rating: 6.2 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.9 / 10
Running time: 115 mins
IMDB link

Friday 27 February 2009

Stargate (1994)

[Movie 94 / Day 58]


Whilst excavating a site in Egypt in the 1920s, a strange circle covered in symbols is discovered. Fast forward many years and scientists are still trying to work out what the symbols mean. Until the old lady in charge of the project recruits Dr Daniel Jackson (James Spader), who is laughed at in his lectures because of his wacky theories.

Within a few days, Jackson has worked out the meaning of all the symbols and discovered that the big circle thing is a gate to another dimension.

Obviously, the sensible thing to do is to send a bunch of hard-nosed soldiers through, led by Colonel Jack O'Neil (Kurt Russell, sporting the flattest flat top I've ever seen).

On the other side, we discover that the Egyptians were enslaved by Ra, a being that they thought was a god but turns out is an alien that was trying to find a way to live for ever.

Give it a few hours and our team of intrepid explorers has discovered a civilisation, thanks largely to a big hairy animal that looks like it has a face full of Botox. A couple of hours after that, clever Dr Jackson is conversing with them (despite declaring that they speak a language that has been 'dead' for over 1000 years). The next day, Ra rocks up, all angry that someone has dared open his precious gate up again. He comes sporting a terrific pyramid shaped space ship and some fancy guards, complete with mighty morphin' head pieces and laser guns - not to mention his personal collection of freaky kids.

Whilst Colonel Jack is looking all moody and teaching kids not to play with guns (strangely, he actively encourages them to smoke, however), that sly old dog Doc Jackson has gone and got married.

Unfortunately, they can't return to Earth because there's a symbol missing from the 2nd stargate. Thanks to an amazing stroke of luck however, Dr Jackson discovers the missing symbol - when one of the young lads draws it on a cave wall, despite us being told that they Ra banned them from learning to read or write.

Obviously, the badass Colonel attacks the flying pyramid. And gets captured. But it's OK, because the plucky kids have found the special forces secret stash of weaponry and within minutes are fully tooled up like a gang of dreadlocked mini-Rambos.

A few scuffles ensue, during which Ra's eyes have a habit of glowing white, before the good guys win by beaming a nuke on board Ra's spaceship when he does a runner.

Roland Emerich directed it and a couple of years later did the big budget Will Smith sci-fi actioner Independance Day. It seems like he reused bits of the Stargate score, as they seem very similar in places.

Anyway, it's ridiculous and makes for an average sci-fi actioner.

My rating: 6.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.7 / 10
Running time: 121 mins
IMDB link

Burn After Reading (2008)

[Movie -- / Day 58]

Almost as good on the second viewing as the first.

My rating: 7.8 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.4 / 10
Running time: 96 mins
IMDB link

Tuesday 24 February 2009

Batman (1989)

[Movie 93 / Day 55]


With Tim Burton at the helm, Batman went from being the campy, colourful TV series full of silly dialogue ("Holy horseshoe, Batman!" etc) of the 60s to a dark, malevolant beast set in a murky Gotham - in one respect closer to the comic book Batman than ever.

Whilst this movie has it's detractors (some say Michael Keaton doesn't cut it as a millionaire playboy - they're missing the point however, he's not portrayed as a millionaire playboy, unlike the Nolan/Bale version, he's being shown as a millionaire recluse; a role Keaton is perfect for), I love this portrayal of Bats. Burton managed to simultaneously make Gotham a horrible, dank place and still inject the movie with comic book colour and style.

Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker is also fantastic - both darkly comic and gloriously over the top. Again, people that compare this Joker to Heath Ledger's version (from The Dark Knight) are missing the point - they're uncomparable, coming from different eras and different visions of the Batman universe. Whilst they're both awesome, Ledger takes the win IMO.

When this movie came out, it put the comic book movie on the map, and it still holds up well today - especially considering it's now 20 years old.

I love it.

My rating: 8.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.6 / 10
Running time: 126 mins
IMDB link

Monday 23 February 2009

The Wrestler (2008)

[Movie 92 / Day 54]


Mickey Rourke is fantastic in this, possibly because the story has parallels to his own life and as such it may not have been stretching his acting skills. Having said that however, The Wrestler is an interesting story of an 80s wrestling legend who is determined to hang on to his past glories rather than accept that time moves on. Thanks at least in part to Rourke's performance, the movie almost feels like a documentary - we're not watching Mickey Rourke on screen, we're watching Randy 'The Ram' Robinson.

It's good, but not as good as some critics would have you think.

My rating: 7.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.5 / 10
Running time: 115 mins
IMDB link

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)

[Movie 91 / Day 54]


Terry Gilliam fantasy about Baron Munchausen, who sets off on a voyage to gather his servants in order to save a town from invading Turks. Lots and lots of 'names' in it, lots and lots of crazy imagery (a trip to the moon in a hot air balloon to see the King of Everything, a fish the size of an island, a flying horse, etc)...

Even though it's pretty surreal, it's also fun to watch and I enjoyed it a fair amount. Except for the appearance of another abysmal Jonathan Pryce accent.

My rating: 7.1 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.0 / 10
Running time: 126 mins
IMDB link

Sunday 22 February 2009

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

[Movie 90 / Day 53]


Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of a boy from the slums of Mumbai who wins the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. As the programme finishes with him one question away from winning 20 million Rupees, he is arrested on suspicion of cheating. The film is made up of flashbacks of his life, showing the hardships that are indelibly printed in his memory - and also how an uneducated 'slumdog' could possibly know the answers.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this (Although I generally like Danny Boyle's films, 2007's Sunshine was terrible and had put me off a bit), however, an original plot and an excellent cast make this a wonderful movie and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

My rating: 8.4 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.7 / 10
Running time: 120 mins
IMDB link

Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix (2007)

[Movie 89 / Day 53]


This animated Ben 10 movie is much better than its live action counterpart. Ben Tennyson is your average schoolkid, except he wears a device on his wrist, called the Omnitrix, that allows him to shapeshift into 10 different aliens. He uses this device to fight evil, as you would.

During one of his crime fighting adventures, he inadvertantly puts the Omnitrix into self-destruct mode. The rest of the movie is spent tracking down the alien that made the thing so he can stop it - apparently nobody else in the galaxy knows how to use it properly.

It's OK. Wouldn't recommend it unless you're a small boy that loves watching Ben 10 anyway.

My rating: 5.5 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.3 / 10
Running time: 74 mins
IMDB link

Ben 10: Race Against Time (2007)

[Movie 88 / Day 53]


Live action version of the popular kids cartoon. It's terrible.

My rating: 3.3 / 10
IMDB rating: 4.8 / 10
Running time: 72 mins
IMDB link

Saturday 21 February 2009

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

[Movie 87 / Day 52]


Enjoyable enough sequel. The penguins steal the show.

My rating: 6.3 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.0 / 10
Running time: 89 mins
IMDB link

Bolt (2008)

[Movie 86 / Day 52]


Bolt the superdog is a character in a TV show. Unfortunately, the dog that plays Bolt hasn't been told and thinks that he actually has super powers. When he escapes from the studio, he is on a mission to rescue Penny, the little girl in the TV show.

It's OK, but lacks humour for adults. Some bits are nicely done and Rhino the hamster is a brilliant character. The kids enjoyed it lots though.

My rating: 6.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.6 / 10
Running time: 103 mins
IMDB link

Friday 20 February 2009

The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008)

[Movie 85 / Day 51]


Terrible dialogue. Hideous CGI. Insipid plot. Don't bother with this unless you're being threatened with testicle-based torture. And give serious thought to taking the testicle-based torture before watching it, as it's possibly less painful.

My rating: 3.6 / 10
IMDB rating: 3.8 / 10
Running time: 109 mins
IMDB link

Gran Torino (2008)

[Movie 84 / Day 51]


Clint Eastwood stars in this unexpectedly moving story as a gruff Korean War veteran that, despite his racism, befriends a Hmong teenager that tries to steal his beloved 1972 Gran Torino.

Eastwood is brilliant, although I thought the racism went a bit too far - yes, the character refers to Asians as 'gooks' and black people as 'spades' and that is part of who Walt Kowalski is, but sometimes it felt almost like they were throwing in racist insults because they could. I have no problem with racism being depicted in movies, especially when it's integral to the story, but a couple of times it just felt wrong in this.

Still, very enjoyable, if a sad, bittersweet ending.

Apparently, Eastwood has said this will be his last film as an actor. If true, it's a real shame as he's still got it. Still, presumably he will continue to direct and hopefully he'll be tempted back at some point.

My rating: 8.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.4 / 10
Running time: 116 mins
IMDB link

Thursday 19 February 2009

Tropic Thunder (2008)

[Movie 83 / Day 50]


More inane fun - props to Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr though, for me, they were stand out.

My rating: 6.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.3 / 10
Running time: 107 mins
IMDB link

Step Brothers (2008)

[Movie 82 / Day 50]


Inane fun with a couple of genuinely funny moments.

My rating: 6.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.8 / 10
Running time: 98 mins
IMDB link

Wednesday 18 February 2009

Mississippi Burning (1988)

[Movie 81 / Day 49]


Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe are two FBI agents with very different personalities that head the investigation into the disappearance of three voting rights activists from a small town in Mississippi.

Before long, they're fighting with the KKK and struggling to make a case in a town where nobody wants to speak out.

It's a pretty good film and well acted.

My rating: 7.4 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.7 / 10
Running time: 128 mins
IMDB link

Tuesday 17 February 2009

Semi-Pro (2008)

[Movie 80 / Day 48]


Will Ferrell is Jackie Moon, the owner / player / coach of the Flint Michegan Tropics. He has to get his basketball team of misfits into 4th place in order to take advantage of a merger deal with the NBA. Comedy ensues. Mostly. Some funny bits, anyway.

My rating: 5.7 / 10
IMDB rating: 5.7 / 10
Running time: 99 mins
IMDB link

Monday 16 February 2009

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

[Movie 79 / Day 47]


For pure enjoyment, the National Treasure movies are hard to beat. It's like Indiana Jones met The Da Vinci Code in a dirty bar, had a knee-trembler in the back alley by the dustbins and 9 months later, Nicolas Cage was cast as a treasure hunter extraordinaire.

Following on from the first movie, Book of Secrets deals with another hidden treasure, this time a Native American 'City of Gold'. Cage has to clear his great-great-(great?)-grandfather's name and in order to do this, has to find the fabled City to prove his ancestor was a stand up guy after all. In the course of the hunt, we visit Paris, break into Buckingham Palace and the Oval Office and kidnap the president.

All of the original cast return and we get a shiny new bad guy in the gruff form of Ed Harris.

It's nothing special, and yes there are bits that stretch the suspension of disbelief you need for a movie like this (mostly technical things in my case, like a traffic camera taking a massively high resolution picture, or the zoom on the model helicopter). Having said that, it's much, much better than Indy 4 and it's one of those movies that's just fun to watch. I hope they make a third (and they left it open for one with the mysterious 'Page 47' chat with the president).

It's a pity that George Lucas didn't sit down and watch the National Treasures before he sat down and ruined the Indiana Jones movies.

My rating: 7.1 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.6 / 10
Running time: 124 mins
IMDB link

Sunday 15 February 2009

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

[Movie 78 / Day 46]


A few really fun set pieces (car chase, motorbike chase, jumping off a big building etc). Brosnan is pretty good as Bond and it hasn't dated quite as badly as Goldeneye (yet). Michelle Yeoh is also pretty good.

The thing that annoys most is the baddies. Jonathan Pryce is a TERRIBLE super-villain, he just seems like he can't be bothered with the role - you'd think he'd never seen a keyboard in his life from watching the way he pretends to type, he literally just slaps the keyboard like a mong. Every time I see it I find it massively annoying - how much effort would it have taken to actually make it look like he was typing? The guy that plays henchman Stamper is OK, but Stamper himself looks and sounds like a member of a German Take That tribute band.

Still, it's not a bad movie, if you can put up with Pryce.

My rating: 6.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.4 / 10
Running time: 119 mins
IMDB link

Saturday 14 February 2009

Burn After Reading (2008)

[Movie 77 / Day 45]


The new Coen brothers movie is an excellent tale of deception and paranoia. It's too complicated a story to describe now, I've drunk far too much, but suffice it to say, it's brilliant.

I especially loved George Clooney and John Malkovich, both of whom were excellent.

Far more enjoyable than No Country For Old Men (which was pretty good), this has a fair amount of comedy in it (like Oh Brother Where Art Thou).

My rating: 8.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.4 / 10
Running time: 96 mins
IMDB link

Juno (2007)

[Movie 76 / Day 45]


A story about a 16 year old girl who gets herself pregnant and decides to give the baby up for adoption to a couple who can't have children.

It's nice.

My rating: 7.7 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.0 / 10
Running time: 96 mins
IMDB link

Open Season 2 (2008)

[Movie 75 / Day 45]


This straight to video sequel features none of the big names in the original, none of the originality and little of the humour. Still, the kids seemed to like it.

My rating: 4.5 / 10
IMDB rating: 5.6 / 10
Running time: 76 mins
IMDB link

Friday 13 February 2009

Speed (1994)

[Movie 74 / Day 44]


A maniac has planted a bomb on a bus in order to hold the passengers to ransom. He is also trying to exact revenge on LAPD Officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves). Once the bus travels above 50mph, the bomb is armed. If it drops back below 50, the bomb explodes.

Cue lots of exciting sequences featuring predicaments that would, in real life, easily knock the speed of the bus below 50. Still, it's a fun ride while it lasts - and when it came out back in 1994, it was an unusual setting for a hostage situation.

There are a couple of scenes that suffer from that horrible, horrible way of making a vehicle appear to be moving faster than it is - speeding the film up. The worst scene for this is one with a flatbed lorry in the background with lots of police officers standing on the back. The bus in the foreground is noticably sped up, but the people in the background are jerking and twitching like they're being electrocuted. There's also a long shot where the bus is moving much faster than the police car in front of it and it noticably hits the brakes.

Still, switch your mind off and just enjoy it for what it is, a no-brainer action movie, and it's all good.

My rating: 6.8 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.2 / 10
Running time: 116 mins
IMDB link

Thursday 12 February 2009

Rashômon (1950)

[Movie 73 / Day 43]


I can see why it's critically acclaimed, but I was in totally the wrong mood for this tonight. I nodded off a couple of times, thanks to there being long periods with no dialogue at all, in fact, there are several bits with no sound at all - often closely followed by maniacal laughing or a woman's scream. That woke me up a bit.

Maybe I'll give it another go someday, but not for some time.

My rating: 6.2 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.5 / 10
Running time: 88 mins
IMDB link

Goldfinger (1964)

[Movie 72 / Day 43]


This is another of my favourite Bond movies. Sean Connery has relaxed into the role and is looking ultra-cool. It introduces THE Bond car, the Aston Martin DB5, along with its gadgets and tricks. It shows us the inside of Q's workshop for the first time, and reveals some of the tests undertaken there. Auric Goldfinger is an excellent baddie with one of the best lines ever ("Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die!") and Oddjob is probably the best sidekick ever - I mean, the guy throws a hat. All of this and Honor Blackman's husky voiced Pussy Galore?

It's ace.

My rating: 7.2 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.9 / 10
Running time: 110 mins
IMDB link

Wednesday 11 February 2009

This is England (2006)

[Movie 71 / Day 42]


Set in 1983, This is England follows Shaun, a 12-year old boy who's father died in the Falklands war. One day, walking home from school, he meets a group of skinheads who adopt him into their group and treat him as an equal, leading to him becoming friends with them and consequently drawn further into the skinhead lifestyle - away from the clothes and haircut and more into the racism and vandalism.

It's grim, it's depressing - yet there is a lot of imagery I recognise from growing up in 80s Britain, and a lot of the same attitudes. Which is kind of depressing in itself. A coming of age story that's firmly grounded in the harsh realities of life, it's a good movie - just don't expect to feel good after watching it.

It's the first Shane Meadows movie I've seen - but I'm going to make sure I dig out more of his back catalogue.

My rating: 8.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.9 / 10
Running time: 101 mins
IMDB link

Live and Let Die (1973)

[Movie 70 / Day 42]


This is one of my favourite 'classic' Bond movies. It was Roger Moore's first outing as the British super-spy, and EON Productions seem to have pulled out all the stops to make it a good one. Yes, there is some one-liners in there, and yes, the storyline is a bit silly - but it also features several classic Bond set-pieces; like the double-decker bus chase (hand brake turning a bus is cool), the speed-boat chase (including jumping across the road and 'driving' across dry land several times), the taxiing aeroplane chase and the running across crocodiles stunt.

On top of all of that, Moore is probably at his coolest (although he can't come close to Sean Connery at the height of his powers) and it features one of the baddest of bad ass baddies, Baron Samedi. Not to mention the best Bond theme tune ever.

'Tis ace.

My rating: 7.1 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.8 / 10
Running time: 121 mins
IMDB link

Tuesday 10 February 2009

The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)

[Movie 69 / Day 41]


The Man With The Golden Gun marked Roger Moore's second outing as Bond. It's OK, Christopher Lee is a pretty good, if pretty unremarkable super villian; Britt Ekland is hot enough to be perfect for Bond girl Mary Goodnight. It's not as camply comedic as Moore's later Bond movies, in fact, it's less so than Sean Connery in Diamonds are Forever.

It does feature one of the best car stunts ever committed to film - the infamous barrel roll in the little red AMC car. It's only on screen for a few seconds, yet it's still impressive, thanks to being performed for real in the days of real stuntmen and no CGI.

Not the best Bond movie, but enjoyable nonetheless.

My rating: 6.1 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.7 / 10
Running time: 125 mins
IMDB link

Monday 9 February 2009

16 Blocks (2006)

[Movie 68 / Day 40]


Bruce Willis is a policeman coming off the night shift who is asked to go to the holding cells to collect a witness and transport him to the courthouse, a mere 16 blocks away. He has 2 hours to complete this simple task.

Unfortunately, lots of people want the witness dead before he can testify.

A simple premise, but it's well done and keeps you wondering what's going to happen next most of the way through the movie.

Mos Def (who plays Eddie, the criminal) has one of the most annoying accents I've ever heard. Other than that, pretty enjoyable.

My rating: 6.5 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.7 / 10
Running time: 105 mins
IMDB link

Sunday 8 February 2009

Babylon A.D. (2008)

[Movie 67 / Day 39]


Vin Diesel is a mercenary who is hired to transport a girl from a convent in Russia to New York. Lots of sci-fi stuff happens, the girl turns out to be genetically modified in order to have the history of the world in her head and to think like a computer and is supposed to be a miracle that will cement the status of a religious sect.

Plotwise, it's all a bit wierd, with lots of holes and jumps. The directors cut is apparently 160 minutes rather than 90, so I'm not really surprised it doesn't flow particularly well if that much has been taken out of it - but I imagine the 160 minute version will get bogged down in too much detail.

The action scenes, when they happen, are actually quite good - as you'd expect for a movie with both Diesel and Michelle Yeoh in it. Some of the special effects are also really nice - especially the slow motion explosion around Aurura, the genetically modified girl. There's just not enough action to make up for the muddled plot.

And I really hope Gerard Depardieu's nose is a plastic prosthetic, because it really looks like it.

EDIT: Having now read the trivia pages on IMDB, which make lots of reference to the arguments between director and studio, I'd actually be interested to see the directors cut. Also, it's a shame Vin Diesel chose this over Hitman, as he'd have been brilliant in that (Timothy Olyphant wasn't quite right for the role).

My rating: 5.2 / 10
IMDB rating: 5.3 / 10
Running time: 90 mins
IMDB link

Diamonds are Forever (1971)

[Movie 66 / Day 39]


Sean Connery's last (proper) Bond movie is also his worst (apart from the truly terrible Never Say Never Again, which isn't a proper Bond movie). By this time, Connery is looking a bit old and bored with the role, plus they'd started camping it up - and Connery is rubbish at delivering the double entendres that littered the movies during Roger Moore's tenure (and which suited him perfectly). Ernst Blofeld, the quintessential Bond baddie, even appears in drag at one point, for no obvious reason.

It's still enjoyable, but it seems to lack some of the things that are associated with a Bond movie. The pre-credit sequence is boring too. Apparently some of this was due to Connery's astronomically high fee eating into the budget of the movie.

Still, it brings back memories of childhood Christmases though!

My rating: 5.8 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.7 / 10
Running time: 120 mins
IMDB link

Saturday 7 February 2009

Cliffhanger (1993)

[Movie 65 / Day 38]


Silly, yet enjoyable, Sly Stallone actioner set in the mountains. Sly is a rescue climber who, after an accident that kills his best friends girlfriend, stops climbing. He is drawn back into it though when a gang of bad guys steals a lot of money which ends up spread across a mountain top and then forces the rescue service workers to help them find it.

Typical Stallone fair of the era, although it had far more blood and swearing in it than I remembered. It's fun, although nothing amazing. Some of the aerial mountain shots look fantastic in HD though, and the surround sound really surprised me - it was really well done in several scenes, with bullets whipping past my ears.

My rating: 6.3 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.1 / 10
Running time: 112 mins
IMDB link

Death Race (2008)

[Movie 64 / Day 38]


In this reboot of the low budget 1975 original, Jason Statham plays Jenson Ames, an ex-race car driver who is framed for the murder of his wife and sent to a maximum security, privately-run prison.

This prison is run by a nasty old bag, aptly played by Joan Allen (who appears to have a face full of Botox - either that or she was attempting to do the entire film whilst remaining completely devoid of expression). In order to raise funds to keep the prison running, they hold a Death Race, in which prisoners race heavily armed (and armoured) cars, attempting to kill each other and win the race. If a prisoner wins 5 races, he is freed. And of course, it's broadcast as PPV TV.

Each car has a navigator, who in the case of Statham, is a buxom wench from a prison that seems to like to dress its inmates in short cut tops and sexy boots.

Statham, quite obviously, is going to try to escape and enlists the help of various other inmates.

It's definitely a popcorn movie - the plot is paper thin - but it has plenty of explosions and big growling V8 engines. It's quite fun, in a no-brainer kind of way. And it appears that Jason Statham is cementing his position of Hollywood's action hero, in the same way that Sly and Arnie did in the 80s. He's quite good at these growling-voiced anti-heroes, as evidenced in Crank and The Transporter.

My rating: 6.8 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.7 / 10
Running time: 111 mins
IMDB link

Tarantula (1955)

[Movie 63 / Day 38]


Scientists working in the desert inadvertantly unleash a 100-ft Tarantula upon the sleepy town of Desert Rock.

Very tame by todays standards, the special effects aren't too bad, considering the age of the movie.

Considering how short the film is, the fact it feels really slow reflects how thin the plot is.

A very young (and uncredited) Clint Eastwood appears as a pilot near the end of the movie.

My rating: 5.2 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.5 / 10
Running time: 80 mins
IMDB link

Turner & Hooch (1989)

[Movie 62 / Day 38]


Tom Hanks is an 'investigator' in a small town's police force. An old man is murdered and he inherits the old man's dog - a massive, slobbery brute called Hooch. As Hooch is the closest thing to a witness, he's important to cracking the case. Or something.

Anyway, as the film progresses, the two become closer and fall in love with the local vet (and her dog).

I used to love this movie as a kid, but it's fairly typical 80s blandness when you rewatch it now.

My rating: 5.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 5.5 / 10
Running time: 97 mins
IMDB link

Friday 6 February 2009

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)

[Movie 61 / Day 37]


Infinite Playlist is a teen-coming-of-age-romcom. For some reason it reminded me of Juno, not because of Michael Cera, but just the way the movie feels.

It's quite a nice little feel good movie, nothing massively special, but enjoyable.

My rating: 6.8 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.0 / 10
Running time: 90 mins
IMDB link

You Don't Mess With The Zohan (2008)

[Movie 60 / Day 37]


Adam Sandler is an Israeli counter-terrorist blokey that gives up his life of fighting terrorists in order to pursue his dream of becoming a hair stylist in New York.

Not Sandlers funniest movie, although there are a couple of genuinely amusing scenes. The accents are attrocious at times though. Quite a few cameos too.

My rating: 5.5 / 10
IMDB rating: 5.7 / 10
Running time: 113 mins
IMDB link

Thursday 5 February 2009

Thick as Thieves (2008)

[Movie 59 / Day 36]


Morgan Freeman is an old thief who enlists the help of Antonio Banderas for one last heist to pay off the Russian Mafia. Lots of planning later, a few double-crosses and twists, everybody's happy.

It's formulaic, not particularly well written, loads of stupid plot holes (why would a safe that's supposed to be the last word in security allow them to just keep trying passcodes one after the other? Even the ATM won't let you do that), Banderas is starting to look old and has a ridiculously thick accent and a penchant for whispering and Freeman is looking even older and several times looked as though he'd realised the movie was going to be rubbish and just wanted it to be over.

It's just not particularly good, at all.

My rating: 4.6 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.8 / 10
Running time: 104 mins
IMDB link

Taken (2008)

[Movie 58 / Day 36]


Liam Neeson stars as the ex-Government agent whose daughter is kidnapped whilst holidaying in Paris. The rest of the film is spent following him as he tracks down those responsible, dispenses some retribution and finds his daughter.

I wasn't really expecting to like this that much. I've never been a fan of Liam Neeson, to me he's either really good or really bad, nothing in between - and I couldn't really see him in a bad ass actioner.

I was totally wrong. This is one of the most enjoyable films I've seen this year. There are a few bits I didn't like about it (the Bourne-esque fight scenes, where everything is handheld and shaky. It does my head in. Just stop it now.) but overall, it's a really good popcorn actioner. Filmed in quite a gritty, almost washed out style, it looks pretty good and whilst the outcome is always a foregone conclusion, there is still some tension to be had - and at only 90 mins, 30 of which are spent on the setup, it moves along at a cracking pace.

I loved it - so much that I might watch it again tomorrow night and make it the first repeated film of the year!

My rating: 8.3 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.0 / 10
Running time: 93 mins
IMDB link

Wednesday 4 February 2009

The Man With Two Brains (1983)

[Movie 57 / Day 35]


Not one of Steve Martin's funniest movies. Silly and convoluted, but not massively amusing.

My rating: 5.1 / 10
IMDB rating: 6.2 / 10
Running time: 93 mins
IMDB link

Tuesday 3 February 2009

Syriana (2005)

[Movie 56 / Day 34]


So many characters and so many location jumps (some subtitled, some not) meant I actually had difficulty following this. Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention or wasn't in the right mood for something as heavy as this, but I just found it dull, dull, dull. Well acted, etc, just meh.

My rating: 5.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.1 / 10
Running time: 126 mins
IMDB link

Monday 2 February 2009

Fargo (1996)

[Movie 55 / Day 33]


When I first saw Fargo, I didn't like it. But then, I also didn't like Blood Simple, Raising Arizona or The Big Lebowski on the first watch either. So when I saw it in the bargain bin at Asda, I thought I'd give it another go.

I enjoyed it much more this time round - in fact, I really liked it for the first half an hour, when the main characters are William H. Macy (who is criminally under-rated), Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare. Then, unfortunately, Frances McDormand's character hits the screen and the reasons I didn't like this movie came flooding back. Mainly, I really don't like the accent that nearly everyone on screen is afflicted with once McDormand is introduced. I don't know if it's a real accent and whether that manner of speaking is accurate, or if it was done for 'comic' effect, but it really, really grates.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but it's not as strong as it's made out to be - and I found the ending to be lacking something. What, I'm not sure, but it didn't seem a good way to finish.

My rating: 6.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.3 / 10
Running time: 98 mins
IMDB link

JCVD (2008)

[Movie 54 / Day 33]


Not as good as I was hoping, but still pretty good - the best film Van Damme has made in years, possibly ever. He plays himself and we follow him through a court battle for custody of his daughter before he gets caught up in a bank robbery. The rest of the movie shows how he deals with being an ordinary person with a real gun in his face, rather than a Hollywood good guy faced with a fake gun. It's unique in that it mixes fact with fiction in a peculiar way. Real details of Van Damme's life are mixed in with the bank robbery. It makes for an odd film but it's also oddly compelling.

Van Damme is really rather good in it, it's certainly the best acting I've ever seen from him - probably helped by the fact that for the majority of it, he's speaking French rather than English. His long monologue in the middle of the movie is particularly well done - it almost feels like Van Damme speaking for himself rather than acting. Hopefully this will prove to be the injection his flagging career needs and maybe a move away from the low-budget action B-movies he's been stuck in for a while. I'd certainly like to see him doing some more serious acting.

The subtitles are terrible though - they're full of spelling mistakes and even missing words. Surely it wouldn't have been that difficult to get someone fluent in English to read through them? It makes me wonder exactly how accurate a translation they were.

My rating: 7.8 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.6 / 10
Running time: 96 mins
IMDB link

Sunday 1 February 2009

Poseidon (2006)

[Movie 53 / Day 32]


Average action remake of the 'classic' 1972 movie, the plot is really simple. Big boat gets hit by bigger wave, tips upside down, bunch of passengers work their way to the bottom of the boat in order to escape through the propellor tube. Obvious thing to do, really.

Lots of CGI, some of it works, some doesn't, but it's inoffensive enough - as long as you don't think about it too much.

Props to Kurt Russell, who in a couple of scenes seems to attempt to make over-acting a fine art. See the resuscitation attempt and the drowning scene for more details.

My rating: 5.5 / 10
IMDB rating: 5.6 / 10
Running time: 98 mins
IMDB link

Shrek (2001)

[Movie 52 / Day 32]


When Shrek was first released it was a revelation. An all-CGI animated movie, it was the first that really gave adults just as many laughs as it gave the kids - OK, Toy Story was enjoyed by adults, but it didn't have any tongue-in-cheek jokes that only adults would get. It's essentially a fairy tale, but manages to pack in tons of little in-jokes and references to classic Disney cartoons, as well as references to mainstream movies.

I love it, it's better than the Shrek 2 (which was pretty good, to be fair) and much, much better than Shrek the Third (which was one too many I think).

The character Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) is especially amusing.

My rating: 8.0 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.0 / 10
Running time: 90 mins
IMDB link