She's Out of My League (2010)

Loveable 'loser' Kirk (Jay Baruchel) works in a dead end job at Airport security, unlucky in life, and love, he incredibly hooks up with the drop dead gorgeous Molly (Alice Eve), both he and his friends can't believe his luck..

On the face of it this looks like your typical 'loser hits a home run' rom-com, but it turns out to be a surprisingly sweet, often goofy yes, but more than often very funny with a good heart. Kirk and his dopey pals are instantly likeable with their inane views on life and women, the dialogue is quirky and fun, yeah it does tip it's toe in 'American Pie' vulgarity, and there's the predictable split and reunion, but this is a sweet enjoyable flick.

*****

Red, White and Blue (2010)

An emotionless  young woman Erica (Amanda Fuller) sleeps around knowing she has HIV, a form of revenge for her dark early years, she gets a job in a DIY store, and meets a man who is kind to her, and not 'expecting anything' in return, something alien to her in the past.

This is a tough, hard going drama, 30 minutes in I wasn't sure I could continue, grim, despair, very little dialogue, but stick with it, as the movie's finale is like a baseball bat to the back of the head, and something you won't forget for a long time so hardcore are the scenes of revenge.

Hard hitting, brutal film making.

*****

Made In Dagenham (2010)

Based on the true events in late 60's Britain, a group of women at a Ford factory do the unthinkable for that era, not just go on strike, but demand equal pay for doing a semi-skilled job.

With a fine cast of Brit favourites, Miranda Richardson, Roger Lloyd-Pack, John Sessions,  Daniel Mays and Bob Hoskins as the shop steward, "Mad In Dagenham" is a thoroughly entertaining docu-drama with plenty of comic moments thrown in, with some coarse funny dialogue from the ladies, and lead Sally Hawkins is rock solid as the spokeswoman for the factory, Rita O'Grady.

*****

Let Me In (2010)

I Spit On Your Grave, Last House On The Left, Dawn Of The Dead, Quarantine, Halloween, Friday 13th,the list of Hollywood horror remakes grows by the year, and if they're not remaking an 80's 'nasty', they're doing the same to a foreign language film, be it Japanese (The Grudge, Ringu) or Spanish ([REC]),now to add to the list, is a remake of the excellent Swedish vampire flick 'Let The Right One In'.

Instead of a Stockholm suburb the film is relocated to New Mexico but the 1980's setting is wisely kept.The two leads Kodi Smit McPhee (The Road) and Chloe Moretz (Kick Ass) are both superb, this adaptation is pretty faithful to the original in plot, tone and pace, but again the question with theses remakes is '"why?".Is it because film-makers feel we can't watch a foreign film and read subtitles, or is it because Hollywood lacks original ideas and finds it easier to plunder the back catalogue of films we might not have heard off or have probably forgotten about?

Yes to all the above I feel.An excellent film as it stands but please make sure you find the time to watch the haunting original.

*****

Dog Pound (2010)

Pretty much a remake of the late 70's British borstal classic 'Scum', this is every bit as hard hitting.All the key scenes from the original are here, the rape/suicide, the initial "who's the Daddy" rise to power (though thankfully none of the dialogue is needlessly replicated) and the riot finale as the inmates anger explodes.

Dog Pound though adds a few original touches, the film is slower paced than Scum, with the violence and tension brought to a boil over a much longer time, the largly unknown cast are excellent, the characters shuffle around, sizing each other up......

Dog Pound was a real 'pleasant' surprise, mature, raw, adult and well acted with a fine sledgehammer final shot.

*****

Saw 7 (2010) aka Saw 3D

Well it's the seventh in the series, episode one was a fine entry back in 2004, but since then it's been pretty downhill all the way, high in gore, but low in plot and interest into anything that happened to any of the odious characters that we have met.

This promises to be the final episode, minus points, well the characters, dialogue and plot is a dull, convoluted and slightly tedious as ever, the plus points are scarce, but the gore is set to 10 and we do get a genuine 'close' to the series.....thankfully.

*****

Buried (2010)

An American truck driver, working in Iraq, wakes up to one of man's greatest fears, being buried alive, he finds a lighter and mobile phone, how can he tell the outside world where he is?

The Film runs in 'real time', there are no outside shots, just a camera fixed on Ryan Reynolds for its 90 minutes running time, this is as far from your typical a Hollywood Summer blockbuster that you could wish and what a stunning piece of cinema, director Rodrigo Cortes has achieved.
Reynolds is superb, the movie is tense throughout, who has kidnapped him, can he trust who he is talking to?

One of the great movies of 2010 which packs a sucker punch of an ending that will leave you stunned.

*****

Bonded By Blood (2010)

'Bonded By Blood' is incredibly the third movie (after 'Essex Boys' and 'Rise Of The Foot Shoulders') to be loosely based on the true events of 1995 when three drug Lords were cold bloodedly murdered in Rettendon, Essex.

'Bonded..' offers us nothing new but still is fairly entertaining, ridiculously sweary, violent, tense cockerknee gangster nonsense and some fairly good performances from the cast, especially the value for money hardman Tamer Hassan , the biggest surprise is the non-appearance of Danny 'proper naughty' Dyer!

Like a Big Mac, KFC or clicking 'private browsing' on your web browser whilst the other halves shopping.....a guilty pleasure.

*****

The Last Exorcism (2010)

A Minister agrees to allow a documentary team film his last exorcism as he wants to expose his previous 'work'.Yes it's shaky camera horror time, a giant mix of 'The Exorcist', 'Paranormal Activity' with a finale that has a slight 'Wicker Man'/'Cannibal Holocaust' feel!!!

It's creepy, slow burning and well acted, is the 'subject' Nell (Ashley Bell) really possessed or is this one big hoax, or are more sinister facts about to be uncovered?

At time's terrifying, sometimes a bit silly, occasionally bonkers, this is still worth a punt on a Saturday Balti+beer night.

*****

The Town (2010)

Directed by and starring in 'The Town' is Ben Affleck who's directorial debut was the superb 'Gone Baby Gone', and Affleck betters that with this release, yes it's that good.

A tale of friendship, deceit and bank robberies.The action is high octane, brilliantly shot in the bustling streets of Boston, the drama and acting of the highest caliber, Affleck is excellent. ably supported by a fine cast including Rebecca Hall as Afflecks love interest Claire and Jeremy Renner as his best friend, the slightly psychotic James.With a 2 hour plus running time this film never drags it's heels, top class 'adult entertainment' similar in class to 2006 'The Departed'

One of the must see movies of 2010.

*****

13 (2010)

13 is a remake of the 2005 French/Georgian release 13 Tzameti.A young man desperate for money follows cryptic instructions that he steal from a dead man, the instructions lead him to an underground gambling syndicate where the 'game'.......is Russian Roulette, and there will be only one winner.

To be honest I'd never heard of either films, I don't think the US remake got a UK release but when I saw the cast (Jason Statham, Micky Rouke, Ray Winstone, 50 Cent) I thought it had to be worth a punt.
It's a tense, bloody affair, enlightened slightly by a manic performance by Michael Shannon as the 'host' of the event Henry, he stands perched on a step ladder SHOUTING instructions,eyes wild for the entire movie, like the Joker without the make-up!

Worth a shot, pun intended.

*****

Hatchet 2 (2010)

You know what you're in for here when after less than 10 minutes some redneck gets throttled by his own intestines until his head literally 'pops' off, then we're straight into a death metal soundtrack and seat belts on people for 90 minutes of corn ball plot/acting and OTT un-rated gore!

This is pure 80's slasher territory, seen 'Friday 13th'? So have the makers of this flick, deformed maniac on the loose in the woods reaking revenge on those who have wronged him, the acting and plot are pretty dire but it's still pretty good late night beer + pizza entertainment with the gore cranked up to 11!

*****

Takers (2010)

A seasoned bunch of bank robbers live out a life of luxury after a successful heist are lured by a friend and ex con to do one more job....the big one.

Plus points, well it's a pretty good cast, The Wire's Idris Elba (with dodgy cockerknee accent), Matt Dillon, Hayden Christensen, Zoe Saldana etc but sadly the movie is one big clichéd mess with mumbling dialogue, seen it all before action set pieces, bodies and bullets fly across the screen including a near finale that would rival a certain scene from 'Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels'...but without the humour and tongue in cheek.

Fairly enjoyable over it's bloated 107 minutes running time but
on the whole, fairly forgettable.

*****

Cyrus (2010)

Recently divorced John (John C Reily) meets the woman of his dreams Molly (Maris Tomei), they hit off immediately, but the relationship is tested to the max by Mollys possessive son Cyrus (Jonah Hill)

On the face of this looks like a goofy comedy, especially when you cast Jonah Hill, but this film turns out to be more than that, similar in tone to the brilliant 'The Kids Are Alright', this is more bitter sweet comedy concentrating on the characters relationships, Tomei's and Hill's at first laugh out loud but slowly turns to a quite weird, at times, down right uncomfortable!

If you're expecting 'Superbad' grossness you will be sorely disappointed, what you will get is a fine comedy/drama well worth a look.

*****

Devil (2010)

The 'Devil's premise is simple, a group of strangers, all with shady backgrounds, are stuck in a lift, soon sinister happenings are a foot as the emergency services and Police try to rescue them....before it's too late!

Creepy, edgy and spooky, this is a fine thriller I really was expecting the worst from, why? Well when "Produced by M.Night Shymalam" name is attached to the movie you really do fear the worst, but don't, this is an edgy, tense and nervy horror/thriller with a real fine twist at the end to chew over.

*****

Unstoppable (2010)

A Conductor and Engineer are chasing an unmanned runaway train, heading at high speed to a near certain crash in a small town next to a fuel depot, the results would be devastating.

Directed by Tony Scott ('Man On Fire', 'Crimson Tide') this is safe teritory for the experienced action director. Good performances from it's lead actors Denzil Washington and Chris Pine, this is good old fashioned old school action in the style of 1990's 'Speed'.

You pretty much know what to expect during 'Unstoppable's 90 minute journey but it's a fun and fairly thrilling ride once you're abroad.

*****

Easy A (2010)

I'd marry her tomorrow ;-)

One of the best 'adult teen comedies' since the classic black humor of Alexander Paynes 'Election'.The superb Emma Stone plays Olive, a clean cut girl who's little white lie about losing her virginity lands her the label of an "easy A", or school slut to be more blunt.

This really is Emma Stone's movie, she is in it just about every one of it's 92 minutes running time, and is utterly charming, funny and sweet, the rest of the cast is just as engaging, Lisa Kudrow, Thomas Haden Church, Malcolm McDowell as Head Teacher, one of the films of the year for me and one of the best 'teen comedies' for some time.

"This is public school. If I can keep the girls off the pole and the boys off the pipe, I get a bonus."

*****

The Tortured (2010)

A couples life is destroyed when their only child is kidnapped and murdered, the killer is sentenced to 25 years jail, but this is not enough, he must suffer like their child had too, just how far would you go?

"From the Producers of Saw"...not the most encouraging tagline, but don't be fooled, 'The Tortured', yes is a heady mix of Saw and vigilante Death Wish moral ism, but on the whole well acted, at time's gruesome, with the added bonus of one mighty in your face twist!!!!!!!

*****

Skyline (2010)

Well I was supposed to get my lazy white ass off the couch last week to make a (rare) trip to my local Multi-Plex, but after seeing the panning the movie was getting by the critics, I decided to crack open the cheap white at home.

So now I've seen it, is it as bad as critics say?

Well, no, but then again yes.Good points first.The Alien monsters do look good, there's some terrific action scenes and the SFX are of a very high standard, including a show stopping scene of some guy getting his head ripped clean off and devoured by an gangly ugly creature.Character development is very important in a film, something sadly the directors have put no effort in to.From the very outset we get token good looking white guy, token good looking black guy, and eye candy for the lads in the audience of course, supplied by a good looking blonde and brunette, all bases covered then.The trouble is these characters are so uniformly dull, unpleasant and you just don't give a fuck what happens to them!

'Skyline'-when it's good it's pretty good, when it's not pretty good, it's quite awful!!

*****(an extra star for the decapitation scene)

A Serbian Film (2010)

A Serbian ex-porn actor Milos (Srđan Todoroviis) is offered one last job in the 'business', a huge money deal that will set him, and his family up for life, no plot is discussed but soon Milos realizes that he is involved in a evil mix of real life rape, paedophilia and murder for the sake of 'art.

Seen Hostage or any of the Saw movies?
Forget it.This really up's the ante in the world of so called torture-porn horror and how far you can push the boundaries, well this sick flick pushes those boundaries to bursting point, professionally acted and filmed but utterly horrifying, including possibly the most gut wrenching scene I have ever witnessed in a movie.

The British Board Of Censors recently asked for nearly 4 minutes of cuts for an 18 certificate UK release, so you are very unlikely to see the copy that I have experienced, if you are a hard core horror fan then seek it out to experience 'how far a film maker will go', any one else please steer well clear.

*****