After thinking over all the films that I have watched this past year, I have settled for the following films. Counting down in order from ten to one.
10 Source Code
“An action thriller centered on a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.”
This is a sci fi/action film that really took me by surprise. I walked into the cinema without knowing anything about this film and as soon as the film started, I was transfixed with the story, concept and set design. The twists that happens I could not figure out, maybe due to me being slow that day, but I remember being impressed at how they added another element to the story with just a single line of dialogue of shot. If you want to watch something similar to “Ground Hog Day” with a great action kick, try and watch this film.
9 Monsters
“Six years after Earth has suffered an alien invasion a cynical journalist agrees to escort a shaken American tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border.”
The story to “Monsters” is nothing original apart from using the concept of, “What if alien creatures came from no where and became permanent residents on earth after a few years”. What really had be hooked was the blend of character development and special effects. I heard that it was an independent film made on next-to-nothing and after watching it on Blu-Ray, the quality really shined through. It also made my top ten as I watched it with a filmmaker friend of mine and it really gave hope to us little people. We do understand that this only happens once in every thousandth independent film but was still good to see.
8 Life in a Day of
“A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.”
This film is a documentary that filled me with wonder and amazement at how diverse humanity can be. Made by the people of the world through the medium of Youtube and home videos. You get to see lives in Japan, the culture of Africa, the events in Italy and what people do in Peru. It truly is a look at people’s culture and what humanity is capable of.
7 Midnight in Paris
“A romantic comedy about a family traveling to the French capital for business. The party includes a young engaged couple forced to confront the illusion that a life different from their own is better.”
This is the second film in the top 10 that I went to watch in the cinema without knowing anything about it. It was an adventure through time where a depressingly unadventurous guy who is born at the wrong time manages to meet the great artists of the early 19th century. It is a film about personal discovery and the arrogant characters around him that force him to find escapism.
6 Fright Night
“A teenager suspects that his new neighbor is a vampire.”
I remember not having any interest in this film and waving away my friend’s obsession with it. He raved about it and was overly giddy when we went to the cinemas to watch it. I had not watched any of the trailers or heard anything about it. It was just another remake for me but after watching the first 30 minutes I was hooked. Colin Farrell played such a compelling vampire called “Gerry” that goes after this next door neighbor once he finds out that he isn’t human. The film itself was well crafted, had great tension moments through some interesting vampire elements that I have never seen before in film. I loved seeing David Tennant breaking into Hollywood by playing a crazy, off the wall Las Vegas showman who is a collector of religious artifacts. This films is worth watching just for him in my eyes. It was a good popcorn film and worth watching if you get a chance.
5 Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
“Journalist Mikael Blomkvist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for forty years by Lisbeth Salander, a young computer hacker.”
The original “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Niels Arden Oplev was a stunning film and when I heard that Hollywood decided to remake it for the dimwitted audience who can’t read whilst watching a film, I was outraged. I wanted to hate the film and avoid it like the plague. Then I heard David Fincher was announced as director and my attention slowly turned to it.
I was still not convinced until I watched the teaser trailer and the rumours of Fincher telling Hollywood to “fuck off”. I heard down the grape vine that the producers told him that he needed to tone down the rape scene and to cut down the length of the almost 3 hours long film. What I heard was Fincher told him he will make it the way HE wants and they have to live with it.
After watching the remake, I loved it. So many elements I enjoyed but mainly the visuals by Jeff Cronenweth and musical score by Trent Reznor. Just like the original, I loved the character Lisbeth Salander and how she rejects social behaviour, gets kicked down hard but always fights back with twice as much ferocity. Truly the “feel bad film of Christmas”.
4 Biutiful
“This is the story of Uxbal, a man living in this world, but able to see his death, which guides his every move.”
This film I loved solely down to Javier Bardem’s performance. He creates a genuine, honest and complex character that intrigues you into following his story. It reminds me of films such as “The Sixth Sense” and “Babel” in it’s approach but I loved the subtle ways it includes the ghosts that haunt his character. They are very much in the background and almost missable which gives it that much more interest feel as they are always in the corner of your eye as they are to the main character. By far one of the best Spanish films I have ever watched.
3 Beginners
“A young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer, and that he has a young male lover.”
“Beginners” managed to creep into my top three due to it’s complex relationships between characters, unique story telling techniques and visuals. I personally enjoyed Ewan McGregor’s character’s journey, the boy meets girl approach to the film and Christopher Plummer’s outstanding performance as a gay father. The relationship between Ewan and his pet dog is also something that stood out for me and makes me smile just thinking about it. It captures the way we all speak to our own pets perfectly. If you want a film that will make you smile and gives you a feel-good factor, this if the film for you.
2 Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy
“In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6′s echelons.”
Now, I usually get obsessed with one film at a time where I look into it, study the trailers and try to find out the inside story before it comes out. “Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy” was one of these after I watched the teaser. It looked so well shot with an incredible British cast. It looked to be a British heavy weight and it did not disappoint. What I loved about it was the minimalism it portrays throughout the entire film with Gary Oldman’s character, Smiley, barely speaking a full sentence for the duration. You end up studying his character and his habits as he investigates his co-workers in an absorbing storyline that gets you thinking ‘who done it’. With a cast like Mark Strong, John Hurt, Gary Oldman, Toby Jones, David Dencik, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy, you shouldn’t miss this!
1 Adventures of Tintin
“Tintin and Captain Haddock set off on a treasure hunt for a sunken ship commanded by Haddock’s ancestor. But someone else is in search of the ship.”
So, I could be a little biased over this film as I am a huge fan of the Herge character from being a small boy. I remember waking up at 7am every morning, turning on the TV whilst eating my cornflakes and being amazed by the Tinitin cartoon and all the adventures he got himself into. As I grew up I forgot about him until I sat down in the cinemas and the opening sequence started. I was enthralled and amazed all the way through the film remembering characters, moments and the feelings I had back when I was younger.
The film has one of the best action sequences I have ever seen and the animation was so good I had to look twice to make sure it wasn’t live action. My only problem is that the “one shot action sequence” is so good that the ending is just a little disappointing compared. Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have truly made an amazing film and I am hoping that they make the trilogy that they have promised. This film is a typical Spielberg film that will entertain you in every way possible. I can say now that I will be buying this on Blu-Ray.