Happy New What?

Conditions: Warm, Temporary

Movie Year In Review: 2010

As the year finally, thankfully, draws to a close and shuffles off the stage, to be quickly and desperately forgotten by all who sailed in her, we think back to the films that were watched and, in some cases, endured. Split into three categories, I give you:

The Good:

Well with a couple of exceptions, the "good" is really along the lines of the "okay, I guess." So with no further faint praise:

Sherlock Holmes: A little bit too steampunk, a little too familiar, a lot too grey, but the Holmes reboot was at least entertaining.

Edge Of Darkness: A solid thriller, enhanced through the re-appearance of Mel Gibson, now in Cranky Old Man flavour.

Law Abiding Citizen: Gerard Butler gives us a portrayal of a man determined to get revenge even if it means bringing down the entire system. Shame the movie wasn't as relentless as his character was.

Shutter Island: Dicaprio and Scorsese combine yet again to give an effective and lasting thriller with a darn good twist at the end.

9: Brilliant and heartfelt film about puppet-like characters trying to survive a post-apocalyptic world.

Daybreakers: Damn good vampire movie that thoughtfully commentates on what happens when a society reacts to running out of a natural resource. In this case, humans.

The Losers: Fun, entertaining action romp.

The A-Team: Fun, entertaining action romp that re-energises the classic characters with fresh faces. Maybe a bit stage-y at the end.

RED: Fun spy flick featuring some classic actors having a blast.

And finally:
Inception: The only film to get a 5 out of 5 this year, Inception is quite simply a masterpiece. Exciting, intense, complicated, it's a film that leaves the audience a little shaken, and stays with them afterward. Brilliance again from Christopher Nolan and cast.

Toy Story 3: The Pixar gang wrap everything up with another heartfelt and exciting adventure for our favourite toys.


The Misfires
Iron Man 2: The first film was a fluke, the second is the inevitable outcome of not having a solid script for your huge tent pole action move franchise. Directionless, and toothless, this one essentially undoes all the goodwill from the first film

Robin Hood: Here's an idea, how about a Robin Hood movie where Robin has to become Robin Hood. That'll work, right?

The Last Airbender: How do you mess this up? It's all right there on the Nickelodeon channel - just copy that! Instead somehow M Night Shymalan decided to do away with pesky character development and make an overly-simplified movie about a fairly complicated story.

Resident Evil: Afterlife: The Resident Evil franchise goes back to basics, and in doing so ends up with a fairly boring movie. Albeit one that's shot absolutely brilliantly.


The Bad
The Book Of Eli: Unrelentingly and relentlessly grim downer film about the end of the world, and how important the Bible is.

The Hurt Locker: A made-up documentary that doesn't tell a story so much as show off a couple of sterotypes.

Predators: Oy. Predator 3 has the Predators, the weapons, a good cast, but no actual plot, other than "Bad guys get picked off one by one by intergalactic bullies."

The Expendables: While it may look good on paper, teaming up a bunch of half-known action movie actors and rolling them into a half-baked plot about some island republic that's being repressed by goons really isn't all that special.

Gamer: Bad Running Man ripoff. Really bad Running Man ripoff.

Tron Legacy: Okay, making a sequel to a film hardly anyone remembers is one thing, but making a film that is essentially aimed at geeks and having a plot that makes no sense at all is just asking for it.


So, there you have it. A middling year, with a few highlights, and some deep lowlights. Here's hoping for better in 2011.



Film Review: Toy Story 3

In what's presumably the final outing for Woody, Buzz and the gang, Pixar have made the third film a kind of mix of the first film and the second one. Again, the theme is one of toys being eventually abandoned by their owners as they grow up and grow out of playing with toys. This time it's Andy himself who's now too old for playtime, and the gang is confronted with either being dumped in the attic, or thrown out in the trash. Instead, they make their way to a kindergarten, believing it to be a haven where they'll get played with every day, but instead it's more like a prison, run by a bitter old toy who hates children and assigns the gang to the Caterpillar room, where the kids enthusiastically beat the crap out of the toys daily.

Running counter to this is Woody's story, where he's meant to go with Andy to college, but get's accidentally swept along with the others to the kindergarten, and escapes in order to try and get back to Andy. Eventually he has to make a choice, loyalty to Andy his owner, or loyalty to his own family of toys. And while in the end the decision rests with Andy, it's Woody who really chooses to leave Andy and go with his friends.

And go they do, escaping the kindergarten to a new happy ending with a new child who will play with them all every day. It's pretty much a case of being a reboot for the gang, where they survive being lost out in the real world, the horror of the kindergarten, and finally make it to the haven of a new kids bedroom. Again Pixar work their magic with a touching, character-driven story that still has enough juice in the third chapter to evoke the emotions. There's plenty of humour thrown into the mix as well, and who can really argue with a nice neat happy ending. Three and a Half batteries out of Five.


- Peace out