Review: Locke

A film that involves virtually one set and one actor can be quite risky.
But when it is done right, it can be one of the films of the year.

Great examples are Phone Booth, a Joel Schumacher film that not only I like, I love every time I see it. Another one is Buried, where we see a different side the acting of Ryan Reynolds.

With Locke, you instantly get immersed in such a cinematic experience that gives you such a satisfying time at the cinema.
When we get to know our character, we begin to understand his unfortunate situation. The longer this journey is, the tenser it gets, and the odd amount of comedy comes as a nice surprise. Phone Booth had a sniper to keep the tension going, Buried had the coffin, Locke has a car.

For the performance of Tom Hardy, it is engaging from the moment he comes on screen. We get a man who is about to embark on a life-changing experience that he did not want. The decisions he makes and the steps he takes to fix his situation makes you care for him, engage with him and you can relate to.
Another performance to look out for is the always brilliant Olivia Colman. She is becoming a British treasure that we should celebrate in the highest way. Colman may not be on screen, but what she does is just a huge pour of emotion. Other honorable performances that had enough time to shine were Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott and Ben Daniels.

As for the rest of the positives. The soundtrack is quietly powerful and never distracts you from the film itself. The cinematography is just simply breath-taking. Never has a car drive at night ever looked so beautiful. So hats off to Haris Zambarloukos for the amazing presentation of a film that will probably gather a small following, but not enough to make it self known in the box office charts.

Only two negatives that are worth mentioning. The accent Tom Hardy has been given with is a little unnerving at first, but I think he holds it together just about. But at times, it almost sounds like he comes from somewhere further East, rather than Wales.
Another bad point was the ending. It felt a bit too abrupt to me and I think the final scene I have thought of would make more sense. But due to the build-up being just exhilarating, I will let off director and writer Steven Knight and his crew.

I think Knight has created a terrific British thriller that could be one of the best finds of 2014. Hardy's performance is award-winning. All the other contributions give this film such an atmosphere that is quite chilling and a joy for the eyes. I can see this doing better in DVD sales, but for now lets try and get this doing well on the big screen.

Rating: 8/10

My Top 10: Most Over-rated Films

Due to the highly controversial article by a journalist in a major UK newspaper, I felt the need to respond with my own top 10 most over-rated films I have seen.

Over-rated and under-rated films always brings up very interesting arguments. Discussions like this in my opinion is what makes movies. Everyone has a certain thing they want from movies, and matching their expectations is a tough task to achieve. When you hear about a major Oscar contender and go and see it, a lot of time you feel disappointed. It is perfectly natural to feel that. I sometimes try and kid myself into thinking this is great for the sake of it getting an Oscar nomination.
Thankfully, over time I do see the light and my sub-conscious takes control and I become brave to criticise a supposedly awards contender and big box-office smash.

Before I begin with my top 10, I must give an honorable mention to one film that sadly was pushed out of the list. I could have mention quite a few actually, but I think I will stick with one for now. That movie is the 1998 hit Armageddon. Nominated for 4 Oscars and loved by many, I had only seen it a few years ago. Before that, I always heard it get praised on a regular basis by the mainstream audience. So what I was expecting was a good solid sci-fi 'end of the world' fun popcorn movie. What I got was just silly nonsense about a group of guys messing around and being appointed to save the world because they are good at drilling. That's just a flavour of what I think about this film.
The main reason I refused this in my top 10 was that it is universally seen as not that great. The critics did not like that, and it is mainly seen as a guilty pleasure for the mainstream audience. Also it is more hateful that disappointing which is what this list is all about. But I felt I just had to mention it.
Another honorable mention for me would be Rocky. Don't get me wrong, it is a good film. But I think that the title of Best Picture Oscar winner shocked me as it just did not feel that good.

Right, before I mention my list. For me, the phrase over-rated does not mean that I hated this films. All of these I would consider either o.k, decent, or very good. But in terms of my expectations or its successes in the awards in the year they were released, I have considered these as massively over-rated. I hope find these are controversial, especially when there are four Best Picture Oscar winners. Enjoy:

10) A Serious Man - This has to be the worst of the Coen Brothers. I am not a huge fan of their work to be honest, but I do think a lot of their stuff is very pleasing to watch.
Sadly, not this Best Picture nominee (yes, Best Picture).
The acting may be vintage Coen, but I'm sorry, the "plot" is just a bunch of nothing.
Some amusing set-pieces does not make it terrible thankfully, it just shocks me that people can see something in this.

9) Despicable Me 2 - After a surprising success with it's first installment, this box-office hit for me put nothing new on the table.
Same gags, but less classy and a new character that seemed to pull it back in terms of the fast-paced and snappy humor from the first one.
Minions are enjoyable, but stealing the show does not mean you should over-use them to death in this one.

8) The Hangover - I'm going to straight into thick of it with this one.

It is NOT funny, NOT original, and INFERIOR to many films that do stupid, buddy comedies or are set in Vegas.

If you want a hangover themed film, then watch 'Dude, Where's My Car?'
How this won Best Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes is beyond me.

7) The Queen - One great central performance by Helen Mirren, and that is about it.
This Best Picture nominee that quite frankly looks like a TV movie at best should not be anywhere a cinema.
You would never think a film about the royal monarch would portray her as being a cruel person.
Outside of Mirren, the characters are not believable, and the choice of story seems quite stupid. If you could choose one plot, it should have easily been her coronation or entire life as Queen up to now.
Could easily have compared this with The Iron Lady.

6) Braveheart - Never thought I would say this. But after seeing this for the first time last year, I just felt surprised that this a Best Picture winner.

Mel Gibson has had a hard time in Hollywood recently, and there is a lot to enjoy in this.

But I'm afraid this feels a bit silly at times, and it would suit better within a graphic novel instead of it being extremely loosely based on William Wallace.

5) Annie Hall - The greatest rom-com of all-time?! Don't get me wrong, it has its funny moments but it seems Woody Allen was just making it like a stand-up routine and having to stop the film a few times to say these funny stories.
Winner of 4 Oscars including Best Picture, critics and the Academy praise Allen far too much.
He does not even attend your ceremonies!
Also, it beat Star Wars for Best Picture (just had to get it in there).

4) Unforgiven - Initially, I thought that a Western winning Best Picture in the 90's surely had to be a certified classic. Wrong!
I agree it was not a great year for films in 1992, but I can think of better choices than this.
It may have all the big stars, but the story of basically breaking down the old Western genre was just unnecessary and boring. It reminded of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace explaining what 'the force' is.

3) Capote - A bit awkward talking about this since the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. But even if he was still here, I would still say the same thing about his performance.
Despite playing Capote virtually perfectly, the man himself for me always came off as a bit of a creep and arrogant moron.
As for the rest of the film, it was just boring. Hardly any tension which there should have been, no development, far too long and you do not care about anyone. Nothing made this interesting.

2) The Princess Bride - After being highly praised for being a essential for anyone's childhood, this just bored me silly.
I just do not get how people liked the comedy in this. I do not mind films that try to be silly, but this just failed on everything in my opinion.

I like a lot of cult films, sadly this one did not invite me into its club.

1) The Blind Side - Was completely stunned after seeing this. A Best Picture nominee with American Football in it sounds like my kind of thing.
However, the level of schmaltz and the look of a TV movie made me feel really disappointed.

Not even Sandra Bullock's wrongly given Oscar winning performance saved this from being passable viewing.

Requested Review: Harry Potter Franchise

Since the first release of the Harry Potter novel on June 30th 1997, author J.K Rowling has created a world that both kids and adults enjoy.
Every time a new book was made, its popularity just grew and grew. Plans for films of the books really started as soon as the first book was published. Eventually a date of November 16th 2001 was announced for the release of the film of The Philosopher's Stone.
In 2000, there was almost a year long search to see who would play the three main characters Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Those roles were given to Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. Ranging from 10-12 years old, these three probably had no realisation of how famous they will be.
After the release of The Philosopher's Stone on the big screen, the race was on keeping up with more releases of new books until in the summer of 2007, the final book The Deathly Hallows was published and it was just left for the movies to finish this epic fantasy adventure.
On July 7th 2011, the eighth and final movie was released and the Harry Potter franchise came to an end. Radcliffe, Grint and Watson are now fully-fledged Hollywood A-listers and are now doing their own stuff and it is all because of these magical stories that jumped onto our cinema screens.

Here are my reviews of each film of the Harry Potter film series:

The Philosophers Stone - Harry Potter's journey into the wizarding world begins on his 11th birthday.
He begins to find out who he really is and encounters new friends and a few enemies.
It is a nice pleasant start to the franchise and definitely captures the essence and feel of the book. There is a great blend of action, adventure, fantasy and comedy and the pacing is perfectly fine for the whole family to watch.

Rating: 7/10

The Chamber Of Secrets - Harry and his friends are back for a second year at Hogwarts and a new evil is facing Mr. Potter and the entire school.
It is probably my least favorite as I felt they could have done better with it in terms of the darker elements involved. But there is still more than enough content to enjoy and still has a great family movie feel to it.

Rating: 7/10

The Prisoner Of Azkaban - New director Alfonso Cuaron completely revamps the feel and look of the world of Hogwarts.
It has a great gothic look to it which I feel was needed, but with it being my favorite book there was a lot I was disappointed about, and even felt angry and embarrassed at times.
So for me, a mixed bag.

Rating: 7/10

The Goblet Of Fire - Year four of Hogwarts and another new director in the form of Mike Newell.

This is my favorite of the eight. It portrays really well, the new characters are shown to be very interesting and the content and pacing is highly enjoyable. We also start to get a bit darker as an old evil rises.

Rating: 8/10

The Order Of The Phoenix - Does not mirror the book well, but as a film it is a great fast-paced fifth installment as we begin to see the beginnings of a huge battle between good and evil.
Once again, we see new and interesting characters and we begin to see the big picture of Harry Potter is meant for in the world of wizards. This also features my favourite moment of the entire franchise.

Rating: 8/10

The Half Blood Prince - Director David Yates' second Potter film makes one of the more uneventful books really enjoyable on film.
Even with it basically being seen as filler for the final chapter, there is a grwat amount of charm about it that somehow makes this one a bit of a stand-out from the others.
Also, I particularly enjoyed the level of darkness and scares.

Rating: 8/10

The Deathly Hallows Part 1 - The wizarding world is in the beginnings of a civil war and Harry, Ron and Hermione are on the run.
This film is all about the build-up to part 2 of the final installment, and I weirdly prefer it to the successor at times.
There are loads of great set-pieces and obviously new characters and we see new parts to the original characters as they become a lot more mature which is nice to see.

Rating: 8/10

The Death Hallows Part 2 - A brilliant action-packed romp of a finale. It is a thrilling finish to not just the Harry Potter saga but of the people playing all these wonderful characters and how they have grown up.

Everything from the performances to the visual effects and soundtrack really make sure they end with their best work.
It is definitely rare to find a long film series where it consistently delivers.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Transcendence

The big pull for Transcendence was the directorial debut of Wally Pfister, who has been well known for being Christopher Nolan's cinematographer. After being held as the best in the game of cinematography, it is great to see Pfister try his hand at directing.

With a few of the cast being in Nolan's previous work, everyone is expecting another beautifully shot ideas driven story.

I like many, have given this movie a lot of hype. But I think after seeing it, I must remind myself is that this is first attempt at directing. When I heard this was getting a lot of hate from the critics, I was quite surprised.

For me, there was nothing wrong with it. I agree it was disappointing, but I still felt entertained and interested throughout.
Firstly, there is great ideas in this. They may be nothing original, but it is an idea you would expect from a person who has been involved with Christopher Nolan. It also as beautifully shot as you would expect from someone like Pfister.
But sadly, unlike Nolan, those ideas were only touched upon and were not delved into. There was also a lot of missed character development, especially in the first half of the film.
The second half felt a lot more complete and the ending was quite fitting. In my opinion, that was the only thing wrong with it. But despite that, I think the lack of going into its ideas made the film have a mini TV-series feel to it, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Some of those negatives are quite big ones. But as I thought it through, I took it for what it was and found to be a solid attempt. It had me remembering how I felt when I saw Oblivion (click here for a review) last year. It looked clean and crisp, had a good idea to work with but never really fully realised.

The performances were not anything spectacular but they did their job. Johnny Depp made it look effortless,
Rebecca Hall did what she is best known for. Morgan Freeman and Cillian Murphy could have done their respective performances in their sleep. It was really nice to see Paul Bettany back in a big blockbuster that is actually good. One nice performance that I would like to mention was from Kate Mara. She had an on-screen presence that has a lot of potential and that makes me more interested for her appearance as The Invisible Woman in the Fantastic Four reboot next year.

Other things to mention was the soundtrack by Mychael Danna. At times it was your conventional sci-fi action thriller which had a Hans Zimmer feel to it. Then there were some clever uses of the sounds of a computer which definitely kept the theme of the film. The visual effects were great and with the beautiful cinematography, the visual effect just enhanced everything.

After high expectations and hearing bad reviews, I felt it was an all-round solid sci-fi . Yes, it could have gone into its ideas a lot more, instead of just skimming the surface. But I think we should give sympathy to Pfister. It cannot be easy being a director for the first time, and after seeing Transcendence, I think we can be excited for his next offering.
Some people may say, Pfister is just a copy of Nolan. There is Nolan in this, but the subtle flow of the film gave it that Pfister touch. Also, for anyone who has never seen a Christopher Nolan, then I think seeing this could be a nice kick-start to the complexities of Nolan.

Rating: 7/10

My Top 10: Johnny Depp Films

Johnny Depp has become one of the most accomplished and popular actors of this generation. From giant blockbuster franchises to Oscar contenders, Depp has had quite an impressive career that does not look like finishing anytime soon.

His wide variety in characters shows how versatile he can be, and how many different types of moviegoers he can appeal to.

Out of his 60 films, I have only seen 37 of them. I will rank all of ones I have seen, and give a short review for each of my top 10.

Sadly, I have not seen all of the successful films that Depp has been involved with. The ones that I have yet to watch that could potentially enter this top 10 are: Arizona Dream, Benny & Joon, Dead Man and Before Night Falls.

With all those movies for me to watch, I can see this current list being altered. So for now, here is my top 10:

37) The Tourist
36) Alice Through The Looking Glass
35) Dark Shadows
34) Into The Woods
33) Transcendence
32) The Ninth Gate
31) Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald

30) Minamata
29) Alice In Wonderland
28) The Lone Ranger
27) Secret Window
26) The Rum Diary
25) From Hell
24) Public Enemies

23) Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
22) Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge
21) Once Upon A Time In Mexico
20) Murder On The Orient Express
19) Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
18) Black Mass
17) Donnie Brasco
16) Blow
15) Platoon
14) Chocolat
13) Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
12) Rango
11) Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End

10) Sleepy Hollow - Depp plays a professor sent to a town where three people have been decapitated, and the culprit seems to be the legendary Headless Horseman.

Directed by Tim Burton, this well presented horror mystery looks to have remained faithful to the classic tale with Burton's terrific gothic look to it.

9) Corpse Bride - One of Depp's very few voice roles in Burton's stop-motion animation spectacle.

Despite the film being mainly dominated by its striking visuals, the performances are still key in making this another of Burton's classics.

8) Edward Scissorhands - One of Depp's most well-known roles in another Tim Burton spectacle.
Depp plays a strange boy who quite literally has scissors for hands.

Depp creates such a lovable character who embarks on quite an adventure where he learns about life and being seen as an outcast.

7) A Nightmare On Elm Street - The Wes Craven horror classic from the 1980's. It sees a group of people be hunted by a serial killer who was known to be dead. The killer has found a way of hunting them beyond death.

6) Ed Wood - A terrific biopic about of a film-maker billed as 'The worst film director of all-time'.

Depp plays Edward D. Wood Jnr, an ambitious film director who just wanted to make movies, no matter how bad they are.

It has great references of the film industry during the 1950's and the entire production looks terrific.

5) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street - Based on the broadway musical. Depp plays Benjamin Barker who sets up a barber shop in London which has a sinister twist.

With the addition of the odd sing-song, director Tim Burton has created such a dark and gloomy looking London that gives it the perfect atmosphere for a story such as this one.

4) Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl - Depp gives us an introduction to one of the most popular characters of the last 10 years of film making, Captain Jack Sparrow.

With top-notch swashbuckling action, and terrifying villains, this feature from Disney has really put the Pirate genre back on the map.

3) What's Eating Gilbert Grape - Only recently saw this and completely blown away.

Depp plays Gilbert whose life has been stopped as he is having to look after mentally disabled brother and obese mother.

With a lot of great performances and a touching story, this is worth a serious look.

2) Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Depp is back as Captain Jack in a thrilling sequel as the Pirates franchise is cranked up a few more notches.
With Sparrow on the hunt for the heart of Davy Jones, the man himself has put a debt on Sparrow's shoulders. The clock is running and Jack and his crew have race against time to find the heart.


1) Finding Neverland - Winner of 1 Oscar and nominated for Best Picture, Depp plays author J.M Barrie whose friendship with a family inspires him to write Peter Pan.

It is a touching drama that sends you into a world of expanding your imagination and fighting for what you believe in.

Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

We are already having are second of four courses of Marvel action in 2014.

This time, we are back in New York City for more adventures with Peter Parker as Spider-Man.
For anyone that remembers my review of the first Amazing Spider-Man, I was mainly commenting on the pointlessness of re-booting the Spider-Man franchise so soon.

But due to Sony's contract, they had to make a new film within a certain time to keep the rights of the source material. With Spider-Man 4 being rejected, a reboot was the only other option. In business terms, it makes sense. But for film fans, it is just annoying and frustrating. As a film, I felt it was pretty solid and did what it was supposed to do.

With the Marvel film franchise starting to expand and the studio beginning to show their grand scheme that apparently is going possibly last for another 10 years approximately, The Amazing Spider-Man is already showing glimpses of some interesting sequels.

Back to the film, and frustration is an understatement.

It is difficult to know where to start. But I think I will describe my emotions during the film. We begin with a terrific opening scene and drew a few gasps from the audience around me which it deserved. After that, we get Spider-Man's first action set-piece and to call it pantomime and cringe-worthy would be quite generous. It does get better, but there are still moments of silliness which I think should not be in it. As soon as you get a good solid scene, it decides to make a disappointing one. If I made a graph of my general satisfaction during the film, it would be up and down more times than Tigger who has had too much sugar.

I think I will talk about the characters now. Firstly Andrew Garfield, and I continue to be unsure. There is a Spider-Man in him, but I still think a few more viewings of the animated series and comic books are in order. For Emma Stone, she does the eye-candy very well and continues to give us a personality in her character  compared to the basic performance by Bryce Dallas Howard. But I will always forgive her for the amazing presence she gave in The Help. Sally Field does what she does best and we cannot complain.
As for the new arrivals, by far the stand-out was Dane DeHaan who was probably the only character that had a real on-screen presence.  It is a great choice of casting for his character and I will be interested to see how he develops over the franchise. Jamie Foxx I felt needed more character development, but that is more to the fault of the director and producer. But for the time Foxx had, I think he did a solid job. Sadly there were a few Mr. Freeze style quotes which sadly put a dampener on his performance. One performance that was just awful was Paul Giamatti's. From the moment you see him on screen and when he says his first line, he would have been better suited in the pretty poor Spider-Man 3. Another awfully over-the-top character was one played by Marton Csokas. He did have that crazy comic book tone to it, but everything else did not and that is why he felt out of place.
One character played by Felicity Jones did not get a lot of air-time, but once you know who she is playing, you know she is important for the franchise. So I think this was just small intro to her and I would wait for the next installment to really see her spread her wings.

Outside of the performance, the other positives was the cinematography. It is very well shot both during the action scenes and landscape shots. The special effects are what you expect them to be these days. But the director seemed to like the slow-motion button as I felt there was a bit too many in my opinion. There was one point where there was so much slow-motion, I felt like Michael Bay suddenly took-over the controls.
Another good positive was the constant hints of where Marvel are going with this franchise. We saw shots of other possible characters coming to life and a few teasers even the most hardcore fans would not be able to work out.

Sadly, despite a lot of good points that were mentioned, the negatives were superior. One huge bad point was the overall tone. When that does not work, you instantly cannot get into it. Don't get me wrong, I saw some good parts, but also some frustrating, disappointment and just plain awful moments. I still prefer Maguire to Garfield and yet I think neither are the perfect choice. It is hard to criticise and find a solution, but I hope they had the right tone and I can get back to enjoying Spider-Man again.

I am hoping those hints during the film win me over in the end. Otherwise, this could be a disappointing franchise that had its moments, but just not enough to be good viewing.

Overall, I did feel like it was disappointing. But there is just about enough in there to make it ok viewing. But it could and definitely should have been better.

On a final note, with it being Marvel, there is a wait during the credits for extra scenes. As it not an Avengers related film, it will be just be mid-credits to watch out for. For me, it was better then the actual film. Not only does that say a lot about The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but for how excited I am for the next course on Marvel's menu for 2014.

Rating: 6/10

Review: The Raid 2

From being one of the surprise hits of 2011, director Gareth Evans feels he has only touched the surface of the martial arts genre.

After surviving the raid on an apartment building, police officer Rama is back on duty. It seems that task in the first installment was just a dot on the Richter scale. This sequel puts Rama's situation on a much grander scale.

With the plot being pretty simple to grasp in the first part, it has become more complex, and the action follows suit.

The main reason for its success with the fans was the well choreographed action scenes that almost felt operatic, or if you were watching ballet on an extreme level.

Usually, sequels are obviously well known for being a bit disappointing and not matching the hype. However, The Raid 2 has gone on the same road as the Terminator and Dark Knight franchises. Everything is cranked up, and fledged further out to make it even more exciting viewing.

The main draw is by far the fighting scenes. The level of athleticism, pain you feel when watching and choreography is as great as Ronin and The French Connection. Some of the great martial arts films usually get over-looked by critics and experts. With this one, it seems everyone is appreciating the skill needed to stage this and make sure it is timed to perfection.
There is also a lot of strain on the actors and actual trained martial artists involved that you can appreciate. Despite the extreme violence and gore throughout the two and a half hours, it is exquisite to watch and you manage to grimace with every hit that is being made. Another positive with the violence is that none of it seems gratuitous.

With most recent blockbusters being forced to make the violence suitable for a 12 certificate, Evans has taken the right path and has basically stuck two fingers up to the major Hollywood film-makers. Evans has shown how artistic violence can be without even using a big budget and that it can win critics over. There are even some comedic moments during some of the fighting scenes which was a nice touch to show the variety they can do.

As for the acting, it still plays an important role in this film. All the main actors are given great development during the whole film and we get to know some fascinating personalities. Some of them would fit right in to several Quentin Tarantino films.

There are so many fighting/car-chasing scenes I could mention that would easily out-do any major blockbuster over the last decade. If I had to choose one, it would be the penultimate one, so I recommend everyone should keep an eye out for that epic encounter.

Overall, I absolutely loved it. Everything was so satisfying and it is brilliant to see a director that has gone on a path not many would go down. It is clear to see the talent he and his team have, and that they are not afraid to go to the next level. The action scenes are some of the best I have ever seen and the plot was cranked up to give it its complexity. This is an early candidate for my film of 2014 and I will certainly never forget this one anytime soon.

Rating: 9/10

My Top 10: Films Not In The English Language

For general moviegoers, films not in the English language are usually films they step away from and leave it to the more cultured film fan.
But once you experience some of the best movies from around the world, you become determined to be introduced to every type of film, whatever the language.

Since I started really wanting to watch any sort of films, I have come across some of the most wonderful stories and performances I have ever seen.
This top 10 that I am about to type about I feel is nowhere near set in stone. I have yet to explore every successful film that is not in the English language.
However, this list is still quite impressive and I hope you explore them and it gives you the much needed kick-start in exploring films that are not determined to getting huge takings at the box office, but basically tell great stories that need to be told.

Two films that I just had to mention that did not make my top 10 was The Diving Bell And The Butterfly. A French film that is an incredibly moving re-telling of the true story of journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. His story is presented in the most amazing way.
Brilliantly captured cinematography, a captivating screenplay and we are left with an experience of the human soul that not a lot will experience.
The other film that I wanted to give an honorable mention is Infernal Affairs.  The film that inspired the Oscar Best Picture winner, The Departed.
The thrilling story about a mole in the police department and an undercover cop.
It is well-made, stylish and extremely entertaining. For many people, they will have seen Martin Scorsese's re-make first. I am one of them, and I can see why Hollywood wanted to re-tell this story and show it to the masses.

Here is my top 10:

10) Battle Royale (Japan) - Known by many as 'the film America would never ever make' this thrilling and original cult classic from Japan wowed me and many audiences around the world.

I have recently re-watched this and it easily holds up. It goes straight into the action and it just does not stop. It is hard to make something so brutal and yet gripping to watch with many interesting characters.

While the mainstream audiences may like similar features like The Hunger Games or The Condemned. Battle Royale makes them look like a fun movie for all the family.

9) City Of God (Brazil) - Only recently seen this. After being a huge hit in 2002, this story about the life in the slums of Brazil has amazed many film lovers over time including myself.
Films like this show that there is real talent outside of the big money-making studios.
It is essential viewing and is one of the few films that would be seen as pure cinema.

8) The Lives Of Others (Germany) - Remember seeing the trailer and instantly wanted to see this. I was not disappointed.

An intelligent thriller set during a time when East Germany was the GDR. Also, this was one of the very few films not in the English language to do well at the major film awards outside of its own category.

7) Seven Samurai (Japan) - A poor village which is attacked by bandits hire seven samurai to help them defend their land.
A 1950's classic that is become a worldwide phenomenon over time also was the film to inspire The Magnificent Seven.

Directed by the amazing and highly acclaimed Akira Kurosawa, this is his masterpiece.

6) Cinema Paradiso (Italy) - I've been wanting to see this for some time, and I am so happy that I finally did.

It tells the story of a man recalling his childhood where he fell in love with movies at his local cinema.

A fantastic story for proper film fans that will make you smile, laugh and cry.

5) Howl's Moving Castle (Japan) - The first of four Studio Ghibli films directed by Hayao Miyazaki in my list.
When it comes to fantasy, Miyazaki and Ghibli certainly know how to succeed within that genre.

It has wizards, witches and even a scarecrow. It will amaze everyone of all ages.

4) Joyeux Noel (France) - Despite some of the film containing people speaking English, this is officially a French film.
Telling the story of the Christmas Day ceasefire in World War I, this touching war drama really got to me.
If you have read any of my other lists, this film has come up a few times and you know how much I like this.

3) Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind (Japan) - The film that made Studio Ghibli come to life, it is still incredible to think that this was made in 1984.
With great imagination and story-telling, Miyazaki shows us a world full of giant creatures, warriors, flying ships and amazing countryside.

Simply astonishing.

2) Princess Mononoke (Japan) - Miyazaki is back with another fantasy filled spectacle.

With Japanese history being known for their spirits, this is filled with spectacular creatures in a troubled world searching for peace.

This might be one of the few Ghibli's that might not instantly be liked by younger viewers.

1) Spirited Away (Japan) - Many people feel this is and could very well end up being Miyazaki and Ghibli's masterpiece.
A 10-year old girl gets caught up in a world of spirits and demons.

We get transported to somewhere that is truly incredible. It left me amazed and in awe of the amount of imagination that can be transformed onto screen.

Review: Noah

When it comes to movies inspired by religious text, you will always expect either controversy or negative reviews without the person even seeing it.

When hearing about who was directing and starring, I instantly wanted to check this out.

Director Darren Aronofsky has always been known for his psychological thrillers that do not have a look of a big budget blockbuster. This one however, looks a little soft by his standards and could be a good starter for non-Aronofsky fans if they feel they will not understand his previous material at first.

For his leading actor Russell Crowe, I find him to be an impressive actor with a high quality portfolio. Starring as one of Christianity's most well known figures, the pressure was certainly on the New Zealand born Australian to pull off another mesmerizing performance.
With Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins and Emma Watson, there is certainly potential in there for success.

Before going in to see it, I have always believed that religion can interpreted in many ways. For most people, they see Noah as a man with a incredibly look white beard with a staff bringing in animals two-by-two in an attempt to save God's creatures while he punishes man. With it being Aronofsky, you know it will not be as simple as that.

From the opening, I could see that Aronofsky is interested by the biblical text but is still not afraid on putting his own layer to the tale. I felt that there was enough of the source material used to good effect that not only gives the right message about the story of Noah, but keeps us entertained with Aronofsky's flavor.

There were a few odd additions which were clearly not from the original text. It was obvious that that was to bring in the mainstream audience which I think is great and yet I felt it will not distract you enough from the main story.

The performances were pretty solid all-round. Crowe gave us a Noah we would never associate with, but I felt it was a Noah we needed to see especially in the final third of the film. Jennifer Connelly's character gave us necessary chemistry with Noah so we can learn a lot more about the man. Anthony Hopkins was vintage Hopkins and it seems he is at a point in his career where he just does whatever he wants now and he can still win fans over. Emma Watson continues to stretch her acting skills further away from just the Harry Potter franchise. Her versatility is there for all to see and I hope to see her become the next British acting powerhouse in many award ceremonies that are yet to come. Also, Ray Winstone gives us a good villain and portrays the dark side of man very well I thought.

The only negative that is worth mentioning was the occasional poor CGI. The majority of it worked well to the environment around it, but now and again there was some that looked quite dated. But I think as a whole the CGI was pretty good.

Overall, I did enjoy it, felt entertained and was interested by the portrayal Aronofsky showed us. It felt to me  that it was a great blend of the biblical text that can be presented in the feature film with enough additions to dramatize it but not distract from the situation. Aronofsky is an accomplished film director, he is ambitious and is not afraid to leap off the fence. However, he also knows where to draw the line, but still get his message across.
It is a well directed film that shows how man were rightfully punished by their creator, how Noah was chosen but not righteous, how creation was perfect and should not be abused but objectified. The messages it gave does explain the importance of various things such as baptism, judgment and salvation to name but a few.

I hope devout Christians as well as movie-goers see it in the right way as I did, instead of being negative just for the sake of them even attempting of making a religious story to be put on the big screen. If you saw religious messages in Aronofsky's The Fountain then you definitely will see it in this.

Rating: 7/10

My Top 10: Russell Crowe Films

Russell Crowe has always been an admired actor around the world. His presence on and off screen gives us a person that we could get along with and have a pleasant chat in a pub.
Usually in crime thrillers or action epics, Crowe can occasionally surprise us, but only in terms of genre not the performance.

With a few Oscar nominations and one win, the New Zealand born Australian has quite a strong portfolio to rival any other active actor and picking my top 10 was difficult.
However, I have managed to produce a list that is impressive, but can also be altered between now and the day he retires which I hope will be not announced anytime soon.

Just missing out on my top 10 but getting an honorable mention, is A Good Year. Even with this simple plot, the enjoyable factor is what gets my high praise.
I do not usually go for rom-coms, but I felt this to have a warm glow to it with nice performances and beautifully shot cinematography. You would never have thought Ridley Scott was the director.

Out of his 46 films, I have seen 22 of them. I will rank all of the ones I have seen and give a short review of each of my top 10:

22) The Man With The Iron Fists
21) The Mummy
20) Broken City

19) The Pope's Exorcist 
18) Robin Hood
17) State Of Play
16) Noah
15) The Next Three Days
14) Man Of Steel
13) Body Of Lies
12) The Nice Guys
11) A Good Year

10) Boy Erased - A rather impactful and moving drama that covers conversionism.

It sees the son of a baptist teacher being forced into a conversion programme after being outed by his parents.

Crowe plays the baptist teacher and along with Nicole Kidman and Lucas Hedges gives a soldi contribution to this feature.

9) Cinderella Man - When Boxing films are done right, it will be liked for generations to come.
This one is definitely one of them, but I do not think a lot of mainstream audiences have yet to encounter this feature by director Ron Howard.
Crowe's performance as a washed-up boxer coming back to be champion in the 1930's gives us a helpful view on times during the Great Depression.

8) American Gangster - Ridley Scott and Crowe return, but this time in a thrilling crime drama set in the 1970's.
With a kingpin drug smuggler running Manhattan, Crowe's character  is determined to bring him to justice.
Scott gives us a steady flowing, well-scripted and a beautifully gritty presented film that also has a memorable performance from Denzel Washington.

7) The Insider - Nominated for seven Oscars, this complex and compelling drama about the tobacco industry really does not sit on the fence about how this business is determined to mask the truth from the public about cigarettes.

The chemistry between Crowe and Al Pacino really sucks you in and gives you multiple amounts of high tense set-pieces.

6) 3:10 To Yuma - A wonderful re-make of the brilliant 1957 Western involving a small-town rancher who agrees to escort a dangerous wanted outlaw to a train on its way to Yuma prison.

Crowe plays outlaw Ben Wade, and along with Christian Bale it definitely matches the success of the original and will appeal to many mainstream audiences.
I enjoy this every time I watch it.

5) L.A. Confidential - Set in 1950's Los Angeles, this terrific modern look on vintage film-noir mystery brings out many great performances as well as Crowe.
With three policeman investigating a series of murders, each one has their own brand of justice and we get to see a gripping tale of the brutal, the sleazy and the straight-laced.

4) Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World - Remember this being a big hit on its release in 2003, Crowe plays a brash British captain who pursues a French vessel during the Napoleonic wars.

It has a great blend of action and character development in a setting that is pleasing to the eye.
Winner of two Oscars, it is certainly deserving of it awards.

3) A Beautiful Mind - Best Picture Winner in 2001, director Ron Howard has created quite an original, intelligent and entertaining film.
Crowe plays a brilliant mathematician who accepts in doing work to break Soviet codes.

His performance as well as the film is incredibly touching and has great philosophy that everyone can discuss for a long time.

2) Les Miserables - One of his more recent successes. Director Tom Hooper has brought the worldwide musical success to the big screen and such an epic way that only Hooper can.

The impressive singing to the grand scale of the scenery makes this an absolute tour-de-force. Crowe's singing may not be best part of the film, but he is certainly a big contributor.

1) Gladiator - Crowe's most well-known role in another Best Picture Winner, this time in 2000.

Director Ridley Scott brings back the swords-and-sandals to the big screen and to the major awards.
From the amazing battle scenes, to the touching moments, mainly involving the late great Oliver Reed which this movie is dedicated to him after he sadly died three weeks before the end of filming.