here, then, in no particular order, are the ten best. although i wouldn't be too surprised if my ranting and raving of one or two makes them seem like the outstanding choices! a warning, as of course these comments may well accidentally contain SPOILERS!
Colour Me Kubrick was expected to be good fun, and turned out to be the case. the (mostly) true story of the chap who impersonated the late, great Stanley Kubrick with bizarre success (he looked nothing like him, nor knew much about him) was given a generous, loving telling in this film. John Malkovich was his excellent best in the lead role of Alan "Stanley" Conway, and the supporting cast did a wonderful job. the most notable of the support was none other than comic Jim "nick nick" Davidson, who in real life had an encounter with Mr Conway. a nice performance, Jim, hope it earns you another film job or two.even if you are not particularly aware of the story, or not all that clued up on Kubrick, i would all the same say give Colour Me Kubrick a try. in regards of a comparison, i suppose it's not a million miles away from being a somewhat more serious version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - not as funny as that one, and not intended to be, but otherwise just as warmhearted towards those charming scoundrels that seem to be able to get away with it.
if it was not for James being around i somehow doubt that things like Shrek The Third would enter into my world, but James is very much around and so we got to see this one during the year. i rather enjoyed the first two, and this one is no less of a film. Eddie Murphy's Donkey is one of the funniest cinema character creations i have seen in a long time, and i trust that Eddie is surfing the crest of a wave on the back of his performances. i must say i find the Shrek character himself rather dull, but the surrounding characters make this wildly entertaining. and hey, who doesn't love the baby dragon-donkey things and of course the baby shrek/s???the Shrek The Third DVD set is well worth getting - the parental advice for Shrek from some of the characters is a worthwhile inclusion for the sheer humour value, as is the excellent jukebox. sure, the jukebox might be there just to promote the other films, but you can play some great tunes thanks to it!
Sunshine is a science fiction work that sits very nicely alongside classics of the more intellectual works in the genre, notably 2001 and of course Blade Runner. a lot of people have been rather critical of it, but i suspect they might have been expecting more of an action film than it turned out to be.the plot, briefly, involves the sun being on the verge of burnout, and man's efforts to rejuvinate it and save earth from the inevitable doom. the question it poses, on something akin to a King Lear scale, is dare man try and defy nature?
Sunshine is not a much of a thinking man's film as 2001, and nor is it a rollercoaster ride like Star Wars or Doom. i found it all rather fascinating, however, and would not hesitate in suggesting to anyone who hasn't seen that they should give it a try.
28 Weeks Later was easily the best horror film of 2007, and one of those rare cases where the sequel is better than the original. 28 Days Later was one half excellent film, one half mess. Weeks is just all excellent, i am delighted to say. continuing on from the first film, the population of England has all but been wiped out thanks to the nasty virus that was released (rage, i think it was called?), and so the nation needs rebuilding. the virus, however, has not been quite as elminated as had been expected, and soon enough again the British Isles is home to some rather nasty, violent, quasi-zombie types.
fast, furious and astonishingly violent, this is not for everyone's tastes, but is a welcome site for those of us who are just tired of the lame, boring "shock horror" rubbish coming out of America these days.
Perfume was i think a 2006 release in some areas of the world, but it only turned up where i am this year, and thus it counts for this list, thank you. filming Suskind's outrageous novel was passed on by the likes of Kubrick and Scorsese, so i was a bit dubious to see it arrive with a relatively unknown director (Tom Tykwer) and a not too well known actor (Ben Whishaw) in the lead role. they do an excellent job, i am delighted to say. to give a rundown of the plot would probably take up quite a bit of space, and the intewebnetwork thing can probably give you as good an explination as i could. for fellow fans of the novel, the film somehow captures the book well - it deviates a bit and misses some elements, but all the same pulls it off. difficult to explain how, really, but watch it and you will see.
a warning though, as the film contains some deeply disturbing images and is certainly not for all tastes!
are there really only going to be three Jason Bourne films? what a shame, as The Bourne Ultimatum was a masterpiece of entertainment; a brilliant, intelligent action thriller with not much in the way of peers bar the previous Bourne outings. the film of course rejects most of Ludlum's novel, a plot about Carlos The Jackal now being somewhat dated, but retains enough elements and continues the film arc with superb style. it's pretty much because of the Bourne films that i got bored with Casino Royale, and do not see much of a future for things like the James Bond series. Bond was good, but at last the Americans have found a similar formula, and if i may dare say, improved on it. don't get me wrong, i loved the Bond films, but these ones are just the bigger, better experience.
if for some reason you have not seen any of the Bourne films, well, you know what to do......
Breach looked interesting from the start, and proved to be a fascinating film indeed. as the similar-but-different The Falcon And The Snowman is one of my all time favourite films, i had high expectations of this one, and they were pretty much met. in a non-mocking sense, it is always curious to see and learn how the new Empire, America, manages to trip itself up at the highest levels, and to try and understand why. i'm not so sure that they why element is addressed here, but all the same, it's intriguing viewing. Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe are detatched in their roles, never generating any biased emotion from the audience. a no point do you feel particularly manipulated in your feelings towards them, which makes this all the more brilliant in the presentation of what happened. erm, what was it that happened? probably the biggest ever leak of information from the US Intelligence Agencies to those that would bring the US down in history, the audacity and scale of which may never be known. the film is not saturday night popcorn stuff, but it is well worth it for those of us who like a bit of intelligent cinema in our lives.
Hannibal Rising, charting the early years of Dr Hannibal Lecter and how he came to be the infamous Hannibal The Cannibal, was as an idea a completely pointless, merit-free way to generate money. enough people who clearly cared, however, were involved to make sure that lovers of the creation that is Dr Lecter were not cheated or let down.the big name actors from the first three (or, if you look at it properly, four) Lecter outings are all gone, although for fans of English TV there are one or two familiar faces around. if you have read all of Thomas Harris' Lecter novels, then there is nothing really for you to learn about Lecter from this prequel, but there is ample to keep your interest and ensure that you do not feel disappointed with it. i would not suggest watching this before watching the others, however - consider this something of a very elongated bonus DVD feature to watch after you have seen the original films.
Hot Fuzz is one of the funniest, quirkiest and quite honestly happy films i have seen in a long time. sure, there's the odd squirmish moment with some of the OTT violence and effects, but they are all done for you to laugh along to, not to shock and scare you. it from the same guys and ladies who made the wonderful Shaun Of The Dead, so if you know and love that film you know what the deal will be here.plot? a copper who is too good at his job in the city is forced to move to a rural, supposedly dull and quiet village to perform his police duties so that he stops making everyone else look useless. surprise surprise, however, with the best laid plans and all that good stuff...
as with the majority of films listed here, Hot Fuzz is not for all tastes. unlike some, however, it most certainly is perfect for a saturday night with popcorn, as it sort of states itself halfway through. well, watch it and see....
and finally, welcome back John McClane in the form of Die Hard 4.0, or whatever they named it in your part of the world. i really was not expecting all that much from it, and maybe thanks to that i got a wild ride of a film. i mean, i didn't really think that a plot about chasing computer hackers would be all that interesting, but then you get things like cars being fired off at helicopters and you get to reconsider.the most interesting thing was perhaps the fact that this, more than anything, shows that Brucie is indeed an actor. you have seen him in many action films, but here his character is "different" from in all the others. watching Bruce play McClane is always a joy. good luck to him and his more "serious" parts, but this character will be the one that he is remembered for. and there's nothing wrong with that!
well, there's my ten for you to do what you will with. i think the only possible one to miss out was Rocky Balboa - impressive, but not quite as good as these ones. whether you agree or disagree with my choices, i can only hope that you saw more good films than bad over the past twelve months!!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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