Don’t get checked into The Ward, it’s already dull.

The Ward (2010)

Director: John Carpenter

Stars: Amber Heard, Jared Harris, Lyndsy Fonseca, Sali Sayler

Me and ghost horror films don’t get on well. It’s not that I’m shit scared of watching them. They just don’t really seem to catch my imagination, excitement, and enthrallment. Very rare cases do.

There’s nothing different about most of them  especially when most of the reasons they lurk about is from being the deceased remains of someone who was wronged or evil. Or both.  Or maybe, a Scooby-doo villain.

A good movie memory was when I watched What Lies Beneath when I was 15. Scared the fucking shit out of me in the cinema, perhaps I didn’t expect it but hey I remember the viewing experience fondly. It may not stand the test of time, sure. But when I look back at that film, I have happy memories of good cinema experiences.

And that’s the thing with most ghost films. I try to find the positives in them but when they’re all about loud shunting noises, annoying characters, and a repetitive ending. I don’t tend to go out wanting to see them. I remember watching The Grudge US (hated it), Reeker (hated it), Boogeyman (hated it) to name a few and still don’t find these sort of films entertaining. It doesn’t make me want to go watch the original Ringu, or Grudge, or similar films. I know I should but when I have repeated bad experiences, it’s not a genre that screams out to me immediately to watch.

And I’m sorry for that god awful pun.

And The Ward is yet another aggravatingly bad experience.

I’ll be honest. I’m not a familiar voyeur of John Carpenter films and this is probably the wrong one to start viewing if I wanted to get into watching the films of a very renowned and respected horror director. But I think I really should have just asked someone to borrow their copy of The Thing, I’d likely enjoy that a bit more. Probably tons more than The Ward. 

The problem with The Ward is that it’s uninspiring, unoriginal, and quite frankly…dull. It’s like it’s trying to mesh Girl Interrupted with Identity with say any recent ghost movies. And it fails. It splats against the small hole it was supposed to be melded into in the first place. It sadly plays out more like a TV movie than anything else considering Carpenter’s association with Masters of Horror.

It’s a group of mentally unstable girls locked up in a ward where the ghost of one of their former patients is stalking and killing the girls one by one. Leaving the naturally sane, yet also unbalanced, good girl played by Amber Heard, to question what on earth is going on. Obviously, like all normal horror tales, no one is inclined to believe her including the head doctor played by Jared Harris.

It really doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happens. 

Then they decide to be really, really, smart and throw in a twist that is eye rolling bad.

Then they add that traditional never ending ending. 

Well done, everyone involved. You’ve just annoyed me for another 90 minutes.

I really don’t want to be mean but when I’ve seen it all before, it’s hard to be positive about my experience with The Ward. The acting isn’t as bad as other films. Amber Heard and Jared Harris actually are really watchable in the flick. It’s just annoying that the same potholes of horror logic just come into effect and considering this is from a revered director who brought us the original Halloween (not the Zombie crap), The Thing and other cult titles, it just feels disappointing.

Can someone lend me the copy of The Thing now and show me how good Carpenter is, please?

The coin flipping Dilemma of…um…The Dilemma

The Dilemma (2011)

Director: Ron Howard

Stars: Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder

I was in a bit of a muddle on Friday night. I had finished worked, The King’s Speech and Black Swan technically decimated our cinema for another night and I had finished my shift. Sure, it was 11pm, but I thought I’d unwind by going watch a film at the late show multiplex a mere 20 minutes away.

But the problem in my head was what I was going to watch. I was intending to see The Ward (which I have done and will review later) but wasn’t in the mood for a horror. I wanted something light and my choices came down to either Morning Glory (where grumpy Harrison Ford makes me chuckle) or The Dilemma (A Ron Howard directed comedy…hmmm…intriguing and I had not seen a trailer either).

I couldn’t make a clear cut decision so I did what any filmgoer would do in this situation.

Flip a coin.

Heads, I watch Morning Glory. Tails, The Dilemma.

It landed tails.

So here are my thoughts of The Dilemma. On the surface looks like a typical, usually not that very funny, Vince Vaughn comedy. This time, he’s a unlucky plebe who spots the wife of his best friend, played by Kevin James, getting it off with Channing “the male block of wood” Tatum. Suffice to say, the dilemma (see what they did there?) of the situation for Vince is does he tell Kevin James what he saw? And what will happen if he does? Will it scupper their motorcar building dreams? Will it prevent Queen Latifah from getting a female hard-on?

Yes, that last line is what the Oscar nominated Queen Latifah continually spouts out in this film. We’ll get to that soon.

What’s odd about The Dilemma is at times it’s typically Vince Vaughn fair. There’s loud screaming, pratfalls, idiotic spouts of behaviour, and the world’s worse anniversary speech to give to a girlfriends parents celebrating 40 years together. If you like that sort of stuff, you’ll be happy. And how it’s done here, I didn’t mind it. I did laugh a good laugh ratio as Byron Pitt would put it. It makes up for some of the past crap Vaughn has done….Couple Retreat maybe? Four Christmases? Yeah, The Dilemma is head and shoulders above those.

Then at times, The Dilemma veers into drama territory – you’d expect it from Ron Howard I guess. You get these dark moments of problematic pasts like a gambling addiction, failed marriages, and it’s at that time, you feel the film is strangely unbalanced at times. Trying to market your film as a flat out comedy and then thrown in the occasional moment of reflective thinking and crying to God in a more sombre tone is quite a curveball. Some audiences might like it. I think it tries to make itself different from the norm and I respect its attempt to do so.

But when your counter balancing it with comedy that is completely out of place and characters that belong in an Apatow clan film, The Dilemma is still worryingly uneven. And that’s a shame. The central performances are likeable. Vaughn and James make a good double act. Winona Ryder is building on her recent performances of evil or batty woman here. Jennifer Connelly is normal here. Nothing special. Channing Tatum plays up to that block of wood character nicely.

I wouldn’t whole heartily recommend it. Perhaps to all those curious, give it a rental.  If you’re looking for a flat out comedy, find a flat out comedy. The Dilemma provides 50% of it. The other 50% is something from another film.

Oscar noms tomorrow, time to start guessing!

Now, regardless of how silly many feel the Oscars are, I like them.  I like the prestige and I like the fact that films coming out around this time tend to be some choice morsels of cinematic consumption.

Or Season Of The Witch…but that’s not important right now.

So,  here are my predicted picks for an Oscar nomination tomorrow. Films I haven’t seen are marked with a * and I am going on the current momentum built up from other awards and reviews.

Anyway, check out my predictions, come back Tuesday and watch me look baffled if they pull another Globes bout of film madness. If The Tourist creeps into Best Picture…something’s wrong indeed.

Best Film (No particular Order)

The King’s Speech / The Social Network / Inception / Black Swan / The Kids Are All Right / The Fighter* / Toy Story 3 / 127 Hours / True Grit* / Blue Valentine*

Wildcard surprises : The Town / Winter’s Bone

Best Actor

Colin Firth (King’s Speech) / James Franco (127 Hours) / Jessie Eisenberg (Social Network) / Javier Bardem (Biutiful*) / Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine*)

Wildcard surprises: Jeff Bridges (True Grit*) or Marky Mark Walhberg (The Fighter*)

Best Actress

Natalie Portman (Black Swan) / Annett Benning (Kids are All Right) / Julianne Moore (Kids Are All Right) / Jennifer Lawerence (Winter’s Bone) / Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole*)

Wildcard surprises: Lesley Manville (Another Year*) or Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine*)

Best Director

David Fincher (Social Network) / Christopher Nolan (Inception) / Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) / Tom Hooper (King’s Speech) / David O’Russell (The Fighter*)

Wildcard surprises: The Coen Brothers (True Grit*) / Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right)

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale (The Fighter*) / Gefforey Rush (King’s Speech) / Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right) / Andrew Garfield (Social Network) / John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone)

Wildcard surprises: Jeremy Renner (The Town)

Best Supporting Actress

Helena Bonham Carter (King’s Speech) / Amy Adams (The Fighter*) / Melissa Leo (The Fighter*) / Hailee Steinfield (True Grit*) / Jackie Weaver (Animal Kingdom*)

Wildcard surprises: Mila Kunis or Barbara Hershey for Black Swan

Cinematic Dramatic 2x22 - The Green Hornet - LISTEN NOW!

The latest episode of Cinematic Dramatic, from Geek Planet Online, is now available to download.

Click the Cinematic Dramatic logo to listen to the new episode

The Green Hornet is reviewed, Byron Pitt fumes that he hasn't been nominated for Sky's movie blog of the year, Battle: LA has a brand new trailer and I watched The King of Fighters.

Enjoy!

Today is Black Swan day!

It's January 21st, which means one thing....

This is scary...trust me...

Black Swan is finally out in the UK! Hooray!

I have already written words why I love this film and I've already conversed with Byron Pitt on a previous episode of Cinematic Dramatic about it too. Have a listen here - it's the last review of the episode.

Then if you're curious to see how Darren Aronofsky topped The Wrestler (an equally amazing film), then hit your local cinemas now!

Cinematic Dramatic 2x21 - The King's Speech - LISTEN NOW

The latest episode of Cinematic Dramatic, from Geek Planet Online, is now available to listen to.

Click the Cinematic Dramatic logo to listen to the new episode

It's our first episode of 2011, Byron Pitt and myself preview three interesting films. Joe Wright's assassin thriller, Hanna. Mind boggling views on life with Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life. Plus can Kevin Smith repair the damage done by Cop Out with horror, Red State?

Review wise, we talk about 127 Hours and The King's Speech. I've already written reviews on previous posts but these discussions and reviews are a little more in depth than my writings. Enjoy!

Enjoy!

The Green Hornet: It’s a helpful sting for the masses

The Green Hornet 3D (2011)

Director: Michel Gondry

Stars: Seth Rogen, Jay Cho, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz

January is widely acknowledged by cinephiles as either two things when it comes to summing up what appears at the multiplexes.

1. The Awards Season (Example - The King’s Speech)
2. Dumping Ground for shite or below-the-radar  films. (Example – Season of The Witch or Henry’s Crime)

When you look at it from a neutral point of view, there isn’t really much joy to be found for your general cinema audience. A general audience would steer clear of The King’s Speech because it doesn’t look appealing as a mainstream film. A general audience would likely steer clear of films like Season of The Witch due to its poor reception and maybe films like Henry’s Crime because they have little or no idea what the film is about.

I didn’t know about Henry’s Crime until last week when Keanu Reeves showed up on Graham Norton to say he's made a new film. That’s how under the radar these films can be dumped in January.

Audiences should be thankful, somewhat, for The Green Hornet. Based on the 30s radio show and 60s television serial, The Green Hornet emerges as the first mainstream blockbuster of 2011 that will likely cater to that general audience looking for something that satisfy them by explosions, action, laughs and eye candy. I don’t expect everyone to enjoy The Green Hornet but when it’s either an prestige film or a schlocky piece audiences can easily tell is shit, a lot of people would likely bite the bullet and go on the crime fighting adventure.

The Green Hornet comes, finally, to cinemas after a long production process. Talent like Stephen Chow was involved to star and direct before dropping out before Gondry took the director's chair. Nicolas Cage was suppose to take part as the film’s baddie before Christoph Waltz jumped in at the last minute.  It also has had the issue of shifting release dates, originally due in 2010 before being thrown into the early part of 2011. Then it got a 3D conversion. I’ll talk on that later. But when you consider the problems the film’s had in its conception, it doesn’t sound like The Green Hornet is filling movie experts with confidence. 

Bad film then? No, anything but. I think The Green Hornet is a very good slice of popcorn entertainment.

The best way I could really sum up Green Hornet is think if The Apatow clan made a superhero crime fighting movie. This is one possible outcome. Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, writers of Superbad and Pineapple Express, it essentially meshes their ideas for comedy and action here. And occasionally, it works. Rogen and fellow co-star Cho as Britt Reid and Kato respectfully have this very odd, mostly amusing, working relationship. Almost like a daft bromance of crime fighters. If you are fans of Rogen and Goldberg’s work, you should feel at home here.

But, like I said, it won’t be for everyone. If you don’t find Rogen amusing, this could push things to breaking point. He does tweek the hero motif a little, making Reid a bit of a douchebag despite his best intentions. I suppose it makes a change from the always heroic moments of valour but it’s up to you how much you like Rogen.

Cho, the man who follows in Bruce Lee, as Kato is a good straight partner for Rogen to have. He’s likable, carries himself well (even with his broken English) into a fun character. Kato’s fighting sequences are especially fun to watch with the Gondry edge here and there. 

There are some corking action sequences. One could argue that they are a little over the top. Especially the finale where a lot of cars get wreck, things explode and half of a building gets wrecked but I think it’s nothing badly out of place for this outlandish tale of crime fighters. It needed solid action to work and it’s presented very, very well here in The Green Hornet.

Another plus is Christoph Waltz, the film’s nemesis Chudnofsky, essentially is playing Hans Landa with a mid-life crisis. Not very original for the actor but at least he adds comic relief when he becomes almost threatened by the lack of fear he craves from his enemies. If I was offered the choice of Oscar winners, I’d take Waltz in this role over Cage.

There are some issues with The Green Hornet. Michel Gordy’s direction isn’t anything special. Kato-vision and the odd visual flair help spice up things but it’s a pretty generic looking crime fighting film. Nothing that really screams wow. It’s polished, it looks like the money’s been spent on the film but it just doesn’t have the visual edge you’d see on something like Be Kind Rewind or Eternal Sunshine. 

Cameron Diaz is a little bit wasted as the object of affection. You’d think they do something a little bit more with a talented actress and her plotline. But you can’t have everything can you.

Then there’s the 3D which, honestly, was never needed in the first place. That’s my true issue with The Green Hornet. I enjoyed it, I really did and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to have some slam bang fun on a Saturday night. But why doesn’t Sony have the balls just to release this in 2D? It’s a real shame but that is the state of the world film industry though. Bollocks.

But these nibbles aside, The Green Hornet makes very entertaining viewing if you’re willing to give it a chance. It’s hardly a film that deserved to be dumped in this dangerous time of the year – especially when The King’s Speech is dominating everything.

God save The King's Speech! God save 127 Hours! God, let Nicolas Cage burn!

Hi all,

I’ve been a bit lazy and caught up with the many people trying to barge their way into seeing The King’s Speech at work so maintaining an ordinary pace for the blog has been a little tricky lately.

But anywhoo, I’ve got some brief movie reviews to talk about!

127 Hours (or that film where someone cuts his arm off) (2010)

Director: Danny Boyle

Stars: James Franco

People should go and see 127 Hours instead of just gawking “Oh, it’s that film where that bloke cuts his arm off!” at the box office when I tell them it’s the only thing on at the moment since they were unprepared to book tickets for every sold out showing of The King’s Speech.

Sadly, I hope people will agree with me here, we’ve made too much fuss about that arm scene. What 127 Hours really is, much to people’s unawareness, a great human drama about the will to survive. Coming off the success of Slumdog Millionaire, it has the visual flair and tics of any Boyle film but here he focuses on just one character (a true life person), Aaron Ralston. 

There’s a great sense of destiny and purpose in 127 Hours. During his entrapment in the canon Ralston reaches the conclusion that the rock and this predicament has been waiting for him all his life and this is the moment where he choses to live or not. It’s wonderfully themed up in Ralston’s growing hallucinations of his past, his potential present, and his future.  And this is made even more believable and watchable thanks to the perfect casting of James Franco as Ralston. Many have just seen him in Pineapple Express and the Spider-Man films but this is a mainstream audience’s first taste of the man being a leading actor and it’s a great performance.

And yes, the arm scene is a little grim, I’m man enough to admit I could watch the entire scene. I had half my hand over my face and just tried to peek through at the screen. I just sometimes can’t watch a very detailed bloody scene to do with causing any harm to the human body. My dad loves watching all the discovery health channel stuff and loves watching operations and stuff…I don’t. It’s a strange world.

If you can get past the “oh, he cut his arm off” line in the synopsis, 127 Hours is fast paced rewarding viewing. 

The King’s Speech (2010)

Director: Tom Hooper

Stars: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter

The big film at the moment and it’s very easy to see why.  This is a British period drama with Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush about the British monarchy during the start of the Second World War. Of course it was getting a lot of bums on seats! 

But this is besides the point. Regardless of all the genre credentials that an audience decides to watch a film on, there’s a better reason why people are going to see The King’s Speech. It’s a great film.

The film which details King George VI’s friendship with his speech therapist is a wonderful combination of acting talent. I’ve written here and said on Cinematic Dramatic that I am a fan of Colin Firth doing “non-Mr Darcy” and “non-romantic” roles. I thought A Single Man would be the culmination of his abrasive patch but he excels even further as King George VI adding a sympathetic heart and human touch to the man who would be king. Geoffrey Rush is a great counter balance to Firth’s troubled King as Lionel Logue adding some restrained humour to the proceedings. Anyone remember when Rush was this good apart from Shine?

What it all boils down to, and noticed by Cinematic Dramatic cohort Byron Pitt, is this friendship between King George  and Logue. This is a friendship not in a bromance sort of way (like Apatow movies) or in a over the top dramatic way but human way. It’s a friendship that is stated just right and works incredibly well on screen. I would advise listening to the next Cinematic Dramatic to get a better understanding of this element of the film. My words sometimes can’t always put across emotions.

Ultimately, in short, The King’s Speech is a crowd-pleasure of a film that deserves to get a wide audience to see it. Some great performances, very stylized direction from Tom Hooper, it shouldn’t be missed by cinema lovers.

Season of The Witch (2011)

Director: Dominc Sena

Stars: Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Stephen Graham

On paper, Season Of The Witch reads like 3:10 To Yuma with magic, demons, wolves, and witches through in for good measure. I enjoyed watching the recent update on 3:10 To Yuma and, honestly, looking at the trailer for Season of The Witch I felt that if anything it could be cheesy fun at the very latest. Especially amongst the award films, the lighter films usually help with this serious overpowering of perfection.

But sadly, Byron Pitt’s trademarked theory of Nicolas Cage having a good movie every seven years is continuing to prove correct.

Season Of The Witch is, quite frankly, two buckets of shit that hadn’t been put out soon enough. The trailer for the film started surfacing around late 2009 so the film has been idylly sitting on a shelf somewhere and we now know why.

It stinks. It truly does.  A boring storyline that tries to spark itself up to light in the finale twenty minutes (a whole 65 minutes late) with a massive demon fight against zombie monks and a flying winged beastie. The other 65 minutes before details somewhat sombre plight of a group of knights and a priest trying to transport a witch for trial. Throw in a rickety bridge scene, some running about in mud, and some CGI wolves for good measure and that does bugger all to the plot which you can’t suspend your disbelief in the first place. You’d expect something a bit more imaginative and, considering they like to think they’re making a horror half the time, scarier.

Then there’s the acting. Perlman does his best, yet like say In The Name of The King, he’s wasted a lot. Something that really bugs me with this film is the frequent use of an American accent, nothing I don’t have a problem personally but when you make British actors use American accents for the sake of keeping continuity with Nicolas Cage and Perlman…WHAT…THE…FUCK? The only person able to keep a British accent is Christopher Lee and he’s only in it for five minutes.

Avoid Season of The Witch, avoid it like the plague.

It's Nicolas Cage Day! (to Iain that is...)

Hi all,

Season Of The Witch is out today. No, I haven't watched it yet. But to celebrate the start of another seven year wait for another good Nicolas Cage film (as theorized by Byron "AfroFilmViewer" Pitt), why not celebrate some of Cage's moments of cinematic madness.

All together now "I'm a Vampire! I'm a Vampire! I'm a Vampire!"

I'll try to watch Season of The Witch over the weekend and let you know if it's another notch in the EPIC FAIL pile for Cage.

The Genre-Giant's Films of 2010

Happy New Year Everyone!

As we begin a brand new year, it's time to take one last look at 2010 and remember some of the best films of the year. I watched over 100 films at the cinema in 2010 and the following are to be inducted into Iain's Class of 2010.

So in no particular order....

Inception

If people frown over the many sequels and remakes that came out in 2010, there was one film during the summer period that proved that you can be original and get people talking. Inception was that film. A combination of heists and dreams, Inception seriously blew the competition away. The amount of chatter everywhere after people watched the film, whether they thought it was good or bad, was unbelievable. More importantly, it cements Christopher Nolan as one of the best directors today. His last few films have always been well received, entertaining and fascinating to watch. Brilliantly acted with a talented ensemble, spearheaded by Leonard DiCaprio, Inception was the movie of 2010’s summer period. Period.

The Social Network

The Social Network earns its place here because one, this is the best screenplay of the 2010 and two is a terrific examination of something that is part of our society and culture today. Coupled together with Catfish, it’s been the year of the social network sites at the cinema. I’ll be honest, I didn’t have high hopes for Facebook: The Movie but when the film hit, I honestly didn’t expect it to be this verbally sharp, engaging, intelligent and quite frankly brilliant. Eisenberg takes the show as the socially inept nerd who would make one of our generations’ greatest piece of electronic social communication with Facebook.

The Secret In Their Eyes

In the mass of world cinema that came to UK screens this year, there was only one that stood head and shoulders above everything else. It even beat a Michael Henke film at the Oscars (Sorry Byron). This detective thriller charting a prosecutors re-examining of a vicious rape & murder is blended so well throughout with a touching human drama. An well known TV serial director before this came out, Juan José Campanella has certainly made a name for himself and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

This had geek written all over it from the get go and as the film was unleashed frame by frame by Edgar Wright’s visual style (obviously guided by Bryan Lee O’Malley’s books), Scott Pilgrim was a visual explosion and wonderfully comedic tale of a true love’s fight…against seven evil exs. It’s strange that coming out of Pilgrim, the audience reaction has been 50-50. For every Pilgrim fan, there was someone who thought it was bollocks. Me, I loved it and it was one of three highlights for the recent summer season. Cult status will follow for this film soon hopefully for all those who just fell in love with the continous video game, manga, anime, rock and punk references. Heck, they even take a piss take at Seagal DTV films with the help of Captain America!

Toy Story 3

If anyone could do a third film in a popular animation franchise right, it was going to be Pixar. And what a way Toy Story’s hopefully final outing goes. Woody, Buzz and the gang being outgrown by the boy they entertained was a pitch-perfect coming of age tale. Great animation from Pixar that always gives its story the right amount of heart and emotion – but let’s not forget the brilliant laughs along the way too. Out of all the films on the list, Toy Story perhaps has the best ending from 2010's movies. A beautiful full circle ending that is hard not to shed a tear too. Honestly, it was a moving experience that ranks closely to the opening moments of Up.

Black Swan (2011)

It’s not out until January but it easily cements a place on the best films I’ve seen in 2010. Me and Byron saw this at LFF and we were practically left speechless and reeling. Darren Arronosky’s twisted tale of a ballerina quest for perfection under the pressure of her piers and family is still hard for me to put into words how stunning this cinematic tale was. It simply has to be seen at a cinema. Natalie Portman produces a career defining performance with good support by Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassell. There are graceful hints of early Polanski meshed into this psychological horror. You will be astonished by this visual and technical masterpiece when it dances onto screens in January. Highly recommend.

A Single Man

I’ve enjoyed Colin Firth playing the abrasive characters in films lately. The Non-“Mr Darcy” ones so to speak. A Single Man is the pinnacle of Firth’s current spate of damaged men. Though with The King’s Speech on the horizon, it could be challenged. A Single Man was a beautiful flourished film about the grief and hurt by bereavement. It may have not be to everyone’s tastes but Tom Ford gives a comfortable film debut behind the camera. Firth should have won the Oscar this year for his role but unfortunately, people rediscovered Jeff Bridges – which in itself wasn’t a bad thing. Regardless, A Single Man was a superb piece of human drama and I heartily recommend it.

The American

I’m a sucker for cinematic tales of assassins. While some may have too dark to watch properly (*cough* Ninja Assassin*), The American was a perfect combination of the genre intermixed with existentialism. It was great to see Clooney drop the charm to place this isolated, closed off, assassin / gun smith for hire all by himself in rural Italy. Some people have complained for a lack of action. Some were confused as to what was going on. This was far from simplistic cinema, photographed beautiful by Anton Corbjin, and (in my opinion) well paced. I loved The American and it was a standout drama thriller.

Four Lions

The comedy of 2010. Period. As In The Loop previously gave the possible frightening child like antics of government. Four Lions, a film in a similar vein, gave the possible idea of some terrorists being…well…thick. Chris Morris’ frequently laugh out loud comedy is a great satire on our perceptions of terrorism in a modern age. The humour raged from the physical and bonkers dialogue complete with a sharp edge which fans of Morris’ brand of humour will lap up.

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

A terrific alternate musical biopic with Andy Serkis playing Ian Dury. Theatrical, engrossing, entertaining and fuelled by some terrific musical sequences sung by Serkis himself. SDRR was a great look into one of the 80s musical icons of Brit Pop / Rock. Which considering the amount of American biopics being churned out on a yearly basis made a great change to things.

So there you have it, my favourites of 2010 in this handy blog post. If you want to hear more discussion on these films, why not listen to the latest episode of Cinematic Dramatic over at GeekPlanetOnline.

Anyway, enough 2010 talk - let's march in 2011!