07 May 2011

JANUARY: From stammering royalty to gangsters in love

9. The King's Speech: Wonderful film. Cast are uniformly excellent and yet Colin Firth still stands out. It's such a great story and practically defines 'heartwarming'. I was smiling all over my face by the end, despite a few tears in my eyes. Highly recommended. **** new
 
10. A Perfect Getaway: This is the third time I've seen this - the first two times in the cinema because I wanted to rewatch with the knowledge of the twisteriffic perspective shift. It still stands up for me, even when I know the ending. Great script, funny, scary, actiony, romantic! Good performances from all. Particulary enjoy watching Timothy Olyphant and his Perfect Posture. And Thor/Papa Kirk has a small but significant role. A minor gem. ****

11. Toy Story 3: Missed this in the cinema which was a pity because it's wonderful. Funny as always but absolutely heartbreaking, as the toys face the potential bleakness of retirement. I dissolved into tears as Andy told Bonnie about his beloved toys. **** new

12. The Terminator: Classic Cameron. Romance, tragedy and a high body count. Brilliant. ****

13. The Lake House: Ignore the paradoxical temporal mechanics, which could have even someone who grew up on Star Trek clutching their head in despair. This is a lovely, LOVELY romance about two lonely people connecting emotionally but unable to connect physically, what with the whole *argh* nature of time. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock are both great in their roles and the film is full of beautiful touches - the glass house on the lake, the tree he plants for her, the red scarf. Very old-fashioned and very romantic. I loved it. ****

14. The Talented Mr. Ripley: The tension is high, even on a rewatch. Matt Damon is terrific - playing an amoral sociopathic chameleon, he still made him somehow sympathetic and oddly loveable. I really wanted Ripley to get away with it, especially once Peter entered the picture. The ending is heartwrenching. ****

15. Point Break: One of the all-time great action films and feature one of the all-time great bromances between Keanu Reeves and Patrick freakin' Swayze. And there's Lori Petty too. Surfing and skydiving and firing your gun up the air and going ARGH! Awesome. (Also, it features Keanu soaking wet quite a lot, and at one point soaking wet in a grey t-shirt. The very best kind of t-shirt. While I have unapologetic love for the much-maligned Keanu, I usually don't find him sexy. But in this, HELL YES.) ****
 
16. Deep Blue Sea: Genetically modified smart sharks flood an underwater lab and start hunting stupid sexy humans. Also spoiler! you may have heard something about Samuel L. Jackson in this movie. Awesome, ridiculous, unpredictable fun. ***

17. Public Enemies: I should have liked this film a lot more than I did. Excellent cast, great story to work with, brilliant director. But it just didn't click for me. I'll probably watch it again some time to try and give it another chance. *** new

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