Obscuriosities

Here's my list of the top 10 movies of 2011, along with some honourable mentions that almost made the list. They are in a rough order of preference but you could probably shuffle them around a bit and it wouldn't bother me too much. Drive Melancholia Attack the Block Detention Tucker and Dale vs. Evil The Woman Tabloid 50/50 Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol Bellflower Honourable Mentions: Contagion We need to talk about Kevin The Human Centipede 2 The Guard Red State Troll Hunter Rise of the planet of the apes Tree of life Hanna Insidious Harold and Kumar's 3D Christmas Source Code  Sucker Punch  Rango

A few months since I've done one of these so let's get to it. I've got a lot to get through. Happy Feet 2 I was reminded watching this film as to why I quite enjoyed the first Happy Feet. It's just so bizarre, nonsensical and unlike anything else out there that you can't help but smile and the funny dancing penguins. Add to that incredible visuals and two 'krill' characters that only seem to exist to make crustacean-based puns and you're on to a winner. In Time A thought provoking concept with some great world building. Some of the visuals were excellent but some were distractingly bad (the car crash). The relationship between the two leads went in an unexpected direction too. Passably entertaining on the whole. Contagion Possibly the first 'horror' film to ever cause me to modify my behaviour in day to day life. Little by way of character development, the film seems to be designed to show as realistically as possible what would happen...

The demon is actually the tooth fairy. The kid loses a tooth at the start of PA3 and we never see it go under a pillow. The demon then turns up looking for the tooth but instead of just giving it up the family spend the rest of their lives running from it. I bet it would all stop of they would just leave a tooth under a pillow for the guy.

Wow, I really need to get around to writing another 'what I've been watching' post. The list is 11 films and growing. In the meant time I'll knock together a review of The Human Centipede 2 while it's fresh in my mind. Written and directed by Tom Six, Dutch film-maker and creator of the series: The Human Centipede 2 takes place in a world where the first exists as a fictional movie and we follow the protagonist/villain 'Martin' who has fetishized the idea of a human centipede and begins gathering victims to create his own, twelve person abomination. The first thing to note about this film is that it is not simply 'pointless shock value' or 'sick for the sake of being sick', I perceive a very clear message to this film. By having the main character inspired by the first movie, Six is pointing out the absurdity of someone carrying out such crimes because they saw a horror movie as suggested by some of that film's detractors while simul...

So apparently I watch a lot of movies. Project Nim Fascinating doc, ostensibly about a talking chimp, but secretly about human dynamics played out with stunning archive footage. Super James Gunn's  foray into the superhero genre, having come from a horror background and it shows. The 'realistic' super hero subgenre is pretty much played out at this point but this film is so darkly comic and bizarre that it actually feels quite fresh. Ellen Paige is really annoying though. The Guard Hilarious take-down of the buddy cop genre. Great, sharp, dialogue and fun central performances. The Inbetweeners Pretty much an extended episode of the show. Just as puerile and cringe-worthy. Fans of the show will enjoy the crass misogyny but you should probably avoid it otherwise. Red State Interesting career turn from the normally comedy-focused Kevin Smith (of whom I am a fan). This film feels like Smith's attempt at a Tarantino movie with even more hyper-real dialogue tha...

My Top 5 movies from Frightfest 2011, in no particular order: TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL: Brilliantly hilarious farce and deconstruction of the hillbilly horror subgenre. A definite #frightfest highlight TROLL HUNTER: Great fun. 'Cloverfield' by way of 'The BFG'. Sadly missing fe-fi-fo-fum based punning. #frightfest THE WOMAN: Most intense, challenging film of #frightfest so far. DETENTION: Holy shit. Pure visual and aural adrenaline. Feel like I've witnessed the birth of a future cult classic. @JosephKahn #frightfest KILL LIST: I *think* it was one of 'the best of the festival. Slightly impenetrable plot but funny and riveting nonetheless. #frightfest  Below you can see reviews of the rest of the films I saw at the fest. A LONELY PLACE TO DIE: A fitting end to action-thriller fest 2011. See you all next year! (or in the phoenix) #frightfest INBRED: Insanely gory hillbilly horror comedy. Possibly a little mean-spirited but inventive. #frightfest SE...

It's been a while, gang. Let's do some quick reviews. I'll try to keep them to one sentence because I have a short attention span. Horrible Bosses 'King of Kong' director does good comedy, good chemistry between the main cast and the titular bosses are hilarious. The Devil's Double I like Dominic Cooper but his performances here were weak, rest of the cast also a bit crap, poor showing overall. Captain America Middle of the road Marvel movie, nothing to write home about, some of the CG was pretty shonky. Harry Potter 7(b) Some deliciously OTT performances (Snape and Voldy) and some good, dark imagery, one of the better entries in the series. Transformers 3 Say what you will; Bay can direct a thrilling action sequence, vapid pornography but I wallowed in it gladly. Super 8 A fantastic nostalgia trip, 'ET' meets 'Aliens' with a dash of 'The Goonies' thrown in for good measure. Bad Teacher Not as -bad- as the trailer wo...