Yeah I know. Another list. Fuckin' Joy. Does anyone actually give a shit what ANYONE thinks anymore? Well anyway. Hold onto yo hats, folks. Here we go! It's my favourite films of the year.
1)Let the Right One In -
Cold. Supernatural sort of love story. The Anti-Twilight? Dunno, but beautiful, moving and original. My film of the year.
2)The White Ribbon -
Superlative exercise in unease from master of disquiet Haneke. Village of the Damned meets Downfall.
3)Fish Tank -
Proof that British social-realist cinema is alive and in good hands with Andrea Arnold's second feature after Red Road. Impressive debut from Katie Jarvis in gritty Essex drama from Ken Loach's natural heir.
4)Katalin Varga -
Romanian set revenge drama from another talented Brit Peter Strickland. Tightly scripted, pacey and powerful.
5)District 9 -
The South African Sci Fi movie of the year (er, usually so many to choose from!) Fuckin' Prawns.
6) Antichrist -
Grim discourse on the nature of marriage. Featuring genitial abuse and er, a talking fox. Dig deep enough under Von Trier's weirdo nods and winks and the shock factor and you're left with a though provoking dreamlike movie.
7)Paranormal Activity -
People seemed to enjoy knocking this a bit... it's not boring - that's tension! Does what it should - with shades of The Exorcist and Blair Witch. Nice to see a well made supernatural film which isn't for children or muppets anyway.
8)Star Trek -
Blockbuster that reespects the francise and enhances it. To my mind better than any of the previous Trek movies. A lot of fun.
9) Drag Me To Hell -
Sam Raimi does what he's best at, doing the horror/comedy thing. Less slapstick that Evil Dead trilogy but still pretty cartoonish. Also a deliciously twisted ending that was hilarious in it's audacity. Another great horror movie !
10) The Hurt Locker -
I'm not normally big on war movies but I couldn't ignore this Iraq drama . Scary, intense. Looks beyond the macho grimness of the soldier life. It'll probably clean up at the Oscars next year... Jeremy Renner will become a huge star .
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Film reviews (2008 - 2011) from Robert W Monk