I plan to review the best of the films that I watch both at the cinema and on DVD, TV and Bluray on a monthly basis. As this site is pretty new and there haven't been many films to watch so far this year I thought I'd start with a Top Ten of the films from 2009 that I watched. Let me know how these feature and if you think i missed anything out! 

10-The Ugly Truth

It’s not big, it’s not clever, but it is funny! You know exactly what is going to happen in this Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler romcom. Girl meets guy, girl thinks guy is an arse, guy thinks girl is hot but isn’t arsed. Guy teaches girl how not to be an arse to other men and in the process checks out her arse at every opportunity. Girl realises that he isn’t an arse and checks out his arse. They grope each others arses then fall in love – on a hot air balloon. OK – I didn’t see the hot air balloon coming but I did guess all the other bits. There’s good parts for girls and good parts for guys so take your brain out, watch, enjoy! 

 
9-Transformers 2

 Yeah! Robots in disguise come back and fight some more against the background of some massively contrived story. I can’t even remember intricacies of the story as its soooo not the point. Basically Megatron, the head Decepticon (baddies) comes back from his prison under the sea and the Autobots (goodies) don’t like him so they fight. There are some monumental fight scenes and Megan Fox is unbelievably hot. The main problem is that it is half an hour too long, the story is pretty pointless and just rambles on. Even the end fight scene goes on to infinity and overstays its welcome. This is a classic case of a little less conversation, a little less action please. Oh, but lots more Megan Fox please!

 
 
8-Avatar

Believe the hype! This was slated by critics for the unoriginal story. I agree. If I was given a pound for every time there was a film set in the future about a marine who was crippled in war but given a new lease of life by taking part in an advanced scientific trial to become a massive blue alien and ride around on flying dragons and romp around with the daughter of the tribes leader but when push comes to shove leads the blue aliens into war against the humans who turn out to be the bad guys. I’d literally have… a pound. The 3D special effects are unreal. They are as impressive when the aliens (The Na’vi) are fighting as when they are kissing. This is lower in the list only because you really should see this at the cinema. I don’t think ill be watching this on my TV at home – its not big enough!

 

 
7-Harry Brown

Michael Caine goes nuts! This is what would happen if Victor Meldrew had been a war veteran before retiring. Except that Harry Brown (Caine) doesn’t shout “I don’t believe it!” to annoy them. He uses a gun…to kill them. This film stands out because of how bleak and real it actually is. Harry Brown rages a vigilante war against the hoodies and youth of his local estate. The very same hoodies are responsible for murdering his only friend and filming it on their phones (happy slapping gone mad). Understandably this makes him angry! The main hoody is played by Ben “Plan B” Drew, who also sings and plays the main tune “End Credits” along with Chase and Status. Some dark scenes in this film such as one scene a man get beaten up by the local youths whilst trying to protect his car. Reminiscent of things that go down in Warrington on a Thursday night…     

 
 
6-The Soloist

This is based on the true story of Nathaniel Ayres (played Jamie Foxx) as a superbly talented musician who is a homeless schizophrenic and is befriended by down on his luck journalist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr) in Los Angeles. Lopez quickly recognises Ayres’ awesomeness despite the fact that when they meet he is playing a two stringed violin (kind of like Seasick Steve being discovered playing a three stringed guitar). Lopez starts to write about him for his newspaper and in the course helps him get his life back together slightly and finds him a cello to play. The story flashes back to how Ayres develops schizophrenia whilst attending the renowned Julliard School in New York, which is kind of like “FAME” but for classical bods. He then drops out and deteriorates further at his mothers house before heading to LA to try and find his dad. Anyways, the main reason this is on this list for 2009 is that I really loved the acting and the chemistry between the two main characters. It gets pretty heated in some places and they both do a sterling job!

 
K*           

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