Film 27 - My Super Ex-Girlfriend

Rather more straightforward fare from this comedy, guy meets girl, they start dating, he finds out that she’s superhero G-Girl and that she’s completely insane, he breaks up with her and she throws a shark through his windows.

There are some genuinely funny moments in this film and whoever plays the main character’s best friend reminded me of Barney from How I Met Your Mother, in a good way. Mostly it’s a little too generic and the ending just seems too convenient. Average.

Film 26 - Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Touching, moving and confusing are just some of the adjectives which can be used to describe this reality bending romantic drama/comedy. Joel, (Jim Carrey) finds out that his ex-girlfriend Clementine has wiped him from her mind. He decides to do the same thing to her, but in the course of the process he remembers all the good times, and how much he loves her, and tries to retrieve her in some part of his mind.
   
The film has its confusing moments but the main premise of being able to wipe your memory of someone is the only unexplainable thing that you have to accept. Towards the end I lost the film, as Joel woke up and presumably met Clementine again but it confused me too much. 

Despite that it ended well and poignantly, with the hope that they had a future together, a bittersweet happiness.

Film 25 - Life Of Brian

Monty Python is one of those shows which I’ve been meaning to watch for a very long time, and finally I got around to watching arguably the comedy collective’s best work. A scathing satire on the Roman Empire, and the cultish nature of religion, with everyone looking for somebody to follow, Life Of Brian is an excellent film.

Myriads of quotes can be lifted from this film: “He’s not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy,” a crowd shouting “We are all individuals” and one individual piping up with “I’m not.”

One of the funniest films I’ve ever seen.

Film 24 - Juno

How could I fail to like this film? Much like Youth In Revolt and Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist, music plays an integral role, however it isn't a straightforward 'Michael Cera meets girl' indie film. Oh no, it's a lot more interesting than that.

The star of the show isn't Cera (who plays a recurring important part well) but Ellen Page who gives a tour de force as the titular character, a 16 year old girl impregnated by Cera's character Paulie Bleeker. She is just brilliant as Juno, pulling off a teenage girl without any use of stereotype, a credit also to the writers.

I don't normally go into the main storyline of the film, but I'll make a slight exception to add a reference to the prospective adoptive parents of Juno's baby, Jennifer Garner and Jason Batemen portraying a likeable but at the same time dislikeable couple.

The best moment in the film... the ending. What happens? Well I'm not going to ruin it for you.

Film 23 - Good Will Hunting

Yet another critically acclaimed film for me to watch, and yet another positive review from this film blog. It started a little slowly and the main concept (of a genius janitor) is shaky at best, but the rest of the film makes up for it. Damon and Affleck's screenplay is well written and flows brilliantly, with just enough comedy to keep the film away from being too serious.

Whilst Affleck puts in a forgettable performance Damon is brilliant as Will Hunting the aforementioned janitor prodigy who is one of the most complicated characters in anyone of the films I've seen this year, and Robin Williams pulls of the same sort of role he did with such panache in Dead Poets Society as the mentor of the dangerously precocious Will.

The soundtrack was excellent, with the Elliott Smith songs used: Between The Bars, No Name #3, Angeles, Say Yes, and Miss Misery all put in the perfect places (and yes I did half just watch for the Elliott Smith songs).

What. A. Movie.

Film 22 - Chasing Amy

The storyline intrigued me, and the film delivered a lot of very funny moments, and it's one of those films which offers you no end of quotes: 'Because the other three are figments of your fucking imagination' and 'Hey, I always notice that bored look.'

It was based around the world of comics, one which I'm not that well acquainted with but the storyline was well written and had all the little details that made it a memorable film. The characters were all three-dimensional other than Banky who wasn't given enough depth and Hooper X who played a small memorable part.

Pretty much my only problem with it was the moment that Holden and Alyssa get together, it was romantic, but too much so, even for this hopeless romantic. It just didn't make sense, the verisimilitude wasn't right, the fact that they got together worked perfectly for the film but the way it was done didn't work for me. 

Overall though, a very good film, one which may well be in the top ten so far, we'll just have to see if it stays there.

Film 21 - Sunshine

Sunshine: A thoroughly thought provoking, confusing, and ultimately slightly disappointing sci-fi thriller.

I recorded the film a couple of weeks ago (or months, I'm not exactly sure). It must have been around the same time I watched Shallow Grave because it was part of the Danny Boyle season on Film4.

The basic concept of the film is that of a spaceship sent with a payload of a huge stellar bomb which they have to deliver into the sun to re-ignite the dying star. The most interesting bits of this films are the psychological elements, the cabin fever of the crew and the fact that ultimately the humanity of Capa was what caused their downfall.

Where the film fell down was in the final part where it became a little less tense and a bit more horror film like. The idea that was involved wasn't intrinsically a bad one, but was handled badly and seemed out of tone with the rest of the film. The science involved lacked verisimilitude and it was disappointing to end like that.

The very final scene however was simple and effective, Capa being absorbed into the sun with the bomb and the sunrise on earth: "So if you wake up one morning and it's a particularly beautiful day, you'll know we made it."

Film 20 - Nacho Libre

It has become abundantly clear to me that I'm not going to make it to 100 films this year, if I did it would be the greatest comeback since that dead guy in the bible.

On a similar note, Nacho Libre is a comedy about a monk who becomes a masked wrestler to feed orphans. It's less crazy than it sounds. Honest.

Jack Black is as usual hilariously funny in the lead role and he lifts the average writing and plot up to make this a half decent comedy with most of the laughs coming from his impeccable comic timing.

Film 19 - The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club is a film which many people see as the best high school film ever, and out of the few that I have seen, it ranks at the top. It manages - unlike many films about teenagers or American high school - to be completely truthful about the lack of equality between the different cliques and unlike many others doesn't accept that it always has to be like that.

The film is one of those rare films where very little happens, no characters go on journeys, die or have to complete any kind of task. It is almost completely about character development and understanding, starting with 5 high school students from different cliques who (other than John Bender's bullying) avoid talking to each other, and ending with 5 friends (almost).

All that caused by a day in detention, quite an advert for it. Oh, and Don't You (Forget About Me) is an awesome song.