Sin-kh-du-kee - Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Embarrassing confession time: I’ve never watched Being John Malkovich and only saw Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind for the first time within the last six months. That’s quite disgraceful, I know.
That said, I enjoyed Eternal Sunshine immensely: as far as narratives go, I usually like them somewhat fragmented and not quite making sense until the end, so that ticked most of my boxes when it came to it, and I found Jim Carrey much less annoying than I usually do (possibly even less-so if “he Truman Show weren’t on heavy rotation on TV…not that it’s a bad film, but doesn’t anyone else just think that there’s something wrong with his face?)
Maximum Warp…Punch It - Star Trek (2009)
It’s been seven years since there was last a Star Trek movie on the big-screen: if you’re a fan of the franchise, that’s a wait you might be grateful for, since Star Trek: Nemesis wasn’t the finest outing for the Enterprise and her crew. J.J. Abrams’ take on the series marks the eleventh movie, and a return to the original characters and ship best known from the classic 1960s series. Chronologically, it may be a step backwards, but Star Trek marks a massive leap forward for the franchise, perhaps lending more credence to the “Star Trek” name than it’s had in a long time.
A Song About Coraline - Coraline (2009)
“Coraline” has been a long time in the making, understandably so: an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s 2002 novel (the man also responsible for “Stardust” and the “Sandman” comics series) the movie began production before the book was published, the latest stop-motion animation movie from Henry Selick, whose previous directing credits include “James and The Giant Peach” and the Tim Burton-scripted “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
Sweden, Land Of Subtitled Vampires - Let The Right One In (2008)
On paper, “Let The Right One In” sounds a lot like the recent tween-pleasing “Twilight”: young Oskar (Hedebrant) keeps to himself and has few friends at school, living in an apartment with his mother. When Eli (Leandersson) moves into the building, he becomes enthralled with the young girl, with the eventual revelation that she is a vampire, incapable of escaping her hunger for blood.
Therein ends the similarities, as “Let The Right One In” acknowledges the darkness of its topic in a way “Twilight” never would
Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting - Street Fighter IV
Ever wanted to visit the early 90s, but found yourself lacking a Delorian and a flux capacitor? Well, Capcom have managed to compress the whole experience onto a little disc, and have called it Street Fighter IV.
Just in case you’re too young to remember, the Street Fighter series (well, let’s be honest, it was mainly Street Fighter II and all its different forms, like Alpha, EX, EX Alpha, Alpha XX…y’know what I mean) was the staple of arcade games in the early 90s. If you wanted realistic motion capture, super-powerful characters beating on others that never stood a chance, and a hell of a lot of blood, you played Mortal Kombat II; if you didn’t, it was Street Fighter II. SFIV manages to capture everything that made the original the success it was, completely updating it for the modern gamer and consoles, never quite losing its touch.
It’s Oh So Quiet - Hush (2008)
For first-time director Mark Tonderai, “Hush” is a film to be proud of, a low-budget British film that walks a fine line between horror and thriller that will get to you in a way a million American-teen-gets-slashed films never could.
Who Watches The Blog-men? - Watchmen (2009)
If you believe the trailers and the hype, Watchmen is a movie twenty years in the making, and adapted from ‘the greatest graphic novel of our time.’ Writer Alan Moore has previously given us V For Vendetta, From Hell and The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but don’t expect that to be any indication of what you’ll see on the big-screen, as Moore’s distaste for Hollywood and the adaptations of his own comics has been well-documented. A far change from From Hell or V, Watchmen has much more in common with the Batman movies of the 80s and 90s, with camp costumes and shades of Bond shining through in a way that is both parody and highly reverent.
Friday The 13th (2009)
Jensen Ackles has already graced our screens this year in horror re-make My Bloody Valentine: now, it’s screen brother Jared Padalecki’s chance to shine in Friday the 13th, a re-make/reboot of the popular series that made Jason Voorhees (and his mother) a cult icon. Strictly speaking, the film is the twelfth in the franchise (just one short, dammit, and yes, we’re including the unspeakable horrors of Jason X and Freddy vs. Jason in there.
My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009)
Sometimes, a movie comes along so unflinchingly terrible, it’s just awesome. Sometimes, that film is called My Bloody Valentine,
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