Iron Man (2008)

The first Iron Man movie is the most blatant attempt to lay down the ground rules for a franchise. Having watched the Avengers movie, I had some high hopes for this first outing for Robert Downey Jr. The film starts off as Starkey being in an unnamed middle east country and is attacked and asked to build a version of his weapon but ends up building a suit to escape and works on building a new one when he gets home but the bad guys (including Jeff Bridges) get hold of the old suit and use it.

The film was highly enjoyable. Every time RDJ appears on screen I was having fun because he is a good screen prescene. When Gwenth was on screen I was less intersted because she is not a particuarly good actress. Jeff Bridges is obviously a baddie from the moment that she appeared on screen as he bald and had a beard and was quite an effective baddie.

The first half of the film does a good job of setting the reason why Starkey is the way he is and its nice how he changes his views and when people try to get him to go back to his old ways he refuses. The action sequences were very well realised and I didnt find it boring at all.

This film is highly enjoyable and I am now looking forward to the second one which I have got on DVD.

Blair Witch Project (1999)

It's surprising that after 13 years, this film manages to hold its own. I remember when this came out and I didnt want to see it at the cinema cause I was a wuss (still am). The film sees three filmakers as they do a documentary about a so called Blair Witch. This was in the era when it wasnt possible to think it was anything other than a film.

It was the first film of its kind that I ever saw and you can see where films like Paranormal Activity get their inspiration from however whilst I might not find this film as scary as I had done in previous years but I still think that there are several creepy moments. I thought that the final 10 minutes was particuarly creepy and well done by the actors.

There is one flaw with the film. All they need to do is to find the river and just follow it. It cant go around in a circle and they would eventually find something resembling civilisation. That flaw aside its still a damn good movie and compared to said Paranormal Activity, its still the benchmark for good found footage horror films.

Marvel Avengers Assemble (2012)

There was a fair amount of hype around this film. Recently it had taken $1 billion and I thought that despite not having seen any of the other films beforehand, that I would not only see this film but see it in 3D. I had pretty much given up on 3D after wasting my time on Transformers 3. I was also worried about whether I would have missed anything from not having seen Captain America, Thor or Iron Man.

I found the film thoroughly entertaining and the first time in a long time that I enjoyed a big blockbuster since.... I cant remember. I was impressed with how it managed to keep itself together and it also felt like everyone got the same amount of screentime. I didnt feel like I was missing out by not watching the other films. I thought that Robert Downy Jr was good but for me the standout actor/character was Mark Ruffalo as Eric Bana/Hulk. I do question whether Scarlett Johanson was relevant to the story. It seemed like the only purpose she served was to be squeezed into a lycra catsuit but that's not necersarily a bad thing.

If there is a Marvel Avengers 2 film then hopefully they will call it something better because Avengers Assemble is a rubbish title. We got this as opposed to just The Avengers because when you say Avengers to anyone in Britain they think John Steed and Cathy Gale and would think that this is a big film with those two but get Scarlett Johanson, easy mistake to make I suppose. I did like this film and thought that it shows that John Carter (of Mars) is the exception rather than the rule that you can spend $220 million and still make a stonking good movie. 

Dalek Invasion of Earth 2150AD (1966)

It's hard to take these Dr Who films seriously. I know there are people who do and bless them but out of the two that were made this one is the best. For one it has Bernard Cribbins in it. Secondly it doesnt have the Thals in it and thirdly it has Philip Madoc in it. The idea is that the Daleks want to mine the earth to turn it into a giant spaceship, exactly the same as the 1964 TV version. The TV version is a black and white one which is filmed on a restricted budget in a BBC TV studio. This film is filmed with a vastly improved budget along with a big star and in colour. Of course it wins out in the visual sense but as we learnt with Doctor Who and the Daleks, colour isnt everything.

Peter Cushing might be great in everything else but he's not a convincing Doctor. He doesnt carry the dramatic weight that William Hartnell does and Susan is only slightly less annoying than the TV version. Bernard Cribbins is the one that commands my attention when he is on screen which is a problem when he's on screen with Cushing.

If you want to see the better version of this story then by the TV version, its about twice as long and three times better. Dont get me wrong, this is a better film than the first one but lets not forget that the TV series always has been and always will be the superior and regardless of what anyone says, neither Peter Cushing's Doctor or this movie will be considered to part of official Doctor Who chronology.

Brighton Rock (1947)

This is the original which for me is noticeable for having William Hartnell. It always seems strange seeing him in any other way apart from the Doctor. Anyway this film sees Richard Attenborough as Pinkie Brown who is some of leader but to be honest doesnt make me believe that he could be a thug leader or that anyone in his team could take him seriously. In fact there are many times that he is mocked by the others and I thought that this undermined Attenborough's performance when it needed strengthening. I thought that there were some scenes that were very enjoyable and William Hartnell is a nice pice of casting. I thought that Attenborough was at his peak when Pinkie was with Rose. I thought that this doomed romance was very effective and it had a thrilling conclusion.

I thought the best piece of casting was Hermoine Baddeley  as Ida Arnold who is the one poking away at Pinkie and is the Jessica Fletcher of this film who puts things together and solves it but at the beginning when she comes across as a boozing mad woman and its credit to Baddeley who lures us into thinking one thing before turning the charm on and winning me over.
It's not a great movie if I am being honest. I thought that large chunks were very boring and it was the times when Attenborough, Hartnell and Baddeley that I found it entertaining. I dont know whether the 2010 version is better but I may watch it to compare.

The Damned United (2009)

Now I'm not normally a Football film fan but this film about Brian Clough's doomed tenure as Leeds United Manager is a truly fantastic film. It's told in the form of flashbacks, we start off with him being appointed as Leeds boss but we go back to his days as Derby County boss. Now this film is based on a book and I have to say that I have never read the book though I might after seeing this film. Michael Sheen is brilliant as Brian Clough. Like David Frost in Frost/Nixon, Sheen captures the manerisms of the person he is playing. He might not look to much like Clough but that doenst really matter to much because his performance is so good that you look past it quite quickly. I liked how Clough comes across as someone who has lots of confidence but puts himself over to the Leeds team badly and its soon clear how important Peter Taylor was to Clough. Timothy Spall is great as Peter Taylor. Actually Spall in great in pretty much everything he is in.

The Damned United is a film that should be seen because like Frost/Nixon, the central character's flaws and positives are in clear view.