My Favorite Movies

A brilliant look at war from the perspective of a child. Beautifilly filmed, it is easily the best film I have ever seen.

Perfectly captures how it feels to be lost - and shows that, no matter the reasons, or who you are, everyone feels the same.

Every shot in this film is perfect. Characterisation is superb, and what is not said in words is more than made up for with the wealth of the imagery.

The first movie based upon the Manga by Shirow Masamune, and the start of the most intelligent anime series to explore the modern world. The style is difficult for many to adjust to - with long sessions of dialogue. However, if you can (and I certainly did instantly) then it is a philosphical gem. The animation is also superb, and, you'd perhaps be surprised that a film with so much dialogue actually relies equally upon imagery to make its point. Happily, this has continued through to the second film (although to greaer extremes), and to a lesser extent, the separate TV show - Stand Alone Conplex (although the SAC film, Solid State Society relies more-so upon imagery). Basically, there are so many layers here, you'll be watching the film repeatedly, and discussing it ad infinitum! (Warning: Anime action fans beware - there is little action in this film. You'd be best to check out the TV show, although it may also dissapoint if hardcore violence is your main love!)

A superb follow-up to the 2007 film. While the first was largely a necessary intro, this film is a full-on action adventure, that furthers the depth of the Transformers universe, and includes a lot of character development for the robots as well as the humans. The balance of action, suspense and comedy is perfect, and suitably tied together by a compelling (but certainly not mindblowing!) plot. A total rollercoaster of a film, that uses so many elements of the Transformers toy line and turns them utterly on their head (including fairly obscure forms of Transformers, perfect for film, and taking the alien designs even further) - whilst being a very enjoyable and accessible blockbuster! Bay was born for these films - let's hope he makes another epic installment in due course! And, the joint music efforts of Linkin Park and Jablonski work brilliantly!

Biased from the outset! Still, I think that this film does a phenomenal job of bringing something rather rediculous to life in an incredibly accessible way. The designs are phenomenal, and the shots perfect - aweinspiring! Blends humour, action and even attempts to give a story that ties the film together - albeit tenously. Top notch blockbuster! Very watchable, and pleasing to this Transformers fan, as well as countless 'normal' folks!

A wonderflully honest film, with a good background level of offbeat comedy. As ever, Wes Anderson sets this film just slightly outside reality, and concentrates heavily on the nuances of conventional and unconventional relationships between realistic and complicated characters. It's really charming, and my favourite of his films to date (although I may be slightly biassed by the fact the group behave just as a conservation volunteer group I used to be part of, should we have tried to make documentaries at sea with pistols...).

An excellent and important film. Al Gore delivers the salient facts of climate change in a simple and clear way that is accessible to a wide audience, while also revealing and expunging some popular misconceptions (and untruths) perpetuated by the media and transnational corporations (not to mention a few politicians...). Although slated for being so negative and pessimistic, I actually felt that this was a measured approach, bordering upon being overly optimistic. At the end of the day, this is the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced, and we have to tackle it - and the overall message this film delivers is one of hope. We can change. If we choose to.

A more perfect movie visualisation of a graphic novel does not exist. 300 is the perfect imagining and telling of the classic Greek historical myth / legend, with a perfect soundtrack (Bates is an up-and-coming score star!), well cast, expertly directed (every single frame is beautiful!), and makes perfect use of CGI (you won't even think about it during the film - it serves the story, and blends right in), where other films easily fail. What further sets this apart from similar films is the depth of humanity presented by the plot and characterisations. Simply perfect.

This film is perfect, and devastatingly beautiful (in imagery, music, characters and plot). Words can't do it justice. It is terribly poignant - the film of our time, highlighting our very real looming environmental, political and social dangers, whilst portraying all elements of humanity. Stunning.

A spellbinding film with beautiful designs, wonderful songs, phenomenal stop-motion, loveable characters, an enchanting story... You really have to see it to appreciate how spectacularly wonderful it truly is! Tim Burton and Danny Elfman outdid themselves.

This is a gripping and heartwrenching film. It's not necessary to be religious (Christian or otherwise - I, personally, am not religious) to appreciate this as a great film. By focusing on a single character who is wrongly arrested and punished horrendously, we can personify the effects of human cruelty and ignorance and actually directly relate to them. This story shows the dark side of humanity on a scale that anyone can readily appreciate - yet as a species we take these traits (man's inhumanity to man) to national, international and global scales which can not be so readily comprehended. It is visceral, and terribly disturbing, witha ppernt reprieves through peaceful flashback only increasing the discomfort - wonderfully shot, cast, directed and scored. Unfortunately underrated and overlooked due to its graphic and religious natures, depending.
(Incidentally, I did not feel that Jews were portrayed in a negative light - merely the high priests. Ordinary people who were certainly and in some cases identified as being Jews were shown to be lovely people, disgusted by Jesus's treatment, and even attempt to help him. Of course, Jesus and his followers were Jews... To my mind, the film does a good job describing the complex political, religious and personal issues that would have been involved in such a situation as this.)

One of the funniest films of all time - very bad taste! An essential for stag night viewing (played well at mine!). Try taking a hefty shot every time something 'very bad' happens!

Absolutely amazing engrossing film! The depth of social and psychological commentary is totally unexpected, as are the full cast of offbeat and fully realized non-stereotyped characters. Although all performances are superb, Heath Ledger's Joker is a revelation, and very unpleasant - and frightening. This is the apex of comic-book films, and totally explodes from this genera and deserves to be taken as seriously as any epic drama masterpiece.

The ultimate action-Western tour de force. Easily Rodriguez's best flick, which is ironic given he made it on the cuff, just to show he could. (Perhaps he should make all films this way!) Depp is hilarious, filling out his part with superb add-lib, while Banderas delivers his finest performance as El Mariachi. The film is interesting in that it IS a tall tale, with loads of outlandish action. This is how the story would be told in the pub - once you're in that mindset, you're away!

A fantastic and heavily thought-provoking film. Beautifully animated, and pacey crime-thriller, as with previous Ghost in the Shell offerings (and Stand Alone Complex in particular), this film excels in its powerful delivery of terrifying social commentary (the ending is stunning). Whereas the two film versions of GITS (not related to this film in any way - this film is a continuation of the unrelated TV series) can be heavy on dialogue and imagery in delivering commentary, SAC (and this film) blend this perfectly with tense action and character driven plot. Highly recommended film - although you will get a lot more our of it if you have watched the previous two TV series, this film is Stand Alone.

Surreal and haunting. An wonderfully stylish decent into shimmering line between this life and the next.

Wow! Very impressed! The story is wonderfully complex, with hilarious concepts and designs. There's so much to take in, and so many references to the previous shows, it's a fan's wet dream. By the same token, it may not go down so well with a novice or casual viewer. But, no matter who you are, I'm sure this will have you laughing most, if not all of the time! Welcome back Futurama!

This one seemed to slip by quietly, but is easily one of the best films I've seen in years. Every character is given thorough development - and you can empathize with each one, which is very interesting as the various conflicts develop. Parallels can be drawn between each character - despite social status, morality or personal issues. It shows everyone to be human - through suffering, and glimmers of happiness. Amazingly, with such an ensemble cast, it is impossible to pick out any single performance above the rest. Well directled, with beautiful cinematography (some of the country shots look to be taken straight from a Constable painting), and supportive score which emphasises the emotional undertones, this is a truly compelling and exceptional film.

The perfect comic adaptation. And, that's something - as the comic is a wonderful piece of literature and not very film-friendly! This film is beautiful in every respect - cinematography, casting, acting, design, sound, soundtrack, score and, of course, directing. The story is incredibly touching, and very powerfully told. And, of course, Brandon Lee delivers a stunning performance. However, this film deserves to be fully regarded as a classic in its own right, without the tragic death of Brandon Lee attracting attention. This would be a critically acclaimed film without this real-life aspect, as would the more recent Dark Knight without Ledger's death. The Crow is one of the most powerful love stories ever told, and is still the best comic book adaptation to date.

Another beautiful film by Guillermo del Toro. With his second Hellboy film, del Toro has successfully merged depth and style. The designs are just stunning - and some highly disturbing! Every shot is perfect, with colour as important as ever in telling the story. And, with all great stories, the bad guy's not really bad - we're just on the wrong side. The themes are all powerful - including the nature of love, friendship, humanity, 'fitting in', and - permeating the entire film, although more subtle in delivery - the damage we are doing to our natural world. This film really goes far beyond summer blockbuster, and any expectations.

An absolutely stunning distopian future that cuts straight to the core of social disfunction and the less than apparent (but superficial) conflict between social conscience and personal happiness. This film falls just short of a perfect masterpiece, due to the unfinished feel of some of the computer effects (although, the effects are largely amazing, especially considering the budget - but as every scene relies heavily on CGI, as did the less profound popcorn flick 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow). The characters are all exceptionally wel fleshed out, with a very worthwhile prolonged introduction to the film and superb use of plot devices such as flashbacks, dream sequences and alternate views of the same event or conversation. And, the cinematography is absolutely stunning! Words cannot describe the beauty Kiriya has achieved for this film. Very highly recommended. It's very difficult to believe that this film is the live action reimagining of the 1973 children's cartoon - if only Hollywood bestowed such depth upon some of its latest attempts at the same thing!