Number Six - New Year and Lots More Films Still to Watch

Happy New 2010, and here's hoping it's gonna be better than the last. And judging by the films that are going to be released this year, it may be a better year at least for films.Some upcoming movies I'm most looking forward to are Alice in Wonderland directed by Tim Burton AND in 3D, Disney's fully hand drawn Princess and the Frog, Clash of the Titans, featuring Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Pete Posthlewaite, Sam Worthington and Gemma Arterton, and Iron Man 2 with Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johansenn playing villains this time around. Wooo!!!

Unfortunaely due to a busy work schedule over Christmas, and getting jolly over the festive season, and still not being able to get my hands on the next film on the AFI list htere has been a prolonged absense of my reviews, but fear not, I am back and I am probably going to be be getting that film soon, if not I'll just have to skip it for now, which I don't want to do but this film is more elusive than trying to find the rare jaguar in a South American rain forest.

For now though I shall just give you a couple of brief reviews of films I saw over Christmas, starting with Avatar. Now I really admire James Cameron, he is incredibly ambitious and daring with his directing and he always pulls it off (see Terminator II, Alien, Titanic). Avatar is yet another benchmark film for cinematic technology set by this genius, and to really get the full blow this film needs to be seen in the format it was intended for, which is 3D. It is stunning. The world he has created is so well thought out and detailed, you get totally immersed. And the motion capture, WOW! It is mind boggling seeing these alien creatures talk and move so realistically. Having said all of that however, narratively the film is poor. The story that plays out is one we have seen many times before, it's cliched and predictable, with occassional sloppy dialogue. Sam Worthington is dull as the main character and film does seem to drag a bit once you've gotten used the the graphics of the film. I would still say watch this film as it is an experience you need to have but don't expect much of anything that's not related to the look of the film. Although Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver did play their parts quite well. This film is like The Sun's Page Three girls, pretty but not much else to it.

Now Sherlock Holmes that was a good film. This had the intrigue and mystery of an episode of Johnathan Creek, you knew there was a logical explanation to the riddle but were buggared if you knew how the hell it could be pulled off. I was also pleasantly suprised by the cast, Robert Downey Jnr is always good, but I wasn't sure about how he was going to tackle the Britisih accent, but he pulled it off superbly. Jude Law who I usually see as mediocre really stood out for me in this film, in fact, this was probably his best role yet. He played Watson well without bumbling along or being too snooty, perfection. The two main charcters really gelled well which really helped the film. The supporting cast of Mark Strong and Rachel McAdams were also good and the film did not seem to long. At first I thought this an unusual film for Guy Ritchie to be at the helm of, but he presented it wondrously, with great comedy, action and drama, brava!
That's all for now but I shall return soon with one of the films on the AFI list and another possible review of film on current release.

Until then T.T.F.N.