Best Family films of the decade

10: THE INCREDIBLES (2004)

Pixar do superheroes, this film was always going to be a lot of fun and as usual with Pixar, I wasn't disappointed. One of the best non comic book superhero films ever made. It's basically Watchmen for kids, superheroes have been banned and are now living everyday lives. After losing his job Mr Incredible gets an offer he can't refuse, madness ensues. I think the best thing about pixar films is that they don't dumb down their films for kids, making them watchable for adults. I wish George Lucas could have done the same thing with new Star Wars films. My childhood would feel a little less raped.

9: SPIRITED AWAY (2001)

I do love studio Ghibli films, they allow our children to be taken to strange worlds Hollywood is too scared to go near. I mean there's talking animals in a Ghibli film but they aren't cute bloody Zebras singing songs and dancing. It's also good having an awesome voice cast, as any anime fan knows the usual caliber of English actor for anime is fucking horrific. At times it can make a great film almost unwatchable. If you haven't seen any Ghibli films and want something for the kids to enjoy I'd also check out Howls Moving Castle, Ponyo, and My Neighbour Totoro. I feel the need to warn you that once you start down the Ghibli road, you won't stop.

8: ENCHANTED (2007)

I would love to act cool and pretend I don't love this film but it would be a blatant bloody lie. Even James Marsden can't fuck it up for me. A Disney princess comes through to the real world, meets Patrick Dempsey (without the Extra Anchovies) and falls in love. It puts a big fucking grin on my face every time it's on, and it's on a lot. Amy Adams is amazing as the Disney Princess come to life, as proven with later films like Doubt, the girl can bloody act.

7: WALL-E (2008)

Another Pixar film and we're not even halfway through. I think the only thing people may find shocking about this film being in the top ten is that it's not in the top five. It's a great film with hardly any dialogue but both you and the kids will find it hard to pull yourselves away until the end of the film. Just pure Pixar related genius.

6: CORALINE (2009)

I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman and I loved this book. The films not quite as creepy as the book, even if it is a creepy ass movie, but I think it's gets the feel and emotion of the book right. If they'd made this film as creepy as the book it would be in the horror film section, animated or not. MirrorMask and Stardust were in this list before I got it down to the final ten. Hopefully more of his books will make it into films over the next decade. The Graveyard Book would make for an excellent creepy family film.

5: UP (2009)

I feel the need to warn you all now that this is the last Pixar film on this list. It was by far my favourite of their films made in the last decade. I know a lot of people will go on about Toy Story 3 but I don't think it matched up to this one. It was good fun and ended the series well but if I was to sit down to watch a film and had the choice of those two, this would win every time. Oh and if you watch the film without crying or feeling sad at the beginning then you're dead inside. Even Clarence couldn't save you.

4: THE LAST MIMZY (2007)

Some of you may not have heard of this film. It didn't set the box office on fire or have a massive marketing campaign behind it, but I love it. Not many films are made these days which remind me of the films made when I was a kid, this did. I'm not saying it's a carbon copy of any of films like Flight of the Navigator or War Games, it just felt the same. To explain the story fully would take me a while to do it justice, just go out and buy the fucking thing. It's awesome.

3: HARRY POTTER 

(2001, 2002, 2004,2005,2007,2009, 2010)

I don't think I could have made this list without putting Harry Potter in it. Like the books the first two films weren't very good but from The Prisoner of Azkaban they were awesome. The funny thing is this isn't a particularly safe bet for a kids film. If this was just a script and not a book these films would never have been made. The fact that they've managed to make them all, almost managing to keep the same cast throughout is almost unheard of in any film series. I don't know what all the UK actors are going to do with themselves now. These films have also pretty much bank rolled Warner Brothers for the last decade too. I think the film industry is going to miss these films as much as we are.

2: FANTASTIC MR FOX (2009)

I'm going to say something quite controversial here, I don't like Wes Andersons films. I've tried to watch them many times but I've never been able to get into them. Until now. I loved this film, the things I wouldn't usually like about a Wes Anderson film worked really well in animation. The voice cast are awesome and the film just works throughout. As a child I loved the book, the same could be said for anything written by Roald Dahl, the guy was just a machine at tapping into my imagination. The film isn't that much like the book, but it does have the feel of a Roald Dahl novel. If you haven't seen it, then get the cus out there and buy it.

1: 9 (2009)

This is based on a short film Shane Acker made in 2005 that was nominated for on oscar. It may look like a Tim Burton film, and even though he is a producer, thankfully he pretty much had bugger all else to do with it. Sorry I know he's got a lot of fans but recently his films have just been okay. This is the kind of film Tim Burton should have been making over the last ten years. It has the same look and feel as a Burton film but manages to be engaging as well as pretty to look at. It's the future, a rag doll wakes up to find itself in a post-apocalyptic future. Humanity has been wiped out, but he may hold they key to it's salvation. It's pretty dark but you have to see this film, even if you don't have kids. 

Best Action films of the decade

10: REIGN OF FIRE (2002)

This is another one of those films I love and a lot of people hate. In my defence though it is a film set in modern day with dragons in it, add Batman to the mix and what’s not to like about this film. One more time Batman vs dragons. Awesome.

9: SHOOT EM UP (2007)

It would be wrong to miss this film out an action top ten because let’s face it, the film is just action. Crazy over the top action with tons of guns and death. It’s not often you get a film that does exactly what it says on the tin. I could talk about the performances, which are good, but ultimately it’s the action that makes this film awesome. Fuck any form of plot that you can’t write in more than one sentence, just give me more fucking guns.

8: PATHFINDER (2007)

Karl Urban is the new Judge Dredd, fuck yeah. In this he’s a Viking brought up by a Native American tribe. He doesn’t know much about being a Viking, but he does know how to kill them when they fuck with his tribe. When I was making this list I was very aware of putting in awesome films you may not have had the pleasure of watching instead of filling it with films you’ll have seen twenty times. This is one of those films, and it’s fucking awesome. On a side note, if you haven’t seen Jesus in Outlander, you should. It’s awesome.

7:  FROM PARIS WITH LOVE (2010)

This is the most enjoyable film John Travolta has made in years. Probably because he plays a maniac drug fuelled special agent so he gets to be crazy John and not mental Scientologist John. He teams up with an aid to the US ambassador in France (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) to investigate a drugs ring. This is another one of those films I wasn’t expecting much from but loved. Even just for Jonathan Rhys Meyers carrying around a vas filled with cocaine for most of the film.

6: ONG BAK (2003)

I wish Tony Jaa would make another good film. Since this one he’s pretty much done fuck all worthy of mentioning. Warrior King was basically Ong Bak replacing the statue with an elephant and the sequels to this just don’t live up to expectations. Shame really cause when this came out it looked like we had a new martial arts star in the making. Bugger.

5: INGLORIUS BASTARDS (2009)

Quentin tarentino doing a war film like it’s a western. Fuck me. I love the way it doesn’t even pretend to be historically accurate. Fuck history we have a film to make. This is the most fun war movie ever made, how often can you say that? There are no flaws to this film. Even Eli Roths acting can’t bring it down. I can’t wait to see what Tarentino gives us next, can you?

4:  BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (2001)

Mark Decascos is awesome, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Though I am ashamed to be using the word awesome again, but when you’re making a list of things you enjoy it’s hard not to. This is a French martial arts film set in 1764. The king sends two men to slay a beast that’s been terrorising the French countryside. It’s kind of reminiscent of Hound of the Baskervilles, but with a whole lot of ass kicking going on.

3: KILL BILL (2003,2004)

I’m putting them both together. Yeah I am fully aware of how different the two films are, but I wasn’t going to put on in the top ten and not the other. Uma Thurman is an ex assassin brutally beaten and left for dead on her wedding day, when she wakes up from a coma she seeks revenge. It’s stylish, and so much fun. It also has an appearance from the amazing Sonny Chiba. I love that man, GI Samurai is one of my favourite films of all time. Pure mental.

2: LORD OF THE RINGS (2001,2002,2003)

Yeah I decided to put another series of films together. Let’s face it they all would have been in here. It’s not often a film comes out that actually lives up to your expectations. I’ve been a fan of the books since I read them as a kid. A sad kid that was partial to blood bowl and warhammer fantasy role play but the less said about that the better. A lot of people don’t like the changed ending from the book, but by then I didn’t care. Although I would have liked to see what Guillermo Del Toro would have done with the Hobbit I’m looking forward to more of the same from Peter Jackson. Let’s face it though, if you aren’t under 12 the Hobbit’s a little bit shit. Just saying.

1: RAMBO (2008)

Stallone has made so many good films that no one has paid attention to. I’m not sure how, but at some point in my life Stallone became awesome. I looked back at his old films and they were awesome, even the ones I used to hate. Is there an age you get to when the guy suddenly becomes a legend? This film has possibly the greatest end sequence of any film, ever. I spent the whole time giggling uncontrollably, rocking back and forth. I may have even begun to salivate. It’s possibly the most violent film on the list and is very deserving of all praise. Stallone is the fucking man. But then again I also love Howard the Duck.

Best Thrillers of the decade

10: INSOMNIA (2002)

I loved Memento, so I was curious to see what Chris Nolan would do next. Little did I know at the time that he’d become one of my favourite directors within the space of 5 films. Thank god though, Tim Burton hasn’t made a great film in ages and Jon Carpenter just hasn’t made anything. This is a remake of a Norwegian film, and goes to prove that not all remakes are shit. Just the majority of them are.

9: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007)

There's very few Coen brothers films I haven't enjoyed. The only one that comes to mind was the remake of The Ladykillers, but they were messing with a classic there so I'll let them off. This is an awesome film a lot of people hated due to the pace. I though it was perfect though.

8: THE PRESTIGE (2006)

Three films in and there’s already two Christopher Nolan films. Bloody hell. This is the last in the thrillers list, though there are two other films in the sci fi and comic book lists. Alarmingly that means only one of his films from the last decade hasn’t appeared here. Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman and Michael Caine are all awesome in this. I love David Bowie playing Tesla too.

7: TAKEN (2008)

Liam Neeson rules this fucking movie. He plays an ex serviceman who’s daughter is kidnapped whilst he’s away on holiday. He then proceeds to go after the fuckers to get his daughter back. The only thing I don’t like about this film is the car chased towards the end. It just seems like he’s constantly going past the same bridge, but I’m just being picky, this film is awesome.

6: BLACK SWAN (2010)

Arrenofsky is another amazing director that keeps spewing out films made of awesome. I just caught this and had to rewrite the list to fit this one in. Natalie Portman is so good. I forget she can act after her dodgy performances in the star wars films, though that may have had something to do with the crappy script and George Lucas forgetting how to direct a film. Bugger it though, you have to see this film. Managed to talk about the film without mentioning the lesbian scene too. Wait, damn.

5: DONNIE DARKO (2001)

This is one of those films a lot of people didn’t understand. Fucking idiots, just go with the film, you don’t have to understand every second of it. Have you never seen a David Lynch film. Seriously though I enjoy films that take you on a ride, this is one of those. One thing that bugs me about this film, at the end when everything changes it means that Patrick Swayze doesn’t get caught. Go wolverines

4:  HARD CANDY (2005)

It’s another film with a paedophile in it, YEAH. Or is he, That’s the question that’s asked throughout this film . For those of you who don’t know it. A girl (Ellen Page) meets up with a guy who’s been chatting with her online. She chats with him and goes home with him to see some pictures??? She starts drinking, it’s all very ominous. Then he passes out. When he wakes up she’s got him tied to a chair, it’s all been a plan of hers to fuck up a paedophile. But the question runs whether or not he is a paedophile throughout the film. Don’t worry, by the end you know, but the journey to get there makes this an amazing film.

3: INFERNAL AFFAIRS (2002)

This film was remade by Martin Scorsese as The Departed, I still prefer this one. The film follows Ming (Andy Lau) and Yan (Tony Leung) leading parallel lives. One a cop undercover with the triads, the other a triad mole working with the police. I love Andy Lau and this is one of his best performances. If you’ve only seen the Scorsese one, get a hold of this. Actually just buy the whole trilogy, you won’t be disappointed.

2: EASTERN PROMISES (2007)

I don’t know what happened to David Cronnenberg. He’s made a career out of making strange horror science fiction films like Videodrome and the naked lunch. Then all of a sudden you get History of Violence (see the comic book films top ten) and this. Fuck me ragged with a tiny Christmas tree. This film focuses on the Russian mafia in the UK. Viggo Morenson plays the mobs cleaner, but like a transformer, there’s more to him than meets the eye.

1: OLD BOY (2003)

Holy shit, like seriously holy shit. This film is part of Chan-wook Parks vengeance trilogy, none of them fill you with joy. But what the fuck did you expect from the vengeance trilogy. Oh Dae-su (Min-sik Choi) is kidnapped and wakes up locked in a room. He’s there for 15 years, still not knowing what the hell he’s there for. When he gets out he tries to find out. Brutal film that kept me gripped throughout.

                                                                                                             

Best Comedy films of the decade

10: DEATH TO SMOOCHY (2002)

Director
Danny DeVito
Starring
Robin Williams
Edward Norton
Catherine Keener
Danny DeVito

This film bombed at the box office and not many people have heard of it. Which is odd because it's bloody brilliant. Robin Williams is a kids TV host who gets fired when they find out he's taking bribes to let kids onto his show. He gets replaced by Smoochy (Ed Norton in a giant purple dinosaur costume) and spends the rest of the film attempting to sabotage the new show, hoping he'll get his back on the air.

By now you're probably sold and already looking for the film on amazon, and so you bloody should. The shocking thing about this film is how poorly it was received. Robin Williams won a Razzie award for it. Bizarre.

9: STRANGER THAN FICTION (2006)

Director

Marc Forster 

Starring

Will Ferrell 

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Emma Thompson 

Tony Hale 

I think I have a problem. The next three films all star Will Ferrell, the guy just makes me laugh. I even enjoyed Land of the Lost, and here he is with a very hot Maggie Gyllenhaal, playing a guy who starts to hear a voice in his head. Unfortunately for him the voice is Emma Thompson and she's a writer who is currently writing a story which features him and his impending demise, even though she's completely unaware of his existence. Are you still with me ? It's kind of a hard film to describe without sounding like a mental. It's pure genius though.

8: ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGANDY (2004)

Director
Adam McKay
Starring
Will Ferrell
Christina Applegate
Paul Rudd
Steve Carell

If this film was just the newscasters fight scene, it still would have made it into the top ten. Every time I watch it I deafen my wife. So whether you love lamp or just wanna wear sex panther this film is for you. It's also the film which made me realise the comedy genius of Paul Rudd and Steve Carrell. The best thing Christina Applegate's ever been part of, with the possible exception of the Married with Children episode featuring Anthrax.

7: STEP BROTHERS (2008)

Director
Adam McKay
Starring
Will Ferrell
John C. Reilly
Mary Steenburgen
Richard Jenkins

The kid that sings Sweet Child of Mine is a creepy wee bastard. Other than that the films filled with awesome moments. Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly play two forty year old men who act like kids and are thrust together when they're parents marry. I've made all kinds of noises watching this film. I'm off to do some activities and sing boats n hoes. The fucking Catalina wine mixer.

6: TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE (2004)

Director

Trey Parker 

Starring

Trey Parker 

Matt Stone 

I realise I'm kind of rushing through these, but I've just realised how much work I've given myself to finish these damned lists off and at this rate I'm still gonna be doing it in June. Time to call in Team America FUCK YEAH!

I went to see this for my friends birthday, I wasn't expecting much. South Park is funny and all, but the film didn't blow me away, or have me curled up in agonising pain from laughing so hard. This however did. I know I'm not alone in the fact that you never look at Kim Jong Il the same way again. Poor Matt Damon. See you said it in your head in the same voice he's given in this film. It happens everytime I see a poster with him on it, see his name in print or a film with him in it. Poor retarded bastard.

5: FOUR LIONS (2010)

Director 

Christopher Morris 

Starring

Kayvan Novak 

Riz Ahmed 

Only Chris Morris could make a comedy about terrorists and make it actually funny. The guys been making me laugh for years. This is the first time he's done a film and it's one of the most intelligent comedies I've seen. He manages not to fall into the terrorist stereotypes you see all the time from Hollywood at any point during the film and actually makes you care about the characters. It's a great achievement and as funny as anything Morris has worked on previously. Even the peadophile episode of The Day Today. It's really that funny.

4: ZOMBIELAND (2009)

Director
Ruben Fleischer

Starring

Jesse Eisenberg 

Woody Harrelson 

Emma Stone 

Abigail Breslin 

Last October you may have heard people talking about rules. Like rule number 2 "Double Tap", or rule 18 "Limber Up". If you have no idea what I'm talking about then where the hell have you been hiding. You only missed one of the funniest films of the decade you fucking moron. Yeah I said it. It's a comedy with zombies in it, What's not to like ?

And for those people who who didn't go to see it because you liked Shaun of the Dead, I would just like to remind you to do the world a favour and jump of a bridge you small minded ignoramus. It's people like you that make me want to buy a gun.

3: BUBBA HO-TEP (2002)

Director
Don Coscarelli
Starring
Bruce Campbell
Ossie Davis
Reggie Bannister

Yeah that's right Reggie fucking Bannister's in this film, and it was directed by Don Coscarelli, Phantasms Don Coscarelli. You can't get better than that. Add in Elvis and a black JFK living in an old folks home fighting a mummy and you have a fucking movie my friend. Oh and if you don't like Bruce Campbell, you're a fucking dick.

2: BLACK DYNAMITE (2009)

Director

Scott Sanders
Starring
Michael Jai White
Arsenio Hall
Kevin Chapman

I still have no idea how I found this film. I came across it, thought it looked ok,  and when a couple of friends came over I put it on thinking it would be background noise. Within minutes the talking had stopped and the laughing had begun. It didn't stop. DYNAMITE DYNAMITE. I didn't think a blaxploitation comedy could be better than I'm Gonna Get You Sucka but this totally blows it away. Fuck pimp of the year, this film is awesome and should have been huge. But it's a low budget movie and not many people have seen it. So go out and buy it.  Maybe we'll get a sequel and once again we can shout DYNAMITE DYNAMITE!

Who's interrupting my kung fu ?

1: SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004)

Director

Edgar Wright
Starring
Simon Pegg
Kate Ashfield
Nick Frost
Lucy Davis

What else could be number one? Though I have to admit the first time I saw this I had nightmares. Fucking zombies. You've all seen it, so you all know it deserves to be here. I can't wait for Paul, and I'll queue up for anything Edgar Wright directs, he hasn't made a bad film yet. Hopefully Nick Frost, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright will get together again to do another film in the future. Until then we always have this and Hot Fuzz. Made of awesome.

Best Drama films of the decade

So it's the end of the decade apparently, which means we can look back on the last 10 years, mock the crap and praise the good. To celebrate I've put together lists of some of my favourite films. I had to put them into genres otherwise it would have been a bloody nightmare to get all the stuff in.

Obviously some of you won't agree with my choices, but it's not like I just threw this up as an afterthought. I did research and everything. Now there's a worrying thought.

THE BEST 10 DRAMA FILMS OF THE DECADE

10: THE LOVELY BONES (2009)

Director
Peter Jackson
Starring
Saoirse Ronan
Mark Wahlberg
Rachel Weisz
Stanley Tucci

I don't care that a lot of people hated this film, I loved it. It's not the kind of film you'd put on for a Saturday night in with the wife, like "Hey honey let's watch the film about the peadophile with a bottle of red". It is however a really touching and moving film about a family torn apart by a tragedy.

Special shout out to Stanley Tucci and the art director who both did a phenomenal job. I can't really make jokes about this film. It's about a peadophile.

9: WAKING LIFE (2001)

Director

Richard Linklater
Starring
Julie Delpy
Ethan Hawke

Walking Life is kind of crazy and when I first got a hold of it, I'd never seen anything like it. The film was shot digitally and then animators came in and drew stylised lines and colours over each frame. It's breathtaking. The film follows no real storyline and like Linklaters' earlier film slackers is just a collage of different stories with a slight thread going between them.

An added bonus is the inclusion of Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke reprising their roles from the amazing Beyond Sunrise. Linklater would later use the same technique on the awesome A Scanner Darkly and yes, this is the same man that directed School of Rock and Bad News Bears.

8:  HOLLYWOODLAND (2006)

Director

Allen Coulter

Starring

Adrien Brody 

Diane Lane 

Ben Affleck 

Ben Affleck has had a mixed career. When he's good, he's very good, but when he's bad you want to rip your eyes out before your blinded by the giant cleft in his chin. In this he plays the jaded George Reeves (the man who played Superman in the old TV serials) in the years leading up to his death. Adrien Brody is the private investigator who tries to look a little further into his death as the film unfolds through a series of flashbacks.

In my favourite scene Ben Affleck is confronted by a child with a gun who doesn't think it'll hurt him because he's superman. It is by far his best acting performance. Fuck Good Will Hunting, but I have to admit he was the bomb in Phantoms.

7: CITY OF GOD (2002)

Director

Fernando Meirelles

Kátia Lund

Starring

Alexandre Rodrigues 

Leandro Firmino 

City of God is the rather terrifying story of gang culture in Brazil. It's been a few years since I sat down to watch it but it still sits with me. From the opening scene of an armed gang chasing a chicken through the streets leading Rocket to believe they're after him, it doesn't stop. If you haven't seen it or the following TV series City of Men (which was then made into a film) you need to get a hold of it. Zod demands it.

6: THE CONSTANT GARDENER (2005)

 

Director
Fernando Meirelles
Starring
Ralph Fiennes
Rachel Weisz
Danny Huston
Bill Nighy

The second film on the list for both Fernando Meirelles and Rachel Weisz. I forget how many good films she's been in. Probably something to do with the Mummy series. Anyway she plays a humanitarian who becomes involved with diplomat Justin Quayle played by Ralph Fiennes. After she is found dead and he begins to unravel some of the details he becomes determined to get to the bottom of her murder.

I can't believe this is the only Ralph Fiennes film on the drama list, he's one of the best actors working at the moment. We'll just forget about Clash of the Titans. FUCK YOU 3D.

5: ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)

Director

Michel Gondry 

Starring

Jim Carrey 

Kate Winslet 

Elijah Wood 

Kirsten Dunst 

Oddly this is the only showing for Kate Winslet in this top ten, a fantastic performance from her as usual and an amazing one from Jim Carrey. He's one of those bastards that can do some serious acting and comedy. Kind of like Tom Hanks, the cunt. Sure not all his comedy films are funny and not all his serious films are any good but the guy continues to move easily from one to the other.

The film mainly takes place in the mind of Joel Barnish (Jim Carrey) as the memories of his former girlfriend are erased from his mind by the firm Lacuna Inc. It's a truly beautiful film about relationships, how we deal with the good times and the bad. If you haven't seen it, you need to. Even if it's just to see the many different hair colours of Kate Winslet. It's like Titanic never happened. Insert joke about Lacuna here.

4: BLACK SNAKE MOAN (2006)

Director

Craig Brewer 

Starring

Samuel L. Jackson 

Christina Ricci 

Justin Timberlake 

Justin Timberlake in a good film shocker. Actually I really enjoyed Southland Tales too but apparently I was the only one. To be honest Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci have been in their fair share of crap too. This film works though. Christina Ricci is a crazy nymphomaniac who's dumped on the side of the road and found by Samuel L. Jackson, a deeply religious farmer and awesome blues guitarist. He nurses her back to health, his techniques may be a little off the wall but they work for the crazy bitch.

Great movie... Bugger I've just realised I missed out Secretary and I bloody loved that. This doing a top ten thing is a cunt when you keep remembering films half way through. I'll be doing this next December at this rate. Fuck my balls. 

Bugger it, like Harold and Kumar I've come too far. Just so you know if I'd remembered about it before now it would have been in here. Damn. Just make it joint 4th... Can I do that. Hell I can do what the fuck I want. It's my blog. I'm not gonna write anything about it. Just check the fucker out. It's awesome and Maggie Gyllenhaal is hot.

3: GRAN TORINO (2008)

Director
Clint Eastwood
Starring
Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood is a Legend. From a bit part in Revenge of the Creature from the Black Lagoon he's become not only one of the best actors around, but also one of the best directors. I don't know how he does it but his films just keep getting better the older he gets. I went to see this in the cinema and I loved every minute of it. He plays a racist old guy who's sick and tired of his neighbourhood getting fucked over by gangs. When he starts protecting his neighbour from a local gang he becomes a hero, but also gets a lot of trouble coming his way.

There's a lot of films like this going around, but this is one of the best. Eastwood has said it's his last acting role which is a damn shame. I'll leave you with a line from the film that only Clint Eastwood could get away with. "Oh, I've got one. A Mexican, a Jew, and a colored guy go into a bar. The bartender looks up and says, "Get the fuck out of here.""

2: HARRY BROWN (2009)

Director
Daniel Barber
Starring
Michael Caine
Emily Mortimer
David Bradley

Michael Caine has never won an oscar for a lead role. Seriously he's won for best supporting actor twice but never for a lead role. It's a travesty, not as much of a travesty as Jaws 4 but you get my point. In this his neighbourhood has fallen foul to a group of youths. After the death of a friend he takes it upon himself to clean it up.

It has a lot in common with Gran Torino and I think a lot of people ignored this film because of it. I prefer this though as it speaks to me more, living in a crappy neighbourhood in the UK myself. Obviously it's not as bad as the one depicted in the film but it's something I can relate to. The performances are amazing and it was only the directors first full length film. But lets face it if you're going to have anyone in your first movie, you may as well have Michael bloody Caine.

 1: THE BOY IN STRIPED PYJAMAS (2008)

Director

Mark Herman 

Starring

Asa Butterfield 

David Thewlis 

When I first saw this film I genuinely thought it was a kids film. By the end of it I was standing on my couch screaming at the TV. There's something about seeing the horror of a concentration camp through a child's eyes that made it more horrific for me. The relationship between the two boys is so believable and the performances throughout just blew me away. It's a film that stuck with me for a couple of days after I watched it, and that rarely happens.

Hope you enjoyed the list. There's more to follow over the next few days before I get back to the weekly reviews. As a wise man once said "Snootch to the motherfuckin nootch".