What I did in July: Watched the three best movies of the year during the summer months, wait a second, What!?!

I cannot recall a summer that has been this good in terms of the quality of the blockbuster since 2002. Back then we had a cracking run of entertainment including Spider-Man, Minority Report, The Sum of all Fears, Austin Powers 3, Eight Legged Freaks, Road to Perdition and Reign of Fire. This year we have had it even better with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Wanted, WALL-E and The Dark Knight. Before 2002 probably the last good run of blockbusters was 1998, ten years ago!

I have also mastered the strategy of how to maximize enjoyment of these films, avoid the reviews beforehand like the plague!. Look at the star rating and make your decision to go based on that. If you read the bulk of the review nowadays you are given all the details of the film and little surprises are left for you. This strategy has lead to me having the best time in the cinema in July for some months. Therefore I am not reading any reviews for Hellboy 2, The X-Files 2, Tropic Thunder or Pineapple Express over the coming months. The love affair with the cinema is back on!

**SPOILER WARNING**

I'm Not There: The major music biopic of last year chose Bob Dylan as its subject matter and Todd Haynes as its director, a director I have previously found to be a bit too pretentious. This music life story is different though, rather than tell the story behind the music they let the music dictate where the story goes. So what you end up with is a film that flows like a dream and is quite trippy in parts with representations of Dylan played by the likes of Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Oscar nominated Cate Blanchett. My favorite segment though was the version played by Richard Gere, an ageing cowboy in a small town that is dying from poverty. The funeral scene featuring Jim James of My Morning Jacket is one of the most beautifully haunting scenes for a while. This segment really nails for me what I think Bob Dylan is all about, the man on the street and giving him a voice. Ultimately this feels like the movie that Across the Universe wanted to be if they weren't too busy cramming in as many Beatles songs as they could whilst forsaking the plot. I wish all music biopic's could be done this way, as much influenced by the music as the man. Can you imagine the kind of film we would get if they did the David Bowie story like this? ****

The Orphanage: Guillermo Del Toro produced this old fashioned ghost story and sadly as a result some think he directed it which means that hot new talent Juan Antonio Bayona is perhaps not getting the kudos he deserves. What we have here is an old fashioned ghost story like The Others from a few years back that the Spanish seem to be so good at making. From the outset there is an air of dread as an old Orphanage is reclaimed by a former resident and her adopted son. The boy starts to speak about an imaginary friend and from here things get seriously creepy with one standout scene taking place in the daylight which was a refreshing scare in this kind of film. The boy disappears and the tension mounts as his mother begins to think she is losing her mind. When a psychic investigation team is called in, similar to the team from Poltergeist, it leads to one of the creepiest scenes of recent memory. There is no heavy handed CGI though, its all camera tricks and sound effects, Hollywood should take note, less really is more. The plot sounds similar to many films but its so well written and acted that you will be absolutely gripped. The ending takes a serious left turn after an initial shocking twist to a surprisingly heart warming ending. I have thought about the ending since I saw it and learned that one of the intentions of the film was to tell the Peter Pan story from Wendy's perspective when she is a grown up. This put the film in context for me and I was able to see the story in a new light and repeat viewing's will be rewarded with further insight. In July I have seen the three best films of the year so far, this is number three.   *****

Redacted: I am not going to give this film a star rating. Its not that its a bad movie because it isn't but its not necessarily a good movie either. With Redacted Brian De Palma has shaken off years of mediocrity to make possibly the most upsetting film about war since Saving Private Ryan. The film begins with an arty voice over reading poetry on front of shots of a US army checkpoint outside of a small town in occupied Iraq. All the footage is shot from the perspective of video camera's or Iraqi news reporters. From here we meet the characters that make up the unit running the checkpoint. There is the idealistic lieutenant, the wannabe film student, the weak willed nerd and the two loose cannon white trash soldiers who are bored. First they kill a pregnant lady in a car at the checkpoint and show little remorse, the event is captured by the Iraqi news crew as the dying lady arrives in hospital and you get a different perspective from the confused and devastated family. The film goes on and leads to the harrowing scene where the soldiers go to a house in the middle of the night and rape a 15 year old girl and murder her family. This is based on a real incident apparently. From here we get the perspectives on this incident from the Iraqi media, protesters on Youtube and the subsequent investigation. One of the soldiers is kidnapped and beheaded on Youtube in the films most graphic scene. Okay so it sounds like a grueling experience and it is, but its a tale that should be told. My problem with the movie is that De Palma seems to have let his anger cloud the whole film, Redacted is an angry angry film. The performances by a cast of unknowns are mostly good but could have been better had De Palma not rushed the whole thing in a quick vent of frustration at his countries foreign policy. The worst decision he makes however is to end the film with a graphic slide show of real life Iraqi casualties from the war, by this point the film goes from food for thought to reducing you to a crying shell shocked mess at the pictures of dead babies and maimed women. I made the mistake of watching this alone at about 11pm and couldn't sleep until the sun came up. That's why I cannot give this any stars as its such a grueling experience but one that is important nonetheless. Watch this is a double bill with ace documentary Taxi to the Darkside for a really cheery Saturday night . NO STARS

The Dark Knight: In the weeks leading up to seeing this movie I decided on a new strategy. I did not read any reviews at all, I saw the star ratings and then waited until after I had seen it to read the reviews, I did not want this to be spoiled for me in any way. Now that I have seen it and read most of the reviews I can agree with most of the hyperbole, this is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. Its not overhype that sent this to number 1 in the all time top 250 of the IMDB. Watching this was like a dream come true for a Batman fan, recurring villains? check, The joker done properly? check, thrilling action scenes? check, emotional core that most summer movies seriously lack? check. This movie is long but the near three hour running time just flew by and I can't wait to watch this again. One of the best things about this film is the structure and script, it seriously feels like it continues a day or so after Batman Begins. Batman stalks the criminals of Gotham city and there is hope in the streets, the police follow the batman's example and start to crack down. Harvey Dent the District Attorney becomes the cities golden boy and official poster child for the war on crime. Then in walks this sadist who doesn't want to commit crime necessarily, he just wants to watch Gotham burn in chaos and confusion and the rulebook that Batman and Dent swore to abide by is thrown out the window . Come the half way point a major character is dead which was a genuine surprise and the second half is so exciting because you don't know where its going to go. If they can kill someone like that off, what else are they going to do?

Now to the performances, Heath Ledger has rightly been praised for his version of the Joker and has avoided the ham and cheese of Jack Nicholson's version from 1989. The Joker mark 2 is a seriously scary clown, you don't laugh because he is hijacking the TV station and broadcasting some sort of advert for poisoned grooming products, you laugh nervously because he is walking out of an exploding hospital dressed as a nurse or because he makes a pencil disappear into a henchman's eye. The most chilling scene was when you see the video he made with a captured wannabe Batman and his voice suddenly goes from high pitch to a rage filled order barked at his victim, it seriously raised the hairs down my spine. Ledger got everything right with this character, that weird walk he does is how I imagined the joker walks down alleyways in the comic when Batman has decided not to kill him again. I was filled with sadness during the scene towards the end where he says he couldn't kill Batman as he was too entertaining and had a feeling they were destined to battle again and again. It struck me that we wouldn't see that version of this rivalry again and that if the joker appeared in this series again then it wouldn't be played quite so memorably. Christian Bale is great as Batman as we have already seen although he overdoes it with the gravelly voice when in costume. Aaron Eckhardt is also good as Harvey Dent, playing him as the all American hero like Elliot Ness, his fall from grace feels especially tragic come the ending. Gary Oldman also continues to develop Jim Gordon and we get a hint of the alcoholism storyline from the comics.

I like where we are at with the ending, its dark but it sets the scene perfectly for what could happen next. In my opinion the scene is set perfectly for Catwoman to be introduced but that's just my thoughts. It will be interesting to see if this level of unparalleled quality can be upheld for a third movie. Comic book films have notoriously not made it past the third fence, X-men, Blade and Spider-Man all had disappointing third installments. They should just pay Christopher Nolan whatever he wants to do it and keep the same writers who clearly have an idea where its going. In this golden age of comic related movies the timing is perfect for Watchmen next year.  *****

Funny Games:  What's the point of this movie? I don't get it. If you can let me know I would be grateful. A couple of psycho's torture a family at their lakeside home. You don't see any of the violence its all left to your imagination but the lead creep (played by creepy Michael Pitt) turns to the camera every now and then making us implicit in the lust for blood. But if there is so little blood on screen why should we feel guilty? To make matters worse after the initial admittedly shocking death it gets seriously boring for about 20 minutes and by the time it gets interesting again you just don't care. Michael Haneke is trying to make a point no doubt but this has been done much better in films like Battle Royale and Natural Born Killers. This is a pretentious, tedious film. avoid. *

Gone Baby Gone: Ben Affleck's directorial debut has had its release delayed for a while in the UK due to its similarity to the Madeline McCann case. At the beginning some of the events that happen are quite eerie in the way they echo real life events but this soon changes as it becomes a cracking film noir with great characters that raises some interesting moral questions. Casey Affleck proves his Oscar nod for The Assassination of Jesse James was no fluke playing a character who constantly has to prove himself due to his young looks, he is the classic noir character, an unassuming private detective who talks shit to even the most threatening and psychotic of characters. Affleck is well supported by Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman as the police involved in the abduction investigation. Come the ending you will be going over and over it in your head for days. It comes down to this; If you know a child will suffer a life of pain and misery and perhaps even death then is it right to take it away from its natural mother. Its an interesting question as in the UK recently we have seen a major rise in youth violence where a majority of the offenders come from broken homes. I can't really go into any more details about the plot without spoiling it for you, one of the joys of the movie is watching it unfold for you. All I will say is if you like entertainment that makes you think as well as thrills you, then see this movie.  ****

WALL-E: Avoided reading reviews for this one as well which also paid off. WALL-E is now my favorite ever Pixar movie, yes its even better than Toy Story 2. At the start of the film you will be forgiven for thinking that Pixar have gone and made a dark science fiction movie along the lines of Spielberg's A.I. The music score is different from the usual Randy Newman composed jolliness, its quite dark and mournful for a CG animation aimed at kids. The camera sweeps over a ruined polluted earth which is stunningly detailed and looks great on the big screen. From here we meet WALL-E, the last functioning clean up robot on the planet. WALL-E goes about his business of cleaning up the rubbish everyday but something is off about him. For starters he collects things that he finds interesting, he lives in a metal container where he keeps his curiosities and watches old movies re-enacting dances from old musicals, to top it all off everyday he goes to work with a lunchbox and makes sure that his small insect friend stays at the container. Yes, WALL-E is a mad malfunctioning robot who is lonely, but he is made so endearing through these scenes and the sounds that he makes that you can't help but love the little fella. When EVE a scouting robot arrives from the stars, WALL-E's curiosity gets the better of him and he is nearly blown to pieces several times, his attempts at getting EVE's attention are both humorous and touching. When they eventually start communicating although they don't talk their relationship is extremely lovely. From here the story goes back into space with some beautifully rendered space scenes. We see what humans have become, big fat lazy babies, which is another pretty bleak view of where human's are headed. The plot proceeds and the story takes up the thread of how something WALL-E discovered whilst on earth could shape the future of the human race. This film is an absolute joy, if someone asked me why I like films so much then there are several scenes I could point to in this movie. WALL-E and EVE's dance in space is tear jerkingly beautiful and the ending will make you cry happy tears. I cannot recommend this film enough, it will make you laugh, cry and look up at the stars and go awwwww. This will no doubt take over from O Brother Where Art Thou? as my fave comfort movie. If Pixar ever make another movie this good then I will eat my PS3 which will no doubt have become self aware by that point. *****