53. Dr. No

After being lucky enough to receive the Bond 50 set on Blu-ray for Christmas I thought the least I could do was to work my way through them all. So here goes...

What needs to be said about Dr. No? Well it's the start of the greatest movie franchise ever and its as slick and engaging as many contemporary spy yarns. The one thing that really stands out is the Blu-ray print. This looks like a movie made today and set in the 60's - the image is crystal clear and the colour range is gorgeous.

The same however, cannot be said for the sound mix. The score sounds screeching high compared to everything else; although this may be optimised for surround set ups, which is something I don't currently own. Maybe I'll ask for that next Christmas...

52. End Of Watch

End of Watch is great. Not amazing or the 'greatest cop movie ever made' but a good, serviceable jaunt into the day to day wise cracking and shootouts of the LAPD.

The two leads are great and it does everything a David Ayer film usually does. Namely promises a lot but then descends into a big shootout at the end. Actually, that is a little harsh. As I have said - it's great - it just feels like it could and should have so much more...

51. Down Terrace

After seeing the amazing Kill List from the same director I was keen to catch Down Terrace. Ben Wheatley's first feature certainly has many of the same assets that made Kill List one my films of 2011. Generally this is involves bickering suburbanite families, organised-crime-based violence and some of the darkest humour ever committed to film.

Down Terrace is a look at what can happen if paranoia grips small time junkies and they start a bit of 'Let's murder everyone we think may know sometihng about anything'. It's eye watering funny at times and is punctuated by some very hard, straight forward violence. Which is nice.

Recommended.

50. Skyfall

Fifty Years of Bond and it all leads to number 50 on the blog and Skyfall. Can the series pick up from the pretty abysmal Quantum of Solace? Well yes, it does but after that movie, the only way is up.

It's a good solid Bond from start to finish and certainly Shit Bond's best. Not the greatest Bond (Man With Golden Gun, Goldeneye or Goldfinger for me) but very much a return to form with all the ingredients present and correct for a top quality caper.

I would say the only thing it lacks is a full on Bond girl - but the fan boy lip service is all very well received, especially when the DB5 makes an appearance...

Once they get the wise cracks back in, the series will be pretty much back to its best!

49. The Muppets

It's great!! For me though the one thing is really lacked was the kind of 'Muppet cruetly' of the TV show. Also  there is a distinct lack of Gonzo - which is pretty shitty.

Overall though it's top singing and dancing fun and if you have any kind of affection for the Muppet's at all you will get something out of this.

The only other thing I didn't like was the all too human based dance sequences. I want to see Muppet's dancing not humans - Less human, more Muppet!

48. Final Destination 5

I am a big fan of the Final Destination series and 5 is another steady instalment to the series that was suppose to have ended with the previous film 'The Final Destination' - which will no doubt be re-named in up and coming box sets as FD4.

5 takes the usual format and strips away the whole 'lets try and figure out why we survived and why we are all dying' aspect with Candyman popping up and telling our soon-to-be-deceased protagonists what the deal is. This leaves the film with more time to off teenagers but actually seems to slow the proceedings a little before turning into a more standard slasher for a good 15 minutes or so before the climax.

And what an end sequence it is! Probably the best ending to any FD movie (including the original I'd say).

Oh and the best death sequence... It has to be the gymnasium death scene - totally and utterly ridiculous but it had me in stitches.

47. Clear And Present Danger

I love this film! Harrison Ford is just soooooo good as Jack Ryan. He bring that extra bit of humanity, humour and all round star quality to an exciting tale of Team USA vs. The Drug Barons.

It's all so brilliantly put together by Phillip Noyce, with an excellent cast including Willem Dafoe,as the Spec Ops Boss, Joaquim de Almeida as the greasy drug-based Iago type 'Felix Cortez' and Darth Vader as his terminally ill mentor.

This is the way to make a serious, hard hitting, espionage thriller without cutting the corners and still making it a 12 certificate. Awesome!

46. Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone feels like about 3 films in one. The first one is pretty much excellent, the second is a B-Movie crappathon and the third is quite thought provoking...

As a whole it feels a bit messy- It's a bit like a movie equivalent of a mash up. There are strong central performances from all the major players, particularly the enjoyably shouty Ed Harris and snappy mouthed Casey Affleck.

It's directed by Ben Affleck and just when you think he's pulled it off he manages blow it in the third act. Although I think it is still worth seeing...

Strange.

45. Dredd 3D

Phew! Dredd 3D is great! Not amazing or genre defining, but most definitely a lot of fun along with a brilliant central performance by Karl Urban as JD himself.

The tight focus is an asset as it centres on the Dredd and Anderson's relationship - it's really Anderson's movie as Dredd is just the blunt instrument dispensing LAW (with added violence) while she is trying to learn the ropes.

On the downside I was expecting some tighter dialogue (it's all 'fucks' and no 'drokks', AD fans) and perhaps some more carefully choreographed actions sequences rather than the 'lets fire lots of big guns into the walls they are behind' style sections. To be honest though, this does only happen once (although it does go on a bit).

Overall though it is the Dredd film you've been waiting for! Now I'm off to buy one these.

44. District 9

I wanted to revisit this as a precursor to watching Dredd (both are shot in JoBerg and apparently share various aesthetic qualities). If this is the case then I am more excited about seeing Dredd than ever!

District 9 is a high quality, well organised tale that delivers far more to the geek audience than I expected. The production design is awesome and the alien tech is wicked in every sense of the word.

BRAZILLIANT!

43. The Expendables 2

After not thinking much of the first Expendables I was approaching this with little optimism. To be honest it's not much better but it does just about enough to be entertaining. Arnie and Brucie weigh in with more screentime this time around and generally there is a lot of fun to be had with the half-witted, knuckle headed banter.

The less said about the Stallone's 'script' the better - the film is at it's worst when it tries to be earnest or in anyway 'emotional' - stick to the wise cracks and explosions and we'll all be having a better time!

Chuck Norris is pretty good, Jet Li buggers off after about ten minutes (as one of our more able bodied heroes I was hoping he'd stick around after his energetic turn during the intro) but overall Van Damme come out of it best of all. He's suitably mean as the villain 'Villian' (RE: the script) and proves he can still perform a mean roundhouse kick to the face!

42. Batteries Not Included

Batteries Not Included is top notch family fair. What my Dad would describe as 'A Spielberg' (he produced this). It all revolves around an old building in NYC that is about to be demolished until its beleaguered residents get some help from friendly extra terrestrial robots.

So great fun all round with some snappy takes on mortality, mental health and how shit corporate behemoths can be. It's funny, exciting and gives the heart strings a bloody good tug at times - great entertainment!

41. Before Sunrise

Before Sunrise is a hopelessly romantic romp about 'taking that chance'. It's the first time I've seen it and I'm glad that I took the time as it is very enjoyable for the most part and doesn't fall into the Hollywood cliches that it could have.

Unfortunately Ethan Hawkes goatee hasn't aged well. There were several moments where it looked like it was about to fall from his face with alarming ease. What it lacks it good facial hair it makes up for in a simple and warm hearted story.

I was expecting the dialogue to crackle a bit more but generally it is an enjoyable afternoon stroll of a movie.

40. Brooklyn's Finest

I feel like I've seen Brooklyn's Finest many times before, not that it's without merit -it's just a bit 'familar'. Familiar actors, director, locations, plot lines, situations yadda yadda yadda.  It does still have it's plus points though; the excellent performances of the three main protagonists - especially Ethan Hawke as the under pressure cop trying to support his family while not lose his job, sanity and life.

Overall though is pretty much by the numbers and the ending 'kind of' delivers but its all so very matter of fact that you feel incredibly underwhelmed by the whole affair.

Oh, and at least Don Cheadle doesn't do his 'cawknee' accent.

39. The Bourne Ultimatium

The Bourne Ultimatum kicks ass! It's a blazing chase from start to finish, punctuated with confusing fight scenes that Paul Greengrass will seemingly never get right (I'd like to see what's actually happening rather than a load of confusing steady cam mess).

Although the film doesn't overly suffer from this as the whole cast are rip roaring evil or heroic in equal measure. A top spy romp and certainly better than any of the Bonds with Crap Bond.

38. Hot Tub Time Machine

How did this film ever get made? I really have no idea!! I mean, who green lights this dross? Overall it's fun, in a shitty, sub-standard kinda way.

Jon Cusack must really have been hit hard by the recession if he needs to be appearing in this...

37. Internal Affairs

A quality 90's cop-athon with Richard Gere playing the biggest bastard cop ever committed to celluloid (well at the time at least). Gere is brilliant as Dennis Peck, a cop on the take and take he does; Colleges wives, salaries and even their lives.

Andy Garcia then chips up as an Internal Affairs officer and proceeds to be very angry throughout while shooting and throwing stuff (although not necessarily in that order). Also features lesbians.

36. Beautiful Girls

I'd never even heard of Beautiful Girls before having it forced upon me by a friend. It's a nicely played home coming drama that you've think you've seen, before it throws a couple of unexpected issues into the mix.

The biggest win here though is the force of nature that is Paul Kirkwood played with unbridled energy by  a concrete haired  Michael Rapaport. His theories on the fairer sex are misguided (to say the least) and the gusto he subjects others to these points of view is nothing short of magical!

Beautiful Girls is worth seeing for this alone.

35. The Dark Knight Rises

Just got back from seeing The Dark Knight Rises and WOW! It's great! As I predicted not up there with TDK but pretty damn good all the same.

So much detail, style and precision as usual from Sir Christopher Nolan and Anna Hathaway is knockout as Catwoman. It's a fitting end to a fantastic trilogy.

If your a fan of the comics you'll probably guess 'the twist', but it's really a blinding bit of film making and excellent value for money at 2 and half hours long! And unlike Haywire the wife enjoyed it. WIN!

34. The Dark Knight

As the second part of my preparation for the forthcoming The Dark Knight Rises I have sat down to watch, what I think, is the best super hero film of all time (and I loved The Avengers).

So The Dark Knight is just so amazing on all levels. It's the best action movie, chase movie, horror movie, suspense movie or well... generally the best movie of 2008 without a shadow of a doubt. I never thought I would ever see the Batman realised on screen in such an darkly impressive, serious (as it can be) and inventive manner.

The bank heist in the first few minutes has more ideas crammed into it than most Hollywood blockbusters cram into two and half hours! Up to this point it was Christopher Nolans best film - although I think Inception bettered it...

Will TDKR better that? I doubt it, but really CANNOT WAIT to find out!

Hopefully MGM will hand the Bond franchise over to Nolan next and he can give that the kick up the arse it needs. That would be epic.

33. I Heart Huckabees

I Heart Huckabees is all about two overlapping, fractured philosophy's. And it's a lot of fun, if a little messy and bewildering at times.

Jason Schwartzman is at his argumentative best in a fantastic cast that boasts a scene stealing performance from Marky Mark as a disgruntled firefighter whose had it with the world and a bubbly turn from Jude Law doing 'American'.

Naomi Watts also proves that she can look great in a bonnet and everything is delivered is a warm, sweary and comical drama that will leave feeling glad you borrowed the DVD from your friend.

32. Batman Begins

I must admit that when watching Batman Begins for the first time I found I had a similar reaction to the first Burton Batman. It was 'great' but overall, a tad bit dull.

I should quantify this by saying I'm a massive Bat fan and my expectations could never be reached by either film; However, watching Sir Christopher Nolan's (it's only a matter of time) first effort again I have to say I really, really, really enjoyed it.

It still doesn't hold up as an action movie (neither did Burton's) but the amount of ideas and inventiveness is a joy to behold!

Even after this great start I would never have even begun to have expected a blockbuster of The Dark Knights magnitude to follow it...

31. The Women In Black

The scariest thing about The Women in Black is Daniel Radcliffe's eye brows. Well no, that's not strictly true but the film does lack a bit of 'oomph' in the frights department.

Bearing in mind it is a 12 certificate that is probably not that surprising and what is does, it does well, even if it's all slightly unremarkable.

I think a bit of a tip when casting a film with Mr. Radcliffe is to probably cast a few other roles around him with people of a similar age, as the middle aged 'ITV drama premier' cast here only accentuate the fact that he looks about 14 rather than the late twenties /thirty something he's meant to be playing. Just a thought.

30. Haywire

Haywire is great fun. Just seeing Gina Carano kicking the faces open of half the Hollywood A list (okay B+ list) is a joy to behold.

The wife didn't agree ('This film has nothing of interest for me.') but I got some kind of semi-sadistic kick from the whole affair.

Hard to believe it's directed by Captain Soderbergh as it's straight to DVD B movie stock with an amazing cast and some beautiful cinematography.

Recommended.

I have also noticed that Carano will be appearing in Fast and the Furious 6. Hopefully she will be seen kicking Vin Diesel's jowls all over the shop. That would be just great! :-)

29. Diamonds Are Forever

The 7th and final Bond Film for Sean Connery is still a cracker.

It delivers on all the Bond notables; Head cracking violence (pretty poorly shot in places) car chases (a quality run through Las Vegas in the Mustang) babes (Lana Wood's Plenty O'Toole especially) gadgets (guaranteed Casino wins for Q) an amazing soundtrack (take a bow the legendary John Barry) some top quality villains (Blofeld, plus the excellent psycho double act Mr. Kidd & Mr. Wint) and of course the quips:

Plenty O'Toole: Hi, I'm Plenty.
James Bond: But of course you are.
Plenty O'Toole: Plenty O'Toole.
James Bond: Named after your father perhaps? 

Braziliant!!

28. Iron Sky

I had a lot of goodwill towards Iron Sky before I'd even seen it. Much of that goodwill remains after seeing it although it does feel a bit Coming to America with Nazis at times...

You can't really fault the ambition of the whole project but the film really doesn't deliver like the film it should have been. It is much heavier on the comedy than I thought it was going to be and the whole ' Nazis coming back from the moon' never really got into full swing for me - far too many space battles for my liking, rather than head to head Nazi bashing.

Overall you should see this as it looks incredible, it's very enjoyable and it has Udo Kier in it!!! Also female lead Julia Dietze is par-tic-ularly hot :-)

27. Prometheus

Don't believe the hype! Well, believe some of it. Prometheus could never really match up the marketing hyperbole but I have to say I enjoyed it.

It's not without it's flaws (a whopping plot hole or two) but it is nicely engaging although it does lack any kind of fear or tension after the 'aliens' (no, not those ones) reveal themselves.

It all feels a bit short to me and could have done with another 30 minutes sprinkled in along the way. No doubt that will be in the Directors Cut which will be out 3 months after you've already spent £20 on the Triple Editon Blu-Ray.

Maybe.

26. A Prophet

Wow! A Prophet is an incredible ride from start to finish.

I don't think I've seen a crime drama so jam packed with ideas, issues and imagery as this. Thinking about it now, a few minutes after viewing, there are so many things buzzing around in my head it's hard to name one stand out moment.

Needless to say I highly recommend you watch this if only for the excellent central performance from Tahar Rahim. There is not an emotion, action or thought the man doesn't convey over the 155 minutes running time.

25. Y Tu Mamá También

A full frontal road-trip movie that I can't believe has been in the world for 11 years and I have only just had the pleasure of seeing it.

From start to finish it is a breathtaking journey into the lives of two adolescent friends (Gael García Bernal & Diego Luna) who are accompanied by their cousins (recently cheated on) hot wife (the sizzling Maribel Verdú).

It's not only a drink and drug fuelled journey; it's also full of intimate and personal moments from our main band of travellers and features some beautifully told short stories from a vast array of characters that surround their lives.

24. Contraband

"Bored yet? Keeping watching and you will be."

 I like to feel that I watched this film so you, fair reader, didn't have to. 'Contrabland' would be more apt.

This is a Mark Wahlberg approved remake of an Icelandic thriller Reykjavik-Rotterdam.

I cannot understand for the life of me why anyone would want to re-make this film if the original is anything like this generic, dull, piece of shit.

23. Young Adult

Still hot when trying to look slubby...

The best thing about Young Adult is also it's main problem. Charlize Theron totally miscast as the returning prom queen looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend. It's just sooooooo unbelievable that she can't get a man/ find a man/ men don't find her interesting/ attractive etc.

SHE'S CHARLIZE THERON!!

She looks hot when she is a drunken wreck, she looks hot when she is hung over, shes looks hot when she in jogging pants. It's difficult to see where the problem lies... To be fair though she does have a bloody good go at the role and whole mid-life crisis / personal breakdown is well handled but.. you know.. it's Charlize Theron and this is the role see was never meant to play.

22. Rampart

Or as I like to call it: 'High contrast thuggery with Woody Harrelson.'

Rampart is a funny beast. Our protagonist is an unlikeable arse who is caught in political shit storm that makes him the focus of internal affairs although he is far from the biggest problem within the LAPD. Couple this with his unusual home life and his unerring knack of sleeping with every woman he claps eyes on and you think you'll be in for an enjoyable genre flick.

Well it kind of is, but mostly it isn't and it left me feeling a let down by the end of it all.

21. Chronicle

"Don't look or you'll see the endin- Oh."

Well Chronicle is kind of fun, albeit paper thin fun, but the whole found footage thing is kinda odd.

It all feels a bit, I don't know, naff? Main conceit of the film is that found footage thing is pretty much left for dead as soon as the protagonists discover their powers (via them 'telekinetically controlling the cameras').

All in all it's a reasonable way of spending 90 minutes but there are SO MANY better ways to spend 90 minutes.

20. 21 Jump Street

"I thought there would be more car chases in this job."

Well this was an unexpected pleasure. After seeing the trailer that sold this movie as a trashy re-make/ re-imagining, I expected practically nothing from 21 Jump Street.

I couldn't have been more wrong! It's smart, funny, overblown and straight up hilarious at times. Jonah Hill (the not so Slim Shady) deserves particular credit as (along with Michael Bacall) he delivers a firecracker of a script that bounces along at a jaunty pace, that is self aware and a real spikey treat.

The whole role reversal set up works really well and it's also great to see Ice Cube in a role as a nasty ass motherfucker for a change.

This is my favourite comedy of 2012 so far. BOOM!

19. The Raid

Smack, Stab, Kick, Shoot, Throw, Punch etc.

On my god The Raid is good!

It's a nuts and bolts tale of good vs. evil with some of the best head busting action scenes you will ever see. The sheer athleticism of the protagonist made me feel exhausted just watching it.

It kicks off as a big shoot-em up movie, slowly loses its guns, picks up some knifes, axes and then finally  turns into an amazing feast of martial arts punchery. If it only wins one award this year it will surely be for the most inventive use of a door frame.

And all this directed by a Welsh man who resides in Indonesia! You really couldn't make it up.

18. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Team 4!

Even though I've seen Anchorman many times it still retains it's above average charm. Actually, I'm being a little unfair and generally lying as I think it's easily one of Will Ferrell's best movies and it features one of the funniest bridge-based dog puntings in cinematic history.

Also it has a few scenes that had me in tears of laughter (the aforementioned dog punt, the post dog punt telephone box based crying session and this)

It's all tied up so neatly at the end I really can't see how the sequel is going to work, but I guess we'll find out next year.

Can't wait!

17. Road House

Big Hair Alert!

Road House has everything that a growing boy needs in a movie.

Punch ups, beat downs, knife fights, fist fights, shoot outs, shootin's, big boobs, little boobs, big hairstyles, little hairstyles, sex scenes, scenes with no sex, arms getting broken, throats getting ripped out, more fighting and some of the greatest mullets in cinematic history. It's pretty much got the lot!

In fact the only thing it seems to be missing is a Monster Truc - Hang on a minute!!

16. Fantastic Mr. Fox

Cuss Yeah!

Fantastic Mr. Fox - and I couldn't agree more. The initially off kilter animation (which is a stumbling block to enjoyment for some) soon won me over in this highly enjoyable Wes Anderson stop motion caper!

A hoot from start to finish. The only thing I didn't like about it was Clooney's annoying 'whistle click trademark' as Mr F. Other than that, totally BEEZER!

15. Bronson

"You Facking Caant!"

Tom Hardy, Tom Hardy, Tom Hardy, Tom Hardy! That's what Nicolas Windyourneckin's Bronson is all about. That and some mentalist prisoner who likes nothing more than using prison officer's faces as punching material.

It all feels quite theatrical at times and the scenes of balletic violence only add to the totally hatstand nature of the movie. Every time Bronson speaks you feel he is moments away from smashing someones face open.

Reassuringly the swear count is high, perhaps even rivalling Don Logan (Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast) on the 'fackin' cant' count.

14. The Guard

The Odd Couple

I'd imagine the poster for The Guard would have a big quote at the top saying something like:

"Laugh Out Loud Funny!"- Bill Crap The Daily Shite

As this is certainly true, although I couldn't be bothered to find out.
The film features a bulldozing performance from Brendan Gleeson (with Don Cheadle providing a straight and steady back up) and is one of the funniest, cruelest and drug fuelled black comedies I have seen this year.

Glorious!

13. Die Hard

Christmas isn't Christmas without a dead European terrorist in a lift.

I fucking love Die Hard!

Everything about the film is just RIGHT! Bruce Willis is excellent as the wise cracking John McClane, Alan Rickman launches himself into film baddie typecasting as the slick Hans Gruber and John McTiernan directs another Joel Sliver 80's action cracker!

Not only is it the best Christmas movie ever (okay, with the possible exception of this) but it also has the teacher from the Breakfast Club in it and Endo from Lethal Weapon, who appears as a baddie is every action flick ever!

What's not to love?!

12. Point Blank

"I'm Lee Marvin, it's 1967 and you're gonna get yours!"

Watching Point Blank will always make me think of this. A bit like if your twelve you'll be thinking of this, rather than the second best action movie of all time. But I guess that is just down to what decade you are born in (sadly).

John Boorman frames every shot with sniper eye precision but for me I just can't get over the crumpily, head locking struggles in the fight scenes - I can't quite make out if the protagonist wants to strangle said bad guy or give him a lovely fat kiss on the neck piece. Awkward.

It also has a brilliantly ambiguous ending - all the characters kind of go their own way without feeling the need to kill everyone off or explicitly reward the hero. Which is kind of mind blowing when comparing it to a modern genre flick.

11. Batman: Year One

An animated version of one my favourite comic books ever is always going to be a tricky one to pull off; and this doesn't do it justice at all.

The book had subtly, atmosphere and tension whereas the animated version has seemingly missed or ignored all of this. It moves far too quickly through a story that requires some delicate pacing at times. All this proves to me that the story itself is not really suited to the medium of animation.

It's worth mentioning that the animation is workmanlike at best and it feels like the whole project has had very little love from it's creators.

A shame.

10. Lockout

"So if the big hand is pointing to the three..."

After the enjoying the quirky, french based style of both Léon and The Fifth Element it has come as a bit of a surprise to me that Luc Besson has rested on his laurels. He now seems to be quite happy to churn out any old B movie tat.

Needless to say Lockout follows that trend. But in a very enjoyable, wise cracking fashion. Guy Pearce is great as our head exploding hero Snow and Maggie Grace provides a good foil for his snappy repartee as they try to escape the space prison for Glaswegians.

A good distraction for a Tuesday night. Luc Besson needs to try a bit harder though...

9. Troll Hunter

"Light that mother fucker up!"

Troll Hunter is a top quality caper.

I found it quite sad at the end – not for the student camera team (they could have all been eaten thrice times over for me) but for the Troll Hunter himself who for years has been an outcast, for doing nothing more than his governments bidding.

The found footage aspect was a bit crappy but didn't detract too much from the Fee-fi-fo-FUN.

8. The Conversation

Did Gene Hackman ever have hair? Well not in 1974 that's for sure.

Written and Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman I was expecting big things from The Conversation.

It pretty much delivers but in an unremarkable way- this seems mainly due to the technology at hand, both narratively speaking and how the film is shot, edited and scored. At times it is painfully slow but Hackman's central performance is top notch as the paranoid and introspective Harry Caul.

The film actually seems longer than it's 113 minutes running time and features a nice turn from Harrison Ford as the head honchos mysterious assistant. Overall, a quality thriller.

7. Winter's Bone

A bright light in a world of despair.

Wow! Winter's Bone is bleak!

Jennifer Lawrence's Ree is the only character to display any kind of empathy towards anyone in this uncomfortable story of the hunt for her missing father.

It seems everyone is trying to kill, maim, rip-off or steal from each other in a never ending spiral of misery and betrayal.

I loved it!

Although I wouldn't recommend watching it if you are feeling a bit down...

6. Splice

"I've got a tail and everything!'

I like Sarah Polley. After all, anyone who can bring some humanity to a Zack Snyder zombie movie deserves some credit.

In Splice she is joined by Adrien Brody as they play two leading gene splicing scientists who are out to make 'an amazing breakthrough' etc. and so on.

Needless to say various types of shit hits the proverbial fan and what we are left with is an inconsistent, sub-par monster movie with an interesting angle on motherhood that is never really explored to the fullest.

A 'disappointing' out of 'could have been good'.

5. The Avengers

Feel the magic!

Not 'Avengers Assemble' as the poster states. It's The Avengers - at least that what I will continue to call it even though the dumb asses at Disney think I'll be hopelessly confused with this. Or even worse, this.

In fact on the BBFC certificate at the start of the film it states the title as 'MARVEL AVENGERS ASSEMBLE.' You couldn't make it up...

Anyway, after all this pontificating what's the film actually like? Well I'm happy to say it's bloody brilliant! Joss Whedon has crafted a story that manages to give all our heroes plenty of screen time and rattles along at a fair old pace! He has really put his stamp on what I feared, was to be another by the numbers super hero flick.

The script is smart, witty and has a real love & knowledge of the subject matter. I can't quite believe he's managed to pull everything together in such style. Even with the predictable CGI baddie finale, it's a sequence full of so many great moments that you just can't help but be enthralled by the whole thing. I think I'm actually still in shock of how good it is.

This is exactly what a big budget summer blockbuster should be. Big, loud and lorry loads of fun!

4. Alien (Directors Cut)

"Yeah, just lower yourself down and grab a couple of those eggs. Lovely grub!"

What is there left to say about one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time?

Not much, other than this version features Dallas all slimed up in alien goo and then getting burnt up by Ripley - initially I thought this was a bit of a naff looking puppet but after watching one of the many excellent 'makings ofs' featured on this Blu-Ray Quadrilogy, it turns out it was Tom Skerritt after all - just looking really ill and 'puppety'.

Perhaps that's why Ridley Scott decided to ditch the scene initially. Anyway please, please, please make sure that Prometheus isn't shit. Come on Ridley I know you can do it!