Darkmatters Top 10 Films of 2010

Darkmatters - Matt Adcock's Top 10 Films of 2010

It’s been a good year for film – here are the ones that really counted!!

10. The American (15)
Adapted from a novel by Martin Booth, The American in question is George Clooney acting his manly eyebrows off in a dark role of a good hearted hit-man who wants to escape his violent life.

9. Let Me In (15)
Easily the best horror film of the year. Let Me In (a remake of the excellent ‘Let The Right One In’) does for vampires something that a million Twilights, True Bloods or Vampire Diaries can only hope to – it grips the very soul of the viewer and never lets go. Darkmatters Review

8. The Book of Eli (15)
Through a near future Mad Max style wasteland where law has collapsed comes a traveller by the name of Eli (Denzel Washington), carrying with him the very last copy of the Good Book. Cue quality violent heroics and possible salvation – all set against a fantastic bleached out cinematic vista. Darkmatters Review

7. Four Lions (15)
Four Lions is the darkest, bravest comedy of the year which will leave you dazed and confused, challenged and inspired. It’s a brilliant film that deserves to be seen – prepare to laugh, cry and wince, probably all at the same time!! Darkmatters Review

6. Toy Story 3 (PG)
2010 saw us go to infinity and beyond – one more time… And the animation genius’s at Disney / Pixar saved the best trip till last with this all age feel good artistic masterpiece. Darkmatters Review

5. Somewhere (15)
A hard-living Hollywood actor has to re-examine his life after his 11-year-old daughter surprises him with an extended visit. This is a gorgeous life changing film that really needs to be seen.

4. The Town (15)
Take a trip to The Town with Ben Affleck for a full on, nerve shredding cops and robbers romp, packing some seriously cool shoot-outs which even rival those of the crime epic Heat. Darkmatters Review

3. Scott Pilgrim vs The World (12)
Brit Director Edgar Wright does for romance, video games and super heroes what he did for zombie films with Shaun of the Dead and police action buddy films with Hot Fuzz. Prepare for a dazzling pop culture overload which rocks a cinematic endorphin buzz of pure fun. Darkmatters Review

2. KICK-ASS (15)
Speaking of kick ass action – Kick-Ass is a fantastic new breed of superhero movie, a twisted, action packed megaton of wanton comic book violence quite unlike anything you’ve seen. Darkmatters Review

1. Inception (12)
Inception was without doubt the most exciting, brain frying, pleasure-inducing film of 2010. You don’t need to enter anyone’s dreams to realise that director Christopher Nolan delivered a very cool mind twisting plot, awesome special effects and kick-ass action. Darkmatters Review

Previous lists:

Matt's Top 10 Films 2009

Matt's Top 10 Films 2008

Matt's Top 10 Films 2007

Matt's Top 10 Films 2006

Matt's Top 10 Films 2005

Matt's Top 10 Films 2004

Darkmatters Review: Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Scott Pilgrim vs the World (12a)

Dir. Edgar Wright

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Prepare for an epic epic of epic epicness…

Meet Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) a 22 year old slacker, he’s trying to
get over a major broken heart, find a job, get his fairly sucky band
together and not pay rent to his cool gay roommate (Kieran Culkin). His
precious little life is fairly un-incredible, on the plus side he does
have a 17year old rebound girlfriend - a high school girl named Knives
Chau (Ellen Wong) who thinks he’s the greatest guy ever. But one day
Scott meets the literal girl of his dreams – the foxy Ramona Flowers
(Mary Elizabeth ‘Die Hard 4.0’ Winstead) roller blading through his
head and from then on he’s absolutely smitten.

So far, so much like so many slacker rom-coms but Scott Pilgrim vs The
World is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Adapted from the
cutting edge cool series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley by Edgar
‘Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead’ Wright, probably the greatest working
British director of our time, this is a super powered mixture of romance,
comic book violence and video game cool. You see, in order to date Ramona,
Scott Pilgrim must fight and defeat her seven evil exes in mortal combat
– each of whom packs a unique super power.

Director Wright makes films that bring a pop culture overload to the
masses, what he did for zombie films with Shaun of the Dead and police
action buddy films with Hot Fuzz, he does here for video games and super
heroes. Anyone who has ever played Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter or
Super Mario Bros. will be tripping from the theme tunes, sound and visual
effects seamlessly incorporated into the film, but you don’t have to be
a gaming geek to enjoy the megaton thrill of such a wonderfully produced
homage to super powered thrills.

The arcade game style battles against the seven evil exes are realised in
hyper real fight scenes - think The Matrix 2.0 mixed with animé
influences such as Dragonball Z or Naruto. The exes themselves are
memorable adversaries, Lucas is an action movie star / skateboard dude
(Chris Evans), Todd (Brandon Routh) is a vegan powered telekinetic badass
and final boss fight Gideon (Jason Schwartzman) is a slimy music producer
who wants Ramona back.

Everything works so well that you’ll be lost in an endorphin buzz of
pure fun, action and self-discovery. Oh, and music, because Scott’s band
‘Sex Bob-omb’ are a wannabe punk outfit (whose tracks are supplied by
Beck) and you don’t need to have played ‘Guitar Hero’ to love their
spiky band contests.

"Scott Pilgrim is a lover and a fighter!"

Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are brilliant in the lead roles
and are ably supported by their cool support cast of friends and rivals.
The special effects are awesome and the central metaphor about the need to
fight for your true love is a universal one that makes Scott Pilgrim vs
The World a text book for dating in the 21st century.

From the moment that an 8-bit version of the Universal logo chugs onto
screen to a MIDI Zelda-esq theme you know that you’re in for a geek’s
paradise of tech enhanced thrills. Scott Pilgrim vs The World is an
un-missable burst of perfect cinematic joy, repeated viewings recommended!

UNSEEN DELETED SCENE:

Scott Pilgrim gets sucked into a PlayStation 3 remake of Final Fantasy VII and has to battle Cloud Strife who has taken a fancy to Ramona! Huge swords at the ready!!

Darkmatters rating: öööööööööö (10 epic scenes of epicness out of 10)

Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 9 / Style 9 / Babes 8 / Comedy 10 / Horror 5 / Spiritual Enlightenment 13

Darkmatters vs Scott Pilgrim

Scott Pilgrim - is the future!!

To win the girl of his dreams, Scott Pilgrim must defeat her seven evil exes.

Meet charming and jobless Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera). A bass guitarist for totally average garage band Sex Bob-omb, the 22-year-old has just met the girl of his dreams...literally. The only catch to winning Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)? Her seven evil exes are coming to kill him. Genre-smashing filmmaker Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) tells the amazing story of one romantic slacker’s quest to power up with love in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

Scott Pilgrim has never had a problem getting a girlfriend. It’s getting rid of them that proves difficult. From the girl who kicked his heart’s ass—and now is back in town—to the teenage distraction he’s trying to shake when Ramona rollerblades into his world, love hasn’t been easy. He soon discovers, however, his new crush has the most unusual baggage of all: a nefarious league of exes controls her love life and will do whatever it takes to eliminate him as a suitor.

As Scott gets closer to Ramona, he must face an increasingly vicious rogues’ gallery from her past—from infamous skateboarders to vegan rock stars and fearsomely identical twins. And if Matt Adcock, sorry, Scott, hopes to win his true love, he must vanquish them all before it really is game over.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Scott Pilgrim with zombies hits PS3 now, Xbox one day...

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Game preview by Matt Adcock

You want to kick ass with Scott Pilgrim? The game looks to be a superb film spin off - good news if you've got a PS3... If you're an Xbox 360 owner, you'll have to wait as a release date has yet to be announced...

And now - by entering 'Down, Up, Right, Down, Up, Right, Down, Up, Right, Right, Right' you can fight not only evil ex's you can battle ZOMBIES!!



This time next week - Scott Pilgrim hits the PSN!!

More about the film / comic HERE

Darkmatters hearts Scott Pilgrim... It brings the 'awesome'

Scott Pilgrim - Matt Adcock's film of 2010?

Check out this new epic clip of epic epicness:

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

"read em - the graphic novels are EPIC too!"