Darkmatters Review: Black Swan

Black Swan (15)

Dir. Darren Aronofsky

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“I had the craziest dream last night about a girl who has turned into a swan, but her prince falls for the wrong girl and she kills herself…”

Black Swan is an enthralling dark psychological drama based around the story of Swan Lake where talented ballerina Nina (Natalie Portman) becomes so completely consumed with her role of the Swan Queen that she loses her mind and her grip on reality.

Highly tipped for Oscar glory Black Swan sees director Darren ‘The Wrestler’ Aronofsky dive head first into a maelstrom of maternal obsessiveness, freaky body horror and eye wateringly impressive ballet scenes. Portman is exquisite in the challenging lead role – her year of real life ballet training being put to good use alongside her considerable acting skills.

The plot may be a phantasmagorical case study of someone breaking down but it is utterly watchable thanks to having a director with such artistic verve, empowered by an incredible cast. Vincent Cassel takes the male lead as the director of the ballet company putting on a new ‘edgy’ version of Swan Lake. Barbara Hershey is Nina’s seriously overbearing mother while sexy new dancer Lily is a scene stealing Mila Kunis.

"oooh - the Black Swan..."

Quality support is also on hand thanks to Winona Ryder - completely chewing up the scenery as the company’s former prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre – who is replaced in the lead by Nina.

Black Swan isn’t an easy film to watch there are strong violent and sexual scenes which shocked some of the audience I caught this with. And while not fully a horror film, there are some good ‘jump’ moments too which had many people screaming out loud (mentioning no names *cough Matt Landsman *cough).

So viewers certainly shouldn’t go expecting a ‘nice’ ballet film, but anyone who has seen The Wrestler – to which Black Swan is a kind of alternate companion piece – will know to expect a visceral, brutal experience.

Nina’s inner turmoil is caused by her having to depict both the innocent ‘White Swan’ and the sensual Black Swan – who is much more akin to the overtly sexual Lily. The rivalry / uneasy friendship between the two is instrumental in awakening Nina’s dark side – but can she stay sane under the pressure?

With Black Swan, Aronofsky has created a compellingly powerful film without having to resort 3D or over-burdening watchers with hours of unnecessary padding. He is building up a fantastic body of work and anyone who enjoys Black Swan should certainly seek out his earlier masterpieces Requiem for a Dream and ‘Pi’.

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

(5 mind bending ballet shocks)...

Awesomeness ööööö – seriously impressive

Laughs ö – not a laugh riot

Horror ööö – you might jump, you will wince

Babes öööö – Portman is hot, Kunis is smokin

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö – don't go 'full swan'

- - -


Second opinion - try Pop Culture Monster

"Kunis - swanning about"

2011 - year of the Tyrannosaur

2011 - year of the 'Tyrannosaur'?

Darkmatters has a lot of love for Brit actor Paddy 'Dead Man's Shoes' Considine and so it is with baited breath that we awaire his first feature behind the camera - Tyrannosaur - which hits the UK this year.


Tyrannosaur has already been described as "a tour de force propelled by the sheer intensity of its performances and storytelling" which sounds spot on. 
 
Here's the blurb from Sundance where the film is screening:


Joseph (Peter Mullan), a tormented, self-destructive man plagued by violence, finds hope of redemption in Hannah (Olivia Colman), a Christian charity-shop worker he meets one day while fleeing an altercation. Initially derisive of her faith and presumed idyllic existence, Joseph nonetheless returns to the shop and soon realizes that Hannah's life is anything but placid. As a relationship develops, they come to understand the deep pain in each other's lives.


An unconventional love story, Tyrannosaur transcends its bleak circumstances through Joseph and Hannah's vigorous impulse toward redemption. Shouldering the weight of burdened lives with great humanity and a deep understanding of our capacity to heal, Mullan and Colman deliver two of the most outstanding performances of the year. Considine's portrait of these two lost souls, bloody but unbowed, is a devastating and profoundly beautiful experience.

Tyrannosaur is based on some of the characters found in Considine's short film Dog Altogether... it should be fascinating to see the director exploring the violence and rage driven, self destructive nose dive of the human soul - and see what redemptive elements can be found.

"I'm a glass half full kind of guy..."

Paddy can next be seen in front of the camera in Submarine in just over month. And if you haven't seen Dead Man's Shoes... you really need to!

Other films to look out for in 2011 listed here

Darkmatters Review: Outcast

Outcast (18)

Dir. Colm McCarthy

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Outcast is the debut feature from director Colm McCarthy (who cut his teeth on things like Spooks, The Tudors, and Murphy’s Law). It tells a tale of contemporary supernatural horror film steeped in ancient Celtic occult, mythology and mysticism. Get ready for weirdy beardy dark forces mixing with the everyday horror of your average rundown Edinburgh estate.

It’s an distinctly odd mixture but Brit horror films have a reputation for boundary shifting and new genre defining – see Heartless last year as a good example. With Outcast we get the bonus of a great erm ‘cast’ which includes James ‘Cold Feet’ Nesbitt, Karen ‘the assistant babe from Dr Who’ Gillan, James Cosmo, Kate Dickie and Christine Tremarco, Niall Bruton and Hanna Stanbridge.

Inner city sink estate horrors can be effective as the working-class vibe is a nice gritty alternative to the spoilt rich kids stereotype that so many horror films deliver. Central to the plot is Fergal (Bruton) and his mum Mary, for reasons initially unclear they are being hunted by a mystic hunter called Cathal (Nesbitt) who wields occult powers and means to kill the boy. Shapely love interest distraction for Fergal arrives in the form of a Scottish-Romany girl Petronella (Hanna ‘going to be a big star’ Stanbridge). Petronella hangs out with smokin’ hot pre Dr Who pal Ally (Karen Gillan) and frequently cross paths with the local NEDS.

"beauty and the beast 2?"

But something very large and nasty is also hunting the populace – could one of the (out)cast be a slimy hairless werewolf sort of creature??

So the scene is set for supernatural chasing, arcane battling and magical protection / misdirection… There are some memorable scenes that stay with you such as when Mary curses an uptight housing official – wiping her mind so that she is doomed to wander the earth until the end of her days. Overall there is much to enjoy.

The climax doesn’t quite deliver as much as I had been hoping for – but the weird and wonderful journey to get there is one worth taking for all horror fans! It’s easy to see why Outcast was one of the standout features for horror fans at London’s Film4 FrightFest in 2010.


Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö

(3 - magical bloodshed and slaughter a go go!)...

"Who needs the Dr when you look this good?"

The Green Hornet

The Green Hornet Strikes

Following the death of his father, Britt Reid, heir to his father's large company, teams up with his late dad's assistant Kato to become a masked crime fighting team.

Check out the fun trailer below - followed by the Darkmatters full review:




The Green Hornet (12a)

Dir. Michel Gondry

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

What is the same mistake every superhero makes? They let the bad guys know that they’re a hero… That means that all the criminals have to do is threaten some innocent people and they have the hero by the short and curlies. This problem is addressed by millionaire slacker playboy Britt Reid’s (Seth Rogen) with his venture into becoming the crime fighting sensation ‘The Green Hornet.’ Letting the bad guys think that he’s one of them whilst taking them down is a nice twist on the traditional superhero formula. Of course the major downside of being seen as a criminal vigilante is that both the cops and the robbers are after you at all times.

The Green Hornet is a film from oddball director Michel ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ Gondry – it is certainly his most “mainstream” to date. Think Batman played for laughs in the vein of a buddy comedy or ‘The not so Dark Knight’ and you’ll be in the right area. Rogen is on good comic form in the lead role and or the action elements he is more than ably backed up by Jay Chou who stars as Kato, the Hornet’s all kicking, all punching, sidekick / car mechanic and awesome coffee maker.
Also on hand is Cameron Diaz who brings the love interest sizzle and quality master villain Chudnofsky in the form of Oscar winning Christoph Waltz who steals the movie with his ‘am I scary enough’ banter.

At heart The Green Hornet wants to be a cool flick like Kick-Ass but lacks the balls out action – so instead it delivers some nice fights, stunts and chases and lots of amusing banter. To be honest though, it isn’t enough to make this more than a fun diversion at best. It all looks very slick, especially the gadgets ‘star’ of which is The Black Beauty – the seriously cool militarised car which packs enough guns, missiles, cutters and flame throwers to make even James Bond green with envy!

"The car is the star!"

Everything about The Green Hornet is machine tooled to try and please a wide spectrum of viewers and by doing this it manages to not really hit any targets satisfactorily. The 3D is unnecessary and adds nothing to the viewing experience here (as is becoming a worrying trend recently – it just feels like a ruse for extra cash to rake in by cinemas tut tut)…

The Green Hornet is disposable superhero fun, nice while it lasts by utterly forgettable.

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö

(3 Green Hornet is comic super blast)...

Awesomeness ööö – wants to be cooler than it is

Laughs öööö – Hornet hits the spot on the funnies

Horror ö – nothing very scary here

Babes ööö – Diaz still looks good!

Spiritual Enlightenment ö – money is the root of all evil (but post production 3D is a close second!)

- - -


Second opinion - try Dark of the Matinee

"who said mid thirties isn't sexy?"

Darkmatters Review: The King’s Speech

The King’s Speech (12a)

Dir. Tom Hooper

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

You are cordially invited by royal decree to attend this rather wonderful telling of a key period in the life of King George VI, the father of our current Queen Elizabeth II. The King’s Speech is a fantastic period romp driven by Colin Firth’s central performance which puts his well-practiced starchy Mr Darcy persona to excellent use.

King George or 'Bertie' as his unorthodox speech therapist Lionel Logue (a brilliant turn from Geoffrey Rush) calls him, is afflicted with a debilitating stammer. Now for a mere commoner this would not perhaps be such a major issue. But for a monarch – especially one who is called upon to rule the nation as the Second World War erupts and needs the ability to rouse the populace and maintain morale - it can be a national problem.

Tom Hooper’s film opens in 1925 as George (then Duke of York) has to address a packed Wembley Stadium, he makes a complete balls up of it thanks to his stuttering delivery. Various speech therapists are called in – all to no avail although it is amusing to see a future King stuffing marbles into his mouth as one ‘expert’ recommends.

Fortunately George’s loyal wife Elisabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) is on hand and it is she who finds oddball Logue – the one man who might just be able to save the King’s speech…

"Everybody keep calm and carry on!"

The cast are uniformly great and reads like a who’s who of British talent, Michael Gambon stars as George V, Timothy Spall pops up as Churchill and Guy Pearce plays older brother Edward VIII. Even the minor roles like George’s children boast familiar faces including the brilliant ‘Karen from Outnumbered’.

What makes the film so watchable though is the sparring between George and Lionel whose scenes are often hilarious such as when Logue in a bid to get the King to loosen up asks George: “Do you know the "f" word?” George VI replies: “Ffff... fornication?” This Aussie / Brit culture clash just adds to the sense of fun that underlies the film and help elevate it above more ‘dry’ seemingly similar movie fair like The Queen.

Firth really should bag some shiny movie awards for his role here – and if there is any justice then The King’s Speech should be in line to clean up with Oscars and Golden Globes a plenty.

The King r, r, r, r r requires your attendance – don’t keep him waiting!!

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

(4 see it by royal command!!)...

Awesomeness öööö – God save the movie business
Laughs öööö – "and tits" seeing the king swear is hilarious

Horror ö – be afeared only if you stutter

Babes öö – Helena is still a fox (see below)

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö – find your voice!

- - -


Second opinion - try The Guardian

"Long to reign over us"

Storage Stories: Darkmatters book review

Storage Stories
by Jim Bob

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“Now Carter USM started out in business as some granny farmers, they were infamous for fifteen minutes and he appeared on Top of the Pops. Then they somehow got themselves on board The Starship Enterprise Allowance Scheme, with a Prince of Wales award for pushing catchy songs and endorphins…”

But fame is a fickle friend and despite being (in my opinion) the best and most altogether wonderful indie pop punk rock band ever – alas they are no more. So what happens to pop stars when they are no longer ‘stars’ - Jim Bob blows the bloody doors off the après pop existence in this heart breaking, gorgeous and rather excellent novel that feels deeply autobiographical even though it is plainly a compendium of top notch fictional and maybe not so fictional anecdotes.

Jim Bob’s first novel sees the hero – an ex pop star - having to work for a living in a self-storage company called ‘2001 A Storage Space Odyssey’ LOL. It’s life Jim, but not as we know it as each storage renting customer has their own amusing. tragic or oddball tale behind their space requirements.

There’s a great cast of misfits and memorable characters including love interest Janie who looks like Juliette Binoche, best mate Carl who has a taste for DIY surgery and Gary the Bubblewrap boy… Prepare to laugh out loud at hypotheses such as where boy bands are taken when they outstay their usefulness or a million savvy pop culture references that add sheer joy to readers who have enough brain cells to pick up on these sort of things. My pick of the bunch is a murder confession from a homicidal computer named HAL (yep – like in the film).

Storage Stories has a great wistful beating heart – spiced with darkly comic bursts of cutting observation. It’s a gas, man!? Highly recommended.


Out of a possible 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:


öööö

(4 - Storage Stories, space for ideas and joy)...

Official Storage Stories site

More Darkmatters posts about CARTER USM

Me wearing my Carter USM shirt in The Guardian

Darkmatters Review: Somewhere

Somewhere (15)


Dir. Sofia Coppola

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

This week marks 10 years of weekly film reviews for the group of newspapers that I write for…

That’s 520 films seen, mused over and written up, many of which you’ll find on this blog (alas Darkmatters only dates back to 2004).

So it is a rare luxury when I get the time to review a film not for the papers but rather just because it was such a joy to watch – and Somewhere is a film that deserves reviewing.

Sofia Coppola is a fascinating director from The Virgin Suicides through Lost In Translation and Marie Antoinette she has a unique style and repeatedly visits certain themes. People often love or hate her films, there are very few ‘meh’ responses as Coppola treads a cinematic path all her own – at once fantastical, whimsy, soul-wired and life-affirming.

Somewhere is the tale of Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff), who is film star, womaniser, hard living ‘guy’ first and sometime father to his smart, lovely daughter Cleo (Elle ‘going to be a bigger star than her sister Dakota’ Fanning). The film eschews having a traditional story and rather works through three ‘acts’, each of which sees Dorff in a different light.

Somewhere is a very visual film, it may have little dialogue but it still has a brilliant ‘feel’ which viewers will either connect with and love or reject and hate. The father / daughter bonding is the engine that drives the plot – basically we get to tag along as Cleo visits her dad and gets to experience his movie star lifestyle.

"Elle Fanning - the perfect daughter?"

Before his daughter’s arrival, women are just objects to Marco – expressed in a great double bill of scenes where hot blonde twins pole dance for him in his Chateau Marmont hotel room – and despite their eager efforts he can barely keep himself awake. When Cleo impacts his life he has to do dad duties such as watching her ice-skate and the remarkable juxtaposition of his seeing her as a girl developing into a woman makes him re-assess his whole world view.

Somewhere is a wonderful film – it made my top 10 films of 2010 and I highly recommend seeking it out!

New Darkmatters Film Scoring for 2011 (well I say ‘new’ but since 2008 we have tried to hold the line of giving scores out of ‘10’ – before that it was the good old ‘out of 5’ but due to popular demand – i.e. the emails from PR people etc - we will return to the industry standard out ‘5’:

So out of 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

(5 love it, wish you had a daughter, think about your life, see it again)...


Awesomeness öööö – Cool Ferrari, fine women, rockstar lifestyle

Laughs öö – Amusing in places

Horror ö – add more stars if you hate sexism

Babes öööö – Actors get the cute ones!

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö – maybe there’s more to life?

---
 
Second opinion - try the excellent BINA007

"Elle Fanning - she's going to be a star!"

Homefront Preview

Homefront Preview

Matt Adcock

The year is 2027. The world has suffered a decade-long energy crisis, and economies have crumbled. Reduced to a mere shadow of the super power it once was, the United States became the target of a North Korean takeover. In a land stripped of freedom, the brave will fight for their home...

Have a look for yourself below:

Darkmatters Top Films for 2011

Darkmatters Films to look out for in 2011

Picked by Matt Adcock

The year ahead looks like being one of the best for long time… Here are just a few of the cinematic treats on the way:

Sucker Punch - Zack ‘300’ Snyder is going for ‘Alice in Wonderland with machine guns’... Get ready for heavy duty fantasy with more babes, bullets, robots, samurai and bloodshed than is strictly necessary. This is my tip to be the coolest movie of 2011.

Source Code – Moon was one of the best directorial debuts of recent cinema, now Duncan Jones follows up with an action science-fiction featuring a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he's part of a mission to stop a crazed bomber.

Jane Eyre – Mia ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Wasikowska stars in this latest big screen swoon-em-up as Mr Rochester (Michael ‘Fishtank’ Fassbender) sweeps the ladies off their feet. This is one to take a date to.
- If you haven't read the book CHECK THIS REVIEW over at Jessica's Book Blog!?

Thor – unlikely director Kenneth Branagh goes all god of thunder as we get to see the Norse Avenger swing his mighty hammer in anger. This and

Captain America: The First Avenger will set the scene alongside Iron Man and Hulk for the superhero spectacular ‘Avengers’ which sees them all working together!?

X-Men: First Class – more super hero fun with Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn looking to make the mutant heroes cool again.

Paul - Simon Pegg and Nick Frost star as two British comic-book geeks traveling across the U.S. who encounter an alien outside Area 51. Prepare to geek out for this road movie with a nice sci-fi twist. Darkmatters review here.

Super 8 – Imagine J.J. Abrams getting together with Steven Spielberg backed up by fast rising star Elle Fanning… This could be the best film surprise of the year.

Cars 2 - Pixar get their motors running for the sequel to the shiny speedsters of the first film. Lightning McQueen goes abroad and becomes a spy? Probably a high point for kids this year - it just might work…

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons. Tomas ‘Let The Right One In’ Alfredson directs so expect classy, haunting spy thrills!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – Finally, here we have the climatic showdown between Harry and his pals versus Voldermort and his death eaters. We’ve been waiting for this battle since film one… Bring it!!

Black Swan - A beautiful ballet dancer (Natalie Portman) wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan, but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like the evil twin sister of the White Swan, the Black Swan. Read the Darkmatters review here.

Cowboys & Aliens– High concept from Iron Man director Jon Favreau a western/sci-fi hybrid that sees six shooters up against alien weaponry. Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig lead the cast in what looks like being lots of fun!

Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Third time lucky for the Michael Bay and his eye popping effects machines? It might just be upstaged by

Real Steel – robots fighting instead of human boxers… Hugh Jackman brings the heavy metal combat.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – An English language remake by the brilliant David Fincher of the massively popular Millennium Trilogy? Yes please!!

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn – Spielberg directs, Edgar ‘Scott Pilgrim’ Wright writes, Jamie Bell takes the lead role with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost bringing their Hot Fuzz brilliance. Should be awesome.

For more inspiration check this cool list of films for 2011 too:
http://www.sundaychurchservice.org/2011/01/films-to-look-out-for-in-2011.html  

Darkmatters Review: Gullivers Travels

Gulliver’s Travels (PG)


Dir. Rob Letterman

Reviewed by Matt Adcock


Hear that rumbling, is it thunder, is it heavy traffic? No, that’s the

sound of Jonathan Swift (author of the original 18th century classic

novel) turning in his grave as Rob ‘Monsters and Aliens’ Letterman

brings a lumbering slapstick modern day adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels

to the big screen.


Jack Black stars in the title role as lardy loser Lemuel Gulliver a little

guy who's been underachieving all his life. Stuck in the same dead-end

corporate mailroom job for the last 10 years, Gulliver spends his time

pining for his sexy journalist boss Darcy Silverman (Amanda Peet) but

lacking the balls to actually ask her out.


Everything changes when he inadvertently signs up to write a travel piece

for the newspaper about the Bermuda Triangle – and has to travel out

there for an ‘on the location’ report. No sooner has he set off when

Gulliver gets sucked into a weird whirlpool and wakes up in the land of

Lilliput where he’s a giant in size to the tiny Lilliudian natives.

After the iconic being roped down by teeny ropes and apparatus (probably

the biggest reference to the original tale) the story veers off into

movie, game and music nerd fanboy reference heaven.


Massive Gulliver proves his worth to his new insect sized hosts, after

initially imprisoning him for being a ‘beast’, by trashing an enemy

invasion force. Cue hero worship from the little people, who begin to

worship him – so Gulliver takes full advantage, getting them to build

him a luxury apartment, act out Star Wars plays for his amusement and

generally goof about (as Jack Black has been doing for his entire career).


Throw in a romantic subplot about commoner Horatio (Jason Segel) trying to

woo the lovely Princess Mary (Emily Blunt), and a standoff against uptight

Chris O'Dowd's General Edward which leads to an unlikely transformers

style smack down of giant chubby man versus giant mech armour machine.


Sure the special effects work well and everybody appears to be having a

good time – even though the plot criminally wastes its comic rich cast

who include Billy Connolly, James Corden and Catherine Tate. So for a film

that I was convinced would rocket straight into my top 5 worst films of

the year, this is actually a fun cheesy kids film that passes the time in

a not too offensive manner.

High praise huh!?

Not going to make my 'Top 10 Films of 2010' though


Darkmatters rating: öööööö (6 very big asses out of 10)


Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 6 / Style 6 / Babes 6 / Comedy 6 / Horror 3 / Spiritual Enlightenment -2

"Emily Blunt - a princess worth wooing!"

Nic Cage enters the 'Season of the Witch'

Season of the Witch

Darkmatters preview by Matt Adcock

This supernatural historic witch-em-up could either be a cool dark chiller or a hammy waste of space... Nic Cage stars as a 14th century Crusader who returns with his comrade (Ron Perlman) to a homeland devastated by the Black Plague. A beleaguered church, deeming sorcery the culprit of the plague, commands the two knights to transport an accused witch (Claire Foy) to a remote abbey, where monks will perform a ritual in hopes of ending the pestilence.

A priest (Stephen Campbell Moore), a grieving knight (Ulrich Thomsen), an itinerant swindler (Stephen Graham) and a headstrong youth who can only dream of becoming a knight (Robert Sheehan) join a mission troubled by mythically hostile wilderness and fierce contention over the fate of the girl...

Check out this trailer to see what you think:

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 hearts Yoostar 2

Here's Darkmatters hot tip for pure movie / game crossover fun for 2011:

Yoostar 2

Yoostar 2 allows you to 'enter' hundreds of famous movie scenes, record your performances, and upload them to impress your friends and family who can view and rate them online.

The magic is created via the Playstation Eye camera which allows Yoostar2 to produce Hollywood 'green- screen' style effects without having to turn your front room into a movie set with green screen backing.

I was dubious but after watching the trailer below (via IGN) it really looks like you'll be literally able to step into well-known movie scenes and 'be' your favourite actors / characters... I'm so going to 'be' KICK-ASS, Neo, Maverick and the Terminator for starters!?

Yoostar 2 has the potential to be the ultimate party game - featuring multiple gameplay modes, including a party mode that allows a group of players to perform in quick succession and a progression mode where players face a series of challenges and unlock new scenes.

The menus etc are controlled with the Playstation Move so this is just another reason to pick one up!!

Review HERE

More YooStar 2 Videos

Check out the official site HERE

Imagine finally getting to 'act' with Leia...

Random Princess Leia Appreciation