Darkmatters Films of the year: 2012

Darkmatters Films of the year: 2012

Matt Adcock picks his top 10 (and some others that you really need to check out too)

10. Skyfall 

This is Craig's moment as Bond, the good work he did in Casino Royale is cemented to icon status here, even making up for the weaker Quantum of Solace. The whole package delivers on all fronts – Skyfall comprehensively trounces Taken 2 and The Bourne Legacy – it is by far the best spy action film of the year and should sure up the Bond franchise for some future adventures. Welcome back Mr Bond! Darkmatters Review

9. Seven Psychopaths

Seven Psychopaths is an excellent full frontal blast of Tarantino-esq pop culture and in-movie jokes that subverts every action kidnap thriller ever made and yet still manages to forge it’s own place in the ‘cult classic’ hall of fame. Highly recommended. Darkmatters Review

8. End of Watch

Lock and load for David ‘Street Kings and Harsh Times’ Ayer's powerful found-footage cop-drama-em-up. End of Watch is an awesomely kinetic free flowing tale of two likeable cops who get marked for death. High impact filmmaking - highly engaging film watching!  Darkmatters Review

7. Sightseers

Step this way for a pitch black comedy caravan road trip into the very heart of darkness that beats behind a sensible woollen jumper and ginger beard… Sightseers blows the Formica lined doors off the darkness of the human soul - and plays it for laughs. Ben ‘Kill List’ Wheatley delivers a fantastically nasty but also extremely funny caravan-em-up, which sees oddball British couple Tina (Alice Lowe) and Chris (Steve Oram) cutting a murderous swathe through the lesser-known tourist attractions of the Midlands. Darkmatters Review

6. Dredd

DREDD 3D is an action packed thrill ride that doesn’t pull its punches. The filmmakers, who include Luton’s finest Steve Worsley on assistant editing duties, bring the action to eye-watering life, making fine use of the 3D too in the process. Everything works in fine, brutal style, making DREDD 3D a highly recommended viewing! Darkmatters Review

5. Prometheus

Scott does a fantastic job of re-shuffling the basic elements from his classic Alien film – including Rapace as the strong female who must pit wits against an alien foe wearing just her underwear. But Prometheus is less a straight horror prequel and more as a fascinating glimpse into a fantastic exploration of the Alien universe. Darkmatters Review

4. Looper

Everything comes together in a superb slice of sci-fi action that brings whoops of appreciation from the audience and effortlessly delivers cult cool iconic status. It’s been a long time since Bruce Willis kicked this much ass – this is a ‘must see’ movie! Darkmatters Review

3. Avengers Assemble


Comic book fans the world over rejoice and behold the Avengers – the ultimate superhero team – finally unleashed on the big screen in an epic super-smackdown that sets a new standard for all superhero films. Darkmatters Review

2. The Dark Knight Rises

Sheer joy... Seeing Batman take to the sky in his new plaything ‘The Bat’ or streak through the city on his awesome Batpod Motorbike. Even as the odds against him grow, the plot deftly brings in elements such as brave cop John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), which offer tantalising glimpses of hope. Darkmatters Review 

As a director, Nolan is at the very top of his game here and he delivers a worthy, darker rival to wham-bam action fun of The Avengers. 2012 is proving to be a vintage year for superhero flicks and The Dark Knight Rises is potentially film of the year, but just pipped by a younger, first time director...

DARKMATTERS FILM OF THE YEAR IS:

1. Chronicle

“Telekinesis: The ability to move, lift, vibrate (that's my favourite), spin, bend, break or impact objects through the direct influence of mental power or other non-physical means." 

You want to see some ‘direct influence’? Go and see Chronicle, this is a pitch perfect tale of three high school kids who acquire telekinetic superpowers from a strange possibly alien artefact. So what are these young guys going to do with the power to move things, fly and attack people just with their minds?

Chronicle is a great film, it deconstructs the standard super hero genre in a similar way to the excellent Kick Ass or Super did and manages to play it both for laughs and packs a darker undercurrent. My teenage son loved it and proclaimed it to be ‘awesome’ which is high praise for a relatively low ($15m) budget film.

Darkmatters Review

Director Josh Trank is my 'director to watch' and for achieving such an incredible debut - CHRONICLE is my film of 2012! Can't wait to see what Trank directs next - rumours of a Fantastic Four reboot or Spiderman Baddie Venom movie could both be amazing...


Honourable mentions (you really need to see these too!):

The Sweeney- Review
Argo - Review
Life of Pi - Review
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Review
The Cabin In The Woods - Review
God Bless America - Review (coming soon)
Jack Reacher - Review
Sinister - Review
Lock Out - Review
The Raid - Review
21 Jump Street - Review

Top 5 Renegade Cops / Agents

It's that countdown / top list time of year so let's kick off with a quick:

TOP 5 RENEGADE COPS / AGENTS

“Get Jack Reacher.” The only three words the primary suspect of a series of sniper homicides writes before slipping into a coma. Cryptic? Just a little. Cue the appearance of the mysterious Jack Reacher, an ex-army cop known for being untraceable to anyone and everyone unless he wants to be found. You don’t find him, he finds you. As he investigates the supposedly open and shut case of the murders, he realises that things are not quite what they seem. So, to celebrate the release of Jack Reacher, (in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from Wednesday 26th December), we have compiled a list of our top 5 renegade cops who, like Jack, come to discover that the law is not as black and white as it seems once they uncover the truth.

5. THE DEPARTED (2006) First up is Billy Costigan. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as the young police academy student who drops out when he is given an undercover police assignment before he can even graduate. Going undercover as an ex-con, Billy must infiltrate a mob syndicate headed by criminal, Frank Costello (played by Jack Nicholson).

4. THE BOURNE IDENTITY (2002) Matt Damon is Jason Bourne who needs answers and he wants them badly enough to get them. But what will he do if he doesn’t like the truth once he discovers it?

3. TAKEN (2008) Former CIA agent Bryan Mills’ loves his teenage daughter, Kim, so when she’s kidnapped in Paris, he does whatever it takes, and kills whoever he must…

2. DIRTY HARRY (1971) Clint Eastwood stars as Police Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan in this classic cop thriller. Up against the sadistic serial killer, “Scorpio”, who by today’s standards is after an mildly unambitious $100,000.

1. DIE HARD (1988) New York City Detective John McClane (played by Bruce Willis) arrives in Los Angeles to reconcile with estranged wife Holly when the company Christmas party she is attending is taken hostage. McClane is not a traditional hero, but he’s a damn good one in a crisis!




Jack Reacher… Darkmatters review 

Boxing Day is the time to go see another former cop uncover more than he bargained for when he begins to investigate a seemingly simple case. Just don’t get in his way because he has nothing to lose and if “you’re smart that scares you!?”

"Jack Reacher's Alexia Fast - soaks up the sun"

Uncharted: Fight for Fortune - Review

Uncharted: Fight for Fortune (PSVITA)

Developed by Sony Bend

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

OK ‘cards on the table’ or rather ‘virtual cards on the crystal clear OLED VITA screen’ – I’m a veteran of strategic card games having played Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic: The Gathering, DuelMasters, Pokemon and even Star Wars: Collectable Card Game. My only excuse is that I have been busy raising two boys over the last 15 years and they happen to be lads who pack strategic brains – so alongside Chess, The Viking Game / Kings Table (Tafl), Discworld THUD, ShieldWall and even Nine-Men’s-Morris we’ve often indulged in some serious nerd-core strategy card game battles – and many of their videogame associated games.

"if you know what this card is - you are a hard core Yu-Gi-Oh! fan"

So it was with interest that I learnt Sony were adapting one of their AAA videogame action / adventure-em-ups Uncharted into a card battling experience… Uncharted: Fight for Fortune combines the characters and world of the Uncharted series – with different DLC packs for the various Uncharted games and whips up a very playable, easy to pick up but hard to master tactical card game.

The main characters such as Drake, Sully, Elena Fisher are joined by various baddies and side characters such as the zombie like Descendants plus comedy spin offs like a wiseass parrot or ‘Doughnut Drake’ who is an obese take on the hero. Cards are randomly shuffled and you play them in various phases using the VITA’s touchscreen. It’s a fight to the death as you and your opponent start with an allocated number of ‘life points’ and the first one reduced to zero loses.

"gotta collect em all"

Different cards have different attack / defence and each have a resource ‘cost’ which limits when they can be played. The cut and thrust of the turn based game sees you playing a character, equipping them with guns, armour or other bonuses and attacking you opponent whose lifepoints take the damage unless they have blocked you with a character of their own.

The cards are split into three Factions: Heroes, Villains, or Mercs and there is much strategy in working out which will boost your cards in play as various characters have side effect benefits when used together. In a freaking genius move, the cards themselves can be ‘levelled up’ by playing the excellent ‘real’ Uncharted: Golden Abyss – which has been patched to have cards hidden in it and which by achieving PSN trophies in the main game, they boost the effects and levels of the cards in Fight for Fortune.

Chances are that even if you’ve already beaten Golden Abyss, if you like Fight for Fortune you’ll be tempted to go back and play through again to improve your deck…

"wipe them out!!"

The ‘Fortune’ element of the game comes into play as it is the resource you can build up or spend on bonus cards – some games have different win criteria like ‘reach 100 fortune’ which changes how you play as killing the opponent is not longer how you win – rather you must carefully survive and build up your resource…

As well as the single player Fortune Hunter mode where you play against characters from the Uncharted universe, unlocking new cards for beating them, there are multiplayer options either online or ‘Pass and Play’ with a single Vita.

Only you know if you have the smarts and patience for a strategic game like Uncharted: Fight for Fortune – but if you want something different to stretch your brain and immerse yourself deeper into the Uncharted universe, this is a great game to pick up.

"Elena picks a card..."

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

öööö – Tons of card battling fun on the go!

 4 – indulge your inner geek with some Uncharted love

Uncharted's pin up!

Darkmatters Review: Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher (12a)

Dir. Christopher McQuarrie

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“There's this guy. He's a kind of cop, at least he used to be. He doesn't care about proof, he doesn't care about the law, he only cares about what's right.”

Tom Cruise hits good form as Jack Reacher – a superbly tough antihero who finds himself up to his neck in a nasty sniper killing mystery that might be more than it first seems. This first big screen adaptation of Lee Child’s best selling and long running series of action thriller novels is a high quality production that delivers on all counts.

"cars, fights, girls... yep!"

Laura who I work with is a massive fan of the books and she expressed much derision at Cruise being cast – mostly because he’s older, shorter and not as blonde as the Jack Reacher of the books, but as a newcomer to the joys of Reacher I found that Cruise fits the role really well – he certainly hasn’t been this convincingly mean and moody since 2004’s Collateral.

The plot sees a renegade military sniper take out five innocent Americans, which feels very raw in the light of recent real life shootings and director Christopher ‘Way of the Gun’ McQuarrie certainly doesn’t let the 12a certificate get in the way of some disturbing scenes. The adult tone of the film works well and the slick cinematography, genuinely gripping; twisty plot and witty script combine to create the best action thriller of 2012.

The main suspect James Barr (Joseph Sikora), a former military sniper is soon traced and arrested but instead of signing a confession he request that Jack Reacher by contacted. And before you can say ‘great mix of danger and sexual tension’ Cruise is on the case working with Barr’s lawyer, Helen Rodin (the lovely Rosamund Pike).

"guns too"

Could it be that Barr is being set up? And how is the evil master villain ‘Zec’ (Werner ‘Bad Lieutenant’ Herzog) connected? There is a nicely tangled web to be explored, punctuated throughout with tasty action scenes that include fights, car chases and shoot-outs that are exciting but not stupidly over the top.

The climactic rain-drenched endgame will resonate with fans of the first Lethal Weapon and the gunplay is pure PS3 Black Ops death match come to life as Cruise runs and guns in style. There is also a great cameo from Robert Duvall and decent support from the sexy Alexia Fast and menacing Jai ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’ Courtney.

"car chase up there with The Sweeney"

Overall Jack Reacher(s) the places that other action movies cannot – here’s to sequel soon before Cruise gets to old!!

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

öööö1/2 - superb action thrills!

4.5 – Cruise will win you over even if a fan of the books

Awesomeness öööö – some great set pieces

Laughs ööö – funny in parts

Horror ööö – gets a little nasty in places

Babes öööö – Pike is still hot and Alexia Fast is one to watch (see below)

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö - if you're bad, he'll come for you!

"Alexia Fast is on fire!"

Little Big Planet – VITA Review

Little Big Planet – VITA

Developed by Media Molecule

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Best. Game. Ever…

This Christmas, there is a place you need visit – it’s called ‘Carnivalia’!? The only way to get there is through the PSVITA – a portal to the circus-inspired world of Monty Python style humour, Tim Burton-esq oddity themed mystical dreamscapes and massively fun adventure…

Little Big Planet VITA sees you battle against an evil overlord called The Puppeteer - a bitter tyrant who needs to taking down through a series of Mario-ish platforming levels which make use of the many control inputs the Sony have blessed the VITA with.

You control Sackboy (fast becoming an icon for everything creative about the games industry) – a customisable hero made of sack… The gameplay is refined and delicious, challenging in places but also immensely satisfying.

From the moment you hear the Stephen Fry voice over intro – you just know that you’re in for treat. And the best news of all is that Little Big Planet VITA is a game that comes ready to access the 7 million+ levels created by users of the PS3’s Little Big Planet 2.

The side levels and user created mini games are nothing short of staggering in their diversity and sheer grin inducing fun. Just about every popular film and other game has been emulated in some fashion and the levels are creative to the point of disbelief – as well as the platform ones there are vehicle races, battles and challenges, complete recreations of other game platforms such as Tetris like puzzlers and even first person shooters…

Little Big Planet VITA is potentially the only game you’ll need for many months as it keeps on giving as users create more and more new (free) content!

If you’ve played any of the other Little Big Planet games – you’ll have a good idea of what to expect, but be prepared for this hand-held version to immediately become your favourite.

This is the dawn of a new wave of AAA games on the PSVITA (check Assassins Creed Liberation, Need For Speed Most Wanted and Fifa 13) and a must buy for game fans everywhere!! Oh and thanks to the new downloadable control pack the VITA can now be used to control levels on the PS3 which brings additional options like using the back-touch panel and dual screens (exactly like the WiiU).

Don’t deny yourself the pleasure – choose LittleBigPlanet VITA today!!

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

ööööö – Superb gaming goodness on the go!

5 – A fantastic and highly creative experience all round...

LBP VITA - as cute as Vanessa Paradis

Darkmatters Review - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (12a)

Dir. Peter Jackson

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“My dear Frodo, you asked me once if I had told you everything there was to know about my adventures. Well, I can honestly say I've told you the truth, I may not have told you all of it..."

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, kicks off the prequel trilogy to The Lord Of The Rings – some might say that turning a slight book like The Hobbit into three whole films is gratuitous and money-grabbing but after witnessing the wealth of quality additional lore and fascinating backstories of Middle Earth that Jackson has imbibed it with, some might realise that this is rather a reason to rejoice in all things fantasy!?

"guessssss whooosssss backsssssss"

So get your hairy feet ready for some seriously engrossing questing as everyone’s fav wizard Gandalf The Grey (Ian McKellen) manages to entice young hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) to join a company of dwarves on a mission to reclaim their mountain city and horde of gold which has been taken by an evil dragon named Smaug. Sounds like a suicide mission but the ‘plan’ is for Bilbo to be their burglar and sneak into the mountain.

The dwarfish crew are made up of Fili, Kili; Oin, Gloin; Dwalin, Balin; Bifur, Bofur, Bombur; Dori, Nori, Ori; and the leader of the company, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard ‘Spooks’ Armitage). Each brings a certain trait to the party but mostly this is the Bilbo, Gandalf and Thorin show – oh and a sneaky little scene-stealing guy named Gollum (Andy Serkis).

"The White Council!?"

Jackson is obviously delighted to be back in Middle Earth and he unleashes some ravishing shots of the sweeping landscapes for the party to trek through and cranks up some exciting battles. In short (although it feels odd saying that as The Hobbit is almost 3 hours long) this is business as usual for Tolkien fans – replete with the added benefits of phantom menace ‘we know where this is leading’ in jokes and fantastic plot developing hints at the rise of evil which we won’t see pay off until the Lord of The Rings proper…

Baddies take the form of dim-but-dangerous trolls, slimy goblins (led by the hideously deformed Goblin King – Barry Humphries), and some very nasty orcs. The plot takes a while to get going but if you’re a Tolkien lover this won’t be a problem, deeply cynical cinema goers might quibble at the amount of exposition but even my youngest son James (12) was wrapt throughout and so I think Hobbit will be an acid test of where you are a true Lord of The Rings fan or not…

"adventure minus shoes"

Epic fantasy doesn’t come any better – Harry Potter and Twilight are mere by-products – The Hobbit is the welcome return of the king!

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

öööö1/2 - Get your Hobbit on!

4.5 – Genius Middle Earthing Tolkien fun

Awesomeness öööö – stunning in places

Laughs ööö – funnier than LOTR

Horror ööö – a bit grim in places

Babes öö – Hobbits and Dwarves aren't my type!?

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö - fantasy heart warming excitement

"Galadriel lets her hair down - off set"

Darkmatters Review: Life of Pi

Life of Pi (PG)

Dir. Ang Lee

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“An astounding story, courage and endurance unparalleled in the history of ship-wrecks. Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long alone at sea and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger.”

Meet Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel (Irrfan Khan) – an Indian boy raised as a Hindu, who as a teenager finds Christianity and then Islam too, he is so keen to know God he follows all three religions in order to find a deeper understand God through the unique lens of each theological interpretation.

"Calvin and Hobbes on a boat"

Life of Pi is an incredibly deep and spiritual film but it is also very watchable and accessible thanks to some breath-taking visuals rendered in some of the best 3D ever committed to screen. This interpretation of the novel by Yann Martel’s is empowered by Ang ‘Brokeback Mountain’ Lee’s creative direction to create a fascinating survival tale not just of the body but also of the soul.

Young Pi (played for the ‘flashback’ sections of his shipwreck by newcomer Suraj Sharma), is a man cast adrift and tested to his wits end when he finds himself abandoned in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger (named Richard Parker). Think Calvin and Hobbes writ large in a boat – only here the tiger companion isn’t a friendly feline – Richard Parker is a ferocious untamed beast… Watching the human / tiger interaction is spellbinding – helped enormously by the CGI effects which really are cutting edge. Parker is by far the best CGI creation ever to grace the screen, a living, breathing beastie with a real personality and soul, which should be far in excess of any non-speaking entity. There is a change to the original text where Pi has an imagined conversation with Parker…

"what's for dinner?"

Life of Pi is steeped in meditation and metaphor, it is a story that exclaims that it will make you believe in God as one of the characters says: “It’s a lot to take in, to figure out what it all means.” So there is plenty of musing to engage the spirit but there is also a decent amount of adrenalin inducing adventure to be had.

This is a soul surfing explosion of emotions – if there were to be a cash in sequel I’d vote they call it ‘Pi Hard – with a vengeance’!? But Life of Pi stands uniquely as a joyous tale that deserves to be witnessed on the biggest screen you can find – and don’t shirk the 3D option – I tell you this film is the testament that 3D doubters should witness not just to ‘see the light’ but to have the light reach right into your mind and monkey with your soul too…

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

öööö - deep flim, deeper sea...

4 – A piece of Pi worth taking!

Awesomeness öööö – stunning scenes

Laughs ööö – amusing in places

Horror öö – not too grim

Babes öö – limited babe-ness

Spiritual Enlightenment öööö - finding God in the cinema

Read another review of LIFE OF PI from Tom Wade at Cultureslap

Man of Steel will deliver in 2013

Man of Steel...

Matt Adcock from Darkmatters is very very excited about this - watch the new trailer below.

Fully 2013 films to look out for list will be up soon!

Here's hoping that Man of Steel will be awesome enough to green-light a Superman / Batman team up a la Dark Knight Returns (which I'd actually rather see than a Justice League flick)!?

"Genius!!"

Also if Man of Steel 2 wants to add a Supergirl - this model is rocking a good possible look:

Darkmatters Review: Seven Psychopaths

Seven Psychopaths (15)

Dir. Martin McDonagh

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Q: How many psychopaths does it take to make a superb, clever, laugh-out-loud action comedy dog-nap-em-up?

A: Seven – yeah, the answer was in the title of the movie…

Here we have the righteous follow-up to the excellently quirky ‘In Bruges’ and it plays like no other film this year has even come to close to. Seven Psychopaths re-tells that well-worn movie plotline of a struggling writer trying to bring his screenplay to life but rather than being a ‘me too’ Adaptation, Barton Fink, The Player or even Synecdoche, New York - Seven Psychopaths blows the doors off the genre with an ultraviolent, feel-good romp.

Meet Marty (Colin Farrell) the alcohol hazed writer of a screenplay called Seven Psychopaths, the trouble is that he hasn’t actually thought up quite who the seven psychopaths are or what happens to them. As life would have it though - he becomes caught up in a dangerous dognapping escapade thanks to his pal, Billy (Sam Rockwell) and his partner in crime, Hans (Christopher Walken – who absolutely steals the whole movie).

"which one is your favourite"

And before long he’s up to his neck in Shih Tzu thanks to Billy (Sam Rockwell) having abducted the little doggie of evil crime lord Charlie (Woody Harrelson), who is prepared to murder everyone in his path to get his canine pal back.

Seven Psychopaths packs some fantastic dialogue which covers rambling topics from Christianity, the nature of man and a ton of movie reference fun. The plot might be slight but the pace is frantic and the knockabout dark humour is spot on. Even at pushing two hours, there isn’t a single dull moment as the bumbling heroes stumble from one near death situation to another – all the while taking in colourful back stories of the titular Seven Psychopaths who include a vengeful Viet Cong soldier dressed as a priest (played by Long Nguyen), a serial killing couple – who stalk and kill other serial killers such as the legendary Zodiac and a Quaker (Harry Dean Stanton) on a murderous mission to avenge his daughter's death.

"the sign says 'no shooting'..."

The women characters are especially hard done by though and include Marty’s bitchy girlfriend Kaya (Abbie Cornish), Billy’s untrustworthy girlfriend Angela (the gorgeous Olga Kurylenko) who is also sleeping with Charlie and an unnamed hooker (Christine Marzano). All of whom tend to get badly treated – a fact that is commented upon by other characters to Marty who they berate for not writing better female parts.

Seven Psychopaths is an excellent full frontal blast of Tarantino-esq pop culture and in-movie jokes that subverts every action kidnap thriller ever made and yet still manages to forge it’s own place in the ‘cult classic’ hall of fame. Highly recommended.

Read another version of this review which ran in the LUTON NEWS

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

öööö1/2 - psychologically mood enhancing crime thrills

4.5 – Excellent work by all involved, recommended!

Awesomeness öööö – a future classic

Laughs öööö – really funny!!

Horror öööö – bloody violence in parts

Babes öööö – the women are mostly hot!

Spiritual Enlightenment öööö - Deep spiritual pacifism at heart


The babes of Seven Psychos...