Darkmatters Films of the Year 2011

2011 - The Darkmatters Films of the Year

by Matt Adcock

It's that time of year - to reflect on the movies that have been the highlights...

So without further ado - here are the ones that delivered over and above the rest - for sheer entertainment, thrills, spills and cinematic excellence!?

10. Attack The Block

Hard edged sci-fi action mixed with street level laughs delivers a quality British feel good time. Credible, scary and fun...

Review

9. NEDS

Meet young John McGill a really smart, lovely, ambitious kid. Journey with him as he falls into the underworld of becoming a NED (Non-Educated Deliquente) it's tragic and heartbreaking but also shot through with great humour and grim violence.

Review

8. Limitless

The average movie goer only uses 20% of their brain when experiencing a film.

‘Limitless’ however brings experimental drug NZT to the table - a drug that allows people to use the full 100 percent of their mind for films or absolutely anything. Recorded side effects however include scorching of the pleasure receptors as a result of witnessing such a delirious action thriller head-trip.

Review

7. HUGO

Chloë Grace Moretz dazzles in this homage to every early film and the whole art of film making. The year's best 3D too (well up there with Drive Angry?!).

Review

6. Warrior

Warrior is a crunching plot punch to the forehead, followed up with a emotional knee to the abs and finally a satisfying slam take-down. Tom Hardy FTW!

Review

5. Black Swan

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.

Review

4. Super 8

Think Goonies mixed with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and, throw in some great references to films from across the genres and you’ve got the winning recipe for a new breed of classic.

Review

3. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Evil will with evil be expelled. Fincher’s remake is a turbo charged black hearted beast powered by Mara’s transformative performance.

Review

2. The Tree of Life

“Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? ...while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?” (Job 38)

Challenge yourself - see The TREE of LIFE and reflect on life, the universe and everything!

Review

1. Drive

I'd like you to meet ‘Driver’ (Ryan ‘Half Nelson’ Gosling) a man with no name but an uncanny way with cars. Drive is a uber powerful, heartbreaking romance shot through with heavy-duty violence and awesome crime-drama-action.

Review


Also highy recommended and in need of mention for various merit:

Sucker Punch - visually exquisite babetastic kick ass action (Review)

Drive Angry - devilish overload of OTT sexually charged violence (Review)

True Grit - updated western classic that rocks on many levels (Review)

Never Let Me Go - heartbreaking cloning / life drama (Review)

The Fighter - crunching gurning masterclass of hope (Review)

Take Shelter - mind twisting gut punch of apocalyptic doom (Review)

(quad poster not available - Katrina Bowden who stars pictured instead)

Tucker and Dale vs Evil - wonderful woods based red neck horror comedy (Review)

The Kings Speech - lovely royal-em-up life affirming tale (Review)

Source Code - excellent time jumping thrill ride (Review)

Kill List - brutal heart of darkness writ large on the screen in style (Review)

Super - The 'wrongest' super hero film ever, but so right if you can dig it!? (Review)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Classy spy slow burn steeped in quality (Review)

Happy Christmas!!

To all Darkmatters readers!!

'classic Christmas artwork'

Christmas cheer for the new year - which might be the year that Indiana Evans makes it big in the movies...

she certainly has the looks - but can she make the jump from TV?

Underworld Awakening - the catsuit is back!?

Underworld Awakening - still top cat(suit)?

by Matt Adcock

Now I'm an unashamed fan of the Underworld films (even if part 3 wasn't all that), the main reason is that Kate Beckinsale looked absolutely superb and created a cinematic icon as Selene the vampire death dealer.

So I'm delighted that she's back for the fourth Underworld film - here's the trailer:

But it raises the question - who's your favourite cinematic catsuit heroine?

Here are some contenders...

'Trinity' from The Matrix

'Black Widow' from Iron Man / The Avengers

New 'Catwoman' from Dark Knight Rises

'Catwoman' from Batman Returns

'Selene' from Underworld

'Baroness' from G.I. Joe 2

'Quorra' from Tron Legacy

'Marissa' from Spy Kids 4

\

'Blondie' from Sucker Punch

'Kitty Pryde' from X-Men: The Last Stand

I'm sure there are more - feel free to nominate others!?

Prometheus vs The Hobbit trailer fight!

Matt Adcock gets excited about two of 2012's big hitters

Prometheus (the Alien semi-prequel) looks great...

Darkmatters review here



But can anything stand in the fantasy juggernaut path of The Hobbit?

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (12a)

Dir. Guy Ritchie

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“I don't blame you, I blame myself.

It's been apparent to me for sometime that you would succumb to your feelings for him.

It isn't the first occasion that Mr. Holmes inconvenienced me in recent months. The question is: What to do about it?”

For this follow up to the surprisingly enjoyable Guy Ritchie revamp of the classic famous sleuth – we rewind to 1891 where things are about as happy and harmonious in Europe as they are now!? i.e. the Germans, French and English are really not getting on.

After a political bombing, several unexplained murders and a shady character buying up producers of munitions, hospital supplies – could war be on the cards?

Step forward Sherlock Holmes (Robert ‘Iron Man’ Downey Jr) who traces the evil mind behind this scheming and murdering to his fabled adversary Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris).

Can Holmes, aided by his trusty assistant Doctor Watson (Jude Law), who’s supposed to be on his honeymoon, really avert a financially motivated world war? And how is the beautiful gypsy fortune-teller Madam Simza (Noomi Rapace) connected?

"we could do a western dressed like this"

Against the odds, this sequel actually surpasses the first film – upping the scale of the action, improving the awesomeness of the plot, and boosting the fun factor by having a superb cameo from Stephen Fry as Mycroft Holmes – Sherlock’s camp older brother.

It all works wonderfully and puts Sherlock Holmes firmly on the map as a major action thriller franchise to be watched. There are some stand out scenes that rival anything seen on screen this year. Pick of the bunch is a breathless, nerve-wracking chase through a forest which employs some Matrix like camerawork to really jaw dropping effect.

A Game of Shadows is super slick and romps along at a great pace. It might be over 2 hours long but it flies past in a blur of fights, plots, intrigue and a liberal sprinkling of funnies.

Harris is excellent as the seemingly unstoppable Moriarty, a baddie who is a very worthy opponent for the brilliant Holmes. Guy Ritchie shows that he can deliver crowd pleasing spectacle, and is just at home showing the two opponents locked in a tense game of chess as in the more usual ‘Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels’ form of mortal combat.

If looking for some great cinematic viewing to end the year with choosing ‘Holmes’ is an elementary choice!!

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

öööö

4 – Quality my dear Watson!

Awesomeness öööö – you’ll jump in places, scream in others
Laughs ööö  – very funny, improved on the original
Horror öö – slightly scary
Babes ööö – Rapace is kinda hot
Spiritual Enlightenment öö – genius level intuition is a gift from God

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (18)

Dir. Todd Strauss-Schulson

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

It’s Christmas time – there’s no need to be afraid.

At Christmas time, we let in light and banish shade…

Oh sorry, got a bit carried away there – but after seeing A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, it’s hard to not feel full of the joy of the Season. This madcap, drug fuelled sequel to the politically incorrect Harold & Kumar Escape form Guantanamo Bay ups the craziness, and brings sleigh loads of funnies.

The two ‘heroes’ get reunited by a mysterious present after a couple of years apart. Harold (John Cho) has moved on and grown up – working on Wall Street, his legendary weed smoking days behind him. Kumar (Kal Penn) however is still smoking and slacking his life away big time. A massive night of misadventure awaits as the twosome get embroiled in seriously messed up situation involving a burnt Christmas tree, Ukrainian mobsters, sex, drugs and shotguns…

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas really earns its 18 rating too – the plots goes off the deep end of ‘wrong’ when it tops the continual bawdy knob and sex references with a baby who inadvertently snorts cocaine, smokes weed and takes ecstasy. This isn’t a film for those of an easily offended nature!?

However dodgy the plot line it’s hard not to be swept up in the Christmassy fun, especially when Neal Patrick Harris makes the mother of all cameos with an absolutely insane Christmas show that serves as a way of shoehorning some up tempo Christmas carols into the mix. The whole 3D thing is a worked well too, I’m not really a fan of 3D movies but this one plays it for laughs and with everything from bodily fluids through to shotguns being shamelessly pointed right out of the screen.

Director Todd Strauss-Schulson holds nothing back, one minute we’re in a crazed frat party, the next sees the guys trying to infiltrate a Catholic church – each scenario treated with lashings of T & A.

If you’re in any way inebriated when you see this you well might freak out at the surreal Claymation sequence, which brings untold humorous gory death and destruction to the tale. Yes it’s entirely puerile but it’s also possibly rival Bridesmaids for the title of funniest film of 2011.

So if you need a family friendly Christmas movie – Arthur Christmas is you man, but for sheer tongue-in-cheek idiocy seeing A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas will certainly fill you with Christmas cheer, dude.

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

öööö

4 –  'High' times for Christmas

Awesomeness öööö – Santa gets shot in the head!?
Laughs ööööö – very funny, wrong yes, but funny!
Horror ööö – willy stuck on a frosty pole anyone?
Babes ööö – Jordan Hinson is very hot (see below)
Spiritual Enlightenment öö – Jesus makes an appearance but it doesn't go well...

Darkmatters Films to look out for in 2012

Darkmatters Top Film Picks 2012

By Matt Adcock

"I am the LAW"

DREDD (Darkmatters' hot tip)

Judge, jury and executioner, the infamous 200AD  super cop / one man law, teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO... This has lots of potential to rock!

"They're Creepy And They're Kooky, Mysterious And Spooky

Dark Shadows (Darkmatters’ most freaky) 

Tim Burton rocks some younger viewer friendly horror with everyone’s favourite Hit Girl Chloë Grace Moretz.

"All vampires should wear leather and carry guns!"

Underworld: Awakening (Darkmatters’ most guilty pleasure) 

Kate ‘vampire warrioress’ Beckinsale sqeezes back into her leather catsuit as Selene in order to lead the battle against humankind.

"We gotta kill em all OK?"

The Hunger Games (Darkmatters’ most like Battle Royale)

In the future a boy and girl from twelve districts have to fight to the death on live television… Could be a good riot deterrent!?

Prometheus (Darkmatters’ most promising sci-fi) 

Ridley Scott brings us an Alien prequel starring Idris Elba and Noomi Rapace – also looking at the origin of humankind… Please don't cock this one up!

"Scarlett johansson brings the sizzle"

The Avengers (Darkmatters’ film of the year?)

Finally the S.H.I.E.L.D. agency brings together a team of superhumans to help save the Earth from annihilation by extraterrestrial invaders. Altogether now ‘if we can’t defend earth, we will AVENGE it!’

"New Catwoman, on what looks like a batbike"

The Dark Knight Rises (Darkmatters other film of the year!?)

Tom Hardy brings the Bane… Gotham City falls and Batman is pushed to breaking point and beyond. Do the words ‘can’t wait’ mean anything to you?

"The tube rush hour crowds really annoyed Peter Parker"

The Amazing Spiderman (Darkmatters’ spider sense tingling) 

Andrew ‘Social Network’ Garfield takes the spandex clad lead, the Lizard is set to be the main baddie. We are excited!

"Wild card thrills ahoy"

Django Unchained (Darkmatters’ violent thrills choice) 

Tarantino is back with a tale of mentor / slave-turned-bounty hunter who set out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

"The not so happy couple"

The Great Gatsby (Darkmatters’ literary classic) 

Another lavish looking adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbour.

"The dwarves are out..."

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Darkmatters’ Fantasy-em-up) 

Off we go then back to Middle Earth where young Hobbit Bilbo, journeys to the Lonely Mountain accompanied by a group of dwarves to reclaim a treasure taken from them by the dragon Smaug.

"The gorgeous people"

Syrup (Darkmatters’ random Amber Heard starring choice)

Sees a slacker hatches a million-dollar idea. But, in order to see it through, he has to learn to trust his attractive corporate counterpart. Based on Max Barry's novel.

Looks like another great year for films potentially - what are you looking forward to?

Darkmatters Review: The Thing

The Thing (15)

Dir. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

It’s not human. Yet… Actually, it’s not even close!?

If you remember the horror classic1982 John Carpenter version of The Thing with any fondness then you might want to look away now. This new version which is actually a prequel tramples all over the existing good work and replaces the gut wrenching disturbing master class in tension with cheap shock jumps and generic running around being chased by angry alien mutant ‘thing’.

Much like the better ’82 Thing, the story is of an ill-fated team of scientists at an Antarctic exploration site who find a crashed spacecraft and unwisely take one of the presumed dead alien life forms back to their base.

Turns out the alien isn’t dead and can take the form of other beings – cue lots of messy deaths and supposed tension as to ‘who is still human and who has been replaced’…

Here’s a quick test you can do to see if you’ve been taken over by The Thing. Ask yourself, is your name Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) – if so you’re fine, if not then erm, chances are you’re nasty toothy space beastie just pretending to be human.

I loved the Carpenter version of The Thing but was left really cold by this addition to the franchise. The biting psychological tension of the ’82 film is watered down in favour of stupid B movie gross out ‘shocks’ and monstrous but ultimately ‘meh’ special effects.

"don't run with flame throwers..."

Winstead looks good and does OK in the lead role of the flame thrower happy heroine who comes across as a Ripley-lite. She’s not the sort of girl you want to be friends with though as she dispassionately fries anyone she thinks might be infected without ever looking too bothered by it.

What also hinders the audience buying in to the admitted potentially terrifying situation of being trapped in a remote desolate Antarctic location with a killer alien is the fact that nearly all the rest of the cast are interchangeable bearded Norwegians. So when Olaf, Lars or Henrick gets eaten and mutated it all gets incredibly ‘ho hum’. The director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. tries to tie the events into the other film but it feels very clunky and nothing here is very reverential to the superior existing material.

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

öö

2 – This is one Thing you don’t need in your life!?

Awesomeness öö – nothing very awesome here, move along
Laughs ö – not funny, unless you laugh at beards
Horror ööö – reasonably gross in parts but fake effects don't help
Babes ööö – I love Windstead but not in a massive parket coat
Spiritual Enlightenment öö – burn em all and let God sort em out?

"Scott Pilgrim 2 - where are you?"

PlayStation VITA Hands on Preview

PlayStation Vita

Hands on preview by Matt Adcock

Ever wondered how cool it would be if you could continue that game you were playing on your home console – on the go? Take it to work with you or in the car (as a passenger obviously), finish that game of FIFA on the toilet or snuggled up in bed?

Or how about playing against a mate or family member who is hogging the TV / console combo from wherever you are?

What about a hand held console that packed twin joysticks to allow for that sweet ‘proper’ Call of Duty control system?

Maybe some touchscreen goodness through in along with a touch control backplate and gyroscopic tilt function – with front and back cameras and a huge HD screen?

Well Sony have heard you and are going to change everything you know about gaming when their PSVITA hits the UK in February.

I spent an afternoon with the new Sony handheld putting various games and functions through their paces – here’s what I thought:

The first time you pick up a PlayStation Vita, you realise that you are holding a slab of refined gaming goodness – everything from the well placed controls, the nice balanced weight and the impressively large screen reeks of refinement. The VITA is what the PSP wants to be when it grows up and it feels much more akin to a beautiful piece of future tech than a boxing dual screen game machine *cough 3DS*…

Unusually for a launch line up Sony seemed to have gone all out to bring some ‘must have’ games to pick up on 22 February 2012 – gonna need to get saving as there really are lots that are worth your hard earned cash…

I kicked off my time with a VITA by playing LittleBigPlanet Vita, which impressed straight away by delivering graphics and controls virtually on a par with the PS3 and way way in advance of the PSP version. LBPV also embraces the multitude of control inputs available – need a bridge to cross a large gap? Pressing the back panel to slide out a path is the answer, tilt the VITA to make a rope swing the right way, use the touchscreen to play an on screen piano keyboard… within minutes you’re finding new and highly imaginative ways of playing… all of which will be available to those who want to create and share their own levels.. Sony are working to make LBPV cross play with the PS3 version too (which is a day one option on Wipeout 2048 and MotorStorm RC – more on those in a minute).

Next up is FIFA and I take Spurs on a rampaging destruction of the old enemy Ars*nal – the graphics again are really impressive, the controls sharp – having that second joystick really sets the VITA apart from any other hand held games machine (or phone or pad for that matter). The FIFA package comes with pretty much everything you’ll find on the Xbox 360 or PS3 version – it looks as good and plays as well. I can see some blokes losing a lot of their lives to this game, especially as it comes with online multiplayer including voice chat options.

"the future has arrived - New Uncharted is a launch game!"

Then it’s time for Uncharted: Golden Abyss – and if I had been impressed before, my jaw was well and truly dropped at the richest, most involving gameplay and absolutely stunning graphics that Naughty Dog have managed to pack into this portable adventure.

Uncharted hero Nathan Drake really is the new Indiana Jones – and being able to make him fight, shoot, leap, sneak and climb using the various control options highlights the versatility that the VITA brings to the party.

There’s always time for some augmented reality beat-em-up in the form of ‘Reality Fighters’ which takes the idea of imposing the user created fighters onto a real world backdrop such could be your lounge, the pub, your desk… It’s fun enough (especially in two player mode) – in a sort of Street Fighter crossed with Mortal Kombat style two characters enter, one character leaves…

"I mentioned the awesome Wipeout 2048 right?"

Escape Plan was up next – a gorgeous, minimal, Tim Burton-esq effort where you move your main character by sweeping your finger over the touch screen, trying to guide them to escape but often dying horribly along the way.

Racing now with MotorStorm RC, in which you drive a radio-controlled car – it’s an update of the time tested micro machine gameplay – which lets you race across the various MotorStorm tracks from the PS3 and PSP iterations. Whilst not as graphically impressive (this wasn’t final build) the game comes with both PS3 and VITA versions so those who have both machines can immediate fire up a game to challenge others in their household and demonstrate the cross play functionality. MotorStorm RC is all about shaving lap times in order to be known world wide as the fastest!?

Finally I play WipEout 2048, which is my ‘game of the afternoon’ and an absolute ‘must-buy’. Wipeour 2048 is by far the best of the series to date and that includes the PS2 and PS3 versions. The game has been refined, polished and improved – the hyper fast racing is still brutal and satisfying but the tracks packed in 2048 are fiendishly fun to race. I was lost in wonder staring at the lifelike skies above, the moving video adverts lining the tracks, the vertical climbs, the death defying drops… Wipeout 2048 runs smoothly with 8 players (they can be any mix of PS3 and VITA in the cross play mode that works a treat).

With big hitting franchises such as Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty and Ridge Racer all confirmed – and the excellent level of PS3 / VITA interactivity looking like it will do pretty much everything Nintendo are planning with their Wii U – the future for Sony gaming couldn’t be much brighter! VITA will make anyone who thinks there Xbox Live enabled phone is cool hang their head in gaming shame…

When not gaming the VITA is looking to get stuck into the social networking scene too – it will flag up when friends beat one of your high scores or display what they are playing so you can challenge them. Trophies come as standard as does the 3DS alike ability to give gifts to people wirelessly.

£229.99 might seem a bit of an investment – but there really isn’t anything that compares to the gaming experience that the VITA delivers… I was delighted to have witnessed the future of gaming… Day one purchase for me!!

"wipeout - best version yet!"

"If the PSVITA was a girl..."

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One (PS3)

Developed by Insomniac Games

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One – is a new breed of sci-fi cartoon shooter which brings the joy of co-operative play to a whole new level, Created from the ground up to support up to 4 players at any point (either local or online) this is a revelation for those who like a bit of team working with their pals.

The Ratchet & Clank games are a by-word for quality platform / shooter experiences – blessed with excellent humour and stylish visuals, packing seriously deranged weaponry and tons of carnage to be wrought.

For fans of the series, All 4 One picks up after the events of A Crack in Time – in a strange alternative future where lombaxs run around and talk, a clueless comedy ‘hero’ named Captain Qwark has somehow become President of the universe and Clank (a cool calm mini robot) is on hand to generally save the day. All seems well in the galaxy but the evil Dr. Nefarious is up to his dastardly mischievous ways – starting by luring President Qwark to a trap under the premise of him being honoured as the biggest intergalactic tool…

"pick a hero!"

All 4 One's gameplay has been tweaked to accommodate potential all age players - making this an ideal choice for parents looking to play something with their kids that isn’t as violent as Call of Duty but still packs some great shooting fun! And hats off to Insomniac Games because they’ve delivered a co-op experience that rocks, in fact multiplayer is the best way to enjoy this winning blend of fast paced action and quality humour.

The controls are easy to pick up (the camera angle is locked which means that each player feels centre of the action) – the range of weaponry on offer is both extensive and very amusing. The level whiz along in a well designed fashioned, and everything just ‘works’ really well.

Basically Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is a class act that deserves the consideration of any gamer looking for a quality co-op experience this Christmas!

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

ööö1/2

3.5 – Bring a pal or 3 and kick some evil ass!

Darkmatters Review: Take Shelter

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