Truly the King of the 'So Bad It's Good' movies! Camper than Julian Clary on his campest day using an Electric Camping Machine (TM), a wonderous cast turning in hammy performances (apart from Sam Jones who's struggling to keep up :) ) and one of the best movie soundtracks ever. Sheer genius! Altogether now, "Klytus, I'm bored..."
The film that cemented Guy Pearce's credentials as a leading man, and marked the emergence of an accomplished director in Christopher Nolan. A fascinating thriller delivered in a brilliant format that delivers plot twist after plot twist simply by manipulating the audience through an editing style that illustrates Pearce's head trauma. The audience is shown part of a scene first, allowing them to draw one conclusion and then the whole scene is played out after sending them in a different direction. The film doesn't tie things up nicely at the end either, leaving the viewer to ponder the authenticity of Pearce's agenda and question the version of events presented. Notable for Carrie Anne Moss turning in a performance that proves she's more than a PVC-wearing, gun-toting, ass-kicking Matrix casualty...
This is mandatory viewing for anyone that believes Craig is not a good choice to play James Bond. It's also mandatory viewing for anyone that thinks Lock Stock and Snatch are bollocks because it couldn't be further from despite it's ties to them. Suave, sophisticated and with a fantastic soundtrack, Layer Cake grabs you from the opening shots and takes you on the path less travelled in the criminal underworld. Very rarely will you find some Norf Landan wide boy screaming "SLAGS!" and when they do appear it's administered with a heavy slab of irony. While the casting and performances are spot on, it's Craig who holds the whole piece together as the 'businessman whose commodity just happens to be drugs'. It's true that the 'hero doing one last job and getting out' story is cliched but it's presented in such a stylish and fresh way that you can hardly begrudge it that.
Downey's excellent, Kilmer's the best he's been in an age and Michelle Monaghan's 'perky'. Coupled with a fast-paced script chock full of one-liners and it makes for a ridiculously entertaining film :)
The film the Star Wars prequels never were! Slick, funny and emotional (sometimes all at once), Joss Whedon successfully translates Firefly into an easily digestible sci-fi action thriller reminiscent of Empire Strikes Back but still manages to pack in some great twists to a fading genre while adding some of the cinematic staples of great Western movies. The cast are uniformly good but Fillian and Glau easily shoulder the film, guiding the audience through Whedon's universe and engaging with fantastic performances. One of the most entertaining films of 2005.