My Top Ten DVD Rentals of 2007! (General Comments / Tips Concerning Your Car)

Name: thedevilinme

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Product:	General Comments / Tips Concerning Your Car
Date:	22.12.07 (111 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Summer of blockbusters

Disadvantages: Not the best year on film.

In a summer of blockbusters and 'threequels' it's the welcome end of the film year folks and here-here to that! It has not been the best. With all the people with important jobs breaking up for their 16 day break now here's my DVD releases of the year to fill that gap. They are the ones that I was able to rent from January 2007 so one or two may seem dated. So here they are in no particular order...


#1# 'THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM'`
Starring Matt Damon...
*4 dooyoo Stars*

What can you say that hasn't been said about the Bourne Movies. I think it's the first trilogy where you genuinely look forward to the next movie-unlike the Pierce Brosnan Bond franchise that has blurred into one these days. The invisible car and C.G.I surf scenes in Die Another Day last night on TV were embarrassing, sequences just to shift video games. The final Bourne movie did show the first signs of Bond fatigue as Mat Damon's super smart and indestructible character had lost some of that ingenuity and inventiveness that is at the core of the films intelligent texture, and the fact he had no where to run anymore in the final one of the 'threequel' diluted things some. But its that need not to have gadgets and back up to get him out of a tricky corner that makes this so much fun and hard to fault, an anti-Bond if you like, Greengrass refreshing lack of CGI and the enjoyment of real stunts and fight scenes making this the top thriller of the year for me. I hope there will be more Bourne movies to come as I just can't wait for more.

#2# 'ME YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW'
Staring: Miranda July...
*5 dooyoo stars*

Director and star Miranda Julys first film is quite simply outstanding because of those reasons. For your first feature to be this smart and quirky is unusual-for it to be outrageously sharp and funny is exceptional rare. With its odd xylophone style soundtrack and it's original, funny and observant screenplay it's finally a modern movie that put its finger on the pulse of the main problems of modern day relationships and compatibility issues in this techno age. The scene where an 8 year old boy (the kid from Heroes) has cyber sex with a 40 year old feminist, he oblivious to what he is doing or who he is talking to, just answering her questions about anal sex, is one of the funniest and most telling and sad statements on the state of the modern dating scene you will ever see. And that's not the only funny bit, scene after scene having you mesmerized and drawn into the protagonist's problems of loneliness and disconnect. It kind of has that Donnie Darko effect in that you know you are seeing something very new and different on screen but you don't know where to pigeon hole it. Relationship movies were never like this. To put it into content it was my second only 5 star movie review award on dooyoo from over 70 movies rented this year.

#3# 'SHOOTER'
Starring Mark Walberg...
*4 Dooyoo Stars*

To be fair this didn't get the best of write-ups out there and so a lot of people may have been put off 'Shooter', an example of a film that can get knocked by reputable film writers and so others feel the need to follow suit. It's probably not worthy of the top ten but as I saw it recently there here it is. Its a cross between the TV series '24' and Rambo in reverse, Mark Walberg on cracking form as the retired army sniper who is embroiled in a complex assignation attempt to kill the U.S president ,soon in the frame and on the run. Using his Jason Bourne style survival skills and military know-how he puts Arnie to shame as he takes down all the CIA can throw at him so to clear his name. If you liked the Bourne movies then this slick but slightly silly action thriller is right up your street. A four pack...some nibbles and away you go..


#4# 'A BITTERSWEET LIFE'
Starring Lee Beyong-heon...
*4 dooyoo stars*

This slick and sharp Korean gangster movie is my only foreign film in the list as its not been the best year abroad, Reservoir Dogs meets the Sopranos head on at 300 mph here. Lee Beyong-heons lead turn as the hired gun and enforcer to his high powered boss (Lee Yeoung-cheol) is as cool as you can get, dude, his suits as sharp as the slick dialogue and method of dispatch jumping on tables and putting one in the forehead. When he is instructed to look after the boss's pretty girl for the week with orders to whack anyone who goes near here, inevitably he falls for the waif, a beautiful violinist, meaning only one thing. Two hours of slow motion bullet dodging Uber cool violence later and you know this is the movie for you. You won't see better Asian Extreme on DVD this year.

#5# 'V FOR VENDETTA'
Starring Hugo Weaving...
*4 dooyoo stars*

With comic book movies all the rage I don't think you can get a more topical commentary on the state of the nation than this from the Watchowski brothers of Matrix fame. Using the legend of Guy Fawkes as a template, a masked superhero (Hugo Weaving) comes to rescue a dystopain England of the future where fascist's blue coats rule-some say where we are actually heading under New Labor. Using references and the current mood of the War on Terror we are taken to a more brutal version of Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil' in this less than Green and Pleasant land. Fawkes issues an ultimatum that he will dismantle England's monuments and organs of state if the standing government doesn't concede power, blowing up parliament on November 5th as his coup de grace.

Its one of those rare movies that asks lots of questions ,but also is a big budget spectacular, especially unusual for films made in the U.K, following on from the themes of immigration and crime from the rather abstract religious fable Children of Men. Although this DVD cover looks confusing to what this actually is its still one of the rentals of the year that needs discovering. If you like something different on film in the action drama to the usual Hollywood thing then this is it. With Hammer films about to reboot and stuff like Danny Boyles '28 Days Later' being made in the UK in real locations once again you have to say our film industry is in rude health.

#6# 'STRANGER THAN FICTION'
Starring Will Ferrell...
*4 dooyoo stars*

What a year it's been for comedian Will Ferrell, a funny man who has been anything but that for many people. I must admit I took my time to warm to him, but once you do (The Legend of Ron Burgundy' a good starter movie) his stuff is really funny. Whether he's playing a newscaster, redneck NASCAR driver, or an ice skater, he is extremely engaging and silly on the big screen.
In 'Stranger than Fiction', though, we see the guy's real versatility, playing it straight in this intriguing and bizarre black comedy about a character in a book that seems to come to life. You have to admire comedians that take risks like that and the fact his humor can also be very subtle and cute means the guy has longevity on his side. This movie is just a real cracker-clever and ingenuous, funny and knowing. You won't have seen anything like this since the Trueman Show. If Eddie Murphy and Norbet is NOT your style then I guarantee you will enjoy this. It's well worth a look if you're fed up with 'Shes my Girl' and 'Ya Know She Got It!'...type dross...

# 7 # 'LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE'
Staring Alan Arkin and Greg Kinnear...
*5 dooyoo stars*

This Oscar nominated low budget film is the comedy release of the year on DVD, its distinctive yellow dust cover and charming cast a big fat welcome from the off. Alan Arkin plays a grumpy old granddad that won't die old gracefully, thrown out of yet another old folk's home in scene one.
Tagging along for the ride in his kids families VW Camper for the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant in California where his grand daughter is entered, the beauty of this is the way the family pull together on the trip, something that usually goes the other way, especially when the dad of the family (Greg Kinnear) is under pressure as his motivational speaking business is going down the pan, the guy in serious need of...well...you guessed it-a motivational speaker! If you are going to pick a film from this list and you don't want bombs and explosions then make it this one.

# 8 # 'LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD'
Staring Bruce Willis...
*4 dooyoo stars*

This is probably the best of the recent retro returns for the big action hero's of the 80s, Bruce Willis once again tearing up the place as reluctant hero John Mclane. Admittedly this one plays on the irony of the last three movies and McLane is almost superhuman as he overcomes impossible odds to top his antics in the previous three, but as an actor he still has that everyman warmth his character brought to the franchise and we all loved it.
It's a blockbuster movie that's not only aimed at the original audience but teases in a younger demographic that are used to the impossibilities video-game action blue-screen allows, here the director having a lavish enough budget to whack a real car into a real helicopter-in the air no less.. It's that tongue-in-cheek mocking style here that makes Die Hard 4 work when it probably shouldn't. How can you not like Bruce Willis on the big screen.

#9# THIS IS ENGLAND
Starring Tom Turgoose...
*4 dooyoo stars*

After the brilliant Dead Mans Shoes, Shane Meadows is back with another cracker, again attacking
issues of war, patriotism and those damaged by it when the two cross, this time an unstable skinhead coming to terms with his irrational race hate in a 80s northern town. What is amazing about this are the performances of the inexperienced and energetic cast, especially young Tom Turgoose as the trainee 'skin' prodigy. The kid is just so good up on screen with his cheeky smile and red mullet and really brings home the innocence of a good kid and how society and those scarred by it can change young minds. Meadows is such a hot ticket behind the camera now you would be a mug to miss his gritty but darkly funny and very British morality tale. With its extremely authentic 80s rhythms and dress sense, let alone the thumping two-tone/Scar soundtrack, it's probably the 'Brit flick' of the year.

And for number 10 a special mention for Will Ferrell...

If there's a category for most improved comedy actor then the award has to go to Will Ferrell. He's the one stand-up out there in Hollywood that has opinion split right down the middle on whether he is funny or not. Well let me tell you he has had a rippinglly funny year, Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory up there with The Legend of Ron Burgundy for a great trio, three funnies out this year to mark his territory as the new Chevy Chase. Apparently we so need a new Chevy Chase. With Sacha Baron Cohen in Talladega Nights and the weird and wonderful John 'Napoleon Dynamite' Heder in 'Blades', he is certainly picking the right people to work with for extra laughs. When the producers pitched 'Will Ferrell does NASCAR' and then 'Will Ferrell does ice dance', the six-three actor hardly suited for the later, it happened, regardless of the obvious risks. But he did it and he's was hilarious, and knows no bounds. Who knows, Will Ferrell does snooker? Now that would be funny.

Summary: Retro baby