December 2009
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Best and Worst 2009
Posted 21st December 2009

2009 was an unprecedented year for five-star film entertainment (eight in total), with not one rating rescinded or regretted after later contemplation or repeat viewings (unlike Apocalypto, 300, Juno and Son of Rambow in previous years – they’re all four-stars). It was also a year stuffed full of many truly great four-star films as well. So much so, in fact, that this list could happily have extended to top twenty to be honest, the first time in five years of me offering opinions that I’ve struggled to pick my cream of the crop.

But the big question of course is exactly which films garnered the coveted top ten spots in jamescarrollreviews yearly top ten and which films do I wish could be erased from my memory, Eternal Sunshine-style? Well for those answers and nothing more, take a scroll down below...

10) Zombieland (15)
October 2009
Zombies! Huh, yeah. What are they good for? Tons and tons of movies. Uh-huh and this is amongst the best of the undead: Dawn of the Dead (1978), Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later... and, most importantly in reference to Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead. Because purportedly talented writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were inspired to write this zom-com after watching Pegg, Wright and Frost’s master-falling-to-pieces. Post-modern, hip, ironic and iconic, Zombieland doesn’t put a shuffling foot wrong throughout its all too short 90 minutes thanks to a steady build, a constant stream of laugh-out-loud moments, more inventive (zombie) kills than all the Final Destinations put-together, a pitch-perfect action-tastic finale and the Best Scene of the Year™ as Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) take a time out at a Hollywood stars mansion. With ghost gut-bustin’ results. Without a splatter of a doubt this was the most pure, out-and-out fun to be had at the movies this year.
****

9) Star Trek (12a)
May 2009
The only summer blockbuster that actually delivered the goods, Star Trek: Reboot or XI or whatever its actual post-fix is managed the not-inconsiderable feat of not only largely satisfying the voracious Trekkers (not Trekkies please) but also bringing in many new fans to Roddenberry’s ever-expanding universe. Captain’d by J.J. Lost / M:i:III / Cloverfield Abrams, the quality should really have never been in doubt but then we’ve been burned by Prequels before. This time though, no final frontfears: the new cast is uniformly great (the pick of the bunch Karl Urban’s spot-on Bones); the alt-timeline plot preserving the Nimoy/Shat past is not just savvy-but-suitable; the intense-and-kinetic action (the best of which sees Kirk (Chris Pine), Sulu (John Cho) and a Red Shirt (doesn’t matter, gonna be dead soon anyway) space dive into a sword fight) exactly what is needed for the modern audience; the envelope-pushing special effects are out-of-this-world; Michael Giacchino’s score is possibly his best work yet (this from the man that previously bought you such great orchestrals as The Incredibles and Speed Racer); and the canon-reverential Easter eggs a fanboys absolute delight. Yes, its all slightly skewed in a less-cerebral, more action-orientated direction meaning this is Trek (minus much techno-babble) not quite as we knew it. It is, however, Trek as we now want it. Beam me up for more please J.J.
****

8) Public Enemies (15)
July 2009
Has Michael Mann ever made a bad movie? Guess that’s a matter of opinion, but what certainly isn’t is that Public Enemies is much more than just the period Heat or the polished Miami Vice that the advertising suggested. In fact, one could even argue that these cops vs. crooks in a verisimilitudinous crime epic with a blurred-reality of what’s right and wrong were just trial runs for the passion project he’s always wanted to produce. This one: the John Dillinger Story. Cinema at its purest, Enemies sees Mann’s auteuristic polished craft reaching its zenith: the now-familiar, favoured docu-drama cinematography is nothing short of sumptuous in its crystal-clear clarity, a good thing when you have such beauty as Johnny Depp and Marian Cotillard to gaze at; the Heat / Dark Knight / American Gangster central male dynamic of two opposing unmoveable forces has never been more suited than to the furnace-hot rivalry between Purvis (Christian Bale in another acting masterclass) and Dillinger, two men who totally believe in their own world view; the authenticity of the period detail is nothing short of astonishing, finding yourself literally transported back to the time thanks to costume and prop and literally having to duck out the way of some serious sounding “rat-a-tat” Tommy gunfire. Of course Enemies is also opportunely relevant in its depiction of banks as the bad guys at a current time when they really are. Where’s a real-life Dillinger when you need ?
*****

7) The Hurt Locker (15)
August 2009
Yes, I know a four-and-a-half star film above a five in the ratings. Doesn’t seem to make much sense now does it? But there’s just no denying the impact of The Hurt Locker, even if I didn’t see fit to give it the famous red five upon first viewing. From the director of the testosterone-soaked Point Break comes a film that makes those adrenaline-junkie men’s men look like wussies. Less a film about war (despite being set in Iraq) and more a film about obsession and addiction to adrenaline, ladies and gentlemen I present to you Kathryn Bigelow’s pièce de résistance (so far) The Hurt Locker. Butt-clenchingly tense throughout its escalating series of set-pieces, Jeremy Renner’s exploits as bomb disposal expert Sgt. William James makes Peli’s Paranormal bumps in the night look positively relaxing by comparison. The edge of your seat has never come in so handy. Perhaps you ought to have asked for a refund at the cinema as you only got to use (at most) half of it. This lady sure knows how to combine action, tension and characters into one cohesive, fulfilling heart-pumping flick (taking notes whilst watching this McG, Wiseman, Ratner, Sommers, Schumacher, Wimmer, Cohen, Harlin, Fuqua, Singleton and many more I’m sure were you? I hope so). Therefore I have to totally agree with the calling for Bigelow to be the bird behind the next Bond; it would surely make for a compelling new entry into the kiss kiss bang bang spy series.
**** (and a half), actually you know what, fuck it, make it *****

6) District 9 (15)
September 2009
Sometimes you just can’t see ‘em coming. Who’d have thought that at the end of the Noughties we’d be celebrating a $30 million, one-of-a-kind, Johannesburg-set sci-fi from a first-time feature film director, starring an entirely novice actor in the new Murdock shape of Sharlto Copley (who is this guy? Where did he come from? All his lines were improv? Un-be-live-able talent) as not only one of the best films of the year it was released in but one of the best films of the decade and perhaps one of the most influential modern sci-fi’s since Blade Runner? Not me that’s for sure. An Apartheid analogy in alien form, District 9 sees “Prawn” visitors from outer space becoming stuck on Earth after their ship can’t breach atmosphere and unceremoniously cordoned off in slums and left to fend for themselves. Nothing like a warm welcome, huh? The second sci-fi this year to harken back to intelligent and probing subject matter after July’s Moon (which just missed out on a top ten spot), District 9 almost acted as if it was a camcorder docu-drama for its first-half before morphing into a glossy, big budget (seeming anyway, how did they do those wonderful effects for so cheap?) action / sci-fi spectacular in its second more mainstream act. Neatly matching Copley’s character of Wikus Van De Merwe’s own transmogrification. It’s sure to be criminally overlooked come awards time, so the campaign starts here: writer/director Neill Blomkamp, cinematographer Trent Opaloch, star Copley and Peter Jackson’s (who produced and is nurturing Blomkamp’s talent) WETA effects-team all for nominations at least. Who’s with me!?
*****

5) Up (U)
October 2009
Lucas and Spielberg take note: this is how you make an action-adventure film with an “I’m too old for this shit” grumpy old man as your protagonist and hero. Not that weak-ass, fridge-nuking, lacklustre return to the silver screen for one of its Greatest Ever™ icons Indiana Jones. Now I’ve got that out me system, Up: pure cinematic perfection and Pixar’s best yet (I know, I know, I sound like a broken record but if they will keep outdoing themselves...). Not just the best animation of the year but one of the best pieces of cinema full stop, there is more life and soul in this ‘toon than most live-actions could possibly hope to muster up. Come March 7th the Best Animated Feature Oscar should be a shoo-in, but if this doesn’t at least get a nomination for Best Original Screenplay as well it will have been robbed. Impossibly moving (there will be tears), laugh-out-loud hysterical, character-compelling, pulse-raising, life-affirming and, of course, technically-flawless (with talking dogs as well no less), Pixar makes films as everybody should and we wish they would. ‘Course it would make this list an impossible task if that were the case. Best movie-making company on the planet you say?
*****

4) The Wrestler (15)
January 2009
A beyond the mat look at a washed-up, once legendary grappler reduced to touring the local circuit, The Wrestler was one of those films that could have cast itself. You can imagine the casting call notes: WANTED. A SEASONED, FIFTY-SOMETHING ACTOR WITH AMATEUR LEVEL CONTACT SPORTS TO PLAY A HAS-BEEN, DRUG-ADDICTED WRESTLER AT THE NADIR OF HIS CAREER. In the case of Mickey Rourke, the man that should have won an Oscar for the portrayal of said wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson, it was a case of art imitating life and perhaps a chance to exercise some demons from his past. I guess an argument could be made that seeing as his life has so closely resembled that of the character it wasn’t much of a stretch for Rourke. But then who says he hasn’t been in extended method training for the role of his lifetime and one of the best leading man performances of all-time? And no-one can deny the power of that speech come the movie’s conclusion, besting even the splits-man JCVD himself for self-referential monologuing. The film The Wrestler itself isn’t too shabby either, equal parts sad and funny and uplifting all at once. Underrated-and-underseen, I implore you to go find it out on DVD and take a go in the ring.
*****

And after much internal debate and a last-gasp entry my top three films of 2009 are:

3) Let the Right One In (15)
April 2009
A powerful and provocative dark adult fable with children as its centerpoint, Let The Right One In is not only the best foreign language film since Pan’s Labyrinth but also very much a contender for my no.1 film of the year outright alongside the eventual winner (until the last minute release of some little-known film about blue-bodied aliens came along and stole its thunder and runner-up spot). Arriving in a year when vampires couldn’t be more vogue (Twilight / True Blood / The Vampire’s Assistant / Thirst / Lesbian Vampire Killers / Blood: The Last Vampire / The Vampire Diaries / apologies if I’ve missed out your favourite...), this is a vampire tale like no other however. Based on the novel by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist, this is less a horror per se and more of a kitchen sink, social realist, life through a lens look at a depression-era Sweden and a close examination of loneliness, longing, companionship and the complexities in relationships both adolescent and adult. It also features a child performance from first-timer Lina Leandersson that borders on scary, so completely does she inhabit the body of a 200-going-on-12 year-old-girl that you’d be justified testing her reaction to sunlight just to be sure. Already up for the US remake treatment with the talented Matt Cloverfield Reeves directing and the about to blow-up Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) re-cast in the title roles, the early signs are actually good and that they might actually be taking the source material seriously. But, you’ve got to ask, is it really necessary when the original is so complete an experience as this.
*****

2) Avatar (12a)
December 2009
Innovative, influential, indescribable: James Cameron’s Avatar. Only because it is so fresh in my memory banks and therefore I’m concerned I can’t properly judge my lasting opinion of it is this not number one. Released just in time to bump the unfortunate-but-still-excellent Paranormal Activity off this list, Avatar is a film we’ve all been waiting a long time for. Cameron hasn’t made a feature for 12 years. He first wrote the outline for this epic back in 1994. The tech wasn’t ready at that point though, he had to wait for it to catch-up to his vision and invent some of the advancements himself along the way. But you know what they say comes to those that wait? They were right. Seeing out the decade in game-changing style, Avatar arrives to change movies as we know it. Things won’t be the same from here on out. This is what all the fuss around 3D and motion-capture is all about. Everything and everybody else have just been treading water waiting to be shown the way. Set in a world like no other ever-contemplated or invented before, this is a total immersive environment and experience the likes of which has to be seen to be believed. Supposedly there’s plots worked out for two more films to make up a trilogy too. You can imagine the money-men at Fox would be keen for more, especially now that the total ecology of Pandora already exists in several (no doubt warehouse-sized) hard drives somewhere and doesn’t have to be built from scratch again (saving them a Titanic-load of production costs). So don’t write-off an Avatar 2 and possibly 3 depending on the success (as if that’s even in doubt) of our first trip to this wonderful alien world. I for one would immediately welcome the prospect of more. In fact, how soon can we have it please? I understand the value of building appetite but please don’t keep us waiting another decade J.C.
*****

1) Inglourious Basterds (18)
August 2009
My controversial and debate-worthy favourite film of the year (that I know I will watch time-and-time again) is QT’s glorious pulpy piece of cinematic fiction Inglourious Basterds. Furthermore, not only is it my favourite film of the year but its also my favourite Tarantino film of all-time (against some seriously credible competition it must be noted) as well as the best comic book never made, the shortest two-and-a-half hour movie you will ever see and one of the finest WWII documents ever committed to celluloid. Enough superlative hyperboles? I think so. Furthermore though, Inglourious also contains the single best executed piece of “proper” cinema this year (followed very closely by Zach Snyder’s mega-slo-mo montage of Watchmen’s past times beautifully juxtaposed against Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’) as Tarantino cuts his heroine Shoshanna (Melanie Laurent) preparing for the biggest night of her life to David Bowie’s bombastic and boogietastic Cat People. It shouldn’t work (it’s at least 40 years out-of-date sync), but it does. Wonderfully. It’s a perfect example (that should really be shown in film school from now on) of the power and wonder of the big pictures when all the various elements of movie-making are flawlessly united together.
*****

2009’s most underrated:

Push (12a)
February 2009
Arriving from under-the-radar, Push... well... proceeded to stay there. Which is such a shame because there’s a cracking sci-psy / superhero-type tale here that tried to do something a little fresh in a staid genre that hasn’t been properly shaken up since The Matrix. I so wanted this to do well as well ‘cos I wanted a new franchise to get excited about. I blame TVs Heroes. Its quality dipped so dramatically after Season One that everyone is now guarded when it comes to new sci-fi action hybrids (also see 2008’s underrated Jumper).
****

2009’s plethora of four-star treats (in release order):
                               
Role Models, Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, Milk, JCVD, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Revolutionary Road, Bolt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Gran Torino, Watchmen, Martyrs, MvA, Crank: High Voltage, I Love You, Man, Observe and Report, State of Play, Drag Me To Hell, The Hangover, Blood: The Last Vampire, Ice Age 3, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Moon, 500 Days of Summer, Adventureland, Away We Go, Le Donk & Scor-Zay-Zee, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Ong-Bak: The Beginning, Triangle, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Men Who Stare at Goats, 2012, Paranormal Activity, Harry Brown.

And now for something a little bit different:

Because this year I haven’t really seen that many baaad films (Surveillance and Vicky Cristina Barcelona aside). You see I’ve been avoiding them entirely on purpose, ‘cos I get to choose what films I review so why would I waste my time with toilet? So my “worst” list this 2009 is instead a “most disappointing” list, because quite a few films arrived with a grand fanfare and promise of greatness but instead only disappointed (in much the same way Indy Poor 4 did last year). For me, those films are:

1) X-Men Origins: Wolverine (12a)
April 2009
You’ve heard the saying a camel is a horse designed by committee I presume? Couldn’t apply more here. X-Men Origins: Wolverine coulda been kick ass. There are so many brilliant Wolverine origin stories to take your inspiration from or adapt (Patch in Madripoor, Weapon X, Gaijin Logan in Japan, Logan becoming Wolverine and working alongside Canada’s first superhero team Alpha Flight). Instead they went with an “original” (interpretation: amalgamated) origin. That ended up just being ass and, in fact, not largely about ‘Ol Canucklehead himself to be honest. Instead what we get is everyone’s favourite X-Man’s backstory as a portal to introduce plenty of other mutants that FoX can latterly spin-off into their own franchises and Origin tales. So in a brand-recognition but character-lacking brisk 100minutes we get introductions to Deadpool (already announced as getting his own film with Ryan Reynolds unstitched as the Merc with a Mouth), Gambit (unknown status at this time but decent enough portrayal from Taylor Kitsch to warrant seeing more), teleporter Wraith (rubbish: goodbye), love interest and mind controller Silver Fox (weak: goodbye for now until perhaps popping-up in later Wolvie adventures), the blubbertastic Blob (fat, useless: goodbye), electricity-controller Bolt (the worst mutant power yet: good riddance), kinetic absorber and blaster Agent Zero (bland, boring: see ya) and many young familiar-looking mutants in last-minute cameos that can conveniently bleed directly into the already-planned X-Men: First Class film about Xavier’s students in their first years in training. In other words, XMO: Wolverine falls foul by ignoring an age old maXim: too many mutants spoil the story and detracts from your central and most popular character. Oh well, chance to rectify with X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2: Wolverine Takes Japan hopefully?
***

2) Terminator Salvation (12a)
June 2009
All I’ve got to say is, where’s the future war we glimpsed in Cameron’s Terminator’s? You know, guys with laser guns shooting at hunter-killers and terminators in what looks like a worldwide dump. Because that’s what I was expecting here, not some silver-hued (although the cinematography sure is awful pretty), other movie moment-stealing, Gulf War-aping, Bay-lite action-adventure that could be easily transposed with any other future-shock film scenario. That’s McG’s Terminator. Not a disaster, but not what I was looking for either. But because there is much to admire here (action beats, special effects, central male trio, end factory set-piece, CGI Arnie cameo), I could have overlooked this though if future dump war was what was going to follow in McG’s planned twominatorsmore. But it isn’t. No, he wants to take John Connor back from the future along with a loada cyborgs to present day London to duke it out there. Why? You got me. Where from there? Equally clueless. All I know is that’s worse than this. A whole lotta worse than this. Course that might never happen now because T-franchise owners Halcyon are looking to sell the property. Hopefully without McG attached, although he’s adamant he’s got first dibs on the next two. I guess it’s just a case of waiting to see what the future has in store. After all, it isn’t set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.
***

3) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (12a)
June 2009
Are you seeing a pattern here? The year’s three biggest disappointments: three of the year’s biggest budget blockbusters. Yes, it was undoubtedly a disappointing silly summer season (Trek aside), the best releases during this most anticipatory period what I would describe as “non-trad blockbuster” material such as Drag Me To Hell, The Hangover, The Hurt Locker, Moon and Public Enemies. Perhaps high expectations are to blame? But somehow I doubt it... Transformers part one arrived in the summer of ‘07 amidst fanboy doubts and Bay-hatin’. Which were immediately blasted away upon laying your peelers upon the “five-star summertime spectacle not-to-be-missed”. Yeah, not so much the same case here. Reasons why? How many do you need? But ultimately it boils down to this: too many ideas spoil the sequel. You can imagine the pre-production meetings: So, what worked about the first one? Obviously the effects and action set-pieces. Let’s have more and bigger ones then, yeah? Oh, we liked the fun-‘bot bits. Okay, let’s have pure-comedy ‘bots then that serve no other purpose, great idea! The story worked pretty well too, bad ‘bots want something on Earth that the good ‘bots have to protect. Great! Let’s do that all over again then. Anything else in particular? Well, surprisingly, the human angle was well developed with strong characterisation. Yeah but we don’t really need that do we with all this other stuff going on? Tell you what we’ll have all the same characters back again and add in some new (unnecessary) sidekicks and just kinda go over the same ground again. What you think? Well that’s exactly the film we want to make so it must be exactly the sort of film the fans of the first film want to see, no? No. We didn’t. Although lots and lots of people did go to see it (to the tune of $830 million worldwide). Whether that means we get more of the patchy sequel same or a return to the purity of the original’s focused perfection remains to be seen. But taking a pause and not rushing a return (like they did here) seems like a good start.
*** (adjusted from three-and-a-half)

4) Jennifer’s Body (15)
November 2009
Two Megan movies, two disappointments. The potential in this one was mouth-watering: the hottest writer on the planet (Diablo Cody) teaming up with the hottest actress on the planet (Megan Fox) to produce a Buffyesque (the hottest show on the planet back in its day) big screen horror-comedy. The realisation was something... unexpectedly unspectacular. Yes, Megan looked “extra salty”. Yes, Megan sounded “bangin’” (s)pouting slangs of Diablo code: [grabbing Needy’s breasts] “These are like smart bombs, you point them in the right direction and shit gets real” / “PMS isn’t real Needy, it was invented by the boy-run media to make us seem like we’re crazy”. But overall there was nothing particularly special about proceedings and in fact something altogether lacking. Whether it was missing moments of originality or spontaneity or creativity or profundity or all of the above is debatable? But there certainly was some magic ingredient absent from this bland, teen-appealing, exploitative horror-com. It’s what is commonly referred to as a missed opportunity.
**

5) Brüno (18)
July
When it was announced that Sacha Baron Cohen would follow-up the brilliant big screen Borat with his last remaining in-your-face crazy creation Brüno, my suspicions were that the character wouldn’t be strong enough to sustain a whole movie (on the evidence of his bit parts in Da Ali G Show). Unfortunately these suspicions were proved correct. From start-to-finish Brüno the movie is nowhere near as good or clever or spontaneous or (criminally) funny as Borat the movie. In fact it appears much more staged and try hard and obvious to be honest. It’s also...whisper it... somewhat unoriginal (it follows exactly the same format as Borat) and without clear purpose and so, perhaps, should stand as the moment that SBC now turns in the mockumentary routine? ‘Cos it’s clearly had its day.
**

6) Disney’s A Christmas Carol(PG)
November 2009
Released waaay too early in the year (4th November!) to be thinking about Christmas and bringing out the Scrooge in even the hardiest festive fan, Robert Zemeckis’ latest attempt to sell the world that mo-cap is the future was a flabby, flaccid, uninvigorating and wholly unsuccessful attempt at updating a stonecold classic story. Which has been successfully updated at least a couple of times before by twisting the tale around Bill Murray or some Muppets. Gimmicky, immaterial and at times just plain ghastly, somehow Zemeckis managed to take an emotional and vivid story and turn it into a detached, effects show reel that doesn’t do justice to either: entire “photorealistic digital character” mo-cap productions (Polar Express / Beowulf / this, good luck Spielberg & Jackson’s Tintin) have yet-to-convince (although characters in live-action – Gollum / King Kong very much have) and Dickens definitely deserves better than this...
**

7) Surrogates (15)
September 2009
In promos it looked like I, Robot crossed with Die Hard. So potentially a good thing once you mix-in some original ideas and inflections as well. Which were hinted at by some really clever viral marketing in poster and fake advert form, the sort of thing that several other blockbusters have made good use of in recent years (Cloverfield / The Dark Knight). Unfortunately the film itself is a horribly-derivative phone-in from writers (Michael Ferris & John D. Brancato – T3 / T4 / Cat-“shudder”-woman), director (Jonathan Mostow – T3) and star alike (Bruce Willis) who really need to try much harder than this. Willis we know has talent, but is prone to taking a paycheck. Mostow promised much with Breakdown, but hasn’t delivered since. Ferris & Brancato should just have their typewriters taken away now, they’ve had enough chances. All-in-all Surrogates is just a poor version of sci-fi stories seen several times over before.
**

8) Colin (18)
October 2009
I feel bad putting this in my list. But then if you arrive upon a wave of hype only to sorely disappoint this is the sort of thing that happens. You make these sorts of lists. Colin is not a bad movie and the makers deserve all kinds of props for getting it where it’s got. But in my opinion it’s not a good movie either. A cheapo oddity to watch on DVD: yes. A film to watch at the cinema (pretty much the defining characteristic of a “movie-film”): no. The premise of looking at a zombie apocalypse from a zombie’s POV is still a good one and perhaps should be delved into more; it just requires someone more talented than writer/director Marc Price to execute it.
**

9) District 13- Ultimatum (15)
October 2009
The first District 13 was a guilty pleasure that properly introduced the world to the wonders of Parkour that many other films (Casino Royale, Die Hard 4.0 & the upcoming Prince of Persia to name but a few) have subsequently utilised to give their set-pieces that little something extra. There was nothing especially big or clever about its plot or characterisation but its big action-beats and feats of free-running were something to get excited about and marvel at as fresh and new and original and authentic. What’s strange is that the sequel dials back the superhuman set-piece stuff in favour of catastrophically-bad scenes dedicated to “story” and “character” and “acting”. Why you ask? You’ve got me, its not why I went to see.
**

10) Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus(15)
August 2009
I know it’s a DTR but just look at that eye-catching title! Watch the wickedly-entertaining trailer! And then tell me you’re not excited about the possibilities for this to be the most stupidly entertaining monster-mash since Tremors or Deep Blue Sea or SoaP. Unfortunately it proved to be nowhere near that level of quality but instead a classic case of all promise and no delivery. Most disappointing. Expect to see it on late night Channel 5 sometime soon.
*

2009’s most overrated:

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (12a)
February 2009
Four stars from Empire magazine. Four stars from Total Film magazine. Four stars from MainstreaMatt. 82% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. 70/100 on Metacritic. I just don’t get it, what film were they watching!?! A different one to me obviously because the one I saw was nothing more than a stupid, hackneyed, Americanised-idealised, perverts version of artsy, bohemian European-types “starring” the void of untalent also known as Scar Jo. Dumb and not at all fun.
*