The KnightWatcher's Film Reviews 2013 by Bob Brown - HTML preview

 

 

 

THE BEST FILMS  in order of rating

 

Film

Comments

 

Apocalypse Now

1979 War drama.  Still the benchmark by which other war films should be judged.  Outstanding photography,  production,  score,   real horror,  and really shows the madness of war,  and the drug crazed US army in Vietnam.

10

Apollo 13

1995 Space drama. Tom Hanks stars in this perfect film playing James Lovell. Based on the true events of the ill fated mission to the moon. An unbelievably superb reconstruction and dramatisation of the events leading up to and during this mission. Everybody remembers those immortal words of ' Houston we have a problem'. Superbly acted and highly tense and emotional movie. Impossible to get through without a tear or two running down your cheek from time to time and I have watched this film countless times and it is still as good today as when it was made. Just outstanding from start to finish.

10

Fever Pitch

1997 I adore this film.  It is absolutely one of my favourite films ever.  It just has it all.  Just brilliant.  Make you laugh and cry all the way through.  Maybe it is because I am a lifelong football supporter myself and can identify with the emotions so much but it is a great backdrop for a very convincing RomCom too.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.

10

Graduate (The)

1967 If you have never seen this film because you have lived  in a cave all your life go and watch it NOW!.  In my opinion arguable one of the best films ever made.  Brilliant cast, (a very young Hoffmann and Katherine Ross),  script,  score and plot.  I have watched it more times than I wish to own up to.  Captures the scariness of being a young adult but also the innocence and optimism.  A truly great love story with an infamous iconic last scene for its ending.  Unforgettable. 

10

Homeland Series 1 & 2

2012 TV war on  terror based drama.  Long running very successful Fox  USA made TV series.  Outstanding drama based on Islamic terrorism ,  Homeland security,  CIA,  double agents,  with overlaid stories of sexual attraction,  politics,  and power.  Every episode keeps you guessing .  A world of mystery,  suspense,  and suspicion  where nothing is as it seems.  This series has everything ,  and is superbly scripted,  cast and acted.  The leading actress and actor,  Clare Danes and Damian Lewis are a revelation.  TV drama does not get any better than this.  Compulsive viewing.

10

Parenthood

1989 Family drama.  I have watched this film several times and have no hesitation in awarding it it’s perfect 10.  Great cast,  script,  and very poignant.  Makes you laugh and cry all the way through.  Every parent should watch this.

10

Sophie’s Choice

1982 WWII drama.  Unforgettable haunting classic,  in one film embodies the blind hope and optimism of youth with the total insanity ,  and evil of the Nazis.  I first watched this film over 25 years ago and it is one that never leaves you.  An absolutely stunning performance by Meryl Streep.  If you have never seen this film then you must but make sure you are in the mood for something very heavy,  upsetting and shocking.

10

Terms Of Endearment

1983 Romantic drama classic. This film is a timeless classic.  One to watch every few years or so.  Personally I do not think movies come any better than this.  Real credible characters,  a great script,  and breath taking performances from Debra Winger and Shirley Maclaine. 

The exploration of the mother - daughter relationship is just perfect. It nails so many family and  people behaviours so wonderfully,  the shallow womanising hubby,  the superficial New York friends, resentful children the lothario playboy neighbour; the list goes on.  A masterpiece that makes you laugh and makes you cry.  Easy to see why it won 5 Oscars.  If you've never seen it,  have a hanky ready and get watching.

10

 American President (The)

1995 Political Drama . Classic political romance.  Excellent in parts,  and great cast,  plot and script

9

Basic Instinct

1992 erotic thriller.  I have watched this many times over the years and gave it another run out in 2012.  In my opinion it sets the Gold standard for erotic thrillers and even after 20 years is not the slightest bit dated.  The acting,  script,  and music are superb and yes I know the plot is implausible but I don't care and somehow they get away with it because of the mesmerizing relationship and sexual tension between Douglas,  the detective and Sharon Stone,  the suspect.  It is a long film but you don't want it to end,  and after all that,  at the end you will still not be sure who the killer was!

9

Behind Enemy Lines

2001 Bosnian war action drama.  I rate this as an excellent action war film.  It is based on real events,  and its high rating reflects the successful development of the characters and the background politics that the film achieves.  It is for a change a 3D plot with depth as compared to so many superficial high octane action war films.  Gene Hackman and Owen Wilson are both superb.  The plot concerns the hunt for a surviving navigator from an F18 fighter jet shot down over Bosnia.  An excellent war film ,  but one I think likely to appeal more to guys than girls. 

9

Black Hawk Down

2001 excellent war / action movie based on true events in Somalia in 1993 directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner). Gritty,  intense,  high octane action drama.  A routine military operation is seriously misjudged and under estimated and quickly descends into chaos as the marines are over run by local militia.  Excellent cast    and well acted.  War films do not get much better or more realistic than this.

9

Blade Runner

1982 Sci Fi.  Starring a young Harrison Ford .  In my opinion perhaps the best Sci Fi ever made.  Brilliant.  Amazing graphics and sets.  Haunting and atmospheric.  A movie classic that sets the Gold standard for Sci Fi.

9

Casino Royale

2006 James Bond Drama.  The 21st Bond film and the first of the Daniel Craig era.  Quite simply the best Bond film ever and also the best James Bond casting by a country mile.  What joy it was when this film burst onto the scene restoring the James Bond genre to its full former glory.  It is a 100% thriller with none of the embarrassing comedy of the Roger Moore bad times and the Bond portrayal  is a real 3D character with emotions.  Bond films do not get any better than this and it even surpassed the Bond films that followed it (A Quantum of Solace and Skyfall)

9

Crash (2005)

2005 Superb social commentary on racial prejudice and disharmony.  A superb film.

9

Crazy Stupid Love

2011 Stephen Carell,  RomCom from the top drawer.  Makes you laugh and cry.  Some unexpected twists . Wife of adoring husband suddenly wants a divorce and he gets adopted by a player who becomes his mentor in pulling women.

9

Few Good Men (A)

1992 Excellent drama about megalomaniac marine in charge of Guantamino Bay base ,  (Jack Nicholson) and courtroom drama with Tom Cruise (Naval lawyer) and Demi Moore (one of her best films) tackles the morality and legality of obeying orders,  loyalty and honour.  Superb.

9

Frost / Nixon

2008 political drama.  A truly perfectly crafted movie.  Michael Sheen and Frank Langella are just stunning in the two main roles and Rebecca Hall adds a nice balance so the film is not only about the duel between Frost and Nixon.  It is just a superb film-I have watched it at least 3 times and it is still as good.

9

Heat (The)

2013 Action comedy.  Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy team up as two mis-matched FBI agents.  McCarthy is quite rightly a rising star in comedy after her performance in Bridesmaids.  Sandra Bullock picks up her role from Miss Congeniality.  This movie promises a great deal with its all star cast ,  and you hope to be in for a good laugh ,  and it does not disappoint.  It almost could not fail to be a comedy winner and it does exactly what it says on the tin.  Melissa McCarthy is a revelation as the foul mouthed maverick cop.  Strap into your seat and enjoy!

9

Hurt Locker (The)

2008.  Shocking,  superb,  gripping ,  disturbing Iraq war bomb disposal. A superb and excellent film.  Graphic and realistic. How do they find people to do these jobs.

9

Iron Lady (The)

2012. The life  of Margaret Thatcher.  An unforgettable masterpiece that is massively unsettling and depressing on so many levels.  The film deals with and portrays the  sadness of bereavement for a loving couple,  the tragedy of dementia for a once great iconic leader and makes you relive so many of the major news and political events of our lives.  Have a hanky ready. The criticism of this film is that it concentrates too much her dementia in later life and not enough on her achievements in her  heyday when she had all her faculties.

9

No Way Out

1987 . A classic first rate political thriller with everything.  Gene Hackman,  and Kevin Costner are superb. This is a top draw gold standard superb and excellent political drama. I have watched it many times. Political thriller.

9

One Day

2012.  Anne Hathaway. Romantic drama about the lives of 2 university graduates who meet on their last day at Uni and become best friends and maintain an in off relationship throughout their lives.  He turns out to be a frustrating commitment phobe who tantalizes her with possible long term devotion but continually lets her down causing her to waste her life on him.  Sad and highly credible.  Love story about taking ones chances in life when they arise,  and playing your cards when they are dealt  to you.  And it is absolutely about not messing about with ,  and taking for granted,  the people who love you and deserve better.  A superb and excellent film.

9

Phantom Of The Opera

2004 Musical romantic drama. Superb adaptation of the legendary stage musical.  A world class spectacular production that does the stage musical proud and captures the atmosphere.  The music of the Phantom was a true masterpiece and may never be equalled in its brilliance,  and its exquisite quality is beautifully and perfectly performed in this film.

9

Place Beyond The Pines (The)

2012 Drama.  Touching and emotional intelligent thriller in which Ryan Gosling brilliantly stars as a motor cycle stunt rider who turns to crime in an attempt to raise the cash to win back his former lover.  The plot unfolds to become a story with depth and messages about class,  opportunity and chance.  A superb social commentary in the Crash mould which features prejudice,  corruption ,  and the drugs culture.  A film of two halves in which one story leads to another eighteen years later.  Great cast,  acting,  direction and sound track.  I do not understand some of the negative reviews.  This an excellent and highly under rated film.

9

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen

2012 Romantic drama.  Wow! I really loved this film.  I found it an extremely enjoyable story with an original plot.  A story of aspiration,  and determination with great likeable characters that you actually care about. All combined with an engaging and credible romance the outcome of which is hard to foresee.  Emily Blunt is superb in this.  Just a thoroughly pleasant watch and highly recommended.

9

Saving Private Ryan

WWII drama. Epic Spielberg masterpiece about a US army captain assigned to find the one surviving brother out of four brothers who have been killed in combat. Tom Hanks is superb. Set in June 1944 Normandy and begins at the infamous Omaha landing beach. Quite simply one of the best war films ever made and certainly some of the most realistic and harrowing battle action footage. An emotional tense and draining story. Better than the similarly themed Band Of Brothers which followed and was inspired by it.

9

Single White Female

1992.  The ultimate thriller about deranged psychotic.  Sets the gold standard for the genre.  Stunning.  One not to miss.  Thrillers do not get any better than this.

9

Veronica Guerin

2003,  Cate Blanchett.  Wow! This is surely a hugely under rated film.  A shocking ,  haunting account of the exceedingly brave woman journalist who fearlessly investigated the Irish drug barons in the 1990s.  Yes she behaves increasingly recklessly and taking ever greater risks with her life-but what an inspiration and example of bravery she was.  And Cate Blanchett is as superb as ever in the role.  Don't miss this film,  it is truly excellent

9

An Education

2009 drama.  School girl has an affair with much older married inveterate playboy.  Carey Mulligan is great in this and it is an interesting view of the early 1960s. A great film actually.

8

Bank Job (The)

2008 Excellent true story based in 1970,  political sex scandal,  and bank robbery,  police corruption,   superb cast,  script and acting.  Great plot.  This film has it all.

8

Basic Instinct 2

2006 Erotic thriller. Basic Instinct was a very good erotic thriller and a tough act to follow but this sequel unusually is worthy.  It really is nearly as good as the original.  Stone is even better in this and the lead who replaces Douglas playing opposite Stone does a good job I think and is credible as the psychiatrist who meets his match with the Stone character.  It is a good erotic thriller that holds its own in its own right.  They switch the sequel from Los Angeles to London to freshen it up which seems to work

8

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

2012 World class cast.  An absolute delight.  Great performance by Bill Nighy.  Great portrayal of India.  Terrific script.  Funny,  poignant,  with messages.  Where there is life there is hope.  Life is a privilege –not a right!

8

Big Year (The)

2012 Comedy about competitive bird watching.  But do not let that put you off.  It’s original and very funny and has a fantastic cast –Steve Martin,  Jeff Black,  and Owen Wilson

8

Black Book (The)

2006 Beautiful Jewish girl who worked for the Dutch resistance at the end of WW2 and  has a relationship with  Captain in the SS in order to infiltrate the Nazis.  The depressing thing is that in transpires that at least 3 of the other resistance fighters turn out to be Nazi collaborators who are also betraying the Jews for their own profit.  However a great film with a great performance by the female lead.   The plot can be a little hard to follow in the final scenes due to confusion between the resistance characters. 

8

Blue Jasmine

2013 Comedy drama.  Typical Woody Allen fare depicting how underneath we are all a mess and life is a mess! Cate Blanchett is outstanding and the script is superb.  Great cast.  Blanchett  plays a middle aged ex wife (Jasmine)  who since her divorce is suffering from a nervous breakdown and moves to live with her sister.   Blanchett as Jasmine cannot shake off her tendency to judge,  and her snobbish outlook,  always looking down on her sister,  but in reality cannot halt her own decline.

 8

Blue Valentine

2010 Romantic drama.  Sad story of young couple with young daughter who fall in love ,  get married,  and gradually fall out of love.  Wife out grows and tires of husband who still loves her.  Like The Story Of Us.  Explores the challenges of keeping a relationship fresh.  Excellent.

8

Body Heat

1981 Erotic thriller.  Kathleen Turner. Personally I like it.  It has aged well and remains a tense steamy erotic thriller full of suspense.  It is uncomfortable to watch but you cannot look away and you do not know who to believe or trust.  I think this film sets the standard for the genre.

8

Bound

1996 Sexy erotic thriller about a mobster’s girl who wants out.  She sets up an ingenious con with her lesbian lover to steal $2M from the mob.  It is a cleverly spun web of intrigue.  Violent and scary.  A con with many twists.  Some explicit girl on girl action.  Do not watch this if you are not sure you can handle it.

8

Bridesmaids

2011 .  A RomCom about a bride and her best friend who she appoints as her maid of honour,  and her gang of girlfriends.  Actually a very funny film with some hilarious contrived situations and an unlikely romance thrown in with a police officer.  Be careful-not suitable to be shown to children.

8

Brothers (The)

 

2010 War family drama. Thoroughly recommend this one.  Superb acting and a highly emotional film with a punch in a story woven around the contrast of two brothers.  Excellent  dramatisation of how the horror of war leaves the survivors irrevocably damaged.  As good as The Deer Hunter and almost as good as The Hurt Locker.  Do not miss this film about modern warfare in Afghanistan.

8

Burn After Reading

2008 Excellent FBI thriller / comedy,  great cast,  excellent plot.  An enjoyable farce.

8

Captain Phillips

20013 Action drama based on real events of the hijacking and ransom of a US container ship by Somali pirates.  Things do not go according to plan and the pirates instead switch to kidnapping the captain instead as a hostage.  The captain is as ever brilliantly played by Tom Hanks,  but actually the whole film is well cast and acted.  The action and suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat.  The eventual rescue by the US ‘cavalry’ with their usual high tech equipment and efficient methods is typical Hollywood fare.  However the end result is a great action drama and should not be missed.

8

Consenting  Adults

1992  Classic early 1990s erotic thriller.  Kevin Spacey superbly plays the new neighbour who disrupts Kevin Kline's perfect marriage and life.  Spacey plays a charismatic charmer who is supremely confident and easily manipulates Kline into his insurance scams which net him millions.  The plot gets darker as the sexual tension between the two couple rises.  I watched this film when it came out and am pleased to have rediscovered it now.  It’s an underrated example of the genre and I recommend it.

8

Constant Gardener (The)

2005 Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz.  Weisz is the wife of a diplomat and an activist who exposes cavalier testing of drugs in Africa.  She is murdered in what becomes a suspense thriller with conspiracy theory type credibility.  A great film and one for conspiracy theorists.

8

Damage

1992 I always liked this erotic drama.  Jeremy Irons is superb and totally credible and Juliette Binoche equally superb as the smouldering sexy ,  enigmatic mistress woman of mystery.  The fireworks and passion that ensue are legendary but the film is compulsive viewing as you cannot turn away from watching a man who seemingly has everything become helpless from following a path of self destruction that eventually  encompasses his whole family.  The final pathetic scene of the fallen but still compulsive obsessive talented man alone as a recluse is unforgettable.

8

Dan In The Real Life

2007 Excellent Rom Com.  Very funny .  Steve Carell,  Juliette Binoche.   Definitely worth the 8.  The parallel lives of his 3 daughters and the parenting dilemmas are very funny and very well observed.  Plot has some very funny twists.

8

Date Night

2010 Comedy.  A very funny RomCom set in NY.  They steal someone else’s dinner reservation.  Steve Carell is brilliant in this.  I just cannot understand how some do not like this film.  I found it absolutely hilarious.  I loved it.  It is a great comedy.

8

Deer Hunter (The)

1978 Hard hitting shocking story of group of friends before ,  during,  and after the Vietnam war.  Unforgettable.  Would be a 9 but for the fact that the first half of the film is tooooo long and includes an entire wedding reception in real time.  

8

Detachment

2011 Detachment.  Wow! Not for the faint hearted A heavy and very depressing deeply worrying drama about modern American youth culture and daily life in school depicting very neglected and unloved disturbed kids and a supply teacher with an equally troubled past.  Have things really got this bad? This is not a fun or enjoyable movie to watch but has some important hard hitting messages and is about decadence and decay of modern culture.  Best to watch it on your own!

 

8

Django Unchained

2013 Western.  A great film by Tarantino.  A clever and industrious negro slave becomes a bounty hunter and sets out to rescue his wife from slavery.  A great film,  original,  unconventional,  fresh,  and highly entertaining and amusing.  A very enjoyable watch although a little long,  at nearly three hours and very violent.  One of the best Westerns ever made.  As good as a Clint Eastwood classic.  Recommended.

8

Duchess (The)

2008 Kiera Knightley,  A great period drama about the Duchess of Devonshire in loveless marriage forced to give up her lover to retain access to her children.  Thought to be a faithful representation of the times.  Lots of parallels with Charles and Diana.

8

Easy Virtue

 

 

 

 

2008 British film based on Noel Coward play set just after WWI.  Prodigal son returns home with gorgeous American wife (Jessica Biel) and incurs the prejudice and hostility of his snobby aristocrat mother (Kristin Scott Thomas).  Brilliant cast –includes Colin Firth.  Meanders between comedy and serious statement but very entertaining with an unexpected twist ending.  

8

Eight Mile

2002 Kim Bassenger ,  Britanny Murphy,  Clearly you need to be like  Eminem and his rap music to like this movie.  If you do then you will like this story woven around Eminem playing himself.  It is a brutal hard hitting portrayal of trailer trash life in Detroit in the mid 1990s fighting for survival in an urban jungle.  A shocking film with depth and messages about aspiration and ambition in the midst of hopelessness. 

8

Extraordinary Measures

2010 Drama. Harrison Ford,  Brendan Fraser .  True story about the development of new drug to treat a serious medical condition of two young children and the father who becomes a campaigner for the development  of the drug.  A great and moving film about never giving up. 

8

Fargo

1996 A great thriller with some memorable performances-who can forget the female lead detective in the frozen wastes of Minnesota.  Faultless.

8

Fatal Attraction

1987 erotic thriller. Cannot believe that this film is now 25 years old.  It has aged so well.  Still a standard setting classic of the erotic thriller genre.  The bunny boiling scene is of course iconic in the movie world.  Michael Douglas is superb with his hunted rabbit in the headlights expressions.  A classic film that everyone should see but is there anyone who has not seen it yet? Surprised that this predates Basic Instinct by 5 years.  Tense and captivating from start to finish.

8

Fingersmith

2005 Period drama set in 19th century.  BBC series.  An unusual and original plot with more twists than a game of pontoon.  Very good acting and casting,  It is long (180 mins) but is well worth the effort.  It gets better and more intriguing as it progresses.  There is a lesbian relationship tastefully and credibly done.  A very good drama of betrayal,  love ,  greed,  wealth,  poverty, and a gigantic scam.  This film has it all.  I was surprised that I was not aware of this when it was on TV.

8

Flight

2012 drama.  Denzel Washington is excellent as the hard living airline captain who brilliantly lands a stricken plane,  but then faces an enquiry into whether he was in a fit state to fly.  The movie evolves into a credible examination of the road to facing and dealing with alcoholism.  I loved the line that finally in jail he observes that for the first time in his life he is free-free from the grip of alcohol.  A great movie. 

8

Gathering Storm

2002 Rare film dramatizing the years leading up to WWII in Britain concentrating on the rise of Winston Churchill,  and his marriage to Clementine,  and family life at Chartwell.  Good character development,  and Albert Finney is brilliant as Churchill.  Captures the political campaign well that Churchill ran to raise awareness of the threat of Hitler.

8

Ghost  (The)

2010. Excellent political thriller based on Blair involving CIA and prosecution of war crimes.  It goes as far as it can get away with to make some veiled accusations about the Blair premiership.

8

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (The) USA Version (2011)

2011 Daniel Craig .  Thriller about the abuse of women.  Explicit rape scene may cause offense to some.  An excellent remake of this popular book.  The plot is still as complicated and difficult to follow due to the vast number of Swedes involved many from the same family.  Helps if you have seen the other version or read the book.  I preferred it to the Swedish original version.

8

Goldfinger

1964 James Bond Drama.  Absolutely ground breaking Bond that set the Gold standard for the next 42 years until Casino Royale.  Until 2006 Goldfinger was the best Bond movie of all time .  Great villain,  and the introduction of the immortalized Aston Martin,  and who can forget Pussy Galore who turns out to be a goody,  and the model of Fort Knox.  If you never seen it-do not pass go-go and watch it immediately.

8

Good Mother (The)

1988 Dianne Keaton,  Liam Neeson.  Very credible drama about a single mother who falls in love with an artist and loses custody of her 4 year old daughter over an unfortunate and accidental event involving contrasting attitudes to nudity and the handling of sex education with children.  Excellent cast and script.  Touching and sad.

8

Gravity

2012 Sci Fi drama.  Sandra Bullock is excellent in this stunning 3D disaster movie set in space.  The special effects are ground breaking and breath taking.  This is an action movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.  Unfortunately that is all it is and is let down by a lack of character development and the plot line is very thin.  It is like spending an hour and a half in a space simulator.  But it deserves the high rating for the special effects alone.

8

Green Zone

2009 Iraq War film.  A great action war film combined with political intrigue and conspiracy theory style plot.  Matt Damon is superb as the investigating officer who is doggedly determined to get to the truth and uncover the politicians who have used the war for their own agendas.  I found this a great all round action / thriller war movie  and thoroughly recommend it.

8

Guilt Trip (The)

2012 Comedy drama.  Barbra Streisand is excellent in this comedy about an overbearing and nagging  mother who smothers her son ,  and generally drives him crazy.  She accompanies him on a drive across the USA whilst he attends a series of promotional business meetings.  The film is made by an excellent script as the pair who are bound by love and mutual irritation verbally spar rather like When Harry Met Sally.  The film contains a great deal of subtle humour that sees the funny side of the love hate relationship between a devoted son and an obsessive adoring mother who cannot let go.  Through the experiences they share on the journey they gradually come to understand and respect each other more for who they are,  a great film.

8

Harry Brown

2009 Thriller.  Wow! What a great film.  Michael Caine is brilliant as the character (Harry Brown) an ageing ex veteran takes the law into his own hands due to the ineffectiveness of the police on a London sink estate.  It is a frightening gritty hard hitting portrayal of what it is like to live in one of these areas of social deprivation and gang culture.  Harry turns into Charles Bronson's Death Wish character but this is done with British realism and authenticity.  It is violent and justifies it's 18 certificate but leaves you feeling exhausted and shocked.  Thoroughly recommended.

8

Heartbreak Kid