Clerks II - If you count the cartoons then this IS a 'Trilogy'

More Kevin Smith, and his films are always good. Dante & Randall are back. One to bring up life's inadequacies and one to put them in their place. It's great to have the Mr Smith snappy pop culture dialogue and trade mark 'stroll over the line' humour. and there's a lot of it. Never going to have the impact of the original, and at times, to fans, it can seem contrived, but it is still a hundred times better than other peoples efforts. You know or you don't and you get or you wont. Eeyore!!!!!!!

Dawn of the Dead - Romero, Romero! Wherefore art thou, Romero?

Had no right to be this good. But this is a five star Zombie Horror. Who would have thought they could remake the George '78 classic and pull it off. There's no fly boy, there are no blue zombies and no Hari Krishna zombie either. But there are little nods to the original. The change, the BP lorry, The Mall and the need to get away from it to mention a few. But that's all and they are fleeting. This is full on attack the senses mode. Very scary, very gory and very gripping. You stay classy Mr Snyder.

Hot Fuzz - You ain't seen 'Bad Boys II'?

Fantastic movie from the Brit boys done good. Who they you ask? Why Simon, Ed and Nick of course. This film is probably more complete than the previous (SOTD) tsk (Shaun of the Dead), but my love of Zombie movies disputes this. Still, Hot Fuzz is a great film, if maybe a little long....nah no way, it's great. Edgar Wright has never hidden the fact that he watches other directors work and copies it, and in this film it really shows. Not in an poor way though. And it is distinctly Wright-Pegg work. What a cast on show as well. British humour and US action combine. Come get some Beeeeatch!!!

Eden Lake - Makes Camp Crystal Lake look like Butlins

Nasty. That's what this is. Not scary, not jumpy but Nasty. Very much a Hostel type horror 'cos it's Nasty. Well, it's better than that, but it is Nasty. One thing that makes it scary is the old art imitating life imitating art argument. There are people out there like this. Shannon, Shameless, Nasty.

Kill Bill Volume 1 - Trix are for kids

Whats not to like? Is that my favourite sentence, I think it is. The Bluray arrived so I had to watch for the umpteenth time. Admittedly, a step down, as this is the western cut which means B&W fight at the House of Blue Leaves and a few other changes. But what the heck. What an awesome movie. QT knows what he likes and he is a hell of a story teller. Like all his films, it gets better with each viewing. I know kung fu - Bring on the whole bloody affair.

Halloween - How to make a Monster (that really should have been the tagline)

This will be biased as I never dis RZ and was never a huge fanboy obsessive of the original. I do like John Carpenters Halloween though. But this version, reimagining or whatever is superb (take note Jason). Creates a bit of back story and then kind of re tells/shoots the second half from the original but concentrates on Michael more. it is brilliantly handled by Zombie and has his style all over it. More blood. more TCM camera, more dirt and more nakedness :). The man has his critics and If you haven't liked his other movies then it is unlikely you'd like this. But he knows what he likes and he does it like The Great American Nightmare he is.

Four Brothers - Hey Ya!!

Four brothers, out to avenge their mothers death. Good Cops,bad Cops, what you gonna do? Drug dealing kingpin black guys, snowy Detroit streets, Balxploitation,Street talk and Marky Mark frowning. It might have been cleverer than I thought,but I just didn't get with it. It's style looked dated, maybe it was supposed to. But don't they do this kind of thing on The Wire now? Movies need to evolve.

Friday the 13th - The good, the bad and the unlucky!

Follows the formula to the letter. Therein lies the problem as FTT has always been the weaker slasher franchise in my eyes. Re imaginings of TCM and Hills Have Eyes worked, but this is just more of the same. Same kills, same kids and same boobs. For your fans only. I love Jason, he is Iconic, but this seemed irrelevant. Not scary at all. I mean I was tense before I got there, so it had something to work with.

The Midnight Meat Train - I was marinaded, regurgitated and served up as cold meat.

Well when it started I thought this was going to be your standard old slasher flick. It is in a way, but there was that element of weirdness in the visuals that made me think of films such as Candyman. Well that will be the Clive Barker story then. Don't know why it should look like a CB affair, but then Stephen king films usually look like SK films even though he is only the writer. Lots of blood and death and worth a look if your a fan of the genre. Thing is, as much as Vinnie Jones is hard as nails in real life, when he tries to play it, it just looks comical. Stick to the light hearted hard man roles Vin.

Carlito's Way: Rise To Power - And straight to the bin

Truly awful. Not even worth a page on my blog. Doh! I mean it was never going to be a patch on the original but even Terminator 3 and Alien Resurrection work as stand alone films in their field. Why do I have to watch everything, I've got to watch Southland Tales just because, but I have been warned off it. I've been a bit Texas obsessed lately so maybe I just needed a lone star movie. This isn't even that.

Eagle vs Shark - I Am Weasel

That kind of quirky tear jerky weird bonkers funny romantic comedy that comes along every so often. Gotta love those films for sure. It will remind you of Napoleon Dynamite, Wes Anderson, Nacho Libre, Science of Sleep, Frauds et al. But under the wackiness of it all it's just a simple tale of families, relationships and revenge...dysfunctional so we can all relate to it. Jermaine brings his 'Conchords comic timing to the field so it is worth a watch if you're a fan of that and any film that ends on a Stone Roses number is going to win brownie points with me.

Sex Drive - Hard work, fresh air, missionary position. It's a mans life..

I haven't seen a Teen comedy for a while so maybe that's why I found this so laugh out loud funny. Could it have been as funny as I thought, I think it was. It follows a pattern for the most part, but despite the moralising that is there, this is no OTT American Pie. In fact it works in a similar way to Superbad. Great visual and vocal humour. The Unrated version is bizarre but kind of nails the Irony of such releases. Best Amish film since Kingpin, er I mean Witness

Flags of our Fathers - Will our story shine like a light or end in the dark

So more Clint watching was done as I finally got round to this one. Iwo Jima next. Didn't know what to expect, but this wasn't it. More a story about the propaganda of war and the lives of those that supposedly raised THAT flag. But then it doesn't shirk it's responsibilities and still shows the brutality of war with glorious imagery. Will definitely benefit from multiple viewings. Stella cast.

Welsh Psycho - Hey, I'm a child of divorce, gimme a break!

I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly blood lust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

W. - Look away George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Brother Jonathon

Been an Oliver Stone movie fan since Platoon blew me away as teen. I say 'movie' fan as I think he's a bit up his own arse with his politics. But away with thee, this is a captivating little ditty. The cast is superb, although Thandie is back to crap in this one. The man Dreyfuss though is electric. He has not made enough movies in his life. It's gripping, it was bound to be, have you seen Jeff K??

Alas, I wish that OS hadn't made the boy George to be such a dick, not directly maybe, but you can see and hear the little digs. Whatever you think Oliver, he was your president for eight years, so what does that say about you and yours.

The Strangers - My mechanical monkey man.

Scary stuff indeed. It's by the numbers (we have Scream to thank for that) but it still works. The tension and suspense builds and the jumps are where they should be, but you still do. Good work form first time director Bryan Bertino. TCM influences abound, also reminded me of the Manson family murders. Hostel and Saw take note, we don't have to see everything. Which leads me to Liv. She's always looked great, but she shows her talent in this also.

Gran Torino - No Job, No Car, No Girlfriend, No Future, No Dick...

Well, I had to see this one because of the glowing recommendation. This is not a joke:). It really is that good. Clint plays (he also directs superbly) an old racist, but I thought more of a bigot, although neither one with any real hatred so get over it people. I should go on a lefty, smile on your brother, Hippie BS, never gonna happen rant now, but that's not for this blog. Any Ho, this is great. Funny, Tense, real, it reminded me a bit of Red although there was more humour in this. Tinterweb buzz kinda thought this was a new Dirty Harry film. Maybe it could be and it adds even more humour if you want to think that. Watch and learn everything. Even the fact that Clint Eastwood must have supplied the voice for Oscar the Grouch. Check out that song at the end.