2010

As the year we make contact comes to an end. Thought it may time to post my personal tastes on the best and worst things of the year. Well mostly best. I try my best to avoid stepping in shit, but sometimes your guard may be down and your foot lands in big stinking load. So any on with the lists:

TV - Lot of good TV this so lets get into it:

*note: Airdates are first screenings in Australia. Also there is a Top 10 episode list down there so if you fancy getting into any of the shows in the top 10 I suggest you look up those ones.

Best Comedy Show: Community
Honourable Mentions: 30 Rock, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Modern Family, The Inbetweeners, Family Guy, The IT Crowd. Psychoville.

Best Drama: Breaking Bad
Honourable Mentions: Mad Men, Sherlock, Dexter.

Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Dr. Who
Honourable Mentions: Lost, V, Caprica.

Best Unscripted/Variety Show: Top Gear
Honourable Mentions: Q.I, Tony Martin In A Conversation With..., Rockwiz, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, Good Game.

Best Animated: Family Guy
Honourable Mentions: American Dad, Venture Bros., Archer.

Best Documentary: Life
Honourable Mention: Last Chance To See.

TOP 10 TV Episodes:

1. Road to the Multiverse - Family Guy
2. Bolivia Special - Top Gear
3. Ab Aeterno - Lost
4. The Getaway - Dexter
5. A Christmas Carol - Dr. Who
6. Fly - Breaking Bad
7. Shut the Door, Have a Seat - Mad Men
8. A Study In Pink - Sherlock
9. Modern Warfare - Community
10. Italian For Beginners - The IT Crowd

TV Quote of the Year: "A Fire! At a Sea Park!? - The IT Crowd

Worst TV show of 2010: The Event

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MUSIC - I must admit I was a bit slow with music this year. So slow in fact that I bought only one studio album from 2010. But here we go then. I can't do best or worst song because embarrassingly I can't name any. :P

Best Album (by default really): The Suburbs - The Arcade Fire

Best Movie Soundtrack (Composed): Inception - Hans Zimmer
Honourable Mentions: The Social Network - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Tron: Legacy - Daft Punk, Red Read Redemption - Bill Elm and Woody Jackson.

Best Live Performance: Muse, at Rod Laver Arena (14/12)
Honourable Mentions: The Mars Volta @ Big Day Out, Muse @ Big Day Out, Mastodon @ Big Day Out.

Best Comedy Album: Triple J's: The Blow Parade

Shit lets move on.
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VIDEOGAMES - Now hear is something I can do. Just a quick ranking. All PS3 games. Also of note I do have Call of Duty: Black Ops but today my PS3 got the Yellow Light of Death on the day I wrote this blog and I'm yet to play the game so that is why it's absent from the list below.

Best games of the Year:
1. Red Dead Redemption
2. Gran Turismo 5
3. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011
4. Madden 11
5 Fallout: New Vegas (frustrating game glitches prevented this from ranking higher on the list)

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MOVIES - Finally the last section. Now I have seen a few movies this year. But enough really. Being in Australia we don't get a lot of the really good movies until early 2011. So the following will have a bit of 2009/10 films in. I won't separate into categories like in TV (well in on case I have). First up is like the Oscars. Listing some best actors and directors and such before I count down my Top 10 for the year:

Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Honourable Mentions: Ned Beatty - Toy Story 3, Ben Mendleson - Animal Kingdom, Jeremy Renner - The Town.

Best Actress: Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom
Honourable Mentions: Marion Cotillard - Inception, Chloe Moretz - Kick-Ass, Ellen Wong - Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

Best Director - David Fincher - The Social Network
Honourable Mentions: Ben Affleck - The Town, Edgar Wright - Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, John Hillcoat - The Road, Christopher Nolan - Inception

Most Memorable Scene (For the right or wrong reasons): The Rotating Hotel Hallway Fight Scene - Inception
Honourable Mentions: 'That' Sex Scene - Splice, Scott vs. Todd - Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Hit Girl drops the C Bomb - Kick-Ass, Lisbeth's Revenge - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.


Film I'm Most Looking Forward To in 2011: Super 8
Others: Cowboys & Aliens, Thor, Captain America, True Grit.

Special Mention: Jackass 3D - Just wanted to included scripted movies in the top 10 . But I enjoyed Jackass 3D so I just give it a mention here.

Worst Film of the Year: The Wolfman - Ugh.,.Bad story, bad Sp/Fx (Rick Baker, what's happened!?) and not that interesting.

Top 10 Films of the Year!

10. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - Was surprised with this one. Even though I like the the director, I was not expecting to like this one. Looked a bit too Hipster. But I really enjoyed it.

9. Up In The Air - Films that are released really early in the year are easily forgotten. But this film was good enough to last in my memory. Has brilliant first half, second half kind of tails off. But still good.

8. A Prophet - From France. Set in a prison about a small time crooks rise to power. Best Foreign Language film of the Year.

7. Shutter Island - Another great film by Martin Scorsese. Although I could see where it was going, it did not detract from a stylish film.

6. The Road - One of the most underrated films of the year. This adoption of the Cormac McCarthy post apocalyptic novel was although depressing and bleak it was a brilliant film. Way better then that Denzel Washington one.

5. The Town - Ben Affleck has found his place in Hollywood. After years of starring in some rubbish films. He has found his place behind the camera as director. This is his second directorial effort after the brilliant 'Gone Baby Gone'. OK he acts in this one, but still a great movie about Bank Robbers.

4. Animal Kingdom - If you go into my archives you will find a post were I slag off the Australian film industry for not being brave. Well they must of listened because this film must be one of the best Australian films I have seen since Bad Eggs (sue me, I liked it).

3. The Social Network - Yes I 'LIKED' this film. David Fincher continues his departure from the gritty dark films he made in the 90s and early to mid 00s with this surprisingly good bio flick on the creator of Facebook and all the enemies he made. Jesse Eisenberg as mentioned above is brilliant as Mark Zuckerberg. But the biggest surprise was pop pretty boy Justin Timberlake well being a good actor in his role as Napster founder Sean Parker.

2. Inception - Nice to see a fun and exciting movie that is also a original idea. Chris Nolan's story about people going to steal secrets or implant ideas is great. Great all round cast. Great characters. And it looks good. Can't wait for The Dark Knight Rises.

1. Toy Story 3 - That's it we now have the perfect trilogy (That's not based on a boo). A perfect way to end the trilogy. So good. So touching. Makes me feel bad now that I broke most of my Toys. Oh Skeletor can you ever forgive for putting you in a lit BBQ? Anyway Pixar can do no wrong. Cars 2 in 2011 and I'm sure it will be fun.

OK that's my opinion. Thanks for reading

Not Worth Going Deeper

After seeing the movie Inception a couple of months back. I got thinking my dreams are nothing like the dreams featured in that film. Dreams are random pieces of your memory sticky taped to together and project into you sub conscious while you slumber. The next time you dream just try and take a look around, everything you will see is something you have seen before. Anyway my dreams are probably like everyone's, they are weird. Here are some dreams I throughout my life:

The Friend Turns Into A Bird Dream
Earliest dream I remember is when I was still living in Stockport, England when I was 4 or 5. The dream was I at School and it was the end of the day. I was in the classroom and I looked out the window and saw one of my friends at the time (Ben I think his name was, So long ago) walk into a bush and then a white cartoonish silhouette of a bird came flying out the other side.


The Menace of the Sinclair ZX81 Fiend
This was a recurring through out my childhood. Back in England my Dad got our first computer the Sinclair Zx81 (81 indicating the year it was made, But we got it a little after that) which was a calculator you can hook up to your TV. Anyway it had a game with it called '3D Monster Maze' where you walked around a maze and try to avoid a monster called 'Rex'. If Rex found you he would come running in you direction. Lame, but that badly pixalated image frightened the crap out of me when I was 5 and that image invaded my nightmares for about 6 years. Each time it would be a different location, I would be minding my own business and then suddenly Rex would be running towards me (See the above pic for reference).


The Roaring Snail
One of my most recent dreams. In the dream I walked onto my backyard porch and per usual there were snails hanging around the cat's bowl. And then one of the snails looked up at me and roared. Now it did not roar like say a lion or Godzilla would roar. It sounded more like a party whistle that's been partially blocked at the end.

So if the team from Inception wanted to hack into my dreams to extract some banking information or where I buried all that treasure I have accumulated. All they are going to find is Animated Bird Friends, A Pixalated Monster and a Roaring Snail.

The Summer Music Festival Survival Guide

Hey it's Summer. Time for music festivals! With the Big Day Out tour in full swing and the Soundwave festival not far behind it audience members attending will need to know how to get threw the day without coming home looking a like the devil from the movie Legend. So I have compiled a list of tips on what to do when attending these festivals:

1. Water! You will need to drink plenty of this. Especially on the really hot days. So take a bottle of water and top up that bastard at every opportunity you can.

2. Take sunscreen. That's a given.

3. Take a hat. Yeah yeah Random Idiot we have heard all this advise before. OK I will ad something new to the table:

4. Alcohol. Don't have any. Sure those Bourbon Slush Puppies look great on a 30+ degree day, but alcohol consumption is great way to get yourself dehydrated real quick. And then your missing half of the headline act's set because you have a massive headache and sweating like a Richard Nixon. So quite simply don't have too many or better don't have any at all.

5. Want to get close to the stage as possible. Well early on in the day and on the smaller stages it's pretty easy. But as hours get closer and closer to the headline act the harder it gets. My advise if you want to be up front for the headline act you have to get to the mosh at least 5 acts before they come on.

6. Take a piss whenever you pass a toilet. You don't want to busting for one while in the middle of a set your enjoying. Save the #2's for when you get home. Trust me with that one. You will have to hold you breath visiting the outdoor festival's lavvys. ;)

7. Dress smartly. Wearing a Tshirt is good but a good idea is to wear a collared shirt underneath it to protect the back of you neck from the sun. Hear is another good one if you wear lightly coloured (white, yellow) pants,shorts or skirts is to wear both briefs and boxers. Hey when it gets hot it might get a little messy down there so best you have a bit of a 'neutral territory' going ;)

8. Wear appropriate footwear. Lace up shoes to be exact. If you wear slip ons you will probably lose them in the crowd and then your walking home barefoot. And if in the mosh your foot will be stepped on a lot so it's best not to wear open toed footwear.

9. Travelling with a group you might want to set up a meeting point so you can get together at the end the day.

So there you go. What you really need to know if your at a music festival.

Best of the 00s: Music

So we have started a new decade. And with that over the next few years we will hear a new type of music that will really define the new decade. We don't know what that is yet. But every decade has their own distinct sound that defines it. So what was the first 10 years of this century then? What music really defined that decade the way The Beatles did in the 60s, Pink Floyd in the 70s, Michael Jackson in the 80s and Nirvana in the 90s.

Well to be honest nothing really stood out from the crowd. Sure some artists consistently charted but nothing really to highlight. Maybe I'm the wrong person to ask. Well I am the wrong person to ask lets make that clear. As you will read my lists below you can see I'm not a fan of Commercialised music. Stuff like Britney Spears, Black Eyed Peas, Pink, Gwen Stefani etc. I would go out of my not to listen to. And they are the stuff people bought. So how can I review the decade when most people bought shit like that. So I won't.

The decade also brought in a new media to listen to music: The Digital File. The days of having physical albums and singles is slowly coming to end. With Itunes and other online music stores you can just purchase the stuff you want and put it on a device that can fit an entire music library on. Yes gone are the days with carrying around a device that barely fit in your pocket plus an extra bag for cassettes/CDs if your on a long commute. Yes most of the main stream music was rubbish but I'm thankfull for Apple for giving me something that makes bus trips almost tolerable.

OK but what did I like about this decade. Well I did like stuff. In fact below is a list of the best things of the decade. I will keep the worst stuff out this time. So here we go. My best music of the 00's:

The 10 Ten Live Performances!

10. Radiohead (Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, 2005)
9. Jane's Addiction (Melbourne Big Day Out, 2003)
8. The Arcade Fire (Melbourne Big Day Out, 2008)
7. The Flaming Lips (Festival Hall, Melbourne, 2009)
6. The Who (F1 Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, 2009)
5. Pearl Jam (Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, 2006)
4. Muse (Festival Hall, Melbourne, 2007)
3. Tool (Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, 2002)
2. Iggy & The Stooges (Melbourne Big Day Out 2006)
1. New Order (Melbourne Big Day Out 2002)

Top 5 Live Albums/DVDs!

5. Underworld - Everything, Everthing
4. Pearl Jam - Touring Band 2000
3. Placebo - Soulmates Never Die
2. Muse - HAARP
1. Foo Fighters - Everywhere But Home

Top 5 Comedy Albums (OK OK not music.... Well except for one case)!

5. Ben Elton - Get A Grip Live
4. Tony Martin; Get This - Illegal Download
3. Tenacious D - Tenacious D
2. Steven Wright - I Still Have A Pony
1. David Cross - It's Not Funny

Top 5 (Composed) Soundtracks

5. Cloverfield - Michael Giacchino*
5. Hot Fuzz - David Arnold**
4.Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Howard Shore
3.Coraline - Bruno Coulais, and a track by They Might Be Giants
2.The Dark Knight - Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard
1. Sunshine - John Murphy, Underworld and a track by I Am Kloot

* Giacchino's score for Cloverfield only played over the end credits of the film. And the track itself is less then 13 minutes long. So I have considered it a half and it share #5 with:

** The track of the score is the final track on the Soundtrack album which is mostly consisted of compiled songs. But the score is 20+ minutes and really good so it get the other half of #5



OK My Definitive Top 20 Albums of the 00's:


20. Audioslave - Audioslave

19. Muse - The Resistance

18. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights

17. Radiohead - Kid A

16. Cog - The New Normal

15. My Morning Jacket - Z

14. The Drones - Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By

13. Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV

12. The White Stripes - Elephant

11. Muse - Blackholes and Revelations

10. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

9. Muse - Absolution

8. Tool - Lateralus

7. The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium

6. Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump

5. Radiohead - Amnesiac

4. Muse - Origin of Symmetry

3. The Arcade Fire - Funeral

2. Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf

1. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots




Now that's out of the way if you follow me on Twitter (@RichardKershawX) you might of seen my essential 100 songs of the decade count up. Well now here is the list in full:

My 100 Essential Songs of the Decade (in no particular order)!

1. Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows
2. The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
3. The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl
4. Muse - New Born
5. Oasis - Fuckin' In The Bushes
6. Shihad - Pacifier
7. Blur - Out Of Time
8. The Arcade Fire - Wake up
9. Stone Temple Pilots - Sour Girl
10. Bloc Party - Positive Tension
11. The Drones - Shark Fin Blues
12. Apollo 440 - Heart Goes Boom
13. Foo Fighters - All My Life
14. Eddie Vedder - Hard Sun
15. The Cloud Room - Hey Now Now
16. Garbage - The World Is Not Enough
17. PJ Harvery & Thom Yorke - The Mess We're In
18. Dan Kelly and the Alpha Males - Drowning In The Fountain of Youth
19. The Mars Volta - (The Haunt) Of Roulette Dare
20. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Whatever Happenend To My Rock N' Roll
21. Mercury Rev - In A Funny Way
22. Cake - Comfort Eagle
23. Massive Attack - Special Cases
24. Kasabian - Club Foot
25. Hard-Fi - Hard to Beat
26. Living Things - Bom Bom Bom
27. Dropkick Murpheys - I'm Shipping Up To Boston
28. Interpol - Obstacle 1
29. New Order - Cyrstal
30. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Johnny Appleseed
31. Dallas Crane - Dirty heart
32. UNKLE - Restless
33. Chris Cornell - You Know My Name
34. The Darkness - Growing On Me
35. The Black Keys - 10am Automatic
36. Gomez - We Haven't Turned Around
37. Rammstein - Amerika
38. Tomoyasu Hotei - Battle Without Honor Or Humanity
39. Fatboy Slim - Sunset (Bird of Prey)
40. Bright Eyes - Lover I Don't Have to Love
41. The Mark of Cain - [R] Retaliate
42. Cog - Bird of Feather
43. Smog - Dress Sexy At My Funeral
44. The National - Thirsty
45. Stero MCs - Deep Down and Dirty
46. Midnight Juggernauts - into the Galaxy
47. Sparta - MYE
48. Eels - Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)
49. The Mess Hall - Disco 1
50. Young Heart Attack - Over and over
51. Babybird - The F Word
52. Brad - I Must Confess
53. Jarvis Cocker - Running the World
54. Deftones - Change (in The House of Flies)
55. Kaiser Chiefs - Oh My God
56. I Am Kloot - Avenue of Hope
57. Greenskeepers - Vagabond
58. The Futureheads - The Beginning of the Twist
59. Black Strobe - I'm a Man
60. Austrian Death Machine - Get To The Choppa
61. Moby - Extreme Ways
62. Klaxons - It's Not Over Yet
63. Kings of Leon - On Call
64. Feist - 1234
65. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion
66. TV On The Radio - Wolf Like Me
67. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldier
68. Lily Allen - LDN
69. Gotye - Hearts a Mess
70. Eagles of Death Metal - I Want So Hard (Boy's Bad News)
71. Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor
72. Wolfmother - Women
73. The Subways - Rock & Roll Queen
74. Kanye West - Gold Digger
75. Spiderbait - Black Betty
76. Modest Mouse - Float On
77. The Killers - Mr Brightside
78. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
79. Radiohead - There There
80. Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around
81. The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??
82/ The Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar
83. Audioslave - Cochise
84. Tool - Schism
85. Tenacious D - Tribute
86. System of Down - Chop Suey!
87. The Shins -New Slang
88. Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
89. Air - How Does It Make You Feel
90. Rollins Band - Illumination
91. Placebo - Taste In Men
92. A Perfect Circle - Judith
93. Magnetic Fields - Papa Was A Rodeo
94. Lemon Jelly - The Staunton Lick
95. Grandaddy - Hewlett's Daughter
96. Goldfrapp - Utopia
97. Fear Factory - Resurrection
98. At The Drive-In - One Armed Scissor
99. The Dandy Warhouls - Bohemian Like You
100. Rage Against The Machine - Sleep Now In The Fire

Please remember this is my opinion only.

Top 10 Films Of 2009

Hey it's the end of the year. And 2009 has been a great year for films. OK A lot I want to see I have not seen yet but this will seem a bit redundant if I make this list in June. So of the films I have seen here is my Top films of 2009. But first:

The Worst Film of 2009: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Badly written, badly acted, badly directed piece of shit film is an insult. Bad comedy relief scenes really sets this film apart from other bad films. Just bad. Shame because the first film was so much fun. Not this one. Awful!

And now on with the countdown:

10. Watchmen
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Starring: Jackie Earl Haley, Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Malin Akerman, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

I must start by saying I'm a big fan of the original graphic novel by Alan Moore. And I thought this film was an acceptable adaptation of it. The movie is set in alternate 1985 were masked vigilantes are outlawed and the World is on the brink of Nuclear Armageddon. Meanwhile a former masked vigilante has been murdered and one disturbed vigilante wants to know why.

Even though this is my 10th favourite film of the year I personally recommend you read the graphic novel first. The movie is still great though despite the bad acting by several of the main cast and the out of place soundtrack (why is Nena's 99 Luft Balloons in this?). The film looks great and has great atmosphere. Although you may find the 'Blue Penis' a bit distracting in some scenes ;)

9. Star Trek
Directed by: JJ Abrams
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg and Leonard Nimoy.

Unlike the Watchmen above I have never been a fan of the Star Trek series. I did quite like the movie Star Trek II but that's about it. This reboot though was awesome. It looked great and has a good story. It does have some plotholes. But it's enjoyable and that's the main thing. Speaking of looking great...

8. Avatar
Directed by: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang and CCH Pounder (what a name ;) )

Wow what a way to return to films after a 12 year absence. After Titanic James Cameron really wanted to make this film... But he thought Special FX technology of the late 90s was not up to par to his vision to come to life. So he waited for over a decade. And the result is most visually stunning movie ever made. OK you have to see it in 3D (real D, I mean) to get the most of it. OK the story is not entirely original and their is some clichés. And there is some boring spots but the great stuff really makes this film well great. The action scenes are fantastic and the 3D is not just some cheap gimmick. See it while it's still in the cinema.

7. The Hangover
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Heather Graham

We have seen some great comedies in 2009 and this is one of them. One of the surprise hits of the year. This film is very funny. Yeah don't want to say too much because of spoilers (even though the trailers for this film did a good job of spoiling some of this film). One of the decades great comedies.

6. District 9
Directed by: Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Sharlto Copley

Peter Jackson's 'Them Lovely Bones' may have been disappointing at the box office but at least one film he produced this year made some money. This one to be exact. This Sci Fi film has a great original idea. Aliens invade a South African city but instead of attacking they are seeking asylum. Yes the aliens (or Prawns as they are called in the movie) are refugee's from another planet living in slums and eating cat food. See there is some original ideas out there. This film kind of came out of nowhere. I only became aware of it after seeing a trailer for it a month before it was released. Highly entertaining, a must watch.

5. Zombieland
Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin and a surprising cameo by.... OK I won't spoil it ;) .

The United States answer to 'Shaun of the Dead' is surprisingly very good and funny. With some good horror elements. Has a great style and I was very impressed by this film.

Fun Fact: One of two films of 2009 starring Jesse Eisenberg with a film title with the word 'Land' at the end. The other being Adventureland. Which like Zombieland features a theme park but disappointingly no Zombies.... Well except for Kristen Stewart. :P

4. Gran Torino
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood a great actor and director. And he does both in this film. This is what Eastwood says is his final acting role. Yes he has retired from acting now but what a way to end.... As grumpy old man that would put Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau to shame. Be warned old Clint sings a song at the end :P

3. Up
Directed by: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson
Starring: Edward Asner, and Christopher Plummer

Pixar are the perfect film studio. They have never made a bad film. Up ranks along with The Incredibles, Wall-E and the Toy Story's as one of the really really good Pixar films. A funny and sometimes sad movie is really touching and shows why Pixar is the undisputed King of 3D animation.

2. The Wrestler
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachael Wood, Ernest 'The Cat' Miller and The Necro Butcher!

In the 90s marked the return of John Travolta after a poor time in the 80s. You could return the biggest return of the 2000s after a poor 90s was Mickey Rourke who made a glorious return with Sin City in 2005 and this film were he plays an aging washed up professional wrestler who has pissed away most of this earnings. Mickey Rourke is simply great in his role as Randy The Ram and truly deserved this Academy Award nomination. Marisa Tomei was good as well.... And we saw a lot her in this :D. Anyway a great film.

1. Inglourious Basterds
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Diane Kruger, and Eli Roth.

Best film of the year. Tarantino's take on World War II films is awesome. Almost everything about this film is great. The acting, the atmosphere, the set pieces and the direction. Christoph Waltz steals the show as the Jew Hunter. He is such an evil douche. Waltz should be nominated for best supporting actor come Oscar time. The movie has many great characters. It's is truly a Tarantino film and Tarantino at his best. His third best film in my opinion. Awesome, my clear favourite Movie of the Year.
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RI presents: 8 so-so to Great Christmas films

Well it's that time of year. Yep it's time to put up your tree, make some egg nog and watch sappy movie. It's Christmas. And what better way to spend an evening in December then.... reading a good book, playing an awesome videogame, watching a great Christmas special of your a TV series (This blog is not about that but here are some great recommendations anyway: The Office Christmas Special UK version, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - A Very Sunny Christmas, Extras The Specials, and several Christmas episodes of The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, Venture Bros., American Dad and Robot Chicken)

Also I guess you could watch a Christmas movie. Now in October I did the Halloween movie list and that was easy. There are lots of great scary films. But Christmas films is a lot harder. I could only come up with 8 and one of them is technically an episode of a TV show. There is a lot of crap Christmas films out there (A lot of them starring Tim Allen). So I could only come up with 8. But 8 is enough (:P). And they are good ones. Or average ones lets say that. Each entry will include a link on where to purchase or in a couple of cases watch them in their entirety. OK enough Jibber Jabber lets get into the list:

8. HOME ALONE (1990)

Directed by: Chris Columbus

Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Candy, Cathrine O'Hara

Get the DVD: here

Damn I have not seen this film in well over a decade. This is one of those films I came up with when I was struggling to think of some titles. Yeah this film is alright. Quite comical. Gets a bit heart warming towards the end... I should point out this movie is about a kid that gets left at home when his family go holiday and some bumbling burglars try to rob his house on Christmas Eve but fail with humorous results. OK I'm done with this film. Moving on.....

IMDB Trivia um.. fact: There is a legend that Elvis Presley (who died in 1977) makes a cameo in this movie. Many of those who believe that Elvis is still alive maintain that, the heavily bearded man standing in the background of the scene where Mrs. MacCallister is shouting at the desk clerk (just before she meets John Candy) is Elvis.

7. Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (Mystery Science Theater 3000 Episode) (movie: 1964, MST3K: 1991)

Directed by: Nicholas Websters (movie), Jim Mallon (MST3K)

Starrinng: Movie: John Call, Leonard Hicks. MST3K: Joel Hodgeson, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy.

Watch it: here

Hooray for Sandy Claus! OK SCCTM is a terrible, terrible film from the 60's about a race of Martians who kidnap Santa Claus because the children of Mars are depressed and think that bringing Christmas to Mars might cheer them up a bit. The film is bad as said but it does have it's own charm. You can tell the people making it had fun. The Villain has some unintentionally funny lines.

Cut to 1991 on the Satellite of Love. Now if you not familiar with Mystery Science Theater 3000 I will let the link to this video explain (Explain Video). Well that saved some time ;).. Anyway this particular episode they have to watch SCCTM. And it's hilarious. As mentioned not really a movie. But I feel that it needs a place.

IMDB Fact: The movie ranks in the IMDB Bottom 100 films of all time list. At time I made this blog it was at: #77

6. Scrooged (1988)

Directed by: Richard Donner

Starring: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Bobcat Goldthwait, Carol Kane, Robert Mitchum.

Get the DVD: here

Another film I have not seen in a while. A modern and humorous (well for 1988 anyway) retelling of the Charles Dicken's 'A Christmas Carol'. Bill Murray plays a TV network executive with a cold heart and only interested in TV ratings and revenue. You know the story he is visited by a ghost of an old partner (more of a Zombie in this film) who tells him that three spirits are going to set him right before it's too late.

Well worth a watch because it's very funny. Bill Murray is great as always. And it features what I think is the coolest looking Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come ever:

IMDB Trivia Fact: The late comedian Sam Kinison was originally slated to play the part of Eliot Loudermilk. The part eventually went to Bobcat Goldthwait due to his friendship with Bill Murray.

5. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Directed by: Brian Henson

Starring: Michael Caine, Kermit The Frog, Miss Piggy, The Great Gonzo, Rizo the Rat, Fozzy Bear, etc.

Get the DVD: here

Another film based on the Dickens classic. You want to hear about perfect casting. It's in this film. Michael Caine was born to play Ebeneezer Scrooge. And he ended up playing him in the Muppet version. But that's not a bad thing.

In my opinion this movie is the most entertaining of any movie or TV special based on 'A Christmas Carol'. It's also one of the most faithful adaptations minus the Muppet alterations. And of course it has that charming Muppet humor will know and love. The Disney Channel (Yes it's a Disney film) should play this film every Christmas,

IMDB Trivia Fact: Michael Caine considers the role of Scrooge to be one of his most memorable (to him) roles.

4. Bad Santa (2003)

Directed by: Terry Zwigoff

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Lauren Graham, Bernie Mac, John Ritter.

Get the DVD: here

Not all Christmas movies have to be friendly kiddie films. And this one of those Christmas films that proves that you can make a fun Christmas film aimed at an adult audience.

Thornton plays Willie an alcoholic, foul mouthed crook who come December dons a Santa suit to become a mall Santa Clause. Along with his Elf in crime on Christmas Eve they break into the mall's safe and steal the day's takings. And for the rest of the year they live off the profits from the crime.

During the coarse of the film Willie makes friends with a lonely and gullible child and decides to take advantage of him. See the kid does not have mother and his Dad is in prison so the kid just lives his senile grandmother in a big house. As you probably guess Willie grows fond of the kid and looks out for him.

A pretty good film. Probably my favorite Billy Bob Thornton performance.

IMDB Trivia Fact: Billy Bob Thornton admitted that he was genuinely intoxicated during the filming.

3. Miracle On 34th Street (1947)

Directed by: George Seaton

Starring: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Natalie Wood.

Get the DVD: here

Look an actual Christmas movie that is considered a true classic. Have I gone mad. Maybe I should be put on trail.

OK the story of this film Macy's the big New York store hires a man named Kris Kringle to be the store's Santa Clause. A man that believes and may or may not be the actual Santa Clause. Many people think he is crazy but the store is getting some good profit and publicity from the guy some no one really complains. Well one guys does and has Kringle sent to the nut house. The film climaxes in court were a young lawyer tries to prove that Kringle is in fact Santa.

This film is a classic for many reasons. It's charming, it's warm, it's inspiring and it's funny. Honestly for a film made in the late 40s I actually got quite a few laughs from it. I also like it also sort of has a anti commercialism of Christmas message in it. Kringle is in town because he thinks people are forgetting what Christmas is about. Anyway great film.

IMDB Trivia Fact: Despite the fact that the film is set during Christmas, studio head Darryl F. Zanuck insisted that it be released in May because he argued that more people went to the movies during the summer. So the studio began scrambling to promote it while keeping the fact that it was a Christmas movie a secret.

2. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

Directed by: Frank Capra

Starring: James Stewart, Donna Weed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers.

Watch It: here

Ever feel that you give so much and feel like your getting nothing in return? Well George Bailey did in this essential classic. Yes another true classic. A Wonderful film if you will...

Anyway George Bailey is guy with huge ambitions and the World at his feet. But he has to sacrifice those ambitions for the good of his family, friends and his home town of Bedford Falls. When things seemingly start to go wrong for him he decides maybe the World will better off without him. That's when a Galaxy and a Nebula (go with it) send down a Angel in training to try and convince Bailey not to do it and shows him a World if Bailey was never born.

The movie is in the public domain hence why you can watch it for free on the link above. I recommend if you have not seen it to click that link now and watch it. It will make you feel better about yourself. My only complaint is that the famous bell ringing scene at the end could of been a bit more subtle. Still a great film though.

IMDB Trivia Fact: Films made prior to this one used cornflakes painted white for the falling snow effect. Because the cornflakes were so loud, dialogue had to be dubbed in later. Frank Capra wanted to record the sound live, so a new snow effect was developed using foamite (a fire-fighting chemical) and soap and water. This mixture was then pumped at high pressure through a wind machine to create the silent, falling snow. 6000 gallons of the new snow were used in the film. The RKO Effects Department received a special award from the Motion Picture Academy for the development of the new film snow.

1. Christmas Vacation (1989)

Directed by: Jeremiah S. Chechik

Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Randy Quaid.

Get the DVD: Here

Christmas is a time for happiness, family and get together. It is also a time when things just f*** up royally. And in this film anything that f***s up does.

The Griswold family are having the traditional family Christmas and nothing ever seems to go right. From getting the Christmas tree to cooking the Christmas turkey everything just goes wrong. One of the only things that goes right is the Christmas Lights that Clark Griswold covers every inch of his house in. Things explode, things catch fire, animals are on the loose, arguments happen, rednecks move in.

Not a Christmas goes buy without a viewing of this film. I love it. I can't give it justice give it a viewing. BTW stay well away from the sequel 'Uncle Eddie's Vacation' it will destroy your soul.

IMDB Trivia Fact: According to Randy Quaid, many of cousin Eddie's characteristics (most notably the clicking of the tongue) were based off a guy that Quaid knew from when he grew up in Texas years ago who had similar traits.

So that is my list. I hope you enjoyed reading it and I hope you check out the films I mentioned. I will just leave you with a Christmas Card from Cousin Eddy:

(Pictures from I-Mockery.com)

Oh God The Horror! (My top 10 horror films)

Halloween is coming. In Australia Halloween is kept low key. We do get some kids trick or treating but they are just hoping to score some free lollies. You might get some Halloween parties and theme nights at clubs but that's about it.

OK so Halloween is pretty much an American thing. But that does not mean we can let the Yanks have all the fun. One thing I like to do during the month of October is watch horror movies. Yes the films that made to give you a bit of scare and chill the bones. OK there is a ton of shit horror movie clogging the horror section at JB Hi Fi so I have compiled my top 10 personal favorite horror films that should be essential viewing and require a change of underwear ;) :

10. Scream (1996)
Director: Wes Craven
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Rose McGowen, Jaime Kennedy, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lilliard, David Arquette, Henry Winkler and Drew Barrymore

I remember when this film came out in 96 I dismissed as it looked too much like those teen dramas that were on TV at the time. But with Wes Craven's name attached to the movie I should of known better. This film is genuinely scary with some good psychological horror and call backs to classic horror films. The story of the movie in a small town, teenagers are being picked off by killer dressed as the guy in the scream painting and what the killer does is phone the victims first and bate them until they are vulnerable and that's when the killer pounces. You might of noticed I did not reveal the sex of the killer because I don't want to spoil it. There is a mystery to the movie as well. So see this film and don't answer the phone. ;) BTW whatever happened to Neve Campbell? You don't see her in anything anymore.

IMDB Trivia: All the killer's phone calls were really done by Roger Jackson on set with a cell phone. At one point, the crew were contacted by the police demanding to know who they were because they thought there was a real killer making the phone calls.

9: Evil Dead II (1987)
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell

The sequel to the cult classic I is think better. It has quite a bit of humor too. The story is Ash and his girlfriend go to a secluded cabin for the weekend. After they play a tape (containing a passage from the book of the dead) that was left there, evil spirits are let loose. The girlfriend is possessed and the woods seem to come alive. Also Ash's hand seems to get a mind of it's own. I have not seen this film in a while. I should really dust the DVD off I have it somewhere. But I recommend this film for it's scares and humor.

Trivia: Sam Raimi would go on to direct the Spider-Man trilogy of film with star Bruce Campbell playing a different minor role in each film. (Wrestling Announcer in SM 1, Theater Doorman in SM 2, Waiter in SM 3)

8. A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Director: Wes Craven
Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund and Johnny Depp

Another Wes Craven makes the list. Well he knows how to make them. A true classic of the genre. Johnny Depp's first ever acting role. I bet that makes Heather Langenkamp jealous. Anyway A,N,O,E,S is well you should know about a disfigured killer murdering teens from beyond the grave by going into their dreams. Another film I have not seen in a while so the details are lacking. Anyway I heard there is a remake in the works with the guy that played Rorschach in Watchmen playing Freddy Kruger. Should be shit. All horror remakes are (with one exception - coming up). Anyway this gem is often forgotten in a sea of shit sequels so see this one if you have not.

IMDB Trivia: Director Wes Craven claims to have named Freddy Krueger after a kid who bullied him in school and to have based his appearance on a disfigured hobo who scared him as a youth.

7. The Mist (2007)
Director: Frank Darabont
Starring: Thomas Jane, Marica Gay Harden and William Sadler.

Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name. The Mist is about well a mist. After a storm a man and his son go to a supermarket to get supplies when a mist descends over the town. The mist contains strange monsters with a hunger for human flesh so a group of survivors are trapped in the store. It's not long before cabin fever kicks in and one of the survivors is a mad preacher women who does her best to rile everyone up. One of the great recent horror films.

TRIVIA: Frank Darabont before this film directed two Stephen King stories into movies; The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile

6. Dawn Of The Dead (2004)
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer and Michael Kelly

This is that remake I mentioned above. A remake to the George Romero cult classic. This film really shows how much of a threat the crisis in this film is (a zombie apocalypse). Yes in this film the recently deceased are waking up and want some BRAINNNNNS. A group of survivors hole up in a shopping mall where they pretty much await their fate. The DVD has some the best extras I have ever seen. One of the extras is on going news coverage of the zombie outbreak and you see just how serious it gets. Also I love the use of the Johnny Cash song 'The Man Comes Around' during the opening credits.

IMDB Trivia: Some of the camera crew would wear plastic sheeting during the filming of some of the more gorier scenes, due to the amount of fake blood flying around.

5. The Thing (1982)
Director: John Carpenter
Starting: Kurt Russell, Keith David and Wilford Brimley

A loose remake of 'Thing From Another World'. is another one of those cabin fever films. A U.S research base in Antarctica are menaced by a alien life form that can mimic and consume any living thing it wants. So the movie is also a test of paranoia. The film contains some great prop special FX. The movie is also very gory. A classic

IMDB Trivia: John Carpenter and Kurt Russell both admit that after all of these years they still do not know who has been replaced by the creature and when.

4. The Exorcist (1973)
Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow, Linda Blair a Lee J. Cobb

Oh god I have only seen this film once and I still get freaked out by it. Everyone knows the story a little girl gets possessed by a demon and a couple of priests try and rid the demon from the girl while being insulted and vomited on by the demon. A true classic if you have not seen this then go and see it now.

Trivia: Linda Blair would sort of reprise her role in the 1990 comedy spoof 'Repossessed' also starring Leslie Nielson.

3. Let The Right One In (2008)
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leanderrson

A horror film from Sweden! A different sort of horror film is one. It's more of a drama but there is some really creepy horror scenes. Here is review I wrote for a forum I post at:

In 2008 there was two films about a kid and relationship they have with a vampire. One them of was Twilight and the other is this film. This film is like Twilight except it's 10000x more creepy and does not suck (pun truly intended). This is the story of a lonely 12 year old boy in Sweden who becomes friends with the "girl" next door who just happens to be a 200 year old vampire. Unlike those p*ssy Twilight Vampires this "girl" actually chows down on human blood and actually Kills her victims. Now that's a veal Vampire.

Anyway this film is great. You feel for the characters (unlike that other Vampire film). It's genuinely creepy and scary at times. And the ending will f*** you up. A must watch.

So there you go.

Trivia: A U.S remake is in the works (groan). The studio making it wanted to increase the age of the kids to late teens (Gee I wonder why? *cough*cashinginonTwilight*cough*) but smarter heads prevailed and the story will made closer to the original film.

2. Creepshow
Directed by: George Romero
Starring: Hal Holbrook, Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, Ed Harris, E.G Marshall and Stephen King.

A favorite from my childhood. Creepshow is not one but five stories of horror:

i: Father's Day: The corpse of man murdered by his daughter on Fathers Day returns from the dead to extract revenge and get that cake he wanted

ii: The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill: After a meteor lands in a Farmer's yard the farmer thinks he has hit the jackpot..Until he discovers the meteor was carrying a horrible virus.

iii: Something To Tide You Over: A drowned couple come back from their watery grave to get revenge on the man that did them in.

iv: The Crate: A man tries to kill his wife with monster in a box.

v: They're Creeping Up On You: A reclusive and germaphobe business man in a apartment is terrorized by a cockroach infestation.

All this stories are spooky. The film is hard to find these days. But give it a look if you can it's good fun.

IMDB Trivia: Rice Krispies were used as maggots on the corpse's eyes in the first story, "Father's Day". In addition, real maggots were also utilized.

1. [REC] (2007)
Director: Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza
Starring: Manuela Velasco & Pablo Passo

OK if your having a Halloween party you must watch this film. It's almost a ride this film. It will f**k with you. A horror film from Spain. A documentary crew are hanging out with the fire brigade and are called to a building. Once in that building a horror is unleashed and the building is quickly quarantined by the authorities trapping those with the nightmare inside. The film is filmed like The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield with Steadicam so you get a first hand look at the horror. I don't want so say too much I don't want to give too much away. But this film is great. The last 10 minutes are the most intense. Skip the U.S remake 'Quarantine' and head straight for this one. I'm happy to hear that sequel has been made.

IMDB Trivia: Made and shot in real locations. No sets were built to make this movie.


SO that's it for my list. If you have a problem with what I included then stiff shit it's my personal list. So over Halloween you need a horror film to watch you can't go wrong with any of the films above.

And turn those lights out..

I'm Richard