Mark Kermode's Recommendations...

[philosoraptor42]

Kermode has done his latest set of favourite movies of the year. I pointed out his previous set before (click here) and I've since had a chance to check (nearly) all of them out. Now this new one is a rather larger list (or a shorter list depending on how you look at it) for 2010 and I'm wondering how seriously to take it. My own reviews online can all be found if you click here along with further links for favourites of 2008, 2009 and 2010 so far.

Okay let's look back through Mark Kermode's old reviews, because I really can't find many of those. Back in 2007 is the earliest I can find his stating his best and worst movies of the year (link here). In 2008 he gives a list of movies, but clearly only really wants to give one of each (best here) (worst here). And so it's not until 2009 that he gives a whole selection of favourite movies (my previous post here) and in that year he similarly had a long list of worst movies in the form of his Bride Wars Challenge.

2007
Worst movie
Good Luck Chuck
Thankfully I've never seen it.

Best Movie
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
This was actually so dull that I couldn't reach the second half. Now is probably a good time to admit to films I've recently failed to finish.

Tangent - Movies I Couldn't Finish
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (review here) - My parents had recorded this off the TV and it was suggested that I should try to finish it off. However, when we got back to the bit where I'd given up and started watching, my dad was forced to admit that he must have fallen asleep the first time around because he found it similarly unbearable. Even with the extra bit I watched, I still haven't got to the bit where Penelope Cruz turns up....

Sans Soleil (review here) - A confusing selection of arty bits. I'd already sat through La Jetee which I found rather less than impressive as the inspiration for Twelve Monkeys. Sans Soleil was on the same disc and was at least twice the length.

Synecdoche, New York (review here) - I actually did go back and finish watching this one. It was tough, but I managed it. The bit where someone else takes over as director was sort of interesting, but it was a poor consolation for the general dreary and misogynistic tone. (Also Cashback hence my other half giving these insights.)

Something Something Dark Side (blog entry here) - It was if they were saying "What? You mean Season Seven (Season Six in the US) of Family Guy wasn't enough to convince you that we can't do humour anymore?" It started off with a mildly amusing dig at Aaron Sorkin's "West Wing" style of dialogue before giving up on humour altogether. When the old pedophile guy turns up (seriously, why was he ever in more than a couple of episodes at most?) I gave up entirely.

Dear Zachary (A Letter To A Son About His Father) (review here) - A very amateurish and one-sided documentary that appeared to think that self-righteous lecturing would appeal to a wide audience. While this must have seemed fantastic as a home movie, it felt distinctly under-par as a feature-length documentary.

Fantastic Mr Fox (blog entry here) - I was good enough not to actually review it, but this made it very clear to me that I have a personal insurmountable hatred of Wes Anderson movies.

Holy Mountain - This was recommended to me by fabfunk , though I cannot currently work out when. I could tell from any recommendation that it was going to be weird, so I haven't felt the need to produce a post ranting about it. It was about as weird and pretentious as recommendations would suggest.

2008
Worst Movies
Four Christmases - Never seen it. Very glad.
Disaster Movie - Same again.
The Hottie and the Nottie - And again. "A fascist eugenic tract" eh? Wow!
Rambo - Um... I actually liked this one. "Christian goodwill to all men is fine but what you really need to stab someone in the eye and enjoy it. It was one of those films that made you feel dirty to be a human being." Strangely I preferred the decision to make it intensely dark and nasty rather than making it all patriotic and self-congratulating.
Rocknrolla - There's one section towards the end where the gangster's worthless son turns out to be a bit of a badass. It didn't make up for the rest of the movie, but it did make you wonder why the whole movie was so awful by comparison to that one scene.

Worst of 2008
Sex And The City - Yeah, didn't see that one. *phew*

Best Movies
Juno - No, this was awful. It was a very unrealistic depiction of a girl who is pregnant. While I can perhaps see the appeal of having a movie where a teenage girl takes pregnancy in her stride rather than going all emo over it, the movie seemed to have no interesting direction to take this in. When we reach the end Juno is, to my mind, in a worse situation than ever, but this is happily glossed over by her and Michael Cera playing acoustic guitar together. What???
There Will Be Blood - Daniel Day Lewis' acting was fantastic, that's a given. But what was the point of this movie? It was one of the most random and unsatisfying endings I've ever seen.
No Country For Old Men - There's a bit before the end which feels like a distinctly unsatisfying ending, but would have made a much better place to finish than the actual ending with Tommy Lee Jones telling us about a dream he's had about his dead father. After a really exciting, suspense-filled rollercoaster ride full of engaging characters, it just seemed to slump right at the end. (Not at all like "Burn After Reading" where the ending was fantastic and yet it was widely underrated.)
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly - Pretty, but rather lacking in direction. It randomly brought religion in a few times with absolutely no good reason provided. While the premise of the movie was good enough to carry it, it wasn't at all clear what message the movie was trying to convey (even though it appeared to be trying really hard to convey something).
Persepolis - Finally one I agree with. Absolutely wonderful animated version of the autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi. It recounts the life of a girl growing up in revolutionary Iran with her communist-leaning parents. Awesome. But watch it with subtitles since the dubbing is awful.
Waltz With Bashir - This is actually another one I didn't watch to the end, though admittedly it wasn't because it was bad. I just had no idea what was going on. The director was showing people piecing together what had happened in their experiences in the army because their memory seemed to be somehow "off". The problem is that I haven't got a clue about the whole set of events they are piecing together and their confused recollections seem to presume the audience has some basic gist.
Son Of Rambow - Absolutely wonderful movie about a child who, having been kept away from television by his Plymouth Brethren parents, is exposed to the movie Rambo and goes absolutely berserk re-enacting it. Simply brilliant introducing the awesome child actor Bill Milner.
Sweeney Todd - Haven't seen it. It's Tim Burton. He's randomly left out the chorus of every single song apparently. I'm clearly not going to like what he's done with it. I've already seen this musical performed on stage, so I'm not sure I need to see the Johnny Depp version.
Mamma Mia - I beg your pardon? This is one I was subjected to against my will one Christmas until my grandma decided that we'd be better off watching something else. (Thank goodness!)
High School Musical 3 - I'm going to presume this is similar to Mark Kermode's weird praise of the Twilight series. I cannot imagine enjoying this sort of movie and in any case, I'm not about to watch parts 1 and 2 on the offchance that nearly every other critic is wrong.

Best of 2008
Of Time And The City - An odd choice. A documentary about how Liverpool has changed. Haven't seen it.

2009
Time to revisit this Kermode's list of best movies of 2009. First of all though
The Bride Wars Challenge
Kermode threatens to give up his job as film critic if he ends up seeing 10 films worse than Bride Wars over the course of the year. The films that make the running include:
Transformers 2 - Haven't seen it. Small sections of the movie in Blu-Ray on screens in HMV haven't looked promising.
Charles Dicken's England - Technically not a movie. Haven't seen it.
Marley And Me - Haven't seen it.
Dance Flick - Haven't seen it.
Miss March - From the WKUK guys. Haven't seen it.
Couple's Retreat - Haven't seen it.
Terminator Salvation (rant here) - Deary me. The guy who made the trailer deserves a medal because they managed to use sections of the actual movie to capture the movie Terminator fans actually deserved. It was ridiculous that in the end Terminator Salvation was actually substantially worse than Terminator 3.
Needless to say: Bride Wars - Haven't seen it. (Kermode's review)

Top Ten of 2009
Looking back, it seems that my tastes matched up a lot better with Kermode's choices in 2009 than in previous years.
10. White Lightnin' - (My review here) It was interesting, but putting it in the top 10 seemed like an odd choice.
9. A Serious Man (My review here) - Strangely for Mark Kermode I wasn't entirely sure what misgivings he had with this one. He certainly liked it, otherwise it wouldn't be in the list. Yet he seemed to think it would do badly for reasons other than the distinct lack of cinemas showing it. Personally my favourite movie of that year (though using imdb's years, as I do, that puts a number of these movies in 2008).
8. Gran Torino - I never reviewed this one. It's a good little movie and Clint Eastwood is great as the old racist protagonist. Absolutely belongs on the list.
7. Helen (My review here) - There's something about this movie, but it's really awkward to watch due to really poor pacing. The idea seems to be that the long pauses with irritating ambient music is supposed to make you feel uncomfortable. Instead it just feels like the director is padding out the runtime.
6. Moon (My review here) - Oh wow was he right about this one. Clear inspiration from both 2001 and Silent Running, but without the poor pacing of either of them. A very tight project and definitely one of my favourite science fiction movies of all time.
5. Antichrist - I am not seeing it. No way. Just no.
4. The White Ribbon (My review here) - I still say that this is essentially a remake of "Children Of The Damned" without the aliens. Very interesting movie.
3. Anvil: The Story of Anvil (My review here) - A very special movie which is made particularly impressive by its unexpectedly fascinating subject matter. Who'd have thought that a documentary about an obscure rock band could be this moving?
2. Slumdog Millionaire (My review here) - A soulless nonsensical drama centred around a non-existent love interest which just happens to be pretty. Seriously, this doesn't belong on anyone's list of "best movies".
1. Let The Right One In - Don't have an online review of this one, but it is on my list of favourites for 2008. After a slow start it turns into an absolutely fantastic adaptation of the original novel and succeeds by ensuring that plenty of time is spent on the central protagonists rather than trying to fit in all the events of the book.

Kermode's Top Five of 2010 (Click here for video)
Naturally I haven't seen all of these yet and until I do, I'm going to be in difficult position to judge. Still, I can already tell that my list for 2010 is going to be very different.
1. Inception (Not a review)
2. Of Gods And Men
3. Toy Story 3 (My review here)
4. Made In Dagenham
5. Chico And Rita

Runners Up
Kick-Ass (My review here)
Restrepo - I have seen this. Didn't review it. What can I say? It's a documentary which successfully follows the lives of soldiers in Afghanistan. It does the job well enough.
Skeletons (My review here)
Heartless
Women Without Men
Eyes Wide Open
Winter's Bone
Monsters
The Arbor
Another Year
Oil City Confidential
The Social Network
Harry Potter 7: Part One
Green Zone (My review here)
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Mark Kermode's Worst Five Movies of 2010 (Click here for video)
Once again I haven't seen any of these. Still, here they are....
Sex And The City 2
Fred: The Movie
Pimp
Eat Pray Love (Vomit)
Nightmare On Elm Street