Stardust review

 Number 532 on the top 1000 films of all time is Matthew Vaughn's 2007 fantasy romantic-drama 'Stardust.'

Tristan Thorn (Charlie Cox) is a young man from the fictional Victorian village of Wall. In love with an already betrothed woman, he ventures into the neighbouring fantasy land of Stormhold to collect a fallen star that has taken the form of a woman called Yvaine (Clare Danes.) However, a coven of witches led by Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) are also seeking Yvaine in their quest for immortality. Meanwhile, Stormhold's dying king (Peter O'Toole) decides that his successor should be whoever can find the ruby he has thrown into the sky. His squabbling sons led by Prince Septimus (Mark Strong) start fighting to become the new king.

This was a fun re-imagining and subversion of the fairy-tale, as well a great take on the fantasy genre. Like science-fiction, I find fantasy to be full of pretentiousness - authors desperate to show off how creative they are put all their efforts into world-building and purple prose, neglecting their characters and narrative. The result is usually an overly-serious and stuffy story.

 Yet Stardust was refreshing and charming. There was no shortage of well-choregraphed, slapstick fights, as well as comedic characters. Robert De Niro as the effeminate pirate Captain Shakespeare is a prime example. De Niro has such a reputation for playing grizzled, old gangsters, it's difficult to imagine him as cross-dressing dame, but he did the comedy so well. He only had a supporting role, but a scene-stealing one.

Similarly, the old man (David Kelly) guarding the wall was great. He uses his staff to fiercely stop Tristan from crossing realms. Granted, he isn't very effective, but it was great slapstick all the same. And there's loads more examples of quiet humour from Lamia's youth potion wearing off leading to her hair falling out and her breasts sagging, to the king's sons committing fraticide one by one. When one of them has his throat slit, he bleeds blue blood. All of these were nice little touches.

I wish my praise could extend to Charlie Cox, but he was very bland and sappy as Tristan Thorn. Arguably, he becomes progressively more heroic, but he is still a rather dull protagonist. It's a shame as I've seen Charlie Cox in more action-oriented roles and he's very good, but he was nothing out the ordinary here. Mark Strong and Michelle Pfeiffer made great villains though. Generally, I've only seen Mark Strong in villainous roles, but he does do them so damn well.

All in all, I did enjoy Stardust. It was wonderfully creative. Yes, Charlie Cox, is sappy, but Stardust proved that fantasy does not need to be dark and serious all the time.

October Sky review

 Number 493 on the top 1000 films of all time is Joe Johnston's biographical drama - October Sky.

Based on the true story, October Sky follows four teenage boys in Coalwood, West Virginia, who after being inspired by the Sputnik launch, decide to enter their county's science fair with their own rocket programme. The group is led by Homer Hickham (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is assisted by his friends Roy Lee Cooke (William Lee Scott) Sherman O'Dell (Chad Lindberg) the nerdy Quentin Wilson (Chris Owen) and their teacher Miss Riley (Laura Dern.) However, the group faces stiff resistance especially from Homer's father John (Chris Cooper) who is adamant that his son follows in his footsteps of working in the local coal mine.

Since starting this challenge, I have always tried to refrain from comparing films. I believe you should judge each film in its own right. But a comparison here would be appropriate. The last film I reviewed was the Breakfast Club. But where the Breakfast Club failed, October Sky succeeded as a great coming-of-age film. It had heart, drama and plenty of laughs.

Our group of boys faced innumerable challenges, but they resolve to never give up and eventually achieve their dream. And in the process, they all grow up. It is quickly established that the most common career path is to work in the coal mine, but Homer refuses to accept this. This steely determination made him a likeable protagonist. Even when it looked like all hope was lost, he continued working toward his dream.

And Jake Gyllenhaal did the part justice. This was his first leading role and he displayed an impressive maturity for such a young age. His tension with his father was one of the driving conflicts behind the film. And Gyllenhaal and Chris Cooper are very good together. Sure their relationship borders on the melo-dramatic - especially nearing the end, but it was no less effective. In essence, it was a clashing of generations - the old man bound by tradition and the young buck wanting to make his own way.

All in all, I did enjoy this film. It balanced humour with heartbreak. And, no doubt, it was a major contributor to Jake Gyllenhaal's current status as one of Hollywood's leading men. 

The Breakfast Club review

 Number 376 on the top 1000 films of all time is John Hughes' coming-of-age comedy-drama 'The Breakfast Club.'

The Breakfast Club tells the story of five high school students from different cliques spending one Saturday in detention. Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald) is the popular, spoiled princess, Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall) is an over-worked nerd, Andrew (Emilio Estevez) is an athlete and wrestler, Alison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy) is a quiet outsider and John Bender (Judd Nelson) is the rebellious delinquent. Over the Saturday, the five teenagers realise they have more in common then they first realised.

It's safe to say that the Breakfast Club has become a cult classic. A favourite of eighties' kids, I was expecting a lot, but I was left cold. It's labelled as a comedy, but it didn't make me laugh very much. In fact, it was fifteen minutes before I even cracked a smile. Perhaps that's because the beginning was slow. We're introduced to our main characters as they take their places for detention. Hardly riveting stuff. And the lack of background music made things even duller.

The cast themselves were boring. I understand that each character was supposed to resemble a different high school stereotype - the cheerleader, the nerd, the jock, the goth and the bad boy, and then as the story progresses, we see that they're more than the labels that society has imposed onto them. But it didn't help they were all so insipid  to begin with. The only interesting character was the delinquent John Bender whose behaviour is attributed to his abusive home life, which helped to give his character a bit of depth. And Judd Nelson did inject some much-needed life and energy into proceedings.

He is an agent of chaos throughout the film, harassing Claire, fighting with Andrew and convincing an unwilling Brian to smuggle in his weed. All of this culminates in an overly-sentimental conclusion where the characters reflect on how they've become such good friends in the space of a day. And as the movie ends, Allison and Andrew get together as do Claire and John, which seemed like a weird, contrived way to pair everybody off.

Is the Breakfast Club a bad film? No. But is it the 376th best of all time? I'm not so sure about that.

Glory review

 Number 353 on the top 1000 films of all time is Edward Zwick's 1989 US civil-war drama 'Glory.'

Glory tells the true story of 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment - one of the earliest African-American regiments within the Union army. It is commanded by the white officers Colonel Robert Shaw (Matthew Broderick) and Major Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes.) Some of its troops include the hot-headed Silas Trip (Denzel Washington,) the older and wiser John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman) and the well-educated Thomas Sears (Andre Braugher.)

I certainly cannot attest to the historical aspect of Glory, but it was a thrilling warm film that gave a well-rounded review that the 54th infantry faced. Its black soldiers suffered racism from their white counterparts and weren't paid as much as them either, while their white officers were constantly left lacking vital supplies needed by their men. It also highlights the interpersonal differences between the black soldiers - notably between Sears and Trip. The two initially clash on their radically different upbringings and perspectives. Trip resents how Sears acts and talks like a white man, while Sears rails against Trip's accusations of him not being truly black.

Both actors were great, but Washington especially so. He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar and I think his win was more deserving than his one in Training Day. Silas Trip was a far more nuanced character than Alonzo Harris. And Washington played him with a lot of vulnerability. Morgan Freeman was also good as the wise and calming John Rawlins. And I particularly liked Andre Braugher. He and Washington were great together.

The black actors were superior to their white counterparts. I do think Matthew Broderick was miscast. He was just too young for such a role. This was only three years after he starred in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and it was difficult seeing him as anything other than the high-school slacker. He just looked scared all the time; whenever he spoke it was like he was trying to convince both himself and the audience that he was mature enough for such a role. I understand this is partly the character. Shaw is supposed to be young, inexperienced and unsure of himself, but Broderick did little to persuade me that he was the right man for the job.

Honestly, I think his co-star Cary Elwes would have made a better lead. Elwes had already proved himself a capable leading man in the Princess Bride. Although he wasn't great here either. He had a strange accent that varied between American and his native English accent.

Glory strayed into melodrama at times. I could have done without the grandiose, instrumental score and characters dying in slow motion. Where it shone was its quieter moments; particularly when the black soldiers are singing a gospel song on the eve of their first big fight. This was a brilliant scene that highlighted the camaraderie and close relationship between these men.

Glory is certainly a good film. Yes, it is cheesy at times and Matthew Broderick was dreadfully miscast, but it was still a noble attempt to bring the efforts of the 54th infantry to the big screen.

The Sixth Sense review

 Number 190 on the top 1000 films of all time  is the psychological thriller 'The Sixth Sense.'

Dr Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is a child psychologist whose latest patient is the nine-year-old Cole Sear (Haley Joe Osment.) However, Cole is deeply troubled by his ability to see and speak with the dead.

This film kicked off M. Night Shyamalan's directing career and it's easy to understand why. He created a movie that uses atmosphere to scare its audiences. What Shymalan does so well is keeping the scares subtle and understated. There isn't any gratuitous gore or overused jumpscares, so when do we get scares, they're all the more effective. The film opens with one of Dr Crowe's patients shooting him in the stomach before blowing his brains out. yet the camera pans away and we only hear the gunshot. When Cole is around a classmate's house for a birthday party, he is scared of a particularly locked cupboard. We don't see what's inside it, but we hear a terrified voice screaming not to be put in the dark. Another of the ghosts that Cole sees has been shot in the head, but we don't see the violence itself; only the bloody wound in the back of his head. These allusions were far more powerful than seeing any outright violence.

Shymalan also brought a touch of tragedy to the horror. Cole's sixth sense leads to him being a social outcast while Dr Crowe has a difficult relationship with his wife. The two find a kindred spirit together. Willis and Osment were great opposite each other. In fact, Willis is so well-known for his action man roles, you would think he is little more than a big slab of meat. But this meat can act, and act well. Osment, at eleven-years-old, was equally good. No surprise that he was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Toni Collette who played his mother also deserves some praise. She plays a woman under the incredible stress of raising her son by herself. On top of this, he also has a sixth sense that drives a stake between her and Cole. This all culminates in a tearful climax. Collette was also worthy of the Best Supporting Actress nod.

And, although, I won't spoil it here, the ending twist has to be one of the best in movie history, perhaps only second to Old Boy.

Although Shymalan might never have been able to replicate his early success, the Sixth Sense proved that he is a brilliant director who can craft a simultaneously tragic, but scary film.

Everything Everywhere all at Once review

 I'm taking a little break from the top 1000 films of all time to review the winner of the 2023 Best Film: Everything Everywhere All At Once (EEAAO)

Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) is a Chinese-American immigrant running a laundromat that is being audited by IRS agent Ms Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis.) Evelyn runs the laundry with hr meek husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) rebellious, gay daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) and ageing father 'Gong Gong' (James Hong.) But Evelyn's life is turned upside down when she is introduced to the multiverse and told that she is the only hope in defeating the evil being Jobu Tupaki.

If I could describe EEAAO in one word, it would be surreal. It is weird, absurdist but endlessly creative. Although that is very much the point of the film. And, despite this, it never lost sight of its heartfelt message of the importance of family. Things start innocently enough with the establishment of Evelyn as our overworked, stressed out laundry over en route to an audit. But things take a turn for the insane when Waymond says that he is actually a Waymond from another universe. And he is Evelyn's guide to the multiverse. cue craziness as we're introduced to universe after universe with each one more random than the next.

EEAAO not only swept up at the Oscars, but many of the other award ceremonies too. Directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert won Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing, and it is easy to see why. This film has its share of fantastical fight scenes which are choregraphed brilliantly. We see the Alphaverse Waymond beating up a group of security guards with his bumbag. Ridiculous, yes, but great to watch. Maybe you could argue that EEAAO indulges a little too much in its absurdism, but it was no less entertaining for it.

But it is also very heartfelt with powerful performances. Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis all picked up Acting Oscars. Curtis won for Best Supporting Actress, beating out Stephanie Hsu, who I was equally deserving of the win. But I think Ke Huy Quan was the best. He effortlessly went to meek, brow-beaten husband to badass action star. It's difficult to believe that this is the same actor who starred opposite Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones before taking an extended break from acting.

Despite the wackiness of the narrative, EEAAO still had a lot of heart. It is the story of a divided family coming together. At the beginning, Waymond wants to divorce Evelyn, while Evelyn is cracking under the pressure of running her laundry. Meanwhile, she is finding it difficult to accept Joy's lesbianism, creating a deep divide between her and her daughter. Lastly, Gong Gong has always disapproved of Waymond, even vowing to disown Evelyn if she marries him. Yet by the film's end, the family learns to love each other again; Evelyn and Joy have a tearful reunion where both actresses show off their acting talent.

EEAAO is certainly not for everyone. Its absurdism and surrealism might put off a lot of viewer, but if you look past the seemingly random weirdness, you'll be treated to one of the most creative and heartfelt films of the year. 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower review

 Number 237 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2012 coming-of-age drama - The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Charlie (Logan Lerman) is a socially awkward high school student struggling to fit in. He is soon befriended by the gregarious Patrick (Ezra Miller) his vivacious stepsister Sam (Emma Watson) and the rest of their friend group. But Charlie starts becoming attracted to Sam which threatens to tear the group apart.

Let's face it. This was very much the Ezra Miller show. He brought a flamboyance and energy to the role, which may have bordered on over-the-top at times. But he also injected a shot of life into what could have been just another teen-drama. And Charlie was very much another generic teen protagonist. His character wasn't anywhere near as interesting or engaging as Patrick.

Part of this was down to Logan Lerman's uncharismatic portrayal, but also the character himself. Charlie is supposed to be quiet and introverted, but neither of these qualities made him particularly interesting. True, his awkwardness is down to his troubled backstory - he suffers PTSD from *spoilers* having been molested by his aunt as a child. However, he was still eclipsed by Patrick.

Patrick is openly gay and is secretly dating Brad (Johnny Simmon) the high school quarterback. It is a secret as Brad is still closeted for fear of repercussions from his homophobic father and friends. This drama felt far more immediate and engaging than Charlie's storyline.

As for Emma Watson, her portrayal of Sam was so tepid and generic, that she was quite a boring character. And it's strange, as I generally think that Emma Watson is quite melodramatic. But I'm probably biased as I don't like her that much.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower isn't an inherently bad film. It is funny, touching and balances relatable themes with deep-rooted issues. However, Logan Lerman was overshadowed by Ezra Miller who stole the show.

Corpse Bride review

 Number 911 on the top 1000 films of all time is Tim Burton's stop-motion, dark-fantasy 'Corpse Bride.'

Set in Victorian London, Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) is a respectable young man who is betrothed Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson) a sweet-natured, young woman. However, cold feet leads to him messing up the ceremony and running into the nearby forest in shame. While rehearsing his vows, he inadvertently awakens the titular corpse bride Emily (Helena Bonham Carter.) She believes the two are now married and Victor finds himself caught between his alive bride Victoria and his dead bride Emily.

In Corpse Bride, Tim Burton blended together a charming, but strange narrative with some brilliant visuals. The animation was absolutely gorgeous if surreal at times. Stop-motion is always so impressive due to its pain-staking nature. Production for this film lasted for over a year and there were over 100,000 individual frames to be animated. But the finished product was a visual feast for the eyes. I loved the colour scheme. In the Land of the Dead, everything is so bright and colourful, whereas in the real world, everything is daub and downtrodden.

But it's in the Land of the Dead where things get really weird. Especially during the musical numbers, it was like watching an acid-trip. But it's this trademark surrealism that made this film so memorable. It was so creative; I can safely say that I haven't seen a film quite like it. And although the musical numbers are few and far between, they are catchy and thoroughly entertaining. The Remains of the Day was one of my favourites especially with its striking visuals.

Corpse Bride is also littered with acting talent. We've already mentioned Johnny Depp, Emily Watson and Helena Bonham Carter, but Christopher Lee, Richard E.Grant, Joanna Lumley and Albert Finney all lend their voices to this fun little flight of fancy. Johnny Depp sounded almost unrecognisable as he lacks the same accent he adorns for the Pirates of the Caribbean series or Sweeney Todd.  It was also a great script with plenty of jokes as well as some real emotional notes. I particularly loved the final image of the eponymous Corpse Bride dissolving into a group of butterflies. I thought this was a touching and elegant image.

Overall, I really enjoyed Corpse Bride. It was so creative, so colourful with some great musical numbers and voice performances. And the stop-motion animation was absolutely brilliant. It proved that stop-motion animation should be respected as much as any other medium within cinema.

The Queen review

 Number 890 on the top 1000 films of all time is the biographical drama 'the Queen.'

Based on the true life story, 'The Queen' dramatises the events that occurred after the death of Princess Diana. Helen Mirren plays Queen Elizabeth II and James Cromwell plays Prince Philip. Together with Prince Charles (Alex Jennings) they must figure out how to deal with the Diana's death. Elizabeth and Philip want nothing to do with it, but the press, general public and prime minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) desperately want to convince them otherwise.

I have never understood this whole celebrity worship/hatred. As is evidenced from the copious amount of stock footage, the general public were devastated by Princess Diana's death. They descended upon Buckingham Palace in their thousands, left countless bouquets of flowers and queued for hours to sign a book of condolences. Thousands of people were upset over the death of somebody they never knew. Conversely, there were plenty of people who never liked Diana and were happy to see her dead. I was only two at the time, but if I was older enough to have know what was going on, I wouldn't have cared. Diana is a celebrity who wouldn't have even known that I existed. Why would I love or hate her?

Seeing as the Queen is indirectly about Diana and the love that seemingly everybody, except for the monarchy, had for her, it was difficult for me to truly resonate with this film. On a content level, I found everything quite meh, but on a technical level this film succeeded. Writer Peter Morgan could have easily fallen into a trap of painting a black-and-white picture. But he ensured that every character was nuanced and developed. 

Nowhere is this more apparent than with Helen Mirren's portrayal of the Queen. It was so good that not only did she win the Best Actress Oscar but Queen Elizabeth II herself invited her to dine at Buckingham Palace. Considering her obstinateness towards even publicly acknowledging Diana's death, she could have quite easily come across as a cliched baddie, but Mirren played the role with a great moral greyness. 

We can clearly see her moral conflict. She knows how badly Diana has torn apart her family and tarnished the royal image. She doesn't want to acknowledge her, even in death, but she also knows what her public expect of her. Eventually she bows to public opinion. I also particularly enjoyed Mark Bazeley as Tony Blair's odious director of communications: Alistair Campbell. Bazely was delightfully slimy and belligerent. But I can't fault the cast at all. From Michael Sheen to James Cromwell to Helen McCrory, they were all great.

I also liked the use of the aforementioned archival footage. It gave everything a brilliant sense of realism and it reminded us that these aren't just characters of the screen. At the film's conclusion, Michael Sheen makes an impassioned speech defending the queen against the constant barrage of criticism she has received for her reaction to Diana's death. Later on, the Queen reminds him that just as quickly as public opinion turned against her, it could just as easily do the same for him.

Although the film's content might not have resonated with me, I can recognise that it was a truly compelling narrative with strong performances across the board.

Blue Valentine review

 Number 881 on the top 1000 films of all time is Derek Cianfrance's 2010 romantic drama 'Blue Valentine.'

Blue Valentine tells the relationship between under-achieving slacker Dean (Ryan Gosling) and his over-worked nurse wife Cindy (Michelle Williams.) The film flashes back and forth between the start of their relationship and their eventual breakdown and divorce.

I've watched a few Ryan Gosling films and while I think he is a versatile and charismatic actor, I have never liked the films themselves. They're either too sentimental or too dark or in the case of Blue Valentine too bleak. And bleak is putting it lightly. This isn't a film that will have you leaving the cinema with a warm, fuzzy feeling, but rather the saddest frown on your face. I imagine this was Cianfrance's intention, so in that sense, he succeeded in making one of the most depressing films since the Pianist.

There isn't anything inherently wrong with unremittently bleak films, but there has to be something more than the unremittent bleakness. True, there are the flashbacks to the happy start of Dean and Cindy's relationship - while these scenes were cute especially the tap dancing/ukulele scene, but they always played second fiddle to the present timeline where their marriage falls apart. Any warm, fuzzy feeling was replaced with a sinking stomach, as I saw this once happy couple scream at each other.

And due to the unrelenting bleakness you know it's only going to end in one way. These characters are never going to rediscover their love for one another and live happily ever after. There is nothing wrong with knowing how a film is going to end, but it does kill the narrative tension.

Cianfrance was inspired by his parent's divorce and the pain that caused him as a young man. And he wanted to create a film that charted the beginning and end of a relationship. In that sense, he succeeded. But did he have to make it so damn depressing? I do like Ryan Gosling as an actor, I'm just waiting to see a Ryan Gosling film that I actually like.

Source Code review

 Number 839 on the top 1000 films of all time is Duncan Jones' science-fiction thriller 'Source Code.'

Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a soldier who becomes an unwilling participant of a scientific programme called Source Code. He is repeatedly sent into an alternate reality where he has the chance to stop a domestic terrorist from blowing up a commuter train and killing everybody on board. Stevens assumes the identity of one of the other passengers and soon forms an attraction to a young woman called Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan.) Vera Farmiga plays Captain Goodwin - the soldier guiding him through the reality and Jeffrey Wright plays Dr Rutledge - the scientist who created Source Code.

I find a lot of science-fiction very pretentious. It's overly-intellectualised made by people who are not only smarter than me but like to rub that in my face. Or maybe I'm just stupid to realise their big, philosophical points. However, Source Code was not like that at all. And that's what I enjoyed the most: its simplicity. The storyline is easy enough to follow: Captain Stevens must identify a domestic terrorist to stop him from not only blowing up the commuter train but the city of Chicago as well. He has only eight minutes to do this otherwise the programme resets and he must start all over again.

The film has real heart too. Although, I thought that at first, Gyllenhaal and Monaghan didn't have the best chemistry, by the end, I thoroughly warmed to their relationship. I was rooting for the two of them to live happily ever after. But there are moral quandaries abound in Source Code. It is revealed that Colter Stevens, for all intents and purposes, has died in battle and his body is being kept alive in a life-support chamber. His mind is being stimulated within the Source Code programme. And Captain Goodwin must decide whether it is morally ethical to keep him alive or to let him die.

Source Code comes in at just over an hour and a half. A lot of science-fiction goes on far longer than it should, but Duncan Jones picked the right length. It didn't need to be any longer. As the storyline revolves around a time loop, there was a real danger of Source Code becoming monotonous and repetitive, yet this was never the case. 

I might argue that if the film could have been expanded anywhere it would have been with the villain. Derek Frost is a domestic terrorist who thinks that society is sick and should be rebuilt from rubble. But there has to be rubble at first. Perhaps an extra ten minutes or so developing his motivations would have been nice, but then again, I don't think it was that necessary. You can argue that Dr Rutledge was a more obvious villain keeping Stevens in an eternal torment, because he has been the only subject compatible with the Source Code programme. Jeffrey Wright played the villain well with his velvety tones doing little to gloss over his odiousness. 

True, a timeloop story is hardly the most imaginative, I've seen it plenty of times in Star Trek, but the execution of Source Code is what made it such a thrilling and enjoyable watch.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street review

 Number 800 on the top 1000 films of all time is Tim Burton's musical horror: 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.'

Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) better known as Sweeney Todd is a barber who has just been released from prison into Victorian London. He was wrongfully imprisoned by the corrupt judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) to steal away with his wife. With the help of pie-maker Mrs Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter,) he schemes to take his revenge, while also murdering his customers and processing their bodies into meat corpses. Timothy Spall and Sacha Baron Cohen co-star.

Originally based on the same character who appeared in the lurid penny dreadfuls that were all the rage in Victorian London, Tim Burton brilliantly captured the atmosphere and effect of these serialised stories. He created a dark, gothic world full of sensationalised violence. The colour scheme is dark and muted only punctuated by the red blood that spurts from the necks of Todd's victims. It is melodramatic and over-the-top, but that's what you can expect from such crude source material. Depp and Carter are also suitably over-the-top with their characters bordering on the campy at times.

I can respect the film for what it is and what it was trying to do, but it really wasn't for me. I find musicals very hit-and-miss and Sweeney Todd definitely missed for me. It was entertaining enough, but the songs really slowed the pace down to a crawl. Todd wasted a lot of time singing when he could have been taking his revenge on Turpin instead. And the songs were hardly the most inspired either. It was just like the character's dialogue was set to music. 

I'm sure Sweeney Todd  would excite lovers of musicals, but it really did little for me. 

Gangs of New York review

 Number 790 on the top 1000 films of all time is Martin Scorsesee's historical crime epic 'Gangs of New York.'

Set in 19th century Manhattan, Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo Dicaprio) is a man seeking revenge. Sixteen years earlier, his father "Priest" Vallon (Liam Neeson) was killed by fearsome gangster Bill 'the Butcher' Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) leader of the xenophobic gang 'the Natives' - one of the many gangs who ruled New York. Amsterdam also grows friendly with attractive pickpocket Jenny Everdeane (Cameron Diaz.) Stephen Graham, Brendan Gleeson and Jimbroadbent all co-star.

Gangs of New York showcased Scorsesee at his absolute best. Based on a true story, he brought characters and a setting that have long been dead to history, back to life again. Everything coalesced to make a thrilling spectacle. The costume design was on-point as the actual set production. Scorsesee had a mile of nineteenth-century New York reproduced on a film set in Rome. He also hired a dialect coach to make sure that all the accents were historically accurate. Dicaprio speaks with a hybrid Irish-American accent and Day-Lewis has a hard New York accent.

And Day-Lewis is a hell of an actor. He might take method acting to an extreme, but it paid off in the finished product. He is scary as the unpredictable Butcher - a character who has lived to forty-seven through terror alone. How does the adage go? Be wary of the old man in the profession where men die young. Day-Lewis really just embodied the character. No wonder he's considered one of the best actors of his generation.

Dicaprio was great as well, taking Amsterdam through an arc of a poor Irish immigrant's son to become the unlikely leader of the resistance movement. He really shone here. The same can't be said for Cameron Diaz who was nothing special in her role. Her character - a former prostitute who suffered an abortion is certainly a tragic one, but one that anybody could have played.

Despite being close to three hours, Gangs of New York never felt over-long. It was masterfully paced and throttled along. Granted, it wasn't perfect. At times, it leant into melodrama with some excessive slow-motion and grandiose music. During the final fight sequence, we see some of our favourite characters die in strange and contrived ways, which I won't spoil here.

Nonetheless, Gangs of a New York is a brilliant film - one of Scorsesee's best. The titular gangs may have once been forgotten, but Scorsesee has ensured that they will be remembered forever more.

The Reader review

 Number 708 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2008 romantic drama 'The Reader.'

The film opens on an adult Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) is waking up with a younger woman. The film then flashes back to 1958 Berlin where we see the 15-year-old Michael (David Kross) embark on a steamy affair with the mysterious, far older Hanna Schmidt (Kate Winslet.) After a summer of romance, she vanishes only to resurface years later on trial for being an SS officer during WW2.

Many stories often fall victim of 'sagging middle-part syndrome - the beginning and the ending are exciting, but things fall apart in the middle. However, I would argue that the ending is where the Reader fell flat. Things were gripping and intriguing right until the final act. We are immediately introduced to the enigmatic Hanna Schmidt. We know that there is more to her than meets the eye, but her character is kept in the shadows. 

But this mystery is what kept me watching until the second act where we finally learn Hanna's mysterious past. Hanna was an SS guard standing trial for letting three hundred jews die in a burning church. Michael, now an aspiring law student, and present at the trial for his learning, is heartbroken by this. However, the tension remains high as Schmidt desperately tries to explain her actions, before eventually admitting her complicity in the crimes. She is sentenced to life.

This would be all well and good if the film ended there, but there's still whole other act and there is little reason to watch it. by this final act all of the narrative tension had dissolved and the stakes had fallen through the floor. We see Hanna in prison, but she seems to have a relatively easy time of it - she doesn't get into any fights with the other prisoners nor does she seem guilt-stricken about what she's done. We're also given to understand that Michael has become estranged from hisw ife and daughter, but we're not given much about this estrangement - except for some vague notion he is still hung-up on Hanna.

David Kross gave a great performance as the young Michael taking us through a wide range of emotions. Apparently he learned English especially for this role which is very commendable. Kate Winslet won the best Actress Oscar for her role. She was good, but I'm not sure her role was quite Oscar-worthy.

Although this film starts well and continues strongly, it was sorely let down by its disappointing and anti-climatic ending. Unfortunately it was sunk by its denouement.