Winter's Bone (2010)

When a movie receives such high praise from the Academy, you expect a certain standard. You expect something that the critics will masturbate over, something involving hardship, failure and inevitable success.

Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly.

Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) is a 17 year old girl responsible for raising her younger brother and sister and caring for her mentally ill mother, while trying to stay positive in their horrible living situation. Ree is confronted by the local sheriff regarding her missing, drug cooking father who has an impending court date. He has used the family home and land as collateral for his bond. If he does not appear in front of the judge then they will lose their home. And so begins Ree's journey through the harsh underbelly of the redneck community looking for her father.

The rednecks that live in the Ozark mountains are very distrustful of any outsiders, but surprisingly enough they are just as skeptical of friends and family. They are family, however, even family comes second to the illegal activities they are involved with. Don't ask and I won't tell would be the perfect way to describe them.

Jennifer Lawrence's performance was certainly worthy of all the praise she received, she can act better than half of the females in Hollywood, and will become an absolute star in years to come. John Hawkes has rivaled Jennifer with his portrayal of Teardrop, Ree's uncle. He is one of the most underrated actors in the world today.
Debra Granik the director has captured the bleak and gloomy life that the characters are living through, easily her best work yet.

The script was as good as it could be, using the mannerisms of the Ozark people really improved the entire film. The fact that Winter's Bone was filmed in the local area gave the viewer a real inside look at the harsh realities that are in our world.

I personally did not like this film, however I can look past that and understand why people did enjoy it. If you like your drama's hard hitting and realistic, then by all means check it out.

8/10

Come Fly With Me - Pilot (2011)

I have been eagerly anticipating this show, the commercial certainly got me interested. The trailer even produced some laughs out of me. The show itself however, was average at best.

Matt Lucas as Precious.

The most disappointing thing about this show is the script, it is lacking original humor, most of the jokes rely on age old stereotypes. A homosexual male flight attendant? How creative. A black woman who finds countless reasons to shut up shop early? Nice try at tongue in cheek racism, too bad it lacked the tongue in cheek.

This show seems like it was made by immature primary school children, after creating such a brilliant series in Little Britain, Matt Lucas and David Williams look like they need to take a break from skit shows. Maybe have a crack at a movie or some stand up, because this show does not look like its going to improve from here.

If you have any intelligence I recommend you stay away from this piece of garbage, only people that find generic toilet humor funny will enjoy this.

3/10

Tangled (2010)

Rapunzel and her frying pan, one of the film's funniest moments

Disney are renowned for their timeless animation classics, and Tangled is without a doubt one of Disney's finest. This movie ticks all the boxes, brilliant animation, wonderful characters, amazing songs and hilarious dialogue.

Tangled is Disney's take on the classic fairy tale, Rapunzel. The baby princess Rapunzel is kidnapped in the middle of the night by Mother Gothel after receiving healing powers from a magical flower. Mother Gothel keeps Rapunzel locked away in a tower, because she knows the flower's power has transferred to Rapunzel's hair. One day a bandit by the name of Flynn Rider, climbs the tower in search of a safe haven. He is taken captive by Rapunzel, Flynn strikes a deal with Rapunzel to take her to see the floating lights that are released every year on her birthday.

This movie has enough action and comedy for the boys, while the romance and drama will make the girls happy. A couple of scenes pull at the heartstrings like most Disney movies in the past, the most memorable is the lantern scene towards the end of the film.

Mandy Moore was amazing as Rapunzel, her voice worked extremely well, while her singing was immaculate. Zachary Levi was hilarious as Flynn Rider, the one liners and the comedic value that his character brought to the movie was priceless. My favourite character was Maximus, the Palace Horse. His antics with Flynn Rider brought the movie to life, and kept me laughing until the finish. Maximus certainly reminded me of Altivo from "The Road to El Dorado".

If you love Disney, you will love Tangled. If you think your too cool for kids movies, then think again, one of the best movies in the past year, make sure you watch it.

9.5/10

Various Artists - Punk Goes Pop 3 (2010)

As a big fan of the Punk Goes.... series, I was quite excited to listen to the latest release. I came away from it slightly disappointed. Many of the song were lackluster, only a few bands really did what was expected. This makes me unhappy because these albums are about showcasing the talent of today's heavy bands trying something different.

David Stephens of We Came as Romans

The most impressive cover on the album is "My Love" by We Came as Romans, they show exactly why these compilations are made, the use of synth backed verses with the clean singing blends perfectly with the growling in the choruses. Miss May I's cover of Jay Z's 'Run This Town" comes in a close second, listening to this version of the song gives me a new found respect for it. Number three is one of my favourite bands covering one of my least favourite songs, Asking Alexandria's cover of "Right Now (Na Na Na) manages to get me going each time I hear it.

Honorable mentions go to "In My Head" by Mayday Parade, "Heartless" by The Word Alive, "Hot 'N Cold" by Woe, Is Me and "Paper Planes" by This Century.

The rest of the covers are not even worth mentioning, each one is abysmal and will only appeal to the fans of that particular band.

Hopefully the next Punk Goes.... will be an improvement on this one, and possibly reinvigorate the dwindling series.

Track Listing:

01. Down - Breathe Carolina - 1.5/10
02. Hot 'N Cold - Woe, Is Me - 6/10
03. Bad Romance - Artist Vs. Poet - 4/10
04. In My Head - Mayday Parade - 7/10
05. Right Now (Na Na Na) - Asking Alexandria - 8.5/10
06. Paper Planes - This Century - 6/10
07. Heartless - The Word Alive - 7/10
08. Bulletproof - Family Force 5 - 1/10
09. Blame It - Of Mice and Men - 3/10
10. Run This Town - Miss May I - 9/10
11. Airplanes - The Ready Set - 4.5/10
12. Dead and Gone - Cute is What We Aim For - 2/10
13. Need You Now - Sparks the Rescue - 3/10
14. My Love - We Came as Romans - 10/10

The Killer Inside Me (2010)

After hearing such great things about this movie I decided to watch it for myself, what I witnessed was nothing short of brilliant. Everything about the film was spot on, I don't have a bad word to say about this movie.

Casey Affleck in a scene from the film

Lou Ford is a mild mannered deputy sheriff in the 1950's. He goes about his business like a gentleman and doesn't set a foot wrong, until he is sent by his boss to push a prostitute out of town. She doesn't take kindly to the proposition. She slaps him; he retaliates, and so begins a two week long relationship of sadistic daily sex. Soon she becomes a factor in Lou's revenge plans. As the bodies begin to pile up, Lou must stay cool in order to throw off a hard nosed district attorney who suspects Lou for the murders.

Casey Affleck plays Lou Ford perfectly. He is certainly better than his older brother Ben and is one of the most charismatic actors in Hollywood. His role in this film is amazing, he really made me believe in the character and made me sympathize with the fact that he kept trying to stop yet he couldn't help himself. What Casey brings to each of his characters is a level of believability. If we need to believe he is a murdering sadist then thats what he makes us believe.

The rest of the cast were all above standard and acted wonderfully, both Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson portrayed their characters beautifully. However, Casey truly makes this movie his own. When he is on screen you can't look away, and when he isn't, you wish he was. The directing is amazing with Michael Winterbottom churning out another great movie.

This movie is not for the weak at heart, the violence is brutal, the sex is quite realistic and the mind of Lou Ford is enough to make most people feel physically sick. If you think you're up for it then by all means check it out, if not then maybe you should watch something else.

9.5/10