Normally I split my monthly post into two seperate lists of the worst films and the best films of the month. But due to starting season 4 of Dexter, I only got through fourteen films in May. Without further ado, here is my ranking:
14. Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes (Jude Gerard Prest, 2011)
Found footage style fake documentary about
a possessed girl in 70s Germany.
Documentary crew and medical team spend 16 days with priests
investigating what is behind the young girl’s ‘fits’.
Fuck all to like about this film. Unoriginal, ugly, boring and not even
remotely scary. Tries to steal every
great moment from The Exorcist and fails
to make a single one work: Girl pisses
on floor. Spider walks down stairs. Forces priest into sexual act. Makes bed shake. All captured by the cameras of the crew
present at the exorcism. None of it
works. Absolutely dreadful. Appalling accents, acting and staging. One of the worst films I’ve ever seen. I can’t even write proper sentences about it.
13. Kicking and Screaming (Jesse
Dylan, 2005)
The one where Will Ferrell coaches a kids' soccer team. Loved it anytime Ferrell is let off the
leash, especially on coffee. Much better
than Ferrell’s basketball movie Semi-Pro
and probably equal with Blades of Glory, but
no competition with Talladega Nights.
12. American Reunion (Jon
Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, 2012)
While it’s great to see the guys again, the
brief cameos from the rest of the crowd and most of all, Jim’s Dad and
Stifler’s Mum getting high together, the script is lazy and misogynistic and
just not that funny.
11. Flash Point (Wilson Yip,
2007)
This is totally worth while watching for the final fight scene. The rest is pretty formulaic and unmemorable. Just standard cop action thriller stuff. But when the guns get emptied and the hero
and villain have only their hands and feet to fight with, this is exceptional
stuff!
10. Faster (George Tillman
Jr., 2011)
This had pretty close to fascinating
characters for an action flick. However
there is a bit of a lack of decent action considering the title and the set
up. Fails to get the pulse racing but
spends plenty of time introducing a bunch of quite weird and definitely
interesting characters.
9. The Ref (Ted Demme, 1994)
Denis Leary is a bit subdued here but it’s
unsurprising considering the cast of characters he is surrounded by. Criminal on the run takes dysfunctional
family hostage and chaos ensues. Pretty
forgettable unfortunately since I'd been kind of waiting to see this ever since it first came out in '94.
8. Fright Night (Craig
Gillespie, 2011)
Fun take on vampires with very likeable
turns from Colin Farell, David Tenant and Anton Yelchin.
It’s not scary, just mildly entertaining.
7. Avengers Assemble (Joss
Whedon, 2012)
Marvel’s Avengers team up to take out Loki
and his army before they enslave the Earth.
The iconic characters get dressed up for a
spectacular but hardly pulse pounding action climax. Ruffalo steals the show as the latest
incarnation of Bruce Banner. It’s all a bit silly and slow to start and
lacking in any sense of tension as we all know all these characters will
survive and how the film will end. Oh
except one character that I personally couldn’t care less about.
6. Following (Christopher
Nolan, 1999)
Christopher Nolan’s feature debut about a
man who likes to follow people and becomes embroiled with a thief.
It is a pleasure to see lots of Nolan’s
trademarks in their embryonic phase; a
mysterious thief called Cobb, a non-linear, confusing but rewarding narrative
puzzle and a Batman symbol on a character’s door. On the other hand, it did have a bit of dodgy
acting though.
5. TrollHunter (Andre
Ovredal, 2011)
Documentary team find out there is much
more than just bears that need hunting in Norway.
Finally a found footage movie that’s not
shit! The camera operators aren’t
completely hopeless so the cinematography is actually quite nice in
places. Great end and a unique original
story well told with some cool special effects and use of night vision. The titular troll hunter is an interesting
anti-hero with a bit of depth to the character.
It’s more comedy than horror but unfortunately it’s not remotely scary
and it’s not that funny.
4. The
Ice Storm (Ang Lee, 1997)
This 70s set family drama revolves around
sex, desire, sadness and shame. A
fantastic ensemble get some interesting if not overly memorable characters to
dig into but it all takes a little turn for the melodramatic come the end. Still, it’s very well acted and has some
brilliantly awkward moments.
3. Crazy
Heart (Scott Cooper, 2009)
This tale of a country and western singer
living life at the bottom of a bottle is worth catching for a heartbreaking and
brilliant performance from Jeff Bridges alone.
Maggie Gyllenhaal also excels as the love interest in a simple, straight
forward but perfectly acted piece of character-driven cinema.
2. Into the Abyss (Werner
Herzog, 2012)
Documentary on death row that explores the
crime, the victims’ families and the killers themselves. I loved Herzog’s voice, accent and deeply odd
questioning of his subjects. Despite
Herzog proclaiming at the start that he is anti-death penalty, this is not at
all preachy and completely leaves the viewer able to make up their own mind.
Didn’t love how it occasionally feels as
though Herzog is deliberately and clearly pushing his subjects to provoke
emotional responses.
1. This
Film is Not Yet Rated (Kirby Dick, 2006)
This documentary on film censorship in
America investigates the strange secrecy that surrounds the MPAA. It explores the violence vs sex debate and
whether the MPAA is actually homophobic and out-of-touch with public
views. It might go a little far in the
investigative side of things, bordering on invasion of privacy but nevertheless
it is an important and thoughtful documentary that made me very grateful to
live in England where the BBFC are at least very open about their policy and
decisions.
What did you love/hate this month? What do you think of any of these films? Thanks for stopping by!
