Lords Of Dogtown (2006)

After the success of Dogtown and Z Boys, the underground documentary that tells the story of a group of young skateboarders who revolutionised the sport by applying techniques typically used in surfboarding and making it what it is today, this biopic of sorts was put into production. It is directed by Catherine Hardwicke (best known for her film Thirteen) and she did a brilliant job.
The cast is made up of mostly young actors, Emile Hirsch , John Robinson (who played John in Elephant!), Victor Rasuk and Michael Angarano. All of the actors are brilliant, Emile Hirsch who portays Jay Adams is especially good and captures the punk and carefree attitude of Adams brilliantly. Heath Ledger plays Skip Engblom, the owner of a surfboarding shop who forms the Z Boys and tells them to use Urethane Wheels in order to execute their surfing moves on wheels, I consider this one of Ledger's best roles to this day, I can't even begin to explain how good he is in it, you have to watch it to realise.
I really enjoyed this film, I think it was absolutely brilliant. One of my only criticisms is that people who haven't seen the aformentioned documentary or don't know the history of the Z Boys already might get lost within the storyline because of the amount of characters there is.
Other than that , it is absolutely fantastic.

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

I saw the Incredible Hulk just after it was released in cinemas and I could hardly believe how much of an improvement it was on the first film adaptation.
Being a fan of comics and the Marvel franchise in general, I was in anticipation for this film to come out. It was released just after Iron Man was and even though Iron Man was a large box office hit, I personally thought that the green machine was a lot better.
Unlike the first one (which I admit - I also like) this one doesen't just tell the story of the Hulk, it explains it quickly during the opening credits for people who don't already know , and then it gets on with a story more worthy of a movie.
Edward Norton plays Bruce Banner fantastically, his acting persona is perfect for this part. The bored and monotone traits best known through Fight Club are used flawlessly to portray Banner. Liv Tyler however is quite bland and not at full-form at all. She plays Betty (long time love problem for Banner/Hulk) and I can see why she wasn't used as extensively as she could have been if I'm honest. Tim Roth plays Emil Blonsky who becomes The Abomination and I think he is just as perfect for this role as Norton is for Banner. He is delightfully insane and power-mad towards the end, and is brilliant in being so.
The Incredible Hulk , whilst not rivalling Spiderman in the film franchises, is one of Marvel's biggest superheroes (literally) and this is a fantastic film , it is a shame that it didn't do better in the box office.

Juno (2007)

After attending a lecture concerning mainly narrative where the case study was Juno, I thought I'd post my opinions on it.
First of all - supposedly an indie sensation. The only thing remotely indie about it , is that the script came from an independant writer. The fact that Fox picked it up and it was produced by several of Fox's lesser companies clearly doesen't matter.
I will admit that the film is well filmed and the acting is very good in it. But as far as plots go , it is a huge disapointment. The concept is fresh, and it does go against typical hollywood scripts, but as the film progresses, the story goes no where. Moving from one trivial teenage problem to the next.
The soundtrack is sickeningly sweet, whilst it does perhaps go well with the film, it is hard to stomach the irritating attampts at innocent music that intrude every couple of minutes.
As far as acting is concerned - I think it was perhaps the best thing in the film. I do believe Ellen Page is a very good actress and as far as interviews are concerned, she sees content on doing nice, small budget pictures. Michael Cera is brilliant in the film - however, he is terribly underused. Only making a few noteworthy appearences even though he is by far the funniest part of the film.

Juno , as a whole , seems to be a film that some people love, and some people think could have been much, much better.

Choke (2008)

I have been looking forward to the release of Choke in Britain for some time, being a big fan of Chuck Palanuik's work. The last Palanuik film to be adapted to film was Fight Club and we all know how much of a staple that is in the world of films.
The film does differ slightly from the book, but to be honest , that was to be expected. Adapting a book to the big screen , expecially one like Choke, was always going to be difficult.

The cast was brilliant. Sam Rockwell plays Victor brilliantly, he really gave me the impression that he was confused, but just never showed it and that he was hopelessly always looking for his next sexual oppurtunity. Kelly Macdonald also gave an amazing performance as Paig Marshall. And of course - the brilliant Anjelica Huston was the icing on the cake.

I will admit that after the impressive mark Fight Club left on me , this wasn't as amazing as it could have been, but it's definately still worth a watch.

Zero Day (2003)

There is a lot of films based on the tragic collumbine high school shootings, perhaps the most noted being Gus Van Sant's Elephant (which I shall be writing something on another time). However the 2003 film Zero Day is one of those films that really sticks with you. It's brutally real and gives you a lot of insight to how the minds of the teenagers planning and commiting this violent act work.

The most obvious thing that sets this film apart from hundreds of others is the style of the camera work, it is filmed to look like the infamous 'home movies' that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold filmed before they went through with their crime. When I heard about this film and the way it was filmed, I was wary, it can naturally go one of two ways. It could either be really badly done, being over-produced and 'Hollywood'd' and not at all acheiving what it is supposed to, or it could be really good and give the film a much more personal feel.

Director Ben Coccio really did an amaazing job in getting the actors (ameteur teenage actors) to act as if they really were the ones filming these videos to inform viewers of their impending attack.

I highly rate this film and think the way it puts across the raw and brutal reality is absolutely fantastic.

Wanted (2008)

I have been meaning to watch Wanted for some time now. Having read the comics in the past and seeing the cast including McAvoy and Jolie, I was as you may expect looking forward to it.
I have to admit as a whole , it was a fairly faithful adaptation of the comics, my only criticism on this front bring that it was a complete 'origin story'. When making origin films it can always go either one of two ways , it can be very informative and well accepted or it can be a boring and very mundane adaptation of something that comic readers have heard a hundred times (Iron Man). Although Wanted was an origin story , I did feel it was fair because it is based on more of an underground comic that a lot of people won't know the story to.
The character of Wesley Gibson is brilliantly portrayed by McAvoy. You really do feel for him and relate to him when you hear the overvoice saying what he really thinks whilst seeming to mindlessly agree with the other participant in the scene.
And... the woman we've all been waiting for , Angelina Jolie does a fantastic job of being The Fox, the sexy and independant assasain who befriends Gibson.
The film moves fast and does indeed keep me captivated, as far as straight forward action/comic films go, this is a brilliant one.