FILM: The Town (dir: Ben Affleck, 2010)

"It's all under control."

Like the gang's bank heists in the movie, The Town is meticulously planned and executed, resulting in a film that is beautifully constructed and drips craft. As a director, Affleck demonstrates a real eye for interesting visuals and arresting coverage of not only action set-pieces but also quieter, more intimate moments. Plot and characters hold consistent interest on both visceral and emotional levels. The cast is universally excellent, with very strong performances from Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm and Rebecca Hall in particular. The film successfully conveys the limitations of this small Boston criminal neighbourhood and of the lives of its inhabitants, which results in a triumphantly hard-hitting and thoughtful movie.

FILM: Devil (dir:John Erick Dowdle, 2010)

"It's like when people see Jesus in a pancake, you know?"

After an inventively-presented title sequence, Devil plays like an old 1970s Amicus-style potboiler, glossed up for the 21st Century and with a Saw-like twist thrown in for today's generation of horror fans. With a story from the increasingly bankrupt imagination of M Night Shyamalan, the join-the-dots-with-a-blunt-pencil plot jolts along unsubtly to its underwhelmingly signposted conclusion. The acting on display will not trouble the Academy Award voters, but there is a nicely-played central performance by Chris Messina as the troubled detective. The director contrasts the confines of the stuck lift with more expansive scenarios (such as the lift shaft and the lobby) effectively on screen, but overall there is little that excites or surprises here.

FILM: The Hole In 3D (dir: Joe Dante, 2010)

"You're wasting my time. There's nothing down here."

This isn't the great director Joe Dante of Gremlins and Matinee, but more like the mediocre one of Small Soldiers. The Hole In 3D is a curious mash-up of The Ring and Elm Street written for five-year-olds, and as a result it is crushingly predictable, insipid and dull. Matters are not helped by the vapid trio of lead child actors, including the most lightweight 'rebellious teenager' performance by Chris Massoglia that you are likely to see this year. 3D composition is so consciously contrived that you start to fear that every single exterior shot will be forefrounded by some kind of foliage, although added depth does liven up the final sequences to some degree. Dante's obligatory Dick Miller (blink-and-you'll-miss-it) cameo raises a smile, but there is little else here to hold interest.

FILM: The Other Guys (dir: Adam McKay, 2010)

"I AM A PEACOCK! YOU SHOULD LET ME FLY!"


The Other Guys is an amiable, smartly-written comedy, sending up the cliches and absurdities of the well-worn cop/action genre to good effect yet retaining its own identity with effectively-drawn characters and some strong performances. There are some very well-realised stunts and physical effects to satisfy action fans and to give the film credibility as a send-up, right from the opening double-decker bus sequence that features quite superbly over-the-top performances by Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson as a pair of ridiculously uber-macho super-cops. As the film's main focus, Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell are an excellent on-screen partnership, Wahlberg proving yet again that he can do straight-guy comedy so well, and Ferrell dialling down the hysteria a notch to give a genuinely effective comic performance. Michael Keaton appears as their long suffering Chief, reminding us why his comedic star shone so brightly in the 80s, Eva Mendes is terrific as Ferrell's wife and Steve Coogan demonstrates his spot-on delivery in a limited villainous role. Athough the film gets more serious towards the end, as plot inevitably takes precedence over humour, The Other Guys is consistently entertaining and quality is sustained to the end.

FILM: Cyrus (dir: Jay and Mark Duplass, 2010)

"You've got to get used to my weird sense of humour."

Do not be misled by the trailer - Cyrus is definitely not another conveyor-belt knockabout comedy. The film very quickly establishes itself as a warm, genuine, finely-observed indie-style drama with some nicely-judged laughs along the way. The film has essentially four significant characters, three of whom are refreshingly middle-aged, slightly world-worn and weary yet still optimistic enough to give the relationships game another spin. John C Reilly (quite a revelation here) and the magnificent Marisa Tomei play their unexpected new relationship with superbly detailed performances and excellent rapport and timing that are largely improvised, supported well by Catherine Keener as Reilly's ex-wife. Jonah Hill plays Tomei's emotionally-stunted, possessive man-child of a son totally straight, managing effectively to be both sympathetic and dislikable at the same time. The oft-repeated quick zoom pulls within shots quickly become irritating, but an interesting slightly off-kilter score gives the film charm. A rather rapid and pat conclusion is slightly diappointing, but for the most part Cyrus is an engaging and well-played movie.

FILM: Resident Evil - Afterlife 3D (dir: Paul W.S. Anderson, 2010)

"Why am I not surprised?"

For such a generic franchise - and for one inspired by a series of videogames at that - the Resident Evil films stand out by having the guts to hang on to ongoing characters and storylines, yet also giving each of the movies a slightly different tone and feel. For this fourth entry, after a blistering opening assault on the Umbrella Corporation's underground Tokyo base (promised at the end of the third film) with a ludicrously high body count and scale of destruction, Afterlife settles down to a more low-key and often quite reflective tone. Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter make a terrific pair of action heroines, and here the supporting cast is strong (if dispatched rather quickly). The film has an ambitious sense of (globe-trotting) scale, and the clarity and depth of field achieved by proper 3D (using the Avatar cameras) is mostly excellent comapred to recent post-conversions, augmented by some stunning virtual sets and real landscapes but uneven CGI. The sound mix is aggressive, with the soundtrack not so much a score as a rave playlist. Typically, plot and dialogue remain basic, with Idiot Plot cranked up high (including the least secure prison armoury ever), and Paul W.S. Anderson returns to direct the film with his usual sound creation of visuals and his unashamed magpie approach to inspiration from other genre hits (the Alien and Matrix series, The One, etc). As a 3D cinema experience, Afterlife has a lot to commend it, so it will be interesting to see how it fares on home DVD viewing.

FILM: The Last Exorcism (dir: Daniel Stamm, 2010)

"....but this - this is old school."

Just like last year's Paranormal Activity, The Last Exorcism could never hope to match the preceding hype. However, unlike Paranormal Activity, Daniel Stamm's movie is actually well made. The story is effectively constructed, building and developing potential narrative directions from emotional, psychological and horror angles which engages the audience, even if some of the more interesting and impactful possibilities are ultimately not fulfilled. Patrick Fabian gives a terrifically energetic central performance as the doubting pastor who agrees to having one final random request for an exorcism to be the subject of a documentary to disprove it once and for all - hence the excuse for the Blair Witch shaky-cam conceit which is used to good (if hardly original) effect for the most part. Indeed, the small cast delivers apt and tightly-controlled performances, giving the set-up a good level of authenticity. The ending will divide viewers, and in some ways takes away from a lot of the good work done up to that point. The Last Exorcism hints at a much darker and more satisfying film than this superficially entertaining and reasonably interesting film actually provides.

DVD: (500) Days Of Summer (dir: Marc Webb, 2009)

"There are two types of people in the world: there are men and there are women."

(500) Days Of Summer is delightful - calculatedly so, maybe - but still delightful. It is a gently-humoured, wry journey through an idealised young couple's relationship, leaping around the timeframe of their 500 days in order to create effective juxtapositions of the good times and bad, the excitement of the early days and the exhausted regret of the end. Apart from the irregularly-used voice-over which intrudes, the script is pitch perfect and the structure beautifully handled by director Marc Webb. The somewhat deliberately indie/kooky selection of songs can feel contrived, but it gives the film a wistful, almost nostalgic, feel. The film naturally hinges on the central couple: as Tom, the excellent Joseph Gordon-Levitt delivers yet another faultlessly-etched, detailed performance, ably matched by Zooey Deschanel's signature brand of effortless charm as Summer. There are plenty of wonderfully-staged situations and one-liners which elevate (500) Days Of Summer well above the average romantic comedy and into the realm of finely-observed emotional drama. Who would have thought that a visit to IKEA could be so much fun?