Film 272/365, Day 303/365 – Tangled

Excellent animation with a good story and plenty of humour.  The animation  just seems to be getting better and better, it is a million miles away from Snow White.  It’s an interesting twist on the original Rapunzel story and as usual it’s the extra characters that really make it.  In this one it’s the horse and the chameleon!

Synopsis:  Rapunzel is desperate to see the outside of her tower but her ‘mother’ will not let her.  Then when a fleeing criminal climbs into her tower to escape, she subsequently captures him and convinces him to take her to see the outside world where she will discover so much more than she thought she would.

Film 271/365, Day 303/365 – Hot Shots! Part Deux

Lots of fun from a film that doesn’t take itself at all serious.  It’s a good film to watch again and again because they pack as many jokes as possible, the props, the extras, everything has a purpose, they even squeeze them into the credits.  It is a good easy to watch film with enough laughs.

Synopsis:  A team of commandos are sent into Iraq to rescue the team that were sent in to rescue another team.  But when they are caught another team is put together to go in and rescue them.  This time they call on a retired war veteran, Topper Harley, who has found a new life that he is reluctant to give up.

Film 270/365, Day 299/365 – Interview with the Vampire

Dark, sinister and captivating.  There are excellent performances from all involved in this gothic tale of companionship and indulgence.  The vampires are twisted, devious and brazen, not the least bit sparkly and loved up!  An excellent story that is full of thrill and excitement that is well worth watching.

Synopsis:  A reporter is approached by a man who claims to be over 200 hundred years old.  Soon he is revealing his past, how he became a vampire, how he has survived and all about the secret underworld that exists all around us.

Film 269/365, Day 298/365 – Life of Brian

Genius satire from the greatest comedy team the world has ever seen.  This film is brilliant and it was only released thirty two years ago!  They just don’t make them like this anymore.  If you like comedy then this is a absolute must watch film, and who doesn’t like comedy?  Fantastic.

Synopsis:  He was born on Christmas day in a stable in Bethlehem, no not that one, the one next door.  That’s where the endless comparisons and confusions all began for Brian who is constantly being mistaken for a messiah much to his annoyance!

Film 268/365, Day 297/365 – Inside Man

Brilliant, a thoroughly enjoyable(!) bank robbery.  Everything is exceptionally planned out and masterfully delivered.  Spike Lee delivers another great film.  If you enjoy a good ‘how’d they do it’ then you will love this.  Clive Owen is brilliant and Denzel Washington is good.  Great film.

Synopsis:  A bank robbery results in a hostage situation and whilst the regular hostage negotiator is not available it gives Detective Frazier the chance to make his mark.  The problem is this is no ordinary bank robbery, they have everything planned down to the very last detail.

Film 267/365, Day 296/365 – Death Note

Compelling viewing which raises some very interesting issues.  Death Note is a very well made film which it is just not possible to stop watching; you really have to find out how it ends.  It is dark and quite sinister and well worth watching.  If you get the chance do not pass it up.

Synopsis:  A disillusioned law student discovers a note book that kills whoever’s name is written in it.  He decides to take matters into his own hands and uses the books powers to punish/kill criminals.  Soon however the police are looking for him and appear to be closing in. 

Film 266/365, Day 292/365 – Independence Day

I love action films and I love epic films... well, this is an epic action film so instantly I can’t help but love it.  It is however packed full of clichés and absurd American ideals and ridiculous speeches, but that aside it is a good fun action film on an epic scale.  Great fun.

Synopsis:  The appearance of Alien spaceships in the Earth’s orbit is greeted by mixed emotions, some believe they are here to save us where as other believe they are here for a more sinister purpose.  Soon it becomes quickly apparent that it wasn’t the first belief.  Will mankind perceiver against infinitely greater technology. 

Film 265/365, Day 291/365 – X-Men 2

Easily the best of the X-Men films in my opinion.  It’s got lots of Wolverine being particularly angry and Magneto at his best.  The story is far stronger than the first film and don’t even get me started on the third one!  A good action film with more than just action.

Synopsis:  When a mutant attempts to assassinate the President of the United States of America the X-Men quickly track him down.  However once they find him he has no recollection of the incident or a significant period of time before that.  They must track down who is behind it before more damage can be done.

Film 264/365, Day 290/365 – Evil Aliens

Completely bonkers!  This is not for anyone squeamish as it opens with a rather nasty scene involving an alien probe.  However this really needs to be watched if only for the scene where one of the TV crew chases the aliens around a field in a combine harvester all whilst the Wurzels’ classic song about a combine harvester plays in the background.  Bizarre!

Synopsis:  When a girl on a remote Welsh island claims to have impregnated by aliens the Weird World TV crew shows up to document the event.  Used to recording hoaxes and mental cases they are shocked to discover that there are actually aliens and they’re not very nice either.

Film 263/365, Day 289/365 – Død Snø

This Swedish film has clearly taken a lot of references from the Evil Dead and other such films and whilst there are some fairly amusing bits, most notably when the two friends ‘tool up’ against the Nazi zombies with a chainsaw and a large hammer, but other than that it is fairly repetitive and boring.  Ok, but don’t get your hopes up!

Synopsis:  A group of medical students take an Easter vacation at a friend’s cabin high in the Swedish mountains.  There they awaken a sinister evil from many years ago.  Will they make it off the mountain with their lives?

Film 262/365, Day 289/365 – The Last of the Mohicans

Now this is an EPIC!  It has an epic soundtrack, an epic story and epic battles.  I love it (can you tell?).  It is hard to find anything wrong with this film, just golden from start to finish.  Basically if you haven’t seen this then you really should, even if you don’t necessarily enjoy an epic because that is about to change.

Synopsis:  Three hunters get caught in the middle of the battles between the French and the English as both seek to gain control of North America.  The eventually agree to protect an English General’s daughters from the French and a rival native American tribe.

Film 261/365, Day 287/365 – Beverly Hills Cop

Excellent fun and vintage Eddie Murphy.  This is without a doubt a classic.  It does of course however highlight some film making oddities that occurred through the eighties.  Why would the villain take the kidnapped girl back to his house?  Why can’t bad guys hit a slow walking man when firing a gun?  It is still great fun regardless!

Synopsis:  Detroit City cop Axel Foley goes to Beverly Hills in search of his friend’s murderer.  There he must try and convince the Beverly Hills police department that a renowned art dealer is actually a smuggler and murderer!

Film 260/365, Day 285/365 – The Losers

Very similar to the A-Team in style and substance, the Losers is a good action film with a reasonable story.  It’s got lots of action and is very fast paced with a good sense of humour.  However that is the problem, it is very much the same as many other action films which is why it hasn’t scored more than 3 Stars.  It doesn’t really do anything to make it stand out.

Synopsis:  A black ops team are betrayed and left for dead in Bolivia.  Now they will need to expose their betrayers if they are to get there old lives back.  But then nobody has even heard of the guy they need to find, nobody except a mysterious girl that also wants him dead.

Film 259/365, Day 284/365 – Mars Attacks

This is a particularly weird film from Tim Burton and is clearly a homage to the b-movie films of yesteryear.  There are some very funny moments in it however it does seem to flick back and forth between too many different characters.  Although the Martians are very entertaining with giant heads, tiny bodies and standard issue red underpants!

Synopsis:  Martians attack Earth without mercy and seem to be having lots of fun doing it in their own twisted way!  Can the powers of Earth band together to stop the Martians?  It’s not likely when you realise how naive and stupid they really are!

Film 258/365, Day 283/365 – Hulk

It’s not nearly as bad as they would have you believe.  I think Ang Lee did a pretty good job of bringing the famous comic book hero to life whilst maintaining the feel of the original comics.  It has lots of action and a strong story, only criticism is that it probably went on too long.


Synopsis:  Scientist Bruce Banner is doing some experimental research on nanobots.  An experiment that goes horribly wrong awakens Bruce’s hidden past and transforms him into the Hulk, a creature of limitless power.  Something that the military are very keen to get their hands on.


The best thing however to come from this film is this joke as told by Stuart Lee about a conversation he had with Ang Lee, hilarious!

Film 257/365, Day 281/365 – Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever

A pointless story with one or two decent action sequences.  The only point worth watching in this film is when Lucy Liu is being followed and then in turns kicks a lot of ass.  The rest of the film is a complete and utter waste of time.  The story is appalling, the acting not much better and it failed to hold my full attention for 92 minutes which isn’t too much to ask for is it?

Synopsis:  Eck, a grieving FBI agent, is brought back into service to bring down a rogue DIA agent.  But not all is as it seems.

Film 256/365, Day 276/365 – Sucker Punch

Probably the best way for me to describe this film is to first list what I liked and then what I didn’t.  Firstly then, I loved the visuals, the music, the concept and pretty much everything… until… the ending!  This is yet another example of why directors should not be writing their own material, it’s another beautifully made film ruined by an awful twist/ending.  Would have easily got 5 stars had it had a good ending, even an adequate ending would have been enough!

Synopsis:  Following the death of her mother a young girl is institutionalized by her abusive step father who also puts a plan in motion to have her lobotomized before her side of the story can get out.  The girl slips into a fantasy world as a coping mechanism as she desperately tries to escape.

Film 255/365, Day 276/365 – Shallow Hal

The first half of the film is very funny, the part where Hal sees only inner beauty, but once his perception is reversed it becomes kind of boring pretty quickly.  It’s not a bad film and does have some funny moments but not nearly enough for it to compete with the likes of Dumb and Dumber!

Synopsis:  Hal is incredibly shallow.  He constantly chases the most beautiful model-like women regardless of any obvious character flaws.  That is until a chance meeting with a hypnotherapist who changes Hal’s perception so that he can only see inner beauty.

Film 254/365, Day 275/365 – Happy Gilmore

Very funny!  It’s a pretty simple story and Happy is a pretty simple guy, but it is still one of the funniest films from the 90’s.  Adam Sandler has done that which seems pretty impossible, he has made golf entertaining!  Expect lots of fury, rage and stuff that you just wouldn’t normally find at a golf course.  Excellent.

Synopsis:  Happy Gilmore has always dreamt of being an ice hockey player, the only problem is that he can’t skate.  He does however have an incredibly powerful shot which he soon will help him earn enough money to save his Grandmother’s house by becoming a pro golfer!

Film 253/365, Day 273/365 – The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Love it, how can you not?  Admittedly the story is ridiculous beyond anything imaginable but then that’s probably what is so great... that and the songs which are awesome.  This film never fails to entertain and Tim Curry and Richard O'Brien are absolute legends.  There’s a little transsexual in everyone!!!

Synopsis:  A recently engaged couple break down in the middle of nowhere.  Seeking shelter they end up and Dr Frank-N-Furter’s castle where nothing is as it seems and anything is possible.  Will they be get away or will they be drawn into Dr Frank-N-Furter’s world forever?

Film 252/365, Day 273/365 – 10,000 BC

Now I love a good epic, with all of the huge scenes, fantastic vistas and an incredible quest.  This however is not quite a good epic, it’s is more of an average epic at best.  I would best describe it as a poor man’s Apocalypto, which if you haven’t seen it amazing.  So watch that first, then if you still want some more you can watch this.

Synopsis:  A young mammoth hunter must travel across Africa to free his tribesmen that have been captured and forced into slavery.  To complete his quest he will have to fight beasts that he has not even imagined in his worst nightmares.