Film 302/365, Day 328/365 – Surrogates

Not completely unbelievable and very interesting.  What if like in games like Second Life and World of Warcraft where you can customise your avatar you could customise a robot and live your life through that?  You could appear however you wanted, it would quite literally change lives.  But is that really you?  Raise some very interesting ideas.

Synopsis:  In the future most of mankind no longer ventures outside of their homes, instead they use surrogates to go about their daily lives.  Surrogates are a customizable robot that they are able to control using only their minds.  But when two people and their surrogates are killed a cop must venture out into the world without his surrogate to get to the bottom of things.

Film 247/365, Day 262/365 – The Fifth Element

Zany, incredibly stylish and brilliant.  Luc Besson directs a thoroughly enjoyable film and with the help of Jean Paul Gautier they have created a future that still looks like it could be possible even though it was made 14 years ago.  Bruce is great, Milla is fantastic and Chris Tucker is hilarious.  I love it, great film.

Synopsis:  Korben Dallas, a former special forces opperative, has been called out of retirement to assist a female who is supposed to be the key to ultimate weapon and the only thing that can stop an evil entity on the other side of the universe that is determined to destroy Earth.  Problem is there are more than one group of people trying to find the ultimate weapon for their own reasons.

Film 213/365, Day 228/365 – Pulp Fiction

Brilliant, it is now seventeen years old and it is still brilliant.  What a cast, what music and the characters are all excellent.  Not really a great deal more to say about it other than it’s great and if you haven’t seen it then this is definitely the next film you should watch.

Synopsis:  Four stories of violence and redemption are interwoven to create this cult film.  Two hit men on a routine assignment, a boxer and a mob boss who have unfinished business, a man who takes his bosses wife out on a date and two robbers who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Film 169/365, Day 174/365 – Unbreakable

Fantastic.  That is the only word necessary for this film and it doesn’t matter how many times I see it, it still has the same affect on me.  A stunning follow up to The Sixth Sense by M. Night Shyamalan, who sadly, has not been able to keep up these exceptionally high standards with his more recent films.  But this is absolutely brilliant.

Synopsis:  A man is the only survivor of a train wreck that killed over one hundred people, what’s more is that he hasn’t got a single scratch on him.  Soon he is contacted by a man who suffers from brittle bone who believes the man may be invincible.

Film 143/365, Day 153/365 – Lucky Number Slevin

Excellent script that turns you inside out.  I do like a good script and with Lucky Number Slevin you really get that, and it’s is very well delivered by some excellent actors.  It’s dark, funny, clever and thoroughly engaging.  The story continues to grow and twist from the start all the way to the end.  Definitely worth watching.

Synopsis:  Slevin is mistaken for someone else, someone who owes two rival gangsters money.  Now they expect him to pay off the debt regardless of whether he is who they think he is.  But with no money Slevin is going to have to work off the debt!

Film 120/365, Day 128/365 – Die Hard: With a Vengeance

Explosive action and smart talking heroes.  When the villain in Die Hard 2 failed to live up to Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber, Die Hard: With a Vengeance stepped up to give us Jeremy Irons as Hans Gruber’s brother.  That alone would have been enough to make sure this was a success, but why stop there?  Throw Samuel L. Jackson in as well to make sure this is another action hit.  Excellent fun from start to finish.

Synopsis:  So far John McClane has done Los Angeles and Washington DC and now he’s about to play on his own turf, New York City.  After an explosion in a department store in New York, a mysterious man phone the NYPD and demands that John McClane follow his commands or he will set off another bomb.  John, currently suspended is reinstated and put to work following the mad man’s instructions.

Film 66/365, Day 67/365 – Planet Terror

The Second half of Grindhouse, Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror is a slicker and more entertaining film than Death Proof.  Admittedly I like zombie films so this should be right up my street, and it is!  The characters have more depth than in Death Proof and the relationships and struggles between them are all very good.  Oh and there are lots of crazy zombies, military zombies and a chick with an assault rifle as a leg (complete with rocket launcher)!

Synopsis: A secret government weapon is released into the atmosphere which causes the locals to turn into flesh hungry zombies.  The few surviving folk have to band together in order to survive.  But where does the infection end and is there a cure or will the zombies just about eat everyone?

Film 60/365, Day 63/365 – RED

RED, Retired and Extremely Dangerous, follows recently retired CIA operative Frank Roses who is struggling to adjust to normal life. Then one night, out of the blue Frank is ambushed at home, and when he neutralizes the team he goes on the run with his pension handler Sarah and soon reunites with a number of his ‘old’ colleagues. Chased across the country they must find out why they have become a target and who is responsible.

With plenty of action and lots of laughs RED is an enjoyable film. Although once you get over the idea of these pensioners running around and kicking arse it could just be another non-specific action film. The story is OK, although the postcard cut scene thing gets a little annoying. John Malkovich was a particular highlight for me. It’s good but not great.

Film 56/365, Day 60/365 – Die Hard 2: Die Harder

John McClane, now with the L.A. police department, finds himself in Washington DC for Christmas. Waiting for his wife to arrive from a flight from L.A. John uncovers a plot to take over the airport. Before it’s too late, and anyone will listen to him, the terrorists take complete control of the airport and shut down the runways leaving a number of planes circling in the skies above slowly running out of fuel.

Whilst not quite as good as the original Die Hard 2 is still a great follow up. All of the characters from the first film make an appearance throughout the film except of of course for poor old Hans Gruber. Which I think is why I don’t give it as good a rating, Alan Rickman is practically irreplaceable. What you do get from Die Hard 2 is great action and all the fun and excitement.

Film 55/365, Day 60/365 – Die Hard

New York cop John McClane is going to Los Angeles for Christmas to see his wife and kids. From the airport he drops in to his wife’s office for their Christmas party. Unfortunately he isn’t the only one dropping in, international terrorist Hans Gruber is also about to crash the party. Now John is the only hope the party goers have of getting home alive.

Die Hard is still one of the best action films ever made, of that there can be no question. The action is exceptional; the characters are incredible right from John McClane to Hans Gruber and the relationship John develops with L.A. Cop Al Powell over the radio is fantastic. In short everyone should watch Die Hard at least once a year. How on Earth did this not make it into the top twenty films from the '80s?