Happy New Year!

Well, it's come around again quicker than ever - it's the start of a brand new year. Yippee!

To be honest, I don't feel that enthusiastic about the whole thing, but oh well - who knows what could happen? I've already made several New Years Resolutions, after the partial succes of last year (I achieved one - go me!) and am ready to step fprward into what feels like just another day. To bid a fond farewell to 2008, though, here's a list of the top ten films I watched for the first time last year. This means they didn't exactly come out last year, just that I watched them for the first time. Enjoy!

10. JINDABYNE (7/10)
"Nothing seems rushed at all in the telling and unfolding of the story...There are clumsy moments...The race card is dealt, in comparison to the rest of the film, too quickly and swept aside too easily...It is perhaps a shame that, though two arguably very brilliant actors, Linney and Byrne were needed at all...A thoughtful film, though it could perhaps have been a little clearer in what it was actually trying to say."

9. QUANTUM OF SOLACE (7/10)
"(The film) starts fast and furiously and for the most part never lets up...I don't believe you can just watch it as a stand alone film...(Daniel) Craig's Bond takes the character to dark new places...There is a tour de force performance by Judi Dench...Camille is possibly the most interesting Bond girl we've had in a while...Mathieu Almaric does as well as he can...Characters are wasted...Good effort - just not great."

8. NOTES ON A SCANDAL (7/10)
"The power of the diary is paramount to the story and characters...Two powerful performances by two very fine actresses...The book on which the film is based is perhaps more powerful than this better-than-average adaptation."

7. HOT FUZZ (8/10)
"Intelligent, funny and at times pretty thrilling...Great writing, great casting, great stunts and great special effects...(Simon) Pegg and Nick Frost once again make a great double act...There were too many endings...A genuinely funny film to watch with your mates."

6. SIN CITY (8/10)
"This film blew me away from pretty much the first minute...The little splashes of colour truly make this a fantastical, yet realistic world...The violence is a weird but brilliant mixture of realism and cartoonish...Jessica Alba, though gorgeous, doesn't really have much to do...Nearly all the main blokes sounded the same...On the whole though, a great film."

5. WALL-E (8/10)
"Thank god Pixar have got back on track...(Andrew) Stanton understands the importance of colour, of spectacle, whilst never giving up the fundamental idea of story...The very young...WILL get bored easily throughout the beginning...A very brave film to pull off...the romance that develops between the two robots (is) so sweet and believable."

4. PAN'S LABYRINTH (8/10)
"This film is an absolute Must See...A dark, dark fairy tale for adults...NOT for youngsters...All of Del Toro's trademarks as a director are here...An absolute crying shame that this film was passed for an academy award for Best Foreign Film."

3. SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (8/10)
"Burton never goes OTT with...(the)INTENTIONAL gore...Depp and Bonham Carter are brilliant in their roles...The love story...does suffer from the necessity of cutting for time...The music is extraordinary too...Burton has returned back to his roots."

2. THE DARK KNIGHT (9/10)
"Simply wow. From the very first moment, this film catches your attention and holds it for as long as possible...Truly the work of a genius...Heath Ledger...(is)SO GOOD in the role(of The Joker)...The film is a tad too long...Brilliant."

1. THE FOUNTAIN (9/10)
"This film totally staggered me...Aronofsky gives the plot just enough ambiguity for everyone to have their own opinion on what exactly is going on... (Rachel) Weisz is fast becoming one of my top five favourite actresses...I urge you to see this film...It is beautiful."

And my choice for Worst Film I've Seen All Year goes to: DRAGON (1/10)
"This is a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, BAD film...The acting is almost abysmal...The script is very bad indeed...The action scenes, the few that there are, are either badly choreographed or full of the worst CGI...The film...is just incredibly boring...Pure awfulness."

Happy New Year, y'all!

Laters!