The Twilight Saga: New Moon

While the first Twilight was a good example of what teenage movies should be, this one dipped a little too far into cheesiness for me to not consider it subpar. It was certainly entertaining enough, and the base story was pretty good, but somewhere along the de-shirting, lip-biting and uncontrolled shaking and sobbing, this film lost any pretence of being anything other than a chick flick. There's nothing wrong with that, but, you know, I'm a dude. It's a good excuse for a night out with some friends, but this isn't going to be winning any awards. Just a shitload of money.

In a sentence:

Contains some moments cheesy enough to make the theatre audience laugh, but otherwise puts a pretty decent twist on a formulaic love story, with some light action thrown in for good measure.

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Assassin's Creed II

So, I beat this 18-hour game in three days thanks to having the flu. It is without a sliver of doubt my GOTY. First, let me say this to those of you that weren't that impressed by AC1: every single thing that wasn't balls-out awesome from the first game is now either gone or replaced by something that is, with a bunch of extra balls-out awesome things thrown in. I could list them all here, but that'd take so much space that you'll have to take my word for it that this is way, way, WAY better than AC1. The story is also leagues ahead this time: somehow, throughout all the hidden glyphs and documents and actual story elements, it answers EVERY question from AC1, but then poses new ones which hold even greater potential. Of course in AC style, it does so with the help of a really mean cliffhanger, but that's ok because it's an awesome one.

I will now try to find some downsides to this game. Uh, the map is slightly sluggish when you have too much stuff on it. I got stuck in a wall once. It's not Zooey Deschanel. I dunno.

Seriously, this isn't just what AC1 should have been, it's what I'd always hoped it'd be.

In a sentence:

My 2009 GOTY: they took all of the good stuff of AC1, and then totally reworked everything to bring this game into the pantheon of all-time classics.

*January '10 update: After playing Uncharted 2, this has been bumped to my 2009 GOTY runner up!

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2012

This movie takes every disaster movie cliché ever, dumps it into one big mosh pit, then waddles around in it for 2 hours and a half. Fortunately, one of those clichés is super awesome special effects, which means that despite having terrible everything, it is extremely entertaining most of the time. Unfortunately, another one of the clichés is losing steam near the ending, and this movie certainly does: by the end of it, the action is slow, unimpressive and very overdrawn. And of course, nothing makes any sense.

In a sentence:

Ridiculously entertaining for the destruction sequences, but otherwise, don't expect anything other than total rubbish.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Right, well, judging by the sales figures, you've played this already, so I'll be brief. The single player is the most cinematic FPS experience ever created, as well as the most epic, and is absolutely thrilling from beginning to (way too early) end. Said ending is also one of the best "boss fights" in an FPS ever. The multiplayer is exactly the same that we've seen in CoD4 and CoD5, but with a few new things and a polished off experience. The Special Ops is surprisingly fun, with the stealth and sniping missions being some of the best Coop play out there.

But you know this already, don't you?

In a sentence:

The best CoD yet, and a new benchmark for FPS. The single player is short, but a must-play.

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Pirate Radio

Original UK title: "The Boat That Rocked". This is a pretty special film, that caters almost exclusively to 60s and 70s music fans and rebel-types. Basically, a combat between uptight, evil politicians and maverick, badass rock n' roll fans is depicted, with drugs, sex and alcohol being the prevalent themes throughout. It'll take you back to that crazy we're-changing-the-world 60s feeling, but in a decidedly british way, with some pretty decent humour in the background and some really fantastic acting all around. It has its share of badass moments, and is generally a film that you will take a lot from.

On the other hand, it's bloody long, and extremely caricaturistic. You could have switched the main bad guy for Darth Vader without much hurting the believability of the film. Also, in real life, radio pirates in the 60s were much more opportunistic and profiteering and morally grey than these guys, who are depicted as good-hearted but dirty badasses. And although the film is really long and has some dull moments, it somehow manages to contribute to the feeling of living with these people for months and months, and makes it that much more memorable if you can keep your focus.

In a sentence:

Extremely nostalgic, very well acted and good-hearted, but very long and unrealistic. It's a great feel-good film for 60s and 70s music fans.

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Borderlands

This is one of the bigger video game surprises of the year for me; the level of polish and depth in this game was far beyond what I expected, and I had no trouble playing this for hours on end without getting bored, which is a rare feat for me.

Essentially, this is like Diablo in FPS form in a post-apocalyptic wasteland with Unreal Engine 3 cell-shaded graphics. The main idea of the game is to level up, gather loot, kill bigger enemies, and basically just grind your way to the top. That sounded a bit dull to me at first, but then I realized that when you slap this type of gameplay in an FPS, it actually ends up feeling fresh and motivating. You can really see the difference when you find new guns or level up. Slap on Coop and a surprisingly decent story, and you've got a winner.

Now, the main disappointment for me was the ending. There's a pretty major and difficult battle to the top of a snowy volcano, and then when you finally get to what the whole game has been building up to, you get a quick and confusing ending that isn't explained at all. I suppose that means that DLC will explain it, but it was still pretty disappointing. Also, as good as this game is, it isn't revolutionary in any sense of the term: it merely mashes together pre-existing genres and mechanics into a well-polished whole.

Still, one of the best Coop experiences of the year, so far.

In a sentence:

Surprising levels of polish, depth and fun, but ends rather oddly and doesn't really push any boundaries.

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(500) Days Of Summer

Man, I'm being really generous with the five stars as of late, but what can I say, I've been seeing a lot of fantastic movies! This particular movie shoots straight to being my favourite Romance ever by a gigantic margin, and would also have to be included in my top 20 movies of all time. It is genius from start to finish, although I expect it would only appear so to certain people.

Basically, it's a realistic "love story" that actually has the guts to teach the one end-all-be-all lesson about relationships that all other Romance films are too scared to address. If you've actually been taught this lesson yourself, then the film is twice as poignant, which is why some people might not find it as ingenious as I did. At the same time, I think everyone can appreciate and agree with what is told here.

Add to that the oscar-worthy acting (with Zooey Deschanel involved, no less), the extremely cunning script, the ingenious editing and titles and you get the best Romantic movie we'll probably ever see.

Now that I've hyped it up so much, though, you might expect something mind boggling when you watch it. Don't. It isn't. In fact, minimalism and humbleness are its defining features, which for me actually contributed greatly to the anti-hollywoodism (no crying in a torrential downpour, for instance, or running after a train, etc.). Still, if you look carefully, there is much to be found here.

In a sentence:

Probably the only Romance you'll ever need. Not afraid to tell you the truth, and it does so with genius acting, writing and editing.

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Dogma

This was my first Kevin Smith film, and I was pleasantly surprised. The subject of religion was handled excellently through some well-written sarcasm and irony, without really holding back. In fact, not holding back is basically this film's striking feature: swearing is abundant, blood is plentiful, and sex and fart jokes are certainly not lacking. Still, it retains a certain amount of taste and intelligence in such matters, which also shows in the maturity of its opinions on religion. Finally, for movie enthusiasts like myself, noticing the references or the funny casting choices was icing on the cake; one line in particular after a character is thrown off a train made me burst out in laughter. Basically, this is a great comedy to watch if you can handle the potentially offensive subject matter, and if you can appreciate all the pop-culture references.

In a sentence:

A intentionally crude, but intelligent and funny film that explains its views very well through the great writing and the awesome casting and acting.

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GTA IV

So, yeah, I finally beat this game, precisely one year, six months and five days after its release. Way too long, I know, but it's still quite significant, as this is the first GTA game I've finished, despite having played GTA3, Vice City and San Andreas to a minimum of 75% story completion. For someone with an attention span like mine, finishing a game as long as this one takes a heck of a lot of will, and this particular instalment somehow kept me motivated (albeit with some month-long pauses in between).

What has always made GTA games really stand out for me is atmosphere. In San Andreas, it was cruising along the highway on a motorcycle with some 90s music and a cool, foggy California coast alongside, or trying to scrap together a living in a garage in downtown San Francisco, or riding along the strip in a convertible with lights flashing everywhere. The environments have always been incredibly alive, and essentially the closest games have ever gotten to real life for me. The similarities are such that somehow my memories of moments in the game have the same nostalgia attached to them as memories from my own life. It's really quite unique.

And of course, the current-gen production values of GTA IV brought this to a new level. At one point, I discovered cab rides that allowed you to watch out of the window as you headed for your destination, and from that point on I started taking them almost every time without skipping. The city was just that beautiful to look at, and I'd always see new, interesting and funny things. Factor in the absolutely masterful writing, voice acting, animation, cinematography and design of the story, and I really got attached to the characters, which made the tough choices about revenge, money and family later on in the game essentially the most morally troubling situations I've ever faced in a game.

Now, of course, there are some flaws. First of all, characters call you up every now and then to hang out and go to a bar, or play some pool, and so on, which gets really annoying as it serves no real purpose other than getting an achievement for keeping everyone happy until the end of the game. Eventually, I just started ignoring everyone, which went against the point of the system (making it feel like you have a social network instead of just mission-giving waypoints). Also, the controls felt really smooshy and imprecise, and although I got used to it, it never quite stopped being a hindrance.

The main negative aspect of this game, though, would have to be lack of originality. GTA games have been pretty much the same thing since GTA3, although progressively better and more complete. San Andreas tried a lot of new things, and although not all of it worked, it was still fresh and fun. With GTA IV, it seems like Rockstar has basically perfected the formula without taking too many chances. The result is an AAA game, but I'm now really looking forward to seeing what new things they can bring to the table next time around.

In a sentence:

The definitive GTA experience; perfect in nearly every way, but it stops short of revolutionizing the genre.

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Featured Review

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The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Assassin's Creed II

2012

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Pirate Radio

Borderlands

(500) Days Of Summer

Dogma

GTA IV

Eric's Reviews

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