Review: Youth in Revolt

There's a few good comic moments to be found in Youth in Revolt, mostly when Fred Willard is on screen - but those expecting a load of laughs from Michael Cera riffing on his geeky persona as bad boy François Dillinger will be left sorely disappointed from a film that isn't dark enough to be a black comedy or bawdy stand up the rest of the Frat Pack films of recent years.

Review: Whip It

Its full of clichés, but that doesn't stop Whip it from being surprisingly good fun - though at close to 2 hours I could've done without the slightly pointless love interest business to end up with a leaner, tighter film.

Review: The Informant!

If Up In the Air is Clooney doing Danny Ocean as a corporate downsizer, then The Informant! is Matt Damon revisiting the guise of the bumbling gambling official he played briefly in Ocean's Eleven and trying to do his own con of a lifetime.

The film itself is far too quirky at times, with a Damon's silly asides providing laughs but the silly score ruining the mood of the piece. The film would be much better as The Informant, without the stupid touches like the exclamation mark to spoil what was an interesting story.

Review: Avatar

In the end the film James Cameron has been waiting the best part of 30 years to make boils down a 3 hour version of Pocahontas with giant Smurfs.

Review: The Invention of Lying

The concept of a alternate universe where people can't lie is funny at first, but it runs out of steam pretty quickly as in the end the film is just a queue of celebrity cameos insulting each other for nearly 2 hours as you really don't care whether Gervais who specialises in pretty unlikeable characters ends up with Jennifer Garner, who is even more unlikeable till she realises right at the end that fat people are sort of okay really.

Review: Bunny & The Bull

At times you can't help wonder why Boosh director Paul King didn't cast the slightly more famous long haired and grumpy northerner comedy duo in the lead roles if the characters were going to be so similar in the end.

But for those pining for more Boosh goodness fear not, as all the regulars all appear in cameos at regualr intervals which steal the show each time around.

The film itself is a visual delight throughout, with the hand-made quality making it that much more endearing - King was obvious influenced by early Gilliam, but maybe Terry himself needs to look at this to realise how Doctor Parnassus would have benefited from cutting back on the CGI for a more low budget ethos.

2009 End of Year Lists

Albums of 2009

Films of 2009

TV of 2009