2008 at the Movies: The Ruud Review

Its finally here!

Lets kick off back at the beginning, at the turn of the year on this site I started making promises of what I was going to do, Greenlit in January, March etc it was called where I outlined what I had in store for the site that month, well I regularly never lived up to my billing but one thing I did say was that I was going to make a conscious effort to take in more new releases than I usually do, with 26 or so that equates to one a fortnight so I cant be accused of slacking, that’s a big undertaking for me! So here we go, a review of the year, my top ten plus whatever else I seen. (top ten rating in brackets)

January

Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox Story
Funny, some good jokes about the limited perils of drug use and best use of a flaccid male member I saw all year. This would probably have been far better received I feel if it weren’t for films like superhero movie and epic movie killing a the parody movie. Walk Hard is in the Hot Shots! mould.

(5) No Country For Old Men

Bloody loved this, it won the best film Oscar, rightly or wrongly, and since has been derided as the film that shouldn’t have won. Regardless, if its merely the second best film then its still amazing. Brilliant baddie, great goodie and Tommy Lee Jones make this a belter. More inches of arts sections of newspapers and movie magazines were dedicated to Javier Bardem’s excellent haircut and even better performance but Josh Brolins was excellent and kickstarted what could be a excellent man actor career. I think anyway. Oh if you didn’t know Brolin was the big brother with the head band in the Goonies. The Coens have rediscovered it but bearing in mind I never thought they lost it its good news all round.

Sweeney Todd
Pretty damn good actually, singing and eating folk make happy bed partners. Can’t believe i had long hair for as long as i did however and i never experimented with a snazzy white stripe.

February

(4) There Will Be Blood
Not much talking for half an hour and Daniel Day Lewis is mesmerising. I could stop there. I wont, I thought this was excellent, really and truly excellent. Imdb is a wonderful device as when you see a face that looks familiar or a decent performance you get his name off the credits and find out where you know him from. Paul Dano’s performance was shat on a bit but in the shadow of DDL (is this acronym actually used?) anyone would pale in comparison, but I thought it was really rather ace, so I flung his moniker into the movie database and hey presto he was the porn obsessed plooky wee nugget from Girl Next Door (an actually gem of a movie) who woulda thunk it? Back to There Will Be Blood it builds terrifically to a conclusion. The rise and fall of a megalomaniac, a critique on the American Dream, DDL, a view on capitalism, Paul Thomas Anderson masterpiece, whatever way you want to remember and cherish it is fine by me. Personally? “Drainage! Drainage, Eli, you boy. Drained dry. I'm so sorry. Here, if you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw. There it is, that's a straw, you see? You watching?. And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake... I... drink... your... Milkshake!” does it for me.

Jumper
If there is a sequel to this it could be good as this is a decent idea I thought, on its own though its clunky and a bit pointless. Some decent effects and a crazy Sam Jackson. It all feels like a set up movie though.

The Bank Job
I like Jason Statham and I thought Ashes to Ashes was ok (actually I though it was pretty mince but Keeley Hawes was awesome to look at), this melds both together and is alright actually. Quite playful to begin with then a guy gets his socks blowtorched off in it, jarring change of pace of the year contender.

March

Vantage Point
A good idea stolen from Boomtown which was cruelly cancelled a few years ago. The pairing of Donny Whalberg and Bubba from Forrest Gump was what it was all about in my opinion, enough about Boomtown though, Vantage Point is no bad, Quaid shines, Matthew Fox simpers though, back to Lost for you please.

The Cottage
British film alert, number two of the year and its merely March. This is a good wee horror film, its funny and has tits (courtesy of Jennifer Ellison and the pairing of Shearsmith and Serkiss!) and it has scares. Well as far as i am concerned it has scares, i am a total shitbag when it comes to this sort of thing. Its gory, it has cockney gangsters and did i mention jennifer Ellisons cleavage? ooh and she swears, loudly. Lovely. right i suppose i have now proved i am somewhat of a deviant, all i will say is i enjoyed this British indie. Swearing tits!

27 Dresses
Liked this actually, I thought james Marsden in X-Men is the epitome of bawbag but after Enchanted last year and this im coming around. Some funny bits in this and the main burds sister is a ride and a riot all at the same time.

April

(2) In Bruges
Surprisingly excellent, I had heard it was quite funny but quite offbeat, I was intrigued but not overly so, then the DVD was thrust in my hands and I watched it and hey presto it fired itself into 2nd position in the movie review of the year. Its everything I really like, good dialogue, strange situation, and gangsters. Colin Farrell showing he is a really fantastic actor and giving a big eyebrowed man like myself a real boost in that they wont hinder my plans for world domination. Brendan Gleeson is also amazing as his older mentor. Many many many quotable lines and now I want to visit Bruges not many films are this successful as a travelogue, especially as one of the Farrells character constantly slags of the places relative merits!

(9) Street Kings
Saw this in a double bill with Iron Man back when I had the time to do such things, I liked it a lot actually regardless of the fact that its littered with tv stars whose tv personas cloud my vision of their new characters. Keanu Reeves shows some good acting chops I think and Forrest Whittakers eye has never been so shady. Surprisingly violent which isnt always a bad thing.

May

(3) Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr’s tour de force performance stand out clearly in this excellent comic book adaptation but i was more drawn to Jeff Bridges shiny nappered scarf wearing baddie. In his review during the year Red notes the Iraq war on terror motifs in it, i like them! A good story for what is hopefully merely a introductory to a wider world. The cracking wee after credit bit with Sam Jackson as Nick Fury: Agent of Shield (not Hoff?) was alluring even though my knowledge of that character and the Avenger team is limited. 2010 cant come quick enough.

(8) Doomsday
A film set in a feral Scotland which has been cut off from civilisation due to a killer virus for thirty years, though i am sure some other hacks have commented that it resembles Scotland pretty much as it is today, boo to them. This was actually surprisingly good i thought, surely a future cult classic. Maybe its just because its all Scottish signifiers (tennents lager, Queen St Glasgow etc) but i really engaged with this, sure its not brilliant and the story has some gaping holes. Rhona Mitras main character has an electronic eye which is only used twice which seemed a bit of a waste, the violence is cartoon like and a bit of a guilty pleasure. Some right mince sub plots are thrown into the mix, Malcolm MacDowell has a cameo which is typically baws and this basically becomes a big soup of weird ideas but fuck it, i enjoyed it.

What Happens in Vegas
A bit pants really, both characters are unlike able so what’s the point? Actually this has become a staple of the rom com nowadays, that one with Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston from a few years ago, pair of arses, bring back likeable characters please.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
I have had many discussions about this since its release, ultimately I liked it but I have heard so many people centre on its lack of reality, well lets think about it, a gazillion year old knight looking after a an ancient artefact in one of the previous films (can you tell I am not a fanatic?) that hardly happens everyday so shut up! This should have been the highlight of the year, the swinging monkeys bit meant it slipped out the top ten however.

Sex and the City: The Movie
Baws. Whatever supposedly made the tv show so successful was missed here. Lets see, they flung in a black character, just because. There was casual racism that didn’t seem to get picked up, the black haired prissy one doesn’t trust anything to eat or drink in Mexico. She does and shits herself (the point exactly?) thus showing Mexico is bad. Can I also mention that I wouldn’t ride the old slapper one into battle. Oh aye, the main one gets married, they all learn life lessons and live happily ever after, now just learn what I have just wrote and you never have to watch it but have a ready made opinion. Your welcome.

June

Never seen nothing in June, strange.

July

Mamma Mia!
Why does our main character speak with an American accent when she has spent her whole life in Greece? This question and many more wont be answered ever in this film. Enjoy the old Jimmy Bond singing terribly and a lso look out for a west of Scotland accent. All in all, a burds film and so we’ll leave it at that.

Meet Dave
If you simply have to see an Elizabeth Banks movie this year, try Zach and Miri, however if you find yourself watching this for whatever reason i give you Elizabeth Banks, probably the best reason to see this Eddie Murphy guff.

(1) Dark Knight

For me a perfect movie. Heath ledgers role has been discussed here there and everywhere and yes it is amazing but really the film is so strong throughout that it would have been hard for him to duff it up. All the characters (Maggie Gyllenhall’s excepted) are so well fleshed out, It went in at number 15 or something similarly high in Empires top 500 films ever which was published this year and has gone in at number 2 i think in the Imdb top 250 though its position may have evened out by now and that was ridiculed as if it shouldnt be there. Why? maybe not so high but really this is a genuine classic, not just a comic book movie which we have all seem done well or not so, no this is a terrific action thriller, with terrific undertones of phsycology , style and all sorts of other characteristics that is deemed requsite for the realms of all time greats, this meets all the requirements and just to rub salt in the wound it does so with a guy dressed up as a bat and putting on a right crap gruff accent. As a comic book movie it transcends comic books adn maybe thats why the haters hate. Oh and i went to watch it at the IMAX cinema and the scenes such as the ones in Hong Kong are immense. Chris Nolan i salute you and i hope against hope you return to direct a third installment though if you could fit in a Prestige type in the meantime that would be swell too!

Baby Mama
Oh its alright, if I was an American I am sure the prissy woman in it would mean more to me but as I am Scottish she is merely the prissy woman in this film. Hell I know she is SNL and now THE Sarah Palin impersonator (bit of a redundant profession now I suppose) but she doesn’t mean anything to me really. As I say, film is ok, quite funny.

August

X-Files: I Want to Believe
I was a x files fan when I was a young thing, some memorable episodes were the guy who used to disappear into air vents (!) and the family that interbred so much the mother was kept under a bed (!) ok so they arent that memorable to me but i was an avid viewer. Now, a fair few years later and i watch this and you know what, i want the X files back. aA film every couple of years isnt beyond them surely, and if so why not have some of the right weird action packed super weird ones.

(6) Hellboy II: The Golden Army

For me, not as good as the original. But still one of the most visually arresting films of the year. I like things that are great to look at but sometimes I felt it was all a bit too much. The action was great and Hellboy is really really funny and its insanely worked out. Plus it has one of Bros in it, one of bros! Fingers crossed for more Hellboy at the pictures but with the Hobbit lined up it could be some time.

September

Righteous Kill
So, it has came to this, Pacino and De Niro back together again, two of the best actors of their generation and basically the star of some of my favourite ever films. And what is this? Well it is more or less a basic cop film, nothing more nothing less, no masterclass of scenery chewing i am afraid. Dont get me wrong, its ok but the billing of the two meant it could have been so much better, or maybe not, what have they done of note recently? I should have known when their character names are mentioned, Rooster and Turk, really? How ridiculous, and then there is 50 Cent, he is in it, and De Niro’s characters girlfriend likes rough sex, its just a roll up of crap names, weird scenes (the workout scene has to be seen to be believed) and crap script. Oh and the most obvious twist ever.

(7) Death Race
A guilty pleasure if ever there was one as this should have been utter crap. But its not, sure its a film that is instantly forgettable but for the 100odd minutes its on screen its mesmerising and thats what counts. Set in the future it has Jason Statham as a guy that works in a steel works (not that that matters as its never mentioned again) he goes home to his wife and then is set up for her murder (not that it matters as its hardly mentioned again) he sees who set him up and notices the guys personality tick (not that it matters cos its never cleared up for definite that he deals with it) no, what matters is the action and the death race itself, and boy is it good, some excellent set pieces and stunts make this the best Friday night movie of the year. Of course its leave your brain at the door stuff cos you wont need it but these sort of things are needed i think. Plus Lovejoys in it.

October

(10) Ghost Town
Ricky Gervais plays Ricky Gervais in this nice wee romantic comedy. I liekd it, it was a cool idea and was quite sweet in its delivery. Gervais plays a dentist who is as neurotic as you can possibly imagine, he goes in for a routine operation and is dead for a spell and afterwards he can see ghosts, one of which, Greg Kinnear, tries to get him to help his wife but Gervais falls in love. I though it was funny, my girlfreind thought it was crap. i know what i am talking about, she loved Mamma Mia. Trust me not her, it was good.

November

Zach and Miri Make A Porno
Kevin Smith is back and to be honest it came and went without too much hoopla, i remember when the thought of a new look inside the View Askew universe would have made a bigger mark. I liked this, i actually liked it a lot, the trailer was misleading though i felt, it wasnt exactly what i imagined it was more involved. Right i am meandering my way through the last film in my year review so i will gee it up a bit, i liked the romantic bits more than i thought i would, and the sex scenes are funny. Seth Rogen shouldnt get a mega good looking burd however, it doenst empower fatties around the world, it merely shows them that films are fake. sorry to burst fat folks bubbles. Oh and the year ends as it begins with the sight of a flaccid penis, excellent! Thank you Kevin Smith and indeed thank you Jason Mewes.

December

Never seen shit in December either, so instead here is a wee rundown of my top 10.

10. Ghost Town
9. Street Kings
8. Doomsday
7. Death Race
6. Hellboy II
5. No Country For Old Men
4. There Will Be Blood
3. Iron Man
2. In Bruges
1. Dark Night

If I had done more reviews last year then this could have been abbreviated easier ala Red’s effort, just a rundown of the top ten rather than them all, ah you live and learn.

Roll on next year, or as i have waited till mid January to put this up, roll on this year.

Ruud Kerouac

Frost/Nixon

History has a habit of throwing up stories that are well worth the movie treatment as the events are better than anything a scriptwriter can make up. Watergate is one of those incidents and naturally there has already been a few, pretty good, movies based on the event and its major players. Frost/Nixon, as the name suggests, looks at the aftermath, and in particular the interviews David Frost conducted with the shamed former president.

There's plenty of meat to the real life events, yet the film fails to capture this. It feels somewhat empty, devoid of the tension a film needs. One of the major problems with making a film based on events that are well known is that the audience already knows the solution. The aim of the filmmakers then has to be drawing the audience in to the extent that they forget that it isn't a work of fiction and that things may actually turn out different from history. Frost/Nixon's director Ron Howard already achieved this feat with the genuinely gripping Apollo 13 but the real life events played out as if they were a movie. Frost/Nixon's major problem is that the events are dull out with the interviews. The subplots about financing and internal splits in Frost's teams never quite grip and feel superfluous, even if they did happen.

One of Frost/Nixon's major problems is that it's beginnings lie in the theatre. What works there doesn't necessarily on film. Thus a narrative based around a series of interviews with little other plot may work on stage but it makes for dry cinema. Also the performances of Michael Sheen and Frank Langella feel stilted, as if they are playing to an audience. They may have worked in the theatre but on screen they are nothing more than pretty good impersonations of the real people. In fact it beggars belief that Langella received an Oscar nod for best actor. It seems it's purely because he's a lot like Nixon. Far better is Sam Rockwell, again proving that he's a criminally underrated actor, doing his best to elevate James Reston above typical liberal ranter. Kevin Bacon also gives his usual dependable turn as Jack Brennan, conveying some genuine emotion in an otherwise emotionless man as he witnesses his boss go down.

Sadly Frost/Nixon is a bit of a damp squib which struggles to break free of its theatrical beginnings or overcome the inevitability of its events. Ron Howard fails to wring any tension from one of the most significant events in American history leading to a dull, academic experience that may have worked better as a documentary.

The Wrestler

A few years back a documentary came out called Beyond The Mat, in which a film crew went to find out what possesses people to wrestle professionally. The alarming thing you discover is how fucked up some of these people's lives are and it seems to stem from them pursuing their passion. The Wrestler is in a lot of ways the fictional remake of this documentary with Mickey Rourke's Randy "The Ram" Robinson coming across as an amalgam of Jake "The Snake" Roberts, once at the top of the game we find that at the time of filming he's broke, a drug addict, estranged from his daughter and taken to wrestling at any small-scale operation that'll take him, and Terry Funk, who just won't quit even though his body did at least a decade beforehand. Whether you believe their pursuit of their dreams as ludicrous or not doesn't dilute the intense sadness of their situation.

We're introduced to Robinson already washed up with reminders of his status everywhere to be seen. This is a man who still owns a NES because it's the last video game machine to immortalise him, his jacket's held together with tape, his van and home are clapped out and his taste in music is firmly stuck in the 80's. According to him the 90's sucked because Kurt Cobain came along and ruined everything. He just wants his music to be fun. This is a man who refuses to accept that it's over, pushing himself to continue wrestling even though he's done. For him the only thing that's ever meant anything is the adulation of the fans, and they're the only people who still love him. But inevitably the attempts to try and keep going in a "sport" that requires peak physical fitness catch up and The Ram has to face real life for the first time. This entails getting a job behind the deli counter at the local supermarket, asking out his favourite stripper and attempting to reconvene with his estranged daughter, who is now embittered thanks to the years of neglect she had to endure as her father pursued his dreams.

Just like Beyond The Mat, The Wrestler isn't really about wrestling, but rather the men who pushed themselves too far because it's all they know how to do and all they want to do. Witness how The Ram approaches his new everyday job as if it were a match. As he makes his way through the back area of the shop it's apparent how similar it is to the backstage area of an arena. Slowly the sound of fans chanting begins to mix with the hum of the machinery until The Ram approaches the curtain, takes a second to psych himself then bursts through ready to give the public what they want. Shamefully in this case it's ham and potato salad as apposed to bodyslams and Ram Jams.

The rest of the film deals with how Randy adapts to a normal life. His main way in seems to be through stripper Cassidy who kind of mirrors him, she too performs for the crowd and hides behind a name, creating a bubble for herself that shuts out the outside world. She is also past her best, but whereas the crowds still love The Ram, they don't want to know her. She also appears to have shaped a life for herself outside of the stripping which means she may have an avenue that allows her to escape. The problem is for Randy that no matter how things are going with Cassidy, his daughter and his job, there's that nagging itch to get back in front of the crowd, to hear them chant his name. There's also an interesting contrast between him and his arch nemesis, The Ayatollah. He at some point quit wrestling and became a successful car dealership owner. Whereas he sees stepping back into the ring as a bit of fun and a chance to relive his glory years, for Randy it's life and death. He'd rather die out there in front of those who love him than not give his all. It's the sad flaw that has ruined his life up until this point.

The casting of Mickey Rourke to play Randy is a masterstroke. The man shows why he was one of Hollywood's brightest stars with a remarkable performance. It's hard to see how any other actor could have done the character justice given his life story so far. Marisa Tomei is also excellent as Cassidy, although the one mis-step in using her as a stripper who's seen better days is that Tomei still looks incredible nude. It's a minor grumble, if a grumble at all! As for the direction, this is easily Dan Aronofsky's best film. I'll admit to having been left cold by his previous outings, films that felt somewhat empty no matter how well directed that they clearly were. The Wrestler is his most human film, featuring a connection to its characters and genuine emotion that thankfully doesn't reach Requiem For A Dream's histrionics. Instead it's a subtle character piece interspersed with some of the finest wrestling scenes you could hope to see. The positioning of the camera during the fights is incredibly tight, but unlike Christopher Nolan who played his fight scenes too close in his Batman films, Aronofski gets it just right. The viewer is placed in there as if they are a part of the match and it's exhilarating to say the least. And watch out for the final shot, it's a belter!

The Wrestler takes a "sport" that is labelled fake and shows that the passion and the pain that lies behind it is very real. Coupling some excellent directing with an incredible central performance Dan Aronofsky has more than likely made his masterpiece and a film that will be very hard to top in 2009.

P.S. Stay for the end credits to hear Bruce Springsteen's song The Wrestler. It's almost as breathtaking as the film itself.

Big Red's Fun Bus

Here!

Oscar Nominations

Predictable and shite! Basically the Golden Globes and BAFTA lists with Academy Awards written at the top of the page.

Sorry I'm in a strop because as predicted WALL.E was snubbed for best film because it's animated. It's the same old story, it's not worthwhile because it's not live action.

Ach well all this overblown backslapping jamboree is good for is the prediction game. No doubt Ruud and myself will be playing closer to the time with a Mars Bar riding on it. Now that's a prize!

The Razzies

Yup the anti-Oscars has announced its nominations. Some deserving abominations in there including The Love Guru, The Happening and Disaster Movie. Plus a nomination for Al Pacino, his third no less!

Best of all is the first award of Worst Career Achievement in over twenty years to Uwe Boll. Wonder if he'll pick up the prize in person and if so fight any of the judges? Now that would definitely be an Oscar-topping show.

CT 6: Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks

Remember that bit in Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein where two women cavort in a pool naked while a midget watches from behind a rock? Or how about the bit where a guy in jeans murders a caveman? Me neither. Turns out that ol' Frankie boy is now in some sort of Italian/Transylvania/England type setting in an unspecified time, see jean-wearing guy and the Confederate soldier for evidence, and has taken to experimenting on cavemen who live in the local area. Sounds like perfect riffing material for Cinematic Titanic's sixth effort and for the most part it is.

See the problem with the film is that although it's a great example of Eurotrash exploitation it's not really that much fun. Beyond some titillation inducing nudity (more of which in a minute) and the presence of a dwarf (what is it with hack filmmakers and dwarfs?) it's kind of boring. Sure there's an insanity to some of the ideas, the hunchback porking the wife of an associate who looks like she missed a glittering career in the pro wrestling circuit and a section involving a caveman and the dwarf that plays like an amateur dramatic take on Eegah, but for the most part proceedings are drab. At least there's a bad dubbing job and that wonderful feature of crap films from the 70's the use of modern for the time fashions even if the film is set 150 years previously to keep you visually stimulated.

The subject of visual stimulation takes us nicely to CT's treatment of the film, and something that has brought about some controversy. The Breast Blimp hasn't went down well with some viewers, mainly because again violence and gore have went uncensored whereas nudity gets covered up, literally in this case by a floating blimp that arrives whenever any of the females peel off. My personal problem with it stems from the fact that the woman playing Krista's front bags are clearly the only good thing in this film, apart from one of Frankenstein's servant's amazing shape-shifting hump.

The movie then makes this a strange installment of CT. On one hand it's bizarre and pretty awful leading to some killer riffs. In fact there are many laugh-out-loud moments in this one. We find out what Josh's last day at MST was like and that Joel's college roommate's adoption of fuzzy slipper wearing led to tragic events. There's also a lot of fun had with the odd, synthesiser led soundtrack "stop stepping on ducks". The problem is it isn't consistent. The movie's drab plot and general nature appears to win over in other sections and some of the parts are a bit of a slog. It's a bit of a shame given how good some of the material is, and the fact that again the performers have grown making for an altogether slicker riffing than previous efforts. The odd line still clunks but nowhere near the amount found in earlier editions.

As it stands Frankenstein's Castle Of Freaks is destined to be a middling effort from the CT crew, along with Wasp Woman. So far they haven't made anything poor and that fact still remains. This is good stuff it's just not quite up to the level of a couple of the previous efforts. There are still some great moments to savour here but the movie is the real problem. It appears to be a godsend for riffers but is just too dull at times to make truly entertaining.

Slumdog Millionaire

When Trainspotting was released in 1995 film magazine Empire triumphantly heralded it as the start of a golden age of British filmmaking, one that could take on Hollywood at its own game while retaining all that makes British film great. It wasn't, shamefully, but it did mark director Danny Boyle as an intriguing talent. There have been a couple of mis-steps since, but for the most part he's proven himself to be not only the best British director working, but one of the finest full stop. And yet post Trainspotting, and the brilliant Shallow Grave before it, there have been some that have grumbled that he's lost his spark. In a sense they have a point as nothing he has done since has featured quite the same energy and vitality as those first two. That is until now.

Boyle has been quoted as saying that filming in India brought back the feeling of making your first film, on other words the kind of confusion that winging it brings was back thanks to an alien environment to shake him out of whatever comfort zone he may have settled into. As diverse, and sometimes brilliant, as The Beach, 28 Days Later, Millions and Sunshine were none quite had the visceral shock of Trainspotting's fractured narrative, roving camera and bravura sound and editing. Well just imagine all that transported out of Edinburgh to Mumbai and nary a junkie in sight.

Slumdog's essentially a modern day fable about fate in which an Indian Muslim from the slums manages to get within one question of winning the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? As such the programme's producers believe that he is cheating somehow and have him arrested. Here while being tortured he tells the police the story of his life and how certain incidents have led to him knowing the answers and why he is doing it in the first place. Much like Trainspotting the events of the film are presented in a jumbled order of flashbacks within flashbacks, flashforwards and time slipping all over the place as the film sees fit. Towards the end there is a moment where events are reversed that is simply breathtaking that I won't ruin for those who haven't seen it yet. Within these pockets of narrative the camera acts as another character, charging around the slums and the tourist attractions of India as if it were one of the slum kids excitedly running about looking all around itself at all of the wondrous or horrific sights.

Ah these sights, and I'm not just talking about the colour palette, as gorgeous as it is. Boyle has managed to bring a view of the complexities of the gap between India's rich and poor that never becomes mawkish or, even more impressively, too political. It's to the film's credit that Jamal's faith only ever comes into play once, and it's really just to move the plot forward, even if it is a tragic moment. Slumdog has a few of these. As much as it is an upbeat, feelgood movie it has to earn its happy resolution and as such we're introduced to some of the brutal practices that street kids in India are subjected to, including deliberate blinding with a hot spoon. Thankfully it's not all doom and gloom in these sections. The scenes at the Taj Mahal are hilarious, as is Jamal's brush with a Scottish customer when he's asked to look after a work colleague's phone in a call centre. Best of all is his encounter with a Bollywood legend that shows that he'll do anything to get what he wants, even if his shifty brother stands in the way.

Slumdog Millionaire finds Danny Boyle rediscovering that hyper-kinetic energy that has been missing from his films for the past decade. That alone is enough of a recommendation to see this, but the performances from a largely unknown cast are excellent and the story is wonderful feelgood cinema that also hits home how rough those have-nots of the world have it. The decision to set it in India proves to be an important one, not for story reasons, the narrative could realistically be played out anywhere thanks to social devisions in even the wealthiest nations. Rather it is because it brings the viewer something new, something exotic, something different. Boyle found this to be the case as well allowing him to turn in his best film in over a decade, one that might just dominate the Oscars in the way Trainspotting was meant to.

BAFTA Nominations

So us Brits, in an attempt to break up America's monopoly on the big film awards ceremonies, have announced the nominations for this year's BAFTAS. Now people will tell you that these mean something, and I say guff to that. They say that it's a key awards ceremony in the run-up to the Oscars. It's not really, it's just a waste of time. Don't believe me? Well look at those nominations.

Now don't get me wrong, most of these films are pretty damn good. But look at the way that it's split up. There are nominations for films like In Bruges, WALL.E, Hunger, Waltz With Bashir and Man On Wire, a group of diverse films that have been very well received. An awards ceremony prepared to honour these films should be considered daring, but sadly the BAFTAS have taken the cowardly route. You see none of them are up for Best Film, but rather sit in categories best described as "Best Film That's Foreign, Animated or British and isn't Slumdog Millionaire". This is an awards that has a best film category that seems not to consider anything that isn't "worthy" filmmaking. Again, this isn't an attack on the actual films nominated for the category but the simple fact is that the list is boring, predictable and more than likely will be the same list as the Oscars. It tends to be the case with the BAFTAS hence them moving it to before the Oscars, not to be a yardstick, but to cover up how predictable and pointless the whole shebang is.

Of course the fact that they are then willing to celebrate the other titles I listed shows up this fact all the more so. WALL.E was easily one of the best films of last year, but it's a cartoon, you know, for kids, so best animated film is the best it can do. Sadly this really may be a predictor for the Oscars where Pixar and others have suffered from choosing not to film real people but operate in an art form that seems to be deemed less than worthy by awards panels, sitting just above comedy and horror in the pecking order. Waltz With Bashir is by all accounts another worthy nominee which has to make do with the animated slap in the face, but then gets a second for being nominated in the "Best Film Not In The English Language" category. Great wording there, what was foreign deemed offensive or something? Because let's be honest they're all foreign films (to us) and I doubt many Welsh language movies end up in this category because if they're any good they'll go in the biggest cop out of the lot, Outstanding British Film.

Apart from Slumdog millionaire, which was rightly considered in the Best Film category, all the other films probably came no where near even making that list, begging the question; what is the point of a British film awards ceremony that doesn't have a bit of a bias towards homegrown films. The Oscars does, and isn't this supposed to be ours? Nope, instead the British films get a separate category that doesn't even look to distinguish the thing as the Best film made hear, just an outstanding one. It's like giving the filmmaker a condescending pat on the head and saying "good try there son, maybe one day you'll get to make a Hollywood movie". Slumdog is a genuinely terrific film, but why is it nominated in both categories? It suggests that it'll lose to one of the less hyper-kinetic, i.e. old git friendly, movies like The Reader in best film then pick up the British award, look out for this happening with Waltz With Bashir too. It's good that less well known films like Hunger and Man On Wire are getting some recognition, but again why not give them top billing if they're that outstanding. And In Bruges, pity it as it's way too sweary and offensive for best film so we'll honour a genuinely fantastic British film in the proper way, bu ignoring it. It probably won't win a film category but McDonagh deserves best original screenplay and it deserves an acting award, although don't put money on Brendan Gleeson winning in Best Supporting Actor thanks to the likes of Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Heath Ledger being in there. Of course he and Colin Farrell are joint leads so he's in the wrong category anyway.

And then there's the kick in the teeth, the final insult. After me moaning about BAFTA not promoting British film well enough I realise they actually have had a stab at it. Look at the last film in the Outstanding British category. Mamma Mia! Mamma fucking Mia! Why is this arseing piece of unmitigated anal leakage there? Because it's the most successful British film ever. Why? Because sad, middle aged women love ABBA. It's also British in that wonderful way where most of the funding and distribution actually comes from elsewhere. So well done BAFTA for nominating it, I suppose as your way of pointing out that everything in the world of British filmmaking is rosy thanks to the ridiculous amount of money this shitting thing took. This piece of industry back slapping is the final proof that BAFTA has got its priorities all wrong.

Role Models

Why isn't Paul Rudd a bigger star? He obviously has the looks so let's gloss over the fact that I find him attractive in a way that makes me slightly uncomfortable and focus on the fact that after Anchorman, 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up he still isn't star billing, being under the guy who played Stiffler, on a movie where he co-wrote the script and plays one of the two main characters. Whatever the reason Role Models will hopefully get him that bit of attention he's so obviously missing.

The premise is simple, couple of guys have to serve community service or face jail after one is dumped and goes a little crazy when his car is towed. that service is acting as "big brothers" for kids who struggle to fit in to society. One gets the A.D.D. kid who's clearly had too many blue Smarties and watched Boyz 'N' The Hood a few too many times while the other gets the nerd who's obsessed with fantasy role playing games. Queue the two of them learning life lessons from their charges while teaching them some of their own and much happiness.

It's no shock to report that Role Models is exactly what you'd expect it to be having seen the trailer, a crude, funny, uplifting little film that doesn't bother to steer clear of cliched story telling because it doesn't have to. You see it's confident enough in the comic material and its players that it doesn't need to. Adding to Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott, on the best form he's shown since American Pie, you have McLovin himself Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Elizabeth Banks, another Virgin veteran and also fresh off the back of Zack And Miri Make A Porno, and the mercurial Jane Lynch, who has now become a fixture in comedy beyond Christopher Guest films, as the kids charity operator who used to eat cocaine for breakfast. Add to that a brilliant turn from the barely into his second decade Bobb'e J. Thompson as the obnoxious hyperactive Ronnie and the plot's obvious elements just drift away.

On top of the performances is the sharp dialogue. Although Rudd has been a fixture of the Apatow players for a while now, most of Role Models feels lie it has come from the page, with only the dinner scene feeling like it's being improvised. Just revel in the many innuendos scattered throughout the script seemingly at will. You'll probably miss quite a few from laughing at something else. Also marvel at Ronnie deciding that Danny is Ben Affleck purely because he is white, or Ronnie and Wheeler bonding over Kiss' Love Gun, "the gun's his cock" which then leads to a lesson in how to look at boobs. Even more material is mined from the fantasy role play world that Augie is obsessed with, be it the ridiculous speech patterns or the costumes that have clearly taken too much time to make, including a truly phenomenal visual gag involving a homemade Centaur costume.

In fact the role playing provides the movie with its best extended set piece in the shape of their Battle Royale. It's probably going to be one of the best staged battles you'll see all year, it's just that everyone's kidding on. It's a seriously inspired scene that elevates Role Models above many of the other comedy films of recent months. Even the camping trip, a cliche in itself, is hilarious thanks to many visual and verbal jokes. Especially brilliant is Danny's scary story for the kids that I won't ruin here.

Role Models at first looks to be yet another crude, middle-aged guys learn about life comedy and those first perceptions are actually correct. What allows it to rise above all the others is its obsession with the smaller details, such as dialogue and visual gags, that means that the glaring cliches of the script aren't a problem. Hell it's so funny and clever at times that you can even allow it the obligatory happy ending. Best of all are the performances, which are universally excellent. The fact then that Paul Rudd both wrote and acts in this says it all. The man deserves to be bigger and hopefully Role Models will elevate him. And yes, he is damn handsome.