Moofies in 2010 - May (5 / 42)

Iron Man 2 - a lot of great one liners, the interplay between characters was spot on, but in the end it was quite pedestrian story with minimal action. They're really using this as a vehicle to set up the other Marvel films and the Avengers with more about S.H.I.E.L.D. and nods to Captain America and Thor. Was more of a Tony Stark character study and growth story more than anything. The 30 seconds after the credits was a waste of time and should have been before the credits or maybe just into them. 2.5/5

Harry Brown - Michael Caine brilliantly portrays a sad old pensioner looking forlornly into the last few years of his life who finds renewed anger, vigor and purpose when his best friend is murdered by local thugs and he decides someone needs to stand up and be a man. Although quite violent at times and rather shocking, it's Caine's performance as the titular Harry Brown that just mesmerised me. He gives no justification for his actions, he gives very little reason, he's just a man who decides something needs to be done and then tries to do it.

Also has a great turn from Emily Mortimer as a Detective Inspector with an empathic response to Harry's situation and features a twist that for once I did not see coming - probably 'cause I was just so involved in the film. I have to reiterate how great Caine is, especially in the quiet moments where the camera just focuses on his face and you can see the inner turmoil burning through his eyes. A very dark palette is used with some very murky sets and situations and it suits the film perfectly. 5/5

The Girl Who Played With Fire - second in the Millenium Trilogy. Meh it was OK, a bit contrived in parts but pretty good. I'll check out the third but it doesn't make me want to read the books despite all the great praise they have garnered. 2.5/5

*Star Trek - came home drunk from the pub and my housemate had just started watching it so figured it was worth yet another re-watch. It's still a great, fun flim with some plot developments that are just plain stupid (the whole Old Spock thing and really the villain in general) but whatevs.

The Darjeeling Limited - weird and wacky and really not my kind of flim. I watched it 'cause my sister wanted to but if she hadn't been there I'd have switched it off half way through. I'm really not that much of a fan of Wes Anderson's films though I do still want to see Fantastic Mr Fox. 1/5