Top Ten Movies

Ok, Hi people. This is a relatively young blog, so I guess it's a good starting point to get an idea of the sort of movies I love....well, I've got a wide taste. I tend towards character-driven, dramatic movies with intelligent plots, but I'm not averse to the odd action adventure movie, and even the odd chick flick. Here's a current top Ten of recent movies, with the emphasis on stuff from the past few years......

1. The Departed. Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Sheen,......the list goes on. An excellent cast with Martin Scorsese at the helm in a US remake of top Jap flick Infernal Affairs. Absolutely amazing.
2. Oceans Eleven. Classy remake of the ratpack flick, with standout performances from an ensemble cast with an ice-cool George Clooney at the helm, and brilliant direction from Steven Soderbergh. Awesome.
3. The Matrix. Original free your mind movie which upped the ante for all action films for the following decade since it was released in 1998. A brilliant combination of thought-provoking and thrills. Let down by two lesser sequels, but still a great stand-alone picture.
4. Casino Royale. Adrenaline-charged reboot of the flagging Bond franchise with a more brutal, ruthless, and much less camp lead in Daniel Craig. Less Pussy Galore, more thrills galore.
5. Knocked Up. Intelligent, inciteful and hilarious twist on the boy-meets-girl chick flick where boy gets girl pregnant and they fall in love. Lots of fun.
6. Training Day. Standout performance from Denzel Washington as a ruthless, corrupt undercover Narcotics cop on the LAPD, with the callow Ethan Hawke coming of age in a single day. Gripping.
7. Pirates Of The Carribean. Worth the price of admission for Johnny Depp's Keef-sendup Captain Jack. Family fun for grown-ups.
8. Ratatoille. Another Pixar gem which is almost perfect in execution and storytelling. Touching, funny, and guaranteed to bring out the big kid in everyone.
9. Walk The Line. Joaquin Phoenix as the great Man In Black Johnny Cash in a moving love story, covering his early days struggling with drink, drugs, love and fame, and a lovely but feisty Reece Witherspoon testing him and saving him all the way.
10. Michael Clayton. Slow moving action thriller with excellent performances in a brutal, moving legal drama about US corporate corruption and the impact on human life.

There's a list, off the top of my head. If you want a recommendation, try one of that lot, not a turkey among em.