So I saw 'Quantum of Solace'

After Casino Royale (2006) made Bond --the character and the movies-- less cartoonish and more gritty, along comes Quantum of Solace to undo things.

I was sitting there in the movie theatre taking in Quantum and it was scene after scene of mindless action and then BOOM! BOOM! EXPLOSION! EXPLOSION! and then *nodded off and awakened startlingly* a scene of Bond (Daniel Craig) pointing a gun at a bewildered couple standing in a doorway and then *nodded off and awakened startlingly* a scene of Bond conversing with M (does she ever smile?) and then *nodded off but immediately awakened startlingly as…* the credits rolled.

(Running time: 106 minutes)

So I saw 'Eagle Eye'

It's a Tom Clancy's with a science-fiction twist. There's no comic relief (!) and no breather as the action is non-stop. The action, though, isn't there for the sake of blowing things up or having high-speed car chases; it serves to drive the story forward.

Shia LaBeouf carries the movie with natural ease it seems and his (adventurous, backpacking to Indonesia, Bali ;)) Jerry Shaw character is cool and poignant and shares a degree of chemistry with Michelle Monaghan's 'Female'. Billy Bob Thornton is stern as the sceptical, no-nonsense, old-school FBI agent.

My wish, however, is for the movie to be taken a step or two further to realize its full potential.

(Running time: 118 minutes)

So I saw 'Body of Lies'

I went to see it basically because I heard If The World, a new song from the new Guns N' Roses, is played over the credit roll. When it finally, finally, was played I got only a snippety foretaste of a minute tops. Axl Rose has taken vocal lessons apparently, because instead of raspy and nasal as he used to be back then, he now sounds hoarse and nasal. The guitars were clinical and precise, too clinical and precise. But anyway...

The movie itself went for gritty and realistic, but it fell short in both departments.

(Running time: 128 minutes)

So I saw 'The Dark Knight'

Gold was struck with the winning formula that is Batman Begins (2005) and the film makers were all too aware of it. For the sequel The Dark Knight, they proceeded to carefully build on and deepen the skilfully carved Batman niche to come up with a cerebral superhero movie.

Sitting in the theatre watching the movie unfold, that was my impression, which can be summed up into one word: Wow.

Heath Ledger's (RIP) The Joker ranks right up there with Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal. Strong storytelling ensures that everything makes sense in a world that includes Gotham City on the map. A tad overlong, which I blame on the Two-Face side plot, but that's not really a complaint.

(Running time: 152 minutes)

So I saw 'The Incredible Hulk'

It's set in comic world and it abides by the natural laws governing comic world. From that perspective the movie worked for me.

It isn't an improvement to the 2003 Hulk effort, however.

The reason is, I think, firstly the Hulk himself. As a kid, the tv series Hulk used to scare the crap out of me, so much so I was too scared to have a poster of him in full Hulk raging mode in my bedroom. Not so with movie Hulk. True, we're talking about 20+ years later on, but still.

The CGI-ed movie Hulk is too sterile, too polished. Even though he's the star, you can't relate to him. In the tv series, scary to me as he was then, the Hulk came across rather as a social misfit, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, a person misunderstood. My question is, would a human Hulk have done a better job than the CGI Hulk?

I'm comparing movie Hulk to tv Hulk; I'm not familiar with comic book Hulk. Perhaps movie Hulk was more faithful to comic book Hulk.

Overall, it wasn't too bad, and I particularly liked the amazing shot of the shanty town in Brazil. Wow.

(Running time: 112 minutes)

So I saw 'The Happening'

I'm a fan, perhaps even a follower, of M. Night Shyamalan. He takes these gems of ideas which only sci-fi geeks and nerds would dare touch, and make them work by treating them with strong storylines. In fact, his storylines are so strong, you'd do them more justice using the written word instead of film.

In The Happening Night bases his story on the premise of what if bees disappeared? Here too you'll find some strong storytelling going on.

Not as superior as Signs (2002), but still way up there on the Night scale.

(Running time: 91 minutes)

So I saw 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'

The biggest thrill was to watch Indy (Harrison Ford) back in action again after all these years. Overall, it's a solid instalment in the legendary series.

(Running time: 122 minutes)

So I saw 'Iron Man'

I got the impression of Iron Man being an amalgamation of Batman Begins (2005) and Transformers (2007), though it isn't IMO necessarily greater than the sum of its parts.

Robert Downey Jr invests Tony Stark with the same charm which made him memorable in Air America (1990), and that's a good thing.

Terrence Howard's Jim Rhodes should clip his fingernails more often. I mean, what military dude has long dirty fingernails?

Jeff Bridges is convincing as Obadiah Stane, but I couldn't help thinking of him as the Dude every time he comes on screen.

Gwyneth Paltrow is cute as Pepper Potts, but comedic attempts to turn her into a possible love interest to Stark are rather hit-or-miss.

(Running time: 126 minutes)

So I saw 'Shoot 'Em Up'

And it was, in no particular order: cultish, clever, and fun.

(Running time: 86 minutes)

So I saw '10,000 B.C.'

It felt like a Disney version of Apocalypto (2006) and I mean it in a good way. Surprisingly good story, loved the mammoth hunting scene in particular.

(Running time: 109 minutes)

So I saw '3:10 to Yuma'

An old school western flick as I remember from childhood. Russell Crowe seethes with danger in a cool, understated way as baddy Ben Wade; Christian Bale's Dan Evans is heroic in the way he looks after his family. Classic.

(Running time: 122 minutes)

So I saw 'Rambo'

I've never seen anything like it. It was one ultra-violent scene after another in between sparse dialog, and midway the movie an initial sense of triumph had to give way for uncomfortableness.

(Running time: 92 minutes)

So I saw 'Sunshine'

On VCD. And I liked it. It had this understated ominousness or whatever until halfway the movie, and the use of colour (orangey sunshine) felt refreshingly non-Hollywood-y. Sunshine is a small diamond in a stack of coal, and it would be quite a shining spectacle indeed if it wasn't for the madman introduced in the movies' final third.

(Running time: 107 minutes)

So I saw 'Golden Compass'

And I liked it. A lot. I don't understand why it is considered to be anti this and that; all I see is a brilliant story. I was just getting comfortable for more Dust when suddenly the credits started to roll. Thus a set up for a sequel I truly hope will be made.

(Running time: 113 minutes)