Nice list. I watched "Kill List" t'other night despite warnings of it being absolute rubbish, after reading a few reviews it looked to be a bit of a Marmite film so, intrigued I gave it a go. Although a little clunky in parts I thought it pretty much achieved it's aims. Raw, shocking and with a few nice little juxtapositions thrown in for good measure. Worth watching but if you hate it, don't say you weren't warned!

I've got "The Guard" to watch this weekend probably, looking forward to it.

What's people's opinion on the Tinker Tailor film. Has just arrived at the cinema here in Qatar. Not happy as from midnight all bars are shut, due to somebody's birthday. Don't open again until Sunday or Mobday.

I watched it tired, big mistake!
Pay very close attention or face not having a clue what's going on!

Just watched 'Drive'.......I'm sorry, but it isn't that good.

Strip away all the pretentious 'this bit stands for this and that bit stands for that' and you are left with a standard, violent trash movie.

I'm sure if you like all the fancy camerawork and minimal dialogue, then its a classic, but if you want an actual story then its rotten.

I caught the Hurt Locker the other day on film4, how did that win Oscars? it's pants, the characters are unbelievable and some of the things that happen in it just don't make logical sense.

SSSSHHHIIIIITTTTEEEE (yes that's immature but it really is that bad)

Agreed, can't remember that much about it now but I do remember commenting on here about it being completely overrated after I saw it last year.

Although critically panned, I preferred 'The Lovely Bones' to both Inglourious Basterds and The Hurt Locker of the same year.

[iThe Lovely Bones[/i was (correctly) panned for creepily sympathising with a man who rapes and murders a teenage girl. Tarantino kind of lucked out with his lead actor for [iInglourious Basterds[/i. Minus Christoph Waltz the film would have been fun but mostly forgettable. [iThe Hurt Locker[/i is just stylised racist crap. Like [iPlatoon[/i and that other disgusting flick - [iThe Deer Hunter[/i - it inverts truth and reason whitewashing America's imperialist history whilst also drowning the viewer in a sea of self-pity. In these films it is the [iinvaders who are the victim - who suffer[/i. No mention is made of the millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians and Iraqis whose lives were snuffed out beneath a 2,000lb laser-guided bomb. Moreover, those that do survive are uniformly portrayed as shifty, deceitful cut-throats who may also get a sadistic kick out of forcing noble and honest GIs to play Russian Roulette.

Boil [iHurt Locker[/i down and you're left with a psychopath - high on violence in someone else's country where the suffering of others simply isn't part of the equation. A quintessential Hollywood celebration of the "lone lunatic". A film about killing in which the word killing and its meaning have parted company.

I might go see The Grey.

I really enjoyed it, it was a slow burner in lots of ways. It built well though and came to life towards then end and the performances were excellent. I could do to watch it again.

Not seen Snowtown yet but am looking forward to it, heard only positive comments.

Friends with Benefits - The trouble with rom-coms is they are rarely funny or romantic. This especially annoyed me as the the idea itself was good but it fell into the same old trap. It's sassy, snappy dialogue was fine to start with but ended up feeling a bit disingenous along with relationship itself. Woody Harrelson lit up the film and Mila Kunis was very easy on the eye but it just lacked any sincerity for me.

Never Let Me Go - Uncomfotable bleak story which suceeds due to the excellent performances from the three leads. Not always easy viewing and slow for the first half an hour but, the film underplays the core issue very well instead preferring to deal with the effects rather than challenge the idea. It's poignant and moving and genuinely left me feeling sad.

Aye. It was pretty much cheesy Hollywood overload. I can cope with the fact that they all have ridiculously high paid jobs if it's funny or, as you say, sincere and that was just toss really. Best two Hollywood ones I've seen from last year were [iHow Do You Know[/i and [iCrazy, Stupid, Love[/i. The former is more consistent and has a great performance from Owen Wilson and the latter is funny even if it loses it a bit on the storyline and gets a bit funny with what it was aiming for. Both are full of laughs though I thought.

Come on, stop tiptoeing around. WTF do you really think?

To be fair with Platoon it was the first of a trilogy of films Oliver Stone did about Vietnam. IIRC Platoon was done from the perspective of a US soilder fighting Vietnam, the 2nd is 'Born on the 4th July' which tells the story of a soilder who comes back from Vietnam disabled only to find the country he loyally served has abandoned him, and he goes on to become one the biggest opposers of the war (its based on a true story). The 3rd is 'Heaven and Earth' which tells the story from a young Vietnamese girl who is left traumatised by what the Viet cong and the American Army does to her and her village. She ends up marrying a American black ops soilder (who is driven to alchololism and the brink of insanity because of the evil things he's done in the name of his country) and moving to America. The film is one of the most harrowing films I've seen in recent years.

If you take Platoon as one film it can seem like its white washing over some of what actually happened, however if you view the films as a trilogy its easier to understand what Stone was trying to say.