My favourite movies from every year: 1940-49

1940:
Grapes of Wrath(Ford
The Letter(Wyler)
The Philadelphia Story(Cukor)
Rebecca(Hitchcock)
The Thief of Bagdad(Michael Powell,various)
Pride and Prejudice

1941:
Citizen Kane(Welles)
The Maltese Falcon(Houston)
Sullivan's Travels(Sturges)
How Green was my valley(Ford)
Meet John Doe(Capra)
Dumbo(Ben Sharpsteen)

1942:
Casablanca(Curtiz)
The Magnificent Ambersons(Welles)
Now Voyager
Bambi(David Hand)
The Cat People(Tourneur)

1943:
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp(Powell,Pressburger)
Shadow of a doubt(Hitchcock)

1944:
Laura(Preminger)
Jane Eyre(Stevenson)
Meet Me in St Louis(Minnelli)
Woman in the window(Lang)
Arsenic and old lace(Capra)
Double Indemnity(Wilder)
Gaslight(George Cukor)
To have and have not(Hawks)

1945:
Brief Encounter(Lean)
Detour(Edgar G Ulmer)
National Velvet(Clarence Brown)
Mildred Pierce(Curtiz)
Scarlett Street(Lang)
I Know where I am going(Powell,Pressburger)
The Spiral Staircase(Siodmak)

1946:
It's A Wonderful Life(Capra)
La Belle et la Bete(Cocteau)
The Best Years of our lives(Wyler)
Great Expectations(Lean)
The Killers(Siodmak)
A Matter of life and death(Powell,Pressburger)
The Big Sleep(Hawks)
Notorious(Hitchcock)

1947:
Miracle on 34th Street(George Seaton)
Monsieur Verdoux(Chaplin)
Black Narcissus(Powell,Pressburger)
Odd Man Out(Reed)
Out of the past(Tourneur

1948:
Bicycle Thieves(Vittorio De Sica)
Key Largo(Houston)
Hamlet(Oliver)
The Red Shoes(Powell,Pressburger)
Rope(Hitchcock)
Lady From Shanghai(Welles)
The Treasure of Sierra Madre(Houston)
The Fallen Idol(Reed)
Portrait of Jennie(Dieterle)

1949:
The Third Man(Reed)
Adam's Rib(Cukor)
White Heat(Raoul Walsh)

2001: A Space Odyssey(AKA the movie that changed me)

I remember the day clearly. It was almost 2 years ago when I was exposed to the brilliance of Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey, from what I remember it was a kind of Kubrick marathon(it was followed by A Clockwork Orange). 2001 is very divisive, some hate it whilst others love it. On my first viewing I didn't think too much of the movie. A couple of months passed and then one day I was browsing through a videostore and saw 2001 on the shelf at a cheap price and thought a rewatch is in order. On my first watch I really wasn't paying that much attention and thought it is rather slow in places but on the rewatch I paid full attention and loved it completely(now my favourite movie ever). At this point I must say I am not a sci fi geek at all.
The movie really is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. In the first half hour or so not a single word is spoken, it's just classical music. Then the last half hour is a visual spectacle of the highest order. What makes it even more brilliant is the ambigious ending which is open to interpretation. 2001 for me is a perfect movie and one I can rewatch over and over again and still be in complete awe over it's brilliance.

UP- The best animated movie I've seen in years

There are some movies that I watch with huge expectations and they manage not only to meet my expectations but to exceed them. UP is one of those rare movies. I watched it yesterday in my local cinema which is still running and was surprised at how enjoyable it was. I am now an adult and had not seen a single animated movie for years but two Christmases ago I sat down with my younger siblings to watch Finding Nemo which I thoroughly enjoyed. In fact it got me into animated movies once more, since then I have made it my mission to watch as many animated movies as I can.
UP tells the story of Carl Fredrickson who had a dream to make a house on Paradise Falls, in South America ever since he saw a documentary on a man called explorer Charles Muntz. Carl started saving up to go there. That dream got sidelined because he got married to his childhood sweetheart and had to sacrifice his dreams for married life. Years pass and his wife is now deceased and his home of several decades is about to be torn down. It is at that point Carl decides to travel to Paradise Falls in his house. Along for the ride is a child called Russell who was under his porch at the time the house took off. Along their journey they befriend a talking dog and a rare bird who Russell names Kevin. Unknown to them someone is after Kevin and it turns out to be none other than explorer Charles Muntz who intends to become famous after capturing Kevin. Now not only does Carl have to reach Paradise Falls but also has to rescue the bird from the clutches of Charles Muntz The scene is set for a thrilling adventure and entertainment for all ages. The animation is superb beyond belief(my particular favourite moment is the scene when the balloons come out of the house when the house takes off,all those glorious colours). Not only is the animation superb but it is also pretty funny in places. On top of that it has a message about living your dreams and moving on. If that wasn't enough it also has a real emotional core to it which in my opinion most animated movies lack, that scene in which Carl lets his house descend from the skies almost reduced me to tears. UP is a real joy to watch and I soon got rid of my inadequacy being the only adult watching the movie without a child as I became lost in this glorious movie. I may get a lot of stick for this but I found it far far more enjoyable than Pixar's Wall-E. Completely unmissable.

My favourite movies from every year since 1980

1980: The Elephant Man, The Empire Strikes Back,The Shining,Raging Bull
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Das Boot, For Your Eyes Only, Mad Max 2
1982: Gandhi, E.T., Fanny and Alexander,Blade Runner, Tootsie
1983: The Big Chill, The Return of the Jedi,
1984: The Terminator,Gremlins,Ghostbusters, Once upon a time in America
1985: Out of Africa, Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club
1986: Ferris Bueller's day off, Aliens, The Fly
1987: Dirty Dancing, Lethal Weapon, Empire of the sun, The Untouchables
1988. Dangerous Liaisons, Die Hard, Who framed Roger Rabbit, Cinema Paradiso, The Last temptation of Christ
1989. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters, License to kill, Back to the future 2, When Harry met Sally
1990. Edward Scissorhands, Miller's Crossing,Goodfellas, Ghost
1991. Barton Fink, Terminator 2:Judgement Day, JFK, Thelma and Louise
1992. Batman Returns, Alladin, Reservoir Dogs,Unforgiven
1993. Jurassic Park, The Piano,Schindler's list, The Fugitive,Sleepless in Seattle
1994. The Shawshank Redemption,Pulp Fiction, Chungking Express, The Lion King, Forrest Gump, Four weddings and a funeral
1995. Goldeneye, Toy Story, Die Hard with a vengeance,Seven, The Bridges of Madison County, Apollo 13
1996. Trainspotting, Fargo, Mission Impossible
1997. Jackie Brown,Scream, Boogie Nights, Good Will Hunting,L.A. Confidential, Lost Highway,Gattaca, The Game
1998. Saving Private Ryan,The Big Lebowski,Lock,Stock and two smoking barrels
1999. Fight Club,Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, The Sixth Sense, The Straight Story, Being John Malkovich, The Green Mile, Toy Story 2
2000: Gladiator,Requiem for a dream,Memento,Snatch, X Men, Battle Royale, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
2001: Lord Of The Rings: The fellowship of the ring, Monsters Inc, Spy Kids, Donnie Darko,The Others, Mulholland Drive,Training Day
2002: Spider man, The Bourne Identity, Road to Perdition,City of God, LOTR: The Two Towers, Punch Drunk Love
2003. X Men 2, Finding Nemo, School of Rock, Love Actually,Oldboy
2004: Spiderman 2, Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban, The Bourne Supremacy, Eternal Sunshine for the spotless mind
2005. Batman Begins, Brokeback Mountain, King Kong, Sympathey for Mr Vengeance,Munich
2006. Superman Returns,Casino Royale, The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine, The Prestige,Mission Impossible 2
2007. There Will Be Blood,No Country for old men,The assassination of Jesse James by Robert Coward Ford, Zodiac, American Gangster
2008. The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The curious case of Benjamin Button, Changeling,Gran Torino
2009: The Wrestler,Up, Adventureland,500 Days of Summer
(list still incomplete, will add more later)

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince(a review from a non HP fan)

First of all let me say I am not a fan of Harry Potter at all(I have only seen the first three movies and haven't read all the books) therefore I was a bit skeptical about going to watch The Half Blood Prince. After watching it I am very glad I did. The Half Blood Prince thankfully seems to be a lot darker and more adult than the rest of the HP movies I have seen. I found the first two HP movies very childish so I greeted the change in tone with open arms. A couple of things about the movie did confuse me but that is hardly the film's fault, since I have not seen the previous two and some elements seemed to be a continuation from them. I was also surprised to see how different the actors look now, in particular Ginny Weasley. When I last saw in a HP movie she was a little girl and now there is a hint of romance between her and Harry Potter. I was also shocked by the death of headmaster Albus Dumbeldore, for fans of the books this would have been non surprise at all but I haven't read all the books. Enough of my rambling I thought it was a very good movie and definately worth the price of the cinema ticket. In fact The Half Blood Prince I may try watching the previous installments I haven't seen and await future ones with bated breath.

Jurassic Park(Spielberg)

Jurassic Park is a movie I hold close to my heart, I saw it in the cinema at the age of eight when it first came out and I was in absolute awe of it, till then I had seen absolutely nothing like it. Some movies I loved as a child I simply don't enjoy anymore(one example is Tim Burton's Batman) but there are some movies that I can still enjoy to this day,Jurassic Park is one of them. I caught it on TV around last year after not having seen it for years and realised why I loved it so much when it first came out.
Spielberg is an expert at tension, the scene where Tim and Lex are sitting in the car and the cup on front of the car starts to vibrate is an excellent scene. The final scene where they are in the helicopter on their way back and they see a bird flying through the sky is a excellent scene and is a reminder of how Dinosaurs have evolved since the Jurassic era. My love for Jurassic Park inspired me to read Chricton's novel and it's no wonder that the movie is so good when they have such excellent material to work from. It's a shame really that none of the sequels could match upto the original, I don't care for The Lost World but it has it's fan and No 3 I feel is quite underrated and whilst it is no classic is still a fun adventure yarn and it doesn't pretend to be anything else.

The Incredible Hulk(Bill Bixby- Lou Ferrigno)

Even though I was born a couple of years after the series finished I catch the reruns and used to absolutely love it and my dad used to tape them for me. For those who don't know it follows the adventures of Dr David Banner who experimenting on himself accidently exposes himself to a great deal of gamma radiation and hence the big green beast is born. Now whenever David is outraged or hurt he transforms into the green beast known as The Hulk. The Hulk is pursued by a reporter called Jack Mcgee who is under the wrong assumption that The Hulk is responsible for the death of David Banner when in fact David Banner is The Hulk. In my opinion it is Mr Mcgee's pursuit of The Hulk that really kept this show going and not run out of steam. At the end of each episode we would see David getting on a bus or hitching a ride and next week we would see him involved in another adventure. What I love so much about the show is how people injure or torture David run for their lives when he turns into the Hulk.
I have only recently purchased season 1 and 2 and currently going through them. What I have noticed that season 2 is definately a lot stronger than season 1. In season 1 The Hulk was trying finding it's feet whilst in season 2 a formula had been established. In season 2 David got to help troubled individuals. In The Killer instinct David helped a football player with anger problems, in Alice In Discoland he helped out a young girl with a drinking problem, in Ricky he helped out a dislexic kid etc. On top of the great storyline I think the theme tune deserves a very special mention. The haunting theme tune is the best theme tune I have heard to any show ever. It is a real shame that none of the big screen adaptations were able to do full justice to the legendary 70's TV show. TIH whilst an improvement on the Ang Lee still was nothing more than an entertaining summer blockbuster. It's a real shame that no TV channel has picked up the show and shown reruns of it because I for one would definately have watched it(although the Sci-fi channel did show it in the late 90's). TIH reminds me of a very pleasant childhood.