Minute44 - Dan Schonhaar

Today, with one exception I’ll be recommending fairly recent movies. For this reason you may well have heard of most of them. Still, if you haven’t seen them before or haven’t seen them recently, you should check them out. So with that, here are my final recommendations for 2009.

Dog Soldiers (2002)

Very British and very tongue-in-cheek, Dog Soldiers follows a squad of English army soldiers on a training exercise in the highlands of Scotland. The squad soon find themselves facing a more terrifying foe than they could have ever expected after finding another team of soldiers, special forces trained, torn to pieces in what looks like an animal attack. The squad make it to a remote house where they must make their last stand if they have any chance of seeing the sun rise.

Refreshing and very entertaining, Dog Soldiers took many people, myself included, completely by surprise. It’s fast paced, violent, funny and gory all rolled into a 90 minute gem wrapped in a big bow. This is one you’ll watch again and again just for the hell of it. And why not? This is grade A horror comedy.

Drag Me to Hell (2009)

While on the subject of horror comedy, I couldn’t ignore this little beauty I saw only the other week. The most recent movie I’ve recommended so far, Drag Me to Hell sees writer/director Sam Raimi’s triumphant return to the genre that made him famous. Christine Brown is a successful loan officer in a local bank with a nice life and loving boyfriend but when she denies an elderly woman an extension on her mortgage to get ahead at work she is cursed. Now Christine has 3 days to escape an evil demon before she is dragged down to hell.

This is a true back to basics triumph for Sam Raimi. The cast is understated, the effects are few and the plot is simple but the way the story is told and the way it is filmed make it massively fun! Check out Evil Dead 2, if you haven’t seen it, and you’ll see that Raimi’s formula is one of the simplest, yet most effective in Hollywood.

The Jerk (1979)

Last time I talked about Steve Martin’s prime. Well this time I’m recommending what I believe to be the creme de la creme of his acting career, The Jerk. Incredibly silly, yet wonderfully executed, The Jerk follows Navin Johnson (Martin), a not-so-smart redneck, as he leaves his family home in search of wealth and happiness. Amazingly, despite his stupidity, Johnson becomes a gradual success, progressing from one job to another until an unassuming invention of his makes him a millionaire. But no one can stay on top forever…

This is another movie you’ll watch over and over. Steve Martin makes what could have been a dreadful slapstick farce and makes it a true classic. You’ll be rewinding and re-playing classic scenes and quoting this one to your friends in no time. This is flawless comedy.

Taken (2008)

From comedy to action thriller and what I believe to be one of the best, and most under rated movies of 2008, Taken. As revenge movies go, Taken hits the bulls eye, following dd (Liam Neeson), an ex-government “problem solver” turned professional security guard, as he tears a path through Paris to find his kidnapped daughter and make her kidnappers pay the ultimate price. He has just over 90 hours to find her before the trail turns cold and she’s lost forever.

Empire, well the Empire writer Dan Jolin, gave Taken just one star but if you read the review and check out the reader comments you’ll see how poorly judged that was. One thing makes this movie so good; Neeson. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time but never have I seen him play such a bad ass! With every punch he lands against his enemy, you will find yourself more and more drawn into the movie and when it’s done, you’ll want to take the ride all over again.

Being John Malkovich (1999)

We’ll end this mixed bag with a taste of the really bizarre. Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich is about as kooky as they come. floundering puppeteer Craig Schwartz gets a job on the 7 and 1/2th floor of an office building as a filer. Between dealing with his elderly boss and lusting after one of his female colleagues, Craig discovers a small door behind one of the filing cabinets. This door leads into the mind of John Malkovich (Himself). At first Schwartz can only see through Malkovich’s eyes but when he learns that he can take control of the great actor he embarks on the greatest and most perverse journey of escapism ever seen.

As well as a being delightfully strange, Being John Malkovich has a pretty touching story at its core. Performances are wonderful all round and possibly the most impressive is given by Malkovich himself. Not to give anything away but just watch the scene where he enters his own mind through the tunnel. Weird and wonderful!

So there we have it. That’s all the movie recommendations for this year. Don’t be too sad though. I’ll be back in the new year with a load more for you. Until then, Merry Christmas!