Jayhaitch in Review 2010- Movies

Around this time last year I wrote a piece that was subsequently the start of what as been a really interesting and fulfilling time for me. When I sat down to write Jayhaitch 2009 it was supposed to be just something throwaway and frivolous to entertain some mates on Facebook.

As I typed, what started as a joke turned into one of the most open and honest things I’ve ever done. I revealed stuff about me that I wouldn’t normally be inclined to talk about. That’s was never my aim and I was a little embarrassed by all the nice comments and feedback that I got. That said, my bashfulness was beaten down and I realised I wanted more.

I don’t mean I wanted plaudits and praise, although it was nice. I wanted people to take in an interest in what I was saying and writing seemed like a good way to get whatever message I might have, out there. And so was born this blog and the reigniting of the desire to be a writer.

That review of my year was definitely the spark that kick started everything I’ve tried to do since. Whether you think that’s a good or a bad thing or not I’ll leave up to you. Personally I loved it so much, its back. Another year older, wiser and happier.

Jayhaitch 2010 is going to be done in a couple of parts. It’s been a busy and interesting twelve months and if I tried to fit it all in to one post some readers with shorter attention spans might struggle to keep focused.

You should think of this as the aperitif. Just a little something to whet your whistle before I stick up the succulent prime cut of the personal stuff. This will just be a bit of a list of things I’ve enjoyed whilst turning the pages of my calendar. The juicy, bare all, expose will come closer to the end of the year, so make sure you check back regularly.

With a name like InsertWittyPopCultureReferenceHere, I think there is a certain responsibility on be to actually make said references regularly. And with that in mind I give you the Jayhaitch Year in Review 2010- the pop culture stuff.

Movies is probably a good place to kick this off. With the aid of my trusty UGC multipass I have once again seen a lot of movies this year. Some of them were terrible. The Expendables, Whip It, Due Date, all best forgotten. I’ve already expressed my opinion on the abombination that was The Karate Kid. But I want to focus on the good, not the bad and the ugly.

I’m not going to do a top ten or my favourite or whatever. There are plenty of magazines, newspapers and blogs that will and have been doing that for years. Yes, Inception probably was the film of the year and Scott Pilgrim versus the World is so much fun that I saw it three times in the cinema and still continue to shout ‘We are Sex Bob-omb and we are here to make you sad and think about death and stuff’ at regular intervals.

The likelihood is you already know that. And if you don’t, you will be able to read about it in other publications year in review pieces. Both movies got a lot of mainstream coverage when they came out and proved quite popular with ticket buyers. If you haven’t seen them, then along with these other mainstream movies from this year you should catch them on sky movies or get them from Xtra Vision.

• Up In The Air
• The Social Network ( A movie about Facebook!!)
• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Town (Affleck is a much better director than actor)
• Shutter Island (Inception would never have worked without this. Di Caprio finally seems like a grown up)
• Hot Tub Time Machine (yes seriously. Its laugh out loud funny and its got John Cusack…you know how I feel about Cusack)
• Kick Ass (ultra violence, profanity from minors, the banana split theme tune, what’s not to like)

No, what I’m more interested in is letting you know about some of the great movies that you may have missed. Maybe they weren’t marketed very well or they were only shown one week in mainstream cinemas and that was the week Sex and the City 2 was out and it was the wife’s turn to pick.

I thoroughly enjoyed all these movies and I believe my intelligent clued in readers with a sense of humour would get something from them too. Even if you don’t like all of them, I believe there will be at least one that will enrich your life, even if its just for a little while.

• Gainsbourg- Vie Heroique (Quirky bio pic of quirky French chanteur. It has weird puppets and it validates somewhat that even ugly French people are sexy while the pretty ones are super sexy)
• Winters Bone (Amazing break through performance from Jennifer Lawrence in this redneck film noir)
• A Prophet (Hard hitting French prison drama)
• Four Lions ( Where to start? A black comedy about British Islamic fundamentalist who plan to suicide the London Marathon whilst disguised as characters from breakfast cereal boxes. Hilarious and sad. Satire and Farce. From Chris Morris the creator of Brasseye, Jam and the Day Today.)
• Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll (Another musical biopic, this time of cockney geezer Ian Dury)
• Bad Lieutenant : Port of Call- New Orleans
• Worlds Greatest Dad (This and Bad Lieutenant are so good that I was able to ignore the fact that two actors whom I despise are the leads)

Many of these films were overlooked by the popcorn brigade which is real shame. None of them are easy watching and that might explain the poor box office. It might require a bit more effort to view these movies but if you have any faith in anything I say, trust me. It will be worth it.