As we’re celebrating our third birthday,here’s a selection of what we reckon are some of the greatest movies from the last 3 years. And keeping with all things 3, we’ve picked 3 each!
Vic Barry
Kick-Ass
Matthew Vaughan's adaptation of the Mark Millar comic just blew me away. So much so, the review was only a few words. I loved the characters, the pacing. Stylistically it was phenomenal. And the violence? While some shunned the amount of violence in the movie and of course it drew much criticism from the moral high ground members of the press, I loved it! Too violent my ass!!! Even the soundtrack was awesome! This is a movie that I will never get sick of watching!!
I first heard about The Artist during the Cannes Film Festival. I didn’t pay a great deal of attention to it until I saw the trailer and I was mesmerised. Then I kind of forgot about it, until I finally got to see it! The turning point in the movie (no spoilers here) encouraged my jaw to drop to the ground. And like Kick-Ass, the soundtrack again, was simply brilliant. Not only is The Artist one of the greatest movies from the last 3 years, it’s one of the greatest from the last 20 years! Incredible stuff.
Crazy, Stupid, Love
I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge Steve Carrell fan and when it came to reviewing this, I wasn’t exactly excited on the trip to the cinema. That all changed once I took my seat. Featuring the greatest line in quite some time “I should have fought for you. Because you fight for your soul mates.” I was in tears. Throughout the movie, it had a profound effect. I was even questioning my own relationship…all in a positive way of course. And, when I showed the wife the Blu-Ray…..even she got it. And that was a monumental success as far as I was concerned!
Tom White
Bellflower
Boy meet girl. Boy loses girl. Boy builds fire spewing muscle car to survive the apocalypse. This little seen independent film combines a raw look, achieved with a home made camera, with a complex, surprising script and fantastic acting to rival anything brought out by the big studios.
The Cabin In The Woods
Released nearly three years after it was made, Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's unique take on the horror genre was well worth the wait. Extremely smart and funny, it features a great double act from Richard Jenkins and Bradley Cooper, and also one of the most enjoyable third acts in recent memory, with the best use of a unicorn ever!
UP
The most heartbreaking kids movie I've ever seen, Pixar knocked it out of the park with this one. Some fantastic moments, and the funniest talking dog in movie history, make this my favorite the studio has put out.
Ger Cooney
The King's Speech
The King's Speech, powerful performance from Colin Firth with great work by Jeffrey Rush, thought provoking and well scripted. Enjoyed the movie more than I was expecting, a real find.
Inception
An absolute must for inclusion here, Nolan is really pushing the boundaries in this one, great score, brilliant script and strong performances from Di Caprio, who has established himself as a fantastic leading man with a great repetoire. excellent effects and of particular note is Joseph Gordon Levitt's performance, who is in the Heath Ledger mould and looks set to be prominent again this summer in another Nolan project, Dark Knight Rises.
The Guard
Last but not least, The Guard, Brendan Gleeson is a revelation, the trailers alone were worth the price of admission. I just thought it was a great storyline with a decent cast who gave it all. The story of a politically incorrect and old world, rugged, whest (West) of Ireland Garda was genius, haven't yet met anyone who saw it that didn't enjoy, great piece of Irish cinema.
Robert McCarthy
Inception
Perhaps the most lauded piece of cinema of the last three years, I first saw this film at the AMC Empire, IMAX movie theatre on West 42nd Street, New York and it was undoubtedly the best movie-going experience of my life. It would be an exercise in repetition if I were to vomit any more praise over this film but I do feel very privileged to have seen such a piece of genius on a screen twice the size of my own house.
Drive
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see this masterpiece in the cinema, but multiple viewings on DVD have convinced me that, not only is this one of the best films of the last 3 years, but probably one of my all-time favourites also. The simple but engaging story, Refn’s stylish visual composition, Cliff Martinez’ magnificent score, the incredible selection and use of stock music and, of course, Ryan Gosling’s outstanding, central performance as a man, driven.
Inglourious Basterds
I’m a massive Tarantino fan, and this was the first film of his that I had the opportunity of seeing in the cinema, so when it was released on the 21st of August 2009, I mosied on into the cinema, took my seat and was absolutely enthralled from the second we see Christoph Waltz’ Nazi colonel, Hans Landa, turn his predatory instincts upon the French dairy farmer he suspects of hiding Jews. Tense, emotional, hilarious; Tarantino to the hilt, the opening scene of Inglourious Basterds is, I believe,one of the best in modern cinema, and so the rest of the movie goes, outstanding. A mark of how much I love this film is the fact that I went to the cinema and paid to watch this film 7 times; that’s €56 to anybody familiar with the price of cinema tickets in Cork.
