So we’re all thundering towards the end of the decade and I was just thinking about putting together a favourite films of the decade list but I didn’t quite know where to start.   I can think of loads of  TV shows that have simply blown me away, as it seems to me this has been perhaps the best decade ever for quality TV but I’m not sure how I feel about the movies.   Maybe I’m just getting harder to please as I get older.  I’m just wondering what has excited you guys and girls? I’ll start throwing some names out as I think of them but why don’t you let me know what I might have missed.  Let’s have some top 10’s.  Ladies and gentlemen, the floor is open…

EDIT: Got some great lists being posted so I thought I’d put them here in the main body of the text for you all to share.  Some movies are popular across the board and it seems that it was the decade of Lord of the Rings, really.  Other choices, I’m not quite getting but, hey, each to their own I say.

Mario:

- The Lord of the Rings
- Gladiator
- Saw
- Batman Begins
- The Bourne Identity
- Pitch Black (good call. Cracking Sci-fi adventure – MJB)
- American Psycho
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (love, love, love this film. Downey and Kilmer gimme a sequel - MJB)
- The Prestige (masterful story telling  but I know plenty don’t rate it – MJB)
- Inside Man

MATT:

Lord of the Rings,

Sunshine,

Master and Commander,

The Mist,

Star Trek,

 [REC],

King Kong,

28 Days Later,

Coraline,

The Fall,

Moon,

Gone Baby Gone,

Night/Day Watch,

Black Book,

The Hurt Locker,

Avatar,

Session 9,

In Bruges,

Dog Soldiers,

Splinter,

Iron Man,

Enduring Love,

Wilderness , (flattery will get you everywhere – MJB)

The Host,

The Good The Bad The Weird,

Gladiator,

Watchmen,

Severence,

United 93,

Signs,

Let The Right One In,

Atonement.

ALUCARD

1. Lord of the Rings.
   2. Outlander. (I liked this but best of the decade? Really? – MJB)
   3. Terminator 3.
   4. [REC]
   5. Gladiator.
   6 and 7. Underworld 1 and 3.
   8. The Curious Case of Benjamin B.
   9. 30 days of night.
   10. X-Men 1, 2, 3 and Wolverine.

Steve:

1)    The Departed
2) Master and Commander
3) Zodiac
4) The Fall (wonderful to behold, a truly poetic film – MJB)
5) 30 Days of Night
6) Apocalypto
7) Memento
Gladiator
9) O’ Brother Where Art Thou
10)The Bourne Identity

Dean:

Master and Commander
The Brotherhood of the Wolf
The Kingdom of Heaven Directors cut
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Hustle and Flow
Brick
Primer – (Love that you picked this one – MJB)
Heist
Children of Men
Memento
City of God (Stunning movie, good call – MJB)
The Devil’s Backbone
Punch Drunk Love
Before Sunset
Touching the Void
Capturing The Friedmans
25th Hour
Saw
Spartan (Awesome movie, just wish Mamet had given the directing over to someone else – MJB)

James:

Batman Begins & The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Lord of The Rings Trilogy
Jason Bourne Trilogy
District 9
Gladiator
The Departed
The Prestige
Terminator 1 & 2 (Don’t think you can have those two as they from the 80’s and 90’s – MJB)
Watchmen

Caroline:

28 Days Later
History of Violence
Bourne Ultimatum
The Prestige
The Pianist
Children of Men
Eternal Sunshine..etc.. (perfect marriage of director and writer – MJB)
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
No country for Old Men
y Tu Mamba

Kike:

-The Lord of the rings

-Big Fish (my fav Tim Burton movie of this decade. Perfect whimsy and magic - MJB)

-Farenheit 9/11

-Charlie and the chocolate factory

-Pan s Labyrinth

-Planet Terror

-The Dark Knight

-Gran Torino (Just don’t get the love for this pic at all – MJB)

-Wall-e

-District 9

-Up

CARLOS:

District 9

Wall-e

Up

Million dollar baby

Batman Begins

Star Trek XI

Mystic River

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Deathwatch (Awww, that is so sweet but it really doesn’t belong on this list.)

The Road

The Matrix Revolutions

ROCKANTEN:

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Pianist

The Departed

Gladiator

Capote

Mar adentro Le scaphandre et le papillon

A Beautiful Mind

Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom

CATHYU:

Slumdog Millionaire,

 Juno,

 Lord of the Rings Trilogy,

 Bourne Trilogy,

 Batman Begins and Dark Knight,

 X-Men,

 In the Mood for Love (Hong Kong film),

 Once,

 Devil’s Backbone,

 Star Trek (also known as JJTrek),

 No Country for Old Men,

 Pirates of the Caribbean (just the first one),

 The Pianist,

 Iron Man,

 Enchanted,

 Nowhere to Hide (fabulous Korean film),

 Infernal Affairs (Hong Kong film),

 The Departed (the US adaptation of Infernal Affairs, and one of the few times I’ve seen a film translate so well),

 Master and Commander,

 Brokeback Mountain,

 Spirited Away,

 Black Hawk Down,

 Eastern Promises,

 Frost/Nixon,

 The Queen,

 Love Actually,

 and I’m going to squeeze Galaxy Quest in, even if it’s from 1999.

Since AVATAR is likely to be kicking Solomon Kane’s ass a little at the BO over this next month I felt duty bound to go and see it. 

Of course I am a true James Cameron fan so was willing that this would be everything he promised.  It ain’t far off.  It is a truly stunning visual experience, completely unlike anything you’ve ever seen before – unless you were into prog-rock bands with big gatefold album sleeves back in the 70’s.  It’s hands-down the best use of 3D I’ve ever seen and almost makes me feel it’s finally worth exploring the technology.  The world is detailed, rich and fully realised. Utterly believable.  However, for me, the story is uncomfortably familiar and really couldn’t be called the compelling reason to see this film. A couple of plot holes that I’ll forgive because it has spectacle and some real heart that just about punches through the CG.  The performances of the CG Na’avi are utterly real – in fact everything feels completely real apart from a few key performances from real actors which is a damn shame and, I think, dulls the edge and finally make the movie a little less than it might have been. 

So, if you only see one film this December, it probably should be AVATAR but if you see two, then the second should certainly be Solomon Kane. 

 (And it’s nice to see Kane make ‘Father Geek’s’ list of top 20 best of the year over at Ain’t It Cool.)

I had a terrific time last week travelling to support Solomon Kane for it’s impending release in France (23rd December) and Spain (1st January).  Of course Samuel Hadida is the producer of the film so France is home turf and he’s building a great buzz for the movie.  Coming out the week after Avatar will almost certainly rob us of ever getting to the top of the charts but to even have a film in the same theatres alongside James Cameron is something of a dream come true. 

So to quickly give you a sense of how these things work out I’ll take you through the schedule: 

 James P and I took the Eurostar together to Paris. (He looked very dapper in his Trilby hat) and on arrival we were taken (by black limousine, no less)  to a very nice little boutique style hotel which seemed to be exclusively staffed by gorgeous French girls.  We were introduced to the PR team who’d be taking care of us for the next day or so and given our press schedules.  The next day was busy but not unduly stressful – certainly easier than a day on the set (at least on one of my sets).  On these lists there’s always time set aside for ‘grooming’ – which makes sense for James, since he’s an actor but always makes me feel a little odd when makeup girls fuss over me.  I used to be a TV presenter when I was a teenager, specialising in science and nature and it always felt kinda fake having makeup put on then.  It’s something I carry through to my films – you’ll not find the makeup team working too hard to make anyone look gorgeous. They’re far more likely to be working at making people look grittier and more human.  It’s very tricky to do this with women as you want to preserve a certain luminous quality whilst not going for glamour. Lucky that Rachel Hurd Wood has such an incredible quality on film no matter how she’s made up.

So, for the first half of the day James and I were doing TV interviews.  Sitting side by side in a hotel room set up as a mini TV studio with two cameras, lights and a funky SK background we took our seats and waited as journalists were brought in.  All very friendly and eager to get the best interview possible but only given ten minutes per session, which is hardly enough time to say what’s needed.  So time is of the essence and pretty much as soon as they sit down the cameras start rolling and the first question comes… and, truth be told, they’re often the same questions. How did I get involved in the project always starts… and from then it kinda repeats itself endlessly.  We had someone from a TV channel that wanted to know all about the equestrian element and another who really, really wanted to know about the religion.  Most of the journalists seemed to genuinely like the movie but those who didn’t were easy enough to spot as the tenor of the questions tended towards the “isn’t fantasy all just a bit silly?” sort of thing.  When the ten minutes was up the journalist gets up, is given the tape from the cameras and then the next one comes in.  It’s all just a production line really without the opportunity to really connect or have any kind of conversation.  I started taking pics of all the journos but James said it was rude, so I stopped…

So there was about three hours of those back-to-back, then a break, then more of them for the rest of the day.  Occasionally it was broken up with a press interview or radio interview or a web chat.  Then, at last we got to go to the first screening in Paris.

It was a hugely busy cinema with a few fans outside wanting things signed and a few folks who read this blog (Hello to you!). There were lots of Solomon Kane posters all around the place – which I’m sure were there just for our benefit. (Probably hiding AVATAR posters underneath).  The screening was packed to the rafters and after a quick, hello and introduction from James P, myself and Sam Hadida the film began.  Subtitled in Paris but I know it’s been dubbed in some versions too.  I’m not so happy about that as I can’t control the nuance and detail of the vocal performance but James was happy that his guy made him sound gruff and heroic.  I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t do a Q&A afterwards as I like talking to people after the film but it was not to be as we ha to go out for a meal with the team. It was delicious – fabulous French food!  And to be honest, I was knackered…

I’ll wrap the Paris section up for now and maybe post something about Spain later.

Normally I’m pretty cool about things but there’s something just downright fab about knowing that this poster is going on a giant billboard somewhere in Moscow over these next few weeks.  7mX3m!!  Please, please… if anyone is in Moscow take a piccy and send it.  Even the name ‘Solomon Kane’ looks better in Russian. Just waaay more badass.

I’ve deleted my Twitter account – I finally realised that I just don’t have that much to say. It’s hard enough finding deciding whether to post in my own Blog. I don’t think my absence is going to be any great loss to the intertubes.

Hot on the heels of the release of the wonderful French poster I’m happy to say I’m going to be in Paris on Tuesday 8th of December with Mr James Purefoy to present the film to a select audience for an informal French premiere prior to the wide release on 23rd December.   If you’re in Paris and would like to see the movie and maybe chat with James or I afterwards then I think you can still get tickets.

I’m told that this is the venue UGC CINE CITE LES HALLES, 7, place de la Rotonde 75001 Paris and you can buy tickets online here:

http://www.ugc.fr/complex.do?comeFrom=allMoviesLink&complexId=HORIZ

See you on Tuesday night!

Hi All

This was ‘leaked’ out today so I figured I’d make it more official and drop it in here too…. This is the French poster for Solomon Kane.  Much as I adored the ‘hat down in the rain’ poster which always my very clear vision for at least one version of a poster for Kane – it was so very atmospheric and pure to the more sombre nature of the movie,  I have to say I LOVE this poster.  To me, it’s really classical and painterly. I like the colour pallette, love the textures, love James’ stern almost haggered look and the fact that he can totally kick your ass and look better than you too.  Can’t wait to get a framed one for my office, right next to the man in the hat in the rain.

Just gotta get this off my chest and what better place than here?

Don’t you think it’s about time that scary-as-shit bloodthirsty, properly supernatural vampires made  a return to our screens? I’m talking old school horror where the vampires are true supernatural beings of pure evil.  I’m sick of vampires being brooding, pretty-boy tragic heroes caught up in longing and passion.  I don’t even really want them  created by a virus that can be ‘explained’ or ‘cured’  (sorry Guillermo) I want magic and mystery and true evil.   I know about the elegance of sex and death and that eternal dance that beautiful evil does with  hormonally fired up young girls and I’ve read Stoker’s Dracula and, sure, there are elements of the tragic hero inherent to the idea of the immortal bloodsucker but dammit, I feel vampires have been so completely co-opted into pathetic objects in romance stories that any menace is being lost to a whole new generation.   Spill some blood! Scare me! Be gritty, dirty, nasty, horrific and make me fear the dark all over again.  Surely it’s about time we returned these iconic monsters to their rightful place at the right hand side of the devil himself?

Anyway… it had to be said.  (Though, for the record; I think Eric (Alexander Skaarsgard) in True Blood, completely kicks ass.)

I’m really not keeping this blog very well.  I’m assuming most you come here for Solomon Kane news and as there’s none at the moment I’ve little else to say. I can’t imagine anyone is really interested in the minutiae of my life or opinions. 

Having said that, I was going through my old web site – and at some point I’m going to get a proper site up and running again – and found this page that I kept for a while and haven’t updated for a few years.  Basically a long list of my fav films. It’s just such a guy thing to do that I’m almost ashamed but, what the hell, I thought I’d share it.

http://www.michaelbassett.com/pages/films.htm

Lots of notes and emails coming through telling me that Lionsgate have picked up Kane. Yes, it seems like a good fit but no, it isn’t true – as far as I am aware. Don’t know where this rumour started but sorry folks in  North America, you are no nearer to seeing Solomon Kane.   Everyone else; early next year.