We Need To Talk About Kevin – Review (Film)

I’m always weary of those books I see *everyone* on the train reading. It’s almost like being constantly bombarded with advertising every single morning/evening.

One of those books was ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin.’

My wife read it and while she enjoyed it she thought the premise was too easy to spot and saw the twist coming a mile off. So I was intrigued to see what the film had to offer.

What I wasn’t expecting was to come out of the cinema having experienced one of the most hard hitting films I’ve ever seen.

Make no mistake ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ isn’t easy to watch. It’s a bleak film which is quick to put down moments of happiness.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has seen this that doesn’t have kids – only because I wonder if fact I have young children is why it effected me so much?

The film is shot fantastically and the performances from all of the main characters are superb – Tilda Swinton is glorious as tortured mother Eva and it was a pleasant surprise to see John C Reilly reigned in from his usual madcap performances.

I already knew the basic plot and still found myself suckered in.

This is a film that pulls no punches but if you’re willing to put yourself through that it is a really rewarding watch. It’s not often that I count coming out of a film feeling a bit like I’ve been punched in the stomach as a good thing but ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ had that effect.

Rating: 9/10

GregHorrorShow: The Films of 2010

I was actually quite surprised by the lack of films I’ve seen this year but having a baby (and another small child) means time is limited and a lot of it goes into games and TV.

However I have seen a few great films, some of which were on DVD but obviously didn’t get mentioned last year by me.

So here you go my recommended films from the ones I got to check out:

• Machete
• Monsters
• Kick Ass
• Toy Story 3
• West Is West
• The Hurt Locker (DVD)
• Inglourious Basterds (DVD)
• Anvil (DVD)
• Sherlock Holmes (DVD)
• Green Zone (DVD)

Plenty of great stuff in there but my film of the year has to be Kick Ass. What a great film featuring some wonderful performances from it’s actors, with Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz impressing.

Of course Machete makes the grade and if you liked the ‘fake’ Grindhouse you’ll love this one – Danny Trejo is at his best as the machete wielding Mexican.

Monsters was a fantastic small budget film. Shot for about £250k it’s a love story set against the backdrop of an alien invasion – it’s not as stupid as it sounds.

If you’re into music you should definitely check out Anvil - it’s the touching story of an old metal band still looking for that elusive breakthrough. There were plenty of war films this year with two of the better ones I saw being Green Zone and The Hurt Locker. The Hurt Locker in particular showed a different side to the conflict and the struggles of the soldiers on the ground.

Close runner up for film of the year was Inglourious Basterds, with some brilliant performances and a return to form for Quentin Tarantino.

Sherlock Holmes was throwaway fun and for the kids (and the grown ups) Toy Story 3 rounded out the trilogy superbly.

So there we go – there were lots of films I wanted to see but never got a chance to (Scott Pilgrim, The Expendables and The Town to name but a few) so let me know what you guys would recommend in the comments.