Some Films You Probably Haven't Seen But Should

Big Fan  
Patton Oswalt is pretty well known for comedy - both in stand up and as an actor. Pretty much anyone who knows who he is loves him. However, he is also a talented dramatic actor, and deserves far more recognition for it. Big Fan is a film about a hardcore football fan who meets his favourite player and it does not go well. I have less than zero interest in sport, so the fact that I can be so engrossed in a movie that pretty much entirely revolves around football fandom speaks volumes about how much I like Patton Oswalt.

Red Riding  

This isn't a movie - it's actually a trilogy of connected films made by IFC a few years ago, and first up a warning: this is probably one of the grimmest things you will ever see on television. The trailer gives the impression it's about the Yorkshire Ripper, but it's really only the middle one that tackles the subject. The first and third delve into even murkier waters than those horrific killings. There's a great cast here - Sean Bean, awesome as always (but eeeeevil), Andrew Garfield, David Morrissey, Paddy Considine, and that cheeky little guy out of Misfits whose name escapes me at the moment. And for those who commented on how Mark Addy was a revelation in Game of Thrones, he shows some phenomenal acting talent in this as a man who finds out an awful secret about his family.

  

What Happened Was  
I'm not including the trailer to this because it is just ridiculous - it portrays this movie as a creepy thriller about a guy stalking a woman, and it's not that at all. This film is one of my all time favourites, and when it first came out in the cinema I dragged a bunch of different people with me to see it. It's a one-set piece about two colleagues who have a painfully awkward dinner date and find out they don't necessarily have as much in common as they thought they did. It's very low key, occasionally funny, often sweet, and oddly sad. I can't speak highly enough about this film - everyone should see it.

Tucker and Dale vs Evil

Tucker and Dale are two goofy hillbillies who go on a fishing weekend to their uncle's cabin in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, a bunch of college kids who have seen too many horror movies rock up to spoil their fun. This is an awesome twist on the slasher genre, but be warned - the trailer gives away a lot of the story.

Love Honour and Obey

No lie, this movie is a dog's breakfast - it's one of those ones where a bunch of luvvies got together to make a film and have a jolly old time and it ends up being completely insular and self-indulgent (looking at you Ocean's 11). The narration comparing it to Reservoir Dogs is laughable, but it does come from the Lock, Stock... school of gangster movies. There are some funny moments in it, and the main reason it's worth seeing is because of the soundtrack - Ray Winstone's mob boss is a karaoke nut. Also Kathy Burke is in it. And she sings. And she's a good singer. Enough said.

Mystery Team

I had never heard of this until a couple of weeks ago when some guys on a film podcast were talking about it, but their description was enough to make me hunt it down immediately. Imagine if Encyclopedia Brown grew up and was still being Encyclopedia Brown. This is a film about three kid detectives, now 18 and in their senior year of high school, who are asked by a little girl to find out who murdered her parents. The leader of the trio is played by Donald Glover, and this is exactly how I would imagine it would be if Abed made a movie starring Troy.

*Stupid Blogger will not allow me to fix the font on this, so apologies that it's all over the place. DAMN IT BLOGGER. GET IT TOGETHER.