26-24

26. The Class
Ah, that old favourite - the inspirational classroom drama. Sassy teacher uses the power of Mr Tambourine Man to teach ghetto kids to believe in themselves, to reach for the stars, and to stop disrespecting their bitches. Ach no, that was Dangerous Minds. All the way through The Class I was waiting for the cheese, the cliches, the 'no, that's ridiculous' moments. But they never really came, to be honest. Even the teacher's ostensible high point - getting the Malian kid to make a poster on a computer or some such bullshit - is pretty quickly revealed to be a hollow achievement. It's not a bleak film as such - it doesn't portray the problems of poverty and racism as intrinsically unsolvable, it just recognises that they're pretty fucking tricky. Maybe the lack of triumph here is driven by the way the film strives for plausible characters, in a way that high school movies rarely do (Teen Wolf excepted of course). The characters are flawed and tend to do stupid things, none more so than the teacher, whose noble intentions are stymied by his own arrogance as much as by the impossibility of his task. Nobody is saved. Teacher possibly makes the lives of some (though certainly not all) of his pupils marginally better. Maybe. A modest achievement there, Teach. Bring back Michelle Pfeiffer.


25. Volver
This is the only Pedro Almodovar film from the last decade that I've seen. I don't know why that is: I really enjoy his films whenever I do see them. In fact, there's a Pedro Almodovar box set that's been sat on my Amazon wish list for years. That's probably why I haven't seen more of his films - my silent protest at this horrible world where no-one wants to give me free stuff. Anyway, this has a bunch of women running around trying to unravel the mystery of their mother's death and her ghostly re-appearances. Fun and funny, sad and sadder, colourful and, hmm, co-ordinated (that'll do). But we're beating around the bush here, this film is really all about Penelope Cruz. Specifically, Penelope Cruz singing with a red dress and hooped earrings. Almost literally stunning: I'm pretty sure I was completely motionless during that scene. Ok, I possibly blinked. What an extraordinary creature.


24. American Psycho
What the heck is this thing supposed to be? A thriller? A satire? Some sort of a joke? I have no idea. I just know that I love it, and that it makes me cackle like a crazy person. It's so funny, and scary, and odd. And Christian Bale is such a brilliant loony - why can't he bring more of this insania to the Batman films instead of just speaking in a gruff voice and acting deep.