Cinema & Other Distractions

You Have 8 Sentences to Review This Film

2011-04-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

... Mainly out of laziness, but there you go...

Source Code (Duncan Jones, 2011)

- Source Code is a spectacular blend of riveting action (hero has 8 minutes to prevent a catastrophic terrorist event); mind-bending intellectual sci-fi (he has to do this through the memory of a man who has already died, possessing his body); and heartwarming human experience (he falls for a girl on the train, makes desperate attempts to save fellow passengers, and to mend a trouble relationship with his father etc.). Okay that was a long sentence.

- This is one of the few films in recent years that we actually found too short, I would have watched another half hour I reckon.

- I am a huge fan of the sort of slow, twisting reveal that Jones pulls off in this film, in many ways it's more striking than the short-sharp-shock of a twist (favoured by Shyamalan, for example).

- I can't say any more about said twist without Spoilering all over this thing, but suffice to say the slow-burning, mounting sense that you can't presume anything you see is real is really nicely done.

- Performances here are uniformly excellent, Gyllenhaal and Farmiga especially.

- That's 'uniformly excellent' apart from Jeffrey Wright, who's slightly-too-pantomime Evil Genius jarred for me against the more genuine and believable personalities on show.

- No offense to Chris Bacon, but a Clint Mansell score would have been a thousand times better... then I'd have him score every film ever made if I could!

- Overall, just excellent - this isn't quite as 'WOW' as Moon (Duncan Jones, 2009), but Mr. Jones is certainly one to watch - I am excited.

The End.

Image from infamouskidd.com (with thanks)

In the Town, Where I was Born...

2011-03-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

... I love that song.

Submarine (Richard Ayoade, 2011)

I had high expectations for this film, and I'm pleased to say I wasn't at all disappointed. A real comfy jumper of a movie, Submarine wraps you up in mundane familiarity (mundane meaning everyday, not boring), fills you with warm fuzzy feelings, and best of all, makes you laugh out loud. Or it did me, anyway.

I think we can expect great things from Mr. Ayoade. Comparisons with Wes Anderson are certainly apt. The slow pacing, the tongue-in-cheek self-awareness, awkward people comedy, slow reveals, long establishing shots that allow the scenes to play out within them (wherein lies the comedy), the idiosyncratic 'weird' characters that feel so real because they are actually individuals and not archetypes. Nobody's perfect, and no one really knows what they're doing. Classic off-kilter comedy, and Ayoade delivers with panache. It's important to view Ayoade as a filmmaker in his own right as well, a mere Anderson imitation this is not, his work stands firmly on its own feet, and is as quintessentially British as Anderson's is American.

I won't spend time (as I never do) giving a plot synopsis, there are a thousand reviews you can read that will do this, so I won't bother! Let's move straight on... Visually, this film is charming, opening with a series of lingering landscape shots, obviously Welsh, a combination of rolling hillsides and grey industrialism. The gorgeous soft lighting instills even the harshest of landscapes with a strange sort of beauty. Soundtrack-wise, this is another one of those too-cool-for-school films (think Juno, Garden State et al), and so yes, I will probably buy the CD.

Submarine has something of the student film about it, and that is not a detrimental comment in the slightest. What I mean here is that Ayoade has succeeded in making a film that I as a film-student would have wanted to make. Of course, I couldn't have done so in a million years, but this, in essence, is what we were striving for on those rainy shoots and Red Bull-fueled editing all-nighters. This film has a massive heart. It's about things that matter; people, relationships, identity, without it being some Loachian woe-is-everyone tear wringer. No showing off either... the closest Submarine gets to SFX is a the occasional shot of a bin on fire.

As a character, our hero Oliver Tate (almost an anti-hero, but not quite), is caught constantly between a sort of try-hard nihilism "I don't believe in scenery" and a try-even-harder heart-on-sleeve romanticism, in everything he does. He is in desperate pursuit of a certain kind of cool, as he points out in his own voiceover, seeking the sort of enigmatic allure achieved only by penniless bohemian artistes, who are probably French... quote "It might be something of an affectation, but I have taken to reading the dictionary."... you get the idea. And we've probably all been there. I will own up, there's a certain part of me that always wanted to be the pale interesting girl in the corner, reading something intellectual . Unfortunately, I've just got too big a mouth on me for that dream ever to be realised.

Deep down, Oliver Tate is boy who just wants everything to be right in the world. He seeks a sort of filmic perfection in everything. Raised on Hollywood guff as we all were, he sees the early days of his romance in blissful super8, almost whilst said days are still happening - a eulogy of the present almost. In the same way, he misguidedly seeks to save his parents ailing marriage by spying, falsifying love letters, and more obtusely, urinating on the possessions of the man who seeks to steal his mother's heart.

The supporting performances here are excellent. Oliver's parents, played to perfection by Sally Hawkins and Noah Taylor are a vision of endearing, quiet dysfunctionality. Paddy Considine is a joy as the bonkers new age neighbour (possible pervert), giving off a similar vibe to Swayze's motivational speaker in Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001), but with healthy comic twist.

To sum up, Submarine is fabulous. In many ways a love letter to cinema itself, full of reverence and references. I kept expecting a freeze frame on the beach a la 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut, 1959). There's a bit of a Cahier du Cinema vibe throughout actually, in the self-awareness, soft visuals, stark title displays and the joy the film takes in the beauty of small things and small moments. I'm slightly surprised this didn't end with a great big Godard-esque "FIN", or might that be something of an affectation?

Images from : movie-meanings.com; warp.net; and dontpaniconline.com - with thanks.

Regular Programming will resume after this short announcement from our sponsor

2011-03-07T13:38:00.000-08:00

I'm very wary of this accidentally becoming a lifestyle blog, so posts like this will be rare, but I just wanted to present my genuine excuses for watching not one film this weekend, and therefore having nothing even slightly filmic to blog about. So, instead of watching films...

I've been doing quite a lot of this:

A little bit of this:

Fair amount of this:

Visiting and planning for these guys:

And some, but nowhere near enough of this:

Smack My B*tch Up

2011-03-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Niels Arden Oplev, 2009)

Up until this week I had studiously avoided all incarnations of this series. I have not read the books because, being the contrary mite that I am, I do not like to be seen to be reading something that everyone else is reading. Yes, I know at my age that's ridiculous, but I can't seem to shake it. I think for me the problem is, as a reader (and by that I mean someone who has ALWAYS had at least one book on the go since I was about 5 years old, someone that takes reading seriously, someone who finds refuge in books)... that if I read 'that book' that everyone is reading, whatever it may be, then somehow I become one of the non-readers... you know, people who read books once a year because R&J told them to. I know how palpably insane this is, but I'm just being honest.

So I still haven't read the books, but after seeing this film, I just might. After getting over my initial indignant rage at the option on the DVD menu to have the film dubbed instead of sub-titled with the original Swedish dialogue (the sacrilege!); I then discovered that eating gnocchi and salad whilst reading subtitles can be quite messy. Oh well. After ALL of that, I proceeded to get utterly sucked into this film. I really really enjoyed it. Well enjoyed is a difficult word for a film filled with lots of rape and murder, but enjoy it I did, nonetheless.

It's not a genre I'm well-versed in, but I think I can say with some confidence that Tattoo didn't stray too far from the key tenets of the genre, which I'm identifying as a sort of grimy thriller. Thriller is a apt word here, as thrilling is exactly what it was, this film drags you along like a roller coaster. One thing to point out, this isn't for the faint-hearted, for a non-niche film it's very dark. A lot of incredibly violent scenes that it doesn't cut away from, keeping everything visceral and up-close. It's rather curious to see how differently you respond as a viewer to these sorts of scenes, depending on who is perpetrating the crime, and who is the victim. I'd be interested to know if anyone else openly applauded the revenge-abuse scene, I didn't think I was so 'eye-for-an-eye' about things, but clearly I'm more of a psycho than I thought.

Also worthy of note are the excellent visuals in this film, the overall pallet is stark, almost chiaroscuro. The landscapes, which are so much a part of the story, are beautifully shot. A telling contrast between the grimy, grey cityscapes, all sickly unnatural light and dim corners; and then the harsher bright-white-snow and dark woods-and-water of the island scenes. The investigation at the heart of the story takes our leads to the almost-wilderness of an isolated, snow-covered island, where the stunning, primal scenery reveals the long-hidden truth of heinous, primal crimes.

I have suffered from a lifelong romanticisation of all Northern European places, all that snow and forest, I'm just in love with the landscape, and anywhere that looks like that has to be a lovely place right? WRONG - according to this film at least, this has put me off Sweden for life. Furthermore, if the 'world' of this film is to be believed, almost all men are vicious, sadistic bastards. Which is a shame, coz I used to like boys. Now I'm just scared of them.

So, this film disturbed me and I disturbed myself, but it's incredibly well made and definitely worth a watch. I'd recommend watching it on your own though, this sort of horrible stuff is harder to stomach if there's more than one of you in the room, I find!

Image from guardian.co.uk - with thanks.

Who are you wearing?

2011-02-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

Just watched the Red Carpet Live from the Oscars, channel hoping between Sky Living (lots of people who aren't even there, talking about the nominations - boring) and E! News, which wins hands-down for interview face-time, which is surely what we're watching for!

Seeing as you can ONLY watch the actual ceremony on the Sky movie channels (and NOwhere online unless you're in the US - a conspiracy much?!), I'll have to wait for any actual news worth commenting on.

Red carpet-wise though, I can say that I LOVE Helena Bonham Carter, Cate Blanchett and Natalie Portman. Most annoying - Celine Dion and Steven Spielberg's incredibly-teenage teenage daughter!

I might have to bail and go to bed. Reading the live blog on the Empire website isn't quite going to cut it on keeping me awake. Plus Monday is meetings day at work, have to present some semblance of being awake for that!

My New Favourite Horse

2011-02-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

This is my new favourite horse. His name is Maximus. So, clearly we went to see Disney's new Tangled this week. Aside from the fact that I still HATE 3D (waste. of. time.), I loved this film! I'm delighted to say that the boyfriend loved it too, it was even his idea to see it, which was weird. Our mutual joy in this film was mainly based on our mutual love of this horse and the chameleon as well (his pic is at the bottom, so he doesn't feel left out).

As you can tell from the marketing, this film is essentially a re-telling of the tale of Rapunzel, still in the classic medieval-ish setting, but something of a 'modern take' if only in the dialogue and sheer amount of sarcasm and 'spunk' (oh grow up) exhibited by the characters. The plot itself is nothing profound, in fact it's profoundly simple, and therein lies its pleasure. Not being distracted by complex plotting and clever references (sorry Pixar), means one is really free to enjoy the sheer beauty of the animation here, and it's gorgeous. Not for years have I had an experience this close to the childhood joy of old-school Disney classics. We were even treated to that Disney-est of pleasures, the telling of the story through catchy songs. Oh, cheesy as hell, don't get me wrong, but brilliant all the same. A scene where a multitude of lit paper lanterns take to the sky around the fairytale castle, and reflected in the surrounding lake was so divine to watch it literally had me in tears. Which was tricky whilst wearing 3d glasses over my normal glasses.

Better than all of that visual sumptuousness was the comedy in this film. It was really REALLY funny. I mean proper laugh out loud funny, I think I had a stitch at one point. And 90% of that humor was down to good ole Maximus the Horse, and the Chameleon guy (if he had a name, I don't remember it)... they were Legends of the first order. The sheer amount of personality the animators have put into these animal characters with no dialogue is astounding. I can't say much about it without ruining it for you, but if you don't laugh at these guys until you're nearly sick, then someone stole your funny-bone. Here's a taster actually, that's probably best.

So in short, this gets a big thumbs up from me. If you're too much of a (boring) grown-up to take pleasure in traditional Disney fare, then give this one a miss. But if you're up for a dose of child-like joy, get on down to the cinema.
Images from disney.co.uk - thanks.

All work...

2011-02-05T02:57:00.001-08:00

Unfortunately, this image does not mean I've been watching The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980). It's a comment on how interesting my week as been, i.e. not very. I've not watched a single film, hardly read anything, though we did cave on the money-saving and go out for a lovely dinner last night, so that's good. Hoping to rectify the lack of film-viewing asap. And OMG I just remembered I got The Shining for Christmas. Score! That's first on the list.

Image from overthinkingit.com (with thanks)

You Can Leave Your Mask On

2011-01-30T15:05:00.000-08:00

And so My Own Private Leonardo Di Caprio season continues, this time with The Man in the Iron Mask (Randall Wallace, 1998). I think all I can say is hmmm...

For the first half I must confess I was mainly bored. There seemed to be a lot of talent on display here (Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gabriel Byrne, erm, Gerard Depardieu), but not a lot of quality acting. Quite a lot of scraggly hair, hammy scripting and sets so wobbly they make 80s Dr Who look like HBO, but that's about it. Televisual production values aside, it did get better as it went on, my interest level was raised once the identity of the masked man is revealed. Plenty of intrigue and subterfuge made for much better viewing.

I will be awarding Di Caprio 2nd prize in my filmic Twin awards (the criteria being one actor playing two twin siblings simultaneously on screen, nothing to do with DeVito). He did a wonderful job of making the two of them completely disparate and identifiable, even in the same clothes, by the hard/soft-ness of his gaze alone - so nice work there. The winner of this illustrious honour is young Freddie Highmore in the excellent Spiderwick Chronicles (Mark Waters, 2008).

I'm really struggling to find anything else to say about this film, other than it's just not my cup of tea. No idea how this managed to pass me by, but I was not aware ante-view that this was a Musketeers-y film (yeah, I know, now I feel really thick), and had a I known that, I might have expected slightly less, and enjoyed it slightly more. I was also upset by how no effort whatsoever was made towards a sniff of accent continuity. I'm not saying that films where Hollywood actors bleat away in Eurotrash accents throughout are necessarily a good thing; but the complete non-approach here was significantly worse. Within only the opening scenes, your ears are assaulted by such a variety of regional accents, the effect is baffling! You have Depardieu with his fuzzy French-uncle drawl, the more dulcet tones of Irons, who to me will always sound like Scar from the Lion King, the unmistakably American (and anachronistically modern) voice of Di Caprio as the young King, then some bit-part plummy English from Hugh Laurie - it made my brain hurt.

So, all in all, a bit of a letdown. Unless you have a burning desire to see Gerard Depardieu's saggy bum for 5 or 6 seconds. In which case, knock yourself out.

Image (you can see what I mean about the hair) from epixhd.com - with thanks.

My Favourite Haunt

2011-01-24T06:35:00.000-08:00

Not even slightly film related this one, gotta mix it up every now and again, or something.

Went to my favourite pub (The Easton) last night, had a delicious roast dinner and a lovely evening. So just wanted to spread the word about this one. If you're ever in the Clerkenwell / Farringdon area, check it out.

http://www.theeastonpub.co.uk/Easton/Welcome.html

Friendly staff, great atmosphere, good range of drinks and wonderful wonderful food.

Dancer in the Dark

2011-01-22T08:34:00.001-08:00

Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky, 2011)

It goes without saying that I had to see this film on the opening night. Well, it being me, nothing goes "without saying", it's just a turn of phrase alright? 3 key reasons for my keen anticipation: Aronofsky is one of my favourite directors; I'm a little bit in love with Natalie Portman (especially since Garden State (Zach Braff, 2004)); and beautiful people descending into madness under pressure, well it's one of my very favourite sub-genres! So, all in all, set to be a winner for me. And my-oh-my, I was not disappointed.

Black Swan is dazzling, mesmirising and sublime, I haven't felt so captivated by a film in a long time. Don't get me wrong, it's not an entirely comfortable viewing experience, it's up-close, visceral, with genuine elements of body horror at (sometimes) unexpected moments. Definitely not one for the squeamish. Aronofsky has always favoured the tight frame, one of his notable auteur-isms (if you will). In every film since Pi (1998), his camera pushes uncomfortably into the spaces of his subjects, its gaze unswerving from every flitter of emotion that traverses their faces. And here, in Black Swan, the camera is as unflinching from physical pain and horror as well, both the natural (split nails, cracking joints), to the supernatural (fusing skin, sprouting feathers). During the ballet sequences the camerawork is dizzying, spinning around the dancers, mirroring their graceful moves.

It's not just the visuals the deserve praise of course, Aronofsky's use of sound is exquisite, as it always is (Requiem for a Dream (2000) would be my top tip for best sound-engineered film of all time - what a geek). And here in Black Swan, his sound is just as masterful... the thrumming flutter of powerful wings, the stiff rustles of dresses and feathers. Alongside the sound, Aronofsky uses every trick in the book to blur the line between reality and fantasy. We, the audience, are as clueless as Nina herself when it comes to what is real here and what is not. I left the auditorium feeling shaky and confused (I mean that as praise of course!).

Portman here is a revelation, there has been much talk of her transformation as an actress following that of Nina's; from innocence to a darker side of herself. Of course, I've not seen every film she's ever made, so can't say she's never gone to such places before, but it certainly feels that way. Her performance was impeccably disturbing, overwhelmingly good. The fact that she also performed most of the dancing herself, well, that's just bloody amazing. The rest of the cast is also excellent... All the women balletic, swanlike and graceful, but also somehow spiteful; dangerous with dewy-eyed malevolence. Vincent Cassel is also great (if a little one-note) as the sleazy, but brilliant director (dictator) of the ballet, the catalyst for Nina's descent into insanity.

I'm at risk of waxing lyrical about this film for the rest of the day, so will draw to a close here. In summation, I will say that if you are one of the anti-Aronofsky (apparently they do exist), this may not change your mind, and if you're looking for a heartwarming bit of escapism, for God's sake, go and see The King's Speech instead. For all other eventualities, please please please go and see this film, you will not be disappointed. Bit jittery, maybe, but not disappointed.

Image from beyondhollywood.com - thanks.

The Truman Show

2011-01-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

No, not that one. This one...

Capote (Bennett Miller, 2005)

This film opens beautifully. A series of slow, lingering establishing shots, situating us in the bleak Kansas countryside, almost like the outback it's so sparse. The cinematography rarely paces up throughout the film, holding back, in long shot after long shot, allowing the action to play out within the frame in an almost theatrical way. Technically, I thought it was great. Still, enough camera chat...

The bare bones of this story are historical; American author Truman Capote is researching and writing his legendary novel, In Cold Blood, based on a real-life 1959 murder case in the afore-mentioned Kansas. An entire family murdered in a quiet town, seemingly for no reason. Capote decides to write a fictionalised account of the aftermath of this tragic event, and in doing so develops a close, and complex relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith. The film meanders through the entire period, from the tragic event itself, through various interviews, the writing of the book, as well as quite a lot of not-writing of the book, to the eventual completion of the novel and the execution of the offenders. This epic span represents a number of years and one sees how wholly the events and the writing take over Capote’s life.

The film raises challenging questions about the processes of justice and the place of authorship, and the fuzzy grey line where fact meets fiction. Another point of interest is the film’s ambiguous attitude to the killers and to them being ‘used’ by Mr. Capote. One is left in a fair old moral quandary, after all Capote treated Smith appallingly - he (Capote) fluctuates between seemingly genuine concern and interest for the young man in his incarceration, (even finding the pair a lawyer, who lands them an appeal), and latterly closing himself off entirely, losing interest once he has what he needs. And yet, in the course of the story, it becomes clear that they did indeed commit this cold-blooded and heinous crime, and so the buggers deserve everything they get, right?! Tricky tricky. I hope I never get called up for jury service.

As the film progresses, it becomes clear that Capote’s contribution to the cause of the convicts’ freedom was only ever to buy himself time, and that his motivations were only ever selfish. Indeed, Capote’s persistent, blatant and fairly despicable self-absorption is my most lingering memory of this film… his false friendship with Smith, his constant "woe is me"-ing, his complete lack of support for his exasperated friends (most notably the excellent Catherine Keener as Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mocking Bird). In fact, if the film’s portrayal of him is even slightly accurate, and I’d been there at the time, I'd have probably punched him in the face. Regular party scenes intercut the more serious drama, and in each of these scenes we find Capote… leant back, louche and leonine in a crowd of sycophantic admirers; he holds court, spouting one witty anecdote after another and chuckling in his ridiculous camp-Cartman voice - what a d*ckhead. Oh, I'm not denying he was a talented and fascinating chap, changing the face of American literature etc., but seriously, shut up mate.

Aside from my personal gripes with our eponymous hero, this film was very well made. Performances uniformly excellent, tone tense and slow to unwind, I still found myself captivated throughout – more so than I thought in fact, when our DVD player packed up around chapter 20, we thought nothing of 4 of us (and a large cat) all crowding round a laptop for the remaining hour, so keen were we to reach the conclusion!

Image from filmadelphia.org - with thanks.

Sock it to Me...

2011-01-14T05:52:00.000-08:00

OMG!! I can't wait wait WAIT for this!! Looks so good! And Emily Browning all grown up. Wow.

Put 1st April in your diary. I'll see you at Cineworld.

Image from empireonline - thanks.

Drugs Are Bad M'Kay...?

2011-01-13T15:04:00.000-08:00

The Basketball Diaries (Scott Kalvert, 1995)

Another evening in, another astoundingly good performance from young Leo di C. I might be getting a bit obsessed with that boy. Basketball Diaries is the ultimate cautionary tale on the dangers of drug abuse. And, man, it was dark! Not quite so dark as Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000) of course... Now that really is THE ultimate cautionary tale... if it was, I wouldn’t be writing this blog; I’d be hiding under the bed.

Based on a true story, this is the tragedy of young Jim Carroll, a promising basketball champ at an oppressive Catholic School in NY. The opening half-hour features a slightly-predictable smorgasbord of run-o’-the-mill priestly/PE teacherly abuses, boys running amok like they own the place, but meaning no real harm, and one too many slo-mo dunks, just so you know HOW good at basketball our young hero is.

Naturally, things then begin to darken, beginning with some mild experimentation with pills, sex and snorting something out of tissues (my drug knowledge is not so hot!)... it follows a familiar trajectory as he disappears down the rabbit hole and heroin gradually rips his life apart. Before he hits rock bottom, Jim manages to be fired from the basketball team, quit school, be chucked out of home by his poor mother, to then turn to a life of crime and prostitution to fund his habit. Oh, and then he goes to prison.

Although rather harrowing and perhaps a little cliched, this is an excellent film, that really packs a punch, delivering it’s message without ever resorting to condescension, nor without losing sight of the fact you’re meant to be at least slightly entertained. The central pillar supporting the quality here is the sheer wealth of skilled performances on show. Not just from di Caprio, who is mind-blowingly, horribly convincing here… it’s a veritable who’s-who of young acting talent… Juliette Lewis as a local prostitute, Marky Mark Whalburg as the fellow spiraller, but without the heart of gold (he doesn’t just mug old ladies, he kicks them while they’re down too, the bastard). Best of all, it features a cold-turkey intervention courtesy of Reggie - played by the fourth Ghostbuster himself (Ernie Hudson, of course).

As one might expect (and hope), in the end, Carroll gets clean and devotes the last scene (and an unfortunate ‘curtain’ hair-cut) to some inspirational theatre/public speaking, cataloging the dangers of his 'dope-head' lifestlye, just in case the warning wasn’t hammered home hard enough.

In short, a Good (capital G), worthy and challenging film, but not exactly a Friday-nighter.

Image from IGN.com - with thanks

Best News of the Year so Far...

2011-01-10T12:04:00.000-08:00

Oh yes! Rumour (being the Empire website) has it that the wonderful Elijah Wood will be reprising his role of Frodo Baggins in Jackson's forthcoming Hobbit films.

Obviously, as a fan of Tolkien's original works, I'll interested to see exactly where dear Frodo will feature in this story that played out in Middle Earth before he was born! The most sensible suggestion I've read online is that his appearance will act as a sort of framing device, with Frodo narrating from Bilbo's account of "There and Back Again" which as we all remember features as a handwritten tome, completed by Frodo and passed on to Sam, in Return of the King (2003).

However it's done, I have every faith that Jackson et. al. won't be in such Bad Taste (get it?!) as to shoehorn him into the actual tale of the Hobbit, where he most certainly does not belong.

Production is due to start this year, release in 2012. I might actually wet myself with excitement. Apologies.
Image from meltedreelonline.com - thanks

Thoughts on (most of) our Cinematic 2010

2011-01-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

When I say most of, I mean 'since I last bothered to post anything on here in March'. Here goes:

Top 3 Films of the Year:
- Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010) - as amazing as I hoped - intense, brooding, beautifully shot, brilliantly soundtracked, I loved it. I was on the edge of my seat throughout. I've been in love with Leo since I was a 14 year old girl (Titanic of course), but now I can respect him as an actor as well! What fun!

- The Brothers Bloom (Rian Johnson, 2010) - I am literally in love with this film. And everyone in it. Rachel Weisz and Adrien Brody on screen at the same time? - Be still my beating heart! A very-blackly funny conman caper, smart, witty and gorgeously bittersweet. Brothers Bloom was everything I love in a film. Bang on quirky indie. This is the stuff that makes life worth living. And no I would not like to rein that it at all : )

- Inception (Christoper Nolan, 2010) - Oh, what to say that hasn't been said?! This is one of the best films I have EVER seen. I was astounded at just how good it was. The performances are faultless, the cinematography mind-blowing, it swallows you whole and you can't escape even once the credits roll. Both the audience and the characters have no final sense of what is real, what is possible, I love films that end with that sort of argue-about-it-in-the-pub ambiguity. And you actually have to concentrate, not a patronising bit of exposition in sight. In short, like the Matrix of it's time, but with everything the Matrix was missing - e.g. character, competent scripting, non-boring use of slow-mo etc...

Worst 3 Films of the Year:
- Clash of the Titans (Louis Leterrier, 2010) - walking... walking... walking... overdone set-piece... walking... walking... walking... giant scorpions... walking... you get the idea. Gemma Arterton is very pretty though.

- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Mike Newell, 2010) - too much sand, a few giant cliches, a bit of hamming. Not a lot else. Gemma Arterton is very pretty though.

- RED (Robert Schwentke, 2010) - This film stars Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren. And it's sh*t. How is that even possible?! What horrible alternate reality are we living in?! Most offensive is the film-school-101 cinematography in the opening scene - it has to be seen to be believed. Has anyone sniper-d Schwentke yet? If not, I'll get on it.

Films I've watched but were so unamazing I have no recollection of what happened in them:
Angels and Demons (Ron Howard, 2009)
The International (Tom Tykwer, 2009)
Night at the Museum 2 (Shawn Levy, 2009)
New Moon (Chris Weitz, 2009)

Other Films I Hated:
- The Mist (Frank Darabont, 2007) - honestly, this guy directed Shawshank?!
- Fermat's Room (Luis Piedrahita, Rodrigo Sopena, 2007) - Disappointing Maths Horror. Now there's a sentence.

Other Films I have Seen and Liked/Loved:
- Fantastic Mr Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009) - see it now if you haven't coz it's bloody brilliant! I saw this on a flight to Dubai, then bought the DVD and have watched it about 6 times this year, it really is that good and benefits repeat viewing. If you're not an Anderson fan, it just might turn you. If you are, why the cuss haven't you seen it already?! Get on it!

- Kick Ass (Matthew Vaughn, 2010) - obviously, this kicked ass. Excellent fun, ace scripting (Jane Goldman gets cooler every year), and bless Chloe Moretz, she's a little legend. I must question though what it takes for a film to be an 18 cert these days? Kick Ass was a 15 and I saw someone get tasered, I saw sex in a alley, I saw a man on fire (for ages), I saw a little girl get kicked in the face, said little girl even dropped the C-bomb and STILL a 15?! I mean really! What will Daily Mail readers think the world is coming to?!

- The Frighteners (Peter Jackson, 1996) - this has been a favourite of mine for about 10 years, but still deserves a mentions because it is so AMAZING! And my boyfriend thought it was crap - he is WRONG. This film rocks!

- Role Models (David Wain, 2008) - SO much better than it looks, towards the top of the 'Bromance' pile.

- Atonement (Joe Wright, 2007) - I previously avoided this film on the expectation that it would just make me cry and cry. Well I was right, I cried and cried, but it was totally worth it. Beautiful.

- Drag Me to Hell (Sam Raimi, 2009) - ignore Spiderman, Raimi's still got the touch. Too much chin sucking though, the mad old cow.

- What's Eating Gilbert Grape (Lasse Hallstrom, 1993) - turns out I could have been respecting Leo as an actor all along! This is one of those wonderful 'small' films that concerns itself with one family, one town, one way of life, and in that says so much about the human condition, our universal joys and sorrows. I thought this was grand.

- In the Loop (Armando Iannucci, 2009) - fast paced, sparky, crackling with wit and finally, finally... someone in the word that swears more than me. It had to happen eventually.

- Cinema Paradiso (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988) - a true classic, and a crime I've not seen it before. This is a gorgeous film - cinema for cinephiles.

- In Bruges (Martin McDonagh, 2008) - so so so much better than it looked. With the most unique joy of hearing Voldemort saying "Is he having a poo or a wee?" - comedy gold.

- Monsters (Gareth Edwards, 2010) - deserves the hype. Really nicely done. A monster-movie that's about anything but, a real slow-burner this, but it will have you before the (slightly abrupt) end.

- Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (Jalmari Helander, 2010) - delightfully mad Finnish kids-horror about the original and evil Santa Claus. With naked old dudes. Yes, you heard correctly. Haven't giggled this much in ages - go see. It's bonkers and brilliant.

Best Unusual Cinematic Experience of the Year Award:
Runner up - Guillermo del Toro all-nighter at the IMAX - 3 films back-to-back starting at 11pm - great night, lots of free tea. Films shown - Cronos, Pan's Labyrinth and Hell Boy 2. Intended to be hosted by the man himself, but he had to cancel at the last minute. Had he been there for real, this would have been the winner.
And the Oscar goes to - One-night screening of Night of the Living Dead at a 'pop-up' cinema, Cineroleum, in a disused petrol station in Clerkenwell - excellent fun! Complete with bar, penny sweets, dry ice and zombie staff - original entertainment - there's a novelty!
Random thoughts for the year:
- Is anyone else so OVER 3D?! I hate it! PG rating - that's Pointless Gimic.

- The time might have finally come for me to get over my no-TV-snobbery and admit that films aren't automatically better just because they're films, and in conjunction, that not all TV is mindless bilge. I've still yet to foray into watching any actual TV yet though. Except Masterchef, but that so doesn't count.

- HP7 part one was a monster letdown. I reckon part two is gonna storm it though.

If you're still reading. Well done. It's over. Go and have a cake or something.

Images half-inched from:
screencrave.com
allmoviephoto.com
bloodygoodhorror.com

With thanks.

Resolutions

2011-01-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

Howdy folks.

So, a new year is upon us and in addition to the traditional year-in-year-out Resolutions (these of course being - spend less, eat better, exercise more, be nicer), I am also resolving to get back on this blog. I don't anticipate this will last more than a couple of months, I have a profoundly short 'interest' span, but I shall do my best.

Review of our cinematic 2010 to follow, watch this space and all that.

Image from dailymail.com (i feel dirty)

The Great Day is Upon Us

2010-03-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

This is jinxing it for sure, but this evening, in nary a few hours, we're going to see Shutter Island - at long last! Goody good hooray hurrah, etc.

Image from thephoenix.com - ta!

Bourne in the Middle E-E-East

2010-03-11T14:36:00.000-08:00

See what I did there?

Yep, you guessed it, we went to see Green Zone and it was Bourne in Iraq. Well, to backtrack, we WENT to see Shutter Island, but obviously it's not out til Friday. I seem to have experienced a genuine hallucination when checking the Cineworld website yesterday morning, which resulted in me strolling up to the counter and chirpily asking for "Two for Shutter Island please" only to be met with a confused-but-friendly face and "Oh, dat ain't out til Fri-dy, looks well good tho". So, I felt like a spoon, and we saw Green Zone instead.

So... I can't say I was disappointed, but I wasn't blown away either. Essentially, lots of wobbly camera, and guns, some slightly-confusing-conspiracies and Matt Damon (bless him) yelling "where are the WMDs?!?" over and over again. I enjoyed it, but the most interesting thing about it was how blatantly it waved it's conspiracy theories around... Now as a left-leaning liberal type person, I of course completely believe that the Bush administration (with a little lap-dogging from our side of the pond), fabricated the idea of WMDs in Iraq (or nuclear weapons, as they used to be called before we became the planet of the apes) in order to justify a war, the real motivations of which were probably regime-change, oil, arms-manufacture-based profiteering and a bit of 9/11 scape-goatery. We know this to be true. But to make a mainstream Hollywood film about it, and treat it like a regular conspiracy thriller (as if we're not still there, as if this still isn't going on), well, Greengrass, that's interesting. I'm not sure I can draw a conclusion on that actually, so will leave this paragraph hanging...

Unfortunately, no matter how much I might have enjoyed the film, I'm always left with the same slightly nauseous and confused feeling I get after watching any film that touches on Iraq (the considerably more masterful Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2009) included)... the feeling that we nobody's a good guy, nobody's a bad guy and there's nothing anyone can bloody do about it. We've made a dirty great mess of the whole thing, and it just makes me want to cry. Apologies for being such a total girl about it, but it's just the way I feel. So, am I recommending this film? As usual, I'm sure you can't tell, and neither can I. I think probably yes. I'll say, 'not bad'. And 'I wasn't bored', but that's about it.

Image from filmofilia.com (with thanks)

Catch Up if You Can...

2010-02-28T11:21:00.000-08:00

I have failed to write anything for this blog for a little while now, and the longer you put something off, the less appealing and chore-like it becomes. So, having watched at least 6 films and the BAFTA’s since I last managed to say anything about anything, the task of playing catch up seems nigh-on insurmountable. My solution is to get this all out of the way in one foul/fowl (?!) swoop/post, which will involve a significant reining in of my natural verbosity, but probably an excellent exercise in succinctness and brevity. So here goes…

Cinema trips:

Youth in Revolt (Miguel Arteta, 2010) – Ronseal. Meaning - does exactly what it says on the tin. A witty and slightly-too-eloquent comedy with plenty of sex, cringing and genuine LOL moments. Best line: “I want to tickle your belly button… from the inside”. More Cera please, we like it!

The Wolfman (Joe Johnston, 2010) – Tonally confused and funny for all the wrong reasons, most notably starring Anthony Hopkins' evil twin who can’t act for toffee, this was more than disappointing. I thankfully realised about 10 minutes in that this film was going to be total dross and so managed to enjoy myself by predicting the entire plot from one ridiculous set-piece to the next. Highlight being the Hulk-style Werewolf smackdown at the end. There are hints of what could have been a great film here, before it got mired in development hell. The lighting is spectacularly haunting and chiaroscuro, the ancestral home is spooky as hell and the transformed werewolves are a wonderful homage to the original’s B-movie prosthetics. Combine this however, with atrocious scripting, last minute spatters of unnecessary gore and jarring CGI transformations into afore-mentioned 50s werewolves, and the whole thing falls to bits. Overall – lame.

The Lovely Bones (Peter Jackson, 2010) – intense and beautiful, perhaps a little too much of the former, my heart was thumping in nervous anticipation for too much of the running time! The visual imagination in this film was simply stupendous. The 'fantasy' scenes harken back to Jackson’s earlier Heavenly Creatures (1994), but with more maturity and a considerably higher budget. Aside from a slight drop in interest due to a bit of 2^nd act meandering (which I must admit mars almost all of Jackson’s directorial efforts for me), this film was astoundingly good. Justice done to a stunning piece of literature. In short, brilliant.

And a bit of home viewing:

Changeling (Clint Eastwood, 2008) – Crikey Jolie can act when she wants to. Still there’s something anachronistically modern about her face, which I always find distracting in a period drama. Minor face-quibbles aside, this is another directorial triumph from Eastwood (almost makes me want to see Invictus), the film is incredibly well-paced, beautifully shot and forms a wonderful portrait of a woman fighting for her child, and her rights, in a world that casts her as irrational before she’s even opened her mouth. With corrupt policemen, uncaring journalists and vicious mental nurses seeming greater villains than the perpetrator of the horrific child murders at the centre of the film, Eastwood asks uncomfortable questions throughout and leaves you with a feeling of grim determination to make the world a better place once it’s over. Nice one, Clint.

Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1998) – It’s a crime that I hadn’t seen this film prior to last week. Now rectified, I can carry on expounding the genius of Tarantino with confidence. Does anybody soundtrack better than QT?! As slick, smart and violent as you’d expect. Ace.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Nicholas Stoller, 2008) – watched this last night. Silly, but thoroughly enjoyable. As my boyfriend and I are the only people in the world not to have seen this film already, there’s no need to say anything else.

And finally…

The BAFTAs – made medium-entertaining viewing this year. Well, considerably better than the Brits anyway, which was ghastly. Herewith my observations:

- Very glad that Hurt Locker took best film and director, I mean, yes Avatar was very exciting and all, and it can have all the Oscars it likes, but the BAFTAs should award more worthy films than CGI tent pole pictures (in my humble opinion). So huzzah.

- Kristen Stewart is a bit of a div (or has had a late-onset awkward teenager phase), her posture is even worse than mine.

- Relatedly, Twilight fans should be exempt from all public voting systems. And the gene pool in general.

- Colin Firth is a funnier man than I anticipated.

- Even though I know Attenborough won’t live forever, Prince BLINKIN William should not be allowed within a spit of a position at BAFTA.

- Christopher Waltz seemed a very charming chap.

- I wanted Moon to win more awards, if you haven’t seen it – go. Go now.

- I’m still very much in love with Kate Winslet.

Right. That’ll do pig.

Image from dailymix.com

Lustful. Cautious-erm-ful

2010-02-16T13:54:00.000-08:00

Lust, Caution (Ang Lee, 2008)

I was going to title this review 'Me love you long time', but then I decided it was too rude. Much like this film. I am by no means a prude, but this DVD (extended from the original cinematic cut, so my friend from HK tells me) REALLY lingers on the sex scenes, all of which are intense and often violent. I can't say I didn't enjoy it, but I wonder if it was strictly necessary to see quite that much bum in a non porn film.

Anyway, that aside (and I must stress, I wasn't offended, just a little surprised) this film was everything you'd expect from Ang Lee - absorbing, beautifully shot, and re-he-he-heally long. Like, close to 3 hours long, and it ends on a bit of a ppffhh, like a damp firework.

This is sounding like a bad review, when I really don't want it to. I was captivated by this breathless, suspenseful portrayal of our heroine and her compatriots entangled in a dangerous web of lies, played out against the stunning backdrop of the rain-washed streets of Japanese-occupied China. I loved the way that layers of detail in the background and incidental characters - extras even - spark your interest when you don't expect it. Wei Tang as the female lead is tremendous, and like the camera, and all the characters, you simply can't take your eyes off her.

I can't find a tangible way in which to fault this film, I just ought to have checked the back of the box first to know by just how much I was going to miss my bed time. And how glad I'd be that I watched it without anyone else in the room. I think it's warped my hamster's fragile little mind.

Image from Xinhuanet.com - thanks

Pixar vs. Dreamworks - smackdown

2010-02-14T15:42:00.000-08:00

SO true...

http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/pixarvsdreamworks.jpg

Nice work guys.

Generation J. J.

2010-02-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

Having done no film viewing whatsoever this weekend (shock! horror!), I have only a random thought to contribute. Isn't it about time somebody made a filmic adaptation of a Douglas Coupland novel? And how amazing would it be if that somebody was fellow zeitgeist-er J.J. Abrams? There's a combo I could get excited about.

Such a film would need someone at the helm who was as unafraid of playing with accepted medium conventions as Coupland is with his novels. And I reckon Abrams is the man. The only other director that has the same 'now'-defining power, to my mind, is old QT, but there just isn't enough violence in Coupland's material to satisfy him. Plus, he's not really an adaptation guy. So I'm voting Abrams. I don't even particularly care which novel it is, though my personal favourites are Generation X and Girlfriend in a Coma.

If only more than 3 people read this blog, we could start a petition or something. Oh well.

I had a little look on imdb.com, just to make sure there isn't already a Coupland film and I'm just talking arse, and it looks, tantilisingly, that All Families Are Psychotic is in some sort of development, but with no further details. AND there's a TV version of jpod. Who knew? Christ, I might have to start watching TV.

Image from bartsbookshelf.co.uk - thanks

Strictly Luhrmann

2010-02-11T13:42:00.000-08:00

Strictly Ballroom (Baz Luhrmann, 1992)

I borrowed Strictly Ballroom from a friend recently and then found myself rather reluctant to watch it. I don't like dancing films, I don't like romantic films, and I especially don't like anything that might inadvertently, however tangentially, remind me of (small voice) Dirty Dancing (Emilio Ardolino, 1987). Ugh. All in all, I've no idea why I borrowed it in the first place...

So, with some trepidation, and the boyfriend pointedly leaving the room after napping on my lap for the first half hour, I sat down to watch. My nervousness was somewhat abated by the fact that Luhrmann has, in the past, proved capable of making me like films that had any other director made them, I almost certainly wouldn't have. Nor even deigned to watch them most likely. Finding in favour of Mr. Luhrmann here, see exhibit A - William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (1996) and exhibit B - Moulin Rouge(2001). And struth! He's only gone and done it again!

Despite being about dancing, despite being about guy meets girl, about guy and girl fall in love through the magic medium of montage, about girl goes through a miraculous transformation from absolute munter to smoking hottie in less than 3 weeks, about how all the other main characters realise, through guy and girl, the overarching importance of love 'and dancing your own steps', and bad guy gets comedy comeuppance including losing his wig... you get the idea. Despite all of this, I loved it! I loved it. Luhrmann imbues the whole thing with such a wonderful sense of irony, one eyebrow raised and tongue firmly in cheek.

Well-scripted, neatly shot, gorgeously costumed/made-up, with a great soundtrack and not too long (this is becoming more important to me by the day!), Strictly Ballroom is a great great film. If you haven't seen it, do. You might surprise yourself. It even got a bit dusty at the end.

Image pinched from someone else's blog: http://coffeewithamee.wordpress.com/ (thanks)

Films I am Looking Forward to for 2010

2010-02-05T17:27:00.000-08:00

Films coming out in 2010 that I'm excited about (sub-set - those that are on the Empire website so far)... in vague order of release...

Youth in Revolt (more witty awkward late-teen comedy with Michael Cera - hurrah!)
The Wolfman (old school B-movie horror with A-list cast and budget - more hurrah!)
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (will probably be crap but I do love my young adult fantasy adaptations)
Ponyo (more Miyazaki! I love it! I'm hoping for an underwater Kiki...)
The Lovely Bones (Peter Jackson is the king! [apart from Kong, that was a shame], hopefully a Heavenly Creatures with LOTR experience under his belt, will Ronan be the Winslet of her generation?! I reckon yes)
Micmacs (Will anything be as good as Amelie ever again? We can but hope...)
Capitalism: A Love Story (His methods are appalling, but Moore is always good for a bit of righteous left-wing rage)
Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton/Lewis Carroll - a match made in heaven)
Iron Man 2 (Most unexpectedly ace film of 2008, now with Mickey Rourke!)
Robin Hood (gotta be better than Costner...)
Toy Story 3 (Pixar can do no wrong in my eyes, in any dimension. Can't wait!)

And films I'm not...

Sex and the City 2 (I'd rather die in a car crash)

Image from moviesmedia.ign.com

Finally Airborne

2010-01-31T09:54:00.000-08:00

Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, 2010)

So last week, the gods of Cineworld finally bestowed upon us a screening of Up in the Air, after a previous failed attempt, and the demons of Londonovercrowding must have been having a day off, which I can't say they haven't earned.

Of course, I loved this film. Reitman is the current crowned king of the smart, bittersweet comedy, (which is my favourite kind), his previous work as we know includes Juno (2007) and Thank You for Smoking (2005). On the subject of kings, Clooney is the monarch of choice for any role requiring a silvering male lead to be effortlessly likeable whilst pretending to be a heartless bastard. And didn't he do well?! It's an interesting dichotomy that surfaces frequently in film, specifically in Reitman's films, that characters who actively propound a philosophy of heartlessness, of absenting oneself from the game of caring, of 'emptying ones backpack', are always the most caring, empathetic, selfless, 'good' characters in the whole film. And of course, they always reach their big "everyone-needs-someone, a-life-alone-is-a-life-wasted etc..." epiphany by the end of the film whilst everyone else is buggering off to be considerably-more-selfish bastards than our lead was character ever was to begin with! Anyway...

I laughed, I cried, I sang along... I shamelessly enjoyed this film. All the main actors performed with aplomb, making their characters' surprisingly-real faults endearing rather than grating. I recognised a little too much of myself in the young Natalie; in her desperation to prove herself, in her youthful inconsideration and selfishness, in her academic competence twinned with real-life hopelessness. And always a joy to be hold, the 10-minute snippet (or not even) of J.K. Simmons was the out-and-out highlight for me. Brilliant!

My one criticism though, is a biggie, that for the first time at the end of a Reitman film, or anything else of this ilk (think Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton, 2006) or anything directed by Wes Anderson...) my bittersweet feeling was a little too bitter, not enough sweet. Now don't get me wrong, I do NOT like feel good films, I do not watch RomComs that are more Rom than Com, and I like my happy Com-roms with a heavy dose of irony and plenty of black humour, but Up in the Air, on this particular Wednesday, left me feeling genuinely sad as we stepped out into the rain. Again, I stress, I did NOT want anyone to live happily ever after, I did NOT want the whole film to 360 and schmaltz to a close, no sir, but I just felt like Reitman closed the piece on the wrong chord, a little minor-key that should not have been there and for me, it jarred.

I don't want this to feel like a negative review. Up until the credits rolled, I was having a delightful time; an enjoyable and well-rounded cinematic experience, getting thoroughly engaged and forgetting all about the minutiae of my day (and after all, isn't that the point?). I will be buying the DVD, I may well buy the soundtrack. I do recommend this film. But there is a 'but...', a little listless 'but...' of disappointment at the end of this otherwise glowing piece of cinema.

Hunting for Hunter

2010-01-27T05:55:00.000-08:00

Gonzo: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson (Alex Gibney, 2008)

Watched this on DVD last night and really enjoyed it. A little meandering, a little long, but excellent fun overall. Narrated by Johnny Depp (who is just brilliant in everything is he not?!), this documentary does a wonderful job of immersing you in the word of Thompson, the revolutionary 60s, the cynical 70s, and the sparky, druggy, visceral word of Gonzo journalism. Gibley manages to balance an interesting mix of talking heads and buckets of insightful library footage, intercut with loopy hallucinogenic scenes that evoke a real sense of mood.

The soundtrack was fabulous and again, very evocative. The most interesting contributors were the editor of Rolling Stone and the artist and long-term Thompson collaborator, Ralph Steadman. I had previously only know Steadman from Withnail and I promotional material, and he proved a rather fascinating chap. Seeing the editor of Rolling Stone breakdown in tears whilst trying to talk about the contribution Hunter could make (to the dreaded politics of now) had he not taken himself out in 2005, was particularly moving. A disturbing yet delightful closing sequence montages a piece to camera where Hunter describes exactly how he wants his funeral to go off, with the actual event itself (spot on to his wishes of course). Haunting, but uplifting at the same time.

My only experience of Hunter S. Thompson prior to watching this documentary was having read the book/seen the film (not got a t-shirt) of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, both of which I loved. Post-Gonzo, I find Hunter infinitely more fascinating, and rather less likeable, as is often the case with the getting to know the personna behind a fiction (though it's barely fiction in Thompson's case). Seeing Thompson for the first time as a polemic political journalist was a real eye-opener and taught me a lot I didn't know about recent US history (albeit a left-leaning presentation of the facts - so of course I sympathised!)

The film tries a little too hard to psychoanalyse a man whom I think deserves to remain an enigma, but otherwise a very fitting obituary to one of the great voices of the 20th century. So, I want to be a gonzo journalist. Apart from the drugs, and being born 30-40 years too late, of course... oh well.

Image from wordpress.com

I Heart HP

2010-01-25T14:19:00.000-08:00

A brief aside here, and my first non-film related post. I have just finished reading all of J.K. Rowling's 7 Harry Potter books back to back (of course, as a former children's bookseller, not the first time I have read them) and it strikes me again, I just absolutely bloody LOVE them. I can't get enough of it! I mean yes, Harry himself can be a bit of a twit sometimes, always yelling at everybody in capital letters and yes, some of her ideas are derivative, and yes, to all the other criticisms you can throw at them, but reading these books is the most genuine escapism I have ever found. They make me happy. And that is no mean feat. So, thanks Rowling - nice one.

The Last... Thing I'd Ever Want to Watch Again

2010-01-24T14:33:00.000-08:00

The Last Castle (Rod Lurie, 2002)

Is there anything more excruciating than being lent a film by a friend, which they expound as a great love of theirs, and finding it to be complete and utter bilge? Well, yes there is, and that is watching The Last Castle, though this is guilty of the aforementioned crime as well. Not just crap. Recommended crap.
It was so lame, I can't really be bothered to go into it. It is something of a poor-man's Shawshank crossed with the Dead Poet's Society, but with utterly no heart. To my mind, an unacceptable film in a world where such classics of their respective sub-genres (1. the prison drama in which the real criminals are not those condemed, and 2. the inspirational leader-cum-hero 'brings out the best' in those from whom society expects least) which this film woefully attempts to combine, already exist.
I will say this for it, it wasn't so mind-numbingly awful that I didn't see it through to the end, though I think forcing myself through this hardship was mainly out of loyalty to my friend, and the hope that he did not rate such tripe, that it simply had to get better! I hoped in vain.
I think it is possible, that part of my dislike for it was because I am a girl, and specifically a girl who is unimpressed by macho behaviour, pointless hero worship, anything to do with the military, one-liners scripted to be quotable that simply aren't, and gloating acts of violence juxtaposed with try-hard rousing speeches that seem to miss the mark every time. So, this film was simply full of my pet hates. Another of which includes people being miraculously pulled from the flaming wreckage of a helicopter with narry a scratch on them, save a few artfully attractive grazes to the cheekbones. I was in more pain than they were just watching it!
I'm meandering into gibberish through frustration, so will stop. Don't watch this film. Unless you've been bad and need to be punished.

A Stab at a Top Ten

2010-01-21T11:22:00.000-08:00

I have always been a bit of a compulsive list maker, but my Top 10 films has always been something I've struggled to pin down. What was it Meg Ryan said? It's like trying to choose your favourite child?! Ok, I'm not quite that mental, but it is always harder than I expect. Now, as a disclaimer, there is of course a huge difference between the "best" films of all time, and one's "favourite" films of all time. This list is very much of the latter persuasion, so you'll find no Godfathers, Shawshanks or Citizen Kanes here - not to do them any disservice, but if I was only allowed to watch 10 films again on rotation for the rest of my life (god forbid!), in no specific order, these would be they...

Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)
An Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (Brad Silberling, 2004)
The Emperor’s New Groove (Mark Dindal, 2000)
Withnail and I (Bruce Robinson, 1987)
The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001–2003; I reserve the right to treat the trilogy as one entry!)
Finding Neverland (Marc Forster, 2004)
The Mummy (Stephen Sommers, 1999)
The Fountain (Darren Aronofsky, 2006)

Still Up in the Air

2010-01-20T13:02:00.000-08:00

Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, 2010)...

Tried and failed to see this film tonight. Arrived at Cineworld Haymarket (with trusty Cineworld card in hand) to find a monstrous sight - a queue of approx. 7,000 people, there for no obvious reason other than to ruin my evening. So - mission aborted, went to Pizza Express instead.
Thoughts on the film to follow soon if Cineworld can get their act together, and some people move out of this city. Pesky Golden Globes...