Week 8

Introduction

My quest: to watch 100 films that I have never seen before, by 31st December 2007!

Number of films per week required to achieve this: 1.93

Current average number of films seen per week: 2.63

More than on target. Excellent.


Week Eight

With that information relayed, on to the films that I watched between February 19th and February 25th 2007. Hopefully the format of these entries is self explanatory, but if not then check out the first entry here. They're now firmly in chronological order.


16) Sunrise (1927, F.W. Murnau, DVD) 4/5
Murnau's first film in America, throughout the decades hailed as one of the greatest film ever made. Maybe it is, in some respects; for a film made 80 years ago it certainly stands up very well today. It's helped by being a fable, giving it added resonance for any time period, though probably hindered by being silent (virtually -- as one of the first films with a synchronised soundtrack there are some effects). Certainly recommended to anyone interested in the history of film.

17) Notes on a Scandal (2006, Richard Eyre, cinema) 4/5
I hear that this is displeasing as an adaptation. But I haven't read the novel, so that doesn't cloud my judgement. Judi Dench is brilliant as ever in a rare villainous role (the Oscar would've been hers were it not for Helen Mirren's equally brilliant but more obvious turn in The Queen), Cate Blanchett gets to spar with her as the flawed 'hero', and the rest of the principal cast are very good also. It lacks something towards the end, perhaps because it functions better as a character piece than as a thriller, but is still worth a watch.

18) Nosferatu (1922, F.W. Murnau, DVD) 3/5
One of the earliest and most-referenced horror films, and the first screen adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula (faithfully, albeit unofficially). With such a weight bearing down upon it I found it quite hard to watch it objectively, and so was mainly left with the sense that I didn't enjoy it as much as Sunrise and that I'd rather like to see a fully restored version. Perhaps Masters Of Cinema shall treat us to one soon. Whatever one's thoughts on it, it really is a must see for anyone into sci-fi/fantasy, horror, or (again) the history of film.

19) Blood Diamond (2006, Edward Zwick, cinema) 4/5
In some respects this also suffered from hype, though only to a small degree -- Jonathan Ross loved it, which is usually a very good recommendation to me; I 'merely' thought it was very good. Its most impressive achievement is mixing important real-life information with a compelling narrative in a way that does not feel preachy. It also doesn't compromise on its moral messages for the sake of a twist. And it has some great action sequences to boot! It has almost as many endings as Lord of the Rings mind.

20) Hot Fuzz (2007, Edgar Wright, cinema) 5/5
Here come the fuzz! I wasn't hyped enough about this film to pay £10 to see it a week before release, and instead paid just £3.75 to see it in a big screen with just myself and a friend. Now that's entertainment. The brilliance of the situation aside, this is a damn good film. Most of its running time is devoted to high-quality comedy, and then it kicks into a full-blown action movie! Fantastic! I unreservedly recommend this to everyone, and especially to fans of action films and British comedies -- do not miss this.

21) Johnny English (2003, Peter Howitt, DVD) 3/5
Almost the flip-side of Hot Fuzz's coin. Johnny English doesn't quite manage the action sequence thing (though the car chase is quite good), and the humour is a lot gentler. Every joke is sign-posted at least a good few seconds in advance, sometimes several minutes, yet that's half the fun -- you know what's about to go wrong and that nothing can stop English doing it anyway. Not brilliant, then, but an entertaining enough bit of nothing.