100 Films in a Year

The blog is dead... long live the blog!

2008-02-18T23:52:00.002Z

I'm now making the decision to close down this iteration of the blog... but things will continue, over at FilmJournal.net.

I'm not sure anyone reads this version anyhow, and if they do... well, please follow me to FilmJournal! The thing is, that site is generally more suited to the blog -- it's film-centric (as you may have guessed), with wider promotion to like-minded readers. Here, 100 Films is just lost among the millions of Blogger blogs; there, new posts get promoted on the front page of DVD Times, my personal favourite DVD site (it must be good, it was cited in the Serenity trailer!) So, as you can see, FilmJournal makes much more sense. And I have, for the past week or two, been keeping both versions of the blog up-to-date, but that's just becoming tiresome. There's no need for it, as far as I can see, and so it is time to make my choice.

So, please take note of the new URL -- http://filmjournal.net/100films/ -- and please continue reading! Should there be any reason you wish me to continue here, please post a comment and I'll consider. If you don't mind the move, but feel there's a feature I haven't carried over that's worth keeping, let me know. As it is, I don't expect anyone to ever read this and so expect no comments! But we'll see...

Blogger's been good, but already FilmJournal is better. So 100 Films in a Year is dead, but long live 100 Films in a Year!

9) The Hound of the Baskervilles

2008-02-18T22:38:00.001Z

1939, Sidney Lanfield, 77 mins, DVD, PG

Arguably the definitive screen interpretation of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, played by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, appear for the very first time here, in what would become the first in a series of 14 pictures starring the pair. (Incidentally, this will be the first in an irregular set of reviews of that series. I have the rather lovely Optimum box set, you see, and so shall slowly work my way through it. Though as I've already owned it for several years and only just started watching it (as with so many DVDs), I have no idea how long it will be before I finish.)

I'll start by laying my cards on the table: The Hound of the Baskervilles is a vastly overrated Holmes tale, and one that has been unduly adapted at least 15 other times (that from a quick search of IMDb). As far as I can tell its popularity is primarily due to the circumstances around its original publication (it was the first Holmes story in nearly a decade, following his death in The Final Problem). Holmes is absent for much of the story, which plods along fairly uneventfully (or, at least, inconsequentially) until a slightly dubious climax involving a centuries-old portrait. Naturally, all of these flaws carry over into any faithful adaptation, and this certainly is one.

One of the novel's strong points is its occasional Gothic styling, and this is something the film version does very well. Dartmoor looks fantastic, like something Tim Burton would have created were he working in the '30s. It's clearly a set, but it's dramatic and moody and completely effective. After the dull and poorly-designed interior scenes in London, it's fantastic when the film finally moves down into Devon and things... well, don't exactly get going, but at least there's something to look at! As with the novel the plot meanders by, diverted by an escaped convict and an entirely pointless (in this version at least) seance, until that painting-based resolution. All is not lost, however, as a particularly vicious-seeming attack by the hound livens things up considerably.

Rathbone is underused as Holmes, which is a shame as he immediately makes the part his own. Bruce isn't as bungling and comedic as he would later become, though the signs are already beginning to show. And the infamous final line -- "Oh Watson, the needle!" -- is actually a huge anticlimax if you haven't seen it before, an entirely pointless, meaningless and misplaced addition.

I feel like I've come down a little harshly on Hound of the Baskervilles, mainly thanks to a general unfavourable opinion of the source material. There are many better Holmes stories, often ignored thanks to the fame of this particular one. The following 13 films may be even less faithful adaptations than this, but I'm looking forward to their fun and frivolity, which will hopefully top Baskervilles. The moor really is fantastic though.

3/5

8) Great Expectations

2008-02-13T13:08:00.000Z

1998, Alfonso Cuaron, 111 mins, download, 15 / R

After re-enjoying the classic David Lean version of Great Expectations (which I reviewed in 2007) last week as part of my adaptations module, it's now the turn of this American-set re-imagining. Despite a generally-held negative opinion toward this version, I found it to be more of a mixed bag.

Its main problem is that it can't escape its roots. Not a fault in an adaptation, you might think, but in the case of one so radical as this it is a flaw: you're left comparing and contrasting it with Dickens' novel and Lean's film, rather than appreciating it as a film or narrative in its own right. It comes across more as an academic exercise in turning a British Victorian novel into a modern American movie than a believable tale that works in isolation. Indeed, many of the changes appear to be designed purely to help distance it: the changed character names, the focus on the love story, and so on. Yet it directly recreates many scenes from the novel, and it obviously retains its title, despite there being no reference to that in the film itself.

Another product of this re-imagining is an unremitting sexualisation of everything. When Pip -- sorry, Finn's -- hand is placed on Ms Havisham -- sorry, Ms Dismoor's -- chest his first guess is that it's her "boob" rather than her heart; when 10-year-old Estella kisses Pip -- Finn, even -- it now comes with added tongues; Finn -- Pip -- Finn! -- draws now, and what he draws are nudes of Estella; and then they have sex too; and there are undoubtedly other examples that have since slipped my mind. This was pre Y Tu Mama Tambien, of course, where perhaps Cuaron exorcised this sexual preoccupations -- they're certainly not so evident in Children of Men or (unsurprisingly) his Harry Potter. His penchant for long takes, as seen constantly to great effect throughout Children of Men, also put in the odd pleasing appearance here.

By the end, it's tricky to know what to make of this Great Expectations. It's nicely faithful for a modern version, and yet that forbids it from striking out as its own work -- it's a fairly basic romantic film, bookended with some bizarre American Gothic trappings. I think it must stand as neither a success nor a failure, but as an interesting curio in the canon of Dickens adaptations.

3/5

Editorial: The BAFTAs 2008

2008-02-11T13:19:00.000Z

British film's big night has been and gone. I won't offer a comprehensive list of winners, or even many thoughts on them -- such things are easily found elsewhere -- but I will instead offer my thoughts on one of the few ceremonies this year to be presented in full (well, relatively speaking), and the only film awards ceremony that receives a terrestrial television airing in the UK.

The first thought that comes to mind is, "oh dear". Anyone would think the writer's strike was affecting the UK too, if this was the evidence they had to go on. Jonathan Ross's jokes were few and far between, and rarely gained much reaction from his audience. To be fair to Ross, Stephen Fry had a good deal of excellent material when he used to host the BAFTAs and he was often met with silence too... but not as often, and it tended to be the silence of "that went over the heads of the yanks in the audience" rather than of "it wasn't that funny..." I like Ross as a presenter, generally speaking -- I enjoy his Friday night show, and while I rarely catch his radio show (I'm rather lax about listening to anything on the radio) I enjoy that even more; and I liked Film 200-whatever, because I often find I agree with his views and have some broadly similar tastes. But he's no BAFTA host. He's just not funny enough... oddly, because his work at the Comedy Awards is usually hilariously good.

The opening, with a troop of 300-style Spartans, was by far the most interesting bit. It all seemed quite incongruous for an awards show, but through this it suggested a show with some flair and excitement. Sadly it just remained incongruous, with nothing else even vaguelly close amongst the endless troop of fairly famous people reading poorly from an autocue. Evening that Spartan-packed opening was flawed though, missing out on the apparently obvious joke of having someone enter and yell, "THIS. IS. BAFTA!", which would've been a far stronger opening than... whatever Jonathan Ross said... I can't remember now...

It's a shame we couldn't make a better fist of it for a year when more eyes than ever were on the BAFTAs, thanks to the faltering performance of US awards shows under the strike. A new host would help. Eddie Izzard, maybe -- he got laughs. So did Ricky Gervais, not that he'd do it. But when even Hugh Laurie can't bridge the cultural divide of British and American humour, you have to wonder if the host is doomed to failure from the start. At least the awards themselves threw up some surprises, with enough nods to the American films (and a consequent shunning of British talent) to keep them interested -- I do wonder if the BAFTAs pander to trying to gain an American audience too much, but one could probably debate that for hours.

There's one thing we do better thought: fewer awards, and we don't even screen them all. It makes for a much less tiring experience.

7) Atonement

2008-02-09T10:20:00.001Z

2007, Joe Wright, 118 mins, DVD, 15 / R

"The Most Nominated Film of the Year" proudly proclaims a sticker on the cover of Atonement's newly released DVD. Well, not quite: according to IMDb, Atonement stands at 68 nominations while No Country For Old Men has made it to a whopping 108! Nonetheless, it's received a near ridiculous amount of acclaim on its way to awards season, and now, having missed it at the cinema, I can finally offer my opinion, just before it does its best to sweep the board at tomorrow's BAFTAs.

There are certainly a lot of things in Atonement that definitely warrant their nominations, and in many cases the award itself would not be badly placed either. James McAvoy gives a strong lead performance (he is, of course, up for Best Actor at the BAFTAs) and even more astounding is 13-year-old Saoirse Ronan as Briony, wise beyond her years as the over-imaginative girl who causes so much misery. In many ways she's the lead character, but as she shares the role with two other, older actresses, it's no surprise she's up for Best Supporting Actress -- she probably stands more of a chance there anyway. She's certainly one to watch, and can next be seen in Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lovely Bones, again as a leading character who'll probably be designated supporting status because she's so young. Keira Knightley's performance, which has earned her a Best Actress nod, is certainly good, but if she wins it'll be the strength of the film as a whole that carries her through against such tough competition. I should also mention the ever-excellent Benedict Cumberbatch, in a role too small to receive much recognition, yet central to the plot and well played.

Elsewhere at the BAFTAs, Atonement's up for a slew of awards I'm not especially qualified to comment on in depth: production design, costume design, make-up & hair, sound, editing... Suffice to say the film looks luscious all round. The cinematography is certainly beautiful, capturing the lazy summer days of 1935 equally as well as the tumultuous wartime vistas. Arguably the stand-out sequence in this respect is the much heralded five-minute shot of the beach at Dunkirk. It's perhaps over-hyped by this point but is still an impressive achievement, if not in the camerawork itself then in the staging of so many consecutive set pieces without a cut.

With all this considered, Joe Wright is a strong contender for Best Director, and also Christopher Hampton for Best Adapted Screenplay. The story jumps back and forth in time, occasionally to slight confusion but always clear enough to follow. The languid first half never drags, and the second half never feels weak despite the essential mystery already being solved. I won't give away too much here, but the ending is also effectively pulled off, and the final twists feel more natural than tricksy. I haven't read the novel so can't compare it to that, but by all accounts it's a very faithful adaptation. The only thing that really bothered me was that the dates didn't seem to add up -- apparently, World War Two had begun three-and-a-half years after the summer of 1935 (more like four-and-a-bit). A couple of other dates are unclear too, but that strikes me as the main one.

To digress to general BAFTA speculation for a bit (as if I haven't already), for the directing win, Wright has to face (amongst others) last year's winner, Paul Greengrass, though as (to my mind) United 93 was a stronger film than The Bourne Ultimatum, I don't see him winning it again. In both of those awards it's up against strong Oscar favourites No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood -- when we've got our own film to praise, I'm not sure they'll be able to stave off Atonement too much. The same goes for Best Film. But then there's always Best British Film. In theory, if Atonement was good enough to take Best Film then it would take this too, but that's often not the way -- in effect, it's a chance to reward two different movies. I can't see Eastern Promises winning, but This is England, Control and The Bourne Ultimatum are all reasonable alternatives. If Atonement wins British Film I won't be expecting it to go on to get Best Film as well. Of course, you can never be sure.

I appreciate this review has (quite deliberately) focused on Atonement's BAFTA chances as much as its own merits, but hopefully that has still illuminated my thoughts on the film. It's a very strong effort from all involved, with an unusually structured but no less engaging plot, beautiful cinematography, nice direction and admirable performances. All round, it's just about enough to warrant 2008's second...

5/5

6) Calendar Girls

2008-02-07T20:49:00.001Z

2003, Nigel Cole, 103 mins, DVD, 12 / PG-13

Helen Mirren and Julie Walters lead a cast of recognisable British actresses in this popular comedy drama about the true story of a group of Women's Institute members who posed nude for a charity calendar. The film could so easily have been quite a lowly, cheap TV movie effort, what with its apparently farcical premise, worthy cause and older characters. But instead the filmmakers have crafted a movie that is both utterly hilarious and deeply moving -- even for this younger male viewer.

Balancing comedy and drama, and making both work, is quite a feat -- as someone once said, most comedy-dramas are so called because they're neither very funny nor very dramatic -- so it's always impressive to see it pulled off so well. It's surprisingly fast-paced, the central story supported by a number of well-chosen subplots that help shed light on the motivations of the women, making them more than just some older ladies who decided to strip off. Penelope Wilton is especially worthy of mention, as the downtrodden housewife who uncovers her husband's affair. Of all the supporting cast she gets probably the largest role, even if it would seem to be the least heralded, and does an excellent job with it.

When I sat down to watch Calendar Girls I was expecting a pleasant bit of fluff that would make a lazy afternoon pass by amiably enough, even if it made an hour-and-three-quarters feel like two-and-a-quarter. I was surprised on most fronts: funnier, pacier, more dramatic, and more affecting than I had any reason to expect. Recommended, especially if you didn't think it was for you.

4/5

Editorial: A dismal January

2008-02-02T00:22:00.000Z

This new year of film watching has hardly got off to an auspicious start, with only five new films seen in January. For those who haven't already done the maths, that rate sees me just reaching 60 by the end of the year -- a tad short of 100!

But I have new resolve... sort of... and a list. Lists always help. That is, in this case, a list of things in my DVD collection I would especially like to get round to watching. Some of those may well pop up soon. Plus I've just started a new film module, which should mean a slew of unseen films... well, one a week at any rate... except the first is Great Expectations, which I saw last year!

Oh well...

5) The Mirror Crack'd

2008-01-27T15:58:00.001Z

1980, Guy Hamilton, 105 mins, TV, PG

A star-studded cast and the director of Battle of Britain, Goldfinger and three other Bond films can't raise this adaptation of an Agatha Christie Miss Marple mystery far above the level of an '80s TV movie.

There are some good lines, and it's a Christie so obviously the fundamental story is good, but the direction is flat and lacks suspense, half the cast phone in their performances, and Angela Lansbury, lumbered with a sprained ankle and premature aging, seems to be in a dry run for Murder, She Wrote. The lack of involvement by the main character is something I always find problematic with Marple stories, even when the actress involved has the necessary twinkle. Edward Fox is her match as the detective who actually does most of the detecting for once (but is still robbed of the final revelation, of course).

The best bit, which I'll just take a moment to highlight, is the opening. It's a black & white murder mystery, the scene of the final revelation... and the print burns up just before the killer is revealed. The film cuts to a village hall, where the film was being screened and the projector's just died. Miss Marple proceeds to explain what will happen to everyone, based on what she's deduced from the film so far. A man at the back who's seen it confirms she's right. Much better than this summary makes it sound, this is bar the film's highlight, one of the few whole scenes that rises above the pervading flaws.

Despite a few commendable elements, this is a good tale that's not told as well as it could be.

2/5

4) Churchill: The Hollywood Years

2008-01-16T10:57:00.000Z

2004, Peter Richardson, 84 mins, TV, 15

What if the Americans made a movie of Winston Churchill's life, prone as they are to re-write World War 2 history to show they won it all by themselves? This is ostensibly the premise of this spoof from some of the team behind Channel 4's The Comic Strip. I say ostensibly, because the film is bookended (for padding, I suspect) with scenes that suggest that the real Churchill was an American GI, and the British simply re-wrote history using a somewhat chubby actor called Roy Bubbles. Sadly, the joke was funnier when it was riffing on those US historical re-writes.

The problem with killing that joke is, it's the best one the film's got. It's also just about suitable for a five-minute comedy sketch, or, at a stretch, a series of sketches. The strategy for drawing this out to movie-length seems to have involved those bookends, as well as bunging some outtakes at the end and including a bunch of ridiculous, irritating, and unfunny subplots with Hitler and his entourage. It's a shame to see the talents of actors such as Antony Sher and Miranda Richardson frittered away on such material.

This is all being a tad harsh, because Churchill actually has its fair share of amusing moments. The supporting cast of British TV comedians are mostly very good, Neve Campbell's posh English accent (usually such a stumbling block for Americans-as-Brits) is as good as anything a British actress could have delivered, and Christian Slater and Romany Malco make for a likable pairing. But, again, most of the best bits are of sketch length, and so wind up spread out among the padding. In that respect it's quite a shame, because there's a good idea, good potential, and some good laughs in here.

2/5

3) Easy Riders, Raging Bulls

2008-01-11T11:14:00.001Z

2003, Kenneth Bowser, 113 mins, DVD, 15

Documentary, based on the best-selling acclaimed book by Peter Biskind, about the decade in Hollywood between the death and effective re-birth of the studio system. It's a broad story, with many threads, which means this film has a tendency to sprawl all over the place as it attempts to take an overview of it in chronological order. Consequently it's short on great insight, but does provide an overview of what went on in this period -- that is, the story of how Hollywood made the transition from the old studio system to the era of the blockbuster (a method which still more or less exists), via a brief period where directors truly had auteur-level control.

There are numerous interesting interviewees to help the story along, all of them people who were actually there, who lived through it and helped create it. This makes for a refreshing change, as most documentaries of this ilk seem to be full of film historians and journalists. Of course, there are many big names notable by their absence, so when the film makes its rambling way onto the likes of Scorsese and Spielberg that familiar sense of historic detachment does begin to creep in.

All told, it gives a good overview of the shape of what happened in this period, and how Hollywood became what we know today. Anyone after deeper explorations (of the period, the people, or the films themselves) will want to look elsewhere. I suspect the book may be a good place to start.

3/5

2) Dark City

2008-01-07T19:26:00.000Z

1998, Alex Proyas, 97 mins, DVD, 15 / R

A little while ago I wrote about not falling in love with new films any more. Well, put bluntly, here's one.

Dark City is probably the most underrated film I've ever seen. It is, to my mind, absolutely brilliant. It's an intelligent and engaging neo-noir thriller with wonderful sci-fi twists. The imagery is fantastic -- the film is beautifully designed and shot in a wonderfully stylised and highly effective manner. The sets and effects are breathtaking -- not showy like so many blockbusters, but utterly effective and impressive. The script and story are complex (though never too much) and interesting, allowing you to piece together the mystery of just what is going on. To my mind, it's much more effective than the whole "what is the real world" thing of The Matrix.

Incidentally, on that subject, if you've seen all of that particular trilogy you may find some bits of Dark City eerily familiar -- to say which would spoil things, but many are so obvious you don't have to be a film buff to spot them. Either both universes are based on similar philosophical ideas, or the Wachowskis just ripped this off (in case you hadn't noticed, it predates The Matrix by a year, and many of the most recognisable elements are in the sequels anyway). Considering there hasn't been a lawsuit (to my knowledge), I'll guess it's the former. But Dark City does it all better: there are no rambling, incomprehensible speeches and it doesn't batter you around the head with philosophical claptrap when all you want is the story to move forward.

The film's single major flaw is the studio-impossed opening narration, which gives away far too many plot twists -- honest to God, if you ever watch this, mute it during the New Line logo and don't turn the sound back on til the first close-up of Kiefer Sutherland's fob watch. If you don't, you'll find most of the mystery of the plot ruined, as this narration shockingly gives away most of the answers. (There are rumours of a director's cut, 15 minutes longer and without that narration, slated for release back in 2006. Maybe this year it'll turn up as a "10th Anniversary Edition".)

I could witter on for pages about how much I've fallen for Dark City. It's a superb movie, massively underrated, that I hope I haven't over-hyped for any reader who wants to seek it out. But please, if you do, heed my warning about muting the opening narration -- it really is worth it.

5/5

1) The Simpsons Movie

2008-01-01T23:48:00.000Z

2007, David Silverman, 83 mins, DVD, PG / PG-13

And so 2008 begins with one of last summer's biggest hits: the long-awaited big screen debut of America's most well-known family. I'm not a big Simpsons fan, unlike many film critics it would seem -- I like the show, undoubtedly, but I've never watched it regularly and haven't sat through a whole episode for years (not even the recent-ish Ricky Gervais or Kiefer Sutherland ones).

This might explain why the movie didn't feel tired to me, as some have described it. It might not be laugh-a-minute, and there are some sections where the plot has taken precedence (not always with good reason), but the gag count is nonetheless high and some are genuinely excellent. The plot is suitably epic, mostly justifying the need to be on a big screen at feature length. Some of the subplots feel like episodes of the show, but that's fairly inevitable when converting a format such as this. Everything looks bigger; the quality of the animation is high; and while I'm sure the events will have no lasting impact on the characters, it does feel like a simple TV episode or two wouldn't do it justice.

It may be that The Simpsons Movie wasn't the ground-breaking best-comedy-ever that it needed to be to impress some. But it made me laugh, and often; at least as much as any other recent comedy, if not more so. That makes it a success in my book.

4/5

Editorial: Here we go again...

2008-01-01T12:00:00.000Z

With 2007 finally finished, it's time to begin all over again for 2008. I outlined some of the changes to the format previously, though not necessarily very well... or very interestingly...

Anyway, you'll see those in effect very shortly: as with last year, I've actually seen a film on New Year's Day! Hurrah! Though this year it wasn't a new release. And it was at 2AM, almost leading to it being included in last year's list -- it would've made for a nice round 130. But no, honesty prevails. And a desire to get going on the new quest.

So here we go again: one down, 99 to go...

2007: The Full List

2007-12-31T23:59:00.000Z

Introduction

And so the end is here. Yes, finally this time! (Check out the previous post for my best and worst of the year.) A nice round 25 entries, too... well, 26 with the Star Wars one...

Anyway -- As we've reached the end, here's the full alphabetical list of everything I saw, followed by some intensely interesting statistical whatsits.

What a year, eh?

The Full List

300
Alfie
American Dreamz
Annie Hall
Basil the Great Mouse Detective
Before Sunrise
Before Sunset
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
The Black Dahlia
Blood Diamond
Bonnie and Clyde
Boogie Nights
The Bourne Ultimatum
Breathless
Brick
Brief Encounter
Bringing Out the Dead
Bullets Over Broadway
C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America
Capote
Casanova
The Cat's Meow
Chinatown
Citizen Kane
Chocolat
A Cock and Bull Story
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Confetti
The Crowd
The Departed
The Devil Wears Prada
Doom
Educating Rita
Eragon
Fantomas: In the Shadow of the Guillotine
Fantomas: Juve Versus Fantomas
Fargo
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Flight 93
For Your Eyes Only
Garden State
Goodfellas
Great Expectations
Happy Feet
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Heat
Hellboy: Director's Cut
Hello, Dolly!
Hidden
Hot Fuzz
An Inconvenient Truth
It
It's All Gone Pete Tong
Johnny English
The King and I
The King of Comedy
Kinky Boots
Kramer vs. Kramer
Ladies in Lavender
The Last Days of Pompeii
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
Manhattan
Manhattan Murder Mystery
March of the Penguins
Mean Creek
Mean Streets
Miracles
Monster
Mrs Brown
Mrs Henderson Presents
Mystic River
The Naked City
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion
The New World
New York Stories
Night Watch
Nosferatu
Notes on a Scandal
Ocean's Twelve
Octopussy
On the Town
Ong-Bak
Over the Hedge
The Paleface
Pan's Labyrinth
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Piglet's Big Movie
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Play Time
Point Break
The Prestige
Primer
The Pursuit of Happyness
Ray
The Reckless Moment
Right at Your Door
Ringers: Lord of the Fans
Road to Morocco
Romance & Cigarettes
Secretary
Sense and Sensibility
The Sign of Four
South Pacific
Spider-Man 3
Starter For Ten
Stormbreaker
Stranger Than Fiction
A Study in Scarlet
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Taxi Driver
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
This is Spinal Tap
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Three Colours Blue
Three Colours White
Three Colours Red
Thumbsucker
Thunderbirds
Traffic in Souls
Trainspotting
Transporter 2
United 93
West Side Story
While You Were Sleeping
Wild at Heart
Wilde
The Woodsman

Alternate Cuts
Crash: Director's Cut
Gone With the Wind*
Spider-Man 2.1
Star Wars - Episode 4: A New Hope - DVD Edition
Star Wars - Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back - DVD Edition
Star Wars - Episode 6: Return of the Jedi - DVD Edition

Shorts
Bus Stop
The End
Manhatta
Nine 1/2 Minutes
Park
A Propos de Nice
Skyscraper Symphony
Telling Lies

* Not strictly an alternate cut; see the review for more.

The Full Statistics

In the end, I watched 129 new feature films in 2007.

I also watched 6 features I'd seen before that were extended or altered in some way. (All of those are left in the statistics that follow unless otherwise indicated.)

I also watched 8 shorts (none of which shall be counted in any of the statistics).

I've already seen 2 films from this list again (specifically, Happy Feet and Hot Fuzz).

I saw 9 films at the cinema this year. That's far beaten by the number of new films I saw on DVD though, which stands at 97 (rising to 103 with those extended/altered ones). I also saw 14 on TV, 4 via downloads, and 5 on good ol' VHS.

The most popular decade by far was the 00s, with 70 films -- that's 52%! Of the rest, 4 were made in the 10s, 5 in the 20s, 1 in the 30s, 8 in the 40s, 2 in the 50s, 6 in the 60s, 7 in the 70s, 12 in the 80s, and 20 in the 90s. That's every decade of the 20th Century covered!

The average score was 3.7 out of 5. That includes 16 five-star films and just 1 one-star film. The majority of films scored four stars, with a total of 72 receiving that mark. There were also 32 three-star films and 14 two-star films.

21 of my new films appear on the IMDb Top 250 Films at the time of writing. Their positions range from 15th (Goodfellas) to 247th (Manhattan). None of them are bad enough to make it onto the Bottom 100.

Additionally, 4 films appeared on Empire's 25 Greatest Films of the Year -- Notes on a Scandal (at #14), Letters From Iwo Jima (at #11), Hot Fuzz (at #8) and The Bourne Ultimatum (at #1). Many of the films undoubtedly appear on other 'Best Films Ever' lists, but I'm hardly going to go research them all!

A total of 111 directors (or directing partnerships) appear on the list. Martin Scorsese appears most often with 7 films. He's closely followed by Woody Allen with 5 and Krzysztof Kieslowski with 3. Others with multiple films are Clint Eastwood, Louis Feuillade, Lewis Gilbert, John Glen, Paul Greengrass, Lasse Hallstrom, David Lean, Richard Linklater, Ian Mackenzie & Alex Nicholas, F.W. Murnau, Sam Raimi, and Guillermo del Toro. Also, Gene Kelly and the pairing of Hideaki Anno & Kazuya Tsurumaki directed 2 films each, but in both cases one of them was co-directed with someone else. Obviously, the other 94 just directed one film here.

The actors and actresses who appear multiple times are too numerous and difficult to list. There were at least a few though.

In film titles, the most common first letters are B and S (the latter thanks to a big boost from the alternate cuts). The next-closest were T, C, M and P. A total of 17 titles begin with "The", while just 3 start with "A" or "An". (Also, can you see the places where I've cheated slightly in the alphabetical list above?)

57 of the films are currently in my DVD collection.

The End...

So that was 2007.

Here's to 2008!

2007 In Retrospect

2007-12-31T12:00:00.000Z

Introduction

And so the end is here! Finally. For this entry I've chosen my five least-favourite films that I've seen this year, and (more interestingly, I'm sure) my top ten -- in a lovely countdown and all!

A Bit of an Explanation

I'd like to point out that these lists aren't based on the ratings I gave at the time. That is to say, if I gave out precisely ten 5-star ratings it doesn't mean those will be my top ten. A slightly strange thought I know, but opinions can change and therefore so may mine. The title of this entry sums it up: in retrospect these are the films I wanted to pick out as the best I've seen in 2007. Hard work it was choosing too!

I've included a "see also" section for each of the top ten. These aren't supposed to be the ten next-best films I've seen this year, but are instead other films I've seen this year that are in some way related (with the briefest of explanations as to how). These are really just a chance to point out films that are of similar interest; I wanted to stress that they're not necessarily numbers 11 to 20 on my list.

As a final note, I've not considered any of those controversial different-cuts-of-films-I've-seen-before for inclusion here. If I had then I'm sure Crash would've been high in the top ten.

The Five Worst Films I've Seen in 2007

Flight 93 (#26, Week 12) 1/5
The only film all year to achieve the lowest possible score; if this list were numbered, it would surely be my worst film of the year. Nothing in it is above the level of cheap TV movie -- which it is, but that's no excuse. The script, acting, direction, effects... I genuinely failed to find anything worthwhile here, especially in light of the excellent United 93, a truly brilliant film of the same story. Some say this makes a good companion piece to the movie, but I really don't think it does: the latter is a respectful, realistic, thoughtful piece of filmmaking; this is tacky and unrealistic, and tries so hard for an appropriate level of sentiment that it often winds up being laughable. And laughable is not something this event was. In short, don't even bother.

New York Stories: Life Without Zoe (#117, Week 47) 3/5
It seems almost churlish to pick out one segment of a film, but as it's an anthology where the other two parts are pretty good it would be even more churlish to slate the whole film. The centre short of New York Stories, an anthology film by Scorsese, Coppola and Allen, is second only to Flight 93 as the most painful thing I've had to sit through this year. The characters are irritating, the performances weak, the writing twee... Sofia would obviously go on to better things (Lost in Translation mainly), but Francis Ford seems to be firmly leaving the quality filmmaking behind at this point. (As a side point, I thought Scorsese's short in this film was decent enough, while Allen's is utterly brilliant. The listed score is the one I gave the whole film.)

Play Time (#118, Week 47) 2/5
Jacques Tati has his fans. Filmmakers such as him (especially foreign ones) inevitably do. But I just can't fully get to grips with his style of comedy, and I suspect many truly discerning critics wouldn't either. There are gags, but they're slipped in among long stretches of interminable boredom where literally nothing happens, and when they arrive they have a tendency to run on too long. Tati is undoubtedly making some points about the state of the modern urban world with this, but that doesn't make it any more entertaining. Repetitive and flat, it's not worth sitting through for the handful of genuinely good comic moments.

C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (#79, Week 32) 2/5
As well as being a poor film in its own right, this represents a variety of films which failed to live up to my expectations. In this case, I was looking forward to a well-developed alternate history of America, where things were vastly different because the Confederates won the American Civil War. Instead, the film is almost solely concerned with the idea that, if they had won, black people would still be slaves. This preoccupation is unsurprising when you learn the background of the filmmakers, but the film isn't sold as simply a "what if black people were still slaves?" piece. Most major historical events play out as they did anyway... except that black people are still enslaved! It's far too one-dimensional.

Thunderbirds (#85, Week 33) 2/5
I was left with a few potential final choices from my short list of bad films, all of fairly equal poorness. This is the worst though, because, like C.S.A., it's so disappointing. I didn't have great expectations for this film thanks to all the bad press it received at the time of release, but that doesn't detract from the fact that Thunderbirds is a great TV series full of wonderful and entertaining ideas, most of which are squandered in this poor Spy Kids rip off. The only good thing about it are the ship designs, which faithfully modernise all of the Thunderbird craft. Other than that, it's a poor script, poor story, and pretty poor acting too (even from Sir Ben Kingsley, who camps it up something rotten). What a waste.

The Ten Best Films I've Seen For the First Time in 2007

10) Blood Diamond (#19, Week 8) 4/5
Ed Zwick pulls off the impressive task of making a Moral Message Movie that is also a proper action thriller, something which (as far as I've seen) usually leads to a film winding up greatly more in one camp than the other. The action sequences are exciting and impressively staged, the message is conveyed but not over-played, and within this there's still room to focus on the characters and their personal journeys. All of the actors perform well in their roles, though Djimon Hounsou can still be singled out as the best of the bunch. Important and entertaining -- a rare feat.
See also: The Bourne Ultimatum, a more widely praised gritty action-thriller.

9) 300 (#101, Week 40) 4/5
Pure testosterone-fuelled entertainment. That's a pretty simply way of summing up what is, at the end of the day, a pretty simple film. It looks gorgeous, with cinematography, design and CGI combining to create a series of hyper-real, beautiful visions. The fight scenes are brutally excellent, though in danger of becoming a bit repetitive if they're not your thing. The story is also a little slender, padded out with copious slow motion and a bolted-on political subplot in the final act, which could have been excellent if integrated better. But none of these flaws really matter, because 300 does what it sets out to, and it does it bloody well.
See also: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, an equally CGI-heavy bit of constant action.

8) Three Colours Red (#42, Week 15) 5/5
This really (slightly cheekily, but unashamedly) represents the whole Three Colours trilogy. You see, while each film is completely standalone and works excellently in its own right, they still work best when viewed together, in order, at which point the ending of this (the third part) is wonderfully effective. The trilogy explores the three values represented on the French flag: freedom, equality, brotherhood; but these are clearly themes with broader resonance, which gives these films a more universal appeal. They do tend toward the slower-paced and slightly 'arty' end of the filmic spectrum, but, considering that's a style I don't generally get on with either, these are nonetheless brilliant.
See also: Hidden, another French film with occasionally similar themes.

7) Citizen Kane (#100, Week 36) 5/5
Widely regarded as one of, if not the, best films ever made, Citizen Kane has certainly had to fight hard for such an accolade. But it's pretty well deserved: almost everything about the film still stands up well today, from the engaging mysteries of the plot, to the collage of styles, timeframes and unusual camera moves that can still seem innovate 66 years on. As I said in my original review, there is masses that can (and has, and will) be said about this movie. You shouldn't need me to tell you that if you have any real interest in films you ought to at least give it a go. For me, it mostly managed to live up to its colossal reputation.
See also: Chinatown, an acclaimed noir-ish & unsolvable mystery of America's wealthy.

6) Brief Encounter (#76, Week 31) 5/5
Most classics are so for good reason; and, chances are, the older a film oft-cited as a classic gets, the better the chance of it genuinely being one (as the lesser films drop away in favour of newer 'classics', you see). At 62 years old, then, Brief Encounter stands a fair chance of being a damn good film. And, lo and behold, it really is. The social conventions of a bygone age are beautifully played out -- while things certainly wouldn't go this way today, one can still oddly relate to it all. With a touching, funny script, note-perfect performances, and terrific direction, you don't get them much more classic than this.
See also: Before Sunrise, a modern take on railway-related romance (that only narrowly missed a spot here).

5) Stranger Than Fiction (#81, Week 32) 4/5
This is a wonderful conceit for a film: one day, a man begins to hear his life being narrated, as if it were a novel. And then the novelist tells him he's going to die. To explain what happens from there would ruin it, of course (and take too long), but it's variously fantastical, romantic, thoughtful, and fun. It's stylishly directed by Marc Forster, who's fast becoming one of my favourite directors (I expect Bond 22 to cement that opinion), and has plenty of originality. While some plot threads may be pretty standard fair, they're well executed too, which makes for a highly entertaining whole.
See also: While You Were Sleeping, a quirky (though not as fantastical) setup for a rom-com.

4) The Prestige (#14, Week 7) 4/5
I must confess to being a bit unsure about The Prestige at first. Not that I didn't think it was good, just that I wasn't sure how good. In retrospect, it's good enough to make it this high on my list (beating off a most of the films that I rated higher than it!) Nolan is a great storyteller: the chronology of the film is all over the place, yet never once is the viewer lost as to what we're seeing when. It's all propped up by a brilliant cast and a central mystery that is intriguing, with a number of neat twists in its resolution. The more I remember it, the more I like it.
See also: Primer, a somewhat similar mystery in a (sadly) less satisfying film.

3) Mean Creek (#69, Week 30) 5/5
It's a simple concept: a group of kids take the school bully out to teach him a lesson and it all goes horribly wrong. But it's not a sanitised, irritating kids movie, with shiny little brats and a beautiful message about friendship; it's an indie with a realistically dark heart, and thankfully not one that has succumbed to the "nothing happens because it's about the characters, see" school of 'intelligent' filmmaking. The kids carry the movie (barely an adult is seen, and even then only briefly) and their performances are all strong, often a worry with child actors. It's a tense, believable story, with a good exploration of the consequences of their actions, including an appropriate level of ambiguity. A fantastic little drama.
See also: Brick, another indie of middle American kids in potentially murderous situations.

2) Hot Fuzz (#20, Week 8) 5/5
The Shaun of the Dead team return, this time spoofing action movies (as opposed to zombies). Many say this isn't as good as Shaun, but I rather suspect they're mostly the sort of people who are into the niche-y zombie films in the first place (don't get me wrong, mind, I love Shaun). Hot Fuzz is funny throughout, has a good stab at some exciting action sequences, and the cast of British stalwarts are fantastic. It was a big hit in the UK and deservedly so. It's set to form a loose trilogy with Shaun and an as-yet-unrevealed project, which I feel we should all be looking forward to immensely.
See also: Stormbreaker, a kid-centred slice of tongue-in-cheek British action.

1) United 93 (#22, Week 9) 5/5
Paul Greengrass didn't stand a chance at the Oscars, as Scorsese had finally got round to making another film good enough for them to finally give him an award. Greengrass deserved it more though. The Departed was a decent film, but as this is the only mention of it in this entire article you can see I was hardly blown away. But this is all beside the point: United 93 is a great film. The direction is perfectly suited to the subject matter, the storytelling appropriately tense and with a good dose of realism, and the performances utterly believable. The fact that this is endorsed by the families of those who died is the final stamp of approval. The men and women who were on board United 93 are all heroes -- not in some cheesy Hollywood way, but in a very real-world way. This captures that, and feels an appropriate tribute.
See also: Right at Your Door, a fictional tale of terrorism's potential effect on ordinary people.

Special Mentions

I just wanted to take a moment (or, a section) to highlight a few other films, for various reasons.

Firstly, I can't end this without mentioning the 13 films that earned themselves 5-star ratings this year, as only six of them made it into the top ten -- those being Brief Encounter, Citizen Kane, Hot Fuzz, Mean Creek, Three Colours Red, and United 93. Perhaps I was less certain about rating some so highly in retrospect, but, regardless, the other seven were: Chinatown, Educating Rita, Goodfellas, Heat, The King of Comedy, Kramer vs. Kramer, and Trainspotting.

As the year went on I kept a running list of potential contenders for both my bottom five and top ten. The former eventually totalled 15 films (some were shortlisted not because they were truly bad, but due to the level of disappointment involved, such as Spider-Man 3). The list for the top ten reached the giddy heights of 48 films -- 37% of the total! Maybe I'm just the generous sort. As well as the top ten itself (obviously), some of these were the other 5-star-ers listed above, and several more have been named in the "see also" sections. Rather than list all the remaining 24 (you do the maths), here's nine of them that stuck in my mind enough to warrant mentioning:

- Night Watch, an entertaining epic/fantasy/horror mash-up from Russia.
- Perfume, a visually pungent, thoroughly bizarre adaptation of the popular novel.
- Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, a classic silent urban fairytale.
- Manhattan, a beautiful black & white relationship drama.
- The Woodsman, an intelligent and character-centric study of a difficult issue.
- Pan's Labyrinth, an engaging blend of fantasy and cruel reality.
- Bullets Over Broadway, an amusing and entertaining take on the mob and the theatre.
- Octopussy, a surprisingly entertaining Roger Moore Bond film.
- Basil the Great Mouse Detective, an underrated Sherlock Holmes-riffing Disney flick.

The Films I Didn't See

Of course, this obviously isn't a Top 10 of 2007 in the traditional sense. But, nonetheless, new films do feature, and with that in mind there were a number of notable films released this year that I've yet to see.

Here, then, is an alphabetical list of 50 films made in 2007 that I've missed. (To be fair, some of these aren't actually out over here yet... but when I finally see them they'll be listed as 2007, so on this list they go! Equally, a fair few films have cropped up on best-of-year lists but are technically from 2006, so have been left off.) The films listed here have been chosen for a variety of reasons, from box office success to critical acclaim.

2 Days in Paris
28 Weeks Later
3:10 to Yuma
30 Days of Night
Across the Universe
Aliens vs Predator: Requiem
American Gangster
The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
Atonement
Becoming Jane
Beowulf
Blades of Glory
Charlie Wilson's War
Control
Die Hard 4.0 / Live Free or Die Hard
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Enchanted
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Ghost Rider
The Golden Compass
Grindhouse (or its constituent parts individually)
Hairspray
Halloween
I Am Legend
I'm Not There
Juno
Knocked Up
Lions For Lambs
The Man From Earth
Michael Clayton
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
No Country For Old Men
Ocean's Thirteen
Ratatouille
Resident Evil: Extinction
Rush Hour 3
Shrek the Third
Sicko
The Simpsons Movie
Southland Tales
St. Trinian's
Stardust
Sunshine
Superbad
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
There Will Be Blood
TMNT
Transformers
Waitress
Zodiac

A Final Thought

It's been very strange, looking back over this list to pick my choices. Some films I saw at the beginning of the year feel like they were just the other week; others seen more recently feel like they were an age ago. It's quite an interesting experience -- one that I'd recommend.

Weeks 51-52

2007-12-31T00:00:00.000Z

Introduction

And so here we are: my 23rd entry, the final two weeks of 2007, and the end of my quest! 2008 is just around the corner, meaning the imminent restarting of my quest. New-look entries will appear soon, but before that there'll be summaries of this year (back-dated to December 31st! Hurrah!). They'll appear in the next few days. Then it'll be a fresh start as it all begins again for 2008...

Weeks Fifty-One and Fifty-Two

After the emptiness of my last entry, I have actually watched some films this time. Three of them, in fact -- my final three films of the year! And one short too. And they were...

127) The Bourne Ultimatum (2007, Paul Greengrass, DVD) 4/5
This final installment in the action-thriller trilogy was recently announced as Empire magazine's film of the year, following wide praise on release that dubbed it the best action movie in a long time. Unfortunately, I fear it may've become a victim of its own hype. It's certainly a good film for many reasons: its appropriately unrelenting momentum, even in dialogue scenes; several stunning action sequences; a mostly decent plot. But it's also flawed: despite the globe-hopping, complex plot, it feels somehow slight; several villains and plot devices seem tacked on to create an over-arching plan for the trilogy, when Bourne had really dealt with all these matters in the first two. Ultimately, it simply didn't feel as entertaining as the first two installments, though I had an odd sense that I should be liking it more. Perhaps future re-viewings will aid my appreciation.

127a) Telling Lies (2001, Simon Ellis, DVD) 4/5
A simple idea, very well executed: as we listen to a series of phone conversations, the speakers' dialogue appears on screen... except instead of transcribing their exact words, it reveals their true thoughts. At only a few minutes long this doesn't out stay its welcome, instead maintaining the basic idea well and crafting a neat and amusing little story with it. Worth checking out if you have a chance. (Available on the DVD Cinema16: British Short Films.)

128) While You Were Sleeping (1995, Jon Turteltaub, TV) 4/5
I wound up accidentally watching this on TV, and was ultimately glad I did. If you've ever seen a '90s rom-com then the general shape of everything here will be familiar, though it does have a neat coma-related twist at its core. In spite of this predictability, and Sandra Bullock, I found it to be very enjoyable. It's not a laugh-out-loud comedy and it is (of course) heavy on the sentiment, but it does have a lovely Christmasness that is perfect for this time of year. It made me all nostalgic for the '90s -- they don't make 'em like this any more. I don't think. I don't really watch rom-coms... I can easily see myself tracking this down in time for next Christmas, and probably Christmasses after too.

129) Piglet's Big Movie (2003, Francis Glebas, TV) 3/5
I used to enjoy the Disney Winnie-the-Pooh series when I was younger. I also used to love the original books by A.A. Milne. In fact, I still enjoy the books -- they're witty, knowingly written, and often sweet. Sadly, Disney's interpretation seems to have faired less well. In this case it's largely down to the first half, where the mostly original storyline and weak & randomly inserted songs simply aren't up to scratch. However, things improve massively with a couple of fairly straight adaptations of Milne's original tales. Mildly amusing at times and with a positive (if predictable) message about friendship and self-worth, this would undoubtedly entertain young children -- which, to be fair, is its intended audience. While it initially seems to fall far short for older audiences, it turns out to be not all bad.

Weeks 49-50

2007-12-17T00:00:00.000Z

Introduction

It's the last month of the year! The winter holidays have started! There's only a week (and a bit) til Christmas! And, after the fourteen-film craziness of the last entry, in the past two weeks I've only watched... well, NO films!

Yet there is still an entry. Why? Well, I resolved that, regardless of how many films I watched, I'd post double-week entries for both this one and the next. And I haven't watched any films, so there's none here. A silly resolution, obviously. Incidentally, this all means you can expect the final chapter of my 2007 quest to appear on Monday December 31st. How very appropriate.

So instead of film reviews, but in light of the fact I'm posting this anyway, I've decided to share with you some of the changes I have planned for 2008. I'm sure there's nothing mind-blowingly exciting here, but maybe it'll be of vague interest.

2008 Preview

The most notable change to the blog will be that, instead of large week-spanning multi-film round-ups, I'll be posting reviews individually. The weekly format is a hold-over from the blog's deviantART origins and obviously isn't as blog-like as individual entries will be.

In a similar vein, there'll be a few more details beyond the current year/director/format selection -- for example, the running time, or the BBFC classification (perhaps the MPAA one too). These things are hardly integral to the content, I know, but it might make the whole thing feel a bit more well-informed.

In the unlikely event anyone particularly enjoys my little introductions and updates, something like these will crop up from time to time in a new format -- expect 'editorials' scattered amongst the film reviews at imprecise intervals.

I had also considered adding in reviews of other things, such as re-watched films and TV shows, in a similar way to the editorials. I decided this would dilute the focus and clutter the blog, however... but be sure to check out my new sister blog, Smaller Screens, which will cover those things with a broadly similar 'voice' to this blog.

Finally, I might actually start using keywords. I tried initially for this year, but it seemed a little pointless. I'll try to keep them general and helpful, rather than bogging them down with one-off things like the film's title. Information like the director, the genre, the year of production, the format, and so forth, will likely go in the keywords, to create some sort of browsable thingamie on the sidebar.

Maybe one day I'll go back and mix some of these changes into how the 2007 posts are organised, just to streamline the whole thing. But don't count on it.

Next Time

It's the final entry of the year! And then two more... You'll see.

See you on New Year's Eve...

Weeks 46-48

2007-12-04T23:50:00.000Z

Introduction

Welcome to the second most film-packed entry ever! And possibly the longest, thanks to some ramblings. Why has this come to be so? Well, I'll come to that shortly, after those ramblings I mentioned...

An Extended Musing

First, another issue that's come to my mind while writing this entry (specifically after viewing film #123): when was the last time I 'fell in love' with a film? It's got me pondering not only that, but what caused me to fall for things I liked. Was it the critical reaction as much as my personal opinion? The in-built notion of This Is A Good Film making sure I liked it? I don't think that's quite true: I was certainly aware of the high praise for films like Pulp Fiction or Fight Club (both of which I adored from first viewing) when I saw them, but I'm sure there was something more to them that impressed me. Certainly, there are films I've enjoyed to a similar degree where my awareness of its wider praise has followed, such as Donnie Darko or Children of Men. By a similar token, there are films where I knew of the praise, such as Memento and The Departed, and still didn't come to love them.

It leaves me wondering if, as I grow older, I'm less prone to being swayed by received critical opinions and finally just judging films on their own merit; or, possibly, I'm so eager to try to have my own thoughts and to therefore avoid things that I'm not taking them in the right way? It's a very self-reflexive question and consequently a hard one to answer, especially as all opinions on art are so subjective anyway.

As for the issue of films I've 'fallen in love' with, the issue is slightly complicated by a division between Entertainment Films and Proper Films (I use these terms loosely, for the sake of this argument). To use some of the same examples, I would class all the films thus far mentioned as Proper Films (we can already see the line blurring as they all certainly have high entertainment values too), whereas things like Pirates of the Caribbean or Serenity are more clearly of the Entertainment variety. Handily, I have a list of all the films I've seen in the past eleven months, so I can see what I may've loved in the past year.

And, indeed, there are some. Under the Proper banner we might find the likes of Mean Creek, Brief Encounter, or, probably most of all, United 93. Under the Entertainment heading there could possibly be 300, Stranger Than Fiction, or, undoubtedly, Hot Fuzz. But it can be tricky to designate the difference between "liked a lot" and "loved" -- there were several more films I nearly listed, but then just wasn't sure.

Indeed, how much I love even the ones mentioned, and even more so whether they rank amongst films I'd call all-time favourites, is a complex proposition. When does "liked a lot" become "loved"? In the past, the likes of Se7en, Apocalypse Now and Magnolia, as well as one or two others mentioned earlier, easily jumped straight to the top of my favourites list after just one viewing... but then maybe I was just young and impressionable. Or maybe I wasn't as easily persuadable as I seem to think, and I'm just still waiting for something to capture me the same way they did...

Weeks Forty-Six to Forty-Eight

With all that (partially) exorcised, let's finally move on to what I was wittering about in the introduction.

I've had a little bit of a theme season (one might say) these past few weeks, so I've been waiting for those films to appear in a single entry -- plus there are other films watched in between, making the list even longer. So, what was the theme? Well, being the dedicated student that I am, I've watched all the suggested viewing for a seminar in which my group had to pose the questions. The seminar was on "Urban Rhythms"... but in film-viewing terms that translates to four Scorseses, four Woody Allens, and an anthology featuring shorts by both of them and Francis Ford Coppola (plus a fifth Scorsese that wasn't on the list but was on TV). Such respectable viewing!

Throw in another four films and this is the most film-packed entry since the seven-week, fifteen-film behemoth that was the first entry! And it makes it to only one film less in under half the time! Well blimey. Best get on with it then...

113) On the Town (1949, Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, VHS) 4/5
Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra lead the cast in this musical comedy about three soldiers who have 24 hours of shore leave in New York. The plot is sometimes predictable, but at least it's not as standardised as many. Equally, none of the songs are truly memorable but most are fun while they last. The humour may be quite gentle (though be prepared for some sexed-up female characters!), but as a whole it's never less than entertaining (with the exception of a third act dance almost as incongruous as Oklahoma!'s change of cast). Several of those who watched it with me were surprised to find they actually enjoyed a musical.

114) Bringing Out the Dead (1999, Martin Scorsese, DVD) 3/5
It's hard to know what to make of this, because by the end it all seems a little pointless. The storyline, which follows Nicolas Cage's paramedic across three nights in New York, is a mixture of short episodic medical incidents with longer threads that continue throughout. These connect and fall apart, feeling as episodic as the rest, and most of them don't really lead anywhere. Perhaps the best description is that it's a collection of subplots in search of proper story. There are some decent scenes and good shots, but the film doesn't seem to have anything to say, and it doesn't end so much as simply fade to black when it runs out of things to do.

115) Annie Hall (1977, Woody Allen, DVD) 4/5
Widely considered to be Woody Allen's breakthrough movie and winner of four of the 'Big Five' Oscars. One might call it a romantic comedy, but it's very much an indie comedy-drama (for one thing, it utilises the ever-popular tactic of not taking place in chronological order), rather than the mainstream cliche-fest that first springs to mind whenever "rom-com" is mentioned. Annie Hall is either the basis for or just exemplifies all the cliches of Allen films (essentially, neurotic Jew who struggles with life), but that doesn't make it bad. It's very funny in places, suitably realistic in others, and has a nice line in comedic philosophy too.

116) Wild at Heart (1990, David Lynch, DVD) 4/5
My experience of David Lynch's work has so far been limited to Dune, the first short season of Twin Peaks, and Mulholland Drive. Admittedly, a list including the latter two isn't that bad, but it fails to encompass any of the acclaimed films that made his name. Wild at Heart doesn't come much closer: a quick look at IMDb reveals that it only beats Dune and the Twin Peaks movie in user ratings. I think I can see why: it's filled with mannered performances that can seem cheaper than those in daytime soaps (I presume this is deliberate, but some people just won't get, or like, it); characters and plot threads that meander off and seem pointless, while others don't come to anything; plus it lacks the opaqueness that many seem to hold as the key worthy feature of Lynch's work. In spite of its many faults I quite liked a lot of it, so my rating falls on the generous side. I still have no idea why there were so many Wizard of Oz references though.

117) New York Stories (1989, Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola & Martin Scorsese, DVD) 3/5
Anthology of three shorts, connected only by the New York setting (which, incidentally, may as well be anywhere in all but the last segment). Scorsese's Life Lessons opens the film, a tale of an artist and his love for his younger assistant. It's an alright little drama. Next is Coppola's dire Life Without Zoe, concerned with an irritating rich little brat and her irritating rich little brat friends (none of whom can act). Mercifully the shortest piece, but its very existence is lamentable. Finally, Allen's Oedipus Wrecks drags the quality up. It may largely be typical Allen fare (see the Annie Hall review), but its quite funny and the fantastical twist halfway through is brilliantly bizarre. As a whole, then, an unsurprisingly mixed bag.

118) Play Time (1967, Jacques Tati, DVD) 2/5
I know some people love the work of Tati, just like there's always someone who loves everything; personally, I find his films largely dull. His character, Monsieur Hulot, is like Mr Bean but less funny (don't worry, I know Hulot comes first by a good few decades). There are some laughs to be had in Play Time, but they're a long way in and not necessarily worth waiting for. Play Time is certainly pertinent to the Cityscapes course we were shown it as part of, but even the subtext (which is about as 'sub' as a space station) about the depressing similarity of modern cities is repetitively over-done. Recommended only as a cure for insomnia.

119) Manhattan (1979, Woody Allen, DVD) 4/5
Drama (though it does include some very funny bits) focusing on the interrelationships of a handful of 40-something New Yorkers. Allen fails to convince as a bit of a womaniser, even if he is notably less neurotic than usual; however, once the viewer gets over that little fantasy of his, I believe there's a lot to be had here. It's a much more traditional film than Annie Hall -- events occur in chronological order, with no unusual comedic breaks, or monologues to camera -- and, as a drama, it's all the better for this. The black & white photography is gorgeous throughout, helping the city to shine far brighter than any of the characters -- for me, the best bit of the entire film is the opening three-and-a-half minutes, in which the beautiful images, Allen's narration and Gershwin's music combine in a tribute to what must be the most genuinely loved of all cities. (A 5-star rating system only allows minimal delineation, so for the sake of clarity I'd like to point out that I personally preferred this to Annie Hall, though it falls just off attaining a full five.)

120) Hellboy: Director's Cut (2004, Guillermo del Toro, DVD) 4/5
A surprise hit on release, this live action adaptation of the cult comic book is an exciting and entertaining, though flawed, mix of pulp fantasy, gothic style and action. Surprisingly, it spends more time focused on the characters than the plot; while this is nice, and those scenes are expertly played, they do seem to throw the pacing off kilter somewhat. And, in an amusing reversal of the usual action movie cliche, while the character bits are great the action scenes are a tad underwritten! The score is also pretty lacklustre: it sounds like a typical, appropriate SF/F action score, but one where the cues have all been incorrectly placed. But these flaws are easily overlooked when the characters are such fun, the dramatic moments suitably poignant, and the action passable enough. Hopefully the forthcoming sequel can see to the faults and be even better. (I haven't seen the theatrical cut of Hellboy, hence why this is numbered.)

121) The King of Comedy (1983, Martin Scorsese, TV) 5/5
Underrated black comedy from the prolific partnership of director Scorsese and star De Niro. De Niro gives an excellent performance as an obsessive wannabe comedian, stalking the host of a popular talk show in his desperation for a guest spot. The depth of his delusion is both hilariously funny and deeply unsettling; subtly woven between the laughs is the impression that this sort of behaviour must be all-too-real among those over-obsessed with celebrity culture. Jerry Lewis and Sandra Bernhard are also worthy of note in their supporting roles. Rarely mentioned when it comes to discussions of Scorsese's work, I think its the best film I've seen from him. (This closing comment is subject to the fact that I've only seen The Departed, The Aviator, Gangs of New York and Bringing Out the Dead, a list clearly missing most of his highly-praised work! Expect a more informed opinion to appear when I see them (later this entry!))

122) Taxi Driver (1976, Martin Scorsese, DVD) 4/5
Much praised, discussed and quoted, Taxi Driver needs little introduction. The weight of expectation also makes it hard to judge when first viewed. Personally, I didn't buy Travis' slide into psychosis, which is unfortunate as it's the core of the film and why it's meant to be so great. In fact, I found Robert Pupkin's broadly similar, self delusion-based, character arc in The King of Comedy more believable. The ending was also dubious, although one theory does make it work better, so it perhaps depends on what you choose to believe. Further viewings may help the film work better for me -- as my rating shows, I still liked the film as a whole, but I wasn't as impressed as I'd been led to believe I would be.

123) Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese, DVD) 5/5
These days perhaps even more praised than Taxi Driver, Goodfellas tells the true story of Henry Hill's 25-year career as a gangster. It's certainly a notable achievement on virtually every level, which are too numerous to list here. The use of popular music struck me especially though, creating a sense of time (and never too obviously) while also complimenting the visuals in its own right. In the lead role, Liotta seems to have been underrated, lost behind the top billing of De Niro and the award-winning craziness of Pesci; he carries the film, with a performance that isn't showy but is perfectly pitched. I didn't fall in love with the film as so many seem to have, but I also don't think there's really any denying its worthiness for full marks.

124) Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993, Woody Allen, DVD) 4/5
Woody Allen mixes a bit of the thriller into his usual relationship-based comedy/drama style, with effective results. The combination produces an engaging thriller with the usual character-focused drama woven around it, and a decent dash of comedy too. The first half hour or so is a tad slow, but the pace picks up as the story rattles into the second half. Murder Mystery has been criticised as lightweight -- the comedy stops the thriller being too serious, the thriller stops the drama being the focus, and they both prevent the comedy from overpowering -- but Allen has dealt with these elements in isolation elsewhere, so it's refreshing to see him do more than merely repeat himself. This is an underrated gem in Allen's relatively vast body of work.

125) Bullets Over Broadway (1994, Woody Allen, DVD) 4/5
The final Allen film of this little 'season' is that rare thing: one that doesn't star him! This is its biggest flaw, as Cusack spends the entire film doing a blatant and middling impression of the writer/director. But he nonetheless does OK, and when the rest of the cast are note-perfect, the script pacy and funny, the photography gorgeous and the long takes never more appropriate, it's hard not to be impressed. Special mention to the final scene, a four-way shouted conversation between two high windows and the street -- it's beautifully written and executed. Another underrated Allen film, and probably the most down-right entertaining of his I've seen so far.

126) Mean Streets (1973, Martin Scorsese, DVD) 4/5
Semi-autobiographical New York gangster movie, guaranteed a place in history as the first collaboration between Scorsese and De Niro -- what a place to end my little season! As with Goodfellas, it's someone else who's the main character; and, as with Goodfellas, De Niro's supporting character is a disturbing presence even when off screen. The similarities don't end there, but I'm not going to go into them in detail. Suffice to say, Mean Streets feels a bit like a less epic, oddly less focused, grittier, and perhaps more realistic, prototype for Goodfellas. But even then it's only that in some ways -- the two are notably different enough to make each worthwhile.

Weeks 43-45

2007-11-12T19:39:00.001Z

Introduction

It's goodbye to October and hello to November, as the year moves into its final sixth. It'll be over before you know it! And with it, my final total of new films this year. How exciting! It may wind up being lower than some of my previous predictions would've had it though, considering the increasing number of weeks I feel the need to cover, and with increasingly low number of films too...

Weeks Forty-Three to Forty-Five

But anyway, all of that's a whole seven weeks away yet. For now, let's stick to this little (literally) lot:

109a) Manhatta (1921, Paul Strand & Charles Sheeler, download) 2/5
Another '20s city film, showing off (as you might guess from the title) parts of New York. The focus appears to be industrial -- skyscrapers under construction, finished architecture, tug boats, trains near the docks; the people of the city only crop up at the start and close, and then only in faceless crowds. It's interspersed with poetic intertitles, which make for an odd contrast. Once again, I feel that, unless you want to go getting a bit pretentious (and, to be fair, at least some of these films were made for just that), the main interest here is in an historical perspective: it provides another snapshot of a time and place long gone. (Available for legal download and streaming at Google Video.)

110) The Crowd (1928, King Vidor, TV) 4/5
Late silent-era drama -- though you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a comedy until halfway, when the light antics of a young couple in '20s New York give way to some increasingly dark drama (interesting trivia: seven endings were shot for distributors to choose from, some happy and some sad; all chose sad ones. However, the copy we saw (taped from an '80s TV showing) had a happy ending). The first half is gentle but amusing; the sudden shit catches the viewer off-guard, undoubtedly making what follows more effective. The main character is in many ways pretty useless and at least some of the problems that befall him are his own fault, yet his comedic treatment in the first half makes you care for him throughout the second. If you can accept the shifting styles of an age before genre was rigidly defined, The Crowd is a worthwhile experience.

111) Fantomas: In the Shadow of the Guillotine (1913, Louis Feuillade, DVD) 4/5
The first of the silent Fantomas films (I reviewed the second last time) . It's interestingly structured: there's no 'origin story' for Fantomas, he just is an infamous master criminal, who's introduced in what would undoubtedly be a pre-titles sequence today, before the story switches to follow Inspector Juve and his quest to solve the disappearance of Lord Beltham... which of course leads back to Fantomas. Its pulp fiction roots shine through in the entertaining plot that's just far-fetched enough. As I said before, it's not for everyone, but for those who enjoy this sort of thing it's unmissable.

112) The Naked City (1948, Jules Dassin, DVD) 4/5
Police procedural film noir, shot entirely on location in New York (unusual at the time). The story is quite straightforward -- girl is murdered, police investigate -- but it exists mainly as a structure on which to hang perspectives of the city, its criminals and its law enforcement (though in an infinitely less pretentious way than that sounds). The acting is sometimes stilted and some of the direction is actually a little flat, but there are enough enjoyable elements to cover for it -- particularly the chance to see so much footage of a real city at this time. The odd, character-less voice-over narration is more puzzling than any mystery in the plot.

Weeks 41-42

2007-10-22T19:29:00.001+01:00

Introduction

Ah, University! Work has now fully returned to interrupt all the lazing around and film-viewing I so enjoyed before; of course, studying a film module does mean there's a guaranteed one or two new films every week, and probably quite unusual ones too. "Hurrah" cry the statistics! "Ooh" cry... erm... anyone who likes more unusual choices...

I do feel a tad arty this week, actually. Of the six films listed below, two are French, one German, one Japanese, two are shorts, and five are between 77 and 94 years old! That's two weeks at the start of a University film module for you, eh!

Weeks Forty-One and Forty-Two

We begin with the two oldest of all those, both made 94 years ago! That's no guarantee of anything mind... well, except no spoken dialogue...

105) Fantomas: Juve Versus Fantomas (1913, Louis Feuillade, DVD) 4/5
Second installment of the early French film serial, adapted from a long-running series of pulp novels. Fantomas is a criminal adept at disguise and avoiding capture by police inspector Juve. It's full of crazy schemes and action set pieces, which means it's actually a great deal of fun, relatively fast-paced and densely plotted, exciting and deliberately amusing (though, as with anything this old, there are things to point and laugh at if you're so inclined). It also looks stunning for its age, with a stable and crisp picture, which incidentally makes great use of colour tinting (for example, turning from blue to yellow when someone switches on a light). It's not for everyone, but if you're interested in early cinema this is one of the most entertaining examples I've seen. As you may have guessed, we were shown this as part of my degree; off the back of it I've ordered the DVD of the full serial.

106) Traffic in Souls (1913, George Loane Tucker, VHS) 2/5
Silent movie (Universal's first feature-length release) about white slavery in America. You don't expect that from a 1913 film, eh? Of course, the issue is handled in a suitable way for the period: why the women are kidnapped is never alluded to (in reality it was for prostitution) and all the Bad Men are brought to justice. It's not all bad: in a surprising move for the time, the main villain is an apparently-respectable society gentleman who publicly campaigns against white slavery; by a similar token, the kidnappers are made up of women as well as men. The first half zips along an intricate multi-stranded narrative covering several groups of unrelated characters, but as they come together it begins to slow: what seems to be the climax takes half the film to play out its immediately-obvious events. It sadly ruins something that was initially rather promising.

107) Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997, Hideaki Anno & Kazuya Tsurumaki, DVD) 3/5
Eight weeks and sixteen films later than I'd've liked, I can finally complete the Evangelion story! (For my review of the first film, check out week 34.) First off, don't even attempt this if you haven't seen all of the (excellent) TV series -- it won't even vaguelly make sense. Sadly, if you have seen the series, it's a disappointing climax. Promising a clearer ending than the original arty philosophical one, it winds up delivering something that's almost as bad. It's somewhat redeemed by what leads up to this final confusing half hour: some proper story, resolutions for some outstanding plot threads, and a few instances of decent action too. As a conclusion it's far from satisfying though. One can only hope the new four-film remake of the whole story (the first of which was recently released in Japan), which promises another fresh conclusion, can come up with something more comprehensible. I wouldn't count on it though.

108) Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927, Walter Ruttman, download) 2/5
German silent movie depicting a day in the 'life' of Berlin, part of the 'city symphony' genre that was popular around the 1920s. This makes it one of those films that is in some way important, but sadly it's still a bit, well, boring. Essentially it's a documentary showing many facets of city life and industry, though with no kind of narration and often edited in an artistic fashion (fast cutting and crazy angles to represent the chaos of a busy junction, for example). It has its moments (the opening train journey being the highlight for me) and I'm sure some would find the footage of '20s life fascinating, but it's the sort of thing that's just too dull for my tastes. For something similar which I enjoyed a bit more, try the Russian Man With a Movie Camera. (Berlin is available for legal download and streaming at Google Video.)

108a) A Propos de Nice (1930, Jean Vigo, download) 3/5
Short film about the French city of Nice, mixing documentary-style footage of people with shots of the architecture, as well as clearly staged scenes (a man getting sunburnt, for example). There's a certain playful edge to it all, not just with content such as a garish parade and crazy dancing, but with amusing tricks (again, the sunburning), camera tomfoolery (for example, moving it to follow the loops of arches at speed; or using slow motion and sped-up shots), and picking out shots of pedestrians apparently for their annoyance at being filmed. It's an interesting amalgamation, then: part art, part documentary, part sketch show. (Available for legal download and streaming at Google Video.)

108b) Skyscraper Symphony (1929, Robert Florey, download) 2/5
Another 'city symphony' film, this time a short one of skyscrapers in New York. It's probably hard to 'appreciate' this without getting a little pretentious; certainly, it's much more aimed at creating the feeling of a city, or a visual representation of it, or something like that, than it is with, say, showing pretty views of New York's buildings. That said, in between the meaningful mucking about, there are some fairly impressive sights to be seen. (Available with mildly dubious legality, and a live score by "experimental sound artists" Ampersand, on YouTube.)

109) The Paleface (1948, Norman Z. McLeod, DVD) 4/5
Bob Hope and Jane Russell star in this Wild West comedy, in which Calamity Jane (Russell) has to stop a group of men smuggling rifles to the Indians. It's clearly designed as pure entertainment, mixing styles in a way no film would dare attempt today -- there's broad comedy, gunfights, horse chases and even a song or two! It works too. OK, so the direction may be a little flat and some of the comedy old fashioned... but it was made in the '40s and there's still a good number of laughs, so it seems churlish to complain.

Weeks 37-40

2007-10-08T22:20:00.000+01:00

Introduction

This entry we move right from the start of September on into October -- under three months of the year left!

As I mentioned last time, my 8-day trip to New York has brought about the first multi-week entry in almost two months; couple that with moving in to a new place and all the associated sorting, plus having almost two weeks' worth of TV to catch up on (and that taking up most of my viewing time), plus starting my final year at University, and this is a four-weeker! Actually, it's pretty much a one-weekender -- I didn't watch a new film until Thursday 4th!

And so, following that 'accidental' almost-four-week break, I'm finally getting on with moving past the aim of 100 and into the grounds of "let's see how far I can get". This entry I make it to... well, read on and see for yourself!

Weeks Thirty-Seven to Forty

It's an all-action extravaganza this entry, with no less than four films with a distinctly violent centre. But don't think it's all the same, oh no no -- between them they cover several continents, even more countries, and spread out from the ancient past to the distant (or, at least, alternate) future, via the present day of course. There are spears, swords, guns and fists causing pain left, right and centre... and a few more unusual objects too. If you thought "action movie" meant endless bullets and slow motion... well, it does tend to involve at least one of those... but still, have a look and see that there is room for some variety!

We begin with what will likely be the first in an on/off series I like to call "Films From This Year That I Missed At The Cinema And Am Finally Seeing When They Hit DVD"... with one that's technically from 2006. But it didn't arrive over here until March 2007, so, y'know, still counts...

101) 300 (2006, Zack Snyder, DVD) 4/5
Highly stylised (and praised) adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel about the battle of Thermopylae. It's very much a Man's Film: long graphic battles, esteemed warrior values, mostly-naked women, heavy soundtrack... This doesn't mean it's without virtue: it looks stunning, and while the slow motion may be overused it creates some beautiful tableaus. There's even room for characterisation among the soldiers; these arcs may be familiar, but for once the filmmakers seem aware of that and keep such scenes to an appropriate, deftly handled minimum. The slight plot may be stretched a bit thin and the closing speech is sadly over-written, but 300 is nonetheless an enjoyable and surprisingly pretty minor epic.

102) Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005, Tetsuya Nomura, DVD) 3/5
For those who don't know, this isn't the seventh Final Fantasy film -- it's the second; though it's not a sequel to the first; though it is a sequel, to the game Final Fantasy VII (which isn't related to the preceding six). Just to be confusing, eh? Advent Children is far from standalone then, but with the help of a DVD featurette and some concentration it's possible to have an idea what's going on. It almost doesn't matter anyway: the main point is clearly the action, which is pretty spectacular; if you can bear the dense, plot-heavy first half (which does also contain several good sequences), the second is non-stop action, only occasionally marred by overactive camerawork. From a technical standpoint the CG is endlessly impressive (don't expect it to be lifelike, just extremely good) and the freedom afforded by the format is well used. I don't know how satisfying fans would find this (I'm sure they've all seen it by now anyway), but for us lay-people, if you can ignore the plot (or put in some effort to follow it) and enjoy impressively executed fights and chases, there's definite enjoyment to be had.

103) Transporter 2 (2005, Louis Leterrier, DVD) 3/5
Sequel to 2002's low-key, disposable but fun actioner. The plot is almost senseless and thoroughly familiar from the likes of Man on Fire or M:i-2, but that doesn't matter: the action's the focus, and on that promise it mostly delivers. In spite of the odd bit of CG-aided silliness, or the lack of anything as inspired as the first film's oil fight, the fights are still a lot of fun; one involving a fire hose is especially well executed. There's also a good number of amusing moments (both intentional and not, it must be said). It may not quite reach the first movie's simple highs, but there's still enough to like. More films in the series wouldn't go amiss.

104) Miracles (1989, Jackie Chan, DVD) 3/5
I've always been a bit wary of Chan's films: he's renowned for using comedy in his action (to help break away from the frequently-applied "new Bruce Lee" label), which isn't really to my taste; but after we were shown an impressive clip from this in a lecture I felt I had to give it a go. It's 1930s Hong Kong and Chan accidentally becomes the head of a mafia-like gang. The film follows a "gang war" plot for about 40 minutes before abruptly changing tack to become an identity-based farce! It's all a bit messy and most of the genuinely funny bits are still in Chan's excellent action sequences, which are mind-bogglingly impressive feats of acrobatics and choreography. Of course, it's these that we've come for, and the film would benefit from less pointless farcing about, a shorter running time, and more evenly distributed action sequences. Enjoyable, but flawed.

Week 36

2007-09-09T23:39:00.000+01:00

Introduction

While I've managed to keep things to single-week entries for a fair while now, I suspect it'll be back to double-weekers for at least next week. I'm off to New York for 8 days, y'see (also explaining why this entry is ever so slightly earlier than usual), and my film watching is likely to be minimal. Though there's a cinema right near the apartment, so you never know. Maybe I'll finally see The Bourne Ultimatum...

By-the-by, those musings I mentioned back in Week 34 (about the IMDb Top 250) have completely gone from my mind. I have absolutely no idea what they were. And so now neither will you. Ho hum...

Week Thirty-Six

This week is an unusually short one. Normally I'd just carry it over into the next entry, but one very important thing stops me...

I've reached 100!

Hurrah! And, as predicted, I'm there well before the end of the year! In fact, there's only just shy of a third of it left, meaning that my average viewing has me hitting 145 by year's end. Quite a bit more than 100, clearly. Of course, the spacious summer weeks are now giving way to term time work, so quite how well that whole average thing will work out is another matter entirely.

But, for now -- 100! Whoo! And I specially picked a pretty momentous film to view in celebration of the achievement. In film terms, you'd struggle to find any more significant than... well, read on, and you'll see!

99) Starter For Ten (2006, Tom Vaughan, DVD) 2/5
A predictable British rom-com, enlivened only by a few good moments and performances, as well as the excellent '80s soundtrack. You'd assume the plot would focus on the characters' aim to win University Challenge, coupled with a woefully predictable romantic subplot; sadly, it turns out the woefully predictable romance is the main plot and the quiz only turns up now and then to lend some structure. The final contest is almost entirely devoid of tension thanks to this and the other conclusions hold no surprises. McAvoy is likable, though held back by Brian's near-unbearable ignorance about life. The best performances come from Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall, both actors worth watching.

100) Citizen Kane (1941, Orson Welles, DVD) 5/5
Yes, that's right: I'm a film buff and I've never seen Citizen Kane. I think this is a good occasion to have saved it for though. But I digress -- what of the film itself; the film often voted Best Ever in countless polls? Certainly, a lot of its fame rests on its innovations -- the frequently ambitious camera work, the non-linear narrative, the multiple perspectives, the 'trick' beginnings, the dramatic lighting, the expansive sets... Not all of these are truly new (European art cinema and silent movies generally got to some first), but Welles can be credited for bringing some of it to the Hollywood mainstream; and even then, there's enough truly new to justify the praise. A lot of it may be commonplace now, or at least widely imitated, but viewed in light of the limitations of the time it is frequently breathtaking. It isn't just technically marvellous though: the story is moderately complex, telling and re-telling itself from various perspectives, framing recollections of Kane's life within a 'present day' quest to find the meaning behind his final words. The jumps demand the viewer's attention even today, the full story slowly coming together... even though it's almost all given to you in a 10-minute fake newsreel at the start! Welles' performance is exceptional, depicting Kane as he grows from a young reckless newspaper editor into an aged recluse. He's aided by effective make-up (looking remarkably like Welles himself would later in life), but its his performance from under it that shows the real differences. There's a lot more to be said about Kane (much of it already has, of course), and you don't need me to tell you that if you're a film fan this is required viewing. But even if you're a 'Normal Person' I'd recommend it; I can't guarantee you'll like it, but you might well be surprised.

Week 35

2007-09-04T13:51:00.000+01:00

Introduction

As you may remember from last week, this is technically Week 34 Days 5-7 and Week 35; and I bet no one would've remembered if I hadn't said! For a 10-day week I haven't watched a great deal of films, though (as explained last week) there have been reasons. Nonetheless, the four I have watched leave me only two short of the long awaited number 100!

Week Thirty-Five

But that's for next week. So, here are those four films, each from a different decade, across almost 60 years no less!

95) Before Sunrise (1995, Richard Linklater, DVD) 4/5
Two 20-somethings meet on a train from Budapest to Paris, get off in Vienna and spend the night there until one of them has to fly out in the morning. A simple premise, though you may wonder how it sustains 95 minutes. The answer is, very well. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy make for a likable couple and it's no chore to spend so long with, essentially, just them chatting to each other. Some of the attempts at philosophising may wear thin (Delpy especially seems more adept in the lighter parts), but the funny and romantic sections do work beautifully. Bittersweet in all the right ways. Probably best watched while still fairly young.

96) Before Sunset (2005, Richard Linklater, DVD) 4/5
Nine years on, Jesse and Celine meet again in Paris... It's as simple a premise as Sunrise, and in many ways is very similar: it's essentially two people talking, laughing and philosophising. It's an odd sort of sequel -- it doesn't just take the same characters into a new story, or directly continue the original. These are the same people, but they're older and changed. It's very reflective; it's almost about the first film, from a different perspective. You also don't miss a thing -- its in real time from beginning to end, showing us every second the characters spend together. Personally I didn't think it was as good as Sunrise -- it's not as funny and it sadly closes off some of the original's beautiful ambiguities. Part of the problem may be that I'm close to the character's ages in the first film but a good decade out here (though, I hasten to add, that's not solely it). In the end, it works quite nicely as a companion piece, but (perhaps) not as a film in its own right.

97) A Study in Scarlet (1983, Ian Mackenzie & Alex Nicholas, DVD) 2/5
Peter O'Toole is again the voice of the famous sleuth in this disappointing animated adaptation of the first Sherlock Holmes mystery. The adaptation is faithful to the original novel's structure (sadly, as its a somewhat bizarre one, and ripe for a more interesting interpretation), but loses any elements pertaining to Holmes and Watson's first meeting. The animation seems more basic than the other entry in this particular series that I've seen, and O'Toole's performance is flatter; the rest of the cast don't fair any better. The story itself isn't a bad one, but after being pleasantly surprised by The Sign of Four I just found this to be disappointing.

98) Great Expectations (1946, David Lean, DVD) 4/5
Classic adaptation of the acclaimed novel. While my experience of Dickens is woefully limited to screen adaptations, this is one of my lesser favourites; the first act and elements of the climax are wonderfully Gothic (and here beautifully directed to that effect), but it seems to lack the depth or importance of works such as Bleak House, Oliver Twist or A Christmas Carol. Though, aside from the dully straightforward middle, there's little to dislike about the adaptation. John Mills is too old to convince as a 20-year-old Pip, but his performance is good and he's ably supported. However, the main highlights are undoubtedly all in Lean's brilliant direction.

Week 34

2007-08-23T15:00:00.000+01:00

Introduction

This was going to be the first double-week entry in a fair while, the main reason being that I'm going away for the best part of a week very shortly, probably without internet to post an entry. But then I watched a fair few films at the start of this week and decided to just do an earlier entry instead! So this may be called Week 34, but it's actually Week 34 Days 1-4, and the next entry will just silently include Week 34 Days 5-7 (if I even watch anything then). I'm sure no one will mind but me!

If I do get the net working during my away-time, you may be lucky enough to see the first stand-alone editorial here. I've been musing on the IMDb Top 250 and may put some of those thoughts down...

Week Thirty-Four

Several over-long reviews this week -- I appear to be losing my self control on that front. They'll have multiple paragraphs before long, you mark my words!

Something I've also just noticed is that across five reviews I've used four different scores. Considering I've so far this year only seen one film deserving of the lowest score, that's quite a spread. Just a shame the scores nicely rise only to fall right back at the end, eh.

91) Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth (1997, Hideaki Anno, Masayuki & Tsurumaki Kazuya, DVD) 2/5
The genesis of this film is a long story (at least, longer than I'd like for this review!) The anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion ends with bizarre theme-centric episodes that fail to conclude the story; a film was produced to re-tell the end from a story-centric position and/or to provide an alternate ending (depending who you believe). This is not that film, but something that was released a bit before that. The first 69 minutes (titled Death) are an intriguing reorganisation/summary of the series in a somewhat impressionistic way, including a few new scenes. It's either quite clever or just a jumble. The final 27 minutes (titled Rebirth) are an all new continuation of the story. There are answers, revelations, some great sequences, and a great cliffhanger! Unfortunately this is also the start of the concluding film, which ultimately renders this as just one thing: a fan-only curio. Its main value, in my opinion, is the neat cliffhanger, which makes for a tantalising ending (instead of the first act plot point it must be in the next film). If you're curious about Evangelion and think a filmic summary sounds a good idea, don't watch! Get hold of the series, it's worth the time. (I'll undoubtedly share my thoughts on the conclusion, The End of Evangelion, as soon as Play.com get it back in stock!)

92) The Cat's Meow (2001, Peter Bogdanovich, DVD) 3/5
Possibly-true 'murder mystery' set in 1920s Hollywood. As with the similar Gosford Park, the point lies less in plot and more in characterisation -- there are some good performances, especially from Eddie Izzard, Joanna Lumley and Edward Herrmann, though Kirsten Dunst seems a bit flat in comparison. The era's style suits her though, and the whole period is beautifully evoked; for my money the prettiest scenes are the black & white bookends. Sadly the similarity to Gosford Park is the film's main shortcoming: once realised, it's clear that Cat's Meow doesn't have the same subtle complexity in its story or performances. In its own right, though, there's much to like.

93) Letters From Iwo Jima (2006, Clint Eastwood, DVD) 4/5
Companion to Flags of Our Fathers (widely considered the better of the two), showing the same battle from the Japanese perspective. Letters focuses on the human angle, getting to know the characters as they prepare for battle (the Americans don't arrive for almost an hour) and through flashbacks. The action sequences and cinematography owe a lot to Saving Private Ryan -- desaturation is becoming a war film cliche; that said, it works here, fitting the bland sandy environment and emphasising bursts of colour from blood and flames. The film aims to humanise 'The Enemy' but only succeeds in showing that there were some good people in a society of old-fashioned ideas; the obsession with pointless suicide over genuine use of men may be true, but still seems savage and unpractical (probably more a flaw of the real military attitude than of the film, then). No character who follows this is a good guy; likable ones survive or are Westernised. The Americans we see are a mix too (one shoots captured soldiers for no reason, for example), but this feels like a hollow attempt to depict the filmmakers' countrymen equally rather than genuinely aiding the concept of the Japanese as good guys. A mixed film then, the value of which lies not in presenting a view of war, humanity or Japanese culture, but in providing a view (or, indeed, half a view) of this one particular battle. (I'll undoubtedly share my thoughts on the first half of this pair when LoveFilm decide to send it to me.)

93a) Gone With the Wind (1939, Victor Fleming, DVD) 5/5
I thought I'd seen Gone With the Wind but, watching it again, it's clear I hadn't properly. This is partly because I first saw it on TV, in two halves, a week apart, each starting at 1AM. I just about managed to follow the story, in between drifting off for whole chunks. Another reason is the quality of the restored print on the DVD: it looks stunning, every frame is beautiful; it's a shame no films look like this today. The performances are uniformly excellent, especially (of course) Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable; though special mention must be made of the fantastic Oscar-winning Hattie McDaniel as Mammy (the first African American to be nominated for and win an Oscar, and deservedly so). The direction is brilliant, displaying styles you think weren't invented for another 20 years; all of the design work is gorgeous; and the story is epic and expertly told, moving across genres (romance, war, melodrama, comedy) with ease. It's easy to see why this is the most popular film ever made. First time round I just thought it was very good; now it's firmly one of my favourites.

94) The Black Dahlia (2006, Brian De Palma, DVD) 2/5
Noir-wannabe, adapted from the James Ellroy novel based on a real, unsolved case. That case is far from the focus here; from the start the apparently-central crime is anything but, meaning the biggest let-down is that events barely follows the eponymous story. It's one of many problems in a film that tries hard to be a proper noir but fails in almost every respect: performances (most of which wind up flat), corny dialogue, plot, pretty-but-vacant direction, and even voice-over narration. I haven't read the novel, but apparently it's a poor adaptation too. What you want is a '40s-style thriller; what you get is a weak '40s-set character drama.

Week 33

2007-08-20T00:00:00.000+01:00

Introduction

As of this week, the blog is genuinely in sync with the entries on deviantART. I will switch to individual film entries here at some point, as mentioned in the introduction, but for the time being I'm going to stick with these compendiums. I expect I'll either switch at the start of year two, or with film number 101. Which, as you shall soon see, may not be so far off...

Week Thirty-Three

The biggest news this week: I've passed 90! 90! Only ten films to go til I hit the final aim -- I think I can manage that in 19 weeks, to be honest. Anything after that... it's all a bonus, and something to aim to beat next year!

Anyway, on to the business of the films themselves. The first one up this week is an odd'un, but I've gone ahead and justified that in the review itself. Elsewhere it's the usual mixed bag of filmic delight and despair. How I've fit it in whilst also watching nearly all of Neon Genesis Evangelion I do not know.

83) The Sign of Four (1983, Ian Mackenzie & Alex Nicholas, DVD) 3/5
A slightly unusual one to review, this -- it's a 49-minute animated Sherlock Holmes adaptation from the '80s, one of four in this particular series. But, as best I can tell from IMDb, it's not specifically TV-based, and it does feature the voice of Peter O'Toole. Vocally he makes for a good Holmes, though the character design could be a little better. I can't recall the original story well enough to comment on this as an adaptation, but it's a decent mystery that's well explained. The animation is not bad; certainly no worse than most kids' TV animation from the '80s and '90s, and better than the flat Flash-animated stuff of today. A solid production.

84) Alfie (1965, Lewis Gilbert, DVD) 4/5
Michael Caine stars as the eponymous London lothario in this '60s sex-based comedy/drama, which helped bring about a change in British abortion law thanks to its chilling final act. If you're only familiar with the Jude Law-starring remake, most of the original might come as a shock to you -- whereas the 2004 version was pretty light and amusing, this is actually a more serious affair. There is humour, but it's tinged with a sad awareness of how deluded and misogynistic Alfie is; horribly so now, but bad even for his time. This one may be more complex and worthy but, sacrilegious as it may be, I'd rather watch the remake.

85) Thunderbirds (2004, Jonathan Frakes, TV) 2/5
No doubt you've heard only bad things about this re-imagining of Gerry Anderson's '60s puppet extravaganza (apart from that esteemed publication The Funday Times proclaiming "You'll love this!" on the DVD cover). Certainly there's much for fans to hate -- dull teen angst, tired moral messages, low budget CGI, an iffy storyline and a truly horrendous re-mix/ruining of the theme music. But, believe it or not, it's not all bad: the redesigns of the Thunderbirds and Tracy Island are modern but faithful, the scenes where they're doing some proper rescuing aren't bad, the characters are as annoyingly FAB-perfect as they actually are on TV (apart from Alan's angst of course), and Lady Penelope and Parker are near spot-on too (except when they go all Buffy). The interpretation of the Hood may be weak (even more so thanks to his pathetic henchmen) but his plan's not bad. There are even times when the whole thing feels like it's adapted from an original episode... albeit a relatively poor one. If you loved the series you'll never like this; heck, unless you're under 10 you'll probably never like this (and that's being generous). Maybe, someday, there'll be a decent new version of Thunderbirds. Sadly, this has probably hindered any attempts at that. Shame.

86) An Inconvenient Truth (2006, Davis Guggenheim, DVD) 4/5
Famous/infamous documentary centred on Al Gore's presentation about global warming. Many were surprised by the numerous high-scoring reviews this film received, considering it's a bloke talking in front of some pictures for an hour and a half. Watching it, though, it's easy to see why. For one thing there's more to it than that -- the show (made on Apple's Keynote, not PowerPoint as many reviews incorrectly state) is full of clear diagrams and video footage. Gore is a captivating speaker, explaining the issues in understandable terms without being patronising, and with humour when appropriate. The little interruptions following Gore on his 'campaign trail' are a mixture of illuminating and pointless, but ultimately don't detract from the point.

87) Point Break (1991, Kathryn Bigelow, DVD) 3/5
Jock-tastic '80s-style surfing-based crime thriller. If you've seen Hot Fuzz you'll know of this -- it's the one where Keanu Reeves lies on his back and empties his gun into the air while screaming "nooo!" The first half hour is pretty dull, unless you like surfing or American football, but it picks up to some pretty decent action sequences in the middle (a foot chase through back gardens is especially worthy of note). It's nothing particularly remarkable, but if you can stomach the overlong sports sequences, the occasionally cliched plot and Keanu Reeve's' acting, there are a few good things to be had here.

88) Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006, Tom Tykwer, DVD) 4/5
Recent adaptation of Patrick Suskind's popular novel, often considered unfilmable because of its focus on the sense of smell. Tykwer covers for that with strong cinematography, with sumptuously rich visuals and a judicious use of close-ups to evoke beauty of disgust as appropriate (the early birth scene in a fish market is particularly rancid -- do not watch this right after eating!) Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman give typically brilliant supporting performances, and Ben Whishaw is fairly notable in the virtually mute lead role. John Hurt's narration is also excellent; he may well have the best narrative voice known to film. The ending is pretty bizarre, yet possibly very appropriate; certainly, it raises the whole story up to the level of legend.

89) Mrs Brown (1997, John Madden, TV) 4/5
Period drama focusing on the friendship between Queen Victoria and her Highland servant John Brown, alongside political threats faced by the British monarchy in the 1860s. There are undoubtedly some parallels to be drawn with recent Oscar-winner The Queen (British Queen retreats to Balmoral to escape the public eye amidst political events threatening the monarchy's future, etc), but the real treats here are the performances. Judi Dench is fantastic as ever as the Queen, a character more complex than the stereotypical "we are not amused" image; and comedian Billy Connolly is surprisingly effective in a rare serious role.

90) Wilde (1997, Brian Gilbert, TV) 4/5
Stephen Fry leads a starry British ensemble in this biopic of poet, novelist, playwright and genius Oscar Wilde. The film focuses not on Wilde's literary achievements and public life, but on his private relationships with various men, and in particular his obsession with the young Lord 'Bosie'; of course, eventually, all of these things collide. Fry is perfectly cast as Wilde and Jude Law is suitably horrid as the spoilt, stroppy and thoroughly dislikable Bosie, whose selfishness brings about Wilde's downfall. Also worthy of note is the ever-excellent Michael Sheen in a smaller but vital role; he's a criminally under-acknowledged actor.

Special 1: Star Wars

2007-08-15T00:00:00.000+01:00

Introduction

While my main quest this year has been to see 100 films I've never seen before by the end of 2007, I've obviously seen other films around this. One of these has been to watch all six Star Wars films in their narrative order, over a three-day weekend. This turned out to be the weekend just passed, from Friday 10th to Sunday 12th. This special entry documents my thoughts on the films when viewed back to back in such a way.

Star Wars

Of course, everyone knows that these films were made 'back to front', in that 4 to 6 were made from 1977 to 1983 and 1 to 3 were made from 1999 to 2005. One might argue that there are reasons for viewing a story in such an order (for example, Memento works because it's back to front), but the fact that the films are numbered so suggests they should be watched that way. I've tried to view them with this in mind -- not as two trilogies from 4 to 6 and 1 to 3, but as one continuous story across six films, 1 to 6. Hopefully my comments reflect this. To help bolster this illusion, I watched the first two on Friday, the next two on Saturday, and the final two on Sunday.

For the sake of clarification, the versions of 4 to 6 watched were the most recently remastered DVD releases, complete with all sorts of controversial changes. Details of them can be found on sites such as IMDb.

1) Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999, George Lucas, DVD) 2/5
Everything you remember about Episode 1 is still true: the plot is too mired in political machinations, the dialogue is truly dire, the acting frequently wooden, the direction flat and Jar Jar Binks is as annoying as ever. There are some good bits -- the pod race is exciting and the four-way climax works, especially the excellent lightsabre battle. A lot of the CGI holds up remarkably well, but equally a lot of it wouldn't pass muster for a computer game now. If you're a 10 year old it all might be fine: you've grown up with CGI everywhere, you won't notice the dialogue, most plots wash over you anyway, the action is cool, and you're the same age as Anakin so you might not find him as whingeingly irritating. The Star Wars series would never have taken off (probably at all, let alone to the degree it has) if this had been the first entry we all saw.

2) Episode 2: Attack of the Clones (2002, George Lucas, DVD) 3/5
10 years on from Episode 1 and Anakin's a fully fledged Jedi (almost), Padme's a senator and Obi-Wan has a beard. Episode 2 benefits from improved dialogue and performances. Unfortunately it's still far from ideal -- the overuse of CGI leaves much of it looking fake (this is, almost, an animated film with a few real actors in) and the first hour is blighted by a slow pace, too much plot, and the allegedly all-important love story in which Anakin and Padme fall in love because, well, the plot says they do. There's also a building sense of the connectedness of all the films... well, obviously, because the Clone Wars kick off here; but it also more subtly lays the groundwork for other plot and character developments. It's a film still filled with flaws, but it still feels a lot better than the previous one in spite of them.

3) Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith (2005, George Lucas, DVD) 3/5
The sextet reaches its darkest point: Anakin turns to the Dark Side and slaughters the Jedi younglings before burning in the fires of Mustafar. It's all very depressing. To the film's credit, it doesn't conclude; that's to say, as the last film to be released you might've expected Lucas to bring things to a definite conclusion, but instead it ends with a sense that there's more to come -- exactly how things should be at the halfway point! The rest of the film is a mixed bag. The opening and closing 25 minutes are action-filled excellence, all epic space battles and lightsabre duels; Obi-Wan vs. Anakin even manages to pack an emotional punch. But the Anakin-Padme love story still rings false, and the latter is wasted, sitting around in her apartments waiting for updates and then dying of Plot Implausibility. In trying to make Anakin a Complex and Divided character, Lucas instead makes him seem fickle and underwritten. The simpler, action/adventure-orientated characterisation of the later films is actually stronger and deeper. But I'm getting ahead of myself: Revenge of the Sith is undoubtedly a better film than the two that precede it, but we all really know the best is yet to come.

4) Episode 4: A New Hope (1977/2004, George Lucas, DVD) 4/5
Here it is: the big crossover; the moment of truth. How does it fair? Pretty well, actually. A long time has passed since the dark finale of Episode 3 and there's undoubtedly a lighter feel (despite the Empire being in control!) C-3PO and R2-D2 are onboard the ship from the end of Episode 3, a useful visual link as things almost start over -- it's Luke's story now, and, with a new actor as Obi-Wan, it's only the droids and Darth Vader who are recognisable from before. The events of the previous trilogy add weight to Guinness' performance, as well as to the mythology that gets thrown about. Obi-Wan's final duel may not be as visually stunning as the one on Mustafar, but there's added emotion now we've seen the character develop. Real sets, costumes and models largely look better than CGI, though there are a few dodgy effects that you'd think they'd've fixed. Sadly, the CGI added in 1997 doesn't seem to have been improved for the 2004 release, so things like Jabba look pretty dreadful; that said, it's presence helps smooth the link between the trilogies, as does the music, a couple of plots (Obi-Wan vs. Vader; the Death Star) and some ship designs. However, the biggest change is in tone: 1 to 3 present an epic fantasy story, full of wizard-like Jedi, intricate galactic politics and ancient prophecies; by contrast, A New Hope is straight-up action/adventure, far more concerned with gunfights, tricky situations, exciting dogfights and amusing banter than with whether the President has been granted too much executive power. It's all the better for it -- even without glossy CGI and choreographed lightsabre duels, this is by far the most fun film so far. If anyone's only seen the prequels they may be baffled why so many people love Star Wars. This is the answer.

5) Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back (1980/2004, Irvin Kershner, DVD) 4/5
There are a variety of elements in the series' penultimate film that have a very different impact in light of what we've experienced in the first trilogy. The most obvious is the revelation that Vader is Luke's father: it's no longer a twist, of course, but the emotional impact on Luke still makes it an important moment. Yoda's line "There is another" is less mysterious, as is Luke's ability to telepathically alert Leia near the end. Thank God their kiss is only a brief moment of humour though! Speaking of Yoda, he seems to have gone a little loopy after several decades alone on Dagobah; the odd little green puppet is quite far removed from the wise old CGI sage we've seen before. His first mention (by an 'hallucination' of Obi-Wan) is also far less mysterious considering we know who Yoda is. The film finds itself lacking in the lightsabre duel department -- after the long, complex fights of the prequels the Luke/Vader duel looks decidedly weak; though, at the end of it, Vader exhibits characteristics which are very reminiscent of Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. Also, Han and Leia's burgeoning romance is infinitely more believable than Anakin and Padme's in only a fraction of the screen time. With Yoda, Boba Fett, the Emperor and Jabba all cropping up, threads planted and grown in all four preceding films are coming together, and things are in place to be wrapped up in the concluding film...

6) Episode 6: Return of the Jedi (1983/2004, Richard Marquand, DVD) 4/5
Considering it's the grand finale, it's perhaps surprising that Episode 6 is largely the lightest of all the films, filled with extra humour and all those cute little Ewoks. Personally, I like the Ewoks -- they make me laugh, go "aww", and it's sad when they die! Yoda's death is another sad moment, and even more so having seen him in full action in the first three films. The threat posed by the Emperor is also even more apparent, there's more of a sense that Luke truly could follow in his father's footsteps, and there's added poetic irony in Darth Vader's final decision -- it is the same thing that caused him to turn to the Dark Side that saves him from it. Here is also the biggest failing of the films as a single series, however: the prequel trilogy is endlessly obsessed with the prophecy about Anakin bringing balance to the Force; it isn't mentioned once here. A dubbed line or added shot with Yoda saying something would've been nice. Instead, the major change at the end is adding Hayden Christensen over Sebastian Shaw. It's a dreadful idea on paper... and so too in practice. He looks out of place and doesn't at all match with the man we just saw die in Luke's arms. Seeing celebrations across Bespin, Tatooine, Naboo and Coruscant neatly ties this right back to Episode 1 and shows the larger impact of the end of the Empire in what is an otherwise surprisingly brief and low key post-victory epilogue. Another thing worth a quick mention is the speederbike chase through the forests of Endor -- one of the series' very best action sequences, and all the more effective for being entirely practical instead of CGI. When all's said and done, I think Jedi is actually the most underrated of all the films.

Final Thoughts

So, does it work?

As with most things it's a case of yes and no. As I'm sure you've seen, my review of A New Hope covers many of my thoughts on the changeover between the two trilogies, and my comments on The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi elaborate on how things progress across the final two episodes. In short, it is, perhaps surprisingly, not the haircuts or quality of effects that really give away the change between the two trilogies, and the 28-year gap between Episodes 3 and 4; rather, it's the dramatic shift in tone, away from epic fantasy into thrilling action/adventure. This is not a bad thing, but when viewed in order it leaves you longing for Yoda and Obi-Wan to start wittering away about the fulfillment of prophecies and whatnot at the end of Episode 6.

The other thing potentially bothering is how some of the original trilogy's plot explanations come off, considering we've just seen them spelt out in almost seven hours of detail. Pretty well, as it turns out -- most of Obi-Wan's explanations to Luke are surprisingly brief, coming over more as gentle reminders to the audience, or at worst well-handled instances of those always-awkward cases of "Character X must be told Information Y that audience already knows". There's the odd reference that doesn't quite gel with what we've seen (for an example, Leia having some vague memories of her birth mother) and the lightsabre duels aren't up to the calibre of those in the new trilogy, but that's hardly bothersome.

If you're a fan of the films it's an interesting exercise to watch them in this order, and I'd recommend giving it a go. If you know someone who's never seen them before, especially if they're young enough to not be aware that Vader is Luke's father, I'd say they should still watch the original trilogy first -- it may still be effective in numerical order, but nothing beats that as a shocking revelation!

Week 32

2007-08-13T00:00:00.000+01:00

Introduction

Another single-week entry! Well now, isn't my film watching going smashingly.

Some might say I've been generous with the five-star ratings of late -- four in the last two weeks, compared to a total of six in the 29 weeks before it! Maybe I have. There aren't any to be seen this week, though that doesn't mean I haven't seen any good films! In fact, some only fall slightly short.

Another thing you'll notice this week are reviews of the original Star Wars trilogy. This is the first time I've seen them in a ridiculously long time; certainly, more than five years, possibly as many as ten! It's all part of a little Star Wars weekend I've had -- watch out for a 100 Films special (yes, I have specials now!) about it in the next few days!

Week Thirty-Two

It would be pretty hard to beat the massive eight new films I saw last week... and I haven't. But five new ones, plus all six Star Wars films (three reviewed here), is far from bad going. And, obviously, adds up to more in total.

I say five news ones -- that's not strictly true. You see, we begin with a slight oddity this week: I actually saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix a couple of weeks ago... and then completely forgot to review it! So, technically, it belongs in an earlier entry, with a lower review number... but that's far too much hassle, so I've just put it here instead. I'm sure no one will mind...

78) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007, David Yates, cinema) 3/5
The main problem here lies in trying to condense a 600+ page novel into a bit over two hours. While the book feels padded, watching the film it becomes apparent that this actually builds mystery and suspense, most of which is lost in what feels like a series of extended montages that create an abridged version of the book. The direction is stylish and there are still some neat action sequences, but it lacks much of the fun or flowing coherence of the previous two entries. Hopefully the next novel can be translated to the screen better, though I'm beginning to fear that anything less than using two films to adapt the final entry will be a mistake.

79) C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004, Kevin Willmott, DVD) 2/5
Mockumentary about the history of America had the South won the civil war. While an intriguing idea, in practice it's disappointing. Apparently such a victory would have led to everything the nation did since being to maintain slavery. There are some neat ideas (a Cold War with Canada) and some genuinely amusing or cleverly satirical bits, but the focus is too narrow and, consequently, unbelievable and sometimes dull. It also seems unable to break away from reality far too often: Wall Street still crashes, JFK becomes President and is assassinated, etc. The acting is frequently dodgy and it all has a very amateurish feel. To top it off, considering it's pretending to be a British documentary, the style is too like cheap American TV documentaries. All in all, a disappointment.

80) Pan's Labyrinth (2006, Guillermo del Toro, DVD) 4/5
Empire's 2nd best film of 2006; IMDb's 43rd best film ever; winner of over 60 awards... Pan's Labyrinth comes to any viewer with a serious amount of critical acclaim and genuine hype. As you might expect, this is a problem. I'm not going to disagree that it's a very good film, but I wasn't blown over by it, as I probably expected to be. Nonetheless, it's definitely worth seeing. The cinematography is worth mentioning especially. If there's one pro in the sacrilegious argument for a dub over subs, it would be that you could watch the pretty pictures properly. If you manage to not let the buzz take effect, you might find you love the film too.

81) Stranger Than Fiction (2006, Marc Forster, DVD) 4/5
Another of Empire's best films of last year (this one was 21st). Forster is developing an eclectic filmography, with Oscar-nominated dramas Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland alongside psychological thriller Stay and the 22nd Bond film. Stranger Than Fiction is different again, melding several styles into a cohesive whole -- mystery, rom-com, existentialism, a bit of fantasy, and those Ikea graphics from Fight Club. Some plot beats may be cliched, but that's almost the point; besides, there's plenty of originality to make up for it. A few plot turns in the final act also make sure you're never certain how it will end.

81a) Star Wars - Episode 4: A New Hope - DVD Edition (1977/2004, George Lucas, DVD) 4/5
Much criticism has been made of Lucas deciding to modify the original trilogy for the 1997 re-release, and then further for the 2004 DVD release. It's not necessarily unjustified, but it is sometimes picky. If Han shooting first bothered you, you may be a little pleased to know they now shoot at the same time. There are a few other extremely minor changes from the '97 version... sadly, though, not to the CGI: Jabba still looks dire, not even as good as the Episode 1 version -- CGI that was five years old by the time of this release! The film itself is still a fun sci-fi-fantasy action/adventure, devoid of many problems that plague the new trilogy.

82) Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006, Liam Lynch, DVD) 3/5
JB and KG, aka Tenacious D, go in search of the Pick of Destiny, an ancient guitar pick that will make them rock gods, in their first movie. The humour is a mixture of schoolboy toilet gags, general silliness/quirkiness, and rock/culture references -- undoubtedly, therefore, your mental age will dictate which bits (if any) you laugh at. Some jokes hit, others don't, and whole sections seem to be there merely to ensure the movie gets to a decent running time. If you're already a Tenacious D fan it's worth checking out, but if you don't like them you'll never like this. Personally, I think the music's the best bit -- and that's all on the soundtrack CD.

82a) Star Wars - Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back - DVD Edition (1980/2004, Irvin Kershner, DVD) 4/5
Little here is visually different from the '97 Special Edition. Cloud City benefits from the CGI windows and lighting it was given back then, though the views look as fake as ever. The big change comes in dubbing both Boba Fett and the Emperor with appropriate actors from the prequel trilogy (as well as a few other minor audio tweaks). Other than shunning the poor original actors in such a way, Empire is much the same as ever. Widely held as the best in the series, of course, which is not something I'd dispute. The 7th best movie ever made though? Possibly a bit of a stretch.

82b) Star Wars - Episode 6: Return of the Jedi - DVD Edition (1983/2004, Richard Marquand, DVD) 4/5
Again, there seems to be only minor differences or effects improvements here -- it does make you wonder what the fans were kicking up such a fuss about! The main additions are shots of planets around the Empire following the destruction of the Death Star, and these actually improve what is otherwise a very low-key celebration. The main addition to the DVD is Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. It doesn't work at all; in fact, it manages to make it looks as if there was never anyone there at all! The film is still a great piece of entertainment; the speederbike chase is one of the trilogy's greatest action sequences. And Ewoks are cute.

Week 31

2007-08-06T00:00:00.000+01:00

Introduction

My quest to see 100 films I've never seen by the end of 2007 passes the three-quarters point this week, and we're not even two-thirds of the way through the year!

This is the first single-week entry since week 14. As well as a concerted effort (such as three films on the Friday!), it's helped by a lessening in the amount of TV I've been watching -- last entry's list of 19 on-going programmes has shrunk to 13 by the end of this week. Some might say I watch too much TV...

Nonetheless, I've moved from about two films per week average over the last 16 weeks, to a total of eight films this week! Well well well.

Week Thirty-One

As well as a Week Of More it's a bit of a Week Of Quality. Three of this week's films are ones I've been dying to see for ages, and the rest follow not too far behind (OK, maybe I wouldn't've put the likes of Kinky Boots or Confetti on a list of films I was dying to see, but I did want to). There's also a fair few awards and nominations, and no small amount of critical acclaim, across them.

One could also argue that it's a Week Of Variety. To be honest, I suspect there's always a fair bit of variety in my film choices, but this week it's especially pronounced -- straightforward British comedies stand by low-budget intellectual sci-fi; complex teenage faux-film noir sits next to epic trilogy-starting Russian fantasy/horror; American gangster thriller lies beside classic British romance... And, while most were made in the new millennium, there's a spread of over 60 years between the oldest and the most recent. All within the space of seven days, too!

Perhaps because of all these reasons I've found choosing the final rating for every film here quite tricky; all of them have some malleability, either up or down.

70) Primer (2004, Shane Carruth, DVD) 3/5
According to many this is a real 'love it or hate it' film; in typically awkward fashion I'm going to place myself right in the middle. The thing is, I can see both sides -- there's a great conceit here, with a decent plot built around it; but it drags the idea of treating your audience's intelligence with respect too far into the realms of Simply Not Explaining Things Properly, including taking almost half the film for anything to become clear. Sadly this clarity only lasts a few minutes before things get muddled up again in the second half of the plot. I'd like to be able to love Primer, but the things that make me want to hate it just pull it down.

71) Kinky Boots (2005, Julian Jarrold, DVD) 4/5
A working class Britcom in the vein of films like The Full Monty. It may take too long to get going properly, and even the most casual film viewer could jot down the key plot points from the start, but it nonetheless manages some laugh-out-loud moments and it's more often happy than groan-inducing when the 'twists' come off. If nothing else it's worth seeing for Chiwetel Ejiofor (who you may recognise from films such as Serenity, Inside Man and Children of Men) as a drag queen. My score may be a little generous, but all round I enjoyed watching it, so why not?

72) Brick (2005, Rian Johnson, TV) 4/5
There's a nagging sense that you're watching a student short film for large chunks of Brick, especially at the start. This is accompanied by a niggling worry that it's also been vastly overrated. But it does, eventually, kick into gear -- the incomprehensible plot becomes a bit clearer and the fantasy that these high school kids are in some film noir becomes less irritating and more quite fun. It occasionally lapses back into its earlier problems but, all said, I'm glad I bothered to stick with it.

73) Night Watch (2004, Timur Bekmambetov, DVD) 4/5
Urban action fantasy from Russia; the first part of a trilogy (though, apparently, film two wraps the plot up and film three will be made in the US, looking at a different part of the story). It makes for a pretty entertaining tale, with a neat ending that both concludes this film's plot and leaves everything wide open for what's to come. It also has some very snazzy subtitles (sadly only available on the two-disc DVD; I won't waste too much space ranting about how crap the one-disc is here). If you don't like Films With Subtitles, this one might surprise you.

74) The Departed (2006, Martin Scorsese, DVD) 4/5
An all-star cast lead Scorsese's Oscar-winning remake of Hong Kong action thriller Infernal Affairs. It's an unusual yet striking mix of elements: cops vs. robbers thriller, gangster drama, relationships of those who protect/threaten us drama, and several more. It winds up with an unusual feel for structure and pace, though is never less than stylish. Having not seen many of Scorsese's earlier films it's hard for me to say if this is up to standard, as many say it is; but I still believe Greengrass' United 93 was more deserving of the Best Director nods. As I did earlier this year with The Prestige, my rating errs on the side of caution.

75) Confetti (2006, Debbie Isitt, TV) 3/5
Largely improvised Britcom, shot in a documentary style, about three couples trying to win a most original wedding competition. It starts out quite poorly, with unlikable characters and an irritating style, but things do improve and a number of the characters do grow on you (some do, deliberately, remain horrid). My favourites are the pair of camp wedding planners -- you don't get much more stereotypical, but they're lovable and amusing from the off. Fittingly, the weddings at the end are probably the best bits.

76) Brief Encounter (1945, David Lean, DVD) 5/5
Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard star in the classic romantic drama from highly acclaimed writer Noel Coward and highly acclaimed director David Lean. The central character's relationship is, famously, a very British affair -- all awkwardly repressed emotions, discussion of the weather, fear of society's opinions, stolen passionate kisses, guilt, indecision, true love and endless cups of tea. The witty screenplay, direction, and lead and supporting performances are all excellent. Undoubtedly and deservedly a true British classic.

77) Educating Rita (1983, Lewis Gilbert, TV) 5/5
Julie Walters makes her big screen debut opposite Michael Caine in this British comedy drama about a 26-year-old University student and her disenchanted drink-sodden tutor, adapted by Willy Russell from his own play and directed by the man behind Alfie and three Bond films. For a comedy drama (which usually fail to do either successfully) it's genuinely very funny, but maintains an appropriate weight in the dramatic moments. The script is full of great lines, beautifully delivered by the two leads; Walters is especially excellent. If you haven't seen it it might not be what you expect, but that's no bad thing. Recommended.

Weeks 29-30

2007-07-30T00:00:00.000+01:00

Introduction

Another two week stretch on my quest to see 100 new films by the end of the year. I'm just not seeing enough films per week to warrant entries that often, it would seem.

This time round I blame TV -- so many new things have started, as well as continuing shows, that I spend most of my time keeping up! During these two weeks I've been watching Boomtown, British Film Forever, Cape Wrath, Dexter, Dirt, Dragons' Den: Where Are They Now?, Eight Out of Ten Cats, Firefly, Heroes, House, Hyperdrive, Jekyll, Mock the Week, Shark, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Time of Your Life, Vanished, The Wire and Would I Lie To You, as well as a variety of one-off things. Quite a bit, I'm sure you'll agree!

Weeks Twenty-Nine and Thirty

Nonetheless, I've managed to get a few things watched (half of them right at the end of the second week!) -- and they've all turned out to be of good quality too, as you will surely see when you read my reviews...

66) Mystic River (2005, Clint Eastwood, DVD) 4/5
The acting is the main draw of this Oscar-winning murder drama, in which three childhood friends who grew apart are brought back together when one of their daughters is murdered. Tim Robbins is particularly excellent, easily earning his Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Unfortunately most of the plot is not far above the standards of your average police procedural show, albeit fleshed out with more insight into the various characters and plot complexities -- and, of course, with superior acting from all involved.

67) Right at Your Door (2006, Chris Gorak, DVD) 4/5
LA is hit by a series of 'dirty bombs' in this indie suspense thriller, that follows the story of what happens to one man in the suburbs, as well as the various people whose path cross his. Mainly based in one location (his home), the film is an effective and suspenseful account of what it's like to be an ordinary person almost in the middle of such an attack. The frantic early pace does let up a little as the film goes on, but it remains gripping right up to the well-executed twist.

68) Heat (1995, Michael Mann, DVD) 5/5
Heat will probably always be best remembered for two things: the excellent running shoot out on the streets of LA, and De Niro and Pacino on screen together for the first (and, so far, last) time. There's a lot more to it than that, of course: ostensibly a cops-and-robbers crime drama, the film follows the personal lives of each side as well as the usual professional actions. The cop-with-failed-marriage/criminal-with-successful-relationship juxtaposition may already feel cliched, it works well enough here, and is well executed without distracting from the meat of the plot -- which is, still, the crime and justice.

69) Mean Creek (2004, Jacob Aaron Estes, DVD) 5/5
A group of teenagers concoct a plan for revenge on a bully in this drama from first-time writer/director Estes. Whilst the premise might sound straightforward and liable to be morally simplistic, the writing, acting and direction combine to make a film that is complex, tense, tragic and ultimately believable. Some might argue it loses its way a little towards the end, almost struggling to find a suitable conclusion, but it doesn't do so enough to make it anything less than an excellent film. Highly recommended.

Weeks 27-28

2007-07-16T00:00:00.001+01:00

Introduction

My quest to see 100 films that I've never seen before by the end of 2007 rolls on into its second half. I've done really pathetically in the last couple of months -- my average number of films per week has dropped from 2.7 for weeks 1 to 18 to just 1.5 for weeks 19 to 26! I ain't gonna get to the end that way... actually, I'd hit exactly 100 by the end of the year if I carried on that way! But still, reaching 'only' 100 when I was more on track to hit 150 does seem like a slight disappointment.

Anyway, things do continue, and I think I've seen a pretty respectable number of films for these two weeks. Will the giddy heights of six films each in weeks 8, 12, 13 and 14 ever be reproduced? (And, by-the-by, that's six films on average across 12 and 13 -- the exact number from 13 was higher, but I can't remember what it was. Though I'm sure no one else cares for such boring information...)

So, that said:

Weeks Twenty-Seven and Twenty-Eight

A couple of Oscar-winners crop up this time round, as we move through the first few weeks of July (the 2nd to the 15th, to be precise).

61) Capote (2005, Bennett Miller, DVD) 4/5
It is, unsurprisingly, Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oscar-winning lead performance that dominates this movie. While the title might suggest a biopic, the film actually concentrates on the five year period in which Truman Capote researched and wrote his non-fiction novel In Cold Blood. While this process forms the structure of the plot, the title gives away what the movie is actually 'about' -- in and around the mechanics of the murder investigation and Capote's work process, it's the character of the man, and how it's affected, that is really revealed to the viewer (in a subtler way than my blatant highlighting of it here would suggest).

62) Ocean's Twelve (2004, Steven Soderbergh, DVD) 3/5
This all-star sequel to the 2001 Rat Pack re-make received a thorough slating from critics on release, mainly thanks to its New Wave influences (which are only clear if you're familiar with said cinematic trend), grittier approach (it's less shiny-glossy more grainy-film-stock -- hardly Bourne-compared-to-Bond gritty) and the feeling that the cast are having more fun than the audience (this one I'll allow). Aside from a few steps too far in the final act (such as Julia Roberts playing Tess playing Julia Roberts (funnier if it hadn't been so specified) and the frankly irritating twist denouement) it's still a pretty enjoyable film. But it's true that the first is better.

63) Monster (2003, Patty Jenkins, TV) 4/5
Charlize Theron uglies up (and wins an Oscar) portraying Aileen Wuornos, one of America's first female serial killers, in this 'true crime' biopic. The film focuses on her 9-month relationship with Selby, played by Christina Ricci, which is also the period in which she killed several men (many of them, especially initially, not undeserving of their fate). Theron gives a truly transformative performance that, with the obvious aid of the script, helps you understand Aileen, her actions and her motivations, and reveals a lot about her character without resorting to tacky flashbacks or unwieldy info-dumps.

64) Ringers: Lord of the Fans (2005, Carlene Cordova, DVD) 3/5
Made by the people behind the large Lord of the Rings fansite TheOneRing.net, you'd expect this documentary to focus itself on Lord of the Rings fandom. To a degree it does, but it also encompasses a history of the books and their popularity, as well as various thematic issues contained within them, and also takes in the various adaptations (though, criminally, doesn't even mention the BBC radio version). It's a bit unfocussed, sometimes coming across as a selection of featurettes strung together with occasionally random linking interviews. There's stuff of interest in here, but certainly not to everyone -- only fans need apply.

65) The Woodsman (2004, Nicole Kassell, DVD) 4/5
Kevin Bacon stars in this compelling drama. If anyone saw Channel 4's recent Secret Life, this treads very similar ground -- recently released paedophile struggles to fit back into the world and avoid recommitting former crimes. But whereas C4's drama was issue-driven this is character-based; it doesn't necessarily make it better, but it does make it different. Bacon manages the tricky task of eliciting sympathy and understanding as the paedophile (though perhaps not as much as Matthew Macfadyen did). A relatively intelligent look at what is usually a mindlessly treated subject.

Weeks 24-26

2007-07-04T00:00:00.000+01:00

Introduction

In case you've forgotten, and can't work it out from the title, I'm trying to see at least 100 films that I've never seen before by the end of 2007. That's an average of eight per month, donchaknow; or two per week. I'm well on target.

And, I'm halfway through! For anyone who can't remember how many weeks there are in a year... well, there's 52; and half of 52 is 26; and the week of June 25th is week 26 of 2007, meaning that July 1st is just about halfway through the year (though, to be precise, there's actually 52 weeks and one day in a year... well, actually, 52 weeks, one day and a quarter day... anyway...)

I passed the numerical halfway point (i.e. 50 films) way back in week 19 -- clearly I've not been doing as well in the past 7 weeks! At all. Oh dear oh dear...

Weeks Twenty-Four to Twenty-Six

Exams may be long over and holidays may be on, but combine the odd bits of good TV filling days and evenings with a commitment to completing Script Frenzy and you wind up seeing less films than you might expect. A lot less, as it turns out -- just three in three whole weeks! Still, I'm currently well on track to pass 100 by the end of the year anyway. Shiny.

And as has become standard practice, I'll handily remind you that this entry is covering films seen between 11th June and 1st July.

58) Sense and Sensibility (1995, Ang Lee, DVD) 4/5
A host of familiar British faces turn up in this Oscar-winning adaptation of the Austen-novel-with-the-name-like-Pride-and-Prejudice-only-not. Fans of any of the following will love this film: Jane Austen, costume drama in general, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet. For the rest of us, there's still lots of enjoyment to be had. Austen's plots may be virtually identical and you might be able to spy the endings almost from the start, but there's fun to be had getting there. Hugh Laurie's small supporting role is particularly worthy of mention.

59) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007, Gore Verbinski, cinema) 3/5
Curse of the Black Pearl was a surprisingly great film. Dead Man's Chest was a lacking attempt to recapture that glory. At World's End is the worst subtitle of all three, but mixed in quality. The first half hour is great fun, but then it gets weird, adds in hefty doses of over-complex plotting, and drags along fairly slowly until it finds an exciting climax a little late on. It's not all bad -- beautiful to look at, with some of the most impressive CGI ever, and there're some good action scenes. In the end it's the attempts to drag what was an entertaining fantasy action film to the mythological levels of Lord of the Rings that has made both sequels inferior to the first offering.

60) Kramer vs. Kramer (1979, Robert Benton, TV) 5/5
The acting is what shines in this multiple-Oscar-winning custody drama. Troubled wife Meryl Streep leaves husband Dustin Hoffman within the first five or so minutes (today she probably wouldn't leave til the end of the first act) and suddenly busy, work-driven daddy has to look after their young son all on his lonesome. I personally didn't find the later courtroom scenes quite as edge-of-your-seat intense as some have, but you can't fault the abilities of the actors. Perhaps particularly noteworthy is the kid, played by Justin Henry, though clearly it wasn't good enough to launch a decent career for him!

Weeks 21-23

2007-06-11T00:00:00.000+01:00

Introduction

This time I do see Spider-Man 3! But not Zodiac, mainly because I can't be bothered and I'm quite happy to catch it on DVD. Plus, Pirates 3 is long out now, and if you think I'm going to be foolish enough to brave the cinema to see a film of that popularity in its opening week when that week is also half term then you've got another thing coming! This period is also affected by exams and the beginning of Script Frenzy.

Talking of exams, I had my film exam on May 30th, which should in theory have meant a glut of films from the course or related to the course just before that. Well, there's Chinatown... and there would've been Only You but the sound wouldn't play... on my Mac anyway... and how about Die Hard and Once Upon a Time in the West (seen them before)... or connected films such as The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon, Easy Rider, The French Connection, The Godfather, Jurassic Park, Predator, Dirty Dancing, The Fifth Element, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Star Wars or Once Upon a Time in America? Well, I can tell you for nothing that I've seen some of them before. As for the others... you'll just have to see... or not...

Actually, this entry has wound up covering a longer than I initially thought (though not as long as it nearly did). Mainly cos it turned out I didn't (and haven't) watched many films since those pesky exams finished. I'm not sure why, to be honest.

Weeks Twenty-One to Twenty-Four

Films films films, and more films. I'm slowly making my way past the halfway mark in numbers, and slowly heading towards it in time. This period covers the three weeks from May 21st to June 10th.

53) West Side Story (1961, Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins, DVD) 4/5
"Everything's free in America," goes the famous line; but this film is probably more accurately summed up in its following line: "For a small fee in America". For, surprisingly, underneath the song and dance numbers (some impressive, some embarrassing), the Shakespearian romance story, and the vibrant and beautiful cinematography, beats the heart of a gritty, political, social drama about gangs, racism, immigration, and more -- issues that seem as pertinent today as ever. It's a brilliant film, which falls short of full marks only thanks to some of those weaker song & dance bits (and I might be being a tad unfair there).

54) Spider-Man 3 (2007, Sam Raimi, cinema) 3/5
Spider-Man 3 carries the distinct air of a group of people trying to recapture former glories, and the fun they had achieving them, and failing on both counts. There are hints at the things that made the first two (especially the second) movies so good, but they're relatively poorly executed. The pacing is shot to shreds, scenes and plot points need rearranging, the villains are less engaging, Venom is shockingly underused, the climax virtually comes out of the blue, and emo-Parker is just plain embarrassing (at first people at least laughed at him in the street, but then there's the jazz club sequence...) I also spend much of it wondering where most of the massive budget had gone. Yes, there's the odd action sequence (often with not-that-impressive CGI, it must be said), but much of the film focusses on the 'human drama' side of things, much more so than the first two (which were relatively heavy on it for summer movies) and with much less effect. It's only really in the finale that the budget shows, as if they saved it all up to pour out then. I've wittered on again, in a way I haven't since Hidden, and all with complaints... but here's why: the Spider-Man movies were great and, while this one has a relatively ambiguous ending in some respects, this is in so many ways clearly designed as a trilogy-ender. And it disappoints; and it disappoints in the worst possible way, because there are some great germs of ideas here... it just feels like they've filmed the second draft instead of letting it be fully polished. It's a huge shame.

55) Chinatown (1974, Roman Polanski, download) 5/5
Polanski's post-noir thriller follows J.J. Gittes, a private eye who begins investigating another cheating husband case but ends up drawn into a conspiracy that he can't hope to beat. It's often held up as an example of a perfectly structured screenplay, and the carefully considered reveal of character and plot throughout makes it easy to see why. It's also packed with imagery and subtext for those who want it, but if that's not your thing it still makes for a darn good thriller with a few neat twists.

56) Road to Morocco (1942, David Butler, VHS) 3/5
Gentle, silly humour abound in this comedy, the third in the Road to... series. If you remember those plays that Morecambe & Wise used to do you'll have a fair idea what this feels like, although with a couple of added musical numbers (and pretty good ones at that). It's not 'great cinema' and it won't be to everyone's taste, but it makes for a light, fun way to spend not much more than an hour.

57) It's All Gone Pete Tong (2004, Michael Dowse, DVD) 3/5
If you're into dance music/clubbing/Ibiza/etc, then this film is definitely aimed at you. As for the rest of us normal folk... well, to be honest, it's actually a fair bit better than I was expecting! The main reason I wanted to see it was because I'd heard it had interesting sound design; other than that, I thought a clubbing-based 'comedy' really wasn't for me. Turns out it's not as much of a 'comedy' as I expected, though there are some funny bits (and some mere attempts at funny bits). By the end, there's an odd feeling of having seen something a great deal better than expected, but still with a certain oddness that somehow holds it back.

Weeks 19-20

2007-05-21T00:00:00.000+01:00

Introduction

In which I don't see Spider-Man 3, because I don't care enough to brave the huge opening weekend crowds (and it's not meant to be very good anyway). Just one in a list of films I've missed at the cinema this year anyway (300, Sunshine, The Fountain, The Illusionist, Ghost Rider, Shooter, TMNT...), though I do intend to see it there soon. And Zodiac's out now too! And Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is surprisingly close! And...

Oh, summer. How you sequelise us. Now there's a new word for you.

Also this month, I watch some stuff via free downloads -- legal ones too! Check out LOVEFiLM for those, including proper features such as Super Size Me and The Cooler (as well as many more... if you pay). I'll mention which they are, with a link, as we progress. I'm not getting commission from clicks, by the way. Maybe I ought to be...

Weeks Nineteen and Twenty

In which I come up with a way of listing Extended-Cuts-That-Aren't-Much-Different without adversely affecting my numbering system. (And have retrospectively applied it to Crash and all since.)

I also begin to use the same system to list short films that I watch.

As usual, before we embark on the reviews, I shall inform you that this period covers the middle of May, from the 7th to the 20th.

49) March of the Penguins (2005, Luc Jacquet, DVD) 4/5
One of the most surprising hits at the box office in 2005, as you're probably aware this is a documentary about penguins. Specifically, it's about their mating cycle -- there's little information outside of that. It does manage to touch on the sex, death and violence inherent in most nature things though, albeit in a family-friendly U-rated kind of way. In fact, it's a film very much about the story of the mating cycle, rather than about information-giving. Along with beautiful shots of Antarctica and cute shots of baby penguins, I suspect this is why it was more of a hit than a straight-up informative documentary would have been.

49a) Spider-Man 2.1 (2004/2007, Sam Raimi, DVD) 5/5
Shortly before the release of the new threequel, Spider-Man 2 returns to DVD in this newly extended form. What's there? Not much. There are bits so little you'll think "I don't remember that bit" (and it may just be a bit you've forgotten); there's a new scene with MJ that's OK but not mind-blowing; some added bits to fights; and an alternate version of The Lift Scene that is funny and (very) notably different, but just not as good as the original. It's still a 5-star film because it doesn't ruin the original -- but it's not at all essential. The DVD has new extras, mind, so if that's your thing (like me) it may be worth it.

50) Ray (2004, Taylor Hackford, TV) 4/5
It's easy to see why Walk the Line has been described as "Ray with white people"; but Ray has also been described as being an outstanding performance in an average film, and I'd pretty much agree with this too. Jamie Foxx is indeed an amazingly accurate Ray Charles (based on the little I know of the man, anyway) and deserving of his Oscar. It would be unfair to say such a performance is wasted in this film, but it is true that no other element is quite up to the same level. While Ray is good, I personally thought Walk the Line was a better film.

51) Over the Hedge (2006, Tim Johnson & Karey Kirkpatrick, DVD) 3/5
CGI movies are far too common these days, meaning that the quality is dropping (demonstrated by the fact that the number produced has increased massively but the number of Oscar nominations in that category has remained at three). Over the Hedge is certainly derivative -- its character arc is almost directly lifted from Toy Story, for example -- but it is beautifully animated and does have some laugh-worthy moments, even if they are almost entirely in the last half hour. There are better examples of the genre, but it passes the time entertainingly enough. (Stay with it til the end of the credits for a little bit more, although if you bother you may agree with Hammy's assessment of things.)

52) Hello, Dolly! (1969, Gene Kelly, DVD) 3/5
Comedians Walter Matthau and Michael Crawford (yes, Frank Spencer!) star alongside Barbra Streisand in this comedy musical directed by Gene Kelly (yes, the star of many a musical himself!) which flopped at the box office but did well at the Oscars, and has gained in popularity since. The best bits are the very impressive dancing waiters at Harmonia Gardens, although some of the more amusing songs are worth seeing. It's this tongue-in-cheek, sometimes-silly tone that stops it seeming too dated, although other elements of its style (and the running time) don't help. Surely a must-see for musical fans, though others may not be as engaged.

52a) The End (2002, Tim Clayton & Rob Crowther, download) 2/5
A very brief film with a slightly silly, slightly amusing idea at its core. It doesn't outstay its welcome, but it does lose something in that you can see the end coming almost from the start. Currently available for free at LOVEFiLM.

52b) Bus Stop (2004, Matt Abbiss, download) 2/5
An animated, somewhat bizarre short about two people waiting at a bus stop. Done in a very simple style with sparse sound, but it's competently executed and often effective. It has some amusing moments. Not bad, but mainly for people who like this kind of thing anyway. Currently available for free at LOVEFiLM.

52c) Park (2005, Andy Pearson, download) 3/5
"Some humans in a park act like dogs" is essentially the premise of this film. It's a decent enough concept for a short really, and is well executed with some nice little moments. Prettily shot in the Autumn, too. Currently available for free at LOVEFiLM.

52d) Nine 1/2 Minutes (2002, Josh Appignanesi & Misha Manson-Smith, download) 4/5
David Tennant (yes, David Tennant!) and Zoe Telford (she's been in a variety of TV stuff) star in this comedic short about two people on an uncomfortable blind date that lasts just about as long as you might suspect. Genuinely funny for the most part, and easily the most professionally executed of these four shorts, but it does have a somewhat confounding conclusion. Currently available for free at LOVEFiLM.

Weeks 15-18

2007-05-08T00:00:00.000+01:00

Introduction

After a glut of movies during the middle of the holiday things have slowed down a tad again. I say "a tad" -- you can see how much by the sheer volume of weeks included in this entry and the relatively sparse number of films! (To be technical, the average-films-per-week in this entry is 1.75, compared to 2.72 overall and 6 (yes, 6!) last time.)

Nonetheless, things are progressing, and overall I'm still on track to make it well past the 100 mark. That's from the overall average mind, not from the one for this period. From that I'll make it to about 90. Maybe I should worry... except that summer movie season is on the way! Plenty of new films there. Plus all the ones I've recently missed out on DVD.

Well, that sure is shiny.

Weeks Fifteen to Eighteen

In which I break my self-imposed rule about the length of reviews to witter on about Hidden for double the time. I also didn't watch a single new film in week sixteen (Three Colours Red fell right at the end of week fifteen, Hidden a little way into week seventeen!) And I've nearly hit the halfway point, a third of the way through the year. Oh my!

For anyone who may be trying to keep track, this period covers nearly all of April -- from the 9th to the 30th, in fact -- plus pretty much the first week of May (up to the 6th). That's basically a month. Well well well...

42) Three Colours Red (1994, Krzysztof Kieslowski, DVD) 5/5
The final film in the trilogy takes on the theme of fraternité/brotherhood, in a relatively obvious way: Irene Jacob befriends a lonesome old man who spies on his neighbour's telephone calls. There's much more to it than that, all on broadly the same theme, but I'm sure to say too much would be to ruin what is an excellent film. Best of all, in my mind, is the intriguing and oddly satisfying conclusion to the trilogy as a whole. I'm sure it's not for everyone, but I still recommend it.

43) Hidden (2005, Michael Haneke, DVD) 4/5
Empire's 15th best film of 2006 is very European. How so, you may ask. Well, firstly, it is French (and its original title is Caché, by the by); but it certainly feels it: it takes a very good concept/plot for a thriller and then stretches it out a little thin, with a notably slow pace, and a concentration on the dramatic impact on characters rather than plot movements. Not necessarily bad things, and it walks a fine line somewhere between them working and them failing (that is to say, it's not wholly successful). There's an irritating apparent lack of resolution, though reading one theory in an online review has suggested maybe I missed (or misinterpreted) it. The performances also deserve mention -- as with everything else they teeter between excellent (mostly) and a bit unbelievable (see: the rather muted 'arguments', or the unusual order of reactions to the son going missing). Some also might argue the direction is flat, with many long shots and relatively few cuts. You could argue this reflects the theme/plot, but on the other hand it is somewhat symptomatic of some areas of European cinema.

44) Casanova (2005, Lasse Hallstrom, DVD) 2/5
As expected, this film pales in comparison to the Russell T Davies-scripted, David Tennant-starring BBC production from the same year. Where that version is witty, clever, entertaining and actually does something with the characters, this film is silly, predictable and only occasionally graced with an amusing moment. Heath Ledger isn't in the same league as Tennant as Casanova-in-his-prime, and obviously few could compare to Peter O'Toole as old Casanova (in the BBC one, that is). Basically: avoid this, but be sure to see the BBC one.

45) Garden State (2004, Zach Braff, DVD) 4/5
Zach Braff of Scrubs fame writes, directs and stars in this coming-of-age-style comedy-drama, his first feature as writer and director. While it's not devoid of predictable elements there are some good scenes and performances along the way, as well as a few laughs (only a handful of them in any way marred by the trailer). It's probably the directing that really stands out, so it'll be interesting to see what his next film (2008's Open Hearts) is like.

46) Breathless (1960, Jean-Luc Godard, download) 4/5
Or A Bout de Souffle, Godard's first and most famous film; part of the beginning of the Nouvelle Vague, a French movement defining a particular youth culture at the time. OK, loose history lesson over. This is definitely what most people would call an 'arthouse' film, though is decidedly less so than the one other Godard film I've seen (1959's Vivre Sa Vie, which goes by various translated titles); this might be down to it drawing inspiration from American movies, most obviously those starring Humphrey Bogart. Undoubtedly not for everyone, but an obvious must for anyone with an interest in art / international cinema.

47) Bonnie and Clyde (1967, Arthur Penn, download) 4/5
"You've heard the story of Jesse James, of how he lived and died; If you're still in need of something to read, here's the story of Bonnie and Clyde". Bonnie and Clyde is a significant film for several reasons, but I'm not going to give another film history lesson! It brings together several well-executed elements to create a compelling whole -- good performances, showcased in at least one key scene for every actor; merging Hollywood feature and New Wave influences; themes of media influence, Robin Hood-esque antiheroism, what family is, and no doubt several more; plus a few exciting action sequences just to round things out.

48) Stormbreaker (2006, Geoffrey Sax, DVD) 4/5
An adaptation of the first in Anthony Horowitz's bestselling series of Alex Rider novels. It does a good job of translating the book, aided by an extensive cast of recognisable Brits (and some Yanks) and some entertaining action sequences. It occasionally lets itself down in its choices of which bits to adapt and which to leave out, especially in the third act -- some of the best action sequences are swapped for lesser ones (quad bikes for a horse in central London? Maybe a good idea on paper, but it doesn't work), and the climax isn't as fulfilling as the apparent one that happens just before it. Not a bad effort, especially for kids.

Week 14

2007-04-09T00:00:00.000+01:00

Introduction

My quest to watch 100 films I've never seen before by the end of 2007 continues toward the halfway point. However, this week I've hit an exact average of three films per week -- if that were to continue I'd easily pass 150 films by the end of the year! It's really beginning to seem that 100 is a rather easy mark to cross, while 150 would be more realistic... though only if I kept this rate up, and I slipped I would fail. That's never fun.

So, my indecisiveness shall continue. Probably until I actually reach 100 and decide if there's enough time to see another 50 films. Oh well, they say gambling's bad anyway.

Week Fourteen

As noted last week (and above), week fourteen means we're now over a quarter of the way through the year, and so on the path to the halfway point (which, by-the-way, would be about July 1st, which is the Sunday at the end of week twenty-six). I'm also still on holiday, so once again I've seen a fair few films this week, and six of them new to me. Here they are:

36) Ladies in Lavender (2004, Charles Dance, DVD) 4/5
Judi Dench puts in her fourth appearance in this list (far and away the most represented actor, I should think) in Charles Dance's first film as writer and director. Dench and her long-time friend Maggie Smith play believable sisters in a beautiful Cornish setting who discover a young Pole washed up on their beach. The story progresses from there in a gentle but engrossing fashion, and the cast of experienced Brits are as excellent as ever.

37) The New World (2005, Terrence Malick, DVD) 4/5
Slowly paced and beautifully photographed, this is about as far from Disney's telling of the story (in Pocahontas, of course) as you could get. This is not a bad thing, as the pace and photography combine to make for a serene unravelling of story and mood. It only begins to wear a little thin around the time Christian Bale's character turns up -- sticking to the facts of a story, and in the process damaging the film, is sadly a regular flaw in real-life tales such as this. I also loved the sound design, imbued as it was with the small sounds of nature, all creaking timber and rustling grass.

38) The Devil Wears Prada (2006, David Frankel, DVD) 4/5
Emily Blunt steals every scene, which is impressive alongside an Oscar-nominated Meryl Streep (that being the now-customary acting-nominee-from-a-blockbuster, est. 2004 by Mr Depp). Anne Hathaway provides the plot/emotional through-line against these performances, which is somewhat impressive when playing a lead character who morally sells out (albeit into a lifestyle that is undoubtedly desirable to the film's intended audience). The plot and character arcs may be pretty predictable, but it's an above-average example of a film of this type.

39) Three Colours Blue (1993, Krzysztof Kieslowski, DVD) 4/5
The first in Kieslowski's thematic trilogy based around the French flag and the values it represents. Here it's liberté/freedom, in this case brought about by the death of Julie's husband and daughter in a car accident. In the lead role Juliette Binoche is the film and she carries it admirably, taking her character through a range of phases and emotions. It takes a little time to get going but is worth it in the end (speaking of the end, it appears to have been an inspiration to films such as Donnie Darko and Magnolia...)

40) Happy Feet (2006, George Miller, DVD) 4/5
While it might not be in quite the same league as The Incredibles or Finding Nemo, this year's Animated Oscar-winner does have a few things going for it. There are a couple of enjoyable songs, a few exciting action sequences, and even some bits that actually make you laugh. Couple this with a positive (if improbable) pro-environment message, and an even better anti-religious one that's only half-hidden, and you have an entertaining film for kids that grown-ups will find something in too.

41) Three Colours White (1994, Krzysztof Kieslowski, DVD) 4/5
The second in the trilogy (see #40) features the idea of égalité/equality. The lead character is a Polish immigrant who, at the start, is divorced by his French wife and, in a roundabout way, forced to return to Poland. The narrative follows an odd path toward an odd resolution; it's also odd that a film about a basic French value is set mostly in Poland. While it has its moments and is certainly intriguing, White comes out as inferior to Blue. I'm looking forward to what Red has in store.

Weeks 12-13

2007-04-02T00:00:00.000+01:00

Introduction

I knew I should have posted the not-too-short-really week twelve by itself, as week thirteen has seen a veritable mass of films viewed toward the end. But it's done now, so on with the show!

The end of the second week here marks the exact quarter-way point of my filmic quest (in time terms anyway) and so it seems an appropriate point to reflect a little on my quest so far. So here are some numbers, all totalled up to the end of week thirteen:

Statistics

I have seen a total of 36 films.

Of those, 1 was released in the 1910s, 2 in the 1920s, 1 in the 1940s, 2 in the 1950s, 4 in the 1980s, 3 in the 1990s, and 23 in the 2000s. That means there's nothing from the 1930s, 1960s or 1970s.

I have seen 27 on DVD, 6 at the cinema, 2 on VHS, and just 1 on TV.

The only directors to turn up multiple times are John Glen (twice) and F.W. Murnau (twice). As it turns out, a fair few actors turn up at least twice, mainly thanks to films like Hot Fuzz, Boogie Nights and Crash. It was only Roger Moore who managed several appearances when I first started putting these stats together!

I have awarded 4 films 5/5, 17 films 4/5, 10 films 3/5, 4 films 2/5, and 1 film 1/5. This makes the average score 3.5/5. Either I see lots of pretty good films or I need to adjust my scoring downward slightly. For anyone interested, the five-star films were Hot Fuzz, United 93, Crash and Trainspotting, whilst the one-star was Flight 93.

My weekly average is now 2.8 per week, which means I'm on course to see about 145 films this year. Maybe I should adjust that aim...

Weeks Twelve and Thirteen

Anyway, it's time to get on. Here are the films I watched between March 19th and April 1st...

25) Doom (2005, Andrzej Bartkowiak, DVD) 2/5
Doom is quite flawed in many ways. I don't say this because I inherently dislike mindless action films (while I am perfectly aware they are not usually Great Films, I enjoy them as entertainment); I say this because Doom doesn't really succeed at being one. It takes too long to get anywhere -- I think someone thought it was building suspense, when really it's just nothing happening. When it does kick off it's brief and only vaguelly entertaining. And the much-discussed first-person sequence is far too much like watching someone play a video game.

26) Flight 93 (2006, Peter Markle, DVD) 1/5
Oh dear. The Other Film About United 93 is just that. With poor acting, pedestrian direction, dreadful effects, and a young child in every single scene involving a relative, this film is infinitely inferior to Paul Greengrass' United 93. Where that was subtle, realistic and moving, this is over-worked, cheesy and laughable -- yes, laughable; we spent half the running time taking the piss out of it! Not good for a film about a tragedy. Some have called this a worthy companion piece to United 93. It's not. United 93 is essential; Flight 93 you can take or, preferably, leave.

27) Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002, George Clooney, TV) 4/5
George Clooney's directorial debut is part biopic, part comedy and part spy thriller. It's the last part that works best, but perhaps that's just because I have a predilection for spy thrillers; that said, the filmmakers would seem to agree as, after a late appearance in the plot, it comes to dominate its climax. It's also nicely shot, especially the excursions to Europe. I would recommend it (though not quite as heartily as Clooney's second film, the excellent Good Night, and Good Luck).

27a) Crash: Director's Cut (2004, Paul Haggis, DVD) 5/5
OK, I must confess, this one is something of a cheat -- I've seen Crash before, and whilst some 'director's cuts' can be vastly different this one is only around two minutes longer. But I'll take any chance I can get to go on about how this is a much better and more Oscar-deserving piece than a certain overrated film about gay cowboys. In my opinion this is a film that should be seen, not necessarily for its message but for its quality in terms of performance, direction, etc.

28) The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005, Tommy Lee Jones, DVD) 3/5
Empire gave this film one of their rare five-star reviews, immediately making me want to see it. Shame they overrated it then. A confused first act (which jumps about in chronology for no discernible reason) gives way to a more linear second two that, while more pleasing, seem to do away with major characters for no reason other than the plot ran out of things for them to do. The film has its moments, and some pretty views, but five-star it ain't.

29) Trainspotting (1996, Danny Boyle, DVD) 5/5
Choose great direction. Choose iconic images. Choose a great soundtrack. Choose a brilliant cast. Choose a career-making performance from Ewan McGregor. Choose a witty script. Choose realism. Choose drugs. Choose sex. Choose a condom, for the first time on screen. Choose swearing. Choose violence. Choose drink. Choose Scotland. Choose Trainspotting.

30) Little Miss Sunshine (2006, Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, DVD) 4/5
People will tell you this is a comedy, when really it's a comedy-drama. A TV critic once said, not wrongly, that a comedy-drama is something that isn't especially funny nor especially dramatic so tries to do both. Luckily, Little Miss Sunshine is frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious, from the opening dinner scene to the send-up of inherently paedophilic beauty pageants at the climax (so hilarious it almost single-handedly pushed my mark up to a five). There's also some competent drama threaded through to make that side worthwhile. And I suspect that lovable little Abigail Breslin was more deserving of the Oscar than that irritating Jennifer Hudson.

31) Mrs Henderson Presents (2005, Stephen Frears, DVD) 4/5
Judi Dench is clearly having a whale of a time in this 1930s-set comedy about a 70-year-old widow who starts up a nude revue. It begins as light comedy with a gently risque edge (rather in-keeping with its subject matter!), but things get a tad serious when the war hits. Luckily the film finds its lightness again in time for the ending, which is much more suited to the general tone. All told it's simply a bit of fun, but its overall quality just about nudges it into a four.

32) Chocolat (2000, Lasse Hallstrom, DVD) 4/5
Although not the lead character this time, Judi Dench once again revels in playing an old lady who can say what she likes, in this pleasant adaptation of Joanne Harris' novel. It's a neat little story about acceptance that doesn't suffer from an occasionally episodic plot or a sometimes quaint depiction of French small-town life. (I was occasionally distracted spotting the sci-fi/fantasy credentials of the cast. But that's just me.)

33) American Dreamz (2006, Paul Weitz, DVD) 3/5
This loosely satirical comedy from the director of such diverse fare as American Pie and About a Boy sees Dennis Quaid's Bush-growing-a-brain President agree to be a guest judge on Hugh Grant's Simon-Cowell-with-looks TV talent show that features Mandy Moore's moral-less wannabe and Sam Golzari's Iraqi potential-suicide-bomber as contestants. It's pretty much as loopy as that sounds, though not as clever as it thinks it is. It starts well, the quality dips as it takes too long to get to the actual contest, but the ending manages to redeem things.

34) Secretary (2002, Steven Shainberg, DVD) 3/5
I seem to recall reading that Secretary attempts to depict a realistic and sympathetic dominant/submissive relationship. Unfortunately this seems to come a bit unstuck with the feeling that the relationship is initially based in an emotionally (and physically) abusive act against a clearly vulnerable character, leaving the following events and mutually loving resolution tinged with a hint of something akin to Stockholm Syndrome, in my opinion. Well acted and all, but fundamentally flawed.

35) The King and I (1956, Walter Lang, DVD) 3/5
To be fair to The King and I, I was a little sleepy through most of it, and, thanks to some slightly cheesy bits at the start, my mind was occasionally locked in a spoofing mode. However, there are some recognisable songs and an Oscar-winning performance from Yul Brynner, as well as truly sumptuous sets and costumes.

Weeks 9-11

2007-03-21T00:00:00.000Z

Introduction

My aim is to see 100 films I've never seen before by the end of 2007. Simple concept, innit. If you want to see how it's been going so far, check out the end of this entry.

Week 8 seems to have been a high point so far, in terms of film viewing. I mean, I saw six films that week! Compared to an average of just over two films per week at the start and barely two per week now. So much for weekly entries, eh. But I'm not doing too badly -- not yet a quarter of the way through the year and I've passed the quarter point in my total. There is hope yet!

Weeks Nine to Eleven

For anyone keeping track, this period covers February 26th to March 18th. I didn't see many films in week nine (the first, and only, was on Friday!), or week ten (the first, and only new one, was on Wednesday!), so I decided to put these three together. And here is what I saw...

22) United 93 (2006, Paul Greengrass, DVD) 5/5
It's very hard to find what to say about this film. It's a shame the Oscars were too cowardly to nominate it for much; Greengrass probably deserved Best Director for this more than Scorsese did for The Departed (he is, all round, a talented and excellent director); at least the BAFTAs were brave enough to give it to him (cos British is best 'n' all). But the film itself: it is above all affecting; it feels real and true; it is hard to imagine a more competent and respectful film being made about 9/11; it is impossible to imagine one being made about flight 93. This is filmmaking of the highest order. Perhaps most importantly of all, the families want you to see it. Absolutely essential.

23) Fargo (1996, Joel Coen, DVD) 4/5
Fargo is the latest film to have been inducted into the United States National Film Registry, donchaknow. It's also 105th on the IMDb Top 250 Movies, and the 21st film from the 1990s. So it's pretty much a modern classic then. It is indeed very good; the only thing holding me off giving it 5 is a lack of that Something which leads me to rate so highly after one viewing. Maybe it will go up in time.

24) The Reckless Moment (1949, Max Ophuls, DVD) 4/5
Ophuls' film noir about a mother who covers up the death of her daughter's much older boyfriend. I think I'm perhaps erring on the side of generosity with the rating, but it is still quite a good film. Certainly it allowed me to play one of my favourite games: what would I change if I remade it? I had a few quite good ideas, actually. I'm tempted to start writing...

Week 8

2007-03-03T00:00:00.000Z

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.

Weeks 1-7

2007-02-28T00:00:00.000Z

Introduction

The aim of the original idea from which this is adapted is to read 50 books this year and list them here. There's no way I'd manage that, to be honest. Yes, I'm an English Lit student -- that doesn't mean I read! So my version is to try to watch 100 films this year and, of course, list them here. This is 100 films I've never seen before mind, so constantly re-watching old favourites won't get me anywhere. Neither will the Bond-in-order thing I have planned for some point, what with me having seen them all before. Oh dear.

Anyway, I shall also be giving the films a rating out of 5 and a review. No doubt these will be of varying lengths -- knowing me they'll start as a single short sentence and progress to 10,000 word essays on each. But we'll see. And various virtually-useless accompanying notes, like where I saw them (e.g. cinema, DVD, TV), the year they were made, and who directed them. Just cos I will.

Weeks One to Seven

So we begin here, covering weeks one to seven of this year. The week beginning 26th February is week nine, for those who don't know -- I'll get to covering week eight soon, and indeed week nine in time also. For these first seven weeks I can't remember the precise order I watched the films in, so they're grouped in a bit of alphabetical order and a bit in what I can remember of their relation to each other. To be honest, I think they're just a bit of a mess now.

1) Eragon (2006, Stefen Fangmeier, cinema) 2/5
The first film I saw in 2007, and I saw it on New Years Day! Eragon wants to be the next Lord of the Rings / Harry Potter / Narnia, especially with its utter lack of resolution at the end, but it just isn't. It has its entertaining moments, but it's also lumbered with huge lumps of bad dialogue, bad acting and fantasy cliches abound. I have no idea how it compares to the book.

2) Thumbsucker (2005, Mike Mills, DVD) 2/5
I had no desire to see this film, for whatever reason, until I saw the trailer two or three (or more) times at my uni's CinSoc, after which I thought it looked like it could be quite funny and cool. So I rented it, and it disappointed me. It's not a new Donnie Darko, as some would have you believe; it's not that funny either, actually, or that quirky, really. It's not the worst thing ever, but by and large it's best avoided.

3) Basil the Great Mouse Detective (1986, Ron Clements, Burny Mattinson, Dave Michener & John Musker, DVD) 4/5
A seriously underrated Disney film, though it does appear to have a substantially large cult following based on it being seriously underrated! If you like your Disneys musical this may be one to avoid, though the couple of songs present are quite decent, but if you're a Sherlock Holmes fan you should definitely catch it.

4) Boogie Nights (1997, Paul Thomas Anderson, DVD) 4/5
I loved Magnolia. I thought Punch-Drunk Love was dire. And this is how I come to Boogie Nights. I didn't fall for it in the same way I did for Magnolia, but it is nonetheless a very good film that shows a step on the path to that more complex and more rewarding picture. One I may get a better feel for when I see it again some day.

5) A Cock and Bull Story (2005, Michael Winterbottom, DVD) 3/5
I forget which British paper described this as "the best film ever, ever, ever". It may've been The Guardian. They're not right, of course, but it has its moments -- most of them courtesy of the excellent Rob Brydon, who far outshines Steve Coogan. It's worth watching for the former alone.

6) Octopussy (1983, John Glen, DVD) 4/5
I dislike Roger Moore as Bond, mostly based on the number of piss-poor films he starred in. It seems I may just have been watching the wrong ones. Whereas FYEO (see below) is relatively widely praised, Octopussy is relatively widely panned. I'm not sure why. Yes, there's a crap bit for about 10 minutes in the middle; yes, the clown outfit is a little silly; but, for the most part, it's pretty darn entertaining. Not the franchise's all time high, but far from the worst entry.

7) For Your Eyes Only (1981, John Glen, DVD) 4/5
As you may have gathered from above, I think that both of these films are fine examples of Bond filmmaking. FYEO is probably the better of the two, but not without its faults -- no Moore film would be complete without some moments that threaten to utterly balls it up, and this one has a painful, outdated comedic ending, as well as an unnecessary pre-titles.

8) Ong-Bak (2003, Prachya Pinkaew, DVD) 4/5
This is a tricky film to rate. The plot is pretty inconsequential and drags things out a bit toward the end, but that's not what you come to a film like Ong-Bak for -- it's here for the action. When it comes (the pointless plot machinations hold it off for a while) it delivers pretty well indeed, with some impressive work from star Tony Jaa. I err on the side of generosity with my score.

9) The Last Days of Pompeii (1913, Mario Caserini & Eleuterio Rodolfi, VHS) 2/5
The fact that it's an old silent film will be enough to put most people off. Some of those are worth seeking out, of course, but I would hesitate to recommend this one. The score may be a little unfair as the plot and execution of it aren't too bad, but somehow I can't bring myself to give it any more.

10) It (1927, Clarence G. Badger, VHS) 3/5
Proof if it were needed that the format of the rom-com has gone largely unchanged for at least 80 years! In that respect It makes for a fairly entertaining film, with some story elements that modern audiences might find surprisingly, well, modern. Entertaining but not essential.

11) The Pursuit of Happyness (2006, Gabriele Muccino, cinema) 4/5
Will Smith gives up the comedy act and blockbuster action for the sort of true story that you thought only happened in movies. His relationship with his screen-son is impressive acting, til you realise it's his real-life son too, but even that does little to undermine things. It manages to avoid the sugary sentimentality that you might expect and in the process makes for a fair tale of the underdog succeeding. Cute kid too.

12) South Pacific (1958, Joshua Logan, DVD) 3/5
I like a good musical. I wouldn't say I was a fan of the genre on the whole, but I do enjoy good ones. South Pacific, to my mind, is not one of the very best, but it has its moments (and its songs!) and there are some fair points underlining the plot. If you don't like musicals this one probably won't convert you; if you're a musical fan... well, you've probably already seen it!

13) Romance & Cigarettes (2005, John Turturro, DVD) 3/5
I was attracted to this because it was billed as a modern musical, with an impressive cast. Tsk. Some people are put off by the musical tag -- well, don't be. The characters occasionally sing along to some popular songs (and sometimes to ones you've never heard in your life), and sometimes do fun dance routines. This sits at odds with the gritty-ish melodrama of the plot, but that's the fun. It's worth a punt, but expect to dislike it.

14) The Prestige (2006, Christopher Nolan, cinema) 4/5
The latest effort from the director of Memento and Batman Begins is an intriguing one. A well-handled complex narrative (it again jumps about in time, but never to the audience's confusion), even if the twists are relatively easy to guess. A credit, then, that the film doesn't totally rely on them. I'm a big fan of Nolan's work and definitely continue to be; this may gain that missing point on re-viewing. See it.

15) This is Spinal Tap (1984, Rob Reiner, DVD) 4/5
I think my viewing of Spinal Tap may have suffered from years of hype. In some ways it was exactly what I'd expected; in others, not. There are plenty of funny moments, and the odd hilarious one (Stonehenge), but there were times when I felt a little underwhelmed by it. Maybe you had to be there; maybe it is indeed a victim of hype.

Introduction

2007-01-01T00:00:00.000Z

Welcome to 100 Films in a Year!

The task is simple: to see 100 films that I've never seen before between January 1st and December 31st.

The purpose of this blog is to document this quest. For every new film I see I'll post a miniature review and score out of five, as well as essential details (year of production, director, and the format I saw it on). There are also some entries which step outside this remit slightly -- short films don't count as full features, for example, but will still be reviewed; similarly, any "director's cut"-style new edits that I see that are not substantially different to the original will be reviewed outside the main numbering system. For example, Spider-Man 2.1 is basically the same as Spider-Man 2, but Blade Runner: The Final Cut will probably be notably different enough from the original version of Blade Runner to earn itself a proper number.

This blog originally started out on my deviantART page, but I decided it had broader appeal and so have set up its own blog... right here! That doesn't mean I'll necessarily get any more readers, of course, but I can but hope. Thanks for reading, by-the-way!

The initial entries take the form of weekly (or several-weekly) summaries covering anywhere from two to eighteen films, as this was the style I originally adopted on dA (they have been slightly edited to re-number them, following a mistake I made in week 12, but are otherwise the same as the originals). Once I get caught up adding all the old entries I'll switch to a film-by-film posting basis, possibly interspersed with little 'editorials' to make up for the missing introductions. These older entries are back dated so that they appear on the same day I originally posted them to dA; this introduction is dated so as to appear before them all. This blog was actually created on Friday 17th August 2007 and this was posted at 5:40pm.

Any suggestions for how to improve the blog are always welcome, as are suggestions for films to watch (though I can't guarantee I'll watch them immediately, not have already heard of them, or have already seen them). Equally, all comments are encouraged, read, and quite possibly replied to.

With all that said... I hope you read on, and enjoy!