I have to say, I was a little disappointed.

Sure, it's well shot, well acted and has a nice Kubrick/Polanski type of atmosphere. But in these post-Sixth Sense days, horror films with plot bending twists just cant afford to give all their cards away too early. Say what you will about Sixth Sense, but it singlehandedly revived and killed the horror twist ending genre.

In this particular case, the revelation(s) were signalled too obviously and too early IMHO. One twist was easier to spot than the other, but once yo work out one, the other follows if you think about it logically. And apart from the twist(s), I thought it failed to be scary in its key shock scenes. Buildup was usually good, but it was compromised either by predictability or poor execution.

I'm sure it works better if the twist(s) are not spotted, but there really is not much there once you've spotted them. 

Very very good and although Burton's films were completely different and also enjoyable, this is the best by far.

The mood and setting was nailed perfectly as was the character of Batman. Full marks to Christian Bale and the other actors for their performances. The script and direction are also very good save for a couple of moments which I'll go into later on. The city was realised beautifully, the buildup was fantastic and it leads nicely for a sequel. Too many cool moments to list.

What can be definitely imrpoved are the fight scenes. The jerky fast cutting camera style for the hand to hand fights needs to be ditched for something better. It got away with it a bit because most of it was still reasonably incharacter with the tone of the film but there has to be a better way wheer you can tell what's going on. The musical score, whilst adequate, was nothing memorable and perhaps this can also be looked into.

Overall, up there with spiderman 2 as best comic adaptation yet, albeit a very different one 

Bringing up Baby - Disappointing IMHO. Slapstick was never my thing but I'd heard this was one of the best comedies. I expected a bit more wittiness, I mean it was ok but nothing special for my tastes.


Sullivan's Travels - First 20 mins into this and I was quite impressed, some clever wit and good lines. After that, it went all over the place and degenerated into slapstick, corn, silliness and didnt realy know what it was doing.


A Streetcar Name Desire - This was very interesting. On the one hand, I loved Brando's performance and some of the story. On the other hand I felt Vivien Leigh's performance was way over the top and too mannered, campy and overdramatic.

I dont know if that was deliberate or not but IMHO it really jarred with the more realistic approach of Brando. Still, it's worth watching. 

Bale was great in it but also quite disgusting to look at -- Good fucked up flick. 

More disturbing than interesting. Definitely not as intelligent as it tried to be. Fairly predictable as well, and it lost a lot of its tension near the end. 

getting it tomorrow I think. Dont know when I'll get around to watching it, still got heaps of other stuff to go through. 

Isn't really a traditional fucked-up flick as much as it is Hitchcockian fucked-up. Especially the music is reminiscent of his films. 

I'm there, it just went to the top of my to watch pile.

BTW, also saw SAW which is not bad till the stupid twist ending which goes completely in the face of everything that went before. I think pushplay summed it up best in that the longer it runs the dumber it gets. 

A movie with greatness in its grasp.

Di Caprio has never done anything as good as this. Even when the script and makeup fail him, he is very very good. He's ably supported by some very fine performances from Cate Blanchett, Alan Alda and John C Reilly.

Scorcese is in his best form since Goodfellas, with some brilliant sequences, some in terms of flashiness other in terms of rawness. I've seen many awesomely photographed films but there's some amazing cinematography and camerawork at work.

What fails is the cohesiveness of the script. In parts brilliant, in parts equally surface-scratching especially in relation to the mental challenges faced by Hughes. I wasnt convinced with the OCD depiction (except dicaprio's performance) and the half-hearted attempt to explain it. The film probably could have attributed more time to this area and taken out some other peripheral stuff.

Still, this is well worth watching and is a pleasure to look at. 

out The Aviator. After Chaplin, I have avoided bio flicks as a general rule. In that case, even though Robert Downey Jr.s acting was spot on, the story they made of Chaplin's life was so damn self serving (of Hollywood).

I spent yesterday watching a bunch of movies. Batman Begins for starters. This has to be the best superhero adaptation I have seen yet. Faithful to the DarkKnight ethos with no Burtonesque cheese that ruined the Nicholson\Keaton movie for me. I love how batman fights in this one. No grace, just pure pummeling and tackling the hell out the SOB's.

Great supporting cast with the exception of the character Katie Holmes played. I wont blame the actress because there is no salvation for the goody-two shoes, sanctimonious twat she played.
I mean, the guy saves your entire fucking city and you still think that you are too good for him. Go jump in a lake (of fire).

Next up, The Jacket. Slow start but the plotting overall is nicely done. I like how the characters open up during the movie. Most every one Brodie meets at the start are prickly, icily cold, by the end and because of the choices he make,s there is a subtle change in the temperment.

Keira Knightley is, uhm, wow.

Hurly Burly was a decent flick, however, it is the weakest of these three. I enjoyed it because of the chemistry between Penn and Spacek and there is a good ammount of humor to keep your interest, but if anyone who watched it actually hated it for being a self consciously pedantic yakity-yak, I would understand since it is based upon a play.

The part of a coke head fits Penn like a glove. 

to Liam Neeson, in his last several roles he has single handedly built back the manly image of the Irish race which was severely emascalated in the 1990's by The Lord of the Dance, Michael Flatley.

It is a tough row to hoe but Liam is getting it done. 

I always thought Daniel Day Lewis was pretty badass 

Good Point

He is the Last of the Mohicans afterall. 

Pretty good fun as far as films about the mindless desctruction of humankind under an alien holocaust powered by awesome special effects and cool designs go. 

Good fun. Recommended for 2.5 hours of good entertainment. Finally something that more closely resembles the Batman stuff I gew up with: Batman The Animated Series. I'm hoping future Batman movies live up to this one; especially since the Burton films never really did it for me, and the others are miserable failures. 

This is from a wicked track, 7 Angels With 7 Plagues by Evol Intent...

"It is written: in the last days, a world leader will rise up, rebuild Solomon's Temple, and usher in three and a half years of world peace under a new Roman Empire. Then possessed by Satan, he will declare himself God and embark on a reign of terror until the Lord comes to destroy him. The final battle between Heaven and Hell approaches." 

I'd guess either The Omega Code or Vanished. Probably The Omega Code. 

t is written: in the last days, a world leader will rise up... he will declare himself God and embark on a reign of terror

scampies autobiography ? 

Just watched Sin City and all the good stuff I heard about it's true: it's violent and it's damn good. Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro and even Elijah Wood all show a very good perfomance. Recommended. 

The Vanishing - Saw the original dutch version not the extremely badly adapted american one with sandra bullock.

Quite a well made albeit slow burn thriller with a very good buildup and climax. Very different to your standard serial killer type film which is why the hollywood version sucked since it took away most of what was original in the dutch version.


Insomnia - I liked the remake, I thought Chris Nolan and the actors made that quite a good film (except the badly executed ending). So I went and checked out the original.

The original is also a very well made and effective film. However, it is almost a completely different take on the story. The basic plot elements are the same but this is almost entirely about the main character (played by Pacino in the remake) with everyone else getting a lot less screen time. And the take on Insomnia in the original is also different, with it being less of a dominant force on the character and more of a constant, annoying disturbance.

If I had to pick one, I'd go with the remake, mainly becuase I like Nolan's style but if I had to pick the one with more strengths than weaknesses, I'd go with the original.


Diabolique - Very good thriller which takes a while to get going but then hits all the right notes. The ending is well executed if a little predictable now with the numerous films that have ripped it off.

I dont know if the story about Hitchcock wanting to make this and missing out on the rights is true, but I would have liked to see what he would have done with this material. it could have been very interesting ala the Insomnia comparison.


The Lady Eve - It's highly regarded but I thought it was average to above average at best. Barbara stanwyck's pretty good but it never really clicked for me. A few nicely judgedmoments but nothing that would make me watch it again.


Leave Her to Heaven - Dated old fashioned melodrama with Gene Tierney as an obsessive/possessive wife. Filled with some woeful acting, Tierney is average but some of the other actors are just plain bad. What saves it is some eye popping cinematography. Nothing flashy in terms of camerawork but very well shot.


The Bad and The Beautiful - Sunset Boulevard Lite, probably what Wilder's film would have been like had a studio got its way. Still, it's an above average film with a decent script except for one or two badly misjudged scenes (most invovling Lana turner and her lack of acting abilities). 

Just got back from the cinema. And well I geuss I enjoyed it overall, but I was very dissapointed about the 2nd half of the film, after they take shelter in the crazy mans basement the film just falls apart and became very boring from then onwards. But all the events leading upto that were fantastic. I really got into it at the beginning, spielberg's directing is great and fx is nice etc. But it does all feel a little hollow in the 2nd half.

Worth seeing... 

...do you have any idea how one might get one's hands on 35mm print of Bergman's The Seventh Seal? I can't find back catalogues for the major distributors. 

no.

The Criterion DVD looks pretty decent blown up though.

http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=11

"This new digital transfer was created from a new 35mm fine-grain master positive made from the restored camera negative" 

...thanks, that Criterion transfer might cut it (blown up) in an 110 seat cinema. A bit of grain adds to the charm of that film anyways. I've got a PhD of History lined up to do a brief intro focussing on Pestilence and the Plague, & a PhD of Philsophy lined up to do a brief paper on the 'existential hero' afterward (followed by wine, nibbles and a Q&A). Now I just need to get the copyright stuff sorted. 

sounds like it would fall under fair use. I remember seeing full-length movies in some university classes.