Dead Man - 1996 movie by Jim Jarmusch with Johnny Depp and a number of cameos. Depp plays William Blake, an accountant who moves to a far west town for a new job, gets involved in trouble, and goes on the run with a mixed indian who thinks he's a reincarnation of the poet William Blake.

It's overly long, 20 to 30 min too long, weird for the sake of being weird, employs an irritating fade out technique, but it also has a mood that fascinated me. The improvised score by Neil Young is also intriguing, but the way its used gets annoying after a while.

6/10, most of it for the mood/atmosphere and for some quite funny black humour.


Alice doesnt live here anymore - early Scorsese film which has dated a fair bit, but the acting and directing remain strong. The characterisations are interesting and the script is nicely written.

7/10


Almost Famous - it was better this second viewing, but I still dont really understand what all the fuss was about. Sure, it has a very good soundtrack and Kate Hudson, Jason Lee and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are perfect in their roles, but the script has a number of flow and pacing issues. Also, the whole thing has an air of self conscious preciousness about it, that tends to dominate. An above average movie, but I realise I'm in the minority with that opinion.

6.5/10


Nightmare Alley (1947) - first rate film noir, with the usually wooden Tyrone Power in a terrificly performed role, he really is quite good here.

The atmosphere is as dark and murky as you want a noir to be and the story is very interesting and moves along at a nice clip.

7.5/10


The Ice Harvest - Quite a decent little quirky, black comedy thriller with john cusack, billy bob thronton and connie nielsen. Nothing too fancy, but it moves briskly through it's 80 min runtime and is fairly entertaining. The last 15 min or so are in the wrong tone compared to the rest of the film. Dont know if changing the tone in that period would have made a huge difference, but the change in tone was certainy jarring.

Oliver platt's cameo is hilarious.

7/10


The Life and Death of Peter Sellers - poorly directed but well acted sort of biopic. Doesnt really cover a timespan, or a particular event or series of events, but is just an all over te place attempt at looking at Peter Sellers, the person.

Fails miserably in that regard because the script never really bothers looking beyond the actions of Sellers and is just really a series of vignettes. Hopkins tries his best to cover this up, using numerous tricks, changing film stocks regularly, but all to no avail in the end.

The one saving grace is Geoffrey Rush, who does remarkable imitations in numerous Sellers roles (predominantly Inspector Closeau, Dr Strangelove and Chancy Gardener). But unfortunately, due to the thin script, that's all he does, imitations. He is never allowed to make it more than that, which is a bit of a pity.

5/10


Amarcord (1973) - considered the last of Fellini's great films, but i just couldnt get into it.

It's shot beautifully and Nino Rota provides another brilliant score, but all the characters are caricatures and every situation and personality is exaggerated to cartoon strip level. Everyone deliberately yells and acts in a manic fashion, I just found it very distracting and annoying.

4/10


Where the Truth Lies - supposedly Atom Egoyan's most mainstream movie, which may well be the case, but this is hardly mainstream cinema.

Featuring a fabulous plot, that although is fairly convoluted, is smartly linked together. Unfortunately, Egoyan's script suffers in key moments where he doesnt quite know how to bring out the revelations (and that's not a spoiler, the movie's a mystery from the start). So, some of the punch is taken out, as characters need to go through some fairly heavy exposition.

Also, a lot of how much you like this movie will depend on Alison Lohman. I found her to be fairly reasonable, although admittedly it's obvious she's in way over her head. There's also some fairly gratituous nudity which wasn't all that necessary, the seedy atmosphere was already established and it ended up lessening rather than adding to the movie's tone.


6.5/10 

on Phillip Seymour Hoffman playing Lester Bangs, and Jason Lee as a Ronnie Van Zandt type were enjoyable rolls to watch and excellent casting in Almost Famous.

I was not crazy about Kate Hudson's role. It may not realy be her acting that was off putting to me as how her roll was framed as some kind of Queen of the Groupies. How her part was presented and used in the film was silly and for me that is where much of the distracting preciousness of the film comes in.

But, overall, I would give the movie a better rating than 6.5 just for the good vibe it generates. 

Wow. That was worse than I thought it would be. 

firm and reflective 

firm and reflective 

what 

sounds like boobies where you can see the silicon sacks through the skin.

Happens sometimes with strip club black lighting. 

Looks like a spambot feeler. 

Match Point - Hmm, it's very un-Allen like, except for the chanelling of Bergman's moral dilemmas that was also present in Crimes and Misdemeanors. But unlike that film, this is all very serious.

It's a fairly standard melodrama given almost A grade treatment. I say almost because it's bit uneven. The dialogue ranges from pretty good to downright emabrassing, the acting by the prinicpals doing the same.

Still, in the end it turns out to be a decent film, despite a clumsily handlex climax.

7/10


Flightplan - has been compared to Panic Room, and content wise, it's an understandable comparison.

But whereas that was an above-average film with at least a well made 2/3, this is an almost serviceable thriller from the start and never really rises above that at any stage. It's all competently done but the script has quite a few holes and given that there is only real one possible outcome right from the beginning, there is zero suspense apart from some procedural mechanics.

5/10


Brokeback Mountain - After seeing Good Night and Good Luck, I thougt Clooney was robbed.

I change my mind. Faultless. Not perfect, but faultless. I know it's been criticised for pacing, but I found it to be spot on.

And the controversy it stirred up is mind boggling, but I wont get into that. The most unpretentious and nonjudgmental film (towards its characters) I've seen in quite a while.

9/10


The Hidden Fortress - fairly decent film from Kurosawa about a samurai general who has to escort a princess of a rebel alliance through enemy terrirtory.

Well written and expertly directed (excellent use of the frame once again by kurosawa), but it falters at the end IMHO and the two slapstick sidekicks vary in their irritability.

7/10


The Hidden Fortress - fairly decent film from Kurosawa about a samurai general who has to escort a princess of a rebel alliance through enemy terrirtory.

Well written and expertly directed (excellent use of the frame once again by kurosawa), but it falters at the end IMHO and the two slapstick sidekicks vary in their irritability.

7/10


The Hidden Fortress - fairly decent film from Kurosawa about a samurai general who has to escort a princess of a rebel alliance through enemy terrirtory.

Well written and expertly directed (excellent use of the frame once again by kurosawa), but it falters at the end IMHO and the two slapstick sidekicks vary in their irritability.

7/10


McCabe and Mrs Miller - Robert Altman's 1971 film is one of the top 5 westerns of all time IMHO, and unlike any other western ever made. The best comparison I can make is to the tv show Deadwood, but even that is an inaccurate desciption.

It features all the trademark Altman touches, overlapping dialogue with multiple conversations going on at once and a strong sense of mood and atmosphere. Warren Beatty and Julie Christie are very good as the title characters and it's very well shot, although it is perhaps a bit too detriorated looking (apparently they flashed the film negative by exposing it to light to give it more of a deteriorated look).

If anything, it goes a bit too long but this is clearly the work of someone in control of their material.

8.5/10


Dr No - only the third Bond film I've liked (apart from Goldeneye and Goldfinger), and it's probably because he actually goes about his business like a spy, not just go from setpiece to setpiece like some superhero.

Plus here they werent consicious of the whole James Bond image, and could actually attach a decent film to the character.

7/10


The Spy Who Loved Me - Apart from some nice on location shooting in Egypt, this was fairly bad. Roger Moore was just too smarmy in his portrayal of Bond, Connery and Brosnan were much better.

4/10


Day for Night - quite possibly the greatest movie about making movies (havent seen 8 1/2 yet), Francois Truffaut's exceptional 1973 film is extremely well written and directed.

What could have been an absolute mess is instead a fabulously crafted movie with a cast that understands what the director is trying to do, and some nice moments of good humour.

8.5/10 

instead of Hidden Fortress being repeated thrice, here's what should have been there :

Memoirs of a Geisha - a complete guide on how to make an entire film in the wrong tone. Much has been made of Dion Beebe's cinematography, which is nice, but the only reason this is even remotely watchable is becuase of John Williams' excellent score.

2/10


The Lost Weekend - A well written, well acted film, despite being overly theatrical in its depiction of alcholism.

But Billy Wilder's trademark dialogue and Ray Milland's effective performance keep it going. Unfortunately, the ending is a big letdown, smelling a lot of studio influence/interference.

There also a handful of scenes that date it a fair bit, but all in all a decnt film.

7/10 

A mention about The Hidden Fortress -- George Lucas has said that Star Wars is not based on The Hidden Fortress, but it was fun watching to see how many parallels there are.

Dr. No was one of my favorite connery bond movies, and the connery movies were generally my favorite of the series. The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker were pretty much the height of the silly, over-the-top Roger Moore era, so while they were entertaining they were not his best. I think The Man With The Golden Gun or For Your Eyes Only were probably my favorite Moore bond films, becuase TMWTGG was the least formulaic of the plotlines (for example, it's the only bond movie that ends with a small, 1-on-1 battle instead of a huge spectacle with an army of good guys fighting an army of bad guys.) FYEO got back to the espionage roots of Dr. No and From Russia With Love and was a lot less silly becuase of it.

I also agree with your score for McCabe & Mrs. Miller. Just as in MASH, Altman seemed to prefer to set up scenes with everyone talking/mumbling over each others. Also interesting about McCabe, I believe he shot the entire thing with ambient light (which contributes to the murky look of the interiors.)

As for brokeback mountain, I admired the craftmanship of the movie and the impartiality of the storytelling, but found that I just didn't care about the characters, and didn't see much depth or complexity to them. 

yeah I knew the Star wars link, and for once it's definitely a case of inspired by rather than derivative of. And the parallels extend all the way through the first 3 eps, rather than just the first film.

About Dr No, see I thought this one did a lot better what people liked about From Russia With Love.

McCabe was indeed shot with ambient light alone, which is why I didnt understand the need to further deteriorate the look by flashing the film.

Yeah, I've heard a few people say that about Brokeback, I can understand the "not caring for the characters" thing, that will vary from person to person but I did think the characters definitely had depth. 

That Obscure Object of Desire - Luis Bunuel's last movie I believe, and this time the surrealism comes from having two actresses play the same role throughout the movie, almost randomly.

It takes a a little while to get used to, but it does work well, especially when you see what the movie's trying to do. It's still very abstract, but as with most of Bunuel's work, even if you dont get most of it, it's still easy to watch and like.

This one, amongst other things, tinkers with the idea of whether a loving relationship can be had without having sex.

7.5/10 

Aeon Flux - I was expecting something awful, this was just bad not awful. In fact, buried under the terrible screenplay were the makings of a fairly decent film. The action scenes were from the Generic Action Factory, all quick cutting to hide the bad choreography. Even Charlize didnt look as hot as she should in a skintight outfit.

3.5/10


Gosford Park - Robert Altman's bloated 2001 film is decent overall but really nosedives in the second half.

It starts out extremely well, and once again you couldnt mistake it for being a film by anyone else other than Altman, but the further it goes along, the more schizophrenic it becomes in terms of tone. And I found the different tones quite jarring in the second half. It also goes on far to long for what it is.

As for the good stuff, the writing is generally good, the acting excellent and the mood amazing.

7/10 

Swimming with Sharks - Kevin Spacey in mid-career decides to do a B-grade drama. Probably so for personal rather than professional reasons. Film content could make for great lunch conversation for Spacey possibly.

The flick is portrayed as a comedy via its boxart/marketing, but its anything but a comedy... It doesn't even sum up as a dark comedy at that. It is drama. Drama in a poor Tarentino knock-off kind of way. Writing is ok, but its is also where the movie fails. The dialogue is nice, but the story doesn't work. Spacey plays his character as best as it can be played, but his performance is undermined by poor event sequencing. Productions values are b-grade throughout, but that usually doesn't matter if there is a good story to fall on (but in this case there isn't). I think this movie might portray a cynical, nihilistic view of Hollywood that is not based on reality.

Nothing really to see here, move along. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279688/

Anyone seen this? I don't think I'm in for much, but seeing Lovecraft's name on a 2006 movie caught my eye and I rented it. I'm about to watch it, I'll let you know how it is.

I'm not a Lovecraft reader so I won't be able to compare... 

they're not mostly accurate, but the imdb ratings are a good guide.

3.6/10 isnt looking good. 

I watched maybe half of it and skimmed through the rest - its like a B movie with forced/bad acting and annoying editing/cutting. 

Bulworth - A pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting much from this flick, but it turned out to be great. Beatty creates a fantastic study of movie methodology via "a day in the life of" formula. The story is outlandish, but at the same time, absolutely believable... This is due to Beatty's fine writing.

There is only one logic flaw that I noticed, however, its at the very end of the movie, and by the time you get to that point you have already come to accept and believe these characters to be absolutely real that you can easily imagine a different solution to the one presented and then all is well.

I recommend checking this one out if you haven't already. Plus it has some *very* funny parts in it.

8.5/10 

As I've been living at my parents' place without internet for a while, I've been watching a lot of TV movies. Just browsing the channels until suddenly I hit something interesting.
I'd like to mention two that have left an impression. I suggest watching these if they happen to be on your local tv channels.

Fingersmith (2005) is a two-part BBC drama. (I didn't even know about the second part until I accidentally saw it.) It's a story about well, some characters living in 1800:s London. The plot is quite interesting and not all misery, and the acting is done with great feeling. I really don't like to tell too much of movies beforehand, I don't recommend reading the IMDB blurbs on any movies either, they just ruin the feeling. It's based on a book, which might explain much of the complexity of the plot. It has also some love scenes that are actually somehow beautiful compared to a lot of the cliche and crud that's around.

Elsker dig for evigt (2002) or in english "Open Hearts" is a dogma film from Denmark. It's a drama about people and well, extreme feelings they go through when life deviates from status quo. I like the acting here, it seems quite natural and believable. The dogma style fits so well too, with the cameras and all. I've seen a swedish movie from 2004 that dealt with many of the same themes, but it failed to convince me. It somehow went over-the-top and the drama was more screaming. This is a pretty placid movie in outward expressions (at least the later part) of the people and the tension is built with your mirror neurons when you understand what the people are thinking and feeling.

Don't read the IMDB pages, they reveal too much of the plots. 

well, the fingersmith has actually three parts. Hmm, I didn't remember that. I saw the first part so much earlier and the latter two in a rerun that the first two merged into one in my mind or something. 

Un FLic - Not in the same class as Le Samourai or Le Cercle Rouge, but this is another classy crime/heist film from Jean Pierre Melville. Everything Melville is there, the effortlessly cool mood, the excellent scene compositions and another commanding turn from Alain Delon. The script and story, however, are not as great as in the two films above.

There's also one scene which badly betrays the low budget, however, it doesnt detract too much from the overall film.

7/10


Hiroshima Mon Amour - Alan Resnais' stunning 1959 movie features a great time shattering narrative, which despite being copied and imitated many times, is still strikingly effective.

The story of a woman who embarks on an affair whilst in post-war Hiroshima, Resnais paints an impressive parallel between a woman trying to forget her past and move on whilst being in the city trying to do the same.

I thought the ending was slightly abrubt and occasionally the acting not upto scratch, but this is one of the great ones.

8/10 

The Man on the Train (2002) - A recent frenc film with an interesting premise : Two men meet by chance and conclude that each would prefer and be more suited to the other's life. One being a bank robber and te other a retired poetry teacher.

What follows though is a ponderous, contrived drama/thriller with a great mood but not much more. It starts off as a western, goes through a buddy/odd couple mode, and then turns into a standard thriller. Patrice Leconte just doesnt quite bring it all together. Disappointing.

4/10


Raising arizona - It's reasonably clever, has good performances form nicolas cage and holly hunter & brilliant camerawork from Barry Sonnenfeld, but I just didnt find it all that funny.

Easy to sit through because of the great cinematography (which is also a lesson on how to have skilled camerawork without needing beautiful imagery), but like The Big Lebowski, I found this to be a disappointing Coen brothers effort. Strange, because usually I find their work quite witty and funny, but their two genuine attempts at comedy havent worked for me.

5/10


In Cold blood (1967) - Richard Brooks' adaptation of Truman Capote's famous novel is an interesting but ultimately flawed film.

The look of the film pretty much sums up the problems. It's going for a documentary feel, yet the use of cinemascope takes away from this severely. Not taking anything away from Conrad L Hall's work, that is brilliant as usual but it highlights the inherent problems with the movie.

It's a fairly decent look at two non-psychopath murderers, but the direction is a bit heavy handed, the length overly long and a lot of the drama artificial.

But, the acting is quite good, the cinematogrpahy often brilliant (despite the scope issue above) and the plot reasonably interesting.

7/10 

Capote - It does make a nice double with In Cold Blood, the different focus of the two films making for interesting viewing.

Firstly, Hoffman did deserve his oscar (although personally I dont think he was necessarily better than Ledger), conveying the shortcomings of the title character that make it a difficult role to play, and a level of magnetism necessary to do so.

The film, however, doesnt really have much to offer apart from Hoffman's brilliant characterisation. It's all well made and put together but there's not much to it.

Still, there could have been many worse things to centre a film around than an excellent performance, and overall it's definitely very good.

7.5/10


As a side note, the two movies presnet the facts slightly differently, especially sequence of events. I have no idea which is more accurate, but it was interesting to see and compare the slight, but important differences. 

Night Watch (2005) - well I dont know what all the fuss was about, I thought this was completely atrocious. It's no worse than standard hollywood crap like Constantine yet that gets lambasted while this gets praise.

2/10


Ghost in the Shell 2 : Innocence - worse than the first, which was above averae at best anyway, in every regard.

The mesh of 2d and 3d animation is ok, nothing psectacular, the action is shot very poorly and the rest is not worth talking about.

3/10